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DB. WILLIAM SMITH'S
DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE;
ooxpxuuro m
ANTIQUITIES, BIOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY,
AND NATURAL HISTORY.
KKVUXD AMD EDITED BT
PROFESSOR H. B. HACKETT, D. D.
WITH TH» OOOPEKATIOB Of
EZRA ABBOT, LL.D.
tmun uiuiiu or hibtau causam.
VOLUME HI.
MARRIAGE to REGEM.
BOSTON:
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY.
2Ltp Kttoeratoe tytm, CambriDge.
1892
Digitized by
Google
Entered, according lo Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
HURD AND HoLOllTON,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.
RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
ITEBEOTTPID AND PRINTED BT
H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
WRITERS IN THE ENGLISH EDITION.
H. A Very Rev. Henry Alfobd, D. D., Dean of Canterbury.
H. B. Rev. Henry Bailey, B. D., Warden of St Augustine's College, Can-
terbury ; late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge.
H. B. • Rev. Horatius Bonar, D. I)., Kelso, N.B.; Author of "The Land
of Promise."
[The geographical utfclM, tlgoad H. B., are written by Dr. Bauer : thaee an other mbjeete,
dgned H. B-, en written by Mr. Beiley.]
A. B. Rev. Alfred Barry, B. D., Principal of Cheltenham College ; late
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
W. L B. Rev. William Latham Bevan, M. A., Vicar of Hay, Brecknock-
shire.
J. W. B Rev. Joseph Williams Blakesley, B. D., Canon of Canterbury ; late
Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge.
T. E. B. Rev. Thomas Edward Brown, M. A., Vice-Principal of King Wil-
liam's College, Isle of Man ; late Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.
R. W. B. Ven. Robert William Browne, M. A., Archdeacon of Bath, and
Canon of Wells.
E. H. B. Right Rev. Edward Harold Browne, D. D., Lord Bishop of Ely,
W. T. B. Rev. William Thomas Bullock, M. A., Assistant Secretary of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
S. C. Rev. Samuel Clark, M. A., Vicar of Bredwardine with Brobury,
Herefordshire.
F. C. C Rev. Frederic Charles Cook, M. A., Chaplain in Ordinary to the
Queen.
G. E. L. C. Right Rev. George Edward Lynch Cotton, D. D., late Lord Bishop
of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India.
3. LL D. Rev. John Llewelyn Da vies, M. A., Rector of Christ Church,
Mary lebone ; late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
G. E. D. Prof. George Edward Day, D. D., Yale College, New Haven, Conn.
E. D. Emanuel DEUTScn, M. R. A. S, British Museum.
W. D. Rev. William Drake, M. A., Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen.
E. P. E. Rev. Edward Paroissibn Eddrup, M. A,, Principal of the Theolog
ical College, Salisbury.
C. J. E. Right Rev. Charles John Elucott, D. D., Lord Bishop of Glouces-
ter and Bristol
F. W. F Rev. Frederick William Farrar, M. A., Assistant Master of Har-
row School ; late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
J. F. James Ferousson, F. R. S., F. R. A. S., Fellow of- the Royal Insti-
tute of British Architects.
E. 8. Ff. Edward Salusbury Ffoulxes, M. A., late Fellow of Jesus College.
Oxford.
W. F. Right Rev. William Fitzgerald, D. D.. Lord Bishop of Killaloe.
tut)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
F. G.
F. W. G.
G.
H.B.H.
E.H— a.
H.B.
A. C. H.
J. A.H.
J. D. H.
J.J. H.
W. H.
J. S. H.
E. H.
W. B. J.
A.H.L.
& L.
J. B. L.
D. W. M.
F. M.
Oppert.
E. R.O.
T. J. 0.
j. j. a p
T. T. P.
H.W. P.
EH. P.
E.&P.
R. 8. P.
J.L.P.
LIST OF WRITERS.
Rot. Francis Gaboon, M. A., Subdean of Her Majesty's Chapelt
Royal
Rer. F. William Gotch, LL. D., President of the Baptist College,
Bristol ; late Hebrew Examiner in the University of London.
George Grove, Crystal Palace, Sydenham.
Prof. Horatio Balch Hackbtt, D. D., LL. D-, Theological Institu-
tion, Newton, Mass.
Rev. Ernest Hawkins, B. D., Secretary of the Society for the Prop*
gation of the Gospel in Foreign Part*.
Rev. Henry Haymak, B. D., Head Master of the Grammar School,
Cheltenham ; late Fellow of St John's College, Oxford.
Ven. Lord Arthur Charles Hervey, M. A., Archdeacon of Sud-
bury, and Rector of Ickworth.
Rev. James Augustus Hessby, D. C. L., Head Master of Merchant
Taylors' School.
Joseph Dalton Hooker, M. D., F. R, 8., Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew.
Rev. Jambs John Hornby, M. A., Fellow of Brasenose College, Ox*
ford ; Principal of Bishop Cosin's Hall.
Rev. William Houghton, M. A., F. L 8., Rector of Preston on the
Weald Moon, Salop.
Rev. John Saul Howson, D. D., Principal of the Collegiate Institu-
tion, Liverpool.
Rev. Edgar Huxtable, M. A., Subdean of Wells.
Rev. William Basil Jones, M. A., Prebendary of York and of St
David's ; late Fellow and Tutor of University College, Oxford.
Austen Henry La yard, D. C. L., M. P.
Rev. Stanley Leather, M. A., M. K. S. L., Hebrew Lecturer in
King's College, London.
Rev. Joseph Barber Liohtpoot, D. D., Hubean P ro fe ssor of Divinity,
and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Rev. D. W. Marks, Professor of Hebrew in University College, London.
Rev. Frederick Meyrick, M. A., late Fellow and Tutor of Trinity
College, Oxford.
Prof. Jules Oppbrt, of Paris.
Rev. Edward Redman Orger, M. A, Fellow and Tutor of St
Augustine's College, Canterbury. »
Yen. Thomas Johnson Ormxrod, M. A., Archdeacon of Suffolk
late Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford.
Rev. John James Stewart Perowne, B. D., Vice-Principal of St
David's College, Lampeter.
Rev. Thomas Thomason Pbrownk, B. D., Fellow and Tutor of
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Rev. Henry Wright Phillott, M. A., Rector of Staunton-on-Wyc
Herefordshire ; late Student of Christ Church, Oxford.
Rev. Edward Hayes Plumptrx, M. A., Professor of Divinity ia
King's College, London.
Edward Stanley Poole, M. R A. a, South Kensington Museum.
Reginald Stuart Poole, British Museum.
Rev. J. Leslie Porter, M. A., Professor of Sacred Literature,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
LIST OF WHITE KS.
Dry's College, Belfast ; Author of " Handbook of Syria and Palatine.'
and " Five Yean in Damascus."
CLP. Bev. Charles Pritchard, M. A., F. & 8., Hon. Secretary of the
Royal Astronomical Society ; late Fellow of St John's College, Cam-
bridge.
6. B Ber. George Rawunson, M. A., Camden Professor of Ancient His-
tory, Oxford.
H. J. R Rev. Henry John Rose, B. D., Rural Dean, and Rector of Houghton
Conquest, Bedfordshire.
W. 8. Rev. William 8klwyn, D. D., Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen ;
Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, Cambridge ; Canon of Ely.
A. P. R Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D. D., Regius Professor of Ecclesias-
tical History, and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford ; Chaplain to His
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
C E. 8. Prof. Calvin Eixib Stows, D. D., Hartford, Conn.
1. P. T. Rev. Joseph Parrish Thompson, D. D., New York.
W. T. Most Rev. William Thomson, D. D., Lord Archbishop of York.
S. P. T. Samuel Pride a ux Trkgeixes, LL. D., Author of " An Introduction
to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament," &c.
H. B. T Rev. Hknrt Baker Tristram, M. A, F. L. S., Master of Greatham
Hospital
J. F. T. Bev. Joseph Francis Thrupp, M. A., Vicar of Barrington ; late Fel-
low of Trinity College, Cambridge.
B. T. Hon. Edward T. B. Twmlkton, M. A., late Fellow of Balliol College.
Oxford.
Bev. Edmund V enables, ML A., Bonchurch, Isle of Wight
Bev. Brooke Fobs Westcott, M. A., Assistant Master of Harrow
School ; late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Bev. Christopher Wordsworth, D. D., Canon of Westminster.
William Alois Wright. M. A., Librarian of Trinity College, Cans
bridge.
E.V.
B.F. W.
aw.
W. A.W.
&C.B
T.J.C.
6. B. D.
G.P. F.
F. G
0. B G.
B.
IB.
F.W H.
A. B
WRITERS IN THE AMERICAN EDITION.
Ezra Abbot, LL. D., Assistant Librarian of Harvard College
Cambridge, Mass.
Prof. Samuel Colcord Bartlett, D. D., Theol. Sem., Chicago, III
Bev. Thomas Jefferson Conant, D. D., Brooklyn, X. Y.
Prof. George Edward Dat, D. D., Yale College, New Haven, Conn
Prof George Park Fisher, D. D., Yale College, New Haven, Conn
Prof. Frederic Gardiner, D. D., Middletown, Conn.
Bev. Daniel Ratnes Goodwin, D. D., Provost of the Dnivemity of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Prof. Horatio Balch Hackett, D. D., LL. D., Theological Institc
tion, Newton, Mass.
Prof. James Hadlet, LL. D., Yale College, New Haven, Conn.
Rev. Frederick Wbitmore Holland, F. K G. 8., London.
Prof. A » tah Ho vet, D. D, Theological Institution, Newton, .
Digitized by VjOOQlC
LIST OF WRITERS.
■AMI.
Prof. Asahel Clark Kestjrick, D. D., University of Rochester, N. T
Prof. Charles Marsh Mead, Ph. D., TheoL Sem., Andover, Mass.
Prof. Edwards Amasa Park, D. D., Theol. Seminary, Andover, Mass
Rev. William Edwards Park, Lawrence, Mass.
Prof. Andrew Preston Peabodt, D. D., LL. D., Harrard College.
Cambridge, Mass.
Rot. Geoboe E. Post, M D., Tripoli, Syria.
R Prof. Rensselaer David Chancefobd Robbins, Middlebury Col-
lege, Vt
Rev. Philip Schaff, D. D., New York.
Prof. Henrt Botnton Smith, D. D., LL. D., Union Theologioal
Seminary, New York.
Rev. Calvin Ellis Stowe, D. D., Hartford, Conn.
Prof. Daniel Smith Talcott, D. D., Theol. Seminary, Bangor, Me.
Prof. Joseph Henrt Thayer, M A., Theol. Seminary, Andover, Mass.
Rev. Joseph Parrish Thompson, D. D., New York.
C. V. A. V. Rev. Cornelius V. A. Van Dyck, D. D., Beirut, Syria.
W. H. W. Rev. William Hayes Ward, M. A, New York.
W. F. W. Prof. William Fairfield Warren, D. D., Boston Theological Sem-
inary, Boston, Mass.
8. W. Rev. Samuel Wolcott, D. D., Cleveland, Ohio.
T. D. W. President Theodore Dwight Woolsey, D. D., LL. D., Yale College,
New Haven, Conn.
\* The new portions in the present edition are indicated by a star (•), the edi-
torial additions being distinguished by the initials H. and A. Whatever is enclosed
in brackets is also, with unimportant exceptions, editorial. This remark, however,
does not apply to the cross-references in brackets, most of which belong to the origi-
nal work, though a large number have been added to this edition.
A.
C. K.
C. M. M.
E.
A. P.
W. E. P.
A. P. P.
G.
E.P.
RD. C.
P.
S.
H.
B. S.
C.
E. S.
D.
8. T.
J.
H. T.
J.
P. T.
ABBREVIATIONS
Aid. . The Aldine edition of the Septuagint, 1518.
Alex The Codex Alexandrinus (6th cent), edited by Babcr, 1816-28.
A. V. The authorized (common) English version of the Bible.
Comp. The Septuagint as printed in the Complutensian Polyglott, 1614-17, published
1622.
FA. The Codex Friderico-Augustanus (4th cent), published by Teschendorf in
1846.
Bom. The Roman edition of the Septuagint, 1587. The readings of the Septuagint
for which no authority is specified are also from this source.
Sin. The Codex Sinai ticus (4th cent), published by Teschendorf in 1862. This
and FA. are parts of the same manuscript
Vat The Codex Vaticanus 1209 (4th cent), according to Mai's edition, published
by Verrellone in 1857. " Vat H." denotes readings of the MS. (differing
from Mai), given in Holmes and Parsons's edition of the Septuagint, 1798.
1827. " Vat 1 " distinguishes the primary reading of the MS. from " Vat*
or " 2. m.," the alteration of a later reviser.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
DICTIONARY
Of
BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES, BIOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY,
AND NATURAL HISTORY.
MARRIAGE
MARRIAGE. The topics which this subject
Dreamt* to our consideration in connection with
Biblical literature may be most conveniently ar-
ranged under the following fire beads : —
I. Its origin and history.
II. The conditions under which it could be
legally effected.
III. The modes by which it was effected.
IT. The social and domestic relations of married
fife.
V. The typical and allegorical references to
marriage.
I. The institution of marriage is founded on the
requirements of man's nature, and dates from the
time of his original creation. It may be said to
have been ordained by God, in as far as man's
nature was ordained by Him ; but its formal ap-
pointment was the work of man, and it has ever
been in its essence a natural and civil institution,
though admitting of the infusion of a religious
element into it. This view of marriage is exhib-
ited in the historical account of its origin in the
book of Genesis: the peculiar formation of man's
nature is assigned to the Creator, who, seeing it
" not goo I for man to lie alone," determined to
form an " help meet for him " (ii. 18), and accord-
ingly completed the work by the addition of the
female to the male (i. 27 ). The necessity for this
step appears from the words used in the declaration
of the Divine counsel. Han, as an intellectual and
spiritual being, would not have been a worthy rep-
resentative of the Deity on earth, so long as he
lived in solitude, or in communion only with beings
either high above him in the scab) of creation, as
angels, or far beneath him, as the beasts of the
field. It was absolutely necessary, not only for his
enmfott and happiness, but still more for the per-
m TOM, Hssrally, ,, aa over against," and so "cor-
ia*eoodng to." The renderings, In the A. V. " mast
far htm," In the LXX. jear* uvrcV, ifiout ofay, and In
the Vulg. rinrik mbi t an Inadequate.
t The LXX. Introduces Ho Into the text In Ota. U.
H, and Is followed by the Vulga'e.
' tthfcj and nOftjL vTe are unable to expresv the
verbal uuu as uuu dcnco of these words In on" language.
Ike 7adgass retains the etymological Identity at Mm
VBBsnewof tbs sense : " rworo tuosJam de raa." ""m
1M
MARRIAGE
faction of the Divine work, that he should have a
" help meet for him," » or, as the words mora
properly mean, " the exact counterpart of himself"
— a being capable of receiving and reflecting his
thoughts and affections. No sooner was the forma-
tion of woman effected, than Adam recognized in
that act the will of the Creator as to man's social
condition, and immediately enunciated the impor-
tant statement, to which his posterity might refer
as the charter of marriage in all succeeding ages,
" Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they
■hall be one flesh " (ii. 24). From these words,
coupled with the circumstances attendant on the
formation of the first woman, we may evolve the
following principles; (1) The unity of man and
wife, as implied in her being formed out of man,
and as expressed in the words " one flesh ; " (2)
the indiasolubleness of the marriage bond, except
on the strongest grounds (comp. Matt. xix. 9); (3)
monogamy, as the original law of marriage, result-
ing from there having been but one original con ■
pie,* as is forcibly expressed in the subsequent ref-
erences to this passage by our Lord (" they twain,''
Matt. xix. 6), aud St. Paul (" too shall be one
flesh," 1 Cor. vi. 16); (4) the social equality of
man and wife, as implied in the terms isA and' wA-
$hah, c the one being the exact correlative of the
other, as well as in the words "help mert for
him;" (S) the subordination of the wife to the
husband, consequent upon her subsequent forma-
tion (1 Cor. xi. 8, 9; 1 Tim. ii. 13); and (0)' the
respective duties of man and wife, as implied in
the words " help meet for him."
The introduction of sin into the world modified
to a certain extent the mutual relations of man and
wife. As the blame of seduction to sin lay on the
latter, the condition of subordination wsa turned
old Latin term vim would have bean better. Lnthet
Is more successful with mann and mdnnin ; but eves
this fails to convey tne double sense of uasaoa as m
" woman " and " wife," both of which should be pre.
served, as In the German weib, In order to convey the
full force of the original. We may hero observe that
iitehah was the only term In ordinary use among tbs
Hebrews for " wife." They occasionally used bltt?,
sa we ore " consort," for the wives or vines (Pi. xtv
9; Neb.. It. 6; Dan. v. it-
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1794
MARRIAGE
Into subjection, aitd it was said to her of her jus-
band, •' he shall rule over thee " (Gen. iii. 16.) —
a sentence which, regarded as a prediction, has been
strikingly fulfilled in the position assigned to women
in Oriental countries,' but which, regarded as a
rule of life, is fully sustained by the voice of nature
and by the teaching of Christianity (I Cor. xiv. 34;
Kph. v. 22, 23 j 1 Tim. ti. 19). The evil effects of
the fall were soon apparent in the corrupt usages
of marriage; the unity of the bond was impaired
by polygamy, which appears to have originated
vnong the Cainites (Gen. iv. 19); and its purity
was deteriorated by the promiscuous intermarriage
of the " scot of God " with the " daughters of
mm," i*. e. of the Sethites with the Cainites. in the
days preceding the flood (Gen. vi. 2).
In the post-diluvial age the usages of marriage
were marked with the simplicity that characterizes
a patriarchal state of society. The rule of monog-
amy was reestablished by the example of Noah
vid his sons (Gen. vii. 13). The early patriarchs
selected their wives from their own family (Gen.
xi. 29, xxir. 4, xxviii. 2), and the necessity for
doing this on religious grounds superseded the pro-
hibitions that afterwards held good ngninst such
marriages on the score of kindred (Gen. xx. 12;
Ex. vi. 20; comp. Lev. xviii. 9, 12). Polygamy
prevailed (Gen. xvi. 4, xxt. 1, 6, xxviii. 9, xxix. 23,
28: 1 Chr. vii. 14), but to a great extent divested
of the degradation which in modern times attaches
to that practice. In judging of it we must take
into regard the following considerations: (1) that
the /irinri/itt of monogamy was retained, even in
the practice of polygamy, by the distinction made
between the chief or original wife and the secondary
wives, or, as the A. V. terms them, " concubines "
— a term which is objectionable, inasmuch ns it
conveys to us the notion of an illicit and unrecog-
nized position, whereas the secondary wife was
regarded by the Hebrews as a wife, and her rights
were secured by law;' (2) that the motive which
led to polygamy was that absorbing desire of
progeny which is prevalent throughout eastern
countries, and was especially powerful among the
Hebrews; and (3) that the power of a parent over
Lis child, and of a master over his slave (the po-
lr$ln$ pntria and dominion of the Romans), was
IMramount even in matters of marriage, and led
in many cases to phases of polygamy fhat are
otherwise quite unintelligible, as, fur instance, to
the cases where it was adopted by tbe IiusIwikI "'
tke rri/itesl of hi jf wifr , under the idea that children
born to a slave wen in the eye of tbe law the
o The relation of the husband to the wife la ex-
pressed In the Hebrew term boat (b?2), literally
lord, for husband (Bx. xxl. 8, 22; Drat. xxt. 13; 2
Sam. si. 26, etc., ate.). The respectful term used by
9arab to Abraham 03*18, "my lord," Geo. xviii. 12:
camp. 1 K. I. 17, 18,'PsTxlv. 11) furnishes St. Peter
with an illustration of tbe wife's proper position (1
IVt. 111. 6)
* The poslon of tbe Hebrew concubine may be com-
pared wltb that of the concubine of tbe early Christian
Church, tbs sole distinction between her and tbe wife
consisting In this, that the marriage was not in accord-
ance with the rivil law : In tbe eye of the Church the
marriage was perfectly valid (Bingham, Am. xl. 6, §
II). It Is worthy of notice that the term piUtgtA
v37-3?0 * *\. V- "eoueuMne ") nowhere occurs In the
ejossasiaw !»e terms used are either "wife" (Dent
MARRIAGE
children of the mistress'' (Geo. xvt. .1, ixx. 4, 9).
or, again, to eases where it was adopted at tlw
instance of the father (Gen. xxix. 23, 28; Ex. xxi.
II, 10). It must be allowed that polygamy, thus
legalized and systematized, justified to a eertaii
extent by the motive, and entered into, not only
without oflenst to, but actually at the suggestion
of, those who, according to our notions, would feel
most deeply injured by it, is a very different thing
from what polygamy would be in our own state of
society.
Divorce also prevailed in the patriarchal age.
though but one instance of it is recorded (Gen. xxi
14). Of this, again, we mnst not judge by our
own standard. Wherever marriages are effected by
the violent exercise of the pntria potesUit, at with-
out any bond of affection between the pat ties con-
cerned, ill-assorted matches must be of frequmt
occurrence, and without the remedy of divorce, in
such a state of society, we can understand the
truth of the Apostles' remark, that " it is not good
to marry *' (Matt, xix 10). Hence divorce prevails
to a great extent in all countries where marriage is
the result of arbitrary appointment or of purchase:
we may instance the Arabians (Rurckhardt's Noltt,
i. Ill; Layard's Ninerth, 1. 357) and tbe Egyp-
tians (fane, i. 230 ft".). From the enactments of
the Mosaic law we may infer that divorce was
effected by a mere verbal declaration, as it still is
in the countries referred to, and great injustice was
thus committed towards the wives.
Tbe Mosaic law aimed at mitigating rather than
removing evils which were inseparable from the
state of society in that day. Its enactments were
directed (1) to the discouragement of polygamy:
(2) to obviate the injustice frequently consequent
upon the exercise of the rights of a lather or a
master; (3) to bring divorce under some restric-
tion ; and (4) to enforce purity of life during the
maintenance of the matrimonial bond. The first
of these objects was forwarded by the following
enactments: the prohibition imposed upon kind's
against multiplying'' wives (Deut. xrii. 17); tbe
prohibition against marrying two sisters together
(Lev. xviii. 18); the assertion of the matrimonial
rights of each wife (Kx. xxi. 10, 11); the slur east
upon the eunuch state, which has been ever regarded
as indispensable to a system of polyeamy (Dent.
xxiii. 1); and the ritual olaervnnces entailed on a
man by the duty of marriage (1 ev. xv. 18). The
second object was attained by the humane regula-
tions relative In a captive whom a man might wish
to marry (Deut. xxi. 1(1-14), to a purchased wife*
xxi. 15) or "maidservant" (Bx. xxL T); the lattsr
applying to a purchased wife.
e The language In 1 Chr. II. 18, " these are hir soot /
following on the mention of his two wives, admits crl
an Interpretation on this ground.
<l The Talmudlsts practically set aside this rrohlbl
rlon, (1) by explaining the word "multiply" of at.
Inordinate number ; and (2) by treating the motive for
It, " that his heart turn not away," as a matter of dis-
cretion. They considered eighteen the maximum te
be allowed a kins (Seldeu, Vx. Bbr. I. 8). It Is note-
worthy that the high-priest himself authorises bigamy
In the case of king Joash (2 Chr. xxtv. 8).
' The regulations In Ex. xxi. 7-11 deserve a detailed
notice, >s exhibiting the extent to which the power of
the head of a family might be carried. It must be
premised that the maiden was born of Hebrew parents
was under age at the time of her sale (otherwise hat
father would have no power to sell), sad that the
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MAKBJAGE
IBs. xxi. 7-11), and to a ilave who either mi mar-
ried at the time of their purchase, or who, having
lince received a wife « at the hand* of his master,
was unwilling to be parted from her (Ex. xxi. 3-6),
and, lastly, by the law relating to the legal distri-
bution of property among the children of the differ-
ent wives (Deut. xxi. 15-17). The third obje#
was effected by rendering divorce a formal proceed-
ing, not to be done by word of mouth as heretofore,
lut by a "bill of divorcement" (Deut. xxiv. 1),
which would generally demand time and the inter-
vention of a third party, thus rendering divorce a
ken easy process, and furnishing the wife, in the
evnt of its being carried out, with a legal evidence
of her marriageability: we may also notice that
Hoses wholly prohibited divorce in case the wife
bad bean seduced prior to marriage (Deut. xxii. 39),
or her chastity bad been groundlessly impugned
(Deut. xxii. 19). The fourth object forms the sub-
ject of one of the ten commandments (Ex. xx. 14),
any violation of which was punishable with death
(Lev. xx. 10 j Deut. xxii. 22), even in the case of
a betrothed person (Deut xxii. 23, 24).
The practical results of these regulations may
have been very salutary, but on this point we have
but small opportunities of judging. The usages
themselves, to which we have referred, remained in
foil force to a late period. We have instances of
the arbitrary exercise of the paternal authority in
the cases of Achaah (Judi;. i. 12). Ibzan (Judg. xii.
»), Samson (Judg. xiv. 20, xv. 2), and Michal (1
Sam. xrii. 25). The case of Abishag, and the
language of Adonijah in reference to her (1 K. i. 2,
ii. 17), prove that a servant was still completely at
the disposal of bis or her master. Polygamy also
prevailed, as we are expressly informed in reference
to (Jkieon (Judg. viii. 30), Elkanah (1 Sam. i. 2),
Saul (2 Sam. xii. 8), David (2 Sam. v. 13), Solo-
moo (1 K. xL 3), the sons of Issaohar (1 Chr. vii.
4), Shaharaim (1 Chr. viii. 8, 9), Behoboam (2
Chr. xi. 21), Abijah (2 Chr. xiii. 21), and Joash
.9 Chr. xxiv. 3); and as we may also infer from
the number of children in the cases of Jair, Ibzan,
and Abdon (Judg. x. 4, xii. 9, 14). It does not,
however, follow that it was the general practice of
the country : the inconveniences attendant on polyg-
amy in small house* or with scanty incomes are
MARRIAUlt
1795
so great as to put a serious bar to Its genera,
adoption, 6 and hence in modern coumrles whom
it is fully established the practice Is restricted u
comparatively few (Niebuhr, Voyage, p. 66; Lane,
i. 2J9). The same rule holds good with regard to
ancient times: the discomforts of polygamy are
exhibited in the jealousies between the wives of
Abraham (Gen. xvi. 6), and of Elkanah (1 Sam. L
6); and the cases cited above rather lead to the
inference that it was confined to the wealthy.
Meanwhile it may be noted that the theory of
monogamy was retained and comes prominently
forward in the pictures of domestic bliss portrayed
in the poetical writings of this period (Pa. cxxviii.
3; Prov. v. 18, xviii. 22, xix. 14, xxxi. 10-29; EecL
ix. 9). The sanctity of the marriage-bond was
but too frequently violated, as appears from the
frequent allusions to the " strange woman " in the
book of Proverbs (ii. 16, v. 20, Ac), and in the
denunciations of the prophets against the prev-
alence of adultery (Jer. v. 8; Ex. xviii. 11, xxii
111.
to the post-Babylonian period monogamy appears
to have become more prevalent than at any pre-
vious time : indeed we have no instance of polyg-
amy during this period on record in the Bible, all
the marriages noticed being with single wives (Tob.
i. 9, ii. 11 ; Susan, w. 29, 63 ; Matt, xviii. 25 ; Luke
i. b; Acts v. 1). During the same period the
theory of monogamy is set forth in Ecclus. xxvi.
i- 27. The practice of polygamy nevertheless still
existed ; c Herod the Great had no less than nine
wives at one time (Joseph. Ant. xvii. 1, § 3 ) ; the Tal-
inudisti frequently assume it as a well-known fact
(e. g. Ketub. 10, { 1; Ytbam. 1, § 1); and the
early Christian writers, in their comments on 1
Tim. iii. 2, explain it of polygamy in terms which
leave no doubt as to the fact of its prevalence in
the Apostolic age. The abuse of divorce continued
unabated (Joseph. VU. § 76 ) ; and under the Asrno-
mean dynasty the right was assumed by the wife as
against her husband, an innovation which is attrib-
uted to Salome by Josephus (Ant. xr. 7, § 10).
but which appears to have been prevalent in the
Apostolic age, if we may judge from passages where
the language implies that the act emanated from
the wife (Mark x. 12; 1 Cor. vii. 11), as well as
object of the purchase was that when arrived at
puberty she should beoome the wife of her master, as
is implied In the difference In the law relating to her
(■x. xxi. 7), and to a slave purchased for ordinary
work (Deut. xv. 12-17), as well as ic the term dmia,
" maid-servant," which i* elsewhere used coavertibly
with " concubine " (J udz. Ix. 18 ; oomp. vtil. 3 1 ). With
reward to such it Is enacted (1) that she ts not to " go
sat as the men-servant* " (i. e. be freed after six years'
s rrioe, or in the ye>ir of jubilee), on the understand-
lu t that her master either already has made, or intends
U> saake her his wift (ver. 7) ; (2) but, if he has no
sash Intention, he is not entitled to retain her In the
event of any other parson of the Israelites being will-
jig to purchase her of him for the some purpose (ver.
I) ; (8) be might, however, assign her to his son, and
to this cam she was to be treated as a daughter and
sot as a slave (ver. 9) ; (4) if either he or Lis son, hav-
ing married her. took another wife, she was still to be
treated as a wife In all respects (ver. 10) ; and, lastly,
s* neither of the three contingencies took pls-ie, i. «.
if he neither married her himself, nor gavr her to
sis son, nor had her redeemed, then the maiden was
so beoome absolutely bee without waiting: for the ca-
stration of the six years or to the year of jubilee
war 11!
<■ In this case we must assume that the wife assigned
was a non-Israelltish slave ; otherwise, the wife would,
as a matter of course, be freed along with her hue
band in the year of jubilee. In this cue the wife
and children would be the absolute property of the
master, and the position of the wife would be analo-
gous to that of the Roman eonivUrnaiu, who was not
supposed capable of any eonnubium. The issue of
such a marriage would remain slaves in accordance
with the maxim of the Talmndists, that the child Is
liable to Its mother's disqualification (Kiddtuk. 8, J
12). Josephus (Ant. Iv. 8, § 28) states that In the year
of Jubilee the slave, having married during service,
carried off his wife and children with him: this, how
ever, may refer to an Israelite maid-servant.
t> The Talmudists limited polrgiunlsts to four wives
The same number was adopted by Mohammed In ths
Koran, and still forms the rale among his followers
(Niebuhr, Voyage, p. 62).
e Mlohaells (Laws o/ Kwi, 111. 6, $ 96) asserts that
polygamy ceased entirely after the return from the
Captivity ; 8elden, on ths other hand, that polygamy
prevailed among the Jews until the time of Houorloe
and A-adlua (dro. a. ». 400), when it was prohibit**
by an imperial edict ( Ux. Br. L 9)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1796
MARRTAGB
torn soroe of tin comments of the early writers on
1 Tim. t. 9. Our Lord and his Apostles reestab-
lished tfaa Integrity and sanctity of the marriage
bond by the following measures: (1) by the con-
firmation of the original charter of marriage an the
basis on which all regulation! were to be framed
(Matt. xix. 4, 5); (2) by the restriction of divorce
to the eaae of fornication, and the prohibition of
re-marriage in all pemna divorced on improper
grounds (Matt r. 82, xix. 9; Rom. vil. 3; 1 Cor.
rli. 10, 11); and (8) by the enforcement of moral
purity generally (Heb. xiii. 4, Ac), and especially
by the formal condemnation of fornication," which
appears to hare been classed among acta morally
indifferent (iiidpopa) by a certain party in the
Church (Acta xt. 20).
Shortly before the Christian era an important
change took place in the views entertained on the
question of marriage as affecting the spiritual and
intellectual parts of man's nature. Throughout
the Old Testament period marriage was regarded
aa the indispensable duty of every man, nor was it
surmised that there existed In it any drawback to
the attainment of the highest degree of holiness.
In the interval that elapsed between the Old and
New Testament periods, a spirit of asceticism hail
been evolved, probably in antagonism to the foreign
notions with which the Jews were brought into
dose and painful contact. The Kasenes were the
first to propound any doubts aa to the propriety iif
marriage: some of them avoided it altogether, others
availed themselves of it under restrictions (Joseph.
B. J. ii. 8. §§ 2, 13). Similar views were adopted
by the Therapeutae, and at a later period by the
Gnostics (Rurton'a Leelure$, !. 214); thence they
paaaed into the Christian Church, forming one of
the distinctive tenets of the Eneratites (Iturti.n. ii.
161), and finally developing into the system of
monaehlam. The philosophical tenets on which the
prohibition of marriage was baaed are generally
tondemned in Col. ii. 16-23, and apecificall.v in
I Tim. iv. 8. The general propriety of marriage
n enforced on numerous occasions, and abstinence
from it is commended only in cases where it was
rendered expedient by the calls of duty (Matt, xix
12; ICor. vii. 8, 26). With regard to re-marriage
after the death of one of the parties, the Jews, in
summon with other nations, regarded abstinence
from it, particularly in the ease of a widow, hud-
able, and a sign of holiness ( Luke ii. 36, 37 ; Joseph
Ant. xvii. 13, § 4, xviii. 6, § 6); but it is clear
from the example of Joaephua (Vil. § 76) that
there waa no prohibition even in the case of a
priest. In the Apostolic Church re-marriage i
regarded as occasionally undesirable (1 Cor. vii. 40),
and as an absolute disqualification for holy func-
tions, whether in a man or woman (1 Tim. Hi. 2,
12, r. 9): at the same time it is recommended in
the case of young widows (1 Tim. v. 14).
II. The conditions of legal marriage are decided
by the prohibitions which the law of any country
imposes upon its citizens. In the Hebrew eom-
MARRUGB
monweatth these prohibitions were u. two Mnda
according as they regulated marriage, (1.) betwjec
an Israelite and a non-Israelite, and (ii.) between
an Israelite and one of hia own oouummity.
i. The prohibitions relating to foreigners were
based on that instinctive feeling of excluaiveneaa,
•hich forms one of the bonds of every social body,
and which prevails with peculiar strength in a rude
state of society. In all political bodies the right
of marriage (jus conrndm) becomes in some form
or other a constituent element of citizenship, and,
even where its nature and limits are not defined by
legal enactment, it is supported with rigor by tri
force of public opinion. The feeling of sveraioi
againat intermarriage with foreigners becomes mira
Intense, when distinctions of religious creed super-
vene on those of blood and language; and hence
we should naturally expect to find it more than
usually strong in the Hebrews, who were endowed
with a peculiar position, and were separated from
surrounding nations by a sharp line of demarcation.
The warnings of past history and the examples of
the patriarchs came in support of natural feeling:
on the one hand, the evil effects of intermarriage
with aliens were exhibited in the overwhelming
sinfulness of the generation destroyed by the flood
(Gen. vi. 2-18): on the other hand, there were the
examples of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, marrying from among their owi. kindred
(Gen. xx. 12. xxir. 3, Ac, xxviil. 2), and in each
of the two latter cases there is a contrast between
these carefully-sought unions and those of the re-
jected sons Ishmsel, who married an Egyptian
(Gen. xxi. 21), and Esau, whose marriages with
Hittlte women wen " a grief of mind " to his
parents (Gen. xxri. 84, 36). The marriages of
Joseph with an Egyptian (Gen. xli. 48), of Manaa-
seh with a Syrian secondary wife (1 Chr. vii. 14;
eomp. Gen. xlvi. 20, LXX.), and of Moses with a
Midianitiah woman in the first instance (Ex. ii. 21 ).
and afterwards with a Cushite or Ethiopian woman
(Num. xii. 1 ). were of an exceptional nature, and
yet the laat was the cause of great dissatisfaction.
A far greater objection was entertained againat the
marriage of an Israelii ish woman with a man of
another trilw, as illustrated by the narrative of
Shechem's proposal* for llinah, the ostensible
ground of their rejection being the difference in
religious oliaen-ances, that Shechem and hia coun-
trymen were uncircumcised (tien. xxxiv. 14).
The only distinct prohibition in the Mosaic law
refers to the Csnaanites, with whom the Israelites
were not to marry • on the ground that it would
lead them into idolatry (Ex. xxxiv. 16: Dent vii
8, 4) — a result which actually occurred short ly
after their settlement in the Promised Land (Judg
iii. 6, 7). Rut beyond this, the legal disabilities
to which the Ammonites and Moalites were sub-
jected (Deut xxiii 3) acted aa a virtual bar to
intermarriage with them, totally preventing : ac-
cording to the interpretation which the Jewa them-
selves put upon that paaaage) the marriage of
» The term nervfc la occasionally used In a broad
■ease to Include both adultery (Matt. v. 82) and Incest
J Cor. v. 1). In the decree of the Council of Jeru-
salem It must be taganled In Its usual and restricted
e The set el marrJafS with a tbreapaar la described
to the Bsbrew by a special tana, sUMs (,»"in),
use asaw of the ajfhu'rjr thus pr oduc e d , ss appears
from the cognate tsnns, eMltm, chattn, and chotneh
for " son-in-law." « Ctther-n-Uw," and "mother-In.
law." It to used In Gen. xxxiv. 9; Deut vil. 8; Joan.
xx9l. 12 j 1 K. BL 1 ; Bar. rx. M ; and metaphorically
ha 2 Chr. xvlll 1. The asms Idea comes prominent!;
•award In the term oMtt* m Kx. Iv. 28, when It a
nssd of the sfflnlty produced by the rite of e
between Jehovah and the cbUd
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MASBIAOB
isnetttish womco with Moabites, bat permitting
that of Israelite* with Moabite womec, sueh as that
rf Mahlon with Ruth. The prohibition against
naniage* with the Edomites or Egyptians wai less
stringent, as a male of those nations received the
right of marriage on his admission to the full
citizenship in the third generation of proselytism
(Deut. xxiii. 7, 8). There wen thus three grades
of prohibition — total in regard to the Canaenilea
on either side; total on the side of the males in
regard to the Ammonites and Moabites; and tem-
porary on the side of the males in regard of the
Edomites and Egyptians, marriages with females
hi the two latter Instances being regarded as legal
(Seldeo, dt Jur. Nat. cap. 14). Marriages between
Israelite women and proselyted foreigner* were at
all times of rare occurrence, and are noticed in the
Bible, as though they were of an exceptional nature,
sneh as that of an Egyptian and an Israelitisb
woman (Lev. xxiv. ID), of Abigail and Jether the
lehmeelite, contracted probably when Jesse's family
was sojourning in Moab (1 Chr. ii. 17), of Sheshsn's
daughter and an Egyptian, who was staying in bis
house (1 Chr. ii. 35), and of a Naphthalite woman
and a Tyriao, bring in adjacent districts (1 K. vii.
14V In the reverse case, namely, the marriage
of Israelites with foreign women, it is, of course,
highly probable that the wives became proselytes
after their marriage, as instanced in the case of
Bath (i. 16); but this was by no means invariably
the ease. On the contrary we find that the Kgyp-
tian wife of Solomon (IK. xi. 4), and the Phceni
:ian win of Abab (1 K. xri. 31), retained their
idolatrous practices and introduced them into their
adopted countries. Proselytism does not therefore
appear to hare been a sine qui mm in the case of a
wife, though it was so in the case of a husband :
the total silence of the Law as to any sueh condition
in regard to a captive, whom an Israelite might
with to marry, most be regarded as evidence of the
reverse (Deut. xxl. 10-14), nor have the refinements
of Kabbinical writers on that passage succeeded in
establishing the necessity of proselytism. The op-
position of Samson's parents to his marriage with
a Philistine woman (Judg. xiv. 3) leads to the same
conclusion. So long as such unions wore of merely
ooossioual occurrence no veto was placed upon them
by public authority; but, when after the return
from the Babylonish Captivity the Jews contracted
marriages with the heathen inhabitants of Palestine
MAJUUJlGB
1797
in so wholesale a manner as to endanger then
national existence, the practice was severely con-
demned (Est. ix. 3, x. 8), and the law of positive
prohibition originally pronounced only agoiiul the
Canaanites was extended to the Moabites, Am-
monites, and Philistines (Neb, xui. 23-25). PubUs
feeling was thenceforth strongly opposed to foreign
marriages, and the union of Mannssph with a
Cuthssan led to such animosity as to produce the
great national schism, which had its focus in the
temple on Mount Gerixim (Joseph. Ant. xi. 8, § 2).
A no less signal instance of the same feeling is
exhibited in the cases of Joseph (Ant. xii. 4, § 0)
and Anileus (Aid. xviii. 9, § 5), and is noticed by
Tacitus (Hist. v. 5) as one of the characteristics
of the Jewish nation in bis day. In the N. T. no
special directions are given on this head, but the
general precepts of separation between believers and
unbelievers (2 Cor. vi. 14, 17)" would apply with
special force to the case of marriage; and the per-
mission to dissolve mixed marriages, contracted
previously to the conversion of one party, at the
instance of the unconverted one, cannot but be
regarded as implying the impropriety of sueh
unions subsequently to conversion (1 Cor. vii. 12).
The progeny of illegal marriages between Israel-
ites and non-Israelites was described under a pe-
culiar term, maimer* (A. V. "bastard"; Deut
xxiii. 3), the etymological meaning of which is
uncertain,* but which clearly involves the notion
of •' foreigner," as in Zech. ix. S, where the LXX.
has iWaywus, "strangers." Persons bom in
this way were excluded from full rights of citizen-
ship until the tenth generation (Deut. xxiii. 2).
it follows hence that intermarriage with such per-
sons was prohibited in the same manner as with
su Ammonite or Moabite (conip. Mishna, Kuilutt
4, SO-
ii. The regulations relative to marriage between
Israelites and Israelites may be divided into twe
classes: (1) general, and (2) special — the fbrmei
applying to the wliole population, the latter to par
ticular esses.
1. The general regulations are hosed on consid-
erations of relationship. The most important pas-
sage relating to these is contained in I-ev. xviii.
6-18, wherein we have in the first place a general
prohibition against marriages between a man and
the " flesh of his flesh," <* and in the second place
special prohibitions' against marriage with a
« The term fapofvyourrn (A. V. " unequally yoked
with "), has no special reference to marriage : Its uaean-
tnsf is shown in tba cognate term cYepd£i/yov (Lev. xix.
19; A. ?. « of a dints* kind"). It is, however, cor-
rectly connected in the A. T. with the notkra of a
" yoke," ss explained by Hetychias, ei n'i avfvyovVm,
sad not with that os* a « balance," as Theophrlact.
e Cognate words appear Id Rabbinical writer*, «lg-
sarjrfng (1) to jpin or wave ; (2) to be eorrupt, a* an
sesetsd egg ; (8) to riprn The important point to be
i b — r y*d is that the word does not betoken oastariy
In oar sens* of the term, but simply the progeny of a
mixed marriage of a Jew and a foreigner. It ma> be
with a special reference to this word that the Jews
tweeted that they ware not born " of fbrolcataoa "
i* woemiae, John vlll. 41), implying that there was
so admixture of foreign blood, or consequently of
sss sls js idolatries, m themselves.
■I The Hebrew ex pr es s ion T*!^ ~&f& (A- T -
•saw ef km ") Is generally regarded as applying to
blood-relationship alone. The etymological *enss ef
tbe term sheer is not decided. By some It Is connects*
with state-, " to remain," ss by MichaelU {Laws of
Moses, ill. 7, J 2), and in tba marginal translation oi
the A. V. " remainder ; " °but Its ordinary sense of
n Sesh " is more applicable. Whichever of these two
we adopt, the Idea of blood-iwlarianship evidently at-
tache* to the term from the esses In which It Is used
(w. 12, 18, 17 ; A. V. " near-kiuiwoman "), as well as
from Its use In Lev. xx. IS ; Nam. xxvli. 11. The
term basar, literally " flesh " or " body," Is also pern-
llarly vuwd of blood-relattonship (den. xxlx. 14, xxxvll.
27 ■ Jadg ix. 2 ; 2 Sam. v. 1 ; 1 Chr. xi. 1). The two
tar— is, sheer saw, are used conjointly in Lev. xxv. 49
ss equivalent to mishpaehah, " family." The term Is
applicable to relationship by anutty, in a* far as It
rewards the blood-relatkra* of a wife. The iwhvBJoo-
shtas specified may he classed under shies heads:
(1: blaod-r»latjooshlps proper in w. 7- 13 ; (S) the
wives of blood-relation* In w. 14-18; (8) the blood
of the wife In rv. 17, 18.
a Th» doarhaw st omittsd : whether si betas; saw
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1798
MAHRIAGE
■other, stepmother, titter, or half-Bister, whether
" born at home or abroad," « grand-daughter, aunt,
whether by consanguinity on either side, or by
marriage on the father's side, daughter-in-law,
brother's wife, step-daughter, wile's mother, step-
grand-daughter, or wife's sister during the lifetime
of the wife. 6 An exception is subsequently made
(Deut. xxv. 6) in favor of marriage with s brother's
wife in the event of hit having died childless: to
this we shall have occasion to refer at length.
Different degrees of guiltiness attached to the in-
fringement of these prohibitions, as implied both
in the different terms applied to the various
offenses, and in the punishments affixed to them,
the general penally being death (Lev. xx. 11-17),
hut in the case of the aunt and the brother's wife
childlessness (19-21), involving probably the stain
of illegitimacy in cases where there was an issue,
while in the case of the two sisters no penalty is
stated.
The moral effect of the prohibitions extended
beyond cases of formal marriage to those of illicit
intercourse, and gave a deeper dye of guilt to such
conduct as that of Lot's daughters (Gen. xix. 33),
of Reuben in his intercourse with his father's con-
cubine (Gen. xxxv. 22), and of Absalom in the
same act (2 Sam. xvi. 22); and it rendered rich
crimes tokens of the greatest national disgrace (Ez.
xxii. 11). The Rabbinical writers considered that
the prohibitions were abrogated in the case of
proselytes, inasmuch as their change of religion
was deemed equivalent to a new natural birth, and
consequently involved the severing of all ties of
eminently the " flesh of a man's flesh," or because
It was thought unnecessary to mention such a con-
section.
a The expression " born at home or abroad " has
been generally understood as equivalent to "In or out
of wedlock," 1. 1. the daughter of a father's concubine ;
but it may also be regarded as a re-statement of the
pncedlng words, and as meaning " one born to the
father, or mother, in a former marriage " (comp. Keil,
Aretiaol. II. 66). The distinction between the cases
specified in vv. 8 and 11 is not very evident : It prob-
ably consists In this, that ver. 9 prohibits the union
of a son of tbe first marriage with a daughter of the
second, and ver. 11 that of a son of the second with a
daughter of the first (Keil). On the other hand,
Knobel (nmm.inlat.) finds the distinction in tbe
words « wife of thy father " (ver. 11), which according
to him Includes tbe mother as well as the stepmother,
tod thus specifically states the full sister, while ver. 9
le reserved for the half-sister.
*> The sense of this verse has been much canvassed,
In connection with tbe queetion of marriage with a
deceased wire's sister. It has been urged that the
marginal translation, " one wife to another," is the
correct one, and that the prohibition Is really directed
against polygamy. The following considerations, how-
ever, support the rendering of the text. (1.) The writer
would hardly use the terms rendered " wife " and
• sister" in a different sense In vor. 18 from that
shleh he assigned to them in the previous verses.
.2.) Tbe usage of the Hebrew language and Indeed of
svery language, requires that the expression " one to
mother" should be preceded by a plural noun. Tbe
sssas In which the expression PtriPK-^ TV$Vl
« equivalent to " one to another,'^ as In Ex' xxvi. 8,
fs 6, 17, He. I. 9, 28. 111. 18, Instead or favoring, as has
(enerally been supposed, the marginal translation, ex-
hibit the peculiarity above noted. (8.) The consent
sf the ancient versions Is unanimous, Including the
UHX. (ysiufs ii is* ifcA+t? mirry ), the Vulgate ( -eramn
MABRIAGB
previous relationship: it was necessary, however, Is
such a case that the wife as well as the husband
should have adopted the Jewish faith.
The grounds on which these prohibitions wen
enacted are reducible to the following three heads
(1) moral propriety: (2) tbe practices of beathea
nations; and (3) social convenience. The first of
these grounds comes prominently forward in the
expressions by which the various offenses are char-
acterised, as well at in the general prohibition
against approaching " the flesh of his flesh." The
use of such expressions undoubtedly contains an
appeal bo tbe liorvor naturalu, or that repugnant
with which man instinctively shrinks from mctri
tr.onial union with one with whom be is connected
by the closest ties both of blood and of famirt
affection. On this subject we need say no men
than that there is a difference in kind betweau
tbe affection that binds the members of a family
together, and that which lies at the lot torn of the
matrimonial bond, and that the amalgamation of
these affections cannot take place without a serious
shock to one or the other of the two; hence tbe
desirability of drawing a distinct line between the
provinces of each, by stating definitely where tin
matrimonial affection may legitimately take root.
The second motive to laying down these prohibi-
tions was that tbe Hebrews might be preserved as
a peculiar people, with institutions distinct from
those of the iigyptians and Canaanites (Lev. xviii.
3), as well ss of other heathen nations with whom
they might come in contact. Marriages within tbe
proscribed degrees prevailed in many civilized coun-
uxnrii tv/r), tbe Chaldee, Syriac tfee. (1.) The Jews
themselves, as shown In the Hlsbna, and in the works
of Phllo, permitted the marriage. (6.) Polygamy was
recognised by the Mosaic law, and cannot consequently
be forbidden In this passage. Another Interpretation,
by which the sense of the verse is again altered, la
effected by attaching the words « in her life-time "
exclusively to the verb " vex." The objections to this
an* patent : (1) It Is but reasonable to suppose that
this clause, like the others, would depend on the prin-
cipal verb j and (2), If this were denied, It would be
bat reasonable to attach it to the nearest (" uncover "),
rather than the more remote secondary verb ; which
would be fetal to the sense of the passage.
e These terms are— (1.) Zimmak (fTBT ; A. V
" wickedness '"), applied to marriage with mother or
daughter (Lev xx. 11), with mother-io-law, step-
daughter, or grand-etep-uaughter (xvili. 17). The u mi
is elsewhere applied to gross violations of decenoy or
principle (Lev. xix. 29 ; Job xxxi. 11 ; A. xvi. 48,
xxU. 11). (2.) 7»el (b^JJJ; A. T. "confusion "),
applied to marriage with a daughter-in-law (Lev. xx
12] I : It signifies pollution, and Is applied to tbe went
kind of defilement (Lev. xvtll. 28). (8.) Chard (fQTl ;
A. V. "wicked thing"), applied to marriage with a
sister (Lev. xx. 17) : lit proper meaning appears to U
disgraa. (4.) NiddaK (PPO ; A. V. "an unclean
thing"), applied to marriage with a brother's wife
(Lev. xx. 21): It conveys the notion of impurity.
Mlchselts (Lam of Mono, ill. 7, J 2) asserts tout thees
terms have a forensic force ; but there appears to be
no ground for this. Tbe view which th- seme au-
thority propounds (J 4) as to the reason lor the pro-
hibitions, namely, to prevent seduction under the
promise of mamsge among near relations, is eingulaitr
Inadequate both to tbe oeeaslon and to the terms sea-
ployed.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MARRIAGE
•Ties in historical timet, and were not unusual
among the Hebrewi ttsmselves in the pre-Mosaic
age. For instance, marriages with half listers by
the tune father were allowed at Athene (Plutarch
CSm. p. 4, TkemulocL p 32), with half-sisters by the
same mother at Sparta (Philo, de Spec. Leg. p.
779), and with full sisters in Egypt (Diod. i. 27)
and Persia, as illustrated in the well-known in-
stances of Ptolemy l'hiladelphus in the former
. (Pain. i. 7, J 1), and Cambjses in the latter coun-
try (Herod, iii. 31). It was even believed that in
some nations marriages between a son and his
mother were not unusual (Or. Met. x. 331 ; Eurip.
Anthrom. p. 174). Among the Hebrewi we have
instances of marriage with a half-sister in the case
of Abraham (Gen. xx. 12), with an aunt in the case
of Amnio (Ex. vi. 20), and with two sisters at the
same time in the case of Jacob ((Sen. xxix. 26).
Such cases were justifiable previous to the enact-
ments of Moses: subsequently to them we have
no ease in the 0. T. of actual marriage within the
degrees, though the language of Tamar towards
her half-brother Amnon (2 Sam. xiii. 13) implies
the possibility of their union with the consent of
their father.* The Herods committed some violent
breaches of the marriage law. Herod the Great
married his half-sister (Ant. xrii. 1, § 3) ; Archelaus
his brother's widow, who had children (xvii. 13. §
1): Herod Antipas his brother's wile (xviii. 8, § 1;
Matt. xiv. 3). In the Christian Church we have
an instance of marriage with a father's wife (1 Cor.
v. 1 ). which St. Paul characterizes as " fornication ''
(roercla). and visits with the severest condemna-
tion. The third ground of the prohibitions, social
convenience, comes forward solely in the case of
marriage with two sisters simultaneously, the ettect
of which would be to " vex " or irritate the first
wife, and produce domestic jars."
A remarkable exception to these prohibitions ex-
isted in favor of marriage with a deceased brother's
wife, in the event of his having died childless.
« Tattoos attempts have been made to reconcile this
language with the LevitJcal law. The KabMnlcal ex-
plauatUm was that Tamar's mother was a heathen itt
toe tune of her birth, and that the law did not apply
to such a ease. Josephus (Ant. vil. 8, § 1) regarded it
as a mere rum on the prrt of Tamar to evade Ainnon's
Importunity : but, if the marriage were out of the
qaestioa, she would hardly have tried such a poor
device. Tbenius ( Oomm. in lor.) considers that toe
UsrtrJcal prohibitions applied only to cases where a
disruption of family bonds was likely to result, or
where the motives were of a grow character ; an argu-
Beat which would utterly abrogate the authority of
tbii and every other absolute law.
• The expression "VllJ? admits of another expla-
nation, " to peak together/' or combine the two In one
marriage, anl thus confound the nature of their rela-
tionship to one another. This Is Id one respect a
preferable meaning, Inasmuch as it Is not clear why
two sisters should be more particularly irritated than
say two not so related. The usage, however, of the
■agnate word TTTC, In 1 8am. 1. 8, favors the sense
vastly given; and In the Mlshua /THS is the
ssnal term lor the wives of a polygsmis' (Klsana,
fibam. L § 1).
e Th* TV 1 " 11 *"**! term for the obligation was yioMm
(BFO)^). from yabam (E3J), " husband's brother : "
lessee the title ybamotk of toe treatise In the afJehna
fee Ike mule Una of each marriages. Fr**n the same
MARRIAGE 179J»
The law which regulates this has been named the
" Levirate," « from the Latin Urir, " brother-in-
law." The custom is supposed to har6 originated
in that desire of perpetuating a name,'' which pre
vails all over the world, but with more than ordi-
nary force in eastern countries, and preeminently
among Israelites, who each wished to bear part in
the promise made to Abraham that " in his *crd
should all nations of the earth be blessed " (Gen.
xxvi. 4). The first instance of it occurs in the
patriarchal period, where Onan is called upon to
marry his brother Er's widow (Gen xxxviii. 8)
The custom was confirmed by the Mosaic law,
which decreed that " if brethren (i. e. sons of the
same father) dwell together (either in one family,
in one house, or, as the Rabbins explained it, in
contiguous properties : the first of the three senses
is probably correct), and one of them die and leave
no child (sen, here used in its broad sense, and not
specifically son ; compare Matt. xxii. 2d, pfc tx<"
(nr*p/ia; Mark xii. 19; Luke xx. 28, aVsxyos), the
wife of the dead shall not marry without (»'. e. out
of the family) unto a stranger (one unconnected by
ties of relationship) ; her husband's brother shall
go in unto her and take her to him to wife; " not,
however, without having gone through the usual
preliminaries of a regular marriage. The first-born
of this second marriage then succeeded in the name
of the deceased brother,* i. e. became his legal heir,
receiving his name (according to Josephus, Ant iv.
8, $ 23; but compare Ruth i. 2, iv. 17), and his
property (Deut. xxv. 5, 6). Should the brother
object to marrying his sister-in-law, he was pub-
licly to signify his dissent in the presence of the
authorities of the town, to which the widow re-
sponded hy the significant act of loosing his shoe
and spitting in his face, or (as the Talmudists
explained it) on the ground before him ( l'r6am. 12,
§6) — the former signifying the transfer of prop-
erty from one person to another/ (as usual among
root comes the term yiAeem (02*), to contract sueh a
marriage (den. xxxviii. 8).
>' The reason here assigned is hardly a satisfactory
one. May It not rather hare been connected with the
invrJuiM system, which would reduce a wlte Into the
poniuon of a chattel or manctpium, and give the sur-
vivors a reversionary Interest In her ? This view derives
some support from the statement In ilaxthansen's
Thnucauauia, p. 404. th-U among the O&setes, who
have a Levirate law of thdr own, In cbe event of none
o( the family marrying the widow, they are entitled
to a certain sum from any other husband whom she
may marry.
e The position of the Issue of a Levirate marriage,
as compared with other branches of the family, Is
exhibited In the case of Tamar, whose son by net
father-in-law, Judah, became the head of the family,
and the channel through whom the Messiah was boru
(Gen. xxxviii. 29 ; Matt i. 3).
/ The technical term for this act was khatiltak
(iT^pbrj), fromtaolote (V^IT), "*• draw off."
It Is of frequent occurrence in the treatise YebamoiA,
where minute directions are given as to the manner
in which the act was to be performed ; «. g. that the
shoe was to be of leather, or a sandal furnished wttn
a ueel-etrap ; a felt shoe or a sandal without a strap
would not do ( Ytbam. 12. S§ 1. 2). The khaUtzoh was
not ^*Ud when the psnuu penancing it wee .leaf ana
daub (§ 4), as he could not learn the precise formula
wh-.h sceompanled the act. The custom is retainei
uy th* modern Jews, and Is minutely oeecntvd by
Plcert Certmonin Rtlifiruxu, 1. 2481 It
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1800
MARRIAGE
the Indiana ami old Germans, Keil, ArchdoL H. 86),
Ui« latter the contempt due to a man who refused
lo perform his just obligations (Deut xxt. 7-9;
Kuth iv. 6-11). In this case It was permitted to
the next of kin to come forward and to claim both
the wife and the inheritance.
The 1-evirate marriage was not peculiar to the
■lews; it has been found to exist in many eastern
countries," particularly in Arabia (Burckhardt's
Note*, i. 113; Niebuhr's Vuyaye, p. 61), and
among the tribes of the Caucasus (Haxthausen's
Trmacnueana, p. 403). The Mosaic law brings
the custom into harmony with the general prohibi-
tion against marrying a brother's wife by restrict-
ing it to cases of childlessness ; and it further secures
the marriage bond as founded on affection by re-
lieving the brother of the obligation whenever he
was averse to the union, instead of making it com-
pulsory, as in the case of Onan (Gen. xxxviii. 9).
One of the results of the Levirate marriage would
be in certain cases the consolidation of two prop-
erties in the same family ; but this does not appear
to have been the object contemplated.*
The Levirate law offered numerous opportunities
for the exercise of that spirit of casuistry, for which
the Jewish teachers are so conspicuous. One such
case is brought forward by the Sadducees for the
sake of entangling our Lord, and turns upon the
complications which would arise in the world to
come (the existence of which the Sadducees sought
to invalidate) from the circumstance of the same
woman having been married to several brothers
(Matt xxii. 23-30). The Kabbinical solution of
this difficulty was that the wife would revert to the
first husband : our Lord on the other hand sub-
verts the hypothesis on which the difficulty was
based, namely, that the material conclitiui.s of the
present life were to be carried on in the world to
come; and thus He asserts the true character of
marriage as a temporary and merely human insti-
tution. Numerous difficulties are suggested, and
minute regulations laid down by the Talmudical
writers, the chief authority on the subject being
the book of the Mishna, entitled Yebamuth. From
this we gather the following particulars, as illus-
trating tile working of the law. If a man stood
within the proscribed degrees of relationship in
reference to his brother's widow, he was exempt
from the operation of the law (2, § 3), and if he
were on this or any other account exempt from the
•Justratloo from the expression used by the modern
Arabs, In speaking of a repudiated wife, '" She was
my slipper: I have cost her off" (Burckhardt. Notrt,
118).
a The variations In the usages of the U-vlr ito mar-
riage are worthy of notice. Among the Ossetes in
Oeorgia the marriage of the widow taken pluoe If there
sre children, and may be contracted by the lather
w welt as the brother of the deceased husband. If
l jo widow has no children, the widow is purcluweeble
by another husband, as already noticed (Haxthausen,
pp 408, 404). Id Arabia, the right of marriage is
extended from the brother's widow to the cousin.
Neither in this nor In the ease of the brother's widow
■ the marriage compulsory on the part of the woman,
[hough In the former the man can put a veto upon
any other marriage (Burckhardt, Note.*, i. 112, 118).
Another development of the Levtnte principle may
.whape be noticed hi the privilege which the king
nooyed of succeeding to the wives as well as the throne
«f bis predecessor (2 Bam. xil. 8). Hence Absalom's
pttboe seizure of his father's wives was not only a
MARK1AOK
obligation to marry one of the widows, he was taw
from the obligation to marry any of thian (I, { 1)
it is also implied that it was only necessary for oni
brother to marry one of the widows, in cases when
there were several widows left. The marriage was
not to take place within three months of the hus-
band's death (4, § 10). The eldest brother >ught
to perform the duty of marriage; but, on bis de-
clining it, a younger brother might also do it (2, §
8, 4, § 5). Tbe klmlilznh was regarded as involving
future relationship; so that a man who had received
it could not marry the widow's relations within the
prohibited degrees (4, $ 7). Special rules are laid
down for at.es where a woman married under a
false impression as to her husband's death (10, § 1 J,
or where a mistake took place as to whether her
son or her husUnd died first (10, § 3), for in tin
latter case the Levirate law would not apply; am!
again as to the evidence of the husliand's death tc
be produced in certain cases (caps. 15, 16).
From the prohibitions expressed in tbe Bible,
others have been deduced by a process of inferential
reasoning. Thus the Talmudists added to the
Levities! relationships several remoter ones, which
they termed tecondary, such as grandmother and
great-grandmother, great-grandchild, etc : the only
points in which they at all touched tbe Levitical
degrees were, that they added (1) the wife of the
father's uttrint brother under tbe idea that in tbe
text the brother described was only by tbe same
father, and (2) the mother's brother's wife, for
which they had no authority (Seldeii, Ux. h.ltr.
i. 2). Considerable differences of opinion haw
arisen as to tbe extent to which this process of
reasoning should be carried, and conflicting laws
have been made in different countries, professedly
based on the same original authority. It does not
fall within our province to do more than endeavor
to point out in what respects and to v. hat extent
the Biblical statements bear upon tbe subject. In
the first place we must observe that the design of
the legislator apparently was to give an exhaustive
list of prohibitions ; for he not only gives examples
of dt-i/rrei) of relationship, but he specifies the pro-
hibitions in cases which are strictly parallel to each
other, e. o\, son's daughter and daughter's daughter
(Lev. xviii. 10), wife's son's daughter and wife's
daughter's daughter (ver. 17): whereas, bad he
wished only to exhibit the prohibited degree, one
of these instances would have been sufficient. In
branch of morality, but betokened bis usurpation ol
the throne (2 Sam. xvl. 22). And so, again, Ailomjah's
request for the hand of AbUhag was regarded by Solo-
mon as almost equivalent to demanding the throne (1
K. U. 22^
* The history of Ruth's marriage has led to some
misconception on this point. Boas stood to Ruth In
the position, not of a Levlr (for he was only ut hus-
band's cousin), but of a GoW, or redeemer in Un
second degree (A. V. " near kinsman." ili. 9) : iu> such,
he redeemed the inheritance of Naomi, after the refusal
of the redeemer iu the nearest degree. In conformity
with Lrv. xxv. 26. It appears to have been customary
fbr the redeemer at the same time to marry the heiress
but this custom Is not founded on any written law
The writer of the book of Ruth, according to Sclaea
( Dr Show. cap. 16), confute* the laws relating to the
Uifl and the Levir, as Joseph us (Ant. v. 9, § 1) has
undoubtedly done ; but this is an unner essary assump
tlon : the custom is one that may 'veil have axisesa is
conformity with the jpirti of tbe law of the LevwaSs
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MARRIAGE
lha second phee it appcani certain that he did not
regard the degree an the text of the prohibition;
for lie establishes a different rule in regard to a
brother' ■ widow and a deceased wife's lister, though
the degree of relationship is in each ease strictly
parallel. It cannot, therefore, in the face of this
exp r e ss enactment be argued that Moses designed
his countrymen to infer that manias with a niece
was illegal because that with the aunt was, nor yet
that marriage with a mother's brother's wife was
included in the prohibition of that with the father's
brotlier's wife. For, though no explicit statement
b made as to the legality of these two latter, the
rule of interpretation casually given to us in the
Srst must Le held to apply to them also. In the
third place, it must be assumed that there were
some tangible and even strong grounds for the dis-
tinctions noted in the degrees of equal distance;
and it then becomes a matter of importance to as-
certain whether these grounds are of perpetual
force, or arise out of a peculiar state of society or
legislation ; if the latter, then it seems Justifiable
to suppose that on the alteration of that state we
may recur to the spirit rather than the letter of
the enactment, and may infer prohibitions which,
though not existing in the Levities! law, may yet
be regarded as based upon it.
The cases to which these remarks would most
pointedly apply are marriage with a deceased wife's
sister, a niece, whether by blood or by marriage,
and a maternal uncle's widow. With regard to
the first and third of these, we may observe that
the Hebrews regarded the relationship existing be-
tween the wife and her husband's family, as of a
closer nature than that between the husband and
his wife's family. To what extent this difference
was supposed to hold good we have no means of
judging; but as illustrations of the difference we
may not* (t) that the husband's brother stood in
the special relation of levir to his brother's wife,
and was subject to the law of I .evirate marriage in
consequence; (2) that the nearest relation on the
Imshand's side, whether brother, nephew, or cousin,
stood in the special relation of goi /, or avenger of
blood to his widow; and (3) that an heiress was
restricted to a marriage with a relation on her
father's aide. As no corresponding obligations
existed in reference to the wife's or the mother's
family, it follows almost sa a matter of course that
the degree of relationship must hare been regarded
as different in the two cases, and that prohibitions
■night on this account he applied to the one, from
which the other was exempt. When, however, we
tTanspUnt the Leviticnl regulations from the He-
ll rew to any other commonwealth, we are full/ war-
ranted in taking into account the temporary and
load conditions of relationship in each, and in ex-
tending the prohibitions to cases where alterations
In the social or legal condition have taken place.
lie question to be fairly argued, then, is not simply
whether marriage within a certain degree is or is
not permitted by the Levities! law, but whether,
allowing for the altered state of society, mulaiU
msbmdtt, it appears in conformity with the general
suirit of that law. The ideas of different nations
ss to relationship differ widely ; and, should it
happen that in the social system of a certain coun-
try a relationship is, aa a matter of fact, regarded
a an intimate one, then it is clearly permissible
■ Fssss Ss. zHt. 22 It appears that the !aw relative
• Ms is m l i s ss of prlssts was afterwards mads mote
MARRIAGE 1801
for the rulers of that country to prohibit marriage
in reference to it, not on i he ground of any ex-
pressed or implied prohibition in reference to it in
particular in the book of Leviticus, but on the
general ground that Moses intended to prohibit
marriage among near relations. The application
of such a rule in some cases is clear enough ; no
one could hesitate for a moment to pronounce mar-
riage with a brother's widow, even in cases where
the Mosaic law would permit it, as absolutely illegal
in the present day : inasmuch as the peculiar obli-
gation of the Levir has been abolished. As little
could we hesitate to extend the prohibition from
the paternal to the maternal uncle's widow, now
that the peculiar differences between relationships
on the father's and the mother's side are abolished.
With regard to the vexed question of the deceased
wife's sister we refrain from expressing an opinion,
inasmuch sa the case is still in lite ; under the rule
of interpretation we hare already laid down, the
case stands thus : such a marriage is not only not
prohibited, but actually permitted by the letter of
the Mosaic Law ; but it remains to be argued
(1) whether the permission was granted under
peculiar circumstances; (2) whether those or strictly
parallel circumstances exi«t in the present day ; and
(3) whether, if they do not exist, the general tenor
of the Mosaic prohibitions would, or would not,
justify a community in extending the prohibition
to such a relationship on the authority of the lie-
vitical law. In what has been said on this point,
it must be borne in mind that we are viewing the
question simply in its relation to the Levltical law:
with the other arguments pro and con bearing on
it, we have at present nothing to do. With regard
to the marriage with the niece, we have some diffi-
culty in suggesting any sufficient ground on which
it was permitted by the Mosaic law. The Rab-
binical explanation, that the distinction between
the aunt and the niece was based upon the rtsptctut
parenlela, which would not permit the aunt to be
reduced from her natural seniority, but at the same
time would not object to the elevation of the niece,
cannot be regarded as satisfactory; for, though it
explains to a certain extent the difference between
the two, it places the prohibition of marriage wins
the aunt, and consequently the permission of that
with the niece, on a wrong basis; for in Lev. xz.
19 consanguinity, and not re*pectvt parenlela, is
stated as the ground of the prohibition. The Jews
appear to have availed themselves of the privilege
without scruple : in the Bible itself, indeed, we
have but one instance, and that not an undoubted
one, in the case of Othniel. who was probably the
brother of Caleb (Josh. xv. 17), and, if so, then the
uncle of Achsah his wife. Several such marriages
are noticed by Josephus, ss in the case of Joseph,
the nephew of Onias (Ant. xii. *, § 6), Herod the
Great (Ant xvil. 1, § 3), and Herod Philip (Ant.
xviil. ft, § 1). But on whatever ground they were
formerly permitted, there can be no question as to
the propriety of prohibiting tbem in the present day.
2. Among the special prohibitions we have to
notice the following. (1.) The high-priest was for
bidden to marry any except a virgin selected from
his own people, i. e. an Israelite (Lev. xxL 13, 14)
He was thus exempt from the action of the Levinls
law (2.' The priests were less restricted In then
dunce 11 ; they were only prohibited from marrying
rhjw : they eould marry only maklsne of IsraeiMsk
orhdn or tha widows of pries t s
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1802
MARBIAGE
prostituted and divorced women (Lev. xxl. 7). (3.)
Heiresses were proliibited from marrying out of
their own trilie." with the view of keeping the pos-
Mraiona of the several tribes intact (Num. xxxvi.
6-9; comp. Tob. vii. 10). (4.) Persona defective
in physical powers were not to intermarry with
Israelites by virtue of the regulations in Deut.
xxiii. 1. (5.) In the Christian Church, bishops
and deacons were prohibited from having more
than one wife (1 Tim. iii. 2, 12), a prohibition of
an ambiguous nature, inasmuch as it may refer
(1) to polygamy in the ordinary sense of the term,
as explained by Theodoret (in he.), and most of
the Fathers; (2) to marriage after the decease of
'hi first wife; or (3) to marriage after divorce
luring the lifetime of the first wife. The probable
tense is second marriage of any kind whatever,
including all the three cases alluded to, but with
a special reference to the two last, which were
iliovrable in the case of the laity, while the first
was equally forbidden to all. The early Church
generally regarded second marriage as a disqualifi-
cation tor the ministry, though on this point there
was not absolute unanimity (see Bingham, Ant. iv.
5, § 1-3). (6.) A similar prohibition applied to
those who were candidates for admission into the
ecclesiastical order of widows, whatever that order
may have been (1 Tim. v. 9); in this case the
words " wife of one man " can be applied but to
two cases, (at) to re-marriage after the decease of
the husband, or (b) after divorce That divorce
was obtained sometimes at the instance of the wife,
is implied in Mark x. 12, and 1 Cor. vii. 11, and is
alluded to by several classical writers (see Whitby,
in loc.). But St. Paul probably refers to the gen-
eral question of re-marriage. (7.) With regard to
the general question of the re- marriage of divorced
persons, there is some difficulty in ascertaining the
sense of Scripture. According to the Mosaic Law,
a wife divorced at the instance of the husband
might marry whom she liked : but if her second
husband died or divorced her she could not revert
to her first husband, on the ground that, as far as
he was concerned, she was •> defiled " (Deut. xxiv.
2-4); we may infer from the statement of the
ground, that there was no objection to the re-mar-
riage of the original parties, if the divorced wife
had remained unmarried in the interval. If the
wife was divorced on the ground of adultery, her
re-marriage was impossible, inasmuch as the pun-
ishment for such a crime was death. In the N. T.
there are no direct precepts on the subject of the
re-marriage of divorced persons. All the remarks
bearing upon the point had a primary reference to
an entirely different subject, namely, the abuse of
divorce. For instance, our lord's declarations in
Matt. t. 82, xix. 9, applying as they expressly do
to the case of a wife divorced on other grounds
than that of unfaithfulness, and again St. Paul j,
in 1 Cor. vii. 11, pro-supposing a contingency
which he himself bad prohibited as l«ing improper,
cannot be regarded as directed to the general ques-
tion of re-marriage. In applying these passages to
xu* own circumstances, due regard must be had
to the peculiar nature of the Jewish divorce, which
was not, a* with us, a judicial proceeding based on
evidence and pronounced by authority, but the
irl.itrary, and sometimes capricious act of an iu-
« The clone analogy of this regulation to the
4<DAnlan law respecting the jirixAijpoi has been al-
»aj) noticed In the article on Una.
MARRIAGE
dividual. The assertion that a woman divorced ox
Improper and trivial ground* is made to commit
adultery, does not therefore bear upon the question
of a person divorced by judicial authority: no such
case as our Lord supposes can now take place; at
all events it would take place only in connection
with the question of what form adequate grounds
for divorce. The early Church was divided in it*
opinion on this subject (Bingham, Am. xxii. 2, §
12). [Divorck, Amer. ed.]
With regard to age, no restriction is pronounced
in the Bible. Early marriage is spoken of with
approval in several passages (Prov. ii. 17, v. 18; Is.
lxii. 6), and in reducing this general statement to
the more definite one of years, we must take into
account the very early age at which persons arrive
at puberty in oriental countries. In modern Egypt
marriage takes place in general before the bride
has attained the age of 16, frequently when she
is 12 or 13, and occasionally when she is only 10
(Lane, i. 208). The Talmudists forbade marriage
in the case of a man under 13 years and a day.
and in the case of a woman under 12 years and a
day (Buxtorf, Syruigog. cap. 7, p. 143). The
usual age appears to hare been higher, about 18
years.
Certain days were fixed for the ceremonies ot
betrothal and marriage — the fourth day for virgins
and the fifth for widows (Mishna, Kttvb. 1, § \).
The more modem Jews similarly appoint different
days for virgins and widows, Wednesday and Friday
for the former, Thursday for the latter (Picart, i.
240).
III. The customs of the Helrews and of oriental
nations generally, in regard to the preliminaries of
marriage as well as the ceremonies attending the
rite itself, differ in many respects from those with
which we are familiar. In the first place, the
choice of the bride devolved not on the bridegroom
himself, but on his relations or on a friend deputed
by the bridegroom for this purpose. Thus Abra-
ham sends Kliezer to find a suitable bride for his
son Isaac, and the narrative of his mission affords
one of the most charming pictures of patriarchal
life (Gen. xxiv.); Hagar chooses a wife for Ishmael
(Gen. xxi. 21); Isaac directs Jacob in his choice
(Gen. xxviii. 1); and Judah selects a wife for Er (Gen.
xxxviii. 6). It does not follow that the bridegroom's
wishes were not consulted in this arrangement ; on
the contrary, the parents made proposals at the in-
stigation of their sons in the instances of Shecbem
(Gen. xxxiv. 4, 8) and Samson (Judg. xiv. 1-10).
A marriage contracted without the parents' inter-
ference was likely to turn out, as in Ksau'a cue,
" a grief of mind " to them (Gen. xxvi. 33, xxvii.
46). As a general rule the proposal originated
with the family of the bridegroom : occasionally,
when there was a difference of rank, this rule was
reversed, and the bride was offered by her father,
as by Jethro to Moses (Ex. ii. 21). by Caleb to
Othniel (Josh. xt. 17), and by Saul to David
(1 Sam. xviii. 27). The Imaginary case of women
soliciting husbands (Is. ir. 1 ) was designed to con-
vey to the mind a picture of the ravages of war,
by which the greater part of the males had fallen.
The consent of the maiden was sometimes asked
(Gen. xxiv. 68); but this appears to have been
subordinate to the previous consent of the father
and the adult brothers (Gen. xxiv. 61, xxxiv. 11)
Occasionally the whole business of selecting thf
wife was left in the hands of a friend, and henes
the ess* might arise which is supposed by tha Tat
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MARRIAGE
nudists ( Ytbam. 2, t§ 6, 7), that ft man might not
M aware to which of tw; listen ha was betrothed.
So in Egypt at the present day the choice of a wife
h sometime) entrusted to a professional woman
styled a khdfbth : and it is seldom that the bride-
groom sees the features of his bride before the
marriage has taken place (lane, i. 209-211).
The selection of the bride was followed by the
espousal, which was not altogether like our " en-
gagement," but was a formal proceeding, under-
taken by a friend or legal representative on the
part of the bridegroom, and by the parents on the
part of the bride; it was confirmed by oaths, and
accompanied with presents to the bride. Thus
Uieier, on behalf of Isaac, propitiates the favor
of Kehekah by presenting her in anticipation with
a massive golden nose-ring and two bracelets ; he
then proceeds to treat with the parents, and, having
obtained their consent, he brings forth the more
costly and formal presents, "jewels of silver, and
jewels of gold, and raiment," for the bride, and
presents of less value for the mother and brothers
(Gen. xxiv. 28, 53). These presents were descrtlied
by different terms, that to the bride by mohar"
(A V. '• dowry " ), and that to the relations by
MARRIAGE
1808
« The term mohar ("17112) occurs only thrice In
the Bible (Gen. xxxlr. 12 ;*Kx. xxli 17 ; 1 Sam. xvill,
26). From the snood of the three passages, compared
with Dent. axil. 29, it has been Inferred that the aum
was in all eases paid to the father; but this inference
b unfounded, became the sum to be paid according to
that passage was not the proper molar, but a sum
"according to," i. «. equivalent to the mohar, and this,
not as a price for the bride, but ss a penalty lor the
offense committed. The origin of the term, and con-
sequently its apeclflo una, Is uncertain. Oesenius
{Tkrt. p. 77S) has evolved the sense of "purchsse-
money " by connecting It with "1JD, ™ to sell." It
has also been connected with "liTD, « to hasten,"
sa though it signified a presen t hastily product* for the
bride when her consent was obtained ; and again with
"if I a, "morrow," as though It were the gift pre-
sented to the bride on the morning after the wedding,
like the German Morgtn-gabt (Saalachuts, Archaol. II.
19ft.
• Quarett (Cbmms/itant Lint- Hobr. ed. 2d, p. 875)
has well said : « SlgiunuUones dotandi et sccelerandl
lunmodo coinetderfnt In unum verbtim. qoidque oom-
uune habeant, viz dlxerla." The writer of the pre-
i«dtag paragraph, In speaking of " the origin of tbe
term and Its apadnc mm*," neglect* to notice Flint's
phoneue combinations, and the Arabic usage, by which
he very naturally connects the different senses of
"It io with the ground meaning tojtow ; namely, to
fine onward, to haMen on, and to Jluie mcay to, In
the sense of passing over from one to another In ex-
ihaaga, and "hence to lake in txthanrr (through a
lift, "inb) a wlfb,l.e. to marry, Kx. xxil. 16." lie
waBnss "11TO, " a gift, a marriagt fjft orame, paid
to the parents of the irhV"
In Kx. zxfl. U, 18 (A. ▼. 18, 17) tbe oflander, In the
esse supposed, Is required to nay the usual purcbase-
jsceay to the parent, the latw>r being allowed to give
tw daughter In marriage or not, at his own option.
' According to the rrrmharn mfmaxjf virgins '' means
ten s um uaually pafct fbr a virgin received In marriage.
r»» axnewasan, " be shall pay money," In ha nmue-
Jsss. oooaeeffon with the preceding clause "If her
Mherwtssrlj nrftaa, in gr„ bar unto him," wrtalaly
aaiJIea that U shall be paid to the "fcthar."
nsotfan. 4 Thus Shechem offers " never so much
dowry and gift " (Gen. xxxir. 12), the former lot
the bride, the latter for the relations. It has been
supposed indeed that the mohar was a price paid
down to the father for the sale of his daughter.
Such a custom undoubtedly jirevaila in certain
parts of the* East at the present day, but it does not
appear to hare been the case with free women in
patriarchal times; for the daughters of Laban make
it a matter of complaint that their father had
bargained for the services of Jacob in exchange for
their hands, just as if they were " strangers " (Gen.
xxxi. 15); and the permission to sell a daughter
was restricted to the case of a "servant" or
secondary wife (Ex. xxl. 7): nor does David, when
complaining of the non-completion of Saul's bargain
with bim, use the expression " I bought for," but
11 [ ttpvuted to me for an hundred foreskins of the
Philistines" (2 Sam. iii. 14). The expressions in
Hos. iii. 2, " So I bought her to me," and in Kuth
iv. 10, " Kuth have I purchattd to be my wife,"
certainly appear to favor the opposite view; it
should be observed, however, that in the former
passage great doubt exists sa to the correctness of
the translation »; and that in the latter the case
The point now at Issue is slated too strongly In the
text, by saying, " it has been supposed that the mohar
was a price paid down to the father for the asle of his
daughter." The customary present to the father, la
return for the gift of his daughter In marriage, origi-
nating in such a custom, continued to be expressed by
this word, though only an honorary acknowledgment
of the favor shown by him In bestowing his daughter'!
hand. This view of the case disposes, substantially,
of the objections urged in the text But It may br
added, that the statement there nude of the grouns
of complaint, on the part of Laban'a daughters, la so
unnecessary anil forced construction of the language
In ch. xxxi. 15. lAban's right to require Jacob's
service, in return for giving them in marriage, we*
not questioned by Jacob, nor, so our ss appears, by
them. (See Gen. xxix. 15, 18, 20.) The natural eon
structlon of their oomplalnt la, that they are treated,
In all respects, as aliens, and not as of bis own flesh
and blood. Similar to this, la effect, Is Jacob's com-
plalntdn oh. xxxi. 42, " Surely thou wouldst now have
sent me away empty." In the oase of David and Saul
the mohar Is expressly declined by the latter (1 Sam
xvtll. 26) ; and la place of It, ha accepts the proofs
that u hundred Philistines hare been slain, " to be
avenged of the king's enemies." Evidently, this re-
quirement was made by the king on bis own behalf,
and in place of the usual present to the lather. Foi
this reason, ss well as on the general ground above
stated, that the manor had become only nn honorary
present to the father, David could say (2 Sam. HI 141
" I espoused," etc., instead of « 1 bought."
T. J. C.
o ]nQ, The Importance of presents at me Urns
of betrothal appears from tbe application of the terns
snu (B?"]H), Utsrally, « to make a present," In the
special sense of" to betroth."
e The term used (7T1S) has a general sense " v.
make an agreement." The meaning of the veras sa
pears to be this: the Prophet had previously mat
rled a wife, named Gamer, who bad turned out un-
faithful to him. He had separated from ber ; but he
i ordered to renew bis Intimacy with ber, and pre-
vious to doing this ha places ber on ber probe,
tton. esttlng her apart for a time, and for her matai
tenanoe agreeing to give her fifteen pieces of iJlver u
addition to a osrtaln amount of food.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1804
MARRIAGE
would not be conclusive, u Ruth might well be
Hoiidered at included in the purchase of her prop-
erty. It would undoubtedly be expected that the
■mohar should be proportioned to the position of the
bride, and that a poor man could not on that ac-
count afford to marry a rich wife (1 Sam. xviii.
13). Occasionally the bride rewired- a dowry a
from her father, as instanced in the cases of Caleb's
(Judg. i. 15) and Pharaoh's (1 K. be 16) daugh-
ters. A " settlement," in the modern sense of the
term, i. e. a written document securing property
to the wife, did not come into use until the post-
Babylonian period: the only instance we hare of
one is in Tob. vii. 11, where it is described as an
« instrument " (ovyypturf). The Talmudist* styled
it a ketubnhf' and hare laid down minute directions
as to the disposal of the sum secured, in a treatise
of the Mishna expressly on that subject, from
which we extract the following particulars. The
peculisrity of the Jewish kttubnh consisted in this,
that it was a definite sum, varying not according
to the circumstances of the parties, but according
to the state of the bride, • whether she be a spinster,
a widow, or a divorced woman 1 ' (1, § 2): and
further, that the dowry could not lie claimed until
the termination of the marriage by the death of the
husband or by divorce (5, § 1 ), though advances
might be made to the wife previously (9, § 8).
Subsequently to betrothal a woman lost all power
over her property, and it became vested in the hus-
band, unless he had previously to marriage re
nounoed his right to it (8, § 1 ; 9, § 1 ). Stipulations
were entered into for the increase of the krlubtiii,
when the bride had a handsome allowance (B, § :)).
The act of betrothal* was celebrated by a feast
(1, § 6), and among the more modem Jews it is the
custom in some parts for the bridegroom to plnce a
ring on the bride's finger (Picart, i. 289) — a cus-
tom which also prevailed among the Romans (Did.
of AM. p. 601). Some writers have endeavored
to prove that the rings noticed in the 0. T. (Kx.
xxxv. 22; Is. HI. 21) were nuptial rings, bat there
is not the slightest evidence of this. The ring was
nevertheless regarded among the Hebrews as a
token of fidelity (Gen. xli. 42), and of adoption
Into a family (Luke xv. 22). According tooelden
it was originally given as an equivalent for dowry-
money (Uxor E&raic. ii. 14). Between the be-
trothal and the marriage an interval elapsed, vary-
ing from a few days in the patriarchal age (Gen.
•> The technical term of the TaluiudM for the dowry
whfch the wife brought to her b unbind, answering to
Use dot of the Latins, was fcMYTJ.
• fpVffl, literally "a writing." The tarn waa
tlso specifically applied to the ram settled on the wife
ty the husband, answering to the Latin donatio proptrr
nuptias.
e The practice of the modern Egyptians illustrates
ibis ; for with them the dowry, though Its amount dif-
fers according to the wealth of the suitor, Is still grad-
uated according to the state of the hride. A certain
portion only of the dowry Is paid down, the rest being
leld In reserve (Lane, I 211). Among the modern
lews alio the amount of the dowry varies with the
Kate of the bride, according to a fixed scale (Picart. I.
m\
d The amount of the dowry, according to the Mosaic
*w, appears to have been fifty shekel" (fc. xxll. IT,
mapired with Deut. xxll. 29).
< The technical term used b> the TahnodleW for
sasrathmg was kiddtuHn ft^Hp), derived from
MARRIAGE
xxlv. 65), to a full year for virgins and a month ft*
widows in later times. During this period tin
bride-elect lived with her friends, and all communi-
cation between herself and her future husband waa
earned on through the medium of a friend deputed
for the purpose, termed the " friend of the bride-
groom" (John ili. 29). She was now virtually
regarded as the wife of her future husband ; for it
was a maxim of the Jewish law that bet'othal wis
of equal force with marriage (Phil. De rpee. ley
p. 788). Henoe faithlessness on her part was pun-
ishable with death (Deut xxii. 23, 84) '.he hue
bend having, however, the option of " putting hei
away " (Matt. i. 19) by giving her a bin of divorce-
ment, in case be did not wish to proceed to such
an extreme punishment (Deut- xxiv. 1). False
accusations on this ground were punished by a
severe fine and the forfeiture of the right of divorce
(Deut. xxii. 13-19). The betrothed woman could
not part with her property after betrothal, except
in certain cases (Ketub. 8, § 1 ) : and, in short, the
bond of matrimony wss as fully entered into by
betrothal, as with us by marriage. In this respect
we may compare the practice of the Athenians, who
regarded the formal betrothal as indispensable to
the validity of a marriage contract (Did. of Ant.
p. 698). The customs of the Nestorians afford
several points of similarity in respect both to the
mode of effecting the betrothal and the importance
attached to it (Grant's Nettoriaru, pp. 197, 198).
We now come to the wedding itself: and in this
the most observable point is, that there were no
definite religious ceremonies connected with it./
It is probable, indeed, that some formal ratification
of the espousal with an oath took place, aa implied
in some allusions to marriage (Ex. xvi. 8; Mai. ii.
14), particularly in the expression, " the covenant
of her God " (Prov. ii. 17), as applied to the mar-
riage Iwnd, and that a blessing was pronounced
(Gen. xxiv. 60; Ruth iv. 11, 12) sometimes by the
parents (Tob. vii. 13). But the essence of the
marriage ceremony consisted in the removal of the
bride from her father's house to that of the bride-
groom or his fathers'
The bridegroom prepared himself for the occa-
sion by putting on s festive dress, and especially by
placing on his head the handsome turban described
by the term pelr (Is. lxi. 10; A. V. "ornaments"),
and a nuptial crown or garland * (Cant. in. 11) -. be
was redolent of myrrh and frankincense and " all
BTJCi " to •** *pert." There is a treatise In tht
Mishna so entitled, in which various questions of «as-
ulstry of slight Interest to us are discussed.
/ It Is worthy of observation that there is no team
In the Hebrew language to express the ceremony of
marriage. The substantive chatutmah (nSHrj)
ocean but once, and then In connection with the day
(Cant. ill. 11). The word " wedding " does not ooom
at all In the A. T. of the Old Testament.
There seems Indeed to be a literal truth In the
Hebrew expression " to take " a wife (Num. xli. 1 ; I
Cur. U. 21) ; for the ceremony appears to have mainly
consisted in the taking. Among the modern Arab)
the same custom prevails, the capture and removal of
the bride being effected with a considerable show ol
violence (Burckhardt's JVotts, 1. 108).
* The bridegroom's crown waa made of various ma-
terials (gold or silver, roses, myrtle, or ottre), aeconUhf
to his circumstances (Selden, Ux. Bbr. II. 16). Th«
use of the crown at marriages was familiar both to tfey
Greeks and Romans (Ditt. of Am., Oomuu'
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MABBIAG&
wwders of the merchant" (Cut lii. 6). The
•ride prepared herself for the ceremony by taking a
bath, generally on the day preceding the wedding,
rhii was probably in ancient a> in modern times a
formal proceeding, accompanied with considerable
pomp (Heart, i. 240; Lane, i. S17). The notices
at it in the Bible are so few an to hare escaped
general observation (Ruth lii. 3; Ez. xxiii. 40; Eph
r. 26, 27); but the passages cited establish the
antiquity of the custom, and the expressions in the
hut (" having purified her by the laver of water,"
"not having spot") have evident reference to it.
A similar custom prevailed among the Greeks (Diet.
»/ Ant. a. v. Balnea, p. 185). The distinctive
baton of the bride's attire was the tid'ty/i," or
" veil " — a fight robe of ample dimensions, which
sovered not only the lace but the whole person
(Gen. xziv. 65; corop. xxxviii. 14, 15). This was
regarded at the symbol of her submission to her
husband, and hence in 1 Cor. xi. 10, the veil is
apparently described under the term i^ovcia, "au-
thority." She also wore a peculiar girdle, named
kithMrtm, • the "attire" (A. V.), which uo bride
toold forget (Jer. il. 32) ; and ber head was crowned
with a chaplet, which was again so distinctive of
the bride, that the Hebrew term eallahf " bride,"
originated from it. If the bride were a virgin,
she wore her hair flowing (Kttub. 2, § 1), Her
robes were white (Rev. xix. 8). and sometimes em-
broidered with gold thread (Fa. xlv.' 13, 14), and
covered with perfumes (I's. xlv. 8): she was further
decked out with jewels (Is. xlix. 18, lxi. 10; Rev.
xxi. 2). When the fixed hour arrived, which was
generally late in the evening, the bridegroom set
forth from his house, attended by his groomsmen,
termed in Hebrew mere'im'i (A. V. "companions;
Judg. xiv. 11), and In Greek viol toO rvncpwvot
(A. V. " children of the bride-chamber ; " Matt.
ix- 15), preceded by a band of musicians or singers
■ Fp9S. Sea article on Dasss. The use of the
veil was sot peculiar to the Hebrews. It was eus-
teaoary anions; tbe Greeks and Romans ; and among
<he latter It gave rise to the expression it»»o, literally
'to veil," and hence to our word "nuptial." It is
■Oil and by the Jews (Heart, I. 241). The modern
■gyptbuw envelope the bride In an ample shawl, which
perhaps more than anything else resembles tbe He-
brew tzaifk (Ian, L 220).
• U 1, WFp. Some difference of opinion exists sa
to this term. [Uianu.] The girdle was an Important
article of the bride's dress among the Romans, and
gave rise to the expression taivtn ztmam.
' 71^3. The bride's crown was either of gold or
glided. The use of It was Interdicted after the destruc-
tion of the seeond Temple, se a token of humiliation
(BsMsn, Ok. B* II. 18).
<* CSTg. Winer (Kb*, a. t. «Hoehaelt• , )
•tontine. 'th. « ehlldren of tbe brldechamtHr " with the
An«V*»t (B*33[ltJPltf) of the Talmuditts. Bat
fee twiner were the attendants rn the bridegroom
lloos, while the thatkbtnim were two persons selected
13 the day of tbe marriage to represent the Interests
•- bride end Mdegroom, apparently with a special
rlew to any possible litigation that might subsequently
tries on the subject noticed Is Dent. xjdi. 16-21 (Selden,
Vx. St*. «. W).
i • •ntnpat* the Sjirs «.«+"<«/ of the Greeks ( Arlstoph.
•to, 1317). tbe lamps described hi Matt XXT. 7
MARRIAUB
1805
(Gen. xxxi. 27; Jer. vii. 34, xvi 9; 1 Mace. u.
39), and accompanied by persona bearing flam
beaux • (2 Esdr. x. 2 ; Matt xxv. 7 ; compare Jer.
xxv. 10; Rev. xviii. 23, "the light of a candle")
Having reached the house of the bride, who with
her maidens anxiously expected UU arrival (Matt
xxv. 6). he conducted the whole party book to hit
own or his father's/ house, with every demonstra
tion of gladness' (Ps. xlv. 15). On their way
back they were joined by a party of maidens,
friends of the bride and bridegroom, who were in
waiting to catch the procession as it passed (Matt
xxv. 6 ; conip. Trench on Parabttt, p. 244 note).
The inhabitants of the place pressed out into tht
streets to watch the procession (Cant Ui. 11). At
tbe house a feast * was prepared, to which all the
friends and neighbors were invited (Gen. xxix. 22,
Matt xxii. 1-10; Luke xlv. 8; John ii. 2), and the
festivities were protracted for seven, or even four-
teen days (Judg. xiv. 12; Tob. viii. 19). The
guests were provided by the host with fitting robes
(Matt xxii. 11; coinp. Trench, ParaUa, p. 230),
and the feast was enlivened with riddles (Judg.
xiv. 12) and other amusements. The bridegroom
now entered into direct communication with the
bride, and the joy of the friend was " fulfilled " at
hearing the voice of the bridegroom (John ui. 29)
conversing with her, which he regarded as a satis-
factory testimony of the success of his share in
the work. In the case of a virgin, parched com
was distributed among the guests (Kttvb. 2, § 1 ),
the significance of which it not apparent; the cus-
tom bears some resemblance to the distribution of
the rmulactum (Juv. vi. 202) among the guests at
a Roman wedding. The modern Jews have a cus-
tom of shattering glosses or vessels, by dashing
them to the ground (Picart, i. 240). The last act
in tbe ceremonial was the conducting of the bride
to the bridal chamber, ehedtr* (Judg. xv. 1; Joel
would be small hand-lamps. Without them none
could join the procession (Trench's Parodies, p. 267
note).
/The bride was raid to " go to » (^H N?12) the
house of her husband (Josh. xv. 18; Judg. i. 14): sn
expression which is worthy of notice, inasmuch as it
has not been rightly understood in Dan. xl. 6, where
" they that brought her " Is au expression for husband.
The bringing home of the bride was regarded In the
later days of the Roman empire as one of the most
Important parts of the marriage eeremony (Bingham,
Ant. xxii. 4, § 7).
a Prom the Joyous sounds used en these occasions
the term AaloJ (vvH) is applied In the sense of oar
tying in Pa. lxxvlil. 68; A. V. " their maidens were
not given to niarrlsge," literally, " were not praised,"
as In tbe margin. This sense appears preferable to
that of the LXX., ov* ivivQuirw, which Is adopted by
Gesenlue (TVs. p. 696). The noise In the stree's.
attendant on an oriental wedding, is exeesatve, and
enables as to understand the allusions in Jeremiah
to the K voice of the bridegroom and the voice sf the
bride.''
* The least was regarded sa so ssssnrlsl a part of
the marriage oeremony, that eewir y&iu>r K 3 aired
the specific meaning " to celebrate the marriage-laast "
(Gen. xxix. 22; Hsth. il. 18; Tob. Till, sal; 1 Mace. ix.
87. x. 68. UUC. ; Matt xxH. 4, xxv. 10; Lake xi». 81
to celebrate any Mast (Mb. Is. O)
Tr
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MARRIAGE
H. 16), where a canopy, named chuppAA * was pre-
pared (Pi. lix. 6; Joel ii. 18). Toe bride i
•till completely veiled, bo that the deception prac-
ticed on Jacob (Gen. xxix. 96) was very possible.
If proof could be subsequently adduced that the
bride had not preserved her maiden purity) the
case was investigated; and, If she was convicted,
ijUBpsnspwioMataniodera Egyptian wsddlaf. (bus.)
she was stoned to death before her lather's boose
(Dent. irii. 13-21). A newly married man was
exempt from military service, or from any public
business which might draw him away from his
home, for the space of a year (Deut. xxiv. 6): a
similar privilege was granted to him who was be-
trothed (Deut. xx. 7).
Hitherto we have described the usages of mar-
riage as well as they can be ascertained from the
Bible itself. The Talmudists specify three modes
by which marriage might be effected, namely,
money, marriage-contract, and consummation { Kid-
duth. i. § 1). The first was by the presentation of
a sum of money, or its equivalent, in the presence
of witnesses, accompanied by a mutual declaration
»f betrothal. The second was by a written, instead
if a verbal agreement, either with or without a
turn of money. The third, though valid in point
of law, was discouraged to the greatest ettent, as
being contrary to the laws of morality (Selden,
Ox. Ebr. ii. 1,2).
IT. In considering the social and domestic con-
ditions of married life among the Hebrews, we must
in the first place take into account the position
assigned to women generally in their social scale.
The seclusion of the harem and the habits conse-
quent upon it were utterly unknown in early times,
and the condition of the oriental woman, as pic-
tared to us in the Bible, contrasts most favorably
with that of her modem r ep r e s en tative. There is
abundant evidence that women, whether married
or unmarried, went about with their faces unveiled
■ nBn. The term oejnrs In the Manna (Ketitb.
if § 5), and Is explained by some of the Jewish ©om-
santasUB to ham bssn a bowsr of roses aod myrtles.
MARRIAGK
(Gen. xii. 14, xxiv. 16, 65, xxix. 11; 1 San. i. II)
An unmarried woman might meet and converse with
men, even strangers, in a public place (Gen. xxiv.
24, 45-47, xxix. 9-12; 1 Sam. ix. 11): she might
be found alone in the country without any reflec-
tion on her character (Deut. xxii. 25-27): or she
might appear in a court of justice (Num. xxvii. 8)
Women not unfrequently held important offices
some were prophetesses, as Miriam, Deborah, Hul
dab, Noadiah, and Anna: of others advice was
sought in emergencies (2 Sam. xiv. 2, xx. 16-22).
They took their part in matters of public interest
(Kx. xv. 20; 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7): in shoit, they
enjoyed as much freedom in ordinary life as tot
women of our own country.
If such was her general position, it is cert am
that the wife must hare exercised an important
influence in her own home. She appears to havs
taken her part in family affairs, and even to have
eigoyed a considerable amount of independence.
For instance, she entertains guests at her own
desire (i K. iv. 8) in the absence of her husband
(Judg. iv. 18), and sometimes even in defiance of
his wishes (1 Sam. xxv. 14, Ac.): she disposes of
her child by a vow without any reference to hei
husband (1 Sam. i. 24): she consults with him as
to the marriage of her children (Gen. xxvii. 46):
her suggestions as to any domestic arrangements
meet with due attention (2 K. iv. 9): and occa-
sionally she criticizes the conduct of her husband
in terms of great severity (1 Sam. xxv. 25 ; 2 Sam.
ri. 20).
The relations of husband and wife appear to hare
been characterized by affection and tenderness. He
is occasionally described as the " friend " of bis
wife (Jer. iii. 20 ; Hos. iii. 1 ), and his love for her
is frequently noticed (Gen. xxiv. 67, xxix. 18). On
the other hand, the wife was the consolation of the
husband in time of trouble (Gen. xxiv. 67), and
her grief at bis loss presented a picture of the most
abject woe (Joel i. 8). No stronger testimony, bow-
ever, can lie afforded as to the ardent affection of
husband and wife, than that which we derive from
the general tenor of the book of Canticles. At
the same time we cannot but think that the ex-
ceptions to this state of affairs were more numerous
than is consistent with our ideas of matrimonial
happiness. One of the evils inseparable from poh g
amy is the discomfort arising from the jealousies
and quarrels of the several wives, as instanced in
the households of Abraham and Elkanah (Gen.
xxi. 11; 1 Sam. i. 6). The purchase of wives, and
the small amount of liberty allowed to daughters
in the choice of husbands, must inevitably have led
to unhappy unions. The allusions to the misery
of a contentious and brawling wife in the Proverls
(xix. 13, xxi. 9, 19, ixvii. 15) convey the impres-
sion that the infliction was of frequent occurrence
in Hebrew households, and in the Mishna (Ktlvb.
7, § 6) the fact of a woman being noisy is laid
down as an adequate ground for divorce. In the
N. T. the mutual relations of husband and wife
are a subject of frequent exhortation (Eph. v. 22—33 ;
Col. iii. 18, 19; Tit. ii. 4, 6; 1 Pet. iii. 1-7): it is
certainly a noticeable coincidence that these exhor-
tations should be found exclusively in the epistles
addressed to Asiatics, nor ia it improbable that they
The term was also applied to tbs canopy nndsr wntcb
the nuptial benediction was pronounced, or to ta*
robs spread over the heads of the bride and Mai
groom (Seidell, B. 15).
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MAHBIAGH
•are own particularly needed for tnem than for
haropaaiis.
The duties of the wife in the Hebrew household
■ere multifarious: in addition to the general super-
intendence of the domestic arrangements, such as
causing, from which even women of rank were not
riempted (Gen. xviii. 6; 2 Sam. xiii. 8), and the
distribution of food at meal-times (Prov. xxii. 15),
the manufacture of the clothing and the various
latum required in an eastern establishment de-
Tolrad upon her (Ptot xxxi. 13, 21, 22), and if she
were a model of activity and skill, she produced a
surplus of fine linen shirts and girdles, which she
soU, and so, like a well-freighted merchant-ship,
brought in wealth ti her husband from afar (I'ror.
xxxi. U, 24). The poetical description of a good
housewife drawn in the last chapter of the Proverbs
is both filled up and in some measure illustrated
by the following minute description of a wife's
duties towards her husband, as laid down in the
Huhna: " She must grind com, and bake, and
wash, and cook, and suckle his child, make his bed,
Mid work in wooL If she brought her husband
one bondwoman, she need not grind, bake, or wash :
if two, she need not cook nor suckle his child : if
three, she need not make his bed nor work in wool :
if four, she may sit in her chair of state " (Kttub.
5, § 4). Whatever money she earned by her lalior
Winged to her husband (i*. 6, § 1). The qualifi-
estion not only of working, but of working at hvrnt
(Tit. ii. 6, where oucovpyoit is preferable to
uxwpovf ), was insisted on in the wife, and to spin
ui the street was regarded as a violation of Jewish
rustosM (Kttub. 7, § 6).
The legal rights of the wife are noticed in Ex.
xri. 10, under the three heads of food, raiment, and
doty of marriage or conjugal right. These were
defined with great precision by the Jewish doctors ;
for thus only could one of the most cruel effects of
polygamy bo averted, namely, the sacrifice of the
rights of the many in favor of the one whom the
lord of the modern hnrrm selects for his special
titration. The regulations of the Talmudists
bunded on Ex. xxl. 10 may be found in the Miahna
(ATrtai. 5, i 6-8).
V. The allegorical and typical allusions to mar-
riage bar* exclusive reference to one subject, namely,
to exhibit the spiritual relationship between God
and his |m»pt— - The earliest form, in which the
•sage is implied, is in the expression " to go a
•taring,'' and " whoredom," as descriptive of the
rapture of thai, relationship by acta of idolatry.
Than expressions have by some writers been taken
is their primary and literal sense, as pointing to
tee licentious practices of idolaters. But this de-
stroys the whole point of the comparison, and is
apposed to the plain language of Scripture: for
'll Israel is described as the false wife" » playing
the harlot" (Is. i- 21; Jer. iii. 1, 6, 8); (2) Je-
i-tih is Use injured husband, who therefore
dnareee her (Pa. lxxiii. 27; Jer. ii. 20; Hos. iv.
12, is. 1): and (3) the other party in the adultery
a ■peeined, sometimes generally, a* idols or false
toil (Dent, xxxi- 16; Judg. ii. 17; 1 Chr. v. 2S;
ri. XX. 30, xxiii. 30), and sometimes particularly,
u in the ease of the worship of goats (A. V.
MASS' HILL
1807
" devils,'" Lev. xrli. 7), Molfoh (Lev. u. S\ wizards
(I-ev. xx. 6), an ephod (Judg. viii. 27), Baalim
(Judg. viii. 83), and even the heart and eyes (Num.
xv. 39) — the last of these objects being such as
wholly to exclude the idea of actual adultery. The
image is drawn out more at length by Ezekiel
(xxiii.), who compares the kingdoms of Samaria
and Judah to the harlots Aholah and Aholibah ;
and again by Hosea (i.-iii.), whose marriage with
an adulterous wife, his separation from her, and
subsequent reunion with her, were designed to be a
visible lesson to the Israelites of their dealings with
Jehovah.
The direct comparison with marriage is confined
in the O. T. to the prophetic writings, unless w»
regard the Canticles as an allegorical work. [Caja.
ticlkb.] The actual relation between Jehovah
and his people is generally tbe point of comparison
(Is. liv. 6, lxli. 4; Jer. Ui. 14; Hos. ii. 19; Mai Ii.
11); but sometimes the graces consequent thereon
are described under the image of bridal attire (b.
xlix. 18, lxi. 10), and the joy of Jehovah in his
Church under that of tbe joy of a bridegroom (Is.
lxii. 5).
In the N. T. the image of the bridegroom is
transferred from Jehovah to Christ (Matt. ix. 15 ;
John iii. 29), and that of the bride to tbe Church
(2 Cor. xi. 2; Rev. xix. 7, xxl. 2, 9, xxii. 17), and
the comparison thus established is converted by St
Paul into an illustration of the position and mutual
duties of man and wife (Kph. v. 23-32). The
suddenness of the Messiah's appearing, particularly
at the last day, and tbe necessity of watchfulness,
are inculcated in the parable of the Ten Virgins,
the imagery of which is borrowed from the customs
of the marriage ceremony (Matt. xxv. 1-13). The
Father prepares the marriage feast for his Son, the
joys that result from the union being thus repre-
sented (Matt. xxii. 1-14, xxr. 10 ; Rev. xix. 9 ; comp.
Matt. viii. 11), while the qualifications requisite for
admission into that union are prefigured by tbe
marriage garment (Matt. xxii. 11). The breach
of the union is, as before, described as fornication
or whoredom in reference to the mystical Babylon
(Rev. xvii. 1, 2, 5).
The chief authorities on this subject are Selden's
Uxor JKbraica; MichaehY Commenlariei ; the
Mishna, particularly the books Ytbnmoth, Kelubotk,
Gittm, and Kidduihin; Buxtorfs Spontal tt
KvorU Among the writers on special points we
*may notice Benary, rfe Hebr. Lmrc'u, Berlin,
1835; Kedslob's Lniratteht, Leipzig, 18J0; and
Kurtz's Ehe da Hosea, Dorpat, 1859.
W. L. B.
* MARS' HILL, another n one in the A. V.,
Acts xvii. 22, for Areopagus, ver. 19. The name
is the same in Greek (A'Apsior vttyos ),and should
be the same in English. The variation seerrt tr
be without design, or certainly without any d:i
tinction of meaning ; for the translators remark iL
the margin against both passages that Areopag rj
wav " the highest court in Athens." The older
| versions of Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Genevan ren-
I der «' Mars strete " in both places, while Wyclifl*
I writes " Areopage." Against the view that Paul
was arraigned and tried before the court," as well
• The term sawU (H^J), In Its ordinary appUes-
aw. Is almost without exception applied to the act of
Is wonuo. We may here ootiee the only exnapuons to
at wdtnar) suae of this term, namely. Is. xxtti. 17,
where tt means " commerce," and Nan. Ui. 4, when
It In (univalent to " crafty polky," jam as to 2 K. »»
22 the parallel word Is " witchcrafts."
* The modern (tracks lu their dtapoatuoo to re-
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1808
MARS' HILL
u on the topography of the subject, eee Arkofagdb.
it ia proposed here to give some account of the
•pcech itself, which Paul delivered on this hill, end
which has given to it a celebrity » above all Greek,
above all Roman fame."
Scholars vie with each other in their commenda-
tion of this discourse. In its suggestiveness, depth
of thought, cogent reasonings, eloquence, and re-
markable adaptation to all the congruities of time
and place," although not the longest it is beyond
question the first of all the recorded speeches of the
great Apostle. De Wette pronounces it " a model
of the apologetic style of discourse." •• The address
cf Paul before this assembly,'' says Meander, " is a
living proof of his apostolic wisdom and eloquence.
We perceive here how the Apostle, according to his
own expression, could become also a heathen to the
heathen, thai he might win the heathen to a recep-
tion of the gospel." " The skill," says Hemsen,
" with which he was able to bring tbe truth near
to the Athenians, deserves admiration. We find in
this discourse of Paul nothing of an ill-timed zeal,
nothing like declamatory pomp. It is distin-
guished for clearness, brevity, coherence, and sim-
plicity of representation." Some object that the
speech has been overpraised because Paul was not
enabled to bring it to a formal close. But in truth
wr astonishment is not that he was interrupted at
length when he came to announce to them the
Christian doctrine of a resurrection of the body,
but that he held their attention so long while he
exposed their errors and convicted them of the
absurdity and sinfulness of their conduct.
The following is an outline of the general course
of thought. The Apostle begins by declaring that
tbe Athenians were more than ordinarily religious,
and ci.mmends them lor that trait of character.
He had read on one of their altars an inscription *
to "an unknown God." He recognizes in that ac-
knowledgment the heart's tesrimony among the
heathen themselves, that all men feel the limitations
cf their religious knowledge and their need of a
more perfect revelation. It was saying to them in
effect: " You are correct in acknowledging a divine
existence beyond any which the ordinary rites of
your worship recognise; there is such an existence.
Von are correct in confessing that this Being is
unknown to you; you have no just conception of
his nature and perfections." With this introduc-
tion he passes to his tbeme. " Whom therefore
not knowing, ye worship, this one I announce unto
Ton." He thus proposes to guide their religions
instincts and aspirations to their proper object, i. t.
to teach them what God is, his nature and attrib-
utes, and men's relations to Him, in opposition to
their false views and practices as idolaters (\er. 9-1)-
In pursuance of this purpose be announces to them,
first, that God is the Creator of the outward, ma-
terial universe, and therefore not to be confounded
with idols (ver. 24 )• secondly, that He is indepen-
dent of his creatures, possessed of all sufficiency
.u Himself, and in no need of costly gifts or offer-
rtore the ancient names of their history now call their
llgbest appellate court the *Apeoc irayoc (Areopagus).
It conii'U of a a-picipof. or Chief Justice, and several
■rivet,** <■* Associates, and holds Its sessions at
Athens. H.
•< * Vne speech If genuine must exhibit these oor-
nepnndtfncee ; but with a strange perversity Bear
!»■ A/M. rWiu, p. 167 f) admits their existence,
■> ti-fom rrom them that the speech must be fktt-
MARS' HILL
ings of food and drink (ver. 25); thirdly. Unit Hi
is the Creator of all mankind, notwithstanding
their separation into so many nations, and their wide
dispersion on the earth (ver. 26,'; and fourthly,
that he has placed men, as individuals and nations,
in such relations of dependence on Himself as
render it easy for them to see that He is their Creatot
and Disposer; and that it is their duty to seek and
serve Him (w. 27, 28). The ground has thus been
won for a direct application of the truth to his
auditors. At this point of the discourse, as we may
well suppose, stretching forth bis hand towards th«
gorgeous images within sight, he exclaims: " We
ought not, therefore, to suppose that the I leity is
like unto gold, or silver, or stone, sculptured by L'.e
art and device of man " (ver. 29). Nor is Ibis ail.
That which men ought not to do, they may not with
impunity any longer do. It was owing to tbe for-
liearance of God that the heathen had been lift
hitherto to disown the true God, and transfer to
idols the worship which belongs to Him. He had
borne with them as if he had not seen their willful
ignorance, and would not call them to account for
it; but now, with a knowledge of the gospel, they
were required to repent of their idolatry and for-
sake it (ver. 30), liecause a day of righteous retri-
bution awaited them, of which they had assurance
in the resurrection of Christ from tbe dead (ver.
31).
Here their clamors interrupted him; but it is
not difficult to conjecture what was left unsaid.
The recorded examples of his preaching show that
he would have held up to them more distinctly the
character of Christ as the Saviour of men, and have
urged them to call on his name and be saved. It
is impossible to say just in what sense the Apostle
adduced the resurrection of Christ as proof of a
general judgment. His resurrection from the dead
confirmed the truth of all bis claims, and one of
these was that He was to be tbe judge of men
(John v. 28, 29). His resurrection also estab-
lished the possibility of such a resurrection of all
men as was implied in the Apostle's doctrine, that
all men are to be raised from the dead and stand
before tbe judgment-seat of Christ. The Apostle
may have had these and similar connections of the
fact in his mind; but whether he had developed
them so far, when he was silenced, that the A theniana
perceived them all or any of them, is uncertain.
It was enough to excite their scorn to hear of a
single instance of resurrection. The Apostle's ref-
erence in bis last words to a great day of assize fb -
all mankind would no doubt recall to the heareia
the judicial character of the place where they were
assembled, but it was too essential a part of his
train of thought to have leen accidentally sug •
gested by tbe place.
We are to recognize the predominant anti-poly-
theistic aim of the discourse in the prominence which
Paul here gives to his doctrine with res|H-ct to the
common parentage of the human race, while at thr
time be thereby rebuked the Athenians for
Unas, ou account of this remarkable fitness to the or
casion. II.
* * The Apostle's UM of SciciSaMiowirripov;. st tn»
opening of the speech. Dean Uowson very justly points
out as one of the proofs of his tact and versannty. (Pes
lectures an the Character of Si. Paul, p. 46, 1- 194, nod
a. Amer. ed.) Rev. T. Kenrlrk's vindication of tba
rendering of the A. T. (Biblical .Buoys, pp. 10H-129
Land. 1864) shows only that the word admits of thai
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SLABS HILL
Aw contempt of the otner nations, especially of
the Jem. If all an the children of a common
parent, th?n the idea of a multiplicity of gods from
wbotn the various iiatioi_s have derived their origin,
or whose protection they specially enjoy, must be
false. The doctrine of the unity of the race is
closely interwoven with that of the unity of the
divine existence. But if all nations have the same
Creator, it would at once occur that nothing can
be more absurd than the feeling of superiority and
contempt with which one affects to look down upon
another. As the Apostle had to encounter the
prejudice which was entertained against him as a
foreigner and a Jew, his course of remark was
doubly pertinent, if adapted at the same time to
remove this Undrance to a candid receptiou of his
MARS' HILL
180P
It will be seen from the foregoing sketch that H
has been proposed, not without some justification,
to arrange the contents of the discourse under the
three heads of theology, anthropology, and Chrit-
tology. At all events it will be seen, by casting the
eye back, that we hare here all the parts of a perfect
discourse, namely, the exordium, the proposition
or theme, the proof or exposition, and the applica-
tion. It is a beautiful specimen of the manner in
which a powerful and well-trained mind, practiced
in public speaking, conforms spontaneously to the
rules of the severest logic. One can readily be-
lieve, looking at this feature of the discourse, that it
was pronounced by the man who wrote the epistle*
to the Romans and Galatians, where we see th/
same mental characteristics so strongly reflect**
I As we must suppose, on any view of the ease, tht*
Hill, on ths south side, *nd mat from the Acropolis. (Photograph. I
the general scheme of thought, the «ni of the
argument, has l«en preserved, it does not affect
our critical judgment whether we maintain that
the discourse has been reported in full, or that a
synopsis only has been given.
It might have seemed to the credit of Chris-
tia dty if Luke had represented the preaching of
Paul as signally effective here at Athens, the centre
of Grecian arts and refinement : on the contrary, he
reoirds no such triumphs." The philosophers who
heard him mocked : the people at large derided him
as " a babbler." At the close of that day on which
Paul delivered the speech it might seem as if he
had s|»ken almost to no purpose. But the end is
not y«t. Our proper rule forjudging here is that
which makes " a thousand years with Ood as one
day, and one day as a thousand years." We place
"•■wives again on the rock where Paul stood, and
Lwk around us, and how different a spectacle pre-
sents itself from that which met the Apostle's eye.
• * t: l> worthy of notice that although Paul spent
trw text t»e years at Corinth, so near Athens that the
Arroona of the one city may be seen from the other,
he lid Dot during that time torn his st»<w again to
Athens. On his third missionary tour, h» came once
ssan tats this part of Greece, and on the way passed
114
The monuments of idolatry on which he looked
have disappeared. The gorgeous image of Minerva
which towered aloft on the Acropolis, has been
broken to pieces, and scattered to the winds. Th«
temples at that time there so magnificent and full
of idols, 6 remain only as splendid ruins, literall)
inhabited by the owls and the bats. Churches and
chapels dedicated to Christian worship appear ou
every Bide, surmounted with the sign of that cross
which was " to the Jews a stumbling-block, and U
the Greeks foolishness." This cross itself has be-
come the national emblem, and gilds the future ol
these descendants of Paul's hearers with its bright
est hopes. These and such results may indeed faK
short of the highest spiritual effects of Christianity
but they show nevertheless the mighty change which
has taken place in the religious ideas and civilize Lion
of pagan Greece, and bear witness to the rower of
St. Paul's seemingly ineffective speech on Mura' Hill.
One must read the discourse on the spot, amid the
Athens twice at least, and yet ha did not revisit thai
city. H.
* * Zeane (ad Tig. p. 888 a) point* out the mis-
translation of KatfZSmKov by "given to idolatry," In-
steaa of " full of Idols." It conceals from the raadel
a striking mark of Lake's accuracy. No ancient etsr
%•« so famous for Its Images as Athens. at
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MAJOSENA
object* and associations which bring the put nod
present aa It were into visible contact with each
other, in order to understand and feel the impres-
sion of the contrast in its full extent
Paul spoke of course in the open air. For a
description of the scene under the Apostle's eye at
the time, see Wordsworth's Vitwt of Greece, Pic-
torial, Detcriptive, and Historical, p. 85, also his
Athene and Attica, ch. xl.; Robinson's BibL Re-
tearchet, i. 10 f. (where the bearing of Man' Hill
from the Acropolis should be west, instead of north).
For a view of the Acropolis restored, as seen from
the Areopagus, see Convbeare and How-sou's Life
and Letter* of St. Paul, i. 442. Stier treats at
length of the discourse, exegeticelly and bomi-
letlcally, in his Reden der Apottei, ii. 121-169.
The events at Athena form an interesting sketch
in Howson's Scenet from the IJfe of St. Paul,
oh. vi. (Loud. 1866), and reprint by the American
Tract Society (1868). Bentley's famous Sermons on
Atheism and Deism (first of the series of Boyle lec-
tures, 1692) connect themselves almost historically
with thii address. Seven of the eight texts on which
he founds the sermons are taken from Paul's Athen-
ian speech. The topics on which the Apostle touched
as the preacher enumerates them are " such as the
existence, the spirituality, and all-sufficiency of
God ; the creation of the world ; the origination of
mankind from one common stock, according to the
history of Moses; the divine Providence in over
ruling all nations and people ; the new doctrine of
repentance by the preaching of the gospel: the
resurrection of the dead ; and the appointed day of
an universal judgment " (see his Works, iii. 33 f.,
Land. 1838). We find here the germs of the best
arguments employed in later times in controversies
of the nature alluded to. Another later work fur-
nishes a similar testimony. Mr. Merivale has re-
■ course to Paul's sententious words for the prin-
cipal text-mottoes prefixed to his l-ectures on the
Conrernon of the Raman Empire (Boyle lectures
for 1864). It is one of those speeches of the Apos-
tle, " from all the ideas of which " (as Schneckeu-
burger remarks of the one at Antiocb. Acts xiii. )
" may 1* drawn lines which terminate in his pecu-
liar doctrinal teachings in the epistles" (Shut.
«*. KriL 1858. p. 550). "Nothing can be more
genuinely Pauline," says Lechler, " than the divis-
ion here of history into its two great epochs, the
pre-Messianic and post-Messianic, and the union of
God's manifestations in creation, conscience, and
redemption. It gives us in outline the fuller dis-
cussion in Rom. i. and ii." (Das Apott. u. Nach.
apvtt. Zeilther, p. 155). Ch. J. Trip refutes some
of Baur's hypercritical objections to the genuineness
of the speech (Paulut nach der Apottelgtsch. p.
tOO If.). Other writers who may be consulted
are F. W. Laufg, Ueber die areopngitehe Rede
ia Apostett Paulas (Stud. u. Krit., 1850, pp.
588-595); Williger's AposUlgtsch. in Bibelsluwlen,
pp. 506-526 (2» Aufl.); Lange's Ku-chengesch.
ii. 222 ff. , Gademann's " Theologische Studien,"
Zeitschrift fir hither. Tlieoloyic, 1854, p. 648 ff. ;
Tsoluck, Glnubwtirdigkeit, p. 880 f. ; Baumgarten,
Apottelgtsch. in loc. ; and Prassens<!, /fittoire de
*EgHse ChrHienne, ii. 17-22. See also an article
to •• Paul at Athena " by Prof. A. C. Kendrick,
Chririm Review, xv. 95-110, and one on " Paul's
[NscTirse at Athens: A Commentary on Acts xvii.
IS-34," BibL Sacra, vi. 838-356. H.
MAB'SfiNA (rOP")n [north* Pen., FUrst] :
MAKTHA
MaAi#«4>: [Tat FA.] Alex. Ua\ V stf. Mot-
tana), one of the seven princes of Perm, " tries
men which knew the times," which saw the king's
face and sat first in the kingdom (Esth. i. It)
According to Joscphus they had the office of inter-
preters of the laws (Ant. xi. 6, § 1).
MARTHA (Uipoa: Martha). This name,
which does not appear in the O. T., belongs to tb*
later Aramaic, and is the feminine form of N"3D —
Lord. We first meet with it towards the close of
the 2d century B. c. Marius, the Roman dictator,
was attended by a Syrian or Jewish prophetess
Martha during the Numidian war and in his cam-
paign against the Cimbri (Plutarch, Marius, xvii. )
Of the Martha of the N. T. there is comparative!)
little to be said. What is known or conjectured
as to the history of the family of which she was s
member may be seen under Lazakus. The facts
recorded in Luke x. and John xi. indicate a chai-
acter devout after the customary Jewish type of
devotion, sharing in Messianic hopes and accepting
Jesus as the Christ; sharing also in the popular
belief in a resurrection (John xi. 24), but not rising,
as her sister did, to the lielief that Christ was
making the eternal life to belong, not to the future
only, but to the present When she first comes
before us in Luke x. 38, as receiving her Lord into
her bouse (it is uncertain whether at Bethany or
elsewhere), she loses the calmness of her spirit, is
"cumbered with much serving," is "careful and
troubled about many things." She is indignant
that her sister and her bird caie so little for that
for which she cares so much. She needs the re-
proof " one thing is needful; " but her love, though
imperfect in its form, is yet recognised as true, and
she too, no less than ljunrus and llary, has the
distinction of being one whom Jesus loved (John
xi. 3). Her position here, it may be noticed, is
obviously that of the elder sister, the bead and
manager of the household. It has been conjectured
that she was the wife or widow of " Simon the
leper " of Matt. xxvi. 6 and Mark xiv. 3 (Scbulthes*.
in Winer, Rwb.; Paulus, in Meyer, in Inc.; (ires-
well, Din. on \~ilbtge >f Mmtita anil Mint/). The
same character shows itaelf in the history of John
xi. She goes to meet Jesus as soon as she hears
that He is coming, turning away from all the
Pharisees and rulers *ho had come with their topics
of consolation (vv. 19, 20). The same spirit of
complaint that she had shown Itefore finds utterance
again (ver. 21 ), but there is now, what there was
not liefore, a fuller faith at once in his wisdom
and his power (ver. 22). And there is in that
sorrow an education for her as well ss for others.
She rises from the formula of the Phar see's creed
to the confession which no " flesh and blood," no
human traditions, could have revealed to her (vv.
24-27). It was an immense step upward from tie
dull stupor of a grief which refused to be comforted,
that without any definite assurance of an imiiieduii*
resurrection, she should now think of her brother
as living still, never dying, because he had lielieved
in Christ. The transition from vain fruitless le-
grets to this assured faith, accounts it may be f.-
the words spoken by her at tbe sepulchre (ver. 39).
We judge wrongly of her if we see in them the
utterance of an impatient or desponding unbelief.
The thought of that true victory over death has
comforted her, and she is no longer expecting tlia,
the power of tbe eternal life will show itself in tin
renewal of the earthly The wonder 'Jutt follower:
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MARY OF OLEOPHAS 1811
MARTYR
ao less thin the tern which preceded, taught her
how deeply her Lord sympathized with the pas-
sionate human sorrows of which lis had seemed to
her so unmindful. It taught her, as it teaches us,
that the eternal lift in which she had learnt to
believe was no absorption of the individual being
in that of the spirit of the universe — that it recog-
nized and embraced all true and pure affections.
Her name appears once again in the N. T. She
is present at the supper at Bethany as " serving "
(John zii. 2). The old character shows itself still,
bat it has been freed from evil. She is no longer
"cumbered," no longer impatient. Activity has
been calmed by trust. When other voices are raised
against her sister's overflowing love, hers is not
beard among them.
The traditions connected with Martha have been
already mentioned. [Lazarus.] She goes with
her brother and other disciples to Marseilles, gathers
round her a society of devout women, and, true to
her former character, leads them to a life of active
ministration. The wilder Provencal legends make
her victorious over a dragon that laid waste the
country. The town of Tarascon boasted of possess-
ing her remains, and claimed her as its patron
saint (Ada Sanctorum, and Bret!. Bum. in Jul.
a9; Fabricii Lux Evangel, p. 388).
E. H. P.
* MARTYR occurs only in Acts xxiL 15 as
the translation of p&prvs, the proper sense of which
is simply " witness," without the accessary idea of
sealing one's testimony by his death as understood
by our stricter use of " martyr." All the older
English versions (from Wycliffe, 1380, to the
Rheims, 1582) have " witness " in this passage. It
was not till after the age of the Apostles that the
Greek word (/utprup or fidprvs) signified " martyr,"
though we see it in its transition to that meaning
in Acts zxii. SO and Rev. ivii. 6. Near the close
of the second century it bad become so honorable
a title, that the Christians at Lyons, exposed to
torture and death, and fearful that they might
waver in the moment of extremity, refused to lie
called " martyrs " (pAprvpti). " This name," said
they, " properly belongs only to the true and faith-
ful witness, the Prince of Life ; or, at least, only to
those whose testimony Christ has sealed by their
constancy to the end. We are but poor, bumble
confessors, ». e. tpt\oyoi" (Euseb. Hut. Kcrlit.
v. 2.) On pAprvt see Cremer's Wirterb. dtr
ffeultU. GrSckOt, p. 371 f. H.
M ATtY OP OLETOPHAS. So in A. V., but
accurately "of ClOPAS" (Map/a tJ toC KAaira;.
In St. John's Gospel we read that " there stood by
the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's
sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene "
(John xix. 95). The same group of women is
described by St. Matthew as consisting of Mary
Magdalene, and Mary of James and .loses, and the
mother of Zebedee's children" (Matt, xxvii. 56);
and by St. Mark, as " Mary Magdalene, and Mary
of James the little and of Joses, and Salome " "
(Mark xv. 40). From a comparison of these pas-
sages, it appears that Mary of Clopas, and Mary
<■ The form of the ex pre s si on " Mary of Clopaa," { by tn«.r surnames, but by the name of their rather or
r Mary of James," in Its more colloquial form " Clopas' i husband, or son, «. g. " William's Mary," " John's
Mary," " James' Mary," Is familiar to every one ao- 1 Mary," etc.
instated with English village 1UV : ts still a common I » Maria, Maria-Ma, and Marla-Immacolata, are ths
idnf tor the unmarried, and somethnm for the married unt names of Uuaecf the sisters of the lata kin*- el
somen of the laboring classes In a country town or the Two Sicilies
•iOsHje, to be dttstlnj named from their I
of James the Little and of Joses, are the
person, and that she was the sister of St Mary the
Virgin. The arguments, preponderating on the
affirmative side, for this Mary being (according to
the A. V. translation) the mife of Clopas or Al-
phffius, and the mother of James the Little, Joset
Jude, Simon, and their sisters, have been given
under the heading James. There is an apparent
difficulty in the fact of two sisters seeming to bear
the name of Mary. To escape this difficulty, it has
been suggested (1) that the two clauses "hi*
mother's sister" and "Mary of Clopas," are not
in apposition, and that St. John meant to designate
four persons as present — namely, the mother of
Jesus ; her sister, to whom he does not assign any
name ; Mary of Clopas ; and Mary Magdalene
(Lange). And it has been further suggested that
this sister's name was Salome, wife of Zebcdea
(Wieseler). This is avoiding, not solving a diffi-
culty. St. John could not have expressed himself
as he does had he meant more than three persons.
It has been suggested (2) that the word aSe\<pfi is
not here to be taken in its strict sense, but rather
in the laxer acceptation, which it clearly does bear
in other places. Mary, wife of Clopas, it has been
said, was not the sister, but the cousin of St. Mary
the Virgin (see Wordsworth, Ok. Tttt., Preface to
the Epistle of St. James). There is nothing iu this
suggestion which is objectionable, or which can be
disproved. But it appears unnecessary and un-
likely: unnecessary, because the fact of two sisters
having the same name, though unusual, is not
singular; and unlikely, because we find the two
families so closely united — living together in the
same house, and moving about together from place
to place — that we are disposed rather to consider
them connected by the nearer than the more dis-
tant tie. That it is far from impossible for two
sisters to have the same name, may be seen by any
one who will cast his eye over Retham's Genealogi-
cal Tables. To name no others, his eye will at
once light on a pair of Antonias and a pair of
(Jctavias, the daughters of the same father, and in
one case of different mothers, in the other of the
same mother. If it be objected that these are
merely gentilic names, another table will n'lve tw0
Cleopatras. It is quite possible too that the same
cause which operates at present in Spain, may have
been at work formerly in Judaea. Miriam, the
sister of Moses, may have been the holy woman
after whom Jewish mothers called their daughters,
just as Spanish mothers not unfrequently give the
name of Mary to their children, male ani fir nude
alike, in honor of St. Mary the Virgin. 6 This is
on the hypothesis that the two names are iileiiU.aL
but on a close examination of the Greek text, we
find that it is possible that this was not the c tee,
St. Mary the Virgin is Maputo. ; her sister is Mania.
It is more than possible that these utnies are
the Greek representatives of two forms which the
antique O^.T? had then taken; and as in pro-
nunciation the emphasis would have been thrown
on the last syllable in Mapidfi, while the final letter
in Mapla would have been almost unheard, there
Digitized by VjOOQlC
J
1812 MARY OF OXEOPHA8
would, upon this hypothesis, have been a greater
difference in the listen' names than there U be-
iweeu Mary and Maria among ourselves.*
Mary of Clopu was probably the elder Bister of
the I/>rd'a mother. It would seem that ihe had
married Clopas or Alptueus while her sister was
(till a girl. She had four sons, and at least three
ilaughters. The names of the daughters are un-
known to us: those of the sons are James, Joses,
Jude, Simon, two of whom became enrolled among
the twelve Apostles [James], and a third (Simon)
may have succeeded his brother in the charge of
the Church of Jerusalem. Of .loses and the daugh-
ters we know nothing. Mary herself is brought
before ut for the first time on the day of the Cru-
cifixion — in the parallel passages already quoted
from St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St John. In
the evening of the same day we find her sitting
desolately at the tomb with Mary Magdalene (Matt,
xxvii. 61 ; Mark xr. 47), and at the dawn of Easter
morning she was again there with sweet spices,
which she had prepared on the Friday night (Matt.
xxviii. 1 ; Mark xiv. 1 ; Lake xxiii. 50), and was one
of those who bad " a vision of angels, which said
that He was alive " (Luke xxiv. 23). These are all
the glimpses that we have of her. Clopas or Alphieus
is not mentioned at all, except as designating Mary
and James. It is probable that be was dead before
the ministry of our Lord commenced. Joseph, the
husband of St. Mary the Virgin, was likewise
dead ; and the two widowed sisters, as was natural
both for comfort and for protection, were in the
custom of living together in one house. Thus the
two families came to he regarded as one, and tile
children of Mary and Clopas were called the brothers
and sisters of Jesus. How soon the two sisters com-
menced living together cannot be known. It is pos-
sible that her sister's house at Nazareth was St.
Mary's home at the time of her marriage, for we
never hear of the Virgin's parents. Or it may-
have been on their return from Egypt to Nazareth
that Joseph and Mary took up their residence with
Mary and Clopas. But it is more likely that tbe
union of the two households took place after the
death of Joseph and of Clopas. In the second
year of our Lord's ministry, we find that they had
been so long united as to be considered one by their
fellow-townsmen (Matt. xiii. 55) and other Gali-
leans (Matt. xii. 47). At whatever period it was
that this joint housekeeping commenced, it would
seem to have continued at Nazareth (Matt. xiii. 65)
and at Capernaum (John ii. 12), and elsewhere, till
St. John took St Mary the Virgin to bis own home
In Jerusalem, A. n. 30. After this time Mary of
Clopas would probably have continued living with
St. James the Little and her other children at Jeru-
salem until her death. The fact of her name being
omitted on all occasions on which her children and
3or sister are mentioned, save only on the days of
.he Ciucifixion and the Resurrection, would iudl-
»te a retiring disposition, or perhaps an advanced
« The ordinary explanation that Maptrf* la the He-
braic form, and Mopi'a the Greek form, and that the
lilfcrence Is in the use of the Evangelists, not In the
earn* Itwlf, seems scarcely adequate: for why should
the Bvangsllsts Invariably employ the Hebraic form
when writing of 8t. Mary the Virgin, and the Ore*
'orm when writing about all the other Maris* in the
fldsfei history ? It Is true that this distinction is not
xtnetantly observed In tbe readings of the Oodex
raMsaan, the Cbdax Kphneriil, and a lew other MSS. :
MABY MAOBALENB
age That his cousins were older than Jesus, and
consequently that their mother was the elder siatei
of the Virgin, may be gathered as likely from Mark
iii. 21, as it is not probable that if they had beer,
younger than Jesus, they would have ventured te
have attempted to interfere by force with Him foe
over exerting himself, as they thought, in the pros-
ecution of his ministry. We may note that the
Gnostic legends of the early ages, and the medinnl
fables and revelations alike refuse to acknowledge
the existence of a sister of St. Mary, as interfering
with the miraculous conception and birth of the
latter. F. M
MATtY MAG'DALBNE (Mopfa 4 Ma-yea
AtnW): Marin Magdalene). Four different expla-
nations have been given of this name. (1.) That
which at first suggests itself as the moat natural,
that she came from the town of Magdala. The
statement that the women with whom she jour-
neyed, followed Jesus in Galilee (Mark xv. 41)
agrees with this notion. (2.) Another explanation
has been found in the fact that the Talmudic
writers in their calumnies against the Nazareues
make mention of a Miriam Megaddela (N TT2D),
and deriving that word from the Piel of '3|> to
twine, explain it as meaning " the twiner or plaiter
of hair." They connect with this name a story
which will be mentioned later; but the derivation
has been aooepted by Lightfoot (Hur. lltb. on Matt,
xxrii. 56; flnrm. A'tvmo, on Luke viii. 2), as satis-
factory, and pointing to the previous worldlinesa of
" Miriam with the braided locks," as identical with
" the woman that was a sinner " of Luke vii. 87.
It has been urged in favor of this, that tbe ii xa-
Kaunitni of Luke viii. 2 implies something peculiar,
and is not used where the word that follows points
only to origin or residence. (3.) Either seriously,
or with the patristic loudness for panmunuitia,
Jerome sees in her name, and in that of her town,
the old Migdol ( = a watch-tower), and dwells on
the coincidence accordingly. Tbe name denotes
the iteadfastness of her faith. She is " vera i-vp-
■yiTwr, vere turrix candoris et Libani, qua: prospicit
in faciem Damasci" (Kpitl. ail Principiam)fi He
is followed in this by later I-atin writers, and the
pun forms the theme of a panegyric sermon by Odo
of Clugnl (Acta Sanctorum, Antwerp, 1727, July
12). (4.) Origen, lastly, looking to the more com-
mon meaning of v^ (gtiiiil, to be great), sees
in her name a prophecy of her spiritual greatness
as having ministered to the l>ord, and been the first
witness of his resurrection ( Trad, in Matt, xxxv.),
It will be well to get a firm standing-ground it
the facts that are definitely connected in the N. T.
with Mary Magdalene before entering on the |>er-
plexed and bewildering conjectures that gather
round her name.
1. She comes before us for the first time in Luke
viii. 2. It was the custom of Jewish women
but there Is sufficient agreement In the majority of the
Codices to determine the usage. That It Is possible
for a name to develop Into several kindred forms, and
for them forms to be considered soOcteutly dlattne'
appellations for two or mole brothers or sisters, it
evidenced by our dally experience.
t> The writer la Indebted for this quotation, and f »
one or two ivj fci e uu ss in the soon* of the article, ■
the kindness of Mr. W. A. VTrisztt
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MART MAGDAXEAiS
;j«rome on 1 Cor. ix. 5) to contribute *o the sup-
eort of Kabbia whom they reverenced, and iu con-
tanity with that custom, there were among the.
disciples of Jesus, women who " ministered unto
Him of their substance." All appear to have occu-
pied a position of comparative wealth. With all
the chief motive was that of gratitude for their
deliverance from "evil spirits and infirmities."
Of Mar; it is said specially that "seven devils
(oVu/ioVia) went out of her," and the number in-
dicates, as in Matt xii. 45, and the " Legion " of
the Gadarene demoniac (Mark v. 9), a pollution
of more than ordinary malignity. We must think
of her, accordingly, as having had, in their most
aggravated forms, some of the phenomena of mental
and spiritual disease which we meet with in other
demoniacs, Uie wretchedness of despair, the divided
consciousness, the preternatural frenzy, the long-
continued fits of silence. The appearance of the
same description in Mark xvi. 9 (whatever opinion
we may form as to the authorship of the closing
section of that Gospel) indicates that this was the
Let most intimately connected with her name in
the minds of the early disciples. From that state
of misery she had been set free by the presence of
the Healer, and, in the absence, as we may infer,-
of other ties and duties, she found her safety and
her blessedness in following Him. The silence of
the Gospels as to the presence of these women at
other periods of the lord's ministry, makes it prob-
able that they attended on Him chiefly in his mure
solemn progresses through the towns and villages
of Galilee, while at other times he journeyed to
and fro without any other attendants than the
Twelve, and sometimes without even them. In the
last journey to Jerusalem, to which so many had
lieen looking with eager expectation, they again
accompanied Him (Matt xxvii. 55; Mark xv. 41;
I.uke xxiii. 55, xxiv. 10). It will explain much that
follows if we remember that this life of ministration
must have brought Mary Magdalene into compan-
ionship of the closest nature with Salome the mother
of James and John (Mark xv. 40). and even also
with Mary the mother of the Lord (John xix- 25).
The women who thus devoted themselves are not
prominent in the history: we have no record of
their mode of life, or abode, or hopes or fears during
the few momentous days that preceded the cruci-
fixion. From that hour, they come forth for a brief
two days' space into marvelous distinctness. They
"stood afar off, beholding these things" (Luke
xxiii. 49) during the closing hours of the Agony
on the Cross. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother
of the Lord, and the beloved disciple were at one
ime not afar off, but close to the cross, within hear-
ng. The same close association which drew them
together there is seen afterwards. She remains by
the ciou till all is over, waits till the body is taken
down, and wrapped in the linen cloth and placed in
the garden-sepulchre of Joseph of Arimnthea. She
remains there in the dusk of the evening watching
what she must have looked on as the final resting-
place of the Prophet and Teacher whom she had
honored (Matt xxvii. 61 ; Mark xv. 47 ; Luke xxiii.
65). Not to her had there been given the hope of thj
Keaurreetion. The disciples to whom the words that
MAKY MAGDALENE 1812
spoke of it had been addressed hsd failed to under
stand them, and were not likely to have reported
them to her. The Sabbath that followed brought
an enforced rest, but no sooner is the sunset over
than she, with Salome aud Mary the mother of
James, " brought sweet spices that they might
come and anoint " the body, the interment of
which on the night of the crucifixion they looked
on as hasty and provisional (Mark xvi. 1).
The next morning accordingly, in the earliest
dawn (Matt, xxviii. 1 ; Mark xvi. S), they come
with Mary the mother of James, to the sepulchre
It would be out of place to enter here into tin.
harmonistic discussions which gather round fur
history of the Resurrection. As far as they coy •
nect themselves with the name of Mary MagdaknA
the one fact which St. John records is that of the
chiefest interest. She had been to the tomb and baa
fouud it empty, had seen the " vision of angels '
(Matt, xxviii. 5; Mark xvi. 6). To her, however,
after the first moment of joy, it had seemed to be
but a vision She went with her cry of sorrow to
Peter and John (let us remember that Salome had
been with her), " they have taken away the Lord
out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they
have laid Him " (John xx. 1, S). But she returns
there. She follows Peter and John, and remains
when they go back. The one thought that fills
her mind is still that the body is not there. She
has been robbed of that task of reverential love on
which she had set her heart. The words of the
angels can call out no other answer thau that —
They have taken away my Lord, and 1 know not
where they have laid Him " (John xx. 13). This
intense brooding over one fixed thought was, we
may venture to say, to one who had suffered as she
had suffered, full of special danger, and called for
a special discipline. The spirit must be raised out
of its blank despair, or else the "seven devils"
might come in once again, and the last state be
worse thau the first. The utter stupor of grief is
shown in her want of power to recognize at first
either the voice or the form of the Lord to whom
she had ministered (John xx, 14, 15). At last her
own name uttered by that voice as she had heard it
uttered, it may be, in the hour of her deepest misery,
recalls her to consciousness; and then follows the
cry of recognition, with the strongest word of rev
erence which a woman of Israel could use, " Kab
boni," and the rush forward to cling to his feel.
That, however, is not the discipline she needs.
Her love had been too dependent on the visible
presence of her Master. She had the same lesson
to learn as the other disciples. Though they h«d
" known Christ after the flesh," they were " hence-
forth to know Him so no more." She was to hear
that truth in its highest and sharpest "irm. " Touch
me not, for I am not yet ascended U ny Father."
For a time, till the earthly affection had been
raised to a heavenly one, she was to hold hack.
When He had finished his work and had ascended
to the Father, there should I* no barrier then to
the fullest communion that the most devoted love
could crave for. Those who sought, might draw
near and touch Him then. He would be one with
them, and they one with him." — It was fit that
" * The pssssts refmd to Is one of
tafed lUtltcalty. It Is certainly an objection to the
tfaw proposed above that it represents onr Lord as
hcMddlnf Mary to touch him, though he permitted
Jss ethsr ewimi to whom he showed himself to tbtir
return f the city, not only to approach him, oat te
aold him by the feet and worship htm (Matt. xxvtC
9). It Is to be noted that the verb which describes
the act of the 'then (fepdmmri Is a afferent ens
from that whicr describes the sot denied to Marl (ail
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1814 MAKY MAGDALENK
this should be the but mention of Mary. The Evan-
gelist, whoae position, as the eon of Salome, muat
nave given him the fullest knowledge at onoe of
the facta of her after-history, and of her inmost
thoughts, bore witness bj his silence, in this case
as in that of Lazarus, to the truth that lives, such
as theirs, were thenceforth "hid with Christ in
God."
II. What follows will show bow great a contrast
there is between the spirit in which he wrote and
that which shows itself in the later traditions.
Out of these few facts there rise a multitude of
wild conjectures; and with these there has been
■instructed a whole romance of hagiology.
The questions which meet us connect themselves
with the narratives in the four Gospels of women
who came with precious ointment to anoint the feet
or the bead of Jesus. Each Gospel contains an
account of one such anointing ; and men have asked,
in endeavoring to construct a harmony, •< Do they
tell us of four distinct acts, or of three, or of two,
or of one only? On any supposition but the last,
are the distinct acts performed by the same or by
different persons; and if by different, then by how
many? Further, have we any grounds for identi-
fying Mary Magdalene with the woman or with
any one of the women whoae acta are thus brought
before us? " This opens a wide range of possible
combinations, but the limits of the inquiry may,
without much difficulty, be narrowed. Although
the opinion seems to hare been at one time main-
tained (Origen, Tract, in Unit, xxxv.), few would
now hold that Matt. xxvi. and Mark xiv. are reports
of two distinct events. Few, except critics bent,
like Scbleiermacher and Strauss, on getting up a
ease against the historical veracity of the Evangel-
ists, could persuade themselves that the narrative
of Luke vii., differing as it does in well-nigh every
circumstance, is but a misplaced and embellished
version of the incident which the first two Gospels
connect with the last week of our l.ord's ministry.
The supposition that there were three anointings
has found favor with Origen (t c.) and Lightfoot
{Harm. Evany, in loc, and Hot. ffcb. in Matt,
xxri.); but while, on the one hand, it removed
some harmonistic difficulties, there is, on the other,
MaRY MAGDALBNK
something improbable to the verge of being L one.
eeivable, in the repetition within three days of the
same scene, at the same place, with precisely the
same murmur and the same reproof. We are left
to the conclusion adopted by the great majority of
interpreters, that the Gospels record two anointings
one in some city unnamed (Capernaum or Nam
have been suggested), during our Lord's Galilean
ministry (Luke vii.), the other at Bethany, before
the last entry into Jerusalem (Matt. xxvi. ; Mark
xiv.; John xii.). We come, then, to the question
whether in these two narratives we meet with or-i
woman or with two. The one passage adduced for
the former conclusion is John xi. 9. It has been
urged (Maldonatus tn Matt xxvi. and Joan. xi. 3,
Acta Sanctorum, July 22d) that the words which
we find there (" It was that Mary which anoinUd
the Lord with ointment whose brother
Lazarus was sick") could not possibly refer by
anticipation to the history which was about to
follow in ch. xii., and must therefore presuppose
some fact known through the other Gospels to the
Church at large, and that fact, it is inferred, is
found in the history of Luke vii. Against this it
has been said on the other side, that the assump-
tion thus made is entirely an arbitrary one, and
that there is not the slightest trace of the life of
Mary of Bethany ever having been one of open and
flagrant impurity."
There is, therefore, but slender evidence for the
assumption that the two anointings were the acta
of one and the same woman, and that woman the
sister of Lazarus. There is, if passible, still less
for the identification of Mary Magdalene with the
chief actor in either history. (1.) When her name
appears in Luke viii. 3 there is not one word to
connect it with the history that immediately pre-
cedes. Though possible, it is at least unlikely
that such an one as the "sinner" would at onee
have been received as the chosen companion of
Joanna and Salome, and have gone from town to
town with them and the disciples. lastly, the
description that it given — " Out of whom went
seven devils " — points, as has been stated, to a
form of suffering all but absolutely incompatible
witli the life implied in aftofmvAor, and to a very
uov airrov). This variation Is of Itseif suggestive of
a different purpose on the part of Mary In offering to
touch him, and on the Saviour's part in Interrupting
the act.
Meyer ou the basin of thfo difference In the language
rjgge.'tg another explanation, which deserves to be
mentioned. It will be found In hi* remarks on John
xx. 17 (Cbmm. pp 499-602, 3te Aufl.). He adopted a
different view in his earlier studies. It should be ob-
urted that this Imperative present form (at) airrov)
implies an Incipient act either actually begun, or one
on the point of being done, as indicated by some look
or gesture.
Mary, It may well be supposed, was in the same per-
plexed state of mind on the appearance of Christ to
her, which was evinced in so many different ways by
the other disciples after the resurrection. She had
already, it is true, exclaimed in the ecstasy of her Joy,
r Rabbonl," but she may not yet have been certain as
tc the precise form or nature of the body In which she
beheld h«r Lord. It is lie, the Great Master, verily,
the Is assured ; but Is He corporeal, having really come
tirtb o it U the grave ? Or Is it his glorified spirit,
having already gone up to God, bat now having de-
■o-uded to her In Its spiritual Investiture? In thla
teste of uncertainty she extends her hand to assure
earaeET of the troth. She would procure to herself
by the criterion of the sense of touch the conviction
which the eye is unable to give her. The Saviour
knows her thoughts, and arrests the act. The act is
unnecessary : bis words are a sufficient proof of what
one would know. He " had not yet ascended to the
Father," as she half believed, and consequently baa
not the spiritual body which she nupposod he might
possibly have. He gives her by tliw declaration ths
Assurance reepeotlng his bodily state which she hsd
proposed tn gain for herself through the medium of
sense. Her case was like that of Thomas, and yet
unlike bis ; she wished, like bio, to touch the object
of ber vision, but, unlike him, was not prompted by
unbelief.
With this exegesis the confirmatory aim* yip iw
/M/rexa which follows has its logical Justification. No
explanation can be correct which falls to satisfy that
condition. H.
o The diflloulty is hardly met by the portentous oca-
jecture of one commentator, that the word ouootwJuk
does not mean what It Is commonly supposed to mean
and that the '* many sins " consisted chiefly (ss tin
name Magdalene, according to the etymology nonces
above, Implies) iu her giving too large a poruVn of ths
Sabbath to the braiding or plaiting of her hatr C.
\Mmj In Lamps ou John xH. X
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MARY MAGDALENE
linertnt work of healing from that of the dirine
words of pardon — " Thy sins be forgiven thee."
To say, at has been said, that the " seven devils "
are the " many sins " (Greg. Hag. Horn, tn Evang.
86 and 63°,, U to identify t»"o things whioh are
separated in the whole tenor of the N. T. by the
dearest line of demarcation. The argument that
because Mary Magdalene is mentioned so soon after-
wards she must be the same as the woman of
Luke vii. (Butler's Lta of the Stiintt, July 23),
u simply puerile. It would be just as reasonable
to identify "the sinner" with Susanna. Never,
perhaps, has a figment so utterly baseless obtained
to wide an acceptance as that which we connect
with the name of the " penitent Magdalene." It
is to be regretted that the chapter-heading of the
A. V. of Luke vii. should seem to give a quasi-
authoritative sanction to a tradition bo utterly un-
certain, and that it should have been perpetuated
in connection with a great work of mercy. (2.)
The belief that Mary of Bethany and Mary Mag-
dalene are identical is yet more startling. Not one
single circumstance, except that of lore and rever-
ence for their Master, is common. The epithet
Magdalene, whatever may be its meaning, seems
chosen for the express purpose of distinguishing
lier from all other Maries. No one Evangelist
gives the slightest hint of identity. St. Luke
mentions Martha and her *ister Mary in x. 38, -19,
as though neither had been named before. St.
John, who gives the fullest account of both, keeps
their distinct individuality most prominent. The
only simulacrum of an argument on behalf of the
identity is that, if we do not admit it, we hare no
record of the sister of [.azarus having been a wit-
ness of tiie resurrection.
Nor is this lack of evidence in the N. T. itself
compensated by any such weight of authority as
would indicate a really trustworthy tradition. Two
of the earliest writers who allude to the histories of
the anointing — Clement of Alexandria (Padag.
ii. 8) and Tertullian (de Pmlic. ch. 81 —say noth-
ing that would imply that they accepted it. The
language of Ireneus (iii. 4) is against it. Origen
(I. c) discusses the question fully, and rejects it.
He is followed by the whole succession of the ex-
positors of the Eastern Church : Theophilus of An-
tioch, Macarius, Chrysostom, Theophylact. The
traditions of that Church, when they wandered
into the regions of conjecture, took another direc-
tion, and suggested the identity of Mary Magda-
lene with the daughter of the Syro-Phoeuician
woman of Mark vii. 26 (Nieephorus, ff. K. i. 33).
In the Western Church, however, the other belief
began to spread. At first it is mentioned hesita-
tingly, as by Ambrose (do Virg. Vtl. and in Lite.
lib. vi.), Jerome (in Mitt, xxvi. 2; contr. Jnrnn. c.
16). Augustine at one time inclines to it (de
Content. Emng. c. 69), at another speaks very
donbtlcgly (Tract, in Joann. 49). At the close
of the first great period of Church history, Gregory
the Great takes up both notions, embodies them in
Us Homilies (in AV. 26, 63) and stamps them
with his authority. The reverence felt for him,
and the constant use of his works as a text-book
of theology during the whole medieval period,
leenred for the aypothesia a currency which it never
would have gained on its own merits. The services
>f the least of St. Mary Magdalene were constructed
jci the assumption of its truth (Brer. Bum. in Jul.
k 23). Hymns and paintings and sculptures fixed
t deer in the minds of the Western nations, rranoa
MAKV MAGDALENE 1815
and England being foremost in their reveremw
for the saint whose history appealed to their sym-
pathies. (See below.) Well-nigh all ecclesiastical
writers, after the time of Gregory tho Great (Allien
the Great and Thomas Aquinas are exceptions >,
take it for granted. When it was first questioned
by Fevre d'Etaples (Faber Stapulensis) in the early
Biblical criticism of the 16th century, the new
opinion was formally condemned by the Sorbonne
(Ada Sanctorum, 1. c), and denounced by Bishop
Fisher of Rochester. The Prayer-book of 1649
follows in the wake of the Breviary; but in that
of 1662, either on account of the uncertainty or
for other reasons, the feast disappears. The Book
of Homilies gives a doubtful testimony. In one
passage the " sinful woman " is mentioned without
any notice of her being the same as the Magdalen
(Serm. on Repentance, Part ii.); in another it
depends upon a comma whether the two are dis-
tinguished or identified (ibid. Part ii.). The trans-
lators under James I., as has been stated, adopted
the received tradition. Since that period there has
been a gradually accumulating consensus against
it. Calvin, Grotius, Hammond, Casaubon, among
older critics, Bengel, Lampe, Greswell, Alford,
Wordsworth, Stier, Meyer, Ellicott, Olshausen,
among later, agree in rejecting it Romanist
writers even (Tillemont, Dupin, Estius) have borne
their protest against it in whole or in part: and
books that represent the present teaching of tho
Galliran Church reject entirely the identification
of the two Maries as an unhappy mistake (Migne,
Did. de in Bible). The mediaeval tradition has,
however, found defenders in Baronius, the writers
of the Acta Sanctorum, Maldonatus, Bishop Au-
drewes, Lightfoot, Isaac Williams, and I)r. Puaey.
It remains to give the substance of the legend
formed out of these combinations. At some time
before the commencement of our Lord's ministry,
a great sorrow fell upon the household of Bethany.
The younger of the two sisters fell from her purity
and sank into the depths of shame. Her life was
that of one possessed by the " seven devils " of un-
cleajiness. From the city to which she then went,
or from her harlot-like adornments, she was known
by the new name of Magdalene. Then she hears
of the Deliverer, and repents and loves and is for
given. Then she is received at once into the
fellowship of the holy women and ministers to the
I/>nl. and is received back again by her sister and
dwells with her. and shows that she has chosen the
good part. The death of l.azarus and his return
to life are new motives to her gratitude and love;
and she shows them, as she had shown them bef >re,
anointing \to longer the feet only, but the head also
of her I/ord. She watches by the cross, and is
present at the sepulchre and witnesses the resur-
rection. Then (the legend goes on, when the week
of fantastic combination is completed), after some
years of waiting, she goes with Lazarus and Martha
and Maximin (one of the Seventy) to Marseilles
[cornp. Lazarus]. They land tbere; and she,
leaving Martha to more active work, retires to a
cave in the neighborhood of Aries, and there leads
a life of penitence for thirty year;. When she
dies a church is built in her honor, and miracles
are wrought at her tomb. Clovis the Frank is
healed by her intercession, and his new faith is
strengthened ; and the chivalry of France does hom-
age to ber name as to that of the greater Mary.
Such was the full-grown form of the Westers
story. Tn the East there was a diflerect tradition
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1816 MARY MOTHER OF MARK
Nicephorus (H. E. ii. 10) state* that she went to
Home to accuse Pilate for his unrighteous judg-
ment; Modestus, patriarch of Constantinople (/Ami.
m MaritiM), that she caine to Ephesus with the
Virgin and St. John, and died and was buried
there. The Emperor Leo the Philosopher (ciro.
890) brought her body from that city to Constan-
tinople (Acta Sanctorum, L c).
The name appears to have been conspicuous
enough, either among the living members of the
Church of Jerusalem or in their written records, to
attract the notice of their Jewish opponents. The
Talmud i»U record a tradition, confused enough,
that Stada or Satda, whom they represent as the
mother of the Prophet of Nazareth, was known by
this name as a " plalter or twiner of hair ; " that
she was the wife of Paphus Ben-Jehudah, a con-
temporary of Gamaliel, Joshua, and Akiba; and
that she grieved and angered him by her wanton-
ness (Ughtfoot, Bor. Htb. on Matt, xxvi., Harm.
Evnng. on Luke viii. 8). It seems, however, from
the fuller report given by Eisenmenger, that there
were two women to whom the Talmudists gave this
name, and the wife of Paphus Is not the one whom
they identified with the Mary Magdalene of the
Gospels (KnttkctL Judenth. 1. 277).
There is lastly the strange supposition (rising
out of an attempt to evade some of the harmonistic
difficulties of the resurrection history), that there
were two women both known by this name, and
both among those who went early to the sepulchre
(I-ampe, Comm. in Joann.; Ambrose, Comm. in
Luc. x. 94). E. H. P.
MARY, MOTHER OF MARK. The
woman known by this description must have been
among the earliest disciples. We learn from Col.
iv. 10 that she was sister to Barnabas, and it
would appear from Acts iv. 37, xii. 12, that, while
the brother gave up his land and brought the pro-
ceeds of the sale into the common treasury of the
Church, the sister gave up her house to be used as
one of its chief places of meeting. The (act that
Peter goes to that house on his release from prison
indicates that there was some special intimacy
(Acts xii. IS) between them, and this is confirmed
nv the language which he uses towards Mark as
being his "son" (1 Pet. v. 13). She, it may lie
added, must have been, like Barnabas, of the tribe
of Levi, and may have been connected, as he was,
with Cyprus (Acts iv. 36). It has been surmised
that filial anxiety about her welfare during the per-
secutions and the famine which harassed the Church
at Jerusalem, was the chief cause of Mark's with-
drawal from the missionary labors of Paul and
Barnabas. ITie tradition of a later age represented
the place of meeting for the disciples, and therefore
probably the house of Mary, as having stood on
the upper slope 'of Zlon, and affirmed that it had
been the scene of the wonder of the day of Pente-
cost, had escaped the general destruction of the
eit) by Titus, and was still used as a church In the
4th century (Epiphan. rfe Pond, et ,1/rn*. xiv.:
Cyril. HkrosoL CaUch. xA.\ K. H. P.
MARY, SISTER OF LAZARTJ8. For
much of the information connected with this name,
comp. I.AZAHUS and Mary Maoimi.kxk. The
focts strictly personal to her are but few. She and
her sister Martha appear in Luke x. 40, as receiv-
ing Christ In their house. The contrasted temper-
uuenta of the two sisters have been already In part
Jivussed rMABTHA]. Mary sat listening eagerly
MARY THE VIRGIN
for every word that fell from the Divine Teiehrr
She had chosen the good part, the life that hat
found its unity, the " one thing needful," In rising
from the earthly to the heavenly, no longer dis-
tracted by the "many things " of earth. The same
character shows itself in the history of John xi.
Her grief is deeper but less active. She sits still
in the house. She will not go to meet the friends
who come on the formal visit of consolation. But
when her sister tells her secretly " The Master is
come and caueth for thee," she rises quickly and
goes forth at once (John xi. 20, 28). Those who
have watched the depth of her grief have but one
explanation for the sudden change: " She goeth »o
the grave to weep there! " Her first thought when
she sees the Teacher in whose power and love she
had trusted, is one of complaint. " She fell down
at his feet, saying, Ix>rd, if thon hadst been here,
my brother bad not died." Up to this point, her
relation to the Divine Friend had been one of rev-
erence, receiving rather than giving, blessed in the
consciousness of his favor. But the great joy and
love which her brother's return to life calls up in
her, pour themselves out in larger measure than
had been seen before. The treasured alabaster-boi
of ointmeut is brought forth at the final feast of
Bethany, John xH. 3. St. Matthew and St. Mark
keep back her name. St. John records it as though
the reason for the silence held good no longer. Of
her he had nothing more to tell. The education of
her spirit was completed. The love which had
been recipient and contemplative shows itself in
action.
Of her after-history we know nothing. The
ecclesiastical traditions about her are based on the
unfounded hypothesis of her identity with Mary
Magdalene. E. H. P.
MARY THE VIRGIN (Maeuip: <" 'he
form of the name see p. 1811). There is no person
perhaps in sacred or in profane literature, around
whom so many legends have been grouped as the
Virgin Mary; and there are few whose authentic
history is more concise. The very simplicity of the
evangelical record has no doubt been one cause of
the abundance of the legendary matter of which
she forms the central figure. Imagination had to
be called in to supply a craving which authentic
narrative did not satisfy. We shall divide her life
into three periods. I. The period of her childhood,
up to the time of the birth of our Lord. II. The
period of her middle age, contemporary with the
Bible Record. III. The period subsequent to the
Ascension. The first and last of these are wholly
legendary, except in regard to one fact mention.'d
in the Acts of the Apostles; the second will contain
her real history. For the first period we shall ban
to rely on the early apocryphal gospels: for the
second on the Bible; for the third on the traditions
and tales which bad an origin external to the
Church, but after a time were transplanted withij
her boundaries, and there nourished and incrensed
both by the force of natural growth, and by the
accretions which from time to time resulted frnn
supposed visions and revelations.
I. The childhood of M<try, tcAntfy Ugtndnry. -
Joachim and Anna were both of the race of Davin
The abode of the former was Nazareth ; the lattei
passed her early years at Beth'eliem. They liver
piously in the sight of God, and faultlessly befbrr
man, dividing their substance into three portions
one of which they devoted to the strvioe of Uw
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MARY THE VIRGIN
f ecuple, toother to the poor, »nd the third to their
twn want*. And so twenty yean of ineir Uvea
passed silently away. But at the end of this period
Joachim went to Jerusalem with some others of his
tribe, to make his usual offering at the Feast of the
Dedication. And it chanced that Issachar was high-
priest (Gospel of Birth of Mary) ; that Reuben was
high-priest (Proterangehon). And the high-priest
scorned Joachim, and drove him roughly away,
asking how he dared to present himself in company
with those who had children, while be had none;
and be refused to accept his offerings until he
should hare begotten a child, for the Scripture said,
" Cursed is every one who does not beget a man-
child in Israel." And Joachim was shamed before
his friends and neighbors, and he retired into the
wilderness and fixed his tent there, and fasted forty
days and forty nights. And at the end of this
period an angel appeared to him, and told him that
his wife should conceive, and should bring forth a
daughter, and he should call her name Mary. Anna
meantime was muoh distressed at her husband's
absence, and being reproached by ber maid Judith
with her barrenness, she was overcome with grief
of spirit. And in her sadness she went into ber
garden to walk, d res sed in her wedding-dress. And
she sat down under a laurel-tree, and looked up and
spied among the branches a sparrow's nest, and she
bemoaned herself as more miserable than the very
birds, for they were fruitful and she was Inrren;
and she prayed thut'she might have a child even as
Sarai was Messed with Isaac. And two angels ap-
peared to her, and promised her that she should
have a child who should be spoken of in all the
world. And Joachim returned joyfully to his home,
and when the time was accomplished, Anna brought
forth a daughter, and they called her name Mary.
Now the child Mary increased in strength day by
day, and at nine months of age she walked nine
steps. And when she was three years old her par-
oil* brought her to the Temple, to dedicate her to
the Lord. And there were fifteen stairs up to the
Temple, and while Joseph and Mary were changing
their dress, she walked up them without help: and
the high-priest placed her upon the third step of
the altar, and she danced with her feet, and all the
house of Israel loved her. Then Mary remained at
the Temple until she was twelve (Prot.) fourteen (O.
H. M.) yean old, ministered to by the angels, and
advancing in perfection as in years. At this time
the high-priest commanded all the virgins that
were in the Temple to return to their homes and to
he married. But Mary refused, for she said that she
had vowed virginity to the Lord. Thus the high-
as brought into a perplexity, and he had
to God to inquire what he should do.
Then a voice from the ark answered him (G. B.
It), an angel spake unto him (Prot.): and they
lathered together all the widowers in Israel (Prot),
U the marriageable men of the house of David
ti. B. St.), and desired them to bring each man
jt rod. And amongst them came Joseph and
ruught his rod, but he shunned to present it, be-
ause be was an old man and had children. There-
o Throe spots lay etalm to be the some of the An-
aondatlnn. Two of these are, as was f be expected,
la Nscsreth, and one, as every one know is tn Italy,
the tfiaeks sod latins each claim to be .ca guardians
sf the true spot in Palestine ; the third claimant Is
•at nolv nous* of Lontto. The Qneks point out the
aarlog of water a a nJ oaad in the Protsvangauon a*
MAR\ THE VIRGIN 1817
fore the other rods were presented and no sign
occurred. Then it was found that Joseph had nof
presented his rod ; and behold, as soon as he had pre-
sented it, a dove came forth from the rod and flev
upon the head of Joseph (Prot.); a dove came from
heaven and pitched on the rod (G. B. M.). And
Joseph, in spite of his reluctance, was compelled to
betroth himself to Mary, and he returned to Beth-
lehem to make preparations for his marriage (Gi B.
M. ) ; he betook himself to his occupation of building
houses (Prot. ) ; while Mary went back to her par-
ents' house in Galilee. Then it chanced that the
priests needed a new veil for the Temple, and seven
virgins cast lots to make different parts of it; and
the lot to spin the true purple fell to Mary. And
she went out with a pitcher to draw water. And
she heard a voice, saying unto her, >' Hail, thou
that art highly favored, the Lord is with then.
Blessed art thou among women ! " and she looked
round with trembling to see whence the voice came,
and she laid down the pitcher and went into the
house and took the purple and sat down to work at
it. And behold the angel Gabriel stood by her
and filled the chamber with prodigious light, and
said, " Fear not," etc And when Mary had fin-
ished the purple, she took it to the high-priest;
and having received his blessing, went to visit her
cousin Elizabeth, and returned back again." Then
Joseph returned to his home from building bouses
(Prut.); came into Galilee, to marry the Virgin to
whom he was betrothed ((J. B. M.), and finding
her with child, he resolved to put her away privily;
but being warned in a dream, he relinquished his
purpose, and took her to his house. Then came
Annas the scribe to visit Joseph, and he went back
sod told the priest that Joseph had committed s
great crime, for he had privately married the Virgin
whom he had received out of the Temple, and had
not made it known to the children of Israel. And
the priest sent his servants, and they found that
she was with child ; and he called them to him,
and Joseph denied that the child was his, and the
priest made Joseph drink the bitter water of trial
(Num. v. 18), slid sent him to a mountainous
place to see what would follow. But Joseph re-
turned In perfect health, so the priest sent them
away to their home. Then after three months
Joseph put Mary on an ass to go to Bethlehem to
be taxed ; and as they were going, Mary besought
him to take her down, and Joseph took her down
and carried her into a cave, and leaving her there
with his sons, he went to seek a midwife. And as
be went he looked up, and be saw the clouds aston-
ished and all creatures amazed. The fowls stopped
in their flight; the working people sat a! their food,
but did not eat; the sheep stood still; the shep-
herds' lifted hands became fixed; the (ids wen
touching the water with their mouths, but did not
drink. And a midwife came down from the moun-
tains, and Joseph took her with him to the cave,
and a bright cloud overshadowed the cave, and the
cloud became a bright light, and when the bright
light faded, there appeared an infant at the breast
of Mary. Then the midwife went out and told
confirmatory of their claim. The Latins ban eugrsv-4
on a marble slab in the grotto of their eooven* in
Nasareth the words Vnbum hie can factum «:, and
point out the pillar which marks the spot where tin
angel stood ; whilst the Head of their Church U Im
triavably emmnittsd to the wild Imgsnd of tontto
(See Stonier, 8. f P. eh. xiv.)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1818 MARY THE VIRGIN
Salome tint a Virgin had brought forth, and Sa-
lome would cot believe; and they came back
again into the cave, and Salome received satisfac-
tion, but Ltr hand withered away, nor was it re-
stored, until, by the command of an angel, she
touched the child, whereupon she was straightway
cured. (Giles, Codex Apocrypha Novi Testa-
ment), pp. 33-47 and 66-81, Lond. 1852; Jones,
On, Hit New Testament, ii. c. xiii. and iv., Oxf.
1827; Tbilo, Codex Apocryphus. See also Vita
oloiississima Mains Anna per F. Peti-um Dor-
iindo, appended to Ludolph of Saxony's Vita Christi,
Lyons, 1642; and a most audacious Hittoria C/iritli,
written in Persian by the Jesuit P. Jerome Xavier,
and exposed by Louis de Dieu, Lugd. Hat. 1639.)
II. The real history of Mary. — We now pass
from legend to that period of St. Mary's life which
is made known to us by Holy Scripture. In order
to give a single view of all that we know of her
who was chosen to be the mother of the Saviour, we
shall io the present section put together the whole
of her authentic history, supplementing it after-
wards by the more prominent legendary circum-
stances which are handed down.
We are wholly ignorant of the name and occupa-
tion of St. Mary's parents. If the genealogy given
by St. Luke is that of St. Mary (Greswell, tic.),
her father's name was Heli, which is another form
of the name given to her legendary father, Jeho-
iakim or Joachim. If Jacob and Heli were the
two sons of Matthan or Matthat, and if Joseph,
being the son of the younger brother, married his
cousin, the daughter of the elder brother (Hervey,
Genealogies of our Lord Jesus Christ), her father
was Jacob. The Evangelist does not tell us, and
we cannot know. She was, like Joseph, of the tribe
of Judah, and of the lineage of David (Ps. exxxii.
11; Luke i. 32; Kom. i. 3). She had a sister,
named probably like herself, Mary (John xix. 25)
[Mary of Cleopiias], and she was connected by
marriage (ouyytyiis, Luke i. 36) with Elisabeth,
who was of the tribe of Levi and of the lineage of
Aaron. This is all that we know of her antece-
dents.
In the summer of the year which is known
as n. c. 6. Mary was living at Nazareth, probaLJy
at her parents' — possibly at her elder sister's —
house, not having yet been taken by Joseph to his
home. She was at this time betrothed to Joseph
and was therefore regarded by the Jewish law and
custom as his wife, though he had not jet a hus-
band's rights over her. [Makriage, p. 18(14.]
At this time the angel Gabriel came to her with a
nttsage from God, and announced to her that she
rag to be the mother of the long expected Messiah.
He probaUy bore the form of an ordinary man, like
the angels who manifested themselves to Gideon
and to Manoah (Judg. vi., xiii.). This would
appear both from the expression <i<r«AoW, "he
came in;" and also from the fact of her being
troubled, not at his presence, but at the meaning of
his words. The scene as well as the salutation is
very similar to that recounted in the Book of
Daniel, " Then there came again and touched me
Me like the appearaui^e jf a man, and be strength-
ened me, and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not:
peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong ! "
(Dan. x. 18, 19). The exact meaning of Kevapi-
ra/xrVn s "(hon that hast bestowed upon thee a
age gift of grace." The A. V. rendering of " highly
favored " is therefore very exact and much nearer
to the original than the " gratia plena " of the
MARY THE VIRGIN
Vulgate, on which a huge and wholly muabataa
tlal edifice has been built by Romanist devotions,
writers. The next part of the salutation, "The
Lord is with thee," would probably have been
better translated, " The Lord be with thee." It b
the same salutation as that with which the angel
accosts Gideon (Judg. vi. 12). " Blessed art thou
among women " is nearly .the same expression as
that used by Ozias to Judith (Jud. xiii. 18). Ga-
briel proceeds to instruct Mary that by the opera-
tion of the Holy Ghost the everlasting Son of the
Father should be born of her; that in Him the
prophecies relative to David's throne and kingdom
should be accomplished ; and that his name was to
be called Jesus. He further informs her, perhaps
as a sign by which she might convince herself that
his prediction with regard to herself would come
true, that her relative Elisabeth was within three
months of being delivered of a child.
The angel left Mary, and she set off to visit Elis-
abeth either at Hebron or Juttaii (whichever way
we understand the clt tJ|» opcirfcr els *6\tv
'loita, Luke i. 39), where the latter lived with her
husband Zacharias, about 20 miles to the south of
Jerusalem, and therefore at a very considerable
distance from Nazareth. Immediately on her en-
trance into the house she was saluted by Elisabeth
as the mother of her Lord, and bad evidence of the
truth of the angel's saying with regard to her
cousin. She embodied her feelings of exultation
and thankfulness in the hjnin known under the
name of the Magnificat. Whether this was uttered
by immediate inspiration, in reply to Elisabeth's
salutation, or composed during her journey from
Nazareth, or was written at a later period of her
three months' visit at Hebron, does not appear for
certain. The hymn is founded on Hannah's song
of thankfulness (1 Sam. ii. 1-10), and exhibits an
intimate knowledge of the Psalms, prophetical
writings, and books of Moses, from which sources
almost every expression in it is drawn. The most
remarkable clause, " From henceforth all genera-
tions shall call me blessed," is borrowed from Leah's
exclamation on the birth of Asher (Gen. xxx. 13).
The same sentiment and expression are also found
in Prov. xxxi. 28; Mai. iii. 12; Jas. v. 11. In the
latter place the word fiamplfa is rendered with
great exactness " count happy." The notion that
there is conveyed in the word any anticipation of
her bearing the title of "Blessed" arises solely
from ignorance.
Mary returned to Nazareth shortly before the
birth of John the Baptist, and continued living at
her own home. In the course of a few months
• 'jseph became aware that she was with child, and
determined on giving her a hill of divorcement.
Instead of yielding her up to the law to suffer the
penalty which he supposed that she had incurred.
Being, however, warned and satisfied by an angel
who appeared to him in a dream, he took her to
his own house. It was soon after this, as it would
seem, that Augustus' decree was promulgated, and
Joseph and Mary travelled to Bethlehem to have
their names enrolled in the registers (b. c. 4) bj
way of preparation for the taxing, which howevec
was not completed till ten years afterward! (a. d
6 ), in the governorship of Quirinus. They reaches
Bethlehem, and there Mary brought forth tot
Saviour of the world, and humbly laid him in s
manger.
The visit of the shepherds, the circumcision, ths
adoration of the wise men, and the prrsentatiou is
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MARY THE VIRGIN
•be Temple, we rather scenes in the lift of Christ
than in that of bit mother. The presentation in
the Temple might not take place til! forty days
after the birth of the dhild. During thii period
the mother, according to the law of Moaes, was
andean (Lev. xii.). In the preeent case there could
he no necessity for offering the sacrifice and making
atonement beyond that of obedience to the Mosaic
precept; but already He, and his mother for Him,
were acting upon the principle of fulfilling all
righteousness. The poverty of St Mary and
Joseph, it may be noted, is shown by their making
the offering of the poor. The song of Simeon and
the thanksgiving of Anna, like the wonder of the
shepherds and the adoration of the magi, only in-
cidentally refer to Mary. One passage alone in
Simeon's address is specially directed to her, " Yea
a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also."
The exact purport of these words is doubtful. A
oomtuon patristic explanation refers them to the
pang of unbelief which shot through her bosom on
seeing her Son expire on the cross (Tertullian,
Origen, Basil, Cyril, etc.). By modern interpre-
ters it is more commonly referred to the pangs of
grief which she experienced on witnessing the suf-
ferings of her Son.
In the flight into Egypt, Mary and the babe had
the support and protection of Joseph, as well as in
their return from thence, in the following year, on
the death of Herod the Great (b. c. 3)." It appears
to bare been the intention of Joseph to have settled
at Bethlehem at this time, as his home at Nazareth
had been broken up for more than a year ; but on
finding how Herod's dominions had been dis|nsed
of, he changed his mind and returned to his old
llace of abode, thinking that the child's life would
■e safer in the tetrarchy of Antipas than in that of
irchelaus. It is possible that Joseph might have
been himself a native of Bethlehem, and that before
this time he had been only a visitor at Nazareth,
drawn thither by his betrothal and marriage. In
that ease, his fear of Archelaus would make him
exchange his own native town for that of Mary. It
may be that the holy family at this time took up
their residence in the house of Mary's sinter, the
wife of Clopas.
Henceforward, until the beginning of our l-ord's
ministry — i. e. from b. c. 3 to a. i>. 26 — we may
/icture St. Mary to ourselves as living in Nazareth,
-i a humble sphere of life, the wife of Joseph the
carpenter, pondering over the sayings of the angels,
of the shepherds, of Simeon, and those of her Son,
ss the latter u increased in wisdom and stature and
in favor with God and man " (Luke ii. 52). Two
eirenmstancea alone, so far as we know, broke in
on the otherwise even flow of tbe still waters of
her life. One of these was the temporary loss of
ber Son when he remained behind iu Jerusalem,
A. D. 8. The other was the death of Joseph. The
exact date of this last event we cannot determine.
But it was probably not long after the other.
a In the Gospel of the Infiuwr, which seems to
lite from the 2d century, Innumerable miracles are
swde to attend on St. Mary and her Son during their
sojourn is Kgypt: <- »-.,Mary look"d with pity on s
woman who was possessed, and Immediately Satan
msae out of ber In the form of a young man, saying,
Woe Is me because of thee, Mary and toy Sou ! r
In another occasion they Ml In with two thieves,
semed Titos and Ouaaaohus ; and Titos was gentle,
sad ftismarti is was harsh *, the btdj Mary therefore
MARY THE YlBGIlr 1819
From the time at which our Lord's ministry
commenced, St. Mary is withdrawn almost wholly
from sight. Four times only is 'he veil removed,
which, not surely without a reason, is thrown over
her. These four occasions are — 1. The marriage
at Cana of Galilee (John ii.). 2. The attempt
which she and his brethren made 'to speak witL
him" (Matt. xii. 46; Mark iii. 21 and 31; Luke
viii. 19). 3. The Crucifixion. 4. The days suc-
ceeding tbe Ascension (Acts i. 14). If to these vm
add two references to her, the first by ber Nazareiie
fellow-citizens (Matt. xiii. 64, 55; Mark vi. 1-3), the
second by a woman in the multitude (l.uke xi. 27),
we have specified every event known to us in hair
life It is noticeable that, on every occasion of oar
Lord's addressing her, or speaking of her, there i»
a sound of reproof in his words, with the exception
of tbe last words spoken to her from the cross.
1. The marriage at Cana in Galilee took place in
the three months which intervened between the
baptism of Christ and the paasover of the year 27.
When Jesus was found by his mother and Joseph
in the Temple in the year 8, we find him repudia-
ting the name of '• father " as applied to Joseph.
" Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing "
— " How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not
that I must be about " (not Joseph's and yours,
but) "my Fester's business?" (Luke ii. 48, 49).
Now, in like manner, at his first miracle which in
augurates bis ministry, He solemnly withdraws
himself from the authority of his earthly mother.
Thh) is St. Augustine's explanation of the " What
have I to do with thee? my hour is not yet come."
It was his humanity, not his divinity, which came
from Mary. While therefore He was acting in his
divine character He could not acknowledge her, nor
does He acknowledge her again until He was hang-
ing on the cross, when, in that nature which He
took from her, He was about to submit to death
(St. Aug. Comm. m Joan. Evany, tract viii., vol
iii. p. 1455, ed. Migne, Paris, 1846). That the
words Tf i/nol itai coil — "pi '"v JTO, imply
reproof, is certain (cf. Matt. viii. 29; Mark i. 24 i
and LXX., Judg. xi. 12; 1 K. xvii. 18; 2 K. iii. 13),
and such is the patristic explanation of them (see
Iren. Adv. Havr. iii. 18; Apud Bibl. Pair. Max.
torn. ii. pt. ii. 293; S. Chrys. Horn, m Joan. xxi.).
But the reproof is of a gentle kind (Trench, on the
Mirada,o. 102, Lond. 1856; Alford, Comm. in loo.;
Wordsworth, Comm. iu loc). Mary seems to have
understood it, and accordingly to hare drawn back
desiring the servants to pay attention to her divine
Son (Olshausen, Comm. in loc). Tbe modern Ro-
manist translation, " What is that to me and to
tbee V " is not a mistake, because it is a willful
misrepresentation (Douay version ; Orsini, Life of
Mary, etc.; see The Catholic Layman, p. 1 17,
Dublin, 1862).
2. Capernaum (John ii. 13), and Nazareth (Matt
iv. 13, xiii. 54; Mark vi. 1), appear to have been
promised Titus that God should receive him on hlj
right band. And accordingly, thirty-three yean after-
wards, Titus was the penitent thief who was crucified
on tbe right hari, and Dumaohus was crucified on the
left. These sw> sufficient as ssmples. Throughout
the book we flau it. Mary associated with ber Son, la
the strange taaks of power attributed to them, in a way
which show* us whence the cuUui of St Mary took 14
origin. (See Jones, On Ms New Tat., vol. II. Oxf 1827
Qilaf, Codex Apocryphux: Thilo. CbaVr Apocryphu*.)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1620 MAP.Y THE VIRGIN
the residence of St Mary for a considerable period.
Fbe next time that she is brought before us ire fold
her at Capernaum. It is the autumn of the year
48, more than a year and a half after the miracle
wrought at the marriage feast in Cana. Hie Lord
had iu the mean time attended two feasts of the
passover, and had twice made a circuit throughout
Galilee, teaching and working miracles. His fame
bad spread, and crowds came pressing round him,
so that he had not even time " to eat bread." Mary
was still living with her sister, and her nephews
aud nieces, Janies, Joses, Simon, Jude, and their
three sisters (Matt. xiii. 55); and she and they
heard of the toils which He was undergoing, and
the; understood that He was denying himself every
relaxation from his labors. Their human affection
conquered their faith. They thought that He was
killing himself, and with an indignation arising
from love, they exclaimed that He was beside him-
self, and set off to bring Him home either by en-
treaty or compulsion.* He was surrounded by eager
crowds, and they could not reach Him. They
therefore sent a message, begging Him to allow
them to speak to Him. This message was handed
on from one person in the crowd to another, till at
length it was reported aloud to Him. Again He
reproves. Again He refuses to admit any authority
on the part of his relatives, ur any privilege on
account of their relationship. >' Who is my moth-
er, and who are my brethren ? and He stretched
forth his hand toward bis disciples, and said, Be-
hold my mother and my brethren ! For whosoever
shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven,
the same is my brother, and sister, and mother "
(Matt. xii. 48, 49). Conip. Theoph. in Mure, iii.
32; S. Chrys. Hum. xlir. in Matt ; S. Aug. m Jonn.
tract x., who all of them point out that the blesaed-
ueaa of St. Mary consists, not so much in having
borne Christ, as in believing on Him and in obey-
ing bis words (see also Qturst. it Reap, ad Orthod.
exxxvi., up. S. Just. Mart, in Bibi. Max. Putr.
torn. ii. pt ii. p. 138). This indeed is the lesson
taught directly by our Lord himself on the next
iiccasion on which reference is made to St. Mary.
It is now the spring of the year 30, and only about
a month before the time of his crucifixion. Christ
liail set out on his List journey from G.-'ilee, which
was to end at Jerusalem. As He passe, along, He,
u usual, healed the sick, and preach* I the glad
tidings of salvation. In the midst, or it the com-
pletion, of one of his addresses, a woman of the
multitude, whose soul had been stirred by his
jrords, cried out, " Blessed is the womb that bare
thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked ! " Im-
mediately the l^ord replied, '• Yea rather, blessed
ire they that hear the word of God, and keep it"
Luke xl. 28). He does not either affirm or deny
■uy thing with regard to the direct bearing of the
aomau's exclamation, but panes that by as a thing
indifferent, in order to point out in what alone the
true blessedness of his mother and of all consists.
This is the full force of the ptrovyyt, with which
He commences his reply.
3. The n«xt scene in St Mary's life brings us to
the foot of tne cross. She was standing there with
her sister Mary and Mary Magdalene, and Salome,
•nd other women, having no doubt followed her
Sju as she was able throughout the terrible moni-
• It Is a mere subterfuge to refer the words IKiyor
lip, aio., to she people, Instaad of to Mary and his
i iGaboat and Mlgns, Diet of the B*U)
MAKY THE VIKOIK
ing of Good Friday. It wai about 3 o'clock to ths
afternoon, and He was about to give up his spirit
His divine mission was mm, as it were, accom-
plished. While his ministry was in progress Ht
had withdrawn himself from her that He might dc
his Father's work. But now the hour was come
when his human r •lationahip might be again recog
nized. ( * Tunc eniin agnovit," says St Augustine,
"quando illud quod peperit moriebatur" (S. Aug
In Jonn. ix.). Standing near the company of the
women was St John: and, with almost his last
words, Christ commended his mother to the care of
him who had borne the name of the Disciple whom
Jesus loved. "Woman, behold thy son." "Com-
mendat homo homini hominem," says St Augus-
tine. And from that hour St John assures us
that be took her to hi* own abode. If by " that
hour " the Evangelist means immediately after the
words were spoken, Mary was not present at the
last scene of all. The sword had sufficiently pierced
her soul, and ahe was spared the hearing of the
last loud cry, and the sight of the bowed head.
St Ambrose considers the chief purpose of our
Ixrd's words to have been a desire to make mani-
fest the truth that the Redemption was his work
alone, while He gave human affection to bis mother.
" Non egebat adjutore ad omnium redeniptioneni.
Suacepit quidetn matris affectum, sed non qusesivit
boniinis auxilium" (S. Amb. Exp. Evang. Luc.
x. 132).
4. A veil is drawn over her sorrow and over her
joy which succeeded that sorrow. Medieval imagi-
nation has supposed, but Scripture does not state,
that her Son appeared to Mary after his resurrec-
tion from the dead. (See, for example, Ludolph or
Saxony, J?</i Christi, p. 666, Lyons, 1642: and
Kuperti, De Divinu OJ/iciit, vii. 25, torn. iv. p. 92,
Venice, 1751.) St Ambrose is considered to be
the first writer who suggested the idea, and refer-
ence is made to his treatise, De VtrginiUite. i. 3:
but it is quite certain that the text has been cor-
rupted, and that it is of Mary Magdalene that he
is there speaking. (Conip. his ExpotUitm of St.
Luke, x. 156. See note of the Benedictine edition,
torn. ii. p. 217, Paris, 1790.) Another reference
is usually given to St Anselm. The treatise quoted
is nut St. Ansehn's, but Eadmer's. (See Eadnier,
De ExcelUntin Maria, ch. v., appended to Anselni's
Works, p. 138, Paris, 1721.) Ten apprarances are
related by the Evangelist! as having occurred in
the 40 days intervening between Easter and Ascen-
sion Day, but none to Mary. She was doubtless
living at Jerusalem with John, cherished with the
tenderness which her tender soul would have spe-
cially needed, and which undoubtedly she found
preeminently in St John. We bare no record of
her present* at the Ascension. Arator, a writer
of the 6th century, describes her as being at the
time not on the spot, but in Jerusalem (Arat. ht
Act. Ajxul. 1. 50, apud Migne, torn, lxviii p. 95,
Paris, 1848, quoted by Wordsworth, Gt. Test. Com.
on the Aclt, i. 14). We have no account of her
being present at the descent of the Holy Spirit on
the day of Pentecost. What we do read of be*
is, that she remained steadfast in prayer in the
upper room at Jerusalem with Mary Magdalen*
and Salome, and those known as the lord's broth-
ers and the Apostles. Tnis is the last view that
we have of her. Holy Scripture leaves her engaged
in prayer (see Wordsworth a* cited above). Frost
this point forwards we know nothing of bar. It
is probable that the rest of her I * was spec* b
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MART THE VIRGIN
tandm with St. John (an Epiph. liar. p. 78).
According to one tradition the beared disciple
toaU not leave Palestine until she tied expired in
ius ana* (see Tholuek, Light from the from, ii.
Sena, z. p. 334, Edinb., 1867); and it is added that
■be hied and died in the Coenaeulum in what is
now the Mosque of the Tomb of David, the tra-
ditional cha-nber of the Last Supper (Stanley, S.
f P. eh. jut. p. 450). Other traditions make her
ytnraey with St John to Ephesus, and there die
in extreme old age. It was believed by some in
the 6th century that she was buried at Epheaus
(see Omc Kphes., Cone. Labb. torn. fii. p. 674 n);
by others, in the same eentury, that she was buried
it Gethsenuuie, and this appears to have been the
information given to Mercian and Pulcheria by
Juvenal of Jerusalem- As soon as we lose the
guidance of Scripture, we have nothing from which
we can derive any sure knowledge about her. The
darkness in which we are left is in itself most in-
MAKx- THE VTROllT
1821
5. The character of St. Mary is not drawn by
any of the Evangelists, but some of its lineaments
•re incidentally manifested in the fragmentary
record which ia given of her. 'Iliey are to be found
for the must part in St. Luke* < impel, whence an
attempt has been made, by a curious mixture of
the imaginative and rationalistic methods of inter-
pretation, to explain the old legend which tells ua
that St Luke painted the Virgin's portrait (Calmet,
hjtto. Migne, Mrs. .Ismeson). We might have
expected greater details from St John than from
the other Kvangehst* ; but in his Gospel we learn
nothing of her except what may be gathered from
the scene at Cana and at the cross. It is clear
from St Luke's account, though without any such
intimation we might rest assured of the fact, that
ber youth had been spent in the study of the Holy
Scriptures, and that she hsd set before Iter the
example of the holy women of the Old Testament
•a brr model. This would appear from the Mag-
•i/feni (Luke i. 46). The same hymn, so far an
it emanated from herself, would show no little
power of mind as well as warmth of spirit. Her
futh and humility exhibit themselves in her imme-
diate surrender of herself to the Divine will, though
eroorsnt how that will should be accomplished
(Lake i. 38); ber energy and earnestness, in her
jWney from Nazareth to Hebron (Luke i. 39);
ber happy thankfulness, in ber song of joy (l.uke
i. 48); her silent musing thougbtfulness, in ber
pondering over toe shepherds' visit (Luke ii. 19),
<wl in her keeping her Son's words in her heart
.'Luke ii. 61) though she could not fully under-
used their import Again, her humility ia seen
is her drawing back, yet without anger, after re-
ferring reproof at Cana in Galilee (John ii. 6), and
in the remarkable manner in which she shuns put-
ting herself forward throughout the whole of her
Son's ministry, or after bis removal from earth.
Ones only does she attempt to interfere with her
Divine Son's freedom of action (Matt xii. 46;
Hark in. 31; Luke viii. 19); and even here we can
sardly blame, for she seems to have been roused,
sot by arrogance and by a desini to show her
utbarity and relationship, as St Chrysostom sup-
^stss (//on. xliv. m Sfntt); but by v woman's
•ad a mother's feelings of affection and fear %r
urn whom she loved. It was part of that ex
paste tecderneaa which appears throughout to have
belonged to bar. In a word, so far as St Mary is
•artrayrd tomb Scripture, she is, as we shonri
have expected, the most tender, the most falthftd,
humble, patient, and loving of women, but a worn**
still.
III. Her after Ufe, wholly legendary. — We pass
again into the region of free and joyous legend
which we quitted for that of true history at the
period of the Annunciation. The Gospel record
confined the play of imagination, and as soon as
this check is withdrawn the legend bursts out
afresh. The legends of St Mary's childhood may
be traced back as far as the third or even the second
century. Those of her death are probably of a
later date. The chief legend was for a length of
time considered to be a veritable history, written
by Melito, llisbop of Snrdis, in the 2d century. It
ia to be found iu the Bibliotiieca Maxima (torn. it.
pt ii. p. 212), entitled Sancti Afelitonis Kpiscopn
Sardensis de Transitu I 'irginit Maria Liber f
and there certainly existed a liook with this title as
the end of the 6th century, which waa condemned
by Pope Uelssius as apocryphal (Op. Gelas. spud
Migne, torn. 69, p 152). Another form of the
same legend has been published at Elberfeld in
1864 by Maximilian Knger in Arabic. He supposes
that it is an Arabic translation from a Syriac
original It was found in the library al Bonn,
and is entitled Joannit Ajmsluli de Transitu Beat*
Maria Itrginis Liber. It is perhaps the same as
that referred to in Assemani (B'miiath. Orient.
torn. iii. p. 287, Rome, 1725), under the name of
/listeria Dormitionis tt Assumjitvmis B. Mnrim
\"irginis Joanni Kvangelista falsu msciipta. We
give the substance of the legend with its main
variations.
When the Apostles separated in order to evan-
gelize the world, Mary continued to live with St.
John's parents in their house near the Mount of
Olives, and every day she went out to pmy at the
tomb of Christ, and at Golgotha. But the Jews
had placed a watch to prevent prayers being offered
at these spots, and the watch went into the city and
told the chief priests that Mary came daily to pray.
Then the priests commanded the watch to stone
her. But at this time king Abgarus wrote to
Tiberius to desire him to take vengeance on the
Jews for slaying Christ. They feared therefore to
add to his wrath by slaying Mary also, and yet they
could not allow ber to continue her prayers at
Golgotha, because an excitement and tumult was
thereby made. They therefore went and spoke
softly to her, and she consented to go slid dwell in
Bethlehem; and thither she took with bar three
holy virgins who should attend upon her. And In
the twenty-second year after the sacenrion of the
l»rd, Mary felt her heart burn with an inezpres s i-
ble longing to be with her Son; and behold ar
angel appeared to her, and announced to lier that
her soul should be taken up from her body on the
third day, and he placed a palm-branch from para
dise iu her hands, and desired that it should be
carried before her bier. And Mary besought that
the Apostles might be gathered round her befon
she died, and the angel replied that they shouk
come. Then the Holy Spirit caught up John at
he was preaching at Kphesus, and Peter as he was
offering sacrifice at Rome, and Paul as he was dh>
puting with the Jews near Rome, and Thomas is
the extremity of India, and Matthew and James
these were all of the Apostles who were still living
then the Holy Spirit awakened the dead, Psutip at*
Andrew, and Luke and Simon, and Mark and Bar
thnlomew: and aO of them were snatched awray a
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1822 MARY THE VIRGIN
bright cloud »nd found themselves at Bethlehem.
And angels and powers without number descended
from heaven and stood round about the bouse;
Gabriel stood at blessed Mary's head, and Michael
at her feet, and they fanned her with their wings ;
and Peter and John wiped away her tears; and
there was a great cry, and they all said "Hail
blessed one! blessed is the fruit of thy womb I "
And the people of Bethlehem brought their sick to
the house, and they were all healed. Then news of
these things was carried to Jerusalem, and the king
sent and commanded that they should bring Mary
and the disciples to Jerusalem. And horsemen
same to Bethlehem to seize Mary, but they did not
find her, for the Holy Spirit had taken her and the
disciples in a cloud over the heads of the horsemen
to Jerusalem. Then the men of Jerusalem saw
tngels ascending and descending at the spot where
Mary's house was. And the high-priests went to
the governor, and craved permission to burn her
and the house with fire, and the governor gave them
permission, and they brought wood and fire; hut
as soi/n as they came near to the house, behold
there burst forth a lire upon them which consumed
them utterly. And the governor saw these things
afar off, and in the evenii.s; he brought his son, who
was sick, to Mary, and she healed him.
Then, on the sixth day of the week, the Holy
Spirit commanded the Apostles to take up Mary,
and to carry her from Jerusalem to Uethsemane,
and as they went the Jews saw them. Then drew
near Jophia, one of the high-priests, and attempted
to overthrow the litter on which she was beinsi
carried, for the other priests had conspired with
him, and they hoped to cast her down into the
valley, and to throw wood upon her, and to burn
her body with fire. But as soon as Juphia had
touched the litter the angel smote off his arms with
a fiery sword, and the arms remained fastened to
the litter. Then he cried to the disciples and Peter
for help, and they said, '* Ask it of the Lady Mary : "
and be cried, -O Ijsdy, O Mother of Salvation,
have mercy on me!" Then she said to Peter,
"Give him back his arms;" and they were restored
whole. But the disciples proceeded onwards, and
they laid down the litter in a cave, as they were
commanded, and gave themselves to prayer.
And the angel Gabriel announced that on the
first day of the week Mary's soul should be removed
from this world. And on the morning of that day
there came Eve and Anne and Elisabeth, and they
kissed Mary and told her who they were: came
Adam, Seth, Shem, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
David, and the rest of the old fathers: came Enoch
and Elias and Moses: came twelve chariots of
angels innumerable: and then appeared the Ixird
Jurist in his humanity, and Mary bowed Iwfore
aim and said, " O my Lord and my God, place thy
hand upon me;" and he stretched out his hand and
blessed her; and she took his hand and kissed it,
and placed it to her forehead and said, " I bow
before this right hand, which has made heaven and
suth and all that in them is, and I thank thee and
praise thee that thou hast thought me worthy of
this hour." Then she said, " Lord, take me to
thyself! " And be said to her, » Now shall thy
Wj be in paradise to the day of the resurrection,
uid angels shall serve tbee; but thy pure spirit
« Tha legend ascribed to Mellto makes her soul to
m carried tt paradise by Gabriel whil< her Son returns
« am—
MARY THE VIRGIN
shall shine In the kingdom, in the dwulling-phtoi
of my Father's fullness." Then the disciples drew
near and besought her to pray for the world whiek
she was about to leave. And Mary prayed. And
after her prayer was finished her face shone witk
marvelous brightness, and she stretched out bet
hands and blessed them all ; and her Son put forth
his hands and received her pure soul, and bore it
into his Father's treasure-house. And there was a
light and a sweet smell, sweeter than anything on
earth ; and a voice from heaven saying, " Hail,
blessed one ! blessed and celebrated art thou among
women ! " °
And the Apostles carried her body to the Valley
of Jeboshaphat, to a place which the Lord had told
them of, and John went before and carried the
palm-branch. And tbey placed her in a new tomb,
and sat at the mouth of the sepulchre, as the l/ord
commanded them; and suddenly there appeared
the l/ord Christ, surrounded by a multitude of
angels, and said to the Apostles, " What will ye
that I should do with her whom my Father's com-
mand selected out of all the tribes of Israel that
I should dwell in her?" And Peter and the
Apostles besought Mm that be would raise the
body of Mary and take it with him in glory to
heaven. And the Saviour said, « Be it according
to your word." And he commanded Michael the
archangel to bring down the soul of Mary. And
Gabriel rolled away the stone, and the Lord said,
'< Rise up, my beloved, thy body shall not suffer
corruption in the tomb." And immediately Mary
arose and bowed herself at his feet and worshipped ;
and the Lord kissed her and gave her to the angels
to carry her to paradise.
But Thomas was not present with the rest, for
at the moment that he was summoned to come be
was baptizing Polodiua, who was the son of the
sister of the king. And he arrived just after all
these things were accomplished, and he demanded
to see the sepulchre in which tbey had laid his
Lady: "For ye know," said he, "that I am
Thomas, and unless I see I will not believe." Then
Peter arose in haste and wrath, and the other dis-
ciples with him, and they opened the sepulchre
and went in ; but they found nothing therein save
that in which her body had been wrapped. Then
Thomas confessed that he too, as he was being
borne in the cloud from India, bad seen her bcly
body being carried by the angels with great triumph
into heaven ; and that on his crying to her for her
blessing, she had bestowed upon him her precious
Girdle, which when the Apostles saw they were
glad. 6 Then the Apostles were carried back each
to his own place.
Jmitmis AposUtli rfe Transitu Beatte Maria Vir-
jrinw Librr, Elberfelilas, 1854; 8. Mr litmus Kpitc.
Sard, de Transitu V. M. Liber, apml BiU. Max.
Pair. torn. ii. pt ii. p. 812, Lugd. 1677; Jacob!
a Voragine I^egendii Aurea, ed. Gnesse, ch. cxix.
p. 504, Dresd. 1846; John Damage. Serm. it
Dormit. Deipnra, Op. torn. ii. p. 857 ft*., Venice,
1743; Andrew of Crete, In Dormit. Dtipnra Serm.
Hi. p. 115, Paris, 1644; Mrs. Jameson, Lrytndi
of the Madonna, Lond. 1853; Butler, Lite* of
the Saints in Aug. 15; Dresoel, Eailn el ineriua
EpiphanH Monachi et Presbyteri, p. 105, Pari*
1843. [Teschendorf, Apocalypses Apoc. Lips. 1866._
6 For the story of this Sacratimmo (Xntcto, stts
preserved at Prato, see Mrs. Jameson's Ltgmds sftSs
Madonna, p. 844, Lond. 1852.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MARY THE VIRGIN
IV. Je*xsh traditions respecting her. — Those
in at a very different nature from toe light-hearted
fciry -tale-like •tones which we have recounted above.
We thould expect that the miraculous birth of our
Ixsrd woulil lie an occasion of scoffing to the un-
believing Jews, and we find this to be the case.
To the Christian believer the Jewish slander oo-
eoraea in the present case only a confirmation of
his faith. The most definite and outspoken of
these slanders is that which is contained in the
book called 51U7 > flVtVin, or Tobbth Jan.
It was grasped at with avidity by Voltaire, and
declared by him to be the most ancient Jewish
writing directed against Christianity, and appar-
ently of the first century. It was written, he says,
before the Gospels, and is altogether contrary to
them (Lettrc sur let Juifs). It is proved by
Ammou (Ribtisch. Thtoluyie, p. 263, Erlang. 1801)
to be a composition of the 13th century, and by
Wagenseil (TrU iynra SaUnus; Cimful. Libr.
T«Ub* Jtscku, p. 12, Altorf, 1681) to be irrecon-
sUable with the earlier Jewish tales. In the Gospel
of Nicodeniua, otherwise called the Acts of Pilate,
we find the Jews represented as charging our Lord
with illegitimate birth (c. 2). The date of this
Gospel is about the end of the third century. The
origin of the charge is referred with great proba-
bility by Tbiki {Codex A/>uc,: p. 527, Lips. 1832)
to the circular letters of the Jews mentioned by
Grotius (ml Malt, xxvii. 63, tl ml Act. Apost.
xxriii. 22; Op. ii. 278 and 666, Basil. 1732), which
were sent from Palestine to all the Jewish syna-
gogues after the death of Christ, with the view of
attacking " the lawless and atheistic sect which had
taken its origin from the deceiver Jesus of Galilee "
(Justin, adv. Tryph.). The first time that we find
it openly proclaimed is in an extract made by
Origen from the work of Celsus, which he is refil-
ling. Celsus introduces a Jew declaring that the
mother of Jesus inrb rov yfipavros, riicrovos r^r
t*x*W eWei, ^{ceVfoi, i\fyx9u<rav it /if/ioi-
X'vfUnir ( Contra Celsvm, c. 28, Ongeiiis 0/i'r«,
sviii. 59, Berlin, 1845). And again, j) rov \-nooi
pfynip icvovca, i^vff0(tffa orb rov pyrjo'Tevo-ap.t-
wou aM)P rtHToroi, iKeyxSfura 1*1 pjux^J "al
rUrovara ami rtros o-rparitbrov X\avtH)pa rovvofia
{Oil. 32). Stories to the same effect may be found
in the Talmud — not in the Mishna, which dates
from the second century; but in the Genrnra, which
is of the fifth or sixth (see 7Vacf. Sunhedrin, cap.
vii. fbL 67, col. 1; Shabbath, cap. xii. fol. 104, col.
-2; and the Midrash Kohelelh, cap. x. 5). Kalta-
nus Maurus, in the ninth century, refers to the
«une story : " Jesum filium Ethnici cujusdam Han-
dera adulteri, more Iatronum punitum esse." We
then come to the Toldoth Jem, in which these
calumnies were intended to be summed up and
harmonized. In the year 4671, the story runs, in
the reign of King Janneus, there was one Joseph
Pandora who lived at Bethlehem. In the same
village there was a widow who had a daughter
named Miriam, who a* betrothed to a God-fearing
man named .lohaiuui. And it came to pass that
Joseph Panders ujertiiig with Mirirtui when it was
lark, deceived her into the belief that he was
lohanu. her husband. And after three months
Johauan consulted Rabbi Simeon Shetachklea what
to should do with Miriam, and the rabbi advised
Urn to bring her before the great council. But
lohanan was ashamed to do so, and instead be left
aia home and went and lived at Babylon ; and then
MARY THJb VIRGIN
1828
Miriam brought forth a son and gave him the nittna
of Jehoab.ua. The rest of the work, which has no
merit in a literary aspect or otherwise, contains an
account of how this Jehoahua gained the an of
working miracles by stealing the knowledge of the
unmentionable name from the Temple; how he was
defeated by the superior magical arts of one Juda;
and how at last he was crucified, and his body
hidden under a watercourse. It is offensive to
make use of sacred names in connection with such
tales; but in Wagenseil's quaint words we may
recollect, " hs» nomina non attinere ad Servatorem
Nostrum aut beatissim&rn Ulius matrem oreterosq-M
quos significare videntur, sed designori lis a DJaV
olo supposita Spectra, Larvas, Lemures, Lamb*
Stryges, aut si quid turpius istis " ( Tela Jyru*
Satana, Liber Toldos Jeschu, p. 2, Altorf, 1081).
It is a curious thing that a Panders or F;nthir
has been introduced into the genealogy cf out
Lord by Epiphsnius (Hares, lxxviii.) who makes
him grandfather of Joseph, and by John of Da-
mascus (De Fide orthadoxa, iv. 15), who makes
him the father of Barpanther and grandfather of
St. Miry.
V. Mohammedan Traditions. — These are again
cast in a totally different mould from those of the
Jews. The Mohammedans had no purpose to serve
in spreading calumnious stories as to the birth of
Jesus, and accordingly we find none of the Jewish
malignity about their traditions. Mohammed and
his followers appear to have gathered up the floating
oriental traditions which originated in the legends
of St. Mary's early years, given above, and to hare
drawn from them and from the Bible indifferently.
It has been suggested that the Koran had an ob-
ject in magnifying St. Mary, and that this was to
insinuate that the Son was of no other nature than
the mother. But this does not appear to be the
case. Mohammed seems merely to have written
down what had come to his ears about her, without
definite theological purpose or inquiry.
Mary was, according to the Koran, the daughter
of Amram (sur. hi.) and the sister of Aaron (sur.
xixA Mohammed can hardly be absolved from hav-
ing here confounded Miriam the sister of Moses with
Mary the mother of our Lord. It is possible indeed
that he may have meant different persons, and such
is the opinion of Sale (Koran, pp. 38 and 251 ), and
of D'Herbelot (BibL Orient, in voc. "Miriam");
but the opposite view is more likely (see Guadagnoli,
Apol. pro rel. Christ, ch. viii. p. 277, Kom. 1631).
Indeed, some of the Mohammedan commentators
have been driven to account for the chronological
difficulty, by saying that Miriam was miraculously
kept alive from the days of Moses in order that she
might be the mother of Jesus. Her mother Hannih
dedicated her to the Lord while still in the womb,
and at her birth " commended her and her futon
issue to the protection of God against Satan." And
Hannah brought the child to the Temple to be
educated by the priests, and the priests disputed
among themselves who should take charge of her
Zacfaarw maintained that it was his office, because
be had married her aunt. But when the others
would not mve up their cjums, it was determined
that the matter should be decided by lot. So they
went to the river Jordan, twenty-seven of them,
each man with his rod; and tbey threw their rods
into the river, and none of them floated save that
of Zacharias, whereupon the care of the child was
committed to him (Al Beidawi ; Jallalo'ddiii). Then
Zaoharias placed ber in au inner chamber by 1
.Digitized by VjOOQlC
1824 MARY THE VIRGIN
and though he kept seven doott ercr locked bpun
her," he always found her abundantly supplied with
provisions which God sent her from paradise, winter
fruits in summer, and summer fruits in winter.
And the angels said unto her, " Mary, verily God
hath chosen thee, and hath purified thee, and hath
jhosen thee above all the women of the world "
.Koran, sur. iii.). And she retired to a place to-
wards the East, and Gabriel appeared unto her and
said, " Verily I am the messenger of thy Lord, and
am sent to give thee a holy Son " (sur. lit.). And
the angels said, '< O Mary, verily God sendeth thee
good tidings that thou shall bear the Word proceed-
ing from Himself: His name shall be Christ Jesus,
the son of Mary, honorable in this world and in
the world to come, and one of them who approach
near to the presence of God : and he shall speak
unto men in his cradle and when he is grown up;
and he shall be one of the righteous." And she
said, " How shall I have a son, seeing I know not a
man? " The angel said, << So God createth that
which He pleaseth: when He decreeth a thing, He
only saith unto it, ' Be,' and it is. God shall teach
him the scripture and wisdom, and the law and the
gospel, and shall appoint him his apostle to the
ebildreu of Israel " (sur. iii. ). So God breathed of
his Spirit into the womb of Mary ; • and she pre-
served her chastity (sur. Ixri.); for the Jews have
spoken against her a grievous calumny (sur. iv.).
And she conceived a son, and retired with him apart
to a distant place ; and the pains of childbirth came
upon her near the trunk of a palm-tree; and God
provided a rivulet for her, and she shook the palm-
tree, and it let fall ripe dates, and she ate and drank,
and was calm. Then she carried the child in her
arms to her people ; but they said that it was a
strange thing she had done. Then she made signs
to the child to answer them; and he said, " Verily
( am the servant of God : He hath given me the
book of the gospel, and hath appointed me a
prophet; and lie hath made me blessed, whereso-
ever I shall be; and hath commanded me to observe
prayer and to give alms so long as I shall live;
and He hath made me dutiful towards my mother,
end hath not made me proud or unhappy: and
peace be on me the day whereon I was born, and
the day whereon I shall die, and the day whereon
I shall be raised to life." This was Jesus the Son
of Mary, the Word of Truth concerning whom
they doubt (sur. xix.).
Mohammed Is reported to hare said that many
men have arrived at perfection, but only four
women ; and that these are, Asia the wife of Plnv-
raoh, Mary the daughter of Amram, his first wife
KhadQah, and his daughter Fatima.
The commentators on the Koran tell in that
(very person who comes into the world is touched
st his birth by the Devil, and therefore cries out;
out that God placed a veil between Mary and her
son and the Evil Spirit, so that he could not reach
ihem. For which reason they were neither of them
ruiltv of sin, like the rest of the children of Adam,
inis privilege they had in answer to Hannah's prayer
t Othet storks make the only entrance to be by a
Adder and a door always kept locked.
t> The commentators have explained this expression
it signifying the braath of Gabriel (Yahya; Jallalo'd-
lln). But this doss not seem to have been Moham-
ncd's meaning.
r " Origin's lament," the " Three Msoounas " pun-
ished by Vastus as the work of Oratory Thauma-
MAEY THE VI BOOT
for their protection from Satan. (Jaualo'ddin : Al
Beidawi; Kitada.) The Immaculate Cooeeptioa
therefore, we may note, was a Mohammedan doe-
trine six centuries before any Christian theologians
or schoolmen maintained it.
Sale, Koran, pp. 89, 79, 250, 468, Load. 1734
Warner, Compendium ffittorieum torum am Mu
knmmednni de Chritlo tradidermt, Logd. Bat
1643; Guadagnoli, Apologia pro ChruUana Re-
ligion, Kom. 1631; D'Herbelot, BiblioOibjut Ori-
entate, p. 583, Paris, 1697; Weil, Bibtuche £*gen-
den der Mmelmdmur, p. 230, Frankf. 1845.
VI. Kmblerm. — There was a time in the history
of the Church when all the expressions used in the
book of Canticles were applied at once to St. Mary.
Consequently all the eastern metaphors of king
Solomon have been hardened into symbols, and rep-
resented in pictures or sculpture, and attached to
her in popular litanies. The same method of inter-
pretation was applied to certain parts of the book
of the Revelation. Her chief emblems are the son,
moon, and stars (Rev. xii. 1; Cant. vi. 10;. The
name of Star of the Sea is also given her, from a
fanciful interpretation of the meaning of her name.
She is the Hose of Sharon (Cant. ii. 1), and the
Lily (ii. 2), the Tower of David (iv. 4), the Moun-
tain of Myrrh and the Hill of Frankincense (iv. 6),
the Garden enclosed, the Spring shut up, the Foun-
tain sealed (iv. 12), the Tower of Ivory (vii. 4), the
Halm-tree (vii. 7), the Closed Gate (Ex. xlir. 9).
There is no end to these metaphorical titles. See
Mrs. Jameson's Legend! of the Madonna, and the
ordinary Litanies of the B. Virgin,
VII. Cuttut of the BUued lu-oift. — We do not
enter into the theological bearings of the worship of
St Mary; but we shall have left our task incom-
plete if we do not add a short historical sketch of
the origin, progress, and present state of the devo-
tion to her. What was its origin 1 Certainly not
the Bible. There is not a word there from which
it could be inferred j nnr in the Creeds; nor in the
Fathers of the first five centuries. We may scan
each page that they have left us, and we shall find
nothing of the kind. There is nothing of the sort
in the supposed works of Hernias and Barnabas,
nor in the real works or Clement, Ignatius, and
l'olycarp : that is, the doctrine is not to he found
in the 1st century. There is nothing of the sort
in Justin Martyr, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theopbilus,
Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian : that is, in the
2d century. There is nothing of the sort in Ori-
gen, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Cyprian, Methodius,
lactantiua: that is, in the 3d century. There is
nothing of the sort in Eusebiua, Athanasius, Cyril
of Jerusalem, Hilary, Macarius, Kpiphanius, Basil,
Gregory Nazianxen, Ephrem Syrua, Gregory cf
Nyasa, Ambrose: that is, in the 4th century.
There is nothing of the sort in Chrysostom, Augus-
tine, Jerome, Basil of Seleticia, Orosius, Sedulius,
Isidore, Theodoret, Prosper, Vincentius Lirinensis,
Cyril of Alexandria, Popes 1-eo, Hilarins, SimpU-
cius, Felix, Gelasius. Anastasius. Symmachus: that
is, in the 6th century.'' Whence, then, did it
turgus, the Homily attributed to St. Athanasios om*
talnlng an Invocation of St. Mary, the Panegyric as
trlbutad to St. Bplphanrai, the " Christ Saffsrlng ,'
and the Oration containing tb« story of Justina and
St. Cyprian, attributed to Gregory Nasianasn - 'bf
Eulogy of the Holy Virgin, and the Prayer attribute!
to Ephrem 8yrns ; the Book of Moditatlonn attribute*
to St. Augustine ; the Two Sannaia supposed to barn
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MARY jCHE VIRGIN
snse? There is not a shallow of doubt that the
origin of the worship of St. Mary is to be found in
tbe apocryphal legends of her birth and jf her death
which we hare given above. There we find the germ
of what afterwards expanded into its present por-
tentous proportions. Some of the legends of her
birth are as early as the 2d or 3d century. They
were the production of the Gnostics, and were unan-
imously and firmly rejected by the Church of tbe
lint five centuries as fabulous and heretical. Tbe
Gnostic tradition seems to have been handed on to
tin Collyridians, whom we find denounced by Kpi-
prinius for worshipping the Virgin Mary. They
were regarded as distinctly heretical. The words
which this Father uses respecting them were prob-
ably expressive of the sentiments of the entire
Church in the 4th century. " The whole thing,"
be says, " is foolish and strange, and is a device
and deceit of tbe Devil. Let Mary be in honor.
Let tbe Lord he worshipped. Let no one worship
Mary " (Epiph. liar, lxxxix., Op. p. 1006, Paris,
1623). Down to the time of tbe Nestorian con-
troversy, the cultus of the Blessed Virgin would
appear to have been wholly external to the
Church, and to have been regarded as heretical.
Bat the Nestorian controversies produced a great
change of sentiment in men's minds. Nestorius
bad maintained, or at least it was the tendency of
Xestorianism to maintain, not only that our Lord
had two natures, the divine and the human (which
was right), but also that He was two persons, in
such sort that the child born of Mary was not
divine, but merely an ordinary human Icing, until
the divinity subsequently united itself to Him.
This was condemned by the Council of Kphesus in
the year 431; and the title e«or<j/cos, loosely
translated "Mother of God," was sanctioned.
IT* object of the Council and of tbe Anti-Nesto-
rians was in no sense to add honor to the mother,
but to maintain the true doctrine with respect to
the Son. Nevertheless the result was to magnify
the mother, and, after a time, at the expense of
tbe son. For now the title {feorrfnos became' a
shibboleth; and in art the representation of the
Madonna and Child became the expression of or-
thodox belief. Very soon the purpose for which
the title and the picture were first sanctioned be-
came forgotten, and the veneration of St. Mary
began to spread within the Church, as it had pre-
viously existed external to it. The legends too
were no longer treated so roughly as before. The
Gnostic* were not now objects of dread. Nesto-
.-ians, and afterwards Iconoclasts, were objects of
hatred. The old fables were winked at, and thus
they " became the mythology of Christianity, uni-
versally credited among the Southern nations of
Europe, while many of the dogmas, which they
are grounded upon, have, as a natural consequence,
craft into the faith " (Lord Lindsay, Christian
Art, 1. p. xl. Lond. 1847). From this time the
worship of St. Mary grew apace. It agreed well
with many natural aspirations of the heart. To
point the mother of the Saviour an ideal wouuui,
MARY THB VIRGIN 1826
with all the grace and tenderness of womanhood,
and yet with none of its weaknesses, and then to
fall down and worship the image which the imag-
ination had set up, was what might easily happen,
and what did happen. Evidence was not asked
for. Perfection " was becoming " to the mother of
tbe Lord; therefore she was perfect. Adoration
" was befitting " on the part of Christians; there*
fore they gave it. Any tales attributed to antiquity
were received as genuine; any revelations supposed
to be made to favored saints were accepted as true:
and the Madonna reigned as queen in heaven, in
earth, in purgatory, and over hell. We learn tbe
present state of the religious regard in which she is
held throughout the south of Europe from St. Al-
fonso de Liguori, whose every word is vouched for
by tbe whole weight of his Church's authority
From the Glories of Mary, translated from the
original, and published in London in 1852, we find
that St Mary is Queen of Mercy (p. 1.1) and
Mother of all mankind (p. 23), our Life (p. 58),
our Protectress in death (p. 71), the Hope of all
(p. 79), our only Refuge, Help, and Asylum (p
81); the Propitiatory of the whole world (p. 81);
the one City of Refuge (p. 89); the Comfortless of
the world, the Refuge of the Unfortunate (p. 100);
our Patroness (p. 106); Queen of Heaven and Hell
(p. 110) ; our Protectress from the Divine Justice
sod from the Devil (p. 116) ; tbe Ladder of Para-
dise, tbe Gate of Heaven (p. 121); the Mediatrix
of grace (p. 124); the Dispenser of all graces (p.
128); the Helper of the Redemption (p. 133); the
Conperator in our Justification (p. 133); a tender
Advocate (p. 145); Omnipotent (p. 146); the sin-
gular Kefuge of the lost (p. 156); the great Peace-
maker (p. 165); the Throne prepared in mercy (p
165); the Way of Salvation (p. 200); the Medi-
atrix of Angels (p. 278). In short, she is the Way
(p. 2(H)), the Door (p. 588), the Mediator (p. 295),
the Intercessor (p. 129), the Advocate (p. 144), the
Kedeemer (p. 275), the Saviour (p. 343).
Thus, then, in tbe worship of the Blessed Virgin
there are two distinctly marked periods. The first
is that which commences with the apostolic times,
and brings us down to the close of the century in
which the Council of Kphesua was held, during which
time the worship of St. Mary was wholly external
to the Church, and was regarded by the Church as
heretical, and confined to Gnostic and CoUyridian
heretics, The second period commences with the titli
century, when it began to spread within tbe Church ;
and, in spite of the shock given it by the ltefomia-
tion, has continued to spread, as shown by Ligu-
ori's teaching; and is spreading still, as shown by
the manner in which the papal decree of December 8,
1854, has been, not universally indeed, but yet gen-
erally, received. Even before that decree was issued,
the sound of the word " deification " had been
heard with reference to St- Mary (Newman, Aswi*
on Development, p. 409, Lond. 1846); and she had
been placed in "a throne far above all created
powers, mediatorial, intercessory ; " she had been
invested with "a title archetypal; with a crown
bean delivered by Pope loo on the Inst of the An-
nwjseftatioo, — an all spuriou s . See Moral and Devo-
tional Vuology of Uu Oumk of Romt (Motley, Lond.
1857). The Oration of Omrory, containing the story
of Justtna and Oypxian, Is retained by the Benediotlne
editors as genuine ; and they pronounce that nowhere
else is the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary so
elearly and explicitly commenitsd in ttw Ith eon ury.
111
The words are : " Justtna . . . meditating on these In
stances (and beseeching the Virgin Mary to assist s
virgin In peril), throws before her the charm of fast
log." It is shown to be spurious by Tyler ( Wortkif
of Uu butted Virgin, p. 878, Lond. 1844). Even sop
pose it were genuine, the contrast between the string
est passage of the 4th century and the ordinary ls»
gnage of tbe 19th would be sufficiently striking
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1826 MAST THE VIRGIN
bright as the morning star; a glory issuing from
the Eternal Throne; robes pure as the heavens;
and a sceptre over all (ibid. p. 406).
Tilt. tier Atnmp&on. — Not only religious
sentiments, but facts grew up in exactly the same
way. The Assumption of St. Mary is a fact, or
an alleged fact. How has it come to be accepted !
At the end of the 5th century we find that there
existed a book, fit Transitu Virginu Maria,
which was condemned by Pope Gelasius as apocry-
phal. This book is without doubt the oldest form
of the legend, of which the books ascribed to St.
Melito and St. John are variations. Down to the
end of the 5th century, then, the story of the As-
sumption was external to the Church, and distinctly
looked upon by the Church as belonging to the
heretics and not to her. But then came the change
of sentiment already referred to, consequent on the
Nestorian controversy. The desire to protest against
the early fables which had been spread abroad by
the heretics was now passed away, and had been
succeeded by the desire to magnify her who had
brought forth Him who was God. Accordingly a
writer, whose date Baronius fixes at about this
time (Aim. EccL i. 347, Lucca, 1738), suggested
the possibility of the Assumption, but declared his
inability to decide the question. The letter in
which this possibility or probability is thrown out
came to be attributed to St. Jerome, and may be
still found among his works, entitled AdPatUam et
r.'uitocHum de Auumptiune B. Virginu (v. 82,
Paris, 1706). About the same time, probably, or
rathe later, an insertion (now recognized on all
hand* to lie a forgery) was made in Eusebius'
(Jhro.iicle, to the effect that " in the year A. D. 48
Mary the Virgin was taken up into heaven, as
some wrote that they had it revealed to them."
Another tract was written to prove that the As-
sumption was not a thing in itself unlikely; and
this came to be attributed to St. Augustine, and
may be found in the appendix to his works: and a
sermon, with a similar purport, was ascribed to
St. Athanasius. Thus the names of Eusebius,
Jerome, Augustine, Athanasius, and others, came
to be quoted as maintaining the truth of tie As-
sumption. The first writers within the Church in
whose extant writings we find the Assumption as-
' serted, are Gregory of Tours in the 6th century,
who has merely copied Melito's book, De Trimtttu
(De libr. Mnrl. lib. i. c. 4; Migne, 71, p. 708);
Andrew of Crete, who probably lived in the 7th
century; and John of Damascus, who lived at the
beginning of the 8th century. The last of these
authors refers to the Euthymiac history as stating
that Mardan and Pulcheria being in search of the
body of St. Mary, sent to Juvenal of Jerusalem to
inquire for it. Juvenal replied, " Id the holy and
divinely inspired Scriptures, indeed, nothing is re-
corded of the departure of the holy Mary, Mother
of God. But from an ancient and most tnie tra-
dition we have received, that at the time of ber
glorious falling asleep all the holy Apostles, who
were going through the world for the salvation of
the nations, borne aloft in a moment of time, came
together to Jerusalem ; and when they were near
ber they had a vision of angels, and divine melody
wua heard; and then with divine and more than
heavenly melody she delivered her holy soul into
i the hanoB oi God in an unspeakable manner. But
<i This " ■uthymtao History " Is Involved In the
sous* aoofnaton. Cava considers tha Ilomily proved
MABY THE VIRGDI
that which had borne God, being carried fc.Ui an-
gelic and apostolic psalmody, with funeral rises wao
deposited iu a coffin at Gethsemane. In this place
the chorus and singing of the angels continued
three whole days. But after three days, on the
angelic music ceasing, those of the Apostles wht
were present opened the tomb, as one of them,
Thomas, had been absent, and on his arrival wished
to adore the body which had borne God. But her
ail glorious body they oould not find; but they
found the linen clothes lying, and they were filled
with an ineffable odor of sweetness which pro-
ceeded from them. Then they closed the eofhV.
And they were astonished at the mysterious won-
der; and they came to no other conclusion thar
that He who had chosen to take flesh of the Virgii
Mary, and to rccome a man, and to be born of
her — God the Word, the Lord of Glory — and
had preserved her virginity aBer birth, was also
pleased, after her departure, to honor her immac-
ulate and unpolluted body with incorruption, and
to translate her before the vmmon resurrection of
all men " (St Joan. Danuue. Op. ii. 880, Venice,
1748). It is quite clear that « his is the same le-
gend as that which we have before given. Here,
then, we see it brought over the borders and
planted within the Church, if this " Euthymiac
history " is to be accepted as veritable, by Juvenal
of Jerusalem in the 6th century, or else by Gregory
of Tours in the 6th century, or by Andrew of
Crete in the 7th century, or finally, by John of
Damascus in the 8th century (see his three Hom-
i&tt on the Sleep of the Bleued Virgin Mary, Op.
ii. 857-886).« The same legend is given in a
slightly different form as veritable history by
Nicephorus Callistus in the 13th century (Niceph.
i. 171. Paris, 1630); and the fact of the Assump-
tion is stereotyped in the Breviary Services for
August 15th (Brev. Rom. part cut. p. 551, Mflan,
1851 ). Here again, then, we see a legend originated
by heretics, and remaining external to the Church
till the close of the 5th century, creeping into the
Otiureh during the 6th and 7th centuries, and
finally ratified by the authority both of Rome and
Constantinople. See Baronius, Ann. EccL (i. 344,
Lucca, 1738), and Martyrohgium (p. 314, Paris,
1607).
IX. flirr Immaculate Conception. — Similarly
with regard to the sinlessness of St. Mary, which
has issued in the dogma of the Immaculate Con-
ception. Down to the close of the 5th century
the sentiment with respect to her was identical
with that which is expressed by theologians of the
Church of Englind (see Pearson, On the Crrfl).
She was regarded as " highly favored ; " as a woman
arriving as near the perfection of womanhood as it
was possible for human nature to arrive, but yel
liable to the infirmities of human nature, and son*
times led away by them. Thus, in the Sd oen
tury, TertuHian represents her as guilty of unbelief
(De came ChritU, vil. 315, and Adv. ifarcvm
iv. 19, p. 433, Paris, 1695). In the 3d century,
Origen interprets the sword which was to pierce her
Imsom as being ber unbelief, which caused ber to
be offended (Horn, m Luc. xvii. Hi. 958, Paris,
1733). In the 4th century St. Basil gives the
same interpretation of Simeon's words ( F.p. 960, iii
400, Paris, 1721); and St. Hilary speaks of her
as having to come into the severity of the film
spurious by Its reference to It. 3m Hutwim IJtmm
I. 682. 626. Oxf. 1740.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MARY THE VIRGIN
pdgnieot (/» Pt. tax. p. 862, Pans, 1693). In
he 5th century St. Cbrysostom speaks of the
'' excessive ambition," " foolish arrogancy," and
"* vain-glory," which made her stand and desire
to apeak with Him (vii. 467, Paris, 1718); and
Si. Cyril of Alexandria (so entirely is he misrepre-
sented by popular writers) speaks of her as failing
in faith when present at the Passion — as being
weaker in the spiritual life than St. Peter — as being
entrusted to St- John, because he was capable of
explaining to her the mystery of the Cross — as
inferior to the Apostles in knowledge and belief of
the Kesurrection (iv. 1064, vi. 391, Paris, 1638).
It is plain from these and other passages, which
c ight be quoted, that the idea of St. Mary's exemp-
li m from even actual sins of infirmity and imperfec-
tion, if it exiiled at all, was external to the Church.
Nevertheless there grew up, as was most natural, a
practice of looking upon St. Mary as an example to
other women, and investing her with an ideal char-
acter of beauty and sweetness. A very beautiful
picture of what a girl ought to be is drawn by St.
Ambrose (De Virgin, ii. 2, p. 164, Paris, 16!)0),
jnd attached to St. Mary. It is drawn wholly
from the imagination (as may be seen by hia mak-
ing one of ber characteristics to be that she never
went out of doors except when she accompanied her
parents to church), but there is nothing in it which
is in any way superhuman. Similarly we find St.
Jerome speaking of the clear light of Mary hiding
the little fires of other women, such as Anna and
Elisabeth (vi. 671. Verona, 1734). St. Amputine
takes us a step further. He again and again speaks
of her as under original sin (i». 841, x. 654, Ac,
Paris, 1700); but with respect to her aclu il sin he
says that ha would rather not enter on the ques-
tion, for it was possible (how could we tell '!) that
(jod had given her sufficient grace to keep her free
bom actual sin (x. 144). At this time the change
of mind before referred to, as originated by the
Xestorian controversies, was spreading within the
Church ; and it became more and more the general
belief that St. Mary was preserved from actual sin
by the grace of God. This opinion had become
almost universal in the 12th century. And now a
further step was taken. It was maintained by St.
Itemard that St. Mar}' was conceived in original
sin, but that before her birth she was cleansed from
it, like John the Baptist and Jeremiah. This was
the sentiment of the 13th century, as shown by the
works of Peter Lombard (Sentent. lib. iii. dist. :i).
Alexander of Hales (Sum. TheoL num. ii. art. 2),
AlLertus Magnus (Senlcnl. lib. iii. dist. 3), and
rhonuu Aquinas {Stun. ThtoL quant- xxvii art
I, and Coram, in Lilt. Srntent. dist. 3, quoad. 1).
I'-irly in the 14th century died J. Duns Scotus, and
lie is the first tbeotodan or schoolman who threw
jut as a possibility the idea uf an Immaculate Con-
ception, which would exempt St. Mary from original
as well as actual sin. This opinion had been grow-
ing up for the two previous centuries, having oris;
listed apparently in France, and having been
adopted, to St. Bernard's indignation, by the can-
>n> of Lyons. From this time forward there waa a
rfnnprle between the maculate and immaculate con-
wotionista, which has led at length to the decree of
December 8, 1854, but which has not ceased with
that decree. Here, then, we may mark four distinct
theories with respect to the sinlessnesa it St. Mary.
Die first is that of the early Church to the close
* the 5th century. It taught that St. Mary was
sen bx original sin, was liable to actual sin, and
MASADA 1827
that she fell Into sins of infirmity. The second
extends from the close of the 6th to the 12th cen-
tury. It taught that St. Mary was born in original
sin, but by God's grace waa saved from falling into
actual sins. The third is par excellence that of
the 13th century. It taught that St. Mary was
conceived in original ain, but waa sanctified in the
womb before birth. The fourth may be found
obscurely existing, but only exiating to be con-
demned, in the 12th and 13th centuries; brought
into the light by the speculations of Scotus and
hia followers in the 14th century; thenceforward
running parallel with and straggling with the
tanetificata in uiero theory, till it obtained its ap-
parently final victory, so far as the Roman Church
is concerned, in the 19th century, and in the life-
time of ourselves. It teaches that St. Mary was
not conceived or born in original ain, but has been
wholly exempt from all ain, original and actual, in
her conception and birth, throughout her life, and
in her death.
See Laborde, La Croynnce 4 tlmmnadie Con-
ception ne paU devour Dogme de Foi, Paris, 1855;
Perrons, De Immaculate B. V. M. Concept*,
Avenione, 1848; Christian Remembrancer, vols,
xxiii. and xxxvii.; Bp. Wilberforce, Rome — her
New Dogma, and our Duties, Oxf. 1855; Obterna-
lew CatltoUque, Paris, 1855-60; Fray Morgaes,
teamen Bulla Ineffabilis, Paris, 1858. F. M.
MARY (Rec Text, with [Sin.] D, Mapuln;
lAchmann, with ABC, Mapfa: if aria), a Roman
Christian who is greeted by St. Paul in his Epistle
to the Romans (xvi. 6) as having toiled hard for
him — or according to some MSS. for them.
Nothing more is known of her. But Professor
Jowett ( 7'Ae Epirtlet of St. Paul, etc. ad toe.) has
called attention to the fact that hers ia the only
Jewish name in the list. G.
* MAS' ADA (MaodSa) a remarkable Jewish
fortress on the western shore of the Dead Sea, a
few hours south of Engedi. It is mentioned by
Pliny and Strabo, but ia not named in the Bible
nor in the Books of the Maccabees, although it waa
first built by Jonathan Maccabeus and was, proba-
bly, one of the " strongholds in Judea," (1 Mace,
xii. 35), which he consulted with the elders about
building. Josephus has given a full description of ■
it, and of the terrible tragedy of which it was the
theatre. (B. J. vii. 8.) It was an isolated rock,
several hundred feet high, and inaccessible except
liy two paths hewn in its face. The summit was a
plain, about three fourths of a mile in length, and
a third of a mile in breadth. Herod the Great
chose this spot for a retreat in ease of danger, built
a wall around the top, strengthened the original
fortifications, and added a palace, with armories and
ample store-houses and cisterns.
After the destruction of Jerusalem and the re-
duction of the other fortresses, this almost impreg-
nable post was held by a garrison (which included
many families) of Jewish zealots under the com-
mand of Eleasar, and here was made the last stand
against the power of Rome. The Roman general.
Flavius Sibon, gathered his forces to this fortress
and laid siege to it, building a wall around the en-
tire rock. He then raised his banks against the
single narrow promontory by which it can n.>*
be climbed, and when, at length, it became evident
tost he would subdue it, the besieged, under the
impassioned harangue of their leader, devoted them-
selves to self-destruction. Each man, after tandem
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1828
HASALOTH
embracing bis win and children, pat tbetn to death
with his own hud ; tan men were then Minted by
lot to nuirrn the net; and one of the survivors,
in the Mine way, to despatch the other* and then
himself. Thit frantic resolve vu executed, and
960 peraoni — men, women, and children — lay in
their blood. The conqueror, pressing the aiege, the
next morning, encountered the silence of death,
and entering the fortress, met the appalling specta-
cle. Two women and fire children, who had been
ooneealed in a cavern, alone survived.
The spot, thus signalized, was lost to history
until the publication of Robinson and Smith's
researches. At 'Am Jidy, their attention had been
attracted to this singular rock with ruins on it*
summit, now called Sebbth (|Uw), but it was not
until they reached Germany, that it occurred to
them it must be the ancient Hasada {Bibl Ret.
ii. 340 f.), The writer, in company with an
English painter, under the protection of a Bedawy
chief, visited the spot in the spring of 1842. Cross-
ing from Hebron the territory which lies between
the highlands of Judaea and the Dead Sea — the
hills being first succeeded by an undulating coun-
try, at that season verdant aud forming the princi-
pal pasture-ground of the Bedawln, this by a range
of white, naked, conical hills, mostly barren, and
the latter by a rugged, rocky strip, bordering the
sea, and cut through by deep wadies — we reached,
across a scorched and desolate tract, the lofty cliffs
of Sebbeh with its ruins, fronted on the west by
precipices of a rich, reddish-brown color, the motion-
less sea lying far below on the east, and the moun-
tains of Mnab towering beyond — the whole region
wearing an aspect of lonely and stem grandeur.
The identification was complete — the lower part of
the entire wall which Herod built around the top,
and the entire Roman wall of circumvallation be-
low, with the walls of the Roman camps connected
with it, undisturbed for eighteen centuries, remain-
ing as they were left, except as partially wasted by
the elements. As we looked down on those lines,
they vividly recalled the siege and the day when
the crimsoned rock on which we stood bore witness
to the fulfillment of the fearful imprecation : —
•' His blond been us and on our children I " (Bibl.
Sncm. 1843, pp. 61-67)." S. W.
MAS'ALOTH (Maio-eAsW [so Sin.]; Alex.
M<0"<r<zAcov < : Jlfataioth), a place in Arbela, which
Bocchides and Alcimus, the two generals of Deme-
trius, besieged and took with great slaughter on
their way from the north to Gilgal (1 Mace. ix. 8).
Arbela is probably the modern Irbid, on the south
side of the Wndg el Human, about 3 miles N. W.
of Tiberias, and half that distance from the lake.
The name Mesaloth is omitted by Josephus (.Ant.
dl. 11,} 1), nor has any trace of it been since dis-
covered: but the word may, as Robinson (Bibl.
Ht$. ii. 398) suggests, have originally signified toe
» steps " or « terraces " (as If JT^ Dl?). In that
mm it was probably a name given to the remark-
thle caverns still existing on the northern aide of the
ttuw wady, and now called Kula'nt /on Mn'an,
HASOHUi
the " fortress of the son of Mean' — caverns wbicl
actually stood a remarkable siege of some length
by the forces of Herod (Joseph. B. J. i. 16, § 4).
A town with the similar name of Hisiiau oi
Mashal, occurs in the list of the tribe of Aalter
but whether it* position was near that assumed
above for Maaaloth, we have no means of judging.
G.
MAS'CHIL (V>3tp9: rinaif- mteUtehu,
but in Ps. liii. mtelUgtmiia). The title of thirteen
psalms : xxxii., xlii., xUv., xlv., lii.-lv., lxxiv., Ixxviii.,
Ixxxviii., Ixxxix., exlii. Jerome in his version fro:s
the Hebrew renders it uniformly rrvditio, » instruo-
tion," except in I'm. xlii., Ixxxix., where he baa
iniellertut, " understanding." The margin of out
A. V. has in 1'ss lxxiv., Ixxviii., Ixxxix., " to give
instruction ; " and in Ps. Ixxxviii., cxlii., " gh ing
instruction." In other passages in which the word
occurs, it is rendered '• wise " (Job xxii 2: Prov. x.
5, 19, Ac.), « prudent " (l*rov. xix. 14s Am. v. 13),
"expert" (Jer. 1. 9), and ••skillful" (Han. 1. it.
In the Psalm in which it first occurs as a title, the
root of the word is found in m:nther form (Ps.
xxxii. 8), " I will mtti-uct thee," from which cir-
cumstance, it has been inferred, the title was ap-
plied to the whole psalm as " didactic" But
since " Maschil " is affixed to many pralma whk'l
would scarcely be classed as didactic, Uesenius (ot
rather Koediger) explains it as denoting " any sucrw
song, relating to divine things, whose end it was U
promote wisdom and piety " ( The: p. 1330). Kw-
ald (DiehUr d. nit. B. i. 25) regards Ps. xlvii. 7
(A. V. '• sing ye praises trith umlerttmtding ; " I lel».
mntchil), as the key to the meaning of Maschil,
which in his opinion is a musical term, denoting a
melody requiring great skill in its execution. The
objection to the explanation of Roediger is, that it
is wanting in precision, and would allow the term
" Maschil " to be applied to every psalm in the
Psalter. That it is employed to indicate to the
conductor of the Temple choir the manner in which
the psalm was to be sung, or tbe melody to v> hich
it was adapted, rather than as descriptive of itt
contents, seems to be implied in the title of Ps. xlv.,
where, after " Maschil," is added "asongof love* "
to denote the special character of tbe psalm. Again,
with few exceptions, it is associated with directions
for the choir, " to the chief musician," etc., and
occupies the same position in tbe title* as Micbtitm
(Ps. xvi., lvi-lx.), tfixmor (A. V. " Psalm; " Ps.
iv.-Jvi., etc.), and Shiggaion (Ps. rii.). If, there-
fore, we regard it as originally used, in the sense
of " didactic," to indicate the character of one par-
ticular psalm, it might have been applied to others
as being net to the melody of tbe original Maschil-
psalm. But tbe suggestion of Kwald, given above,
has most to commend it. Comparing " Maschil "
with the musical terms already alluded to, and ob-
serving the different manner in which the character
of a psalm is indicated in other instances (1 t'hr.
xvi. 7; Pm. ixxviii., Ixx., titles), it seems probable
that it was used to convey a direction to the singer*
as to the mode in which they were to sing. There
appear to have been Mascbila of different kinds, for
in addition to those of David which form the greater
a • This place was visited in 1848 by Ueut IjTDCh's
■arty, who (escribes It, yet without alluding to the
siwnone explorations. W* record with pleasure M. da
questionably to Mean*. Woleott and Tipping r (Nam*.
Im of a Jtmmry round Ou Dead Sea, I. 181 f.). Tec
Raumar also relics to Dr. Woleott's discoveries as sat
leaky 1 * acknowledgment that, "the honor of having tUng tbe questloa of the Identification of Masada wH»
xwenttovaMttensauofltavadab^onas on- 1 th. present Stbb+dm PaloMma, p. 212,4m A«tU H
Digitized by VjOOQlC
HASH
■umber, thtre an other* of Asaph (Pa htxiv.,
xxviii.), Heman the Exrahite (lxxxviii.), and
Etfaw (Imii). W. A. W.
MASH O^Q: Morix'- J/cs), one of the sons
rf Aram, and the brother of Us, HuL and Gether
(Gen. x. 33). In 1 Chr. i. 17 the name appears ai
Heahech, and the rendering of the LXX., aa above
given, lead* to the inference that a similar form also
totted in *go» of the copies of Genesis. It may
further be noticed that in the Chronicle*, Mash and
hi* brother* are described a* ton* of Shem to the
amission of Aram; this discrepancy i* easily ex-
piiined : the link* to oonneet the name* are omitted
is other butane** (oomp. ver. 4), the ethnologist
(i ideally anuming that tbey were familiar to hi*
reader*. As to the geographical position of Mash,
Josephus (Ant. i. 6, } 4) connects the name with
Mesene in lower Babylonia, on the shores of the
Persian Gulf — a locality too remote, however, from
the other branches of the Aramaic race. The more
probable opinion is that which hat been adopted by
Bochart (Phal ii. 11), Winer (Rub. s. v.), and
Knofad ( VSIkert p. 337) — namely, that the nmue
Mash is represented by the Mom Mmiut of classi-
cal writers, a range which forms the northern
boaudary of Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and
Euphrates (Strab. si. pp. 506, 527 ). Knobel recon-
ciles this view with that of Josephus by the sup-
position of a migration from the north of Meso-
potamia to the south of Babylonia, where the race
may hare been known in later time* under the
oame of Mesbech : the progress of the population
in these part* was, however, in an opposite direc-
tion, from south to north. Kalisch (Comm. vn
(ten. p. 388) oonneet* the names of Mash and
Mysia: this is, to say the least, extremely doubt-
ful; both the Mysiana themselves and their name
l=*S/ama) were probably of European origin.
W. L. B.
MARSHAL ( 'yO [comparison, pi-acerb :
Vat] Maura; [Rom. Maao-dA; Alex.' Mao-aA:]
Maul), the contracted or provincial (Galilean) form
in which, in the later list of Levities] cities (1 Chr.
vi. 74), the name of the town appears, which in
the earlier records is given as Misheai. and
Hishau It suggests the Ma&alotii of the Mao-
abean history. G.
MASI'AS (Uuraiat [Vat. M«i-]i Alex. Maor-
is : UattUh), one of the servants of Solomon,
whose descendant* returned with Zorobabel (1 Esdr.
f. 34).
MAS'MAN (Hoo-udV, [Vat.]; Alex. Mow
soy: Matman). This name occurs for Shemaiaii
In 1 Etdr. will. 43 (eomp. Ezr. viii. 16). The
Greek text Is evidently corrupt, Xapalas (A. V.
Manilas), which is the true reading, being rais-
nlieed in ver. 44 after Alnathan.
• MASONS. [Handicraft, 3.]
MASOBA. [Old Tsstamrkt.]
MASTHA. L (Mturirvfi: Maepka.) A
place opposite to (rartVoyri) Jerusalem, at which
Judas Maocabajus and his follower* assembled thera-
■dvu to bewail the desolation of the city and the
Mortuary, and to inflame their resentment before
Um battle of Emmaus, by the sight, not only of
the distant city, which was probably vbabU from
Ui eminence, but also of the Book of the Law
nutilaiad and profaned and of other objects of
•K'liur precionsness and sanctity (1 Mace. lii. 46).
MASSAH 182$
There i* no doubt that it is identical with Miepbh
of Benjamin, the ancient sanctuary at which Sam-
uel had convened the people on an occasion of
equal emergency. In fact, Maspha, or more accu-
rately Massepha, is merely the form in which the
LXX. uniformly render the Hebrew name Mixpeh.
3. (Moo-«)<(; [Sin. Mooto; Alex. MaoAa;] but
Josephus mixx-qv- Maipha.) One of the cities
which were taken from the Ammonite* by Judas
Maccabsua in his campaign on the east of Jordan
(1 Mace. v. 35). It is probably the ancient city
of Mizpeh of Gilead. The Syriao has the curious
variation of Olim, P^), "salt." Perhaps Jose-
phus also reads II vQ, "salt." G
MASR'EKAH (Hjritpi} [place of rinee}
Mao-o-<mcar, in Chron. Mao-f lotas, and so Alex,
in both: Mntrecn), an ancient place, the native
spot of Samlah, one of the old kings of the Edom-
ites (Gen. xxxvi. 36; 1 Cbr. i. 47). Interpreted
as Hebrew, the name refers to vineyards — as if
fiom Snrak, a root with which we are familiar in
the " vine of Sorek," that is, the choioe vine ; and
led by this, Knobel (GtntsU, p. 257) propose* to
place Masrekah in the district of the Idumean
mountains north of Petra, and along the Hadj
route, where Burakhardt found "extensive vine-
yards," and "great quantities of dried grapes,"
made by the tribe of the Rtfaya for the supply of
Gaza and for the Mecca pilgrims (Burckhardt,
Sgrii, Aug. 31). But this Is mere conjecture, as
no name at all corresponding with Masrekah ha*
been yet discovered in that locality. Schwarz (815)
mentions a site called En-Matrak, a few miles
south of Petra. He probably refers to the place
marked Ain Mafrak in Palmer's Map, and Aim
et-tTtdaka in Kiepert's (Robinson, BibL Re*. 1856).
The versions are unanimous in adhering more or
less closely to the Hebrew. G.
MAS SA (Nt^O [present, tribute} : Mwnrq;
[in 1 Chron., Vat. MaKuro-w:] Maua), a son of
Isbmad (Gen. xxr. 14; 1 Chr. i. 80). His de-
scendants were not improbably the Matani, whr
are placed by Ptolemy (v. 19, § 2) in the east of
Arabia, near the borders of Babylonia.
W. L. B
* According to some the proper rendering in
Prov. xxx. 1 is " Agur the Massite." It is in-
ferred, therefore, that the above Masts was the
name also of the place where the wise Agur lived
and wliere Lemuel reigned as king (Prov. xxxi. 1 ).
In support of this conclusion see Bertheau, Die
Spr&che Siilomo'e, p. 15 f. Prof. Stuart adopt*
this opinion in his note* on the above passages
(Comm. on Proverbe, pp. 401, 421). That vii>w,
says r'iirst (Handu. s. v.), is a doubtful one. The
ordinary signification of NOPBH, the utterance,
proverb (in the A. V. "the prophecy"), is entirely
appropriate, and is nun generally preferred by
commentators. See Umbreit's Spruche Soluimi't,
p. 392. ^Further, see Agur, Lxmukl, Ucau]
H.
MAS'SAH (nrajj: moeurpiti [m »•»*■
xxxiii-, wilpa: Tentaiio]), i. e. tempt ati on, a name
given to the spot, also called Mebibah, whore tin
Israelites "tempted Jehovah, saying. Is Jahovat
among us or not? " (Ex. xvii. 7). [See alto Dent
it 11, tx. 28, xxxiii. 8.] The i
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1880
MASSIA8
with maution of the circumstances which oocsuoced
It, iu Pi. xcv. 8, 9, and it* Greek equivalent in
Heb. W. 8. H. U.
MASSrAS (Muratat: [V«t Kaatua ] Hi$-
mamu) = Maa8mah 8 (1 Esdr. ix. 83; oomp.
Eir. z. 33).
• MAST. [Ship.]
* MASTER •tend* ill the A. V. as the repre-
sentation of several different Hebrew and Greek
words, but the principal use of the term which
demandi notice here ia that in which, aa in Matt,
riii. 19 (JiJdVicaAoj, given in John i. 38, xx. 18,
as equivalent to the Hebrew words Rabbi and Rab-
boni), It ia often applied to our Lord aa a title of
respect. [Rabbi.] It is by a reference to the
common application of this term among the .Tews,
that we must probably explain our Lord's reproof
of the person spoken of in Mark x. 17 and Luke
xriii. 18 (designated in the latter account as a
ruler; the reading of the received text. Matt. xix.
16, is apparently corrupt), for addressing him as
" Good Master." The expression, in Itself appro-
priate, was employed improperly by the speaker,
who designed nothing more in the use of it than
to recognize our Saviour as one who, although
perhaps distinguished by preeminent attainments
and character, was not essentially different from
the ordinary Rabbis. Our Lord applies the term
so rendered to Nicodemus (John iii. 10), with spe-
cial emphasis: "Art thou the master (teacher) of
Israel," as expressive probably of the high authority
Nicodemus enjoyed among his countrymen as a
teacher of religion. This title of " master," as
the translation of SiSoVxaAof , is given to our Lord
about forty times in the Gospels. The sense would
often be clearer to the English reader if " teacher "
were substituted for it. By " master of the ship "
(Acts xxvii. 11), the man at the rudder or the
helmsman (mfftprlrrns) '» meant [Governor,
15.] For the interchange of "master of the
house," and " good man of the bouse," see vol. i.
p. 939.
The expression "master and scholar," Mai. ii.
12 (Heb. Tt^SI ~1£), which suggests a usage
somewhat like that so common in the N. T., is
probably a mistranslation. The literal meaning
seems to be caller (or watcher) and answerer,
apparently a proverbial expression for every living
person, referring perhaps originally to watchmen
calling to and answering one another (conip. Ps.
exxxir. 1; Is. lxii. 6).
The very obscure phrase filBDB ^SS (Bed.
xii. 11), translated in A. V. "masters of assem-
blies," is variously explained, as, e. g. referring (1)
o the naile driven in, just spoken of, represented
jere as instruments of fattening (Rosenmuller) ;
(2) to the gathered " words of the wise." content*
of collections (Ewald, Heiligstedt, Hitzig); (3) to
the collectors themselves, either aa the masters,
authors of the collections (De Wette), or as mem-
bers of an assembly (Gesenius, Fiirst, and Hengsten-
jerg, comp. Jerome In Vulgate). The last view is
MASTICH TREE
perhaps, sn the whole, the most probable, aspeemDj
if we an at liberty, with Kimchi, to supply "H??
before rVB^g ^3. D. S. T.
« MASTERIES is the rendering of &Bk§ it
3 Tim. ii. 6, which is literally " if any one strive,"
i. e. for preeminence aa an athlete. The A. V.
follows the earlier English versions from Tyndak
onward, except the change of " mastery " to " mas-
teries." Further, sea Gamed, voL i. p. 464 «.
H.
MASTICH-TREE (<rx«<or, Untitau) ocean
only in the Apocrypha (Susan, ver. M a ), where the
marein of the A. V. has Untitle There ia no
doubt that the Greek word is correctly rendered, a<
is evident from the description of it by Tbeophrastas
(Hit. Plant, ix. i. §§ 3, 4, § 7, Ac.); Pliny (/?. If.
iii. 36, xxiv. 28); Diosoorides (i. 90), and other
writers. Herodotus (iv. 177) compares the fruit
of the lotus (the Rhamrnu titm, Linn., not the
Egyptian fftktmbium tptciomm) in size with the
mastich berry, and Uabrius (3, 5) ays its leave*
are browsed by goats. The fragrant resin known
in the arts as *• mastick," and which is obtained by
incisions made in the trunk in the month of August,
is the produce of this tree, whose scientific name is
Pittacia lentitcut. It is used with us to strengthen
the teeth and gums, and was so applied by the
ancients, by whom it was much prized on this ac-
count, and for its many supposed medicinal virtues.
Lucian {t^exiph. p. 12) uses the term axirorfiiirrvs
of one who chews mastich wood in order to whiten
his teeth. Martial (Ep. xiv. 23) recommends a
mastich twin pick (dentucnlpinm). Pliny (xxiv.
7) speaks of the leaves of this tree being nibbed
on the teeth for toothache. Diosoorides (i. 90)
says the resin is often mixed with other materials
and used a* tooth-powder, and that, if chewed,* it
imparts a sweet odor to the breath. Both Pliny
and Diosoorides state that the best mastich comes
from Chios, and to this day the Arabs prefer that
which is imported from that island (cotnp Nie-
buhr, Betchr. rou Arab. p. 144 ; Galen, tie foe
Simpl. 7, p. 69). Touniefort ( Voynget, ii. 58-61,
transl. 1741) has given a full and very interesting
account of the lentiska or mastich plants of Scio
(Chios): he says that "the towns of the island are
distinguished into three classes, those del Campo,
those of Aponomerm, and those where they plant
lentitlc-trecs, from whence the mastick in tears is
produced." Toumefbrt enumerates several lentisk-
tree villages. Of the trees he says, "these trees
are very wide spread and circular, ten or twelve feet
tall, consisting of several branchy stalks which in
time grow crooked. The biggest trunks are a foot
in diameter, covered with a lark, grayish, rugged,
chapt the leaves are disposed in three or fcur
couples on each side, about an inch long, narrow at
the beginning, pointed at their extremity, half aii
inch broad about the middle. From the junctures
of the leaves grow flowers in bunches like grapes
(see woodcut) ; the fruit too grows like bunches of
grapes, in each berry whereof is contained a white
a This Terse contains a happy play upon the word.
• Under what tree sawsst thou them ? . . . undm a
atasttcta-tne (fori rxiror). And Daniel said ... the
angel of God hath ncsivad the sentence of God to
rot thee in two (crxwrn n pfow). This Is uofor-
■aatsly lost In our version ; but It Is pressrred by
fee v al«ate. "sub schlno sctndat te ; " and by
Luther, " linde . . . linden." A similar play occurs
In tt. 68, 69, between law, and wpini e*. For to*
bearing of these and similar characteristics on the date
and origin of the book, see Sosimu.
b Whence the derivation of mastich, from aeorrtx*
the gum of the ff\lvot , from fuisraf, fuwrtgda*, pan
ofisA, " to chew," " to mastkato."
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MATHANIAS
lernei. These trees blow in Ma;, the fruit does
■ot ripen but in autumn and winter." This writer
gives the following description of the mode in which
the mattich gum is procured. " They begin to
make incisions in these trees in Scio the first of
August, cutting the bark crossways with huge
knives, without touching the younger branches;
i».ixt day the nutritious juice distils in small tears,
i lid) by little and little form the mastick grains;
MATTANIAH
J881
Jlastieh (Piitaaa lentiaeut)
they harden on the ground, and are carefully swept
up from under the trees. The height of the crop
is about the middle of August if it be dry serene
weather, but if it be rainy, the tears are all lust,
likewise towards the end of September the same
incisions furnish mastick, but in lesser quanti-
ties." Besides the uses to which reference has been
made above, the people of Scio put grain* of this
resin in perfumes, and in their bread before it goes
to the oven.
Mastick is one ot the most important products
of the East, being extensively used in the prepara-
tion of spirits, as juniper berries are with us, as
> sweetmeat, as a masticatory for preserving the
irums and teeth, as an antispasmodic in medicine,
and as an ingredient in varnishes. The Greek
•Titers occasionally use the word extvos for an
entirely different plant, namely, the Squill (SciWi
wtnritima) (see Aristoph. Plut, p. 715; Sprengel,
f'lor. Hippoc. p. 41: Theophr. Hint. Plant, v. 6, §
10). The Pinlncia Imlitcut is common on the
shore* of the Mediterranean. According to Strand
[Flor. Pnlul. No. 559) it has been observed at
Joppa, both by Kauwolf and Pococke. The mas-
tieh-tne belongs to the natural order AnarnrtKnccm.
W. If.
* The Pitfadn knti$cus is found in Syria, on
•It. T^banon. I am not aware that the gun. is
itraeted from it for purposes of commerce.
G. F. P.
MATHANIAS (MorflaWaj; [Vat S«cr«a-
rwmviun:] Matkalhuu) =. Mattaxiah, a de-
■ Vol. L p. 1M ». In addition to the authorities
-fcan cited, the carious leader who may desir* to tn-
mttgats this raaarkable trad'Hon will find It «-
scendaui of Pahatb-Moah (I Kstlr. rx. 31, eomp
Ear. x. 30).
MATHU'SALA (MoftWdAa: MatinmhX
= Methuselah, the sou of Enoch (Luke hi. 37).
MATURED ("nCJD [Oinutmg forth, rrpt.
liny] : Mcn-patt; Alex. MarpatiB; [in 1 Chr, Kom.
Vat. omit, Alex. Marino':] ifatred), a daughter
of Mezahab, and mother of MehetabeL who was
wife of Hadar (or Hadad) of Pau, king of Eilom
(Gen. xxxvi. 39; 1 Cbr. i. 50). Respecting the
kings of Edom, whose records are contained in tha
chapters referred to, see Hadad, Iram, etc.
E. S. P.
MATOI (^tJBn, with the art, properlj
the Afatri: Marrapt; [Vat. Mottooji: Alex.
MaTTopti and MarrapeiT: Mttri), a family of
the tribe of Benjamin, to which Saul the king of
Israel belonged (1 Sam. x. 21).
MATTAN (in? [sift]: Major, [Vat.
Ma-vdaK,] Alex. Maxar in Kings; Mcn-SaV in
Ohron. : Mitlhan). 1. The priest of Baal slain
before his altars in the idol temple at Jerusalem,
st the time when Jehoiada swept away idolatry
from Judah (2 K. xi. 18; 2 Chr. xxiii. 17). He
probably accompanied Athaliah from Samaria, and
would thus be the first priest of the Baal-worship
which Jehoram king of Judah, following in the
steps of his father-in-law Ahab, established at
Jerusalem (2 Chr. xxi. 6. 13); Josephus (Ant. ix.
7, § 3) calls him Maaiiv.
2. (NoW) The father of Shephatiah. (Jer.
xxxviii. 1). \V. A. W.
MATTAN AH (njJJ!} [gifl] : Mariaxulv,
Alex. [Martfovtr,] MaWfa*cu>: MatOinna), ■ sta-
tion in the biter part of the wanderings of the
Israelites (Num. xxi. 18, 19). It lay next beyond
the well, or Beer, and lietween it and Nahaliel ;
Nahaliel again being but one day's journey from
the Bamoth or heights of Moab. Mattanah was
therefore probably situated to the S. E. of the Dead
Sea, but no name like it appears to have been yet
discovered. The meaning at the root of the word
(if taken as Hebrew; is a " gift," and accordingly
the Targumists — Onkelos as well as I'seudojonathan
and the Jerusalem — treat Mattanah as if a syn-
onym for Beer, the well which was " given " to
the people (ver. 16). In the same vein they fur-
ther translate the names in verse 20; and treat
them as denoting the valleys (Nahaliel) and the
heights (Bamoth), to which the miraculous well
followed the camp in its journeyings. The legend
is noticed under Beer." By I,e Clerc it is sug-
gested that Mattanah may lie the same with the
mysterious word Va/ttb (ver. 14; A. V. " what he
did ") — since the meaning of that word in Arabi* 1
is the same as that of Mattanah in Hebrew. 0.
MATTANI'AH (JTOZ-in [gifl of Jtho
mill]: RarSaWar; [Vat. MaSiay;] Alex. Mf8-
ftwias: M'ltthnnint). 1. The original name of
Zedekiah king of Judah, which was changed when
Nebuchadnezzar placed him on the throne instead
of his nephew Jehoiachin (2 K. xxiv. 17). In like
manner Pharaoh had changed the name of hi]
b-other Eliakim to Jehoiakim or a i
hausted In P"Xtorfs Kumufwfwf (No.
tras in Deurtoj.
mm. A
Digitized by
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1882
MATTANIAH
•km (9 K. xxiii. 34), wheu he restored the micees-
lion to the elder branch of the royal family (conip.
2 K. xxiii. 81, 36).
2. (MartWai in Chr., and Neh. xi. 17; Mar-
tarla, Neh. xii. 8, 35 ; Alex. Ma$6cwias, Neh. xi.
17, MaSavio, Neh. xii. 8, MaASavta, Neh. xii. 86;
[Vat. in Chr., Mayfarias: in Neh. xi. 17, xii. 35,
xiii. 13, MaBcwta; Neh. xii. 8, Mayaviai 35, Na-
e<wia; Neh. xi. 22, xii. 25, Rom. Vat. Alex. FA. 1
nmit :] Mathamu, exe. Neh. xii. 8, 35, Mathmiat.)
A Levite linger of the wni of Asaph (1 Chr. ix.
15). He la described as the son of Micah, Mieha
(Neh. xi. 17), or Michaiah (Neh. xii. 35), and after
the return from Bab) Ion lived in the village* of the
Netophathitet (1 Chr. ix. 16) or Netophathi (Neh.
xii. 28), which the lingers had built in the neigh-
borhood of Jerusalem (Neh. xii. 29). As leader
of the Temple choir after its restoration (Neh. xi.
17, xii. 8) in the time of Nehemiah, he took part
in the musical service which accompanied the dedi-
cation of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. xii. 25, 35).
We And him among the Invites of the second rank,
"keepers of the thresholds," an office which fell to
the singers (coinp. 1 Chr. xv. 18, 21). In Neh.
xii. 35. there is a difficulty, for " Mattaniah, the
son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of
Asaph," is apparently the same with " Mattaniah,
the son of Micba, the son of Zabdi the son of
Asaph " (Neh. xi. 17), and with the Mattaniah or
Neb. xii. 8, 35, who, as in xi. 17, is associated
with Bakhukiah, and is expressly mentioned as
living in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra (Neh.
xii. 86). But, if the reading in Neh. xii. 35 be
correct, Zechariah, the great-grandson of Mattaniah
(further described as one of " the priests' sons," "
whereas Mattaniah was a Lerite), blew the trumpet
at the head of the procession led by Ezra, which
marched round the city wall. From a comparison
of Neh. xii. 35 with xii. 41, 42, it seems probable
that the former is corrupt, that Zechariah in verses
35 and 41 is the same priest, and that the clause
in which the name of Mattaniah is found is to be
connected with ver. 36, in which are enumerated
his " brethren " alluded to in ver. 8.
3. (MatrvWas; [Vat. MarSariar:] Mnlhan-
iiit.) A descendant of Asaph, and ancestor of
Jahaziel the Levite in the reign of Jeboahaphat (2
Ohron. xx. 14).
4. (Mar*Wa ; [Vat. FA. MoftWm;] Alex.
Ma80avia: .Vathania.) One of the sons of EUm
who had married a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
(Ezr. x. 26). In 1 Esdr. ix. 27 he is called Mat-
THANIAS.
5. (Mm-tWaf; [Vat. AeWia:] Alex. Ma06a-
rai) One of the. sons of Zattu in the time of
Ecra who put away his foreign wife (Fir. x. 27).
He is called Othonias in 1 Esdr. ix. 28.
0. (MareWa; [Vat. \fta9avm;] Alex. Mofi-
Scwta' M'tthaniat.) A descendant of l'ahath-Mnali
who I'.ved at the same time, and is mentioned under
'lie same circumstances as the two preceding (Ezr.
x. 3&). In 1 Esdr. ix. 31, he is called Matiia-
hias.
7. [MaT0ayla: Vat. FA. Mafowm; Alex. Mofl-
tana' Mnthnmiit,] One of the sons of Bani, who
like the three above mentioned, put away his for
cign wife at Ezra's command (Ezr. x. 37). In the
■ Th* word " priest " Is apparently applied in a torn
rvtnatad sense in later 'Jmea, for we find in Ear. v}ii
II Sl^zebiah and Hashabiah described as among the
"etoV of tttt priests,'' whereas, In vv. 18, 18, they
MATTKITAI
parallel list of Esdr. ix. 34, the names *• Mstta. ah
Mattenai," are corrupted into Mammitakaiiilh
8. (Mu-rtftWas; [Vat NoAma; FA.* Mafia
ria;] Alex. MaSSavtas* A Levite, father of Zac-
cur. and ancestor of Hanan the under-treasura
who had charge of the offerings for the Levites it
the time of Nehemiah (Neb. xiii. 13).
8. PBTV-IIJ Lyi/l of Jehovah]: MarfrWa*.
[Vat Martayua:] Mathamai, 1 Chr. xxt. 4-
Mathaniat, 1 Chr. xxt. 16), one of the fourteen
sons of Heman the singer, whose office it was to
blow the boms in the Temple service as appointed
by David. He was the chief of the 9th division
of twelve Levites who were "instructed in the
songs of Jehovah."
10. [MarfcWuu: Malhania:] A descendant
of Asaph, the Levite minstrel, who assisted in the
purification of the Temple in the reign of Hese-
kiah (2 Chr. xxix. 13). W. A. W
MATTATHA (MottoM : Matkatha), the
son of Nathan, and grandson of David in the gene-
alogy of our Lord (Luke iii. 31).
MATTATHAH (nj-Ugi} [gift of Jeho-
vah, contracted from the above]; MorfaoVi; Alex.
Ma90a0a: Miithalha), a descendant of Hashum,
who had married a foreign wife in the time of
Ezra, and was separated from her (Est. x. 33)
He is called Matthias in 1 Esdr. ix. 38.
MATTATBTAS (MarraBlaf- Mathathitu).
1. = Matttthiah, who stood at Ezra's right
hand when he read the Law to the people (1 Esdr.
ix. 43; comp. Neh. riii. 4).
2. (Mnlhathiat.) The father of the Maccabeea
(1 Mace. ii. 1, 14, 16, 17, 19, 24, 27, 39, 45, 49,
xiv. 29). [Maccabees, vol. ii. p. 1710 «.]
8. (Maihatliiat.) The son of Absalom, and
brother of Jonathan 14 (1 Mace. xi. 70, xiii.
11). In the battle fought by Jonathan the high-
priest with the forces of Demetrius on the plain of
Nasor (the old Hacor), his two generals Matta-
thias and Judas alone stood by him, when his army
was seized with a panic and fled, and with their
assistance the fortunes of the day were restored.
4. (Mnlhalhiat.) The son of Simon Maccabeus,
who was treacherously murdered, together with his
father and brother, in the fortress of Docus, by
ttolemeus the son of Abubus (1 Mace. xvi. 14).
6. (Matthiai.) One of the three envoys sent by
Nicanor to treat with Judas Maccabeus (2 Maee.
xiv. 19).
6. (Mathnihim.) Son of Amos, in the genealogy
of Jesus Christ (Luke iii. 25).
7. (Malhathiii). ) Son of Seine!, in the same cata-
logue (Luke iii. 26). W. A. W.
MATTENAI [3 syl.] CJJ?? [gift of J*.
himih, see above]: Merfayfa; f^Vat. FA. Mafia-
em:] Alex. MaWarar: Mathanai). 1. One of the
family of Hashum, who in the time of Ezra had
married a foreign wife (Ezr. x. 33). In 1 Eadt
ix. 33 he is called Altaneub.
2. (MaTtforaf; [Vat MaeVtrav; FA. Mao-am;?
Alex. Maflflavaf: Mathanai.) A descendant of
Bani, who put away his foreign wife at Ezra's com-
mand (Ezr. x. 37). The place of this name an 1
of Mattaniah which precedes it Is occupied in 1
Esdr. ix. 34 by Mamj»itanaimu».
are Mentrite Levites j If, as Is probable, the Sams
sons are alluded to In both lustaooss. Oomp
Josh. 111. 8 with Mum. vH. 9.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MATTHAN
A. [Vat Alex. FA, omit; Rom. MarSoFot] A
prion iu the days of Joiakim the aon of Jesnua
(Xeh. xtL 19 j- He represented the home of Joiarib.
MATTHAN (Rao. Text, MarftdV, Lachm.
[Tbeh. Trag.] with B, MaBeiy: Mittluin, if<U-
'Jinn). The »>n of Eleazar, and grandfather of
Joseph "the husband of Mar;" (Matt i. IS).
He occupies the same place in the genealogy as
Uatthat in Luke iii. 24, with whom indeed he
is probably identical (Hervey, Genealogies of Christ,
139, 134, Ac). " He seems to have been himself
descended from Joseph the son of .ludah, of Luke
iii. 36, but to hare become the heir of the elder
branch of the house of Abiud on the failure of
tOeazar's issue {ib. 131).
MATTHANI'AS (Mar»aK<«: [Vat Mo-
t«u/J) =Mattahiak, one of the descendants of
Khun (1 Esdr. ix. 37; comp. Ezr. x. 36). In the
Vulgate, •• Ela, Mathanias," are corrupted into
» Jolaman, Chamas," which is evidently • tran-
Kriber's error.
MATTHAT (MaT«dV; but Tisch. [7th ed.]
MaMtrr [8th edition, Ma89a8]: Mathat, Mnt-
tnt, yfattkid, etc.). 1. Son of Levi and grand-
father of Joseph, according to the genealogy of
Luke (iii. 34). He is maintained by Lord A.
Hervey to have been the same person as the Mat-
rHAS of Matt. i. 15 (see Genealogies of Christ,
1 17, 138,4c).
3. [Tisch. MaBtiB-] Abo the son of a Levi, and
i progenitor of Joseph, but much higher up in the
line, namely, eleven generations from David (Luke
iii. 39). Nothing is known of him.
It should be remarked that no fewer than Sve
names in this list are derived from the same Hebrew
•oot as that of their ancestor Nathan the son of
David (see Hervey, Genealogies, etc., p. ISO).
MATTHETLAS (Moflt/Aoi; [Vat. Ma«nAa»0
Maseru) = MaA8KIAH 1 (1 Esdr. ix. 18; comp.
Ksr. x. 18). The reading of the LXX. which is
followed in the A. V. might easily arise from a
•uittake betwen the uncial a and S (C).
MATTHEW (Lachm. [Tisch. Treg.] with
r Sin.] BD, MoMaibs; AC and Kec. Text, Mar-
jaZoi: AfnUhamt). Matthew the Apostle and
Evangelist is the same as Levi (Luke v. 27-21),
the son of a certain Alpheus (.Mark ii. 14). His
call to be an Apostle is related by all three Evan-
gelists in the same words, except that Matthew (ix.
9) gives the former, and Mark (ii. 14) and Luke
(v. 37) the latter name. If there were two pub-
licans, both called solemnly in the same form at
the same place, Capernaum, then one of them be-
esme an Apostle, and the other was heard of no
mute: for Levi it not mentioned again after the
femtt which he made in our Lord's honor (Luke v.
49). This is most unlikely. Eutbymius and many
ther commentators of note identify Alphaws the
ither of Matthew with Alpbeus the father of
.•ames the Less. Against this is to be set the fact
thai in the lists of Apostles (Matt x. 3; Mark iii.
18; Luke vi. 16; Acta i. 13), Matthew and James
the Leas an never named together. Use other pairs
sf brothers in the apostolic body. [See addition to
ALHLAOa, Amer. ed.] It may be, as in other oases
bat the name Levi was replaced by the name Mat
haw at the time of the call. According to Qese-
am, the names Matthews and Matthias are both
of Mattathias (= DV^O, "gift
• " <wtto«pof, e*4aanM),'a common
MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF 1883
! Jewish name after the exile; but the true deriva-
tion is not certain (see Winer, Lange). The pub-
licans, properly so called (pvblicani), were person*
I who farmed the Roman taxes, and they were usu-
ally, in later times, Roman knighu, and persons of
wealth and credit They employed under them
inferior officers, natives of the province where the
taxes were collected, called properly portUores, to
which class Matthew no doubt belonged. These
latter were notorious for impudent exactions every-
where (Plautus, Henoch, i. 3, 5; Cic ad Quint.
Fr. i. 1; Plut De Curios, p. 518 «); but to the
■lews they were especially odious, for they were the
very spot where the Roman chain galled them, the
visible proof of the degraded state of their nation.
As a rule, none but the lowest would accept such
an unpopular office, and thus the class became more
worthy of the hatred with which in any case the
Jews would have regarded it The readiness, how-
ever, with which Matthew obeyed the call of Jesus
seems to show that his heart was still open to re-
ligious impressions. His conversion was attended
by a great awakening of the outcast classes of the
.lews (Matt ix. 9, 10). Matthew in his Gospel
does not omit the title of infamy which had be
longed to him (x. 3); but neither of the other
Evangelists speaks of "Matthew the jmblictm."
Of the exact share which fell to him in preaching
the Gospel we have nothing whatever in the N. T.,
and other sources of information we cannot trust
Eusebius (H. E. iii. 24) mentions that after our
Lord's ascension Matthew preached in Judas (soma
add for fifteen years; Clem. Strom, vi.), and then
went to foreign nations. To the lot of Matthew it
fell to visit ./Ethiopia, says Socrates Scholasticua
(H. E. i. 19; Ruff. 3. E. x. 9). But Ambrose
says that God opened to him the country of the
Persians (In Ps. 45); Isidore the Macedonians
(Isidore Hisp. de Sand. 77); and others the l'ar-
thians, the Modes, the Persians of the Euphrates.
Nothing whatever is really known. Heraeleon, the
disciple of Valentinus (cited by Clement Alex.
Strom, ir. 9), describes him as dying a natural
death, which Clement, Origen, and Tertullian seem
to accept: the tradition that he died a martyr, be
it true or false, came in afterwards (Nicepb. II. F..
ii. 41).
If the first feeling on reading these meagre par-
ticulars be disappointment the second will b» ad-
miration for those who, doing their part under God
in the great work of founding the Church on earth,
have passed away to their Master in heaven with-
out so much as an effort to redeem their names
from silence and oblivion, (for authorities see- the
works on the Gospels referred to under Lukjc and
GosPKUs; also Fritesche, In UaUhaum, l^cintig.
1836: Lange, Bibtlwerk, part i.) W. T.
MATTHEW. GOSPEL OP. The Gospel
which bears the name of St. Matthew was written
by the Apostle, according to the testimony of all
antiquity.
I. Language in which it was first written. — We
are told on the authority of Papias, Irennus, Pen-
tanus, Origen, Eusebius, Epiphaniua, Jerome, and
many other Fathers, that the Gospel was first
written in H-brew, »'. e. in the vernacular language
of Palestine, the Aramaic, (a. ) Papias of HieraBchs
(who flourish-d in the first half oftha.2d osnhsry)
says, "Matth«w wrote the divine oracles-(ra AeSat)
in the Hebrew dialect, and each interpret** thai
as at was able" (Eusebius. U/E. iii. 39.. (that
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1634 MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF
Been held that to \iyia is to be ondentood as a
nonaction of ditcourttt, and that therefor? the book
here alluded to, contained not the acta of our Lord
but his SDeeches: but this falls through, for Papiaa
applies the same word to the Gospel of St. Mark,
and he uses the expression Kiryta Kvpuucd in the
title of his own work, which we know from frag-
ments to have contained facts as well as discourses
(Studien and Krititeti, 1832, p. 736; Meyer, £in-
kitungi De Wette, Einkitung, § 97 a; Alfbrd'a
Prolegomena to Gr. Tett. p. 25). Eusebius, in-
deed, in the same place pronounces Papias to be
"a man of very feeble understanding," in refer-
ence to some false opinions which he held; but it
requires little critical power to bear witness to the
fact that a certain Hebrew book was in use. (6.)
(missus says (iii. 1), that "whilst Peter and Paul
-•ere preaching at Rome and founding the Church,
Matthew put forth his written Gospel amongst the
Hebrews in their own dialect." It is objected to
this testimony that Irenaeus probably drew from
the same source as Papias, for whom he had great
respect; this assertion can neither be proved nor
refuted, but the testimony of tremens is in itself
so mere oopy of that of Papias. (c.) According to
Eusebius (H. E. v. 10), Pantasnus (who flourished
in the latter part of the 2d century) " is reported
to have gone to the Indians " (». «. to the south of
Arabia?), " where it is said that he found the
Gospel of Matthew already among some who had
the knowledge of Christ there, to whom Bartholo-
mew, one of the Apostles, had preached, and left
them the Gospel of Matthew written is Hebrew,
which was preserved till the time referred to." We
have no writings of Pantamus, and Eusebius recites
the story with a kind of doubt. It reappears in
two different forms: Jerome and Kuffinus say that
Pantaenus brought back with him this Hebrew
Gospel, and Nicephorus asserts that Bartholomew
dictated the Gospel of Matthew to the inhabitants
of that country. Upon the whole, Pantamus con-
tributes but little to the weight of the argument.
(d.) Urigen says ( Comment, on MntU i. in Kusebius,
//. E. vi. 25), " As I have learnt by tradition con-
cerning the four Gospels, whirh alone are received
without dispute by the Church of God under
heaven : the first was written by St. Matthew, once
a tax-gatherer, afterwards an Apostle of Jesus
Christ, who published it for the benefit of the
Jewish converts, composed in the Hebrew lan-
guage." The objections to this passage brought
by Masch, are disposed of by Michaelis iii. part i.
p. 127; the " tradition " does not imply a doubt,
and there is no reason for tracing this witness alio
to l'o;'ias. (e.) Eusebius (//. E. iii. 24) gives as his
nn opinion the following: "Matthew having first
preached to the Hebrews, delivered to them, when
he was preparing to depart to other countries, bis
Gospel, composed in their native language." Other
passages to the same effect occur in Cyril ( Cntecli.
p. 141, Epiphanius {Bar. li. 2, 1), Hieronym ju (de
fir ill. ch. 3), who mentions the Hebrew original
in seven places at least of his works, and from
Gregory of Nazianzus, Chrysostom, Augustine,
and other later writers. From all these there is
no doubt that the old opinion was that Matthew
wrote in the Hebrew language. To whom we are
•o attribute the Greek translation, is not shown ;
but the quotation of Papias proves that in the
line of John the Presbyter, and probably in
aat of Papias, there was no translation of great
wllwritr, and Jerome (de Rr. VL eh. 3) ex-
MATTHEVr", GOSPEL OF
pressly says that the translator's name was nnoar
tain.
So far all the testimony la for a Hebrew originnl
But there are arguments of no mean weight in
favor of the Greek a very brief account of which
may be given here. 1. The quotations from the
0. T. in this Gospel, which are very numerous
(see below), are of two kinds: those introduced
into the narrative to point out the mlfilbuent ' (
prophecies, etc., and those where in the course of
the narrative the persons' introduced, and especially
our Lord Himself, make use of 0. T. quotations.
Between these two classes a difference of treatment
is observable. In the latter class, where the cita-
tions n»cur in discourses, the Septuagint version is
followed, even where it deviates somewhat from the
original (as iii. 3, xiii. 14), or where it ceases to
follow the very words, the deviations do not come
from a closer adherence to the Hebrew O. T. ; except
in two cases, xi. 10 and xxvi. 31. The quotations
in the narrative, however, do not follow the Sep-
tuagint, but appear to be a translation from the
Hebrew text. Thus we have the remarkable phe-
nomenon that, whereas the Gospels agree most ex-
actly in the speeches of persons, and most of all in
those of our Lord, the quotations in these speeches
are reproduced not by the closest rendering of the
Hebrew, but from the Septuagint version, although
many or most of them must have been spoken in
the vernacular Hebrew, and could have had nothing
to do with the Septuagint. A mere translator
could not hare done this. Rut an independent
writer, using the Greek tongue, and wishing tt.
conform his narrative to the oral teaching of tbs
Apostles (see vol. ii. p. 948 ft), might have used for
the quotations the well-known Greek 0. T. used by
his colleagues. There is an independence in the
mode of dealing with citations throughout, which
is inconsistent with the function of a mere trans-
lator. 2. But this difficulty is to be got over by
assuming a high authority for this translation, as
though made by an inspired writer; and it has
been suggested that this writer was Matthew him-
self (Bengel, Olshausen, I-ee, and others), or at
least that he directed it (Guericke), or that it n
some other Apostle (Gerhard), or James the brother
of the Lord, or John, or the general body of the
Apostles, or that two disciples of St. Matthew
wrote, from him, the one in Aramaic and the other
in Greek ! We are further invited to admit, with
Dr. Lee, that the Hebrew book "belonged to that
class of writings which, although comprsed by
inspired men, were never designed to form part of
the Canon*' (On Intjm'ation, p. 571). But sup-
posing that there were any good ground foi con-
sidering these suggestions as facts, it is clear tha;
in the attempt to preserve the letter of the tradi
tion, they have quite altered the spirit of it. l'apiac
and Jerome make a Hebrew original, and dependent
translations; the moderns make a Greek original,
which in a translation only in name, and a Hebrew
original never intended to be preserved. The mod-
ern view is not what Papias thought or uttered ;
and the question would be one of mere names, for
the only point worthy of a struggle is this, whether
the Gospel in our bands is or is not of apostolic
authority, and authentic. 4. Olshausen remarks,
"While all the fathers of the churcb relate that
Matthew has written in Hebrew, yet they univer-
sally make use of the Greek text, as a leunics
apostolic ooniposltior, without remarking wi U rela-
tion the Hebrew Matthew bears to our Greet
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MATTHEW, OOSPBL OF
Boaptl. For that the earlier xcietiastical teacher*
lid not possess the Gjspel of Si Matthew in any
rther form than ire now have it, is established "
{Kcitkeit, p. 35). The original Hebrew of which
M many apeak, no one of the witnesses ever aaw
(Jerome, de ' «r. iU. p. 3, U no exception). And
n little store haa the church Bet upon it, that it
has utterly perished. 5. Were there no explana-
tion of this inconsistency between assertion and
bet, it would be hard to doubt the concurrent
testimony of so many old writers, whose belief in
it ia shown by the tenacity with which they held it
in spite of their own experience. But it is certain
that a Gospel, not the same as our canonical Mat-
thew, sometimes usurped the Apostle's name; and
some of the witnesses we have quoted appear to
hare referred to thin in one or other of its various
forms or names. The Christians in Palestine still
held that the Mosaic ritual was binding on them,
even after the destruction of Jerusalem. At the
close of the first century one party existed who
held that the Mosaic law was only binding on Jew-
ish converts — this was the Nazarenea. Another,
the Ebionites, held that it waa of universal obliga-
tion on Christians, and rejected St- Paul's Epistles
as teachiug the opposite doctrine. These two sects,
who differed also in the most important tenets as
to our Lord's person, possessed each a modification
of the tame Gospel, which no doubt each altered
more and more, as their tenets diverged, and which
bore various names — the Gospel of the Twelve
Apostles, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the
Gospel of I'eter. or the Gospel according to Mat-
,'oew. Enough is known to decide that the Gospel
according to the Hebrews waa not identical with
»ur Gospel of Matthew But it had many points
of resemblance to the synoptical gospels, snd espe-
cially to Matthew. What was its origin it is
impossible to say: it may hare been s description
of the oral teaching of the Apostles, corrupted by
degrees; it may have come in its early and pure
form from the hand of Matthew, or it may have
been a version of the Greek Gospel of St. Matthew,
as the Evangelist who wrote especially for Hebrews.
Now this Gospel, •' the Proteus of criticism "
(Thiersch), did exist; is it impossible that when
the Hebrew Matthew is spoken of, this questionable
document, the Gospel of the Hebrews, was really
referred to? Observe that all accounts of it are
at second hand (with a notable exception); no one
quotes it; in eases of doubt about the text, Origen
even does not appeal from the Greek to the Hebrew.
All that it certain it, that Nazarenes or Ebionites,
or both, boasted that they possessed the original
G^pd of Matthew. Jerome is the exception ; and
him we can convict of the very mistake of con-
founding the two, and almost on hit own confes-
skm. u At first he thought,'' say* an anonymous
writer (fiSnburgh Review, 1851, July, p 89), "that
it was the authentic Matthew, and translated it
into both Greek and Latin from a copy which he
obtained at Bercea, in Syria. This appears from
bit Dt Vir. ill, written in the year 393. Six
rears later, in hit Commentar" on Matthew, he
yoke more doubtfully about it, — 'quod vocatur
« pterttqv* Matthad authenticum.' Later still, in
tit book on the Pelagian heresy, liit e u in the
.■ear 415, be modifies his account still further,
describing the work at the ' Evangelram juxta He-
sraos, quod Chaldaico qnidetn Syroque wrnwae,
*»1 ffebrmci$ Stent contcriptum est, ono utuntur
■que hubs Xazarenl taonndnm Apostolus, tire tit
MATTHEW, GOSPEL OP 1886
pleriqut autunaiU juxta Matthaaum, quod et in
Canarienti halwtur Bibliotheca ' " 5. Dr. Lee it
his work on Inspiration asserts, by an oversight
unusual with such a writer, that the theory of a
Hebrew original is << generally received by critics
at the only legitimate conclusion." Yet tbae
have pronounced for a Greek original.— Erasmus,
Calvin, Le Clem, Fabrioius, Lightfoot, Wetstein,
Paulus, Lardner, Hey, Hales, Hug, Schott, De
Wette, Moses Stuart, Kritzsche, Credner, Thiersch,
and many others. Great names are ranged also on
the other side; as Simon, Mill, MichaeUs, Marsh,
Eichhorn, Storr, Olshauaen, and others.
With these arguments we leave a great question
unsettled tlill, feeling convinced of the early accept-
ance and the Apostolic authority of our " Gospd
according to St Matthew;" and far from convinced
that it is a reproduction of another Gospel from
St. Matthew's hand. May not the truth be that
Papias, knowing of more than one Aramaic Gospel
in use among the Judaic sects, may have assumed
the existence of a Hebrew original from which the*
were supposed to be taken, and knowing also t'M
genuine Greek Gospel, may have looked on all these,
in the loose uncritical way which earned for him
Eusebius' description, as the various " interpreta-
tions " to which he alludes ?
The independence of the style and diction of the
Greek Evangelist, will appear from the remarks in
the next section.
Birliographt. — Hug's Einleitung, with the
Notes of Professor M. Stuart, Andover, 1836.
Merer, Komm. Jiinleitung, and the Commentaries
of Kuini.l, Kritzsche, Alford, and others. Tho pas-
sages from the Fathers are discussed in MichaeUs
(ed. Marsh, vol. iii. part i.) ; and they will be found
for the most part In Kirchhofer, QtteiUntammhmg ;
where will also be found the passages referring to
the Gospel of the Hebrews, p. 448. Credner't
EMeittmg, and his Beitriye ; and the often cited
works on the Gospels, of Gieseler, Baur, Norton,
Olshauaen, Weiate, and Hilgenfeld. Also Cureton's
Syrinc GotpeU ; but the views in the preface mutt
not be regarded at established. Dr. Lee on Jntpi-
ration, Appendix P., London, 1857.
II. Style and Di-tim. — The following remarks
on the style of St. Matthew are founded on thot*
of Credner.
1. Matthew uses the expression "that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet' (i. 29, ii. 15). In ii. 5, and in later
passages of Matt, it it abbreviated (ii. 17, iii 3, iv.
14, viii. 17, xil. 17, xiii. 14, 35, xxi. 4, xxri. 56,
xxvii. 9). The variation Inth rov 9<ov in xxii. 81
it notable; and also the rovro 8« t\ov yiyom
of i. 22, not found in other Evangelists; but com
pare Mark xir. 49; Luke xxiv. 44.
2. The reference to the Messiah under the oamr
" Son of David," occurs in Matthew eight time* ;
and three times each in Mark and Luke.
3. Jerusalem is called " the holy city," " the
holy place" (iv. fi, xxiv. 16, xxvii. 63).
4. The expression evrriKtta rod aiitvs it need
five times; in the rest of the N. T. only oree, in
Ep. to Hebrews.
5. The phrase "kingdom of heaven," aboul
thirty-three times; other writers use "kingdoic
of God," which is found also in Matthew.
9 " Heavenly Father," need about ant tima.
tod " Father in heaven " about sixteen, and with
out explanation, point to the Jeaiah mode of apes*
jg in this Gospel
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1836 MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF
7. Matthew alone of the EvaneeHsts nwe r»
iriBtr, ifyifh) at the form of quotation from O. T.
The apparent exception in Mark xiii. 14 u rejected
bj Tiachendorf, etc, ai a wrong reading. lifMatt
about twenty times.
8- 'Annrnv is a frequent word for to retire.
Onoe in Mark.
it. Kur* 6Vof> need six times; and here only.
10. The UM of Tpoc4pxt(rBcu preceding an in-
terview, aa in it. 3, la much more frequent with
Matt, than Mark and Luke; once only ill John.
Compare the tame use of wopfiteHtu, as in U. 8,
tan more frequent in Matt
11. tyoopa after a verb, or participle, aiz timet;
the tame word used once each by Mark and Luke,
tut after adjectives.
12. With St. Matthew the particle of transition
it usually the indefinite rare; he usee it ninety
timet, against six timet in Mark and fourteen in
Luke.
13. Kol l-yirtro Srt, rii. 38, xi. I. xiii. 53, xix.
1, xxri. 1; to be compared with the Its iyivro
at Luke. ,
14. Tlotfiv it, &<rrtp, etc., is characteristic of
Matthew: i. 34, ri. 3, xx. 5, xxi. 6, xxri. 19,
xxriii. 15.
15. 't&Qot six timet in this Gospel, not in the
others. They use fitrtiiulor frequently, which is
also found seven timet in Matt
16. XopPoiMor KapLfMvfiv, peculiar to Matt.
Xvfi. roifir twice in Mark : nowhere else.
17. MaAcurla, ftatnrtiur, ofkrivi4(t<r9ai, pe-
culiar to Matt. The following words are either
used by this Evangelist alone, or by him more fre-
quently than by the others: s>ooVuu>s oiKiaxis,
fcrtpov, iKfiOtr, Surrifav, Kmtarorri(t<r9<u,
lUTaipnv, paTl(nn, <ppi£t:y, trvralpuv Aoyov.
18. The frequent use of iJoii after a genitive
absolute (as i. 20), and of ko! JJoiS when introdu-
cing anything new, is also peculiar to St. Matt.
19. Adverbs usually stand after the imperative,
not before it; except othcts, which stands first.
Ch. x. 11 it an exception.
30. VlpotrKuvtiv takes the dative in St. Matt.,
and elsewhere more rarely. With Luke and John
it takes the accusative. There it one apparent
exception in Matt. (iv. 10), but it it a quotation
from 0. T.
31. The participle \4yav it used frequently
without the dative of the person, as in i. 30, ii. 3.
Ch. vii. 21 is an exception.
33. The expression iiuritt iv or tit it a He-
braism, frequent in Matt., and unknown to the
jther Evangelists.
33. 'ltpmriXvita it the name of the holy city
with Matt, always, except xxiii. 37. It is the
tune in Mark, with one (doubtful) exception (xi. 1).
Lake uses this form rarely; 'ItpowaA^p fre-
roeotly.
III. CUaSoiufrom 0. T. — The following list
■ marly complete: —
MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF
alt.
Matt
28
Is. tH. 14.
xrli. 2.
Ex. xxxiv. 29.
ft
aHe.T.3.
11.
Mal.lH.l,W.6.
15.
Bos. xLL
xrlU. 15.
Lev. xix. 17 (!)
18.
Jsr. xxxi. 15.
xix. 4.
Gen. 1. 27.
8.
Is. xl. 8.
6.
Got. U. 24.
4.
Dsatrm. 3.
7.
Dent. Edv. 1.
I*
Fs. xet. 11, 13.
18.
Kx.xx.12.
1.
Drat vt M.
19.
Ltr. xix. 18.
10.
Dsut Ti. 18.
xxi. 6.
Zscb. U.9.
U.
I».tx 1,3,
9
Ps. eaviii. 36
***.
v. 6
21.
27.
81.
88.
88.
48.
Till. 4
17.
Is. 13.
x. 85.
xl. 6.
10.
14.
xH. 8.
6.
7.
18.
40.
a.
xtti 14.
85.
XT. 4.
18.
Is. lTi. 7, )m
HI. 11.
16.
Ps. TtH. 2.
42
Ps. cxtUI 21
44.
Is. vltl 14.
xxil
24.
Deut. xxv. 6
82.
Bx. IB. 6.
87.
Deut vi. 5.
89.
Lev xix. 18.
44.
Ps. ex. 1.
xxiii
85.
Gen. It. 8,
Chr xxb
21.
88.
Ps. lxix. 26
Jer.xU.7,xxt
6(?|.
89.
Ps. exrUI. 96.
xx)v
15.
Dtn ix. 37.
29.
Is. xBl. 10.
87.
Geo. Tl. U.
XXTi
81.
Zech. xiii 7.
52.
Gen. ix. 6 (?).
64.
Dan. Til. 18.
XXTii
9.
Zech. xi. 18.
86.
Ps. xxil. 18.
48.
Ps. xxil 8.
4U.
Pi. xxil. 1.
Ps. XXXTU. 11,
Ex. xx. 18.
Ex. xx. 14.
Deut xxlT. 1.
Lst. xix. IS,
Dent xxUL 88.
Ex. xxi. 24.
Ur. xtx.18.
Lev. xIt. 2.
Is lill. 4.
Uos vi. 6.
Mio. vll. 6.
It. XXXT. 5,
xxix. 18.
Mai HI. 1.
Mai. It. 6
1 8am. xxi. 6.
Nam.xxTtU.9(?)
Hot. Tl. 6.
Is. xUi. 1.
Jon. I. 17.
1 K. x. 1.
Is. TLB.
Ps. IxxtUI. 2.
Ex. xx 12, xxi
17.
XT. 8. Is. xxix. 18.
The number of passages in this Gospel which
refer to the O. T. is about 65. lu St Luke they
are 43. But in St Matthew there are 43 r„ *.<i
ciuitiunt of 0. T. ; the number of these direct ap-
peals to its authority in St. Luke is only about 1'J.
This fact is very significant of the character and
original purpose of the two narratives.
IV. Genuineness of the Gwptl. —Some critics,
admitting the apostolic antiquity of a part of the
Gospel, apply to St. Matthew as they do to St.
Lnk> (see vol. ii. p. 1695) the gratuitous supposition
of a later editor or compiler, who by augmenting
and altering the earlier document produced our
present Gospel. Hilgenfeld (p. 106) endeavors to
separate the older from the newer work, and in-
cludes much historical matter in the former: since
Schleiermacher, several critics, misinterpreting the
\071a of l'apias, consider the older document to
have l«en a collection of " discourses " only. We
are asked to believe that in the secoud century for
two or more of the Gospels, new works, ditterinc
from them both in matter and compass, were sub-
stituted for the old, and that about the end of the
second century our present Gospels were adopted
by authority to the exclusion of til others, snd thst
henceforth the copies of the older works entirely
disappeared, and have escaped the keenest research
ever since. Kichborn's notion is that " the Church "
sanctioned the four canonical books, and by its
suthority gave them exclusive currency; but there
existed at that time no means for convening a
Council; and if such a body could have met and
decided, it would not have been aMe to force on
the Churches books discrepant from the wider copies
to which they had long been accustomed, without
discussion, protest, and resistance (tee Norton,
Ormuieuttt, Chap. I.). Thtt there was no such
resistance or protest we have ample evidence.
Ireuanis knows the four Gospels only (Hen: Hi.
ch. i.). Tatian, who died A. i>. 170, composed a
harmony of the Gospels, lust to us, under the name
of Uiateasaron (lius. H. t'. iv. 39). Tbeophilus,
bishop of Antioch, about 168, wrote a commentary
on the Gospels (Hieron. ad Algnsiam and de Vh-
Hi. ). Clement of Alexandria (flourished about 189
knew the four Goapak, and distinguished batwttj
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF
Jion and the uncanonlcal Gospel according to the
Egyptians. Tertulliah (born about 160) knew the
lour Gospels, and was called on to vindicate the
text of one of them against the corruptions of
Marcion (see above, Luke). Origen (born 185)
calls the four Gospels the four elements of the
Christian faith ; and it appears that his copy of
Matthew contained the genealogy ( Crmm. in Jam ).
Passages from St. Matthew are quoted by Justin
Martyr, by the author of the letter to Diognettis
(see in Otto's Julin Martyr, vol. ii.), by Hegesip-
pua, Irenams, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus,
Clement, Tertullian, and Origen. It is not merely
60m the matter but the manner of the quotations,
Iran the calm appeal as to a settled authority, from
the absence of all hints of doubt, that we regard it
as proved that the book we possess had not been
the subject of any sudden change. Was there no
taretic to throw back with double force against
I'ertullian the charge of alteration which he brings
• B -ainst Marcion ? Was there no orthodox church
or member of a church to oomplain, that instead
of the Matthew and the Luke that had been taught
to them and their fathers, other and different writ-
ings were now imposed on them? Neither the
one nor the other appears.
The citations of Justin Martyr, very important
for this subject, have been thought to indicate a
source different from the Gospels which we now
possess : and by the word hwofiirtj^ovtv^ara
(memoirs), he has been supposed to indicate that
lost work. Space is not given here to show that
the remains referred to are the Gospels whn.b ie
po s s ess , and nut any one book ; and that though
Justin quotes the Gospels very loosely, so that his
words often bear but a slight resemblance to the
uriipnal. the same is true of his quotations from
tlie Septuagint. lie transposes words, brings sep-
arate passages together, attributes the words of one
prophet to another, and even quotes the Pentateuch
for facta not recorded in it Many of the quota-
tions from the Septuagint are indeed precise, but
these are chiefly in the Dialogue with Trypho,
where, reasoning with a Jew on the O. T., he does
not trust his memory, but consults the text. This
question is disposed of in Norton's (Jemuntntu,
\ji I., and in Hug's EinUUung. [See alio West-
tott'l Camm of the .V. T., 3d ed., p. 85 ft'.]
The genuineness of the two first chapters of the
'Jospel has been questioned: but is established on
uttafactory grounds (see Krlttsohe, on Mitt., Ex-
cursus iii.; Meyer, on Matt. p. 66). (i.) All the
•U MSS. and versions contain them ; and they are
Ijotej by the fathers of the 2d and 3d centuries
Unueus, Clement Alex., and others). I'elsns also
aiewcb. ii. (see Origen cont. Cels. 1. 38). (ii.) Their
eonteiits would naturally form part of a Gospel in-
tended primarily for the Jews. (iii. ) The commence-
ment of ch. iii. is dependent on ii. 23; and in iv.
13 there is a reference to ii. 23. (iv.) In construc-
■ions and expressions they are similar to the rest
of the Gospel (see examples above, in II. Style and
iietion). Professor Norton disputes the genuine-
ness of these chapters upon the ground of the diffl-
•ult;' of harmonizing them with St. Luke's nar-
•ative, and upon the ground that a large number
' the Jewish Christians did not possess them in
their version of the Gospel. The former objection
• discussed in all the commentaries; tie answer
» joV. require much space. But, (1.) Such questions
tie by no means confined to these chapters, but an
baud in plans of which the Apostolic origin is
MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF 1887
admitted. (2.) The treatment of St. Luke's Gospel
by Marcion (vol. ii. pp. 1694, 1695) suggests how
the Jewish Christians dropped out of their vergior
an account which they would not accept. (3.) Prof.
N . stands alone, among those who object to the two
chapters, in assigning the genealogy to the same
author as the rest of the chapters (HUgenfeld, pp
46, 47). (4.) The difficulties in the harmony are
all reconcilable, and the day has passed, it may be
hoped, when a passage can be struck out, against
all the MSS. and the testimony of early writers,
for subjective impressions about its contents.
On the whole, it may he said that we have for
the genuineness and Apostolic origin of our Greek
Gospel of Matthew, the best testimony that can be
given for any book whatever.
V. Time when the (impel mt written. — Noth-
ing can be said on this point with certainty. Some
of the ancients think that it was written in too
eighth year after the Ascension (Theophylact and
Euthymius): others in the fifteenth (Nicephorus,
H. E. ii. 45); whilst Iremeus says (iii. 1) that it
was written " when Peter and Paul were preaching
in Konie," and Eusebius (B. E. iii. 24), at the
time when Matthew was about to leave Palestine
From two passages, xxvii. 7, 8, xxviii. 15, some
time must have elapsed between the events and the
description of them, and so the eighth year seems
out of the question ; but a term of fifteen or twenty
years would satisfy these passages. The testimony
of old writers that Matthew's Gospel is the earliest
must be taken into account (Origen in Eus. //. A',
ri. 25 ; Irenetus, iii. 1 ; comp. Muratorian fragment,
as far as it remains, in Credner's Kanon); thin
would bring it before A. D. 58-60 (vol. U. p. 1696).
the supposed data of St. Luke. The most probable
supposition is that it was written between 60 and
60 ; the exact year cannot even be guessed at.
VI. Plnce where it was written. — There is not
much doubt that the Gospel was written in Pales-
tine. Hug bas shown elaborately, from the dif-
fusion of the Greek element over and about Pales-
tine, that there is no inconsistency between the
assertions that it was written for Jews in Palestine,
and that it was written in Greek (Etnleitung, ii.
ch. i. § 10); the facts he has collected are worth
study. [Language op the N. T., Amer. ed.]
VII. Pvrpote of the Goapel — The Gospel itself
tells us by plain internal evidence that it was written
for Jewish converts, to show them In Jesus of Nas-
areth the Messiah of the O. T. whom they expected '
Jewish converts over all the world seem to have
been intended, and not merely Jews in Palestine
(Irenanis. Origen, and Jerome say simply that it
was written "for the Hebrews"). Jesus Is the
Messiah of the O. T., recognizable by Jews from
his acts as such (i. 22, ii. 5, 15, 17, iv. 14, viii. 17,
xii. 17-21, xiii. 35, xxi. 4, xxvii. 9). Kiowledge
of Jewish customs and of the country is presupposed
in the readers (Matt. xv. 1, 2 with Mark vii. 1-4 ,
Matt, xxvii. 62 with Mark xv. 42; Luke xxin 54;
John xix. 14, 31, 42, and other places). Jerusalem
is the holy city (see above, Style and Diction).
Jesus is the son of David, of the seed of Abraham
(1. 1, ix. 27, xii. 23, xv. 22, xx. 30, xxi. 9, IS); is
to be born of a virgin in David's place, Bethlehem
(i. 22, ii. 6); must flee into Egypt and be mailed
thence (ii. 15, 19); must have a forerunner, John
the Baptist (iii. 3, xi. 10); was to labor ui the
outcast Galilee that sat In darkness (iv. 14 10)',
hi* healing was a promised mark of his office tvi«.
IT xii 17); and so was bis mode of teaching u
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1838 MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF
•arables (xiii. 14); He entered the holy eity as
Messiah (zxi. 5-16); m rejected by the people,
m fulfillment of a prophecy (xxi. 42) ; and deserted
by bis disciples in the same way (xxvi. 81. Mi).
The Gospel is pervaded by one principle, the fulfill-
ment of the Law and of the Messianic prophecies in
the person of Jems. This at once sets it in oppo-
sition to the Judaism of the time; for it rebuked
the Pharisaic interpretations of the Law (t., xxiii. ),
and proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God and the
Saviour of the world through his blood, ideas which
were strange to the cramped and limited Judaism
of the Christian era.
VIII. Content* of the GospcL — There are traces
In this Gospel of an occasional superseding of the
chronological order. Its principal divisions are —
I. The Introduction to the Ministry, i .—it. II.
The laying down of the new Law for the Church
in the Sermon on the Mount, v.-vii. III. Events
In historical order, showing Him as the worker of
Miracles, viii. and ix. IV. The appointment of
Apostles to preach the kingdom, x. V. The doubts
and opposition excited by his activity in divers
minds — in John's disciples, in sundry cities, in the
Pharisees, xi. and xii. VI. A series of parables on
the nature of the Kingdom, xiii. VII. Similar
to V. The effects of his ministry on his country-
men, on Herod, tne people of Genneaaret, Scribes
and Pharisees, and on multitudes, whom He feeds,
xiii. 68-xvi. 13. VIII. Revelation to his disciples
of his sufferings. His instructions to them there-
upon, xvi. 13-xviii. 35. IX. Events of a journey
to Jerusalem, xix., xx. X. Entrance into Jeru-
salem and resistance to Him there, and denuncia-
tion of the Pharisees, xxi.-xxiii. XI. 1-ast dis-
courses; Jesus as Lord and Judge of Jerusalem, and
also of the world, xxiv., xxv. XII. Passion and
Resurrection, xxvi. -xxviii.
Source*. — The works quoted under Luke, pp.
1698, 1699 ; and Norton, (j'enuineneu if the Goe-
{* Is ; Fritxache, on Matthew; Lange. Bibch.'erk;
(redner, Einleitung and Beitrage. W T.
* Additional Literature. — Many of the more
important recent works relating to the Gospel of
Matthew have been already enumerated In the ad-
Jition to the article Gospels, vol. ii. p. 959 ff.
For the sake of brevity we may also pass over the
older treatises on the critical questions respecting
I his gospel; they are referred to with sufficient full-
ness in such works us the Introductions to the N.
I". by Credner, He Wette, Bleek, Keuss, and Guer-
icke, in Meyer's Introduction to bis Commentary on
the Gospel, and in the bibliographical works of
Winer, Danz, and Darling. The following may
however be noted, as either comparatively recent,
or easily accessible to the English reader: M.
Stuart, Inquiry into the Orig. Language of Mat-
thiw's Gospel, and the Genumenea of the first two
Chapters of the same, in the Amer. Bibl. Repot.
or July and Oct. 1838, xii. 133-179, 315-356, in
apposition to Mr. Norton's view (see his Genuine-
nets of the Gonitis, 2d ed. 1846, vol. I. Addit
Notes, pp. xlv. - lxiv.). G. C. A. Harless, Fabuta
ie Matthao Byro-Chaldaice conscripto, Erlang.
1841, and De Compositions Evang. quod Matthao
tribuitur, ibid. 1842, the latter trans, by H. B.
Smith in the Bibl Sacra for Feb. 1844, 1. 86-99.
i- P. Tregelles, The Original Language of St
UaUhew't Gospel, in Kitto's Journ. of Sacred
lit. tot Jan. 1860, v. 151-186, maintaining the
3«hnw original; comp. Dr. W. L. Alexander on
MATTHEW, GOSPEL OP
the nther side, ibid. April, 1850, pp. 499-610. Dr
Tregellee's essay was also published separately
C. E. Luthardt, De Compositions Ac. Matthan
Lips. 1861. R. Anger, Itatio, qua loci V. T. in
Er. Matth. iaudantur, quid valeat ad ithuir. hutm
At. Originem, quaritur, 3 pt Lips. 1861-82.
A. Reville, Etudes crit. sur tEvangile stkm St.
Matthieu, Leyde et Paris, 1862. Alex. Roberts,
On the Original Language of Matthew's Gospel,
in his Discuisumt on the Gospels, 9d ed. 1864, pp.
319-448, strongly contending for the Greek. T.
Wizenmann, Die Gesch. Jesu nach Matthaus nls
Selbttbetoeis ihrer Zwerldseigkeit betrachttt, her-
ausg. ten Auberlen, Basel, 1864 (lit ed. 1788>.
Hilgenfeld, Ueber Particulnrimut u. Universal
ismut in dent Leben Jesu nach Matthaus, sur Kep-
thcidigung gegen Hrn. Dr. Keim, in his Zeiisckr.
f. wise. TheoL 1865, viii. 43-41, and Das MattS-
aus-Evangelium auf't Neue untersucht, ibid. 1866
and 1867, x. 303-323, 366-447, xi. 22-76. J. H.
Scholten, Bet oudtte tvangehe. Critisch onder-
toek naar de zamenstclling . . . de hist, waarde
en den oortprong der evangeUen naar Mattheus m
Marcut, Leiden, 1868. Davidson, Jntrod. to the
Study of the N.T., Lond. 1868, i. 466-620; comp.
his earlier Introduction, Lond. 1848, i. 1-127, where
the subject is treated with greater fullness, from a
more conservative " standpoint."
Among the tztgttical works on the Gospel, we
can only glance at the older literature, as the com-
mentaries of Origen, Chrysostom (Homilies, best ed.
by Field, 3 vols. Cantab. 1839, and Eng. trans. 3 vote.
Oxford. 1843-61. in the Oxford Libr. of the Fath-
ers), the author of the Opus Imperfection published
with Clirj sostom's works (vol. vi. of the Benedictine
edition), Theophylact, and Kuthyniius Zigabenue,
among the (ireek fathers, and of Hilary of Poictiera,
.Iwome, Augustine ( Quattumes), Bede, Thomas
Aquinas ( Comm. and Catena aurea), and others,
among the Latin ; Cramer's Catena Grate Patrum
in Em. Maltl.eei et Marci, Oxon. 1840, and the
Greek Scholia published by Card. Mai in his Clam.
Auct e Vaticiaat Codd. edit., vol. vi. pp. 379-494.
These patristic commentaries ure generally of little
critical value, but are of some interest in their bear-
ing on the history of interpretation and of Christian
theology. We must content ourselves with refer-
ring to the bibliographical works of Walch, Winer,
Danz, and I >urling for the older commentaries by
Christian divines since the Reformation ; those of
Calvin aud Grotius are the most important. Sec
also the addition to the art. Gospels, vol. ii. pp.
960. 961, for the more recent expositions of the
(impel* collectively. A few special works on the
Uuepel of Matthew may be mentioned here by way
of supplement, namely: Sir John Cheke, Trtrns-
IntUmfromthe Greeknfthe Gospel of St. Matthew,
etc. mu\ Notes, etc. edited by J. Goodwin, Lond.
(Pickering), 1843. Daniel Scott (author of the
Appendix ad Slephani Thetaurum Gravum), New
Vei-tion of St. Matthew' t Gospel, with Stltrt Note*,
Lond. 1741, 4to, of some value for its illustrations
of the language from Greek authors. Jac. Eisner
Comm. crit.-phHoL in Evang. Matthai, 2 vols.
ZwoUae, 1767-69, 4to. Uilb. Wakefield, /feu
Translation of the Gospel of Matthew, with Notes
Ixmi. 1782, 4to. A. Grata (Oath.), Hist, -hit
Comm Ob. d. Ev. Matth., 2 Theile, Tubing. 1821-
23. The elaborate commentary of Fritzsche, publ
in 1826, followed by his equally or more tborongk
works on the Gospel of Mark and the Epistle to • hi
Romans, marks an epoch in the history of tto u»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MATTHIAS
■eraretation of the New Testament In eoonectiou^
sith Winer, over witom he exerted a greet influ-
esee, a* may be seen by a comparison of the third
edition of hie N. T. Grammar with the two pre-
ceding, he may be regarded ai the pioneer of the
itriet grammatical method of interpretation, in
opposition to the looae philology prevalent at the
time, as illustrated by Schleusner's Lexicon and the
eunmentary of KuinoeL This grammatical rigor
u sometimes, indeed, carried to an excess, sufficient
allowance not being made for the looseness of pop-
ular phraseology, and especially for the difference
between the classical and the later Greek; but
Kritzsche s commentaries will always claim the
.»«»tv»i of the critical student. We may further
iu«e: James Ford, The (impel <>f St. MaUliea
UUutmttd from Ancient and Modern Autlton,
I-ond. 1848. H. Goodwin, Cviamentttru m tht
(»a»eto/ St. itatthao, Gambr. (Eug.), 1857. T.
J. Consult, The Gospel by Miitiliew, with a Ranted
I eraJM and Critical and PhUutoyicnl Notet, prt-
vmifor the Amtr. Bible Union, N. Y. I860, 4to.
J. H. Morison, Ditquititwnt ami Note* on the Oot-
pets — Matthew, 3d ed. Boston, 1861, one of the
best uf the more popular commentaries, both in
(iba aud execution. J. A. Alexander, Tlte Gat-
ed of Matthew explained, N. Y. 18U1, posthumous,
aod embracing only chaps, i- xri. with an analysis
of the remainder. Lutteroth, Ettai dinterpri-
tsaae de guelquet partUt de tEv. telun Saint
MtttUem, 8 pi. (eh. L-xiii.) Paris, 1860-67. The
meet commentaries of Nast (1864) and Lsnge,
tnaskued by Dr. Schaff (N. Y. 1865), are referred
t» under the art. GoaPsxs. The latter has reached
a third edition (4th impression) In Germany (1868).
Incog the later Roman Catholic commentaries,
those of Boeher (8 vol. 1855-56), Arnoldi (18.Vi>.
•ad Schegg (3 vol. 1856-58), may be mentioned
On the Sermon on the Mount we hare the mastrrl ,.
coaunentary of Tholuck, Die BergprtaHyt autaelet,!,
«« Aufi. Gotba, 1856, translated by K. 1- Brown,
Phils. 1860; a translation of an earlier edition was
published in Edinburgh in 1884-87 as a part of
unottacal Cabinet. A.
MATTHI'AS (MsrrvW; [Tiseb,Treg. M«9-
««t:] Mattkiat), the Apostle elected to fill the
Msec of the traitor Judas (Acta L 86). All beyond
this that we know of him for certainty is that he
lad been a constant attendant upon the Lord Jesus
daring the whole course of bis ministry ; for such
sas declared by St. I'eter to be the necessary quali-
statioo of one who was to be a witness of the resur-
rection. The name of Matthias occurs in no other
poet in the N. T. We may accept as probable the
■pinko which is shared by Eusebius (I/..E. lib. i.
lii sod Epiphauius ( i. 80) that he was one of
'at erranty wiswpJes. It is said that he preached
&e Gospel and suffered martyrdom in Etniopia
| Niefsbor. U. 60). Care believes that it was rather
n (.appsdoeiar An apocryphal gospel was poo-
hied under hi* name (Euseb. //. E. iii. 83), and
TemsBt of Alexandria quotes from the Traditions
'Matthte (Strom, it, 163, ate.).
Wnerent opinions hare prevailed as to the manner
s*la« slsctton of Matthias The most natural eon-
*r*stio»of the words of Scripture seems to be this:
MATTOCK
1889
•L
T^Ji
i». tb. at. a. ntfnrjQ,
After the address of St. Peter, the whole assembled
body of the brethren, amounting in number to
about 130 (Acts i. 15), proceeded to nominate two,
namely, Joseph surnamed Barsabas, and Matthias,
who answered the requirements of the Apostle; the
subsequent selection between the two was referred
in prayer to Him who, knowing the hearts of men,
knew which of them was the fitter to be his witness
aud apostle. The brethren then, under the heavenly
guidance which they had invoked, proceeded to give
forth their lots, probably by each writing the name
of one of the candidates ou a tablet, and easting it
into the urn. The uru was then shaken, and the
name that first came out decided the election.
Lightfoot (//or. Htb. Luc i. 9) describes another
way of casting lots which was used in assigning to
the priests their several parts in the service of the
Temple. The Apostles, it will be remembeted, had
not yet received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and this
solemn mode of casting the lota, in accordance with
a practice enjoined in the Levitical law (Lev. xvi. 8),
is to be regarded as a way of referring the decision
to God (comp. Prov. xvi. 33). St (Jbrysoetora re-
marks that it was never repeated after the descent
of the Holy Spirit The election of Matthias is
discussed by Bishop Beveridge, Work*, voL i.
serm. 3. E. H— s.
MATTHI'AS (MaTTa8(o»: Ma&athwt) =
Mattathah, of the descendants of Hasbum (1
Esdr. ix. 33; comp. Ezr. x. 33).
MATTCTHI'AH (nVTPI9 \gifl o/Jtho
vah]: MurfaSfas; [Vat. Sin.'] Alex. MorrToaW:
Mnthnt/iitt). 1. A Levite, the firstborn of Sbsl-
lum the Korhite, who presided over the ottering*
made in the pans (1 Chr. Ix. 31 ; comp. Lev. vi. 80
[12], 4c.).
3. (MarraoW) One of the Levites of the
second rank under Asaph, appointed by David to
minister before the ark in the musical service (1
Chr. xri. 5), " with harps upon Sheminith " (comp.
1 Chr. xv. 31), to lead the choir. See below, 6.
3. (MoroWof; [Vat. FA. eoiuffia;] Alex
Ma00a0iai.) One of the family of Nebo, who bad
married a foreign wife in the days of Ezra (Ear.
x. 48). He is called Mazittas in 1 Esdr. ix. 35.
4. (Mot9o»(o»; [Vat. FA.» ] Alex. MaTToAisv.)
Probably a priest, who stood at the right hand of
Ezra when he read the Law to the people (Neb. vrli.
4 ). In 1 Esdr. ix. 48, he appears as Matta-
tiiiasv
0. pBTfTTlD : 1 Chr. xv. 18, MariuBla, [V»»-
IiiarTo6ia, FA. Alex. MaTradia; 21, MaTradfas,
[Vat. FA.] M«TTo».ot:] xxv. 3, 31, Marffoluxt,
[Vat. FA. MarroeW ;] Alex. Marrafliaj, 1 Chr.
•xxv- 3; Marfcat, 1 Chr. xxv. 31). The same as
i, the Hebrew being in the lengthened form. He
was a Levite of the second rank, and a doorkeeper
of the ark (1 Chr. xv. 18, 31.) As one of the six
sons of Jeduthun, he was appointed to preside over
the 14th division of twelve Levites into which the
Temple choir was distributed (1 Chr. xxv. 3, 31).
MATTOCK." The tool used in Arabia for
loosening the ground, described by Niebuhr, answers
generally to our mattock or grubbing-axe, i. e. a
single-headed pickaxe, the tarculm simplex, as op-
mrr both from B^TTf, "carve," "engrave," lSasa.
xill »,. Whieh of these b w* ploughshare ar-<i »tuVa
ths mattock cannot be ascsTnOnsd. 8ss Oss. p. <M.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
Ib40
MAUL
I to bieurnu, of Palladium The ancient Egyp-
tui noe was of wood, and answered for hoe, spade,
and pick. The blade was inserted in the handle,
ind the two were attached about the centre by a
•vnated rope, (l'alladius, de Re nut. i. 43; Nie-
tuhr, Duo: dt CAr. p. 137; Loudon, Ena/d. of
Gardeniny, p. 517; Wilkinson, Anc. Kg. ii. 16,
18, ahridgm.; eontp. Her. ii. 14; Haaaelquist, Trav.
p. 100.) [IUkdickaft.] H. W. P.
IgjrpUao hoes, (tram Wilkinson.)
MAUL (i. e. a hammer; a variation of null,
from maUew), a word employed bj < ur translators
to render the Hebrew term Y" 1 QS. Th * "«•"»»
and English alike occur in Prov. xxv. 18 only. Rut
a derivative from the same root, and differing but
slightly in form, namely V§'?> '■ found in -ler.
Ii. 20, and is there translated by " hattle-aie " — how
incorrectly is shown by the constant repetition of
the verb derived from the same root in the next
three verses, and there uniformly rendered " break
In pieces." The root VE3 °r Y^r nM ^e for <»
of dispersing or smashing, and there is no doubt
that some heavy warlike instrument, a mace or
club, is alluded to. Probably such as that which
is said to have suggested the name of Charles Atar-
ttl
The mace is frequently mentioned in the accounts
of the wars of the Europeans with Saracens, Turks,
and other Orientals, and several kinds are still in
ust- among the Bedouin Arabs of remoter parts
(ISii'lhardt, Xottt on Brdouint, i. 55). In their
Kirnpean wars the Turks were notorious for the
use they made of the mace (Knollys'i f/itt. of the
Tin (j).
A similar word is found once again in the original
i.l Kt ix. 2 Y£D "OS = weapon of smashing (A.
V. ■■ siaughtcr-weapon "). The sequel shows how
terrible was the destruction such weapons could
•fleet. G
MAUZ'ZIM (D"'*^ [see below] : [Theodot.]
Ma«(ilu : Alex. M>u{«: Mnotim). The mar-
ginal note to the A. V. of Dan. xi. 38, "the God
ifjontt," gives. is the equivalent of the last word,
• Hau/zim, or gods protectors, or munitions." The
Geneva version renders the Hebrew as a proper
same loth in Dan. xi. 38 and 39, where the word
MAUZZIM
o*urs again jmarg. of A. V. "munitions"). Ir
the Greek version of Theodotkm, given above, it it
treated as a proper name, as well as in the Vulgate.
The I -XX. as at present priutei is evidently cor-
rupt in this passage, but itrxupd (ver. 37) appears
to represent the word in question. In Jerome's
time the reading was different, and he gives " Deum
fortissimuni " for the 1-atin translation of it, :uid
" Deum fortitudinum " for that of Airuiia. He
ridicules the interpretation of Porphyry, who, igno-
rant of Hebrew, understood by " the god of Afauz-
rim" the statue of Jupiter set up in Modin, the
city ot Mattathias and his sons, by the generals of
Antiochus, who compelled the Jews to sacrifice to
it, " the god of Modin." Tbeodoret retains the
reading of Tbeodotion (Mafoxi/* being evidently for
Mate(t(fi). and explains it of Antichrist, '-a god
strong and powerful." The Pesbito-Syriac his
) I » a i N jOuj, "the strong god," and Jnnijs
and Tremellius render it " Deum summi roboris."
omsideriiig the Hebrew plural as intensive, and
interpreting it of the God of Israel. There can lie
little doubt that "Mauzzim " is to be taken in it*
literal sense of " fortresses," just as in Dan. xi. l'.i,
39, "the god of fortresses " being then the deity who
presided over strongholds. But beyond this it ii
scarcely possible to connect an appellation so gen-
eral with any special object of idolatrous worship
Grotius conjectured that Mauzzim was a modifies
tion of the name "Afifot, 'he war-god of the Phv
nicians. mentioned in Julian's hymn to the sun.
Calvin suggested that it denoted " money," the
strongest of all powers. By others it has Iwu
supposed to lc Mars, the tutelary deity of Antincbiir
Kpiphane*, who is the subject of allusion. The
only authority for this supposition exists in two
coins struck at Laodicea, which are believed to have
on the obverse the bead of Antiochus with a radi-
ated crown, and on the reverse the figure of Mare
with a spear. But it is asserted on the contrary
that all known coins of Antiochus Epiphanes bear
his name, and that it is mere conjecture which
attributes these to him ; and further, that there is
no ancient authority to show that a temple to
Mars was built by Antiochus at Laodicea. The
opinion of Gesenius is more probable, that " the
god of fortresses " was Jupiter Capitolinus, for whom
Antiochus built a temple at Antioch (l.iv. xli. 20).
By others it is referred to Jupiter Olympius, to
whom Antiochus dedicated the Temple at Jerusa-
lem (2 Mace. vi. 2). But all these are simply con-
jectures. Flint (Himdio. t. v.), comparing Is.
xxiii. 4, where the reference is to Tyre, " the
fortress of the sea," makes DV3JB equivalent to
D*n T1SD, or even proposes to read for the
former Q^ TV?p; the god of the " stronghold of
the sea " would thus be Melkart, the Tyrian Her
culea. A suggestion made by Mr. iJkyard (A'm
ii. 456, mite) is worthy of being recorded, as being
at least as well founded as any already mentioned.
After describing Hera, the Assyrian Venus, as
"standing erect ou a lion, and crowned with a
tower or mural coronet, which, we learn from l.u-
cian, was peculiar to the Semitic figure of the god-
dess." be adds in a note, " May she be connected
with the ' El Maozem,' the deity presiding over bul-
warks and fortresses, the ' god of forces ' of Dau. x'
38 V " Pfeiffer (Dub. Vex. cent 4, loo. 79) frill onli
see in it " the idol of the Jfnjs '" ur a w
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MAZIT1AS
MAZITrAS(MaC<rfas; [Vat. Z«tioj:] .»/>
•ka&iat) = Mattithiaii 3 (1 Esdr. ix. 35; eomp.
Ear. i. 43).
MAZ'ZAROTH (nY">}S: Mafo»pcM: Lu-
cifer). The margin of the A. V. of Job zxxviii.
3? gives " the twelve signs " u the equivalent of
.. Matzaroth," and this ia in all probability its
true meaning. The l'eshito-Syriae renders it by
)^ \^£> , 'ogitllo, "the wain" or "Great Bear;"
tod J. D. Michaelii (SuppL ad Lex. Htb. No.
1391) if followed by Ewald in applying it to the
atari of " the northern crown " (Ewald adds " the
tDOtbem"), deriving the word from *TT|j, nezer,
"a crown." Fiirst {Hnndw. s. v.) understands by
Mazzaroth the planet Jupiter, the same as the
"star" of Amos v. 96.° But the interpretation
given in the margin of our version is supported
by the authority of Geseniua (T/ies. p. 889). On
referring to 9 K. xxiii. 6, we find the word H^T^Q,
vtazzal&A (A. V. "the planets"), differing only
from Mazzaroth in having the liquid I fur r, and
reudered in the margin " the twelve signs," as in
the Vulgate. The LXX. there also have uafoiy«W,
which points to the same reading in both passages,
aud ia by Suidas explained as " the Zodiac," but
by 1'roeopius of Gaza as probably " Lucifer, the
morning star," following the Vulgate of Job xxxviii.
jJL In later Jewish writings miizzulMh are the
signs of the Zodiac, and the singular, mazzAt, ia
used to denote the single signs, as well as the
planets, aud alto the influence which they were
"believed to exercise upon human destiny (Selden,
Ik Dis Syr. Synt. i. c. 1). In consequence of
this, Jarchi, and the Hebrew commentators gen-
erally, identify nuitzareth and mazxulvth, though
their interpretations vary. Aben Ezra understands
" stars " generally ; but R. Levi ben Gershon, " a
northern constellation." Gesenius himself is in
favor of regarding maa&rUh as the older form,
siirnifying strictly "premonitions," and in the
concrete tense, •• stars that give warnings or pre-
sages," from the usage of the root "IT}, nderrr, in
Arabic. He deciphered, as he believed, the same
word on tome CiUf-an coins in the inscription
j9 *Tt T"N!1, which be renders at • prayer,
"may thy pure star (thine war (ut)" (Mm.
Pham. p. 379, tab. 36). W. A. W.
* Both Mazzaroth and Arctums disappear from
Job xxxviii. 32 in a more accurate translation.
Dr. Couaut (Bank of Job, p. 148) renders the pas-
sage thus: " Dost thou lead forth the Signs in their
season ; and the Bear with her young, dost thou
guide them ? " He remarks on the words " that
the circuit of the year is meant: first, as marked
by the succession of the celestial signs ; and, second,
by the varying position of the great northern con-
stellation, in it* annual circuit of the Hole." He
(efends the view of Gesenius against that of
*.«mld. H.
a A note to th« Haxaplar Syriao version of Job (sd.
atkUeldorpf, 1886) has the following : " Some say it is
the dog of the giant (Orion, i. a. Cauls major), others
that It Is the Zodiac."
t This is the reading of Codex A. Codsx B, If
ve nav accept ths ediuon of Hal, has bos ; so also
the rendering of Auulia and Svmmacb'is, trd of Jose-
'•has (Am. U 6, J 6 Another venfcm, quoted in the
US
MEADOW 1841
MEADOW. This word, so peculiarly Eng-
lish, it used in the A. V. to translate two words
which are entirely distinct and independent of each
other.
1. Gen. ill. S and 18. Here the word in the
original it '■""^'J ( witn the definite article), ka-
Achi. It appears to be an Egyptian term, literally
transferred into the Hebrew text, as it is also into
that of the Alexandrian translators, who give it
at t«"Ax«'.* The tame form it retained by the
Coptic version. Its use in Job viii. 11 (A. V.
"flag") — where it occurs as a parallel to gbmi
(A. V. "ruth"), a word used in Ex. Ii. 3 for the
"bulrushes" of which Moses' ark was composed
— seems to show that it it not a "meadow," but
some kind of reed or water-plant. This the LXX.
support, both by rendering in the latter passage
fioirofiov, and alto by introducing "Ax» •» the
equivalent of the word rendered " paper-reeds " in
Is. xix. 7. St. Jerome, in hit commentary on the
passage, also confirms this meaning. He states
that be was informed by learned Egyptians that
the word acki denoted in their tongue any green
thing that grew in a marsh — ornne quod in palwlt
vireiu nuteitur. But at during high inundations
of the Nile — such inundations at are the cause of
fruitful years — the whole of the land on either tide
is a marsh, and as the cultivation extends up to
the very lip of the river, is it not possible that
Ac/tu may denote the herbage of the growing
crops? The fact that the cows of Pharaoh's vision
were feeding there would seem to be as strong «
figure as could be presented to an Egyptian of the
extreme fruitfulness of the season: bo luxuriant
was the growth on either aide of the stream, that
the very cows fed amongst it unmolested. The
lean kine, on the other hand, merely stand on the
dry brink. [NlLK.] No one appears yet to have
attempted to discover on the spot what the signifi-
cation of the term is. [I'lao, vol. i. p. 830 a and
A, Amer. ed.]
9. Judg. xx. 33 only: « the meadows of Gibeah."
Here the word is i l jJQi Maarek, which occurs
nowhere else with the tame vowels attached to it
The sense ia thus doubly uncertain. " Meadows '■
around Gibeah can certainly never have existed:
the nearest approach to that tense would be to
take maarek at meaning an open plain. This ia
the dictum of Gesenius ( The: p. 1069), on the au
tbority of the Targuni. It is also adopted by
De Wette (die Plane tvn <?.). But if an open
plain, where could the ambush have soneealed
itself?
The LXX., according to the Alex. MS.,' read s
different Hebrew word — 3^59 — " *«n the west
of Gibeah." Tremellius, taking the root of the
word in a figurative sense, reads " after Gibeah had
been left open," i. e. by the quitting of its inhabi-
tants — pott denudntionem Gibhm. This it adopted
by Bertheau (Kurtgef. Handb. ad loc.). But the
most plausible interpretation la that of the Peshito-
fragments of ths Hexapla, attempts to reconcile sound
and sense by 5x*Q- The Veneto-Oreek has A* ifUN>.
• Codex B, or the Vat. MS., wants Geo. l-xlvi. 9t
Inclusive ; this portion Is supplied in Hal's edition
from a later MS. A.
e The Vatican Codex transfers the wort HlaMliv -
tfepnrrya/W.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1842 MEAH, THE TOWER OF
Synae. «r*i<-i by s (light difference in the vowel-
/aim* makes the word ""H^l}, u the cava; " a
suggestion quite in. keeping with the locality, which
i» very auitable for caves, and also with the require-
ment* of the ambiuli. The only thing that can
be «i<J against this is that the liera-in-wait were
"set round about " Gibeah, as if not in one spot,
hut several [Gibkah, vol. i. p. 914, note 6.]
G.
ME'AH, THE TOWER OF Ct&Q
rirJSn [see below]: ripyos ray inatriy. totrrit
centum cubitorum, lui-rim kmtth), one of the tow-
ers of the wall of Jerusalem when rebuilt by Nehe-
miah (iii. 1, xii. 3D). It stood between the tower
of Hananeel and the Sheep Gate, and appears to
have been situated somewhere at the northeast part
of the city, outside of the walls of Zion (see the
diagram, vol. ii. p. 1322). The name in Hebrew
means " the tower of the hundred," but whether a
hundred cubits of distance from some other point,
or a hundred in height (Syriac of xii. 39), or a
hundred heroes commemorated by it, we are not
told or enabled to infer. In the Arabic version it
Is rendered Bnb-tt-lxatin, the Gate of the Garden,
which suggests its identity with the " Gate Gen-
aath ' " of Josephus. But the Gate Geunath appears
to have lain further round towards the west, newer
the spot where the ruin known as the Katr J olid
uow stands. G.
MEALS. Our information on this subject la
MKAL8
but scanty: the early Hebrew* do not ma to have
given special names to their several mesh), far the
terms rendered "dine'' and " dinner " in the A V.
(Gen. zliii. 18; Prov. xv. 17) are in reality (
expressions, which might more correctly be rendered
"eat" and "portion of food." In the N. T. wa
have the Greek terms tpurray and Stiwyor, which
the A. T. renders respectively "dinner" and "sup-
per"»(Luke xir. 12; John xxi. 18), but which art
more properly " breakfast " and '< dinner." Then
is some uncertainty as to the hours at which thi
meab were taken : the Egyptians undoubtedly took
their principal meal at noon (Gen. xliii. 16): labor-
en took a light meal at that time (Rath ii. 14 ,
comp. verse 17); and occasionally that early how
was devoted to excess and reveling (1 K. xx. 16).
It has been inferred from those passages (somewhat
too hastily, we think) that the principal meal gen-
erally took place at noon : the Egyptians do indeed
still make a substantial meal at that time (Lane's
Mod. Egypt. 1. 189), but there are indications that
the Jews rather followed the custom that prevails
among the Bedouins, and made their principal meal
after sunset, and a lighter meal at about 9 or 10
A. M. (Burckhardt's A'ofes, i. 64). For instance,
I-ot prepared a feast for the two angels " at even "
(Gen. xix. 1-3) Hoax evidently took his meal lata
in the evening (Ruth iii. 7): the Israelites ate fletk
in the evening, and bread only, or manna, in
the morning (Ex. xvi.12): the context teems to
imply tliat Jethro's feast was in the evening (Ex.
»UL 12, 14). But, above all, the institution of
6 7 q r t g
an anetant Egyptian dinner party. (Wilkinson.)
a, j a, t Tables with various dishes, s, p. Figs, d, «, «, and ». Baskets of grapes. Fig 8 Is taking a wlaf
from a goose. Fig 4 holds a Joint of meat Figs. & and 7 an eating fish. Fig. 6 Is about to drink
wstat from an earthen vessel.
tbi Titehai feast in. the evenii g seems to imply
that tie principal meal was usually taken then; it
appears highly improbable that the Jews would
have been ordered to eat meat at an unusual time-
In the later Biblical period we have clearer notices
1o the tame effect: breakfast took place in the
a P ow ft ly from iTlDJ, gtmntth, " gardens," par-
tecs auodlDg to the gardens which lay north of the
» Ike Break word fcurror was used IndiBrantlv In
morning (John xxi. 4, 12), on ordinary days not
before 9 o'clock, which wss the first hour of prayer
(Acts ii. IS), and on the Sabbath not before 12,
when the service of the synagogue was completed
(Joseph. I If. § 54): the more prolonged and sub-
stantial meal took place in the evening (Joseph.
the Homeric age tor the early or the late mni. Ms
special meaning being the principal mnai. In laVa
tunes, however, tne term was applied emttatvasy to
the teas meal — the Mpmr of the Hon* n- at*
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MKALE
rtl J 44; B. J. I 17, { 4). The general ieoor
■f the parable of the great nipper certainly implies
%at the feast took place in the working hours of
the day (Luke xiv. 16-34): but we may regard
toil perhaps at part of the imagery of the parable,
rather than ai a picture of real life.
The posture at meals varied at various periods :
there is sufficient evidence that the old Hebrews
MEALS
1848
were in the habit of titling (Gen. xxrii. 19 ; Juds;
six. 6; 1 Sara. xx. 6, 24; 1 K. xiii. 'JO); but it
does not hence follow that they sat on chairs; the)
may hare squatted on the ground, as was the oc-
casional, though not perhaps the general, custom
of the ancient Egyptians (Wilkinson, Anc. Kg. i.
68, 181). The table was in this case but slightly
elevated alwve the ground, as is still the case in
BooUnmg at Table. (Montfaucon.)
hfijfi. At the same time the chair ■ was not un-
known to the Hebrews, but seems to hau been
regarded as a token of dignity. As luxury in-
creased, the practice of sitting was exchanged for
that of reclining; the first intimation of this occurs
In the prophecies of Amos, who reprobates those
" that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch them-
selves upon their couches " (vi. 4), and it appears
that the oouohe* themselves were of a costly char-
acter — the "comers" 6 or edge* (iii. 12) being
finished with ivory, and tho seat covered with silk
or damask coverlets Ezeltiel, again, inveighs
against one who sat " on a stately bed with a table
prepared before it " (xxiii. 41 ). The custom may
have been borrowed in the first instance from the
Babylonians and Syrians, among whom it prevailed
st an early period (Esth. i. 6, vii. 8). A similar
change took place in the habits of the Greeks, who
are represented in the Heroic age as tilting << (II x.
678; Od. i. 145), but who afterwards adopted the
habit of reclining, women and children excepted.
In the time of our Saviour reclining was the uni-
versal custom, as is implied in the terms • used for
tilling at meat," as the A. V. incorrectly has it.
ITie couch itself \x\irri) is only once mentioned
(Mark vii. 4; A. V. » tables"), but there can be
title doubt that the Roman triclinium had been
uUodueed, and that the arrangements of the table
nesrahled those described by classical writers.
Generally speaking, only three persons reclined on
each couch, but occasionally four or even five. The
• The Hebrew term Is kiui (K£53). Then is only
•as In sta nc e of Its being m en t ioned ss an trtlcle of
■ Cillery furniture, namely, In 3 K. Iv. 10, when the
A. T. incorrectly renders It " stool." Kver there It
mmi probable that It was placed more as s mark of
■pedal honor to toe prophet than for common use.
* rne word Is ptak (PINS)! which wi: apply to
live ulft as wall as to the angle of a couch That the
*M and conchas of the Assyrians were handsomely
jroaavnitut, appears ton the specimens given by
Varan (Mama, 0. *»-!>.
couches were provided with cushions on which the
left ellww rested in support of the upper part of the
body, while the right arm remained free, a room
provided with these was described at l<rrfwu«'ror,
lit. "spread" (Mark xiv. 15; A. V. "furnished").
As several guests reclined on the same couch, each
overlapped his neighbor, as it were, and rested hie
head on or near the breast of the one who lay be-
hind him : he was then said to " lean on the bosom
[strictly recline on the bosom] " of his neighbor
{iroKfurtat if rt< Kc'Awti, John xiii. 23, xxi. 30,
comp. I'lin. Kpitt. iv. 22). The close proximity
into which persons were thus brought rendered it
more than usually agreeable that friend should be
next to friend, and it gave the opportunity of mak-
ing confidential communications (John xiii. 85).
The ordinary arrangement of the couches was in
three sides of a square, the fourth being left open
for the servants to bring up the dishes. The
couches were denominated respectively the highest,
the middle, and the lowest couch ; the three guests
on each couch were also denominated highest,
middle, and lowest — the terms being suggested by
the circumstance of the guest who reclined on an-
other's bosom always appearing to be Oeloto him.
The /H-vhilUisia (wpairoftAio-'a, Matt, xxiii. 8),
which the Pharisees so much coveted, was not, as
the A. V. represent* it, " the uppermost rco>»
['rooms,' A. V.]," but the highest seat in the
highest couch — the seat numbered 1 in the an
nexed diagram./
f The A. V. has " in Damascus In a eouoh ; " but
there can be no doubt that the name of tha U vn was
transferred to the silk stuns manufactured then, whson
are still known by the name of " Damaak."
<l Sitting appears to have been the posture nsnai
among the Assyrians on the occasion of meet festivals
A bas-relief on the walls of Khonabad represents the
guests seated on high chairs (Uyard, Niittvk, tt
411).
• 'Apojctieeta, aarajUidreW, araucAiMtftu, ffarsffftl-
rvesW.
/ * The dtOsrenee between ocr own and th* answer
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1844
MEALS
■11
siedltu
tmoa
8 6 4
7 8
8 2
9 1
Ira us
medius
summus
Soma doubt attends the question whether the
females took their meals alow; with the males. The
present state of society in the East thpiws no light
npou this subject, as the customs of the 1 lareni date
from the time of Mohammed. The caws of Ruth
amid the reapers (Kuth ii. 14), of Elkanah with
his wives (1 Sam. i. 4), of .lob's sons and daughters
(Job i. 4), and the general intermixture of the
sexes in daily life, make it more than probable thai
they did so join ; at the same time, as the duty of
attending upon the guests devolved upon them
(Luke x. 40 f, they probably took a somewhat irreg-
ular and briefer rejxut.
Before commercing the meal, the guests washed
(heir hands. This custom was founded on natural
i liilii'iaiiiJuiBU
Washing before or after a meal. (From Lane's M «/era
KrfpHnm.)
decorum ; not only was the hand the substitute for
our knife and fork, but the hands of all the guests
were dipped into one and the same dish ; unclean-
liness In such a case would be intolerable. Hence
tot only toe Jews, but the Greeks (0<l. i. 13S), the
tiodern Egyptians (I-ane, i. 190). and many other
nations, have been distinguished by this practice:
the Bedouins in particular are careful to wash their
hands Ae/ore, but are indifferent about doing so
custom at meals obscures the sense of several passages
ss rendered Id the A. V. Thus the translation —
r many shall eouw from the east and west and shall
sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, In the
s.ugdom of heaven " (Matt. vili. 11), Instead of '' shall
recline," puts out of sight the figure of a banquet in
handles of which the guests there partake. Still more
perplexed from a similar Inaccuracy Is the meaning
to Luae vil. 36 ; for If the Saviour " sat at meat "
{A. V.) It is inconceivable how the woman who
" washed and anointed his feet, and wiped them with
the hairs of ber head " could have " stood behind
aim " ss she performed this office. Whether the «s>
siaealuu in J 3hn 1. 18 (6 itv etc rbv soAror rov ears** )
easts tc tas ltfmaey of the raladoo of the Pathae and
MEALS
o/ter their meals (Burckhardt's .Vises, L 88). The
Pharisee* transformed this conventionsl usage into
a ritual observance, and overlaid it with burden
some regulations — a willful perversion which out
Lord reprobates in the strongest terms (Mark vii
1-13). Another preliminary step was the grace ot
blessing, of which we have but one instance in the
0. T. (1 Sam. ix 13), and more than one pro-
uounced by our Lord himself in the N. T. (Matt,
xv. 36; Luke ix. 16; John vi. 11); it consisted,
a* far as we may judge from toe words applied to
it, partly of a blessing upon the food, partly of
thanks to the Giver of it. The Rabbinical writers
have, as usual, laid down most minute regulation)
respecting it, which may lie found in the treat i*
of the Mishua, entitled Btnichoth, chaps. 8-8.
The mode of taking the food differed in no ma-
terial point from the modem usages of the East ;
generally there was a single dish into which each
guest dipped his hand (Matt xxvi. S3); occasion-
ally separate portions were served out to each (Gen.
xliii. 34; Kuth ii. 14; 1 Sam. 1.4). A piece of
bread was held between the thumb and two fingers
of the right hand, and was dipped either into a
bowl of melted gretse (in wbich case it was termed
\paifiloy, "a sop," John liii. 26), or into the dish
of meat, whence a piece was conveyed to the mouth
between the layers of bread (Lane, i. 198, 194;
Burckhardt's JVoies, i. 63). It is esteemed an act
of politeness to hand over to a friend a delicate
morsel (John xiii. 36: Lane, i. 194). In allusion
to the stove method of eating, Solomon makes it a
characteristic of the sluggard, that " he hideth his
hand in hia liosom and will not so much as bring
it to bis mouth again " (l*rov. xix. 24, xxvi. 15).
At the conclusion of the meal, grace was again said
in conformity with Iteut. viii. 10, and the hands
were again washed.
Thus far we have described the ordinary meal:
on state occasions more ceremony was used, and
the meal was enlivened in various ways. Such
occasions were numerous, in connection partly with
public, partly with private events : in the first class
we may place — the great festivals of the Jews
(lleut. xvi.; Tob. ii. 1); public sacrifices (Deut.
xii. 7, xxvii. 7; 1 Sam. ix. 13, 22: 1 K. 1. 9, iii.
15; /eph. i. 7); the ratification of treaties (Gen.
xxvi. 30, xxxi. 54); the offering of the tithes (l>eut.
xiv. 26), particularly at the end of each third year
(Deut. xiv. 28); in the second class — marriage*
(Gen. xxix. 22; Judg. xiv. 10; Esth. ii. 18: Tob.
viii. 19; Matt. xxii. 2; John ii. 1), birth-days
(Gen. xl. 20; Job i. 4; Matt. xiv. 6, 9), burials
(2 Sam. iii. 35 ; Jer. xvi. 7 ; Ho*, ix. 4 ; Tob. iv.
17), sheep-shearing (1 Sam. xxv. 2, 36; 2 Sam.
xiii. 23), the vintage (Judg. ix. 27), laying the
foundation stone of a house (Prov. ix. 1-6), tb.»
the Son to each other, ax nynibolbwd In the rslaUs i
position of guests at the table, may be uncertain. The
archjeologv explains the occurrence between Peter sad
John at the Last Supper (John xiii. 23-2SY John occu-
pied the place of honor next to Jesus («V rif coAry
avrov). Peter, reclining perhaps on the opposite side of
the table, made ni^nx to John to inquire who was to be
the traitor ; and John then throwing back his bead
((irtntrwr] upon the breast of Jesus {o-njeoc here and
not Koaeof as before) could ssk the question at one*
without being heard by the others. II is not eorne
to charge Mas A. V. with a mistranslation in Matt, xxlii
6 (see the article above); for In th* older aoghit
' often had the sans* of "
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ME AIM
rt-treption of visitors (Gen. iv'm. fi -S, xix. 8 ; 2 >am.
iii. 20, xii. 4; 2 K. vi 23; Tob. vii. '.): 1 Mace,
ivi. 15; 2 Mace. ii. 27; I.uke v. 29, xv. 23; lohn
lii. 2), or any event connected with the sovereign
(Hos- vii. 5). a On each of these occasions a sump-
tuous repast was prepared ; the guests were previ-
ously invited (Esth. v. 8; Matt. xxii. 3), and on
the day of the feast a second invitation was issued
to those that were bidden (Esth. vi. 14; l'rov. ix.
3: Matt. xxii. 3). The visitors were received with
a ki-s (Tub. vii. 6; Luke vii. 45); water was pro-
duced for them to wash their feet with (Luke vii.
meai:ah
1845
A party at dinner or supper. (From line's Mo/ltm
Ezyplinns.)
44); the head, the lteard, the feet, and sometimes
ths clothes, were [jerfumed with ointment (IV xxiii
I; Am. vi. 6; Luke vii. 38; John xii. 3): on
special occasions robes were provided (Matt, xxii
11; comp. Trench on Parables, p. 230); and the
head was decorated with wreaths b (Is. xxviii. 1
Wind. ii. 7, 8: Joseph. Ant. xix. 9, § 1). The
regulation of the feast was under the suporiti t<i
dence of a special officer, named ipxirplicKiro!'
(John ii. 8; A. V. " (governor of the feast "), whose
business it was to taste the food and the liquors
before they were placed on the table, and to settle
about the toasts and amusements; he was generally
one of the guests (Kcclus. xxxii.'l, 2), and might
therefore take part in the conversation. The places
of the guesU were settled according to their re-
spective rank (Gen. xliii. 33; 1 Sam. ix. 22; I.uke
xiv. 8; Mark xii. 39; John xiii. 23); portions of
food were placed liefore each (1 Sam. i. 4; 2 Sam.
vi. 19; 1 Cfar. xvi. 3), the most honored guest*
receiving either larger (Can. xliii. 34 ; comp. Herod,
vi. 57) or more choice (1 Sam. ix. 24: comp. IL
" " The day of the king " in this passage has been
variously understood as his birthday or his coronation :
't may. however, be equally applied to any other event
slmilir Importance.
h Thts custom prevailed extensively among the
trwK" and Romans : not only were chaplets worn no
roe head, but festoons ol flowers were hcog over the
aaek and breast (I'lut. Symp. lii. 1.48; M.- x. 19;
*v Fitst. ii. 78U). They were irenerally introduced
liter the first part of the entertainment was completed.
rtMT are •■oticed in several familiar passage* of the
vii. 321) portions than the rest. The iniportanot
of the feast was marked by the number of the guests
(Gen. xxix. 22; 1 Sam. ix. 22; 1 K. i. 9. 25;
Luke v. 20, xiv. 16), by the splendor of the vessels
(Ksth. i. 7), and by the profusion or the exctllence
of the viands (Gen. xviii. 6, xxvii. 9; Judg. vi. 19;
1 Sam. ix. 24; Is. xxv. 6; Am. vi. 4). The meal
was enlivened with music, singing, and dauciug
(2 Sam. xix. 35; Ps. Ixix. 12; Is. v. 12; Am. \i.
5; Kcclus. xxxii. 3-6; Matt xiv. 6; Luke xv. 25),
or with riddles (Judg. xiv. 12) ; and amid these
entertainments the festival was prolonged for several
days (Ksth. i. 3, 4). Entertainments designed
almost exclusively for drinking were known by ths
special name of miihh h ; •' instances of such drink'
ing-bouts are noticed in 1 Sam. xxr. 86; 2 Sam.
xiii. 28; Ksth. i. 7; Dan. v. 1; they are reprobated
by the prophets (Is. r. 11 ; Am. vi. 6). Somewhat
akin to the mishteh of the Hebrews was the Mmoi«
(xaifios) of the apostolic age, in which gross licen-
tiousness was added to drinking, and which is fre-
quently made the subject of warning in the Epistles
(Rom. xiii. 13; Gal. r. 21; Eph. v. 18; 1 Pet
iv. 3). W. L. B
• MEAN (l'rov. xxii. 29 ; Is. ii. ,9, v. 15,
xxxi. 8; Acts xxi. 39; Kom. xii. 16 m.) is repeat-
edly applied to persons in the sense of " ordinary,"
"obscure." As originally used it did not contain the
idea of baseness which now belongs to the word -
a "mean '' man was one low in birth or rank.
II.
MEA'NI (MoW; [Vat. Maxii Aid. MeoW;]
Alex. Maori: J/niei). The same as Meiiumh
(1 Esdr. v. 31 ; comp. Kzr. ii. 50). In the margin
of the A. V. it is given in the form " Meunim,"
as in Nell. vii. 52.
MEATtAH (rnj?!!} [a oat]: LXX. omit,
both MSS. : Sfanra), a place named in Josh. xiii.
4 only, in specifying the boundaries of the land
which remained to be conquered after the subjuga-
tion of the southern portion of Palestine. Its de-
scription is " Mearah which is to the Zidonians '
(i. e. which belongs to — 7 : the " beside " of the
A. V. is an erroneous translation). The word
mrArih means in Hebrew a cave, and it is com-
monly assumed that the reference is to some re-
markable cavern in the neighborhood of Zidon;
such as that which played a memorable part many
cei turiee afterwards in the history of the Crusades
(See William of Tyre, xix. 1 1, quoted by Robin-
son, ii. 474 note.) Hut there is, as we have often
remarked, danger in interpreting these very ancient
names by the significations which they bore in later
Hebrew, and when pointed with the vowels of the
still later Masorets. Besides, if a cave were in-
tended, and not a place called Mearah, the name
would surely have been preceded by the definite
Latin poets (Hot. Carm. U. 7, 24, Sat. ii. 8, 256;
Juv. v. 85).
e The classical designation of this oftw among the
Qreeks was avtiwoaiaft^ot. among the Rouianr maxtilm
or m :onvivii. He was chosen by lot out of ths
guests (0/cf. of Am. p. 926).
• The icsitioc resembled the amiuatio of the Regans
ft took place after the supper, and was a mere irtnk
*og rev*), with only so much food as served 10 wasv
the palate «w win* (Dirt, of Ant. p. 871 >.
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1846
MEASURES
article, and would have stood as iTJ^BJJ, " the
save."
Rdsnd ( /*«i p. 896) suggests Uiat Memnh ma; be
the same with Meroth, a village named by Josephus
{Ant. Hi. 3, § 1 ) as forming the limit of Galilee on
the west (see also Ant. ii. SO, § 6), and which
again ma; possibly hare been connected with the
Watkiib op Mkrom. The identification is not
improbable, though there is no means of ascertain-
big the fact
A village called tl Mughnr is found in the moun-
tain of Naphtali, some ten miles W. of the north-
ern extremity of the sea of Galilee, which may pos-
sibly represent an ancient Mearah (Rob. iii. 79,80;
Van de Velde's map). G.
MEASURES. [WKiorrrs ahd Meas-
ures.)
MEAT. It don not appear that the word
" meat " is used in any one instance in the Author-
ised Version of either the Old or New Testament,
in the sense which it now almost exclusively hears
of animal food. The latter is denoted uniformly by
"flesh."
. 1. The only possible exceptions to this assertion
in tie 0. T. are: —
(a.) Gen. xxrii. 4, Ac., " savory meat."
(A.) lb. xlv. 23, "com and bread and meat."
But (a) in the former of these two eaten the
Hebrew word, D1S?105, which hi this form
appears in this chapter only, is derived from a
root which has exactly the force of our word
" taste,*' and is employed in reference to the man-
na. In the passage in question the word " dain-
ties " would be perhaps more appropriate. (A) In
the second case tie original word is one of almost
equal rarity, |NP: and if the Lexicons did not
show that this had only tbe general force of food
in all the other oriental tongues, that would be
established in regard to Hebrew by its other occur-
rences, namely, 2 Chr. xi. 23. where it is rendered
" victual: " and Dan. iv. 12, 21, where the " meat "
spoken of is that to be furnished by a tree.
2. The only real and inconvenient ambiguity
caused by the change which has taken place in the
meaning of the word is in the case of the ■' meat-
jffering," the second of the three great divisions
nto which the sacrifices of the law were divided
— the burnt-offering, the meat-offering, and tbe
peace-offering (l*v. ii. 1, Ac.) — and which con-
listed solely of flour, or com, and oil, sacrifices of
flesh licing confined to the other two. The word
thus translated is HPip, elsewhere rendered
* present " and " oblation," and derived from a
oot which has the force of "sending" or "offer-
ng " to a person. It is very desirable that some
English term should be proposed which would
avoid this ambiguity. " Kood- offering " is hardly
admissible, though it is perhaps preferable to " un-
bloody or bloodless sacrifice."
8. There are several other words, which, though
entirely distinct in the original, are all translated
In the A. V. by " meat; " but none of them pre-
lent any special nterct except *P1J- This "O" 1 '
• nnrjC, un the obsolete root TOD, " to dta-
vtontt " T oV "" to ates."
would bs mora eomet at
MEAT-OFFERING
from a root signifying " to tear," would le perhaps
more accurately rendered " prey " or " booty." Its
use in Ps. cxi. 5, especially when taken in connec-
tion with the word rendered " good understand-
ing " in ver. 10, which should rather be, ss in the
margin. " good success," throws a new and unex-
pected light over the familiar phrases of that beau-
tif.i. psalm. It seems to show bow inextinguish-
able was the warlike predatory spirit in the mind
of i he writer, good Israelite and devout worshipper
of Jehovah as he wss. Late as he lived in the his-
tory of his nation, he cannot forget tbe " power "
of Jehovah's "works "by which his forefathers
a -quired the " heritage of the heathen ; " and to
him, as to his ancestors when conquering the coun-
try, it is still a firm article of belief that those who
fear Jehovah shall obtain most of tbe spoil of his
enemies — those who obey his commandments
shall have the beat success hi the field.
4. In the N. T. the variety of the Geeek words
thus rendered is equally great ; but dismissing such
terms as iroKtiatai or aVonrfirrf ip, which are ren-
dered by " sit at meat — Qaytty, for which we oc-
casionally find " meat" — rpaVcfa (Arts xvi. 34),
the tame — c itvAofhVra, " meat offered to Idols " —
KAdVuaTa. generally " fragments," but twice
" broken meat " — dismissing these, we have left
rpotfrl] and jSp&ua (with its kindred words, jBpaVu,
etc. j, both words liearing the widest possible signi-
fication, and meaning everything that can be eaten,
or can nourish the frame. The former is most
used in the Gospels and Acts. Tbe latter is found
in St John and in the epistles of St Paul. It it
the word employed in tbe famous sentences, " for
meat destroy not tbe work of God," " if meat
make my brother to offend," etc. G.
MEAT-OFFERING (nTT*}D: tmpm Iv
e-fo, or Simla: oblntm wcTf/idi, or wcrificitm).
The word Al'mchth " signifies originally a gift of
any kind; and appears to lie used generally of a
gift from an inferior to a superior, whether God or
man. Thus in Gen. xxxii. 13 it is used of the
present from Jacob to Esau, in Gen. xliii. 11 of tbe
present sent to Joseph in Kgypt, in 2 Sam. riii. t,
a of the tribute from Moab and Syria to David,
etc., etc. ; and in Gen. iv. 3. 4, 6 it is applied to
the sacrifices to God, offered by Cam and Abel,
alt hough Abel's was a whole burnt-offering. After-
wards this general sense became attached to tbe
word " Corban 05?"?$ : " and tbe wori Mhichik
restricted to an "unbloody offering" as opposed
to rnt, a " bloody " sacrifice. It is constantly
spoken of in connection with the Dbikk-ofpeb-
iko (TTP3 : cmwH'- "*"»«•). which generally
accompanied it, and which bad the same meaning.
'Hie law or ceremonial of the meat-offering is de-
scrilwd in I*v. ii. and vi. 14-23.' It was to be
composed of fine flour, seasoned with salt, and
mixed with oil and frankincense, but without
leaven, and it was generally accompanied by *
drink-offering of wine. A portion of it, including
all the frankincense, was to be burnt on tbe altar
as " a memorial; " the rest belonged to the priest,
present, since the rendering of nnjJD by "mmt,
offering " (A. T.) suggests as a part of the aaorksM
precisely the part which the sarvMes anions*
ratasi.) *•
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MEATS, UNCLEAN
tut tM mtut-offeringi offered by the prist! them-
selves were to be wholly burnt.
It* meaning (which ta analogous to that of the
jflering of the tithes, the first-fruits, and the shew-
bread) appears to be exactly expressed in the words
* David (1 Chr. xxix. 10-14), " All that is in the
beaven and in the earth is Thine AH
things come of Thee, and of Thin* own hare we
girt* Thee." It recognised the sovereignty of the
Lord, and his bounty in giving them all earthly
blessings, by dedicating to Him the best of his
pita: the floor, as the main support of life; oil, as
the symbol of richness; and wine as the symbol
of vigor and refreshment (see Ps. civ. 15). All
these were unleavened, and seasoned with salt, in
order to show their purity, and hallowed by the
frankincense for God's special service. This recog-
nition, implied in all cases, is expressed clearly in
the form of offering the first-fruits prescribed in
Dent. xxri. 5-11.
It will be seen that this meaning involves nei-
ther of the main ideas of sacrifice — the atonement
for sin and the self-dedication to God. It takes
them for granted, and is based on them. Accord-
ingly, the meat-offering, properly so called, seems
always to hare lieen a subsidiary offering, needing
to be introduced by the sin offering, which repre-
sented the one idea, and forming an appendage to
the burnt-offering, which represented the other.
Thus, in the case of public sacrifices, a " meat-
offering " was enjoined as a part of —
(1.) The daily morning and trtning sacrifice
(Kb. xxix. 40, 41).
(9.) The Sabbath-offering (Num. xxviii. 9, 10).
(3.) The offering at the new moon (Num.
xxviii. 11-14).
(4.) The offerings at the great ftttivalt (Num.
xxviii. SO, 38, xxix. 8, 4, 14, IS, 4c).
(8.) The offering! on the great day of atone-
ment (Num. xxix. 9, 10).
The same was the ease with private sacrifices, as
at —
(1.) The consecration of priests (Ex. xxix. 1, 8;
Lot. vi. SO, will. 2), anil of Levitts (Num. viii. 8).
(S.) The cleansing of the leper (Lev. xiv. 20).
(3.) The termination of the Nniaritic now
(Nam. vi. 16).
The unbloody offerings offered alone did not
properly belong to the regular meat offering. They
N were usually substitutes for other offerings. Thus,
for example, in I .ev. v. 1 1, a tenth of an ephah of
flour is allowed to be substituted by a poor man for
the lamb or kid of a trespass offering : in Num. v.
15 the same offering is ordained as the " offering
of jealousy " for a suspected wife. The unusual
ehJncter of the offering is marked in both eases
by the absence of the oil, frankincense, and wine.
We find also at certain times libations of water
poured out before God: as by Samuel's command
at Miz pen during the fast (1 Sam. vii. ft), and by
David at Bethlehem (i Sam. xxiii. 18), and • liba-
tion of oil poured by Jacob on the pillar at Bethel
(Geii. xxxv. 14). * But these have clearly especial
aaeaninink and are not to be included in the ordi-
nary drink-offerings. The same remark will apply
to tiw remarkable libation of water customary at
the Feast of Tabernacles [Tahkhnacuu], but
sot mentioned in Scripture. A. B.
• MEATS, UNCLEAN. [Uncuus
sUatb.]
MKBUNUAI p *yi.] Cj^t) [erecfd.
MEDKBA
184"
jsrono, Flint]: U raw view; [Comp. Mtfiovval ,
Aid. with 10 MS8. ZafiovYat; other MSS. Safiou
%4:] Mobomvtt). in this form appears, in one
passage only (9 Sam. xxiii. 97), the name of one of
David's guard, who is elsewhere called Bibbbcrai
(2 Sam. xxi. 18; 1 Chr. xx. 4) or Sibbbcai (1
Chr. xi. 99, xxvii. 11) in the A. T. The readlnf
" Sibbechai " 05?D) la evidently the true one
of which " Mebunnal " was an easy and early cor-
ruption, for even the LXX. translators must have
bad the same consonants before them, though they
pointed thus, N?3t?. H is curious, however, that
the Aldine edition has XtAovW (Kennioott, D'.ts
i. p. 186). W. A. W.
MECHEB/ATHTTE. THE (V?73W:
[Rom. M<x«pav><; Vat] Mo^op; [FA. • fnf~
poxopQ Alex. <pepofiexoupa9f- Mtchtrathites),
that is, the native or inhabitant of a place called
Mecberab. Only one such is mentioned, namely,
Hephkr, one of David's thirty-seven warriors (1
Chr. xi. 88). In the parallel list of 9 Sam. xxiii.
the name appears, with other variations, as " the
Maachathite " (ver. 34). It is the opinion of Ken-
nioott, after a long examination of the passage, that
the latter is the correcter of the two; and as no
place named Mecherah is known to have existed,
while the Maachathitos had a certain connection
with Israel, and especially with David, we may
concur in bis eoncluslon, more especially as his
guard contained men of almost every nation round
Palestine. G.
MED'ABA (HntafrL: Madaba), the Greek
form of the name Membra. It occurs only in 1
Mace. ix. 86. G-
MET) AD. [Eload and Medad.]
MET) AN 07$, •""*/*• contention, Ges.:
MaSdA, MaSa>; [Alex. » MaSaip, MataV-] Ma-
dan), a son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen. xxv.
2; 1 Chr. i. 82), whose name and descendants
have not been traced beyond this record. It has
been supposed, from the similarity of the name,
that the tribe descended from Medan was more
closely allied to Midinn than by mere blood rela-
tion, and that it was the same as, or a portion of,
the latter. There is, however, no ground for this
theory lieyond its plausibility. — The traditional
city Medyen of the Arab geographers (the classical
Modiana), situate in Arabia on the eastern shore
of the Gulf of F.yleh, must be held to have been
Midianite, not Medanite (but Bunsen, Bibehotrk,
suggests the latter identification). It has bean
elsewhere remarked [Keturah] that many of the
Keturahitc tribes seem to have merged in early
times into the Ishmaelite tribes. The mention of
'• Ishninelite " as a convertible term with " Midi-
anite." in Gen. xxxvii. 98, 86, in remarkable: but
the Midianite of the A. V. in ver. 28 is Medanite
in the Hebrew (by the I.XX. rendered MaSinitux
and in the Vulgate ftmaeUln and Matlianiia); and
we may have here a trace of the subject of this
article, though Midianite appears on the whole to
be more likely the correct reading in the passages
referred to. [Midiah.] E. 8. P.
METTEBA (M^TQ : Mai8cu3«i and MnSa-
04°: Medaba), a town on the eastern aide of Jar-
■ It may be wall to tlve a odlatlon * the xaassfsi
ta the LXX. b which ktedeba occurs la the Iltwo
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MEDEBA
fan. Taken as • Hebrew word, Me-deba wn
*mtm° of quiet," but except the tank (we below),
it-bat w iters can there ever bare been on that high
plain ? The Arabic name, though similar in sound,
baa a different signification.
Medeba is first alluded to in the fragment of a
popular song of the time of the conquest, preserved
in Num. xxi. (see ver. 30). Hera it seems to denote
the limit of the territory of Hesbbon. It next
occurs in the enumeration of the country divided
amongst the Transjordanic tribes (Josh. xiii. 91, as
giving its name to a district of level downs called
"the Miahor of Medeba," or "the Mishor on
Medeba." This district fell within the allotment
of Reuben (ver. 16). At the time of the conquest
Hsdeba belonged to the Amorites, apparently one
of the towns taken from Hoab by them. When
we next encounter it, four centuries later, it is
again in the hands of the Moahites, or which is
nearly the same thing, of the Ammonites. It was
before the gate of Medeba that Joab gamed his
victory over the Ammonites, and the horde of
Aramites of Maachah, Mesopotamia, and Zobah,
which they had gathered to their assistance after
the insidt perpetrated by Hanun on the messengers
of David (1 Chr. xix. 7, compared with 2 Sam. x.
8. 14, Ac.)- I" the time of Ahaz Medeba was a
sanctuary of Moab (Is. xv. 2), but in the denun-
ciation of Jeremiah (ilviii.), often parallel with that
of Isaiah, it is not mentioned. In the Maccabaaan
times it bad returned into the hands of the Amo-
rites, who seem most probably intended by the
obscure word Jamrhi in 1 Mace. ix. 36. (Here
the name is given in the A. V. as Medaba, accord-
ing to the Greek spelling.) It was the scene of the
capture, and possibly the death, of John Macca-
bseus, and also of the revenge subsequently taken
by Jonathan and Simon (Joseph. Ant. xiii. 1, § 4;
the name is omitted in Mace, on the second occa-
sion, see ver. 38). About 110 years n. c. it was
taken after a long siege by John Hyrcanus {Ant.
xiii. 8, § 1 ; B. J. i. 2, § 4), and then appears to
have remained in the possession of the Jews for
»t least thirty years, till the time of Alexander
janna-ns (xiii. 15, § 4); and it is mentioned as
me of the twelve cities, by the promise of which
Aretas, the king of Arabia, was induced to assist
llyrcamis II. to recover Jerusalem from his brother
Aristobulus (Ant xiv. 1, § 4).
Medelia has retained its name down to our own
times. To Kusebius and Jerome ( Ommntt. " Me-
daln ") it was evidently known. In Christian times
it was a noted bishopric of the patriarchate of
" Becerra, or Bitira Arabia!," and Is named hi the
Acts of the Council of Chalcedon (a. d. 451) and
other Kcclesiastical Lists (Keland, pp. 217, 223, 226,
893. See also \/b Quien, Orient Chritl. ). Among
modem travellers Mdtleba has been visited, recog-
nized, and described by Burckbardt (Syria, July
18, 1812), Seetzen (i. 407, 408, ir. 223), and Irby
(P 115): see also Porter (Handbook, p. 303). It
j) in the pastoral district of the BeUca, which prob-
ibly answers to the Mishor of the Hebrews, 4 miles
$■ E. of lltthban, and like it lying on a rounded
lut rocky hill (Burekh., Seetzen). A large tank,
ME1>HS
onhrsans, and extensive foundations ire still to bt
seen ; the remains of a Roman road exist near tbt
town, which seems formerly to have connected H
with Heahbon. G.
MEDES 07? : Mt)8o<; Jfeff), one of the
most powerful nations of Western Asia in the times
anterior to the establishment of the kingdom of
Cyrus, and one of the most important tribes com-
posing that kingdom. Their geographical position
is considered under the article Mkdia. Tne title
by which they appear to have kiown them s elves
was Mada ; which by the Semitic races was made
into Madai, and by the Greeks and Romans into
Medi, whence our " Medes."
1. Primitict Hutory. — It may be gathered from
the mention of the Medes, by Moses, among the
races descended from Japhet [see Madai], that
they were a nation of very high antiquity; and it
is in accordance with this view that we find a
notice of them in the primitive Babylonian history
of Herosus, who says that the Medes conquered
Babylon at a very remote period (eire. B. c. 2458;,
and that eight Median monarchs reigned there con-
secutively, over a space of 224 years (Beros. ap.
Ruseb. Chron. Can. i. 4). Whatever difficulties
may lie in the way of our accepting this statement
as historical — from tbe silence of other authors,
from the affectation of precision in respect of so
remote a time, and from tbe subsequent disappear-
ance of the Medes from these parts, and their
reappearance, after 1300 years, in a different locality
— it is too definite and precise a statement, and
comes from too good an authority, to be safely
set aside as unmeaning. There are independent
grounds for thinking that an Aryan element existed
in the population of the Mesopotamia!! Valley, side
by side with the Cusbite and Semitic elements, at
a very early date. 6 It is therefore not at all im-
possible that the Medes may have been tbe pre-
dominant race there for a time, as Berosus states,
mid may afterwards have been overpowered and
driven to the mountains, whence they may have
spread themselves eastward, northward, and west-
ward, so as to occupy a vast number of localities
from tbe banks of the Indus to those of tbe middle
I lanuhe. The term Aryans, which was by tbe uni-
versal consent of their neighbors applied to the
.Medes in the time of Herodotus (Herod, vii. 62),
connects them with the early Vedic settlers in
western Hindustan ; the Afati-tni of Mount Zagros,
the Sauro- Mala of the steppe-country between the
< 'aspian and the Kuxine, and the Mttta or Alanta
of the Sea of Azov, mark their progress towards
the north; while the Jfexo' or AleiK of Thrace
seem to indicate their spread westward into Kurope,
which was directly attested by tbe native traditions
of the Sigynnsa (Herod, v. 9).
2. Connection mih Aayria. — The deepest ob-
scurity hangs, however, over these movements, and
indeed over the whole history of the Medes from
the time of their liearing sway in Babylonia (a. c
2458-22-14) to their first appearance in the cunei-
form inscriptions among the enemies of Assyria
about n. c. 880. They then inhabit a portion of
jutt, which will show how frequently It Is omitted : a To this Bnrckhardt mm to allude when ha or.
Num. xxi. 30, hr\ Umifi; Josh. xiii. 9, [Rom. Malta- serves (Syr. p. 866), " this is the ancient MxMbs; bs>
Bar, Tat.) Aaitafiar, Alex. M<u4a0ai H>. 16. omit, than is no river near it."
both MSB. [but Oomp. Ht&afli] ; 1 Ohr. six. 7, [Tat.] | 6 See the remarks of Sir H. RawUoMm kr Bawtkf
HmM». [Itom.] Alex. Msjta^a; K xv. 2. nit MauuV- son's Knodoiun. I 621, nost.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEDES
aVe region which Lore their name down to the Mo
sanituedan conquest 01 Persia; but wlielher thoy
were recent immigrant* into it, or had held it from
i remote antiquity, i> ul certain. On the one hand
it is noted that their abtence from earlier cuneiform
monuments teems to suggest that their arrival was
recent at the date above mentioned ; on the other,
that Ctesiaa asserts (ap. Diod. Sic. ii. 1, J 9), and
Herodotus distinctly implies (i. 95), that they had
been settled in this part of Asia at least from the
ame of the first formation of the Assyrian Empire
(B. c. 1973). However this was, it is certain that
at first, and for a long series of years, they were
very inferior in power to the great empire estab-
lished upon their flank. They were under no gen-
eral or centralized government, but consisted of
various petty tribes, each ruled by its chief, whose
dominion was over a single small town and perhaps
a few villages. The Assyrian monarchs ravaged
their lands at pleasure, and took tribute from their
chiefs; while the Medes could in no way retaliate
upon their antagonists. Between them and Assyria
lay the lofty chain of Zagroa, inhabited by hardy
mountaineers, at least as powerful as the Medes
themselves, who would not tamely have suffered
their passage through their territories. Media,
however, was strong enough, and stubborn enough,
to maintain her nationality throughout the whole
period of the Assyrian sway, and was never absorbed
into the empire. An attempt made by Sargon to
hold the country in permanent subjection by means
of a number of military colonies planted in cities
of his building failed [Sakbps]; and both his
■on Sennacherib, and his grandson Kaarhaddon,
were forced to lead into the territory hostile expe-
ditions, which however seem to have left no more
impression than previous invasions. Media was
reckoned by the great Assyrian monarchs of this
period as a part of their dominions ; but its sub-
'eetion seems to have been at no time much more
than nominal, and it frequently threw off the yoke
altogether. -
3. .Wctlian ///story of Htmlotw. — Herodotus
represents the decadence of Assyria as greatly accel-
erated by a formal revolt of the Medes, following
apon a period of contented subjection, and places
this revolt more than 218 yean before the battle
of Marathon, or a little before B. c. 708. Ctesiaa
placed the commencement of Median independence
still earlier, declaring that the Medes had destroyed
Nineveh and established themselves on the ruins of
the Assyrian Empire, as far back as b. c. 876. No
one now defends this latter statement, which alike
contradicts the Hebrew records and the native
documents. It is doubtful whether even the calcu-
lation of Herodotus does not throw back the inde-
pendence) to too early a date: his chronology of the
period is clearly artificial; and the history, as he
relates it, is fabulous. According to him the Medes,
when they first shook off the yoke, established no
eovemnient. For a time there was neither king
uor prince in the land, and each man did what was
riijbt in his own eyes. Quarrels were settled by
u-l.itration, and a certain Deloces, having obtained
i reputation in this way, contrived after a while to
get himself elected sovereign. He then lilt the
wren-wnlled Ecbatona [Kchataxa]. established *
•curt after the ordinary oriental model, and htd a
,-ru»peroiis and peaceful reign of 53 years. Delecet
*as succeeded by his son Phraortes, an ambiti >us
wince, who directly after his accession began a
swear of conquest, first attacking and subduing
MEDES 1841)
the Persians, then reducing nation after nation,
and finally perishing in an expedition against As
syria, after he had reigned 22 years. Cyaxares, the
son of Phraortes, then mounted the throne. Hav-
ing first introduced a new military system, he pro-
ceeded to carry out his father's designs against
Assyria, defeated the Assyrian army in the field,
besieged their capital, and was only prevented from
capturing it on this first attack by an invasion of
Scythians, which recalled him to the defense of his
own country. After a desperate struggle during
eight-and-twenty yean with these new enemies,
Cyaxares succeeded in expelling them and recover-
ing his former empire; whereupon he resumed the
projects which their invasion had made him tempo-
rarily abandon, besieged and took Nineveh, oon-
quered the Assyrians, and extended his dominion
to the Halys. Nor did these successes content
him. Benton establishing his sway over the whole
of Asia, he passed the Halys, and engaged in a
war with Alyattes, king of Lydia, the father of
Cneaus, with whom he long maintained a stubborn
contest. This war was terminated at length by an
eclipse of the sun, which, occurring just as the two
armies were engaged, furnished an occasion for
negotiations, and eventually led to the conclusion
of a peace and the formation of an alliance between
the two powers. The independence of Lydia and
the other kingdoms west of the Halys was recog-
nized by the Medes, who withdrew within their
own borders, having arranged a marriage between
the eldest son of Cyaxares and a daughter of tbe
Lydian king, which assured them of a friendly
neighbor upon this frontier. Cyaxares, toon after
this, died, having reigned in all 40 yean. He was
succeeded by his son Astyages, a pacific monarch,
of whom nothing is related beyond the fact of his
deposition by his own grandson Cyrus, 35 yean
after his accession — an event by which the Median
Kmpire was brought to an end, and tbe Persian
established upon its ruins.
4. lt$ impeifections. — Such Is, in outline, the
Median History of Herodotus. It has been accepted
as authentic by most modern writers, not so much
from a feeling that it is really trustworthy, as from
she want of anything more satisfactory to put in
its place. That the story of Deloces is a romance,
has been seen and acknowledged (Grote's (Jreecc.
Hi. 307, 808). That tbe chronological dates are
improbable, and even contradictory, has been a fre-
quent subject of complaint. Recently it has been
shown that the whole scheme of dates is artificial
(Kawlinson's Herodotui, 1. 421, 422); and that (be
very names of the kings, except in a single instance,
are uubistorical. Though the cuneiform records
do not at present supply the actual history of
the time, they enable us in a great measure to Nist
tbe narrative which has com* down to us from Hie
Greeks. We can separate in that narrative the
authentic portions from those which are fabulous;
we can account for tbe names used, and in most
instances for the numbers given; and we can thus
rid ourselves of a great deal that is fictitious, leav-
ing a residuum which has a fair right to be regarded
as truth.
The records of Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esar-
haddon clearly show that the Median kingdom did
not commence so early as Herodotus imagined.
These three princes, whose reigns cover the space
extending from b. c. 790 to b. c. 860, all nurieri
their arms deep into Media, and found it. Dot uuriei
the dominion of a single powerful monarch, bal
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1850
MEDBS
ander the rule of a Tut number of petty chieftains.
It cannot have been till near the middle of the
rtii ceitury B. c. that the Median kingdom wai
consolidated, and becamt formidable to its neigh-
bor*. How this change was accomplished is un-
certain : the most probable supposition would seem
to be, that about this time a fresh Aryan immi-
gration took place from the countries east of the
Caspian, and that the leader of the immigrants
established his authority over the scattered tribes
of his race, who had been settled previously in the
district between the Caspian and Mount Zagros,
There is good reason to believe that this leader was
the gnat Cyaxares, whom Diodorus speaks of in
one place as the first king (Diod. Sic. ii. 32), and
whom JEschylus represents as the founder of the
lledo-Persic empire (Per: 761). The Delooes
and Phrkortea of Herodotus are thus removed from
the list of historical personages altogether, and
must take rank with the early kings in the list of
Ctesias,« who are now generally admitted to be
Inventions. In the case of Delooes the very name
is fictitious, being the Aryan dahdk, " biter " or
" snake," which was a title of honor assumed by
all Median monarch*, but not a proper name of
any individual. Phraortes, on the other hand, is
a true name, but one which has been transferred to
this period from a later passage of Median history,
to which reference will be made in the sequel.
(Rawlinson's Herod, i. 408.)
6. Develnpmenl of Median power, and formation
of the Empire. — It is evident that the develop-
ment of Median power proceeded pari jmem with
the decline of Assyria, of which it was in part an
effect, in part a cause. Cyaxares must have been
contemporary with the later years of that Assyrian
monarch who passed the greater portion of his time
in hunting expeditions in Susiana. [Assyria, §
11.] His first conquests were probably undertaken
at this time, and were suffered tamely by a prince
who was destitute of all military spirit. In order
to consolidate a powerful kingdom in the district
east cf Assyria, it was necessary to bring into sub-
jection a number of Scythic tribes, who disputed
with the Aryans the possession of the mountain-
country, and required to be incorporated before
Media could be ready for great expeditions and dis-
tant conquests. The struggle with these tribes may
be the real event represented in Herodotus by the
Scythic war of Cyaxares, or possibly his narrative
may contain a still larger amount of truth. The
Scythe of Zagros may have called in the aid of
their kindred tribes towards the north, who may
have impeded for a while the progress of the Median
arms, while at the same time they really prepared
the way for their success by weakening the other
nation* of this region, especially the Assyrians.
Acotnhng to Herodotus, Cyaxares at last got the
letter of the Scythe by inviting their leaders to a
nonquet, and there treacherously murdering them,
it any rate it is clear that at a tolerably early period
if his reign they ceased to lie formidable, and he
Ms> able to direct his efforts against other enemies.
His capture of Nineveh and conquest of Assyria
(re facta which no skepticism can doubt; and the
a Otssias made tbs Median monarchy oommeDce
snout a. o. 875, with a certain Arbaces, who headed
the rebellion against Sardanapalus, the voluptuary.
axoMces reigned 28 yearn, and was succeeded by Man-
km, won reigned 60 years. Then followed Sosar-
u (80 yaais), Arttas (60 years), Arblanes (22 >een),
Murmaw
date of the capture may be fixed with tolerable oat-
tainty to the year b. c. 635. Abydenus ;probablj
following Berosus) informs us that in his Assyrian
war Cyaxares was assisted by the llabyluniam
under Nabopolassar, between whom and Cyaxares
an intimate alliance was formed, cemented by a
union of their children ; and that a result of their
success was the establishment of Nabopolassar *«
independent king on the throne of Babylon, u.
event which we know to belong to the above-men-
tioned year. It was undoubtedly after this that
Cyaxares endeavored to conquer Lydia. Hi* coo-
quest of Assyria had made him master of Ow
whole country lying between Mount Zagros ami
the river Halys, to which he now hoped to add the
tract between the Halys and the Jigean Sea. It is
surprising that he failed, more especially as he
seems to have been accompanied by the forces of
the Babylonians, who were perhaps commanded by
Nebuchadnezzar on the occasion. [Nebuchad-
nezzar.] After a war which lasted six years ha
desisted from bis attempt, and concluded the treaty
with the Lydian monarch, of which we have already
spoken. The three great Oriental monarchies,
Media, Lydia, and Babylon, were now united by
mutual engagements and intermarriages, and con-
tinued at peace with one another during the re-
mainder of the reign of Cyaxares, and during that
of Astyages, his son and successor.
6. Extent of the Evipire. — The limits of the
Median Empire cannot be definitely fixed ; but it is
not difficult to give a general idea of its size and
position. From north to south its extent was in no
place great, since it was certainly confined between
the Persian Gulf and the Euphrates on the one side,
the Black and Caspian Seas on the other, From
east to west it had, however, a wide expansion,
since it reached from the Halys at least as far as
the Caspian Gates, and possibly further. It com-
prised Persia, Media Magna, Northern Media,
Matiene . or Media Mattiana, Assyria, Armenia,
Cappadocio, the tract between Armenia and the
Caucasus, the low tract along the southwest and
south of the Caspian, and possibly some portion of
Hyrcania, Parthia, and Sagartia. It was separated
from Babylonia either by the Tigris, or more prob-
ably by a line running about half way between
that river and the Euphrates, and thus did not
include Syria, Phoenicia, or Judaea, which fell U
Babylon on the destruction of the Assyrian Em-
pire. Its greatest length may be reckoned at 1500
miles from N. W. to S. E., and its average breadth
at 400 or 450 miles. Its area would thus be about
600,000 square miles, or somewhat greater than
that of modern Persia.
7. It* character. — With regard to the nature
of the government established by the Medes over
the conquered nations, we possess but little trust-
worthy evidence. Herodotus in one place com-
pares, somewhat vaguely, the Median with the
Persian system (i. 134), and Ctesias appears to
have asserted the positive introduction of the sa-
trapial organization into the empire at its first foun-
dation by his Arbaces (Diod. Sic. ii. 28); but or
the whole it is perhaps most probable that the Ai-
Artssus (40 years), Artynes (22 years), Astfhams (4t
years), and finally Aspadas, or Astynajw, eh* last king
(x yean). This scheme appears to be a einirsy axto»
don of tbs monarchy, by means of repttll on. trot*
the data furnished by Herodotus.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEDES
rjrian organisation was continued bj the Medea,
the nibjert-nationt retaining their native monarch*,
ud merely acknowledging mbjection by the pay-
ment of an annual tribute. This seems certainly
to hare been the case in Persia, wbers Cyrus and
bis father Cambyses were nionarchs, holding their
crown of the Median king, before the revolt of the
former; and there is no reason to suppose that the
remainder of the empire was organized in a differ-
ent manner. The satrapial organization was ap-
parently a Persian invention, begun by Cyrus, con-
tinued by Cambyses, his son, but first adopted as
the regular governmental system by Darius Hys-
taspis.
8. Ill duration. — Of all the ancient Oriental
Monarchies the Median was the shortest in dura-
tion. It commenced, as we have seen, after the
middle of the 7th century u. c, and it terminated
a. c. 358. The period of three quarters of a cen-
tury, which Herodotus assigns to the reigns of
('wares and Astyages, may be taken as fairly in-
dicating its probable length, though we cannot feel
rare that the years are correctly apportioned be-
tween the monarchs. Two kings only occupied the
throne during the period ; for the Cyaxares II. of
Xenopboo is an invention of that amusing writer.
9. lit final oterthrote. — The conquest of the
Males by a sister-Ironic race, the Persians, under
their native monarch Cyrus, is another of those in-
disputable facta of remote history, which make the
inquirer fed that he sometimes attains to solid
ground in these difficult investigations. The details
of the struggle, which are given partially by Her-
odotus (i. 137, 123), at greater length by NieoUus
«f Uamsscus (Fr. Hit/. (Jr. iii. 404-406), probably
following Ctettias, have not the same claim to ac-
ceptance. We may gather from them, however,
that the contest was short, though severe. The
Medes did not readily relinquish the position of
uperiority which they had enjoyed for 75 years;
bat their vigor had been sapped by the adoption
of Assyrian manners, and they were now no match
for the hardy mountaineers of Persia. After many
partial engagements a great battle was fought be-
tseen the two armies, and the result was the com-
plete defeat of the Medes, and the capture of their
king, Astyages, by Cyrus.
16. Position of Media under Persia. — The
treatment of the Medes by the victorious Persians
ns not mat of an ordinary conquered nation.
According to some writers (at Herodotus and
Xeouphon) there was a close relationship between
t'rrus and the last Median monarch, who was
tlKrefbre naturally treated with more than common
tenderness. The fact of the relationship is, how-
ner, denied by Ctesias ; and whether it existed or
a\ at any rate the peculiar position of the Medes
under Persia was not really owing to this accident.
TV two nations were closely akin ; they had the
■me Aryan or Iranic origin, the same early tradi-
tions, ths same language (Strab. xv. 2, § 81, nearly
the same religion, and ultimately the same manners
sod customs, dress, and general mode of life. It is
mt surprising therefore that they were drawn to-
gether, and that, though never actually coalescing,
they «till formed to some extent a single privileged
|softt. Medes were advanced to stations of high
faoor and importance under Cyrus and his suc-
csnra, m advantage shared by no other conquered
weis. The Median capital was at first the chief
«yal residence, and always remained one A the
*■*• a* which the court spent a portion of the
MEDES
1851
year; while among the provinces Media claimed,
and enjoyed a precedency, which appears equally in
the Greek writers and in the native records. Still,
it would seem that the nation, so lately sovereign,
was not altogether content with its secondary poti
tion. On the first convenient opportunity Media
rebelled, elevating to the throne a certain Phra-
ortes (Frawttrtiih), who calLol himself Xatbxites.
and claimed to be a descendant from Cyaxares
Darius Hystaspis, in whose reign this rebellion
took place, had great difficulty in suppressing it.
After vainly endeavoring to put it dorm by his
generals, he was compelled to take the field him-
self. He defeated Phraortes in a pitched battle,
pursued, and captured him near Rhages, mutilated
him, kept him for • time '• chained at his door,"
and finally crucified him at Ecbatana, executing at
the same time his chief followers (see the Behittm
Inscription, in Rawlinson's Herodotus, ii. 601, 602).
The Medes hereupon submitted, and quietly bore
the yoke for another century, when they mode a
second attempt to free themselves, which was sup-
pressed by Darius Nothus (Xen. Hell. i. 2, § 19).
Henceforth they patiently acquiesced in their sub-
ordinate position, and followed through its various
shifts and changes the fortune of Persia.
11. Internal Division!. — According to Herodo-
tus the Median nation was divided into six tribes
(<6Vt|), called the Busas, the Paretaceni, the Stru-
chates, the Arizanti, the Budii, and the Magi. It
is doubtful, however, in what sense tbeae are to be
considered as ethnic divisions. The Paretaceni
appear to represent a geographical district, while
the Magi were certainly a priest caste; of the rest
we know little or nothing. The Arizanti, whose
name would signify " of noble descent," or " of
Aryan descent," must (one would think) have been
the leading tribe, corresponding to the Pasargade
in Persia; but it is remarkable that they have only
the fourth place in the list of Herodotus. The
Budii are fairly identified with the eastern Phut —
the Putiyt of the Persian inscriptions — whom
Scripture joins with Persia in two places (Ez.
xxvii. 10, xxiviii. 5). Of the Busk and the Stru-
chates nothing is known beyond the statement of
Herodotus. We may perhaps assume, from the
order of Herodotus's list, that the liusse, Pareta-
ceni, Struchates, and Arizanti were true Medes, of
genuine Aryan descent, while the Budii and Magi
were foreigners admitted into the nation.
12. Reugion. — The original religion of the
Modes must undoubtedly hare been that simple
creed which is placed before us in the earlier por-
tions of the /endavesta. Its peculiar character-
istic was Dualism, the belief in the existence of
two opposite principles of good and evil, nearly if
not quite on a par with one another. Ormazd and
Ahriman were both self-caused and self-existent,
both indestructible, both potent to work their will
— their warfare had been from all eternity, and
would continue to all eternity, though on the
whole the struggle was to the disadvantage of the
Prince of Darkness. Ormazd was the God of the
Aryans, the object of their worship and tiust;
Ahriman was their enemy, an abject of fear and
abhorrence, but not of any religious rite. Besides
Ormazd, the Aryans worshipped *he Sun and
Moon, under the lames of Mithra and Homa:
and they believed in the existence of numerous
spirts >r genii, some good, some bad, the subjects
and ministers respectively of the two powers of
Good and Evil. Their cult was simple eonaiatint]
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1852 MEDES
in processio.is, religious chants and hymns, and
a few simple offerings, ezpressiona of devotion and
thankfulness. Such was the worship and such
the belief which the whole Aryan race brought
with them from the remote east when they mi-
grated westward. Their migration brought them
Into contact with the fire-worshippers of Arme-
nia aid Mount Zagros, among whom Magism
had I een established
from 11 remote antiq-
uity. The result was
either a combination
of the two religious, or
n some cases an actual
y aversion of the con-
querors to the faith and
worship of the con-
quered. So far as can
be gathered from the
scanty materials in our
possession, the latter
was the case with the
Medes. While in Per-
sia the true Aryan creed
maintained itself, at
least to the time of
Darius Hystaspis, in
tolerable purity, in the
neighboring kingdom
of Media it was early
swallowed up in Ma-
gism, which was prob-
ably established by
I'yaxares or his succes-
sor as the religion of
the state. The essence
3f Magism was the
worship of the elements,
fire, water, air, and earth, with a special preference
of Are to the remainder. Temples were not allowed,
but fire-altars were maintained on various sacred
sites, generally mountain tops, where sacrifices were
continually offered, and the flame was never suffered
to go out. A hierarchy naturally followed, to per-
form these constant rites, and the Magi became
recognized as a sacred caste entitled to the venera-
tion of the faithful. They claimed in many cases
a power of divining the future, and practiced largely
those occult arts which are still called by their
name in moat of the languages of modern Europe,
fhe fear of polluting the elements gave rise to a
number of curious superstitions among the profes-
sors of the Magian religion (Herod, i. 138) ; among
the rest to the strange practice of neither burying
nor burning their dead, but exposing them to lie
devoured by beasts or birds of prey (Herod, i 140:
Strab. xv. 3, § 20). This custom is still observed
»y their representatives, the modem Parsees.
13. .Winners, customs, and nntiunttl character.
— The customs of the Medes are said to have
nearly resembled those of tlieir neighbors, the Ar-
tacniuis and the Persians; but they were regarded
w tl e Inventors, tl eir neighbors as the copyists
;8trab. xi. 13, § 9). They were brave and warlike,
excellent liilers acd lemarkably skillful with the
sow. The flowing r be, so well known from the
Median Dress. (From Monu-
)
a See Bith. I. 3. 14. 18, and 19. The only passage
to Esther when Media takes precedence of Persia Is
X. 2, whjr« w« hare a mention of " the book of the
rrronicle* cf the VHgs of Media and Persia." Here
*M ■ r*T Is eh- -nolofrjcal. As the Median empire
MEDES
Persepolitan sculptures, was their native dress, anc
was certainly among the points for which the Per-
sians were beholden to them. Their whole oostnmt
was rich and splendid; they were fund of scarlet
and decorated themselves with a quantity of gold,
in the shape of chains, collars, armlets, etc. As
troops they were considered little inferior to the
native Persians, next to whom they were uauajy
ranged in the battle-field. They fought both on
foot and on horseback, and carried, not bows and
arrows only, but shields, short spears, and poniards.
It is thought that they must have excelled in tbt
manufacture of some kinds of stuffs.
14. References to the Medes in Scripture. —
The references to the Medes in the canonical Scrip-
tores are not very numerous, but they are striking.
We first hear of certain " cities of the Medes," in
which the captive Israelites were placed by •' the
king of Assyria " on the destruction of Samaria,
b. c. 721 (2 K. xvii. 6, xviii. 11). This implies
the subjection of Media to Assyria at the time of
Shalmaneser, or of Sargon, his successor, and ac-
cords (as we have shown) very closely with the
account given by the latter of certain military
colonies which he planted in the Median country.
Soon afterwards Isaiah prophesies the part which
the Medes shall take in tile destruction of Babylon
(Is. xlii. 17, xxi. 2); which is again still more dis-
tinctly declared by Jeremiah (li. 11 and 28), who
sufficiently indicates the independence of Media in
his day (xxr. 25). Daniel relates, as a historian,
the fact of the Medo-Persio conquest (v. 28, 31),
giving an account of the reign of Darius the Mede
who appears to have been made viceroy by Cyrus
(vi. 1-28). In Ezra we have a mention of Ach-
metha (Ecbatana), " the palace in the province of
the Medes," where the decree of Cyrus was found
(vi 2-5) — a notice which accords with the known
facts that the Median capital was the seat of gov-
ernment under Cyrus, but a royal residence only
and not the seat of government under Darius
Hystaspis. Finally, In Esther, the high rank of
Media under the Persian kings, yet at the same
time its subordinate position, are marked by the
frequent combination of the two names in phrases
of honor, the precedency being in every case as-
signed to the Persians.
In the Apocryphal Scriptures the Medes occupy
a more prominent place. The chief scene of one
whole book (Tobit) is Media ; and in another
(■Indith) a very striking portion of the narrative
belongs to the same country. Hut the historical
character of both these books is with reason
doubted ; and from neither can we derive any au-
thentic or satisfactory information concerning the
people. From the story of Tobias little could be
gathered, even if we accepted it as true; while the
history of Arphaxad (which seems to be merely a
distorted account of the struggle between the rebel
Phraortes and Darius Hystaspis) adds nothing to
our knowledge of that contest. The mention «f
Hhages in both narratives as a Median town art^
region of importance is geographically correct; and
it is historically true that Phraortes suffered his
overthrow in the Khagian district. But beyond
these facts the narratives in question contain little
preceded the Persian, its chronicles came first in " tbs
book." The precedency In Daniel (v. 28, and rt f>
12, fcc.) Is owing to the fact of a Median viceroy bats]
established on the throne.
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MEDIA
Jut nan illustrates the true hietory of the Median
nation. (See the artielea on Judith and Tobias
iu Winer's RenhcSrterbuck ; and on the general
■uhjeet compare Rawlinson's Htrotlvtut i. 401-423:
Boeanqnet'a Chronology of tke Medet, read liefore
the Koyal Asiatic Society, June 5, 1858 ; Brand it,
Rerum Atn/riarum tempera emendatn, pp. 1-14;
Grote'a History of Greece, iii. pp. 801-312; and
HapfeM's Kxtratatiomm Herotluttai-um Sptdmina
duo, p. 66 ff.) G. R-
MEDIA C"J^, i. e. Madal: Mr,tla: Sfe>Ha),
a country tbc general situation of which is abund-
antly clear, though its limits may not be capable
of being precisely determined. Media lay north-
west of Persia I'roper, south and southwest of the
Caspian, east of Armenia and Assyria, west and
northwest of the great salt desert of Irani. Its
greatest length was from north to south, and in
this direction it extended from the 32d to the 40th
parallel, a distance of 650 miles. In width it
reached from about long. 45° to 53°; but its
average breadth was not more than from 250 to
300 miles. Its area may be reckoned at about
150.000 square miles, or three-fourths of that Of
modem France. The natural boundary of Media
on the north was the river Arat ; on the west
Zagros and the mountain-chain which connects
Zagros with Ararat; in the south Media was prob-
ably separated from Persia by the desert which now
forms the boundary between Fartittan and Irak
Ajemi ; on the east its natural limit was the
desert and the Caspian Gates. West of the Gates,
it was bounded, not (as is commonly said) by the
Caspian Sea, but by the mountain range south of
that sea, which separates between the high and the
low country. It thus comprised the modern prov-
inces of Irak Ajtmi, Persian Kurditlnn, part of
Lurittun, Axerbijnn, perhaps Taluk and Uhihn,
bat not Mnzanderrm or AMerabad.
The division of Media commonly recognized by
the Greeks and Romans was that into Media
Magna, and Media Atropatene. (Strab. xi. 13,
i 1; comp. Polyb. v. 44; Plin. H. N. vi. 13; Ptol.
vi. 8, Ac.) (1.) Media, Atropatene, so named from
the satrap Atropates, who became independent
menareh of the province on the destruction of the
Persian empire by Alexander (Strab. uL tup. ; Diod.
Sic. xviii. 3), corresponded nearly to the modern
Aterbijan, being the tract situated between the
Caspian and the mountains which run north from
Zagros, and consisting mainly of the rich and fertile
basin of Lake Urumiyeh, with the valleys of the
Arat and the Sefid Rud. This is chiefly a high
tract, varied between mountains and plains, and
lying mostly three or four thousand feet above the
sea level. The basin of l.ake Urumiytk has a still
greater elevation, the surface of the lake itself, into
which all the rivers run, being as much as 4,200
feet above the ocean. The country is fairly fertile,
cell-watered in most places, and favorable to agri-
culture; Ha climate is temperate, though occa-
sionally severe in winter; it produces rice, corn of
«H kinds, wine, silk, white wax, and all manner of
lefieious fruits. Tabriz, its modern capital, forms
the summer residence of the Persian kings, and is
\ beautiful place, situated in a forest of orchards,
rhe ancient Atropatene may have included also the
rooiitries of Ghilnn and TnlUh, together with the
plain of Afoghan at the moutn of the combined
K-tr and Arat rivers. The** tracts are low and
sat: that of Voghan is sandy and sterile; TaUek
MEDIA 185.*]
is more product ve; while Ghilnu (like yfntimierrm)
is rich and fertile in the highest degree. The
climate of Ghilan, however, is unhealthy, and at
times pestilential; the streams perpetually nverno*
their banks; and the waters which escape stagnate
in marshes, whose exhalations spread disease and
death among the inhabitants. (2.) Media Magna
lay south and east of Atropatene. Its northern
boundary was the range of Elburt from the Caspian
Gates to the Rudbnr pass, through which the He/id
Rud reaches the low country of Gkilan. It then
adjoined upon Atropatene, from which it may be
regarded as separated by a line running about S.
\V. by \V. from the bridge of Mcnjtt to Zagros.
Here it touched Assyria, from which it was prob-
ably divided by the last line of hills towards ths
west, before the mountains link down upon th«
plain. On the south it was bounded by Snsiara
and Persia Proper, the former of which it met iu
the modern Ijurittttn, probably about lat. 33° 30",
while it struck the latter on the eastern side of the
Zagros range, in lat. 32° or 32° W. Towards the
east it was closed in by the great salt desert, which
Herodotus reckons to Sagartia, and later writers to
Parthia and Carmonia. Media Magna thus con-
tained great part of Kurautnn and iMrittun, with
all Ardda* and Irak Ajemi. The character of
this tract is very varied. Towards the west, in
Ardelan, Kurdistan, and Luristan, it is highly
mountainous, but at the same time well watered
and richly wooded, fertile and lovely ; on the north,
along the flank of Elbm-z, it is less charming, but
still pleasant and tolerably productive; while to-
ward* the east and southeast it is bare, arid, rocky,
And sandy, supporting with difficulty a spare and
wretched population. The present productions of
Zagros are cotton, tobacco, hemp, Indian corn, rice,
wheat, wine, and fruits of every variety: every
valley is a garden; and besides valleys, extensive
plains are often found, furnishing the most excellent
pasturage. Here were nurtured the valuable breed
of horses called Nisaean, which the Persians culti-
vated with such especial care, and from which the
horses of the monarch were always chosen. The
pasture-grounds of Khnank and Alithtnr between
Heh'ulun and Khorram-nbad, prol»lily represent
the " Xiatean plain " of the ancients, which seems
to hare taken its name from a town Niseea ( Nitayn),
mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions.
Although the division of Media into these two
provinces can only he diatinctly proved to hare
existed from the Hme of Alexander the Great, yet
there is reason to lielieve that it was more ancient,
dating from the settlement of the Medea in the
country, which did not take place all at once, hut
was first in the more northern and afterwardx in
the southern country. It is indicative of the divis-
ion, that there were two Ecbatanas — one, the
northern, at Takkt-i-Suleiman : the other, the
southern, at Hamadan, on the flanks of Mount
Orontes (Elicand) — respectively the capitals of the
two districts. [Ecbataxa.]
Next to the two Ecbatanas, the chief town in
Media was undoubtedly Rhages — the Riga of the
inscriptions. Hither the rebel Phraortes fled on
his defeat by Darius Hystaapis, and hither too came
Darius Codomannus after the battle of Arbela, on
his wa>' to the eastern provinces (Arr. Exp. Alex.
iii. 20 The only other place of much note was
Baghtana, the modem Behitlun, which guarded
the chief pass connecting Media with the Mesoso
Itamian plain.
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MEDIAN
No doutit both parte of Media were farther sub-
livided into provinces: but no trustworthy account
•f these minor divisions has come down to us. Tlio
tract about Khagrs was certainly called Khagiana;
and the mountain tract adjoining Persia seems to
have been known as Panetaoene, or the country of
the Parsetacae. Ptolemy gives as Median districts
FJymais, Choromithrene, Sigrina, Daritia, and
Syromedia; but these names are little known to
other writers, and suspicions attach to some of
them. On the whole it would seem that we do
sot possess materials for a minute account of the
ancient geography of the country, which is very
imperfectly described by Strabo, and almost omitted
fflr PliDy.
(See Sir H. Kawlinson's Articles in the Journal
■if the Geographical Society, vol. ix. Art. 2, and
vol. x. Articles 1 and 2; and compare Layard's
.VtnemA and Babylon, chap. xvii. and xviii. ; Ches-
sey's Euphrates Expedition, i. 122, Ac. s Kinneir's
Persian Empire ; Ker Porter's Travels ; and Raw-
linsou's Herodotus, vol. i. Appendix, Essay ix.)
[On the geography, see also Hitter's Enilumae,
viii. and ix., and M. ran Niebuhr's Geschichte
Amir's u. Babefs, pp. 380-314.] G. It
* We are now to add to the above sources Prof.
Rawlinson's Ancient Monorchia, vol. iii., the first
part of which (pp. 1-557) is occupied with the
history of the Modes. This volume has appeared
since the foregoing article was written. On some
of the points of contact between Median history
and the Bible, see Kawlinson's Historical Evi-
dences, lect. v., and the Notes on the text (Bamp-
ton Lectures for 185!)), and also Niebuhr's (Sesch.
Astur't u. Babels, pp. 55 f., 144 f., 224, and else-
where. Arnold comprises the history and the
geography of the subject under the one head of
"Medien," in Herzog's Renl-Encyk. ix. 231-234.
See in the Dictum try the articles on Baiiylon,
Dakiki, and Darius, the Mkde. II.
ME-DIAN ftfjl}; Keri, HrST^: i MfjSor:
Ifedus). Darius, "the son of Ahasuerus. of the
seed of the Medes " (Dan. ix. 1) or " the Mede "
(si. 1), is thus described in Dan. v. 31.
MEDICINE. I. Next to care for food, cloth-
ing, and shelter, the curing of hurts takes prece-
dence even amongst savage nations. At a later
period comes the treatment of sickness, and recog-
ultiou of states of disease; and these mark n nascent
civilization. Internal diseases, and all for which
an obvious cause cannot be assigned, are in tlie
most early period viewed as the visitation of God.
•v as the act of some malignant power, human —
V, the evil eye — or else superhuman, and to be
dealt with by sorcery, or some other occult sup
posed agency. The Indian notion is that all dis-
eases are the work of an evil spirit (Sprengel,
Gach. tier Arzencihmde, pt. ii. 48). But among
I civilized race the preeminence of the medical art
Is confessed in proportion to the increased value set
xi human life, and the vastly greater amount of
aorafort and enjoyment of which civilized man is
capable It would be strange if their close con-
tortion historically with Egypt bad not imbued
" Recent researches at Koujunjik have given pre- *
it Is mid, of the use of the microscope in minute
Mvioes, and yielded up even specimens of magnifying
«ensee. A cane engraved with a table of cubes, so
■nail alali unintelligible without a lens, was brought
eras* bi (it II BawUnson, and la now In the British
MEDICINE
the Israelites with a strong appreciation sf the
value of this art, and with some considerable degree
if medical culture. From the most ancieul testi-
monies, sacred and secular, Egypt, from whatever
cause, though perhaps from necessity, was foremost
among the nations in this most human of studies
purely physical. Again, as the active intelligence
of Greece flowed in upon her, and mingled with the
immense store of pathological records which must
have accumulated under the system described by
Herodotus, — Egypt, especially Alexandria, 1
the medical repertory and museum of the i
Thither all that was best worth preserving araM
earlier civilizations, whether her own or foreign,
had been attracted, and medicine and surgery flour-
ished amidst political decadence and artistic decline.
The attempt has been made by a French writer
(Renouard, llistoire de Medicine depvis son Orig-
ttu, etc.) to arrange in periods the growth of
the medical art as follows: 1st. The Primitive
or Instinctive Period, lasting from the earliest re-
corded treatment to the fall of Troy. 2d. The
Sacred or Mystic Period, lasting till the dis-
persion of the Pythagorean Society, 500 h. c.
3d. The Philosophical Period, closing with the
foundation of the Alexandrian library, b. c. 32C.
4th. The Anatomical Period, which continued
until the death of Galen, a. d. 200. But these
artificial lines do not strictly exhibit the truth
of the matter. Egypt was the earliest home
of medical and other skill for the region of the
Mediterranean basin, and every Egyptian mummy
of the more expensive and elaborate sort, involved a
process of anatomy. This gave opportunities of in-
specting a vast number of bodies, varying in every
possible condition. Such opportunities were sure
to be turned to account (l'liuy, /f. H. xlx. 5) by
the more diligent among the faculty — for " the
physicians " embalmed (Gen. 1. 2). The intes-
tines had a separate receptacle assigned them, or
were restored to the body through the ventral
incision (Wilkinson, v. 468); and every such pro-
cess which we can trace In the mummies discov
end shows the most minute accuracy of manipula-
tion. Notwithstanding these laborious efforts, we
have no trace of any philosophical or rational sys-
tem of Egyptian origin; and medicine in Egypt
was a mere art or profession. Of science the
Asclepiadte of Greece were the true originators.
Hippocrates, who wrote a book on •< Ancient Medi-
cine." and who seems to have had many oppor-
tunities of access to foreign sources, gives no
prominence to Egypt. It was no doubt owing to
the repressive influences of her fixed institutions
that this country did not attain to a vast and
speedy proficiency in medical science, when post
mortem examination was so general a rule Instead '
of being a rare exception. Still it is impossible
to believe that considerable advances in physiology
could have failed to be made there from time to
time, and similarly, though we cannot so weC
determine how far, in Assyria. The best guar-
antee for the advance of medical science is, aftei
all, the interest which every human being has iu
it; and this is most strongly felt in large grega-
Museum. As to whether the Invention was brought
to bear on medical science, proof Is wanting. P-.ob
ably such science had not vet bean pushed to the potn
at which the microscope becomes useful. Only those
who have quick keen eyes for Uie nat u re-worts «*•
the want of sash spectacles.
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had salaries from the public bresmny, and treated
always according to established precedents, of
deviated from these at their peril, in ease of a
fatal termination ; if, however, the patient died
MEDICINE MEDICINE 1855
of population. Compared with the
wild countries around them, at any rate, Egypt
must have seemed incalculably advanced. Hence
the awe, with which Homer's Gretks speak of her
wealth,* resources, and medl-
;al skill ; aud even the visit
jf Abraham, though prior to
this period, found her no
doubt in advance of other
countries. Representations
of early Egyptian surgery
apparently occur on some of
the monuments of Beni-
Hassan. Flint knives used
for embalming have been recovered — the "Ethl-
opic stone" of Herodotus (ii. 86; comp. Ei. iv.
25) was probably either black flint or agate; and
those who have assisted at the opening of a ' ascribed to indigestion and excessive eating (Diod
mummy have noticed that the teeth exhibited a ! Sicul." i. 82), and when their science failed th?m
Flint Knives. (Wilkinson.)
under accredited treatment no blame was attached
They treated gratis patients when travelling c*
on military service. Host diseases were by then
magic/ was called in. On recovery it wsa also
customary to suspend in a temple an exvoto, which
was commonly a model of the part affected; and
such offerings doubtless, as in the Coan Temple of
jEsculapius, became valuable aids to the pathological
dentistry not inferior in execution to the work of
the best modern experts. This confirms the state-
ment of Herodotus that every part of the body was
studied by a distinct practitioner. Pliny (vii. 67 )
asserts that the Egyptians claimed the invention
of the healing art. and (xxvi. 1) thinks
them suhject to many diseases. Their
" many medicines " are mentioned (Jer.
xlvi- 11). Many valuable drugs may lie
derived from the plants mentioned by
Wilkinson (iv. 02 1), and the senna of
the adjacent interior of Africa still ex-
cite all other. Athothmes II., king of
the country, is said to have written
on the subject of snntomy. Hermes
(who may perhape be the same as
Athothmes, intellect iiersonified, only
disguised as a deity instead of a
legendary king), was said to bare writ-
ten six books on medicine : in which an
entire chapter was devoted to diseases
of the eye ( Hawlinson's Htrod., note to „ „ . . „ , , ,„,,,..
H. 84 ),wd the fi«t half Of which rcUted Doctor, (or Barber. 7) ««t PWtenU. (Wilkinson.,
to anatomy. The various recipes known to hare student The Egyptians who lived in the corn-
been beneficial were recorded, with their peculiar growing region are said by Herodotus (U. 77) to
eases. In the memoirs of physic, inscribed among ' have been specially attentive to health. The prac-
the laws, and deposited in the principal temples ' tice of circumcision is traceable ou monuments
at the place (Wilkinson, iii. 398, 397). The repu-
tation of its practitioners in historical times was
sueh that both Cyrus and Darius sent to Egypt for
physicians or surgeons (Herod. Hi. 1, 1'2.)-1U);
snd by one of the same country, no doubt, Oim-
byses' wound was c tended, though not perhaps with
much seal for his recovery.
Of midwifery we have a distinct notice (Ex i.
15), and of women as its practitioners, 1 ' which fart
may also be verified from the sculptures (Raw-
linson's note on Herod, ii. 84). The physicians
o n. te. 881 ; Od. Iv. 229. See also Uerod. II. 84,
tod 1. 77. Tbe simple heroes had reverence for the
bealing skill which extended only to wounds. There
to hardly any recognition of disease in Homer. There
to sodden death, pestilence, and weary old age, but
sanity any fixed morbid condition save In a rioille
Ot T. 896). See, however, a letter De tint ex
l»mm medici*, D. u. Wolf, Wittenberg, 1791.
b Comp. the letter of Benhadad to Joram, 2 K. v.
I, to procure the cure of Naaman.
« The words of Herod. (US. 68), m fodoWAunf n re
kmfor set 4 susses regM-re. ivixt), appear to Indicate
teastmeat by the terms employed. It Is not
certainly anterior to the age of Joseph. Its an-
tiquity is involved in obscurity; especially as all
we know of the Egyptians makes it unlikely
that they would have borrowed such a practice,
so late as the period of Abrahair, from any
mere sojourner among them. Its beneficial effects
in the temperature of Egypt and Syria have
often been noticed, especially as a preservative of
cleanliness, etc. The scrupulous attention paid to-
the dead was favorable to the health of the living.
Such powerful drugs as asphaltuni, natron, ratio,
unlikely the physician may have taken toe opportunl rv
to avenge tbe wrongs of his nation.
d Tbe sex Is clear from the Heb. grammatteal forms.
The names of two, Shlphrah snd Push, are reco r d ed.
The treatment of new-born Hebrew Infants Is man
tioned (an. xvi. 41 as consisting In washing, salting,
and swaddling : this last was not used In Kgypt (Wil-
kinson).
e The same author adds that the most common
method of treatment was by kAvotuhc eat varntaic <cai
Sfteretf,
/ Magicians and physicians both belonged to the
priestly casta, and perhaps united than- |n nssssstrw hi
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1856
MEDICINE
MEDICINE
pore Utumen, and various aromatic gums, top- 1 Importance which would tend to cheek the Jena
pressed or counteracted all noxioua effluvia from " from aharing thia ni the ceremonial law, the apecial
the corpse; even the saw-dust of the floor, on ' reverence of Jewiah feeling towards human remains,
which the body had been cleansed, was collected I and the abhorrence of "uncleanness." Vet those
in small linen bags, which, to the number of I Jews — and there were at all times sines the Cap.
twenty or thirty, were deposited in vases near | tivity not a few, perhaps — who tended to foreign
laxity, and affected Greek
philosophy and
would assuredly,
shall have further <
to notice that they in fact
did, enlarge their ana-
tomical knowledge from
sources whieh repelled theit
stricter brethren, and the
result would be apparent
in the general derated
standard of that p r of ess i on,
even as practiced in Jeru-
salem. The diffusion of
Christianity in the 3d and
4th centuries exercised a
similar but more univer
sal restraint on the dis-
secting-room, until anato-
my as a pursuit became
extinct, and the notion of
(Wilkinson.)
1. Ivory hand, in Mr. Salt's collection.
i Stone tablet, dedicated to Amunre, tor th. recover, of a complaint in the ^Zl« mtlTlinTXl^
ear: found at Tb.b«s. profaneness quelling every-
where such researches, sur-
fer ; found at Thebes.
3. An car, of terra cotta, from Thebes, In Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson's
the tomb (Wilkinson* v. 468, 489). For the extent
to which these practices were imitated among the
Jews, see Embalming; at any rate the unclean-
ness imputed to contact with a corpse was a pow-
erful preservative c against the inoculation of the
living frame with morbid humors. But, to pursue
to later times this merely general question, it appears
( Pliny, JV. H. xix. 5 <*) that the Ptolemies them-
selves practiced dissection, and that, at a period
when Jewiah intercourse with Egypt was complete
and reciprocal,' 1 there existed in Alexandria a great
seal for anatomical study. The only influence of
o -'l/Agypte moderns n'en est pins la, et, comma
M. Psriset 1> Tl Men signals, les tombeaux dee pt\rw,
fnflltres par Ins eaux du Nil, se convertlssent en autant
de foyers pestHentteta pour leurs enfants " (Mlrhel
Levy, p. 12). This may perhaps be the true account
of the production of the modern plague, which, how-
ever, disappears when the temperature rises above a
given limit, excessive heat tending to dissipate the
miasma.
& Thia author further refers to Pettigrew's History
of Egyptian Mummies.
*. Dr. Ferguson, \ a u article on pestilential Infec-
tion, Quarterly Review, vol. xlvi., 1883, Insists on
actual contact with the dis e ased or dead as the condi-
tion of transmission of the disease. Bat compare a
tract by Dr. Macmlchael, On the Progress of Opinion
on tks Subject of Contagion. See also Essays on State
Mediant, H. W. Rumsey, London, 1866. em III. p ISO.
fee tor ancient opinions on the matter, see PntUus
JBgin. ed. Sydenham society, I 2M. fce. Thucydides.
m his description of the Athenian plague, Is the first j
who alludes to It, and that but inferentially. It menu
m tue wnole most likely that contsgiousnees Is a i
juality of morbid condition which may be present or
absent. What the conditions are no one seems able I
to say. As an Instance, elepbantlaBW was said by early I
writers (r. g. Aratssus and Khans) to be contagious, '
'lilch some modern authorities deny. The ssse i tton
tod denial are so clear and drcvanatantial In either
sue that w nth** eolation seems open to the qoss-
gical science became stag-
nant to a degree to which it had never previously
sunk within the memory of human records.
In comparing the growth of medicine in the rest
of the ancient world, the high rank of its practi-
tioners—princes and heroes — settles at once the
question as to the esteem in which it was held in
the Homeric/ and pre-Homeric » period. To de-
scend to the historical, the story of Demoeedes * at
the court of Darius illustrates the practice of Greek
turgery before the period of Hippocrates ; antici-
pating in its gentler waiting upon' nature, as
compared (Herod, iii. 130) with that of the Per-
tf* '' Itegibus corpora mortuorum ad scrutandos mor>
bo*, tasreantibufl."
* Cyrene, the well-known Greek African colony, had
a high repute tor physicians of excellence ; and some
of Its coin* bear the impress of the rWcfc , or assafouidn,
a medical drug to which miraculous virtues were
ascribe)!. Now the Cyrenaica was a home for the
Jewn of the dispersion (Acts ii. 10; Pout. JBftn
Sydenham Society, iii. 283).
f Galen himself wrote a book, trepi rtfi eoff ~Oiiqpo»
iaTpwijt, quoted by Alexander of TnUlcs, lib. ix
cap. 4.
9 The indistinctness with which the medical, the
magical, and the poisonous were confounded under the
word <tniaiiojca by the early Greeks will escape no one.
(So Ex. xxii. 18, the Heb. word for " witch "is In the
I.XX. rendered by tapnoxoe.} The legend of the Ar-
gonsute and Medea Illustrates this ; the Homerie Holy,
and Nepsutbes, and the whole story of Circa, eos
Arm It.
A The fame which he had acquired in Samoa had
reached .ierdls before Darius discovered his presence
among the captives taken from Oroetes (Hood. ill.
129).
■ The best known name amongst the pioneers of
Greek medical science is Hsrodlcus of Selymbria, " qui
toram gymnasticam medicinal adjuuxit ; " for whic*
he was censured by Hippocrates (Btbtioth. Script. Mod
s. v.). The alliance, however, of the larouc^ with th*
vvfuwrunf Is auattmr to us from the Dialogues e>
Plato.
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MEDICTVg
siace and Egyptians, the method and maxims of
that Father of physic, who wrote againat the the-
ories and speculations of the ao-called philosophi-
cal school, and was a true Empiricist before that
•est was formnlarized. The Dogmatic school was
Tounded after his time by his disciples, who departed
From his eminently practical and inductive method.
It recognized hidden causes of health and sickness
arising from certain supposed principles or elements,
out of which bodies were composed, and by virtue of
which all their parts and members were attempered
together and became sympathetic. He has some
curious remarks on the sympathy of men with cli-
mate, seasons, etc. Hippocrates himself rejected
supernatural accounts of disease, and especially de-
moniacal possession. He refers, but with 110 mys-
tical sense, to numbers « as furnishing a rule for
eases It is remarkable that he extols the discern-
ment of Orientals above Westerns, and of Asiatics
above Europeans, in medical diagnosis. 6 The em-
pirical school, which arose in the third century b.
c, under the guidance of Acron of Agrigentum,
Serapion of Alexandria, and Philiaus of Cos, c
waited for the symptoms of every case, disregard-
ing the rules of practice based on dogmatic princi-
ples Among its votaries was a Zachalias (perhaps
Zaeharias, and possibly a Jew) of Babylon, who
(Pliny, y. ff. xxxvii. 10, comp. xxxvi. 10) dedi-
cated a book on medicine to Mithridates tbe Great;
its views were also supported'' by Herodotus of
Tarsus, a place which, next to Alexandria, became
distinguished for its schools of philosophy and med-
icine; as also by a Jew named Theodas, or Theu-
da*,' of Laodicea, but a student of Alexandria, and
the last, or nearly so, of the Empiricists whom its
schools produced. The remarks of Theudag on the
right method of observing, and the value of expe-
rience, and his book on medicine, now lost, in
which he arranged his subject under the heads of
imiicatorin, curaioria, and tnlubrin, earned him
high reputation as a champion of Empiricism against
the reproaches of the dogmatists, though they were
subsequently impugned by Galen and Theodosius
of Tripoli. His period was that from Titus to
Hadrian. " The empiricists held that observation
and the application of known remedies in one esse
to others presumed to be similar constitute the
whole art of cultivating medicine. Though their
views were narrow, and their information scanty
when compared with some of the chiefs of the other
sects, and although they rejected as useless and un-
attainable all knowledge of tbe causes and recondite
nature of diseases, it is undeniable that, besides
personal experience, they freely availed themselves
MEDICINE
1867
• Thus the product of seven and forty gives the
Sana of the days of gestation ; In his mpi mew- I,
why man died. Iv rpoi vfpwwptfi tup qpepfop, Is dls-
lUdd ; so tbe 4th, 8th, 11th, and 17th, are noted as
as* critical daya In acute diseases.
• Sprengel, us. tup. ir. 52-6, speaks of an Alexau-
Utao school of medicine as having carried anatomy,
SBSeebUlj under the guidance or HierophUns, to its
highest pitch of ancient perfection. It seems not,
however, to have claimed any distinctive p-tnciples,
bat stands chronologically between the Dogmatic and
BmphV schools.
c The tamer of these wrote against Hippocrates, the
lataar was a commen ts tor oo him (Sprengel, as. tup.
tv. 81).
i It treats of a stone called kemaiitt. to which the
•saasor ascribes great vtrtnes, especially as regards the
•far.
UI
of historical detail, and of a strict analogy founded
upon observation and the resemblance of phenom-
ena " (Or. Adams, Paul j¥.gin. ed. Sydenham
Soc.).
This school, however, was opposed by another,
known as the Methodic, which had arisen under the
leading of Themison, also of Lsodicea, about the
period of Pompey the Great/ Asclepiades pared
the way for the " method " in question, finding a
theoretic tf basis in the corpuscular or atomic theory
of physics which he borrowed from Heraclides of
Pontus. He had passed some early years in Alex-
andria, and thence came to Home shortly before
Cicero's time (comp. quo ma medico amicoqvt uti
su/neu, Crassus, ap. Ck. de Orat. i. 14). He was
a transitional link between the Dogmatic and Em-
piric schools and this later or Methodic (Sprengel,
ub. tup. pt. r. 16 ), which sought to rescue medicine
from the bewildering mass of particulars in which
empiricism bad plunged it. He reduced diseases to
two classes, chronic and acute, and endeavored like-
wise to simplify remedies. In the mean while fie
roost judicious of medical theorists since Hippocra-
tes, (ileus of the Augustan period, had reviewed
medicine in the light which all these schools
afforded, and not professing any distinct teaching,
but borrowing from all, may be viewed as eclectic.
He translated Hippocrates largely verbatim, quoting
in a less degree Asclepiades and others. Antonius
Musa, whose " cold-water cure,** after its successful
trial on Augustus himself, became generally popular,
seems to have had little of scientific basis; but by
the usual method, or the usual accidents, became
merely the fashionable practitioner of his day in
Rome* Attalia, near Tarsus, furnished also,
shortly after the period of Celsus, Athenaeus, the
leader of the last of the schools of medicine which
divided the ancient world, under the name of the
"Pneumatic." holding the tenet "of an ether si
principle (wrfvpa) residing in the microcosm, by
means of which the mind performed the functions
of the body." This is also traceable in Hippos-
rates, and was an established opinion of the
Stoics. It was exemplified in the innate heat,
Bepfiii t/upwos (Aret de Cam. el Sign. M orb.
Cnron. ii. 13), and the enSdum itmalum of modern-
physiologists, especially in the 17th century (D*
Adams, Pre/. AreUmt, ed. Syd. Soc.). It .*
clear that all these schools may easily have caur
trihuted to form the medical opinions current at
the period of the N. T., that the two earlier among-,
them may have influenced rabbinical teaching 00*-
that subject at a much earlier period, and that es-
pecially at the time of Alexander's visit to Jeranw
e The authorities for these statements about Thou*
das are given by Wnnderbar, BMiseh- Talmuditdu*
Medicin, ltes Heft, p. 26. He refers among others to-
Talmud, Tr. Nasir, 624 ; to Tiuiphta Ohlotk, § iv. ; aavsT>
to TV. Sruth-drin, 88 o, 98 rf ; Btdioroth, 28*.
/ "Alia est Hippocrati* sects [the Dogmatic], alia.
Aselepladla, alia Themisonls '* (Seneca. Epist . 86 ; cams'
Jar. Sat. x 221).
9 For hlr remains see Axhpmdii BUhyniei Fhtf-
mttua, ed. Christ. Oottl. Qumpart, 8°. Vlnar. 179*.
A Female medieal aid appears to bare been comas
at Borne, whether In midwifery only (the obttetrie), or
in general practice, as the titles matfiro, uirptc^, wvosi
seem to Imply (see Martial, Spi*. xt. 72). The Qraafca
were not strangers to female study of medicine ; t ■ g.
some fragments of the famous Aapatta on w aim ' s 4*»>
orders oceor In Aettoa.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1858 MKDI01NK
■em, the Jewish people, whom he favored and pro-
tected, bad an opportunity of largely gathering
from the medical lore of the West. It waa neces-
nr j therefore to pan in brief review the growth of
the latter, and especially to note the poinU at which
it intersect* the medical progress of the Jews,
tireek Asiatic medicine culminated in Galen, who
was, however, still but a commentator on his west-
ern predecessors, and who stands literally without
rival, successor, or disciple of note, till the jieriod
when Greek learning was reawakened by the
Arabian intellect. Galen himself" belongs to the
period of the Antonines, but he appears to have
been acquainted with the writings of Moses, and
to have travelled in quest of medical experience over
Kgypt, Syria, and Palestine, as well as ( ireece, and
a large part of the West, and, in particular, to have
visited the banks of the Jordan in quest of opolml-
samum, and the coasts of the Dead Sea to obtain
samples of bitumen. He also mentions Palestine
as producing a watery wine, suited for the drink of
Utile patients.
II. Having thus described the external influences
which, if any, were probably most influential in
forming the medical practice of the Hebrews, we
may trace next its internal growth. The cabalistic
legends mix up the names of Shem and Heber in
their fables about healing, and ascribe to those
patriarchs a knowledge of simples and rare roots,
with, of course, magic spells and occult powers,
such as haw clouded the history of medicine from
the earliest times down to the 17th century. 6 So
to Abraham is ascri' jd a talisman, the touch of
which healed all dis/ose. We know that such sim-
ple surgical skill u the operation for circumcision
implies was Abraham's; but severer operations
than this are constantly required in the flock and
herd, and those who watch carefully the habits of
animals can hardly fail to amass some guiding
principles applicable to man and beast alike. Be-
yond this, there was probably nothing but such
ordinary obstetrii al craft as has always been tradi-
tional among the women of rude tribes, which could
be classed as mudical lore in the family of the
patriarch, until his sojourn brought him among the
more cultivated Philistines and Egyptians. The
only notices whi h Scripture affords in connection
with the subject are the cases of difficult midwifery
in the successive households of Isaac,"" Jacob, and
Judah (Gen. xxv. 36. xxxv. 17, xxxriii. 27), and
so, later, in that of Phinehas (1 Sam. iv. 19). The
a The Ai.ib«, however, continued to build wholly
upon Hippocrates and Oaten, save In so tar ss tbelr
advance in chemical science improved their pharmaco-
poeia : this may be seen on reference to the works of
Kbaaas, a. s. 980, and Haly Abbas, i. s. 960. The Arm
mention of smallpox is ascribed to Rbaxee. who, how-
ever, quotes several earlier writers on the eubject.
Mohammed himself la said to have been versed Id
medicines and to have compiled some aphorisms upon
It ; and a herbaKet literature was always exten-
di rely followed In the Bast from the days of Solomon
downwards (Freud's Hittory of Medicine, Ik. 5, 27).
- See, in evidence of this, Royal and Practical
(ftywrutry, m three treatises, London, 1670.
e Doubts have been raised as to the possibility or
twins being born, one holding the other's heel ; but
Chare does not seem any such limit to the operations
af nature as any objection on that score would imply,
ajaar all, It was perhaps only Just such a relative po-
xtaBB of the limbs of the infants at the mere moment
MEDICINE
traditional value ascribed to las mandiake, U
regard to generative functions, relates to the saint
branch of natural medicine; but throughout this
period occurs no trace of any attempt to study,
digest, and systematize the subject. But, as brae,
grew and multiplied in Egypt, they derived doubt-
leas a large mental cultivation from their poeitior
uutil cruel policy turned it into bondage; eventha
Moses was rescued from the lot of his brethren, an
became learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians
including, of course, medicine and cognate sciences
(Clem. Alex. i. p. 413), and those attainment* per
haps became suggestive of future laws. Sonir pric
tical skill in metallurgy is evident from Ex. nil!
211. But, If we admit Egyptian learning at v in
p-edient, we should also notice bow far ex? .ted
aljove it is the standard of the whole Jewish !a$i»
lative fabric, in its exemption from the blemishes of
sorcery and juggling pretenses, rhe priest, wbt
had to pronounce on the cure, used no means to
advance it, and the whole regulations prvscritied
exclude the notion of trafficking in popular super-
stition. We have uo occult practices reserved hi
the hands of the sacred caste. It is God alone
who doeth great things, working by the wand of
Moses, or the brazen serpent ; but the very mention
of such instruments is such ss to expel ail pretense
of mysterious virtues in the things themselves.
Hence various allusions to God's " healing mercy."
and the title "Jehovah that heakth" (Ex. xv. 28;
Jer. xvii. 14. xxx. 17 ; Pa. ciii. 3, cxlvii. 3; Is. xxx.
26). Nor was the practice of physic a privilege of
the Jewish priesthood. Any one might practice it,
and tbis publicity must have kept it pure. Nay,
there waa no Scriptural bar to its practice by resi-
dent aliens. We read of " physicians," " healing,"
etc., hi Ex. xxi. 19; 2 K. viii. 29; 2 Chr. xvi. 12;
Jer. viii. 22. At the same time the greater Insure
of the Invites and their other advantages would
make them the students of the nation, as a rule, in
all science, and their constant residence in cities
would give them the opportunity, if carried out in
(set, of a far wider field of observation. The reign
of peace of Solomon's days must have opened,
especially with renewed Egyptian intercourse, new
facilities for the study. He himself seem* to have
included in his favorite natural history some knowl-
edge of the medicinal uses of the creatures. Hit
works show him conversant with the notion of
remedial treatment (Prov. iii. 8, vi. 15, xii. 18, xvii
22, xx. 30, xxix. 1; Eecl iii. 3): and one passagf
of birth as would suggest the " holding by the heel."
The midwifes, it seems, in caw of twins, were called
upon to distinguish the first-born, to whom important
privilege* appertained. The lying on a thread or rib-
bon was an easy way of preventing mistake, an) tLt
aitslatant in the case of Tamar seised the earliest i«o»
itible moment for doing it. " When the band Of foot
of a living child protrudes, it Is to be pushed ur
and the head made to present" (Paul. Mgix. -I
Sydenh. Soc. I. 648, Hippocr. quoted by Dr. Adams)
This probably the midwife did ; at the same tin*
marking him as flrat-born in virtue or being thus
" presented " first. The precise meaning of tike doubt-
ful expression in Geo. xxxvtti. 27 and marg. is die.
cussed by vFunderbar, uo. ntp. p. GO, In reference both
to the children and to the mother. Of Rachel a Jew-
ish commentator says, " Multls etkun ex itinera dim
eultatibus praegrsssls, virlbnsqne post dlu protraeta
dolores exhaustts, atorda uteri, fbrsan q nl deen asm
orrhaida in parlendo mortoa eat" (HtU )
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEDICINE
Me p. 1807 f.) indicates considerable knowlenga of
■atomy. His repute in magic is toe universal »
heme of eastern story. It has even been thought
ae had recourse to the shrine of .lEaculapius at
Sidon, and enriched his resources by its records or
relics; but there seems some doubt whether this
temple was of such high antiquity. Solomon, how-
rm, we cannot doubt, would have turned to the
account, not only of wealth but of knowledge, his
peaceful reign, wide dominion, and wider renown,
and would have sought to traffic in learning, as
wafl as in wheat and gold. To him the Talmudista
■scribe a "volume of curat" (DlrTOn 1QD),
of which they m-ike frequent mention (Fabricius,
C<£ Puudep. V T.l. 1043 t). Josephus (Ant.
vi j. 2) mentions his knowledge of medicine, and
the use of spells by him to expel demons who cause
sicknesses, " which is continued among us,'' he adds,
'■ to this time." The dealings of various prophets
with quasi-medical agency cannot be regarded as
other than the mere occidental form which their
miraculous gifts took (1 K. xiii. 6, xiv. 12, xvil.
17; 2 K. i. 4, xx. 7; Is. xxxviii. 2l}. Jewish tra-
dition has invested Elisha, it would seem, with a
function more largely medicinal than that of the
other servants of God ; but the Scriptural evidence
on the point is scanty, save that he appears to have
known at ouoe the proper means to apply to heal
the waters, and temper the noxious pottage (2 K.
ii. 91, iv. 39-41). His healing the Shunamniite's
son has been discussed as a case of suspended ani-
mation, and of animal magnetism applied to resus-
citate it; hut the narrative clearly implies that the
death was real. As regards the leprosy, hail the
Jordan commonly possessed the healing power
which Naaman's faith and obedience found in it,
would there have been " many lepers in Israel in the
■ays of Eliseus the prophet," or in any other days '!
Further, if our Lord's words (Luke iv. 27) are to
be taken literally, Eliaha's reputation could not
have been founded on any succession of lepers
healed. The washing was a part of the enjoined
lustration of the leper after his cure was complete;
Naaman was to act as though clean, like the " ten
men that were lepers," bidden to " go and show
themselves to the priest " — in either case it was
■ as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee."
« Josephus (Ant. viil. 2) mentions a curs of one
posssss s d with a devil by the use of some root, the
knowledge of which was refeiwd by tradition to 8ol-
s Profe ss o r Newman remarks on the manner of Ben-
ba lad'-s recorded death, that " when a man is «o near
to death that Uus will kill him, we need good evi-
dence to show that the story is not a vulgar scandal "
(Hthrrvs Monarchy, p. 180, nott). The remark seems
so betray Ignorance of what is meaDt by the crisis of
stiver.
c Wunderbar, whom the writer has followed in a
•mrgt porttou of this general review of Jewish medi-
cine, and to whom his obligations are great, has here
set op a view whkh appears untenable. He regards
U.e Babylonian OapHvity as parallel in its effects to
On Egyptian bondage, and seems to think that the
peo|4s would return debased from Its Influence. On
ibe eootrarv, those whom subjection had made Ignoble
sod unpatriotic would remain. If any returned, it
awe a pledge that they were not so impaired ; and, if
sot te.^eired, thsy would be certainly Improved by
the dtadplirn they had undergone. He also thinks
CSS* sorcery bad the largest share In any Babylonian
i of mwtlnmo This Is assuming too
MEDICINE 1859
The sickness of Benhadad is certainly so de-
scribed as to imply treachery on the part of Hasael
(2 K. viii. IS). Vet the observation of bruce, upon
a " cold-water cure " practiced among the people
near the Ked Sea, has suggested a view somewhat
different The bed-clothes are soaked with cold
water, and kept thoroughly wet, and the patient
drinks cold water freely. But the crisis, it seems,
occurs on the third day, and not till the fifth is
it there usual to apply this treatment. If the
chamberlain, through carelessness, ignorance, or
treachery, precipitated the application, a fatal '
isaue may have suddenly resulted. The " brazen
serpent," once the means of healing, and woi
shipped idolatrously in Hezekiah's reign, is sup-
posed to have acquired those honors under its
iEsculapian aspect. This notion is not inconsistent
with the Scripture narrative, though not therein
traceable. It is supposed that something in the
" volume of cures," current under the authority of
Solomon, may have conduced to the establishment
of these rites, and drawn away the popular homage,
especially in prayers during sickness, or thanks-
giving after recovery, from Jehovah. The state-
ment that King Asa (2 Chr. xvi. 12) "sought twl
to Jehovah, but to the physicians," may seem tit
countenance the notion that a rivalry of actiuil
worship, based on some medical fancies, had been
set up, and would to far support the Talmudical
tradition.
The Captivity at Babylon brought the Jews in
contact with a new sphere of thought. Their
chief men rose to the highest honors, and an
improved mental culture among a large section of
the captives was no doubt the result which they
imported on their return. 1 We know too little of
the precise state of medicine in Babylon. Susa, and
the " cities of the Medea," to determine the direc-
tion in which the impulse to derived would hav?
led the exiles; but the confluence of streams of
thought from opposite sources, which impregnate
each other, would surely produce a tendency to sift
established practice and accepted axioms, to set up a
new standard by which to try the current rules of art,
and to determine new lines of inquiry for any eager
spirits disposed to search for truth. Thus the visit
of Democedes to the court of Darius, though it
much : there were magicians In Bgjpt, but physicians
atao (see above) of high cultivation. Human nature
has so great an Interest In human life, tha«.on]y in the
savage rudimentary societies Is Its economy left thui
involved in phantasms. The earliest steps of clvtlun-
tion include something of medicine. Of course super-
stitions sre found copiously Involved in such medical
tenets, but this Is not equivalent to abandoning the
study to a class of professed magicians. Thus in the
Urttrrr'Str der altbabyionisckm Utcratur, p. 128, by D.
Chwolaon, St. Petereb. 1859 (the value of whkh Is not
however yet ascertained), a writer on poisons claims
to have a magic antidVte, bnt declines stating what It
la, as it is not his business to mention such things,
and he only does so in cases where the charm Is in
connection with medical treatment and resembles it ;
the magicians, adds the same writer on another occa-
sion, use a particular means of cure, but he declines
to Impart It, having a repugnance to witchcraft. Sa
(pp. 125, 126) we rind traces of charms Introduced lntr
Babylonish treatises on medical science, but apolo-
getically, and as If against sounder knowledge. Stm*
larty, the opinion of fatalism Is not without its tuno-
e jm on medicine ; but It is chiefly resorted to where,
as In pestUenee often happens, all knova aid sssaw
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1860
MEDICINE
■am to be an isolated bet, point* to a general
spelling of oriental mannera to Greek influence,
which was not too late to lean ita trace* in aonie
perfaapa of the contemporaries of Ezra. That great
reformer, with the leaden of national thought
gathered about him, could not fail to recognize
medicine among the military measures which dis-
tinguished his epoch. And whatever advantages
the Lerites had possessed in earlier days were now
speedily lost even as regards the study of the divine
Law, and much more therefore as regards that of
medicine, into which competitors would crowd in
proportion to ita broader and more obvious human
interest, and effectually demolish any narrowing
barriers of established privilege, if such previously
existed.
It may be observed that the priests in their
ministrations, who performed at all seasons of the
year barefoot on stone pavement, and without per-
haps any variation of dree- to meet that of tem-
perature, were peculiarly Hi ale to sickness. Hence
the permanent appointment of a Temple physician
has been supposed by some, and a certain Ben-
Aliijah is mentioned by Wunderbar as occurring
in the Talmud in that capacity. But it rather
appears as though such an officer's appointment
were precarious, aud varied with the demands of
the ministrant*.
The book of Ecclesiaaticua shows the increased
regard given to the distinct atudy of medicine, by
the repeated mention of physicians, etc., which it
contains, and which, as probably belonging to the
period of the Ptolemies, it might be expected to
show. The wisdom of prevention is recognized in
Eoclus. xviii. 19, perhaps also in x. 10. Kank and
honor are said to be the portion of the physician,
and his office to be from the Lord (xxxviii. 1, 3.
19). The repeated allusions to sickness in vii- 35,
xxx. 17, xxxi. 22, xxxvii. 30, xxxviii. 9, coupled
with the former recognition of merit, have caused
some to suppose that this author was himself a
physician. If he waa so, the power of mind and
wide range of observation shown in his work would
give a favorable impression of the standard of
practitioners; if he was not, the great general popu-
larity of the study and practice may be inferred
from ita thus becoming a common topic of general
advice offered by a non-professional writer. In
W'isd. xvi. 12, plaister is spoken of ; anointing, as
a means of healing, iu Tob. vi. 8.
To bring down the subject to the period of the
N. T. St. Luke,' " the beloved physician," who
practiced at Antioch whilst the body was his care,
• Thus we find Kail, D*. Morbis Saxerdottm, ilafh.
1746, referred to by Wunderbar, lstcs Ueft, p 00.
b Ibis Is uot the place to Introduce any discussion
,«i the language of St. Luke; it may be observed,
however, that It appears often tinctured by Us early
studies: e. g. ▼. 18, «-opaA<Xvp«*oc, the correct term,
Instead of the popular wapaAvruot of St. Matthew and
St. Hark ; so tUJ. 44, *<mj 4, pii<rw, Instead of the ap-
parently Ilebral»a- phrase e{in»>*i 4 "^h"! "* **
latter; so vi. 19, i£ro xkrat , where tovwOivar and
iatifam an used by the others ; and vill. 65. hrl-
s-ts«*>s v° wwB^a (the breath?), as though a token of
animation returning; and the list might easily be
enlarged. St. Luke abounds in the narratives of do-
nonlaos, while Hippocrates repudiates such influenoe,
as producing Tnaiii«jyi and epileptic disorders. See
this subject discussed In the Motes ro the "Sacred
Diseases " In the Sydenh. Son. ed. of Hippoer. Are-
■oi, on the contrary, recognises the opinion of
MEDICINE
conld hardly have failed to be conversant with al
the leading opinions current down to his own time.
Situated between the great schools of Alexandria
and Cilicia, within easy sea-transit of both, as well
as of the western homes of science, Antioch enjoyed
a more central position than any great city of the
ancient world, and in it accordingly all the streams
of contemporary medical learning may have prob-
ably found a point of confluence. The medicine
of the N. T. is uot solely, nor even chiefly, Jewish
medicine; and even if it were, it is clear that the
more mankind became mixed by interocoreo, the
more medical opinion and practice must have ceased
to be exclusive. The great number of Jews rest. >
dent in Rome and Greece about the Chiistian era.
and the successive decrees by which their banish-
ment from the former was proclaimed, must have
imported, even into Palestine, whatever from the
West waa best worth knowing: and we may be as
sure that ita medicine and surgery expanded under
these influences, as that, in the writings of the Tal-
mudists, such obligations would be unacknowledged.
But, beyond this, the growth of large mercantile
communities such as existed iu Home, Alexandria,
Antioch, and Ephesus, of itself involves a peculiar
sanitary condition, from the mass of human elements
gathered to a focus under new or abnormal circum-
stances. Nor are the words iu which an eloquent
modern writer describes the course of this action
less applicable to the case of an ancient than to
that of a modem metropolis. " Diseases once in-
digenous to a section of humanity are slowly hut
surely creeping up to commercial centres from
whence they will I* rapidly propagated. One form
of Asiatic leprosy is approaching the Ijevant from
Arabia. The history of every disease which is
communicated from man to man establishes this
melancholy truth, that ultimately such maladies
overleap all obstacles of climate, aud demonstrate
a solidarity in evil as well as in good among the
brotherhood of nations."' In proportion as this
" melancholy truth " is perceived, would an inter-
oonimonicatiou of medical science prevail also.
The medicine and surgery of St Luke, then,
waa probably not inferior to that commonly in de-
mand among educated Asiatic Greeks, and most
have been, aa regards its basis, Greek medicine,
and not Jewish. Hence a standard Gentile med-
ical writer, if any is to be found of that period,
would best represent the profession to which the
Evangelist belonged. Without absolute certainty
aa to date,' we seem to have such a writer in
Aretseus, commonly called " the Cappadocian,"
demoniac agency In disease. Ills words are: upV
KucA^OTcovo-i rip* »ift)r arop koX Sl oAAat irpodtaa-faf,
«. ury<0ot tov «urov, ifpov yip re iitya- *, t^o-ux ens
«4pttirtiri aAAA ttiiri ij oWp.owt Mfipt it tov Mpune
t'nj6kru, ri tviiviarrmv ojxov, njpSf ixUX^OKor ttfpsjF.
n.pi friAirr-tirt- (Dt Ouu. et Sign. Mori. Ohm. I
4.) [See WetsteftTs note on Matt. It. 34.]
c Dr Ferguson, Pre/. Kuay to Ototk on Disrtma
of Womrn, New Sydenham Society, London, 1869, p.
xlvl. lie sdds, " Such has been the ease with small-
pox, measles, scarlatina, and the plague . . . The yellow
fever has lately ravaged Lisbon nnder a temperature
perfectly similar to that of London or Paris."
d The date here given is favored by the Introduc-
tory review of AretsBus's life and writings prefixed is
Boerhaare's edition of his works, and by Dr. Oman
hill In Smith's Dictionary of Siog. iwrf Myth, sot
voc. Artiamt. A view that he waa about a esnlnrj
later — a contemporary, In short, of Galen — Is ad)
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MEDICINB
rno wrote certainly after Nero • reign began, and
probably flourished shortly before and after the
decade in which St. Paul reached Rome and Jeru-
sahm fell. If ho were of St Lake's age, it is strik-
ing that he should also be perhaps the only ancient
medical authority in favor of demoniacal possession
as a possible account of epilepsy (see p. 1860, note
e). If bis country be rightly indicated by his
surname, we know that it gave him the means of
intercourse with both the Jews and the Christians
of the Apostolic period (Acts ii. 9; 1 Pet i. 1).
B is very likely that Tarsus, the nearest place of
Mtjrtcmir repute to that region, was the scene of at
any rate the earlier studies of Aretasus, nor would
■sy chronological difficulty prevent his having been
a pupil in medicine there when Paul and also, per-
haps, B ar nab as were, as is probable, pursuing their
aarly studies in other subjects at the same spot.
Aretasus, then, assuming the date above indicated,
may be taken as expounding the medical practice
of the Asiatic Ureelu in the latter half of the first
century. There is, however, much of strongly
marked individuality in his work, more especially
in the minute verbal portraiture of disease. That
of pulmonary consumption in particular is traced
with the careful description of an eye-witness, and
represents with a curious exactness the curved
nails, shrunken fingers, slender sharpened nostrils,
hallow glazy eye, cadaverous look and hue, the
waste of muscle and startling prominence of bones,
the scapula standing oft* like the wing of a bird :
as also the habit of body marking youthful predis-
position to the malady, the thin veneer-like frames,
the limbs like pinions," the prominent throat and
•hallow chest, with a remark that moist and cold
• liinates are the haunts of it (Aret. wtp\ <p0iaiot)-
rlu work exhibits strong traits here and there of
the Pneumatic school, as in his statement regarding
lethargy, that it is frigidity implanted by nature;
concerning elephantiasis even more emphatically,
thai it is a refrigeration of the innate heat, "or
rather a congelation — as it were one great winter
of the system."* The same views betray them-
selves in his statement regarding the blood, that it
is the warming principle of all the parts; that dia-
betes is a sort of dropsy, both exhibiting the watery
principle; and that the effect of white hellebore is
as that of fire: "so that whatever fire does by
burning, hellebore effects still more by penetrating
inwardly." The last remark shows that he gave
some scope to his imagination, which indeed we
might illustrate from some of his pathological de-
scriptions, e. g. that of elephantiasis, where the
resemblance of the beast to the afflioted human
being is wrought to a fanciful parallel. Allowing
tat such overstrained touches here and there, we
may say that he generally avoids extravagantorotch-
ets, and rests chiefly on wide observation, and on
the common sense which sobers theory and ration-
slues bets. He hardly ever quotes an authority ;
and though much of what be states was taught
it is dealt with as the common property of
MKDIOINK
1861
vanned in the Syd. 8oc. edition, and ably suppr-ted
ttin toe evidence, being son./ negatrtt, If Mender,
sod the opposite arguments an not taken tat" ae-
* Uvs a e yw e cst.
* wv£if «rri tov i/L+vrw fff ppov w p*mp* «, % Kal
myt, it ht it lufye, x«M« ID* Cam. 1 Sign. Mor*.
■Xnm. H. Ui.
( TaVuw rijr rpl\ii4a *al tor rij« mtsmeot TpageAor.
science, or as become tuijwis through Uiing proved
by his own experience. The freedom with which
he fallows or rejects earlier opinions, has occa-
sioned him to be classed by some amongut the
eclectic school. His work is divided into — I. the
causes and signs of (1) acute, and (9) chronic dit-
and II. the curative treatment of (1) acute,
and (2) chronic diseases. His boldness of treat-
ment is exemplified in his selection of the rein to
be opened in a wide range of parts, the arm, ankle,
tongue, nose, etc. He first has a distinct mention
of leeches, which Themiaon is said to have intro-
duced; and in this respect his surgical resources
appear to be in advance of Celsus. He was familiar
with the operation for the stone in the bladder,
and prescribes, as Celsus also does, the use of the
catheter, where its insertion is not prevented by
inflammation, then the incision e into the neck of
the bladder, nearly as in modern lithotomy. His
views of the internal economy were a strange mix-
ture of truth and error, and the disuse of anatomy
was no doubt the reason why this was the weak
point of his teaching. He held that the work of
producing the blood pertained to the liver, " which
is the root of the veins; " that the bile was dis-
tributed from the gall bladder to the intestines;
and, if this vesica became gorged, the bile was
thrown back into the veins, and by them diffused
over the system. He regarded the nerves as the
source of sensation and motion; and had some no
tion of them as branching in pairs from the spine."
Thus he has a curious statement as regards paral
ysis, that in the case of any sensational point btkm,
the head, e. g. from the membrane of the spinal
marrow being affected injuriously, the parts on the
right side will be paralyzed if the nerve toward the
right side be hurt, and similarly, conversely, of toe
left side; but that if the head itself be so affected,
the inverse law of consequence holds oonoerning the
parts related, since each nerve passes over to the
other side from that of its origin, decussating each
other In the form of the letter X. The doctrine
of the Pneuma, or ethereal principle existing in
the microcosm by which the mind performs all the
functions of the body, holds a more prominent po-
sition in the works of Aretasus than in those of any
of the other authorities (Dr. Adams' pref. to Aret.
pp. x., xi.). He was aware that the nervous func-
tion of sensation was distinct from the motivs
power; that either might cease and the other oon
tinue. His pharmacopoeia is copious and reason-
able, and the limits of the usefulness of this or that
drug are laid down judiciously. He makes large
use of wine,* and prescribing the kind and the
number of egnthi to be taken ; and some words of
his on stomach disorders (rtpl itapSiaKytrit) forci-
bly recall those of St Paul to Timothy (1 Tim.
v. 33), and one might almost suppose them to havr
been suggested by the intenier spirituality of his
Jewish or Christian patients. "Such disorders,"
he says, " ore oommou to those who toil in teaching,
whose yearning is after divine instr.iction, who de-
d Sprengel (ub. tup. ir. 62-6) thinks that an appros-
imately right conception of the nervou* system was
attained by Hierophilus of the Alexandrian aohool of
medbtfae.
e Galen (J*Vy. v.) strenuously recommends the on
of wins to the aged, stating the wines bast adapted ts
them. Kven Plato (Leg. 11.) allows old men thus to
restore their youth, and oorrect the austerity of »•
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1862
MKDIOINB
aplse delicate and varied diet, whose nouriahment
U (eating, and whose drink ia water." And ai a
purge of melancholy be pracribea " a little vine,
and aome other more liberal sustenance." In hi*
essay on Knusut, or " brain " " brer, he describes
the power* acquired by the aoul before ill— nlnU«—
in the following remarkable worda: " Every sense
i* pure, the intellect acute, the gnoatic powers pro-
phetic; for they prognosticate to themselves in the
(rat place their own departure from life; then they
foretell what will afterwards take place to those
present, who fancy sometimes that they are delirious :
but these persons wonder at the result of what has
been said. Others, also, talk to certain of the dead,
perchance they alone perceiving them to be present,
in virtue of their acute and pure sense, or perchance
from their soul seeing beforehand, and announcing
the men with whom they are about to associate.
Kor formerly they were immersed in humors, as If
in mud and darkness ; but when the twins en haa
drained these off, and taken away the mist from
their eyes, they perceive those things which are in
the air, and through the soul being unencumbered
become true prophets." * To those who wish fur-
ther to pursue the study of medicine at this era,
tbe edition of Areteus by the Sydenham Society,
and in a leas degree that by Boerhenve (Lugd. Bat.
1735), to which the reference* have here been
made, may be recommended.
As the general science of medicine and surgery
of this period may be represented by Areteus, so we
have nearly a representation of its Materia Mtdica
by Dioacorides. He too was of the same general
region — a Ciliciau Greek, — and his first lessons
were probably learnt at Tarsus. His period u
tinged by the same uncertainty aa that of Are-
teus; but he has usually been assigned to tbe end
of tbe 1st or beginning of the 3d century (see Did.
of Biog. and Mylhol. s. v.). He was the first
author of high mark who devoted bis attention to
Materia Mtdica. Indeed, this branch of ancient
science remained as be left it till tbe times of the
Arabians: and these, though they enl-irged the
supply of drugs and pharmacy, yet copy and repeat
Dioscondes, as indeed Galea himself often does, on
all common subject-matter. Above 90 minerals,
TOO plants, and 168 animal substances, are said to
be described in tbe researches of Dioacorides, di*
playing an industry and skill which has remained
tbe marvel of all subsequent commentators. Pliny,
copious, rare, and curious as be is, yet for want of
scientific medical knowledge, is little esteemed in
this particular branch, save when he follows L)ioe-
<■ So Sir H. Halford lenders It, Bur VI., In which
tceur some valuable comments on the subject treated
jy Aretssus.
a Ant. dt Big*, ft Ocau. Mart. Ana. II. 4.
e To the authorities then adduced may be added
nme remarks by Michel l«5vy {Traitt tTHygitne,
US-!), who ascribes them to a plethoric state pro-
luclug a congestion of the veins of the rectum, end
'allowed by piles. Blood Is discharged from them
tsrlodksUy or continuously ; thus the plethora Is re-
lieved, and hence the ancient opinion that hemorrhoids
were beneficial. Sanguineous flux of the part may,
however, arise from other causes than these rariea —
■- a*, ulceration, cancer, etc., of rectum. Wunderbar
;K» -Mm. AW. Hi. 17 d) mentions a bloodless kind,
distinguished by the Talmudists ss even more danger-
MS, and these he supposes meant In 1 8am. v. To
Me* t* added (vl. 6, U, 18) a menrlni of ffH^??
MJCDIOIXK
eoridee, ["be third volume of /'mains yE/sa. (ed
Sydenham See. ) oontains a catalogue of medicinal
simple and compound, and tbe large proportioo ia
which tbe authority of Dioacorides has contribute*'
to form it, will be manifest at the moat cursory in
spection. To abridge such a subject ia impossible,
and to transcribe it in tbe moat meagre form would
be far beyond the limit* of this article.
Before proceeding to the examination of disease?
in detail, it may be well to observe that the ques
tion of identity between any ancient malady known
by description, and any modern one know by ex-
perience, is often doubtful. Some diseases, jest ai
some plants and some animals, will exist almost
anywhere; others can only be produced withis
narrow limits depending on the conditions of eL-
mate, habit, etc. ; and were only equal obeervatioii
applied to the two, the ItabiUU of a liases* might
be mapped as accurately as that of a plant. It ia
also possible that some diseases once extensive);
prevalent, may run their course and die oat, oi
occur only casually ; just aa it seems certain that,
since the Middle Ages, some maladies have been
introduced into Europe which were previously un-
known (BiHialh. Script Mtd. Genev. 1731, s. v.;
Hippocrates, Celsus, Galen; Leclerc's history of
Mtd. Par. 1793, tranal. Lond. 1699; Freind'a BU-
tury of Mtd.).
Eruptive diseases of the acuta kind are more
prevalent in the East than in colder climes. They
also run their course more rapidly ; e. o. common
itch, which in Scotland remains for a longer time
vesicular, becomes, in Syria, pustular as early some-
times as the third day. The origin of it is now
supposed to be an acarus, but the parasite perishes
when removed from the akin. Disease of various
kinds is commonly regarded as a divine infliction,
or denounced as a penalty for trans gre ss i on; " the
evil diseases of Egypt" (perhaps in reference to
some of the ten plagues) are especially to charac-
terized (Gen. xx. 18; Ex. xv. 26; Lev. xxvi. 16;
Deut. vii. 15, xxviii. 60; 1 Cor. xi. 90); so the
enierods (see Emkbods) c of the Philistines (1 Sam.
v. 6) ; the severe dysentery d (2 Chr. xxi. IS, 19) of
Jehoram, which was also epidemic [Blood, issue
of; and Kkvkk], the peculiar symptom of which
may perhaps have been prolnptuM am (Dr. Mason
Good, i. 311-13, mentions a case of the entire colon
exposed); or, perhaps, what is known aa diarrhcta
tuiminrit, formed by the coagulation of fibrine into
a membrane discharged from Jie inner coat of the
intestines, which takes the mould of the bowel, and
is thus expelled (Kitto, *. ». " D iseases "',; to the
(A. T. " mice ") : but according to Lichtensteln (In
Ktebborn's Bt'io'h. vl. 407-861 a venooiooi solpuga b
with some plausibility Intended, no large, and so sudIIsi
in form to a mouse, as to admit of itl being denomi-
nated by the same word. It Is said to destroy and
live upon scorpions, and to attack In the parts alluded
to. iiie reference given la Pliny, H. N. xxix. t ; but
Pliny give* merely tbe name, " solpuga : " the rest of
the statement finds no foundation In bun. See below,
p. 1867. Wunderbar (3tes «•/(, p. 19) haa anotfam
Interpretation of the " mice."
'' See a singular quotation from the Talmud (Mae
balh. 82), concerning the effect of tenesmus en xiu
sphincter, Wunderbar, Bib.- Tal. Mtd. 8t» Heft, p. 1!
The Talmudists say that those who die of such atek
nets a* Jehiraas't die painfully, but with fat ex*
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MEDICINE
death* of Er, Onan (Gen. xxxvUL 7, 10),
the Egyptian fint-bom (Ex. ri. 4, 6), Nabal, Bath-
•beba's nn, and Jeroboam's (1 Sam. xxr. 38; 3
■jam. xii IS; 1 K. xiv. 1, 5), are aaeribed to actiou
ttf Jehovah immediately, or through a prophet.
Pestilence (Ilab. iii. 5) attends his path (comp.
2 Sam. xxiv. 15), and is innoxious to those whom
He shelters (Pa. xci. 3-10). It is by Jeremiah.
Ksekiel, and Amos associated (as historically in 2
Sam. xxiv. 13) with " the sword " and " famine "
(Jer.xiv. 12, r*. 8, xxi. 7, 9. xxiv. 10, xxvii. 8, 14,
xxriii. 8, xxix. 17, 18, xxxii. 34, 36, xxxiv. 17,
nxriii. 3, xlii. 17, 32, xliv. 13; Et. v. 13, 17, vi
II, 12. rii. 15, xii. 16. xir. 21. xxxiii. 27; Am. iv.
i, 10). 'Die sicknesses of the widow's son of
"'.irephath, of Ahaziah. ltenhadad. the leprosy of
li/iah. the boil of Hezekiah, are also- noticed as
diamues sent by .Jehovah, or in which He interposed.
1 K. xvii. 17, 30; 3 K. i. 4, xx. 1. In 2 Sam. iii.
2!i, disease is invoked as a curse, and in Solomon's
prayer, 1 K. viii. 37 (comp. 3 Chr. xx. 9), antici-
pated as a chastisement. Job and his friends agree
in ascribing bis disease to divine infliction ; but the
latter urge his sins as the cause. ■ So, conversely,
the healing character of God is invoked or promised,
Ps. ri. 3, xii. 3, ciii. 3; Jer. xxx. 17. Satanic
agency appears also as procuring disease, Job ii. 7 ;
Luke xiii. 11, 16. Diseases are also mentioned ss
ordinary calamities, r. g. the sickness of old age,
headache (perhaps by sunstroke), ss that of the
.Shimamiuite'a son, that of Klisha, and that of Ben-
luidad, and that of .lomni, (ien. xlviii. 1; 1 Sam.
xxx. 13; 3 K. iv. 30, viii. ', 2J, xiii. 14; 2 Chr.
xxii. 6.
Among special diseases named in the O. Test, is
jphthalmia (Gen. xxix. 17, D?3y fYl vO!?). which
is perhaps more common in Syria and Egypt than
anywhere else in the world; especially in the fig
■etson," the juice of the newly-ripe fruit having
the power of giving it. It may occasion partial or
tutal blindness (2 K. vi. 18). Toe eye-salve (xoV
Kipiar, Key. iii. 18; llor. Sat. i.) was a remedy
common to Orientals, Greeks, and Romans (see
llippocr. KoMoipiey; Celsus, vi. 8, de oculorum
mures*, (3) de Jirtrnt cotlyriu). Other diseases
are — barrenness of women, which mandrakes were
MEDICINE
1868
* Comp Hlppoer. wrpl o^itoc. a. &^6aAfunf ™jc iirt-
mof koi erAqpiov fvf*$<p«t «a0ap<ric Kf<$aAqc «<u tijc
I4TH KCttAilfC.
* Possibly the pulmonary tnberculation of the West,
which Is not unknown in Syria, and common enough
hi Smyrna and In Egypt. The word njl]1t£7 ** ,nm
a root meanlne; " to waste away." In Zech. xiv. 12 a
plague t» described answering to this meaning — an
intense emaciation or atrophy ; although no link of
wiaetlon Is hinted at, sueh sometimes results from
•were Internal a bs cess e s.
* It should be noted that Hlppooratss. In his
Kpi*f*mK9, makes mention of fevers attended with
buonca. which affords presumption In favor of phujue
being not unknown. It Is at any rate as old ss the
l*t century, A. D- See Mitre* s Hipttocrales, torn. ii.
». 685, and 111. p. 6. The plague la referred to by
niters of the list century, namely, Posstdonius and
<* Their terms In the respective versions an : —
3"31. "H»*TP*«, sWsWm yawls,
HpTi Anjpi', impetigo.
• Ur saors probably blnnorrhao (mneous discharge).
supposed to have the power of correcting, (Geo. xx.
18; oomp. xii. 17, xxx. 1, 3, 14-16) — "consump-
tion," * and several, the names of which are derived
from various words, signifying to bum or to be hot
(Lev. xxvi. 16; Deut. xxriii. 38; see Fevek) ;
compare the kinds of fever distinguished by Hip-
pocrates as Ka9o*oT and wvp. The " burning boil,"
or "of a boil" (Lev. xiii. 83, Tl'f*'? ll 97^t
LXX. eiKh rov eAjtoui), U again merely marked
by the notion of an effect resembling that of fire,
like the Greek tpkryporfi, or our "carbuncle; " it
may possibly find an equivalent in the Damascus
boll of the present time. The " botch (VH?)
of Egypt" (Deut. xxviii. 37) is so vague a term as
to yield a most uncertain sense; the plague, as
known by its attendant bubo, has been suggested by
Scheuchzer.e It is possible that the KlephmUiimi
Uraoorum may be intended by V"!^P> understood
in the widest sense of a continued ulceration until
the whole body, or the portion affected, may be
regarded as one ^nip. Of this disease some
further notice will be taken below ; at present it is
observable that the same word is used to express
the "boil" of Hezekiah. This was certainly a
single locally confined eruption, and was probably
a carbuncle, one of which may well be fatal, though
a single " boil " in our sense of the word seldom
is so. Dr. Mead supposes it to bare been a fever
terminating in an abscess. The diseases rendered
"scab"'' and "scurvy" in Lev. xxi. 20, xxii. 22,
Deut. xxviii. 27, may be almost any skin disease,
such as those known under the names of lepra,
psoriasis, pityriasis, icthyosis, favus, or comnton
itch. Some of these may be said to approach tin
type of leprosy [Lephoby] as laid down in Scrip-
ture, although they do not appear to have involved
ceremonial defilement, but only a blemish disquali-
fying for the priestly office. The quality of being
incurable is added as a special curse, for these dis-
eases are not generally so, or at any rate are com-
mon in milder forms. The " running of the reins "
(Lev. xv. 2, 3, xxii. 4, marg.) may perhaps mean
gonorrluBi.' If we compare Num. xxv. 1, xxxi.
7 with Josh. xxii. 17, there is ground for thinking
The existence of gtmorrhaa in early times — save as
the mild form — has been much disputed. Mlehal
Levy {Trails U'Hygt.iu, p. 7) considers the afflrmaUre
as established by the above passage, and says of
syphilis, " Que poor ootre part, nous n'avons jamais
pu consider comme une nouveaubi du xr.« Steele. **
He certainly gives some strong historical er i d en ea
against the view that It was Introduced Into France
by Spanish troops under Oonsalvo tie Cordova on theh
return from the New World, and so Into the rest of
■Europe, where It was know- as the morons Gallic*'*
He adds, " La syphilis en' perdue eonfus&nent daw
la pathologfe anclenne pai la divendtd de see syrup*
Omes et de see alterations ; leur interpretation col-
lective, et leur redaction en une seule unite* morblle,
s fait crolre a liotroductioD d'nne maladie nouvellu."
9«o also Freind's History nfMnt., Dr. Head, MIchaells,
Reinhart (BiMkranUirilrn), Schmidt (BMischer Mrd.).
and others. WuaAvrbti (Bib.-Talm. Med. ill. 20, com-
menting on Lev. xv., and comparing Hishna, Zatnir.
II. 2, and Malmon. ail foe.) thinks that gtmonkaa
bnigna was In the mind of the latter writers. Dr.
Adams, the editor of Paid. JBri'n. (Sydenh. Soe. II. 14),
considers syphilis a modified form of elephantiasis
for at ancient notices of the ecraat* <tt>aaai see thai
I work, 1. 698 foil.
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1864
MEDICINE
that sonic disease of this class, derived from pol-
luting sexual intercourse, remained among the
people. Fhe '• issue " of Lev. zr. 19, may be
[IlLOoD I8BU7 Of] the menorrhagii, the duration
rf which in the Rut is sometimes, when not checked
by remedies, for an indefinite period (Matt ix. 20),
or uterine hemorrhage from other causes. In Deut.
zxriii. 35, is mentioned a disease attacking the
" knees and less," consisting in a " sore botch
which cannot 1« healed." but extended, In the
sequel of the verse, from the >' sole of the foot to
the top of the head." He latter part of the quo-
tation would certainly accord with Eltphantians
Ora c orum ; bat this, if the whole verse be a mere
continuation of one described malady, would be in
contradiction to the fact that this disease com-
mences in the face, not in the lower members. On
the other hand, a disease which affects the knees
and legs, or more commonly one of them only — its
principal feature being intumescence, distorting and
altering all the proportions — is by a mere accident
of language known as Elephantiasis" Arabian,
Rucnemia Tropica (Kayer, vol. iii. 820-841), or
" Uarhadoes kg," from being well known in that
island. Supposing, however, that the affection of
the knees and legs is something distinct, and that
the latter part of the description applies to the
KUphnnHnsU Gracorum^ the incurable and the
all-pervading character of the malady are well ex-
pressed by it. This disease is what now passes
under the name of " leprosy " (Michaelis, iii. 250)
— the lepers, e. g , of the huts near the Zion gate
of modern Jerusalem are elephantisiacs." It has
been asserted that there are two kinds, one painful,
the other painless; but as regards Syria and the
East this is contradicted. There the parts affected
are quite benumbed and lose sensation. It is classed
as a tubercular disease, not confined to the skin,
hut pervading the tissues and destroying the bones.
It is not confined to any age or either sex. It first
appears in general, but not always, about tbe face,
as an indurated nodule (hence it is improperly
called tubercular), which gradually enlarges, in*
llames, and ulcerates. Sometimes it commences
in the neck or arms. The ulcers will heal spon-
taneously, but only after a long period, and after
destroying a great deal of the neighboring parts.
If a Joint be attacked, the ulceration will go on till
its destruction is complete, tbe joints of finger, toe,
tte., dropping of one by one. Frightful dreams
and fetid breath are symptoms mentioned by some
pathologists. More nodules will develops them
(i The Arabs call Elephantiusit (iraeorum ^f ^\ ^-
(judAAm)^ mutilation, from the gradual dropping off
* tbe joints of the extremities. They give to E.
Album the name of JuuLm Ml), Di-vLfU —
morbus eltphas, from the leg when swelled resembling
that of tbe animal ; but the latter disease is quite dis-
tinct from the former.
» For Its ancient description see Celsns, ill. 25. de
Wrphantiasi. Galen (</« Arte Curator in ail G'aiicon,
lib. il. tit Cuncro el Etrph.) recommends viper's flesh,
(rives anecdotes of cases, and adds that the disorder
«l common in Alexandria. In Hippocr. (fVorrAeric.
H. of- Jut.) is mentioned »j vovim i) 4>0iirunj KaXeoiUvn,
Sot lc 'ha glossary of Galon is found, 4 twin's rower
• *«Ta ♦ou'iVin' *ai xara to dvaroAura pips wktova-
tmcrn. AnAovfffal be ftarravca 6o«c« 4 iXt+arruMTH.
- Bohllllng dt Lepra, Animadr. in Ouutthim ad
"Si. says, " persuasrun habeo lepram ab elephantJaal
wn dtfbrn nisi grade ; ad | xxlil. be illustrates Num.
MEDICINE
selves; and, If ihe face be the chief seat of the die
ease, it assume* a leonine 1 ' aspect, loathsome ami
hideous; tbe skin becomes thick, rugose, and livid'
the eyes are fierce and staring, and the hair gen-
erally falls off from all the parts affected. When
the throat is attacked the voice shares the affection,
and sinks to a hoarse, husky whisper. These twe
symptoms are eminently characteristic. The patient
will become bed-ridden, and, though a mass of
bodily corruption, seem happy and contented with
his sad condition, until sinking exhausted under
the ravages of the disease, he is generally carried
off, at least in Syria, by diarrhoea. It is hereditary,
and may be inoculated, but does not pmpagsie
itself by the closest contact; « e. g. two women in
the aforesaid leper-huts remained uncontaminated
though their husbands were both affected, and yet
tbe children born to them were, like the fathers,
elephantisiac, and became so in early life. On tlu
children of diseased parents a watch for the ap-
pearance of the malady is kept; but no one is afraid
of infection, and the neighbors mix freely with
them, though, like the lepers of the 0. T., they
live " in a several house." It became first prev-
alent in Europe during the crusades, and by then
means was diffused, and the ambiguity of desig-
nating it leprosy then originated, snd has beer
generally since retained. Pliny (Nat. UUL xxvi. 5;
asserts that it was unknown in Italy till the tiros
of I'ompey tbe Great, when it was imported froir
Kgypt, but soon became extinct (Paul. jEgin. ed
Sydenh. Soc. ii. 6). It is, however, broadly dis-
tinguished from tbe \4wpa, Ktvmj, etc. of tbt
Greeks by name and symptoms, no less than by
Roman medical and even popular writers; comp.
Lucretius, whose mention of it is the earliest —
« 1st elephas morbus, qui propter numlna NIH,
Oignltur JSgypto in media, ncque prssterea usquem."
It is nearly extinct in Europe, save in Spain and
Norway. A case was seen lately in the Crimea,
but may have been produced elsewhere. It prevails
in Turkey and the Greek Archipelago. One case,
however, indigenous in England, la recorded
amongst the medical mo-similes at Guy's Hospital.
In Granada it was generally fatal after eight or ten
years, whatever the treatment.
This favors the correspondence of this disease
with one of those evil diseases of Egypt,/ possibly
its " botch," threatened Deut. xxviii. 27, 85. This
•< botch," however, seems more probably to mean
the foul ulcer mentioned by Aretsnis (rfe Sign. A
Cam. Morb. Aeul. i. 9), and called by him iipSa
ill. 12, by hU own experience, in dissecting a woman
dead in childbed, as follows : " Corrupt! fetus dhnidia
l*.» in utero adhno hnnbat. Aperto ntero bun lm-
manls spargebator fetor, ut non solum onuses adstaatss
aufogaront," etc. He thinks that tbe point of Hoses'
simile Is the 111 odor, which be ascribes to lepers, «. s.
elephantislaca.
i Hence called also Leontinsii. Many have attr'b-
uted to these wretched creatures a l&ido inrrpltbdii
(see Proceeding* of Med. and Olirurg. Sor. of London
Jan. 1860, 111. 184, from which some of th> above re-
marks are taken). This is denied by Dr. Robert Baa
(from a close study of tbe disease In Jerusalem), savt
in so tar as Idleness and inactivity, with animal nana
supplied, may conduce to It.
' Jahn (Hob. Am. Upham's translation, p. 90S
denies this.
/ The editor of Paul. JSgin. (Sydenham Soctst, . >
14) is convinced that the syphilis of modern -ansa ■
modified form of the elephantlaat-
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEDICINE
>r taxtfl. He ucribe* its frequency in Egypt
a the mixed vegetable diet there followed, and to
the we of the turbid water of the Kile, but adda
that it is common in Casio-Syria. The Talmud
ipeaks of the Elephantiasis (Baba Kama, 80 o.) as
being «• moist without and dry within " ( Wunder-
bar, Bibtuch-Talmuduckt Med. 3tes Heft, 10, 11).
Advanced caaea are said to have a cancerous aspect,
md »me ■ even clan it as a form of cancer, a dis-
ease dependent on faulte of nutrition. It has been
varrted that this, which is perhaps the most dread-
ful disease of the East, was Job's malady. Origen,
Hatpin on Job ii. 7, mentions, that one of the
llreek versions gives it, toe. cit., as the affliction
which befell him- Wunderbar (ut tup. p. 10) sup-
poses it to have been the Tyrian leprosy, resting
chiefly on the itching * implied, as he supposes, by
Job ii. 7, 8. Schmidt (Biblitcher Med. iv. 4)
thinks the " sure boil " may indicate some graver c
disease, or concurrence of diseases. But there is
no need to go beyond the statement of Scripture,
which speaks not only of this " boil," but of " skin
loathsome and broken," " covered with worms and
clods of dust : '* the second symptom is the result
of the first, and the *• worms " are probably the
larva of some fly, known so to infest and make its
mdiu in any wound or sore exposed to the air, and
to increase rapidly in size. The " clods of dust "
would of course follow from his " sitting in ashes."
The " breath strange to his wife," if it be not a
figurative expression for her estrangement from
him, may imply a fetor, which in such a state of
body hardly requires explanation. The expression
■jy " bowels boiled " (xxx. 27) may refer to the
hunting sensation in the stomach and bowels, caused
Sv acrid bile, which is common in ague. Aretasus
'dt Car. Morb. Aeul. ii. 3) has a similar expres-
sion, ttpfixuriij Tov OYAtxyxftw otov airo wvp6s,
is attending syncope.
The " scaring dreams " and "terrifying visions "
ire perhaps a mere symptom " of the state of mind
bewildered by unaccountable afflictions. The in-
tense emaciation was (xxxiii. 31) perhaps the mere
result of protracted sickness.
The disease of king Antiochus (3 Mace. ix. 6-10,
fa- ) is that of a boil breeding worms (u/cim rer-
mtnonm). So Sulla, PherecynYs, and Alcraan the
poet, are mentioned (Plut vita Sullai) as similar
cms. The examples of both the Herods (Jos. Ant.
rrii. 6, 5 5, B. J. i. 33, § 5) may also be adduced,
is that of Pheretime (Herod, iv. 205). There is
some doubt whether this disease be not allied to
phthiriaaia, in which lice are bred, and cause ulcers.
This eonditioc mar originate either in a tore, or in
MBDICltfB
1865
i la the opinion of Dr B. Sim, expressed in a
efttla letter to the writer. But see a letter of bis to
ttU. Ifcwj and Qavtu, April 14, 1880.
* The suppuration, etc., of ulcers, appears at Isast
■a. tally likely to be intended.
<• He nan* Co Hlpp-wr. Lib. it Mid. torn. rill.
mSl^t*** C0T1 IWSMnfF.
* Hlppoerates meatlons, H. 614, ed. Kiihn, lips.
MM, as a symptom of fever, that the patient ^o/Wiru
i*& trvrrimf. See also 1. 592, vtpt Upifi vivtm . . .
Vtparc wrrftc xal $60<h.
■ Bayer, vol. 111. 808-819. gives a list or parasites,
suae of them la the skin. This " Ouinea-worm," It
teasers, la also found In Arabia Petnea, on the coasts
•* me Caspian and Persian Ouir, on the Ganges, In
Opsar ajgypt and Abyssinia (ft, 814). Dr. Mead refers
to jrro£u*. or Intestinal worms,
doe fbrndaaon, objscU that the
a morbid habit of body brought on by uncleanli-
ness, suppressed perspiration, or neglect; bat the
venuination, if it did not commence in a sore,
would produce one. Dr. Mason Good (iv. 604-6),
speaking of udAis, na\uurp6i = cutaneous ver-
mination, mentions a case in the Westminster In-
firmary, and an opinion that universal phthiriaajs
was no unfrequent disease among the ancients; be
also states (p. 500) that in gangrenous ulcers, es-
pecially in warm climates, innumerable grubs or
maggots will appear almost every morning. The
camel, and other creatures, are known to be the
habitat of similar parasites. There are also cases
of venuination without any wound or faulty out-
ward state, such aa the Vena Medinawt, knowt
in Africa as the Guinea-worm,'' of which Galen
had beard only, breeding under the skin and need-
ing to be drawn out carefully by a needle, lest it
break, when great soreness and suppuration succeed
(Freiud, Hist, of Med. i. 49 ; De Mandelalo's TVasv
eh, p. i j and Paul JSgm. t. iv. Sydenh. Soo. ed.).
In Deut. xxviii. 65, it is possible that a palpita-
tion of the heart is intended to be spoken of (comp
Gen, xlv. 36 ). In Mark ix. 17 (compare Luke ix.
38) we have an apparent case of epilepsy, shown
especially in the foaming, falling, wallowing, and
similar violent symptoms mentioned; this might
easily be a form of demoniacal manifestation. The
case of extreme hunger recorded 1 Sam. xiv. wai
merely the result of exhaustive fatigue; but it is
remarkable that the Bulimia of which Xenophon
speaks (Anab. iv. 6, 7) was remedied by an appli-
cation in which » honey " (comp. 1 Sam. xiv. 27)
was the chief ingredient.
Besides the common injuries of wounding, bruis-
ing, striking out eye, tooth, etc., we have in Ex.
ni. 23, the case of miscarriage produced by a blow,
push, etc., damaging the fetus.
The plague of " boils and blains " is not said to
have been fatal to man, as the murrain preceding
was to cattle; this alone would seem to contradict
the notion of Shapter {Medic. Saer. p. 113), that
the disorder in question was smallpox,/ which,
wherever it has appeared, until mitigated by vac-
cination, has been fatal to a great part, perhaps a
majority of those seized. The smallpox also gen-
erally takes some days to pronounce and mature,
which seems opposed to the Mosaic account. The
expression of Ex. ix. 10, a "boil " nourishing, or
ebullient with blains, may perhaps be a disease
analogous to phlegmonous erysipelas, or even com-
mon erysipelas, which is often accompanied by
vesications such as the word >' blains" might fitly
describe.*
word In that ease should have been not e-«iA*f , but
ciXij (Metliea Sacra, p. 188).
/ It has been much debated whether the smallpox
be an ancient disease. On the whole, perhaps, the
arguments In favor of Its not being such predominate,
chiefly on account of the strongly marked character
of the symptoms, which makes the negative anroment
of unusual weight.
9 r^ib rfwjyaj ,Yjtj>.
% This is Dr. Robert Sim's opinion. On compering,
however, the means used to produce the disorder (Ex
Ix. 8), an analogy is perceptible to what Is- eaUes
" bricklayer's itch," and therefore to leprosy. [Lsr-
BOST.] A disease Involving a white spot breaking terth
tram a boil related to leprosy, and olean or aaeieas
aceoTdlng tt symptoms specified, ooours aster It*
" (ana A 'eproay nVev. xdil. 18-3HL
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1866
MEDICINE
The " withered band " of Jeroboam (1 R. xiii.
1-6), end of the nun Matt. xii. 10-13 (oomp. Luke
ri. 10), is inch an effect aa ie known to follow from
the obliteration of the main artery of any member,
or from paralysis of the principal nerve, either
through disease or through injury. A case with a
ivmptom exactly parallel to that o f Jeroboam is
mentioned in the life of Gabriel, an Aiab physician.
It was that of a woman whose hand had become
rigid in the act of swinging," and remained in the
extended posture. The most remarkable feature in
the case, as related, is the remedy, which consisted
in alarm acting on the nerves, inducing a sudden
and spontaneous effort to use the limb — an effort
which, like that of the dumb son of Croesus (Herod,
i. 86), was paradoxically successful. The esse of
the widow's son restored by Elisha (2 K. ir. 19)
was probably one of sunstroke.
The disease of Asa "in his feet" (Schmidt,
Bibtischer Med. iii. 6, § 2), which attacked him
in his old age (1 K. xr. 23; 2 Ohr. xvi. 12) and
became exceeding great, may have been either
adema, swelling, or podagra, gout. The former
is common in aged persons, in whom, owing to the
difficulty of the return upwards of the sluggish
blood, its watery part stays in the feet. The latter,
though rare in the East at present, is mentioned
by the Talmudists (Sotah, 10 o, and Sankedrbi,
48 6), and there is no reason why it- may not have
been known in Asa's time. It occurs in Hippocr.
Apkor. vi., Prognotl. 16; Celsns, iv. 24; Aretseus,
Morb. Citron, ii. 12, and other ancient writers.*
In 1 Mace. ri. 8, occurs a mention of " sickness
of grief; " in Ecclus. xxxvii. 30, of sickness caused
by excess, which require only a passing mention.
The disease of Nebuchadnezzar has been viewed by
Jahn aa a mental and purely subjective malady.
It is not easy to see how this satisfies the plain
emphatic statement of Dan. iv. 33, which seems to
include, it is true, mental derangement, but to
assert a degraded bodily state c to some extent, and
a corresponding change of habits. We may regard
it aa Head [Med. Sacr. vii. ), following Burton's
Anatomy of Melancholy, does, as a species of the
melancholy known as Lycanthmpia d (Paului /Eoin.
iii. 16 ; Avicerma, iii. 1, 6, 22). Persons so affected
wander like wolves in sepulchres by night, and
imitate the howling of a wolf or a dog. Kurther,
there are well-attested accounts of wild or half-wild
human creatures, of either sex, who have lived aa
beasts, losing human consciousness, and acquiring
a superhuman ferocity, activity, and swiftness.
Either the lrcanthropic |«tients or these latter may
furnish a partial analogy to Nebuchadnezzar, in
regard to the various points of modified outward
appearance and habits ascribed to him. Nor would
« " Inter JactSQdura se iunlbus . . . ren.anwit ilia
(aianus) exteusa, its ut retrahere ipsam nrquiret
(Fretnd'l Hist. Med. ti. Append, p. 2).
b Seneca mentions It (Bfriu. 95) as an extreme note
nf the female depravity current In his own time, that
,rveu the female sex was become liable to gout.
c The " eagles' feathers " snd " birds' clawa " are
svrfcably ustd only in Illustration, not uervsaarily as
inscribing r new type to which the hair, etc., ap-
yroxmiated. Oomp. the simile of Ps. clli. 6, and that
it t K. v. It.
* Comp. Tlrg. Burnt, vtll. 97 : —
" Sapo lupnm fieri el M condere ■Hvta."
< The Targ. of Jonathan renders the Heb. KSSfV,
• I (teas. x. 10, by " he was mad or Insane " (Jahn,
, (■rhk'u's tranal. 212-18).
MEDICINE
It seem impossible that a sustained Ijcanlh.opia
might produce this latter condition.
Here should be noticed the mental malady of
Saul.' His melancholy seems to have bad its origin
in his sin ; it was therefore grounded in his moral
nature, but extended its effects, as commonly, tc
the intellectual. The "evil spirit from God,"
whatever it mean, was no part of the medical
features of his case, and may therefore be excluded
from the present notice. Music, which soothed
him for a while, has entered largely into the milder
modern treatment of lunacy.
The palsy meets us in the N. T. only, and in
features too familiar to need special remark. 'Hie
words " grievously tormented " (Matt. viii. 6) have
been commented on by Raier (dt Parol. 32), to
the effect that examples of acutely painful paralysis
are not wanting in modern pathology, e. y. when
paralysis is complicated with neuralgia. But if
this statement be viewed with doubt, we might
understand the Greek expression (0aacwi(ipifrc>t)
as used of paralysis agitana, or even of chorea/ (St
Vitus' dance), in both of which the patient, being
never still for a moment tare when asleep, might
well be so described. The woman's case who was
" bowed together " by " a spirit of infirmity," may
probably have been paralytic (l.uke xiii. 11). If
the dorsal muscles were affected, those of the chest
and abdomen, from want of resistance, would un-
dergo contraction, and thus cause the patient to
suffer as described.
Gangrene (yiyypauva, Celsus, vii. 33, dt yan-
grama), or mortification in its various forms, is a
totally different disorder from tbe " canker " of the
A. V. in 2 Tim. ii. 17. Both gangrene and cancer
were common in all the countries familiar to the
Scriptural writers, and neither differs from the mod-
em disease of the same name (Dr. M. Good, ii.
689, Ac., and 679, Ac).
In Is. xxvi. 18; Ps. vii. 14, there seems sn allu-
sion to false conception, in which, though attended
by pains of quasi-labor and other ordinary symp-
toms, the womb has been found unimpregnated,
and no delivery has followed. The medical term
(Dr. M. Good, iv. 188) Ipwriv/utTeHrii, mala rrn-
tma, suggests the Scriptural language, " we have as
it were brought forth wind; " the whole passage is
figurative for disappointment after great effort."
Poison, as a means of destroying life, hardly oc-
curs in the Bible, snve as applied to arrows (Job ri.
4). In Zech. xii. 2, the marg. gives "poison" as
an alternative rendering, which does not seem pref-
erable ; intoxication l«ing probably meant. In the
annals of the llerods poisons occur as the resource
of stealthy murder.*
/ Jahn (Upbiun's trans). 232) suggests that cramp,
twisting the lluib round as if in torture, may have
been Intended. This suits ^aowtfopepov, no doubt,
but not »a0oAim«oc.
j For an account of the complaint, see Paul JE*i».,
ed. 8yd Soc. i. p. 682.
» In Chwolson's VtbrrruU d. AUbab. Litrmttrr, 1
129, lbn WdhBehifiah's treatise on poisons contain!
references to several older writings by authors of other
nations on that subject. His commentator, Jarbuqa,
treats of the existence and effects of poisons and anti-
dotes, and in an independent work of his own tbu»
classifies the subject: (1) of poisons which kill at
sight (wenn sle man nnr anslebt) ; (2) of those whtct
Mil through sound (Schall oder Lam) ; (8) of the*
whleh kill by smelling; (4) of those whieh kin b)
reaching the Interior of the body ; (6) of three wnir*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEDICINE
The tjU or sting of venomous bout* can hardly
M treated at a disease; but in connection with the
■' fiery (i. e. venomous) aerpenta " of Num. xxi. 6,
and the deliverance from death of those bitten, it
itanwa a notice. Even the Talmud acknowledges
that the healing power lay not in the brazen ser-
pent itaelf. but " as soon as they feared the Most
High, and uplifted their hearts to their Heavenly
Father, they were healed, and in default of this were
brought to nought." Thus the brazen figure was
symbolical only; or, according to the lovers of
purely natural explanation, was the stage-trick to
cover a false miracle. It was customary to conse-
crate the image of the affliction, either in its cause
or in its effect, as in the golden emends, golden
Alice, of 1 Sam. vi 4, 8, and in the ex-votos com-
mon in Egypt even before the exodus ; and these
may be compared with this setting up of the brazen
serpent. Thus we hare in it only an instance or
the current custom, fanciful or superstitious, being
sublimed to a higher purpose.
The bite of a white she-mule, perhaps in the rub-
ting season, is according to the Talmudists fatal ;
and they also mention that of a mad dog, with cer-
tain symptom* by which to discern his state
(Wunderbar, utmp. 21). The scorpion and centi-
pede are natives of the Levant (Iter. ix. 6, 10), and,
with a large variety of serpents, (warm there. To
these, according to Lichtenstein, should be added
a venomous sulpuga," or lv^e spider, similar to the
Calabrian Tarantula; but the passage in Pliny' ad-
duced (//. AT. ixix. 29), gives no satisfactory ground
for the theory ba<ed upon it, that its bite was the
cause of the emerods- e It is, however, remarkable
that Pliny mentions with some fullness, a mus nrnn-
caw — not a spider resembling a mouse, but a mouse
mum bling a spider — the shrew-mouse, and called
araaeiis, ladorus J says from this resemblance, or
Yom its eating spiders. IU bite was venomous,
caused mortification of the part, and a spreading ul-
cer attended with inward griping pains, and when
sruahed on the wound was its own best antidote.*
The disease of old age has acquired a place in
Biblical nosology chiefly owing to the elegant alle-
gory into which " The Preacher "' throws the suc-
cessive tokens of the ravage of time on man (EccL
xii.). The symptoms enumerated have each their
significance for the physician, for, though his art
can do little to arrest them, they yet mark an
kill by contact, with special mention of the poisoning
a Camp. Lncan, Pharsatia, Ix. 887-8 : "Quisealeara
tuas ttafeeat solpuga latebms," ate.
6 His words an : " Est et fbrmlearum genus rene-
natom, non tenia Italia: solpugas Cicero appeliat."
c He says that tbe solpuga causes such swellings on
(he parts of the female camel, and that they an called
ay hm same word to Arable as the Heb. D^ty,
SUA simply means "swellings." He supposes the
assn might hare been " rersetst bei der Befriedlgung
nat&rlfteber Bedfli fiilsafi." He seems not to bare given
diss weight to the expression of 1 8am. rl. 6, « mire
which mar the bind," which seems to distinguish the
* land " from tbe people in a way fatal to the inge-
tioos notion he supports. For the multiplication of
bees and similar crestnrea to an extraordinary and
•rial degree, eomp Varro, Fragm. ap. jta. " M Tarro
error est, a ennlcults suflbsaum in Hlspanli oppldum,
talsas In Thiesslll, ah ranis etrltatsm In Gallia pul-
•ua, ab loenstls In Africa, ex Gyaro Oyoladum insula
ssotas a muribux ftfalm."
4 Hfc) words an:" U
MEDICINE 1867
altered ooLdition calling for a treatment of its own.
•' The Preacher " divides tbe sum of human ex-
istence into that period which involves every
mode of growth, and that which involves every
mode of decline. The first reaches from the point
of birth or even of generation, onwards to the
attainment of the "grand climacteric," and .the
second from that epoch backwards through a cor-
responding period of decline till the point of disso-
lution is reached. / This latter course is marked in
metaphor by tbe darkening of the great lights of
nature, and the ensuing season of life is compared
to the broken weather of the wet season, setting in
when summer is gone, when after every shower
fresh clouds are in tbe sky, as contrasted with tin
showers of other seasons, which pass away ink.
clearness. Such he means are the ailments am'
troubles of declining age, as compared with thott
of advancing life. The " keepers of the house "
are perhaps the ribs which support the frame, oi
the arms and shoulders which enwrap and protect
it. Their " trembling, " especially that of the arms,
etc, is a sure sign of vigor past. The " strong
men " are its supporters, the lower limbs " bowing
themselves '" under the weight they once so lightly
bore. Tbe " grinding " hardly needs to be ex-
plained of the teeth now become "few." The
" lookers from the windows " are the pupils of the
eyes, now " darkened," as Isaac's were, and Eli's;
and Moses, though spared the dimness, was yet in
that very exemption a marvel (Gen. xxvii., eomp.
xlviii. 10; 1 Sam, ir. 16; Deut. xxxiv. 7). The
" doors shut " represent the dullness of those other
senses which are the portals of knowledge; thus
the taste and smell, as in the case of Barzillai, be-
come impaired, and tbe ears stopped against sound
The " rising up at the voice of a bird " portrays
the light, soon-fleeting, easily-broken slumber of the
aged man ; or possibly, and more literally, actual
waking in the early morning, when first the cook
crows, may be intended. The "daughters of
music brought low," suggest the
" Big manly voice
Now turn'd again to childish treble;"
and also, as illustrated again by Barzillai, the failure
in the discernment and the utterance of musical
notes. The fears of old age are next noticed:
" They shall be afraid of tint which it high ; " t an
morttur est In Sardinia animal perexlgunm aranrat
forma quae soUfuga didtur, eo quod diem fogtat '
(One. j* 8).
' As regards the scorpion, this beuef and pried™
stiU unveils In Palestine. PUny says (H. J. xxta
27), after prescribing the ashes of a nun's hoof, young
of a weasel, etc., "si Jumenta memorderit mus (t. #
araneus) receus cum sale Imponitor, aut ftl reaper*!!
tools ex aceto. Et Ipse mus areneue eontn se remedk
est dlvulsus et unposltus," etc. In cold climates, II
seems, the venom of the shrew-mouse Is not pernor
tible.
/ These an respectively called the rpVsn ^B*
and the TTTDVn ""D^ of the Rabbins (Wundertau
2tes Heft). The same Idea appears In 8oph. Iramia.
a Or, even more simply, these words may be under
stood as meaning that old men have neither vigor dm
breath tor going up hills, mountains, or anything else
that Is " high ; " nay, for them the plain, even read
has its terrors — tbisy walk timidly and eeattcnsij
even along that
Digitized by VjOOQlC
lo68 medicine
ibscure expression, perhaps, for what are popularly
called "nervoua" terror*, exaggerating and mag-
nifying every object of alarm, and "making,"
u the saying ii, " mountains of molehills." " Fear
in the way " " is at first less obvious ; but we ob
serve that nothing unnerves and agitates an old
person more than the prospec t of a long journey.
Thus regarded, it becomes a fine and subtile touch
In the description of decrepitude. AU readiness to
haste is arrested, and a numb despondency succeeds.
The "flourishing" of "the almond- tree " ia still
more obscure; but we observe this tree in Palestine
blossoming when othen show no sign of vegetation,
sua when it is dead winter all around — no ill type,
perhaps, of the old man who has survived his own
contemporaries and many of his juniors.' Youth-
hi lusts die out, and their organs, of which " the
grasshopper " * is perhaps a figure, are relaxed.
The " silver cord " may be that of nervous sensa-
tion,' or motion, or even the spinal marrow itself.
Perhaps some incapacity of retention may be signi-
fied by the " golden bowl broken ; " the " pitcher
broken at the well" suggests some vital supply
stopping at the usual source — derangement per-
haps of the digestion or of the respiration; the
■' wheel shivered at the cistern," conveys, through
the image of the water-lifting process familiar in
irrigation, the notion of the blood, pumped, as it
were, through the vessels, and fertilizing the whole
system ; for " the blood is the life."
This careful register of the tokens of decline
might lead us to expect great care for the preserva-
tion of health and strength; and this indeed Is
found to mark the Mosaic system, in the regulations
concerning diet, • the "divers washings," and the
pollution imputed to a corpse — nay, even in cir-
cumcision itself. These served not only the cere-
monial purpose of imparting self-consciousness to
the Hebrew, and keeping him distinct from alien
admixture, but had a sanitary aspect of rare wis-
dom, when we regard the country, the climate, and
theage. The lawsof diet had the effect of tempering
by a just admixture of the organic substances of the
animal and vegetable kingdoms the regimen of He-
brew families, and thus providing for the rigor of
future ages, as well as checking the stimulus which
the predominant use of animal food gives to the
passions. To these effects may be ascribed the
immunity often enjoyed by the Hebrew race/
amidst epidemics devastating the countries of their
sojourn. The best and often the sole possible exer-
cise of medicine is to prevent disease. Moses could
not legislate for cure, but his rubs did for the
great mass of the people what no therapeutics how-
ever consummate could do, — they gave the best
security for the public health by provisions incor-
* Compare also perhaps the dictum of the slothful
■mi, Ptov. axil. 18, « Then la a Uou la the way."
» In the sum strain Juvenal (Bat. x. 248-6) says :
•' tlate deu parol din vlventibus, ut renovate
Semper clad* domua, mnlus In locrjbua Inque
Perpctuo mcarore et nigra veite MnetcanL"
c Dr. Head (Med. Satr. Til.) thinks that the scro-
tum, ewotn by a rupture, la perhaps meant to be typ-
ified by the shape of the grasshopper. He renders the
Hebrew 3}lTn VsfJP, , l after the LXX. <*«.-
rii»0T|$ Ajcpfe.Vulg. impiiguabitm lociuia. Comp.
iter. OoVj, II. rl. 7, 8.
«" We And hints of the nerves proceeding In pain
kom the brain, both In the Talmudteal writers and hi
See below In the text.
MEDICINE
pirated in the public economy. Whether we re-
gard tho laws which secluded the leper, as designed
to prevent infection or repress the dread of it, their
wisdom ia nearly equal, for of all terrors the imagin-
ary are the most terrible. The laws restricting mar-
riage have in general a similar teudency, degeneracy
being the penalty of a departure from those which
forbid commixture of near kin. Michel Llvy re-
marks on the salubrious tendency of the law of
marital separation (I.ev. xv.) imposed (Levy, TraiU
crHyyiint, p. 8). The precept also concerning
purity on the necessary occasions in a desert en-
campment (Out xxiii. 12-14), enjoin.ng the re-
turn of the elements of productiveness to the soil,
would probably become the basis of the municipal
regulations having for their object a similar purity
in towns. The consequences of its neglect in such
encampments ia shown by an example quoted by
Michel Llvy, as mentioned by M. de Lamartine
(ib. 8, 9). Length of life was regarded as a mark
of divine favor, and the divine legislator had pointed
out the means of ordinarily insuring a fuller mea-
sure of it to the people at large than could, accord-
ing to physical laws, otherwise le hoped for. Per-
haps the extraordinary means taken tu prolong vital-
ity may be referred to this source (1 K. i. 2), and
there is no reason why the case of David should he
deemed a singular one. We may also compare the
apparent influence of vital warmth enhanced to a
miraculous degree, but having, perhaps, a physical
law as its basis, in the cases of Elgah, Eliaha, and
the tons of the widow of Zarephnth, and the
Shunammite. Wunderbar? has collected several
examples of such influence similarly exerted, which
however he seems to exaggerate to an absurd pitch.
Yet it would seem not against analogy to suppose,
that, as pernicious exhalations, miasmata, etc., may
pass from the sick and affect the healthy, at< there
should he a reciprocal action in favor of health
The climate of Palestine afforded a great range of
temperature within a narrow compass, — e . g. a long
sea-coast, a long deep valley (that of the Jordan ),
a broad flat plain (Ksdraelon), a large portion of
table-land (Judah and F.phraim), and the higher
elevations of Cnrmel, Talior, the lesser and greater
llermon, etc. Thus it partakes of nearly all sup-
portable climates.* In October its rainy season
begins with moist westerly winds. In November
the trees are bare. In December snow and ice are
often found, but never lie long, and only during the
north wind's prevalence. The cold disappears at
the end of February, and the " latter rain " sets in,
lasting through March to the middle of April, when
thunder-storms are common, torrents swell, and the
heat rises in the low grounds. At the end of April
the hot season begins, but preserves moderation till
« Michel Levy quotes Halle aa acknowledging the
salutary character of the prohibition to eat pork, which
be says la " sujet a one alteration du tiwu gralaseux
tree analogue a la degenereecence lepreuee."
/ This was said of the Jews In London during the
cholera attack of 1848.
» BM,,ch- Talmud. Mtd. 2t*» Heft, I. D. pp. 16-17.
He speaks of the result ensuing from shaking hands
with one's Mends, etc.
a The pncawwrlon of an abundance of salt tended to
banish much disease (Ps. Ix. (title) ; 2 Sam. vlil. 18 ; 1
Chr. xrili. 12). Salt-pits (Zeph. U. 9) are still dug bv
the Arabe on the shore of the Dead Sea. For the net
of aalt to a new-bora intant, Sa art. 4, coin p. (ialea
d> Smii. lib. 1. cap. 7.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MBDIOINB
June, thence till September becomes extreme; and
during all thii period rain seldom oceun, but often
heavy dews prevail. In September it commences
to be cool, first at night, and sometimes the rain
begins to fill at the end of it. The migration with
the season from an inland to a sea-coast position,
from low to high ground, etc., was a point of social
development never systematically reached during
the Scriptural history of Palestine. But men in-
habiting the same regions for centuries oould hardly
fail to notice the connection between the air and
moisture of a place and human health, and those
savored by circumstances would certainly turn their
knowledge to account. The Talmudiata speak of
the north wind as preservative of life, and the south
and east winds ss exhaustive, but the south as the
■cost insupportable of all, coming hot and dry from
the deserts, producing abortion, tainting the babe
yet unborn, and corroding the pearls in the sea.
Farther, they dissuade from performing circumcis-
ion or venesection during its prevalence (Jtbnmoth,
73 o, op. Wunderbar, 2tes Heft, it A.). It is
stated that " the marriage-bed placed between north
and south will be blessed with male issue "
(BsracAotA, 14, »«.), which may. Wunderbar thinks,
be interpreted of the temperature when moderate,
and in neither extreme (which these winds respect-
ively represent), as most favoring fecundity. If the
feet be so, it is more probably related to the phe-
nomena of magnetism, in connection with which
the same theory has been lately revived. A num-
ber of precepts are given by the same authorities
in reference to health, e. g. eating slowly, not con-
tracting a sedentary habit, regularity in natural
operations, cheerfulness of temperament, due sleep
(especially early morning sleep is recommended),
but not somnolence by day (Wunderbar, ut tap.).
The rite of circumcision, besides its special sur-
gical operation, deserves some notice in connection
with the general question of the health, longevity,
and fecundity of the race with whose history it is
identified. Besides being a mark of the covenant
and a symbol of purity, it was perhaps also a pro-
test against the phallus-worship, which bas a re-
mote antiquity in the corruption of mankind, and
of which we have some trace in the Egyptian myth
of Osiris. It has been asserted also ( Wunderbar,
3tes Heft, p. 35), that it distinctly contributed to
increase the fruitfulnese of the race, and to check
inordinate desires in the individual. Its beneficial
•fleets in such a climate as that of Egypt and Syria,
is tending to promote cleanliness, to prevent or re-
duce irritation, and thereby to stop the way against
various disorders, have been the subject of comment
to various writers on hygiene." In particular a
troublesome and sometimes fatal kind of boil (pkg-
MEDIOIHB
1869
a gee some remarks la Michel Levy, Traitt ifliy-
l Unr, Paris, 1860 : " Wen d* plus rabutant que oatte
sorts de melproprete, rten ds plus favorable au devel-
eppemeat des seddents syphlUtiquas.'' Circumcision
Is ssid to be also praeueed among the natives of Mad-
" qui os peraissent avoir auoune notion du
i dI du Mahometisme " (p. 11, note).
e There Is a good modern seoount of clroumciaiaa
• the DtMin Medical Pna, Hay 19, 1868, by Dr.
i Hlrachbld (from Oatmith. ZriiKhrift).
- Known as the "THn, a word meaning- " cut
d Called the 3nD, nwm JTTS, « to expose.'-
' Osiwd Msatse, from ^SO, " to sue*." This
acoussweasd a tendency to ii
moiii and paraphymotit) is mentioned as occurring
commonly in those regions, but only to the uncir-
cumcised. It is stated by Josephus ( Cont. Ap. ii.
13) that Apion, against whom he wrote, having at
first derided circumcision, was circumcised of ne-
cessity by reason of such a boil, of which, after
suffering great pain, he died. Philo also appears
to speak of the same benefit when he speaks of the
" anthrax " infesting those who retain the foreskin.
Medical authorities have also stated that the ca-
pacity of imbibing syphilitic virus is less, and
that this has been proved experimentally by com-
paring Jewish with other, e. g. Christian popula-
tions (Wunderbar, 3tes Heft, p. 37). The opera-
tion itself * consisted of originally a mere • incision .
to which a further stripping <* off the skin from tin
part, and a custom of sucking • the blood from the
wound was in a later period added, owing to the
attempts of Jews of the Maccabeen period, and
later (1 Mace. 1. 15; Joseph. Ant. xii. 5, $ 1:
oomp. 1 Cor. vii. 18) to cultivate heathen practices.
[Cikcvmcision.] The reduction of the remain-
ing portion of the pneputium after the more simple
operation, so as to cover what it had exposed,
known as tpupatmut, accomplished by the elasticity
of the skin itself, was what this anti-Judaic prac
tice sought to effect, and what the later, more com
plicated and severe, operation frustrated. To these
were subjoined the use of the warm-bath, before
and after the operation, pounded cummin as a styp-
tic, and a mixture of wine and oil to heal the
wound. It is remarkable that the tightly swathed
rollers which formed the first covering of the new-
born child (Luke ii. 7) are still retained among
modern Jews at the circumcision of a child, effec-
tually preventing any movement of the body or
limbs (Wunderbar/ p. 39). No surgical operation
beyond this finds a place iu Holy Scripture, unless
indeed that adverted to under the article Eunuch.
[Eunuch.] The Talmudiste speak of two opera-
tions to assist birth, one known as I IJJ*lfJ
]2nn (gittrotomin), and intended to assist
parturition, not necessarily fatal to the mother;
the other known as }t52n H^lp (hgtttroto-
mia, ttclio counrea), which was seldom practiced
save in the case of death in the crisis of labor, or
if attempted on the living, was either fatal, or at
least destructive of the powers of maternity. An
operation is also mentioned by the same author-
ities having for its object the extraction piecemeal
of an otherwise inextricable fetus (ibid. pp. 63,
Ac.). Wunderbar enumerates from the Mishits
and Talmud fifty* i surgical instruments or pieces
of apparatus; of these, however, the following only
are at all alluded to in Scripture.' A cutting in
/ This writer gives a full aeeount of the entb .
process as now In practice, with illustrations from tin
Turkish mode of operating, gathered. It seems, from
a fragment of a rare work on the healing art by ar
anonymous Turkish author of the 16th century, in
the public library at Lslpric. Th« Persians, Tartar"
etc.. have famished him with further illustrations.
a Tet It by no means follows that the rest were not
known In Scriptural times, " It being a well-known
fact in the hu*ory of Inventions that many useful lis
coverlet have long been kept as family sscrwU." Thus
an obstetrical forceps wsa found In a bouse «xoevaiad
at Pompeii, though the Greeks and Romans, m no- as
their medical works show, were unacquainted with
toe Instrnmsnt (Paul At. 1. 663, ad. Sydenham See.)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1870
MEDICINE
stroaoent, called "112, roppoeed a " sharp stone "
(Ex. ir. 35). 8uch m probably the Ethiopian
■tone '.' mentioned by Herodotus (ii. 86), and I'liuy
speaks of what he calls Tula tamia, as a sim-
ilar implement. Zipporah seems to have caught
up the fint imtrument which came to hand in her
apprehension for the life of her husband. The
u knife *• (nb3MO) of Joah. r.inu probably a
more refined instrument for the same purpose. An
"awl" (SX~1D) it mentioned (Ex. xxi. S) as
oeed to bore through the ear of the bondman wbo
Refused release, and is supposed to have been a sur-
gical instrument.
A seat of delivery called in Scripture D^33M,
Kx. 1. 16, by the Talmudists "OB7E (eomp. 2 K.
six. 8), "the stools;" but some have doubted
whether the word used by Moses does not mean
rather the uterus itself as that which moulds « and
shapes the infant. Delivery upon a seat or stool
is, however, a common practice in France at this
lay, and also In Palestine.
The " roller to bind " of Ex. xxx. 21 was for a
broken limb, as still used. Similar bands wound
with the most precise accuracy involve the mum-
mies.
A scraper (D"in), for which the " potsherd " of
Job was a substitute (Job ii. 8).
Ex. xxx. 23-5 is a prescription in form. It may
be worth while also to enumerate the leading suh
stances which, according to Wunderbar, composed
the pharmacopoeia of the Talmudists — a much
more limited one — which will afford some insight
into the distance which separates them from the
leaders of Greek medicine. Besides such ordinary
appliances as water, wine (Luke x. 34), beer, vin-
egar, honey, and milk, various oils are found; as
opob&lsamuni 6 ("balm of Gilead"), the oil of
olive ,* myrrh, rose, palma christi, walnut, sesamum,
colocynth, and fish; figs (2 K. xx. 7), dates, apples
(Cant. ii. 5), pomegranates, pistachio-nuts,'' >and
almonds (a produce of Syria, but not of Egypt,
Gen. xliii. 11); wheat, barley, and various other
giains; garlic, leeks, onions, and some other com-
mon herbs; mustard, pepper, coriander seed, gin-
ga, preparations of beet, fish, etc., steeped in wine
or vinegar; whey, eggs, salt, wax, and suet (in
pUisters), gall of fish* (Tob. vi. 8, xi. 11), ashes,
cowdung, etc. ; fasting-saliva,/ urine, bat's blood,
and the following rarer herbs, etc.: ammeitUion,
ou-ita gtntilu, saffron, mandragora, Lnvnonia spi-
•w (Arab, nlhemui), juniper, broom, poppy, acacia,
pine, lavender or rosemary, clover-root, jujub, hys-
sop, fern, tampmchum, milk-thistle, laurel, Amen
MEDICINE
snwwSs, absynth, Jasmine, narcissus, madder, curie*
mint, fennel, endive, oil of cotton, myrtle, myrrh,
aloes, sweet cane (Aoomt calnmw), cinnamon, ea-
netti alba, cassia, ladanum, galiamtm, frankin-
cense, ttoraz, nard, gum of various trees, musk,
biatta bytantina ; and these minerals — bitumen
natrum, borax, alum, clay, aetites,' quicksilver
litharge, yellow arsenic. The following prepara
tions were also well known : Thtriacat, an antidote
prepared from serpents; various medicinal drinks,
e. g. from the fruit-bearing rosemary; decoction
of wiue with vegetables; mixture of wine, honey,
and pepper; of oil, wine, and water; of asparagus
and other roots steeped in wine; emetics, purging
draughts, soporifics, potions to produce abortion or
fruit fulness; and various salves, some used cosmet-
ically,* e. g. to remove hair; some for wounds, and
other injuries.' The forma of medicaments wen
cataplasm, electuary, liniment, plaister (Is. i. 6;
Jer. viii. 22, xlvi. 11, li. 8; Joseph. B. J. i. JO,
§ 6), powder, infusion, decoction, essence, syrup,
mixture.
An occasional trace occurs of some ehemiea!
knowledge, e. y. the calcination of the gold by
Hoses ; the effect of " vinegar upon nitre " * (Ex.
xxxii. 20; Prov. xxv. 20; eomp. Jer. ii. 29); the
mention of " the apothecary " (Ex. xxx. 35; Eeel.
x. 1 ), and of the merchant in " powders " (Cant,
iii. 6), shows that a distinct and important branch
of trade was set up in these wares, in which, as at
a modem druggist's, articles of luxury, etc., ere
combined with the remedies of sickness; see further, ■
Wunderbar, lstes Heft, pp. 73, ad Jin. Among the
most favorite of external remedies has always been
the bath. As a preventive of numerous disorders
its virtues were known to the Egyptians, and the
scrupulous levitical bathings prescribed by Hoses
would merely enjoin the continuance of a practice
familiar to the Jews, from the example especially of
the priests in that country. Besides the signifi-
cance of moral purity which it carried, the use of
the bath checked the tendency to become unclean
by violent perspirations from within and effluvia
from without; it kept the porous system in play,
and stopped the outset of much disease. In order
to make the sanction of health more solemn, most
oriental nations have enforced purificatory rites by
religious mandates — and so the Jews. A treatise
collecting all the dicta of ancient medicine on the
use of the bath has been current ever since the re-
vival of learning, under the title Dt Bnlntit, Ac-
cording to it Hippocrates and Galen prescribe the
bath medicinally in peripneumonia rather than in
burning fever, as tending to allay the pain of the
sides, chest, and back, promoting various secre-
tions, removing lassitude, and suppling joints
A hot bath is recommended for those suffering
a In Jer. xrlil. 8 the same word appears, rendered
wheels "in the A. V. ; margin, " frames or seat* ; "
that which gives shape to the work of the potter.
° Bee Tads. Hilt. v. 7, and Oralll's note ad lot.
« Tactttu, ttwt. v. 6.
d Commanded by Puny as a specific for the bite of
serpent (Pun. H. N. xxlil. 78).
« Bhaats speaks of a fish named wool, the gall of
ihtoh healed Inflamed eyas (tx. 27) ; sad Pliny says,
' CaUknyml art cicatrices aanat et oaraes ooulorum
■opervaeuas eonsumlt " (N. H. xxxli. 24).
/ Oomp. Mark Till. 28, John. lx. G ; also the men-
Jon by TeeiUs (JXtt. It. 81) of a request mads of
Tasfaslaii at Alexandria. Galen (Of Sim ft. Fatult
1. 10) and Pliny (« N. xxviil. 71 ascribe similar vir-
tues to It
» Said by Pliny to be a specific against abcrtkaa
(JV. II. xxx. 44).
* Antimony was and la used as a dye for the eye-
lids, the kahot. Sea BosenmUUor in the BUxkml Che-
iiifl, xxvii. 65.
' The Arabs suppose that a oomelian atone (tht
Sardiut lapis, E» xxvlll. 13, but In Joseph. JM. Hi
7, J 6, Sardonyx), laid m a frsah wound, will stai
hemorrhage.
* *inj) meaning nation: the Egyptian kind wai
found In 'two lakes between Naukratls and Memphis
(Sal. Cat. xxvU. p. TV
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEIHGINE
from lichen {De Bala. 464). Than, on the eon-
trsry, who hare looseness of the bowels, who ire
languid, loathe their food, are troubled with nausea
it bile, ehonld not use it, aa neither should the
epileptic. After exhausting Journeys in the sun
the hath is commended as the restorative of mois-
ture to the frame (466-458). The four objects
which ancient authorities chiefly proposed to attain
by bathing are — 1, to warm and distil the ele-
ments of the body throughout the whole frame, to
equalize whatever is abnormal, to rarefy the skin,
and promote evacuations through it; 2, to reduce
a dry to a moiater habit; 3 (the cold-bath), to
cool the frame and brace it; 4 (the warm bath),
a sudorific to expel cold. Exercise before bathing
U recommended, sod in the season from April till
November inclusive it is the most conducive to
health; if it be kept up in the other months it
should then be but once a week, and that tasting.
Of natural waters some are nitrous, some saliue,
some aluminous,' some sulphureous, some bitu-
minous, some oopperish. some ferruginous, and
some compounded of these. Of all the natural
waters the power is, on the whole, deaiccaut and
calefacient; and they are peculiarly fitted for those
of a humid and cold bsbit- Pliny (//. A r . xxxi.)
give* the fullest extant account of the thermal
springs of the ancier.ts (Paid. jEg'm. ed. Sydenh.
Soc. i. 71). Avicenna gives precepts for salt and
other mineral baths ; the former he recommends in
case of scurvy and itching, as rarefying the skin,
snd afterwards condensing it. Water medicated
with ahim, natron, sulphur, naphtha, iron, litharge,
vitriol, and vinegar, are also specified by him.
Friction and unction are prescribed, and a caution
given against staying too long in the water (MA
338-340; eomp. Aetius, de Bnln. iv. 484). A sick
batlwr should lie quiet, and allow others to rub and
anoint him, and use no strigil (the common instru-
ment for scraping the skin), but a sponge (456).
Maimonkles chiefly following Galen, recommends
the bath, especially for phthisis in the aged, as
bong a ease of dryness with cold habit, and to a
hectic fever patient as being a case of dryness with
hot habit; also in cases of ephemeral and tertian
fevers, under certain restrictions, and in putrid
fevers, with the caution not to incur shivering.
Bathing is dangerous to those who fed p-un in the
Bver after eating. He adds cautions regarding the
kind of Hater, but these relate chiefly to water for
drinking (De Bain. 438, 439). The bath of oil i
formed, according to Galen and Aetius, by adding
the fifth part of heated oil to a water-bath. Jose-
pfans speaks (B. J. i. 33, § 5) aa though oil had
m Herod's case, been used pure.
There were special occasions on which the hath
•vsw ceremonially enjoined, after a leprous eruption
mled, sfter the conjugal act, or an involuntary
illusion, or any gonorrhoea] discharge, after men-
struation, child-bed, or touching a corpse; so for
the priests before and during their times of office
such a duty wss prescribed. [Baths.] The
Pharisees and Essence aimed at scrupulous strict-
teas of all such rules (Matt- xv. 2; Mark vii. 6;
MEDICINE 1871
Luke xi 18). Uiver- bathing* was conjnon, but
houses soon began to include a bath-room (Lev. xt.
13; 8 K. v. 10; 2 Sam. xi. 2; Susanna, p. 16).
Vapor-baths, as among the Romans, were latterly
included in these, ss well ss hot snd cold-bath
apparatus, and the use of perfumes and oils after
quitting it was everywhere diffused (Wunderbsr,
2 U> Heft, ii. B.). The vapor was sometimes sought
to be inhaled, though this was reputed mischievous
to the teeth. It wss deemed healthiest after a
warm to take also a cold bath {Paxil. jEgin. ed.
Sydenh. Soc i. 08). The Talmud has it— "Whose
takes a worm-bath, and does not also drink there-
upon some warm water, is like a stove hot only froir.
without, but not heated also from within. WhoM
bathes snd does not withal anoint is like the liquor
outside a vat. Whoso having bad a warm-caUi
does not also immediately pour cold water over
him, is like an iron made to glow in the fire, but
not thereafter hardened in the water." This suc-
cession of cold water to hot vapor is commonly
practiced in Russian and Polish baths, and is said
to contribute much to robust health (Wunderbsr,
Hid.).
Besides the usual authorities on Hebrew antiqul
ties, Tahnudlcal and modern, Wunderbsr (!»<«•
Heft, pp. 57-69) ha* compiled a collection of
writers on the special subject of Scriptural etc.
medicine, including its psychological and botanical
aspects, as also its political relations: a distinct
section of thirteen monographs treats of the leprosy ;
and every various disease mentioned in Scripture
appears elaborated in one or more such short trea-
tises. Those out of the whole number which appear
most generally in esteem, to judge from references
made to them, are the following: —
RoeenmuUer'a Natural History of the Bible, in
the Biblical Cabinet, vol. xxvii. De Wette, Hebrd-
uch-jiditche Archtiulogie, § 271 b. Calmet, Augus-
tin, La Mededne et la Medicine dee ane. Hebrews,
in his Comm. liUeral, Paris, 1724, vol. r. Idem,
Diuertatiun star in Sueur da Sang, Luke xxil. 48,
44. Pruner, Krankheiten dee Orientt. Sprengei,
Kurt, De medic Ebraorum, Halle, 1789, 8vo.
Also, idem, Beitrige sur Geschichte der Median,
Halle, 1794, 8vo. Idem, Versuch einer pragm.
Geschichte der Arteneikmde, Halle, 1792-1803,
1821. Also the last edition by Dr. Rosenbaum,
Leipzig, 1846, 8vo. 1. §§ 37-48. Idem, Bistor. Ret
llerbar. lib. i. cap. 1. Flora Biblica. Bartholin!,
Thorn., De morbit biblicit, miscellanea medica, in
Ugolini, vol. xxx. p. 1621. Idem, Paralytica noes
Testament!, in Ugolini, vol xxx. p. 1469. Schmidt,
Joh. Jac, Biblitcher Meilicus, ZLUichau, 1743,
8vo. p. 761. Kail, De morbit sacerdnL V. T. Ham.
1746, 4to. Reinhard, Chr. Tob. Ephr., Bibelkrann-
heitea, toelcltt im Alien Testaments mrkommen,
books i. and ii. 1767, 8ro, p. <J34 , hook v. 1768,
five, p. 244. Shapter, Thomas, iftdica Sacra, or
Short Expositions of the mure important Disease*
mentioned in the Siicred Writings, London, 1834.
Wunderbsr, R. J., BibHtch-talinudischt Median,
in 4 parts, Riga, 1860-63, 8vo. Also new series,
1867. Celsius, OL, fficrobotmiicon s. de plantis
m Dr. Adams (rami. JSgin. ed. 8yd. 80s . 73) says
lhat tbs alum of the ancients found In mineral springs
awnot havebtau the alum of modern commerce, since
It Is »«rr rarely to be detected there ; but the atumrn
ftu m o smm , or hair alum, said to consist chiefly of the
mtphats of —fn-^- and inn. The former exists,
r, In great abundance In the aluminous spring
of the Isle of Wight. The ancient nitre or natron was
a native carbonate of soda (ibid.).
b The case of Naaman may be paralleled by Herod.
Iv 90, when we read of the Teams, a triauour or the
Bebrus — Ktymi «t»«u «enuim> isurrot, re m dMa
h ixevw eWewra, mmi e% eel as jn i e* ami I sseiei
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1872 MEBDA
Sasve Hivifitura diteertatimee breret, 2 part*,
UpaaL K45, 1747, 8ro; Arastelod. 1748. Bochart,
*im., Hierotoieun t. bipnriitnm oput de animaHlmt
Sacra Scriptwa, London, 1665, fol. ; Francf. 1675,
W. Also edited by, and with the notes of, lirn.
K. C. KoaenmUller, Lipa. 1793, 3 vols. 4to. Spen-
cer, De legibiu Hebraorum rituaUtnu, Tubingen,
1732, fol. Relnbard, Mich. H., De cibis Ilebra-
vnm prohibits ; Din. I. respon. Set. Miller,
Vlteb. 1697, 4to; Diu. II. retpon. Chr. Luke,
Ibid. 1697, 4to. Escbenbaeh, Chr. Ebrenfr., Progr.
it lepra Judaorum, Rostock, 1774, 4to, in bit
Scripta medic. bibL pp. 17-41. Schilling, G. (!.,
De lepra commentationee, rec. J. D. Halm, l.ugd.
Bat. 1788, 8to. Charoscru, R., Recherche* tur U
verUaUe coradere de la lepre dee Ilebreux, in
Mem. de la Soc. medic, d'einidntitm de Parte,
1810, Hi. 335. Relation chirurgicnle de tArmie
it t Orient, Paris, 1804. Wedel,° Geo. W., De
lepra t'n eaeru, Jena, 1715, 4to, in his ExerciUU.
med. philolog. Cent. II. dee. 4, 8. 93-107. Idem,
D* morb. Hiekias, Jena, 1693, 4to, in his ExereiL
med. philol. Cent. I. Dee. 7. Idem, De morbo
Jorami exercit. I., II. Jen. 1717, 4to, in bis
Exereit. med. philol. Cent. II. Dec. 5. Idem, De
Sauio energumeno, Jena, 1685, in his Exercitat.
med. philol. Cent. I. dec. II. Idem, De marine
tenum Sofomonau, Jen. 1686, 4to, in his Exerril,
med.phil. Cent. I. Dec. 3. Liclitenstein, Vertvek,
etc., in Eichhorn't AUgem. BMothek, VI. 407-
467. Mead, Dr. R., Medica Sacra, 4to, London.
Gudius, G. F., Exercitatio philologicn de lltlraica
ebetetricum origine, in Ugolini, vol. ui. p. 1061.
Kail, De obstetricibue matrum Ifebrmrrum in
/Egypto, Hamburg, 1746, 4to. Israels, L r. A.
H.,' Tentumen Iiietorico-medicum, exhibent cotltc-
tanca (lynaxologica, qua ex Tatmude Babyl>»tiiv
dtpromsit, Groningeu, 1845, 8vo. H. Il. c
ME EDA (MccMrf; [Vat. A.SJa; AU. Me-
«5a : | Meedda) = MJBHIDA (1 Esdr. t. 32).
MEGILVDO (TOP; in Zeeh. xii. 11, ,¥««?
[perh. /ilnce nf troops, Ges.] : in the LXX. [gen-
erally] MayeSSti or Mayfttaiv, [but w ' ,n * num-
l«r of unimportant variations;] in 1 K. ix. 15 it is
t&aytib! [Afi'geddo'j) was in a very marked posi-
tion on the southern rim of the plain of Ksdrae-
von, on the frontier-line (speaking generally) of
the territories of the trilies of Inkac-ham and Ma-
rasseh, and commanding one of those pisses from
the north into the hill-country which were of such
critical importance on various occasions in the his-
ory of Judas (tA» hvafiAoits t?j Aptivqs, Sti
ii' alrruv %i> i) (taoSos els tV 'louSaiav, Judith
v. 7).
Megiddo is usually spoken of in connection with
Taanach, and frequently in connection with
Bethshan and Jezrekl. This combination sug-
gests a wide view alike over Jewish scenery and
Jewish history. The first mention occurs in Josh,
tii. 21, where Megiddo appears as the city of one
<• This writer has Kreral monographs of much
■nterett on detached points, all to be found In his
Diumationti Aead. Medic. Jena, 17th and 18th oen-
* This writer is remarkable for carefully abstain'.^
from any reference to the 0. T., even where such would
to moat apposite.
r The writer wishes to acknowledge his obligations
a> Dr Kolleston, Lfiuwe Professor of Physiology ; Dr.
*raenhul of Hastings.; Dr. adams, editor of sereral
MEOIDDii
of the " thirty and one kings," or petl r chieftains
whom Joshua defeated on the west of the Jordm
This was one of the places within tilt limits of
Isaachar assigned to Manasseh (Josh. xrii. 11; I
Chr. vii. 29). But the arrangement cave only at
imperfect advantage to the latter tribe, for the;
did not drive out the Canaanites, and *<ai; only
able to make them tributary (Josh. xrii. IS, 13,
Judg. i. 27, 28). The song of Deborah brings the
place vividly before us, as the scene of the great
conflict between Sisera and Barak. The chariots of
Sisera were gathered " unto the river [■ torrent 'J
of Kishos" (Judg. iv. 13); Barak went down
with bis men " from Mount Ta rob " into the j.Ui::
(iv. 14) ; " then fought the kings of Canaan in
Taanach by the waters of Megiddo" (v. 19). IT t
course of the Kishon is immediately in front it
this position; and the river seems to hare beer,
flooded by a storm : hence wbat follows ; " The rivet
[* torrent '] of Kishon swept them away, that ancient
river, the river Kishon " (v. 21). Still we do not
read of Megiddo being firmly in the occupation of
the Israelites, and perhaps it was not really so till
the time of Solomon. That monarch placed one
of his twelve commissariat officers, named Baana,
over " Taanach and Megiddo," with the neighbor-
hood of Beth-shean and Jezreel (1 K. iv. 12). In
this reign it appears that some costh works were
constructed at Megiddo (ix. 15) These were prob-
ably fortifications, suggested by its important mili-
tary position. All the subsequent notices of the
place are connected with military transactions.
To this place Ahaziah fled when his unfortunate
visit to Joram had brought him into collision with
Jehu; and here he died (2 K. ix. 27) within the
confines of what is elsewhere called Samaria (2 Chr.
xxii. 9).
But the chief historical interest of Megiddo is
concentrated in Joslab'a death. When Pharaoh-
Necho came from Egypt against the King of As-
syria, .losiah joined the latter, and was slain at
Megiddo (2 K. xxiii. 29), and his liody was carried
from thence to Jerusalem (/o. 30). The story is
told in the ( 'hronicles in more detail (2 Chr. xxxv.
22-24). There the fatal action is said to have
taken place "in the valley of Megiddo." The
words in the LXX. are, iv t? retitp MayeSStiv-
This calamity made a deep aiid permanent impres-
sion on the Jews. It is recounted again in 1 Esdr.
i. 25-31, where in the A. V. " the plain of Ma-
giddo " represents the same Greek words. The
lamentations for this good king became " an ordi-
nance in Israel" (2 Chr. xxxv. 25). "In aC
Jewry " they mourned for him, and the lamenta-
tion was made perpetual "in all the nation of
Israel" (1 Esdr. I. 32). " Their grief was no land-
flood of present passion, but a constant channel! of
continued sorrow, streaming from an annual! foun -
talis " (Fuller"s Pitgah Sight of Palestine, r "65).
Thus, in the language of the prophets (Zees. xii.
11), "the mourning of Hodadrimmou in the v*De»
of the Sydenham Society's publications ; Mr. H. Ram-
sey of Cheltenham, and Mr. J. Cooper Forster if Guys
Hoepttal, London, for their kindness In revising an*
correcting this article, and that on Ln-aosY, in then:
passage through the press ; at the same tune that be
does not wish to Imply any responsibility on their pert
for ' he opinions or statements contained in them, savi
so far as they are referred to by nune. Dr. Robert
Sun has also greatly assisted him vith the results of
large actual experience in oriental vathology.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEGIDDO
[wtitf, LXX.) of Megiddun " becomes a (.oetical
expression for the deepest and moat despairing
grief; as in the Apocalypse (Her. xvi. 16) Akma-
gkudux, in eontinuanee of the same imagery, is
presented as the scene of terrible and final conflict.
For the Septuagintal version of this passage of
Zechariah we may refer to Jerome's note on the
pa singe. "Adadremmon, pro quo LXX. trans-
tulerunt foirot, urbs est juxta Jesraelem, quae
hoc olim rocabnlo nuncupate eat, et bodie vocatur
Maximianopolis in Campo Mageddon." That the
prophet's imagery is drawn from the occasion of
Jonah's death there can be no doubt In Stanley's
S. $ P. (p. 347) this calamitous event is made
very vivid to us by an allusion to the " Egyptian
archers, in their long array, ao well known from
their sculptured monuments." For the mistake
in the account of Pharaoh-Necho's campaign in
Herodotus, who has evidently put Migdol by mis-
take for Megiddo (ii. 149), it is enough to refer to
ttuhr's excuinu on the passage. The Egyptian
king may have landed his troops at Acre; but it is
far more likely that he marched northwards along
the coast-plain, and then turned round Carmel
into the plain of Esdraelon, taking the left bank of
the Kishoii, and that there the Jewish king came
upon him by the gorge of Megiddo.
The site thus associated with critical passages
of Jewish history from Joshua to Joaiah has been
identified beyond any reasonable doubt. ItoMiisuu
did not visit this corner of the plain on his first
journey, but he wan brought confidently to the
conclusion that Megiddo was the modem tUI.ejjun,
which is undoubtedly the Legio of Enaehitu and
Jerome, on important and well-known place in
their day, since they assume it as a central point
from which to mark the position of several other
places in this quarter (Bit. Res. ii. 328-330).
Two of the distances are given thus: 15 miles from
Xxsareth and 4 from Taanach. There can be no
doubt that the identification is substantially correct.
The fuya wttioy \rytiros ( Ononuut. a. v. raffa-
9ir) evidently corresponds with the "plain (or
.-alley) of Megiddo" of the 0. T. Moreover et-
l-rj/in is on the caravan-route from Egypt to Da-
mascus, and traces of a Koman road are found
near the village. Van de Velde visited the snot in
1852, approaching it through the hills from the
S. W.« Me describes the view of the plain as
seen from the highest point between it and the
sea, and the huge Itllt which mark the positions
of the " key-fortresses " of the hills and the plain,
Tutmuk and eUljjjun, the latter being the most
considerable, and having another called Tell Met-
selfm. halT an hour to the N. W. (Syr. <f P»L
L 3V^(56). About a mouth later in the same
year Dr. liubinson was there, and convinced him-
wlf of the correctness of his former opinion. He
too describee the view over the plain, northwards to
the wooded hills of Galilee, eastwards to Jezreel,
and southwards to Taanach, Tell MeUeltim Mng
also mentioned as on a projecting portion of the
hill* which are continuous with Carmel, the Kishon
being just below (Bib. Res. ii. 116-119). Both
writer* mention a copious stream flowing down
(hi* gorge (March and April), and turning some
mill* before joining the Kishon. Here are prob-
ably the " waters of Megiddo " of Judg v. 19,
• • The writer of this now had visited tb* sjrH
tan ysan before (1843), and confirmed Robinson's eon-
4astaa — Identtrjrlnf "the watsn of Maglooo," and
IK
MEHIR 187S
though it should he added that by l*iofeasor Stan-
ley (S. $ P. p. 339) they are supposed rather to b*
11 the pools in the bod of the Kishon " itself. The
same author regards the " plain (or valley) of Me-
giddo " a* denoting not the whole of the Eadra-
elon level, but that broadest pari of it which is
immediately opposite the place we an describing
(pp. 336, 336).
The passage quoted above from Jerome suggest*
a further question, namely, whether Von Kaumer
is right in "identifying et-Lejjun also with Max-
imianopolia, which the Jerusalem Itinerary place*
at 20 miles from Ciesarea and 10 from Jezreel."
Van de Velde (Memoir, p. 333) hold* this view to
be correct. He thinks he has found the true HV
dadrimmon in a place called Rummaneh, " at the
foot of the Megiddo-hills, in a notch or valley about
an hour and a half S. of Tell Sfebtellim," and
would place the old fortified Megiddo on this :ell
itself, suggesting further that iu name, " the tell
of the Governor," may possibly retain a reminis-
cence of Solomon's officer, Baana the son of Ahilud
J. S. H.
MBGEryDON, THE VALLEY OF
(TTOl? fiyipa [pUs of Megiddo rather than
vaOey]': xttioy iKKcnrro^yoV- camput Maged-
don). The extended form of the preceding name
It occurs only in Zech. xii. 11. In two other cases
the LXX. [Vat] retain the n at the end of the
name, namely, 2 K. ix. 37, and 2 Ohr. xxxr. 22
[Vat Mayetauv, Mayetar, but Kom. Alex, iu
both place* HaytSfi], tliough it is not their gen-
eral custom. In tnis passage it will be observed
that they have translated the word. G.
MEHET'ABEEL [4 syl.] (b«5^rj? [C«<
(El) a benefactor, Fiirat]: MrrauleitX; Alex*. M«»-
r«u3«i|A; [Vat MtiranX; FA. Mitoi)\:] Mela-
beel). Another and less correct form of Mkhkt-
abkl. The ancestor of Shemaiah the prophet who
was hired against Xehemiah by Tobiah and San-
ballat (Neb. vi. 10). He was probably of priestly
descent; and it is not unlikely that Delaiah, who
is called bis son, is the same as the head of th*
23d course of priest* in the reign of David (1 Chr.
xxiv. 18).
MEHETABEL (bfcqi-^rUJ [see above]
Samaritan Cod. bfcQtSVTO: MereMk: Meet-
nbel). The daughter of Matred, and wife of Ha-
dad.or Hadar, the eighth and last-mentioned king
of Kdom, who had Pai or Pau for hi* birthplace o*
chief city, before royalty was established am ng
the Israelites (Gen. xxxvi. 39). Jerome (de Sot. in.
flebr. ) writes the name in the form Mettabei, wldcb
he renders "quam bonus est Deus."
MBHT/DA (WTntJ [one famous, nobie)
in Ezr., Mcuuti, [Comp. Aid.] Alex. Mtitd; in
Neh., MiScf, [Vat. FA.] Alex. M«i3a: ifnhvtn),
a family of Nethinim, the descendants of Mehida,
returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ezr. ii
52; Neh. vii. 64). In 1 Esdr. the name occur* >'■
the form Meed a.
ME'HIK (*T<n9 [pries, rantom]: Maxij.
[Vat]; Alex. Max«ip : •*'" a * , " r )i the ton of Che-
lub, the brother of Shuah, or a* he is described in
the modeni remains of the ancient Lsgiv (ftoj. Set.
1848, p. 77 ; Bitter's Orography o/ Pal., Gags* I
lauon, tv. 880). 8.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1874 MEHOLATHITE, THB
ike LXX., » Caleb the father of A*cba" (1 Chr.
hr. ]1). In toe Targum of R. Joseph, Mehir ap-
pear* a* "Perug," it* Chaldee equivalent, both
word* aiguifying " price."
MEHCLATHITE, THB PrfyvSfn
[patron.]: Alex, o poOvAafftinir ; [Rom.] Vat
emit; [Comp. Aid. Ma\a$irtis:] MoUilhitn), a
word occurring once only (1 Sam. xviii. 19), aa
the deacription of Adriel, aon of BaniUai, to whom
Saul'a daughter Merab waa married. It no doubt
denote* that he belonged to a place called Melio-
lali, but whether that waa Abel-Meholah afterward*
the native place of Eliaha, or another, ia a* uncer-
tain as it i* whether Adriel'a father waa the well-
known Baraiual the Gileadita or not. G.
mbhu'jabl Cntwrn? and b8?rtt?
[prob. tmitttn of God] : MoA.XrijX; [Comp. Aid.]
Alex. Mw^A: Uauinil), the aon of Irad, and
fourth in deaeent from Cain (Gen. ir. 18). Ewald,
regarding the genealogies in Gen. ir. and v. a*
substantially the same, follow* the Vat. LXX.,
considering Hahalaleel aa the true reading, and the
variation from it the rault of earelea* transcrip-
tion. It is scarcely necessary to say that this is a
irratuitous assumption. The Targum of Onkelos
follows the Hebrew even in the various forms which
the name assumes in the same verse. The Peshito-
Syriac, Vulgate, and a few MSS. retain the former
of the two readings; while the Sam. text reads
tMTTO, which appears to have ben followed by
the Aldine and Complutenaian editions, and the
Alex. MS. \V. A. W.
MEHU'MAU' OpirtJp [peril. tn,t, faith.
/m ■' 'Kftiy '• Ma&mam), one of the seven eunuch*
(A. V. ''chamberlain*,'') who served before Aha*-
aera* (E*th. i. 10). The LXX. appear to have
read flf)? 1 ? for flJVI^.
MEHUTJIM (Q12TO9, without the article
[inhatittinlt, ilwellem Vat.] Moraspsfr; [Rom.
Moovi'f/i;] Alex. Meovrfip: HfmUm), Ear. ii. 60.
Elsewhere called Mehusims and Mklmim; and
In the parallel liat of 1 Esdr. Mkani.
MEHU'NIMS, THB (LW§n, i. e. the
Jfe'frrim [Vat.]:_ oi Msivoiot [Rom.]; Alex, o,'
Kiycuoi'- Ammomta), a people against whom icing
(Jzziah waged a successful war (2 Chr. xxvi. 7).
Although so different In it* English <• dress, yet the
name is in the original merely the plural of Maon
(WO), a nation named amongst those who in
« The Instances of H being employed to render the
strange Hebrew guttural Am are not frequent In the
%. V. "Hebrew" (>"py) — which In earlier ver-
sions waa "Bbrew" (oomp. Shakespeare, ffrm-y /K.
Fart I. Act 2, So. 4) — Is oftenest encountered.
* ...IjU), JaaVsa, aU bat Identical with the He-
c Hers the CtMb, or original Hebrew text, baa
Milium, which la nearer the Greek equivalent than
wjimim or Utonim.
<l The text of this passage Is accurately as fellows :
The children of Moab and the children of Amnion,
sal with them of the Ammonites ; " the words " other
Meld* " being Interpolated by our translators.
To* changa from '■ Ammonite* " to " Hehnalm " Is
MEHUNIMS, THB
the earlier day* of their settlement In Pnfasa'nt
harassed and oppressed Israel. Maon, or the Ma-
onitea, probably inhabited the country at the lack
of the great range of Seir, the modern es«-&»eraA
which forma the eastern side of the Wady tl Ar«
bah, where at the present day there is still a towu
of the sauir name 6 (Burckhardt, Syria, Aug. 34).
And this ia quite in accordance with the term* of
3 Chr. xxvi. 7, where the Hehunim are mentioned
with " the Arabian* of Gur-baaL" or, as the LXX.
render it, Fetra.
Another notice of the Hehunim* in the reign
of Ileaekiah (cir. B. c. 726-697) is found in 1 Chr.
iv. 41. e Here they are spoken of as a pastoral
people, either themselves Hamite* or in alliance
with Hamite*, quiet and peaceable, dwelling in
tent*. They had been settled from " of old," i. c
aboriginally, at the east end of the Valley of Gednr
or Gerar, in the wilderness south of Palestine. A
connection with Mount Seir ia hinted at, though
obscurely (vex. 42). [See vol. i. p. 879 4.] Here,
however, the A. V. — probably following the trans-
lations of Luther and Junius, which in their turn*
follow the Targum — treat* the word a* an ordi-
nary noun, and render* it " habitations; " a read-
ing now relinquished by scholars, who understand
the word to refer to the people in question (Geee-
nius, Thtt. 1002 «, sod Notes on BmckhardL, 1069 ;
Uertbeau, Chronik).
A third notice of the Mehunini, corroborative of
those already mentioned, is found in the narrative
of 2 Chr. xx. There is every reason to believe that
in ver. 1 ••the Ammonite*" should be read a*
" the * Maonites," who in that case are the " men
of Mount Seir" mentioned later in the narrative
(w. 10, 22).
In all these passages, including the last, the
LXX. render the name by oi Msiraibi, — the Mi-
naeana, — a nation of Arabia renowned for their
traffic in apices, who are named by Strabo, Ptol-
emy, and other ancient geographers, and whose
seat is now ascertained to have been the S. W.
portion of the great Arabian peninsula, the west-
ern half of the modern Hadraruaut (Did. of Gt-
oyrniihy, " Miniei " ). Uochart ha* pointed out
(Phnltg. ii. cap. xxii.), with reason, that distance
alone render* it impossible that these Minieani can
be the Meunim of the Bible, and also that the peo-
ple of the Arabian peninsula are Shemites, while
the Meunim appear to have been descended from
Ham (1 Chr. iv. 41). But with hi* usual turn
for etymological speculation he endeavors never-
theless to establish an identity between the two,
on the ground that Cum til Mnruttil, a place two
day*' journey south of Mecca, one of the town*
not so violent a* It looks to an English reader. It I*
a cunple transposition of two letter*, CjISO fir
C31Q37 ; and It is supported by the LXX., and by
Josepb.u* (AM. la. 1, J 2, 'Apofkv) ; and by moderr
scholars, a* D* Wette (SieW), Ewald ( Otttk. III. 474,
note). A reverse tmnspoeltii a will be found in the
Syrlae version »f Judg. x. 12, where " Ammoo " Is
read for the " Maon " of the Hebrew. The LXX. make
the change again in 2 Chr. xavt. 8 ; but hare there I*
no apparent occasion for It.
The Jewish gloss on 2 Chr. ax. 1 I* curious. " By
Ammonites kVlomltea are meant, wbo, oat of rsspeM
for the fratrrnsl relation between the two nation
would not com* against Israel in their own dress, be
disguised themselves as Ainmcoltos." (J*
Jeter, ad loci
Digitized by VjOOQlC
ME-JARKOK
if the Hinasans, lignlfln the "horn of habita-
dooe," end might therefore be equivalent to the
Hebrew Mamim.
JoHphin (ill*, ix. 10, § 3) call* them "the
Arabs who adjoined Egypt," and apeaks of a
aty built by Uzriah on the Bed Sea to overawe
them.
Eviald (GachichU, i. 393, note) suggests that
the aoutheni Hinasans were a colony from the
M«nnit»» and Mount Seir, who in their turn he
appeari to ootsttder a remnant of the Amorites (aw
the text of the aame page).
That the Mimeane were familiar to the transla-
tors of the LXX. is evident from the fact that they
not only introduce the name on the occasions
already mentioned, but that they further use it aa
jouivalent to Naauathite. Zophar the Naama-
Ihite, one of the three friends of Job, is by them
presented as " Sophar the Minssan," and " Sophar
king of the Minaeans." In this connection it is
not unworthy of notice that as there waa a town
called Maon in the mountain-district of Judah, so
there was one called Naamah in the lowland of the
aame tribe. EUMmg/h/, which is, or was, the first
station south of Gaza, is probably identical with
Hinola, a place mentioned with distinction in the
Christian records of Palestine in the 5th and 6th
centuries (Keland, Palaalina, p. 899; LeQuien,
Orion Chrut. iii. 669), and both may retain a
trace of the MuueaM. Baahios, a town on
the east of Jordan, near Heshbon, still called
Jfa'ta, probably also retains a trace of the presence
of the Haonites or Hehunim north of their proper
kwaUty.
The lateat appearance of the name Mehdnivs
in the Bible is in the lists of those who returned
from the Captivity with Zerubbabel. Amongst the
non-Israelites from whom the Nethinim — follow-
ing the precedent of what seems to have been the
foundation of the * order — were made up, we find
their name (Est! ii. 60, A. V. •' Hehunim; " Neh.
rB. 63, A. V. " Heunim "). Here they are men-
tioned with the Nephishim, or descendants of
Naphish, an Ishmaelite people whose seat appears
to have been on the east of Palestine (1 Chr. v. 19),
and therefore certainly not far distant from Mn'an
the chief city of the Haonites. G.
ME-JAK'KON 0'l|r!»n' , n [see below]:
sViAaa-a-a 'Upixmr'- Aqua Hereon [?Vulg. Mt-
jaretm] ), a town in the territory of Dan (Josh.
six. 46 only); named next In order to Gath-rim-
mon, and in the neighborhood of Joppa or Japho.
The lexicographers interpret the name as meaning
" the yellow waters." ' No attempt has been made
to identify it with any existing site. It is difficult
not to suspect that the name following that of Me-
stajjjarkon, har-Rakon (A. V. Rakkon), is a mere
eorrupt repetition thereof, as the two bear a very
HELCHISEDBG
1875
■ The mstftution of the Nethinim, >. «. " the given
sues," seams to have originated in the Wdianlte war
Xum. xxxi.), when a certain portion of the captives
i as * given " (the word In the original Is the same) to
fee Invites who kept the oharge of the Sacred Tent
;rv. 80, 47). The Oibeonltss wen probably the next
secession, and the invaluable lists of ears and Nehe-
sdah atlnded to above saam to show that the captives
tea many a foreign nation went to swell the num-
swrs of the Order. See Hehunim, Nephusbn, Hanba,
sjassa, and other ftsraign names oontalned in those
» Oast annals tors have here rape
need the
dose similarity to each other, and occur nowhere
else. G.
MEKCNAH (Hjbt? > [place, bate]: LXX.
[Rom. Vat Alex. FA.'] omits; [FA.* Mo X » j
Mochona), one of the towns which were re-inhab-
ited after the Captivity by the men of Judah (Neh.
xi. 38). From its being coupled with Ziklag, we
should infer that it was situated far to the south,
while the mention of the " daughter towns "
(/"D33, A. V. "villages") dependent on it seem
to show that it wss a place of soino magnitude.
Mekonah is not mentioned elsewhere, and it does
not appear that any name corresponding with it
has been yet discovered. The oonjeoture of Schwan
— that it is identical with the Mtchwmm, whisA
Jerome 1 {Onoinatticon, "Bethmacha") locates be-
tween EleutheropaUs and Jerusalem, at eight miles
from the former — is entirely at variance with the
above inference. G.
MELATl'AH (n^bp [delivered by Jeho-
vah: Rom.] MaATfa»;"[Vat. Alex. FA. omit:]
MtlHa»), a Gibeonite, who, with the men of Gibem
and Mizpah, assisted in rebuilding the wall of Jeru
salein under Nehemiah (Neh. iii. 7).
MEL'OHI (Me\x<< in [Sin. j Vat. and Alex.
HSS.; M«\x', Tisch. [in 3d ed., but Mtkvtl in
7th and 8th eds.] : Melrhi). L The son of .(anna,
and ancestor of Joseph in the genealogy of Jesus
Christ (Luke iii. 34). In the list given by AM*
canus, Melchi appears as the father of Heli, the
intervening Levi and Uatthat being omitted (Her-
vey, GenetU. p. 137).
3. The son of Addx in the same genealogy (Luke
iii. 38).
MELOHI'AH (n*? 1 ?? [JessmiVs king]:
McXx'ar: Mtlchiat), a priest, the father of Pashnr
(Jer. xxi. 1). He is elsewhere called Malchiah and
Malchyah. (See Malchiah 7, and Malchuah
1.)
MELOHI'AS (M.Ax'«* ! M<tchiat). 3L The
same as Malchiah 3 (1 Ksdr. ix. 36).
2. [Vat. McArfiat-] = Malchiah 3 and
Malchijah 4 (1 Esdr. ix. 33).
3. ([Vat. McAxsuuO Mulachiat.) The same
as Malchiah 6 (I Ksdr. ix. 44).
MEL'OHIEL ([Vat.] MsAx««|A; [Rom.
Alex. Sin". MiA^iflA; Sin. 3«AAr)tt] ). Charmia,
the son of MeichieL was one of the three gov-
ernors of Bethulia (Jud. vi. 16). The Vulgate
has a different reading, and the Peshito gives the
name Mamhnjel.
MELCHIS'EDEO (M<A X «rf8^: [MdchU-
edech]), the form of the name Mklciiizkdek
adopted in the A. V. of the New Testament (Hob.
v., vi., vii.).
Caph by K, which they usually reserve Ibr the Kcrcu
Other lnataneea are Kjtbush and Krrrm.
c This passage of Jerome Is one of those whieh eom-
pletely startle the ruder, and incline nun '.o alstraat
altogether Jerome's knowledge of sacred topography
He actually places the Beth-msaeha, In whieh Jrab
bwleged Sheba the son of Blchrl, and which was cos of
the drat places taken by Tlglath-Plleeer on bis entrance
into the north of Palestine, among the mountains ol
Judah, scuth of Jerusalem ! A mistake of the same
kind is round in Benjamin of Tudela and Hep-Rarctu,
who plaot the Maon of David's adventuni In lbs
neighborhood of Mcnml OanneL
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1876
MBLCHI-BHUA
MEI/CHI-SHU'A (OTH^S^D, i. e. Hal-
tbishua: [M«Xx«riJ i Vat] McAx«ura; Ala.
HiAyurovt! [M«Axmov< >] Joseph- MAxto-oi:
Metchuua), a aon of Saul (1 Sam. xlr. 49, xxxi.
t). An erroneous manner of representing the
Dame, which is elsewhere correctly given MALr-
CHISHIM.
MELCHIZ'BDBK (n^pS^O, i. e. MaW-
tsedek [Wn^ o/ rt^i<eoiune»] : MtXx""^"'- Md-
ckitedech), king of Salem and priest of the Moat
High God, who met Abram in the Valley of Shaven
[or, the level valley], which is the king's valley,
brought out bread and wine, bleated Abram, and
received tithes from him (Gen. xiv. 18-20). The
other, places in which Melchizedek is mentioned
are Ps. ex. 4, where Messiah is described as a
priest for ever, " after the order of Melchizedek,"
and Heb. v., vi., vii., where these two passages
tf the 0. T. are quoted, and the typical relation
of Melchizedek to our Lord is stated at great
length.
There is something surprising and mysterious in
the first appearance of Melchizedek, and in the
subsequent references to him. Bearing a title
which Jews in after ages would recognize as desig-
nating their own sovereign, bearing gifts which
recall to Christians the Lord's Supper, this Ca-
naauite crosses for a moment the path of Abram,
and is unhesitatingly recognized as a person of
higher spiritual rank than the friend of God. Dis-
appearing as suddenly as he came in, he is lost to
the sacred writings for a thousand years; and then
a few emphatic words for another moment bring
him into sight as a type of the coming Lord of
David. Once more, after another thousand years,
the Hebrew Christians are taught to see in him a
proof that it was the consistent purpose of God to
abolish the Identical priesthood. His person, his
office, his relation to Christ, and the seat of his
sovereignty, have given rise to innumerable discus-
sions, which even now can scarcely be considered at
settled.
The faith of early ages ventured to invest his
person with superstitious awe. Perhaps it would
be too much to ascribe to mere national jealousy
the fact that Jewish tradition, as recorded in the
Targums of Pseudo-Jonathan and Jerusalem, and
in Kashi on Gen. xiv., in some cabalistic (apod
Bochart, Phaleg, pt 1, b. ii. 1, § 69) and rab-
binical (ap. Schottgen, 1/or. Beb. ii. 645) writers,
pronounces Melchizedek to be a survivor of the
Deluge, the patriarch Sbem, authorized by the
superior dignity of old age to bless even the father
of the faithful, and entitled, as the paramount lord
if Canaan (Gen. ix. 26) to convey (xiv. 19) his
■ight to Abram. Jerome in his Ep. lxxiii. ad
Evnngetum (Opp. i. 438), which is entirely devoted
to a consideration of the person and dwelling-place
of Melchizedek, states that this was the prevailing
opinion of the Jews in his time; and it is ascribed
to the Samaritan* by Epiphanius, liter, lv. 6, p.
472. It was afterwards embraced by Luther and
Itelanchthon, by our own countrymen, H. Brough-
on, Selden, Lightfoot ( Chor. Marco pram. ch. x.
M $ 8), Jackson ( On the Creed, b. ix. § 2), and
by many others. It should be noted that this
■opposition does not appear in the Targum of
fHifciaVt, — a pmumption that it was not received
rt the Jews till alter the Christian era — nor has
I tend fa«or with the Fathers. Equally old, par-
MELCHIZEDEK.
haps, but teas widely diffused, is the supputitios
not unknown to Augustine ( Quant, in Gen. IxxiL
Opp. iii. 896), and ascribed by Jerone (L c.) «c
Origen and Didymus, that Melchizedek was an
angeL The Fathers of the fourth and fifth centu-
ries record with reprobation the tenet of the Mel-
chizedekians that he was a Power, Virtue, or Influ-
ence of God (August de BaretUna, $ 84, Opp.
viii. 11; Theodoret, HareU fab. ii. 6, p. 332;
Epiphan. Bar. lv. 1, p. 468 ; compare Cyril Alex.
Glaph. in Gen. ii. p. 67) superior to Christ (Chry-
sost. Horn, in Mtlchiz. Opp. vi. p. 269), and the
not less daring conjecture of Hieracas and his
followers that Melchizedek was the Holy Ghost
(Epiphan. liar, lxvii. 8, p. 711 and Ir. 8, p. 472).
Epiphanius also mentions (lv. 7, p. 474) some mem-
bers of the church as holding the erroneous opinion
that Melchizedek was the Son of God appearing in
human form, an opinion which St Ambrose (lie
Abrah. i. § 3, Opp. 1 1. p. 288) seems willing to
receive, and which has been adopted by many
modern critics. Similar to this was a Jewish
opinion that he was the Messiah (apud Deyling,
Obi. Sacr. ii. 73, SchCttgen, I. c; compare the
Book Sohar ap. Wolf, Cura Phil in Heb. vii. 1).
Modern writers have added to these conjectures
that he may have been Ham (Jurieu), or a de-
scendant of Japhet (Owen), or of Shem (apud
Deyling, L c), or even Enoch (Hulse), or Job
(Kohlreis). Other guesses may be found in Deyl-
ing (L e.) and in Pfeiffer (De pertoni Melek. —
Opp. p. 51). All these opinions are unauthorized
additions to Holy Scripture — many of them seem
to be irreconcilable with it It is an essential
part of the Apostle's argument (Heb. vii. 6) that
Melchizedek is "without father," and that his
" pedigree is not counted from the sons of Levi; "
so that neither their ancestor Shem, nor any other
son of Noah can be identified with Melchizedek;
and again, the statements that he fulfilled on earth
the offices of Priest and King and that he was
" made like unto the son of God " would hardly
have been predicated of a Divine Person. The way
in which he is mentioned in Genesis would rather
lead to the immediate inference that Melchizedek
was of one blood with the children of Ham, among
whom he lived, chief (like the King of Sodom) of
a settled Canaanitish tribe. Perhaps it is not too
much to infer from the silence of Philo (Abraham,
xl.) and Onkekw (in Gen.) ss to any other opinion,
that they held this. It certainly was the opinion
of Josephus (B. J. vii. 18), of most of the early
Fathers (apud Jerome, L c), of Theodoret (in Gen.
lxiv. p. 77), and Epiphanius (liar, lxvii. p. 716),
and is now generally received (see Grotius tu Bear. ;
Patrick's Commentary in Gen.; Bleek, Hebraer,
ii. 303; Ebrard, Hebrler; Fairbairn, Typology,
ii. 313. ed. 1854). And as Balaam was a prophet,
so Melchizedek was a priest among the corrupted
heathen (Philo, Abrah. xxxix. ; Euseb. Prop.
Ktang. i. 9), not self-appointed (aa Chrysnstom
suggests. Bom. in Gen. xxxv. § 5, ef. Heb. v. 4),
but constituted by a special gift from God, and
recognized as such by Him.
Melchizedek combined the offices of priest arc*
king, as was not uncommon in patriarchal times
Nothing is said to distinguish his kingship from
that of the contemporary kings of Canaan ; but the
emphatic words hi which he is described, by a title
never given even to Abraham, as a " priest of tht
most High God," as blessing Abraham and receiving
tithes from him, seem to imply that his rriasthoo*'
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MELCHIZEDEK.
•as nt/wthlng mora (sea Hengstenberg, Cbrittvl,
(*>. ei.) than an ordinary patriarchal priesthood,
meh u Abram himself and other heads of families
(Job i. 6) exercised. And although it has been
observed (Pearson, On the Creed, p. 123, ed. 1843)
that we read of nc jther sacerdotal act performed
by Melchizedek, bnt only that of blessing [and
receiving tithes, Pfeifler], yet it may be assumed
that he was accustomed to discharge all the ordi-
nary duties of those who ire "ordained to offer
gifts and sacrifices," Heb. viii. 3; and we might
sooeede (with Philo, Grotius, L c. and others) that
his regal hospitality to Abram was possibly preceded
by an unrecorded sacerdotal act of oblation to God,
without implying that his hospitality was in itself,
as recorded in Genesis, a sacrifice.
The u order of Melchizedek," in Ps. ex. 4, is
Explained by Gesenius and Rosenmiiller to mean
u manner"— "likeness in official dignity " = a king
and priest. The relation between Melchizedek and
Christ as type and antitype is made in the Ep. to
the Hebrews to consist in the following particulars.
Each was a priest, (1) not of the Levitical tribe;
(3) superior to Abraham ; (3) whose beginning
and end are unknown; (4) who is not only a priest,
but also a king of righteousness and peace. To
ihese points of agreement, noted by the Apostle,
human Ingenuity has added others which, however,
stand in need of the evidence of either an inspired
writer or an eye-witness, before they can be received
as facts and applied to establish any doctrine. Thus
J. Johnson (Unbloody Sw\fict, i. 133, ed. 1847)
asserts on very slender evidence, that the Fathers
who refer to Gen. xiv. 18, understood that Mel-
chizedek offered the bread and wine to God ; and
hence he infers that one great part of our Saviour's
Krlchizedekian priesthood consisted in offering
bread ana wine. And Bellarmine asks in what
other respects is Christ a priest after the order of
Udchizedek. Waterland, who does not lose sight
of the deep significance' of Melchizedek's action, has
replied to Johnson in his Appendix to " the Chris-
tian Sacrifice explained," ch. Hi. § 3, Wurkt, v.
168, ed. 1843. Bellannine's question is sufficiently
answered by Whltaker, Disputation on Scripture,
Quest, ii. ch. x. 168, ed. 1849. And the sense of
the Fathers, who sometimes expressed themselves
in rhetorical language, is cleared from misinterpre-
tation by Bp. Jewel, Reply to Harding, art xvii.
( Works, II. 731, ed. 1847). In Jackson on the
Crttd, bk. ix. § 2, ch. ri.-xi. 955 ff., there is a
lengthy but valuable account of the priesthood of
Melchizedek ; and the views of two different theo-
logical schools are ably stated by Aquinas, Summn
Ui. 22. § 6, and Turretinus, Theologin, vol. ii. p.
443-453.
Another fruitful source of discussion has been
(bund in the site of Salem and Shaven, which cer-
tainly lay in Abram's road from Hobah to the
plain of Mamre, and which are assumed to be near
to each other. The various theories may be briefly
enumerated as follows: (1) Salem is supposed to
have occupied in Abraham's time the ground on
which afterwards Jebus and then Jerusalem stood ;
sod Shaven to be the valley east of Jerusalem
through which the Kidron flows. This opinion,
uwidoned by Rdand, Pal 833, but adopted by
Winer, is supported by the (acts that Jerusalem is
aOed Salem in Ps. lxxvi. 3, and that Josephus
Ant. i. 10, § 3) and the Targums distinctly assert
Jtslr identity: that the king's dale (8 Sun. xriii.
IMX Identified In Gen. dr. 17 with Shaven, is
MELITA
1877
placed by Josephus (Ant. rii. 10, { 8), and by
medieval and modem tradition (see Ewakl, 6'escA.
iii. 239) in the immediate neighborhood of Jerusa-
lem : that the name of a later king of Jerusalem,
Adonizedec (Josh. z. 1), sounds like that of a
legitimate successor of Melchizedek : and that Jew-
ish writers (np. Schottgen, ffur. Heb. in Heb. vii
3 ) claim Zedek = righteousness, ns a name of Jeru-
salem. (2.) Jerome (0/>p. i. 446) denies that
Salem is Jerusalem, and asserts that it is identical
with a town near Scythopolis or llethsbsn, which
in his time retained the name of Salem, and in
which some extensive ruins were shown as '.ht
remains of Melchizedek's palace. He supports tuis
view by quoting Gen. xxxiii. 18, where, however,
the translation is questioned (as instead of Salem
the word may signify "safe"); compare the men-
tion of Salem in Judith ir. 4, and in John iii. S3.
(3.) Professor Stanley (S. d- P. pp. 337, 238) is of
opinion that there is every probability that Mount
Gerizim is the place where Melchizedek, the priest
of the Most High, met Abram. Kupolemus (ap
Euseb. Prop. Emng. ix. 17), in a confused version
of this story, names Argerizim, the mount of the
Most High, as the place in which Abram was hos-
pitably entertained. (4.) Kwald (flttcm. iii. 239)
denies positively that it is Jerusalem, and says that
it must be north of Jerusalem on the other side of
Jordan (i. 410): an opinion which Ri diger (Gesen.
Thesaurus, 1422 6) condemns. There too Profes-
sor Stanley thinks that the king's dale was situate,
near the spot where Absalom fell
Some Jewish writers have held the opinion that
Melchizedek was the writer and Abram the subject
of Ps. ex. See Ueyling, Obs. Una: iii. 137.
It may suffice to mention that there is a fabulous
life of Melchizedek printed among the spurious
works of Athanasius, vol. iv. p. 189.
Reference may be made to the following works
in addition to those already mentioned : two tracts
on Melchizedek by M. J. II. von Kkwick, in the
Thesaurus Nona Theolng.-pliilalogicus ; L. Bor-
gisius, Historic Critica Mekhisedtci, 1706; Gail
lard, Melehisedecus Christus, etc., 1686; M. C.
Hoffman, De Mtlehitedeoo, 1669; H. Hroughton,
Treatise of Melchizfdrk, 1591. See also J. A.
Fabricius, Cod. Pseudepig. V. T.; P. Molinteus,
Cotes, etc, 1640, iv. 11 ; J. H. Heidegger, Hist.
Saer. Patriarchnrum, 1671, ii. 288; Hottinger,
Emtnd. Disput. ; and P. Cuiueus, De RtptM
Heb. iii. 3, apud Cril. S ter. vol. v.
W. T. a
MEI/EA (M.Aco [Tisch. Mt\ti] ■ Melon).
The son of Menan, and ancestor of Joseph in tk*
genealogy of Jesus Christ (Luke iii. 31).
ME-LECH Cnl?0 =*»»o.' In 1 Cbr. nU.
35. M«A.dx, [Vat MsXvrjA,] Alex. Moam*; in
1 Chr. ix. 41, MaAay, Met. MaA»x : Meleek).
The second son of Micah, the son of Merib-baal
or Mephibosheth, and therefore great-grandson of
Jonathan the son of Saul.
MEL1CU (»3V>P i K'ri, !D> , ?9 * '.»«•*-
ofa; [Vat.] Alex. MoAovx : MUiehoX. The suns
as Malluch 6 (Neb. xii. 14; oorap. rer. 3).
MELITA (Mtkirn: [Melit-t]), Actssxviii. i
the modern Malta. This island has an illustrious
place in Scripture, at the scene of that shipwreck
of Su Paul which is described in such minute
detail in the Acts of the Apostles. An attempt
hte been made, more than onen. to coot set this
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1878
MBUTA
jccurreiice with inotber island, bearing Jie Mine
name, in the Gulf of Venice; and our beat eoune
here Menu to be to give briefly the points of evi-
dence by which the true atate of the eaee has been
established.
(1.) We take St. Paul's ship in the condition In
which we find her about a day after leaving Fair
Hayeks, t. «. when she was under the lee of
(laud a (Acts xxvii. 16), laid-to on the starboard
tack, and strengthened with " undergirders "
[Ship], the boat being just taken on board, and
the gale blowing hard from the E. N. E. [Etnto-
clydon.] (2.) Assuming (what every practiced
sailor would allow) that the ship's direction of drift
would be about W. by N., and her rate of drift
about a mile and a half an hour, we come at once
to the conclusion, by measuring the distance on the
chart, that she would be brought to the coast of
Malta on the thirteenth day (see rer. 27). (3.) A
ship drifting in this direction to the place tradition-
ally known as St. Paul's Bay would come to that
spot on the coast without touching any other part
of the island previously. The coast, in fact, trends
from this bay to the S. E. This may be seen on
consulting any map or chart of Malta. (4.) On
Koura Point, which is the southeasterly extremity
of the bay, there must infallibly have been breakers,
with the wind blowing from the N. E. Now the
alarm was certainly caused by breakers, for it took
place in the night (ver. 27), and it does not appear
that the passengers were at first aware of the danger
which became sensible to the quick ear of the
" sailors." (5.) Yet the vessel did not strike: and
this corresponds with the position of the point,
which would be some little distance on the port
side, or to the left, of the vessel. (6.) Off this
point of the coast the soundings are 20 fathoms
(ver. 38), and a little further, in the direction of
the supposed drift, they are 15 fathoms (to.).
(7.) Though the danger was imminent, we shall
Ind from examining the chart that there would
itill be time to anchor (ver. 29) before striking on
the rocks ahead. (8. ) With bad holding ground
there would have been great risk of the ship
dragging her anchors. But the bottom of St.
Paul's Bay is remarkably tenacious. In Purdy's
Sailing Directions (p. 180) it is said of it that
" while the cables hold there is no danger, as the
anchors will never start." (9 ) The other geological
characteristics of the place are in harmony with
the narrative, which describes the creek as having
in one place a sandy or muddy beach (k6\-*ov
(\arra u'-yiaAoV, ver. 39), and which states that
the how of the ship was held fast in the shore,
while the stern was exposed to the action of the
warn (ver. 41). Kor particulars we must refer to
the work (mentioned below) of Mr. Smith, an ac-
complished geologist. (10.) Another point of local
detail is of considerable interest — namely, that as
the ship took the ground, the place was observed
to l>e SiOdAaovo*, «. «. a connection was noticed
between two apparently separate pieces of water.
We shall see, on looking at the chart, that this
would be the case. The small island of Salmonetta
would at first appear to be a part of Malta itself;
iut the passage would open on the right as the
vessel passed to the place of shipwreck. (11.) Malta
is in the track of ships between Alexandria and
?ntenli: and this corresponds with the fact that
he " Castor and Pollux," an Alexandrian vessel
which ultimately conveyed St. Paul to Italy, had
•uttered in the island (Acts xxviii. 11). (19.)
MBLITA
Finally, the eoune pursued in this """"'■■urn of
the voyage, first to Syracuse and then to Rhegium,
contributes a last link to the chain of arguments
by which we prove that Melita is Malta.
The case is established to demonstration. Still
it may be worth while to notice one or two objec-
tions. It is said, in reference to xxvii. 37, that the
wreck took place in the Adriatic, or Gulf of Venice.
It is urged that a well-known island like Malta
could not have been unrecognized (xxvii. 39), nor
its inhabitants called " barbarous " (xxviii. 8).
[Barbarous, Atner. ed.] And as regards the
occurrence recorded in xxviii. 8, stress is laid on
the facts that Malta has no poisonous serpents, and
hardly any wood. To these objections we reply a!
once that Adria, in the language of the period,
denotes not the Gulf of Venice, but the open ses
between Crete and Sicily ; that it is no wonder if
the sailors did not recognise a strange part of tin
coast on which they were thrown in stormy weather
and that they did recognize the place when the}
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MELITA
Hi Wave tbe ship (xxriii. 1)«; tint the kindness
recorded of the natives (izriii. 8, 10) shows they
■ere not '•barbarians" In the sense of being
savages, and that the word denotes simply thai
they did not speak Greek ; and lastly, that the pop-
ulation of Malta has increased in an extraordinary
■nanner in recent times, that probably there was
abundant wood there formerly, and that «ith the
destruction of the wood many indigenous animals
would disappear/
In adducing positive arguments and answering
objections, we hare indirectly prured that Melita in
the Gulf of Venice was not the scene of the ship-
wreck. But we may add that this island could not
bare been reached without a miracle under the cir-
cumstances of weather described in the narrative ;
that it is not in the track between Alexandria and
PuteoU; that it would not be natcral to proceed
MELITA
1879
Awn It to Rome by means of a vojage enturaeiug
Syracuse; and that the soundings on its shore dr
not agree with what is recorded in the Acts.
An amusing passage in Coleridge's Tnblt Tall
(p. 1S5) is worth noticing as the last echo of what
is now an extinct controversy. The question has
been set at rest forever by Mr. Smith of Jord:ui
Hill, in his Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul, the
first published work in which it was thoroughly
investigated from a sailor's point of view. It had,
however, been previously treated in the same man-
ner, and with the same results, by Admiral Pen-
rose, and copious notes from his MSS. are given ir.
The Life and EpMttof St. Paul. In that woik
(2d ed. p. 426 note) are given the names of some «{
those who carried on the controversy in the last
century. The ringleader on the Adriatio side nf
the question, not unnaturally was Padre Georgi. i
monk connected with the Venetian or
Austrian Uelefla, and his Paulut Kuufragut is
ntremely curious. He was, however, not the first
to suggest this untenable view. We find it, at a
much earlier period, in a Byzantine writer, Const.
(under the governor ol Sicily) appears from li scrip
tious to have had the title of wparror Wtknaittr,
or Primut Melitentium, and this is the very phrase
which St. I^ike uses (xxviii. 7). [Ptrauus,] Mr.
Smith could not find these inscriptions. There
l'orphyrog. De Adm. Imp. (c 36, v. iii. p. 164 of I seems, however, no reason whatever to doubt their
the Bonn ed.).
As regards the condition of the island of Melita,
when St. Paul was there, it was a dependency of
the Roman province of Sicily. Its chief officer
a • It may nave been, as lax as respects the verb
HWy v i rav or probably «Wyva>p«v), by recognition or
by information that they learnt on what Island they
were oast. In this Instance as what they learned was
not that " the island is MellU " but " is called
tca*»Tai) Melita," they wen probably tola this by the
people whom the wreck of the ship hsd brought down
o the coast. If " the Bailors " as distinguished from
he others " recognised the land " It wonld naturally
>_?ve been tbe sea-view which was familiar to them.
teal yet they had tailed to recognise the Island from
the sea, though they had seen It In full daylight (ver.
Cl before landing. II.
*> * There is a passage In another of Dean Howson's
works respecting these verifications of Luke's accuracy
eaten belongs also to this place. " Nothing is more
wrtaln than that the writer was on board that ship
that he tells the truth It might be thought
i that so large a spare. In a volume which we
l to be Inspired, should contain so much clrcum-
l detail with si little of religions exhortation
authenticity (see Bochart, Opera, i. 502; Abeh,
Otter. Melitte, p. 146, appended to the last voluits
of the Antiquitia of Graevius; and Boeckh, Corp
Inte. vol. iii. 5754). Melita, from its position in
and precept. The chapter might seem merely Intended
to give us information concerning the ships and sea-
firing of the ancient world ; and certainly nothing In
the whole range of Greek and Roman literature does
teach us so much on these subjects. What If it wa#
divinely ordained that there should be one large pas
sage in the New Testament — one, and Just one — thai
conld be minutely tested in the accuracy of Its mere
circumstantial particulars — and that It thould have
been so tested and attested Just at tbe time whan such
accuracy is most snarohlngly questioned ? " ( Lecture t on
the Character of Si. Paid, Ilnlsean Lectures for 1864.)
The particulars In which this accuracy of the narrative
shows Itself are well enumerated in J. It Osrtel's Puutmt
in iter ApoUetferhiclite. pp. 107-110 (Halle, 18Wl. Kloa-
termano ( Tinaicicf Lucancc seutie uin>rarii in tifrro Atlo
mm awrrati auclrm, QotUng. 186H) argues (Wan Inter-
nal characteristics that the writer of this itinerary (Acts
xsvli. and xxTtH.) must have been an eye-witness, ani
was tbe Lake whe wrote the other parts of the bonk
at
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1880
MELONS
the Mediterranean, and the excellence of ilt harbors,
tiu always been important both in commerce and
war. It was a settlement of the Phoenicians at au
earl; period, and their language, in a corrupted
form, continued to be spoken there in St Paul's
Jay. (Geseniua, Yntach ib. die malt. Spinc/tt,
teipz. 1810.)" From the Carthaginians it passed
to tie Romans in the Second Punic War. It was
famous for its honey and fruits, for its cotton
fabrics, for excellent building-stone, and for a well-
known breed of dogs. A few years before St. Paul's
visit, corsairs from his native province of Cilicia
made Melita a frequent resort; and through sub-
sequent periods of its history, Vandal and Arabian,
it was often associated with piracy. The Chris-
tianity, however, introduced by St. Paul was never
extinct. This island had a brilliant period under
the knights of St. John, and it is associated with
>iie most exciting passages of the struggle between
the French and English at the close of the last
century and the beginning of the present. No
inland so small has so great a history, whether Bib-
lical or political. J. S. H.
MELONS (C^niSSS,* ubnuichlm: wivmnf-
peponet) are mentioned only in the following verse:
" We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt
freely; the cucumbers, and the melons," etc. (Num.
xi. 6); by the Hebrew word we are probably to un-
derstand both the melon {Cucumit melo) and the
water- melon (Cucw trita titnUhu), for the Am". ic
MELONS
fruits alone, such as cucumbers, pumpkin*, mesocs,
which are known by the generic name baltch."
The Greek Wa-ow,and the 1-atin pepn, appear to be
also occasionally used in a generic sense. Accord-
ing to Forakal (Deter, pi, ml. p. 167) and Haeael-
qi'ist (Trav. 265), the Arabs designated the watar-
Catesretfe dtntBut
noon singular, baliUi, which is identical with the
Hebrew word, Is used genetically, as we leam from
Prosper Alninus, who SRys (Kerum ^f.gypt. HUl. i.
17) of the Egyptians, " they often dine and sup on
melon bntech, while the same word was used with
some specific epithet to denote other plants belong-
ing to the order Cucuriiiaaa. Though the water-
melon is now quite common in Asia, Dr. Royle
thinks it doubtful whether it was known to the
ancient Egyptians, as no distinct mention of it is
made in Greek writers; it is uncertain at what time
the Greeks applied the term ayyovpwv (anonn'a)
to the water-melon, but it was probably at a com-
paratively recent date. The modem Greek word
for this fruit is iyyoipi- Galen (</e Fuc Alim. ii.
567) speaks of the common melon (Ciiettmit melu)
under the name finhontiicwv. Serapion, according
to Sprengel ( Comment, in Diotcoi: ii. 162), restricts
the Arabic batllch to the water-melon. The water-
melon is by some considered to lie indigenous to
India, from which country it may have been intro-
duced into Egypt in very early times; according to
Prosper Alpinus, medical Arabic writers sometimes
use the term IrntUch- /»</»', or avyvrin India', to
denote this fruit, whose common Arabic name is
according to the same authority, bntikh eUUnori
(water); but llasselquist says (7Ynr. 256) that this
name belongs to a softer variety, the juice of which
when very ripe, and almost putrid, is mixed wiu.
rune-water and sugar and given in fevers; be ob-
serves _ that the water-melon is cultivated on the
banks bf the Nile, on the rich clayey earth after the
inundations, from the beginning of May to the end
of July, and that it serves the Egyptians for meat,
Ii ink, and physic; the fruit, however, he says, should
te eaten " with great circumspection, for if it be
taken in the beat of the day when the body is warm
Iwd consequences often ensue." This observation
" • s'or the results of this Investigation see al<v>
Kirch MulOruber's Eneyklapatlie, art. "Arablen.'' Tin;
Maleew language approaches so nearly to the Arabic
that the islanders are readily understood In all the ports
af Africa ana Syria. At the time of the Saracen Irrup-
tion Malta was overrun by Arabs from whom the com-
mon people of the Island derive their origin. Their
Jialeet Is a corrupt Arabic, Interwoven at the same
Bane with many words from the Italian Spanish, and
k'bai Knrnpean languages. Although the ancestral
a.14* es tlw Maltese may dispose them to trace back
their language to the old Punic, yet It contains noth-
ing which may not far more naturally be explained
out of the modem Arabic. The Maltese Arabic \r such
that travellers In Arabia and Palestine often cbtaln
their guides In Malta. H
» From root TV2j), transp. ror PiatS (v twaj tf),
"to cook." Precisely similar U the dertvauoo of
Wnw, from trcVrw. Geseniua compares the 5p\uar
sw/ims, the Vnoch pautqua.
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MELZAK
so (kmbt appliea 911 ly to person* before the)' h»ve
become nccliinathr.d. for the native Egyptians cut
Ibe fruit with impunity. The common melon (Ot-
cumt melo) is cultivated in the same placet and
ripens at tie tame time with the water-melon;
but the fruit in Egypt in not to delicious as
in thii xwntry (ate Sonnini's Traveb, ii. 328);
the poor in Egypt do not eat thii melon. " A
traveller in the East" says KJtto (note on
Nun. xi. 5), " who recollects the intense gratitude
which a gift of a slice of melon inspired while jour-
neying over the hot and dry plains, will readily
eorcprehend the regret with which the Hebrews in
the Arabian desert looked back upon the melons of
Egypt." Die water-melon, which is now exten-
sively cultivated all over India and the tropical
parts of Africa and America, and indeed in hot
reunifies generally, is a fruit not unlike the common
melon, but the leaves are deeply lobed and gashed,
the flesh is pink or white, and contains a large
quantity of cold watery juice without much flavor;
the seeds are black. The melon is too well known
to need description. Both these plants belong to
the order VucurbiUicea, the Cucumber family,
which contains about sixty known genera and 300
species — Cucurbiia, Bryonia, Mvmnticti, Cucu-
mu, are examples of the genera. [Jucumbek;
GOUKD.] W. H.
* Had the faith of the children of Israel been
such as it ought to have been they needed not to
have murmured at the loss of the Egyptian melons,
inasmuch as i'alestine and Syria are capable of pro-
ducing the best species of them. Water-melons
are now cultivated all through I'alestine. and those
of Jaffa are famous fur their lusciousness. They
are carried to all points on the coast, and trans-
ported to the inland towns on camels as far at
Hums and Hamath and Aleppo, before the season
when they ripen in those districts. They are
among the cheapest and most widely diffused of
all the fruits of the East In most part* of Syria
MEMPHIS
1881
Melons go by the generic nwie
^^V?-
BuUikh,
while their specific names are yetloio BottUch for "he
anitt-mtton, Jaffa BoUUck for those from that city,
gnat BoUSkh for the water-melon. It is not, how-
ever, the custom to name other plants of the cucur-
Utaoem "Bottlkh." The cuumber, and the
jLlalmmm, etc. have all their appropriate generic
G. E. P.
MBT/ZAB CV 1 ?^ [orerseer]). The A. V.
is wrong in regardiiiir Mebnr as a proper name: it
■s ratbei an official title, as is implied in the o>l-
Jition of the article in etch case where the name
oecurs(Dan. I. 11, 1G): the marginal reading;, " the
Reward," is therefore more correct. The I. XX.
^rather, Theodotion] regards the article as a part of
Ibe name, and renders it 'Kixtpcip [so Alex. ; Rom
Vat AfitWiS: the LXX. read 'ABitrtpl]: the
Vulgate, however, has Mitnttr. The mrlznp was
subordinate to the " master of the eunuchs: " his
sffioe was to superintend the nurture and education
•ftbeyung: he thus combined the duties of the
Jreek waiBayvyiit and rpixpeis, and more nearly
romnMes our •• tutor " than any other officer. As
Is the origin of the term, there Is some doubt; it is
^ssmDy regardtd aa of Persian origin, the words
mican giving »he sense of "head cup-bearer,' '
Furst (Lex. s. v.) suggests its connection with the
Hebrew nitnr, " to guard." W. L. B.
MEMTWITTS, QUINTTJS (Kouro. M</r
ptos), 2 Mace. xi. 34. [Makuus, T.J
MBM'PHIS, a city of ancient Egypt, situated
on the western bank of the Nile, in latitude 30° 6
N. It is mentioned by Isaiah (xix. 13), Jeremiah
(it 16, xhi. 14, 19), and Exekiel (xxx. 13, 16),
under the name of Nora; and by Hosea (ix. 6)
under the name of Mora in Hebrew, and Mem-
phis in our English version [LXX. M«/io>ir, Vulg.
Mcmphii). The name is compounded of two hiero-
glyphic*; » Mem " = foundation, station ; and " JVo-
/re "= good. It is variously interpreted; ey.
"haven of the good;" " tomb of the good man '--
Osiris; "the abode of the good; " "the gate of the
blessed." Gesenius remarks upon the two inter-
pretations proposed by Plutarch (D* /rid. ttOt. 90)
— namely, lauer aVyatW, " haven of the good,"
and tAQos 'Oaipltos, " the tomb of Osiris " —
that " both are applicable to Memphis as the sep-
ulchre of Osiris, the Necropolis of the Egyptians,
and hence also the haven of the blessed, since thr
right of burial was conceded only to the good."
Uunsen, however, prefers to trace in the name or
the city a connection with Menes, its founder. The
Greek coins have Sftmphis ; the Coptic is Mtmji
or Mtnfi and Mem/; Hebrew, sometimes Mi>ph
(Mph), and sometimes Naph; Arabic Mt in/ or
Attn/ (Bunsen, A'yy/V» Place, vol. ii. 63). There
can be no question as to the identity of the Nv/Ji
of the Hebrew prophets with Memphis, the capital
of lower Egypt
Though some regard Thebes as the more ancient
city, the monuments of Memphis are of higher an
tiquity than those of Thebes. Herodotus dau* its
foundation from Menes, the first really histories'
king of Egypt The era of Meucs is not satisfac-
torily determined. Kirch, Kenrick, Poole, Wil-
kinson, and the English school of Egyptologists
generally, reduce the chronology of Mauetho's lists,
by making several of h : s dynasties contemporaneous
instead of successive Sir (J. Wilkinson dates the
era of Manes from b. c. 261)0; Mr. Stuart Poole,
B. c. 2717 (Kawlinson, Herod, ii. 849; Poole,
llora AZyypt. p. 97). The German Egyptologists
assign to Egypt a much longer chronology. Bun-
sen fixes the era of Menes at b. c. 3643 (Egypt' t
Place, vol II. 679); Brugsch at b. c. 4466 (&»■
toirt itEyypte, i. 287); and Lepsius at b. c. 3892
(KSmgtbuch der alien JEgypter). Lepsius aha
registers about 18,000 years of the dynasties of gods,
demigods, and prehistoric kings, before the nccesa'oi<
of Menes. But Indeterminate and conjectural as
the early chronology of Egypt yet is, all agree thr.t
the known history of the empire begins with Menes.
who founded Memphis. The city belongs to the
earliest periods of authentic history.
The building of Memphis is associated by tradi-
tion with a stupendous work of art which has per-
manently changed the course of the Nile and the
face of the Delta. Before the time of Mer.es the
river emerging from the upper valley into the neck
of the Itelta, l*nt its course westward toward the
hills of the Ubyan desert, or at least discharged a
large portion of its waters through an arm in that
direction. Here the generous flood whose yearly
inundation gives life and fertility to Egypt, was
largely absorbed in the sands of the desert, of
wasted in stagnant morasses- It is even conjectured
that up to the time of Menes the whole EMU was
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MEMPHIS
id uninlud luUe marih. The rivers of Damawus,
the Baradu and 'Amy, now ]>•*■ themselves in the
lame way in the marshy bikes of the great desert
plain southeast of the city. Herodotus informs us,
upon the authority of the Egyptian priests of his
time, that Menes " by banking up the river at the
bend which it forms about a hundred furlongs south
of Memphis, laid the ancient channel dry, while he
dug a new course for the stream half-way between
the two lines of hills. To this day," he continues,
"the elbow which the Nile forms at the point
where it is forced aside into the new channel is
guarded with the greatest care by the Persians, and
strengthened every year; for if the river were to
burst out at this place, and pour over the mound,
there would be danger of Memphis being completely
overwhelmed by the flood. Men, the first king,
having thus, by turning the river, made the tract
where it used to run, dry land, proceeded in the
■rat place to build the city now called Memphis,
which lies in the narrow part of Egypt; after which
MEMPHIS
be further iscavafaid a lake outside ihe town, to ths
north aud west, communicating with the river
which was itself the eastern boundary " (Herod
ii. 99). From this description it appears, that —
like Amsterdam dyked in from the Zuyder Zee, or
St. Petersburg defended by the mole at ( ronstadt
from the Gulf of Finland, or more nearly like New
Orleans protected by iU levee from the freshets of
the Mississippi, and drained by Lake Ponichartrain,
— Memphis was created upon a marsh reclaimed
by the dyke of Menes and drained by his artificial
lake. New Orleans is situated on the left bank of
the Mississippi, about 90 miles from its mouth, and
is protected against inundation by an embankment
15 feet wide and 4 feet high, which extends Irom
120 miles above the city to 40 miles below it.
Lake Pontchartrain affords a natural drain for the
marshes that form the margin of the city upon the
east. The dyke of Menes began 12 miles south
of Memphis, and deflected the main channel of the
river about two miles to the eastward. Upon the
The Sphinx and Pyramids at Memphis.
rue of the Nile, a canal still conducte 1 a portion of
it* waters westward through the old channel, thus
irrigating the plain beyond the city in that direc-
tion, while an inundation was guarded against on
that side by a large artificial lake or reservoir at
Almisir The skill in engineering which these
Ivories required, and which their remains still indi-
cate, argues a high degree of material civilization, at
least in the mechanic arts, in the earliest known
xriod of Egyptian history.
The political sagacity of Menes appears in the
oeatk n of his capital where it would at once com-
mand the Pelta and hold the key of upper Egypt,
oni. (rolling the commerce of the Nile, defended upon
the west by the Libyan mountains and desert, and
xi the east by the river and its artificial embank-
ments. The climate of Memphis may lie inferred
torn that of the modem Cairo — about 10 miles to
:he north — which is the most equable that Egypt
stCcrds The city is said to have had a clrcum-
t <f about IS miles (Diod. S'c. 1. 50), and
the houses or inhabited quarters, as was usual in
the great cities of antiquity, were interspersed with
numerous gardens and public areas.
Herodotus states, on the authority of the priests,
that Menes " built the temple of Hephs-stiia. which
stands within the city, a vast edifice, well worthy
of mention "(ii. 99). riie divinity whom Herod-
otus thus identifies with Hephrstus was l'lnh l
'*the creative power, the maker of all material
things" (Wilkinson in Rawlinson's Hrrod. ii. 289;
Bunnell, h'nypt't Place, 1. 367, 384). Pt»li was
worshipped In all Egypt, but under different repre-
sentations in different Nomes: ordinarily "as a
god holding before him with both bands the Nilon-
eter, or emblem of stability, combined with the
sign of life " (Biinsen, i. 382). But at Memphis
his worship was so prominent that the primitive
sanctuary of his temple was built by Menes: suc-
cessive monarchs greatly enlarsred and lieautifled
the structure, by the addition of courts, porchaa
and colossal ornaments. I lerodotus and Dio Ions
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MEMPHUs
lescribe wren] of these additions and restoration!,
lut nowhere give a complete description of the
temple with measurements of its various dimensions
(Hand. U. 99, 101, 108 110, 121, 136, 163, 176;
Diod. Sic. i. 45, 51, 62, 67). According to these
authorities, Moeris built the northern gateway ; Se-
sostris erected in front of the temple colossal stat-
ues (varying from 30 to 50 feet in height) of him-
self, his wife, and his four sons; Khampsinitus built
tie western gateway, and erected before it the
colossal statues of Summer and Winter; Asychis
built the eastern gateway, which "in size and
beauty tu surpassed the other three; " Psammeti-
chus built the southern gateway; and Amosis pre-
sented to this temple " a recumbent colossus 75 feet
long, and two upright statues, each 20 feet high."
The period between Menes and Amosis, according
to Brugsch, was 3731 years; but according to Wil-
kinson only about 2100 years; but upon either cal-
culation, the temple as it appeared to Strabo was
the growth of many centuries. Strabo (xvii. 807)
describes this temple as " built in a very sumptuous
manner, both as regards the size of the Naos and
in other respects." The Dromos, or grand avenue
leading to the temple of Ptah, was used for the
celebration of bull-fights, a sport pictured in the
tombs. But these lights were probably between
i-iimals alone — no captive or gladiator being coni-
nelled to enter the arena. The bulls having been
twined for the occasion, were brought face to face
and goaded on by their masters; — the prize being
awarded to the owner of the victor. But though
the bull was thus used for the sport of the people,
he was the sacred animal of Memphis.
Apis was believed to be an incarnation of Osiris.
The sacred bull was "selected by certain outward
symbols of the indwelling divinity; his color
being black, with the exception of white spots of a
peculiar shape upon his forehead and right side.
The temple of Apis was one of the most noted
structures of Memphis. It stood opposite the
southern portico of the temple of Ptah ; and Psam-
metichus, who built that gateway, also erected in
front of the sanctuary of Apis a magnificent colon-
nade, supported by colossal statues or Osiride pillars,
such as may still be seen at the temple of Medeenct
Habou at Thebes (Herod, ii. 153). Through this
colonnade the Apis was led with great pomp upon
state occasions. Two stables adjoined the sacred
vestibule (Strab. xvii. 807). Diodorus (i. 85) de-
scribes the magnificence with which a deceased Apis
was interred and his successor installed at Memphis.
The place appropriated to the burial of the sacred
bulls was a gallery some 2000 feet in length by
20 in height and width, hewn in the rock without
the city. This gallery was divided into numerous
rereasw upon each side; and the embalmed bodies
of the sacred bulls, each in its own sarcophagus of
granite, were deposited in these " sepulchral stalls."
9l few years since, this burial-place of the sacred
.wlls was discovered by M. Mariette, and a large
number of the sarcophagi have already been opened.
These catacombs of mummied bulls were approached
{ram Memphis by a pared road, having colossal
lions upon either side.
At Memphis was the reputed burial-place of Isis
Diod. Sic. i. 22); it had also a temple to that
* atrriad -named " divinity, which Heroaotus (ii.
17V) describe* as " a vast structure, well worthy of
•osMe," but inferior to that consecrated to her In
, a chief city of her worship (ii 69). Mem-
i had also It* Serapeium, which probably stood
MEMPHIS
1888
in the western quarter of the city, toward tbt
desert; since Strabo describes it as very much ex-
posed to sand-drifts, and in his time partly buried
by masses of sand heaped up by the wind (xvii.
807). The sacred cubit and other symbols used in
measuring the rise of the Nile were deposited in
the temple of Serapis.
Herodotus describes "a beautiful and richly
ornamented iticlosure,'' situated upon the south
side of the temple of Ptah, which was sacred to
Proteus, a native Memphite king. Within this
inclosure there was a temple to "the foreign
Venus " (Astarte ?), concerning which the historian
narrates a myth connected with the Grecian Helen.
In this inclosure was " the Tyriau camp " (ii. 112).
A temple of lia or Phre, the Sun, awl a temple of
the Cabeiri, complete the enumeration of the sacred
buildings of Memphis.
The mythological system of the time of Menes it
ascribed by Bunsen to " the amalgamation of the
religion of Upper and Lower Egypt;" — religion
having " already united the two provinces before the
power of the race of This in the Thebaid extended
itself to Memphis, and before the giant work of
Menes converted the Delta from a desert, checkered
over with lakes and morasses, into a blooming gar-
den." The political union of the two divisions of
the country was effected by the builder of Memphis.
" Menes founded the Empire of Egypt, by raising
the people who inhabited the valley of t e Nile
from a little provincial station to that of an histori
cal nation" (Egypt's Place, i. 441, ii. 409).
The Necropolis, adjacent to Memphis, was on s
scale of grandeur corresponding with the city itself.
The " city of the pyramids " is a title of Memphis
in the hieroglyphics upon the monuments. The
great field or plain of the Pyramids lies wholly upon
the western bank of the Nile, and extends from
Aboo-Roaih, a little to the northwest of Cairo, to
Mtydoom, about 40 miles to the south, and thence
in a southwesterly direction about 25 miles further,
to the pyramids of ilouaara and of Bvthmii iu the
Fayoura. Lepsius computes the number of pyra-
mids in this district at sixty-seven; but in this be
counts some that are quite small, and others of a
doubtful character. Not more than half this num-
ber can be fairly identified upon the whole field.
But the principal seat of the pyramids, the Mem
phite Necropolis, was in a range of about 16 miles
from Sakktira to Gizeh, and in the groups here re-
maining nearly thirty are probably tombs of the
imperial sovereigns of Memphis (Bunsen, Egypt'i
PUct, ii. 88). Lepsius regards the '•Pyramid
fields of Memphis " as a most important testimony
to the civilization of Egypt (Letlrrt, Bohii, p.
25; also Chronobgie dtr Atgypter. vol. !.). Th «e
royal pyramids, with the subterranean balls of A] is,
and numerous tombs of public utticere erected xi
the plain or excavated in the adjacent lulls, g--ve to
Memphis the preeminence which it enjoyed as " tha
haven of the blessed."
Memphis long held its place as a capital ; and
for centuries a Memphite dynasty ruied o\er all
Egypt. Lepsius, Bunsen, snd Brugsch, agree in
regarding the 3d, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th dynasties
of the Old Empire as Memphite, reaching through
a period of about a thousand years. During a poi -
tion of this period, however, the chain was broken,
or there were contemporaneous dyuasties in ottss
parts or* Kgypt
The overthrow of Memphis was distinctly pre-
dicted by the Hebrew prcpheU. In his '• burden
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1884
MEMPHIS
' EOT*." '*» i ' J > *»y«> " Tha prison of Zoan m
become foot*, the prima of Nopk are deceived "
(Is. zix. 13). Jeremiah (xlri. 19) declare* that
"Naph shall be waste and desolate without an
Inhabitant." Ezekiel predicts: "Thus aaith the
Lord tied: I will also destroy the idols, and I will
eauee [their] images to cease out of Nopk; and
there shall be no more a prince of the land of
Egypt." The latest of these predictions was ot-
tered nearly 600 years before Christ, and half a
eentury before the invasion of Egypt by Cambyaas
(dr. B. c. 525). Herodotus informs us that Cam-
byeee, enraged at the opposition be encountered at
Memphis, committed many outrages upon the city.
Ha killed the sacred Apis, and caused his priests to
he scourged. " lie opened the ancient sepulchres,
and examined the bodies that were buried in tbem.
He likewise went into the temple of Hephaestus
(ltah) and mode great sport of the image. . . .
He went also into the temple of the Cabeiri, which
it is unlawful for any one to enter except the priests,
and not only made sport of the images but even
burnt theni " (Her. iii. 37). Memphis never recov-
ered from the blow inflicted by Cambyses. The
rise of Alexandria hastened its decline. The Caliph
eonquerors founded Fostat (Old Cairo) upon the
opposite bank of toe Nile, a few miles north of
Memphis, and brought materials from the old city
to build their new capital (a. i>. 638). The Ara-
bian physician, Abd-el-Latif, who visited Memphis
In the 13th century, describes its ruins as then
marvelous beyond description (see De Sacy'a trans-
lation, cited by Urugsch, Huiuirt ct Eyypte, p. 18).
Abulfeda, in the 14tb century, speaks of the remains
of Memphis as immense; for the most part in a
state of decay, though some sculptures of varie-
gated stone still retained a remarkable freshness of
color (Vtscri/ttio jEgypti, ed. Michaelis, 1776).
At length so complete was the ruin of Memphis,
that for a long time its very site was lost. Pococke
could find no trace of it. Kecent explorations,
especially those of Messrs. Mariette and Unant,
have brought to light many of its antiquities,
which have been dispersed to the museums of
Kurope and America. Some specimens of sculp-
ture from Memphis adorn the Egyptian ball of the
British Museum: other monuments of this great
city are in the Abbott Museum in New York.
The dykes and canals of Menu still form the basis
of the system of irrigation for Lower Egypt; the
insignificant village of Meet Kaheeneh occupies
nearly the centre of the ancient capital. Thus toe
site and the general outlines of Memphis are nearly
restored; but "the images have ceased out of
Nopb, and it is desolate, without inhabitant."
J. P. T.
* In the six years which have elapsed since the
preceding article was written, much has been
brought to light concerning the antiquities of
Memphis, both by exploration and by discussion,
uid there is hardly a point in the topography or
the history of the city which remains in olacurity.
Vhe illustrated work of Mariette-Bey, embodying
Jbe results of his excavations, when completed, will
restore the first capital of Egypt, in great part, to
Its original grandeur.
Memphis appears upon the monuments under
three distinct names: the first its name as the
capital of the corresponding Nomt or district;
the second its profane, and the third its sacred
•mm. Ibe first, Stbt-A'tt, is literally "the City
K* Mate WalU" — a name originally given to
MEMPHIS
the citadel (Herodotus, iii. c 91), and emedally U
that part of the fortifications within which was
inclosed the temple of the chief divinity of th»
city. Osiris is sometimes styled " the great kins)
in the chief city of the Nome of the white walla.'
The second, which was the more M—nm name
of the city, Mtn-nrfr, signifies literally wumtic
bona. Brngseh regards the commonly-received
analogy of this with the Mopk at Nopk of tha
Hebrew Scriptures as of alight authority, and pre-
fers to identity Nopk with A'd/u, which appears in
the hieroglyphics under the form of " the city of
Ntpu ac Nup" (Geograpk. Intckriflcn, L 166 and
335).
The sacred name of the city was Ba-pUxk a
Pa-flak, " the House or City of Ptak ' ' — Htpkni-
atonaft'i.
Another name frequently given to Memphis on
the monuments is Taponck ; this was particularly
applied to the sacred quarter of the goddess Haiti,
and signifies "the World of Life." Brngseh
traces here a resemblance to the second clause in
the surname of Joseph given by Pharaoh (Gen. xli.
45), which the LXX. render by tpari\x. Brugach
reads this title as equivalent to m pen-la-panek,
which means " this is the tioveruor of Tapanck,"
Joseph being thus invested with authority over
that sacred quarter of the capital, and bearing
from it the title " Urd of the World of Lite."
The royal grandeur of Memphis is attested by
the groups of pyramids that mark the burial-place
of her lines of kings; but a rich discovery baa now
brought to light a consecutive list of her sovereigns
in almost unbroken continuity from Menes. This
is the " New Table of Abydos " which Mariette-
Bey came upon in 1865, in the course of his explora-
tions at that primitive seat of monarchy, and which
Dumichen has faithfully reproduced in his work.
Inscriptions upon the great temple of Abydos show
that this was erected by Sethos I. and further orna-
mented by his son, who is known in history as the
second Barneses. Upon one lobby of the teaaple
Sethos and Kameaes are depicted as rendering
homage to the Goda; and in the inscription appear
130 proper names of divinities, together with the
names of the places where these divinities were
particularly worshipped. Upon the opposite lobby
the same persons, the king and his son, are repre-
sented in the act of homage to their royal prede-
cessors, and an almost perfect list is given, embra-
cing seventy-six kings from Menes to Sethos. This
discovery has important hearings upon the chro-
nology of the Egyptian Pharaouic dynasties. There
are now four monumental lists of kings which
serve for comparison with the lists of Manetho and
the Turin Papyrus: (1.) The Tablet of Karnak, on
which Ttithmoeis HI. appears sacrificing to hi*
predecessors, sixty-one of whom are represented by
their portraits and names. (S.) The Tablet of
Abydos, now in the British Museum, which repre-
sents Kamessea-Seiwtliis receiving congratulations
from his royal predecessors, fifty in number. (3.)
Ilie Tablet of Saqqarali, discovered by Mariette in
1864, in a private tomb in the necropolis of Mem-
phis, which represents a royal scribe in the act <f
adoration before a row of fifty eight royal cartou-
ches. (4.) The new Tablet of Abydos described
above. When these four monumental lists are
tabulated with one another, and with the UsU of
Manetho and the Turin Papyrus, the correspond-
ences of names and dynasties are so many and at
miuute as to prove that they all stand related U
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEMUCAN
some traditional eerie* of king* which m of oom-
uion aothotity. Their varUtioua may be owing in
part to diversities of reading, and in part to a
preference lor particular long* or list* of king* in
aoutemporary djnaatie*; ao that while, in aome
instance*, contemporary dynasties ban been drawn
upon by different authorities, no Tablet incor-
porate* contemporary dynaatiea into one. Now,
skeee the data of Satao* I. fall* within the fifteenth
century, a. o., it ia obvious that to allow for a
succession of aerenty-ciz Memphite king* from
Menea to Setho* I., and for the growth of the
mechanic art* and the national resources up to the
paint indicated at the oonaolidation of the empire
Mens*, the rewired Biblical chronology be-
the Flood and the Exodus mutt be some-
extended. We await aorae more definite
determination of the Hykaoa period, a* a fixed
point of calculation for the preceding dynaatie*.
Bunsen (ml. T. pp. 58, 77, and 103) fixe* the era
of Menea at 3069 B. c. — " the beginning of chro-
nological time in Egypt, by the settlement of the
system of the Tague solar year; " thit i* a reduction
of about 600 yean, for in toL iv. p. 490, he placed
Menea at 3683 B. a, and he also demanded at least
0000 year* before Menes, for the settlement of Egypt
and the development of a national life. This, how-
ever, ia not history but conjecture ; but the new Table
of Abydoa i* a tangible scale of history. (For a
comparison of these several tablets, see the Heme
Arduotuyiifui, 1864 and 1865, Uouge, Rtchtrchet
sur let Mimummtt Hutoriqua, and Diiniichen, /%<(-
tchrifl fir AgypL Spracht, 1864.) J. P. T.
MBMXTOAN O^IBt? [a Persian title]:
Morveuoi: Aftimuchan). One of the seven prince*
of Persia in the reign of Ahasuenu, who "saw
the king'* face," and eat flrat in the kingdom (Esth.
i. 14). They were '• wise men who knew the times"
(skilled in the planeta, according to Aben Ezra),
and appear to have formed a council of state;
Josephns say* that one of their offices was that of
interpreting the law* {Ant. xi. 6, § 1). This may
ahn be inferred from the manner in which the royal
question is put to them when assembled in council ;
-According to law what i* to be done with the
queen Vaahtl ? " Memucan waa either the presi-
dent of the council on this occasion, or gave bis
opinion first in consequence of hi* acknowledged
wisdom, or from the respect allowed to his advanced
age. Whatever may have been the cause of this
priority, his sentence for Vashti's disgrace was
approved by the king and princes, and at once put
into execution; "and the king did according to
the word of Memucan" (Esth. i. 16, 81). The
Targum of Esther identifies him with " Hainan
the grandson of Agag." The reading of the Ctthib,
<r written text, in tot. 16 is pD1t3. W.A.W.
MKN'AHEM (DH3P [coiuofcr, whence
Mahaks, Act* xiii. 1] : Movent/*; [Alex. Mavtrnr,
•xc in ver. 14:] ifanahtm), sou of Uadi, who • slew
the usurper Shallum and seised the vacant throne
MENAHEM
188ft
• shnid (Osac*. Mm. BI. 698), following the LXX ,
-ooM tranalat* the latter part of S K. it. 10. « And
rTnanlam (or Xeblaam) amots him, and slsw bin, and
■atgned in Us stead." Kwald eoosldeni the tint of
■Ben a king's existence a help to the IntrrprntaMon
«T Zoeh. xi. 8 ; and he accounts for the sUu..e of
scripture as to his end by saying that be may have
hjmsslf serass the Jnrdu, and dtsappsarad
of Israel, b. 2. 779. His reign, which lasted ten
years, is briefly recorded in 2 K. xv. 14-22. It
has been inferred from the expression in verse 14,
" from Tinah," that Menahem waa a general under
Zechariah stationed at Tirzah, and that be brought
up his troops to Samaria and avenged the murda
of his master by Shallum (Joceph. Ant. ix. 1 1, § 1 ;
Keil, Thenius).
In religion Menahem was a steadfast adherent of
the form of idolatry established in Israel by Jero
boom. His general character is described by Joae-
phua aa rude and exceedingly cruel. The con-
temporary prophets, Hose* and Amos, have left a
melancholy picture of the ungodliness, demoralisay-
tion, and feebleness of Israel; and Ewald add* bo
their testimony some doubtful references to Isaiah
and Zechariah.
In the brief history of Menahem, hi* ferocious
treatment of Tiphsah occupies a conspicuous place.
The time of the occurrence, and the site of the
town have been doubted. Keil says that it can be
no other place than the remote Thapsacus on the
Euphrates, the northeast liouiidary (1 K. iv. 24) of
Solomon's dominion*; and certainly no other place
bearing the name is mentioned in the Bible.
Others suppose that it may have I een some town
which Menahem took in his way as he went from
Tirzah to win a crown in Samaria (Ewald); or
that it is a transcriber's error for Tappuah (Josh,
xvii. 8), and that Menahem laid it waste when be
returned from Samaria to Tirzah (Thenius). No
sufficient reason appears for having recourse to such
conjectures where the plain text presents no insuper-
able difficulty. The act, whether perpetrated at
the beginning of Menahem's reign or somewhat
later, was doubtless intended to strike terror into
the hearts of reluctant subjects throughout the
whole extent of dominion which he claimed. A
precedent for such cruelty might lie found in the
border wars between Syria and Israel, 2 K. viii.
12. It ia a striking sign of the increasing degra-
dation of the kind, that a king of Israel practioe*
upon hi* subjects a brutality from the mere sug-
gestion of which the unscrupulous Syrian usurper
recoiled with indignation.
But the most remarkable event in Menahem's
reign is the first appearance of a hostile force of
Assyrians on the northeast frontier of Israel. King
Pul, however, withdrew, having been converted from
an enemy into an ally by a timely gift of 1000
talents of silver, which Menahem exacted by an
assessment of 50 shekels a head on 60,000 Israelites,
It seems perhaps too much to infer from 1 Chr. v.
26, that Pul also took away Israelite captirc*. 71m
name of Pul (LXX. Phaloch or Phalos) appears
according to Rawlinson (BnmpHm l.rcturtt for 1819,
I.ect. iv. p. 183) in an Assyrian inscription of a
Ninevito king, a* Phallukha, who took tribute from
Beth Khumri (= the house of Oinri = Samaria)
as well as from Tyre, Sidon, Damascus, Idunuea,
and Philistia; the king of Damascus is set down
as giving 2300 talents of silver besides gold and
copper, but neither the name of Menahem, nor th*
among th* subjects of king Osslah. It doss no!
appear, however, how such a translation can be mads
U agree with the subsequent mention (ver. 18) of
Shallum, and with the express ascription of SluUnm's
death (ver. 14) to Menahem. Thenius excuses the
translation of th* LXX. by supposing tbst their MSB.
may hare bean in a dafKttve stats, but rkneulss Um
ttMorr of Kwald.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1886
MEN AH
mount of hi* tribute ii stated in the Inscription.
Kawlinson also eays that in another hueription
the name of Metiahem U given, probably by mis-
take of the (tone-cutter, as a tributary of Tiglath-
Menabem died in peace, and via succeeded by
hie son Fekahiah. W. T. B.
• ME'NAM, the reading of the A. V. ed.
1611 and other early ed*. in Lake Ui. 81 for
Mknak, which see. A.
METTAN (Mem; [Bee. Text, MairaV; Tiach.
Treg. with Sin. BIJC Mnvot; Lachm. Mem in
brackett (A omit* it); Erasmus, Aid., Gerbeliua,
Coiinaiua, Mtrijt, whence the reading Msmam, A.
V. ed. 1611; Bogardus (1543), tttrdr, like A. V.
in later editions:] Mama). The son of Mattatha,
one of the ancestors of Joseph in the genealogy of
Jasus Christ (Luke Hi. 31). ITiis name and the
following Melea are omitted in some Latin MSS-,
and are believed by Ld. A. Hervey to be corrupt
(Geneahoitt, p. 88).
ME'NE (K315: Mart), Theodot; Maru).
The first word of toe mysterious inscription written
upon the wall of BcUthazzar's palace, in which
Daniel read the doom of the king and his dynasty
(Dan. t. 26, 36). Itis the Peal past participle of the
ChaMee ""1JIJ, menan, "to number," and there-
fore signifies ■* numbered," as in Daniel's interpre-
tation, "God hath numbered (i°T3D, mends) thy
kingdom and finished it." ' W. A. W.
MENELATJS (MsrAaor), a usurping high-
priest who obtained the office from Antiochus Epi-
phanes (dr. n c. 179) by a large bribe (2 Mace. ir.
83-95), and drove out Jason, who had obtained it
not long before by similar means. When be neg
looted to pay the sum which he had promised, he
was summoned to the king's presence, and by pmn
dering the Temple gained the means of silencing the
accusations which were brought against him. By
a similar sacrilege he secured himself against the
oonsequences of an insurrection which his tyranny
had excited, and also procured the death of Onias
(vr. 97-34). He was afterwards hard pressed by
Jason, who, taking occasion from hi* unpopularity,
attempted unsuccessfully to recover the high-priest-
hood (2 Mace. v. 5-10). For a time he then
disappears from the history (yet comp. ver. 23),
out at last he met with a violent death at the
lands of Antiochus Eupator (cir. b. c. 163), which
seemed in a peculiar manner a providential puniah-
nent of his sacrilege (xiii. 3, 4).
According to Josepbus (Ant. xii. 6, J 1) he was
i vouniier brother of Jason and Onias, and, like
'ason. changed his proper name Onias for a Greek
name. In 2 Maccabees, on the other band, he is
sailed a brother of Simon the Benjamite (2 Mace
W. 2-1), whose treason led to the first attempt to
plunder the Temple. If this account be correct,
tbe profanation of the sacred office was the more
marked by the fact that it was transferred from
the family of Aaron. B. F. W.
MENBSTHEUS [3 syL] (M.r.crfl.w; Alex.
Vmrfn,-: Mnetthem). The father of Apol-
xmoa 3 (2 Mace iv. 91).
• KAwot rijt TiSxet «al toB iaijumx s aj ufte ssir
«Uu<» t» «•! Xriufver. The order of the words here
■Mas U Bvvor tha reealvad reeding of the UCX. ;
MENI
METJI. Tbe last danse of b. Ixv 11 b re*>
dered In the A. V. "and that furnish the drink
offering unto that number" 032? ?), the marginal
reading for the last word being "Meni." That
the word so rendered fa) a proper name, and aha
the proper name of an object of idoJatrooa worship
cultivated by the Jews in Babylon, is a apposition
which there seems no reason to question, as it is to
accordance with the context, and ha* every proba-
bility to recommend it. But the identification of
Meni with any known heathen god is still uncer-
tain. The version* are at variance. In tbe IXX
the word is rendered tj r»x", "fortune" or "hack."
The old l-atin version of the clause is " impleti*
damtm potionem; " while Symmaehus (as quoted
by Jerome) must have had a different reading,
^SS : mt'mu, " without me," which Jerome inter-
prets as signifying that the act of worship implied
in the drink-offering was not performed for Gad,
but for tbe demon (" ut doceat non sibi fieri aed
daanoni"). The Targum of Jonathan is very
vague — "and mingle cups for their idols; " and
the Syrisc translators either omit the word alto-
gether, or bad a different reading, perhaps TD7,
limt, "for them." Some variation of the same
kind apparently gave rise to the taper earn of the
Vulgate, referring to the " table " mentioned in tbe
first clause of the verse. From the old versions
we come to tbe commentators, and their judgments
are equally conflicting. Jerome {Coram, in It.
lxv. 11) illustrates the passage by reference to an
ancient idolatrous custom which prevailed in Egypt,
and especially at Alexandria, on tbe last day of the
last month of tbe year, of placing a table covered
with dishes of various kinds, and a cup mixed with
mead, in acknowledgment of tbe fertility of tbe past
year, or as an omen of that which was to come
(comp. Tirg. ./En. ii. 763). But he gives no clew
to the identification of Meni, and his explanation is
evidently suggested by tbe renderings of tbe LXX.
and the old Latin version ; the former, as he quote*
them, translating (lad by "fortune," and Mem
by "daemon," in which they are followed by tbe
latter. In the later mythology of Egypt, as we
learn from Macrobius (Saturn, i. 19), Aalfusr and
Tixt were two °f "" ' our deities who presided
over birth, and represented respectively the Sun
and .Moon. A passage quoted by Selden (de IHt
Syrit, Synt. i. c. 1 ) from a MS. of Vettius Valens
of Antioch, an ancient astrologer, goes also to prove
that in tbe astrological language of his day tbe sun
and moon were indicated by Salfiur and rvxn, as
being the arbiters of human destiny." This cir-
cumstance, coupled with tbe similarity between
Meni and tfrr)y or Mtjiti, the ancient name for the
moon, has induced the majority of commentators
to conclude that Meni is the Moon god or goddess,
the Deut Limit, at Oea Luna of the Romans;
masculine as regards tbe earth which she illumines
(terra maritut), feminine with respect to tbe sun
(SuUt uxor), from whom she receives her light.
This twofold character of the moon is thought by
David Millius to be indicated in the two nam**
Gad and Meni, the former feminine, the latter
masculine (Ditt. v. § 23); but as both are mason-
while the reading given by Jerome Is s uppo rts* *f
the tut that, In Gen. ixx. 11, "TJ, (vat, <■ i i s s n*
v»w
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEN I
Ine in Hebrew, his speculation bib to tbe ground.
La Moyne, un the other hem), regarded both word*
w denoting the tun, and hit double worship among
the Kgyptians: Gad is then the goat of Mendes,
and Meni = Mnerbj worshipped at Heliopolia.
The opinion of Hnettna that the Meni of Isaiah
and the MW)r of Strabo (xii. e. 31 ) both denoted
the son was refuted by Vitringa and others.
Among those who have interpreted the - word liter-
all; " nunilwr,'' may be reckoned Jarchi and Abar-
banel, who understand by it the " number " of the
priests who formed the company of revelers at the
feast, and later Hoheisel ( Ob: ml diffie. Jet. loca,
p. MO) followed in the same track. Klmchl, in
hie note on Is. Ixv. 11. says of Menl, "it is a star,
and some interpret it of the stars which are mim-
bertd, and they are the seren stars of motion,"
i e. the planets. Buztorf (Lex. Hebr.) applies it
to tbe "number" of the stars which were wor-
shipped as gods; Schindler (Lex. Pentagl.) to
"the number and multitude" of the idols, while
according to others it refers to " Mercury the god
of numbers; " all which are mere conjectures, quot
hominrt, lot lertrntia, and take their origin from
the play upon the word Meni, which is found in
the rerse nest following that in which it occurs
(•• therefore will I fiumeer (VYOyi, aVndni/Af ) you
to tbe sword "), and which is suppo se d to point to
its derivation from tbe verb HJO, m&nAk, to
nuoilier. But the origin of tbe name of Noah, as
given in Gen. v. 8S),« shows that such plays upon
words are not to be depended upon as the bases
of etymology. On tbe supposition, however, that
in this case the etymology of Meni is really indi-
cated, its meaning is still uncertain. Those who
understand by it the moon, derive au argument for
their theory from the fact, that anciently years
were numbered by the courses of the moon. Hut
Uesenius ( C'owim. 3b. d. Jctiia), with more proba-
bility, while admitting the same origin of the word,
gives to the root rruindh tbe sense of assigning, or
distributing,'' and connects it with mnn&hf one of
the three idols worshipped by the Arabs before the
time of Mohammed, to which reference is made in
the Koran (Sura 63), " What think ye of Allat,
and Al-LVaah, and Mimnh, that other third god-
dess ? " Mnnnh was the object of worship of " the
tribes of Ihidheylttni Khiud'ah, who dwelt between
Mekkeh and El-Medeeneh, and as some say, of the
tribes of (hrs, El-Khazraj, and Thakeek also. This
idol was a large stone, demolished by one Saad, in
the 8th year of the Flight, a year so fatal to the
idols of Arabia " (Lane's Set. from the Kur an,
pref pp. 80, 81, from l'ococke's Spec. ffitL Ar. p.
U3. ed. White). But Al-Zamakhshari. the com-
itcutator on the Koran, derives Afannh from the
root .«•**. " to Bow," because of the blood which
flowed at the sacrifices to this idol, or, as Millius
« "And he eaiWI his name Noah (nb), saving,
Ala one shall esayat us," ete. fD^rjSN lUnaeU-
vies*) Tat no on* would derive lib naaca, from
2TO, n* t* —n . Tbe phtv «a the word may be ia-
uib»l without detriment to th» sense II »e rendu
■mi ' oasttay," aid the Mlowtng elans*. " tbanfcn
illl ! w<rotr jm fa- the sword."
MEONENIM, THE PLAIN OF 188?
explains it, because tbe ancient idea of the moo*
wot that it was a star full of moisture, with which
it filled the sublunary regions. 1 ' The etymology
given by Uesenius is more probable; and Men)
would then be the personification of late or destiny,
under whatever form it was worshipped.* Whether
this form, sa Gesenius maintains, was the planet
Venus, which was known to Arabic astrologers as
"the leaser good fortune" (the planet Jupiter
being the " greater "), it is impossible to say with
certainty; nor is it safe to reason from the worship
of Manah by the Arabs in the times before Mo-
hammed to that of Meni by the Jews more than a
thousand years earlier. But the coincidence 'j
remarkable, though the identification may be U
complete. W. A. V?.
• MEN-PLEA8ERS (at «p»*dW«M) is •
word which came into not with Tjndales tiane-
lation (Kp. vi. 6; Col. iii. 93). It is like "eye-
vice " in this respect, which occurs in the some
passages H.
• MENUCHAH (niTI^?: axi Nowd;
Alex, and Vulg. translate freely) in Jttdg. xx. 43
has been regarded by some critics as the name of a
place, and is put as such in the margin of the
A. V., Inn in the text is rendered " with ewe."
Fiiret takes it to be the same as Manahath in 1
Chr. riii. 6, whence the patronymic Manahethites,
1 Chr. ii. 54. If a town be meant, it was in tbe
tribe of Benjamin, and on tbe line of the retreat of
the Uenjamius before the other tribes at the siege
of Uihenh (comp. Jndg. xx. 41 ft*.). It is held to
be a proper name in Luther's version. But tbe
word has more probably its ordinary signification:
either " with ease " (literally " quiet " as the op-
posite of toil, trouble), with reference to the almost
unremitted victory of the other trilies over the panic-
stricken llenjamites: or "place of rest," i.e. in every
such place where the men of Benjamin halted for a
moment, their pursuers fell upon them and trampled
them to pieces pni^TTJ), like grapes in the
wine-|irem.
It should be said that the name reappears in the
margin of the A. V., Jer. Ii. 69: " Seraiah was s
prince of Menucha, or chief chamberlain," where
the text reads " was a quiet prince." The Bishops'
Bible (connecting the word with the previous verb)
translates "chased them diligently " or (margin)
" from their rest." On the whole, it appears to
the writer not easy to discover any hotter sent*
than that suggested in the A V. H.
MEON'ENIM, THE PLAIN OF (]V?U
CajTOp [see below]: [Vat] HAa»7iae>rcar> i
[Rom. 'HAan>uat>r«Wu;] Alex, and Aquila, Ssvsi
aa-o£Af*o > rr>»>: ova rnpicit qverrum), an oak, 01
terebinth, or other great tree — for thr tmnsnttl ii
of the Hebrew HUm by " plain " is most pr.babl)
incorrect, as will be shown myler the head oi
• like tbe Arab.
I*
"death," SUjU, "fa«s, n "dastm7."
^,
* "Them<*«»w
Dpoo whoK Infantes Xnrtwu'i ampin standi.'
Saiaasr. HamL L L
• The preenws of the arttots i
'atari" was orla>ally an npprtlaav*.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1888 MEONKNIM, THE PLAIN OF
•lais — which formed a well-known object in
mitral Palestine in the day* of the Judge*. It is
mentioned — at least under this name — only in
Judg. ix. 37, where Gaal ben-Ebed standing in the
gateway of Shechem sees the ambushes of Abiuie-
lech coming towards the city, one by the middle
[literally, " navel "] of the land, and another " by
the way fij .J ;jli) of Elon-Meonenim," that is, the
road lending to it. In what direction it stood with
regard to the town we are not told.
The meaning of Meonenim, if interpreted as a
Hebrew word, it enchanters,* or "observers of
times," as it is elsewhere rendered (Deut. xviii. 10,
U; in Hie. r. 12 it is "soothsayers"). This
connection of the name with magical arts has led
to the suggestion' 1 that the tree in question is
identical with that beneath which Jacob hid the
foreign idols and amulets of his household, before
going into the presence of God at the consecrated
ground of Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 4). But the inference
seems hardly a sound one, for meonenim does not
mean » enchantment " but " enchanters," nor is
there any ground for connecting it in any way with
amulets or images; and there is the positive reason
igainst the identification that while this tree seems
to hare been at a distance from the town of Shechem,
that of Jacob was in it, or in very close proximity
to it (the Hebrew particle used is US, which im-
plies this).
live trees are mentioned iu connection with
Shechem : —
1 . The oak (not " plain " as in A. V*. ) of Moreh,
where Aliram made his first halt and buik his first
iltar in the Promised I .and (Gen. xii. 0).
2. That of Jacob, already spoken of.
3. " 'Hie oak which was in the holy place of
Jehovah" (Josh. xxiv. 20), beneath which Joshua
let up the atone which he assured the people had
heard all his words, and would one day witness
against them.
4. Tlie Klon-.Miittsah, or " oak (not ' plain.' as
in A. V.) of the pillar in Shechem," beneath which
Ablmelech was made king (Judg. ix. li).
B. The Elon-Meonenim.
The first two of these may, with great probability,
be identical. Tlie second, third, and fourth, agree
in being all specified aa in or close to the town.
Joshua's is mentioned with the definite article —
" tlie oak " — as if well known previously. It is
therefore passible that it was Jacob's tree, or its
successor. And it seems further possible that dur-
ing the confusions which prevailed in the country
after Joshua's death, the stone which he bad erected
lienmth it, and which he invested, even though
only in metaphor, with qualities so like those which
tlie Canaauites attributed to the stones they wor-
shipped — that during these confused times this
famous block may have become mcred among tlie
L'anaanitea, one of their " iiiattaeljihs" [see Idol,
vol. ii. p. 1119 4], and thus tlie tree have acquired
Mie name of •' t1» % oak of Mutttab " from the fetish
beii w it.
MBPHAATH
That Jacob's oak and Joshua's oak wore tht
same tree seems still more likely, when we oheerri
the remarkable correspondence b etwee n the drenm-
atancas of each occurrence. The point of Joshua's
address — his summary of the early history of the
nation — is that they should " put away the foreign
gods which were among them, and incline their
hearts to Jehovah the God of Israel." Except in
the mention of Jehovah, who had not revealed
Himself till the Kxodus, tlie words are all but iden-
tical with those in which Jacob had addressed his
followers; and it seems almost impossible not to
believe that the coincidence was intentional on
Joshua's part, and that such an allusion to a well-
known passage in the life of their forefather, and
which had occurred on the very spot where they
were standing, must have come home with peculiar
force to his hearers.
But while four of these were thus probably one
and tlie same tree, the oak of Meonenim for the
reasons stated above seems to have been a distinct
one.
It is perhaps possible that .Meonenim may have
originally lieen Maouini, that is Maonites or Me-
huuim ; a tribe or nation of non-Isrseiitea elsewhere
mentioned. If so it furnishes an interesting trace
of the presence at some early period of that tribe
in Central Palestine, of which others have been
noticed in the case of the Ammonites, Antes,
Zeuiarites, etc. [See vol. i. p. 277, note 6.] G.
MEON'OTHAI [4 syl.] OrLTWp [m,
dwelling!. Gee.: see FUrst] : Marafi; [Vat." Mara-
•si; Comp. Maawafff:] Mutmathi). One of the
sons of Othniel, the younger brother of Caleb
(1 Chr. iv. 14). In the text as it now stands Uiere
is probably an omission, and the true reading of
w. 13 and 14 should be, as the Vulgate and the
Complutensian edition of the LXX. give it, " and
the sons of Othniel, Hathath »nrf Meonothai ; and
Meonothai begat Ophrah." It is not clear whether
this last phrase implies that he founded the town
of Ophrah or not : the mage of the word " father "
in the sense of " founder " it not uncommon.
MEPHA'ATH (flJSP [height, Hunt;
beauty, Ges.] : In Chron. and Jerem. nyj*^;
in the latter the Cethib, or original text, baa
roSIO : MoiaWS: Alex.' MippoaJ: Mephaatk,
Mephnnt), a city of the Reubenites, one of tilt
towns dependent on Heshbon (Josh. xiii. 18), lying
in tlie district of the Miahor (comp. 17, and Jer.
xlviii. 21, A. V. •• plain "), which probably answered
to the modern Beibt. It was one of the cities
allotted with their suburbs to the Merarite Lcvitet
(Josh. xxi. 37; 1 Chr. vi. 79; the former does not
exist in the Rec. Hebr. Text). At the time of the
conquest it was no doubt, like Heshbon, in the
hands of the Amorites (Num. xxi. 20), but wheu
Jeremiah delivered his denunciations it had bees
recovered by its original possessors, the Moabita*
(xlviii. 21 ).
Mephaath it named in the above ps stages wHI
« Oesenlus (IV*. 61 »>, iiumlatortt and ZataVnr;
lie-hull* and t*ilrat, WaJmager. The root of the word
v )JS, probably connected with yS, the eve, which
stars so prominent a part in Eastern magic. Of this
Jam it a trace In the rtspicit of the Vulgate. (Set
•wan. n*t. 10'% 1068 ; alto DivwAnoa, vol. I no.
•18. 907.'
» See Stanley, S. t /"-. V 142.
c The name is given la the LXX. at follows : Jean
zBI. IS, thusMJ, Alex. Mn>uJ ; xxt. <7, vV MasW
Alex. r. Itasca: 1 Ohr rl. 7», v*» UaxMi, Alex, v
♦ant. Jer. xlvlll. (xxxi.) 21,
[? H»*«t, u-eordlng to Baberl
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEPHIBOSHETH
Dibon, Jahaxah, Kirjathaim, and other town*, which
have been identified with toleiable certainty on the
north of the Anion ( Wndy Mo/ei); but no one
appear* jet to hare discovered any name at all
resembling it, and it must remain for the further
investigation of those interesting and comparatively
untrodden districts. In the time of Eusebius
( Onoavul Htftdt) it was used as a military post
for keeping in check the wandering tribes of the
desert, whinh surrounded, as it still surrounds, the
cultivated land of this district.
The extended, and possibly later, form of the
name which occurs in Chronicles and Jeremiah, as
if Met Phaath, " waters of Phaath," may be, as in
other eases, an attempt to fix an intelligible mean-
lag on an archaic or foreign word. Q.
MBPHIBCSHETH (ntthi&Q [pern,
sabf-ezferuun itor, Sim., Ges. ; but see' Fiint] :
M«ue>i/9ocr0<'; [Ala. Mfpa)iSoo-9ai, exe. 9 Sam.
ii. 11, 13;] Joseph. Mt/JupiPoatot' Miphiboeeih),
the name borne by two members of the family of
Saul — his son and his grandson.
The name itself is perhaps worth a brief oon-
s deration. Bosbeth appears to have been a favorite
appellation in Saul's family, for it forms a part of
tie names of no fewer than three members of it —
Isfe-bosbeth and the two Mephi-bosheths. But in
the genealogies preserved in 1 Chronicles these
names are given in the different forms of Esh-baal
and Herib-haai. The variation is identical with
ttut of Jerub-baal and Jerub-besheth, and is in
accordance with passages in Jeremiah (xi. 13) and
Hoeea (ix. 10), where Baal and Bosbeth ■ appear
to be convertible, or at least related, terms, the
latter being used as a contemptuous or derisive
synonym of the former. One inference from this
would be that the persons in question were origi-
nally* named Baal; that this appears in the two
fragments of the family records preserved in Chron-
ica*.; but that in Samuel the hateful heathen name
ban been uniformly erased, and the nickname
Rbiheth substituted for it. It is some support to
this to find that Saul had an ancestor named Baal,
who appears hi the lists of Chronicles only (1 Chr.
viii. 30, ix. 88). But such a change in the record
supposes an amount of editing and interpolation
which would hardly have been accomplished with-
out leaving more obvious traces, in reasons given
c. Translated In A. V. " shame."
t Some of the ancient Oreek versions of the Hexapla
jrivii the name in Samuel as Memphl-beal (see Bahrdfa
Hoopla, pp. {04, (68, 614). Also Procoptus Oaaeus
Sbastia on 2 Sam. xvi. No trace of this, however,
appears In any MS. of the Hebrew text.
c There is no doubt about this being the real mean-
ing of the word Sp" 1 , translated here and In Num.
in 4 " hanged up." (See Mlchaelis's SuppUmml, No.
104U; also Owentus, Ihtt. 820; and Kurst, Handwb.
Or I.) Aqulla has ircarfyvuiu, understanding them to
rami beta not eraetned but Impaled. The Vulgate
i endfixtnmt (ver. 9), and em' aj/kri fvmxt (18).
The Hebrew term V\f Is entirely distinct from
nbp), also rendered " to hang " In the A. Y., which
Is tsj real signification. It la this Utter word whlet Is
employed In the story of the live kings at Makkedah ;
In the aeeoont of tot Indignities practiced on Seal's
body, % Ssm. xxl. 12, on Baanih and Hechab try David.
1 Sara. Iv. IS ; and elsewhere
* This follows from the s-itenwmt that they hung
• barvast (April) Oil the eeornenaement of
US
MEPHIBOSHETH 1889
for the change, etc. How different it is, for ex-
ample, from the oase of Jerub-hesheth, where the
alteration is mentioned and commented on. Still
the facts are as above stated, whatever explanation
may be given of them.
1. Saul's son by Bixpah the daughter of Aiab,
his concubine (3 Sam. xxi. 8). He and his brother
Annoni were among the seven victims who were
surrendered by David to the Gibeonites, and by
them crucified « in sacrifice to Jehovah, to avert a
famine from which the country was suffering. Tht
seven corpses, protected by the tender care of the
mother of Hephibosheth from the attacks of bird
and beast, were exposed on their crosses to the
fierce sun* of at least five of the midsummer
months, on the sacred eminence of Gibeab. At
the end oi that time the attention of David was
called to the circumstance, and also possibly to the
fact that the sacrifice had failed in its purpose. A
different method was tried : the bones of Saul and
Jonathan were disinterred from their resting-place at
the foot of the great tree at Jabesh-Uilead, the
blanched and withered remains of Mephibosheth, Lis
brother, and his live relatives, were taken down from
the crosses, and father, son, and gram'vns found at
last a resting-place together in the ancestral cave
of Kish at Zelah. When this had been done,
" God was entreated for the land," and the famine
ceased. [Kizpah.]
2. The son of Jonathan, grandson of Saul, and
nephew of the preceding.
1. His life seems to have been, from beginning
to end, one of trial and discomfort. The name of
his mother is unknown. There is reason to think
that she died shortly after his birth, and that he
was an only child. At any rate we know for oar-
tain that when his father and grandfather were
slain on Gilboa he was an infant of but five yean
old. He was then living under the charge of his
nurse, probably at Gibeah, the regular residence of
Saul. The tidings that the army was destroyed,
the king and his sons slain, and that the i'hiliatines,
spreading from hill to hill of the country, were
sweeping all before them, reached the royal house-
hold. The nurse fled, carrying the child on her
shoulder.* But in her panic and hurry she stumbled*
and Mephibosheth was precipitated to the ground
with such force as to deprive him for life of the use
of both/ feet (2 Sam. iv. 4). These early miafor-.
the rains (October); but It Is also worthy of notlos-tbal
the LXX. have employed the word JfsWfnv, " to ex
pose to the sun." It la also remarkable that on the
only other occasion on which this Uebrow term Is
used — Num. xxv. 4 — an express command was giver*
that the victims should be cruclfled " in front of th*
sun."
• This Is the statement of Joseph us — orb raw
£,u« {Ant. itt. 6, 5 6) ; but It is hardly necessary, fee
In the lflsst children are always carried on th« shonldse
Sse the woodcut In bine's Mod. Sgyplians, eh. I
p. 63.
/ It Is a remarkable thing, and very eharaoterbttr
of the simplicity and unconsciousness of these aneterd
records, of which the late Professor Blunt has happily
UluetnUsd so many other In s ta n c es , that this Informs
tion concerning Mephibosheth 's childhood, which coo
tains the key to his whole history, Is Inserted, almost
as If by accident. In the midst of the narrative of his
ancle's death, with no apparent reason for the Inser-
tiuu. or connection between the two, farther than, thai
of their being relatives and having o u sj i ca u ai abnUv
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1890
MKPHIBOSHETH
tanas Uuew a shade over hii whole life, and Mi per-
ms! deformity — Mb otteu the ease where it has
bean the reeuH of accident — seems to ban aerated
a depressing aud depredatory influence on bis char-
acter, lie can never forget that be is a poor faune
slave (2 Sam. xix. 86), and unable to walk: a dead
dog(ix.8); that all the house of his father were dead
{six. 28) ; that the king is an angel of God (to. 27),
and he his abject dependent (ix. 6, 8). He receives
the slanders of Ziba and the harshness of David alike
•ith a submissive equanimity which is quite touch-
ing, and which effectually wins oar sympathy.
2. After the accident which thus embittered his
rbole existence, Hephiboabeth was carried with
the rest of his family beyond the Jordan to the
mountains of Gilead, where he found a refuge in
the bonee of Hacbir ben-AmmieL, a powerful Gadite
or Hanassite sheykh at Lo-debar, not far from
Mahanaim, which during the reign of kfa uncle
Isnboabeth was the head-quarters of his family.
By Hacbir he was brought up (Jos. AnL vii. 5,
} 5), there be married, and there he was living at
a later period, when David, having completed the
subjugation of the adversarial of Israel on every
side, had leisure to turn his attention to claims of
other and hardly leas pressing descriptions. The
solemn oath which be had sworn to the father of
Mephibosheth at theii critical interview by the
stone Kiel, that he "would not cut off his kindness
from the bouse of Jonathan for ever: no! not when
Jehovah had cut off the enemies of David each one
from the face of the earth " (1 Sam. xx. IS); and
again, that " Jehovah should be between Jonathan's
seed and his seed for ever " (ver. 42), was naturally
the first thing that occurred to him, and be eagerly
inquired who was left of the house of Saul, that be
might show kindness to him for Jonathan's sake
(2 Sam. ix. 1). So completely had the family of
the late king vanished from the western aide of
Jordan, that the only person to be met with in any
way related to them was one Ziba, formerly a slave
of the royal house, but now a freed man, with a
family of fifteen sons, who by arts which, from the
glimpse we subsequently have of his character, are
not difficult to understand, must hare acquired con-
siderable substance, since he was possessed of an
establishment of twenty slaves of his own. [Ziba.]
From this man David learnt of the existence of
Mephibosheth. Royal messengers were sent to the
house of Hachir at Lo-debar in the mountains of
(•ilead, and by them the prince and his infant son
Miciia were brought to Jerusalem. The interview
with David was marked by extreme kindness on the
part of tbe king, and on that of Mephibosheth by
the fear and humility which has been pointed out as
characteristic of him. He leaves the royal presence
with all the property of his grandfather restored to
him, and with the whole family and establishment
of Ziba as his slaves, to cultivate tbe land and
harvest the produce. He himself is to be a daily
guest at David's table. From this time forward be
resided at Jerusalem.
a The ward ussd both in xvi. 1, 2, sod xix. 96, Is
niD£f y i. «. the strong he-ess, s farm animal, as op-
posed to the she-ass, mora commonly wed for riding
for the first see Imaohas. vol. 11. p. 1180 a; for the
sseond, Kusha, vol. 1. p. 717 a.
• The asm* mourning as David for his child (xii.
m.
« A shagular Jewish tradition Is preserved by Jerome
MEPHIBOSHKTH
i. An interval of about seventeen years in | • tsea
and tbe crista of David's life arrives. Of Mephi
boaheth's behavior on this occasion we possess ten
accounts — ins own (2 Sam. six. 34-30 V. and that
of Ziba (xvi. 1-4). They are naturally at nrasn
with each other. (1.) Ziba meets tbe long no hif
flight at the most opportune moment, just as Dana
has undergone the most trying part of that trying
day's journey, has taken the last look at the city
so peculiarly his own, and completed the hot and
toilsome ascent of tbe Mount of Oiivea. He is on
foot, and is in want of relief and refreshment. Tbe
relief and refreshment are there. There stead a
couple of strong be asses ready saddled for tbe ah*
or his household to make the descent upon; and
there are bread, grapes, melons, and a akin of wine ;
and there — the donor of these welcome gifts — ia
Ziba, with respect in his look and sympathy on
his tongue. Of course tbe whole, though offered
as Ziba's, is the property of Mephibosheth . the
asses are his, one of them his own * riding animal:
the fruits are from his gardens and orchards. But
why is not their owner here in person ? Where is
the "son of Saul" ? He, says Ziba, is in Jerusa-
lem, waiting to receive from tbe nation the throne
of his grandfather, that throne from which he has
been so long unjustly excluded. It must be con-
fessed that die tale at first sight is a most plausible
one, and that the answer of David is no more than
was to be expected. So the base ingratitude of
Mephibosheth is requited with the ruin be deserves,
while tbe loyalty and thoughtful courtesy of Ziba
are rewarded by the possessions of his master, thus
once more reinstating him in the position from
which he had been so rudely thrust on Mepbibosh-
eth's arrival in Judah. (2.) Mephiboaheth's story
— which, however, he had not the opportunity of
telling until several days later, when he met liavid
returning to his kingdom at tbe western bank of
Jordan — was very different to [from] Ziba's. He
had been desirous to fly with his patron and bene-
factor, and had ordered Ziba to make ready his ass
that he might join the oortege. But Ziba had
deceived him, had left him, and not returned with
the asses. In his helpless condition he had no
alternative, when once tbe opportunity of accom-
panying David was lost, but to remain where hr
was. Tbe swift pursuit which had been made
after Ahimasx and Jonathan (2 Sam. x vii. i bad
shown what risks even a strong and able man must
run who would try to follow the king. But all
that he could do under the circumstances he had
done. He had gone into the deepest m mrning pos-
sible* for his lost friend. Krom the very day that
David left he had allowed his beard to grow ragged,
his crippled feet were unwashed " and untended, hit
linen remained unchanged. That David did not
disbelieve this story is shown by his revokii.g the
judgment he had previously given. That be did
not entirely reverse his decision, but allowed Zil*
to retain possession of half the lands of Mepbihoab ■
eth, is probably due partly to weariness at the Thole
m bis Quest. J**, on this passage, to the effect th*l
the correct reeding of the Hebrew Is not " undressed,"
but rather " Ill-made " — iwit Uiolit ptdibtu, ted
prdibus ii\fertis — alluding to Adas wooden feet which
he was scrostomed to wear. The Hebrew word — the
ie to both feet and baud, though renfcnd In A. T
"dressed'' and •' trimmed " — Is JIB??, saawerlnf
lo oar word "done."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEPHIBOSHETH
rumetfam, bat mainly to the conciliatory frame of
nind in which he waa at that moment. " Shall
then any man be put to dealt thia day ? " i> the
fey-note of the whole proceeding. Ziba probably
tm a raacal, who had done his beat to injure an
hcocant and helpless man: but the king had pataed
hia word that no one waa to be made unhappy on
thia joyful day; and ao Mephibosheth, who bettered
himself ruined, baa half hia property restored to
him, while Ziba ia better off than he waa before the
king'* Bight, and far better off than he deserved
lobe.
4. Tne writer la aware that thia ia not the new
generally taken of Mephiboaheth'a conduct, and iii
particular the opposite aide haa been maintained
with much cogency and ingenuity by the late Pro
feasor Blunt in hia Underigntd Coincidence! (part
IL § 17). Bat when the circumatancea on both
■idea are weighed, there seems to be no escape from
the conclusion come to aboTe. Mephiboabeth could
ban* had nothing to hope for from the revolution.
It waa not a mere anarchical scramble in which
all had equal chances of coming to the top, but
a civil war between two parties, led by two indi-
viduals, Absalom on one aide, David on the other.
From Absalom, who had made no vow to Jona-
than, it ia obvious that he had nothing to hope.
Moreover, the struggle was entirely confined to the
tribe of Judah, and, at the period with which alone
we are concerned, to the chief city of Judah. What
chance could a Benjamite have had there? — more
especially one whose very claim waa Uia descent
from a man known only to the people of Judah
as having for years hunted their darling David
through the hills and woods of hia native tribe:
Wat of all when that Benjamite waa a poor, nervous,
imid cripple, as opposed to Absalom, the handsoni-
•at, readiest, and most popular man in the country.
Again, Mephiboaheth'a story ia throughout valid
and consistent. Every tie, both of interest and of
gratitude, combined to keep him faithful to David's
cause. Aa not merely lame, but deprived of the
see of both feet, he must have been entirely depend-
ant on hia ass sod hia servant: a position which
Ziba showed that he completely appreciated by not
only making off himaelf, hut taking the asses and
their equipments with him. Of the impossibility of
flight, after the king and the troops had gone, we
have already spoken. Lastly, we have, not his own
statement, but that of the historian, to the fact
that be commenced his mourning, not when his
supposed designs on the throne proved futile, but
on the very day of David's departure (six. 24).
So much for Mephibosbeth. Ziba, on. the other
hayed, had everything to gain and nothing to lose
by any turn affairs might take. As a lteiyamite
and an old adherent of Saul all hia tendencies
'. have been hostile to David. It was David,
r, who bad thrust him down from his inde-
pendent position, and brought himself and hia ftf
teen sons back into the bondage from which they
had before escaped, and from which they could now
ha delivered only by the fall of Mephibohheth. He
bad thus every reason to wish hia master out of the
way, and human nature must be different to what
t ia if we can believe that either hia good office* to
David or his accusation of Msphiboabeth waa -he
emit of anything but calculation and interest.
With regard to the abset.je of the name of
Ifaphihoebeth from the dying words of Divid,
arinch ia the main occasion of Mr. Hunt's strictures,
t *« most natural — at any rate it is quite aDow-
MEPHIBOSHBTH
1891
able — to suppose that, in the interval of eight
years which elapsed between David's return to
Jerusalem and hia death, Mephiboaheth'a painM
life had come to an end. We may without diffi-
culty believe that he did not long survive tha
anxieties and annoyances which Ziba's treachery
had brought upon him. Q.
* The arguments which favor the aide of Mephi-
bosheth on this question of veracity between him
and Ziba an somewhat fully stated above. It ia
due to an impartial view of the ease to mention
also some of the considerations on the other aide,
to which the reader'n attention haa not been called.
Josephus supports this view, which was probably
prevalent among the Jews of his day. Jerome
names it as the early Christian tradition; and
modern commentators (Henry, Jamieaon, Kitto.
and others) urge the same opinion. No tradition,
of course, reaches back to the period, and any in-
ference is legitimate which ia fairly dedudble from
the record itself. We offer a few considerations
to balance some of the preceding.
(1.) Toe relation of Ziba to Mepbiboaheth could
not have been degrading and trying. It would have
been a poor return for the information which
enabled the king to reach the object of his favor,
to inflict an injury on the informer. In delegating
to an old servant of Saul the care of hia late royal
master's grandson with hia restored estate— making
him the steward of his property and (in his help-
lessness) the virtual guardian of his person, DavVi
conferred an honorable trust, and placed Ziba in a
more important post than he occupied before. Tha
novel suggestion that the king " rudely thrust "
him from a better position, and that he harbored
rancor aa one who had been " thrust down " and
" brought into bondage " from which he sought
escape, has no apparent basis.
(2.) The open kindness which Ziba rendered
king David waa not only moat opportune, but was
also bestowed at an hour when there was no prospect
of reward, if it did not even involve some risk.
He could not have reasonably anticipated that the
monarch, in hia own extremity, would confiscate
his master's estate (against whom be volunteered
no charge) and announce its transfer to himself
If, withal, what was "offered as Ziba's" was "the
property of Mephibosheth," would not the king
know it? Aod would the servant be ao presuming
if the fact were so patent? And what is there in
all hia conduct to countenance the conjecture of
" tendencies hostile to David " ?
(8.) It would be natural for Mephibosheth (as
David's ready credence shows) to imagine that dis-
sension in the royal family and civil war might
result in bringing him to the throne. As between
David and Absalom, he had nothing to hopo from
the latter and much from the former; but thia
deadly breach between them may have awakened
hopes of hia own — and these failing, the counter-
charge against Ziba would be the natural oover and
defense of his course, if the charge of the latter
were true.
(4.) The proposal of Mephibosheth, when ball
the estate was restored to him, to allow Ziba to
keep the whole — a token of hia indifference to
property, from genuine joy at hia benefactor's safe
return — will not, of itself, mislead any one who is
familiar with eastern phrases and professions of
friendship. The speech was purely oriental — aa
was Ziba's previous acknowledgment.
(8.) Aside from the charge of Mephiboahrth.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1892 MEBAB
nade in self-exculpation, the character of Zibm b
■nimpeaebed, and there is no indication that Dav.1
withdrew hU confidence from him.
(8.) The Anal award of David is far more recon-
cilable with his belief of Mephiboabeth's guilt, than
of Ziba's. To pity the son of Jonathan, in his
abject destitution, and permit him to retain balf
of bis forfeited possessions, would accord with
David's known magnanimity and befit bin day of
triumph. " The key-note of the whole proceeding,"
to which Mr. Grore properly refers, is certainly
not less in harmony with this construction than
with the other. It would be the reverse of mag-
nanimous, and positively wrong, to reward the
"treachery" of Ziba, and permit him to hold half
of his master's estate as the fruit of falsehood and
fraud of which he had been convicted. Nothing
could justify or excuse this decision but the inno-
cence of Ziba, or doubt in the long's mind between
the conflicting stories — which is a possible sup-
position.
(7.) The argument of Prof. Blunt (see above)
baaed on the omission of Hepbibosbeth's name from
the dying messages of David, is not fully met by
the suggestion that the former may have died " in
the interval of eight years " — though known to
be living some four years after (3 Sam. xxi. 1,7) —
for even if he were dead, he had left a son and
grandsons (1 Chron. viii. 34, 35) and David's
covenant with Jonathan pledged him to protect hi*
offspring " for ever." If Mephiboeheth proved
faithful when rebellion was rife, whether he were
now living or dead, it would be difficult to account
for the omission of any allusion to this tender trust
in the parting charge to Solomon. It is to lie
noted, moreover, that on bis return to the capital
David appears simply to have forgiven Hephibosheth
and remitted half the penalty of confiscation. There
is no evidence that from this time the latter was a
guest at the royal table as be had been before.
In view of this difference of opinion between
writers on the subject, and in the absence of all
evidence in the premises except that of the unsup-
ported testimony of the parties at variance, our
conclusion is thai we cannot safely pronounce either
of them '■ a rascal " — though it is evident enough
that there was rascality between them. S. W.
METIAB (a*3P [incrtote, growth] : Mtp60,"
Alex, also Hepo/3; Joseph. Htpifh)'- Merab), the
eldest daughter, possibly the eldest child, of king
Saul (1 Sam. xir. 49). She first appears after the
victory over Goliath and the Philistines, when David
had lieoome an inmate in Saul's house (1 Sam.
xviii. 2), and immediately after the commencement
of his friendship with Jonathan. In accordance
with the promise which be made before the engage-
ment with Goliath (xvii. 25), Saul betrothed Merab
to David (xviii. 17), but it is evidently implied that
one object of thus rewarding his valor was to incite
him to further feats, which might at last lead to
his death by the Philistines. David's hesitation
ixika as if be did not much value the honor — at
any rate before the marriage Merab's younger sister
Hichtl had displayed her attachment for David,
md Merab was then married to Adriel the Me-
a The emission of ths name In the LXX. is remark-
tots, la the Vatican Codu it ocean In 1 Sam. atv .
iS only. Ths Alexandrine MS. omits It then, and
t It to xviB. 17 and 19.
> KsU escMn (BW. Oomrn. lie. dm AT. in loe.)
MEBAIOTH
holathite, who seems to have been one of lot
wealthy sheikhs of the eastern part of Palestine
with whom the house of Saul always tn»int»ii^if
an alliance. To Adriel she bore five eons, wfac
formed five of the seven members of the house ot
Saul who were given up to the Gibeooitea by David
snd by them crucified to Jehovah on the sacred
hill of tiibeah (9 Sam. xxi. 8). [Rizpah.]
The Authorized Version of this last passage is
so accommodation. The Hebrew text has "the
five sons of Michal, daughter of Saul, which she
bare to Adriel " [in the A. V. " whom she brought
up for Adriel "], and this is followed in the LXX.
and Vulgate. The Targum explains the discrepancy
thus: "The five sons of Merab (which Michal,
Saul's daughter, brought up) which she bare," etc.
The Pesbito substitutes Merab (in the present state
ofthetext"Nadab")forBIichal. J. H. Michaelis,
in his Hebrew Bible (2 Sam. xxi. 10), suggests that
there were two daughters of Saul named Michal, as
there were two Elishsmaa and two Kliphalets among
David's sons. Probably the most feasible solution
of the difficulty is that " Micbal " is the mistake
of a transcriber for " Merab." b But if so it is
manifest from the agreement of the versions and
of Josephus {Ant. vii. 4, § 30) with the present
text, that the error is one of very ancient date.
Is it not possible that there is a connection be-
tween Merab's nsroe snd that of her nephew
Mkmb-Baal, or Mephiboeheth as he is ordinarily
called ? G.
MERA1AH [8 syl.] OTJ^p [reieflfso, ob-
tinacy, Gee.] : 'A/uyfa ; [Vat* Mapta :] FA.
MofKuo: Mnraia). A priest in the days of Joiakim,
the son of Jesbua. He was one of the " heads of
the fathers," and representative of the priestly
family of Seraiah, to which Ezra belonged (Neh.
xii. 12). The reading of the I.XX. — 'Apap(a, fa
supported by the Peshito-Syriae.
MERAIOTH [3 syl.] (riTnip [rtbtWou,
contumacies] : Maai^A, [Vat. Ma/ninA,] in 1 Chr.
vi. 6, 7, 62; MaoauSfi, [Vat. Mapps*,] 1 Chr. ix.
1 1 : MaowSfl, [Vat Maptpae,] Ear. vii. 3; Mopiett,
Neh. xi. 11; Alex. MopcuvO, 1 Cbr. vi. 6, 7, Ear.
vii. 3; MtpauB, 1 Chr vi. 52; MapictS, 1 Chr. ix.
11, Neh. xi 11: Mermolk, except 1 Chr. Ix. 11,
Ezr. vii. 3, Mnrnioth). 1. A descendant of FJeazai
the son of Aaron, and head of a priestly house. It
was thought by Lightfoot that he was the imme-
diate predecessor of Eli in the office of high-priest,
and that at his death the high-priesthood changed
from the line of Eleazar to the line of ithamar
(Temple •Service, iv. § 1). Among his illustrious
descendants were Zadok and Ezra. He is called
elsewhere Mekkmoth (1 Esdr. vii. 2), and Mam-
moth (2 Esdr. i. 2). It is apparently another
Meraioth who comes in between Zadok and Ahitab
in the genealogy of Azariah (1 Chr. ix. 11, Neh.
xi. 1 1 ), unless the names Ahitub and Meraioth art
transposed, which is not improbable.
2. (Mopi&J; [Vat. Alex. FA', omit:] Mara-
toth.) The head of one of the houses of priests,
which in the time of Joiakim the son .( Jeshua wot
represented by Helkai (Neh. xii. 15). He la ebe-
that Wehal in ths present text must be an errs?
of memory or a copyist's mistake. H. A. Penet-Oentl
Mbslttutss Msreb for Michal in his version pabushaf
by the StcitU Bibiiaat PioUfkmtt dt Paris (INS).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MERAN
called Hekxmoth (Keh. xii t\ a eonftaioD
Ming made between toe fatten V and D. The
Pashito-Syrise hie Uarnmih in brth passages.
W. A. W.
MRHAN (Meji^dV: JferrAo). The merchant!
■f Heran and Theman an mentioned with the
Hagarenes (Bar. Hi. 88) as " leareheri out of un-
derstanding." The name does not occur elsewhere,
and is probablj a corruption of " M edan " or
•• Midian." Junius and TremeUiua give Medanai,
and their conjecture is supported by the appearance
of the Midiauitea as nomade merchants in Gen.
sxxriL Both Medan and Midian are enumerated
unong the sons of Keturah in Gen. xxv. 3, and are
closely connected with the Oedanlm, whose " travel-
ing companies," or caravans, are frequently alluded
to (Is. xxi. 13; Es. zzrii. 15). Fritzsche suggests
that it is the Afarane of Pliny (ft. 38, 39).
W. A. W.
MERA'KI 0"nip [chappy, wrnu/V, or,
my torrvw, i. e. his 'mother's] : Htpapt ; [Vat
Mtpmati, Htppaptt, and once Mapapti; Alex.
wwe i lmai Mtpapif- Mtrari]), third son of Levi,
MTfttATW
1898
and head of the third great division (DHQlpQ)
of the Levitet, trb Hkbarites, whose dwignatic
in Hebrew is the same as that of their progenitor,
only with the article prefixed, namely, > "3^"9l'.
Of Merari's personal history, beyond the fact of his
birth before the descent of Jacob into Egypt, and
of bis being one of the seventy who accompanied
Jacob thither, we know nothing whatever (Gen.
xlvi. 8, 11). At the time of the Exodus, and the
numbering in the wilderness, the Meraritea con
sifted of two families, the Hahlites and the Mushitea.
Mahli and Hushi being either the two sons, or tin
son and grandson, of Henri (1 Chr. vi. 19, 47).
Their chief at that time was Zuriel, and the whole
number of the family, from a month old and up-
wards, was 6,200; those from 30 yean old to 60
were 3,200. Their charge was the hoards, ban,
pillars, sockets, pins, and cords of the tabernacle
and the court, and all the tools connected with
setting them up. In the encampment their plaos
was to the north of the tabernacle; and both they
and the Gershonites were " under the hand" of
Ithamar the son of Aaron. Owing to the heavy
Tails or ran Mjuuairas.
Lnt (Kx. vL IS-U, Nan. w. n-ej)
KoLath.
I
saJkU.
UW.
J.
(1 Car. xxlv. SB).
Jarbaota
Burial,
ahlaforthahouiaoriha
-ofthafaartllaaoT Manilla
thathnaofMoaaa
(Nam.IU.SJ).
p._i.h
Aaalah.cM«f of
MMararttaila
Shattm.of D.rld
(1 Chr. rL «. «,
zv. t>. Hat thla
isamlnsj U doubaaaa
nasMrAet. m It firm
oauj 10 fanarauons
Baai Larl to Aaalah
ImIuIt*.
Jaailah or Jaailal, 1 Chr. xv. IS, xxIt. SB, 17,
(xxfcr.xT).
Zacenr or Ibrl or AMI
Zacharlah (rl. «
(ft. • XT. 1S> xxlr. &).
Bm LXX I'tM
(xxM.ll,
a, xxlv. SB). Xtahl,
Obad-
CavLMVtL Edom
szvi.io.nQ.cxTl.au.
<r*Uor Sarlor
Oadallah Itri
•jat.S.t>. (ft. 8, 11).
. Saj arl HllJdah Tabs- Zaaha-
OORl-hTMaVll). Uah riah
(ft.), (ft.*
Jaahalah • Haahablah M.ttt-
<«..«, IA> (A.S.IB, thlah
vtTs). (ft. a, 11).
• tona of Jaduthaa. Shamalah aad U.itaL-
ta Una of Heuklah (1 Chr. xxlx. M)T^
• Oballah (or Abda) tha aim of Bhamaata
tha aoa of Oalal, tha aon of Jadothaa,"
aner tha nturn fr>m oaotlrttr
(1 Chr. Ix. Mi Hah, a. IT).
0r>.»>
Jarahmaal Ethaa.eallaA
(xxlv. SB), alao Jadnthaa.
haadortha
aiastn lo tha daw et
Dntd(vL4MC|
xv. IMS*, xri. fl,«J,
xxt.L.S,s).
Kh* tha aoa of AbdL, aad Aiarlah tha a
Jahalalal, In ralxn of HaaaUafc
Of Car. xxlx. UK
■haravhUw la Baa of Kara, "of tha ami
« Ibsl ■ (Jglr- affl. .IS)! corrupted to AaaBaMa
(\ Eadr.vttl.aT).
Jaahaiah, of tha aoaa
of Marari, ta tha Sim
ofBxra(tir.rllLB,
Saaaialah.aftar tha rt _
(1 Chr. Ix. 14i Nah. xL U).
„at_
.Till.
, iff tha aoaa of Marari. la tha Mm
(Sir. vilt. IS). Ballad laaM ass)
lair. Till, n SIN
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1894
MERARI
of the materials which they had to carry,
bar wagons and eight oxen were ueigiied to them ;
and in the march both they and the Gerehonites
followed Immediately after the standard of Judah,
and before that of Reuben, that they might set up
toe Tabernacle against the arrival of the Kohathites
(Num. iii. 80, 33-37, iv. 29-33, 42-48, viL 8, x,
17, 31). In the division of the land by Joshua,
the Meraritee had twelve cities assigned to them,
out of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun, of which one
was Ramoth-Gilead, a city of refuge, and in later
times a frequent subject of war between Israel and
Syria (Josh. xxi. 7, 34-40:" 1 Chr. vi. 63, 77-*l).
In the time of David Asaiah was their chief, and
sssiatnri with 230 of bis family in bringing up the
ark (1 Chr. xv. 6). Afterwards we find the Hera-
rites still sharing with the two other Levities!
fcmiHfs the various functions of their caste (1 Chr.
xxiii. 6, 31-23). Thus a third part of the singers,
and musicians were Merarites, and Ethan or Je-
iuthun was their chief in the time of David.
[Ja-DDTHUN.] A third part of the door-keepers
were Meraritee (1 Chr. xxiii. fi, 6, xxvi. 10, 19),
unless indeed we are to understand from ver. 19
that the doorkeepers were all either Kohathites or
Herarites, to the exclusion of the Gerahonites, which
does not seem probable. In the days of Hezekiah
the Herarites were still flourishing, and Kish the
son of Abdi, and Azuiah the son of Jehalelel, took
their part with their brethren of the two other
Levitical families in promoting the reformation, and
■unifying the house of the Lord (2 Chr. xxix. 12,
15). After the return frop captivity Shemaiah
represents the sons of Merari, in 1 Chr. ix. 14, Neh.
xi. IS, and is said, with other chiefs of the Levites,
to have " had the oversight of the outward business
of the house of God." There were also at that
time sons of Jeduthun under Obadiah or Abda, the
son of Shemaiah (1 Chr. ix. 16; Neh. xi. 17). A
little later again, in the time of Ezra, wben be was
in great want of Levites to accompany him on his
Journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, " a man of
jjood understanding of the sons of Mahli" was
found, whose name, if the text here and at ver. 34
is correct, is not given. <> Jeshaiah also of the sons
of Merari," with twenty of bis sons and brethren,
came with him at the same time (Ezr. viii. 18, 19).
But it seems pretty certain that Sherebiah. in ver.
18, is the name of the Hahlite, and that both he
and Hashabiah, as well as Jeshaiah, in ver. 19, were
Levites of the family of Merari, and not, as the
actual text of ver. 84 indicates, priest*. The
copulative 1 has fallen out before their names in
ver. 34, as appears from ver. 30 (see also 1 Chr. ix.
14; Neh. xii. 34).
The preceding table gives the principal descents,
is far as it is possible to ascertain them. But the
true position of Jaaziah, Mahli, and Jeduthun is
doubtful. Here too, as elsewhere, it is difficult to
decide when a given name indicates an individual,
and when the family called after him, or the head
of that family. It is sometimes no leas difficult to
decide whether any name which occurs repeatedly
designates the same person, or others of the family
who bore the same name, as t. g. in the case of
Mahli, Iiakiah, Shimri, Kishi or Kish, and others.
4a regards the confusion between Ethan and Jedu-
« Tnatt eWes wen Jokneam, Kartah, Dtnmah,
laBaW, in Zebulun; Boer, Jabaaah, Kademoth,
jsfBiath, m Reuben ; Bamoth, Mahanahn. Bsshhoa.
MERCUR1TJ8
thun, it may perhaps be thai Jeduthun wis till
patronymic title of the house of which Ethan ens
the head in the time of David. Jeduthun might
have been the brother of one of Ethan's direct
ancestors before Hashabiah, in which case Hasha-
biah in 1 Chr. xxv. 3, 19 might be the same as
Hashabiah in vi. 46. Hosah and Obed-edom seen
to have been other descendants or clansmen ot
Jeduthun, who lived in the time of David; and
if we may argue from the names of Hosah's sons.
Simri and Hilkiah, that they were descends'. !j of
Shamer and Hilkiah, in the line of Etbva, the
inference would be that Jeduthun was a sou either
of Hilkiah or Amaxiah, since he lived after Hilkiah,
but before Haahabiah The great advantage of this
supposition is, that while it leaves to Ethan the
patronymic designation Jeduthun, it draws a wide
distinction between the term " sons of Jeduthun "
and " son* of Ethan," and explains how in David's
time there could be sons of those who are called
sons of Jeduthun above thirty years of age (since
they filled offices, 1 Chr. xxvi 10), at the same
time that Jeduthun was said to be the chief of the
singers. In like manner it Is possible that Jaaziah
may have been a brother of Halluch or of Abdi,
and that if Abdi or Ibri had other descendants
besides the lines of Kish and Eleazar, they may
have been reckoned under the headship of Jaaziah.
The families of Merari which were so reckoned were,
according to 1 Chr. xxiv. 27, Shoham, Zaecur (ap-
parently the same as Zechariah in 1 Chr. xv. 18,
where we probably ought to read "Z. son of
Jaaziah," and xxvi. 11), and Ibri, where the LXX.
have 'n08t, "Aflat, and 'K0St. A. C. H.
8. (Mcpopf; [Vat. Mfpaufi; Sin.] Alex, in
Jud. viii. 1, Mfpooci; [Sin. in xvi. 7, MopaotiO
Mtrnri.) The father of Judith (Jud. viii 1, xvi.
7).
• MBRA/B1TES C"ni3 : Uepapl, Vat -»„ :
Mcrarita), descendants of Merari, Num. xxvi. 67.
[Merari 1.] A.
MERATH ATM, THE LAND OF (Y"?r*7
OyVJlJ : terra dominimtium), that is, of double
rebellion (a dual form from the root HT^ ; G«-
aenius, The: p. 819 a; Fiiret, ffdwb. p. 791 6),
alluding to the country of the Chaldsauis, and to
the double captivity which it had inflicted on the
nation of Israel (Jer. 1. 21 ). This is the opinion of
Gesenius, r'iirst, Michaelis (Bibtlf&r UnytUhrttH),
etc., and in this sense the word is taken by all the
versions which the writer has consulted, excepting
that of Junius and Treiuelliua, which the A. V. —
as in other instances — has followed here. The
LXX., ht\ tv/j yys, \4yti *6pios. visiei
<hrf/3n0i, etc., take the root in its second sense of
"bitter." G.
MERCTJ'RITJS (1V>mS* : Mercurim), [Acts
xiv. 12,] properly Hermes, the Greek deity, whom
the Romans identified with their Mercury the god
of commerce and bargains. In the Greek mythol-
ogy Hermes was the son of Zeus and Mala tht
daughter of Atlas, and is constantly represented as
the companion of bis father in his wanderings upoc
earth. On one of these occasions they were trav-
and Jaser, In Gad. But In 1 Chr vi., Instead of tta
four In Zflbulon, only Rlmmon and Tabor are I
thouftt the total Is givrn as twelve In vtr. tt
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MBBCY-SBAT
jjing itt Phrygia, and were refused hospitality by
ill *»« doucii and Philemon, the tiro agea peasants
of whosu Qrid tells the charming episode in hii
tfetam. viii. 690-734, which appear* to have formed
part of the folk-lore of Asia Minor, and strikingly
illustrates the readiness with which the simple peo-
ple of L/vtra recognized in Barnabas and Paul the
gods who, according to their wont, bad come down
in the likeness of men (Acts xiv. 11). They called
Paul " Hermes, because he was the chief speaker,"
identifying in him as they supposed by this char-
acteristic the herald of the gods (Horn. Od. v. 28;
Ugm. in Ham. p. 8), and of Zeus (Od. i. 88, 84;
1L xzir. 333, 461), the eloquent orator (Od. i. 86;
Her. Od. i. 10, 1 ). inventor of letters, music and
the sit*. He was usually represented as a slender
beardless youth, but in an older Pelaagic figure he
was bearded. Whether St. Paul wore a beard or
net if not to be Inferred from this, for the men
of Lystn identified him with their god Hermes,
not from any accidental resemblance in figure or
appearance to the statues of that deity, hut because
of the act of healing which had been done upon
the man who wss lame from his birth. [Jufitku,
Amer. ed.j W. A. W.
MXBOT-SEAT (D^b? : iKun^ptm' pro-
pitintorum). This appear! to have been merely
the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, not another
surface affixed thereto. It was that whereon the
blood of the yearly atonement wss sprinkled by the
high-priest; and in this relation it is doubtful
whether the sense of the word in the Hebrew is
based on the material fact of its " covering " the
Ark, or from this notion of its reference to the
"covering" (t. e. 'atonement) of sin. But in any
esse the notion of a " seat," ss conveyed by the
nanv in English, seems superfluous and likely to
mislead. Jehovah is indeed spoken of as "dwell-
ing " and even as "sitting" (Ps. lxxx. 1, xcix. 1)
between the cherubim, but undoubtedly his seat in
this conception would not be on the same level as
that on which they stood (Ex. xxv. 18), and an
enthronement in the glory above it must be sup-
posed. The idea with which it is connected is
not merely that of " mercy," but of formal atone-
ment made for the breach of the covenant (Lev.
xvi. 14), which the Ark contained in its material
vehicle — the two tables of stone. The cominuni-
ca'jons made to Hoses are represented as made
■• from oft* the Mercy-Seat that was upon the Ark
of the Testimony " (Num. vii. 8U ; comp. Ex. xxv.
22, xxx. 6); a sublime illustration of the moral
relation and responsibility into which the people
were by covenant regarded as brought before God.
H. H
ME'BEDnnta [drftctiim, rebtOtm]: ttupit
Vat. nayoS], 1 Chr. iv. 17; Hvrft, 1 Chr. iv.
IS ■ Mered). This name occurs in a fragmentary
genealogy in 1 Chr. iv. 17, 18, sa thst of one of
the ions of Ezra. He is there said to have taken
to wife Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, who is
■numerated by the Rabbins among the nine who
-ntered Paradise (Hottlnger, Smegma Orientate,
f. 315), and in the Targum of B. Jcsepb on
Vhronicles is said to have been a prosel"*e. In
s> «ime Tsrgum we find it stated that Caleb the
un of Jephunneh, was called Mered because he
alifastood or rebelled against (TV?) the counsel
«' the spies, a tradition also recorded by Jarchi.
But soother and very curious tradition a preserved
MEREMOTH
1805
in the Quatiionet in Ubr. ParnL, attributed V
Jerome. According to this, Erxa was Auiram
his sons Jether and Mered were Aann and Moses;
Epher was Eldad, and Jalon Hedad. The tradi-
tion goes on to say that Moses, after receiving tht
Law in the desert, enjoined his father to put away
bis mother because she was his aunt, being the
daughter of Levi: that Aniram did so, married
again, and begat Eldad and Medad. ltitbbih, the
daughter of Pharaoh, is said, on the some authority,
to have been " taken " by Moses, because she for-
sook idols, and was converted to the worship of the
true God. The origin of all this seems to have
been the occurrence of the name " Miriam " in 1
Chr. iv. 17, which was referred to Miiiani the
sister of Moses. Rabbi D. Kimchl would put the
first clause of ver. 18 in a parenthesis. He makes
Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh the first wife of
Mered, and mother of Miriam, Shammai, and
Ishbah; Jebndijah, or "the Jewess," being his
second wife. But the whole genealogy is so iutrl
cote that it is scarcely possible to unravel it
W. A. W
MER'KMOTH (n'*tB""«J [hdghU): M«»i
pM, [Vat. Mtpti/utBi] Alex,' Map/uie, Est. viH.
33; PopaM, Neh. iii. 4; Mfoapatt, Neh. iii. 91:
Meremoth, [Afarimuth, Merxmuth]). 1. Son of
Uriah, or Urijoh, the priest, of the family of Koz
or Hakkoz, the head of the seventh course of priests
as established by David. On the return from
Babylon the children of Koz were among thoss
priests who were unable to establish their pedigree.
and in consequence »ere put from the priesthood
as polluted (Est. ii. 61, 62). This probably applied
to only one family of the descendants of Kos, for
in Est. viii. 83, Meremoth is clearly recognized as
a priest, and is appointed to weigh and register the
gold and silver vessels belonging to the Temple,
which Ezra hod brought from Babylon, a function
which priests and Levites alone were selected to
discharge (Err. viii. 24-30). In the rebuilding
of the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah w* tnd
Meremoth taking an active port, working between
MeahuUom and the sons of Hassanaah who restored
the Fish Gate (Neh. iii. 4), and himself restoring
the portion of the Temple wall on which abutted
the house of the high-priest Eliaahib (Neb. iii. 91).
Burrington (Gentahyia, ii. 154) is inclined to
consider the two mentioned in Neh. iii. by ♦«•
some name as distinct persons, but his reasons do
not appear sufficient.
In 1 Esdr. viii. 62, he is called " Makkoth th»
son of hi."
• The A. V. ed. 1611 follows the Geneva ver-
sion in reading Menmoth in Neh. iii. 4, 21 ; comp.
Meremoth 3 The Bishops' Bible also reads
Meximoth in Neh. iii. 21 and iii. 3. A.
3. (Meux/utt; [Vat Upofuti; FA. XmepafiaS ■]
Marimuut.) A layman of the sons of Bai.i, who
had married a foreign wife after the return fnun
Babylon and put her away at Ezra's bidding (Err.
x. 36).
3. (MtpafuU; [Vat A*MM-tt«t< FA. Epcuusf ;
in xii. 8, Rom. Vat Alex. FA.' omit, FA." Mapi-
p»6 ] Merimutk.) A priest, or more prcbably a
familt of priests, who sealed the covenant with
Nebru.'ah (Neh. x. 5). The latter supposition is
more probable, because in Neh. xii. 8 the nana*
mcv-, with many others rf the same list, among
'hc*e who went up with Zmilihahal a eeptari
Digitizedby VjOOQlC
1806 MERES
sefacw. In the next generation, that is, in the days
if JoUkim the nn of Jeshua, the representative
rf the family of Heremoth was Helkoi (Neb. xii.
IB), the reading Heraioth in that pats age being an
arror. [Meraioiii 2. J The A. V. of 1611 had
u Merimoth " in Neh. [x. 5 and] xii. 3, like the
Geneva version. [Mxbjemoth l.J W. A. W.
METtES (DT?n : [Tat. Alex. FA. omit;
Comp. Mtpts-] Mara). One of the seven coun-
cilors uf Ahaeuenu king of Persia, "wise men
which knew the times " (Ksth. i. 14). His name
is not traceable in the LXX., which in this passage
is corrupt Benfey (quoted by fiesenius, Thtt.
a. t.) suggests that it is derived from the Sanskrit
ssdrsftfi, "worthy," which in the *ame as the Zend
mertth, and is probably also the origin of Har-
uma, the name of another Persian counsellor.
W.A. W.
MER1BAH (nyntj [quarrd, ttrift):
Koitipnais Ex. xvii. 7; aVriAo-yfa Num. xx. 13,
xxvii. 14; Dent xxxii. 51; Koilopla Num. xx. 84:
amtmlictio). In Ex. xvii. 7 we read, "he called
the name of the place Maseah and Meribah," "
where the people murmured, and the rock was
•mitten. [For the situation see Rkpridim.] The
name is also given to Kadesh (Num. xx. 13, 24,
xxvii. 14; Deut xxii. 81 "Meribah-kadesh"), be-
cause there also the people, when in want of water,
strove with God. There, however, Hoses and
Aaron incurred the Divine displeasure because they
" believed not," because they " rebelled," and
" sanctified not God in the midst " of the people.
Impatience and self-willed assumption of plenary
power are the prominent features of their behavior
in Num. xx. 10; the "speaking to the rock"
(which perhaps was to have been in Jehovah's
name) was neglected, and another symbol, sugges-
tive rather of themselves ss the source of power,
was substituted. In spite of these plain and dis-
tinctive features of difference between the event at
Kadesh and that at Kephidim some commentators
hare regarded the one as a mere duplicate of the
other, owing to a mixture of earlier and later
legend. H. H.
MERIB-BA'AL (bp? 3"HtJ, except on
its fourth occurrence, and there less accurately
''JS*''!?. *• e - Meri-baal [drift agnitut Baal],
though in many MSS. the fuller form is preserved:
Mfpt0aa\; [in 1 Cbr. ix. 40, Vat] M<u>«3aaA,
[Sin. Mapt$a\, MapeuSaaA;] Alei. MfayijBaaA,
Xtxpi0aa\ : tftri-bml), son of Jonathan the son
of Saul (1 Chr. viii. 34. ix. 40), doubtless the same
person who in the narrative of 2 Samuel is called
Mkpiii-isosiikth. The reasons for the identifico-
km are, that in the history no other ton but Meph
kosheth is ascribed to Jonathan; that Mephi-
oslieth, like Herib-banl, had a son named Micab;
*nd that the terms " bosheth " and " has! " ap-
pear from other eiamples (e. g. Esh-Bsal = Ish -
soaheth) to be convertible. What is the signifi-
cance of the change in the former part of the name,
and whether it hi more than a clerical error between
the two Hebrew letters S and *1, does not appear
*o have been ascertained. It is perhaps in favor
• Chiding, or sMss, nyjiyi HBO! m^Mpfe
•■ r„, also irrUajU ,' malf. « tsrvpestion,''
MRBOI>A<JH-JBALADAN
of the latter explanation that in son* of the til eel
versions of 1 Chr. viii. and ix the name is gives,
as Meniphi-baaL A trace of the tune thing h
visible in the reading of the Alex. LXX. given
above. If it is not a mere error, then there is
perhaps some connection between the name of
Merib-baal and that of his aunt Merab.
Neither is it clear why this name and that it
Ishboaheth should be given in a different form in
these genealogies to what they are in the historical
narrative. But for this see Ibh-boshkth -um!
Mkthi-bobhkth. (,
• MERIMOTH u the reading of the A V.
ed. 1611 in Neh. iii. 4, 21, x. 5, and xii. .., fcs
which the more correct form, " Meremotb " has
been substituted in later editions. [Hkbkmotv '
and 3.] \
MERCKDACH (Tf^Ip [see below] : Mmylr
ti X ' [Ve*- Mfuttttuci Alex. FA. M«mo«xO Mero ~
dock) is mentioned once only in Scripture, namely,
in Jer. 1. 2, where Bel and Merodach are coupled
together, and threatened with destruction in the
GUI of Babylon. It has been commonly conclude J
from this passage that Bel and Merodach wen
separa t e gods; but from the Assyrian and Baby-
lonian inscriptions it appears that this was not
exactly the cose. Merodach was really identical
with the famous Babylonian Bel or Belus, the word
being probably at first a mere epithet of the god,
which by degrees superseded his proper appellatioh.
Still a certain distinction appears to have been
maintained between the names. The golden image
iu the great Temple at Babylon seems to have been
worshipped distinctly as Bel rather than Merodach,
while other idols of the god may have represented
him as Merodach rather than Bel It is not known
what the word Merodach means, or what the special
aspect of the god was, when worshipped under that
title. In a general way Bel-Merodach may be said
to correspond to the Greek Jupiter. He is "the
old man of the gods," " the judge," and has the
gates of heaven under his especial charge. Nebu-
chadnezzar calls him "the great lord, the senior
of the gods, the most ancient," and Neriglisssr "the
first-born of the gods, the layer-up of treasures."
In the earlier period of Babylonian history be seems
to share with several other deities (as Nebo, NergaL
Bel-Nimrod, Anu, etc.) the worship of the people,
but in the later times he is regarded as the source
of all power and blessings, and thus concentrates
in his own person the greater part of that homage
and respect which had previously been divided
among the various pods of the Pantheon. Astro-
nomically he is identified with the planet Jupiter.
His name forms a frequent element in the appella-
tions of Babylonian kings, e. g. Merodach-Bslsdsn,
KvU-Merodach, Merodacb-adiu-akhi, etc.; and is
found in this position as early as n. c. 1660. (Set
the tMny by Sir H. Rawlinton "On lie KrUyitm
of tilt Bnbyloninnt and Attyrianx," in KawUnscm's
Herodotut, 1. 827-«31.) G. B.
MERODACH-BAL'ADAN CffTrHD
77fcf?S: MopoSax BoAaeoV; [Vat Hcu*ta X -
Vat. and Alex, omit BaAaSdV:] Mtrodach-Bala-
dnn) is mentioned ss king of Babylon in the days
of liezekiah, both in the second book of Rings
(xx. 12) and in Isaiah (xxxix. 1 ). In the forms'
place he it called Bkkodach-Bai Ada*, by tht
I ready interchange of the letters 3 and O, •Mat
Digitized by VjOOQlC
AlERODACH-BALADAN
ma familiar to the Jews, as it baa been to many i
ither nations. The orthography " Merodach " is,
aowever, to be preferred ; since this element in the
sing's name is undoubtedly identical with the
appellation of the famous Babylonian deity, who is
always called " Merodach," both by the Hebrews
and by the native writers. The name of Mero-
daeh-Baladan has been clearly recognized in the
Assyrian inscriptions. It appears under the form
tf Harudachus-Baldanes, or Marudoch-Baldan, in
a fragment of Polyhistor, preserved by Eusebius
(Ckrvn. Can. pars i. r. 1); and under that of
Harrioc-empad (or rather Mardoc-enipal ") in the
"amous "Canoe of Ptolemy." Josephua abbrevi-
ates il still more, and calls the monarch simply
" Batadas " (Ant. Jud. x. 2, § 2).
The Canon gives Merodkch-Baladan (Mardoo-
tmpal) a reign of 12 years — from b. a 721 to
b. c. 709 — and makes him lien succeeded by a
certain Arceanus. Polyhistor assigns him a six
months' reign, immediately before Elibus, or Beli-
bua, who (according to the Canon) ascended the
throne B. c. 702. It has commonly been seen that
these must be two different reigns, and that Mero-
dach-Baladan must therefore have been deposed in
b. c. 709, and have recovered his throne in b. c.
70S, when he had a second period of dominion
lasting half a year. The inscriptions contain ex-
press mention of both reigns. Sargon states that
in the twelfth year of his own reign he drove
Merodach- Baladan out of Babylon, after he had
ruled over it for twelve years; and Sennacherib
tells us that in his first year he defeated and
expelled the same monarch, setting up in his place
'•a man named Belib." Putting all our notices
together, it becomes apparent that Merodach-Bal-
adan was the head of the popular party, which
resisted the Assyrian monarch*, and strove to main-
tain the independence of the country. It is uncer-
tain whether he was self-raised or was tbe son of a
former king. In the second Book of Kings he is
styled " the son of Baladan ; " but the inscriptions
all him " the son of Yagin ; " whence it is to be
presumed that Baladan was a more remote ancestor.
Yiffin, the real father of Merodach-BaJadan, is
possibly represented in Ptolemy's Canon by the
name Jugeus — which in some copies replaces tbe
name Kluueus, as the appellation of the immediate
predecessor of Merodach- Baladan. At any rate,
from the time of Sargon, Merodach-Baladan and
his family were the champions of Babylonian inde-
pendence and fought with spirit the losing battle
of their country. The kins of whom we are here
treating sustained two contests with the power of
Assyria, was twice defeated, and twice compelled
to fly his country. His sons, supported by the
king of Ham, or Susiana, continued the struggle,
sod are found among the adversaries of Ksar-
Haddon, Sennacherib's son and successor. His
grandsons contend against Aahur-bnni-pal, the
vn of Esar-Haddon. It is not till the fourth
generation that the family seems to become extinct,
and the Babylonians, having no champion to main-
tain their cause, contentedly acquiesce in the yoke
jf the stranger.
MBBODACH-ltALADAK 1897
There is some doubt as to the time at which
Merodach-Baladan sent his ambassadors to Heze-
kiah, for the purpose of inquiring as to the astro
nomical marvel of which •ludasa had been the scene
(2 Chr. xxxii. 31). According to those commenta-
tors who connect the illness of Hezekiah with one
or other of Sennacherib's expeditions against him,
tbe embassy has to be ascribed to Merodach-Bal-
adan's second or shorter reign, when alone he was
contemporary with Sennacherib. If however we
may be allowed to adopt the view that Hesekiah 's
illness preceded the first invasion of Sennacherib
by several years (see above, ad voc. Hkzkkiah,
and compare Rawlinson's Utrodotut, i. 479, note2),
synchronizing really with an attack of Sargon, we
must assign the embassy to Merodach-Baladan's
earlier reign, and bring it within the period, B. c.
721-709, which the Canon assigns to him. New
the 14th year of Hezekiah, in which the embassy
should fall (2 K. xx. 6; Is. xxxviii. 5), appears to
have been b. o. 713. This was the year of Mero-
dach-Baladan's first reign.
The increasing power of Assyria was at this
period causing alarm to her neighbors, and the
circumstances of the time were such as would tend
to draw Judaea and Babylonia together, and to give
rise to negotiations between them. The astronom-
ical marvel, whatever it was, which accompanied
the recovery of Hezekiah, would doubtless haw
attracted the attention of the Babylonians; but it
was probably rather the pretext than the motive
for the formal embassy which the Chaldasan king
dispatched to Jerusalem on the occasion. The real
object of the mission was most likely to effect a
league between Babylon, Judsa, and Egypt (Is.
xx. 5, 6), in order to check the growing power of
the Assyrians.' Hezekiah's exhibition of "all his
precious things " (2 K. xx. 13) would thus have
been, not a mere display, but a mode of satisfying
the Babylonian ambassadors of his ability to sup
port the expenses of a war. The league, however,
though designed, does not seem to have taken
effect. Sargon, acquainted probably with the in-
tentions of his adversaries, anticipated them. He
sent expeditions both into Syria and Babylonia —
seized the stronghold of Ashdod in the one, and
completely defeated Merodach-Baladan in the othir.
That monarch sought safety in flight, and lived for
eight years in exile. At last he found an oppor-
tunity to return. In b. c. 703 or 702, Babylonia
was plunged in anarchy — the Assyrian yoke was
thrown off, and various native leaders struggled for
the mastery. Under these circumstances the exiled
monarch seems to hare returned, and recovered his
throne. His adversary, Sargon, was dead or dying,
and a new and untried prince was about to rule
over the Assyrians. He might hope that the ressw
of government would be held by a weaker hand,
and that he might stand his ground against the
son, though he had been forced to yield to the
father. In this hope, however, he was disappointed.
Sennacherib had scarcely established himself on
tbe throne, when he proceeded to engage his people
iii wars; and it seems that his very first step was
to invade the kingdom of Babylon. Merodacb-
" In the uncial writing A Is very liable to be nls-
kvksn for A, and In the ordinary manturrlpt ebanvter
1 Is not unlike 8. M. Bunsen was (we believe) the
|nw to suggest that there had been a substitution of
be S to the A in this Instance. See his work, Bgypt'i
-*nm ia Pnivr-mi Hilton, vcl. 1. D. 7M. M. T. Th»
abbreviation of the name has many parallels. (Bee
Rawlinson's Hmdoau, vol. I. p. 436, note 1.)
o Josaphus expressly states that Merodaeh-Baladai
sent the smhusadori In order to form an aUiane* wttl
Hesekiah (J-t. Jaw. x. 2, i 2).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1898 MEBOM, THB WATEBS OF
Baiadan had obtained » body of troop* from hii
•By, the king of Susiana; but Sennacherib de-
bited the combined arm; in a pitched battle;
after which he ravaged the entire country, destroy-
ing 78 walled cities and 890 town* and village*,
and carrying vait number* of the people into
captivity. Merodach-Baladan fled to " the ialanda
at the mouth of the Euphrates " (Fox Talbot'*
Attgrian Tacit, p. 1 J — tract* probably now joined
to the continent — and succeeded in eluding the
•earch which the Assyrians made for him. If we
may believe Folyhistor however, this escape availed
him little. That writer relate* (ap. Euseb. Chrvn.
Can. i. 5), that he was soon after put to death by
Elibus, or Belibus, the viceroy whom Sennacherib
appointed to represent him at Babylon. At any
rate he lost his recovered crown after wearing it for
about six months, and spent the remainder of his
days in exile and obscurity. G. K.
METtOM, THB WATERS OF Cg
DTTD [waters of the height, or from above] :
re tSup VLap&¥ [Vat Mappmr, and so Alex. ver.
7]; Alex, in ver. 6, MtppttV- ayva lierom), a
place memorable in the history of the conquest of
Palestine. Here, after Joshua had gained posses-
sion of the southern portions of the country, a
confederacy of the northern chief* assembled under
the leadership of Jabin, king of Hnzor (Josh. xi.
S), and here they were encountered by Joshua, and
completely routed (ver. 7). The battle of Meroni
was to the north of Palestine what that of Beth-
boron had been to the south, — indeed more, for
there do not appear to have been the same number
of important towns to be taken in detail after this
victory that there had been in the former esse.
The name of Merom occurs nowhere in the Bible
but in the passage above" mentioned; nor is it
found in Josephu*. In bis account of the battle
(Ant r. 1, § 18), the confederate kings encamp
" near Beroth, a city of upper Galilee, not far from
Kedes ; " nor is there any mention of water. In
the Onomattiam of Kusebius the name is given as
" Merran," and it is stated to be " a village twelve
miles distant from Sebaate (Samaria), and near
Dothaim." It is a remarkable fact that though
by common consent the " waters of Merom " are
identified with the lake through which the Jordan
runs between Banias and the Sea of Galilee — the
Semechonitis b of Josephus, and Bnhr tl- Hilth of
the modern Arabs — yet that identity cannot be
proved by any ancient record. The nearest ap-
proach to proof is an inference from the statement
MEBOM, THB WATE119 OF
a The mention of the name In the Vulgate of Judg.
w. 18 — lit region* Meromt — at only apparent. Itlsa
literal transference of the words TVtfD , ??"ni? ?5
rightly rendered In the A. V. " to the high places of
the Held, 1 ' and has no connection with Heroin.
a "H ScMeXMWTlf , or ScfifxwttTtfr, Atpnt {Ant. T. 6,
{ 1 ; B. J. ui. 10, § 7, Iv 1, J 1). This name does
aot occur In any part of the Bible ; nor baa it been
discovered in any author except Josephus. For the
possible derivations of it, see Keland {Pal. 282-364),
and tbt summary of Stanley (A', f P. p. 891 noit).
to tlvve It should be added that the name Semakk
m no 4 *onfined to this lake. a. wady of that name
I* the principal torrent on the east of the Sua of
of Josephus (Ant v. 6, J 1), that the aeeond Jabi:
(Judg. iv., v.) " belonged to the city Asor (Harorj
which lay above the lake of Semechonitis." Tone
is no reason to doubt that the Hazor of the first
and the Hasor of the second Jabin were one and
the same place; and a* the water* of Merom an
named in connection with the former it is allowable
to infer that they an identical with the lake of
Semechonitis. But it should be remembered that
this inference is really all the proof we have, while
against it we have to set the positive statements of
Josephus and Eusebius just quoted; and also the
fact that the Hebrew word Me is not that com
monly used for a large piece of standing water, but
rather 11am, "a aea," which was even employed
for so small a body of water as the artificial pond
or tank in Solomon's Temple. This remark would
have still more force if, as was most probably the
case, the lake was larger in the time of Joshua than
it is at present. Another and greater objection,
which should not be overlooked, is the difficulty
attendant on a flight and pursuit across a country
so mountainous and impassable to any large num-
bers, as the district which intervenes between the
Hilth and Sidon. The tremendous ravine of the
Lildny and the height of Kalnt et-Shukif ut only
two of the obstacles which stand in the way of a
passage in this direction. As, however, the lake in
question is invariably taken to be the " waters of
Merom," and as it is an interesting feature in the
geography of the upper part of the Jordan, it may
lie well here to give some account of it.
The region to which the name of Hilth « is at-
tached — the ArU tl-Hilth — is a depressed plain
or basin, commencing on the north of the foot of
tbe slopes which lead up to the Met) Ay&n and
TtU et-Rody, and extending southwards to the
bottom of the lake which bears the same name —
Bnhr el-Butch. On the east and west it is in-
closed between two parallel ranges of hills; on the
west tbe highlands of Upper Galilee — the Jebtl
Safat; and on the east a broad ridge or table-land
of basalt, thrown off by the southern base of Her-
mon, and extending downwards beyond the HiUh
till lost in the high ground east of the lake of Ti-
berias. The Utter rises abruptly from the tow
ground, but the hills on the western side break
down more gradually, and leave a tract of undulat-
ing table-land of varying breadth lietween them and
the plain. This basin is in all about 15 miles long
and i to 5 wide, and thus occupies an area about
equal to that of the lake of 'liberies. It is the
receptacle for the drainage of the highland* on each
c B-mitn.
. »Syll
Is probably a vary ancient
name derived from or connected with Hul, or more
accurately Chul, who appeals in the lists of Geo. x. as
one of the sous of Aram (Syria, ver. 28). In tbe
Arable version of Ssadlah of this passage, the name of
Uul Is given exactly in the form of the modern name
— el-HMeh. Josephus (Ant. 1. 6, f 4), in his amount
of tbe descendants of Noah, gives Hul as O&Aet, while
he also ealia the district in question OvAsfa (An: jr-
10, § 8). Tbs word both In Hebrew and Arabic seems
to have the force of depression — the low land (sas
MlehaeHs, Suppl. Hot. 687, 720) ; and MichseUs mor
I ingeniously suggests that It Is the root of the nan*
| K o i \ rfrvpict. although In its present form It may
hare been sufficiently modified to transform it Into as
'intelligible Greek word (Idem, SpieiUgmm, M. 1IT
lOVt
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEROM, THE WATERS OF
hie, but more especially for the waters of the
iter/ Ayin, in derated plateau which lies above it
amongst the roota of the great norther 1 mountain*
sf Palatine. In hot the whole district la an
mormons swamp, which, though partially solidified
at its upper portion by the gradual deposit of
detritus from the hills, becomes more swamp; as its
length is descended, and at last terminates in the
lake or pool which occupies Its southern extremity.
It was probably at one time all covered with water,
and even now in the rainy seasons it is mostly sub-
merged. Daring the dry season, however, the up-
per portions, aud those immediately at the foot of
the western hills, are sufficiently firm to allow the
Arabs to encamp and pasture their cattle, but the
lower part, more Immediately bordering on the lake,
is absolutely impassable, not only on sccount of its
increasing marshiness, but also from the very dense
thicket of reeds which covers it At this part it is
difficult to say where the swamp terminates and the
lake begins, but fUrther down on both sides the
•bores are perfectly well defined.
In form the lake Is not far from a triangle, the
base being at the north and the apex at the south.
It measures about 3 miles in each direction. Its
level is placed by Tan de VeHe at 120 feet above
the Mediterranean. That of Tttt d-Kac/y, 20
miles above, is 647 feet, and of the I .ake Tiberias,
SO miles below, 663 feet, respectively above and
below the same datum (Van de Velde, Memoir,
181). Thus the whole basin has a considerable
slope southwards. The flatbdny river, which falls
almost due south from tys source in the great W-idy
et-Teim, is joined at the northeast comer of the
Ard et-f filth by the streams from Bantu i aud
Tttt A Kady, and the united stream then flows on
through the morass, rather nearer its eastern than
its western side, until it enters the lake close to the
eastern end of its upper side. From the apex of
the triangle at the lower end the Jordan flows out.
In addition to the Haeb&mj and to the innumerable
smaller watercourses which filter into it the waters
jf the swamp above, the lake is fed by independent
springs on the slopes of its inclosing mountains.
Of these the most considerable is the Ain el-Mel-
tiknh," near the upper end of its western side, which
sends down a stream of 40 or 60 feet in width.
The water of the lake is clear and sweet: it is cov-
ered in parts by a broad-leaved plant, and abounds
in water-fowl Owing to its triangular form a
considerable space is left between the lake and the
mountains, at its lower end. This appears to be
more the case on the west than on the east, and
j Ttus name issms sometimes to have been applied
» toe lake Itself. See the quotation Irani William of
Tyia, — "lacum Melcha" — in Hob. U. 436, note
Bnrekhardt did not visit it, bos, possibly guided by the
neaning of the treble word (salt), sajn that " the S
W. shore bears the name of Melaha from the ground
bring covered with a saline erost" (June 20, 1812).
The same thing seams to be affirmed in the Talmud
'abatoth, end of chap. IB. quoted by Behwars, p
12 note) ; not nothing of the kind appears to have
been observed by other travellers, gee especially
trueon, Land; etc , U. 168. By Behwars 'p. 29) the
arte to given as " fin al-Halcha, the King's spring."
J this could be substantiated, It would be allowable
-o ue In It a traditional reference to the encampment
if Ulb Kings. Behwars also mentions (pp. 41, 42, note)
Jm Mlowtng names for the lake : " Slbehi," perhaps a
-*-*- 1 " fcr "Soroche," i. e. Bsmsehonins J "Ksi,
Uyeh,' the hkjh,' Identical with the Hebrew Herooij"
MEROM, THE WATERS OF 189S
the rolling plain thus formed is very fertile, and
activated to the water's edge. 6 This cultivated
district is called the Ard et-Khait, perhaps " the
undulating land," et-Kiait ' being also the name
which the Arabs call the lake (Thomson, Bibl. Sa-
cra, 199; Rob. Bibl. Ret. 1st ed. Hi. App. 136, 136)
In fact the name Hilch appears to belong rather to
the district, and only to the lake as occupying a
portion thereof. It is not restricted to this spot,
but is applied to another very fertile district in
northern Syria lying below Bamah. A town of the
same name is also found south of snd close to the
Katimiyeh river a few miles from the castle of
ffuntn.
Supposing the lake to be identical with the
" waters of Merotn," the plain just spoken of on Us
southwestern margin is the only spot which could
have been the site of Joshua's victory, though, as
the Canaanites chose their own ground, it is diffi-
cult to imagine that they would have encamped in
a position from which there was literally no escape-
But this only strengthens the difficulty already ex-
pressed as to the identification. Still the district of
the Huleh will always possess an interest for the Bib-
lical student, from its connection with the Jordan,
and from the cities of ancient fame which stand on
its border — Kedesh, Hazor, Dan, Laish, Csesarea,
Philippi, etc.
The above account is compiled from the follow
ing sources : The Sourcet of tile Jordan, etc. by
Kev. W. M. Thomson, in Bibl Sacra, Feb. 1846,
pp. 198-201; Robinson's BibL Ret. (1st ed. iii.
341-343, and App. 136), ii. 436, 436, iu\ 395, 896;
Wilson, Lands, etc., ii. 816; Van de Velde, Syria
and Pal ii. 416; Stanley, S. d- P. chap. xi. [To
these add Tristram's Land of ltrael, 2d ed., pp
688-596.]
The situation of the Beroth, at which Josephus
(as above) places Joshua's victor}', is debated at
some length by Hicbaelii (AUg. BibUotliei, etc.,
No. 84), with a strong desire to prove that it if
Berytus, the modern Beirut, and that Kedesh is on
the Lake of Flume (Emessa). His argument is
grounded mainly on an addition of Josephus (AnL
v. 1, § 18) to the narrative as given both by the
Hebrew and LXX., namely, that it occupied Joshua
five days to march from tiilgal to the encampment
of the kings. For this the reader must be referred
to Michaelii himself. But Josephus elsewhere
mentions a town called Meroth, which may possibly
Ic the same as Beroth. This seems to have been a
place naturally strong, and important as a. military
post ( Vita, { 37 ; B. J. ii. 20, § 6), and moreover
Yam Chavllah, nVOH W 1 ', " thongh the may
merely be his translator's blunder for Cbuilsh, i. •
Huleh.
l> This undulating plain appears to be of volceaJs
origin. Tan de Velde (Syr and Pat. 416, 416), speaking
of the part below the Wady Fmthn, a fcw miles only
S. of the lake, calls It " a plain entirely com p osed o."
lava ; " and at the Sitr-Brnol- Yakub he speaks of the
" black lava sides "' of the Jordan. Wilson, however,
(11. 816), calls the soU of the same part the " debris of
basaltic rocks and dykes."
c The writer has not succeeded In ascertaining thr
signification of this Arabia word. By Behwars (p. 47)
It is given as "Bachr Colt, 'wheat sea,' becauss
much wheat la sown hi Its neighborhood." This Is
probably what Prof Stanley alludes to when he reports
the name as Bafar Hit or "see of wheat " (5. J T
891 MM).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1900 MERONOTHITE, THE
■as the western limit of Upper Galilee (B. J. Hi.
J, § 1). This would place it aomewhere about the
plain of Ahka, much more suitable ground for tbe
chariots of the Canaanites than any to be found
near the Hilth, while it also makes the account of
the pursuit to Sidon more intelligible. G.
MERON'OTHITE, THE Onb*T^U
[gentilic] : t in UltpaBir, Alex. MwasW; in Neh.
i Mv/pawajSirni, [Vat -Ssirnj, Alex. FA. omit:]
Meronathtiet), that is, the native of a place called
probably Herouoth, of which, however, no further
traces have yet been discovered. Two Meroiio-
thites are named in the Bible: (1.) Jf.hdkiah,
who had the charge of the royal asses of King David
(1 Chr. xxvii. 30); and (2.) Jadon, one of those
who assisted in the repair of the wall of Jerusalem
after the return from the Captivity (Neh. iii. 7).
In the latter case we are possibly afforded a clew to
tbe situation of Meronoth by the fact that Jadon is
mentioned between a Gibeonite and the men of
Gibson, who again are followed by the men of
Hizpah : but no name like it is to be found among
the towns of that district, either in the lists of Josh-
ua (xviii. 11-28), of Nehemiah (xt. 81-36), or in
the catalogue of modern towns given by Robinson
(Bibl. Res. 1st ed. ill. Append. 121-126). For
this circumstance compare Mechkratritb. (1.
METtOZ (frig [jirob. re/Woe, Gee.] :M»p<if:
Alex. Mafwa: terra Menu), a place mentioned
only in the Song of Deborah and Barak in .ludg.
v. 23, and there denounced because its inhabitants
had refused to take any part in the struggle with
Sisera : —
"Curse ye Herox, said the messenger of Jehovah,
Curse ye, curse ye, its Inhabitants ;
Because they asms not to the help of Jehovah,
To the help of Jehovah against the mighty."
The denunciation of this faint-heartedness is made
to form a pendant to the blessing proclaimed on the
prompt action of Jael.
Heroz must have been in the neighborhood of
the Kiahon, but its real position is not known :
possibly it was destroyed in obedience to the curse.
A place named Menus (but Eusebius Mff)*dV) is
named by Jerome ( Otiom. " Merrom " ) as 12 miles
north of Sebaste, near Dothain, but this is too far
south to have been near the scene of tbe conflict.
Far more feasible is the conjecture of Schwarz (168,
wd see 36), that Meroe is to be found at Merntas
— more correctly el- Murittut — a ruined site about
1 miles N. W. of Beitan, on the southern slopes of
tbe hills, which are the continuation of the so-called
" Little Hermon," and form tbe northern side of
the valley ( Wady Jalid) which leads directly from
'lie plain of Jezreel to the Jordan. Tbe town must
lave commanded the Pass, and if any of Sisera's
,ieople attempted, as the Midianites did when
routed by Gideon, to escape in that direction, its
inhabitants might no doubt have prevented their
Meg so, and have slaughtered them. El-Muriitut
■ mentioned by Burekbardt (July 2: he calls it
Mernarasz), Robinson (ii. 356), and others.
Flint (llitndtoh. 786 a) suggests the identity of
VIeroz with Merotn, tbe place which may have given
Ift name to the waters of Merom, in the neighbor-
hood of which Kedesh, the residence of Jael, where
Sisera took refuge, was situated. But putting
iside the fact of the non-existence of any town
1 Merorr there is against this suggestion the
MESHA
consideration that Sisera left his umy and fW
alone in another direction.
In the Jewish traditions preserved in the Com-
mentary on the Song of Deborah attributed to St
Jerome, Herox, which may be interpreted as secret
is made to signify tbe evil angels who led on the
Canaanites, who are cursed by Michael, the snee
of Jehovah, the leader of the Israelites. G.
* The scene of the battle was near the Kishon ;
but nothing in Deborah's ode or the narrative
obliges us to find Meroz In just that neighbor-
hood. The combatants were summoned from all
parts of the land. Thomson raises the question
whether Meroz may not be the present Meirtn, too
place of the famous Jewish cemetery, about ft miles
west <A Safed. It would 1-e on the way letween
Kedesh \Kidtt), where Barak dwelt (Judg. iv. 12),
and Tabor, so that as he marched thither from tbe
north he would naturally summon the Merozites to
join bis standard (Land and Book, i. 424). This
argument may be better than that furnished by tbe
alight resemblance of the names, but it does not
prove much. Vet the Jews have given 1 leborah's
name to a fountain near Meirtn (Dkhorah, vol. i.
p. 576, note). Probably Meiron is Meroth, a place
mentioned by Josvphus and fortified by him. See
Raumer's PiiUUlna, p. 133 (4" Aufl.). H.
MK'RUTH (T^vpoie; [Vat Epstr/oov;
Aid. ix Mrjpoitf:] A'fnema). A corruption of Im-
mkr 1, in Ezr. ii. 37 (1 Esdr. v. 24).
ME'SECH [A. V. Ps. cxx. 6, for Mkshxcu,
which see].
ME'SHA (NOJg, perhaps = S^D, retreat,
ties.: Mao-o-rj; [Alex. Macron* i] Meat), the name
of one of the geographical limits of the Joktanitea
when they first settled in Arabia: "And then-
dwelling was from Media (njfcCB MBTgg
B^EP "^ nT^^l), [as thou goest] unto
Sepbar, a mount of the East " (Gen. x. 30). The
position of the early Joktanite colonists is clearly
made out from the traces they have left In the
ethnology, Language, and monuments of Southern
Arabia; and without putting too precise a limita-
tion on the possible situation of Mesba and Sepbar,
we may suppose that these places must hive fallen
within the southwestern quarter of tbe peninsula;
including the modern Yemen on the west, and the
districts of 'Oman, Mahreh, Shihr, etc., as far ss
Hadramtiwt, on the east These general boundaries
are strengthened by the identification of Sephar
with the port of Znfdri, or Dhnfari ; though tbe
site of Sephar may possibly be hereafter connected
with the old Himjerite metropolis in the Yemen
[see Arabia, vol. 1. p. 140. and Srpiiar], but
this would not materially alter the question. In
Sephar we believe we have tbe eastern limit of the
early settlers, whether its site be the seaport or the
inland city; and the correctness of this supposition
appears from the Biblical record, in which tbe
migration is apparently from west to east, from tbe
probable course taken by the immigrants, and from
the greater importance of the known western settle-
ments of the Joktanites, or those of the Yemen.
If then Mesha was the western limit of the Jok-
tanites, it must he sought for in northwestern
Yemen. But the identifications that have bees
proposed sre not satisfactory. The seaport called
MoDo-a or Mot/fc, mentioned by Ptolemy, Pliny
Arriea, and others (setrtbi Dictkmarjio/Gtogrnplif
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MKSTTA
a t. JtWi) praHnta the mott probable site. It
tme » town of note in classical timet, but has einee
Msm into decaf, if toe modem Moota be toe lame
piece. The Utter ii eituate in about 13° W N.
k*., 430 WY E. long., and ie near a mountain ealled
the Tkrtt Suten, or Jtbtl Moota, in the Admiralty
Chart of the Bad Sea, drawn from the curve}* of
Captain PuUen, R. N. Uesenius thinks this iden-
tification probable, but he appear* to have been
unaware of the existence of a modern site called
Mooti, saying that Huza was nearly where now is
Mauskid, Bochart, also, holds the identification
with Huza (PhaUy, xxx.) Hesha may possibly
save lain inland, and mora to the northwest of
Sephar than the position of Moota would indicate;
bat this is scarcely to be assumed. There is, how-
ever, a Mount Mooch," situate in Nejd, in the ter-
ritory of the tribe of Teiyi (Maraud and Miahtarak,
s. v.). There have not been wanting writers among
the late Jews to convert Meeha and Sephar into
Mekkah and KLUtdenth (Phalty, L c.).
E. S. P.
ME'SHA Gft^g [deltetronce]: MWd; Jos.
MuraV: if an). 1. The king of Moab in the
reigns of Ahab and his sons Ahaziah and Jehoram,
kings of Israel (2 K. ill. 1), and tributary to the
Int. Probably the allegiance of Moab, with that
of the tribes east of Jordan, was transferred to the
northern kingdom of Israel upon the division of the
monarchy, for there is no account of any subjuga-
tion of the country subsequent to the war of exter-
mination with which it was visited by David, when
Benaiab displayed his prowess (3 Sam. xxiii. 30),
and " the Moabitee became David's servants, bearers
sf gifts " (2 Sam. viii. 2). When Ahab had fallen
in battle at Ramoth Uilead, Mesha seised the op-
portunity afforded by the confusion consequent upon
this disaster, and the feeble reign of Ahaziah. to
■hake off the yoke of Israel and free himself from
the burdensome tribute of '• a hundred thousand
wethers and a hundred thousand rams with their
wooL" The country east of the Jordan was rich
in pasture for cattle (Num. ixxii. 1), the chief
wealth of the Moabitee consisted in their large
Socks of sheep, and the king of this pastoral people
Is described as fttkld (T|^D), "a sheep-muter,"
sr owner of herds.* About tbe signification of this
word wkid there is not much doubt, but its origin
* obscure. It occurs but once besides, in Am. i. I,
where the prophet Amos is described as " among
the kerdmen (D^lff^. nokedlm) of Tekoah." On
this Kimehi remarks that a herdman was called
aoseV, because most cattle have black or white
spots (comp. TpJ, n&kM, Gen. xxx. 33, A. V.
'speckled"), or, as Buxtorf explains it, because
■hasp are generally marked with oertain signs so as
MESHA
1901
The t.TT, leave It untranslated (medl, Alex.
imtkth as does the Peshlro Syrfse ; but Aquila ren-
Jue it wmtuvnpi+ot, and gynuaaehos t s#m» fotaj-
ten, Mlowixg the Targnm and Arabic, and tnao-
srrres Allowed In toe margin of tbe Hsxsplir Syrlao.
ts> Asa. I. 1, Synunschus has simply m^r. TLj
aj— see, as quoted by Boobart (Hum. I. e. 44), (Ives
e> AaMs word, JJfr, naiad, not taeed to an.
to be known. But it is highly improbable that
any such etymology should be correct, and Flint's
conjecture that it is derived from an obsolete root,
signifying to keep or feed cattle, is more likely U
be true (Concord, s. v.).
When, upon the death of Abaziah, his brother
Jebonun succeeded to the throne of Israel, one of
his first acts was to secure the assistance of Je-
hoshaphat, his father's ally, in reducing the Moabitee
to their former condition of tributaries. The united
armies of the two kings marched by a circuitous
route round the Dead Sea, and were joined by the
forces of the king of Edom. [Jkhobam.] The
disordered soldiers of Moab,'eager only for spoil,
ware surprised by the warriors of Israel and their
allies, and became an easy prey. In the panic
which ensued they were slaughtered without mercy,
their country was made a desert, and the king took
refuge in his last stronghold and defended himself
with the energy of despair. With TOO fighting
men he made a vigorous attempt to out his way
through the beleaguering army, and when beaten
back, he withdrew to the wall of his city, and there,
in sight of the allied host, offered his first-born ton,
his suocessor in tbe kingdom, as a burnt-offering
to Cbemosh, the ruthless fire-god of Moab. His
bloody sacrifice had so far the desired effect that
the besiegers retired from him to their own land.
There appears to be no reason for supposing that
the son of the king of Kdom was the victim on this
occasion, whether, as R. Joseph Kimehi supposed,
he was already in the power of tbe king of Moah,
and was the cause of the Edomites joining the
armies of Israel and Judah; or whether, as R. Moses
Kimehi suggested, he was taken prisoner in tin
sally of the Moabitee, and sacrificed out of revenge
for its failure. These conjectures appear to have
arisen from an attempt to find in this incident tbe
event to which allusion is made in Am. ii. 1, when
tbe Moabite is charged with burning the bones of
the king of Edom into lime. It is more natural,
and readers the narrative mora vivid and consistent,
to suppose that the king of Moab, finding his last
resource fail him, endeavored to avert the wrath
and obtain the aid of his god by the most costly
s ar rin oe in his power. [Moab.]
2. (StJPp : Mopurd ; [Vat Mapsura;] Alex.
Mapio-cu; [Comp. Matwrd; Aid. Mturi-] Man.)
The eldest son of Caleb the son of Hezron by bis
wife Azubah, as Kimehi conjectures (1 Chr. ii. 43).
He is called the father, that is the prince or founder,
of Ziph. Both tbe Syriac and Arabia versions have
" ElUhaniai," apparently from the previous verse,
while the LXX., unless they had a different reading
7U71Q, seem to have repeated « Mi-fob "
which occurs immediately afterwards.
3. (HC^D [retreat, Ges., Jirmntu, FUrstj
Mwd; Alei. Mara: Moea.) ABeujamlta, eon of
origin, wbloh denotes sn Inferior kind of sheep, ugly
and little valued axespt iter Its wool. The keeper of
e • •
such sbsep Is eallsd t>Ltt3, naUctd, whleh Bostan
Identities with nMctd. But If this be liw esse, It U a
Utile remarkable that the Arable translator should
haw pas s ed over a word apparently so appropriate,
and 'ollowed the version of the Targum, " an owasf
or Bocks." Oosmlus sod If, however, secept this as
tbssolatfoa.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1902
MBoHACH
gliah arahn , by ha wife Hodeeh, who ban him in
the land of Moab (1 Chr. viii. 9). Tha Vulgate
and Alex. MS. must ban had the reading HEHQ.
W. A. W.
ME'SHACH (TtBfy} [aee below]: M«r4 x ;
Alex. Mursuc : Mimtch). The name given to
Miahael, one of the compaoiona of Daniel, and like
him of the blood-royal of Judah, who with three
others waa eboaen from among the captivee to be
taught "the learning and tie tongue" of the
Chaldeans " (Dan. i. 4), so that the; might be
qualified to " stand before " king Nebuchadneszar
(Dan. i. 6) as his personal attendants and advisors
(L SO). During their three years of preparation
they were maintained at the king's cost, under the
charge of the chief of the eunuchs, who placed them
with •• the Helzar," or chief butler. The story of
their simple diet is well known. When the time
of their probation was ended, such was " the knowl-
edge and skill in all learning and wisdom " which
God had given them, that the king found them
■' ten times better than all the magicians and
astrologers that were in all his realm" (1. SO).
Upon Daniel's promotion to be " chief of the
magicians," his three companions, by his influence,
•ere set " over the affairs of the province of Baby-
lon" (ii. 49). But, notwithstanding their Chal-
dean education, these three young Hebrews were
strongly attached to the religion of their fathers ;
and their refusal to join in the worship of the image
on the plain of Dura gave a handle of accusation
to the Chaldeans, who were Jealous of their ad-
vancement, and eagerly reported to the king the
heretical conduct of these " Jewish men " (iii. 12)
who stood so high in his favor. The rage of the
king, the swift sentence of condemnation passed
upon the three offenders, their miraculous preserva-
tion from the fiery furnace heated seven times hotter
than usual, the king's acknowledgment of the God
of Shadrach, Meebach, and Abednego, with their
restoration to office, are written in the 3d chapter
of Daniel, and there the history leaves them. The
name "Hesbach" is rendered by Flint (Handw.)
' a ram," and derived from the Sanskrit ro/sAaA.
He goes on to say that it was the name of the Sun-
jod of the Chaldeans, without giving any authority,
ur stopping to explain the phenomenon presented
by the name of a Chaldean divinity with an Aryan
etymology. That Meshach waa the name of some
god of the Chaldeans is extremely probable, from
the fact that Daniel, who bad the name of Uel-
teshazzar, was so called after the god of Nebuchsd-
Mtzar (Dan. iv. 8). and that Abednego was named
after Nego, or Nebo, the Chaldean name for the
planet Mercury. W. A. W.
ME SHECH (TJIjJp [draaing or sowmo,
Mite— ion]: Moo-ox, [Mto-ox; Alex. Moo-ox, o"**
Mocoic i in Ps. cxx. 5, and Ez. xxvii. 18 LXX/ trans-
late]: Motoch), [Match, A. V. Ps. cxx. 6,] a son
if Japheth (Gen. x, 2; 1 Chr. i. 5), and the pro-
• The expression 3 ^ttJ^I "KK) % Include*
the whole of the Chaldean 'literature, written and
■token.
° Various explanations have been otkied to account
fee the Juxtaposition of two such remote nations a*
Maseeh and Kedai In this passage. The LXX. dun
set recognise It ss a proper name, but randan it
waaytMa . Hicsig suggaa a the identity of Abler* with
Oammtsnk, oi Damascus. It Is, b< wevar, quite pos-
MESHELKMIAH
genitor of a rase frequently noticed in Saipnua fa.
connection with Tubal, Magog, and other northern
nations. They appear aa allies of Gog (Ex. xzxriii
2, 3, xxxix. 1), and as supplying the Tyriana with
copper and slaves (Es. xxvii 18); in Pa. cxx. 6,*
they are noticed aa one of the remotest, and at Use
same time rudest nations of the world. Both the
name and the associations are in favor of the iden-
tification of Meshech with the Motcki: the tern
of the name adopted by the LXX. and the Vulg.
approaches most nearly to the classical designation,
while in Prooopius (B. 0. iv. 2) we meet with
another form (MeVvoi) which assimilates to the
Hebrew. The position of the Uoachi in the age
of Ezekiel was probably the same as is draczibed
by Herodotus (iii. 94), namely, on the borders of
Colchis and Armenia, where a mountain chain con-
necting Anti-Taurus with Caucasus was named
after them the MotcJiki Monies, and v -ere waa
also a district named by Strabo (xi. 497-499)
Motchict. In the same neighborhood were the
Tibareni, who have been generally identified with
the Biblical Tubal. The (,'olchian tribes, the
Chalybes more especially, were skilled in working
metals, and hence arose the trade in the " vessels
of brass " with Tyre; nor is it at aD improbable
that slaves were hugely exported thence as now
from the neighboring district of Georgia. Although
the Moschi were a comparatively unimportant race
in classical times, they had previously been one of
the most powerful nations of Western Asia. The
Assyrian monarcha were engaged in frequent wars
with them, and it is not improbable that they bad
occupied the whole of the district afterwards named
Csppadocia. In the Assyrian inscriptions the name
appears under the form of Muttm: a somewhat
similar name, Mng/ionth, appears in an Egyptian
inscription, which commemorates toe achievements
of the third Rameses (Wilkinson, Anc Eg. i. 398,
Abridg.). The subsequent history of Meshech is
unknown; Knobel's attempt to connect them with
the IJgurians ( Wkertof. p. 119, Ac) is devoid of
all solid ground. As far as the name and locality
are concerned, Mutcocite is s more probable hy-
pothesis (Rawlirnou, Herod, i. 662, 668).
W. L. a
MESHELEMTAH (njttfjlgft? Iwhom Je-
hovah reeomprniet): MoaoWafA- (Tat. Hura-
Acuu;] Alex. McxroAAo/t: MotoUamia, 1 Chr. is
21; TPP^tp : Mo<r«AA«/*ia, [Moo-oAAa/i/e.
Vat. Moo-oAor/A, Moo-aAqo, Moao/uuiB:] Alex
Moo-oAAap, MoursAAeyua, M<ooAA«/ua: MettU-
miii, 1 Chr. xxvi. 1, 2. 9). A Korhite, sou of
Kore, of the sons of Asaph, who with his sevei.
sens and bis brethren, "sons of might," were
porters or gate-keepers of the bouse of Jehovah in
the reign of David. He is evidently the same as
Shelkhiah (1 Chr. xxvi. 14), to whose custody
the East Gate, or principal entrance, was committed,
and whose son Zechariah was a wise counsellor
I-
stble that the Psalmist selects the two nations tor Mm
very reason which Is regarded aa an objection, namely
their rtmoieneu from each otbar, though st the asms
time their wild and uncivilised character may bavr
been the ground of the selection, as Uengstsnben
(Comm. in loe.) suggests. Wa have already bad tc
notice Knobel's Idea, that the Mssanh In thai passagi
Is the Meshech of 1 Chr. 1. 6, and the Babykasau
Heasne. [BUsa.l
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MESHBZABEEL
tad aid charge of toe north gate " SmAllum
Um m of Kore, the ion of Ehisssph, the ion of
Koran " (1 Chr. iz. 18), who mi ohirf of tba
pasters (17), ind who gave hit name to a family
whieh performed the same office, md returned from
the Captivity with Zerubbabel (Kir. ii. 43 ; Neh.
vii. 46), ia apparently identical with Sbelemiah,
Meshelnniah, and Meahullam (oorap. 1 Chr. iz. 17,
with Neh. xii. 25). W. A. W.
ME8HEZ'ABEEL |4 syl.] (brj^pilftj
[deliverer of God]: MufcMAi [Vat. omits;}
Akx. Mao-fC«n|Ai KA. MourtftjSnA: Meteubel).
L Ancestor of MeabuUam, who auuted Nehe-
miah in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem (Neb. iii.
4). He mi apparently a priest.
8. (M«ov»ffjS4\ : Mttiznbel) One of the
"beads of the people," probably a family, who
■Baled th* covenant with Neheniiah (Neh. x. 21).
3. (Baffsfd; FA. 3d hand, RcurqfadtiyX :
MttezebeL) The father of Pethahiah, and de-
aeendant of Zerah the son of Judah (Neh. xi.
84).
• In Neh. zi. 84 the A. V. ed. 1611 has the
more correct form, MeshezabeL A.
MESHII/LBMITH (rNDbttftp [see next
word]: Maa-tKfuU; Alex. Moo-oWafUfS : Afostrf-
fcranCA). Tbe son of Immer, a priest, and ances-
tor of Amashai or Maasiai, according to Neh. xi.
13, and of Pashur and Adaiah, according to 1 Chr.
iz. IS. In Neh. zi. 13 he is called Mesh iu.it-
MOTH.
MESHII/LKMOTH (rftobttto [retribu-
tions, reqmtalt]: MWoAap<£0; [Tat Moo-oAa-
mmti] Alex. Meo-oAAcui»6: MwoUtmoih). An
EphraimiU, ancestor of Berechiah, one of the
chiefs of the trios in the reign of Pekah (2 Chr.
xxriii. 18).
8- (MhtoWS; [Vat. Akz. FA.» omit; FA*
If •e-aAi/u".]) Neh. zi. It. The same as Mesh il-
MESHTJI/LAM (O^lfftj [friend, auoci-
«le]). 1. (Mto-eAAaVi *kx. M«ff<roXjt» : •*»»-
wiina.) Ancestor of Shaphan the scribe (2 K.
zxiL 3).
8. (Moe-oAAd>; [ T<t - MoffoAonfwti] Alex.
Moo-oAAofiet: Motouam.) Tbe son of Zerubba-
« (1 Chr. iii. 19).
3. (Vat [rather, Rom.] and Alex. Moo-oAAap;
Tat. M«ro\a/»] ) A Uadite, one of the chief
■ten of the tribe, who dwelt in Doshan at tbe time
the genealogies were recorded in the reign of
Jotham king of Judah (1 Chr. v. 13).
*• [Moo-oAAaV] *• Benjamite, of tbe sons of
Ktpaal (1 Chr. riii. 17).
6. ([In 1 Chr., HoaoKKip, Vat. MooAAut; iu
Neb.] H«o-ovXaV: FA. A^fcrovAa/x.) A Benja-
mite, the son of Hodaviah or Joed, and father of
Saflu, one of the chiefs of the tribe who settled at
Jerusalem after the return from Babylon (1 Chr.
iz. 7 ; Neh. zi. 7).
6. ([MaeroAArfp; Tat. Mao-foArMt:] Alex. Mo-
raA/uuu) A Benjamite, son of Shephathiah, who
fired at Jerusalem after the Captivity (1 Chr. ix.
I).
7. ([In 1 Chr. Moo-oAAd>, Tel- Moo-aAAau;]
b> Neh. MtawiKdft; [Tat M«o-euAsu»] Akz.
*1*voAAap.) The same as Shaixvm, who was
sigh-priest probably in the reign of Amon, and
'sihat of Hiiosh (1 Chr. iz. 11; Neh. zi. 11).
r*zrm,
MESHULLAM 1908
Flis descent is traced through Zadok and MeraiotV
to Ahitnb; or, as it more probable, tbe names
Heraloth and Ahitub are transposed, and bir
descent b from Heraioth as the more rerooU
ancestor (oorap- 1 Chr. vi. 7).
8. [Moo-oAAou-] A priest, son of Meshil-
kmith, or MeshiUenioth, the son of Immer, and
ancestor of Haatiai or Amashai (1 Chr. iz. 18;
comp. Neh. xi. 13). His name does not occur in
tbe parallel bat of Neheniiah, and we may suppose
it to have been omitted by a transcriber in conse-
quence of the similarity of the name which fol-
lows; or in the passage in which it occurs it may
have been added from the same cause.
9. [MwroAAdp] A Kohathita, or family cf
Kohathite Levitet, in the reign of Josiah, who
were among the overseers of the work of restora-
tion in the Temple (9 Chr. zxxiv. 12).
10. (Mso-oXAdp; [Tat Mto-ovap.]) One of
the "heads" (A. T. "chief men ") sent by Earn
to Iddo " the head," to gather together the Levites
to join the caravan about to return to Jerusalem
(Ear. viii. 16). Called Hosollamom in 1 Eadr.
viii. 44.
11. (Alex. Mrrao-oAAop; [Vat. FA. Nwar
ip:] MetoUnm.) A chief man in tbe time of
•kra, probably a Levite, who assisted Jonathan
and Jahaziah in abolishing the marriages which
some of the people had contracted with foreign
wives (Ear. x. 16). Also called Mobollam in 1
Eadr. ix. 14.
18. (MoaoKKdu; [Vat with following word,
MtAotNnxuoAov/iO Motollnm.) One of the de-
scendants of Baini, who had married a loreign wife
and put her away (Ear. x. 29). Olamus in 1
Etdr. ix. 30 is a fragment of this name.
13. ([Mo<roAAa>, Neh. iii. 3, but Tat omits;]
Mfo-ovAdp, Neb. iU. 80, vi. 18.) The son of
Berechiah, who assisted in rebuilding the wall of
Jerusalem (Neh. iii. 4). as well ss the Temple wall,
adjoining which he had his "chamber" (Neh. iii.
30). He was probably a priest, and his daughter
was married to Johanan the son of Tobiah the
Ammonite (Neh. vi. 18).
14- (Mtaoukdn.) The son of Besodeiah: be
assisted Jehoiada tbe son of Psseah in restoring
the old gate of Jerusalem (Neh. iii. 6).
16. (H«roAAaV; [Tat FA.' omit; FA,*] Alex.
MocoAAcw.) One of those who stood at tbe left
hand of Ezra when he read the Uw to tbe peopk
(Neh. viii. 4).
16. (MttrouAaV ) A priest, or family of priests,
who sealed the covenant with Neheniiah (Neb
z.7).
17. (Mf<rouAAa>; [Tat FA.] Alez. MdrovAaut. I
One of the heads of the people who sealed tba
covenant with Neheniiah (Neh. x. 20).
18. (MfffovAoVi.) A priest in the days of Jobv-
kim tbe son of Jesbua, and representative of the
house of Ezra (Neh. xii. 13)
19. (M«roAo>; [Tat FA.1 Alez. omit; FA.*
MmtoAAcui.] ) Likewise a priest at the same time
as the preceding, and bead of the priestly family
of (iinnethon iNeb. xii. 16).
80. (Omitted in LXX. [but FA.» MwroAAagu])
A family of porters, descendants of HeshnOam
(Neb. xii. 86), who is also called Meshelemiah (1
Chr. zzvi. 1), Sbelemiah (1 Chr. zzvi. 14), and
Shallufe (Neh. vii. 46).
81. (M<e-oAAo>; ITat M«<ro«A«u»: FA.» Mr
wovAa, V A.» Mto-evAAtut;] Akz. M<m-oAA«*v2
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1904 ME8HULLEMBTH
Ons of the prince* of Judah who were in the
right hand company of thoee who marched on the
wall of Jerusalem upon the occasion of its aolemn
dedication (Neh. lii. 33). W. A. W.
ME8HULXEMETH (npbtflj [o pimu
me]: MtaoWdu; Alex. Maaaa\afui$- Mtua-
lemttii). The daughter of Harm of Jotbah, wife
of Manasseh king of Judah, and mother of his
successor Anion (3 K. xxi. 19).
MESCBAJTE, THE (H^S^n, ». e.
"the Meteobayah" [aee below]: [Tat FA.] o
KtiyaBeiai [Rom.] Alex. MfOwjSia: dt Matobia),
a title which occurs only once, and then attached
to the name of Jasiel, the lait of David's guard
in the extended list of 1 Chron. (xi. 47). The
word retains strong traces of Zobah, one of the
petty Aramite kingdoms, in which there would be
nothing surprising, as David had a certain con-
nection with these Aramite states, while this very
catalogue contains the names of Moabitea, Am-
monites, and other foreigners. But on this it is
impossible to pronounce with any certainty, as the
original text of the passage is probably in confusion.
Kennicott's conclusion {Diuertatim, pp. 833, 834)
is that originally the word was " the Metzobaites "
(D^Slpn), and applied to the three names pre-
ceding it
It is an unusual thing in the A. V. to find 3
(ts) rendered by a, as in the present case. Another
instance is SiDON. G.
• It cannot be "the Meaohaite" (A. V.), as
this Hebrew ending is not strictly patronymic.
(See Ges. Lehrytbdvde, p. 504 f.) If we abide
by the reading, it must be a compound name =
Jasiel-Metaovajah. The latter may take the article
in Hebrew from its appellative force. The name of
the place is unknown. Fiirat supposes it to mean
" the gathering-place of Jehovah." Different read-
ings have been suggested (see Bertheau, Bicker
der Chrmilc). H.
MBSOPOTA'MIA (D^q313TB [high
land of two t-trers] : M tcororafiia : Metopotamiu )
is the ordinary Greek rendering of the Hebrew
Aram-Nnhnraim, or "Syria of the two rivers.*'
whereof we have frequent mention in the earlier books
af Scripture (Gen. xxiv. 10: Dent xxiii. 4; Judg.
iii. 8, 10). It is also adopted by the LXX. to
represent the D"1H"')'"TS (Paddan-Aram) of the
Hebrew text, where our translators keep the term
wed in the original (Gen. xxv. SO, xxviii. 3,
->,eta).
If we look to the signification of the name, we
must regard Mesopotamia as the entire country
between the two rivers — the Tigris and the Eu-
ohrates. This is a tract nearly 700 miles long,
ami from 80 to 850 miles broad, extending in a
southeasterly direction from Ttltk (lat. 38° 93',
ot.g. 89<> ig') to Kvrmh (lat. 31°, long. 47° SO*)-
fhe Arabian geographers term it " the Island," a
tame which is almost literally correct, since a few
wiles only intervene between the source of the
riotis and the Euphrates at Ttltk. It is for the
most part a vast plain, but is crossed about its
centre by the rxnt$e of the Sin/nr hills, running
nearly east and west from about Mosul to a little
below Rnkkth ; and in its northern portion it is
•wen mountainous, the upper Tigris valley being
separated from the Mesopotamian plain by an im-
MESOPOTAMIA
portent range, the Mons Masiu* of Strato (xi M
$ 4 ; 14, § 3, Ac. ), which runs from Birehjii tc
dearth. This district is always charming: )>u*
the remainder of the region varies greatly accord-
ing to circumstances. In early spring a tender and
luxuriant herbage covers the whole plain, while
flowers of the most brilliant hues spring up in
rapid succession, imparting their color to the land-
scape, which changes from day to day. A« the
summer draws on, the verdure recedes towards the
streams and mountains. Vast tracts of arid plain,
yellow, parched, and sapless, fill the intermediate
space, which ultimately becomes a bare and un-
inhabitable desert In the Sinjnr, and in tl e
mountain-tract to the north, springs of watet air
tolerably abundant, and corn, vines, and figs, are
cultivated by a stationary population; but the
greater part of the region is only suited to the
nomadic hordes, which in spring spread themselves
far and wide over the vast flats, so utilising the
early verdure, and in summer and autumn gather
along the banks of the two main streams and their
affluents, where a delicious shade and a rich pasture
may be found during the greatest heats. Such is
the present character of the region. It is thought,
however, that by a careful water-system, by deriving
channels from the great streams or their affluents,
by storing the superfluous spring-rains in tanks,
by digging wells, and establishing kanalt, or sub-
terraneous aqueducts, the whole territory might I*
brought under cultivation, and rendered capable of
sustaining a permanent population. That some
such system was established u. early times by the
Assyrian monarcha seems to be certain, from the
fact that the whole level country on both sides of
the Sinjar is covered with mounds marking the
sites of cities, which, wherever opened, have pre-
sented appearances similar to those found on the
site of Nineveh. [Absyhia.] If even the more
northern portion of the Mesopotamian region it
thus capable of being redeemed from its present
character of a desert, still more easily might the
southern division be reclaimed and converted into
a garden. Between the 35th and 34th parallels,
the character of the Mesopotamian plain suddenly
alters. Above, it is a plain of a certain elevation
above the courses of the Tigris and Euphrates,
which are separated from it by low Eme-stona
ranges; below, it is a mere alluvium, almost level
with the rivers, which frequently overflow large
portions of it Consequently, from the point indi-
cated, canalization becomes easy. A skillful man-
agement of the two rivers would readily convey
abundance of the life-giving fluid to every portion
of the Mesopotamian tract below the 34th parallel.
And'the innumerable lines of emitankment, marking
the course of ancient canals, sufficiently indicate
that in the flourishing period of Babylonia a net-
work of artificial channels corered the eountiy.
[Babylonia.]
To this description of Mesopotamia in the most
extended sense of the term, It seems proper to
append a more particular account of that region,
which bran the name par excellence, both in
Scripture, and in the classical writers. This is the
northwestern portion of the tract already described
or the country between the great heud of the Eu-
phrates (lat. 350 to 370 so') m & the upper Tigris
(See particularly Ptolem. Geogruph. v. 18, and
compare Eratosth. ap. Strab. U. 1, § 99; Arr. Eap
ALtii.7; Dexipp. Fr. p. 1, Ac.) It consists a
the mountain country extending from IHitkjiK ts
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MESOPOTAMIA
upon the north : and, upon the south, of
the great undulating Mesopotamiau plain, as far as
the Sinjar hills, and the river Khivboar The
northern range, called by the Arab* Karnjnk Dngh
towards the weat and Jtbtl Tur towardi the cut,
doea not attain to any great elevation. It ia in
placei rocky and precipitous, but haa abundant
springe and atreama which support a rich vegeta-
tion. Forest* of ehestnut* and pistachio-tree*
occasionally clothe the mountain sides; and about
the towna and villages are luxuriant orchards and
cardans, producing abundance of excellent fruit.
The vine is cultivated with success ; wheat and
barley yield heavily; and rice is grown in some
places. The streams from the north side of this
range are abort, and tall mostly into the Tigris.
Those from the south are more important. They
flow down at very moderate intervals along the
whole course of the range, an 1 gradually collect
into two considerable rivers — the Belik (ancient
Bihcbim), and the Khnbuur (Habor or Chaboras)
— which empty themselves into the Euphrates.
[Haboh.] South of the mountains is the great
plain already described, which between the Khabow
<nd the Tigris is interrupted only by the Sinjar
range, but west of the Khabour is broken by
■everal spurs from the Karnjnh Dngh, having a
general direction from north to south. In this
district are the two towns of Orfu and Harr in,
the former of which is thought by many to be the
native city of Abraham, while the latter ia on good
grounda identified with Haran, his resting place
1> 'tween Chaldna and Palestine. [Haha.n.] Here
■re moat fix the I'adan-Aram of Scripture — the
■' plain Syria," or " district stretching away from
the foot of the hills" (Stanley's S. d> P. p.
199 note), without, however, determining the extent
cf country thus designated. Besides Or/a and
llarran, the chief cities of modern Mesopotamia
ire tfardm and Nisibin, south of the Jtbtl Tur,
uid Diarbebr, north of that range, upon the Tigris.
'Jt these places two, Nuibin and Dinrbtkr, were
lunortant from a remote antiquity, Nitibin lieiug
-hen NUibis, and Diarbtkr Amida-
We first hear of Mesopotamia in Scripture as
Jhe country where Nalior and his family settled
after quitting Ur of the Chaliiees (Gen. xxiv. 10).
Here lived Bethuel and UUumi ; and hither Abra-
W»m sent his servant, to fetch Isaac a wife " of his
wn kindred " («6. ver. 38). Hither too, a century
jter, came Jacob on the same errand ; and hence
be returned with his two wives after an absence
<<f 21 years. After this we hare no mention of
Mesopotamia, till, at the close of the wanderings
in the wilderness, Balak the king of Moab sends
lor Halaam "to I'ethor of Mesopotamia" (Deut
xxiii. 4 ), which was situated among " the moon-
i una of the east" (Num. xxiii. 7), by a river (ib.
uii- 6). probably the Euphrates. About half a cen-
tury later, we find, for the first and last time,
Mesopotamia the seat of a powerful monarchy.
Lliuahan-Kishathairn, king of Mesopotamia, estab-
lishes his dominion over Israel shortly after the
daath of .Joshua (*'udg. iii. 8), and maintains his
Authority for the space of eight years, when bis
yoke b broken by ( )tlinie). Caleb's nephew {ib. w.
9, 10). Finally, the children of Amnion, having
provoked a war with David, "sent a thousand
tabula of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen
en* of Mesopotamia, and out of Syria-Maachah,
and oat of Zobah " (1 Chr. xix. 8). It ia uncer-
tain w h eth er the Mesopotamia™ were pemaded to
190
MESSIAH
1905
lend their aid at once. At any rate, after the first
great victory of Joab over Amman and the Syrians
who took their part, these last "drew forth tin
Syrians that were beyond the river" (ib. ver. 16)
who participated in the final defeat of their fellow-
countrymen at the Lands of David. The name of
Mesopotamia then passes out of Scripture, the
country to which it had applied becoming a part,
first of Assyria, and afterwards of the Babylonian
empire.
According to the Assyrian Inscriptions, Mesopo-
tamia was inhabited in the early times of the
empire (n. c. 1200-1100) by a vast number of
petty tribes, each under its own prince, and all
quite independent of one another. The Assyrian
monarch* contended with these chiefs at great ad-
vantage, and by the time of Jehu (B. c. 880) had
fully established their dominion over them. The
tribes were all called " tribes of the Nalri," a term
which some compare with the Naharaim of the
Jews, and translate " tribes of the tiream-iandt."
but this identification is very uncertain. It ap-
pears, however, in close accordance with Scripture,
first, that Mesopotamia was independent of Assyria
till after the time of David; secondly, that the
Mesopotamia™ were warlike and used chariots in
battle; and thirdly, that not long after the time
of David they lost their independence, their country
being absorbed by Assyria, of which it was thence-
forth commonly reckoned a part.
On the destruction of the Assyrian empire,
Mesopotamia seems to have been divided between
the Medes and the Babylonians. The conquests
of Cyrus brought it wholly under the Persian yoke ;
and thus it continued to the time of Alexander,
being comprised (probably) in the ninth, or As-
syrian satrapy. At Alexander's death, it fell to
Seleucus, and formed a part of the great Syrian
kingdom till wrested from Antiochua V. by the
Parthians, about B. c. 160. Trajan conquered it
from Paithia hi A. n. 115, and formed it into a
Konian province; but in A. D. 117 Adrian relin-
quished it of his own accord. It was afterwards
more than once reconquered by Home, but never
continued long under her sceptre, and finally re-
verted to the Persians in the reign of Jovian, A. D.
383.
(See Quint. Curt v. 1; Dio Cass. Uviii. 22-90;
Amm. Marc. xv. 8, Ac.; and for the description
of the district, compare C. Niebuhr's Voyage a
Arabit, Ac., vol. ii. pp. 800-834; Pooocke'a De-
teripHon of the i!aU, vol. ii. part i. cb. 17; and
Layard'a Nineveh and Babylon, chs. xi.-xv.).
G. R.
MESSI'AH. This word (rPtra, Mathiaeh),
which answers to the word Xpiar6s in the N. T„
means anointed'; and is applicable in its first sense
to any one anointed with the holy oil. It is appHed
to the high priest in I-ev. iv. 3, 5, 16; and possibly
to the shield of Saul in a figurative sense in 2 Sam.
i. 21. The kings of Israel were called anointed,
from the mode of their consecration (1 Sam. ii. 10
35, xii. 8, 5, xvi. 6, xxiv. 6, 10, xxvi. 9, 11, 23:
2 Sam. I. 14, 16, xix. 21, xxiii. 1).
This word also refers to the expected Prince of
the chosen people who was to complete God's pur-
poses fcr them, and to redeem them, and of whose
coming the prophets of the old covenant in all tuns
spoke. It is twice need in the N. T. of Jesus (John
i. 41, it. 95, A. V. "Messias"); but the Grew
equivalent, the Christ is onnstantlv applied, at fir*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1906 MESSIAH
•Ilk U« article as a title, exactly (*« AnoimUd One,
tat later without the article, as a proper name,
Jew CAriat
Three points belong to thii ■object: 1. The ex-
pectation of a Messiah among the Jewi; S. The
expectation of a suffering Messiah; 8. The nature
and power of the expected Meanah. Of these the
second will be discussed under Saviocb, and the
third under 80s or God. The preasnt article
will contain a rapid surrey of the first point only.
The interpretation of particular passages must be
left in a great measure to professed commenta-
tors.
The earliest gleam of the Gespel is found iu the
account of the tall, where it is said to the serpent
u I will pat enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her and : it shall bruise
thy bead, and thou shalt bruise his bed" (Gen.
Ui. 15). The tempter came to the woman in the
guise of a serpent, and the curse thus pronounced
has a reference both to the serpent which was the
instrument, and to the tempter that employed it;
to the natural terror and enmity of man against
the serpent, and to the conflict between mankind
redeemed by Christ its Head, and Satan that de-
ceived mankind. Many interpreters would under-
stand by the seed of the woman, the Messiah only ;
but it is easier to think with Calvin that mankind,
after they are gathered into one army by Jesus the
Christ, the Head of the Church, are to achieve a
victory over evil. The Messianic character of this
pro|ibecy has been much questioned by those who
see in the history of the Fall nothing but a table
to those who accept it as true, this passage is the
primitive germ of the Gospel, the proterangelium.
The blessings in store for the children of Shem
•re remarkably indicated in the words of Noah,
•' Blessed be the l/>rd God of Shem," or (lit.)
" Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem " (Gen. ix.
88), where instead of blessing Shem, as he bad
cursed Canaan, be carries up the blessing to the
great fountain of the blessings that shall follow
Shem. Next follows the promise to Abraham,
wherein the blessings to Shem are turned into the
narrower channel of one family — "I will make of
thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing; and
I will bless them that bins thee and curse him that
curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed" (Gen. xii. 2, 3). The promise
is still indefinite; but it tends to the undoing of
the curse of Adam, by a blessing to til the earth
through the seed of Abraham, as death had come
on the whole earth through Adam. When our
Lord says, " Your rather Abraham rejoiced to see
my day, and he saw it and was glad " (John riii.
M), we are to understand that this promise of a
real blessing and restoration to come hereafter was
understood in a spiritual sense, as a leading lock
to God, as a coining nearer to Him, from whom
the promise came: and he desired with hope and
rejoicing (" gestirit cum deaiderio," Bengtl) to be-
hold the day of it.
A great step is made In Gen. xlix. 10, " The
sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-
giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and
nto him shall the gathering of the people be."
The derivation of the word Shiloh (rrVttJ) is
probably from the root ""HE? ; and if so, it me
•"•at, or, as Heogstenberg argues, it Is for SbUm,
MESSIAH
sad is a proper name, the sum of ptaee or rest,
tie pence-maker, fat other derivations and inter-
pretations see Geaenius ( Tketmtrmt, sub roe.) and
llengstenberg (CkrbmlogU, vol i.). Whilst man
of peace is far the most probable meaning of the
name, those old versions which render it " He to
whom the sceptre belong*," see the Messianic ap-
plication equally with ourselves. This then is the
first case in which the promises distinctly centre in
one person; and He is to be a man of peace; He
is to wield and retain the government, and the
nations shall look up to Him and obey Him. [For
a different view, see the art. Shiloh in thH Dic-
tionary.]
The next passage usually quoted is the prophec)
of Balaam (Num. xzhr. 17-19). Tbr ttar points
indeed to the glory, as the sceptre denotes the
power, of a king. And Onkeloa and Jonathan
(Pseudo) see here the Messiah. But it is doubtful
whether the prophecy is not fulfilled in David
(3 Sam. viii. 8, 14); and though David is himself
a type of Christ, the direct Messianic application
of this place is by no means certain.
The prophecy of Moses (Deaf xviii. 18), '• I will
raise them up a prophet from among their brethren,
like unto thee, and will put my words in his month;
and he shall speak unto them all that I shall com-
mand him," claims attention. Does this refer to
the Messiah? The reference to Moses in John r.
46-47 — " He wrote of me," seems to point to this
passsge; for it is a cold and forced interpretation
to refer it to the whole types and symbols of the
Mosaic l.aw. On the other hand, many critics
would fain find here the divine institution of the
whole prophetic order, which if not here, does not
occur at all. Hengatenberg thinks that it does
promise that an order of prophets should be sent,
but that the singular is used in direct reference to
the greatest of the prophets, Christ himself, without
whom the words would not have been fulfilled.
" The Spirit of Christ spoke iu the prophets, and
Christ is in a sense the only prophet" (1 I'et. i.
11.) Jews in earlier times might hsve been ex-
cused for referring the words to this or that present
prophet; but the Jews whom the Ij>rd rebukes
(John v.) were inexcusable; for, having the words
before them, and the works of Christ as well, they
should have known that no prophet had so fulfilled
the words ss He had.
The passsgea in the Pentateuch which relate to
" the Angel of the l.ord " have been thought by
many to bear reference to the Messiah.
The second period of Messianic prophecy wouji
include the time of David. In the promises of a
kingdom to David and his house "forever " (2 Sam.
vii. 13), there ia more than could be fulfilled save
by the eternal kingdom in which that of David
merged ; and David's last words dwell on this
promise of an everlasting throne (2 Ssm. xxiil*
Passages in the Psalms are numerous whicn are
applied to the Messiah in the N. T.s such sre Ps.
ii., xvi , xxii., si., ex. Other psalms quoted Id the
N. T. sppear to refer to the actual history of an-
other king; but only those who deny the existence
of types and prophecy will consider this as an evi-
dence sgainst an ulterior allusion to Messiih : such
psalms sre xlv., Ixviii., lxix , lxxii. The advance
in clearness in this period is great. The name of
Anointed, i. r. King, comes in. and the Messiah ii
to come of the lineage of David. He ia dnenbri
in hia exaltation, with his great kingdom that sbal
be spiritual rather than temporal. Pa 11., rxi., xL
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MJBSSIAH
tt. In other place* he is Men In suffering and
lamination, Pi. xxii., xvi., xl.
After the time of David the prediction* ot to 3
Messiah eeued for a time; until thoee prophet*
arose whose work* we pone** in the eanon of
Scripture. The; nowhere give ua an exact and
eotnpiete account of the nature of Messiah; but
different aspects of the truth are produced by the
tarioua need* of the people, and so they are led to
■peak of Him now as a Conqueror or a Judge, or a
Redeemer from sin ; it is from the study of the
whole of them that we gain a clear and complete
image of His Person and kingdom. This third
period lasts from the reign of Uzxiah to the Baby-
lonish Captivity. The Messiah is a king and Ruler
af David'* bouse, who abouM come to reform and
r es tor e the Jewish nation and purify the church, as
In la. xi., xl— ixri. The blessing* of the restora-
tion, however, will not be confined to Jew*; the
heathen are made to share them fully (b. it, Ixvi.).
Whatever theories have been attempted about
Isaiah Hit, there can be no doubt that the most
natural is the received interpretation that it refer*
to the suffering Redeemer; and so in the N. T. it
b always considered to do. The passage of Micah
v. t (comp. Matt ii. 6) left no doubt in the mind
of the Sanhedrim as to the birthplace of the Mes-
siah. The lineage of David ia again alluded to in
Zeehariah xiL 10-11. The time of the second
Temple i* fixed by Haggai ii. 8 for Messiah's com-
ing; and the coming of the Forerunner and of the
Anointed are clearly revealed in MaL iii. 1, ir.
The fourth period after the close of the canon
of the O. T. is known to ua in a great measure from
aUnsioos in the N. T. to the expectation of the
Jews. From such pssaign as Ps. ii. 2, 6, 8 ; Jer.
sxiii. II, 6 ; Zech. ix. 9, the Pharisees and those of
the Jews who expected Messiah at all, looked for
a temporal prince only. The Apostles themselves
were infected with this opinion, till after the Keeur-
•eetion. Matt xx. 90, 31: Luke xxiv. SI; Acts i.
8. Gleams of a purer faith appear, Luke ii. 30,
xxiii. 42; John iv. SIS. On the other band there
was a skeptical school which had discarded the ex-
pectation altogether. No mention of Messiah ap-
pears in the Book of Wisdom, nor in the writings
of PhUo; and Josephua avoid* the doctrine. Inter-
course with heathen* had made some Jew* ashamed
of their father*' faith.
The expectation of a golden age that should re-
turn upon the earth, was common in heathen
nation* (Hesiod, Work* and Day, 109; Ovid,
MtL i. 89; Virg. Ed. iv.; and passage* in Euaeb.
Press. />. L 7, xii. 13). This hope the Jews also
shared; but with them it was associated with the
earning of a particular Person, the Messiah. It has
bean asserted that in Him the Jew* looked for an
sarthly king, and that the existence of the hope of
a Miaaiiili may thus be accounted for on natural
ground* and without a divine revelation. But the
prophecies refute this: they bold out not a Prophet
snly, l<ut a King and a Priest, whose business it
aboold be to set the people free from sin, and to
tssoh them the ways of God, as in Ps. xxii., xl,
*(.; Is. Ii., xi., liii. In then and other places too
lie power of the coming One reaches beyond to*
. ew* and embrace* all the Gentiles, which is eoi
trary to the exclusive notion* >f Judaism. A Cur
Mnsideration of all the passagn will convince that
Sat growth of the Messianic idea in the prophecies is
wring to revelation from God. The witness of the
MBSSIAH 1907
N. T. to the 0. T. prophecies can bear no othet
meaning; it is summed up in the words of Peter;
— " We have also a more sure word of prophecy ;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, a* unto *
light that sluneth in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the day-star arise hi your hearts : know-
ing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is
of any private interpretation. For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man : but holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost" (3 Pet. i. 19-21; compare the elaborate
essay on this text in Knapp's Oputcula, vol. i.).
Our Lord affirm* that there are prophecies of the
Messiah in O. T., and that they are fulfilled in
Him, Matt. xxvi. 54; Hark ix. 13; Luke xviii. 81-
83, xxii. 37, xxiv. 37; John v. 39, 46. The Apostln
preach the mme truth, Acts ii. 18, 36, viii. 38-35,
x. 43, xiii. 33, 32, xxvi. 22, 23; 1 Pet. i. 11; and
in many passages of St. Paul. Even if internal
evidence did not prove that the prophecies were
much more than vague longings after better times,
the N. T. proclaim* everywhere that although the
Gospel wss the sun, and O. T. prophecy the
dim light of a candle, yet both were light, and both
assisted thoee who heeded them, to see aright ; and
that the prophet* interpreted, not the private long-
ings of their own hearts but the will of God, is
speaking as they did (see Knapp's Essay for this
explanation) of the coming kingdom.
Our own theology is rich in prophetic literature;
but the moat complete view of this whole subject is
found ill Hengstenlierg's Chrutuloyit, the second
edition of which, greatly altered, is translated in
Clark'* Foreign Theological library. See as al-
ready mentioned, Saviook; Sox or God.
* A full critical history of the Jewish expects
tion of a Messiah, with particular reference to the
opinion* prevalent at the time of Christ, is a desid-
eratum. The subject is attended with great diffi-
culties. The date of some of the most important
documents bearing upon it is still warmly debated
by scholars. See, e. $>., in this 1 >ictionary, the
article* Daniel, Book ok; Knocii, Book or;
Maccabees (The), vol. ii. pp. 1713, 1714, and
note <on the so-called "Psalms of Solomon");
Moses (addition in Ainer. ed. on the recently
discovered "Assumption of Moses"); and Ver-
sions, Ancient (7Yiroum). Most of the older
works on the later opinion* of the Jew* (as than of
AUix and SchUtgen) were written with a polemic
aim, in an uncritical spirit, and depend largely upon
untrustworthy authorities, making extensive use,
for example, of the book Zohar, now proved to be a
forgery of the thirteenth century. (See Giusburg
Tht Kabbalah, etc Lond. 1865.)
Besides the books of the Old and New Testament
and the Greek Apocrypha, the principal original
sources of information on the subject are the Sep-
tusgint Version ; the Jewish portion of the Sibylline
Oracles, particularly Lib. III. 97-817, about 140
b. c. (best editions by Friedlieb, Leips. 1862. and
Alexandre, 3 vols, in 4 parts, Paris, 1841-66: con- ).
the dissertations of Bleek, LUcke, Hilgenfeld, and
Ewald) : the book of Enoch ; the Psalm* of Solomon
(see reference above); the Assumption of Moses
(see above); the works of Philo snd Josepbus
(which contain very little) ; the Book of Jubilees or
Little Genesis (trans, from the Ethic pic by Dill,
mann in Ewtld's Jahrb. f. BibL iciu. 1849, pp.
330-266, anf I860, pp. 1-96); the Second (Fourth)
Book of Esdras (Ears); the Apocalypn of Barnes
(pubL in Syriao with a Latin translation bv Cerlaoi
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1908
MESSIAH
hi hit Momementa sacra et profana ex Cadi. Bibl
Ambrosiarus, torn. i. Cue. 1, 2, Mediolani, 1861-
66); the Mlshna (which doc* Dot contain much ;
id. with LaL version and the eomm. of Maimonides
and Bartenora by Surenhusius, 6 vols. foL 1698-
1708, Genu. tram, by Kabe, 1760-63, and by Joat,
in Hebrew letters, Berl. 1832-34; eighteen treatises
in English by De Sola and Kaphall, Lond. 1846);
the Targuma (see reference above; the Targums of
Onkeloa and Pseudo-Jonathan on the Pentateuch
trans, by Etberidge, 2 vols. Lond. 1862-68); the
earliest Midraahim (Mechilta, Siphrn, Siphri, on
Exod., Levit, Numb,, and Dent., publ. with a Lat.
version in Ugolini's Thesaurus, torn, xlv., xv.);
toe Jerusalem and Babylonian Gemara, and other
Rabbinical writings. There is no complete trans-
lation of the Talmud ; but SO treatises out of the
39 in the Jerusalem Gemara are published with a
Latin version in Ugolini's Thamtrus (torn, xvii.,
xviii., xx., xxv., xxx. ), and three of the Babylonian
(torn, xix., xxv.). Something on the opinions of
the later Jews may be gathered bom the Chris-
tian fathers, particularly Justin Martyr (Dial c.
Tryph. ), Origen, and Jerome ; and the early Chris-
tians appear to hare transferred many of the Jew-
ish expectations concerning the Messiah to their doc-
trine of the Second Advent of Christ, e. g. with refer-
ence to the appearance of Elijah aa his precursor
(see vol. i.p. 710, note.and add the full illustration of
this point by Thilo, Codex Apocr. If. T. p. 761 ff.).
On the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testa-
ment the more important literature is referred to
by Hase in his Leben Jean, § 36 (4> Aufl.). See
also Knobel, Prophetismus d. Heir., Bred. 1837, i.
311 note, 828 note, and Diestel, Gesch. d. A. Tea.
in d. christL Kirche, Jena, 1869, p. 770 ff. With
Hengstenberg's Christology should be compared his
t'omm on the Psalms, in which his former views
are considerably modified. See alto Dr. Noyes's
review of the first edition of the Christology, in toe
Clnitl. Exam, tot July, 1834. xvi. 831-364, and
the Introduction to his Neu Trans, of the Ileb.
Pnphets, 3d ed. Bost. 1866. Hengstenberg's essay
Hi the Godhead of the Messiah in the Old Test, was
translated from his Christology in the Bibl. Repot.
for 1833, iii. 653-683, and reviewed by Dr. Noyes
in the Christian Examiner for January, May, and
July, 1836, the hat two articles relating to the " An-
gel of Jehovah." See, further, J. Pye Smith, Script.
Ttttimony to the Messiah, 6th ed. 8 vols. Edin.
1869; J. J. Stahelin, Die messian. Weitsagvngen
its A. T., Berl. 1847; Rev. David Green, The
Knowledge and Faith of the 0. T. Saints respect-
ing the Promised Messiah, in the Bibl. Sacra for
Ian. 1867, xiv. 166-199; Prof. S. C. Bartlett.
Theories of Messianic Prophecy, in the BibL
Haera for Oct 1861, xviii. 734-770; and Ed.
iJiehm, Zur Charaktcristik d messian. Weitta-
gung, in the Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1866, pp. 8-71,
425-489, and 1869, pp. 909-284.
On the general subject of the Jewish opinions
<oncernlng the Messiah the following works may be
referred to. Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. Tatm.tt Rabbini-
eum, Basil. 1640, fol., espec. coll. 1267 tt. and 221
f. : also his Synagogn Judaica, e. 50, " De venture
lud. Messia." Ant. Huisius, Theol. Jndaica,
Breda;, 1653, 4to. Ed. Pocock, Porta Metis, etc.
of Maimonides), Oxon. 1654, see cap. vi. of the
.Vol* Miscellanea, "In quo varis Judieoruni
se Reav. Mort. Sententise expenduntur;" also
Ol Ml Theol. Work*, 1. 159-213. W. Schick-
erd, Jut Reaimn Hebr. cum Nolls Carptovii (1674).
MTMWTAW
tbeor. xx. ad Jin., reprinted in Ugolini's The*
xxiv. 793-834. Job. a I*nt, Schediasma "list-p/ai
de Juaaorum Pstudo-Messiis, in Ugolini's Thee
xxiii. 1019-00. LighUbot's Works, particularly ha
Hora Hebraica. The Dissertations of Witahas
Rhenferd, David Mill, and Sehcttgen De Stcuk
futuro, partly reprinted in Meuacben (see below)
comp. Koppe's Excursus I. to his notes on the Ep. ts
the Ephesians (N. T. ed. Koppian. vol. vi.). Euen-
menger, Entdecktes Judenthum. S Theile, Kcnigsb.
1711, 4to, espec. ii. 647-889 (aims to collect, every-
thing that can bring discredit on the Jews, bnt gives
the original of all the Rabbinical passages transla-
ted). Sehcttgen, Bora Hebr. tt Talmwtivn, 8 voh.
Dreed. 1738-48, 4to. His Jesus dtr wahre Messia*,
Leips. 1748, is substantially a German translation
of the treatise " De Messia," which occupies a
large part of vol. il. of the Bora. (" Has scen-
mulated a most valuable eoLection of Jewish tra-
ditions, but . . . exhibits no critical perception
whatever of the relative value of the authorities
which he quotes, and often seems to me to misin-
terpret the real tenor of their testimony." — West-
cott) Stebelm, The Traditions of the Joes, 2 vols.
Lond. 1782-34; also 1748 with the title Rabbini.
col literature. (A rare book ; in the Astor Library. )
Meuacben, Nov. Test, ex Tatmude illustration.
Lips. 1736, 4to. Wetatein, Not. Test. Groom, 3
vols. Amst. 1751-68, foL Imm. Scbwsra, Jesus
Targumicus, Comrn. I., II. Torgav. 1768-69, 4to.
G- B. De-Rossi, Delia vana aspettaxione degli Ebrei
del loro Re Messia, Parma, 177S, 4to. KeiL Hist
Dogmatis de Rei/no Messia Cbristi tt Apom
AHatc, Upe. 1781, enlarged in his Opusc. i. 38-
83, i.-xxxi. Corrodi, Krit. Gesch. da Chihasmut,
Tbeil i., Zurich, 1781. Bertholdt, Christobgia
Judaorum Jesu Apostohrumqu* ^£tntt, Eriang.
1811, a convenient manual, but superficial and un-
critical, r . V. Heck, De Regno Christi, Lips.
1886, pp. 82-44; comp. his larger work, De Regno
Dirino, Ups. 1829. John Allen, Modern Judaism,
2d ed. Lond. 1830, pp. 863-289. D. G. C. too
Coelln, BibL Theol (Leips. 1888), i. 487-611.
Gfriirer, Das Jahrhundert da Heils, 3 Abth.
Stuttg. 1838, espec. ii. 819-444 (" has given the
best general view of the subject " — Westcott ;
but is too undiscriminating in the use of his
authorities). F. Nark, Rabbinische QueOen u.
Paralklen tu neutest. Schriftstellen, Leips. 1889
(" has collected with fair accuracy the sum of Jew-
ish tradition " — Westcott). Bruno Bauer, Krit.
d. re. Getch. d. Sgnoptiker (1841), pp. 891-416,
maintains that before the time of Christ there was
no definite expectation among the Jews respecting
the Messiah ; see in opposition the renisrks of Zelier,
bi his Theol Juhrb. 1843, ii. 85-63, aid Ebrard,
Wit*. Krit. d. ev. Geschiclde, & Aufl. 1860. pp.
661-469. V. Bottcher, De Jnferis, etc. Dreed.
1846, §5 640-567, -and elsewhere. Lucke, EM. m d.
Offenb. d Johannes, *> Aufl. (1862), 1. 7-848, val-
uable dissertations on the Apoealyptie literature,
Jewish and Christian. Schumann, Christus, I Iamb.
1862, 1. 1-272. Robt. Young, Christology of tt*
Targums, Edin. 1863. HUgenfeM, Die jtdueht
Ajiokalyptik in ihre getehiehtl Knttcickrhmg, Jena,
1867. Jost, GescA. d. Judenthums (1867-69), i
894-408, ii. 172-177, 288 f., 887 (Karaite*}
Michel Nicolas, Des doctrines rtl 'da Juifs pest'
dant les deux slides anterieurs <t fere chrititnm*
Paris, 1860, pp. 266-810. [James Martineau]
Early History of Messianic Ideas, in the Natima.
Ren. Apr. 1863, xri. 466-483 (Book of Daniel ml
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MESSIAH
Sibylline Orades), ud Apr. 1864, xriU 554-679
(Book of Enoch). CoUni, Jesus- Chritt et let crog-
tucet nuttianiquet de ton tempt, 2» M. Strasb.
1864. Langen (Uath.) An Judenthum in Pr.ldt-
tma atr Zeit Chriti, Freib. im Br. 1866, pp.
381-461. Kwakl, Oach. Chritiu' u. Miner Zeit,
3«Auag. Gott 1867, pp. 136-170. Holtzniann,
A'e Mettintidee nr £n< /«u, in the Juhrb. f.
ieuttche TkeoL 1867, xii. 389-411. Koto, C'eseA.
/mi km Nazara, Zurich, 1867, i. 239-260.
Hansrath, ATeirfat ZdtgttchiclUe. Heidclb. 1868,
i. 172-184, 420-438. 0. A. Row, The Jetut of
the KvangtHtU, Loud. 1868, pp. 146-198. Ham-
borger'a ReaUEncyd /. Bibtl u. Talmud, art.
Jfeasku (Heft h% 1869; Abth. II., giving the
Tahnudie doctrine, is not yet published).
For a comprehensive view of the whole subject,
see Oehler's art. Meuiat in Herzog's Real- Encykl.
(1858) is. 408-441, and B. F. Westcott's Inlrod.
to the Study of tin Gotpelt, pp. 110-173, Abler, ed.
(1862). [ArmcHMBT.] A.
MESSI'AS (M«<r<r(aj: Mn$in$), the Greek
Ibrm of Messiah (John 1. 41 ; iv. 25).
METALS. The Hebrews, in common with
other ancient nations, were acquainted with nearly
all the metals known to modern metallurgy, whether
as the products of their own soil or the results of
intercourse with foreigners. One of the earliest
geographical definitions is that which describes the
country of Havilah as the land which abounded in
gold, and the gold of which was good (Gen. ii. 11,
12). The first artist in metals waa a Cainite, Tu-
bal Cain, the son of I junech, the forger or sharpener
of every instrument of copper (A. V. " brass ")
and iron (Gen. iv. 22). " Abram waa very rich in
cattle, in tilcer, and in gold " (Gen. xiii. 2); silver,
as wifl be shown hereafter, being the medium of
commerce, while gold existed in the shape of oma-
menta, during the patriarchal ages. Tin is first
mentioned among the spoils of the Midianites which
ware taken when Balaam was slain (Num. xxxi. 22),
and lend is used to heighten the imagery of Moses'
triumphal song (Ex. xv. 10). Whether the ancient
Hebrews were acquainted with tteel, properly so
called, is uncertain; the words so rendered in the
A. T. (2 Sam. xxU. 35; Job xx. 24; Pa. xviii. 34:
Jer. xv. 12> are in all other passages translated
irate, and would be mora correctly copper. The
" northern iron " of Jer. xv. 12 is believed by com-
mentators to be iron hardened and tampered by
some peculiar process, so as more nearly to cor-
respond to what we call steel [Steel,] ; and the
w naming torches " of Nah. ii. 8 are probably the
flashing steel scythes of the war-chariots which
should come against Nineveh. Besides the simple
metals, it is supposed that the Hebrews used the
mixture of copper and tin known as bronze, and
probably in all cases in which copper is mentioned
as in any way manufactured, bronze is to be under-
stood as the metal indicated. But with regard to
the chmhmnl (A. T. "amber") of Ex. i. 4, 27,
tUL 2. rendered by the LXX. 4$Ac x-rpor, and the
Vulg. rlectrum, by which our translators were
misled, there is considerable difficulty. Whatever
be the meaning of chathmal, for which no satis-
factory etymology has been proposed, there can be
tut little doubt that by tK.rrpor the LXX trans-
istors intended, not the fossil resin known by that
same to the Greeks and to us as "amber," bet
%t metal so called, which consisted of a mixture of
tar parts of gold with one of euro, described by
METALS
1909
PHny (xxxiii. 23) as more brilliant than silver by
lamp-light. There is the same difficulty attending
the X ntoioKl$aror (Her. i. 15, ii. 18, A. V. " fint
brass "), which has hitherto successfully resisted all
the efforts of commentators, but which is explained
by Suidas as a kind of electron, more precious than
gold. That it was a mixed metal of great brilliancy
is extremely probable, but it has hitherto been
impossible to identify it. In addition to the metals
actually mentioned in the Bible, it has been sup-
posed that mercury is alluded to in Num. xxxi. 23,
as " the water of separation," being "looked upon
as the mother by which all the metals were fructi-
fied, purified, and brought forth," and on this ac-
count kept secret, and only mysteriously hinted
at (Napier, Metal of the Bible, Intr. p. 6). Mr.
Napier adds, <> there is not the slightest foundation
for this supposition.''
With the exception of iron, gold is the moat
widely diffused of all metals. Almost every country
in the world has in its turn yielded a certain supply,
aud as it is found most frequently in alluvial soil
among the d jbris of rocks washed down by the tor-
rents, it was known at a very early period, and was
procured with little difficulty. The existence of
gold and the prevalence of gold ornaments in eariy
times are no proof of a high state of civilization,
but rather the reverse. Gold was undoubtedly
used before the art of working copper or iron was
discovered. We have no indications of gold streams
or mines in Palestine. The Hebrews obtained their
principal supply from the south of Arabia, and the
commerce of the Persian Gulf. The ships of Hiram
king of Tyre brought it for Solomon (1 K. ix.
11, x. 11), and at a later period, when the Hebrew
monarch had equipped a fleet and manned it with
Tyrian sailors, the chief of their freight was the
gold of Ophir (1 K. ix. 27, 28). It was brought
thence in the ships of Tarshish (1 K.. xxii. 48), the
Indiameu of the ancient world; and Parvaim (2
Chr. in. 6), Raamah (Kz. xxvii. 22), Sbeba (I K. x.
2, 10; Pa. Ixxii. 15; Is. Ix. 6; Kfc xxvii. 22), and
Uphax (Jer. x. 9), were other sources of gold for
the markets of Palestine and Tyre. It was prob-
ably brought in the form of ingots (Josh. vii. 21 ;
A. V. "wedge," lit, "tongue"), and was rapidly
converted into articles of ornament and use. Ear
rings, or rather nose-rings, were made of it, thosr
given to Rebecca were half a shekel (J oz.) in
weight (Gen. xxiv. 22), bracelets (Gen. xxiv. 22),
chains (Gen. xli. 42), signets (Kx. ixiv. 22), bulla
or spherical ornaments suspended from the neck
(Ex. xxxv. 22), and chains for the legs (Num. xxxi.
60: comp. Is. Hi. 18; Plin. xxxiii. 12). It was
used in embroidery (Ex. xxxix. 3; 2 Sam. i. 34;
Plin. viii. 74); the decorations and furniture of the
tabernacle were enriched with the gold of the orna-
ments which the Hebrews willingly offered (Ex.
xxxv.-xl.); the same precious metal waa lavished
upon the Temple (1 K. vi., vii.); Solomon's throne
■ overlaid with gold (1 K. x. 18), his drinking-
cups and the vessels of the bouse of the forest of
Lebanon were of pure gold (1 K. x. 21), and the
neighjoring princes brought him aa presents ves-
sels of gold and of silver (1 K. x. 26). So plentiful
indeed was the supply of the precious metals during
his reign that silver was esteemed of little worth
(1 K. x. 21, 27). Gold and silver were devoted to
the fashioning of idolatrous images (Ex. xx. 23.
xxxii. 4; Deut. xxix. 17; 1 K. xii. 28). The crown
on the head of Makham (A. V. "their king"), thi
idol of the Ammonites at Kabbah, weighed a tatal
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1910 METAL8
af gold, that is 135 lbs. troy, » weight so grot that
it could not hire been worn by David among the
ordinary insignia of royalty (2 Sam. xii. 30). The
great abundance of (fold in early times is indicated
by its entering into the composition of every article
of ornament and almost all of domestic use. Among
the spoils of the Midianites taken by the Israelites,
in their bloodless victory when Balaam wis slain,
were ear-rings and Jewels to the amount of 16,760
shekels of gold (Num. xxxi. 48-64), equal in value
to more than 30,0001. of our present money. 1700
shekels of gold (worth more than 80004.) in nose
'ewels (A. V. "ear-rings") alone were taken by-
Gideon's army from the slaughtered Midianites
(Judg. viii. 26 ). These numbers, though huge, are
not incredibly great, when we consider that the
country of the Midianites was at that time rich in
gold streams which have been since exhausted, and
that like the Malays of tbe present day, and the
Peruvians of the time of Pbsirro, they carried most
of their wealth about them. But the amount of
treasure accumulated by David from spoils taken
in war, is so enormous, that we are tempted to
conclude the numbers exaggerated. From the
gold shields of Hadadezer's army of Syrians and
other sources he hid collected, according to tbe
chronicler (1 Chr. xxii. 14). 100,000 talents of
gold, and 1,000,000 talents of silver; to these
must be added his own contribution of 3,000 tal-
ents of gold and 7,000 of silver (1 Chr. xxix.
9-4), and the additions! offerings of the people,
the total value of which, estimating the weight of
i talent to be 125 lbs. Troy, gold at 73». per ox.,
snd silver it 4s. 4)0*. per ox., is reckoned by Mr.
Napier to be 930,929,6871 Some idea of the large-
ness of this sum may be formed by considering that
in 1855 the total amount of gold in use in the
world was calculated to be about 820,000,0001.
Undoubtedly the quantity of the precious metals
possessed by tbe Israelites might be greater in con-
sequence of their commercial intercourse with the
Phoenicians, who were masters of the sea; but in
the time of David they were a nation struggling
for political existence, surrounded by powerful ene-
mies, and without the leisure necessary for devel-
oping their commercial capabilities. Tbe numbers
given by Josephus (Ant. vii. 14, § 8) are only one
tenth of those in the text, but the sum, even when
thus reduced, is still enormous. But though gold
was thus common, silver appears to have been the
ordinary medium of commerce. The first com-
mercial transaction of which we possess the details
was the purchase of Ephron's field by Abraham for
400 shekels of silver (Gen. xxiii. 16); slaves were
bought with tiher (Gen. xvii. 12); sinxr was the
money paid by Abimelech as ■ compensation to
Abraham (Gen. xx. 16); Joseph wss sold to the
Ishmselite merchants for twenty pieces of tilttr
(Gen. xxxvii. 28); and generally in the Old Testa-
ment, " money "in the A. V. is literally tUver.
The first payment in gold is mentioned in 1 Chr.
xxi. 25, where David buys the threshing-floor of
Oman, or Araunah, the Jebusite, for six hundred
shekels of gold by weight"* But in tbe parallel
narrative of the transaction in 2 Sam. xxiv. 24, the
srice paid for the threshing-floor and the oxen is
fifty shekels of silver. An attempt has been made
« As an Illustration of the enormous wealth which It
■ws possible tor one man to collect, we may quote
■ma Dxnvtotos (vil. 28) the Instance of Py thins the
ridhm, who t illed St the disposal of Xsrxss, on bl*
MXTJX8
by Kail to reconcile then two passages by auppouaj
that in the former the purchase referred to was thai
of the entire hill on which the threshing-floor stood
and in the latter that of the threshing-floor itself
But the dose resemblance between tbe two narra-
tives renders it difficult to accept this explanation
and to imagine that two different circumstances
sre described. That there is a discrepancy be-
tween the numbers in 2 8am. xxiv. 9 and 1 Chr.
xxi. 6 is admitted, and it seems impossible to avoid
the conclusion that the present esse is bat another
instance of tbe same kind. With this one excep-
tion there is no esse in the O. T. in which goat
is alluded to as a medium of commerce; the He-
brew coinage may have been partly gold, bat w»
have no proof of it
Silver was brought into Palestine in the form of
plates from Tarshish, with gold and ivory (1 K.
x. 22; 2 Chr. ix. 21 ; Jer. x. 9). The accumok-
tiou of wealth in the reign of Solomon was so great
that silver wis but little esteemed ; '• tbe king made
silver to be in Jerusalem as stones " (1 K. x. 21.
27). With the treasures which were brought out
of Egypt, not only the ornaments but the ordinary
metal-work of the tabernacle were made. Silver
wss employed for the sockets of the boards (Ex.
xxvi. 19, xxxvi. 24), and for the hooks of the pillars
and their fillets (Ex. xxxviii. 10). The capitals of
the pillars were overlaid with it (Ex. xxxviii. 17),
tbe chargers and bowls offered by the princes at the
dedication of the tabernacle (Num. vii. 13, ate.),
the trumpets for marshalling the host (Nam. x. 2),
and some of the candlesticks and tables for the
Temple were of silver (1 Chr. xxviii. 16, 16). It
was used for the setting of gold omsmenta (Pro*,
xxv. 11) and other decorations (Cant. i. 11), and
for tbe pillars of Solomon's gorgeous chariot or
palanquin (Cant. iii. 10).
From a comparison of tbe different amounts of
gold and silver collected by David, it appears that
the proportion of the former to the latter was 1 to
9 nearly. Three hundred talents of silver and thirty
talents of gold were demanded of Hezekiah by Sen-
nacherib (2 K. xviii. 14) ; bnt later, when Pbaraob-
nechoh took Jehoahas prisoner, he imposed upon
the land a tribute of 100 talents of silver, and only
one talent of gold (2 K. xxiii. 38). The difference
in tbe proportion of gold to silver in these two eases
is very remarkable, and does not appear to have
been explained.
Brass, or more properly copper, was* native prod-
uct of Palestine, " a land whose stones am iron,
and out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper "
(Deut. viii. 9; Job xxviii. 2). It was so plentiful
in the days of Solomon that the quantity employed
in the Temple could not be estimated, it was so
great (1 K. vii. 47). Much of the copper which
David had prepared for this work was taken from
the Syrians after the defeat of Hidadezer (2 San
viii. 8), and more wis presented by Toi, king of
Hsmath. The market of Tyre was supplied with
sets of the same metal by the merchants of
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech (Ex. xxvii. 13). There
is strong reason to believe that brass, a mixture of
copper and xinc, was unknown to tbe ancients. To
the latter metal no allusion is found. But tin was
well known, and from the difficulty which attends
way to Grace, 2,000 talent* if sUver, and t JW I J M
gold darks ; a sum which In these days would siiiri—
to about 61 muttons of pounds staring.
• Uhasdly, " shekels of fold.a wsbjhts' 600 *
Digitized by VjOOQlC
METALS
foe toughening pare capper so u to renrl* it fit
far hammering, it is probable that the mode of de-
enirliiing copper by the admixture of small quanti-
ties of tin had been early discovered. >• We are
inelined to think," says Mr. Napier, " that Moses
ased no copper vessels for domestic purposes, but
bronze, the use of which is less objectionable.
Bronze, not being so subject to tarnish, takes on a
finer polish, and, besides, [its] being much more
auiij melted and east would make it to be more ex-
tensively used than copper alone. These practical
considerations, aud the fact of almost all the antique
eastings aud other articles in metal that are pre-
serred from these ancient times being composed of
bronze, prove in our opinion that where the word
' brass ' occurs in Scripture, except where it refers
to an ore, such as Job xxviii. 8 and Deut. viii. 0, it
should be translated bronze " {Metal, of the Bible,
p. 66). Anns (3 Sam. xxi. 16; Job xx. 84; Ps.
xriii. 34) and armor (1 Sam. xvii. 5, 6, 38) were
made of this metal, which was capable of being so
wrought as to admit of a keen and hard edge.
The Egyptians employed it in catting the hardest
granite. The Mexicans, before the discovery of iron,
" found a substitute in an alloy of tin and copper;
and with tools made of this bronze could cut not
only metals, but, with the aid of a siliceous dust,
the hardest substances, as basalt, porphyry, ame-
thysts, and emeralds " (Prescott, Conq. oftftxien,
i«h. 5). The great skill attained by the Egyptians
in working metals at a very early period throws
light upon the remarkable faculty with which the
Israelites, during their wanderings in the desert,
elaborated the works of art connected with the
structure of the Tabernacle, for which great ac-
quaintance with metals was requisite. In the
troublous times which followed their entrance into
Palestine this knowledge seems to hare been lust,
for when the Temple was built the metal-workers
employed were l'hosoiciaos.
Iron, like copper, was found in the hills of Pales-
tine. The •• iron mountain " in the tnuis-lonlanic
region is described by Joeephus (B. J. iv. 8, § 2),
and was remarkable for producing a particular kind
af palm (Mishna, Succa, ed. Dacha, p. 182). Iron
mines are still worked by the inhabitants of Krfr
Hinck in the 3. of the valley Zahar∋ smelting
works are found at SAemuster, 3 hours W. of
Baalbek, and others in the oak-woods at Mathek
(Hitter, Ertlkunde, xvii. 73, 301); but the method
employed ia the simplest possible, like that of the
old Samothradans, and the iron so obtained Is
chiefly used for borse-eboes.
Tin and lead were both known at a very early
period, though there is no distinct trace of them in
Palestine. The former was among the spoils of the
Midiauites (Num. xxxl. 22), who might hive ob-
tained it in their intercourse with the Phoenician
merchants (comp. Gen. xxxvii. 25, 36), who them-
selves procured it from Tarshish (Ez. xxvii. 12) and
the tin countries of the west. The allusions to it
In the Old Testament principally p. int to its ad-
mixture with the ores of the preciou metals (Is. i.
16; Ez. xxii. 18, 20). It must hare occurred in
the composition of bronze: the Assyrian bowls and
METHUSAEl
1911
a A lugs collection of than will be found in Olas-
<l Phdotogia Sacra (lib. iv. tr. 3, obs. 171, together
vtth a singular Jewish tradition bearing upon the
saint. Tha most lingular rendering, perhaps, a that
•*. AwuHa, xaferot ni Hfoymyim, " the bridle A the
ifade e t," perhaps with ssess rs s srencs to the uriea-
dlenes in the British Museum are found to contra
one part of tin to ten of copper. " The tin was
probably obtained from Phomicia, and consequently
that used in the bronzes in the British Museum
may actually have been exported, nearly three
thousand years ago, from the British Isles " (Lay-
ard, JVtn. and Bab. p. 191).
Antimony (2 K. ix. 80; Jer. It. 30, A. V.
" painting "), in the form of powder, was used by
the Hebrew women, like the kohl of the Arabs, for
coloring their eyelids and eyebrows. [Paiht.]
Further information will be found in the articles
upon the several metals, and whatever is known of
the metallurgy of the Hebrews will be discussed
under MunKO. W. A. W.
• METAPHORS 07 PAUL. [Oamks;
James, Epistle of.]
METE'BUS (Bomjpoor; [Aid. MrHipovj]).
According to the list in 1 Esdr. r. 17, " the sous
of Meterus " returned with Zorobabel. There is
no corresponding name in the lists of Ear. ii. and
Neh. rii., nor is it traceable in the Vulgate.
METHEG-AM'MAH (nH)rjn ariip [„,
below]: tV ijmpurnirriv: Frawrnn tribvti), s
place which David took from the Philistines, sp-
pareutly in his last war with them (3 Sam. viii. 1).
In the parallel passage of the Chronicles (1 Chr.
xviil. 1), •' Gath and her daughter-towns " is sub-
stituted for Metheg ha- Ammah.
The renderings are legion, almost each transistor
having his own ; « but the interpretations may he
reduced to two: 1. That adopted by Gesciiius
(Thenar. 113) and FUrst (Hnnlwb. 103ft), in
which Ammah is taken as meaning " mother-city "
or •'metropolis" (comp. 3 Sam. xx. 19), and
Metheg-ha- Ammah '• the bridle of the mother-city "
— namely of Gath, the chief town of the Philistines.
If this is correct, the expression " daughter-towns "
in the correspoDding passage of Chronicles is a
closer parallel, and more characteristic, than it ap-
pears at first sight to be. 8. That of Ewald
(Ouch, iii 190), who, taking Ammah as meaning
the "forearm," treats the words ss a metaphor to
express the perfect manner in which David had
smitten and humbled his foes, had torn the bridle
from their arm, and thus broken forever the do-
minion with which they curbed Israel, as a rid*r
manages his bone by the rein held fast on bis
arm.
The former of these two has the support of the
parallel passage in Chronicles; and it is no valid
objection to it to eay, as Ewald in his note tc the
above passage does, that Gath cannot be referred to,
because it had its own king still in the days of
Solomon, for the king in Solomon's time may have
been, and probably was, tributary to Israel, as the
kings "on this side the Euphrates" (1 K. ir. 34)
were. On the other hand, it is an obvious ubjec
tion to Ewaid's interpretation that to control hii
horse a rider must hold the bridle not on his arm
but fast in Lis hand. G.
METHU'SAEL (bhjl^fVirj man of God:
Matfovo-dAa: ifaOauail), the son of Mehujaei,
nan of tfc rich district In which Oath was situated.
Aqo^iuet Is derived from she Cbaldse version, MHIStJ,
whk; has that signification amongst others. Aqufis
adopts a asullar rendering In the ease of the bill
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1912
METHUSELAH
fourth tn descent from Cain, and lather of Lantech
(On. iv. 18). A. a
METHUSELAH (nbtjjim?, turn of of.
tpring, or possibly man of a dart:' MaeVwo-dAa:
Mathmaln), the ton of Enoch, aixth in descent
from Seth, and father of Lamech. The resemblance
of the name to the preceding, on which (with the
coincidence of the name Lamech in the next gen-
eration in both lines) some theories have been
formed, seems to be apparent rather than real.
The life of Methuselah is fixed bj Gen. T. 87 at
969 years, a period exceeding that of any other
patriarch, and, according to the Hebrew chronology,
bringing his death down to the very year of the
Flood. The LXX. reckoning makes him die six
yean before it; and the Samaritan, although
shortening his life to 730 years, gives the same
result as the Hebrew. [Chronology.] On the
■abject of Ixrogevity, see Patbiakchs. A. B.
• METE -YARD, Lev. xix. 35. [Mkab-
IIBE.]
MEUTOM (D'OWIJ {habitation}: [Rom.
Utlnir; Vat.] M»<r«irt»u ; [FA. McovsowpO
Alex. Mmimui: Munim), Neb. via. 62. Elsewhere
given in A. V. as Mehu.nim and Hebomim*.
MEZ'AHAB (3PI{ '& [see below] : Moi-
fo&ft; Alex. MefoojS in Gen., but omits in 1 Chr.;
in Chr., Comp. MefadT):] Afaaab). The father
of M Hired and grandfather of Mehetabel, who
was wife of Hadar or Hadad, the last named king
af Mora (Gen. xxxvi. 39; 1 Chr. i. 60). His
name, which, if it be Hebrew, signifies " waters of
gold," has given rise to much speculation. Jarchi
renders it, " what is gold ? " and explains it, " he
was a rich man, and gold was not valued in his
eyes at all." Aharbanel says he was " rich and
great. so that on this account he was called Meza-
liab, fur the gold was in his house as water." " Hag-
gaon " (writes Aben Ezra) "said he was a refiner
of gold, but others said that it pointed to those
vi ho make gold from brass." The Jerusalem Tar-
gum of course could not resist the temptation of
punning upon the name, and combined the explan-
ations given by Jarchi and Haggaon. The latter
|mrt <<f Gen. xxxvi. 39 is thus rendered: "the
name < if his wife was Mehetabel, daughter of Matred ,
the daughter of a refiner of gold, who was wearied
with labor (hrntp!}, matrtrtd) all the days of his
life: after he had eaten and was filled, lie turned
and aaid, what la gold? and what fa silver? " A
somewhat similar paraphrase is given in the Tar-
gum <>f the Pseudo-Jonathan, except that it is there
referred to Hatred, and not to Mrxahab. The
Aral >ic Version translates the name " water of gold,' '
which must have been from the Hebrew, while in
the Targum of Onkeloa it is rendered " a refiner of
gold," asm the Quattuma fftbraiaein Paraiip.,
<• Than la some difficulty about the derivation of
this name. The latter portion of the root la certainly
1*2$ (from Vi^Vf, " to send"), used Ibr a « mis-
rile"" Id 3 Chr. xxxil. 6, Joel II. 8, and for a « branch "
In Chnt. It. 18, Is. zvl. 8. The former portion Is de-
lved by many of the older Hebraists Iron) rVIO, " to
»<*." sad Various Interpretations given accordingly.
~«i In lausden's Onnmar.im*. " mortem suaui ml»tt."
mortis suss anna," etc. Othrr* make It " he diva,
-d It ft t toe Flood) Is sent," supposing It either a
MIBSAM
attributed to Jerome, and the traditional ghw
above ; which seems to indicate that originally
there was something in the Hebrew text, now want
big, which gave rise to this rendering, and of whici
the present reading, ^B, ml, is an abbreriatian.
W. A. W.
Ml'AMIN (TO*Q [ontherightha«d,orpab.
son of tlit right hand] : Mea/Jr; [Vat. FA. Afut-
ueir;] Alex. Mrtuu/i: Miamin). L A layman of
Israel of the sons of Parosh, who had married a
foreign wife and put her away at the bidding of
Km (Ear. z. 35). He is called Maxxot in 1 Eadr
ix. 26.
3. (Omitted in Vat. MS., [also in Rom. Alex.
FA.'; FA.*] Melpu/: Miamin.) A priest or family
of priests who went up from Babylon with Zernb-
babel (Neh. xii. 6): probably the same as Muamik
in Neh. x. 7. In Neh. xii. 17 the name appears ia
the form MiiOAMur.
MIB'HAB On^Jp [cAoice, and hence clioee*,
bat]: MejSadA; Alex. Mo/Bop: Mibahar). "Mib-
har the son of Haggeri " is the name of one of
David's heroes in the list given in 1 Chr. xi. The
verse (38) in which it occurs appears to be corrupt,
for in the corresponding catalogue of 3 Sam. xxiii.
36 we find, instead of " Mibhar the son of Haggeri,"
"of Zobah, Bani the Gadite." It la easy to see,
if the latter be the true reading, how ''"ffij *33,
Bani Baggadi, could be corrupted into ^3?"tir l t
ben-haggtri; and ^311 ia actually the reading
of three of Kennicott's MSS. in 1 Chr.. as well as
of the Syriao and Arab, versions, and the Targum o<
R. Joseph. But that "Mibhar" ia a corruption
of rQbtp v* N22D, ace. to some MSS A
miUttbWt, "of Zobah," as Kennicott (l>iatrt. p.
216) and Cappellus (Ct-it. Sacr. i. e. 5) conclude,
is not so clear, though not absolutely impossible. It
would seem from the LXX. of 2 Sam., where, in-
stead of " Zobah " we find ToKvSuyifitmt, that
both readings originally co-existed, and were read
by the LXX. M?SPT injO.miocAnr hatfabi,
"choice of the host." If this were the case, the
verse in 1 Chr. would stand thus : " Igal the brother
of Nathan, flower of the host; Bani the Gadite."
W. A. W.
MIBSAM (DJP?Q, notet odor. Gee.: Mb.-
villi [in 1 Chr., Vat. Maovo, Alex. Ma/krar,
Aid. Ma/Sa-aVO Mabtnm). 1. A eon of lshuiarl
(Gen. xxv. 18; 1 Chr. i. 29), not elsewhere men-
tioned. The signification of his name has led aon>>
to propose an identification of the tribe sprung
from him with some one of the Abrahamic tribes
settled in Arabia aromatifera, and a connection with
the baltnm of Arabia ia suggested (Bunsen, Uibt t
name given afterwards from the event, w one give*
In nrophetlr foresight by Enoch. Toe later Hebraists
(ree Oes. /.ex.) derive It from VIB, the vonstructln
form of FXQ, "man," the obsolete singular, ofwhlet
the plural DV1Q la found. Tht« xive> one or otbei
of the Interpretations In the text. We can only deeUi
between tbem (if at all) by 'eternal probability, wales
aesnu to incllue to the former.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MIBZAB
pari, Kaliich, Oen. 183;. The situation of Mek-
ieh it well adapted for hia settlements, surrounded
as it la by traoea c f other lshmaelite tribe* ; never-
theleaa the identification aeems fanciful and far-
htched.
2. [Maffaadfx; Alex, ttafiturew' MnjJtim.] A
bod of Simeon (1 Chr. iv. 25), perhaps named after
the Iahmaelite Mibsam, for one of his brothers was
named Mishma, as was one of those of the older
Mibsam. E. S. P.
MIB'ZAR ("1?3D [fortrat]: in Gen.
Ha(<tfi in 1 Chr., Ba0«tt>; [Vat Mafop;] Alex.
MajSo-op: Mabtar). On* of the phylarchs or
"dukes" of Edom (1 Chr. L 63) or Etta (Urn.
xxxvi. 43) after the death of Hadad or Hadar.
They are aaid to be enumerated " according to their
settlements in the land of their possession; " and
Knouel (Genesis), understanding Hibzar (lit " for-
tress "') as the name of a place, has attempted to
identify it with the rocky fastness of Petra, " the
strong city " OS?? "TOi '** mMnr, Ps. cviU.
10; eorap. Ps. U.* 9), '• the cliff," the chasms of
which were the chief stronghold of the Edomites
(Jer. xUx. 16; Obad. 8). W. A. W.
MU'CAH (n^D, but in w. 1 and 4,
VT^D, >'• <- MicAyehu [who u Ukt Jthotnh}:
Mixou'at, but [Vat.] once [or more, Mai] M«i-
vouu : Alex. M«xa, bnt once [twice] Mtx> :
Stick <», Michu), an Israelite whose familiar story
is preserved in the xviith aud xriiith chapters of
Jadgea. That it U so preserved would seem to be
owing to Micah's accidental connection with the
eoluny of Danites who left the original seat of their
tribe to conquer and found a new Dan at Laiah —
a most happy accident, for it has been the means
of furnishing us with a picture of the " interior "
of a private Israelite family of the rural district*,
which in many respects stands quite alone in the
•acred records, and has probably no parallel in any
literature of equal age."
But apart from this the narrative has several
p inU of special interest to students of Biblical his-
tory in the information which it affords aa to the
condition of the nation, of the members of which
Hicah was probably an average specimen.
We see (1.) how completely some of the most
> lemn and characteristic enactments of the Law
had become a dead letter. Hicah was evidently a
devout believer in Jehovah. While the Danltea in
their communications use the general term Elohim,
•God" ("ask counsel of God," xviii. fi; "God
**th given it into your hands," ver. 10), with
* * For one of Stanley's floest sketohas (drawn out of
It* Incidents relating to this Moan), asa hia Jneitk
CXmtk, I. 827-382. The fragment U invaluable as aa
Ola-tra-ioa of tan social and religious condition or to*
Hebrews In Uut rude age. Nothing «o primitive in Greek
v soman literature reveals to us ' r such details of the
private life " of those nations. For some of the prac-
Haal teachings of this singular episode for all Onus,
■ee b;«hop Hall's OanUmplatiom, tit. x. 6. H.
» One of a thousand oases in which the point of the
•nance is lost by the translation of » Jehovah ' by
tie Lou."
' It does not seem at all clear thai the words
* ssoitso Image " and n graven image " aoouratel'' ex-
eaes the original words Pad and Masucak. [Isol,
si n. p. 112L] As to* Hebrew text now stands, the
(raven Image " only »ss carried off to Lalah, and the
atitw*^' one reoulnt I ttehiirf wltii ltieeh (xviii 20,
MIOAH 1918
Micah and hia household the case is quite different
His one anxiety is to enjoy the favor of Jehovah *
(xvii. 13); the formula of blessing used by his
mother and his priest invokes the same awful name
(xvii. 8, xviii. 6); and yet so completely ignorant
is he of the Law of Jehovah, that the mode which
be adopts of honoring Him is to make a molten
and a graven image, teraphim or images of domestic
gods, and to set up an unauthorized priesthood,
first in his own family (xvii. 6), and then in the
person of a I-evite not of the priestly line (ver. 12)—
thus disobeying, in the most flagrant manner, the
second of the Ten Commandments, and the provis-
ions for the priesthood — both laws which lay ia
a peculiar manner at the root of the religious ex-
istence of the nation. Gideon (viii. 27) had estab-
lished an ephod ; but here was a whole chapel of
idols, a " bouse of gods " (xvii. 6), and all dedicated
to Jehovah.
(2.) The story also throws a light on the con-
dition of the Levite*. They were indeed " divided
in Jacob and scattered in Israel " in a more literal
sense than that prediction is usually taken to con-
tain. Here we have a Levi to belonging to Beth-
lehem-judah, a town not allotted to the Levite*, and
with which they had, as far as we know, no con-
nection ; next wandering forth, with the world
before him, to take up hi* abode wherever he could
find a residence; then undertaking, without hesita-
tion, and for a mere pittance, the charge of Mian's
idol-chapel; and lastly, carrying off the property
of hia master and benefactor, and becoming the
first priest to another system of false worship, one
too in which Jehovah bad no part, and which
ultimately bora an important share in the disrup-
tion of the two kingdoms.'
But the transaction become* still mora remark
able when we consider (3.) that this was no obscure
or ordinary Levite. He belonged to the chief
family in the tribe, nay, we may say to the ehief
family of the nation, for though not himself a
priest, he was closely allied to the priestly house,
and was the grandson of no leas a person than the
great Hoses himself. For the " Manasseh " in
xviii. 30 is nothing else than an alteration of
" Moses " to shield that venerable name from the
discredit which such a descendant would east upon
it [Manasseh, vol ii. p. 1778 a.] In this fact
we possibly have the explanation of the much-
debated passage, xviii. 8: " they knew the' voice'
of the young man the Levite." The grandson of
the Lawgiver was not unlikely to be personally
known to the Danitea ; when they heard his voice
(whether in casual speech or In loud devotion we
ft) ; comp. 18). Tms the LXX. add the molten Image
In ver. 20, but in ver. 80 they agree with the Hebrew
text
d Vp - voice. The explanation of 3 D. aU-
enaan* (.KM fUr VnfUkrun) Is that they remarked
that he did not speak with the ascent of the Bpurainv
lies. But Osteoids rejects this notion as repugnant
alike to "the expression and the ooanecuoD," and
adopts the explanation given above ( (toe*. dVr ascv.
*«"*«,* U, 2. p. &6).
• Professor Oaaaal (Birkfr md Rut*, p. 1611 offer.
another explanation of this <■ voice." He understands
that it was the sound of the bells attached to the
Utile's sacerdotal vestmsats, which nottned the heaters
of his entering the sanctuary for worship. See l>
xxvtti.86. H.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1914 MIOAR
ire not told) they recognised it, end their inquiries
M to who brought him hither, what he did there,
and what he had there, were in this case the eager
questions of old acquaintances long separated.
(4.) The narrative gives us a most vivid idea of
the terrible anarchy hi which the country was
placed, when " there was no king in Israel, and
every man did what was right in his own eyes,"
and shows how urgently necessary a central au-
thority had become. A body of six hundred men
completely armed, besides the train of their families
and <u.Ule, traverses the length and breadth of the
land, not on any mission for the ruler or the nation,
as on later occasions (2 Sam. ii. 12, Ac., xx. 7, 14),
but simply for their private ends. Entirely disre-
garding the rights of private property, they burst
bi wherever they please along their route, and plun-
dering the valuables and carrying off persons, reply
to all remonstrances by taunts and threats. The
Turkish rule, to wbi;h the same district has now
the misfortune to be subjected, can hardly be worse.
At the same time it is startling to our Western
minds — accustomed to associate the blessings of
jrder with religion — to observe how religious were
these lawless freebooters : " Do ye know that In
these houses there is an ephod, and teraphim, and
a graven image, and a molten image? Now there-
fore consider what ye have to do" (xviii. 14),
" Hold thy peace, and go with us, and be to us a
father and a priest " (ift. 19).
As to the date of these interesting events, the
narrative gives us no direct information beyond the
fact that it was before the beginning of the mon-
archy ; but we may at least infer that it was also
before the time of Samson, because in this nar-
rative (xviii. IS) we meet with the origin of the
name of Hahaneh-dan, a place which already bore
that name in Samson's childhood (xiii. 26, where
it is translated in the A. V. " the camp of Dan ").
That the Danites had opponents to their establish-
ment in their proper territory before the 1'hilistines
enter the field is evident from Judg. i. 34. Josephus
entirely omits the story of Micab, but he places the
narrative of the Levite and his concubine, and the
destruction of Gibeah (chaps, xix-, xx., xxi.) — a
document generally recognized as part of the same "
with the story of Micah, and that document by a
different hand to the previous portions of the book
— at the very beginning of his account of the
period of the Judges, before Deborah or even Ehud.
(See Ant. v. 2, J 8-12.) The writer is not aware
that this arrangement has been found in any MS.
of the Hebrew or LXX. text of the book of Judges ;
but the fact of its existence in Josephus has a cer-
tain weight, especially considering the accuracy of
that writer when his interests or prejudices are not
XHicerned; and it is supported by the mention of
Phinehss the grandson of Aaron in xx. 28. An
argument against the date being before the time
of Deborah in drawn by Bertheau (p. 197) from the
bet that at that time the north of Palestine was in
she possession of the Canaanites — " Jabin king of
Canaan, who reigned in Hasor," in the immediate
a Th» proofs of this an Riven by Bertheau In Us
Commentary on the Book In the Kurzgtf. txeg
ttoadft. (HI. §2; p. 192).
t> xrlll. 1. It will be observed that the words « all
'batr " are interpolated by our translators.
- Me lull form of the name Is VP^O, MU&y&kti,
who W like Jehovah," which Is found In 2 Onr
ftuCAH
neighborhood of Lsish. The records of the sou then
Dan are too scanty to permit of our fixing the date
from the statement that the Danites had not yet
entered on their * allotment — that is to say, the
allotment specified in Josh. xix. 40-48. But that
statement strengthens the conclusion . arrived at
from other passages, that these lists in Joshua con
tain the towns nllotUd, out not therefore necessarily
puurued by the various tribes. " Divide the land
first, in confidence, and then possess it afterwards,"
seems to be the principle implied in such passage*
as Josh. xiii. 7 (oomp. 1); xix. 49, 61 (LXX. '• so
they went to take possession of the land ").
The date of the record itself may perhaps be
more nearly arrived at. That, on the one hand, it
was after the beginning of the monarchy is evident
from the references to the ante-monarchical times
(xviii. 1, xix. 1, xxi. 26); and, on the other hand,
we may perhaps infer from the name of Bethlehem
being given as '■ Bethlehem-Judah," — that it was
before the fame of David had conferred on it a
notoriety which would reuder any such affix un-
necessary. The reference to the establishment of
the house of God in Shiloh (xviii. 31) seems also to
point to the early part of Saul's reign, before the
incursions of the Philistines had made it necessary
to remove the Tabernacle and Epbod to Nob, in
the vicinity of Gibeah, Saul's head-quarters. G.
MI'OAH (Hyp, ST^D, 8 Cethib, Jer.
xxvi. 18 [who at Jehovah] : Mi^a/iu; [FA. in
Jer. Miveat; Vat In Mlc. M«x<u<u:] Miehmat).
The sixth in order of the minor prophets, accord-
ing to the arrangement in our present canon ; in
the LXX. he is placed third, after Hosea and
Amos. To distinguish him from Minaiah the son
of Imlah, the contemporary of KUjah, he is called
the Horasthitb, that is, a native of Moresheth,
or some place of similar name, which Jerome and
Eusebius call Morasthi and identify with a small
village near Eleutheropolis to the east, where for-
merly the prophet's tomb was shown, but which in
the days of Jerome had been succeeded by a church
(/■.'pit Paula, c. 6). As little is known of the
circumstances of Micah's life as of many of the
other prophets. Pseudo-Epiphaniua (Op. ii. p.
245) makes him, contrary to all probability, of the
tribe of F.phraim; and besides confounding him
with Micaiah the son of Imlah, who lived more
than a century before, he betrays additional igno-
rance in describing Ahab as king of Judah. For
rebuking this monarch's son and successor Jehoram
for his Impieties, Micah, according to the same
authority, was thrown from a precipice, and buried
at Mornthi in his own country, hard by the ceme-
tery of Enakim ('EvaxeUi, a place which apparently
exists only in the LXX. of Mlo. i. 10), where his
sepulchre was still to be seen. The Chronicon
P&schale (p. 148 c) tells the same tale. Another
ecclesiastical tradition relates that the remains of
Habakkuk and Micah were revealed in a vision tc
Zobennus bishop of Eleutheropolis, in the reign o*
Tbeodosius the ( treat, near a place called Beraui
xiU 2. xvtt. 7. This Is abbreviated to liT^D
Jtit&ysau, in Judg. xvn. 1, 4 : «U1 further ts VP^—
MietyeMk (Jer. xxxrL 11), fP^D, Mi&yH (1 1
xxH. 18); and anally to il^D, Mess, or H,P3
MM (2 8am. Ix. 12).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MIOAH
awJa, wMsa b apparently ■ corruption of Morasthi
(Saaomen, B. E. TiL 39; Nicephorue, H. E. xii.
18). The prophet'i tomb wu called by the in-
habitants Ntpktametmawi, which Sosomsn randan
uriyia aricrroV.
The period during which Micah exercised the
prophetical office ia stated, in the superscription to
hit prophecies, to have extended over the reigns of
Jotham, Ahax, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, giving
Una a maximum limit of 69 years (b. c. 766-697),
him the accession of Jotham to the death of Hate-
kith, and a minimum limit of 16 years (B. c. 749-
TSJ ), from the death of Jotham to the accession of
Henkiah. In either oasa he would be contem-
porary with Hoaea and Amos during part of their
Binictry in Israel, and with Isaiah in Judah. Ac-
sarding to Rabbinical tradition he transmitted to
the prophet* Joel, Nahum, and Habakkuk, and to
Ssraiah the priest, the mysteries of the Kabbala,
which ha had received from Isaiah (R. David Ganz,
Tiemneh Otvid), and by Syncellus ( Chronogr. p.
199 e) be is enumerated in the reign of Jotham as
contemporary with Hoaea, Joel, Isaiah, and Oded.
With respect to one of his prophecies (iii. IS) it is
distinctly assigned to the reign of Hesekiah (Jer.
mi. 18), and was probably delivered before the
part paasover which inaugurated the reformation
in Jodah. The data of the others must be deter-
mined, if at all, by internal evidence, and the periods
to which they are assigned are therefore necessarily
anjactnraL Reasons will be given hereafter for
considering that none are later than the sixth year
of Hesekiah. Bertboldt, indeed, positively denies
that any of the prophecies can be referred to the
nagn of Hesekiah, and assigns the two earlier of
the four portions into which he divides the book to
the time of Abas, and the two later to that of
Miaaawh (Einkitmg, $ 411), because the idolatry
■fach prevailed in their reigns is therein denounced.
Bat in the face of the superscription, the genuiue-
tea of which there is no reason to question, and
sf the allnaion in Jer xxvi. 18, Bertholdt's con-
jacmre cannot be allowed to have much weight.
The tunc assigned to the prophecies by the only
enact evidence which we possess, agrees so well
wits their contents that it may fairly be accepted
is comet. Why any discrepancy should be per-
coven between the statement in Jeremiah, that
"Hush the Morasthite prophesied in the days of
Beaton king of Judah," and the title of his book
which tells us tbat the word of the Lord came to
Mai "in the days) of Jotham, Abac, and Hesekiah,"
it a difficult to imagine. The former does not
limit the period of Hicah's prophecy, and at most
applies only to the passage to which direct allnaion
aada. A confusion appears to have existed in
M minds of those who sea in the prophecy in its
■went form a connected whole, between the actual
aliiwry of the several portions of it, and their col-
actioo and transcription into one book. In the
fas of Jeremiah we know that he dictated to
arath the prophecies which be had delivered in
bw interval between the 13th year of Joaiah and
hi 4th of Jeboiakim, and that, when thus com-
asttsd to writing, they were read before the people
■ the fast day (Jer. zxzvi. 9, 4, 6). There is
warn to believe that a similar process took place
MIOAH
L915
• EaaM (Ptop/tttumut, IL f 30) Imagines that the
awaksaaa which remain beloof to the time of Itns-
■e, tad that those daUTsrad wader Jotham and Abas
with the prophecies of Amos. It la, therefore, con-
ceivable, to say the least, that certain portione of
Hicah's prophecy may hare been uttered in the
reigns of Jotham and Anas, and for the probability
of this there is strong internal evidence, while they
were collected as a whole in the reign of Hezekiah
and committed to writing. Catpari (Aficha, p. 78 1
suggests that the book thus written may have beet
read in the presence of the king and the whole
people, on some great fast or festival day, and that
this circumstance may have been in the minds of
the elders of the land in the time of Jeboiakim,
when they appealed to the impunity which Micah
enjoyed under Hezekiah." It is evident from Hie.
i. 6, that the section of the prophecy in which that
verse occurs must have been delivered before the
destruction of Samaria by Shalmaneser, which took
place in the 6th year of Hezekiah (cir. B. c. 722),
and, connecting the "high-placet" mentioned in
i. 5 with those which existed in Judah in the reigns
of Ahaz (3 K. xvi. 4; S Ohr. xxviii. 4, 25) and
Jotham (2 K. xv. 36), we may be justified in assign-
ing ch. i. to the time of one of these monarche,
probably the latter; although, if ch. ii. be consid-
ered as part of the section to which ch. i. belongs,
the utter corruption and demoralization of the
people there depicted agree better with what his-
tory tells us of the times of Ahaz. Caapari main-
tains that of the two parallel passages, Mic. iv. 1-6,
Is. U. 2-6, the former is the original and the latter
belongs to the times of Uzziab and Jotham. 6 The
denunciation of the horses and chariots of Judah
(v. 10) is appropriate to the state of the country
under Jotham, after the long and prosperous reign
of Uzziah, by whom the military strength of the
people had been greatly developed (2 Chr. xxri.
11-15, xxvii. 4-6). Compare Is. ii. 7, which be-
longs to the same period. Again, the forms in
which idolatry manifested itself in the reign of
Ahaz correspond with those which are threatened
with destruction in Mic. v. 12 14, and the allusions
in vi. 16 to the '■ statutes of Oniri," and tbe u works
of the house of Ahab " seem directly pointed at
the king, of wbom it is expreauy said That " he
walked in the way of the kings of Israel " (2 K.
xvi. 3). It is impossible in dealing with internal
evidence to assert positively that the inferences
deduced from it are correct; but in tbe present
instance they at lent establish a probability, that
in placing the period of Micah's prophetical activity
between tbe timet of Jotham and Hezekiah the
superscription is correct. In the first years of
Hezekiah's reign the idolatry which prevailed in
the time of Abac was not eradicated, and in assign-
ing the date of Micah's prophecy to this period
there is no anachronism in the allusions to idola-
trous practices. Haurer contends tbat ch. i. was
written not long before tbe taking of Samaria, but
the 3d and following chapters he places in the
interval between the destruction of Samaria and
the time that Jerusalem was menaced by the army
of Sennacherib in the 14th year of Hezekiah. But
the passages whicb he quotes in support of bis
conclusion (iii. 12, ir. 9, 4o., r. 5, etc., vi. 9, do.,
vii. 4 12, Ac.) do not appear to be more suitable
to that period than to the first years of Hezekiah,
while the context in many cases requires a still
e Mia lr. 1-4 may possibly, aa Bwald and other.
have riaawsttd, be a portion of an older prophecy cur-
rant at tho time, which was adorAid both by Mfeaa
and belaa OS. U. 2-4).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1916 MIOAH
Butter date. In the arrangement adopted by Walk
(pref. to Micah, } iv.-vi.) eh. I. iu delivered in
the contain porary reigns of Jotham king of Judah
and of Pbkah king of Israel ; ii. 1 - iv. 8 in those
of Ahax, Pekah, and Hosea; Hi. 18 being assigned
to the last year of Ahaz, and the remainder of the
book to the reign of Hezekiah.
But, at whatever time the several prophecies
were first delivered, they appear in their present
form as an organic whole, marked by a certain
regularity of development. Three sections, omit-
ting the superscription, are introduced by the same
phrase, IJHJtJJ, '• hear ye," and represent three
natural divisions of the prophecy — i., ii., iii. -v.,
vi. - vi:. — each commencing with rebukes and
throatenings and closing with a promise. The first
motion opens with a magnificent description of the
coming of Jehovah to judgment for the sins and
idolatries of Israel and Judah (i. 8-4), and the
sentence pronounced upon Samaria (6-9) by the
Judge Himself. The prophet, whose sympathies
are strong with Judah, and especially with the
lowlands which gave him birth, sees the danger
which threatens his country, and traces in imagi-
nation the devastating march of the Assyrian con-
querors from Samaria onward to Jerusalem and the
south (i. 9-16). The impending punishment sug-
gests its cause, and the prophet denounces a woe
upon the people generally for the corruption and
violence which were rife among them, and upon
the false prophets who led them astray by pander-
big to their appetites and luxury (ii. 1-11). The
sentence of captivity is passed upon them (10) but
is followed instantly by a promise of restoration
and triumphant return (ii. 12, 13). The second
section is addressed especially to the princes and
beads of the people, their avarice and rapacity are
rebuked in strong terms, and as they have been
deaf to the cry of the suppliants for justice, they
too " shall cry unto Jehovah, but He will not hear
them" (iii. 1-t). The false prophets who had
deceived .others should themselves be deceived
" the sun shall go down over the prophets, and
the day shall be dark over them " (iii. 8). For
this perversion of justice and right, and the covet-
ousness of the heads of the people who judged for
reward, of the priests who taught for hire, and of
the prophets who divined for money, Zion should
be ploughed as a field," and the mountain of the
Temple become like tile uncultivated woodland
leighta (iii. 9-18). But the threatening is again
iucceeded by a promise of restoration, and in the
glories of the Messianic kingdom the prophet loses
sight of the desolation which should befall his
ountry. Instead of the temple mountain covered
vith the wild growth of the forest, be sees the
nountain of the house of Jehovah established on
the top of the mountains, and nations flowing like
■vers unto it 'lie reign of peace is inaugurated
~y the recall from Captivity, and Jehovah sits ss
king in Zion, having destroyed the nations who
had rejoiced in her overthrow. The predictions in
this section form the climax of the book, and
Ewald arranges them in four strophes, consisting
if from seven to eight verses each (iv. 1-8, iv. 9-
r. 8, v. 3-0, t. 10-15), with the exception of the
ast, which is shorter, and in which the prophet
werto to the point whence he started : all objects
a Kvald now maintains that Me. vt., vii. Is by
r hand ; probably written in the course of the
MIOAH
of politic and idolatrous confidence mast be re.
moved before the grand consummation. In the
last section (vi., vii.) Jehovah, by a bold poetical
figure, is represented as holding a controversy with
his people, pleading with them in justification of
his conduct towards them and the reasonableness
of his requirements. The dialogue form in which
chap. vi. is cast renders the picture very dramatic
and striking. In vi. 3-5 Jehovah speaks; the
inquiry of the people follows in ver. 6, indicating
their entire ignorance of what was required of
them ; their inquiry is met by the almost impatient
rejoinder, "Will Jehovah be pleased with thou-
sands of rams, with myriads of torrents of oil V "
The still greater sacrifice suggested by the people,
•< Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression 'I "
calls forth the definition of their true duty, " to
do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with their God." How tar they had fallen short
of this requirusent is shown in what follows (9-18),
and judgment is pronounced upon them (13-18).
The prophet acknowledges and bewails the justice
of the sentence (vii. 1-8), the people in repentance
patiently look to God, confident that their prayer
will be heard (7-10), and are reassured by the
promise of deliverance announced, as following their
punishment (11-18), by the prophet, who in his
turn presents his petition to Jehovah for the resto-
ration of his people (14, 15). The whole concludes
with a triumphal song of joy at the great deliver-
ance, like that from Egypt, which Jehovah will
achieve, and a foil acknowledgment of his mercy
and faithfulness to his promises (16-80). The
last verse is reproduced in the song of Zacharias
(Luke i. 78, 73).«
The predictions uttered by Micah relate to the
invasions of Shalmaneser (I. 8-8; 8 K. xvii. 4, 6)
and Sennacherib (1. 9-16; 8 K. xviii. 18), the de-
struction of Jerusalem (iii. 18, vii. 13), the Cap-
tivity in Babylon (iv. 10), the return (iv. 1-8, vii.
11 ), the establishment of a theocratic kingdom in
Jerusalem (iv. 8), and the Ruler who should spring
from Bethlehem (v. 8). The destruction of Assyria
and Babylon is supposed to be referred to in v. 5, 6,
vii. 8, 10. It is remarkable that the prophecies
commence with the last words recorded of the
prophet's namesake, Micaiah the son of Imlah,
•' Hearken, O people, every one of you " (1 K. xxii.
28). From this, Bleek (Eialdtung, p. 5S9) con-
cludes that the author of the history, like the
esclesiastical historians, confounded Micah the
Moraathite with Micaiah ; while Hengstenberg
{Chrulokigy, i. 409, Eng. tr.) infers that the coin-
cidence was intentional on the part of the later
prophet, and that " by this very circumstance he
gives intimation of what may be expected from
him, shows that his activity is to be considered as
a continuation of that of his predecessor, who wsa
so jealous for God, and that be had more in com-
mon with him than the mere name." Either con-
clusion rests on the extremely slight foundation of
the occurrence of a formula which was at once the
most simple and most natural commencement of a
prophetic discourse.
The style of Micah has been compared with that
of Hosea and Isaiah. The similarity of their sub-
ject may account for many resemblances in lan-
guage with the latter prophet, which were almost
unavoidable (eomp. Mia. i. 8 with Is. L 3; Mia ii
7th cent s. a, and that v. 9-14 is the orlgtssl sea
olnshm of Mesh's prophesy (/air*. xL p. 89).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MICAH
■ with Ii. t. 8; Mic n. 6, 11 with Is, xxx. 10:
Mic. ii. 13 with Is. x. 20-22; Hie. vi. 6-8 with Is.
U 11-17). The diction of Micah is vigoroi" and
forcible, sometimes obscure from the abruptness of
its transitions, but varied and rich in figures de-
rived from the pastoral (i. 8, ii. 12, v. 4, 5, 7, 8,
vii. 14) and rural iif ; of the owland country (i. 6,
iii. 12, iv. 3, 12, 18, vi. 16), whose vines and olives
and fig-trees were celebrated (1 Chr. xxvii. 27, 28),
and supply the prophet with so many striking allu-
sions (L 6, iv. 8, 4, vi. 16, vii. 1, 4) as to suggest
that, like Amos, he may have been either a herds-
man or a vine-dresser, who had heard the howling
of the jackals (i. 8, A. 7. " dragons ") as be
watched his flocks or his vines by night, and had
seen the lions slaughtering the sheep (v. 8). One
peculiarity which he has in common with Isaiah is
the frequent use of paronomasia; in i. 10-16 there
is a succession of instances of this figure in the
plays upon words suggested by the various places
enumerated (comp. alao U. 4) which it is impossible
to transfer to English, though Ewald has attempted
to render them into German [Propheten drs A. B.
i. 329,330). The poetic vigor of the opening scene
and of the dramatic dialogue sustained throughout
the last two chapters has already been noticed.
The language of Micah is quoted in Matt. ii. 5,
6, and his prophecies alluded to in Matt. x. 36, 36;
Mark xiii. 12; Luke xii. 63; John vii. 42.
* The more important older writers on Mi-
cas are Chytrseus (1565), Calvin (1671), Pocock
(1677), Schmirrer (1783), Justi (1799), Martmaun
(1800). The later writers are Theiner, Hitrig,
Maurer, Umbreit, Ewald, KeU, Henderson, Pusey,
Xoyet, Cowles. (For the titles of their works
see Amos; Joel; Malachi.) Add to these
Caspari, Utber .Hicha den MoratthUen u. seine
Schrifl (1852), and the articles of Nagelsbach in
Henog's Rtai-Eneyk. ix. 517 ff., and of Wunderlich
in Zeller's BM. WSrterb. ii. 122. The best in-
troduction to Micah in the English language is
that of Dr. Pusey, prefixed to his Commentary.
Part xiv. of Lange's Bibthcak des A. Tent., by
Dr. Paul Kleinert (1868), comprises Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahuni, and Habakkuk. It con-
tains a well classified list of the principal com-
mentators of all periods on all the minor prophets.
For the Messianic passages in Micah see the writers
on Christology (Hengatenberg, Havernick, Tho-
luck, Stahelin, Hounann, J. Pye Smith). [Mala-
chi.] On the prophet's personal appearance, and
the general scope of his predictions, see especially
Stanley (Lectures on the Jewish Church, ii. 492-
494). Micah's " last words are those which, cen-
turies afterwards, were caught up by the aged
priest, whose song unites the Old and New Testa-
ment* together. ' Thou wilt perform the truth to
Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou
hast sworn ; ' to send forth a second David, the
mighty child, whose unknown mother is already
Availing for hit birth (Mic vii. 18-20 ; Luke i. 72,
A certain minuteness characterizes some of
Micah's predictions, not always found or to be
expected in the fulfillment of prophecy. It is he
vho mentioned beforehand the name of the place
where the Messiah was to be born; and, accord-
ugly, on Herod's proposing his question as to this
somt to the Jewish scribes and priests, they wen
■etdy at once with the answer that Micah had
Wared that Bethlehem was to be made mamt-
tahle br that event (MaU.il. 8-61. He foretold
MICAIAU
1917
"that Zkm should be ploughed as a field and
Jerusalem become heaps; " and the travtUer at the
present day sees oxen ploughing and fields o> {rain
ripening on the slopes of the sacred mount. Of
the doom of Samaria he said in the glory and
pride of that city : "I will make Samaria as an heap
of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard : and
1 will pour down the stones thereof into the val
ley, sod I will discover the foundations thereof" (i
6). The site of Samaria has now been ploughed fin
centuries. Its terraces are covered with grain and
fruit-trees. The stones which belonged to the
town and walls have rolled down the sides of tie
hill, or have been cast over the brow of it, and lie
scattered along the edge of the valley. Yet we
are not to insist on such circumstantiality (as iu
the last two cases) u essential to the truth of
prophesy. It it a law of prophetic representation
that it often avails itself of specific traits and inci-
dents as the drapery only of the general occurrence
or truth contemplated by the sacred writer. What
is peculiar in the above instances ia that the form
and the reality of the predictions so strikingly
agree. Many of the popular treatises on prophecy
(that of Dr. Keith is nut exempt from this fault)
carry this idea of a UttnU fulfillment too far. H.
2. (MiYii; [Vat. H^a:J Aticha.) A desoen-
dautof Joel the Reubenite [Joel, 6], and ancestoi
of Beerah, who was prince of bit tribe at the timi
of the captivity of the northern kingdom (1 Chr
v. 5).
3. [Li 1 Cbr. viii., Vat. M>x«i; ix., Vat FA.
Mfixa.] The son of Merib-baal, or Mephibosheth,
the son of Jonathan (1 Chr. viii. 34, 35, ix. 40, 41 '
In 2 Sam. ix. 12 be is called Micha.
4. [Mix«i Vat. M«x<u.] A Kohathite Lerite,
eldest sou of Uzziel the brother of Amram, and
therefore cousin to Moses and Aaron (1 Chr. xxiii.
20). In Ex. vi. 22 neither Micah nor hit brother
Jesiah, or Isahiah, appears among the sons of UaxieL
who are there said to be MiahaeL Elzaphan, and
Zithri. In the A. V. of 1 Chr. xxiv. 24, 26, the
names of the two brothers are written Miciiah
and Isshiah, though the Hebrew fonns are the
same as in the preceding chapter. This would
seem to indicate that cc. xxiii., xxir., were trans-
lated by different hands.
6. (Mixofoj; [Vat Msixatar.]) The father
of Abdon, a man of high station in the reign of
Josiah. In 2 K. xxii. 12 he it called " Miciiaiaii
the father of Achbor." W. A. W.
MICATAH [3 syL] (VTjyB [who as Je-
hovah]: Mixcuas; [Vat Mtixaiai:] Michnat).
There are seven persons of this name iu the O. t.
besides Micah the Levite, to whom the name it
twice given in the Hebrew (Judg. xvii. 1, 4);
Micah and Micaiah meaning the same thing, " Who
like Jehovah?" In the A. V. however, with the
one exception following, the name is given as
MlCHAIAH.
The ton of Imlah, a prophet of Samaria, who,
in the last year of the reign of Ahab, king of
Israel, predicted hit defeat and death, B. o. 897.
The circumstances were at follows: Three years
after the great battle with Benhadad, king of Syria,
in which the extraordinary number of 100,000
Syrian soldiers it said to have been slain without
reckoning the 27,000 who, it is asserted, were killed
by the falling of the wall at Aphek, Ahab proposed
to Jehoahaphat king of Judah that they should
Wmtly gr up to battle against Ramota GUtadi
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1918
MICAIAH
which Beukidad mt, apparently, bound by treaty
to restore to Ahab. Jehoahaphat, whose son Jeho-
rani bad married Athaliah, Ahab's daughter, as-
sented in cordial words to the proposal; but sug-
gested that they should first " inquire at toe word
of Jehovah." Accordingly, Ahab assembled 400
prophets, while, in an open space at the gate of
the city of Samaria, he and Jehoahaphat sat in
royal robes to meet and consult them. The proph-
ets unanimously gave a favorable response; and
among them, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah,
made horns of iron as a symbol, and announced,
from Jehovah, that with those horns Ahab would
posh the Syrians till he consumed them. For some
reason which is unexplained, and can now only be
conjectured, Jehoahaphat was dissatisfied with the
answer, and asked if there was no other prophet
of Jehovah at Samaria. Ahab replied that there
was yet one — Micaiah, the son of Imlah ; but, in
words which obviously call to mind a passage in
the Iliad (i. 106), he added, " I hate him, for he
does not prophecy good concerning me, but evil."
Micaiah was, nevertheless, sent for; and after an
attempt had in vain been made to tamper with
him, he first expressed an ironical concurrence with
the 400 prophets, and then openly foretold the
defeat of Ahab's army and the death of Ahab
himself. And in opposition 1 1 the other prophets,
he said, that he had seen Jehovah sitting on his
throne, and all the host of Heaven standing by
Him, on his right hand and on his left: that
Jehovah said, Who shall persuade Ahab to go up
and fall at Ramoth Gilead? that a Spirit" come
forth and said that he would do so ; and on being
asked, Wherewith? he answered, that he would
go forth and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all
the prophets. Irritated by the account of this
vision, Zedekiah struck Micaiah on the cheek, and
Ahab ordered Micaiah to be token to prison, and
fed on bread and water, till his return to Samaria.
Ahab then went up with his army to Ramoth
Gilead ; and in the battle which ensued, Beubadad,
who could not have failed to become acquainted
with Micaiah'* prophecy, uttered so publicly, which
lad even led to an act of public, personal violence
n the part of Zedekiah, gave special orders to
direct the attack against Ahab, individually. Ahab,
on the other hand, requested Jehoahaphat to wear
his royal robes, which we know that the king of
Judah had brought with him to Samaria (1 K.
<xii. 10); and then he put himself into disguise
or the battle; hoping thus, probably, to baffle the
lesigiia of Benhodod, and the prediction of Mica-
ah — but he was, nevertheless, struck and mor-
ally wounded in the combat by a random arrow.
Sec 1 K. xxii. 1-85; and 3 Chr. xviii. — the two
accounts in which an nearly word for word the
mine.
Josephus dwells emphatically on the death of
Ahab, as showing the utility of prophecy, and the
impossibility of escaping destiny, even when it is
revealed beforehand (Ant. viii. 15, § 6). He says
that it steals on human souls, flattering them with
cheerful hopes, till it leads them round to the
point whence it will gain the mastery over them.
This was a theme familiar to the Greeks in many
• As the definite article Is prefixed in Hebrew, The-
tuua, Berthaau, and Bansen translate Uu Spirit, and
understand a penonlncatun of the Spirit of Prophecy.
But the original words seem to be manly an extreme
Mtaasa of the Hebrews oonesrrlng as MuUe what
MICAIAH
tragic tales, and Josephus uses wwila in uniatm
with their ideas. (See Euripides, HippUyt. ISM
and compote Herodot. vii. 17, viii. 77, 1. VI.
From his iuterest in the story, Josephus relates
several details not contained in the Bible, some of
which are probable, while others are very unlikely;
but for none of which does he give any authority.
Thus, he says, Micaiah was already in prison, when
sent for to prophesy before Ahab and Jeboshaphat,
and that it was Micaiah who hod predicted death
by a lion to the son of a prophet, under the cir-
cumstances mentioned in 1 K. xx. 85, 36 ; and had
rebuked Ahab after his brilliant victory over the
Syrians for not putting Benhadad to death. And
there is no doubt that these facts would be not
only consistent with the narrative in the Bible, but
would throw additional light upon it; for the
rebuke of Ahab in his hour of triumph, on account
of his forbearance, was calculated to excite in him
the intensest feelings of displeasure and mortifica-
tion ; and it would at once explain Ahab's hatred
of Micaiah. if Micaiah was the prophet by whom
the rebuke was given. And it is not unlikely that
Ahab in his resentment might have caused Micaiah
to be thrown into prison, just as the princes of
Judah, alxrat 300 years later, maltreated Jeremiah
in the same way (Jer. xxxvii. 16). But some other
statements of Josephus cannot so readily be re-
garded as probable. Thus he relates that when
Ahab disguised himself, he gave his own royal
robes to be worn by Jehoahaphat, in the battle of
Ramoth Gilead — an act, which would have been
so unreasonable and cowardly in Ahab, and would
have shown such singular complaisance in Jebosha-
phat, that, although supported by the translation
in the Septuagint, it cannot be received as true.
The fact that some of the Syrian captains mistook
Jehoahaphat for Ahab is fully explained by Je-
hoshapbat's being the only person, in the army of
Israel, who wore royal robes. Again, Josephus
informs us that Zedekiah alleged, as a reason for
disregarding Micaiah's prediction, that it was di-
rectly at variance with the prophecy of Elijah, that
dogs should lick the blood of Ahab, where dogs
had licked the blood of Naboth, in the city of
Samaria: inasmuch as Ramoth Gilead, where, ac-
cording to Micaiah, Ahab was to meet his doom
was distant from Samaria a journey of three days.
It is unlikely, however, that Zedekiah would have
founded an argument on Elijah's insulting proph-
ecy, even to the meekest of kings who might hare
been the subject of it; but that, in order to provj
himself in the right as against Micaiah, be should
have ventured on such an allusion to a person of
Ahab's character, is absolutely incredible.
It only remains to add, that, besides what is
dwelt on by Josephus, the history of Micaiah offers
several points of interest, among which the tw»
following may be specified: 1st Micaiah's vision
presents what may be regarded a* transitional ideas
of one origin of evil actions. In Exodus, Jeho-
vah Himself is represen ted so directly hardening
Pharaoh's heart (vii. 8, 13, xiv. 4, 17, x. 80, 27).
In the Book of Job, the name of Satan is men-
tioned ; but he is admitted without rebuke, anions
the sons of God, into the presence of Jehovah (Jol
would be Indefinite In English. (See Ocean. Oram. %
107, and 1 K. U. ».) The Spirit Is eoneelved as
definite from its co rre sponding to the reqnremeits ta
the preceding question of Jehovah.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MICHA
tt-li v After too Captinty. th» idea of Satan,
H an Independent ]*inclple of evil in direct oppo-
lition to goodness, becomes fully established (1
Chr. xxi. I ; and compare Wisd. U. 24). [Satah.1
Now the ideas preieuted in the vision of Mic&iah
are different from each of thaw three, and occupy a
place of their own. They do not go so far as the
Book of Job — much km so far as the ideas cur-
rent after the Captivity; but they go farther than
Exodus. See Ewald, Pott Bichtr, Iter TheiL
85. 2dly. The history of Micaish is an exempli-
fication in practice, of contradictory predictions
being made by different prophets. Other striking
i*w'"rr— occur in the time of Jeremiah (xiv. 13,
14; xxviii. J 5, 16; xxiii. 16, 25, 36). The only
rule bearing on the judgment to be formed under
such circumstances seems to have been a negative
toe, which would be mainly useful after the event.
It is laid down in Deut xviii. 31, 22, where the
question is asked, how the children of Israel tetre
to know the word which Jehovah had not spoken.
And the solution is, that " if the thing fullow not,
mor come to p m. thtt is the thing which Jehovah
has not spoken." £. T.
MI OH A (N^a [who is lit* God, FUrat];
Kixat: [Vat. M«x«0 Mieha). 1. The son of
Urpbibosbeth (3 Sam. ix. 13); elsewhere (1 Chr.
ix. 40) called Micaii.
3. [Vat. KA.i omita.] A Invite, or family of
Invitee, who signed the covenant with Nehemiah
(Neb. x. 11).
3. ([Neb. xl. 17, Vat, FA. Ma X ai 33, Vat
FA.* M«tx<b *'A.» At»ixa.] ) The father of Mat-
taniah, a (jerehonite Levite and descendant of
Asaph (Neb. xi. 17, 33). He is elsewhere called
Uicah (1 Chr. ix. 15) and Michaiah (Neh. xii.
85).
*• (N>X>i [V**- 8ia - M«X«0 Akw X«/u:
Jsfietu.) A Simeonite, rather of Oris*, one of the
three g o ver no rs of the eity of Bethulla in the time
of Judith (Jud. vi. 15). His name is remarkable
aa being connected with one of the lew specific
allusions to the ten tribes after the Captivity.
MI'CHAEL (bM^D [as above]; [Vat.
M..X01JA:] Miekitfy. L Mi X *hM «"> Asherite,
father of Sethur, one of the twelve spies (Num.
xiii. 13).
2. [Mtxav)A-] The *on of Abihail, one of the
Caditn who settled in the land of fiashan (1 Chr.
v. 13).
3. [Vat. MuyaijA.] Another Gadite, ancestor
of Al.ihaU (1 Chr. v. 14).
4 [Vat. M»xai)A..] A Genhonite Levite, an-
cestor of Asaph (1 Chr. vi. 40).
6. [Vat M«x«lA,] One of the five sons of
Izrahiah of the tribe of Issschsr, « all of them
diieU," who with their " troops of the battle-host"
muiitered to the number of .16,000 in the days of
David (1 Chr. vil. 3).
6. [Vat. M«x«>A.] A Benjamite of t»e sons
sf Hrriah (1 Chr. flit. 16).
7. [Vat M«x<»|A.] One of the captains of
the " thousands " of Manaeseh who joined the for-
tunes of David at Ziklag (1 Chr. xii. 30,.
8. [Vat Mfto-anA..] The father, or ancestor
a* Omn, chief of the tribe of Istachar in the reign
MICHAEL
1919
• Fran unwillingness to acknowledge a reference
a a mar* Jewish oadltJon (In i>pHr of w. H, 16), some
an* t unwind St. Jade's refcrenee to be to Zseh. Ul.
of David (1 Chr. xxvii. 18); possibly the same is
No. 5.
0. [Vat. Mf«ron\, Alex. MuronA.] One of
the sons of Jehoahaphat who were murdered by
their elder brother Jehoram (2 Chr. xxi. 3, 4).
10. [In Ear., Vat MtixanK, Alex. MayaiiA
in 1 Esdr., MixajAor, Vat Mmx")Aos: MtchnlL
Afichfiut.] The lather or ancestor of Zebadiah at
the sons of Shephatiah who returned with Kirs
(Bar. vili. 8; 1 Esdr. vui. 84). W. A. W.
11. " One," or " the first of the chief princes
or archangels (Dan. x. 18; comp. A ipx^T?'*"*
in Jude 9), described in Dan. x. 21 aa the "prince "
of Israel, and in xii. 1 as " the great prince which
standeth " In time of conflict "for the children of
thy people." All these passages in the U. T
Iwlong to tl at late period of its Revelation when
to the geuerol declaration of the angelic office, was
added the d :viskm of that office into parts, and the
assignment of them to individual angels. [See
AauKL£, vol. i- p. 97 «.] This assignment served,
not only to give that vividness to man's faith in
God's supernatural agents, which was so much
needed at a time of captivity, during the abeyance
of his local manifestations and regular agencies,
but also to mark the finite and ministerial nature
of the angels, lest they should be worshipped in
themselves. Accordingly, as Gabriel represents the
ministration of the angels towards man, so Michael
is the type and leader of their strife, in Gnd's
name and his strength, against the power of Satan.
In the O. T. therefore he is the guardian of the
Jewish people in their antagonism to godless power
and heathenism. In the N. T. (see liev. xii. 7) he
fights in heaven against the dragon — "that o!J
serpent called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth
Me wkuU world: " and so takes part in that strug-
gle, which is the work of the Church on earth
The nature and method of his war aguinst Satan
are not explained, because the knowledge would be
unnecessary and perhaps impossible to us: the (act
itself is revealed rarely, and with that mysterious
vagueness which hangs over all angelic ministra-
tion, but yet with plainness and certainty.
There remains still one passage (Jude 9; comp
3 Pet ii. 11) in which we are told that " Michael
tbe archangel, when, contending with the Devil, be
disputed about the body of Moses, durst net bring
against him a railing accusation, but sou?. The
Lord rebuke thee." The allusion seems to be to a
Jewish legend attached to Deut xxxiv. 6. The
Targum of Jonathan attributes the burial of Moses
to the hands of the angels of God, and particularly
of the archangel Michael, as the guardian of brael.
Later traditions (see CEcumen. in Jud. cap. L let
forth bow Satan disputed the burial, claimliu; fa
himself the dead body because of the blood of tl e
Egyptian (Ex. ii. 13) which was on Mnaos' hands.
The reply of Michael is evidently taken from Zech.
Hi. 1, where, on Satan's "resisting" Joshua the
high-priest because of the filthy garments of his
iniquity, Jehovah, or " the angel of Jehovah " (see
vol. i. p. 95 b), said unto Satan, " Jehovah rebuke
tbee, O Satan ! Is not this a brand plucked from
the fire? " The spirit of tbe answer is tbe refer-
ence to God's mercy alone for our justification, and
the leaving of all vengeance and rebuke to llim;
and ii. this spirit it Is quoted by the Apostle. 9
1, and explained rbe « body of Moats " to be the
Jewish, an the •' body at Ohrtot " Is the ChrlirJao.
Chares The whole •xplanaHon Is farad; bat la*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1920 M1CHAH
Tha Rabbinical traditions about Michael are very
numerous. They oppose him constantly to Sam
mael, the accuser and enemy of Israel, as disputing
for the tout of Moses; as bringing the ram the sub-
stitute for Isaac, which Sammael sought to ke.-p
back, etc., etc.: they give him the title of the
" great high-priest in heaven," as well as that of
the " great prince and conqueror; " and finally lay
it down that " wherever Michael is said to hare
appeared, there the glory of the Shechinah is in-
tended." It is clear that the sounder among them,
in making such use of the name, intended to per-
sonify the Divine Power, and typify the Messiah
(see Schoettgen, Hor. Hebr. i. 1079, 1119, U. 8,
15, ed. Dreed. 1742). But these traditions, as
uual, are erected on very slender Scriptural foun-
dation. A. B.
MI'CHAH (n^D [as above]: Mi X i\ (Tat
M«xa:] Sficha), eldest son of Uxziel, the son of
Kohath (1 Chr. xxiv. 24, 88), elsewhere (1 Chr.
xxiii. 20) called MlOAH.
MICH AT AH [8 syl.] (IT^ [who as Je-
hovah]: Mivoiai; [Tat. M«ix«at:] Micha). The
name is identical with that elsewhere rendered
Micaiah. 1. The father of Achbor, a man of high
rank in the reign of Josiah (2 K. nil. 12). He
is the same as Mioah the father of Abdon (2 Chr.
xxxiv. 20).
2. (Mivoia; Alex. Mixaia; [Vat FA. M«i-
%om :] latchnla. ) The son of Zaecur, a descendant
of Asaph (Neh. xii. 86). He is the same as Micah
the son of Ziohri (1 Chr. ix. 18) and Micha the
son of Zabdi (Neh. xi. 17).
3. (Omitted in Vat. MS. [also Rom. Alex.
FA."]; Alex, rather, FA.*] M»xaTa»: Michea.)
One of the priests who blew the trumpets at the
dedication of the wall of Jerusalem by Nebemiah
(Neh. xii. 41).
4. OfiTjytS : Maaxi [«*« S*« Jehovah] :
Mkhala.) The daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, wife
of Rehoboam, and mother of Abgah king of Judah
(2 Chr. xiil. 2). She is elsewhere called " Maachah
the daughter of Abishalom " (1 K. xv. 2), or " Ab-
salom " (2 Chr. xi. 20), being, in all probability,
his granddaughter, and daughter of Tamar accord-
ing to Josephus. [Maachah, 3.] The reading
" Maachah " is probably the true one, and is sup-
ported by the LXX. and Peshito-Syriac.
6. (Mijfo/a; [Vat Meiyam:] Adcham.) One
of the princes of Jeboshaphat whom he sent with
certain priests and Levites to teach the law of Je-
hovah in the cities of Judah (2 Chr. xvil 7).
W. A. W.
6. ClfTS? [as above]: Mix«f«; [Vat. Mei-
Soios ;] FA. Mix<a>: Michceat.) The son of
emariah. He is only mentioned on one occasion.
After Baruch had read, in public, prophecies of
Jeremiah announcing imminent calamities, Micha-
tah went and declared them to all the princes
uaembled in king Zedekiah's house ; and the princes
Mialogy on which the lssc part Is based is absolutely
anwarrantable ; and the very attempt to draw it shows
% fbrtjetfulness of tha true meaning of that communion
with Christ, which Is Implied by the latter expres-
iuti.
<■ Perhaps nothing In the whole Bible gives so earn-
elete an example of the gap which exists between
lasfiii ii and Western Ideas, as the manner In whioh
la* tals of these nndran a i c l ass enemies of Israel wee
MICHAL
forthwith sent for Baruch to read the prophec i es
to them (Jer. xxxvi. 11-14). Michaiah was the
third in descent of a princely family, whose names
are recorded in connection with important religious
transactions. His grandfather Shaphan was the
scribe, or secretary of king Josiah, to whom Hilkiah
the high priest first delivered the book of the law
which he said he had found in the House of Je-
hovah — Shaphan first perusing the book himself
and then reading it aloud to the youthful king
(2 K. xxii. 10). And it was from his Bather
(Jemariah's chamber in the Temple, that Baruch
read the prophecies of Jeremiah, in the ears of all
the people. Moreover, Gemariah was one of the
three who made intercession to king Zedddah, al-
though in vain, that be would not burn the ml)
containing Jeremiah's prophecies. EL T.
MI'CHAL (b^D [who Uke God]: Me\ X i\;
[2 Sam. xxl 8, Bom. Vat. MixoX;] Joseph. Mt-
XdAa: Michot), the younger of Saul's two daughters
(1 Sam. xiv. 49). The king had proposed to be-
stow on David his eldest daughter Mkrab; bat
before the marriage could be arranged an unex-
pected turn was given to the matter by the behavior
of Micha], who fell violently in love with the young
hero. The marriage with her elder sister was at
once put aside. Saul eagerly caught at the op-
portunity which the change afforded him of exposing
his rival to the risk of death. The price fixed on
Michel's hand was no less than the slaughter of
a hundred Philistines- For these the usual
" dowry " by which, according to the custom of the
East, from the time of Jacob down to the present
day, the fattier is paid for his daughter, was relin-
quished. David by a brilliant feat doubled the tale
of victims, and Michal became his wife. What her
age was we do not know — her husband cannot
have been more than sixteen.
It was not long before the strength of her affec-
tion was put to the proof. They seem to have been
living at Gibeah, then the head-quarters of the
king and the army. After one of Saul's attacks
of frenzy, in which David had barely escaped being
transfixed by the king's great spear, Michal learned
that the house was being watched hv the myrmidons
of Saul, and that it was intended on the next
morning to attack her husband as be left his door
(xix. 11). That the intention was real was evident
from the behavior of the king's soldiers, who
paraded round and round the town, and " return-
ing " to the house " in the evening," with loud
cries, more like the yells of the savage dogs of the
East than the utterances of human beings, " belched
out " curses and lies against the young warrior who
had so lately shamed them all (Ps. lix.* 3, 8, 7,
12). Michal seems to have known too well tie
vacillating and ferocious disposition of her father
when in these demoniacal moods. The attack was
ordered for the morning; but before the morning
arrives the king will probably have changed bis
mind and hastened his stroke. So, like a true
soldier's wife, she meets stratagem by stratagem.
to be counted. Josephus softens It by eubstitutroj
heads fur lbresUns , but it Is obvious that heads would
not have answered the same purpose. The LXX., whs
often alter obnoxious expressions, adhere to the TIe>
brew text.
ft This Psalm, by Its title In the Hebrew, LXX
Vulgate, and Taigum, is l eftrrs d to the event In quee
Hon, a view Atreououil.v supported by HrasetenlMVg.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MICHAL
She lint provided for David's safetv by lowering
bim out of the window : to gain time for him to
reach the residence of Samuel she next dressed up
the bed as if still occupied by him : the terapbim.
or household god, was laid in the bed, its bead
enveloped, like that of a sleeper, in the usual net a
of goat's hair for protection from gnats, the rest
of the figure covered with the wide btyed or plaid.
[David, vol. i. p 567 a.] It happened as she
had feared ; Saul could not delay his vengeance till
David appeared out of doors, but sent bis people
into the house. The reply of Michal is that her
husband is ill and cannot be disturbed. At last
Saul will be baulked no longer: his messengers
force their way into the inmost apartment and there
discover the deception which has been played off
upon tliera with such success. Saul's rage may
be imagined : his fury was such that Michal was
obliged to fabricate a story of David's having at-
tempted to kill her.
This was the last time she saw her husband for
many years; and when the rupture between Saul
and David had become open and incurable, Michal
was married to another man, Phalli or Phaltiel of
Gallim (1 Sam. xxv. 44; 2 Sam. iii. IS), a village
probably not far from Gibeah. After the death of
her father and brothers at Gilboa, Michal and her
new husband appear to bare betaken themselves
with the rest of the family of Saul to the eastern
side of the Jordan. If the old Jewish tradition
inserted by the Targum in 2 Sain. xxi. may be
followed, she was occupied in bringing up the sons
of her sister Merab and Adriel of Meholah. At
any rate, it is on the road leading up from the
Jordan Valley to the Monnt of Olives that we first
encounter her with her husband — Michal under
the joint escort of David's messengers and Abner's
twenty men, m route to David at Hebron, the sub-
missive Phaltiel behind, bewailing the wife thus
torn from him. It was at least fourteen years since
David and she had parted at Ulbeah, since she had
watched him disappear down the cord into the
darkness and had perilled her own life for his
arainst the rage of her insane father. That David's
love for his absent wife had undergone no change
in the interval seems certain from the eagerness
with which he reclaims her as soon as the oppor-
tunity is afforded him. Important as it was to him
to make an alliance with Ishbosheth and the great
tribe of Benjamin, and much as he respected Abner,
he will not listen for a moment to any overtures
till his wife is restored. Every circumstance is
fresh in his memory. « I will not see thy face
except thou first bring Saul's daughter .... my
wife Michal whom I espoused to me for a hundred
foreskin* of the Philistines" (3 Sam. iii. 13, 14).
The meeting took place at Hebron. How Michal
comported herself in the altered circumstances of
MIOHAL
1921
• BWP m P l 3$. Thai *> Kwald's explanation
of a term which has ponied all other commentators
( O-ek in. 101). lor TQ^, the LXZ. seem to ban
read TJJ?, » liver; sum* they stats that Michal
" put the Brer of a goat st David's head." tor an
infanlous suggestion founded on this, see SUoic, vol.
U. p. 1745 a.
» So doubt a similar procession to that alluded to
m r>. Ixvui. 25. whan It will be observed tost the
words Interpolated by our translators — " am-mg tktm
"—alter the ssnss. Th» Tsessnc
191
David's household, how she received or was received
by Abigail and Ahinoam, we rs not told ; but it is
plain from the subsequent occurrences that some-
thing bad happened to alter the relations of herself
and David. They were no longer what they had
been to each other. The alienation was probably
mutual. On her side must have been the recol-
lection of the long contests which had taken place
in the interval between her father and David ; the
strong anti-Saulite and anti-Benjamite feeling prev-
alent in the camp at Hebron, where every word
she heard must have contained some distasteful
allusion, and where at every turn she must have en-
countered men like Abiathar the priest, or Ismaiah
the Gibeonite (1 Cbr. xii. 4; comp. 2 Sam. xxi. 2),
who bad lost the whole or the greater part of their
relatives in some sudden burst of her father's fury.
Add to this the connection between her husband
and the Philistines who had killed her father and
brothers; and, more than all perhaps, the inevitable
difference between the boy-husband of her recol-
lections and the matured and occupied warrior who
now received her. The whole must have come upoi.
her as a strong contrast to tne affectionate husband
whose tears had followed her along the road over
Olivet [2 Sam. iii. 16], and to the home over which
we cannot doubt she ruled supreme. On the side
of David it is natural to put her advanced years,
in a climate where women are old at thirty, and
probaMy a petulant and jealous temper inherited
from her father, one outburst of which certainly
produced the rupture between them which closes
our knowledge of Michal.
It was the day of David's greatest triumph, when
he brought the Ark of Jehovah from its temporary
resting-place to its home in the newly-acquired city.
It was a triumph in every respect peculiarly hi*
own. The procession consisted of priests, Levitea,
the captains of the host, the elders of the nation ;
and conspicuous in front, " in the midst of the
damsels playing on the timbrels," b was the king
dancing and leaping. Michal watched this proces-
sion approach from the window of her apartment*
in the royal harem ; the motions of her husband *
shocked her as undignified and indecent — "she
despised him in her heart" It would have ben
well if her contempt had rested there; but it wa»-
not in her nature to conceal it, and when, after the
exertions of the long day were over, the lust burnt-*
offering and the last peace-offering offered, the last
portion distributed to the crowd of worshippers'
the king entered his house to bless bis family, he
was received by his wife not with the congratula-
tions which he had a right to expect and which
would have been so grateful to him, but with a,
bitter taunt which showed how incapable she was
of appreciating either her husband's temper or the-
service in which he had been engaged. DavidV
of the women as stated above Is Implied In tha-worda
of Michal In 2 Sam. vi. 20, when compared with the-
statement of Pa. lxvili.
c It seems from the words of Michal (vl. 20), which,
must be taken In their literal aause, coupled with Mis-
statement of 1 Cbr. xv. 27, that David was clad ID-
nothing but the ephod of thin linen. So It Is under-
stood by Procoptus of Gasa (in 1 Chr. xv.). TbMphod-
seems to have been a kind of tippet which wsnt ova*
the sho'itders (eraptt), and cannot have afforded tnnob
pr-»«ction to the person, especially of a man In vtrlntf -
sctton.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1922
MIOHKAS
retort wu * tnmeudout one, conveyed in wordi
which once ipoken could never be nailed. It
gathered op all the difference* between them which
made sympathy no longer possible, and we do not
need the assurance of the sacred writer that " Hiehal
had no child unto the day of her death," to feel
quite certain that all intercourse between her and
David mint have ceased from that date. Josephus
(Ant. Tii. 4, § 3) intimates that she returned to
Phaltiel, but of this there is no mention in the
records of the Bible; and, however much we may
hesitate at doubting a writer so accurate as Josephus
when his own interests are not concerned, yet it
would be difficult to reconcile such a thing with
the known ideas of the Jews a* to women who
bad once shared the king's bed.' See Rizpah,
Abibhao, Adoxmah.
Her name appears but onoe sgain (3 Sam. xzi. 8)
as the bringer-up, or more accurately the mother,
of five of the grandchildren of Saul who were uteri
need to Jehovah by the Gibeonites on the hill of
Gibeah. But it is probably more correct to sub-
stitute Herab for Hiehal in this place, for which
see p. 1893. G.
MICHE'AS (Mickant), the prophet Micah
the Morasthite (3 Esdr. i. 89).
M1CH/MAS (D????: [in Est.,] Majrjuh:
Alex. Xofiftasi [in Neh., Max'/iaV] Macimat),
a variation, probably a later » form, of the name
Michmash (Ezr. ii. 37; Neh. vii. 31). In the
parallel passage of 1 Esdraa it is given ss Macai/ix
See the following article. G.
MICHMA8H (tTO?a [lomething huh/en.
treasure, ties. ; place of Chtmnh, FOrst] : Max-
ptfe; [Vat in 1 Sam. xiii. 11, 23, 33, xiv. 31,
Mayr/uu Machmas), a town which is known to
us almost solely by its connection with the Philis-
tine war of Saul and Jonathan (1 Sam. xiii., xiT.).
It ha* been identified with great probability in a
village which still bears the name of Mikhmat, and
stands at about 7 miles north of Jerusalem, on the
northern edge of the great Watly Suwrinil — in
some Maps W. Fmoar — which forms the main
paas of communication between the central high-
lands on which the village stands, and the Jordan
valley at Jericho. Immediately facing Afukfimas,
on the opposite side of the ravine, is the modern
representative of Geba; and behind this sgain are
Kamah and Gibeah — all memorable names in the
long struggle which has immortalized Hichmash.
Rethol is about 4 miles to the north of Hichmash,
and the interval is filled up by the heights of Burkn,
Ihir Diumn, Tell el- llnjnr, etc., which appear to
have constituted the >' Mount Bethel " of the nar-
• The Jewish tradition, preserved In the Targum on
Ruth ill. 8, states that Phaltiel had from the first acted
In accordance with the Idea alluded to In the text. lie
to placed in the same rank with Joseph, and Is com-
memorated as " Phaltiel, son of bdsh, the pious
(KypEJ* *• 1 ""^ n * M ' *" "" Parinui1 of the New
Testameni times), who placed a sword between himself
Mid Hiehal, Saul's daughter, lest he should go in unto
bar." [Assroaurs.]
* The change of W Into D Is frequent in the
Mar Ihbrew (see Oes. This. 981 e).
c The Hebrew word ZFSJ, or 3^53, means both
an oaWr and a garrison (des. Iha. 908). It Is ren-
tal to* A. V. by tits former In 1 K. tv. 19, and
MICHMASB
rative (xiii. 3). So mnch la necessary to n.ahe tht
notices of Hichmash contained in the Bible intel-
ligible.
The place was thus situated in the very middle
of the tribe of Benjamin. If the name be, si some
scholars assert (Fiirst, Handub. 600 A, 733 e), com-
pounded from that of Chemosh, the Moabite deity,
it is not improbably a relic of some Incursion or
invasion of the Moabites, just as C/iepkm^kaam-
monai, in this very neighborhood, is of the Am-
monites. But though in the heart of Benjamin,
it is not named in the list of the towns of that
tribe (comp. Josh, xviii.), but first appears ss one
of the chief points of Saul's position at the out-
break of the war. He was occupying the range of
heights just mentioned, one end of his line resting
on Bethel, the other at Michmash (1 Sam. xiii. 3).
In Geba, close to him, but separated by the wide
and intricate valley, the Philistines bed a garrison,
with a chief' officer. The taking of the garrison
or the killing of the officer by Saul's son Jonathan
was the first move. The next was for the Philis-
tines to swarm up from their sea-side plain in such
numbers, that no alternative was left for Saul but
to retire down the wady to Gilgal, near Jericho,
that from that ancient sanctuary he might collect
and reassure the Israelites. Michmash was then
occupied by the Philistines, and was their furthest
post to the East,'' But it was destined to witness
their sudden overthrow. While be was in Geba,
and bis father in Michmash, Jonathan must have
crossed the intervening valley too often not to know
it thoroughly ; and the intricate paths which render
it impossible for a stranger to find his way through
the mounds and hummocks which crowd the bottom
of the ravine — with these he was so familiar — the
"passages" here, the "sharp rocks" there — as to
be able to traverse them even in the dark. It was
just as the day dawned (Joseph. Ant. vi. 6, { 3)
that the watchers in the garrison at Michmash
descried the two Hebrews clambering up the steeps
beneath. We learn from the details furnished by
Josephus, who must haw had an opportunity of
examining the spot when he passed it with Titus
on their way to the siege of Jerusalem (see B. J.
v. 2, § 1), that the part of Michmash in which the
Philistines had established themselves consisted of
three summits, surrounded by a line of rocks like
a natural entrenchment, and ending in a long and
sharp precipice believed to be impregnable. Finding
himself observed from above, and taking the invita-
tion as an omen in his favor, Jonathan turned from
the course which he was at first pursuing, and
crept up in the direction of the point ieputed im-
pregnable. And it was there, according tc Joaa-
by the latter in the passage In question. IVaM
(Ge«A. ill. 11) afllrma unhesitatingly that the former
is correct; bul not so atichaelis, Zui . end De Wetts,
in their translations, or Gesenlns as above. The Xng-
lish word " poet " embraces some of the signi fi cations
of NeUiti
d See xlv. 81, whan Michmssh Is named as the
point on the east st which the slaughter began, and
AJalon, on the west, that at which it terminated. Un-
like the Canaanltes (Josh, x ), who probably mads off
in the direction of Phoenicia, and therefore chose the
upper road by the two Beth-horons, the Philistines
when they reached Qibson took the left band and
lower road, by the Wady SuUiman — where tola sell
exists — the most direct access to their **wn uauWia s
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MIOHMBTHAH
•una, that he and his armor-bearer made their
•ntranee to the camp (Joseph. Ant. vi. 6, § 8).
[Gibkah, voL ii. p. 915; Jonathan.]
Unless Haraz be Michmash — an identification
lor which vie have only the authority of the LXX.
— we bear nothing of the place from this time till
the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib in the reign
of Hezekiah, when it is mentioned by Isaiah (x. 28).
He ia advancing by the northern road, and baa
pawed Ai and Migron. At Michnuuth, on the
farther aide of tbe almost impassable ravine, the
heavy baggage (A. V. *' carriages," see vol. i. p.
S83a) ia deposited, but the great king himself
■T o s s e s the pass, and takes up his quarters for the
aight at Geba. All this is in exact accordance with
the indications of the narrative of 1 Samuel, and
with tbe present localities.
After the Captivity, the men of the place re-
turned, 122 in number (Ear. ii. 27; Neb. vii. 31;
in both these the name is slightly altered to Mich-
mas), and reoccupied their former home (Neh.
si.31).
At a later date it became tbe residence of Jona-
than Haccabans, and the seat of his government
(1 Mace. ix. 73, "Machmaa;" Joseph. Ant. xiii.
I, 5 6). In the time of Kusebius and Jerome
{OwiBuiiticon, " Machnias ") it was " a very large
village retaining its ancient name, and lying near
Kamah in tbe district of jElia (Jerusalem), at 9
oiiles distance therefrom.* 1
Later still it was famed for the excellence of its
earn. See the quotation from the Mishna (Afarn-
chtXk) in Belaud {Pnlcutina, p. 897), and Schwars
(p. 131). Whether this excellence is still maintained
we do not know. There Is a good deal of cultivation
in and amongst groves of old olives in the broad
shallow wady which slopes down to the north and
east of the village; but Mukhnuu itself is a very
poor place, and tbe country close to it has truly
" a most forbidding aspect." " Huge gray rocks
raise up their bald crowns, completely hiding every
patch of soil, and the gray huts of the village, and
the gray ruins that encompass them can hardly be
distinguished from the rocks themselves." There
are considerable remains of massive foundations,
columns, cisterns, etc., testifying to former pros-
perity, greater than that of either Anathoth or
Geba (Porter, Hnndbk. 315, 316).
Immediately below tbe village, tbe great wady
spreads out to a considerable width — perhaps half
a mile; and its bed is broken up into an intricate
mass of hummocks and mounds, some two of which,
before tbe torrents of 3,000 winters had reduced and
rounded their forms, were probably the two " teeth
of cliff" — tbe Bozez and Seneh of Jonathan's ad-
venture. Right opposite is Jtbn, on a curiously
terraced bill. To the left the wady contracts again,
led shows a narrow black gorge of almost vertical
Kraestone rocks pierced with mysterious caverns
and fissures, the resort, so the writer wss assured,
of hyenas, porcupines, and eagles. In the wet
season the stream is said to be often deeper than
a man's neck, very strong, and or a bright yellow
solar.
In the Middle Ages el-Birth wss believed to be
Michmash (see Maundrell, March 35 ; act. the
jopious details in Quaresmius, JChcidatio, 11. 788,
187). But el-Birth is now ascertained ol. good
-rounds to be identical with Bkkkoth. O.
MIOHTUETHAH (nnpjttn, i t, tbe
•fcmethatb : Uaafiir, AnKavie', Alex. Hax««8>
MICHTAM
1928
In both cases : Machmethath), a place which frrmed
one of the landmarks of the loun-lary of the tar
ritories of Ephraim and Manasseh on the western
side of Jordan. (1.) It lay " facing 033 bv
Shechem;" it also was the next place on tot
boundary west of Ashkh" (Josh. xvii. 7), if indeed
the two are not one snd the same place — ham-
Micmethath a distinguishing affix to the commoner
name of Asher. The latter view is taken by Keland
(Palattma, p. 596) — no mean authority — and also
by Schwars (p. 117), but it ia not supported by tbe
Masoretio accents of the passage. The former is
that of the Targum of Jonathan, as well as our
own A. V. Whichever may ultimately be found
correct, tbe position of the place must be some-
where on the east of and not for distant from
Shechem. But then (2. ) this appears quite incon-
sistent with the mention of the same name in the
specification of a former boundary (Josh. xvi. 6 I.
Here the whole description seems to relate to thr
boundary between Benjamin and Ephraim (>". e.
Ephraim's southern boundary), and Michniethath
follows Beth-horon the upper, and is stated to be on
its west or seaward side. Now Beth-horon is at
least 20 miles, as the crow flies, from Shechem, and
more than 30 from Asher. The only escape from
such hopeless contradictions is the belief that the
statements of chap. xvi. have suffered very great
mutilation, and that a gap exists between verses
5 and 6, which if supplied would give the land-
marks which connected the two remote points of
Beth-horon and Michniethath. The place has not
been met with nor the name discovered by travel-
lers, ancient or modern. U.
MICH'RI CpB [perh. purchated, valuable.
Ges.] : Max'p; [vat Mayfip;] Alex. Moxv«'
Mochori). Ancestor of Ekh, one of the beads of
the fathers of Benjamin (1 Chr. ix. 8) after the
Captivity.
MICHTAM (DP?D : ,m,\oypo^la: tituh
irucri/itio). This word occurs in the titles of six
Psalms (xvi., lvi.-lx.), all of which are ascribed to
David. The marginal reading of our A. V. is "a
golden psalm," while in the Geneva version it is
described as " a certain tune." From the position
which it occupies in the title, compered with thai
of Mizmor (A. V. "Psalm," Ps. iv.-vi., etc.),
Matchil (l's. xxxii., etc.), and Shiygaion (IV vii),
tbe first of which certainly denotes a song with an
instrumental accompaniment (as distinguished from
shir, a song for the voice alone), we may infer that
miclitam is a term applied to these psalms to de-
note their musical character, but beyond this every-
thing is obscure. The very etymology of tbe word
is uncertain. 1. Kimcbi and Aben Ezra, among
Rabbinical writers, trace it to the root DHS,
dthnm, as it appears in D£I3, cethem, which is
rendered in the A. V. '< gold " (Job ixviii. 16),
" pure gold " (Job ixviii. 19), " fine gold " (Job
xxxL 34); because tbe psalm was to David precious
as fine gold. They have been followed by the
translators in the margin of our version, and the
Michtam Psalms have been compared with thr
' Golden Sayings " of Pythagoras and the Proverbs
of AIL Others hare thought the epithet " golden '
was applied to these psalms, because they were
«r«Jn situation of the town of .
to Muuasxa, vol. Ii. p. 1170.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1924
MICHTAM
irrttten In fetters of gold and suspended in the
Sanctuary or elsewhere, like the MouUakdt, at sus-
pended poems of Mecca, which were called Mod-
kahabU, or " golden," because they were written
in gold characters upon Egyptian linen. There is,
however, no trace among the Hebrews of a practice
analogous to this. Another interpretation, baaed
upon the same etymology of the word, is given to
Michtam by an unknown writer quoted by Jarchi
(Ps. xvi. 1). According to this, it signifies " a
jrown," because David asked God for bis protec-
tion, and He was as a crown to him (Ps. v. 12).
2. In Syriac the root in conj. Pail, J&Jjt-S,
xtthem, signifies " to stain," hence "to defile," the
primary meaning in Peal being probably " to spot,
mark with spots," whence the substantive is in
common use in Rabbinical Hebrew in the sense of
"spot" or "mark" (comp. Kimcbi, on Am. i. 1).
In this sense the Niphal participle occurs in Jer.
ii. 22, " thine iniquity is spotted before me," which
makes the parallelism more striking than the
" marked " of cur A. V. From this etymology the
meanings have been given to Michtam of » a noted
song" (Junius and Tremellius, inriynit), or a song
which was graven or carved upon stone, a monu-
mental inscription; the latter of which has the
merit of antiquity in its favor, being supported by
the renderings of the LXX., Theodotiou, the
Chaldee Targum, and the Vulgate. (See Michaelis,
SuppL ad Lex. Ileb. No. 1242.) There is nothing
in the character of the psalms so designated to
render the title appropriate; bad the Hebrews been
acquainted with musical notes, it would he as reason-
able to compare the word Michtam with the old
English ■' prick-song," ■ a song pricked or noted.
In the utter darkness which envelopes it, any con-
jecture is worthy of consideration; many are value-
less as involving the transference to one language
of the metaphors of another.
.1. The corresponding Arab. «-0 catami, " to
conceal, repress," is also resorted to fix the explana-
tion of Michtam. which was a title given to certain
psalms, according to Hezel, because they were
written while David was in concealment. This,
however, could not be appropriate to I's. lviii., Ix.
From the same root Hengstenberg attributes to
them a hidden, mystical import, and renders Mich-
tam by Utheimnist, which he explains as " ein Lied
liefen Sinnes." Apparently referring the word to
the same origin, Evrald (Jahb. viii. p. 68) suggests
that it may designate a song accompanied by bass
-nstruments, like "the cymbals of trumpet-sound "
of Ps. cl. 5, which would be adapted to the plaintive
character of Ps. xvi. and others of the series to
which it is applied. The same mournful tone is
llso believed to be indicated in Michtam as derived
*. * *
from a root analogous to the Arab. *J*S, cathama,
which in conj. vii. signifies " to be sad," in which
esse it would denote '• an elegy."
a Shakespeare, Rom. and JuL U. 4 : "H» fights as
><mi sing priektong, keeps time, distance, and propor-
o Tov Ttttnivtypovot xtu ewAov row Aavift.
<t « HnmUis et stmpUds David."
• The notion that then were two peoples called Miil-
sai, ftowndad on the supposed shortness of the Interval
MID IAN
4. But the explanation which is most approved
by Koeenmuller and Geeenius is that which finds
in Michtam the equivalent of 2PQQ, mictib ; s
word which occurs in Is. xxxvili. 9 (A. V. " writ
ing"), and which is believed by Capellus (Oil
Sncr. iv. 2, § 11) to have been the reading followed
by the LXX. and Targum. Geaeuius supports hii
decision by instances of similar interchanges of 3
and & in roots of cognate meaning. In accord-
ance with this De Wette renders <• Schrift."
5. For the sake of completeness another theory
may be noticed, which is quite untenable in itself,
but is curious as being maintained in the versions
of Aquila * and Symmachns, c and of Jerome <
according to the Hebrew, and was derived from
the Rabbinical interpreters. According to these,
QfjO'? >> an enigmatic word equivalent to T|D
OQ\ " humble and perfect," epithets applied to
David himself.
It is evident from what has been said, that noth-
ing has been really done to throw light upon the
meaning of this obscure word, and there seems little
likelihood that the difficulty will be cleared away.
Beyond the general probability that it is a musi-
cal term, the origin of which is uncertain and the
application lost, nothing is known. The subject
will be found discussed in Rosenmiiller's Scholia
(Psalm, vol. i. explic. tituL xlii.-xlvi.), and by Hup-
feld (.Die Pvdmen, i. 308-311 ), who has collected all
the evidence bearing upon it, and adheres to the
rendering kleinod (jewel, treasure), which Luther
also gives, and which is adopted by Hitxig and
Mendelssohn. W. A. W.
MIDTJIBT (^79 [reach, extension] : AiVafi
[Alex.] MoJoc; [Comp. MaSoly:] Mtddm), a
city of Judah (Josh. xv. 61), one of the six speci-
fied as situated iu the district of " the midbar "
(A. V. "wilderness"). This midbar, as it con-
tained Beth ha-Arabah, the city of Salt, and En-
pedi, must have embraced not only the waste lands
on the upper level, but also the cliffs themselves
and the strip of shore at their feet, on the edge of
the lake itself. Middin is not mentioned by Kuse-
bius or Jerome, nor has it been identified or per-
haps sought for by later travellers. By Van de
Velde (.tfVmoir, 256, and Map) mention is made
of a valley on the southwestern side of the Dead
Sea, below Maaada, called Urn el-Bedm, which
may contain a trace of the ancient name. G.
• MIDDLE-WALL. [Paktitiot, Wau,
op, Amer.ed.]
MnyiAN CI T T?» »«"/«. ""to"**. <*■• =
MaSid/i [occasionally MaSidV] : Madian), a sod
of Abraham and Keturah (Gen. xxv. 2 ; 1 Chr. i.
32); progenitor of the Midianites, or Arabians
dwelling principally in the desert north of the pen-
insula of Arabia.' Southwards they extended along
the eastern shore of the Gulf of Eyleh (Sinus
for any considerable multiplication from Abraham ts
Hoses, and on the mention of Moses' Coahlte wnk, the
writer thinks to be untenable. Ivan conceding tt»
former objection, which Is unnecessary, one tribe has
often become merged Into another, and oMtr one, ana
only the name of the later retained. See below anf
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MEDIAN
■); and northwards they stretched along
Jse eaatem frontier of Palestine; while the oaaee in
'Jtt peninsula of Sinai aeem to have afforded them
pasture grounds, and caused it to be included in the
■i land of Hidian " (but see below on this point).
The ptvplt is always spoken of, in the Hebrew, as
" Midian,'" "JJ"J , ?» exoe P t m G*"- *""»'"■ 38 i Num.
zxr. 17, xxxi. 2, where we find the pL CWTD.
In Gen. xzxrii. 28, the form D'OTD occurs, ren-
demd in the A. V. as well as in the Vulg." " Mid-
sanites; " and this is probably the correct rendering,
aiaee it ocean in ver. 36 of the same chap. ; though
the people here mentioned may be descendants of
afXDAM (which see). The gentilic form ^"TQ,
« Midianite," occurs once, Num. x. 99.
After the chronological record of Midian's birth,
with the names of his sons, in the xxvth chapter of
Genesis, the name disappears from the Biblical
history until the time of Moses; Hidian is first
mentioned, as a people, when Moses fled, bavin);
killed the Egyptian, to the " land of Midian " (Ex.
ii. 15), and married a daughter of a priest of Midian
(31). The "land of Midian," or the portion of it
specially referred to, was probably the peninsula of
Sinai, for we read in the next chapter (ver. 1 ) that
Moses led the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the
priest of Midian, " to the lockside of the desert, and
came to the mountain of God, even Horeb," and
this agrees with a natural supposition that he did
not flee far beyond the frontier of Kgypt (compare
Ex. xviii. 1-27, where it is recorded that Jethro
came to Moses to the mount of God after the Exo-
dus from Egypt; but in r. 27 " he went his way
into his own land : ' see also Num. x. 29, 30). It
should, however, be remembered that the name
of Hidian (and hence the " land of Midian ") was
perhaps often applied, as that of the most powerful
of the northern Arab tribes, to the northern
Arabs generally, i. e. those of Abrahamic descent
(oomp. Gen. xxxvii. 28, but see respecting this
passage above; sod Judg. viii. 24); just as Bkne-
Kedkm embraced all those peoples, and, with a
wider signification, other Eastern tribes. If this
reading of the name be correct, " Midian " would
correspond very nearly with our modern word
" Arab ; " limiting, however, the modern word to
the Arabs of the northern and Egyptian deserts :
all the lahmaelite tribes of those doserU would thus
oe Midianites, ss we call them Arabs, the desert
oeing their " land." At least, it cannot be doubted
that the descendant* of Hagar and Keturah inter-
married; and thus the Midianites are apparently
called Ishmaelites, in Judg. viii. 24, being con-
nected, both by blood and national customs, with
the father of the Arabs. The wandering habits of
nomadic tribes must also preclude our arguing from
the fact of Moses' leading bis father's flock to Horeb,
that Sinai was necessarily more than a station of
Midian : those tribes annually traverse a great ex-
tent of country in search of pasturage, and have
their established summer and winter pastures. The
Midianites wen mostly (not always) dwellers in
•ante, pot towns; and Sinai has not sufficient pas-
tan to support more than a small, ;r a moving
people- But it must be remembered t-at perhaps
HIDIAN
1986
• The LXX. have bars Maiupviot, whleh seems to
■ am unusual mods of writing toe name of th» people
IsaraMtrra Malta* Ttw Samaritan has CO'-TO.
(or we may say probably) the peninsula of Sinai has
considerably changed in its physical character sine*
the time of Moses; for the adjacent isthmus bat-
since that period, risen many feet, so that " tbs
tongue of the Egyptian Sea " has " dried up: " and
this supposition would much diminish the difficulty
of accounting for the means of subsistence found by
the Israelites in their wanderings in the wilderness,
when not miraculously supplied. Apart from this
consideration, we knew that the Egyptians after-
wards worked mines at Surdbet el-KlidiHm and a
small mining population may have found sufficient
sustenance, at least in some seasons of the year, in
the few watered valluys, and wherever ground
could lie reclaimed: rock-inscriptions (though of
later date) testify to the number of at least passers-
by ; and the remains of villages of a mining popu-
lation have been recently discovered. Whatever
may have been the position of Midian in tbs
Sinaitio peninsula, if we may believe the Arabian
historians and geographers, backed as their testi-
mony is by the Greek geographers, the city of
Midian was situate on the opposite, or Arabian,
shore of the Arabian gulf, and thence northwards
and spreading east and west we have the true coun-
try of the wandering Midianites. See further in
SlNAI.
The next occurrence of the name of this people
in the sacred history marks their northern settle-
ments on the border of the Promised Land, " on
this side Jordan [by] Jericho " in the plains of
Moab (Num. xxii. 1-4), when Balak said, of Israel,
to the elders (D N 3|7t, or " old men," the same as
the Arab "sheykhs") of Midian, "Now shall this
company lick up all [that are] round about us, as
the ox licketh up the grass of the field." In the
subsequent transaction with Balaam, the elders of
Midian went with those of Moab, '• with the re-
wards of divination in their hand " (7) ; but in the
remarkable words of Balaam, the Midianites are
not mentioned. This might be explained by the
supposition that Midian was a wandering tribe,
whose pasture-lands reached wherever, in the Ara-
bian desert and frontier of Palestine, pasture was
to be found, and who would not feel, in the same
degree as Moab, Amalek, or the other more settled
and agricultural inhabitants of the land allotted to
the tribes of Israel, the arrival of the latter. But
the spoil token in the war that soon followed, and
more especially the mention of the dwellings of
Midian, render this suggestion very doubtful, and.
point rather to a considerable pastoral settlement
of Midian in the trans-Jordanic country. Such
settlements of Arabs have, however, been very com-
mon. In this case the Midianites were evidently
tributary to the Amorites, being " dukes of Sihon,
dwelling in the country '• (VffiJ >, 3?' , ) : t* 1 " 1
inferior position explains their omission from Ba-
laam's prophecy. It was here, " on this side Jor-
dan,'* that the chief doings of the Midianites with
the Israelites took place. The latter, while they
ab'-ie in Shittim, "joined themselves unto Baal-
Poor " (Num. xxv. 1, Ac. ) — apparently a Midianite
as well ss a Hoabitish deity — the result of the
sin of whoredom with the Mosbitish women ; and
when " the anger of the Lord was kindled against
Israel . . . and the congregation of the children
of Israel [were] weeping [before] the door of the
taberctcleof the congregation," an Israelite brought
a Mirt'inltieh woman openly into the camp Tbs
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1926 MTDLOT
ink of this woman Cozbi, that of a daughter of
Zur, who ni " head over a people, of a chief house
in Midiao," " throws a strange light over the ob-
icore page of that people's history. The vices of
the Canaanites, idolatry and whoredom, had in-
fected the descendants of Abraham, doubtless con-
nected by successive intermarriages with those
tribes: and the prostitution of this chief s daughter,
taught as it wits from the customs of the Canaan-
ites, is evidence of the ethnological type of the lat-
ter tribes. Some African nations have a similar
custom: they offer their unmarried daughters to
show hospitality to their guests. Zur was one of
the five •• kings " OJ^p), slain in the war with
Hidian, recorded in cti. xzxi.
The influence of the Midianites on the Israelites
was clearly most evil, and directly tended to lead
them from the injunctions of Moses. Much of the
dangerous character of their influence may probably
be ascribed to the common descent from Abraham.
While the Cnnaanitiah tribes were abhorred, Midian
might claim consanguinity, and more readily seduce
Israel from their allegiance. The events at Shittiin
occasioned the injunction to vex Midian and smite
them — '■ for they vex you with their wiles, where-
with they have beguiled you in the matter of l'eor
and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince
of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day
of the plague for Peor's sake" (Num. xxv. 18);
and further on, Moses is enjoined, " Avenge the
children of Israel of the Midianites : afterward ahalt
thou be gathered unto thy people'' (xxxi. 2).
Twelve thousand men, a thousand from each tribe,
went up to this war, a war in which all the males
of the enemy were slain, and the five kings of
Midian — Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Keba, to-
gether with Balaam ; and afterwards, by the express
oommand of Moses, only the virgins and female
infants, of the captives brought into the camp, were
spared alive. The cities and castles of the van-
quished, and the spoil taken, afford facta to which
we shall recur. After a lapse of some years (the
number is very doubtful, see Chkosology), the
Midianites appear again as the enemies of the
Israelites. They had recovered from the devasta-
tion of the former war, probably by the arrival of
fresh colonists from the desert tracts over which
their tribes wandered; and they now were aufiV
sienUy powerful to become the oppressors of the
children of Israel. The advocates of a short chro-
nology must, however unwillingly, concede a con-
siderable time for Midian thus to recover from the
severe blow inflicted by Moses. Allied with the
Amalekites, and the Bene-Kedem, they drove them
to make dens in the mountains and caves and
strongholds, and wasted their crops even to Gaza,
on the Mediterranean coast, in the land of Simeon.
The judgeship of Gideon was the immediate conse-
quence of these calamities ; and with the battle he
fought in the valley of Jezreel, and his pursuit of
'he flying enemy over Jordan to Karkor, the power
» aKTWaj rfaSJ* ttMl, " head of nunlUes of
s patriarchal house ; " afterwards in vnr. 18, called
prince, K'tM. (See next note.)
» These 'site afterwards (Josh. xili. 31) called
btuom " (WuT)), whieh may also be rendered
■ss leader or captain of a tribe, or even of a family
Qfj.), and " dukes " ( > 3 , Q5, not the wort nattered
MIDIAN
of Midian seems to have been broken. It is i
" Thus was Midian subdued before the children at
Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more "
(Judg. viii. 88). The part taken by Gideon in toil
memorable event has been treated of elsewhere, bat
the Midianite side of the story is pregnant with
interest. [Gideon.]
Midian had oppressed Israel for seven years. At
a numberless eastern horde they entered the land
with their cattle and their camels. The imagina-
tion shows us the green plains of Palestine sprinkled
with the black goat's-hair tents of this great Arab
tribe, their flocks and herds and camels let loose in
the standing corn, and foraging parties of horsemen
driving before them the possessions of the Israelites;
for " they came like locusts (A. V. ' grasshoppers,'
"?Ttf) for multitude" (Judg. vi. 6), and when
the •• angel of the Lord " came to Gideon, so severe
was the oppression that he was threshing wheat by
the wine-press Iv hide it from Iht M'uKanitu (11)
When Gideon had received the Divine command
to deliver Israel, and had thrown down the altai
of Baal, we read, " Then all the Midianites and the
Amalekites and the Bene-Kedem were gathered to-
gether, and went over," descended from the desert
hills and crossed Jordan, " and pitched in the Valley
of Jezreel " (33) — part of the Plain of Esdraelon,
the battle-field of Palestine — and there, from " the
gray, bleak crowns of Gilboa," where Saul and
Jonathan perished, did Gideon, with the boat that
he had gathered together of Israel, look down on
the Midianites, who " were on the north side of
them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley " (vii. 1).
The scene over that fertile plain, dotted with the
enemies of Israel, " the Midianites and the Amal-
ekites and all the Bene-Kedem, [who] lay along*
in the valley like locusts for multitude, and their
camels were without number, as the sand by the
sea-side for multitude " (vii. 12), has been pic-
turesquely painted by Professor Stanley {S.fP. ).
The descent of Gideon and his servant into the
camp, and the conversation of the Midianite watch
forms a vivid picture of Arab life. It does more;
it proves that as Gideon, or Phurah, his servant,
oi both, understood the language of Midian, the
Semitic languages differed much less in the 14th
or 13th century B. c. than they did in after times
[see Arabia, vol. i. p. 142] ; and we besides obtain
a remarkable proof of the consanguinity of the
Midianites, and learn that, though the name was
probably applied to all or most of the northern
Abraham ic Arabs, it was not applied to the Canaan-
itea, who certainly did not then speak a Semitic
language that Gideon could understand.
The stratagem of Gideon receives an illustration
from modern oriental life. Until lately the polios
in Cairo were accustomed to go their rounds with
a lighted torch thrust into a pitcher, and the
pitcher was suddenly withdrawn when light was
required (Lane's Mod. Kg. 5th ed. p. ISO) — a
custom affording an exact parallel to the ancient
duke In tbe enumeration of the "dukes of Bdom ")
" one anointed, a prince co n secra t ed by anotntiug '
(Qes.) of Sihon king of the Amorites ; apparently Ueu
ants of th* Amorlts, or princes of his appointing
[Hum; bun.]
e Prof. Stanley reads hen " wrapt In sleep." Thougi
the Heb. will bear this interpretation, dennius sat
vncanpsd,"
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MIDIAN
•xpedient adapted by Gideon. The consequent
panis of the great multitnde In the valley, if it has
no parallels in modern European history, is con-
sistent with oriental character. Of all peoples, the
nations of the East are most liable to sudden and
violent amotions ; and a panic in one of their
heterogenous, undisciplined, and excitable hosts
has always proved disastrous. In the case of
Gideon, bowerer, the result of his attack was di-
rected by God, the Divine hand being especially
shown in the small number of Israel, 300 men,
against 135,000 of the enemy. At the sight of
the 300 torches, suddenly blazing round about the
eamp in the beginning of the middle-watch (which
the Midianites had newly set), with the confused
din of the trumpets, " for the three companies blew
the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the
tamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their
right hands to blow [withal], and they cried, [The
sword] of the Lord and of Gideon " (vii. 20), " all
the host ran. aud cried, and fled" (21). The
panic-stricken multitude knew not enemy from
friend, for " the Lord set every man's sword against
his fellow even throughout all the host " (22). The
rout was complete, the first places made for being
Beth-ahittah ("the house of the acacia") in Zere-
rath, and the "border" [nsjp] of Abel-me-
holah, " the meadow of the dance," both being
probably down the Jordan Valley, unto Tabbath,
shaping their Sight to the ford of Betb-barab, where
probably they had crossed the river as invaders.
The flight of so great a host, encumbered with slow-
moving camels, baggage, and cattle, was calamitous.
All the men of Israel, out of Naphtali, and Asher,
and Manaaseh, joined in the pursuit; and Gideon
mused the men of Mount Ephraim to " take before "
the Midianites " the waters unto Beth-barah and
Jordan " (23, 24). Thus cut off, two princes, Oreb
and Zeeb (the " raven," or, more correctly " crow,"
and the " wolf"), fell into the hands of Ephraim,
and Oreb they slew at the rock Oreb, and Zeeb
they slew at the wine-press of Zeeb (vii. 25 ; comp.
la. x. 26, where the " slaughter of Midian at the
rock Oreb " is referred to).° But though we have
seen that many joined hi a desultory pursuit of the
rabble of the Midianites, only tbe 300 men who
had blown the trumpets in the Valley of Jezreel
crossed Jordai: with Gideon, " faint yet pursuing "
(viii. 4). With this force it remained for the lib-
erator to attack the enemy on his own ground, for
Midian had dwelt on the other side Jordan since
the days of Moses. Fifteen thousand men, under
the "kings" [^V?] of Midian, Zebah and Zs.-
tnomna, were at Karkor, the sole remains of 135,-
D00, "for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand
men that drew sword " (viii. 10). The assurance
of God's help encouraged the weary three hundred,
and they ascended from the plain (or ghor) to the
higher country by a ravine or torrent-bed in tbe
hius, " by the way of them that dwelt in tents
[that is, the pastoral or wandering people as distin-
guished from towns people], on the east of Nobah
ind Jogbehah, and smote the host, for the host was
•com" (viii. 11) — secure in that wild country,
MIDIAN
192.
• It is added, in the same verse, that they punned
IHdJao, and brought the heads of the princes toOluson
« en the other side Jordan." This anticipates tin ao-
ttrant of his crossing Jordan (vlll. 4), but such bmns-
sosMons an frequent, and the Hebnw ma be read
'aa this sMs Jordan."
on their own ground, and away from the frequent
haunts of man. A sharp pursuit seems to base
followed this fresh victory, ending in the capture
of tbe kings and the final discomfiture of tbt
Midianites. The overthrow of Midian in its en-
campment, when it was " secure," by the exhausted
companies of Gideon (they were " faint," and bad
been refused bread both at Sucooth and at Penuel,
viii. 5-9), sets the seal to God's manifest hand in
tbe deliverance of his people from the oppression
of Midian. Zebah and Zalmunna were slain, and
with them tbe name itself of Midian almost disap-
pears from sacred history. That people never after-
wards took up arms against Israel, though they
may have been allied with the nameless hordes who
under the common designation of " the people of
the East," Bene-Kedem, harassed the eastern border
of Palestine.
Having traced the history of Midian, it remains
to show what is known of their condition and cus-
toms, etc., besides what has already been incidentally
mentioned. The whole account of their doings with
Israel — and it is only thus that they find a place
in the sacred writings, plainly marks them as char
acteristically Arab. We have already stated our
opinion that they had intermarried with Ishmael's
descendants, and become nationally one people, so
that they are apparently called Ishmaehtes; and
that, conversely, it is most probable their power
and numbers, with such intermarriages, had caused
the name of Midian to be applied to the northern
Abrahamic Arabs generally. They are described
aa true Arabs — now Uedawees, or " people of tbe
desert;" anon pastoral, or settled Arabs — the
flock " of Jethro ; the cattle and flocks of Midian,
in the later days of Moses; their camels without
number, as the sand of the sea-side for multitude
when they oppressed Israel in the days of the
Judges — all agree with such a description. Like
Arabs, who are predominantly a nomadic people,
they seem to have partially settled in the land of
Moab, under the rule of Sibon the Amorite, and to
have adapted themselves readily to the "cities"
(DOn^), and forts? (A. V. "goodly castles,"
D^l'-^tp), which they did not build, but occupied,
retaining even then their flocks and herds (Num.
xxxi. 9, 10), but not their camels, which are not
common among settled Arabs, because they are
not required, and are never, in that state, healthy.*
Israel seems to have devastated that settlement, and
when next Midian appears in history it is as a
desert-horde, pouring into Palestine with innumer
able camels ; and, when routed and broken by
Gideon, fleeing " by the way of them that dwelt
in tents " to the east of Jordan. The character
of M.Jian we think is thus unmistakably marked.
The only glimpse of their habits is found in tile
vigorous picture of tbe camp in the Valley of Jezreel,
when the men talked together in *,he camp, and
one told how he bad dreamt that " a cake of barley-
bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came
into a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned
it, that tbe tent lay along " (Judg. vii. 19».
We can scarcely doubt, notwithstanding the die-
s' Thus an Arab, believing in contagious i
asked Mohammed why camels in the desert &i» like
gasBUas, and become mangy as soon aa they mix with
camels In towns. The prophet answered, " Wli-vnm*
tb* Snt camel mangy I"
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1928
MTDIA1T
pates of antiquaries, that the more ancient of the
remarkable stone buildings in the Lejah, and
stretching far away over the land of Moab, are at
ieaat aa old aa the days of Silion ; and reading Mr.
Porter' a descriptions of the wild old-world character
af the scenery, the "cities," and the "goodly
castles," one may almost fancy himself in presence
of the hosts of Midian. (See Handbook, 601, 608,
523, Ac.)
The spoil taken in both the war of Moses and
that of Gideon is remarkable. On the former occa-
sion, the spoil of 675,000 sheep, 72,000 beeves, and
61,000 asses, seems to confirm the other indications
of the then pastoral character of the Midianites;
the omission of any mention of camels has been
already explained. But the gold, silver, brass, iron,
tin, and lead (Num xxxi. 22), the "jewels of gold,
chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets '*
(60) — the offering to the Urd being 16,750 shekels
(52) — taken by Moses, is especially noteworthy ;
and it is confirmed by the booty taken by Gideon ;
for when he slew Zebah and Zalmunna he " took
away the ornaments that [were] on their camels'
necks" (Judg. viii. 21), and (24-26) he asked of
every man the earrings of his prey, " for they had
golden earrings, because they [were] Ishmaelitea."
" And the weight of the golden earrings that he
requested was a thousand and seven hundred
[shekels] of gold ; besides ornaments and collars,
and purple raiment that [was] on the kings of
Midian, and beside the chains that [were] about
their camels' necks." (The rendering of A. V. is
sufficiently accurate for our purpose here, and any
examination into the form ur character of these
ornaments, tempting though it is, belongs more
properly to other articles.) We have here a wealthy
Arab nation, living by plunder, delighting in finery
(especially their women, for we may here read
"nose-ring"); and, where forays were impossible,
carrying on the traffic southwards into Arabia, the
Und of gold — if not naturally, by trade — and
across to Chalthea; or into the rich plains of
Egypt"
Midian is named authentically only in the Bible-
It has no history elsewhere. The names of places
and tribes occasionally throw a feeble light on its
past dwellings; but the stories of Arabian writers,
borrowed, in the case of the northern Arabs, too
frequently from late and untrustworthy Jewish
writers, cannot be seriously treated. For reliable
facts we must rest on the Biblical narrative. The
city of " Medyen [say the Arabs] is the city of the
people of Shu'eyb, and is opposite Tabook, on the
shore of Bahr el-Kulzum [the Bed Sea] : between
these is six days' journey. It [Medyen] is larger
than Tabook: and in it is the well from which
Moses watered the flock of Shu'eyb " (Maraud,
s. v.). El-Makrrezee (in his KU'uat) enters into
« * Modern travellers confirm this BtbUcal account
jf the fertility and wealth of Midian. "We suc-
ceeded," save Tristram, " in reaching E> Taiyibth Just
as the sun went down. We had magnificent views
ever the east aa tar as Jebel Uanran. Great was our
tstonlshmcnt to find, as we tamed our glasses on
Boars'), that all the vast blank space on the map
vhlcu lies between Quoad and Bosrah, instead of being
desert , was one boundless corn or grass plain, covered
with crops. It Is, In (act, the granary of North Arabia.
Bare was the wealth of Borneo Syria, and the source
st* Its population ; and hare the swarming Midianites,
axe the Benl Sakkr of to-day. pastured their thousands
sframals." {Land of Uratl, 2ded., p. 480.) H.
MIDIAN
considerable detail respecting this city and people
The substance of his account, which is full of in
credible fables, is aa follows: Medyen are the peo-
ple of Shu'ej b, and are the offspring of Med van '
[Midian], son of Abraham, and their mother was
Kantoora, the daughter of Yuktan [Joktan] the
Canaanite: she bare him eight children, from whom
descended peoples. He here quotes the passage
alove cited from the Muratid almost vei baliiu, and
adds, that the Arabs dispute whether the name be
foreign or Arabic, and whether Medyen spoke Ara-
bic, so-called. Some say that they had a number
of kings, who were respectively named Abjad, llaw-
wes, liuttee, Kelemen, Saafas, and Karashet. This
absurd enumeration forms a sentence common in
Arabic grammars, which gives the order of the
Hebrew and ancient Arabic alphabets, and the
numerical order of the letters. It is only curious
as possibly containing some vague reference to the
bmijuige of Midian, and it is therefore inserted
here. These kings are said to have ruled at Mek-
keh, Western Nejd, the Yemen, Medyen, and Egypt,
etc, contemporaneously. That Midian penetrated
into the Yemen is, it must be observed, extremely
improbable, aa the writer of this article has re-
marked in Arabia, notwithstanding the hints of
Arab authors to the contrary, Yakoot, in the Jbfoa-
jam (cited in the Journal of the Dtvttch. Morgenl
lltttlltckajl), saying that a southern Arabian dia-
lect is of Midian; and El-Mes'oodee (np. Schultcna.
pp. 158, 159) inserting a Midianite king among the
rulers of the Yemen: the latter being, however,
more possible than the former, as an accidental and
individual, not a national occurrence. The story of
Shu'eyb is found in the Kur-nn. He was sent at
a prophet to warn the people of Midian, and being
rejected by them, they were destroyed by a storm
from heaven (Sale's Kui-dn, vii. and xi.). He is
generally supposed to be the same as J e thro, the
father-in-law of Moses; but some, as Sale informs
us, deny this ; and one of these says " that be was
first called Buyoon, and afterwards Shu'eyb, that
he was a comely person, but spare and lean, very
thoughtful, and of few words." The whole Arab
story of Medyen and Shu'eyb, even if it contain
any truth, is encumbered by a mass of late Rabbin-
ical myths.
El-Makreeiee tells us that in the land of Midian
were many cities, of which the people had disap-
peared, and the cities themselves had fallen to ruin ;
that when he wrote (in the year 825 of the Flight)
forty cities remained, the names of some being
known, and of others lost. Of the former, be says,
there were, between the Hijiu and Palestine and
Egypt, sixteen cities; and ten of these in the direc-
tion of Palestine. They were El-Khalasah, Es-
Saneetah, El-Medereh, El-Minyeh, Kl-Aawaj, E»
Khuweyrak, El-Beereyn, El-Ma-eyn, FJ-Sebu, axe
FJ-Mu'allak.' The most important of these eitia
*y,^du0.
&aJLJ., SJtXjt, Lull
&& o^ f - &M
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MTDIANITE
««r EWKbalasah a and H-Saneetah ; the atones
ef many of them had been removed to El-Ghaxzah
(Gaza) to build with them. Thii list, however,
moat be taken with caution.
In the A. V. of Apocr. and N. T. the name is
given at Madias. E S. P.
• M1IKLAN1TE. [Midia*.]
MIDWIFE. 6 Parturition in the East is usu-
ally easy.* The office of a midwife is thus, in many
eastern countries, in little use, but is performed,
when necessary, by relatives (Chardin, Voy. vii.
23; Harmer, 06s. iv. 436). [Childmw.] It
may be for this reason that the number of persons
employed for this purpose among the Hebrews
was so small, as the passage Ex. i. 19 seems to
•how; unless, as Knobel and others suggest, the
two named were the principal persons of their
data.
In the description of the transaction mentioned
in Ex. i., one expression, " upon the * stools," re-
ceives remarkable illustration from modem usage,
tiesenius doubts the existence of any custom such
as the direct meaning of the passage implies, and
suggests a wooden or stone trough for washing the
new-born child. But the modem Egyptian prac-
tice, as described by Mr. 1-ane, exactly answers to
thai indicated in the book of Exodus. " Two or
three days before the expected time of delivery, the
Ijtigtk (midwife) conveys to the house the kunee
tlwtiddek, a chair of a peculiar form, upon which
the patient is to be seated during the birth " (Lane,
Mod. Egypt, iii. 142).
The moral question arising from the conduct of
the midwives does not fall within the scope of the
p resent article. The reader, however, may refer to
St- Augustine, Contr. mendacium, ch. xv. 82, and
Qwest, in Htpt. li. 1; also Cora, a Lap. Com. on
Ex. I
When it is said, " God dealt well with the mid-
wives, and built them houses," we are probably to
understand that their families were blessed either
in point of numbers or of substance. Other explana-
tions of inferior value have been offered by Kimehi,
Calvin, and others (Calmet, Com. on Ex. i.; Pat-
rick; Corn, a Lap.; Knobel; Schleusner, Lex. V.
T. oUia: Ges. p. 193; CriL Sacr.).
It is worth while to notice only to refute on its
sera ground the Jewish tradition which identified
Sauphrah and Puah with .locbebed and Miriam, and
Interpreted the '• houses " built for them as the so-
called royal and sacerdotal families of Caleb and
i (Joseph. Ant. iii. 2, § 4; Cora, a Lap. and
MIQIUIV-Bto
192H
CriL Boor. 1. c; Schottgen, Hot. Rear. H. 460
Dt Mem. c. It,). H. W. P.
MICDAL-EI/ (^T^T. [tower of God
Bom. MryaAaapfp; Vat.] MryaAaopeip; Alex.
MaySaXniaipafi — both including the succeeding
name: Uugdai-El), one of the fortified towns of
the prssession of Naphtali (Josh. xix. 38 only),
named between Iron and Hohhm, possibly deriv-
ing its name from some ancient tower — the " tower
of EL or God." In the present unexplored con-
dition of the part of Palestine sllotted to Naphtali,
it is dangerous to hazard conjectures as to the sit-
uations of the towns: but if it be possible that Su-
rah is Horem and YarUn Iron, the possibility la
strengthened by finding a Mujeitltl, at no great
distance from them, namely, on the left bank of the
Wttdy Kerkerah, 8 miles due east of the Rat eav
Nahirah, 6 miles west of Hurah and 8 of Torun
(see Van de Velde's Map, 1868). At any rate the
point is worth investigation.
By Eusebius (OnomatUcon, KaytvtiK) it It
spoken of as a large village lying between Don
(Tantwa) and Ptolemais (Attn) at 9 miles from
the former, that is just about Athlit, the ancient
"Caatellum peregrinorum." No doubt the Cae-
tellum was anciently a migdol • or tower: but it is
hard to locate a town of Naphtali below Carmel,
and at least 25 miles from the boundaries of the
tribe. For a similar reason Mtjdtl by Tiberias, on
the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, is not likely
to be Migdal-el (Rob. Bibl. Re*, ii. 397), since it
must be outside the ancient limits of Naphtali and
within those of Zebulun. In this case, however,
the distance Is not so great.
Sen wan (184), reading Migdal-el and Horom aa
one word, proposes to identify it with Mejdtl d-
Ktrim, a place about 12 miles east of Akin.
A Mejdtl is mentioned by Van de Velde ( Sjs .
and Pal. ii. 307) in the central mountains of
Palestine, near the edge of the Ghor, at the upper
end of the Wady Fatail, and not far from Dawmtk,
the ancient Edumla. This very possibly represents
an ancient Migdal, of which no traoeahat yet been
found in the Bible. It was also visited by Dr.
Robinson (Bibl. Re*, iii. 29S), who gives good rea-
sons for accepting it as the Magdal-eeniia mentioned
by Jerome (Onomatt. "Senna") aa seven miles
north of Jericho, on the border of Judssa. Another
Migdal probably lay about two miles south of Jens-
salem, near the Bethlehem road, where the cluster
of rains called Kirbet Um-Moghdala is now eisa-
ated (Tobler, DriUe Wanderung, p. 81).
a ■ ffnsltssh (sometimes written H-Khnluaah, and
sB-Khalsah), or Dhu 1-KhsJuah, p o s se s sed an Idol-
tomple, destroyed by order of Mohammad; the idol
bang named El-KhaJaaah, or the place, or " growing-
place " of Bl-Khalasah. The place Is said to be four
lays' Journey from Mekkeh, in the 'AbU, and called
■'the southern Kaabeh," Bl-Kaabeh al-Temaneoyeh
(Afiwejfd, a v., and Bl-Bekree, and the Kdmoos there
■Med). H Medmh seems also to be the same as Dhu-
l-lfadarah (Maritid, s. v.), and therefore (from the
turn) probably the site of an Idol temple also.
* rrfej}, part In P. of l^, " to bring forth :"
,„yi oeatrtrue. It must be remarked that jl'vn,
Ju T., *x. L 19, " lively," is also in Rabbinical He-
trow « mtdwlvse," an explanation which appears to
tan teen had m view by the Volg., which Interprets
■kesv-t by "Ipsa obstetrkandl habent setenfiam."
kisses rsneVewd « Urtng creatures," Implying that
the Hebrew women wars, like animals, quick In parte
rltton. Geaenlus nnders " rlvida), robuitie," p. 448.
In any case the general sense of the passage Bi. 1. II
Is the same, namely, that the Hebrew women stood In
little or no need of the midwives' assistance.
e Bee an illustration of Cant. vlll. 6, suggested la
Hlshna, Poach, x. 8.
* D , .?5^T" , '5. rendered in the LXX. Srar
in vote ** rtow ; Viug. quum partus ttmput admn-
nil.
< May this not be the Magdolus named by Herodo-
tus, H. 159. aa the site of Pharaoh Necho's victory over
Jodah. (See Bawllnaon's Hrrod. II. 246, note.) But
this was not the only Migdol along this coast. The
iTpaiuvot wiipyoc, or "Btrsto'a tower," must bam
been another, and a third possibly stood net
; MiesjJrOAD.)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1980
MIGDAL-GAD
H» Migdal-Euer, at which Jacob halted on his
ray from Bethlehem to Hebron, waa a ahort dis-
tance south of the former. [Edar, tower of.]
G.
MIG'DAL-GAD' (T|"bltJB power of
Gad]: [Rom. Maya&aAyat; Vat] Mayatayatl
Alex. MaytaAyaS: M«y<iul-Gad), a city of Judas
(Josh. zv. 37); in the district of the Shefelah, or
maritime lowland; a member of the second group
of cities, which contained amongst others Lachish,
Eglos, and Makkedam. By Eusebius and Je-
rome in the Onomnsticon, it appears to be men-
tioned as "Magdala," but without any sign of its
being actually known to them. A village called el
Mtdjtlel lies in the maritime plain, a couple of
Biles inland from Ascalon, 9 from Vm LnkhU,
and 11 from Ajlm. So far this is in support of
Van de Velde's identification (Syr. o» PaL ii. 837,
838; Memoir, p. 834; Rob. 1st ed. vol. iii. Appen-
dix, p. 118 b) of the place with Migdal-gad, and it
would be quits satisfactory if we were not uncer-
tain whether the other two places are Lachish and
Eglon. Hakkedah at any rate must have been
much farther north. But to appreciate these con-
ditions, we ought to know the principles on which
the groups of towns in these catalogues are ar-
ranged, which as yet we do not. Migdal-gad was
probably dedicated to or associated with the wor-
ship of the ancient deity Gad, another of whose
sanctuaries lay at the opposite extremity of the
country at Baal-gad under Mount Hermon.
G.
MIGDOL (VVT}B, bVrjn [fewer, code]
H&ySvkor, or MtrytaiAoV: Magdolum), proper
name of one or two places on the eastern frontier
of Egypt, cognate to '^JE, which appears prop-
erly to signify a military watch-tower, as of a town
(8 K. ix. 17), or isolated (xvii. 9), and the look-out
of a vineyard (Is. v. 3: comp. Matt xxi. 33, Mark
xdi. 1), or a shepherd's look-out, if we may judge
from the praps name, ^7& '730, "the tower
of the flock," in which, however, it is possible that
the second word is a proper name (Gen. xxxv.
21 ; and comp. Mia iv. 8, where the military sig-
nification seems to be implied, though perhaps
rhetorically only). This form occurs only in Egyp-
tian geography, and it has therefore been supposed
by ChampoUion to be substituted for an Egyptian
name of similar sound, the Coptio equivalent in
the Bible, iieojTco\ J*e2tT0&
(Sah.), being, according to him, of Egyptian origin
(U 'Egypt* tout let Phnrnotu, ii. 79, 80; comp.
(9). A native etymology has been suggested, giv-
ing the signification " multitude of hills " " ( Thet.
i. v.). The ancient Egyptian form of Migdol hav-
ing, however, been found, written in a manner
rendering it not improbable that it was a foreign
word,' MAKTUR or MAKTeRU, as well as so
■sed that it must be of similar meaning to the
Hebrew 7^1?, and the Coptic equivalent occur-
• The derivation is from MJfnj " multitude,"
•* Q&W, TZ.^ (Sah.) "a hill," which Is dar-
Uf. notwithstanding the Instability of the vowels In
jortit. The form •JLgfMOA^ would better suit
tils t*vrooloftT, wars than not other reasons than Mi
MIGDOL
ring in a form, sjuetfTO^ v8»M ,B e* a )
differing from that of toe geographical name, witt
the significations " a circuit, citadels, towers, liul
warks," a point hitherto strangely overlooked, the
idea of the Egyptian origin and etymology of the
latter must be given up.
Another name on the frontier, Baal-zephon, ap-
pears also to be Hebrew or Semitic, and to have a
similar signification. [Baal-zephon.] The an-
cient Egyptian name occurs in a sculpture on the
outer side of the north wall of the great hypostyle
hall of the Temple of H-Karnak at Thebes, where
a fort, or possibly fortified town, is represented,
with the name PA-MAKTDR EN RA-MA-MEN,
"the tower of Pharaoh, establisher of justice;"
the last four words being the prenomen of Setbes
I. (B. c. cir. 1322). The sculpture represents the
king's triumphal return to Egypt from an eastern
expedition, and the place is represented as if on a
main road, to the east of Leontopolis.
1. A Migdol is mentioned in the account of the
Exodus. Before the passage of the Red Sea the
Israelites were commanded " to turn and encamp
before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea,
over against Baal-zephon " (Ex. xiv. 2). In Num-
bers we read, " And they removed from Etham,
and turned again unto Pi-hahiroth, which [is] be-
fore Baal-zephon: and they pitched before Migdol.
And they departed from before Pi-hahiroth, and
passed through the midst of the sea into the wilder-
ness " (xxxiii. 7, 8). We suppose that the position
of the encampment was before or at Pi-hahiroth,
behind which was Migdol, and on the other band
Baal-zephon and the sea, these places being near
together. The place of the encampment and of
the passage of the sea we believe to have been not
far from the Persepolitan monument, which is
made in Unant's map the site of the Serapeum.
[Exodus, THE.]
3. A Migdol is spoken of by Jeremiah and Ezekie* .
The bitter prophet mentions it as a boundary-town,
evidently on the eastern border, corresponding to
Seveneh, or Syene, on the southern. Ue prophesies
the desolation of Egypt « from Migdol to Seveneh
even unto the border of Cush," JTJip bVjBO
Bft3 biOJ-TJl (xxix. 10), and predicts slaughter
" from Migdol to Seveneh " (xxx. 6). That the
eastern border is that on which Migdol was situate
is shown not only by this being the border towards
Palestine, and that which a conqueror from the
east would pass, but also by the notices in the book
of Jeremiah, wnere this town is spoken of with
places in Lower Egypt. In the prophecy to the
Jews in Egypt they are spoken of as dwelling at
Migdol, Tahpaubes, and Noph, and in the country
of Pathros (Jer. xliv. 1), and in that foretelling,
apparently, an invasion of Egypt by Nebuchad-
nezzar, Migdol, Noph, and Tahpanhes are again
mentioned together (xlvi. 14). It seems plain,
from its being spoken of with Memphis, and from
Jews dwelling there, that this Migdol waa an im-
portant town, and not a mere fort, or even military
nshnaai against it roister (J. R.) gives it, on what
authority we know not: perhaps It Is a mzmrinf
(Epitt. ad Xchadu, p. 29).
b Foreign words are usually written with all a
most of the vowels In ansfant Hayptlan : nalrrs wnt Is
raralv.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MIGDOL
■ttlejoont." After tfaU time then it no notice of
any place of this name id Egypt, excepting of
Magdolua, by Hecatseus of Miletus,' and in the
Itinerary of Antoninus, in which Magdolo is placed
twelve Roman miles to the southward of Pelusium,
in the route from the Serapeum to that town. c
This latter place most probably represents the
Migdol mentioned by Jeremiah and Kzekiel. Its
position on the route to Palestine would make it
both strategetically important and populous, neither
of which would be the case with a town in the
position of the Migdol of the Pentateuch. Gese-
nJua, however, holds that there is but one Migdol
mentioned in the Bible (Lex. s. v.). I-epsius dis-
tinguishes two Migdols, and considers Magdolo to
je the same as the Migdol of Jeremiah and fee
del. He supposes the name to be only the Semitic
rendering of " the Camp," XrpaToVeo'a, the set-
tlement made by Psammetiehus I. of Ionian and
Carian mercenaries on the Pelusiac branch of the
Nile.'' He ingeniously argues that Migdol is men-
tioned in the Bible at the time of the existence —
he rather loosely says foundation — of this settle-
ment, bat omitted by the Greek geographers — he
should hare said after Hecatseus of Miletus — the
mercenaries having been removed by Amasis to
Memphis (ii. 164), and not afterwards noticed «-
eepting in the Itinerary of Antoninus ( Ckronoti
oie der jfSyypter, i. 340, and note 5). The Greek
and Hebrew or Semitic words do not howerer offer
a sufficient nearness of meaning, nor does the
Egyptian usage appear to sanction any deviation
in this case; so that we cannot accept this suppo-
sition, which, moreover, seems repugnant to the
nut that Migdol was a town where Jews dwelt.
ChampoUioii (L Egypt* sous let Pharauns, ii.
69-71) and others (Ewald, Ceschichte, 3d ed., ii.
7 note; Schleiden, Die Landtnge von Sues, pp.
140, 141) have noticed the occurrence of Arabic
names which appear to represent the ancient name
Migdol, and to be derived from its Coptic equiva-
lent. These names, of which the most common
form appears to be Mashtool,* are found in the
Census of El-Melek en Nasir (Mohammad Ibn
Kalaoon), given by I)e Sacy in his translation of
'Abd ei-Lateef's History of Egypt Their fre-
quency favors the opinion that Migdol was a name
eommoiily given in Egypt to forts, especially on or
near the eastern frontier. Dr. Schleiden (/. c.)
objects that Mashtool has an Arabic derivation;
bait we reply that the modern geography of Egypt
MIGBON
1931
a We have no account of Jews in the Egyptian
saUiUrj service as early as this thus; but it Is not
knpraetble that some of the fugitives who took Jere-
miah with them may have become mercenaries Id
Phanoh Hophra'i army.
a Stepn. Bys. s. v., comp. Fmtynenta HUtoricorum
GrtxtOTitm, 1. 20. If the latter part of the passage be
from Hecatseus. the town was Important in his time,
ateyewXSf, *oA*c Aiyihrrav. 'EkotoIoc ircpuryio-i-' v6
'sWer aUyhiWrec, «.t.A.
' The route is ss follows : " a Sanpiu Pelnslo mpm
'.« Thauhssio vlU SUe xxvltl Magdolo xli Peluslo xil "
TSd. Perthey et Finder, p. 76). These distances would
plans the flerapeum somewhat further southward than
lbs site assigned to it in Unant's map [see Bxodus,
tan], unless the route were very Indirect, which In the
Isssrt might well be the case.
rf Herodotus describes " the Camps" at two places,
ass en either side of the Nile, and puts them "near
he sea, a little below the dry Bubastss, on the month
offers examples that render this by no means
serious difficulty.
It has been conjectured that the Mdy&o\o* men
tioned by Herodotus, in his reference to an expedi-
tion of Necho's (ii. 159), supposed to be that in
which he slew Josiah, is the Migdol of the prophets
(Mannert, Afrika, i. 489), and it baa even been
proposed to read in the Heb. text Migdol for
Megiddo (Harenberg, BiU. Brem. vi. 281, ff. ;
Rosenmiiuer, Alterth. ii. 99); but the latter idee
is unworthy of modern scholarship. R. S. P-
* Mons- Chabaa finds traces of Migdol in the
itinerary of an Egyptian grandee who visited
Phceuim, Palestine, and Syria, in the 14th century
b. c. In crossing the eastern frontier of Egypt the
traveller came to the house of Ovaii erected by
Kameses, to mark his victories. This Ovati was
" the goddess of the North," answering to BeeU
Tsephon, " the lord of the North." Barneses had
probably appropriated by his own cartouche the
fortress of Ovaii already erected by Sethee I. Of
this mention is made in one of the pictorial reprv*
sentations of the wars of Sethee I. — a sort of chart,
indicating the last stations of this Pharaoh on his
return from Asia to Egypt. These are, (1.) The
Ovili of Sethee I. represented ss a fortress near
a reservoir of water: (2.) The Miitai of Sethee 1..
a fort with a well near by: (3.) The House of the
Lion, a much larger fortress situated near a pond
with trees upon either side: (4.) The fortress of
Ojin-, consisting of several large buildings, separ-
ated by a canal, which connects with a lake filled
with crocodiles, and which Brugsch identifies as
lake Timsah.
From this sketch, the border of Egypt towards
Palestine and Idumea appears to have been lined
with forts, each of which, like the modern Suez,
was furnished with a reservoir of sweet water
(Chabaa, Voyage dun Jlgyptien, etc. p. 287).
The specification of a fortress of Sethee I. favors
the opinion of Ewald that Migdol was a common
name of frontier towers. Brugsch make* the
Muktir or Migdol of Sethee I. identical with the
Magdolo of the Itin. Anton., with the Migdol-
Magdtiton of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the Migdol
of the Books of Moses. (Geog. InschrifU i. 261. 1
J. P. T.
MICRON Q11JP [nreCT>ice, or (Fiirat)
landslip] : [Rom. Ma-vSaV, Vat] Ma-vow; in Isai.
[Rom. Mayyttd, Sin.- Mox«8», Sin", Tat.]
MayeSts, and Alex. MayeSSu: Magron),/ 1. town,
of the Nile called the Pelustao." Burl ii oerat oi
XUpot spec BaXivaTH oAi*w httpO* Bov/Satmot irtfAioc,
•VI ry TiaAMia-Ly KaXrvtUmp ar&pMn tov NetAov (l 1 .
164). This statement Is contradictory, as Bobastis Is
far from tbe Pelusiac mouth or the sea. Lepstas
(/. e.) nurdy speaks of this settlement ss near Pelo-
elum, on the Pslusiac mouth below Bubasus, clttn|
the last clause of the following passage of Diode*
rus Slsulus, who gives but a loose repetition of
Herodotus, and is not to be taken, here at least,
as an Independent authority, besides that he may
fix the position of a territory only, and not of " tbe
Gamp." Teic U fuefo+epett . . . . vi nAoiSpm
t-rparrfree* revw (car. rote xaAovfUrotc e-rpaTwittoii
r6ww)oUwttmite, cal x*P* r woXXkv «er««A«»
oov^iiri t -ttim htitm n* naAevenaxov rrssui>«<
a.«l>
J« *■*>*.
/Ortoi
• IDS. is aerus* (Maw
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1932
MIJAMIN
* s spot — for thcte is nothing to Indicate which
— in the neighborhood of Saul's city, Gibesb, on
Jm Toy edge of the district bdoiiging to it (1 Sam.
xiv 2), distinguished by * pomegranate-tree, nnder
which, on the ere of a memorable event, we discover
Saul sod Ahiah surrounded bj the poor remnants
of their force. Josephos (Ant. vi. 6, § 2) presents
it as a high bill (fiourbt tyr/Xo't). from which
there was a wide prospect over the district devas-
tated by the Philistines. But this gives no dew,
for Palestine is full of elevated spots commanding
wide prospects.
Migron is presented to ottr view only onee again,
namely, in the invaluable list of the places dis-
I trued by Sennacherib's approach to Jerusalem
(Is. x. 28). But here its position seems a little
fortlier north than that indicated in the former
passage — supposing, that is, that Gibeah was at
Tuleil il-Ful It here occurs between Aiath —
that is Al — and Hichmash, in other words was on
the north of the great ravine of the Wno\/-8wemdt,
while Gibeah was more than 2 miles to the south
thereof. [Gibeah, vol. ii. p. 916.J In Hebrew,
Migron may mean a "precipice," a frequent feature
of the part of the country in question, and it is
not impossible therefore that two places of the same
name are intended — a common occurrence in
primitive countries and tongues where each rock or
ravine has its appellation, and where no reluctance
or inconvenience is found in having places of the
same name in close proximity. As easily two
Microns, as two Gibeabs, or two Shoclioa.
The LXX. seem to hare had Megiddo in their
intentions, but this is quite inadmissible. (See
Josephus, Ant. vi. 6, J 2.) G.
MI' JAMIN flCJIQ [on the right hmuf, or
= Benjamin]: MttOfiiri [Vat Btvta+uiV. Aid.
Bfriapfo;] Alex. MfMfiuiv: Malmnn). L The
chief of the sixth of the 24 courses of priests es-
tablished by Darid (1 Chr. xxir. 9).
2. (Muuiir; [Vat.] Alex. MiojUfiv; FA. M«a-
us»>: Miamin.) A family of priests who signed
the covenant with Xehemiah (Neh. x. 7); probably
the descendants of the preceding, and the same as
Miamin 2 and Miniamik 2.
MIX/LOTH (n'lbf?!? [stores, Ges. ; branches
or ttickty Fiirst: in 1 Chr. viii., Vat. Alex. Mcura-
Kurt, Rom.] MufXiM; in 1 Chr. ix., Alex. Hr
Ktttte, [Vat. Sin. Mo«XA»0:] MactUotk). 1.
One of the sons of Jehiel. the father or prince of
Gibcon, by his wife Maachah (1 Chr. viii. 32, ix.
17, 38). His son Is variously culled, Shimeah or
Shimeam.
2. (MomXXiM: [Vat. omits.]) The leader
(T3J, n&yUt) of the second division of David's
army (1 Chr. xxril. 4), of which Dodai the Aho-
hite was captain C^tP, mr). The nitfid, in a mil-
itary sense, appears to have been an officer superior
in rank to the captains of thousands and the cap-
tains of hundreds (1 Chr. xiH. 1).«
MIK.NE1AH [3syl.] fliT^D [poueuitm
'J Jehovnh]: MoxeXXfe, [Vat. MaKeXAeia,] Alex.
NniHi, FA. MaxtXXa, 1 Chr. xr. 18; Huirlo,
Alex. Manviar. 1 Chr. xr. 21: Maceniat). One
jf the Ixvites of the second rank, gatekeepers of
■> This verm should be rendered, " And David eon-
mltsl with the captains of thousands and hi odreds,
Mlrisdar *■> each leader" («dg-lrf).
MILETTJ8
the ark, appointed by David to play in ths Temp*
band " with harps upon Sheminith."
MII/ALAI [3syL] C%D [eloquent]: om
in LXX. : Malnlni). Probably a Gershonite Le-
vite of the tons of Asaph, who, with Ezra at thai'
head, played " the musical instruments of Dane
the man of God " in the solemn procession round
the walls of Jerusalem which accompanied their
dedication (Neh. xiL 36). [Mattamiah 2.]
MH/CAH (n|V? [camel]: MeXxd - : Mel-
cha). L Daughter of Haran and wife of her
uncle Nalior, Abraham's brother, to whom the
tare eight children: the youngest, Bethuel, was
the father of Rebekah (Gen. xi. 29, xxii. 20, 23,
xxir. 15, 24, 47). She was the sister of Lot, and
her son Bethuel is distinguished as " Nahor's son,
whom Milcah bare unto him," apparently to indi-
cate that he was of the purest blood of Abraham's
ancestry, being descended both from Haran and
Nahor.
2. The fourth daughter of Zelophehad (Num.
xxvi. 33, xxvii. 1, xxxvi. 11 ; Josh. xvii. 8).
MIL'COM (DS^D [their king] : , |8«riAc»I
airriy, [Comp. M<Xy*V>J HfoloeJi, 1 K. xi. 5, 38;
i Mo\6x, [Vat. AW? MoXxcfX,] Alex. ApeXx***
Milchmn, 2 K. xxiii. 13). The "abomination " of
the children of Ammon, elsewhere called Molech
(1 K. xi. 7, 4c.) and Halcham (Zeph. i. 6, marg.
"their king "), of the latter of which it is prob-
ably a dialectical variation. Movers (PhSmtUr, i
358) calk) it an Aramaic pronunciation.
MILE (M/Xicw, the Greek form of the Latin
miUiariwn), a Roman measure of length equsl to
1618 English yards. It is only once noticed In
the Bible (Matt. v. 41 ), the usual method of reckon-
ing both in it and in Josephns being by the stadium.
The Roman system of measurement was fully in-
troduced into Palestine, though probably at a later
date; the Talmudists admitted the term "mile"
(7*Q) into their vocabulary.' both Jerome (in his
Onomaeticon) and the Itineraries compute the dis-
tances in Palestine by miles; and to this day the
old milestones may be seen, here and there, in that
country (Robinson's Bib. Res. ii. 161 note, iii. 306).
The mile of the Jews is said to have been of two
kinds, long or short, dependent on the length of
the pace, which varied in different parts, the long
pace being double the length of the short one
(Carpzov't Apparnt. p. 679). [Dat's Joumrrr,
Amer. ed.) W. L. B.
• MILETTJM, 2 Tun. iv. 20, for Miletus.
The A. V. follows here the older versions, except
Wyclifle, who writes "Milete." The early Fjig-
lish often inflected such names after the analogy of
the Greek and Latin, though on this principle it
would have been strictly ifiletn in the above pas-
sage. See Trench, Authorized Version, p. 79 (ed.
1859). H.
MILETUS (MfXirro*: MUttrn), Acta xx. 15,
17, leas correctly called MrLKTUM in 2 Tim. ir 30.
The first of these parages brings before us the
scene of the most pathetic occasion of St. Paul's
lift; the second Is interesting snd important in
reference to the question of the Apostle's second
imprisonment.
St. Paul, on the return voyag i from hit third
missionary Journey, having left Philippl after tbt
paasorer (Acts xx. 5), and desirous, if possible, tc
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MILETUS
■a In aenmum at Pentecost (ib. 16), determimd
So pait by Ephesus. WUbing, however, to ooiu-
municato with the church in which he had labored
jo long, be sent for the presbyter* of Ephesus to
meet him at Miletus. In the context we have the
geographical relations of the latter citj brought out
aa distinctly a* if it were St. Luke's purpose to
state them. In the first place it lay on the coast
to the S. of Ephesus. Next, it was a day's sail
from Trogyllium (ver. 15 ). Moreover, to those who
an tailing from the north, it is in the direct line
for Cos. We should also notice that it was near
enough to Ephesus by land communication, for the
message to be sent and the presbyters to come
within a very narrow space of time. All these
details correspond with the geographical bets of
the ease. As to the last point, Ephesus was by
land only about 20 or 30 miles distant from Miletus.
There is a further and more minute topographical
coincidence, which may be seen in the phrase,
" They accompanied him to the ship," implying as
it does that the vessel lay at some distance from
the town. The site of Miletus has now receded
ten miles from the coast, and even in the Apostle's
time it most hare lost its strictly maritime position.
MILK
1933
This point it noticed by Prof. Haekett In hi.
Cumm. oh Iht Act* (2d ed. p. 344); compare Act*
xxi. 5. In each case we have t tew flat shore, at
a marked and definite feature of the scene.
The passage in the second Epistle to Timothy,
where Miletus is mentioned, presents a very serious
difficulty to the theory that there was only one
Roman imprisonment. When St. Paul visited the
place on the occasion just described, Trophimut was
indeed with him (Acts «. 4); but he certainly did
not » leave him sick at Miletus; " for at the con-
clusion of the voyage we find him with the Apostle
at Jerusalem (Acts xxi. 29). Nor is it possible
that he could have been so left on the voyage from
Caesarea to Rome: for in the first place there it no
reason to believe that TrophUuus wat with the
Apostle then at all; and in the second place the
ship was never to the north of Cnidus (Act* xxvii.
T ). But, on the hypothesis that St. Paul was lib-
erated from Rome and revisited the neighborhood
of Ephesus, all becomes easy, and consistent with
the other notices of his movements in the Pastoral
Epistles. Various combinations are possible. See
lift «nd Eputlti of Si. Paid, eh. xxvii. sod
I Birks, Bora Apotloika.
Twapts of Apollo at Miletus.
Aa to the history of Miletus itself, it was far
mare famous five hundred years before St. Paul's
day, than it ever became afterwards. In early times
it was the most flourishing city of the Ionian
Greeks. The ships which tailed from it were cele-
brated for their distant voyages. Miletus suffered
in the progress of the Lydian kingdom and became
tributary to Crctsus. In the natural order of events,
It was absorbed in the Persian empire : and, re-
volting, it was stormed and tacked. After a brief
period of spirited independence, it received a blow
from which it never recovered, In the siege con-
ducted by Alexander whan on his Eastern cant
osrign. But still it held, even through the Roman
asriod, the rank of a second-rate trading town, and
Strabo mentions Its four harbors. At this time it
was politically in the province of Asia, though
Cakia was the old ethnological name of the dis-
trict in which it was situated. Its preeminence
on this coast had now long been yielded up to
EfHKMUs. These changes can he vividly traced by
comparing the whole series of coins of the two
places. In the case of Miletus, those of the au-
tonomous period are numerous and beautiful, those
of the imperial period very scanty. Still Miletus
was for some time an episcopal city of Western
Asia. Its final decay was doubtless promoted by
that silting up of the Mieander, to which we have
alluded. No remains worth describing are now
found in the swamps which oonoeal the site of thi
city of Thales and HecatsNis. J. 8. H.
MILK. As an article of diet, milk holds a
more important position in Eastern countries than
with at. It it not a mere adjunct in oooktrv, m
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J 934
MILL
restricted to the use of the young, although it U
naturally the characteristic food of childhood, both
torn iU simple and nutritive qualities (1 Pet. it. 2),
•nd particularly at contrasted with meat (1 Cor.
lii. 9; Heb. r. 12); but beyond this it is regarded
as substantial food adapted alike to all ages and
classes. Hence it is enumerated among " the prin-
cipal things for the whole use of a man's life "
(Kcclus. xxxix. 26), and it appears as the very
emblem of abundance <• and wealth, either in eon-
junction with honey (Ex. Lii. 8; Deut. vi. 3, xi. 9)
or wine (Is. Iv. 1), or even by itself (Job xxi. 24<>):
beiice also to " suck the milk " of an enemy's land
was an expression betokening its complete subjec-
tion (Is. lx. 16; Rz. xxv. 4). Not only the milk
sf cows, but of sheep (Deut xxxii. 14), of camels
(Gen. xxxii. 15), and of goats (Prov. xxvii. 27) was
used ; the latter appears to have been roost highly
prized. The use of camel's milk still prevails amoug
thn Arabs (Burckhardt's Notei, i. 44).
Milk was used sometimes in its natural state,
and sometimes in a sour, coagulated state: the
firmer was named kh&lab," and the latter khemakM
In the A. V. the latter is rendered " butter," but
there can be no question that in every case (except
perhaps Prov. xxx. 33) the term refers to a prep
aration of milk well known in Eastern countries
under the name of Ubtn. [Butter, Amer. ed.]
The method now pursued in its preparation is to
lioil the milk over a slow fire, adding to it a small
piece of old Ubtn or some other acid, in order to
make it coagulate (Russell, Aleppo, i. 118, 870;
Burckhart, Arabia, i. 60). The refreshing draught
which Jael offered " in a lordly dish " to Siaera
(Judg. v. 25) was Ubtn, as Josephus particularly
notes (yixa Jiajpflopbt titri. Ant. v. 5, § 4): it was
produced from one of the goatskin bottles which
arc still used for the purpose by the Bedouins (Judg.
iv. 19; comp. Burckhardt's Note; !. 45). As it
would keep for a considerable time, it was particu-
larly adapted to the use of travellers (2 Sam. xvii.
29). The amount of milk required for its produc-
tion was of course considerable; and hence in Is.
rii. 22 the use of Ubtn is predicted as a consequence
of the depopulation of the land, when all agricul-
ture bad ceased, and the fields were covered with
grass. In Job xx. 17, xxix. 6, the term is used as
an emblem of abundance in the same sense as milk.
Leben ia still extensively used in the East; at cer-
tain seasons of the year the poor almost live upon
it, while the upper classes eat it with salad or meat
(Russell, i. 18). It is still offered in hospitality to
the passing stranger, exactly as of old in Abraham's
tent (Gen. xviii. 8; comp. Robinson, Bibl. Ret. i.
571, ii. 70, 211), so freely indeed that in some parts
of Arabia it would be regarded a scandal if money
were received in return (Burckhardt's Arabia, i.
120, ii. 106). Whether milk was used instead of
water for the purpose of boiling meat, as ia at
m This Is expressed In the Hebrew term for milk,
asafoe, the etymological force of which is " fatness."
We may compare with the Scriptural expi tattoo, n a
«und flowing with milk and honey," the following pas-
ages from the classical writers : —
•Pei Si yiXcucn wtftor,
*P« t olty, bn &1 lulwmir
Nferapi. — «oma>. Baa*. 142.
• Ftamlne jam Uctit,jam flrnnln* nectaris Ibauti
Flavaqne de vlrldt ■tfllabant Ulce metis.*
Or. AM. MIL
» In this passage the marginal reading, "milk palls,"
• ejefarsblc to the text, " breasts." The
MILL
present nut unusual among the Bedouins, Is un
certain. [Cookino.] The prohibition against
seething a kid in Its mother's milk (occurring as it
does amid the regulations of the harvest festival
Ex. xxiii. 19, xxxiv. 26; Deut. xiv. 21) was prob-
ably directed against some heathen usage practiced
at the time of harvest W. L. B.
MILL. The mills (B?rn, recaatm)' of tha
ancient Hebrews probably differed but little from
those at present in use in toe East These consist
of two circular stones, about 18 in. or two feet in
diameter, the lower of which (Lat mtta) ia fixed,
and has its upper surface slightly convex, fitting
into a corresponding concavity in the upper stone
(Lat eatilbtt). The latter, called by the Hebrews
recti (23*3), " chariot," and by the Arabs rekkab,
" rider," nas a hole in it through which the grain
passes, immediately above a pivot or shaft which
rises from the centre of the lower stone, and about
which the upper stone is turned by means of an
upright handle fixed near the edge. It is worked
by women, sometimes singly and sometimes two
together, who are usually seated on the bare ground
(Is. xlvii. 1, 2) "feeing each other; both have
hold of the handle by which the upper ia turned
Women grinding corn wlih the hand-mill of modern
.Syria.
round on the ' nether ' millstone. The one whose
right band is disengaged throws in the grain as
occasion requires through the hole in the upper
stone. It is not correct to say that one pushes it
half round, and then the other seizes the handle.
This would be slow work, and would give a spas-
modic motion to the stone. Both retain their bold,
and pull Ib, or puah/iwn, as men do with the whip
or cross-cut saw. The proverb of our Saviour
(Matt xxiv. 41) is true to life, for tamen only
grind. I cannot recall an instance in which men
were at the mill " (Thomson, Land and Book, ch.
34). Tbe labor i» very hard, and the task of grind-
ing in consequence performed only by tbe lowest
servants (Ex. xi. 6; comp. Plaut Merc ii. 8), and
doss not occur elsewhere, and banes Its m ea nin g Is
doubtful. Perhaps Us cms sense is " sum-yard " 01
* fold."
^rV-
[ )W
t Compare Arable ^Vi'frij r«ta»rt», the dwal at
_fla.\, nstat • »»lll. D» dual form at erase ream
to the pair of stones eomaoatng tha mill
Digitized by VjOOQlC
HILL
i (Judg. ivi. 81; Job xxxi. lv Is. zlvil. 1,
l;Un. t. 13; oomp. Horn. Od. vii. 103; Suet
Tib. c 51).° So essential wen mill-stones for
daily domestic use, that they were forbidden to be
taken in pledge (Dent. xzir. 8; Jos. Ant. ir. 8, §
H), in order that a man's family might not be
leprived of the means of preparing their food.
Among the Fellahs of the Haunui one of the chief
irtieles of furniture described by Burckhardt (Syria,
p. 892) is the " hand-mill which is used in summer
when there is no water in the wadiea to drive the
mills " The sound of the mill is the indication
of peaceful household fife, and the absence of it is
a sign of desolation and abandonment, " When the
sound of the mill Is low " (EccL zii. 4). No more
■fleeting picture of utter destruction could be im-
agined than that conveyed in the threat denounced
against Judah by the mouth of the prophet Jere-
miah (xxv. 10), « I will take from them the voice
of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the found of
the mtU-ttonee, and the light of the candle" (comp.
Rev. xviii. 23). The song of the women grinding
is supposed by some to be alluded to in Eccl. zii. 4,
and it was evidently so understood by the LXX. 6 ;
bat Dr. Robinson says (i. 485), " we heard no song
as an accompaniment to the work," and Dr. Hackett
(BibL lttnut. p. 49, Amer. ed.) describes it rather
as shrieking than singing. It Is alluded to in
Homer (Od. zz. 105-119); and Atheneus (xiv. p.
J 19 a) refers to a peculiar chant which was sung
by women winnowing corn and mentioned by
Aristophanes in the Thetmophorinxtuai.
The hand-mills of the ancient Egyptians appear
to have been of the same character as those of their
descendants, and like them were worked by women
(Wilkinson, Anc Eg. ii. p. 118, 4c.). "They
had also a large mill on a very similar principle;
but the stones were of far greater power and dimen-
sions; and this could only have been turned by
cattle or asses, like those of the ancient Romans,
and of the modern Cairenes." It was the mill-
stone of a mill of this kind, driven by an ass,'' which
is alluded to in Matt, xviii. 6 (uvAor oVi-.o'i), to
distinguish it, says Lightfbot (Hor. Hebr. in loc.),
from those small mills which were used to grind
spices Car the wound of circumcision, or for the
delights of the Sabbath, and to which both Kimchi
and Jarchl find a reference in Jer. zzv. 10 Of a
married man with slender means it is said iu the
Talmud (Kidduthin, p. 29 0), •' with a millstone
co his neck he studies the law," and the expression
is still proverbial (Tendlsu, Sprichadrter, p. 181).
It was the movable upper millstone of the hand-
mill with which the woman of Thebes broke Abim-
jleeh's skull (Judg. ix. 53). It is now generally
nadi, according to Dr. Thomson, of a porous
jive brought from the Haunui, both stones being
af the same material, but, says the same traveller,
" I have seen the nether made of a compact sand-
stone, and quite thick, while the upper was of this
lava, probably because from its lightness it is the
MILL
1986
a Grinding Is reckoned In the Mishna (S/mbbatA,
ni. 2) among the chief household duties, to be per-
formed by the wifc unless she brought with her on*
•rvant (Ascsaoet*, v. 5) ; In which ease she was re-
lieved from grinding, baking, and washing, but was
Mil ohugad to suckle her child, make her husband's
ted, end week In wool.
*3ra ew«»^ T»»»TT»«^»oAr»«.rsadbagnjnfa,
more easily driven round with the hand " (lane
and Book, ch. 34). The porous lava to which ha
refers is probably the same an the black turn men-
tioned by Burckhardt (Syria, p. 57), the blocks of
which are brought from the Lejah, and are fash-
ioned into millstones by the inhabitants of Ezra, a
village in the Hauran. "They vary in price
according to their size, from 16 to BO piastres, and
are preferred to all others on account of the hard-
ness of the stone."
The Israelites, in their passage through the desert,
bad with them hand-mills, as well as mortars
[Mortar], in which they ground the manna (Num.
xi. 8). One passage (Lam. v. 13) is deserving of
notice, which Hoheisel (d» Molu Manual. Vet. in
Ugolini, vol. xxix) explains in a maimej which
gives it a point which is lost in our A. V. (t may
be rendered, "the choice (men) bore tb» mill
(] VHP, techdn)* and the youths stumbled beneath
the wood; " the wood being the woodwork or shaft
of the mill, which the captives were compelled to
carry. There are, besides, allusions to other ap-
paratus connected with the operation of grinding,
the sieve, or bolter (H^i napMh, I*- zzz. 28; or
f"H^9, ceoirih, Am. ix. 9), and the hopper,
though the latter is only found in the Mishna
(Zabim, iv. 3), and was a late invention. We
also find in the Mishna (Demai, iii. 4) that men-
tion is made of a miller (^nitS, tdehSn), indica-
ting that grinding com was recognized as a distinct
occupation. Wind-mills and water-mills are of
more recent date. W. A. W.
* Some other allusions to the mill and its uses
deserve explanation. The common millstone rarely
exceeds two fret in diameter, and hence its size
fitted it to be used as an instrument of punishment.
It was sometimes fastened to the necks of criminals
who were to be drowned. The Saviour refers to
this practice in Mark ix. 42, where he says:
Sooner than " offend one of these little ones, it were
better for a man that a millstone were hanged
about b.a neck, and he were cast into the sea."
See also Matt, xviii. 0; and Luke xvii. 2. It is
stated that this mode of execution is not unknown
in the East at the present day. As those who
grind, in whatever order they may sit, have the
mill before them, it becomes natural, in describing
their position with reference to the mill, to speak of
their being behind it. Hence it is said in Ex. xi.
5 that the pestilence which was to be sent on the
Egyptians should " destroy from the first-born of
Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the
first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the
mill."
The fact that grinding at the mill was looked up-
on as so ignoble (see above), shows how extreme wsa
the degradation to which the Philistines subjected
Samson. It is said (Judg. xvi. 31) that the Philis-
tines " put out " (strictly," dug out " in the Hebrew)
ttdwxAk, « a woman grinding,'' for i"Tjrjt?, tacMna*
« a mill."
c Comp. Ovid, Ftut. vt. 818, "et qua pumiesas
versat asaUa molas "
i Compare th» Arable
OJ*'
\Jo, neem, a affl
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1936 MILLET
"the eyes of Samson, ind made him grind in the
prison-house; " that is, he was confined in
ud required to grind there, by taming s
■nil, such as has been described shove. It was the
great humiliation of his captivity . He who had
been the hero of Israel, who had pnosiwseri the
strength of a giant, was compelled to ait on the
ground and work at the mill, like a woman or a
dare The blinding was sometimes inflicted to
prevent the giddiness liable to arise from the oir-
eular motion (Herod, iv. 2). At the same time It
was a frequent bsrbaritj of ancient warfare (Jar.
Hi. 11).
Feasibly the woman of Thebes who threw the
opper stooe of the mill, the " rider " or " runner,"
on the bead of Abimelech (see above) was occupied
in grinding at the moment. She had only to lift
the upper atone from its pedestal, and would then
have at once an effectual weapon for her purpose.
The A. V. erroneously suggests that it was " a
piece " or fragment of the stone which she hurled
at Abimelech. See the allusion to this incident in
S Sam. xii. 21. The permanent or lower stone was
called Crinn rf?5, Job xli. IS. Some of the
larger mitts in Syria at the present day are turned
by mules and asses, as in ancient times (Matt
xviii. 6 ). The time of grinding would be regulated
by the wants of the family, but from the nature of
the case as a rule it would be one of the daily
occupations. At Jerusalem one may see at night-
fall the open ground on Bezetha alive with women
performing this labor. The water-mills at present
at Ndbahu (Shechem) are somewhat noted. H.
MILLET (7rn>" d&chnn: xtyxpos atitfuss).
In all probability the grains of Punicum milioctum
and ilulicum, and of the lluleui torgkwn, Linn,
(the Sort/hum vulgart of modem writers), may all
be comprehended by the Hebrew word. Mention
of millet occurs only in Ex. iv. 9, where it is enu- i
■aerated together with wheat, barley, beans lentils,
and fitches, which the prophet was ordered to make
into bread. Celsius (Hierob. i. 454) has given the
names of numerous old writers who are in favor of
the interpretation adopted by the LXX. and Vulg. ;
the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic versions have a
word identical with the Hebrew. That " millet "
is the correct rendering of the original word there
can be no doubt; the only question that remains
for consideration is, what is the particular species of
millet intended: is it the Pnnicum milinctum, or
the Sorgkwn vulgart, or may both kinds be de-
noted ? The Arabs to this day apply the term
Julian to the Pnnicum milinctum, but Korskil
(Deter. Plant, p. 174) uses the name of the lloleut
Jockna, "a plant," says Or. Royle (Kitto's C)/e.
art. « Dokhan "X " as yet unknown to botanists."
rhe Nolcut durrka of Forskal, which he says the
Arabs call ianm, and which he distinguishes from
the H. aucknn, appears to be identical with the
tburrka. Sorghum vulgart, of modem botanists.
It is impossible, in the case of these and many
jtber cereal grains, to say to what countries they
ire indigenous. Sir G. Wilkinson enumerates
wheat, beans, lentiles, and aourrha, as being pre-
■srved by seeds, or by re pre s en tation on the ancient
tombs of Egypt, and has no doubt that the Holcut
nrgkum was known to the ancient inhabitants of
MILLKT
Dr. Boyle maintains that the trea
dssttM of Arab authors hi the Pa
root 7175,
of the ■ "
'so be dusky," In allusion so
which is universally cultivated in the Etat. CM.
sius (Hierob. L c) and Hiller (HutropkfL B. 124.
give Pamiam as the rendering of VocJum; the
LXX. word xtyxpot » »H probability is the .fa*.
team iialicum, a grass cultivated in Furope as as
article of diet There <e, however, some difficain
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MILLO
as identifying the precise plants spoken of by the
Greeks and Komans under the names of niyxpoi,
(Xviun. ptmieum, milium, etc.
The Panicum miliactum a cultivated In Europe
and in tropical oountries. and, like the dourrha, is
often uted as an ingredient in making bread; in
India it is cultivated in the sold weather with
wheat and barlej. Tournefort ( Voyage, ii. 95) says
that the poor people of Samoa make bread bj mix-
ing half wheat and half barter and white millet.
The eeeda of millet in this country are, at U
well known, extensively used as food for birds. It
ia probable that both the Sorghum vulgare and
the Panicum miliactum were uted by the ancient
Hebrews and Egyptians, and that the Heb. Dochan
■say denote either of these plants. Two cultivated
species of Panicum are named as occurring in Pal-
estine, namely, P. miliuceum and P. itaticum
(Strand's Flo'r. Pain*. Not. 35, 37). The gen-
era Sorghum and Panicum belong to the natural
order Urammtax, perhaps the most important order
in the vegetable kingdom. W. II.
MH/LO (Nlbiprj : always with the definite
article [see below] »; axpa, once to artUnmta;
Alex, in 1 K. ix. [34] only, tj u<Aa>: Hello), a
place in ancient Jerusalem. Both name and thing
seem to have been already in existence when the
city was taken Srnm the Jebusites by David. Hit
first occupation after getting possession was to
build " round about, from the Millo and to the
house " (A. V. ♦' inward; "' 3 Sam. v. 9) : or at the
parallel passage has it, •' he built the city round
about, and from the Millo round about " (1 Chr. xi.
8). Its repair or restoration was one of the great
works for which Solomon raised his " levy " (1 K.
ix. 15, 34, xi. 37); and it formed a prominent part
of the fortifications by which Hezekiah prepared for
the approach of the Assyrians (3 Chr. xxxii- 6).
The last passage seems to show that " the Millo "
was part of the " city of David," that is of Zion, a
conclusion which is certainly supported by the sin-
irular passage, 3 K. xii. 30, where, whichever view
we take of Silla, the " house of Millo " must be in
the neighborhood of the Tyropceon valley which
lay at the foot of Zion. More than this it seems
impossible to gather from the notices quoted above
— all the passages in which the name is found in
the 0. T.
If "Millo" be taken as • Hebrew word, it
would be derived from a root which has the force
of " filling " (sea Uesenius, Th et. pp. 787, 789 ). This
notion has been applied by the interpreters after
their custom in the most various and opposite
ways: a rampart (agger): a mound; an open
space used for assemblies, and therefore often filled
with people; a ditch or valley; even a trench filled
with water. It has led the writers of the Targums
to render Millo by Hrp\?B, i.e. MUUtha, the
term by which in other passages they express the
Hebrew, iT?70, totlah, the mound which in sa-
lient warfare was used to besiege a town. But
unfortunately none of these guesses enable us to
" i what Millo really was, and it would prob-
MINES, MINING
1987
• Just as the Knlohtena-guDd lane of Saxon Lon-
lon became Nightingale Lane, as th* Bazoo name gnw
* Bare, and here only, the LXX. have t» «»£•
AaMui, perhaps the " foundation " or " substruction ; "
though Sohleosnsr erne \lso the meaning altitude.
133
ably be nearer the truth — it is certainly safer —
to look on toe name as an ancient or archaic term,
Jebusite, or possibly even still older, adopted by the
Israelites when they took the town, and incorporated
into their own nomenclature.'' That it was an
ante-Hebraic term is supported by its occurrence in
connection with Shecheni, so eminently a Canaanite
place. (See the next article.) The only ray of
light which we can obtain is from the LXX. Their
rendering in every esse (excepting 6 only 2 Chr.
xxxii. 5) is ») tucpa, a word which they employ no-
where else in the O. T. Now *, tucpa means " the
citadel," and it is remarkable that it ia the word
used with unvarying persistence throughout the
Books of Maccabees for the fortress on Mount Zion,
which was occupied throughout the struggle by the
adherents of Antiochus, and was at last raxed and the
very hill leveled by Simon.' [Jerusalem, vol. ii.
pp. 1393 f. 1396, Ac.] It is therefore perhaps not
too much to assume that the word millo was em-
ployed in the Hebrew original of 1 Maccabees
The point is exceedingly obscure, and the above is
at the best little more than mere conjecture, though
it agrees to far with the slight indications of 3 Chr.
xxxii. 5, as noticed already. G.
MII/LO, THE HOUSE OF. L (rT'J
VCrTO : cIkos Bnft>aaA*> [Vat. -aXar and oAAwr] i
Alex, oikoi HaaWccy : »rb$ Stttto; oppidum
Metlo.) Apparently a family or clan, mentioned
in Judg. ix. 6, 30 only, in connection with the
men or lords of Shechem, and concerned with them
in the affair of Abimelech. No clew is given by
the original or any of the versions as to the mean-
ing of the name.
8. (r&in § : oi«w MoAAi ; [Vat Alex.
MooA»0 domut Hello.) The "house of Millo
that goeth down to Silla " was the spot at which
king Joash was murdered by bit slaves (2 K. xii.
30). There it nothing to lead us to suppose thst
the murder was not committed in Jerusalem, and
in that case the spot must be connected with the
ancient Millo (see preceding article). Two expla-
nations have been suggested of the name Silla.
These will be discussed more fully under that head,
but whichever is adopted would equally place Beth
Millo in or near the Tyropceon. taking that to be
where it is shown in the plan of Jerusalem, at vol
ii. p. 1313. More than this can hardly he said on th*
subject in the present state of our knowledge. G
MINES, MINING. " Surely there is a
source for the ti/eer, and a place for the gold which
they refine. Yron is taken out of the soil, and
stone man melts (for) copper. He hath put an
end to darkness, and to all perfection (i. e., most
thoroughly) he searcheth the stone of thick dark
ness and of the shadow of death. He hath sunk
a shaft far from the wanderer ; tbey that are for-
gotten of the foot are suspended, away from man
they waver to and fro. (As for) the earth, from
her oometh forth bread, yet her nethermost parts
an upturned as (by) fire. The place of sapphire
(are) her stones, and dust of gold is his. A track
which the bird of prey hath not known, nor the
c * The name Mount Zion was never applied to the
above emlnenoe by any ancient writer, and when that
bill bad been « leveled," the slmUe of the Psalmist was
stt<l fteeh and forcible : « as Mount Boa, which oasr
not be removed, bat aMdetu forever." [JmouLaa
vol. it 1398 a, UHs.] »W
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MINES, MINING
•ye of the falcon glared apon ; which the sobs af
pride (i. «. wild beasts) have not trodden, nor the
rowing lion gone over; in the flint nun hstfc threat
hi* hind, he bath overturned mountains from the
root; in the rocks be hath cleft channel*,* and
every rare thing bath his ere seen: the strains
hath be bound that they weep not, and that which
is hid he bringeth forth to light" (Job xxviii.1-11).
Such ia the highly poetical description given by the
author of the book of Job of the operations of
mining as known in his day, the only record of the
kind which we inherit from the ancient Hebrews.
The question of the date of the book cannot be
much influenced by it; for indications of a very
advanced state of metallurgical knowledge are found
in toe monuments of the Egyptians at a period at
least as early as any which would be claimed for the
author. Leaving this point to be settled inde-
pendently, therefore, it remains to be seen what ia
implied in the words of the poem.
It may be fairly inferred from the description
that a distinction is made between gold obtained in
the manner indicated, and that which is found in
the natural state in the alluvial soiL among the
debris washed down by the torrents. This appears
to he implied in the expression " the gold they
refine," which presupposes a process by which the
pure gold is extracted from the ore, and separated
from the silver or copper with which it niay have
been mixed. What is said of gold may be equally
applied to silver, for in almost every allusion to the
process of refining the two metals are associated.
In the passage of Job which has been quoted, so
far as can be made out from the obscurities with
which it is beset, the natural order of mining
operations is observed in the description. The
whole point is obviously contained in the contrast,
" Surely there is a source for the silver, and a place
for the gold which men refine, — but where shall
wisdom be found, and where is the place of under-
standing? " No labor is too great for extorting
from the earth its treasures. The shaft is sunk,
and the adventurous miner, far from the haunts of
men, hangs in mid-air (v. 4): the bowels of the
earth — which in the course of nature grows but
corn — are overthrown as though wasted by fire.
The path which the miner pursues in his under-
ground course is unseen by the keen eye of the
falcon, nor have the boldest beasts of prey traversed
it, but man wins bis way through every obstacle,
hews out tunnels in the rock, stops the water from
flooding his mine, and brings to light the precious
Jietals as the reward of his adventure. No de-
scription could be more complete. The poet might
lave had before him the copper mines of tie Sinaitio
peninsula. In the Wady Magh&rah, " the valley
>f the Cave," are still traces of the Egyptian colony
of miners who settled there for the purpose of
extracting copper from the freestone rocks, and
left their hieroglyphic inscriptions upon the face of
the cliff. That these inscriptions are of great
antiquity there can be little doubt, though Lepsins
may not be justified in placing them at a date
B. c. 4000 " Already, under the fourth dynasty
of Manetbo," he says, "the same which erected
the great pyramids of Gizeh, 4000 B. c, copper
mines had been discovered in this desert, which
were worked by a colony. The peninsula was then
• It Is carious that the word "1M% •**•, here 1
' ■fyptian In origin, ant If so may I
MINKS, MINING
inhabited by Asiatic, probably Semitic noes. Ifcsm.
fore do we often see in those rock sculptures ths
triumphs of Pharaoh over the enemies of Egypt
Almost all the inscriptions belong to the Old Em.
pire, only one was found of the co-regency of
Tuthmosis III. and his sister " (Letters from
E 93P^ P- **6, Eng. <*■•)• In the Magh&rah tablets
Mr. Drew (SctipCure Lnndi, p. 60, aute) "saw
the cartouche of Suphis, the builder of the Great
Pyramid, and on the stones at Sfir&bit el Khadim
there are those of kings of the eighteenth and
nineteenth dynasties." But the most interesting
description of this mining colony is to be found in
a letter to the Athensjum (June 4, 1859, No. 1644,
p. 747), signed M. A. and dated from " Sarabut el
Khadem, in the Desert of Sinai, Hay, 1848."
The writer discovered on the mountain exactly
opposite the caves of Magh&rah, bios of an ancient
fortress intended, as he conjecture*, for the protao -
tion of the miners. The hill on which it stands
is about 1000 feet high, nearly insulated, and
formed of a series of precipitous terraces, one above
the other, like the steps of the pyramids. The
uppermost of these was entirely surrounded by a
strong wall within which were found remains of
140 bouses, each about ten feet square. There
were, besides, the remains of ancient hammers of
green porphyry, and reservoirs " so disposed that
when one was full the surplus ran into the other
and so in succession, so that they must have had
water enough to last for years." The ancient fur-
naces are still to be seen, and on Che coast of the
Red Sea are found the piers and wharves whence
the miners shipped their metal in the harbor of
Abu Zelimeh. Five miles from Sarabut el Kha-
dem the same traveller found the ruins of a much
greater number of houses, indicating the existence
of a large mining population, and, besides, five
immense reservoirs formed by damming up various
wadies. Other mines appear to have been discov-
ered by Dr. Wilson in toe granite mountains east
of the Wady Mokatteb. In the Wady Nasb the
German traveller KuppeU, who was commissioned
by Mohammed Ali, the Viceroy of Egypt, to
examine the state of the mines there, met with
remains of several large smelting furnaces, sur-
rounded by heaps of slag. The ancient inhabitants
had sunk shafts in several directions, leaving here
and there columns to prevent the whole from falling
in. In one of the mines he saw huge masses of
stone rich in copper (Hitter, Erdkmtdt, xiii. 786).
The copper mines of Ptueno in Idunuea, according
to Jerome, were between Zoar and Petra: in the
persecution of Diocletian the Christians were con-
demned to work them.
The gold mines of Egypt in the Biaharee desert,
the principal station of which was Esburanib, about
three days' journey beyond Wady Allaga, have
been discovered within the last few years by M.
Linant and Mr. Bonomi, the latter of whom sup-
plied Sir G. Wilkinson v ith a description of tbem,
which he quotes (Aitc. Kg. iii. 829, 230). Ruin
of the miners' huts still remain as at Sur&blt •)-
Khadim. " In those nearest the mines lived tna
workmen who were employed to break the quarts
into small fragments, the size of a bean,, from
whose hands the pounded stone passed to the per-
sons who ground it in hand-mills, similar to thorn
hssn a tsnhnlnal tsrm amour the arTTttaa sslasr* a
the Slnaiue peninsula.
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MINES, MINING
urn and for corn in the valley of the Nile made
af granitic atone; one of which U to be found in
■boost every home at these mines, either entire or
broken. TTie quartz thus reduced to powder was
washed on inclined tables, furnished with two cis-
terns, all built of fragments of stone collected there;
and near these inclined planes are generally found
little white mounds, the residue of the operation."
According to the aooount given by Diodorus Siculus
(iii. 13-14), the mines were worked by gangs of
eoDTiets and captives in fetters, who were kept day
and night to their task by the soldiers set to guard
them. The work was superintended by an engi-
neer, who selected the stone and pointed it out to
the miners. The harder rock was split by the
application of fire, but the softer was broken up
with picks and chisels. The miners were quite
naked, their bodies being painted according to the
color of the rock they were working, and in order
to see in the dark passages of the mine they carried
tamps upon their heads. The stone as it fell was
carried off by boys, it was then pounded in stone
mortars with iron pestles by those who were over
30 years of age till it was reduced to the size of a
lentil. The women and old men afterwards ground
it in mills to a fine powder. The final process of
separating the gold from the pounded stone was
entrusted to the engineers who superintended the
work. They spread this powder upon a broad
slightly inclined table, and rubbed it gently with
the hand, pouring water upon it from time to time
so as to carry away all the earthy matter, leaving
the heavier particles upon the board. This was
repeated several times; at first with the hand and
afterwards with fine sponges gently pressed upon
the earthy substance, till nothing but the gold was
left. It was then collected by other workmen, and
placed in earthen crucibles with a mixture of lead
and salt in certain proportions, together with a
little tin and some barley bran. The crucibles
were covered and carefully closed with clay, and In
this condition baked in a furnace for five days and
nights without intermission. Of the three meth-
ods which hare been employed for refining gold
and silver, 1, by exposing the fused metal to a
current of air; 8, by keeping the alloy in a state
of fusion and throwing nitre upon it; and 3, by
mixing the alloy with lead, exposing the whole to
fusion upon a vessel of bone-ashes or earth, and
blowing upon it with bellows or other blast; the
latter appears most nearly to coincide with the
description of Diodorus. To this process, known
ss the cupelling process [Lkad], there seems to
be a reference in Ps. xii. 6; Jer. vi. 28-30; Ez.
txii. 18-32, and from it Mr. Napier {Met. of the
Bible, p. 24) deduces a striking illustration of
Mai. in. 3, 3, " he shall sit as a refiner and purifier
if silver," etc. >' When the alloy is melted . . .
■poo a cupefl, and the air blown upon it, the
surface of the melted metals has a deep orange-red
soljr, with a kind of flickering ware constantly
pasting over the surface ... As the process pro-
seeds the heat is increased . . . and in • little
the color of the fused metal becomes lighter. . . .
At this stage the refiner watches the operation,
either standing or sitting, with the greatest earn-
MINES, MINTNU
1939
aetneas, until all the orange color ami shading
disappears, and the metal has the appearance .of
a highly-polished mirror, reflecting every object
around it; even the refiner, as he locks upon tba
mass of metal, may see himself as in a looking
glass, and thus he can form a very correct judg-
ment respecting the purity of the metal. If he is
satisfied, the fire is withdrawn, and the metal re-
moved from the furnace; but if not considered
pure more lead is sdded and the process re-
peated."
Silver mines are mentioned by Diodorus (i. 33)
with those of gold, iron, and copper, in the island
of Meroe, at the mouth of the Nile. But the chief
supply of silver in the ancient world appears to
have been brought from Spain. The mines of that
country were celebrated (1 Mace. viii. 3). Mt.
Oroapeda, from which the Guadalquivir, the ancient
Bailee, takes its rise, was formerly called " the silver
mountain," from the silver-mines which were in
it (Strabo, iii. p. 148). Tartessus, according to
Strabo, was an ancient name of the river, which
gave its name to the town which was built between
its two mouths. But the largest silver-mines is
Spain were in the neighborhood of Carthago Nova
from which, in the time of Polybius, the Koman
government received 25,000 drachma; daily. These,
when Strabo wrote, had fallen into private hands,
though most of the gold-mines were public property
(iii. p. 148). Near Castillo there were lead-mines
containing silver, but in quantities so small as not
to repay the cost of working. The process of sep-
arating the silver from the lead is abridged by
Strabo from Polybius. The lumps of ore were first
pounded, and then sifted through sieves into water.
The sediment was again pounded, and again filtered,
and after this process had been repeated five times
the water was drawn off, the remainder of the ore
melted, the lead poured away and the silver left
pure. If Tartessus be the Tarahish of Scripture,
the metal workers of Spain in those days must have
possessed the art of hammering silver into sheets,
for we find in Jer. x. 9, " silver spread into plates
is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphas.''
We have no means of knowing whether the gold
of Ophir was obtained from mines or from the
washing of gold-streams. " Pliny (vi. 32), from
Juba, describes the littva Hammttum on the Persian
Gulf as a place where gold-mines existed, and in
the same chapter alludes to the gold-mines of the
Saboauia. Hut in all probability the greater part
of the gold which came into the hands of the Phoe-
nicians and Hebrews was obtained from streams;
its great abundance seems to indicate this. At a
very early period Jericho was a centre of commerce
with the East, and in the narrative of its capture
we meet with gold in the form of ingots (Josh, rii
21, A. V. "wedge," lit. "tongue"), 6 in which it
was probably cast for the convenience of traffic.
That which Achan took weighed 25 oz.
As gold is seldom if ever found entirely free from
silver, the quantity of the latter varying from 2 per
cent, to 30 per cent., it has been supposed that the
ancient metallurgists were acquainted with some
means of parting them, an operation performed in
modern times by boiling the metal in nitric or
• The Hebrew "T22, Utttt (Job xxH. 24, 26), or 1 a . uon, ' , »•«•■«• ™ oonnection with Ophlr, Is baHevs.
"' » signify gold and sUvsr ore.
"1?? Muar (Job zxztL 19), whieh is naasarsd » Uompu* the ft. tingot, which Is from UL u*r a*.
.U" m d» A. T.acd. .n.ttos.1 » tit. tat- ««> «• «*« »» b. the orlgta of «,«
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1940
MINES, MININO
lulphuric acid. To tome process of tine kind it
aat been imagined that reference it made in Pror.
xvii. 3, •' Tbejimng-pot ia for ailver, and the /»■-
•nee for gold; " and again in zxvii. 21. " If, for
example," says Mr. Napier, " the term Jtmny-put
eould refer to the vessel or pot in which the silver
ii diaaolved from the gold in parting, aa it may be
ealled with propriety, then these passages have a
meaning in our modern practice" (A/ef. of the
Bible, p. 28); but he admiU thU la at beat but
plausible, and consider* that " the constant refer-
ence to certain qualities and kinds of gold in Scrip-
ture it a kind of presumptive proof that they were
not in the habit of perfectly purifying or separating
the gold from the silver."
A strong proof of the acquaintance possessed by
the ancient Hebrews with the manipulation of
metals is found by some in the destruction of the
golden calf in the desert by Moses. " And he took
the calf which they bad made, and burnt it in fire,
and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the
water, and made the children of Israel drink " (Ex.
xxxii. 20). As the highly malleable character of
gold would render an operation like that which ia
•escribed in the text almost impossible, an explana-
tion has been sought in the supposition that we
have here an indication that Moses waa a proficient
in the process known in modern times aa calcina-
tion. The object of calcination being to oxidize
the metal subjected to the process, and gold not
being affected by this treatment, the explanation
cannot be admitted. M. Uoguet (quoted in Wil-
kinson's Anc. Eg. iii. 221) confidently asserts that
the problem has been solved by the discovery of an
experienced chemist that " in the place of tartaric
acid, which we employ, the Hebrew legislator used
natron, which ia common in the East." The gold
so reduced and made into a draught ia further said
to have a most detestable taste. Uoguet's solution
appears to have been adopted without examination
by more modern writers, but Mr. Napier ventured
to question its correctness, and endeavored to trace
it to its source. The only clew which he found
waa in a discovery by Stahl, a chemist of the 17th
xntury, " that if 1 part gold, 3 parte potash, and
3 parts sulphur are heated together, a compound
is formed which is partly soluble in water. If,"
he adds, " this be the discovery referred to, which
I think very probable," it certainly baa been made
Ike moat of by Biblical critics " (Met. of the Bible,
p. 49). The whole difficulty appears to have arisen
from a desire to find too much in the text. The
main object of the destruction of the calf waa to
prove its worthlessnets and to throw contempt upon
idolatry, and all this might bare been done with-
out any refined chemical process like that referred
to. The calf waa first bested in the fire to destroy
its shape, then beaten and broken up by hammering
or filing into small pieces, which were thrown into
the water, of which the people were made to drink
as a symbolical act. " Moses threw the stoma into
'be water aa an emblem of the perfect annihilation
»f the calf, and he gave the Israelites that water to
drink, not only to impress upon them the abomina-
tion and despicable character of the image which
they had made, but as a symbol of purification, to
the object of the transgression by those
• this uncertainty might have been at one* re-
■eeved by a isstrsne* to Oofuefa Ongiiu let Lou,
Ms 0L 1, t, e. 4), when Stahl ( Timhummw ; Oman.
MIKES, MINING
very persons who had committed it " (Dr. Calks*,
Comm. on Ex. xxxii. 20).
How far the ancient Hebrews were acquainted
with the processes at present in use for extracting
copper from the ore it ia impossible to assert, at
there are no references in Scripture to anything of
the kind, except in the paaaage of Job already
quoted. Copper smelling, however, it in ' some
cases attended with comparatively small difficulties,
which the ancients had evidently the skill to over-
come. Ore oompoaed of copper and oxygen mixed
with coal and burnt to a bright red heat, leaves
the copper in the metallic state, and the aame ;eautt
will follow if the process be applied to the oar
Donates and sulphurate of copper. Some meant of
toughening the metal so aa to render it fit for
manufacture mutt hare been known to the Hebrews
aa to other ancient nations. The Egyptians evi-
dently possessed the art of working I ronze in great
perfection at a very early time, and much of the
knowledge of metals which the Israelites had must
have been acquired during their residence among
Of tin there appears to have been no trace in
Palestine. That the Pbosniciant obtained their
supplies from the mines of Spain and Cornwall
there can be no doubt, and it ia suggested that even
the Egyptians may have procured it from the same
source, either directly or through the medium of
the former. It was found among the poasesejoct
of the Midianitea, to whom it might have come in
the course of traffic ; but in other instances in which
allusion is made to it, tin occurs in conjunction
with other metals in the form of an alloy. The
lead mines of Gebd e' Reseats, near the coast of
the Ked Sea, about half way between Berenioe and
Rosaayr (Wilkinson, Hnndb. for Egypt, p. 408)
may hare supplied the Hebrews with that metal,
of which there were no mines in their own country
or it may have been obtained from the rocka in the
neighborhood of Sinai. The hills of Palestine are '
rich in iron, and the mines are still worked there
[Metals] though in a very simple rude manner,
like that of the ancient Samothracians: of the
method employed by the Egyptians and Hebrews
we have no certain information. It may have been
similar to that in use throughout the whole of
India from very early timet, which ia thus described
by Dr. Ure (Met. of Arte, etc., art. Steel). " The
furnace or bloomery in which the ore it smelted ia
from four to five feet high ; it ia somewhat pear-
ahaped, being about five feet wide at bottom and
one foot at top. It it built entirely of clay ....
There is an opening in front about a foot or more
in height, which ia built up with clay at the com-
mencement and broken down at the end of each
■melting operation. The bellowa are usually made
of a goat's akin .... The bamboo nozzles of the
bellows are inserted into tubes of clay, which ptaa
into the furnace .... The furnace it filled with
charcoal, and a 1'ghted coal being introduced before
the nozzles, the mats in the interior ia soon kindled.
At toon at tbia ia accomplished, a small portion
of the ore, previously moistened with water to pre-
vent it from running through the charcoal, but
without any flux whatever, ia laid on the top of tin
coals and covered with charcoal to fill up the fur-
ehym. pays. mad. p. 886) is quoted aa the ant
for the statement.
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MIXES, MINING
m In this manner on and fuei an wmlied,
and the bellows are urged for three or four hour*.
When the process is stopped and the temporary
•all in front broken down, the bloom is removed
with a pair of tonga from the bottom of the fur-
nace."
It has seemed necessary to P n t°> a account of a
vary ancient method of iron smelting, because, from
the difficulties which attend it, and the intense heat
which is required to separate the metal from the
are, it has been asserted that the allusions to iron
and iron manufacture in the Old Testament are
anachronisms. But if it were possible among the
ancient Indiana in a very primitive state of civiliza-
tion, it might have been known to the Hebrews,
who may have acquired their knowledge by working
as slaves in the iron furnaces of Egypt (oomp.
Dent. iv. 20).
The question of the early use of iron among the
Egyptians, is fully disposed of in the following
remarks of Sir Gardner Wilkinson (Ancient Egyp-
tian*, ii. pp. 154-166): —
" In the infancy of the arts and sciences, the
difficulty of working iron might long withhold the
secret of its superiority over copper and bronze;
but it cannot reasonably be supposed that a nation
so advanced, and so eminently skilled in the art of
working metals as the Egyptians and Sidonians,
should have remained ignorant of its use, even if
we had no evidence of its having been known to
the Greeks and other people; and the constant
employment of bronze arms and implements is not
a sufficient argument against their knowledge of
iron, since we And the Greeks and Romans made
the same things of bronze long after the period
when iron was universally known To con-
clude, from the want of iron instruments, or arms,
bearing the names of early monarch* of a Pharaonic
age, that bronze was alone used is neither just nor
satisfactory; since the decomposition of that metal,
especially when buried for ages in the nitrous soil
of Egypt, is so speedy as to preclude the possibility
of its preservation. Until we know in what manner
the Egyptians employed bronze tools for cutting
■tone, the discovery of them affords no additional
light, nor even argument; since the Greeks and
Romans continued to make bronze instruments of
various kinds so long after iron was known to them ;
and Herodotus mentions the iron tools used by the
builders of the Pyramids. Iron and copper mines
are found in the Kgyptian desert, which were worked
in old times: and the monuments of Thebes, and
even the tombs about Memphis, dating more than
4000 years ago, represent butchers sharpening their
knives on a round bar of metal attached to their
apron, which from its blue color can only be steel ;
and the distinction between the bronze and iron
weapons in the tomb of Remeses III., one painted
fed, the other blue, leaves no doubt of both having
Men used (as in Rome) at the same periods. In
Ethiopia iron was much more abundant than in
Egypt, and Herodotus states that copper was a rare
petal there; though we may doubt his assertion
»f prisoners in that country having been bound with
'otters of gold. The speedy decomposition of iron
MINIAMIN
1941
a Kimehl observes that these an dMngutshed "rem
he mingled people mentioned to ver. 20 by tr» ad-
#tfon, « that dwell In the desert."
» bslM parallel paassgs of 2 Ohr. rx. M toe reading
• an$, •*•>, or Arabia.
would be sufficient to prevent our Ending impfc
ments of that metal of an early period, and tin
greater opportunities of obtaining copper ore, added
to the facility of working it, might be a reason fot
pre! rring the latter whenever it answered the pur-
pus) instead of iron." [Ikon, Amer. ed.]
W. A. W.
MINGLED PEOPLE. This phrase
( 2 7W> hi'trei), like that of "the mixed miuU
tude," which the Hebrew closely resembles, is ap-
plied in Jer. xxv. 20, and Ez. xxx. 6, to denote the
miscellaneous foreign population of Egypt and its
frontier-tribes, including every one, says Jerome,
who was not a native Egyptian, but was resident
there. The Targum of Jonathan understands it
in this passage as well as in Jer. 1. 87, of the
foreign mercenaries, though in Jer. zzv. 24, where
the word again occurs, it is rendered " Arabs." It
is difficult to attach to it any precise meaning, or
to identify with the mingled people any race of
which we have knowledge. "The kings of the
mingled people that dwell in the desert " <■ are the
same apparently as the tributary kings (A. V.
kings of Arabia ") who brought presents to Sol-
omon (1 K. x. 15);* the Hebrew in the two cases
is identical. These have been explained (as in the
Targum on 1 K. x. 15) as foreign mercenary chiefs
who were in the pay of Solomon, but Theuius
understands by them the sheykhs of the border
tribes of Bedouins, living in Arabia Deserta, who
were closely connected with the Israelites. The
" mingled people "in the midst of Babylon (Jer.
1. 37) were probably the foreign soldiers or mer-
cenary troops, who lived among the native popula-
tion, as the Targum takes it. Karachi compares
Ex. xii. 38, and explains M'ereo of the foreign
population of Babylon ° generally, •' foreigners who
were in Babylon from several lands," or it may, ha
says, be intended to denote the merchants, 'ertb
being thus connected with the TQ^S? NrT&i
'oribi mn'irabic, of Ez. xzvii. 27, rendered in the
A. V. " the occupiers of thy merchandise.'' His
first interpretation is based upon what appears to
be the primary signification of the root 2"?^,
'Arab, to mingle, while another meaning, "to
pledge, guarantee," suggested the rendering of the
Targum " mercenaries," <* which Jarchi adopts in
his explanation of " the kings of ha'ertb," in 1 K.
z. 15, as the kings who were pledged to Solomon
and dependent upon him. The equivalent which
he gives is apparently intended to represent the Fr.
gamntit.
The rendering of the A. T. is supported by the
LXX. o-jiuuirrof in Jer., and Mmitros in Ezesjal
W.A. W.
MIN'IAMIN (ra T N)0 l<* ">* riff**, <* «*
of the right hand] : Btrumlv, [Tat] Alex. Bsv
uuitty'- Btnjmrin). L One of the Levites in the
reign of Hezekiah appointed to the charge of the
freewill offerings of the people in the cities of the
priests, and to distribute them to their brethren
(2 Chr. xxxi. 15). The rending '• Benjamin " of
c The same commentator raters the expression ra
Is. zlU. 14, " they shall eve 7 man turn to hie owa
people," to the dispersion of the mixed population af
Babylon at Its capture.
* nHwa
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1942
MINISH
Mm LXX. ud Vulg. is followed by the PesUto
Syriac
3. (Muuiir; [Tat. Alex. FA.' omit; FA.* B»r-
Afuir;] Muimin.) The Dune u Miamix 3 and
Muamih a (Neh. xU. 17).
8. ([Aid.] Btnofiiv, [Bom. Vat Alex. FA.'
unit; KA.'J Beriaueur; [Gomp. Muuifr-]) One
tf the priests who blew the trumpets at the dedica-
tion of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. xii. 41).
• MINISH occurs (Ex. r. 19; Ps. evil. 89) in
the sense of our present "lessen " or "diminish."
It comes from the Latin nnnuere through the old
French mt mater. It now appears only as " dimin-
ish," which has taken its place. The old form
is found in WjclinVs translation of John iii. 30:
"It behoveth him for to waxe, forsoth me to be
memuid, or maad lean." H.
MIN'NI 03O : Menni), a country mentioned
In connection with Ararat and Ashchenaz (Jer. li.
17). The LXX. erroneously renders it wop' i/iov-
It has been already noticed as a portion of Armenia.
[Akmkkia.] The name may be connected with
the Afmyai noticed by Nicolaus of Damascus
(Joseph. AtU. i. 3, § 6), with the Mitmai of the
Assyrian inscriptions, whom Bawttnson (Herod, i.
464) places about lake Uramiytk, and with the
Manmt who appears in the list of Armenian kings
in the inscription at Wan (Layard's JVin. and Bab.
p . 401). At the time when Jeremiah prophesied,
Armenia had been subdued by the Median kings
(Herod, i. 103, 177). " W.L.B.
MINISTER. This term is nsed in the A. V.
to describe various officials of a religious and civil
character. In the O. T. it answers to the Hebrew
mahareih," which is applied (1), to an attendant
upon a person of high rank, as to Joshua in rela-
tion to Moses (Ex. xxiv. 13; Josh. i. 1), and to the
attendant on the prophet Elisha (2 rL iv. 43); (2)
to the attache* of a royal court (1 K. x. 5, where,
it may be observed, they are distinguished from the
" servants " or officials of higher rank, answering
to our mimttert. by the different titles of the cham-
bers assigned to their use, the " sitting " of the
servants meaning rather their abode , and the " at-
tendance " of the ministers the ante-room in which
they were stationed); persons of high rank held
this post in the Jewish kingdom (2 Cbron. xxii. 8);
and it may be in this sense, as the attendants of
the King of Kings, that the term is applied to the
angels (Ps. civ. 4); (3) to the Priests and Lerites,
who are thus described by the prophets and later
historians (Is. lxi. 6; Ex. xliv. 11; Joel i. 9, 13;
Esr. riii. 17; Neh. x. 36), though the verb, whence
mt$h&rtth is derived, is not uncommonly used in
reference to their services in the earlier books (Ex.
txviii. 43; Num. iii. 31; Deut. xviii. 6, aL). In
the N. T. we have three terms each with its dis-
tinctive meaning — \urovpy6s, ownocVnr, and
ixovot. The first answers most nearly to the
Jebrew mtthareth and is usually employed in the
LXX as its equivalent. It betokens a subordinate
oublic administrator, whether civil or sacerdotal,
t> The term is derived from \tt-rov ipyov, "public
«ork," and the irixovrgia was the name of certain par-
tonal services which the citizens of Athens sad some
<cher states had to perform gratuitously for the public
food. Iron the sacerdotal use of the word in the N. I.,
t obtained the special sense of a " public divine
<srrtos,"whk)h is perpetuated in our word "litany."
MINISTER
and is applied in the former sense to the magistrates
in their relation to the Divine authority (Rom. xii'i
6), and in the latter sense to our Lord in relation
to the Father (Heb. riii. 2), and to St. Paul in re-
lation to Jesus Christ (Rom. xr. 16), where it occurs
among other expressions of a sacerdotal character,
"ministering" (luwvp-vovrra), "oflering up"
(rpoapopi, etc.). In all these in«t^n<«« the origi-
nal and special meaning of the word, as used by the
Athenians, 6 is preserved, though this comes, per-
haps, yet more distinctly forward in the cognate
terms Xarovpyia and Xnrovpytty, applied to the
sacerdotal office of the Jewish priest (Luke i. 83;
Heb. ix. 21, x. 11), to the still higher priesthood
of Christ (Heb riii. 6), and in a secondary sense
to the Christian priest who oners up to God the
faith of his converts (Phil. ii. 17, \ftrouoyla r$<
wiarws), and to any act of public self-devotion on
the part of a Christian disciple (Rom. xv. 27; 3
Cor. ix. 12; Phil. ii. 30). The second term,
-Awnoerni, differs from the two others in that it
contains the idea of actual and personal attendance
upon a superior. Thus it is used of the attendant
in the synagogue, the khamn * of the Talmudists
(Luke iv. 20), whose duty it was to open and close
the building, to produce and replace the books em-
ployed in the service, and generally to wait on the
officiating priest or teacher d (Carpzov, AfiparaL p.
314). It is similarly applied to Mark, who, as the
attendant on Barnabas and Saul (Acts iiii. 6), was
probably charged with the administration of bap-
tism and other assistant duties (De Wette, in foe);
and again to the subordinates of the high-priests
(John vii. 82, 46, xviii. 3, <it), or of a jailer (Matt.
v. 25 = rpAin-fp in Luke xii. 68; Acts v. 22).
The idea of perianal attendance comes prominently
forward in Luke i. 2; Acts xxvi. 16, in both of
which places it is alleged as a ground of trustworthy
testimony (ipsi vidertmt, et, quod plus est, minit-
trarmt, Beugel). Lastly, it is used interchangeably
with tidxoyas in 1 Cor. iv. 1 compared with iii. 6,
but in this instance the term is designed to convey
the notion of subordination and humility. In all
these cases the etymological sense of the word (6ww,
^oernt, literally • " staVrcteer," one who rows un-
der command of the steersman) comes out. The
term that most adequately r e pr ese nts it in our lan-
guage is " attendant." The third term, tubcoroi ,
is the one usually employed in relation to the min-
istry of the Gospel : its application is twofold, in
a general sense to indicate ministers of any order,
whether superior or inferior, and in a special sense
to indicate an order of inferior ministers. In the
former sense we have the cognate term SiaxoWa
applied in Acts vi. 1, 4, both to the ministration
of tables and to the higher ministration of the word,
and the term Stdxayos itself spplied, without defin-
ing the office, to Paul and A polios (1 Cor. iii. 6),
to Tychicus (Eph. ri. 21; Col. iv. 7), to Epaphras
(Col. i. 7), to Timothy (1 Tbes. iii. 2), and even to
Christ himself (Rom. xv. 8; Gal. ii. 17). In the
latter sense it is applied in the passsges where the
Siixorat is contradistinguished from the Bishop, as
The verb JU>rov««v is used tn tnls
xttl. 2.
in AeM
H7-
d The «>i|ptrirr of ecclesiastical history ooeupM
precisely the same position Id the Christian Chores
that the kkaxan did In the synagogue : in Iaita s*
was styled SHOHftonmiu, or sub-deacon (twngiaun, Ami
HI. 2).
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MINNITH
«PUL i. 1; 1 Tim. iU. 8-13. It is, perhaps, worthv
tf observation that the word U of very rare occur-
rence in f be LXX. (Esth. 1. 10, ii. 2, vi.8/,snd then
anly in a general aenee: it* special tense, u known to
js in iti derivative " deacon,'' seems to be of purely
Christian growth. [Deacon. J W. L. B.
MIN'NITH (rP3t? [perh. given, allotted]-.
mxpa 'Apnu/i Alex. «t XifiweiB; " Joseph. riM
MoAid>ns : l'etb. Syriac, Mnchir: Vulg. Mennith),
a place on the eaat of the Jordan, named as the
point to which Jephthah's slaughter of the Am-
monites extended (Judg. xi. 33). " From Aroer to
the approach to Minnith " (B t|81S ~fff) seems
to hare been a district containing twenty cities.
Minnith was in the neighborhood of Abel-Ceramim,
the "meadow of vineyards." Both places are
mentioned iu the Onomasticon — " Mennith " or
" Maanith " as 4 miles from Heshbon, on the road
to Philadelphia {Ammdn), and Abel as 6 or 7 miles
from the latter, but in what direction is not stated.
A site bearing the name Menjah is marked in
Van de Velde's Map, perhaps on the authority of
Buckingham, at 7 Koman miles east of Heshbon on a
road to Arnm&n, though not on the frequented track.
Bat we must await further investigation of these
interesting regions before we can pronounce for or
against iu identity with Minnith.
The variations of the ancient versions as given
above are remarkable, but tbey have not suggested
anything to the writer. Schwarz proposes to find
Minnith in Maokd, a trans-Jordanic town named
in the Maccabees, by the change of 3 to X An
episcopal city of " Palestina secunda," named Men-
nith, is quoted by Belaud (Palattina, p. 211), but
with some question as to its being located in this
direction (comp. 209).
The " wheat of Minnith " is mentioned in Ex.
xxvii. 17, as being supplied by Judah and Israel to
Tyre; but there is nothing to indicate that the
same place is intended, and indeed the word is
thought by some not to be a proper name. Philis-
tia and Sharon were the great corn-growing dis-
tricts of Palestine — but there were in these eastern
regions also " fat of kidneys of wheat, and wine of
the pure blood of the grape " (Deut. xxxii. 14). Of
that cultivation Minuith and Abel-Ceramim may
have been the chief seats.
In this neighborhood were possibly situated the
rineyards in which Balaam encountered the angel
en his road from Mesopotamia to Moab (Num.
izii. 24). G.
MINSTREL. The Hebrew word in 2 K. iii.
lb (7.32P, menaggbt) properly signifies a player
■pun a stringed instrument like the harp or tumor
[H abt], whatever it* precise character may have
seen, on which David played before Saul (1 Sam.
tvi. 16, xviii. 10, xix. 9), and which the harlots of
he great cities used to carry with them as they
Talked to attract notice (Is. xxiii. 14). The pas-
rage in which it occurs has given ris» to much con-
bctnre; FJiaha, upon being consulted by Jehoram
is to the issue of the war with Moab, at first :n-
iignantly refutes to answer, and is only induced to
'o so by the presence of Jehoshnphat. He calls fir
MINT
1043
a Bmiw iMw •« vifUMi* Is the readme of tea
•lax. Oodax, Ingeniously eorreetad by Grabs to an re*
•atVsr « nt Man*.
I Vba TUvtuir trsnslstss, "and now bring dm a
a harper, apparently a camp follower (one of tas
Levites according to Prooopius of Gaza)," " And
now bring me a harper; and it came to past as
the harper harped that the hand of Jehovah was on
Mm." Other instances of the tame divine influence,
or impulse connected with music, are teen in thi
ease of Saul and the young prophets in 1 Sam.
x. 5, 6, 10, 11. In the present passage the reason
of Elisha's appeal is variously explained. Jarchi
says that " on account of anger the Sbechinah had
departed from him; " Ephrem Syrus, that the
object of the music was to attract a crowd to hear
the prophecy; J. H. Michaelit, that the prophet':
mind, disturbed by the impiety of the Israelites,
might be soothed and prepared for divine things Ly
a spiritual song. According to Keil ( Conun. oh
Kings, i. 369, Eng. tr.), " Eliaha calls for a min-
strel, in order to gather in his thoughts by the toft
tones of music from the impression of the outer
world, and by .repressing the life of self and of the
world to be transferred into the state of internal
vision by which his spirit would be prepared to
receive the Divine revelation." This in effect is the
view taken by Josephus (Ant. ix- 3, § 1), and the
same is expressed by Maimonides in a passage which
embodies the opinion of the Jews of the Middle
Ages. " All the prophets were not able to proph-
esy at any time that they wished ; but tbey pre-
pared their mindt, and sat joyful and glad of
heart, and abstracted ; for prophecy dwelleth not
in the midst of melancholy nor in the midst of
apathy, but in the midst of joy. Therefore the sons
of the prophets bad before them a psaltery, and a
tabret, and a pipe, and a harp and (thus) sought
after prophecy " (or prophetic inspiration), ( Yad
hachniahih, vii. S, Bernard's Creed and Kthict of
the Jem, p. 16; see alto note to p. 114). Kinichi
quotes a tradition to the effect that, after the ascen-
sion of his master Elijah, the spirit of prophecy had
not dwelt upon Eliaha because he was mourning,
and the spirit of holiness does not dwell but in the
midst of joy. In 1 Sam. xviii. 10, on the contrary
there is a remarkable instance of the employment
of music to still the excitement consequent upon
an attack of frenzy, which in its external manifes-
tations at least so far resembled the rapture with
which the old prophets were affected when deliver-
ing their prophecies, as to be described by the tame
term. " And it came to pats on the morrow, that
the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he
prophesied in the midst of the house: and David
played with his hand as at other times." Weenies
( ClirltL Synagogue, eh. vi. § 3, par. 6, p. 143) sup-
poses that the music appropriate to such occasions
was " that which the Greeks called appoyfar, which
was the greatest and the saddest, and settled the
affections."
The ••minstrels" in Matt. ix. 23 were the
flute-players who were employed as professional
mourners, to whom frequent allusion it made (Eed.
xii. 6; 2 Chr. xxxv. 28; Jer. ix. 17-20), and
whose representatives exist in great numbers to this
day in the cities of the East. [Mourning.]
W. A. W.
MINT (ifiioaiu>¥ : men&a) occurs only in
Matt, xxiii. 23 and Luke xi. 42, as one of those
mas who knows how to play npon the harp, and '•
came to pass ss ths harper harped there raited npos
aim the spirit of prophecy from bsfera Jehovah "
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1944
MINT
i>erbs the tithe of which the Jem were moet
scrupulously exact in paying. Some commentators
have supposed that such herb* u mint, anite (dill),
and cummin, were not titheabie by law, and that
the Pharisees, solely from an overstrained leal, paid
tithe* for them; but aa dill waa subject to tithe
(Maui-oth, cap. iv. § 6), it is most probable that
the other herbs mentioned with it were also tithed,
and this is fully corroborated by our Lord's own
words : " these ought ye to hare done." The
Pharisees therefore are not censured for paying
tithes of things untitheable by law, but for paying
more regard to a scrupulous exactness in these
minor duties than to important moral obligations.
There cannot be the slightest doubt that the
A. V. is correct in the translation of the Greek
word, and all the old versions are screed in under-
standing some species of mint < Mentha) by it.
Dioscorides (iii. 36, ed. Sprengel) speaks of tjSooo-
uor fiptpov (Mentha «o<wkj); the Greeks used the
terms plrQa, or ulrthi and ufvdor for mint, whence
the derivation of the English word; the Romans
have menthit, mentii, mentaetrwn. According to
Pliny (//. N. xix. 8) the old Greek word for mint
waa uinta, which waa changed to tjJiW/uok (" the
sweet smelling"), on account of the fragrant prop-
Mtntha eyteeitrU.
arties of this plant. Hint was used by the Greeks
and Romans both as a carminative in medicine and
a condiment in cookery. Apicius mentions the use
of fresh (viriaHs) and dried (arida) mint. Com-
pare also Pliny, ff. tf. xix. 8, xx. 14; Dioscor. iii.
36 ; the K/iityrum of the Romans had mint as one
oi its ingredients (Cato, tie Re Rut. § 190). Mar-
tial, Epig. x. 47, speaks of "ructatrix mentha,"
saint being an excellent carminative. " So amongst
the Jews," says Celsius (Hierob. i. 647), "the Tal-
mudical writers manifestly declare that mint was
jsed »ith their food." (Tract. Shem. Ve Jobel, ch.
»n. J 2, and Tr OkeUin, ch. 1. § 2; Slieb. ch. 7,
| 1. Lady Calcott, (Script. Herb. p. 380) makes
Jie following ingenious remark : " I know not
whether mint was originally one of the bitter herbs
vita which the Israelites eat the Paschal lamb, but
■ • "There an various specks," says Tristram (Wat.
'it tf let Bible, p. 471), « wild and cuMvaasd, In
*eksdhs. The common wild mint of the cosntry Is
MIRACLES
our nee of It with roast lamb, particular!) .
Easter time, inclines me to suppose it was." The
same writer also observes that the modem Jews eat
horse-radish and chervil with lamb. The woodcut
■•present* the horse-mint (M. tj/lvettru) which is
common in Syria, and according to Russell (UitL
of Aleppo, p. 39) found in the gardens at Aleppo;
M. tatim a generally supposed to be only a variety
of 11. arvtntis, another species of mint; perhaps
all these were known to the ancients. 11 The mints
belong to tho large natural order Labial*.
W. H.
MIPH'KAD, THE GATE (TTJ?Bn "iptf
[gate of the eennu, or of appointment, Get.]:
wi\il to5 MatptxiS-- port" jtuhcialu), one of the
gates of Jerusalem at the time of the rebuilding of
the wall after the return from Captivity (Neh. iii.
31). According to the view taken in this work of
the topography of the city, this gate was probably
not in the wall of Jerusalem proper, but in that of
the city of David, or Zion, and somewhere near to
the junction of the two on the north side (see
vol. ii. p. 1322). The name may refer to some
memorable census of the people, as for instance
that of David, 2 Sam. xxiv. 9, and 1 Chr. xxi. 5
(in each of which the word used for " number " is
miphkad), or to the superintendents of some por-
tion of the worship (PtlcUim, see 2 Chr. xxxi. 13)
G.
MIRACLES. The word "miracle" is the
ordinary translation, in our authorized English ver-
sion, of the Greek <rnuc7or. Our translators did
not borrow it from the Vulgate (in which dynum
is the customary rendering of crnntiov), but, ap-
parently, from their Knglish predecessors, Tyndale,
Coverdale, etc. ; and it had, probably before their
time, acquired a fixed technical import in theo-
logical language, which is not directly suggested
by it* etymology. The Latin miraculum, from
which it is merely accommodated to an English ter-
mination, corresponds best with the Greek taiutt,
and denotes any object of wonder, whether super-
natural or not. Thus the " Seven Wonders of the
World " were called miracula, though tbey were
only miracles of art. It will perhaps be found
that the habitual use of the term " muscle " has
tended to fix attention too much on the physical
itrangtneu of the facts thus described, and to
divert attention from what may be called their
mynulitg. In reality, the practical importance of
the etrangenen of miraculous facta consists in this
that it is one of the circumstances which, taken
together, make it reasonable to understand the
phenomenon as a mark, seal, or attestation of the
Divine sanction to something else. And if we
suppose the Divine intention established that a
given phenomenon is to be taken as a mark or sign
of Divine attestation, theories concerning the male
in which that phenomenon was produced become of
comparatively little practical value, and are only
serviceable as helping our conceptions. In the ease
of such signs, when they vary from the ordinary
course of nature, we may conceive of them aa
immediately wrought by the authorized interven-
tion of some angelic being merely exerting invisibly
bis natural powers ; or as the result of a provbrioa
made in the original scheme of the universe, by
Mentha eytreurii, which grows on all ma b'J!», and
much larger than our garden mint (Mentha m iei).'
a
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MIRACLES
(inch such au occurrence was to take place a* a
jivsn moment;* ur as the result of the interfer-
•oee of tome higher law with sulwrduiate lawa; or
u a change in the ordinary working of God in
that comae of events which we cal) nature ; or at a
mapenaiop by his immediate power of the action
of certain force* which He had originally given to
what we call natural agenta. These may be hy-
potheses more or leas probable of the mode in which
a given phenomenon is to be conceived to have
been produced ; but if all the circumstances of the
ease taken together make it reasonable to under-
stand that phenomenon as a Divine sign, it will be
of comjuratively little practical importance which
of them we adopt. Indeed, in many cases, the
phenomenon which constitutes a Divine sign may
be one not, in itself, at all varying from the known
course of nature. This it the common case of
prophecy : in which the fulfillment of the prophecy,
which constitutes the sign of the prophet's com-
mission, may be the result of ordinary causes, and
yet, from being incapable of having been antici-
pated by human sagacity, it may be an adequate
mark or sign of the Divine sanction. In sucb
ases, the miraculous or wonderful element is to be
■ought not in the fulfillment, but in the prediction.
Thus, although we should suppose, fur example,
that the destruction of Sennacherib's army was
accomplished by an ordinary simoom of the desert,
called figuratively the Angel of the Lord, it would
still be a sign of Isaiah's prophetic mission, and
of (J xl's care for Jerusalem. And so, in the case
of the passage of the Bed Sea by the Israelites
under Hoses, and many other instances. Our
Lord's prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem
la a clear example of an event brought about in
the ordinary course of things, and yet being a sign
of the Divine mission of Jesus, and of the just
displeasure of God against the Jews.
It would appear, indeed, that in almost all cases
of signs or evidential miracles something prophetic
is involved. In the common case, for example, of
healing sickness by a word or touch, the word or
gesture may be regarded as a prediction of the
cure; and then, if the whole circumstances be such
as to exclude just suspicion of (1) a natural antici-
pation of the event, and (2) a casual coincidence,
it will be indifferent to the signality of the cure
whether we regard it as effected by the operation
of ordinary causes, or by an immediate interposi-
tion of the Deity reversing the course of nature.
Hypotheses by which such cures are attempted to
be accounted for by ordinary causes are indeed
generally wild, improbable, and arbitrary, and are
(on that ground) justly open to objection; but, if
the miraculous character of the predictive ante-
sedeut be admitted, tbey do not tend to deprive
the phenomenon of its signality : and there are
Binds which, from particular associations, find it
easier to conceive a miraculous agency operating in
the region of mind, than oue operating in the
legion of matter.
It may be further observed, in passing, that tin
•oof of the actual occurrence of a sign, when in
ksetf an ordinary event, and invested with signality
inly by a previous prediction, may be, in
MIRACLES
1945
respects, better circumstanced thiin the proof of th»
occurrence of a miraculous sign. For the predic-
tion and the fulfillment may have occurred at a
long «h«*jm— of time the one from the other, and
be attested by separate seta of independent wit-
nesses, of whom the one was ignorant of the ful-
fillment, and the other ignorant, or incredulous, of
the prediction. As each of these sets of witnesses
are deposing to what is to thtin a mere ordinary
fact, there is no room for suspecting, in the ease
of those witnesses, any coloring from religious
prejudice, or excited feeling, or fraud, or that crav-
ing for the marvelous which has notoriously pro-
duced many legends. But it must be admitted
that it is only suc/i sources of suspicion that are
excluded in such a case; and that whatever inherent
improbability there may be in a fact considered as
miraculous — or varying from the ordinary course
of nature — remains still: so that it would be a
mistake to say that the two facts together — the
prediction and the fulfillment — required no stronger
evidence to make them credible than any two ordi-
nary facts. This will appear at once from a paral-
lel case. That A B was seen walking in Bond
Street, London, on a certain day, and at a certain
hour, is a common ordinary fact, credible on very
slight evidence. That A B was seen walking in
Broadway, New York, on a certain day, and at a
certain hour, is, when taken by itself; similarly cir-
cumstanced. But if the day and hour assigned in
both reports be the same, the case is altered. We
conclude, at once, that one or other of our inform-
ants was wrong, or both, until convinced of the
correctness of their statements by evidence much
stronger than would suffice to establish an ordinary
fact. This brings us to consider the peculiar im-
probability supposed to attach to miraculous signs,
as such.
The peculiar improbability of Miracles is resolved
by Hume, in his famous Essay, into the circum-
stance that they are " contrary to experience."
This expression is, as has often been pointed out,
strictly speaking, incorrect. In strictness, that
only can be said to be contrary to experience, which
is contradicted by the immediate perceptions of
persons present at the time when the fact is alleged
to have occurred. Thus, if it be alleged that all
metals are ponderous, this is an assertion contrary
to experience; because daily actual observation
shows that the metal potassium is not ponderous
But if any one were to assert that a particular
piece of potassium, which we had never seen, was
ponderous, our experiments on other pieces of ths
same metal would not prove his report to be, in
the same, sense, contrary to our experience, but only
contrary to the analogy of our experience. In a
looser sense, however, the terms " contrary to ex-
perience " are extended to this secondary applies
tion ; and it must be admitted that, in this latter,
leas strict sense, miracles are contrary to general
experience, so far at their mere physical circum-
stances, visible to us, are concerned. This should
I not only be admitted, but strongly insisted upon,
by the maintainers of miracles, because it is an
essential element of their signal character. It is
only the analogy of general experience (necessarily
• This Is asid by Malmonidrs (Marth JVnvttMi,
j»rt II. o. 2B) to hate bean the opinion of soma of the
Jdar Rabbins: "Nasi dkunt, quando Dsus 0. M.
I»ne eihrtentls m crssrlt, ilium turn unfcnlqoe ontt
uturaat warn ordtnsas* st dalsnalnaats, Ulisa.ua Ba-
ton* vlrtutem lndidlass mlracula Ilia producendl : el
slgnum prophetss nihE aliud esse, qoam quod Uses
rignificarlt pr-opbsus tempos q K> Horn hot *•' Urns'
dabsant," etc
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MIRACLBS
■arrow as all human experience if) that convinces
as that a word or a touch baa no efficacy to cure
diaeaaea or (till a tempest And, if it he held that
the analogy of daily experience furnishes us with
no meaaure of proliability, thro the to-called mira-
cle* of the Bible will lose the character of marks
of the Divine Commission of the workers of them.
They will Dot only become as probable as ordinary
events, but they will assume the character of ordi-
nary events. It will be just as credible that they
were wrought by enthusiasts or impostors, as by the
true Prophets of God, and we shall be compelled to
own that the Apostles might as well hare appealed
to any ordinary event in proof of Christ's mission
as to his resurrection from the dead. It is so far,
therefore, from being true, that (as has been said
with something of a sneer) " religion, folluiriHy in
the wake of eeienee, has been compelled to acknowl-
edge the government of the universe as being on
the whole carried on by general laws, and not by
special interpositions," that religion, considered as
standing on miraculous evidence, necessarily pre-
supposes a fixed order of nature, and is compelled
to assume that, not by the discoveries of science,
but by the exigency of its own position ; and there
are few books in which the general constancy of
the order of nature is more distinctly recognized
than the Bible. The witnesses who report to us
miraculous facts are so far from testifying to the
absence of genet al laws, or the instability of the
order of nature, thai, on the contrary, tbeir whole
testimony implies that the miracles which they
record were at variance with their own general
experience — with the general experience of their
contemporaries — with what they believed to have
been the general experience of tbeir predecessors,
and with what they anticipated would be the gen-
eral experience of posterity. It is upon the very
ground that the apparent natural causes, in the
cases to which they testify, are known by uniform
experience to be incapable of producing the effects
said to have taken place, that therefore these wit-
nesses refer those events to the intervention of a
supernatural cause, and Bjieak of these occurrences
u Divine Miracles.
And this leads us to notice one grand difference
between Divine Miracles and other alleged facts,
that seem to vary from the ordinary course of
.ature. It is manifest that there is an essential
difference between alleging a case in which, all the
-eal antecedents or causes being similar to those
»hich we have daily opportunities of observing, a
consequence is said to hare ensued quite different
from that which general experience finds to be
uniformly conjoined with them, and alleging a case
in which there is supposed and indiciiitd lit/ all the
circumttancei, the intervention of an invisible ante-
cedent, or cause, which we know to exist, and to
he adequate to the production of such a result ; for
the special operation of which, in this case, we ran
asign probable reasons, and also for its not gen-
erally operating in a similar manner. This latter
k the case of the Scripture miracles. They are
wrought under a solemn appeal to (iod, in proof
af a revelation worthy of Him, the scheme of which
may be shown to bear a striking analogy to the
sonstitution and order of nature; and it is manifest
hat, in order to make them fit tiym for attesting
revelation, they ought to be phenomena capable
f being shown by a full induction to vary from
what is known to us aa the ordinary eonren of
MIRACLES
To this it is sometimes replied tlut, as weoolisct
the existence of God from the course of nature, wv
have no right to assign to Him powers and attri-
butes in any higher degree than we find them in
the course of nature ; and consequently neither the
power nor the will to alter it. But such persons
must be understood carets ponere Dam, r» uMrrt ;
because it is impossible really to assign Howes
Wisdom, Goodness, etc., to the first cause, aa at
inference from the course of nature, without attrib
uting to Him the power of making it otherwise
There can be no design, for example, or anything
analogous to design, in the Author of the Universe,
unless out of other pottibk collocations of things,
He ttltctcd those fit for a certain purpose. And
it is, in truth, a violation of all analogy, and an
utterly wild and arbitrary chimera, to infer, with-
out the fullest evidence of such a limitation, the
existence of a Being possessed of such power and
intelligence as we see manifested in the course of
nature, and yet unable to make one atom of matter
move an inch in any other direction than that in
which it actually does wove.
And even if we do not regard the existence of
God (in the proper sense of that term) as proved
by the course of nature, still if we admit bis ex-
istence to be in any degree probable, or even possible,
the occurrence of miracles will not be incredible.
For it is surely going too far to say, that, because
the ordinary course of nature leaves us in doubt
whether the author of it be able or unable to alter
it, or of such a character as to lie disposed to alter
it for some great purpose, it is therefore incredible
that He should ever have actually altered it. The
true philosopher, when be considers the narrowness
of human experience, will make allowance for the
possible existence of many causes not yet observed
by man, so as that their operation can be reduced
to fixed laws understood by us; and the operation
of which, therefore, when it reveals itself, must seem
to vary from the ordinary course of things. Other-
wise, there could be no new discoveries in physical
science itself. It is quite true that such forces as
magnetism and electricity are now to a great extent
reduced to known laws: but it is equally true that
no one would have taken the trouble to find out
the laws, if he had not Jiret believed in the facts.
Our knowledge of the law was not the ground of
our belief of the fact ; but our belief of the fact was
that which set us on investigating the law. And
it is easy to conceive that there may lie forces in
nature, unknown to us, the regular periods of the
recurrence of whose ojieratiom within the sphere
of our knowledge (if they ever occur at all) may be
immensely distant from each other in time — (aa,
t. y. the causes which produce the appearance or
disappearance of stars) — so as that, when tbey
occur, they may seem wholly different from all toe
rest of man's present or past experience. Upon
such a supposition, the raiirg of the phenomenon
should not make it incredible, because such a rarity
would be involved in the conditions cf its existence.
Now this is analogous to the case of miracles.
Upon the supposition that there is a God, the im-
mediate volition of the Deity, determined by Wis-
dom, Goodness, etc., is a vkha causa; because
all the phenomena of nature have, on that sup-
position, such volitions as at least their ultima Is
antecedents; and that physical effect, whatever A
may be, that stands next the Divine volition, is s
ease of a physical effect having such a volition
so determined, for its immediate antecedei* Aiu
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MIBAOXHB
M tar the unusualnest of tbe in; o. toting, thai
involved in the very oondltlone of the hypoth-
■u, because thii very wmtunlneu would be
leoaaaary to fit the phenomenon far a miraculous
mgn.
In the foregoing remark*, we hare endeavored to
avoid all metaphysical discussions of questions con-
gaming the nature of causation — the fundamental
principle of induction, and the like; not because
they are unimportant, but because they could not
be treated of attisfactoruy within tbe limits which
the plan of this work prescribe*. They are, for the
moat part, matters of an abstruse kind, and much
Jiffleulty; but (fortunately for mankind) questions
of great practical moment may generally be settled,
for practical purposes, without solving those higher
problems — it. they may be settled on principles
which will hold good, whatever solution we may
adopt of those abstruse questions. It will be proper,
however, to say a few words here upon some popular
forma of expression which tend greatly to increase,
in many mind*, tbe natural prejudice against
miracles. One of these is the usual description of
a miracle, at, " a violation of the Ann* of nature."
Thk metaphorical expression suggests directly the
idea of natural agents breaking, of their own accord,
some rule which ha* the authority and eanctitv of a
law to them. Such a figure can only be applicable
to toe case of a supposed cntueltu and arbitrary
variation from the uniform order of sequence in
natural things, and is wholly inapplicable to a
change in that order caused by God Himself. The
word " law," when applied to material things, ought
only to be understood as denoting a number of
observed and anticipated sequences of phenomena,
taking place with such a resemblance or analogy
to each other nt if% rule had been laid down, which
those phenomena were constantly observing. But
tbe rule, in this ease, is nothing different from the
actual order itself; and there is no cause of these
sequences but the will of God choosing to produce
those phenomena, and choosing to produce them in
a certain order.
Again, the term " nature " suggests to many
persons the idea of a great system of things en-
dowed with powers and forces of its own — a sort
of machine, set a-going originally by a first cause,
but continuing its motions of ittelf. Hence we are
apt to imagine that a change in the motion or
operation of any part of it by God, would produce
the same disturbance of the other parts, aa such a
change would be likely to produce in them, if made
by us. or any other natural agent. But if the
motion* and operations of material things be pro-
duced really by the Divine will, then hi* choosing
to change, for a special purpose, the ordinary motion
of one part, does not necessarily, or probably, infer
bit choosing to change the ordinary motions of other
parte in a way not at all requisite for the accom-
oliahment of that special purpose. It u as ea»y for
Vim to continue the ordinary course of the rest,
with the change of one part, as of all the phenomena
without any change at all. Thus, though tbe
stoppage of the motion of the earth in the ordinary
ourae of nature, would be attrided with terrible
eouvultkjoa, the stoppage of the earth mimcmuusly,
tar a special purpose to be served by tint only,
aeuld not, of itaelf, be followed by any tact oonse-
MIBACLKS
1947
From the same conception of nature, aa a ma-
ahine, we are apt to think of interferences with the
jrdlnary orane of aatare at implying tame imper-
fection In ft. Because machine* are eonsiderej
more and more perfect in proportion as they leap
and lets need the interference of the workman
But it it manifest that tint it a false analogy; for,
tbe reason why machine* are made is, to eave ut
trouble: and, therefore, they are more perfect in
proportion at they answer this purpose. But no
one can seriously imagine that the universe is a
machine for the purpose of taring trouble to the
Almighty.
Again, when miracle* are described at " inter,
ferenees with the laws of nature," this description
makes them appear improbable to many mind*,
from their not sufficiently considering that the law*
of nature interfere with one another; and that wt
cannot get rid of " interference* " upon any hy-
pothesis contittent with experience. When organ-
ization I* superinduced upon inorganic matter, the
law* of inorganic matter are interfered with and
controlled; when animal life comet in, there are
new interferences; when reason and continence are
superadded to will, we have a new clan of con-
trolling and interfering powers, tbe lata of which
are moral in their character. Intelligences of pure
speculation, who could do nothing but observe and
reason, surveying a portion of the universe — such
a* the greater part of the material universe may
be — wholly destitute of living inhabitant*, might
hare reasoned that auch powers aa active baingr
possess were incredible — that it was incredible that
the Great Creator would suffer the majestic uni-
formity of laws which He was constantly main-
taining through boundless apace and innumerable
worlds, to be controlled and interfered with at the
caprice of auch a creature aa man. Yet we know
by experience that God haa enabled us to control
and interfere with the lawa of external nature for
our own purposes : nor doea this teem lest improb-
able beforehand (but rather more), than that He
should Himself interfere with those law* for our
advantage. Thia, at least, ia manifest — that the
purpoeea for which man waa made, whatever they
are, involved the necessity of producing a power
capable of controlling and interfering with tbe lawa
of external nature; and consequently that those
purposes involve in some aenae the necessity of in-
terference* with the lawa of nature external to man i
and how for that necessity may reach — whether it
extend only to interference* proceeding from man
himself, or extend to interferences proceeding from
other creature*, or immediately from God also, it hi
impossible for reason to determine beforehand.
Furthermore, whatever ends may be contemplated
by the Deity for the lawa of nature in reference to
the rest of the universe — (in which question we
have aa little information aa interest) — we know
that, in respect of ua, they answer discernible moral
ends — that they place ua, practically, under gov-
ernment, conducted in the way of rewards and
puniahment — a government of which the temttnry
ia to encourage virtue and repreaa vice — and to
form in us a certain character by discipline; which
character our moral nature compels ua to consider
at the highest and worthiest object which we can
pursue. Since, therefore, tbe lawa of nature have,
in reference to us, moral purpoeea to answer, which
(a* far a* we can judge) they hare not to serve ii
other respect*, it seems not incredible that these
peculiar purpoeea should occasionally require modi-
fication* of those laws in relation to ua, whleh art
not necessary In relation to other parte of the uni-
verse. For wt tee — a* has been Juat observed —
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1948
MIRACLES
that the power green to man of modifying the law*
•f nature by which He ia surrounded, ia a power
directed by moral and rational influences, nieh aa
we do not find directing the power of any other
mature that we know of. And bow far, in the
nature of things, it would be poasible or eligible,
to oonatruct a system of material laws which should
at toe came time, and by the same kind of opera-
tions, answer the other purposes of the Creator, and
alar all his moral purposes with respect to a creature
endowed with such faculties as free-will, reason,
conscience, and the other peculiar attributes of man,
we eannot be supposed capable of judging. And
as the regularity of the laws of nature in them-
selves is the very thing which makes them capable
Of being usefully controlled and interfered with by
nan — (since, if their sequences were irregular and
capricious we could not know bow or when to in-
terfere with them) — so that same regularity U the
Tery thing which makes it possible to use Divine
Interferences with them as attestations of a super-
natural revelation from God to us; so that, in both
eases alike, the usual regularity of the laws, in them-
selves, is not superfluous, but necessary in order to
make the interferences with that regularity service-
able for their proper ends. In this point of view,
miracles are to be considered as cases in which a
higher law interferes with and controls a lower: of
which circumstance we see instances around us at
every torn*
It seems further that, in many disquisitions upon
this subject, some essentially distinct operations of
the human mind hare been confused together in
such a manner as to spread unnecessary obscurity
over the discussion. It may be useful, therefore,
briefly to indicate the mental operations which are
chiefly concerned in this matter.
In the first place there seems to be a law of our
mind, in virtue of which, upon the experience of
any new external event, any phenomenon Hmited by
the circumstances of time and place, we refer it to
a enuM, or powerful agent producing it as an effect.
The relative idea involved in this reference appears
to be a simple one, incapable of definition, and is
denoted by the term efficiency.
From this conception it has been supposed by
tome that a scientific proof of the stability of the
■aws of nature could be constructed ; but the at-
tempt has signally miscarried. Undoubtedly, while
we abide in the strict metaphysical conception of a
cause as such, the axiom that " similar causes pro-
duce similar effects " ia intuitively evident; but it
B so because, in that point of view, it is merely a
jarren truism. For my whole conception, within
these narrow limits, of the cause of the given
phenomenon B is that it is the cause or power pro-
lucing B. I conceive of that cause merely as the
term of a certain relation to the phenomenon; and
Jierefore my conception of a cause similar to it,
jrecisely as a cause, can only be the conception of
a cause of a phenomenon similar to B.
But when the original conception is enlarged
into affording the wider maxim, that causes similar
as thint/s, considered in themselves, and not barely
In relation to the effect, are similar in their effects
tiao, the case ceases to be not equally clear.
And, in applying even this to practice, we are
jet with Insuperable difficulties.
For, first, it may reasonably be demanded, on
what scientific ground we are justified in assuming
.hat any one material phenomenon or substance is,
n this proper sense, the cause of any given material
MIRACLES
phenomenon? It does not appear at all self-e/idenl
& priori, that a material phenomenon must have s
material cause. Many bare supposed the contrary,
and the phenomena of the apparent results of our
own volitions upon matter seem to indicate that
such a law should not be hastily assumed. Upon
the possible supposition, then, that the material
phenomena by which we are surrounded are the
effects of spiritual causes — such as the volitions of
the Author of Nature — it is plain that these are
causes of which we have no direct knowledge, and
the similarities of which to each other we can,
without the help of something more than the fun-
damental axiom of cause and effect, discover only
from the effects, and only so far as the effects carry
us in each particular.
But, even supposing it conceded that material
effects must have material causes, it yet remains to
be settled upon what ground we can assume that
we have ever yet found the true material cause of
any effect whatever, so as to justify us in predicting
that, wherever it recurs, a certain effect will follow.
All that our abstract axiom tells us is, that if we
have the true cause we have that which is always
attended with the effect: and all that experience
can tell us is that A has, so far as we can observe,
been always attended by B: and all that we can
infer from these premises, turn them bow we will,
is merely this : that the case of A and B is, so far
as we have been able to observe, like a case of true
causal connection ; and beyond this we cannot ad-
vance a step towards proving that the case of A
and B is a case of causal connection, without as-
suming further another principle (which would have
saved us much trouble if we had assumed it in the
beginning), that likeness or verisimilitude is a
ground of belief, gaming strength in proportion to
the closeness and constancy of the resemblance.
Indeed, physical analysis, in its continual ad-
vance, is daily teaching us that those things which
we once regarded as the true causes of certain ma-
terial phenomena are only marks of the presence of
other things which we now regard as the true causes,
and which we may hereafter find to be only assem-
blages of adjacent appearances, more or less closely
connected with what may better claim that title.
It is quite possible, for example, that gravitation •
may at some future time be demonstrated to be
the result of a complex system of forces, rcsukny
(as some philosophers love to speak) in material
substances hitherto undiscovered, and as little sus-
pected to exist ss the gsses were hi the time of
Aristotle.
(2.) Nor can we derive muoh more practical
assistance from the maxim, that similar antecedents
have similar consequents. For this is really no
mure than the former rule. It differs therefrom
only in dropping the idea of efficiency or causal
connection ; and, however certain and universal it
may be supposed in the abstract, it fails in the
concrete just at the point where we most need
assistance. For it is plainly impcesir'e to demon-
strate that any two actual antecedents are precisely
similar in the sense of the maxim ; or that any one
given apparent antecedent is the true unconditional
antecedent of any given apparently consequent
phenomenon. Unless, for example, we know the
whole nature of a given antecedent A, and also the
whole nature of another given antecedent B, w»
eannot, by comparing them together, ascertain their
precise similarity. They may be similar in «(
respects that we hare hitherto observed, and yet In
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MIRACLES
Ik* very essential qculity which may make A the
aneonditioual antecedent of a given effect C, in this
respect A and B may be quite dissimilar.
It will be found, upon a close examination of all
the logical canons of inductive reasoning that have
been constructed for applying this principle, that
such an assumption — of the real similarity of
things apparently similar — pervades them alL Let
us take, «. o., what is called the first canon of the
" Method of Agreement," which is this: » If two
or more instances of the phenomenon under investi-
gation have only one circumstance in common, the
circumstance in which nlmr all the instances agree,
is the cause (or effect) of the given phenomenon."
Now, in applying this to any practical case, how
can we be possibly certain that any two instances
have only one circumstance in common ? We can
remove, indeed, by nicely varied experiments, all
the different agents known to us from contact with
the substances we are examining, except those
which we choose to employ ; but how is it possible
that we can remove unknown agents, if such exist,
or be sure that no agents do exist, the laws and
periods of whose activity we have had hitherto no
means of estimating, but which may reveal them-
selves at any moment, or upon any unlooked-for
occasion 1 It is plain that, unless we can know
the whole nature of all substances present at every
moment and every place that we are concerned with
in the universe, we cannot hum that any two
phenomena have 011/ one circumstance in common.
All we can say is, that unknown agencies count for
nothing in practice; or (in other words) we must
assume that things which appear to us simitar are
similar.
This being so, it becomes a serious question
whether such intuitive principles as we have been
discussing are of any real practical value whatever
in mere physical inquiries. Because it would seem
that they cannot be made use of without bringing
in another principle, which seems quite sufficient
without them, that the Hitmen of one thing to
another in observable respects, is a ground for pre-
suming likeness in other respects — a ground strong
in proportion to the apparent closeness of the re-
semblances, and the number of times in which we
have found ourselves right in acting upon such a
presumption. Let us talk as we will of theorems
deduced from intuitive axioms, about true causes
or antecedents, still all that we can know in fart
of any particular ease is, that, at far at toe can
coterie, it reumblet what reason teaches us would
be the ease of a true cause or a true antecedent :
and if this justifies us in drawing the inference that
it is such a case, then certainly we must admit
that rettmblanee is a just ground in itself of in-
ference in practical reasoning.
And " therefore, even granting," it will be said,
" the power of the Deity to work miracles, we can
have no better grounds of determining how He is
likely to exert that power, than by observing how
He baa actually exercised it Now we find Him,
y experience, by manifest traces and records,
hrough countless ages, and in the most distant
legions of space, continually — (if we do but set
adde these comparatively few stories of miraculous
oterpodtions) — working according to what we
tall, and rightly call, a settled order of nature, and
a* observe Him constantly preferring an adherence
to this order before a departure from it, even in
.■uniislsiina in which (apart from e xp erie nc e) we
■said suppose that hie goodness would lend Him
MIRACLES
1949
to vary from that order. In particular, we find
that the greatest part of mankind have been left
wholly in past ages, and even at present, without
the benefit of that revelation which you suppose
Him to have made. Yet it would appear that the
multitudes who are ignorant of it needed it, and
deserved it, just as much as the few who have been
made acquainted with it. And thus it appears
that experience refutes the inference in favor of the
likelihood of a revelation, which we might be apt
to draw from the mere consideration of his good-
ness, taken by itself. " It cannot be denied that
there seems to lie much real weight in some of
these considerations. But there are some things
which diminish that weight: 1. With respect to
remote ages, known to us only by physical traces,
and distant regions of the universe, we have no
record or evidence of the moral government carried
on therein. We do not know of any. And, if
there be or was any, we have no evidence to de-
termine whether it was or was not, is or is not,
connected with a system of miracles. There is no
shadow of a presumption that, if it be or were, wc
should have records or traces of such a system.
2. With respect to the non-interruption of the
course of nature, in a vast number of cases, where
goodness would seem to require Buch interruptions,
it must be considered that the very vastnesa of the
number of such occasions would make such inter-
ruptions so frequent as to destroy the whole scheme
of governing the universe by general laws altogether,
and consequently also any scheme of attesting a
revelation by miracles — ■'. e. facts varying from an
established general law. This, therefore, is rather
a presumption against God's interfering so often
as to destroy the scheme of general laws, or make
the sequences of things irregular and capricious,
than against his interfering by miracles to attest a
revelation, which, after that attestation, should be
left to be propagated and maintained by ordinary
means ; and the very manner of the attestation of
which (1. e. by miracles) implies that there it a
regular and uniform course of nature, to which God
is to be expected to adhere in nil other cases. 3. It
should be considered whether the just conclusion
from the rest of the premises be (not so much this
— that it is unlikely God would make a revelation —
aa) this — that it is likely that, if God made •
revelation, He would make it subject to similar con
ditions to those under which He bestows his other
tpecint favors upon mankind — i. e. bestow it first
directly upon some small part of the race, and im-
pose upon them the responsibility of communicating
its benefits to the rest. It is thus that He acta
with respect to superior strength and inteHigenee,
and in regard to tie blessings of civilization and
scientific knowledge, of which the greater part of
mankind have always been left destitute.
Indeed, if by " the course of nature " we mean
the whole course and series of God's government
of the universe carried on by fixed laws, we cannot
at all determine beforehand that miracles (t. e
occasional deviations, under certain moral circuit!
stances, from the mere phyn'enl series of causes
and effects) are not a part of the course of nature
in that sense; so that, for aught we know, beings
wvui a larger experience than ours of the history
of the universe, might he able confidently to pre-
dict, from that experience, the occurrence of sues
miracles in a world circumstanced like ours. In
this point of view as Bishop Butler has truly said,
nothing less than knowledge of another world
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1950 MIRACLES
placed In circumstances similar to oar own, cob
furnish an argument from analogy against the
credibility of miracles.
And, again, for aught we know, ptrxmal lnter-
Touree, or what Scripture aeenu to call "teeing
(iod face to Sue," may be to myriads of beings
the normal condition of God's intercourse with
his intelligent and moral creatures; and to them
the state of thing* in which we are, debarred from
such direct perceptible intercourse, may be most
contrary to their ordinary experience; so that what
is to us miraculous in the history of our race may
teem most accordant with the course of nature, or
their customary experience, and what is to us most
natural may appear to them most strange.
After all deductions and abatements have been
made, however, it must be allowed that a certain
antecedent improbability must always attach to
miracles, considered as events varying from the
ordinary experience of mankind as known to us:
because likelihood, reiitimilitvdt, at resemblanoe to
what we know to have occurred, is, by the consti-
tution of our minds, the very ground of proba-
bility; and, though we can perceive reasons, from
\be moral character of God, for thinking it likely
that He may have wrought miracles, yet we know
too little of his ultimate designs, and of the best
mode of accomplishing them, to argue confidently
from his character to his acts, except where the
connection between the character and the acts is
demonstrably indissoluble — at in the case of acta
rendered necessary by the attributes of veracity
and justice. Miracles are, indeed, in the notion of
them, no breach of the high generalization that
"similar antecedents have similar consequents;"
nor, necessarily, of the maxim that "God works
by general laws; " because we can see tome laws
of miracles (as t. o. that they are infrequent, and
that they are used as attesting signs of, or in con-
junction with, revelations), and may suppose more;
but they do vary, when taken apart from their
proper evidence, from this rule, that " what a
general experience would lead us to regard as simi-
lar antecedents are similar antecedents; 1 ' because
the only assignable specific difference observable by
us in the antecedents in the case of miracles, and
in the case of the experiments from the analogy
of which they vary in their physical phenomena,
consists in the moral antecedents; and these, in
sates of physical phenomena, we generally throw
>ut of the account; nor have we grounds a priori
for concluding witk confidence that these are not to
oe thrown out of the account here also, although
me can tee that the moral antecedents here (such as
the fitness for attesting a revelation like the Chris-
Han) are, in many important respects, different from
;he«e which the analogy of experience teaches us to
fiaregard in estimating the probability of physical
events.
But, in order to form a fair judgment, we must
sake in all the circumstances of the case, and,
amongst the rest, the lertimmy on which the mira-
de is reported to us.
Our belief, indeed, in human testimony seems to
est upon the same sort of instinct on which our
belief in the testimony (as it may be called) of
nature it built, and is to be checked, modified, and
•onfirmed by a process of experience similar to that
which is applied in the other case. As we learn,
>< y extended observation of nature and the oom-
tarison of analogies, to distinguish the real laws of
physical sequences from the carnal oouJaDcsiant of
MIEACLE8
phenomena, to are we taught in the tame mtosM
to distinguish the circumstances under which hu-
man testimony is certain or incredible, probable of
suspicious. The circumstances of our eonditioa
force us daily to make continual observations upoa
the phenomena of human testimony; and it it a
matter upon which we can make such experiment*
with peculiar advantage, because every man carries
within his own breast the whole turn of the ulti-
mate motives which can influence human testi-
mony. Hence arises the aptitude of human tes-
timony for overcoming, and more than overcoming,
almost any antecedent improbability in the thing
reported.
" The conviction produced by testimony," taya
Bishop Young, " is capable of being carried much
higher than the conviction produced by ex perie n ce:
and the reason is this, because there may be eon-
current testimonies to the truth of one individual
fact; whereas there can be no concurrent experi-
ments with regard to an individual experiment.
There may, indeed, be rmabgout experiments, in
the same manner as there may be analogous teats-
monies; but, in any course of nature, there it bat
one continued series of events: whereas in testi-
mony, since the same event may be observed by
different witnesses, their concurrence is capable of
producing a conviction more cogent than any that
is derived from any other species of events in the
course of nature. In material phenomena the
probability of an expected event arises solely from
analogous experiments made previous to the event;
and this probability admits of indefinite increase
from the unlimited increase of the number of these
previous experiments. The credibility of a witness
likewise arises from our experience of the veracity
of previous witnesses in similar cases, and admits
of unlimited increase according to the number of
the previous witnesses. But there is another source
of the increase of testimony, likewise unlimited,
derived from the number of concwT-ent witnesses.
The evidence of testimony, therefore, admitting of
unlimited increase on two different accounts, and
the physical probability admitting only of one of
them, the former is capable of indefinitely sur-
passing the latter.'*
It is to be observed also that, in the case of the
Christian miracles, the truth of the facta, varying
as they do from our ordinary experience, is far more
credible than the falsehood of a testimony to cir-
cumstanced ss that by which they are attested;
because of the former strange phenomena — the
miracles — a reasonable known cause may he as-
signed adequate to the effect — namely, the will of
God producing them to accredit a revelation that
seems not unworthy of Him ; whereas of the latter
— the falsehood of such testimony — no adequate
cause whatever can be assigned, or reasonably con-
jectured.
So manifest, indeed, it this inherent power of
testimony to overcome antecedent improbabilities,
that Hume is obliged to allow that testimony may
be so circumstanced as to require us to believe, is
some cases, the occurrence of things quite at vari-
ance with general experience; but be pretends to
show that testimony to such facts token comtram
with vetiyion can never be to circumstanced. The
reasons for this paradoxical exception are partly
general remarks upon the proneness of men sc
believe in portents and prodigies; upon the temp-
tations to the indulgence of pride, vanity, ambition.
and such like passions which the human mind V
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MIRACLES
to ill religion* matters, and the Strang*
mixture of enthusiasm and knavery, sincerity and
a&ft, that is to be found in fanatics, and parti;
particular instances of confessedly false miracles
that seem to be supported by an astonishing weighs
of evidence — such as those alleged to bars been
wrought at the tomb of the AbW Pari*.
But (1) little weight can be attached to such
general reflections, as discrediting any particular
body of evidence, until it can be shown in detail
that they apply to the special circumstances of that
particular body of evidence. In reality, most of
his general objections are, at bottom, objections to
human testimony itself — i. e. objections to the
medium by which alone we can know what is called
the general experience of mankind, from which
general experience it is that the only considerable
objection to miracles arises. Thus, by general
reflections upon the proverbial fallaciousness of
" travellers' i stories " we might discredit all ante-
cedently improbable relations of the manners or
physical peculiarities of foreign lands. By general
reflections upon the illusions, and even temptations
to fraud, under which adentino observers lalwr,
we might discredit all scientific observations. By
general reflections upon the way in which supine
credulity, and passion, and party-interest have dis-
colored civil history, we might discredit all ante-
cedently improbable events in civil history — such
as the conquests of Alexander, the adventures of
the Buonaparte family, or the story of the late
mutiny in India. (2.) The same experience which
informs us that credulity, enthusiasm, craft, and a
mixture of these, hare produced many false relig-
ions and false stories of miracles, informs ns also
wknt tort of religion*, and whnt tori of legends,
these causes have produced, and are likely to pro-
dine; and, if, upon a comparison of the Christian
religion and miracles with these products of human
weakness or cunning, there appear specific differ-
ences between the two, unaccountable on the hy-
pothesis of a common origin, this not only dimin-
ishes the presumption of a common origin, but
raises a distinct presumption the other way — a
presumption strong in proportion to the extent and
accuracy of our induction. Remarkable specific
dinerenees of this kind have been pointed out by
Christian apologists in respect of the nature of the
religion — the nature of the miracles — and the
circumstances of the evidence by which they are
attested.
Of the first kind are, for instance, those assigned
by Warburton, in his Divine Legation; and by
Archbp. Whately, in his Kunyt on the Peeulinri-
liet of the Ckrittiw Religion, and on Rommitm.
Dinerenees of the second and third kind are
largely assigned by almost every writer on Chris-
tian evidences. We refer, specially, for sample's
sake, to Leslie's Short Method with the Deists— to
Bishop Douglas's Criterion, in which be fully ex-
amine* the pretended parallel of the cures at the
tomb of Abbe Paris — and to Paley's Evidence;
which may be most profitably consulted in the late
idition by Archbp. Whately.
Over and above the direct testimonv of human
witnesses to the Bible-miracles, we have also what
nay be called the indirect testimonv of events con-
inning the former, and raising a distinct presump-
tion that some such miracles must have been
nought Thus, for e x a m ple, we know, by a copi-
ms radaetion, that, in no nation of the ancient
satU, end In no nation of the modern world
1951
MIRACLES
unacquainted with the Jewish or Christian
tion, has the knowledge of the one true God as
the Creator and Governor of the w irld, and the
public worship of Him, been kept up by the mere
light of nature, or formed the groundwork of such
religions ss men have devised for themselves. Yet
we do find that, in the Jewish people, though no
way distinguished above others by mental power or
high civilization, and with as strong natural ten-
dencies to idolatry as others, this knowledge and
worship was kept up from a very early period of
their history, and, according to their uniform his-
torical tradition, kept up by revelation attested >iy
undeniable miracles.
Again, the existence of the Christian religion, as
tbe belief of the most considerable and intelligent
part of the world, is an undisputed fact; and it is
also certain that this religion originated (as nvr as
human means are concerned) with a handful of
Jewish peasants, who went about preaching — on
tbe very spot where Jesus was crucified — that He
had risen from the dead, and had been seen by, and
had conversed with them, and afterwards ascended
into heaven. This miracle, attested by them as
eye witnesses, was the very ground and foundation
of the religion which they preached, and it was
plainly one so circumstanced that, if it had been
false, it coidd easily have been proved to be false
Yet, though the preachers of it were everywhere
persecuted, they had gathered, before they died,
large churches in the country where the facta were
best known, and through Asia Minor, Greece, Egypt,
and Italy ; and these churches, notwithstanding the
severest persecutions, went on increasing till, in
about 300 years after, this religion — •. e. a re-
ligion which taught the worship of a Jewish
peasant who had been ignominiously executed as
a malefactor — became the established religion of
the Roman empire, and has ever since continued
to he the prevailing religion of the civilized world.
It would plainly be impossible, in such an article
as this, to enumerate all the various lines of con-
firmation — from the prophecies, from the morality,
from the structure of the Bible, from the state of
the world before and after Christ, eto. — which all
converge to the same conclusion. But it will be
manifest that almost all of them are drawn ulti-
mately from the analogy of experience, and that
the conclusion to which they tend cannot be re-
jected without holding something contrary to the
analogies of experience from which they are drawn.
For, it must be remembered, that disbelieving
one thing necessarily involves bettering itt contra-
dictory.
It is manifest that, if the miraculous facts of
Christianity did not really occur, the stories tbout
them must have originated either in fraud, or is
fancy. The coarse explanation of them by the
hypothesis of unlimited fraud, has been generally
abandoned in modern times: but, in Germany
especially, many persons of great acuteness hare
long labored to account for them by referring them
to fancy. Of these there hare been two principal
schools — tbe ffaturnHtHc, and tbe Mythic.
1. The Naturalists suppose the miracles to hare
been natural events, more or less unusual, that were
mistaken for minwles, through ignorance or enthu-
siastic excitement. But the result of their labors
in detail has been (as Strauss has shown in his
Leben Jem) to turn the New Testament, as inter
prated by them, into a narrative far less credible
than any narrative of miracle* could be: .last as a
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1952
MIRACLES
novel, made up of a multitude of surprising natural
fronts crowded into a few days, u >ess consistent
with its own data than a tale of genii and en-
chanters. " Some infidels," says Archbishop
Whately, " have labored to prove, ooncrniing some
one of our I-ord's miracles that it might have been
the result of an accidental conjuncture of natural
circumstances; and tbej endeavor to prove the same
concerning another, and so on; and thence infer
that all of them, occurring as a aeries, might have
been so. They might argue, in like manner, that,
because it is not very improbable one may throw
sixes in any one out of an hundred throws, there-
fore it is no more improbable that one may throw
sixes a hundred times running." The truth is, that
everything that is improbable in the mere phynail
strangeness of miracles applies to such a series of
odd events as these explanations assume; while the
hypothesis of their non-miraculous character de-
prives us of the means of accounting fin- them by
the extraordinary interposition of the Deity. These
and other objections to the thorough-going applica-
tion of the naturalistic method, led to the sulatitn
tion in its place of
2. The Mythic theory — which supposes the
N. T. Scripture-narratives to have l'een legends,
not stating the grounds of men's belief in Chris-
tianity, but springing out of that belief, and em-
bodying the idea of what Jesus, if he were the
Messiah, must have been conceived to have done
in order to fulfill that character, and was therefore
supposed to hare done. Rut it is obvious that this
leaves the origin of the belief, that a man who <Kd
not fulfill the idea of the Messiah in any one re-
markable particular, teas the Messiah — wholly un-
accounted for. It begins with assuming that a
person of mean condition, who was public) v executed
as a malefactor, and who wrought no miracles, was
so earnestly believed to be their Messiah by a great
multitude of Jews, who expected a Messiah that
w» V> work miracles, and was not to die, bat to
I* a great conquering prince, that they modified
their whole religion, in which they had been brought
up, into accordance with that new belief, and im-
agined a whole cycle of legends to embody their
idea, and brought the whole civilized world ulti-
mately to accept their system. It is obvious, also,
that all the arguments for the genuineness and
authenticity of the writings of the N. T. bring
them up to a date when the memory of Christ's
real history was so recent, as to make the substitu-
tion of a set of mere legends in its place utterly
incredible; and it is obvious, also, that the gravity,
simplicity, historical decorum, and consistency with
what we know of the circumstances of the times in
which the events are said to have occurred, ob-
servable in the narratives of the N. T., make it
impossible reasonably to accept them as mere myths.
The same appears from a comparison of them with
the style of writings really mythic — as the Gospels
of the infancy, of Nicodemus, etc. — and with
heathen or Mohammedan legends; and from the
omission of matters whieh a mythic fancy would
certainly hare fastened on. Thus, though John
Haptist was typified by Elijah, the great wonder-
worker of the Old Testament, there are no miracles
ascribed to John Baptist- There are no miracles
ucrihed to Jesus during his infancy and youth,
rhere is no description of his personal appearance;
to account of his adventures in the world of spirits
so irJneks ascribed to the Virgin Mary, and very
Male said about her at all; no ane-xmt of the
MIRACLES
martyrdom of any Apostle, but of one, and tUst
given in the driest manner, etc. — and so in a
hundred other particulars.
It is observable that, in the early ages, the fact
that extraordinary miracles were wrought by Jems
and his Apostles, does not seem to have been gen-
erally denied by the opponents of Christianity.
They seem always to have preferred adopting the
expedient of ascribing them to art, magic, and the
power of evil spirits. This we learn from the N. T.
itself; from such Jewish writings as the Bepher
Toldoth J trim; from the Fragments of Cessna,
Porphyry. Hieracles, Julian, etc., which hare come
down to us, and from the popular objections which
the ancient Christian Apologists felt themselves
concerned to grapple with. We are not to sup-
pose, however, that this would haw been a solution
which, even in those days, would have been nat-
urally preferred to a denial of the facts, if the facta
could have been plausibly denied. On the contrary
it was plainly, even then, a forced and improbalile
solution of snch miracles. For man did not com-
monly ascribe to magic or evil demons an unlimited
power, any more than we ascrile sn unlimited
power to mesmerism, imagination, and the occult
and irregular forces pf nature. We know that fc;
two instances, in the Gospel narrative — the errs
of the man born blind and the Resurrection — the
Jewish priests were unahle to pretend such a solu-
tion, and were driven to maintain unsuccessfully
a charge of fraud ; and the circumstances of the
Christian miracles were, in almost all respects, so
utterly unlike those of any pretended instances of
magical wonders, that the Apologists have little
difficulty in refuting this plea. This they do gen-
erally from the following considerations.
(1.) The greatness, number, completeness, and
publicity of the miracles. (2. ) The natural bene-
ficial tendency of the doctrine they attested. (S.)
The connection of them with a whole scheme of
revelation extending from the first origin of the
human race to the time of Christ.
It is also to be considered that the circumstance
that the world was, in the times of the Apostles,
full of Thaumaturgists, in the shape of exorcists,
magicians, ghost-seers, etc., is a strong presumption
that, in order to command any special attention
and gain any large and permanent success, the
Apostles and their followers must have exhibited
works quite different from any wonders whieh people
had been accustomed to see. This presumption is
confirmed by what we read, in the Acta of the
Apostles, concerning the effect produced upon the
Samaritans by Philip the Kvangelist in opposition
to the prestiges of Simon Magus.
This evasion of the force of the Christian mira-
cles, by referring tbetn to the power of evil spirits
has seldom been seriously recurred to in modern
times ; but the English infidels of the last century
employed it as a kind of oryumtnlnm ad hominem,
to tease and embarrass their opponents— contending
that, as the Bible speaks of " lying wonders " of
Antichrist, snd relates a long contest of apparent
miracles between Moses and the Kgyptian magicians.
Christians could not on tlirir mm principles, nar»
any certainty that miracles were not wrought by
evil spirits.
In answer to this, some divines (as Bishop Fleet-
wood in bis Dialogues on Miracln) have endeavorec!
to establish a distinction in the nature of toe works
themselves, b e t wee n the seeming miracles withia
the reach of intermediate spirits, — and tb» In*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MIRA.CLKS
, which gu only bo wrought by God — and
others (as Better, in bis curious wort Le Monde
Emduati, and Fanner, in his Case of the De-
nua| bm entirely denied the power of inter-
mediate spirits to interfere with the coarse of nature.
But without entering into these questions, it
uaMeat to observe — *
(1.) That the light of nature gins us no reason
to beam that there are any evil spirits having
power to interfere with the course of nature at all,
(i) That it shows us that, if there he, they are
eaatiaually controlled from exercising any such
(J.) That the records we are supposed to have
A men an exercise in the Bible, show us the power
bare spoken of, as exerted completely under the
■wool of God, and in such a manner as to make
\ eridat to all candid observers where the ad-
natige lay, and to secure all well-disposed and
reamable persons tram any mistake in the matter.
(4.) That the circumstances alleged by the early
Christian Apologists— the number, greatness, benen-
otsee, and variety of the Bible miracles — their
nomenon with prophecy and a long scheme of
things extending from the creation down — the
character of Christ and his Apostles — and the
manifest tendency of the Christian religion to serve
the cause of troth and virtue — make it as incredible
that the miracles attesting it should have been
vraorht by evil beings, as it is that the order of
ratine should proceed from such beings. For, as
n jather the character of the Creator from his
sorb, and the moral instincts which He has given
at: to we gather the character of the author of
mention tram his works, and from the drift and
kofaiey of that revelation itself. This last point
■ anethnes shortly and unguardedly expressed by
mini, that " the doctrine proves the miracles : "
u* meaning of which b not that the particular
•oeuiaes which miracles attest must first be proved
l« be trw afiuwle, before we can believe that any
*■& works were wrought — (which would, mani-
festly, be making the miracles no attestation at all)
- bet the meaning is that the whole body of doe-
fiat in connection with which the miracles are
•feral, and its tendency, if it were divinely re-
wssjA, to answer visible good ends, makes it reason-
ihfc to think that the miracles by which it is at-
tnud were, if they were wrought at all, wrought
kyGod.
Particular theories as to the manner in which
'■nebs have been wrought are matters rather
anoa than practically useful. In all such cases
•e aaat bear in mind the great maxim Svbtiutas
SaTOM LONOR BOPRRAT SuBTIUTATKM MkN-
ns Homam.x. Malebranche regarded the Deity
■ tat sole agent in nature, acting always by oen-
w! I"n ; but be conceived those general laws to
Main the original provision that the manner of
•*> Dhine setmg should modify itself, under certain
woSUona, according to the particular volitions of
■*« intelligences. Hence, he explained man's
••parent power over external nature; and hence
*■» be regarded miracles as the result of particular
"titans of angels, employed by the Deity in the
mrsment of the world. This was called the
nates of xatmonnl causes.
The system of Clarke allowed a proper real, ,
tbosgh limited, efficiency to the wills of Inferior i
isWiinius, bat denied any true putters to matter. |
"■» he referred the phenomena of the tourte of i
1 nature immediately to the will </ God as ,
iaa
MIRACLES
1958
their cause; making the distinction between natural
events and miracles to consH ii. this, that the
former happen according to what is, relatively to
us, God's usual way of working, and the latter
according to his unusual way of working.
Some find it easier to conceive of miracles ss not
really taking place in the external order of nature,
but in the impressions made by it upon our minds.
Others deny that there is, in any miracle, the pro
duction of anything new or the alteration of any
natural power; and maintain that miracles are pro-
duced solely by the intensifying of known natural
powers already in existence.
It is plain that these various hypotheses are
merely ways in which different minds find it more
or less easy to conceive the mode in which "" r wl t
may have been wrought.
Another question more curious than practical, is
that respecting the precise period when miracles
ceased in the Christian Church. It is plain, that,
whenever they ceased in point of fact, they ceased
relatively to us wherever a sufficient attestation of
them to our faith tails to be supplied.
It is quite true, indeed, that a real miracle, and
one sufficiently marked out to the spectators as s
real miracle, may be so imperfectly reported to us,
as that, if we have only that imperfect report, there
may be little to show conclusively its miraculous
character; and that, therefore, in rejecting accounts
of miracles so circumstanced, we may possibly be
rejecting accounts of what were real miracles. But
this is an inconvenience attending probable evidence
from its very nature. In rejecting the improbable
testimony of the most mendacious of witnesses, we
may, almost always, be rejecting something which
is really true. But this would be a poor reason
for acting on the testimony of a notorious liar to a
story antecedently improbable. The n arrowne ss
and imperfection of the human mind is such that
our wisest and most prudent calculations are con ■
tinoally baffled by unexpected combinations of cir-
cumstances, upon which we could not have reason-
ably reckoned. But this is no good ground for not
acting upon the calculations of wisdom and pru-
dence; because, after all, such calculations are in
the long run our surest guides.
It is quite true, also, that several of the Scripture-
miracles are so circumstanced, that if the reports
we have of them stood alone, and came down to us-
only by the channel of ordinary history, we should
be without adequate evidence of their miraculous
character; and therefore those particular miracles-
are not to us (though they doubtless were to the
original spectators, who could mark all the circuni
stances), by themselves and taken alone, signal -
or proper evidences of revelation. But, then, they
may be very proper objects of faith, though not the
grounds of it. For (1.) these incidents are really
reported to us as parts of a course of things which
we have good evidence for believing to have been
miraculous ; and, as Bishop Butler justly obserre-
14 supposing it acknowledged, that our Saviour spent
some yean in a course of working miracles, there is
no more peculiar presumption worth mentioning,
against his having exerted his miraculous powers
in a certain degree greater, than in a certain degree
i; in one or two more instances, than in.one of
two fewer: in this, than in another mannart" Ant)
(3.) these incidents are reported to us by writes*
whom we have good reasons for believing to has*)
ueen, not ordinary historians, but persons spssaatt
assisted by the Divine Spirit, for the purpose *>
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1954 MIRACLES
giving a soneet acoount of the ministry of oar Lord
mid bis Apostles.
In the case of the Scripture miracles, we mint
be careful to distinguish the particular occasions
upon which they were wrought, from their general
purpose and design ; jet not so as to overlook the
connection between these two things.
There are but few miracles recorded in Scripture
of which the whole character was merely evidential
— few, that is, that were merely displays of a super-
natural power made for the sole purpose of attesting
a Divine Revelation. Of this character were the
change of Hoses' rod into a serpent at the burning
bush, the burning bush itself, the going down
of the shadow upon the sun-dial of Ahaz, and some
others.
In general, however, the miracles recorded in
Scripture have, besides the ultimate purpose of
affording evidence of a Divine interposition, some
immediate temporary purposes which they were
apparently wrought to serve — such as the curing
of diseases, the feeding of the hungry, the relief of
innocent, or the punishment of guilty persons.
These immediate temporary ends are not without
value in reference to the ultimate and general design
of miracles, as providing evidence of the truth of
revelation; because they give a moral character to
the works wrought, which enables them to display
not only the power, but the other attributes of the
agent performing them. And, in some eases, it
would appear that miraculous works of a particular
kind were selected as emblematic or typical of some
characteristic of the revelation which they were
intended to attest. Thus, t. </., the cure of bodily
diseases not only indicated the general benevolence
of the Divine Agent, but seems sometimes to be
referred to as an emblem of Christ's power to
remove the disorders of the soul. The gift of
tongues appears to have been intended to manifest
the universality of the Christian dispensation, by
which all languages were consecrated to the wor-
ship of God. The easting out of demons was
a type and pledge of the presence of a Power that
was ready to "destroy the works of the devil,'' in
every sense.
In this point of view, Christian miracles may be
fitly regarded as specimens of a Divine Power, al-
leged to be present — specimens so circumstanced
ss to make obvious, and bring under the notice of
ooramon understandings, the operations of a Power
— the gift of the Holy Ghost — which was really
supernatural, but did not, in its moral effects,
reveal itself externally as supernatural. In this
sense, they seem to be called the manifestation or
exhibition of the Spirit — outward phenomena
which manifested sensibly his presence and opera-
tion in the Church : and the record of these mira-
cles becomes evidence to us of the invisible presence
of Christ in his Church, and of his government of
it through all ages; though that presence is of such
s nature as not to be immediately distinguishable
Jrom the operation of known moral motives, and
(hat government is carried on so ss not to interrupt
the ordinary count! of things.
In the ease of the Old Testament miracles, again,
in order fully to understand their evidential char-
acter, we must consider the general nature and
design of the dispensation with which they were
Mmnected. The general design of that dispensa-
tion appears to hare been to keep up in one partic-
sutr race a knowledge of the one true God, and of
he promise of a Messiah in whom " all the families
MIRACLES
of the earth " should be " blessed." Ai d in orda
to this end, it appears to have been necessary that,
for some time, God should have assumed the char-
acter of the local Tutelary Deity and Prince of that
particular people. And from this p— «li«r relation
in which He stood to the Jewish people (aptly called
by Josephus a Thkockact) resulted the necessity
of frequent miracles, to manifest and make sensibly
perceptible his actual presence among ard govern-
ment over them. Toe miracles, therefore, of the Old
Testament are to be regarded as evider tial of the
theocratic government; and this again is to be con-
ceived of as subordinate to the further purpose M
preparing the way for Christianity, by koeping • p
in the world a knowledge of the true God and Jt
his promise .of a Redeemer. In this view, we can
readily understand why the miraculous administra-
tion of the theocracy was withdrawn, as soon as the
purpose of it had been answered by working deeply
and permanently into the mind of the Jewish people
the two great lessons which it was intended to
teach them ; so that they might be safely left to the
ordinary means of instruction, until the pjbli.-atkm
of a fresh revelation by Christ and his Apostles
rendered further miracles necessary to attest their
mission. Upon this view also we can perceive that
the miracles of the Old Testament, upon whatever
immediate occasions they may have been wrought,
were subordinate (and, in general, necessary) to the
design of rendering possible the establishment in
due time of such a religion as the Christian; and
we can perceive further that, though the Jewish
theocracy implied in it a continual series of miracles,
yet — as it was only temporary and local — those
miracles did not violate God's general purpose of
carrying on the government of lit world by the
ordinary laws of nature; whereas if the Christian
dispensation — which is permanent and unkeisnl —
necessarily implied in it a series of constant miracles,
that would be inconsistent with the general purpose
of carrying on the government of the world by
those ordinary laws.
With respect to the character of toe Old Testa-
ment miracles, we must also remember that the
whole structure of the Jewish economy had refer-
ence to the peculiar exigency of the circumstances
of a people imperfectly civilized, end is so distinctly
described in the New Testament, as dealing with
men according to the " hardness of their hearts,"
and being a system of " weak and beggarly ele-
ments," and a rudimentary instruction for "chil-
dren " who were in the condition of " slaves."
We are not, therefore, to judge of the probability
of the miracles wrought in support of that economy
(so far as tbe foi-ms under which tbey were wrought
are concerned) as if those miracles were immediately
intended for ourselves. We are not justified ia
arguing either that those niincles are incredbh
because wrought in such a manner as that, if
addressed to us, they would lower our conceptions
of the Divine Heing ; or, on the other hand, that
because those miracles — wrought under the cir-
cumstances of the Jewish economy — are credible
and ought to be believed, there is therefore no
reason for objecting against stories of aunilai
miracles alleged to ban been wrought under the
quite different circumstances of the Christian die
pensatkm.
In dealing with human testiroom, it may be
further needful to notice (though very briefly) sobi>
refined subtilties that have been occasionally intro-
duced into this <
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it ha been sometimes alleged that the freedom
( the human will it a circumstance which renders
t&ance upon the stability of laws in the case of
jmou conduct utterly precarious. " In arguing,"
1 1> asid, " that human beings cannot be supposed
•t bait acted in s particular way, because thai would
inrolve s violation of the analogy of human conduct,
b fir m it has been observed in all ages, we tacitly
amine that the human mind is unalterably defer-
ral*! by lied laws, in the same way as material
(Distances. But this is not the ease on the
brpouVais of the freedom of the will. The very
lotion of a free will is that of a faculty which
esmainea itflf; and which is capable of choosing
i hoc of conduct quite repugnant to the influence
** soy motive, however strong. There is therefore
so reason for expecting that the operations of
beau volition will be conformable throughout to
ibt Sicd rule or analogy whatever."
In reply to this far-sought and harren refinement,
■t may observe — 1. That, if it be worth anything,
it is in objection not merely against the force of
brain testimony in religious matters, but against
bnun testimony in general, and, indeed, against
■I olcoliUons of probability in respect of human
conduct whatsoever. 2. That we have already
stun that, even in respect of material phenomena,
w practical measure of probability is not derived
(rem an; scientific axioms about envte and tfftel,
» antecedents and consequences, but simply from
tie Ekeness or unlikeness of one thing to another;
tad tbcrdbre, not being deduced from premises
rhieh assume ananlilg, cannot be shaken by the
axial of causality in a particular ease. 3. That the
thin; to be accounted for, on the supposition of the
ilsity of the testimony for Christian miracles, is
■Kt accounted for by any such capricious principle
a tic arbitrary freedom of the human will ; because
lb> thing to be accounted for is the agreement of
■ nnber of witnesses in a falsehood, for the prepa-
ration of which they could have no intelligible iss—
lacBsent Now, if we suppose a number of inde-
perntent witnesses to have determined themselves
7 rational motives, then, under the circumstances
i this particular instance, their agreement in a
ev story is ntfficiently accounted for. But, if we
rappMe them to hare each determined themselves
by wre wtahn snd caprice, then their agreement
a the same Use story is not accounted for at all.
TV concurrence of such a number of oannces is
stoiy incredible. 4. And finally we remark that
•> »fter msmtainer* of the freedom of the human
•1 daiin for H any such unlimited power of self-
'■ttmination as this objection supposes. The free-
In of the human will exhibits itself either in
sn where there 1* no motive for selecting one
ntber than soother among many possible courses
'action that lie before us — in which cases it is to
It atwrea that there is nothing moral in its dee-
tw> whatacenr; — or in eases in «hich there is a
"■Set of motive*, and, e, g., passion and appetite,
* coatotn or temporal interest, draw us one way,
aw rnuou or conscience another. In these latter
on the maintainors of the freedom of the will
aitffld that, under certain limits, we can deter-
km oarsslves (not by no motive at all, but) by
wW of ths motives actually operating upon our
•ab. Now It is manifest that if, in the case of
■»t rtnessm to Christianity, we can show that
nen was a ease of a oonflict of motives (as it
away ana), snd can show, (hither, that their oon-
•"* a Iseonaostent with one set of motives, the
1H55
MIRACLES
reasonable Inference is that they determined
selves, in point of fact, by the other. Thus, thong!
in the case of a man strongly tried by a conflict of
motives, we might not, even with the fullest knowl-
edge of his character and circumstances, have been
able to predict beforehand how he would act, that
would be no reason for denying that, after we had
come to know how he did act, we could tell by
what motives he had determined himself in cboos
ing that particular line of conduct.
It has been often made a topic of complaint
against Hume that, in dealing with testimony as a '
medium for proving miracles, he has resolved its
force entirely into our experience of Its veracity,
and omitted to notice that, antecedently to all ex-
perience, we are predisposed to give it credit by a
kind of natural instinct. But, however metaphys-
ically erroneous Hume's analysis of our belief in
testimony may have been, it is doubtful whether,
in this particular question, such a mistake is of any
great practical importance. Our original predis-
position is doubtless (whether instinctive or not)
a predisposition to believe all testimony indiscrimi-
nately: but this is so completely checked, modified,
and controlled, in after-life, by experience of the
circumstances under which testimony can be safely
relied upon, and of those in which it is apt to mis-
lead us, that, practically, our experience in tbtee
respects may be taken as a not unfair measure of
its value as rational evidence. It is also to he
observed that, while Hume has omitted this origi-
nal instinct of belief in testimony, as an element in
his calculations, he has also omitted to take into
account, on the other side, any original inrtinctivt
belief in the constancy of the laws of nature, or
expectation that our future experiences will resem-
ble our past ones. In reality, he seems to have
resolved both these principles into the mere associa-
tion of ideas. And, however theoretically erroneous
he may have been in this, still it seems manifest
that, by making the same mistake on both sides,
he has made one error compensate another; and so
— as far as this branch of the argument is con-
cerned — brought out a practically correct result
As we can only learn by various and repeated ex-
periences under what circumstances we can safely
trust our expectation of the recurrence of apparently
similar phenomena, that expectation, being thus
continually cheeked and controlled, modifies itself
into accordance with its rule, and ceases to spring
at all where it would be manifestly at variance with
its director. And the same would seem to be the
case with our belief in testimony.
The argument, indeed, in Hume's celebrated
Rung en Miracla, was very far from being a new
one. It had, as Mr. Coleridge has pointed out,
been distinctly indicated by South in his sermon on
the incredulity of St. Thomas; and there is a re-
markable statement of much the same argument
put into the mouth of Woohton's Advocate, in
Sherlock's Trial of the Witneue*. The restate-
ment of it, however, by a person of Hume's abilities,
wss of service in putting men upon a more accu-
rate examination of the true nature and measure
of probability ; and it cannot be denied that Hume's
bold statement of his unbounded skepticism had,
as he contended it would have, many useful results
in stimulating inquiries that might not otherwise
have been suggested to thoughtful men, or, at least,
not prosecuted with sufficient teal and patience.
Bishop Butler seems to have been very sensible
of the imperii it state, in his own time, of the lotri*
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MIRACLES
sf Probability ; and, though he appear* to hare
formed a more accurate conception of it than the
Scotch school of Philosophers who succeeded and
undertook to refute Hume, yet there is one passage
in which we may perhaps detect a misconception
of the subject in the pages of even this great writer.
"There is," he observes, "a very strong pre-
sumption against common speculative truths, and
against the most ordinary fact*, before the proof
of them, which yet is overcome by abmst any
proof. There is a presumption of millions to one
against the story of Csesar or any other num. For,
suppose a number of common tacts so and so cir-
cumstanced, of which one had no kind of proof,
should happen to come into one's thoughts; every
one would, without any possible doubt, conclude
them to be raise. And the like may be said of a
tingle common fact. And from hence it appears
that the question of importance, as to the matter
before us, is, concerning the degree of the peculiar
presumption against miracles: not, whether there
be any peculiar presumption at all against them.
For if there be a presumption of miliums to me
against the most common facts, what can a small
presumption, additional to this, amount to, though
it be peculiar? It cannot be estimated, and is at
nothing." (Analogy, part 2, e. ii.)
It is plain that, in this passage, Butler lays no
stress upon the peculiarities of the story of Cesar,
which he casually mentions. For he expressly adds
" or of any other man ; " and repeatedly explains
that what he says applies equally to any ordinary
(acta, or to a single fact ; so that, whatever be his
drift (and it must be acknowledged to I e somewhat
obscure), he is not constructing an argument simi-
lar to that which has been pressed by Archbishop
Whately, in his Historic Doubts respecting Napo-
leon Bonaparte. And this becomes still more evi-
dent, when we consider the extraordinary medium
by which he endeavors to show that there is a
presumption of millions to one against such " com-
mon ordinary facts" as he is speaking of. For the
way in which be proposes to estimate the presump-
tion against ordinary (acta is, by considering the
likelihood of their being anticipated beforehand by
* a person guessing at random. But, surely, this is
not a measure of the likelihood of the facts con-
sidered in themselves, but of the likelihood of the
coincider.ee of the facts with a rash and arbitrary
anticipation. The case of a person guessing before-
hand, and the case of a witness reporting what has
occurred, are essentially different. In the common
instance, for example, of an ordinary die, before the
east, there is nothing to determine my mind, with
any probability of a correct judgment, to the selec-
tion of any one of the six faces rather than another ;
and, therefore, we rightly say that there are five
shancee to one against any one side, considered aa
■hus arbitrarily selected. But when a person, who
nas bad opportunities of observing the east, reports
o me the presentation of a particular face, there is
ividently no such presumption against the coinci-
ience of Am statement and the actual fact; because
be has, by the supposition, had ample means of
ascertaining the real state of the occurrence. And
it seems plain that, in the ease of a credible witness,
we should as readily believe his report of the cast
if a die with a million of sides, aa of one with only
six; though in respect of a random guess before-
hand, the chances against the correctness of the
guess would be vastly greater in the former ease,
than in that of an ordinary cubs.
MIBACIJES
Furthermore, if any common by-etander were ts
report a series of successive throws, aa having takes
place in the following order — 1, 6, 8, 6, 8, 2 — oa
one would feel any difficulty in receiving his testi-
mony ; but if we further become aware that he, Of
anybody else, had beforehand professed to guess or
predict that precise series of throws upon that par-
ticular occasion, we should certainly no longer give
his report the same ready and unhesitating acqui-
escence. We should at once suspect, either thai
the witness was deceiving us, or that the die waa
loaded, or tampered with In some way, to product
a conformity with the anticipated sequence. This
places in a clear light the difference between the
case of the coincidence of an ordinary emnt with ■
random predetermination, and the case of an ordi-
nary event considered in itself.
The truth is, that the chances to which Butler
seems to refer as a presumption against ordinary
events, are not in ordinary cases overcome by testi-
mony at all. The testimony has nothing to do
with them ; because they are chances against the
event considered as the subject of a random vatici-
nation, not as the subject of a report made by an
actual observer. It is possible, however, that,
throughout this obscure passage, Butler is arguing
upon the principles of some objector unknown to
us; and, indeed, it is certain that some writers
upon the doctrine of chances (who were far from
friendly to revealed religion) have utterly confounded
together the questions of the chances against the
coincidence of an ordinary event with a random
guess, and of the probability of such an event con-
sidered by itself.
But it should be observed that what we com-
monly call the chances against an ordinary event
are not specific, but particular. They are chances
against this event, not against this kind of event.
The chances, in the case of a die, are the chances
against a particular face; not against the coming
up of some fact. The coming up of some face is
not a thing subject to random anticipation, and,
therefore, we say that there are no chances against
it at all. But, aa the presumption that some face
will come up la a specific presumption, quite dif-
ferent from the presumption against any particular
face; so the presumption against no face coming
up (which is really the same thing, and equivalent
to the presumption against a miracle, considered
merely in its physical strangeness) must be specific
also, and different from the presumption against
any particular form of such a miracle selected
beforehand by an arbitrary anticipation. For mi-
raculous facta, it is evident, are suiject to the
doctrine of chances, each in particular, in the ssma
way aa ordinary facta. Thus, e. g. supposing ■
mira-le to be wrought, the cube might be changed
into «ny geometrical figure: and we can see no
reason for selecting one rather than another, or the
substance might be changed from ivory to metal,
and then one metal would be as likely as another.
But no one, probably, would say that be would
believe the specific fact of such a miracle upon
the same proof, or anything like the same proof,
aa that on which, such a miracle being siajSoaeo?,
be would believe the report of any particular form
of it— such form being just aa likely beforehand
as any other.
Indeed, if " almost any proof" were capable of
overcoming presumptions of millions to one against
a (act, it is hard to see how we could icsronalaj
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(eject any report of anything, on the ground of
luteoedent presumptions against Ita credibility.
The KcdfiuiMliaU Miracle* are not delivered to
at by inspired historians; nor do they seem to form
any part of the same series of events as the niira-
;le» of the New Testament.
The miracles of the New Testament (setting
aside those wrought by Christ Himself) appear to
hare been worked by a power conferred upon par-
ticular persons according to a regular law, in virtue
of which that power was ordinarily transmitted
from one person to another, and the only persons
privileged thus to transmit that power were Uie
ApatlU*. The only exceptions to this rule were,
(1) the Apostles themselves, and (2) the family of
Cornelius, who were the first-fruits of the Gentiles.
Id all other cases, miraculous gifts were conferred
only by the laying on of the Apostle*' hands. By
this arrangement, it is evident that a provision was
made for the total ceasing of that miraculous dis-
pensation within a limited period : because, on the
death of the last of the Apostles, the ordinary chan-
nels would be all stopped through which such gifts
were transmitted in the Church.
Thus, in Acts viii., though Philip is described as
working many miracles among the Samaritans, he
does not seem to have ever thought of imparting
the same power to any of his converts. That is
reserved for the Apostles Peter and John, who
confer the miraculous gifts by the imposition of
their hands : and this power, of imparting miracu-
lous gifts to others, is clearly recognized by Simon
Hagns as a distinct privilege belonging to the
Apostles, and quite beyond anything that He had
seen exercised before. " When Simon saw that
through laying on of the Apatite*' hand* the Holy
Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying,
Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay
hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost."
This separation of the Rite by which miraculous
rifts were conferred from Baptism, by which mem-
bers were admitted Into the Church, seems to have
oeen wisely ordained for the purpose of keeping the
two ideas, of ordinary and extraordinary gifts, dis-
tinct, and providing for the approaching cessation
of the former without shaking the stability of an
institution which was designed to be a permanent
Sacrament in the kingdom of Christ.
And it may also be observed in passing, that this
same separation of the effects of these two Rites,
affords a presumption that the miraculous gifts,
bestowed, ss far as we can are, only in the former,
were not merely the result of highly raised enthu-
siasm; because experience shows that violent symp-
toms of enthusiastic transport would have been
much more likely to have shown themselves in the
■ret ardor of conversion than at a later period — in
the very crisis of a change, than after that change
had bean confirmed and settled.
One passage has, indeed, been appealed to as
seeming to indicate the permanent residence of mi-
raculous powers in the Christian Church through
all ages, Mark xvi. 17, 18. But —
(1. ) That passage itself is of doubtful authority,
flnoe we know that it was omitted in most of the
Greek MSS. which Eusebius was able to examine
u the 4th century : and it is still wanting in some
<f the most important that remain to us.
(8.) It does not necessarily lmpl< more than a
■remise that such miraculous powers should exhibit
fc eu i aa l ves among the immediate converts of the
MIRACLES
1957
And (3) this latter interpretation is supported
by what follows — " And they went forth, and
preached everywhere, the Lord working with them,
and confirming the word with the accompanying
tigiu."
It is, indeed, confessed by the latest and ablest
defenders of the ecclesiastical miracles that the
(treat mass of them were essentially a new dispen-
sation; but it is contended, that by those who
believe in the Scripture miracles no strong ante-
cedent improbability against such a dispensation
can be reasonably entertained; because, for them,
the Scripture miracles have already "borne the
brunt '' of the infidel objection, and "broken the
ice."
But this is wholly to mistake the matter.
If the only objection antecedently to proof against
the ecclesiastical miracles were a presumption of
their impouibility or incredibility — simply a* mira-
cle*, this allegation, might be pertinent; because
he that admits that a miracle has taken place, can-
not consistently hold that a miracle a* nich is
impossible or incredible. But the antecedent pre-
sumption against the ecclesiastical miracles rises
upon four distinct grounds, no one of whioh can be
properly called a ground of infidel objection.
(1.) It arises from the very nature of probability,
and the constitution of the human mind, which
compels us to take the analogy of general expe-
rience as a measure of likelihood. And this pre-
sumption it is manifest is neither religious nor
irreligious, but antecedent to, and involved in, all
probable reasoning.
A miracle may be said to take place when, under
certain moral circumstances, a physical consequent
follows upon an antecedent which general experi-
ence shows to hare no natural aptitude for pro-
ducing such a consequent; or, when a consequent
fails to follow upon an antecedent which is always
attended by that consequent in the ordinary course
of nature. A blind man recovering sight upon his
touching the bones of SS. Gervasius and Protasius,
is an instance of the former. St. Alban, walking
after his head was cut off, and carrying it in his
hand, may be given as an example of the latter
kind of miracle. Now, though such occurrences
cannot be called impossible, because they involve no
self-contradiction in the notion of them, and we
know that there is a power in existence quite ade-
quate to produce them, yet they must always remain
antecedently improbable, unless we can see reasons
for expecting that that power will produce them.
The invinoible original instinct of our nature —
without reliance on which we could not set one font
before another — teaches as its first lesson to expect
similar consequents upon what seem similar physi-
cal antecedents ; and the results of this instinctive
belief, checked, modified, and confirmed by the
experience of mankind in countless times, places,
and circumstances, constitutes what is called our
knowledge of the laws of nature. Destroy, or even
shake, this knowledge, as applied to practice iu
ordinary life, and all the uses and purposes of life
are at an end. If the real sequences of things
were liable, like those in a drean, to random and
capricious variations, on which no one could calcu-
late beforehand, there would be no measures of
probability or improbability. If e. g. It were a
measuring case whether, upon immersing a lighted
cand.e in water, the candle should be extinguished,
or the water ignited, — or, whether inhaling the
common air should support life or prxiuce death -
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t ii plain that the whole count of the world »uukl
be brought to a stand-still. There would be no
ader of nature at all; and all tbe rule* that are
built on the stability of that order, and all the
measures of judgment that are derived from it,
would be worth nothing. We should be living in
fairy-land, not on earth.
(2.) This general antecedent presumption against
miracles, as varying from the analogy of general
experience, is (as we have said) neither religious
nor irreligious — neither rational nor irrational —
but springs from tbe very nature of probability:
and it cannot be denied without shaking the basis
of all probable evidence whether for or against re-
ligion.
Nor does tbe admission of the existence of the
Deity, or the admission of the actual occurrence
of the Christian miracles, tend to remove this ante-
cedent improbability against miracles circumstanced
as the ecclesiastical miracles generally are.
If, indeed, the only presumption against miracles
were one against their poutbility — this might be
truly described as an atheistic presumption ; and
then the proof, from uatural reason, of the existence
of a God, or the proof of the actual occurrence of
any one miracle would wholly remore that pre-
sumption ; and, upon tbe removal of that presump
tion, there would remain none at all against
miracles, however frequent or however strange; and
miraculous occurrences would be as easily proved,
and nlto at likely be/u,th'ina\ as the most ordinary
events; so that there would be no improbability of
a miracle being wrought at any moment, or upon
any conceivable occasion ; and the slightest testi-
mony would suffice to establish tbe truth of any
story, however widely at variance with tbe analogy
of ordinary experience.
But the true presumption against miracles is not
against their jxmibibty, but their probability. And
this presumption cannot be wholly removed by
showing an adequate cause ; unless we bold that
nil pretumptumt drawn from tbe analogy of expe-
rience or the assumed stability of the order of nature
are removed by showing tbe existence of a cause
capable of changing tbe order of nature — u e. un-
less we hold that the admission of God's existence
involves the destruction of all measures of prob-
ability drawn from the analogy of experience. The
ordinary sequences of nature are, doubtless, the re-
sult of the Divine will. But to suppose the Divine
will to vary its mode of operation iu conjunctures
upon which it would be impossible to calculate, and
under circumstances apparently similar to those
which are perpetually recurring, would be to sup-
pose that the course of things is (to all intents and
purposes of human life) as mutable and capricious
is if it were governed by mere chance.
Nor can the admission that God hat actually
wrought such miracles as attest the Christian
religion, remove the general presumption against
rriracle* as improbable occurrences. The evidence
on whi-b revelation stands has proved that the
Almighty has, under special circumstances and for
special ends, exerted his power of changing the
trdinary course of nature. This may be fairly
relied on as mitigating the presumption against
turacks under the $ame drcumttancet as those
vhich it has established : but miracles which can-
not avail themselves of the benefit of that law (as it
may ha called) of mint lea, which such conditions
indicate, are plainly involved in all the antecedent
lUBoaWes which attacli to miracles iu general, as
MIRACLES
vaiying from the law of nature, besides the special
difficulties which belong to them as varying from
the law of miradtt, so far as we know anything
of that law. And it is vain to allege that God may
have other ends for miracles than those plain ones
for which the Scripture miracles were wrought
Such a plea can be of no weight, unless we eaa
change at pleasure the " may " into a " must " or
" has." Until the design appear, we cannot Die
it as an element of probability; but we must, in
the mean while, determine the question by the or-
dinary rules which regulate the proof of facta. A
mere " may " is counterbalanced by a >' may not.'
It cannot surely be meant that miracles have, by
the proof of a revelation, ceased to be miracles —
». e. rare and wonderful occurrences — so as ts
make the chances equal of a miracle and an ordinary
event. And if this be not held, then it must be
admitted that the laws which regulate miracles are,
in some way or other, laws which render them
essentially ttrange or unusual events, and insure
the general liability of the course of nature. What-
ever other elements enter into the law of miracles,
a necessary mfrequency is one of them : and until
we can tee some of the positive elements of the law
of miracles in operation (i. e. tome of the elements
which do not check, but require miracles) this
negative element, which we do see, must act strongly
against tbe probability of their recurrence.
It is indeed quite true that Christianity has
revealed to us the permanent operation of a super-
natural order of things actually going on around
us. But there is nothing in the notion of tuch a
supernatural system as the Christian dispensation
is, to lead us to expect continual interferences with
the common course of nature. Not the necessity
oi proving its supernatural character: for (1.) that
has been sufficiently proved once for all, and the
proof sufficiently attested to us, and (2. ) it is not
pretended that the mass of legendary miracles are.
in this sense, evidential. Nor are snob continual
miracles involved in it by express promise, or by
the very frame of its constitution. For they mani-
festly are not. " So is the kingdom of God, as if
a man should cast seed into the ground, aud should
sleep and rise, night and day, and the seed should
spring and grow up he knoweth not how," etc. —
the parable manifestly indicating that the ordinary
visible course of things is only interfered with by
the Divine husbandman, in planting and reaping
the great harvest. Nor do the answers given to
prayer, or tbe influence of the Holy Spirit on our
minds, interfere ditcocerably with any one law of
outward nature, or of the inward economy of our
mental frame. The system of grace is, indeed,
tvpernatural, but, in no sense and in no case, pre-
ternatural. It disturbs in no way the regular
sequences which all men's experience teaches them
to anticipate as not improbable.
(3.) It is acknowledged by the ablest defenders
of the ecclesiastical miracles that, for the most part,
they belong to those classes of miracles which are
described as amiiguout and tentatite — i. e. they
are cases in which the effect (if it occurred at all!
may have been the result of natural causes, and
where, upon the application of the same means, the
desired effect was only sometimes produced. These
characters are always highly suspicious marks. And
though it is quite true — as has been remarked
already — that real miracles, and such as wen
clearly discernible as such to the original spectators
may be so imperfectly reported to us as to wear (I
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MIRACLES
■nUgnont appearance — it still remains ■ violation
if aB the laws of evidence to admit a narrative
which leaves a miracle ambiguous aa the ground of
aur belief that a miracle has really been wrought.
If an inspired author declare a particular effect to
have been wrought by the immediate interposition
of God, we then admit the miraculous nature of
that event on hi* authority, though his description
of its outward circumstances may not be full enough
to enable us to form such a judgment of it from
the report of those circumstances atone: or if,
amongst a series of indubitable miracles, some are
but hastily and loosely reported to us, we may safely
admit them as a part of that series, though if we
met them in any other connection we should view
them in a different li/ht Thus, if a skillful and
experienced physician records his judgment of the
nature of a particular disorder, well known to him,
and ir the diagnosis of which it was almost impos-
sible foi him to be mistaken, we may safely take
his word f"r that, even though he may have men-
tioned only a few of the symptoms which marked
a particular case: or, if we knew that the plague
was raging at a particular spot and time, it would
require much less evidence to convince us that a
particular person had died of that distemper there
and then, than if his death were attributed to that
disease in a place which the plague had never visited
for centuries before and after the alleged occurrence
of his case.
(4 ) Though it is not true that the Scripture
miracles have so " borne the brunt" of the a priori
objection to miracles as to remove all peculiar pre-
sumption against them as improbable events, there
is a sense in which they may be truly said to have
prepared the way for those of the ecclesiastical
legends. But it Is one which aggravates, instead
of extenuating, their improbability. The narratives
of the Scripture miracles may very probably have
tended to raise an expectation of miracles in the
minds of weak and credulous persons, and to en-
courage designing men to attempt an imitation of
them. And this suspicion is confirmed when we
observe that it is precisely those instances of Scrip-
ture miracles which are most easily imitable by
fraud, or those which are most apt to strike a wild
and mythical fancy, which seem to be the types
wbkh — with extravagant exaggeration and distor-
tion — are principally copied in the ecclesiastical
niraeles. In this sense it may be said that the
Scripture narratives " broke the ice," and prepared
he way for a whole succession of legends; just as
any great and striking character is followed by a
h»t of imitators, who endeavor to reproduce him,
not by copying what is really easnitial to his great-
ness, but by exaggerating and distorting some minor
peculiarities in which his great qualities may some-
times have been exhibited.
But — apart from any leading preparation thus
afforded — we know that the ignorance, fraud, and
enthusiasm of mankind have in almost every age
and country produced such a numerous spawn of
spurious prodigies, as to make false stories of mir-
ages, under certain circumstances, a thing to be
iturally expected. Hence, unless it can be dis-
tinctly shown, from the nature of the case, that
narratives of miracles are not attributable to such
sbksm — that they are not the offspring of such a
uarentage — the reasonable rules of evidence seen
>> require that we should refer then, to their usua'
aid best known causes.
Sor can then be, as some weak persons are apt
MIRACLES 1959
to imagine, any impiety in such a course. On the
contrary, true piety, or religious reverence of God,
requires us to abstain with scrupulous care from
attributing to Him any works which we have not
good reason for believing Him to have wrought
It is not piety, but profane audacity, which vers
turea to refer to God that which, according to the
best rules of probability which He has Himself
furnished us with, is most likely to have been
the product of human ignorance, or fraud, or
foUy.
On the whole, therefore, we may conclude that
the mass of the ecclesiastical miracles do not form
any part of the same series aa those related in
Scripture, which latter are, therefore, unaffected by
any decision we may come to with respect to the
former; and that they are pressed by the weight
of three distinct presumptions against them— being
improbable (1) as varying from the analogy of
nature; (2) as varying from the analogy of the
Scripture-miracles; (3) as resembling those legen-
dary stories which are the known product of the
credulity or imposture of mankind.
The controversy respecting the possibility of
miracles is as old as philosophic literature. There
is a very clear view of it, as it stood in the Pagan
world, given by Cicero in his books de Dwmatume
In the works of Joaepbus there are, occasionally,
suggestions of naturalistic explanations of 0. T.
miracles : but these seem rather thrown out for the
purpose of gratifying skeptical Pagan readers than
as expressions of his own belief. The other chief
authorities for Jewish opinion are, Maimonides,
.Worth Nebochim, lib. 2, c. 35, and the Pirke About,
in Surenhusius's Mishna, torn. iv. p. 469, and
Abarbanel, MiphaiotK Elohim, p. 93. It is hardly
worth while noticing the extravagant hypothesis
of Cardan (Dt coniradictione Medicorttm, 1. 2,
tract 2) and of some Italian atheists, who referred
the Christian miracles to the influence of the stars.
But a new era in the dispute began with Spinoza's
Tractatus Theokgico-politicus, which contained the
germs of almost all the infidel theories which have
since appeared. A list of the principal replies to il
may be seen in Fabricius, Delectus Argumentorum,
etc., c. 43, p. 697, Hamburg, 1725.
A full account of the controversy in England
with the deists, during the last century, will be
found in Ldand's Vita of the Deistical Writers,
reprinted at London, 1836.
The debate was renewed, about the middle of
that century, by the publication of Hume's cele-
brated essay — the chief replies to which are : Prin-
cipal Campbell's Dissertation on Miracles; Hey's
Nurrisiim Ledum, vol. i. pp. 127-200 : Bp. El-
lington's DonntUrm Lecture*, Dublin, 1796; Dr.
Thomas Brown, On Cause and Effect; Paley'a
Evidence) (Introduction ) ; Archbp. Whately, Logic
(Appendix), and his Historic Doubts respecting
S ipoleon Bonaparte (the argument of which the
writer of this article has attempted to apply to the
objections of Strauss in Historic Certainties, or the
Chronicles of Ecnarf, Parker, London, 1862). See
also an interesting work by the late Dean Lyall,
Propadia Propheticn, reprinted 1854, Rivington,
I.ondon. Compare also Bp. Douglas, Criterion, or
Miracles Examined, etc., London, 1754.
Within toe last few years the controversy has
been reopened by the late Professor Baden Powell
in The Unity of WtrUs, and some remarks on the
study of evidences published in Die now oeletrr-ued
volume of Essays and Revievo*. It would ha pre-
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I960 M1KACLES
nature, at present, ir give » list of tha replica to
K> reeeut a work.
The question of the ecclesiastical miracles was
■lightly touched by Spencer in his notes on Origen
against Celsus, and more fully by Le Moine; but
did not attract general attention till Middleton pub-
lished his famous Free Enquiry, 1748. Several
replies were written by Dodwell (Junior), Chapman,
Church, etc., which do not seem to hare attracted
much permanent attention. Some good remarks
on the general subject occur in Jortin's Remark*
on Ecclesiastical History, and in Warburton's
Julian. This controversy also has of late years
been reopened by Dr. Newman, in an essay on
miracles originally prefixed to a translation of
1'Teury's Ecclesiastical History, and since repub-
lished in a separate form. Dr. Newman had pre-
viously, while a Protestant, examined the whole
subject of miracles in an article upon ApoUonius
Tyanssus in tha Encyclopaedia ifetropolitana.
W. F.
* The differences of opinion in regard to the
reality of miracles arise often from differences of
opinion in regard to the meaning of the word ; and
the differences in regard to the word " miracles."
arise often from differences in regard to the mean-
ing of the term "laws of nature." Therefore we
inquire: —
A. What are the laws of nature?
One definition involving several others is this:
tbe forces and tendeiuies essential to material sub-
stances and the finite minds of the world, and bo
adjusted to each other in a system as, in their
established mode of operation, to necessitate uniform
phenomena. We speak of these forces and tenden-
cies not as accidental but as euenlinl ; not as essen-
tial to matter as such, but to the different species
of matter; not to all finite minds, but to those of
which we are informed by reason as distinct from
revelation. When the angel is described (Bel, 36)
as carrying Habbacuc by tbe hair of the head to
Babylon, he is not described as complying with the
laws of nature, although he may have complied
with a law of the angeU. On the preceding defi-
nition of the laws of nature both an atheist and
a theist can unite in discussing the question of
miracles. Still, from those laws a theist infers that
there is a law-giver and a law-administrator; from
the system of natural forces and tendencies he in-
fers the existence of a mind who once created and
now p re s erve s them. Believing that they are only
the instruments by which God uniformly causes
or occasions the phenomena which take place, a
thsist is correct when be defines the laws of nature
In their ultimate reference as "the established
method of God's operation." It may teem, but it
m far from being, needless to add, that the phrase,
laws of nature, is a figure of speech, and gives rise
!o other figures. Derived from the Saxon lagu, lay,
lah, the word law suggests that which is (1) laid,
fixed, settled (Gesetz, something laid down) ; (2) laid
damn by a superior being; (3) to fixed as to make
uniform sequences necessary. In its literal use it
denotes such a command of a superior as is ad-
dressed to the conscience and will, and is accom-
riied with a threat making obedience necessary
relation to happiness. In its figurative use the
wmmand is the system of natural forces and ten-
dencies ; the obedience is the course of natural
ehenomena which are necessary not in the relative
Nil hi thi absolute sense. God mid : <• let the
«atth bring forth grass " ; he spake to the animals
MIKACLES
and said : « Be fruitful and muHip )." The legal
words which ha spoke in the creatbn ha continues
to apeak hi the preservation of the natural forces
and tendencies; and they being, as it were, man-
datory words, are followed by events which are, as
it were, obedient acts.
B. What is a miracle?
Of this term various definitions may be given,
each of them correct, one of them more convenient
for one use, another for a different use.
1. A oentral definition, comprehending many
specific statements, and appropriate to a miracle
considered at ail event, at a phenomenon, is this:
a manifest violation of laws of nature in refereuw
to the results dependent upon them. It is objected
to this definition that it supposes all the laws of
nature to be violated, whereas in a miracle soma
of these laws are complied with (B. 6-8). But the
definition teaches only that laws, not all the laws,
of nature are prevented, by some other than natural
force, from producing the effects which, when they
are not interfered with, they produce uniformly.
It is again objected, that the definition supposes
the laws of nature to be violated tn all their rela-
tion!. Just the reverse ; it does not suppose these
laws to be violated in their reference to a supposed
or imagined power on which they depend, but only
in reference to the results which almost uniformly
depend upon them; not in respect of any thing
which is above and before them, but merely in
respect of events which are beneath and after them.
It is again objected, that there is no power above
the laws of nature, and therefore these laws cannot
be violated (ru, riuh.tre). But the objector has no
right to assume that there is no superior force able
to control the physical forces and tendencies. An
objector adds : If the laws of nature be laws of God,
they cannot be broken down by a created power,
and will not be broken down by himself; he will
not break through his own ordinances. But here
again is a Petith Principii, a mere assumption
that while for one purpose tbe author of nature
sustains its laws, he will not for another purpose
interfere with their usual sequences. An objector
says: The word violation is too figurative to lie
used in defining a miracle. But it is a mere
drawing out of the figure involved in the phrase
" nature's laws." It gives consistency and com-
pleteness to the metaphor which suggests it. ( A. )
When the customary sequences of physical laws
are suspended by some force which is not one of
those laws, then the laws are said to be rebuffed,
as when the Saviour " rebuked " the fever, and
« rebuked " the winds, and said to the sea: '< Peace,
lie still" (Matt. viii. 86; Mark iv. 39; Luke viii.
24, iv. 39). It is again objected that a violation
of natural laws is a miracle, whether the violation
be manifest or not. " This altera not its nature
and essence'* (Hume). But we do not care to
include in our definition such imaginary events as
never occurred, and we do not believe that there
have been violations of natural law unless they have
been manifest. Besides, if secret violations of this
law have occurred, they excite no theological in-
terest, and are not within the pal) of our theolog-
ical discussion. In proportion as men fail to see
evidence that a physical law was violated in the
phenomenon described as Joshua's " stopping the
sun," just in that proportion do men lose their
special motives for proving that the narrative ii
fabulous, or poetical, or a true history. A sacra
miracle belongs to a secret revelation, but a tha
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MIRACLES
togfan, at sneh, does not care for thing! " done in
• corner." A true miracle U proved to be such by
its own nature, and not by the mere testimony of
Ike person who works it. Usage and convenience
permit our limiting the word to those supernatural
phenomena which give in themselves proof of their
contrariety to natural law. Mohammed and his
prophets may affirm the Koran to be a miracle;
hot we cannot take their word for it; the book does
sot, more than the Iliad or the jEneid, present
•snots signs of a power guing beyond the human.
It n further objected, that as thi phrase, violation
af nature's laws, may imply something more than
t miracle, even an impossibility, so it may denote
axnething less than a miracle. Thus we say that
t ehuxuy mechanic violates the laws of the screw,
lew, etc, when he breaks them by a violent use
for which they were never adapted ; a student
violates the laws of the eye; an orator violates the
Ism of the larynx ; a debauchee violates the laws
* his constitution. But in these and similar in-
stances the laws of nature are regarded in reference
Is their met ; in a miracle, they are regarded in
reference to the results which would ensue from
than if they were not suspended by a foreign
fewer.
i The general definition may be explained by
ispedjeone; a miracle is a phenomenon which,
•earring without regularity of time and place, and
in manifest violation of nature's laws as they com-
monly operate, could not have been definitely fore-
Ken and calculated upon by the man who pretends
that it was wrought in his behalf. If it did not
■crar without regularity of time and place, it could
not wear in mnnifest violation of the laws of nature.
Hut writers (like an Edinburgh Reviewer in No.
lit) describe miracles as " the arrangements by
which, at crossing places in their orbits, man's
world is met and illumined by phenomena belong-
ing to another zone and moving in another plane " ;
bat nth phenomena, like the appearance of a comet
•nee In six hundred years, are still regular, and
therefore are not notions counteractions uf nature's
an, and of course do not baffle the precise calcula-
te!* of men.
1 If there are laws which, as ordinarily pre-
aned. necessitate uniform phenomena, and if they
•re in a miracle as forcibly suspended as the gen-
en] definition indicates, then the suspension must
he a striking prodigy (hence the words, miracubm
wor; sWfjw, davfijurtoy, rapd$o£ov)i must ex-
ehe the emotion of wonder (Mark i. 27, ii. 13, iv.
41.ri.51; Luke xxiv. 12, 41; Acta iii. 10, 11);
mi. arousing the minds of men, will lead them to
anticipate some message connected with it. The
knpfoai of nature, as nature, " suffereth violence" ;
md why? John Foster describes the phenomenon
■ the ringing of the great bell of the universe
along the multitudes to hear the sermon. There-
in one specific definition of a miracle may be: a
phenomenon which occurs in violation of the laws
a* nature as they commonly operate, and which is
Wgned to attest the divine authority of the mes-
wnrer in whose behalf it occurs. Indirectly the
tnncle indicates the truth of the message (1 K.
rrii U; Coleridge's Works, 1. p. 393); directly it
s intended to indicate the divun sanction of the
nasengsr (Ex. vii. 9, 10; 1 K. xili. 3-6".. If a
•an pretend to hare received a new revelation from
Heaven, we may say to him, as Talleyrand said to
<enaax: The Founder of the Christian system
«%«d liimsebT to be erueiAed and He rose attain :
MIRACLES
1961
you should try and do as much." This second
definition is a decisive one; because the charac-
teristics of a miracle are learned from the design
ot it. If the miracle be intended to signify the
divine authority of the worker, it must be an event
which, in and of itself, gives evidence of its no)
being the effect of natural causes. This intent a
the miracle is not essential to its abstract nature
but is always connected with its actual occurrence.
Without such an intent an obvious violation of
nature's laws would be a miracle; but without such
an intent there never is such a violation. There-
fore the Bible, as a practical volume, gives prom-
inence to the end for which the miracle is wrought;
see Exodus iii. 2 &*., iv. 1-9; 3 K. i. 10; Matt. xi.
3-8; Mark U. 10, 11; John ii. 23, iii. 3, v. 36, 37,
ix. 16, 30-33, x. 25, 38, xi. 4, 40, 42, xii. 30, xi?.
10, 11, xx. 30, 31; Acta ii. 32, x. 37-43; Heb. it
3,4.
4. If the material and mental forces and tenden-
cies receive so violent a shock as is implied in the
general definition, the miracle will lead men to
infer: " This is the finger of God " (Ex. tiii. 19).
Even if it be performed instrumentnlly by an angel
or any superhuman creature, still it is God who
sustains that creature, and gives him power and
opportunity to perform the miracle. Preserving
the laws of nature, God also compels them to pro-
duce their effects. No created power can counter-
act his compulsory working. If he choose to inter-
mit that working, and allow an angel to prevent
the sequences of the law which God preserves, then
it is God who works the miracle by means of an
angel who is divinely permitted to come through
the opened gates of nature. " Qui facit per alium,"
etc. Therefore another specific definition of a
miracle may be: a work wrought by God inter-
posuig and manifestly violating laws of nature as
they are viewed in reference to their ordinary re-
sults. It is not a mere " event " or " phenomenon,"
it is a " work," a work wrought by God (the Spirit
of God, Matt. xii. 28); a work wrought by God
interposing (the finger of God, Luke xi. 20). If
the laws of nature be obviously violated (B. 1 ) there
is a miracle, whether they be violated by a created
or an uncreated cause, or by no cause at all. StilL
in point of fact they never have been violated
except by the divine interposition; not even by
demons unless God first interposed, and opened the
door of the world, and let them pass through, and
perform the lesser works in order that he may at
once overpower them by the greater. Ev.ni if the
laws of nature were violated without the divine
interposition, the irregularity would not fulfill the
main design of a miracle (B. 4), and therefore
should be distinguished by the word prodigy, or by
a synonym ("mirabile non miraculum"). Hence
it is the prevailing style of the Bible, to connect the
miraculous phenomenon with the interposed power
of Jehovah; see Exodus iv. 11, 12; Ps. cxvi. 8;
Matt. xii. 34, 28; John iii. 2, ix. 33, x. 21; Acta
x. 38, 40, and passages under B. 2.
5. In order to make the truth more prominent
that the forces and tendencies which our unaided
reason reveal s to us are not thwarted in nil, but
only in some of their relations; that they are not
made (as Spinoza thinks them to be) inconsistent
with themselves, and that their Preserver inter-
calates a new force preventing their usual sequences,
another specific definition of a miracle is : A work
wrought by the divine power interposed between
certain narural laws and the results which the*
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1962
MIRACLES
nut hue produced if the; had not been violated
by that power. It u often said, that the creation
rf the world was a miracle; but before the creation
oo laws of nature had been established, and of
sourse no power was interposed (as a sign B. 3)
between non-existing laws and their normal results.
So it is said that the creation of new species of
plants and animals was a miracle; but it was not,
unless the preestablished laws of some other sub-
stances were violated by the creating act interposed
(as a sign) between those laws and their legitimate
results. It is said again, that the preservation of
the world is a constant miracle; but what forces
and tendencies are there which must be resisted by
a preserving energy interposed (as a sign) between
them and their otherwise uniform effects ?
6. Since the phrase, "violation of nature's laws,"
is condemned sometimes as expressing too much,
and sometimes as expressing too little, it may give
place to a synonymous phrase, and a miracle may
be defined; A work wrought by God interposing
and producing what otherwise the laws of nature
mutt (not merely would) have prevented, or prevent-
ing (Dan. iii. 27) what otherwise the laws of nature
mutt (not merely wouUt) have produced. Thus the
non-occurrence attrell as the occurrence of a phe-
nomenon may be^ miracle (see B. 7), and thus
also a miraculous is distinguished from a super-
natural event (C. 7).
7. As we sometimes overlook the truth that all
the laws of nature are constantly upheld and con-
trolled by God, and in this sense are his established
method of operation (A), and as we accordingly
imagine that when they are violently broken over
his power is counteracted, and an event takes place
arbitrarily and wildly, another of the specific defini-
tions, harmonizing in fact though not in phrase
with all the preceding, may be: A miracle is an
effect which, unless it had been produced by an
interposition of God, would hive been a violation
of the laws of nature as they are related to Him
and to their established sequences. If we suppose
that a human body is thrown into a furnace heated
as Daniel iii. 21-30 describes it, the law of fire is
to consume that body. If tie forces and tenden-
cies of the fire are preserved, and if no volition of
God be intercalated to resist tliem, and if in these
circumstances the body remains uninjured, then
the law of the fire is violated. If, however, God
intercalates his volition and thwart* the action of
the fire, He does not violate its laws in their relation
to him, fur it hat no laws which can produce or
prevent any phenomena in opposition to his inter-
posed will (Brown on Cause nnd Kjj'rct). A miracle
is natural to the supernatural act of God choosing
to produce it
8. Since the laws of nature are often supposed
to include all existing forces, and are thus con-
founded (even by Dr. Thomas Brown) with the
law* of the universe (B. 4), still another of the
specific definitions, illustrating each of the pre-
ceding, may be: A miracle is a phenomenon which,
"•f not produced by the interposition of God, would
be a violation of the laws of the universe. In the
universe God himself is included ; it is no violation
of any law in his nature that He is perfectly
benevolent; it is in unison with all the laws of his
•ring that He perform all those outward sets which
yrfect benevolence requires, and consequently that
■le put forth a volition for a miracle when the
general good demands it. As it is consonant with
fce saws of God to choose the occurrence of a
MIRACLES
needed miracle, so it 1s consonant with the law
of matter and finite mind to obey his volitions
It would be a violation of their laws if He should
exert his omnipotence upon his creatures and they
should effectually resist it Since then it is his
invariable method of action to do all which the
well- being of his universe demands, and to make
that effect necessary which He wills to =:*ke so,
and since it is the invariable order of sequence
that matter and finite mind yield to the fiat of
their Maker, it follows that a miracle (even as de-
fined in B. 1) may not only be in harmony with
the laws of the created mJverae as they are related
to the divine will, but may be actually required by
the laws of the entire universe, and while abnormal
in their lower, may be normal in their higher rela-
tions (D. 1, c d).
C. What are the distinctions between a miracle
and other real or imagined phenomena ?
1. A miracle is not an event without an ade-
quate cause. The atheist and pantheist, believing
that there is no personal author of nature, and
that a miracle has no cause in the forces of nature,
are misled to believe that it can have no cause
atoll.
2. A miracle is not an interposition amending
or rectifying the laws of nature. Some (Spinoza,
Schleiennacher) have regarded the common defini-
tions of a miracle as implying that the courses of
nature are imperfect and need to be set right. M.
Kenan describes a miracle as a special intervention
" like that of a clock-maker putting his fingers in
to remedy the defects of his wheels;" and Alex-
andre Dumas, borrowing an Italian epigram, de-
scribes a miracle as "the coup it et-it of the
Deity." By no means, however, is it an after-
thought of God ; by no means the result of a dis-
covery that the laws of nature are not fitted to
fulfill their design. Those laws were planned for
the miracle as much as the miracle was planned
for them. It would not be of use, unless they
were essentially what they are. It is performed
not because the works of God need to be supple-
mented, but because men will not make the right
use of his works. It is prompted not by a desire
to improve what He has done, but by his con-
descending pity for men who willfully pervert what
He has done. It does not imply that the uniform-
ity of nature is a mistake, but that it is a wise
arrangement — so wise that it enables him by 3
sudden deviation from it to give an emphatic proof
of his grace. It does not imply that the constitu-
tion of the human mind in expecting this uni-
formity is wrong, but that it is right, and specially
right as it prepares the mind to be impressed lie-
cause startled by the miraculous sign of super-
human love.
3. A miracle is not a counteraction of tomi
laws by other laws of nature. Dynamic forces
counteract the mechanical ; vital forces counteract
the chemical; voluntary forces counteract the physi-
cal. ' This counteraction of one force by another
is not even •supernatural, still less miraculous (B.
6, 0. 7). It would not take place unless natural
laws were uniform; it is a compliance with the
law counteracted, as well as with the law counter-
acting; not only is it produced by nature, but
nwtt be produced, unless a power be interposed
thwarting nature. A chemist, like Prof. Faraday
cannot prove his divine commission by his novt
experiments of one chemical law resisting another
In such resistance lies one secret of various magi
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MIRACLES
id irU; of the feats, for example, which the
Egyptian* performed "by their enchantments."
A miraculous b distinguished from a magical won-
aW partly by its being such a " mighty work "
(tvrafui) as transcends all created energy ; such a
week as science mi it* progressive tendencies be-
comes less and less able to explain by natural
causes.
4. A miracle is not merely a sign of divine
authority. It is a "sign " (otj/ieior, rtpat; mon-
strum, motutrniu), but it is more. If we could
make exact distinctions between the nearly synon-
ymous words of the Bible, we might say that
miracles are signs, and wonderful signs, and such
wonderful signs as could not hare been wrought
by Unite power (Acts ii. S3: 2 Cor. xii. 12; 3 Thess.
ii. 9). Mr. Webster, in his eulogy on Adams and
Jefferson, speaks of their dying on the same fourth
day of July as a sign from heaven ; many persons
regard many remarkable events as tokens of the
divine will ; many divines regard the internal worth
of the Bible as an indication of its celestial origin ;
controversialists may believe in all these phenomena
and yet not believe in them as signs; or may
believe in them as signs prater-natural and even
saper-nstural, but not miraculous. The conveni-
ence of scientific inquiry demands a distinction
between that which is aside from nature, that
which it above nature, and that which is against
Latnre as such.
8. A miracle is not precisely defined as "an
exception " to, or a " deviation " from " the laws
of nature," "from some of the laws of nature,"
" from the uniform manner in which God exercises
his power throughout the world; " " from the uni-
form method in which second causes produce their
effects." Some writers teach that if an event be
•> simply inexplicable by any known laws of nature ' '
it is a miracle in the negative sense; if it be also a
" distinct sign by which the divine power is made
known " in favor of a religious system, it is a
miracle in the poeitivt sense. But it is a common
belief of theologians that the divine process of
sanctifying the soul (Heb. xiii. 20, 21) is not mi-
raculous, and yet is " an exception to, or deviation
from some laws of nature." It is common, more-
over, to speak of physical events as pneter-natural,
when the speaker does not imagine them to be even
supernatural. One of the chaplains to Archbishop
Bancroft was bom with two tongues; but this
" deviation from ordinary phenomena " was not a
" sign " that his faith had or had not the divine
spproval. True, in the large view of mere nature
(C. 3), such phenomena are not real but only appar-
ent deviations from nature's laws, for they result
-•irmally from peculiar combinations of these laws.
Jtill they are familiarly called "deviations from
latum," and for the sake of precision ought to be
listinguisbed from miracles. A miracle is indeed a
•raider (B. 3), but we may conceive of wonders
which are not miracles, and are on the whole
stranger than miracles (D. 2).
6. K miracle is not (as Schleiermaeher supposes
t to be) a phenomenon produced by an occult law
x' nature. The following beautiful illustration of
(his theory is quoted by Dr. J. F. Clarke (Ortho-
sbzjr, etc., pp. 64. 6S) from Dr. Ephraim Peabody
" A story is told of a dock on one of the high
sathedral towers of the older world, so instructed
Htat at the close of a century it strikes the years
•s ft ordinarily r bikes the hours. As a hundred
■men come to a dose, suddenly, la the
MIRACLES
1968
mass of complicated mechanism, a little wheel
turns, a pin slides into the appointed place, and in
the shadows of the night the bell tolls a requiem
over the generations which during a oentury havt
lived and labored and been buried around it. One
of these generations might live and die, and witness
nothing peculiar. The clock would have what we
call an established order of its own; but what
should we say when, at the midnight which brought
the century to a close, it sounded over a sleeping
city, rousing all to listen to the world's ago?
Would it be a violation of law? No; only a
variation of the accustomed order, produced by
the intervention of a force always existing, but
never appearing in this way until the appointed
moment had arrived. The tolling of the century
would be a variation from the observed order of
the clock; but to an artist, in constructing it, it
would have formed a part of that order. So a
miracle is a variation of the order of nature as it
has appeared to us ; but to the Author of nature it
was a part of that predestined order — a part of
that order of which he is at all times the imme-
diate Author and Sustainer; miraculous to us, seen
from our human point of view, but no miracle U
God; to our circumscribed vision a violation of
law, but to God only a part in the great plan and
progress of the law of the universe." We reply:
If such a marvelous _ phenomenon be, like the
blooming of the century plant, a result of physical
laws as already defined (A.), we cannot be certaL.
that some philosophers have not detected thess
laws, as some have proved the existence of a par-
ticular planet before that planet had been detected
by the eye- We cannot be certain that thee*
sagacious philosophers have not waited for thj
foreseen phenomenon and delivered their message
in connection with it. as some deceitful pavigators
have uttered their threats to a savage king a few
hours before a solar or lunar eclipse, and hare
represented the eclipse as giving a divine authority
for those threats. If a miracle is wrought at all,
it is wrought for an end ; if for an end, then for a
special sign of the divine will (B. 3); if for a sign
of the divine will, then probably not by an occult
law of nature; for if it be wrought by an occult law,
then it becomes the less decisive as a sign, less con-
ducive to its end. Therefore the antecedent pre
sumptions for a miracle (L>. 1, c. d.) are presump-
tions for it as the result of a force other than a
natural law. It may be rejoined, however, that
the Deity has at the creation inserted in matter or
spirit certain exceptional forces, having no uniform
activity, and becoming operative only at irregular
and exceptional emergencies, for no other purpose
than that of giving to certain teachers an excep-
tional divine authority. But forces like these are
not in the system of uniform agencies, but out of
it, consequently they are not laws of nature (AV
their existence is at least as difficult to prove ss is
the occurrence of transient divine volitions ; they,
at mediate, represent and are equivalent to the
immediate interpositions of God's will ; no essential
advantage can be gained, and in some cases per-
haps no eaential (but only a rhetorical) advantage
Is lost, by referring the miracle to these special
I and abnormal forces, instead of referring it to the
bare and immediate ictus of the divine volition.
7. A miracle is not a merely supernatural phe-
nomenon. The supernatural is the genus, in-
cluding all event* produced by a power above tl»
natural laws (B. 8). Of these events the sasrWj
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■upematural is one specie* including those only
irhich are not violations, the miraculous is another
■peciea including tfaoae only which lire violations,
of the natural law*. The renewal of the soul as
described in John 1. 19, 13, iii. 3-8; Eph. ii. 4-10,
is merely supernatural, and not (as Coleridge terms
it) miraculous; for the essential tendencies of the
soul, the laws essential to its being a soul (A) are
not manifestly violated when they are rectified;
neither is the occurrence so irregular as to defy all
possibility of anticipating definite examples of it
(B. 2). So it might be maintained, consistently
with the itrict meaning of the terms, that Jesus
performed his first miracle at the wedding of Cana
(John ii. 11), and his second miracle upon the son
of the Capernaum nobleman (John iv. 47-54) ; and
still before the first of these miracles he had given
supernatural signs of bis Hessiahship (John i. 48),
and before the second he had given many such
signs, as in his calling of the Apostles, bis conver-
sation with the Samaritan woman, his predictions,
etc. ; and Nioodemus (in John iii. 3) referred not
merely to the miraculous but also to other super-
natural " signs " that Jesus bad a divine authority.
D. What is the difference between the proof of
the Biblical and the proof of other alleged mira-
cles?
1. There is a difference between the antecedent
presumptions in regard to the Biblical, and the
antecedent presumptions in regard to other mira-
cles.
a. There is a strong presumption against all
miracles considered merely a$ violations of physical
law. At the outset of our inquiries we presume
that the course of events will be as it has been ;
that it has been in the past ages as it is in the
present age; and of course that no event viewed
limply as an event has occurred in contrariety to
this uniform order. While the testimony for com-
mon events is to be credited at once without strong
reasons for rejecting it, the testimony for miracles
as mere phenomena is to be rejected at once with-
out strong reasons for crediting it. When divines
refuse to say that a miracle is a notation of physi-
cal laws (B. 1) because the term violation makes
the miracle appear intrinsically improbable, they
seem to forget that so far as a miracle in itself,
t- e. viewed as a mere phenomenon, is improbable,
just so far does it become useful in proving that
God has interposed in behalf of his revealed word ;
and so far as a miracle, in itself, and apart from
its relations to a special divine intention, is prob-
able, just so far does it lose its usefulness ss a sign
>f God's interest in that word. The Christian
ipologist contends against his own cause, when he
Mntends against Hume's doctrine that a miracle
is a mere event is contrary to experience; for if it
were not contrary to experience it could be calcu-
late! on (B. 2), and would thus lose its power to
surprise and convince. He injures his own cause
when he asserts, in opposition to Hume, that a
miracle as a mere event is conformed to experience;
for if an event be conformed to experience, then it
is conformed to the general truth learned from
experience, that physical changes have physical or
Inite causes; and if it be conformed to this truth
then it is no miracle (B. 4-8). Let us represent
the number of alleged miracles by the figure 1,000;
whether these have been actually wrought is the
question; at the outset we cannot say that they
have been, or have not been ; we cannot beg the
I in the affirmative or in the negative; we
MIRACLES
can say, however, that leaving out of account the dis-
puted number 1,000, we have never experienced, ano
no other men have experienced the phenomenon of
a physical change without a physical or a finite
cause. Thus the miracle is contrary to experience
and to all experience (Mark i. 27, ii. 13; Luke v
26 ; John ix. 32, xv. 24). It is therefore intrinsi-
cally improbable. Whether we suppose (with Reid
Stewart, Campbell) that we have a constitutional
tendency to believe the course of events to be uni-
form; or (with Mill, HcCosh) that this belief
results from experience; or, that it is both intui-
tive and confirmed by experience, it is a fun: belief
of all men. Because it is deep-seated, the pre-
sumption against miracles as mere phenomena if
strong, and therefore when miracles are wrought
they become the more startling and convincing,
and are regarded not as mere phenomena but as
divine signals.
o. Against the great majority of alleged mira-
cles the presumption remains unrebutted. Some
of them are connected with no apparent design
good or bad ; some with a design to commend a
system of morals or religion which is false and
Injurious. No amount of testimony is strong
I enough to give us rest in believing that God has
interposed and checked the operation of his own
■ laws without any design, without a good design,
without a great and good design. The presump-
tion against such miracles as are said to have been
wrought at the tomb of the AbW Paris, or upon
the daughter of Pascal, cannot be invalidated by
the witnesses for them. " I should not believe
such a story were it told me by Cato." We need
not deny that the witnesses were honest, that they
actually saw wonderful and even inexplicable phe-
nomena; but they drew a wrong inference; they
did not refer the phenomena to the real, though
concealed causes ; they mistook a monstrosity for a
miracle; the amazing operation of some one law,
as of electricity, odyle, concealed mental forces, for
the palpable violation of the laws of nature.
c. Against the Biblical miracles, however, the
antecedent presumption does not remain unrebut-
ted ; for they are not mere physical phenomena; for,
first, they were wrought by a Mind infinitely de-
sirous of the spiritual and eternal welfare of men
(see Dr. Channing, iii. p. 118); secondly, they were
needed for attesting a revelation which was immi-
nently and deplorably needed ; thirdly, the revela-
tion was grand enough to deserve such miracles
(■' Nee Deus intersit," etc.), and the miracles were
noble enough to fit such a revelation. If, as Paley
says, the one message recorded in John v. 28, 39,
was " well worthy of that splendid apparatus " of
miracles which accompanied it, how much more
worthy was such a condensed treatise as our Lord's
discourse to Nioodemus ? That discourse is a gem ;
there is an antecedent presumption that it will have
a costly setting. The inspired word is called by
Locke a telescope for the mind ; there is an antece-
dent presumption that it will be mounted on a
strong frame-work. Miracles are the setting and
the frame-work for the Gospel. There is an ante-
cedent presumption that the Father who is " very
pitiful " will interpose for the children whom He
loves with infinite tenderness, wi'° reveal to them
the truth which is essential to their peace, and wU.
confirm it by miracles which are needed for its ap-
propriate influence. Our conclusion then is exactly
opposite to that of Hume. He says (whatever hi
means) tha« a miracle may possibly be proved, bos
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MIRACLES
not " so « to be the foundation of * system of re-
Egion; " we say that we have beard of no miracle
which can be proved uniett it be the foundation of
a system of religion. The presumption against
miracles at mere phyiioal phenomena a reoutted by
the presumption in favor of miracles at related to
infinite Benevolence. The antecedent improbability
of their occurring at violations of physical law is
counterbalanced by the antecedent probability of
their occurring as attettationt of religiom truth.
The favorable presumption offsetting the antago-
nistic one prepares us to examine the testimony for
inirx-l— with as little impulse to reject it as if the
testimony related to an ordinary event. In the
logical order our belief in their necessity, fitness,
worthiness, may be either the conditio pracedtnt or
the conditio tubttqucnt of our belief in their actual
occurrence, but in the chronological order the testi-
mony for them may be so overwhelming as to con-
vince us of their occurrence and tbeir worthiness
at one and the tame time.
d. In favor of the Biblical miracles there is not
only one presumption which equals and thus rebuts,
but there is another presumption which more than
squab, which overpowers the presumption against
them, and thus not only prepares but also predis-
poses ns to credit the testimony in their favor.
The religious system in behalf of which they were
wrought involves internal marks of its having been
revealed by God, but from that system the Biblical
miracles are inseparable. (1.) We may take a
particular view of this argument. According to
the belief of many divines, some of the most impor-
tant parts of the Christian system are in themselves
miraculous phenomena. " Miracles and prophecies
are not adjuncts appended from without to a revela-
tion in itself independent of them, but constitutive
dements of the revelation itself" (Rothe). He
who believes in the general resurrection of the
dead believes in the certainty of a future miracle
far more stupendous than the resurrection of the
widow's only son ; how, then, can be a priori hesi-
tate to believe in that past miracle ? He who ac-
cepts the doctrine of the Incarnation as revealed in
John 1. 1-14, assents to a miracle far more aston-
ishing than the appearance of the angels to the
shepherds, and of the star to the Magi ; how then
can he be reluctant to receive the narrative of the
lea astonishing miracles? For a man to believe
that a child wss born in whom dwelt " all the ful-
ness of the Godhead bodBy " (CoL ii. 9), and at the
same time to demur at the statement that the
child who was named " The Wonderful " performed
wonders which were miraculous, is as illogical as
tor a man to believe in the possibility of a sun, but
not in the possibility of planets revolving around it.
" Revelation itself is miraculous, and miracles are
the proof of it." (Bp. Butler.) (3.) We may take
a taore general view of this argument. The super-
natural truths of the Bible prompt us to believe that
miracles have been wrought in attestation of them.
Miracles are to such truths what the polish is to
the agate, what the aroma is to the flower, what
music is to the march of a triumphant army. It
would be strange if tax-gatherers and publicans
recorded sublimer truths than were recorded by
"lato and Aristotle, and did not also attest them
»» miracles; if men received a supernatural inspira-
Son, and did not record such truths as rnply a
aiiraculous interposition. Why were they inspired
f they ware not to reveal doctrines which transcended
i power of discovery, and did not confirm
MIRACLES 1966
them by wonders which transcended the hitman
power of performance ? Should we hear a man like
Jesus Christ announce for the first time that be
would cause the spiritually blind and deaf and dead
to see and hear and live spiritually, we should ex-
pect that He would accompany his announcement
with the miraculous gift of sight, hearing, life, to
the corporeally blind, deaf, and dead. If we should
hear Him predict the new creation of souls " unto
good works " we should expect that He would illus-
trate his prediction by some miraculous control
over nature. In themtelvet the miracles are im-
probable ; in ittelf the revelation of such truths is
improbable ; hut if suoh truths are to be revealed
for the first time, then the miracles are to be ex-
pected ; if the one improbability become a reality,
we are to presume that the other will. The super-
natural truths of the Bible are efflorescent, and
miracles have been happily called their "efflores-
cence." They are so fit an accompaniment and so
important a part of the truths connected with them
that Dr. Channing (Memoir, ii. 442) goes so far
as to say : << They are so inwoven in all his
[Christ's] teachings and acts, that in taking them
away we have next to nothing left;" and he says also
(Works, iii. 119 ; see also iv. 393) as Augustine and
others have said before him, that, on the whole, the
wonder is not that any but that to few miracles
have been wrought. (3. ) We may take a ttill more
general view of this argument. The miracles of
the Bible are so interwoven with its didactic system,
that if it stands, they stand ; if they fall, it does not
utterly fall, but it loses one strong prop ; the intrin-
sic evidence hi its favor becomes then a positive
evidence in their favor. For example: the resur-
rection of Christ is an appropriate appendage to his
atoning work. It is probable that if He died as our
sacrifice, He rose from the dead ; and if He rose from
the dead. He died as our sacrifice; if He ascended
to the throne, He rose from the grave; and if He
rose from the grave. He ascended to the throne.
In various other methods is his resurrection inter-
locked with the main teachings as well as with the
personal character of his Apostles. Now the resur-
rection of Christ was an actual event, or it was not.
If it were not, the narratives of it are not true; and
if these narratives are not true, then the general
system with which they are interlaced becomes the
less probable. But that system is true; it so com-
mends itself to our religious nature as to prove its
divine original. Then the narratives of Christ's
resurrection whioh are so inextricably intertwined
with the system are true. To strike out those nar-
ratives from the New Testament and to retain the
remainder, is like blotting out the figure of the Vir-
gin from the Sistine Madonna,
The old objection arises : You prove the mireolej
by the doctrine, but you profess to prove the doo-
trine by the miracles. We do both. Each of to*
arguments lends aid to the other. Our Savioot
did not perform his miracles as an anatomist con-
ducts his demonstrations, by appealing to the
intellect alone; but he required faith, or a right
moral state, as a condition for his miraculous works ;
and on the other hand his miraculous works cor-
roborated the moral faith (Mark vi. S; Matt. xiii.
58). M. Ranan mistakes toe logical characteristics
of the Bible, when he supposes that the resurrection
of Lazarus should have been inquired into by a
college of physicians relying on their anatomical
instruments and demonstrating their conclusions.
This might have been done safely; bat the fcVbit
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MIRACLES
ism not profess to be a treatise on naked acience;
It relies not on demonstrative but on mural reason-
ing, and makes our intellectual pursuits a means
3f moral probation. We are predisposed by our
proper reverence for the doctrine to believe in the
miracles, which, however, are commended to us by
their own independent proof (John v. 36, X. 95,
38, xiv 10, 11); and we are predisposed by the
miracles to believe in the doctrine, which, in its
turn, is commanded to us by its own independent
evidence. The doctrine ia the title-deed, and is
essential to the significance of the seal attached to
YL. The miracle is the seal and is important for
the authority of the title-deed. The seal torn away
bom the parchment cannot fulfill its main design,
and the parchment with the seal cut out is lessened
in value (Gerhard). The doctrine is the soul and
ia essential to the life of the body; the miracle ia
the body and is important for the full development
of the soul. " Miracles test doctrine, and doctrine
tests miracles " (Pascal).
2. There is a difference between the testimony in
favor of the Biblical, and that in favor of other
alleged miracles.' Under the following seven heads
are classified tome of the peculiar evidences from
testimony for the miracles of the Old and Mew
Testaments; and it ia easy to see that ail these
evidences are not combinrd In support of Pagan,
Mohammedan, post-apostolic, or any other than the
Scriptural miracles.
1. The nature of the miracles, (n.) They were
such as could be judged by the senses (John xi. ;
Luke xxiv. 39). (A.) Many of them are not am-
biguous; for bow can we explain the resurrection
of the dead by any natural law? (c.) They were
not tentative; for we hear of no one who faitlifully
attempted to perform any miracle which he was
authorized to perforin, and who failed in the at-
tempt. Alt who applied to Jesus were healed by
his word (Matt. iv. 23, 24, viii. 16, ix. 35, xU. 15,
xiv. 14; Mark vi. 56; Luke iv. 40, vi. 19). (<£)
The alleged miracles were obviously connected with
the volition of the person who professed to perform
them, and were not, like the tentative works per-
formed at the tombs and altars of saints, apparently
independent of any particular volition producing
them, (e.) They were connected immediately with
the volition to produce them ; a distant sufferer is
instantly relieved by the spoken word (Matt. xxi.
19, 20; John iv. 47-63). (/.) Many of them were
of such a nature as cannot be explained by the
acting of the imagination. The miracles of Christ
were not like the cures effected by the touch of a
ting, but were wrought by a Galilean peasant iu
whose personal appearance we do not know that
here was anything remarkable. In such methods
is the preceding are the Biblical miracles distin-
guished from mere wonders, and the testimony in
their favor from simply marvelous tales.
2. The circumstances in which they were per-
fcrmed. (a.) They were wrought at suoh times
and places as favored the thorough examination of
them: in broad daylight; in close contiguity to
the observers (Luke xxiv. 39; John xx. 27). (A.)
They were performed not privately, not before
packed companies, but before promiscuous multi-
lodes who could not be induced to combine in a
rtretagem (John ix.; Acta iil. 7 ffi). (e.) They were
tot performed by a band of artists or experts who
remained together, and might cover each other's
hilings, and who were superintended by a skillful
r; but the Apostles separated from each
MIRACLES
other, did not act in concert, manifested no soBei
tude for each other's proceedings, imparted tin
miraculous gifts to men of different characteristics
who were selected not for their dexterity but for
their moral worth (Acts xviii. 14-33, xix. 6; 1 Cor
xU. 7-11).
3. The chanctei of the men on whose testimony
we accept the miracles, (a.) Some of them were
personal observers, eye and ear witnesses ; John xv.
27; Acts ii. 32, lit. 15, iv. 20, v. 29-32, x. 39-41,
xiii. 31; 2 Peter i. 16-18; 1 John i. 1-8. (A.J
Whether personal witnesses or not, they were siUt
to know the truth; men of sound and stable sense;
practical men, like Mark, and Luke the physician,
not credulous, not fanciful, not easily excited anJ
beguiled (Mark xvi. 14; John xx. 24-29). If they
had been poetical instead of prosaic, scholars instead
of business men, politicians instead of tax-gatherers
they would hare wanted one sign of credibility
(c.) They were disposed to utter the exact truth
They have such an air of veracity as cannot be
mistaken. This air is made up (1) sometimes of
childlike statements, as in Isaiah xxxviii. 21; (9)
sometimes of omissions to ascribe miracles to par-
ticular men, as to Abraham, to Jacob, to David, to
Solomon, to the Baptist (John x. 41), who however
were special favorites of the historians, and would
have been celebrated for their miraculous achieve-
ments, if the historians had indulged in mythical
or fanciful narratives; (3) sometimes of incidental
allusions to the labor of scrutinizing the reported
facts, Luke i. 1-4; (4) sometimes of confessions
of incipient incredulity, as in Matt, xxviii. 17;
Mark xvi. 11, 13, 14; Luke xxiv. 11, 25; (5) some-
times of obvious freedom from anxiety to make out .
a consistent narrative. The reporters, seeming to
be entirely at their ease, have admitted into their
records unimportant discrepancies, which are ap-
parent; and unimportant coincidences, which are
occult. If their narratives had been written with a
dishonest aim, the discrepancies would have been
carefully concealed, and the coincidences would
have been openly paraded. (6.) Sometimes their
constitutional faults give an air of truthfulness to
the Biblical narrators. Such an open-hearted man
as Simon Peter could never have held out in a
conspiracy to deceive the public. Such a skeptic
as Thomas could never have united with him in so
bold an enterprise, (rf.) The historians were sure
that their statements were correct. They appealed
to their interested contemporaries. They chal-
lenged investigation. John x. 37; Acts ii. 22.
(e.) Although able and disposed to give a true
record, they were not able, had they been disposed,
to fabricate such a record as they have given.
Some of them, as Matthew, were deficient in genius,
and this is an argument for rather than again*
their exact truthfulness. How could these men
have invented a record of Christ's miracles so con-
sonant with the principles of the divine adminis-
tration, with the character of Christ, with the spirit
of his Gospel? The great forces which God em-
ploys, gravitation for example, are noiseless. Christ's
miracles were in the solitudes of Palestine. Christ
was meek and lowly; be was bom not in Home but
in Bethlehem, and dwelt not in the palace but in
the cottage; so he did not perform his miracles
upon consuls and pnetors, but upon the little
daughter of Jairus and upon the woman who was
"bowed together." The spirit of his Gospel ii
that of mercy and grace ; his miracles were wrought
for the hungry, the epileptic the paralytic, brggatt
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tod lick children. \Vho«e exuberant imagination
invented this aeries of apposite wonders ?
4. The cimumatances in which the original nar-
rators gave their testimony, (a.) They gave it at
the time when the miracles were performed, not
as the original reporters of man; Pagan and Romish
wonders, after the lapse of centuries from the per-
formance of the exploits. (4.) There is reason to
believe (Douglas's CrUei-ion, pp. 80, 286-294) that
the testimony for the Biblical miracles was first
given at the place where they were performed (the
Uospel of Jesus risen from the dead was first
preached at Jerusalem), and not like the testimony
for the miracles of Loyola and Xavier, at distant
localities where the local evidence against them
could not be scrutinized.
5. The effect of the miracles, («.) They were
partly the means of overcoming the opposition of
the original narrators. The disciples of Christ were
expecting him to be a temporal king, were looking
forward to their own princely honors, and were
hostile to the lowly and spiritual character of his
mission His miracles helped to break down their
hostility They were changed from enemies to
friends partly by the tnmtia which they described
(Heb. ii. 4), and which they would, if they could,
have rejected, (6.) The miracle* were partly the
means of turning masses of the people from a de-
cided anti-Christian to a Christian belief (John ii.
2-1, Hi. 2, vii. 31). (c.) Their converting influence
is the more decisive sign of their reality, because
every believer in them knew that he would be called
by his faith to a continuous course of hard, self-
deuying, and often self-sacrificing work. Not with-
out the most rigid scrutiny will men assent to a
* proposition which requires them to go through toil
not only arduous but persevering, not only attended
with habitual self-denial, but liable to end in the
utter sacrifice of earthly good (John xi. 47-57).
The alleged miracles of Pagans and Romanists have
been performed among persona previously favorable
to them, or liable to be imposed upon by excited
fancy and feeling, and have not been connected with
rigorous and repulsive exactions. (<l. ) A new re-
union was founded on the first Christian miracles.
Men have a strong presumption against a faith
not only exacting but new, and will disbelieve, if
they can, in any miracles corroborating it. In
order that the alleged miracles at the tomb of the
AbW Paris might be compared with the Biblical
wonders, some instrumental worker of the miracles
should have appeared, and should have declared
his design in working them, and that design should
Vive been to attest before unbelievers a novel as
ell as humiliating system of religious truth, (e.)
External institutions (as the Passover, the Eucharist,
the Lord's Day) were founded on, or in intimate
connection with the Biblical miracles, and were
established at the time and place when and where
he miracles were said to have been wrought. Men
'bo are to pay the cost have an economical ohjec-
„ion to the rearing of expensive monuments for com-
memorating scenes of recent occurrence in their
}wn neighborhood, when there is not clear proof
that the scenes did occur, (f.) Not only the
■store, but the degree of the influence exerted by
•be Biblical miracles is a proof of their reality,
against the selfishness and the prejudices of men
he Christian system, originating with a few persons
who were despised in Galilee, which was itself de-
spised throughout Judssa, which in its turn was
1 in o*Jher countries, fought its own way into
MIRACLES
1987
the favor of the most enlightened nations, and
partly by the aid of pretended miracle* which, ii
they had been merely pretended, might have been
shown to be such.
6. The testimony of persistent enemies. Men
who denied the Biblical truths admitted the r.-ality
of the Biblical miracles. True, they ascribed the
phenomena to magic; but this proves that Ibey
could not ascribe them to the working of n i ural
law. True, they admitted the miraculous agency
of all other religionists; but they had not the sime
motive for admitting the Christian miracles which
they had for admitting others. The Christian
system was exclusive, and would thus impel them
to disprove it if they could; almost every Pagan
system was liberal, and was thereby saved from
arraying objectors in personal hostility to it. It
it said, that the early opponent! of the Gospel con-
fessed its miraculous attestation, because they were
weak and credulous? But is it not said by the
same objectors, that the early friends of the Gospel
were weak and credulous? Why then did the
alleged friends of the Uospel deny the miracles,
" lying wonders," of heathenism ? " The more
weak and credulous any man is, the harder it is to
convince him of anything that is opposite to his
habits of thought and his inclinations. He will
readily receive without proof anything that falls
in w'th his prejudices, and will be disposed to
hold out against any evidence that goes against
them " (Whately's Introductory Lesson*, p. 219,
Cam. ed.).
7. The general coincidences of the Biblical nar-
ratives. («.) The witnesses who recorded the Chris-
tian miracles differed from- each other in personal
character and style, and still agree with each other
in the substance of tbeir narratives. Their sub-
stantial concurrence is a sign, additional to every
individual mark, that their narratives are true.
(6.) The coincidence of the miraculous attestations
with the internal character of the Biblical system
(which moreover is itself composed of harmonizing
doctrines, all of them witnesses concurring to rec-
ommend it, D. 1, d) forms another comprehensive
sign that the simple-hearted men who recorded the
miracles uttered the truth, (c.) The coincidence
of the Biblical narratives with many general facts
of history makes these narratives the more plausible.
Miracles were expected by the nations to whom the
Biblical theology was preached. Such an expecta-
tion is a correlate to the presumption that a be-
nevolent God will interpose in behalf of such a
theology (D. 1, c. </.). It is natural to think that
the expectation would be met by the original
preachers (Mark xvi. 20; Acts xiv. 3; Rom, xv.
18, 19), or that the hearers would have complained
of the preachers, and the preachers would have
apologized for their failure to meet it. Where an
the complaints ? Where are the apologies ? Again,
the Jews were an ignorant nation, but they retained
their belief in one infinite God, who was to be
worshipped spiritually; why did they cling to this
sublime faith, while more cultivated nations, Egyp-
tians, Greeks, Romans, did not rise above polytheism
and idolatry ? Had they more refined intuitions,
or more logical skill than the masters of the Ly-
ceum and Academy?
We have, then, a constitutional tendency to Be-
lieve that as the original narrators of the Christian
miracles were plain sound, apparently Ingenuous
but not ingenious men, their narratives are true.
Our experience turn ♦hi» belief. 'Ill* falsehood
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1968 MIBACLBS
ot this testimony, at mere testimony, would be a
monstrous deviation from the ordinary course of
phenomena. The concurrence of all the preceding
marks of truth in such a falsehood would be a still
more monstrous deviation from the course of nature.
It would be a deviation more monstrous than are
the Biblical miracles themselves. It would be not
only a marvel, but a mere marvel, for which there
is no good moral reason ; therefore it would be a
mere monstrosity ; but the miracles are not mere
marvels, there is a good moral reason for them.
We can see no adequate natural, and of course no
supernatural cause of the mere monstrosity, but we
can see an efficient cause of the miracles and an
adorable one- The mere monstrosity has nothing
to recommend it in its agreement with the laws
of the universe; the miracles have much (B. 7, 8).
If now there be two contradictory hypotheses both
of which are marvelous, but one of them more
unaccountable, more unreasonable, and thus more
monstrous than the other, we are bound to reject
the greater monstrosity.
Christian apologists have often adopted the
maxim of Hume : Of two miracles, reject the
greater; and they have said that if testimony hav-
ing the preceding signs of trustworthiness were
false the falsehood would be more miraculous than
the miracles attested. But no; the falsehood of
testimony which appears credible may be more
wonderful than a miracle, and yet be in itself no
miracle at all. While it may be difficult to account
for the falsehood, it is absolutely impossible to ac-
count for the miracle, on any known principle of
human or physical nature (6). Except in a few
disputed cases there has never been an approxima-
tion to the phenomenon of raising the dead, but in
numerous cases there has been an approximation
to the phenomenon of false testimony which had
all the appearance of being true. The falsehood
cf such testimony, then, must be less contrary to
experience than the miracle, the very nature of
which requires that, except in the few disputed
instances, it be contrary to all, >. e. to the analogy
of all experience (I). 1, a). Experience, however,
is not our only guide. Antecedently to experience
we have two contrary presumptions, and of these
two the stronger prompts us to believe in such
miracles as are recorded in the Bible (B. 5-8, C. 5,
I). 1, c. A). The character of God and his relations
to men make it more rational to suppose that a
wonderful event has occurred for which we can acs
a moral reason and an efficient cause, than that a
monstrous event has occurred for which we see no
moral reason and no natural cause.
E. The proper time for discussing the Question
of Miracles.
In some rare cases it may be needful to discuss
the question with an atheist, pantheist, or skeptic.
In these cases the definitions of a miracle under
B. 1, 2, are appropriate. As at the outset we can-
•ot require him to assert, and he cannot require us
•> deny the existence of God, so these definitions
leither assert nor deny it A more appropriate,
is well as a more common time, however, for dis-
cussing the question of miracles is after we have
proved the existence and attributes of God. The
discussion is between the Christian and the Deist,
sftener than between the Theist and the Atheist.
But the most appropriate time for the discussion is
sfter we hare proved man's need of a revelation
and the fitness of the Biblical revelation to supply
that need. The internal evidence of the iuspiratiou
MIKIAM
of the Bible removes the obstacles which obstruct
the proof of miracles, and also lends additional fores
to that proof and forms a part of it E. A. P.
MIB'IAM (Dn&, their rebellion: LXX.
Mapidfi; hence Joseph. Msuua/ivn: in the N. T.
Mapia/i or Masia, Hapiafc being the form always
employed for the nominative case of the name of
the Virgin Mary, though it is declined Miopias
Map/a; while Map/a is employed in all eases for
the three other Maries). The name in the O. T.
is given to two persons only : the sister of Moses,
and a descendant of Caleb. At the time of tha
Christian era it seems to have been common.
Amongst others who bore it was Herod's celebrated
wife and victim, Mariamne- And through the
Virgin Mary, it has become the most frequent
female name in Christendom.
1. Mihiam, the sister of Moses, was the eldest
of that sacred family; and she first appears, prob-
ably as a young girl, watching her infant brother's
cradle in the Nile (Ex. ii. 4), and suggesting her
mother as a nurse (ii. 7). The independent and
high position given by her superiority of age she
never lost. " The sister of Aaron " is her Biblical
distinction (Ex. xv. 20). In Num. xii. 1 she is
placed before Aaron; and in Mic. vi. 4 reckoned
as amongst the Three Deliverers — "I sent before
thee Moses and Aaron and Miriam." She is the
first personage in that household to whom the
prophetic gifts are directly ascribed — " Miriam the
Prophetess " is her acknowledged title (Ex. xr. 20).
The prophetic power showed itself in her under the
same form as that which it assumed in the days
of Samuel and David, — poetry, accompanied with *
music and processions. The only instance of this
prophetic gift is when, after the passage of the Bed
Sea, she takes a cymbal in her hand, and goes
forth, like the Hebrew maidens in later times after
a victory (Judg. v. 1, xi. 34; 1 Sam. xviii. 6; Ps.
lxviii. 11, 25), followed by the whole female pop-
ulation of Israel, also beating their cymbals and
striking their guitars (/T^nZp, mistranslated
" dances " ). It does not appear how far they
joined in the whole of the song (Ex. xv. 1-19);
but the opening words are repeated again bv
Miriam herself at the close, in the form of a com-
mand to the Hebrew women. "She answered
them, saying, Sing ye to Jehovah, for He hath
triumphed gloriously : the horse and his rider hath
He thrown into the sea."
She took the lead, with Aaron, in the complaint
against Moses for his marriage with a Cushite.
[Zipporah.] "Hath Jehovah spoken by Moses?
Hath He not also spoken by us?" (Num. xii. 1,
2). The question implies that the prophetic gift
was exercised by them; while the answer imp'ios
that it wss communicated in a less direct form
than to Moses. " If there be a prophet among
you, I Jehovah will make myself known unto
him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a
dream. My servant Moses is not so. ... . With
him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently,
and not in dark speeches " (Num. xii. 6-8). A
stern rebuke was administered in front of the
sacred Tent to both Aaron and Miriam. But tbe
punishment fell on Miriam, as the chief offender
The hateful Egyptian leprosy, of which for a mo-
ment the sign had been seen on the hand of hes
younger brother, broke out over the whole persoc
of the proud prophetess. How grand wss ha
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MIRMA
posrtton, and how heavy the Muw, is implied in
the ery of anguish which goes up from both her
brothers — " Alas, my lord ! ... l*t her not be as
one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when
he cometh out of his mother's womb. . . . Heal her
now, God '. i beseech thee." And it is not less
evident in the silent grief of the nation: "The
people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in
again" (Num. xii. 10-15). The same feeling is
reflected, though in a strange and distorted form,
in the ancient tradition of the drying-up and re-
Sowing of the marvelous well of the Wanderings.
[Bub, voL i. p. 264 a.]
This stroke, and its removal, which took place at
liazerctb, form the last public event of Miriam's
lift. She died towards the close of the wanderings
at Kadesh, and was buried there (Num. xx. 1).
Her tomb was shown near Petra in the days of
Jerome (Dt Loc. Heb. in voee " Cade* Barnea ").
According to the Jewish tradition (Joseph. Ant iv.
i, § 8), her death took place on the new moon of
the month Xanthicus (i. e. about the end of
February); which seeing to imply that the anni-
versary was still observed in the time of Joeephus.
The burial, he adds, took place with great pomp
m a mountain called Zin (». e. the wilderness of
Zin); and the mourning — which lasted, as in the
sue of her brothers, for thirty days — was closed
by the institution of the purification through the
sacrifice of the heifer (Num. xix. 1-10), which in
the Pentateuch immediately precedes the story of
her death.
According to Joaephus (Ant. iii. 3, § 4, and 6,
§ 1), she was married to the famous Huk, and,
through him, was grandmother of the architect
Bezalkel.
In the Koran (ch. iii.) she is confounded with
the Virgin Mary; and hence the Holy Family la
called toe Family of Amram, or Imran. (See also
D'Herbelot, Bibl. OritnL " Zakaria.") In other
Arabic traditions her name is given as Koltlium
see Weil's Bihl Ltgtndt, p. 101).
2. (Both Vat. and Alex, ror Hewi [Rom.
Mipef; Comp. Maptifi:] Marvim). A person —
whether man or woman does not appear — men-
tions* in the genealogies of the tribe of Judah
and house of Caleb (1 Cbr. iv. 17); but in the
present state of the Hebrew text it is impossible to
say more than that Miriam was sister or brother to
the founder of the town of Eshtemoa. Out of the
numerous conjectures of critics and translators the
following may be noticed: (n) that of the LXX.,
•• and Jether begat M. ; " and (o) that of Bertheau
(Chromic, ad loc ), that Miriam, Shammai, and
[shbah are the children of Mered by his Egyptian
wife Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh: the last
clause of vex. 18 having been erroneously trans-
posed from Its proper place in ver. 17. A. P. S.
MIlVMA.(nD-]D [fraud, foJuhaod]: Map-
ui ; [Vat iiia+ia :] Marmn). A Benjamite,
" chief of the fathers," son of Shaharaim by his
wife Hodesh; born in the land of Moab (1 Chr.
fill. 10).
MIRROR. The two words, itH")!?, marah
(Ex. xxxviii. 8; xarorrpor, tpeeuUm), and Vfl,
ret (Job xxxvii. 18), are rendered " looking-glass "
to the A. V., but from the context evidently denote
MIRROR
1969
a mirror of polished metal. The mirrors of the
women of the congregation, according to the former
passage, furnished the bronze for the laver of the
tabernacle, and in the latter the beauty of the
figure is heightened by rendering '■ Wilt thou beat
out with him the clouds, strong as a molten mir-
ror?"; the word translated "spread out" in the
A. V. being that which is properly applied to the
hammering of metals into plates, and from which
the Hebrew term for " firmament " is derived.
[Firmament.] The metaphor in Deut xxviii.
23, " Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be
brass," derived its force from the same popular
belief in the solidity of the sky.
The Hebrew women on coming out of Egypt
probably brought with them mirrors like those
which were used by the Egyptians, and were made
of a mixed metal, chiefly copper, wrought with such
admirable skill, says Sir U. Wilkinson [Am. Eg.
iii. 384), that they were " susceptible of a lustre,
which has even been partially revived at the present
day, in some of those discovered at Thebes, though
Bgvptian Mirror, (from Mr. Salt's ooUmtloa. j
buried in the earth for many centuries. The mir-
ror itself was nearly round, inserted into a handle
of wood, stone, or metal, whose form varied accord
ing to the taste of the owner. Some presented the
figure of a female, a flower, a column, or a rod
ornamented with tie head of Athor, a bird, or a
fancy device; and sometimes the face of a Typho-
nian monster was introduced to support the mirror,
serving as a contrast to the features whose beauty
was displayed within it." With regard to the
metal of which the ancient mirrors were composed
there is not much difference of opinion. Pliny
mentions that anciently the best were made at
Brundusium of a mixture of copper and tin (xxxiii.
45), or of tin alone (xxxiv. 48). Praxiteles, in the
time of Pompey the Great, is said to have been the
first who made them of silver, though these were
afterwards so common as, in the time of Pliny, to
be used by the ladies' maids." They are mentioned
by Chrysostom among the extravagances of fashion
for which he rebuked the ladies of his time, and
Seneca long before was loud in his denunciation of
similar follies (Nairn: Qua*. 1. 17). Mirrors wen
a Silver mirrors an alluded to In Plautus (MasttU. of steel is said to have baen found. They were evaa
4, sec 101) and Phllostratus (lam. i. 6); and one made «f gold (Bur. Htc. 926 ; Sen. Nat Quest, i. IT)
124
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1970
MIRROK
MIRROR
seed by the Roman women in tlie worahip of Juno j women to wonbip in linen garments, holding a mil
(Seneca, Kp. 95 ; Apuleius, Mttum. 11. c. M, p. ror in \ heir left handi and a antrum in their right,
770). In the Egyptian temple*, aaya Cyril of ! and the Israelites, having fallen into the idolatries
Alexandria (Dt ndor. in Spir. ix.; O/jeru, i. p. 'of the country, had brought with them the mir-
114. ed. Pari*, 1638), it was the custom for the rors which they used in their worship*
Egyptian Mirror*. 1, 8, 4, from Mr. Bait's collection ; 2, from a painting at Thebes ; 4 l« about 11 Inches high.
According to Beckmann (HitL of Inr. ii. 04,
llohn ), a mirror which was diacorered near Naples
ra tested, and found to be made of a mixture of
copper and regulus of antimony, with a little lead.
...^
Egyptian Mirror. 2 and 8 show the bottom of the
handle, to which something has been tautened.
(Was in the possession of Dr. Ilogg )
rJeckmann'a editor (Mr. Francis) gives In a note
the result of an analysis of an Etruscan mirror,
Apparently In allusion to this custom Moore
i, e. 6), In describing the maidens who
danced at the Island Temple of the Moon, say*, " AS
they passed uuder the lamp, a gleim of light Bashed
ansa their bosoms, which, f could perceive, was the
which he examined and found to consist of 67-1 1
copper, 84-93 tin, and 8-13 lead, or nearly 8 parts
of copper to 8 of tin and 1 of lead, but neither in
this, nor in one analyzed by Klaproth, was there
any trace of antimony, which Beckmann asserts
was unknown to the ancients. Modern experi-
ments have shown that the mixture of copper and
tin produces the best metal for specula (Phil.
Tram. vol. 67, p. 896). Much curious informa-
tion will be found in Beckmann npon the various
substances employed by the ancients for mirrors
but which has no hearing upon the subject of this
article. In his opinion it was not till the 13th
century that glass, covered at the back with tin or
lead, was used for this purpose, the doubtful allu-
sion in Pliny (xxxvi. 60)' to the mirrors made in
the glass-houses of Sidon having reference to ex-
periments which were unsuccessful. Other allu-
sions to bronze mirrors will be found in a fragment
of jEschylus preserved in Stolisus (Strtn. xviii. p.
164, ed. Gesner, 161)8), and in Oallimachus (ffym.
in Lar. Pnll. p. 21 ). Convex mirrors of polished
steel are mentioned as common in the East, in a
manuscript note of Chardin's upon Ecclus. xii. 11,
quoted by Marnier (Obterv. vol. iv. c. 11, obs. 55).
The metal of which the mirrors were composed
being liable to rust and tarnish, required to be con-
stantly kept bright (Wisd. rii. 86; Ecclus. xii. II).
This was done by means of pounded pumice-stone,
rubbed on with a sponge, which was generally sus-
pended from the mirror. The I'ersians used emery-
powder for the same purpose, according to Chardin
(■quoted by Hartmann, die Hebr. am Put&itcke. ii.
245). The obscure image produced by a tarnished
or imperfect mirror [if icrirrpov, ir alrlyfiari],
reflection of a small mirror, that In the manner ot taw
women of the Bast each of the dancers wore be n ea th
her left ahoulder."
t> " Sidooe quondam lis otkinls noblll : sonatas
•Ham specula excofritaveimt."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MISABL.
appears to be alluded to in 1 Cor. xiii. IS. On the
stLer bud a polished mirror is among the Arab*
the emblem of a pure reputation. " More apotleaa
than the mirror of a foreign woman " is with them
a proverbial expression, which Meldani explain* of
a woman who has married out of her country, and
polishes her mirror incessantly that no part of her
face may escape her observation (De Sacy, Chrtit.
Arab. iii. p. 336).
The obscure word DWba, gilt/intm (Is. iii.
33), rendered "glasses" in the A. V. after the Vul-
gate tpeculi, and supported by the Targum, and
the commentaries of Kimchi, Abarbanel, and Jarchi,
is explained by Schroeder (de Vest. Mvl. Hebr.
eh. 18) to signify "transparent dresses" of fine
linen, as the LXX. (tA tiatfwi) Atunmati) and
even Kimchi in his Lexicon understand it (eomp.
multici", Juv. SiU. ii. 66, 76). In support of this
view, it is urged that the terms which follow denote
articles of female attire; but in Is. viii. 1, a word
closely resembling it is used for a smooth writing
tablet, and the rendering of the A. V. is approved
by Gesenius (Jetaia, i. 815) and the best authori-
ties. W. A. W.
MIS'ABL (Murd)*; [Vat. Mturank-] Mit-
<ui). 1. The same as Mishakl 3 (1 Esdr. ix. 44;
eomp. Neh. viii. 4).
2. = Uishakl 3, the Hebrew name of Heshach
(Song of the Three Child. 66).
MIS'GAB (2^tp»Pf, with the def. article,
[Ike height, refuge-] 'A/iAB; [Aid. Moo-iyeM:]
JortiM, tublimia), a place in Moab named in com-
pany with Nebo and Kiriathaim in the denun-
ciation of Jeremiah (xlviii. 1 ). It appears to be
mentioned also in Is. xxv. IS," though there ren-
dered in the A- V. "high fort." [Moab. J In
neither passage is there any clew to its situation
beyond the fact of its mention with the above two
places; and even that is of little avail, as neither of
them has been satisfactorily identified.
The name may be derived from a root signify-
ing elevation (Gesenius, The: 1340), and in that
case was probably attached to a town situated on
a height. It is possibly identical with Mizpeii
or Moab, named only in 1 Sam. xxii. 3. Fiirst
(Handinb. 794 a) understands " the Misgab " to
mean the highland oountry of Moab generally, but
its mention in company with other places which
we know to have been definite spots, even though
not yet identified with certainty, seems to forbid
this. G.
MISH'AEL (^tJ^Q [io*o (is) what God is] :
[Rom.] Mio-oAX in Ex., [Vat Alex, omit;] M«ra-
Sin, [Vat. Alex. MuraSsu in Lev.:] Mit'iil, J/u-
aeie). L One of the sons of Uxxiel, the uncle of
Aaron and Moses (Ex. vi. 22). When Nadab and
Abihu were struck dead for offering strange fire,
Miahael and his brother Elxaphan, at the command
of Moses, removed their bodies from the sanctuary,
and buried them without the camp, their loose fit-
ting tunics' (cuttonM, A. V. "coats"), the sim-
MISHMANNAH
1971
pleat of eastern dresses, serving for winding-sheets
(Lev. x. 4, 6). The late Prof. Blunt ( Undet. Co-
incidences, pt- i. § xiv.) conjectured that the tw*
brothers were the " men who were defiled by the
dead body of a man " (Num. ix. 6), and thus pre-
vented from keeping the second passover.
2. (MurorJA; [Vat. FA.] Alex. MsnranAi Mi
aet). One of those who stood at Exra's left hand
on the Cower of wood in the street of the water
gate, when he read the 1 .aw to the people (Neh. viii.
4). Called Misabl in 1 Esdr. ix. 44.
3. [Vat- (Theodot.) M«io-onA.] One of Dan
iel'a three companions in captivity, and of the blood-
royal of Judah (Dan. i. 6, 7, 11, 19, ii. 17). He
received the Babylonian title of Meshach, by
which be is better known. In the Song of the
Three Children ho is called Mujabl.
MISH'AL and MISH'EAL (both b^Eft?
[reqiuet]: MaoVo, Alex. Mao-wf [Comp. Aid.
McuraA;] tv)» BaosAAaV, Alex. Mao-aaA: Maud,
Mat d), one of the towns in the territory of Asher
(Josh. xix. 26), allotted to the Gershonite Levites
(xxi. 30). It occurs between Amad and CarmeL
but the former remains unknown, and this cata-
logue of Asher is so imperfect, that it is impossible
to conclude with certainty that Mishal was near
CarmeL True, Kusebius ( Onum. " Masan " ) says
that it was, but he is evidently merely quoting the
list of Joshua, and not speaking from actual knowl-
edge. In the catalogue of 1 Chr. vi. it is given as
Masiial, a form which suggests its identity with
the Masaloth of later history ; but there is noth-
ing to remark fur or against this identification.
G.
MISH'AM (DJt^n [purification, bemdg,
Dietr.]: Mio-tufA; [vat. MnreuuiO Afiiaam). A
Benjaniite, son of Elpaal, and descendant of Shaha-
raim (1 Chr. viii. 12).
MISH'MA (S??tpD [hearing, report]-
Moo-ui: Matma).
L A son of Ishmael and brother of Mibsam
(Gen. xxv. 14; 1 Chr. i. 30). The Masamani of
Ptolemy (vi. 7, § 21) may represent the tribe of
Mlahina; their modern descendants are not known
to the writer, but the name (Misma') c exists in
Arabia, and a tribe is called the Benee-Misma'. In
the Mir-ut ei Zemin (MS.), Mishma is written
Misma' — probably from Rabbinical sources ; but it
is added " and he is Mesma'ah."* The Arabic
word has the same signification as the Hebrew.
2. A son of Simeon (1 Chr. iv. 25), brother of
Hibsam. These brothers were perhaps named
after the older brothers, Mishma and Mibsam.
E.S.P.
MISHMAN'NAH (n^^Q [fatnem] .
Mao- fiord; [Vat. Mcurcwiorn;] Alex. Mourns * I
FA. Mcunfiaxrn- Mamuma). The fourth of the
twelve lion-faced Gadites, men of the host for the
battle, who " separated themselves unto David " in
the hold of ZikUg (1 Chr. xii. 10).
a in this passage It la without the article. As a
Bars appellative, the word Misgab is frequently used
B the poetical parts of Scripture, in tin sense of a
oftv puce of refuge. Thus 2 Sam. xxil. 8 . Ps. Ix 9,
dx 9; Is. xxxut 16; In which and >thar flans 1 Is
variously reodand In the A. V. "high tows.',"
•refuge," "denmoe," etc. See Staulev, SI?.
twiat
» Their priestly frocks, or cassocks (ax. xl. 14)
which, as Janhl remarks, were not burned.
*c~?
tele***.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1972 MISHRAITES, THB
• The A. V. ed. 1611 reads Maahmannah for
Hashmannah, in accordance with tix MSS. and
printed editions noted by Mi-h«»Ht (BM. Htbr.).
This is alio the marginal reading of the Geneva
version ; the Bishop*' Bible hu " Maamana." A.
MISHT&AITES, THB OS"n?JBn [ai
sppel., ilippery place] : 'Hiuurapatp [^at -«u] ;
Alex. H/iairapaeiV- Maura), the fourth of the four
" families of Kirjath-jearim," i. e. colonies proceed-
ing (.herefrom and founding towns (1 Chr. ii. 63).
like the other three, Miahra is not elsewhere men-
tioned, nor does any trace of it appear to have been
since discovered. But in its turn it founded — so
the passage is doubtless to be understood — the
towns of Zorah and EshtaoL the former of which
has been identified in our own times, while the lat-
ter is possibly to be found in the same neighbor-
hood. [Maiiahbh-Dax.] 0.
• MISTAK. So correctly A. V. ed. 1611 in
Est. ii. 2, where later editions haw Mizfak. The
Hebrew is "l^QD. A.
MISPE'RETH (nTOD& [number] : M«r-
tpapde; [Vat. Maa<ptpar; Alex. MaaotpapaSi] FA.
McurtpapaS: Afttpharath). One of those who re-
turned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua from Babylon
(Neb. vii. 7). In Ear. ii. 8 he ia called Mizpar,
and in 1 Ksdr. v. 8 AsFHARASua.
MISREPHOTH-MAIM (D^Q n'lOltpp,
and in xiii. 6, 'O rfo"ltpD [an below] : Moo-
tpiiy, and MaorphO M«/ ia >«»/i a^ ti Alex. Mmr-
pe<pui8 ftatt/i, end Meur*p*«^tt6 juu/t' aqva Mit-
evephvOt), a place in northern Palestine, in close
connection with Zidon-rabbab, i. e. Sidon. From
" the waters of Merom " Joshua chased the Canaan-
xe kings to Zidon and Misrephoth-maim, and then
eastward to the " plain of Mizpeh," probably the
great plain of Baalbek — the BUcah of the He-
brews, the Buka'a of the modern Syrians (Josh. xi.
8). The name occurs once again in the enumera-
tion of the districts remaining to be conquered
(xiii. 6) — "all the inhabitants of the mountain
from Lebanon unto M. Maim," all the Zidonians."
Taken as Hebrew, the literal meaning of the name
is "burnings of waters," and accordingly it is tuken
by the old interpreters to mean " warm waters,"
whether natural, i. e. hot baths or springs — as by
Kimchi and the interpolation in the Vulgate; or
artificial, >. e. salt, glass, or smelting-works — as by
Jarchi. and the others mentioned by Fiirst (Hdwb.
103 A), Hunger (in Gesen. Thu. 1341), and Keil
{Jotun, ad loc.).
Lord A. Hervey {Geneahgiet, etc., 928 note) con-
siders the name as conferred in consequence of the
" burning " of Jabin's chariot* there. But were
they burnt at that spot? and, if so, why is the
name the " burning of vmttre t " The probability
here, as in so many other cases, Is, that a meaning
has been forced on a name originally belonging to
another language, and therefore unintelligible to the
later occupiers of the country.
Dr. Thomson (Land and Book, ch. xv.), reviv-
ing the conjecture of himself and Scbultx (BiU.
Sacra, 1855), treats Misrephoth-maim as identical
with a collection of springs called Ain- HtuhewifeA,
a Toe "and" hen inserted in the A. T. Is quits
ftatuMoas.
• Derived from pOP, •< swestnsss," with the sullx
MTTHREDATH
on the sea shore, close under the Rai en- Nakknm ,
but this has the disadvantage of being very fat
from Sidon. Hay It not rather be the place with
which we are familiar in the later history as Zsre-
phnth? In Hebrew, allowing for a change not (in-
frequent of S to Z (reversed in the form of the name
current still later — Sarepta), the two an from
roots almost identical, not only in sound, but also
in meaning; while the close connection of Zare-
phath with Zidon — " Zarepbath which belongetk
to Zidon," — is another point of strong resem
G.
MITE {\tirr6r), » eoin current in Palestine in
the time of our Lord. It took its name from a
very small Greek copper eoin, of which with the
Athenians seven went to the goAtceSt- It seems
in Palestine to hare been the smallest piece of
money, being the half of the farthing, which was a
coin of very low value. TOe mite is famous from
its being mentioned in the account of the poor
widow's piety whom Christ saw casting two mites
into the treasury (Hark xii. 41-44; Luke xxi.
1-4). From St. Mark's explanation, "two mites,
which make a farthing" (Anrrol too, ( Am
KoSpJunrit, ver. 42), it may perhaps be inferred
that the Ko*0aWnr,or farthing, was the commoner
coin, for it can scarcely be supposed to be then
spoken of as a money of account, though this might
be the case in another passage (Hatt v. 86). In
the Gneoo-Roman coinage of Palestine, in which
we include the money of the Herod ian family, the
two smallest coins, of which the asaarion is the
more common, seem to correspond to the farthing
and the mite, the larger weighing about twice as
much as the smaller. This correspondence is made
mora probable by the circumstance that the larger
seems to be reduced from the earlier " quarter " of
the Jewish coinage. It is noticeable, that although
the supposed mites struck about the time referred
to in the Gospels are rare, those of Alex. Janneus's
coinage are numerous, whose abundant money
must hare long continued in use. [Homkt;
Farthimo.] B. S. P.
MITH'OAH (itnrjQ [swerves.]: Mo»-
««<£; [Vat. MaT«*d':j &fethcn), the name of an
unknown desert encampment of the Israelites,
meaning, perhaps, " place of sweetness " * (Num.
xxxiii. 28, 29). H. H.
MITHTJITE, THB (^qBn [appel. exten-
sion]: i BaiOcvcf; Alex, o MaSBari; [Vat •
BaiBtofi; FA- e B«6Vu>«:] Matkanittt), the desig-
nation of Joshafhat, one of David's guard in the
catalogue of 1 Chr. xi. (ver. 48). No doubt it
signifies the native of a place or a tribe bearing the
name of Methen ; but no trace exists in the Bible
of any such. It should be noticed that Joshaphat
ia both preceded and followed by a man from be-
yond Jordan, but it would not be safe to infer there-
from that Methen was also in that region. O
MITH'REDATH (nTTTjD [see beJowJ.
MiSpoIdrr/f; [Alex. Vat,* MiS/ufcrrr/s :] HUM-
ridates). L The treasurer ^2*3, gitbar) ci
Cyrus king of Persia, to whom the king gam the
vessels of the Temple, to be by him transferred t»
n of toeaUtv, whleh (or Msplur. nH) as <
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MITHRIDATJSa
Aa hinds of Sheahbaaxer (Esr. i. 8). The LXX.
lake juidr aa a gentilic name, TdaPapnr6s t ">»
Vulgate u a patronymic, jWi'tu gaznbn; but there
b little doubt as to iti meaning. The word occurs
m a slightly different form in Dan. iii. 2, 3, and is
there rendered "treasurer;" and in the parallel
history of 1 Eadr. ii. 11, Mithredath is called Mith-
ridates the treasurer (ya£o<pv\a£). The name
Mithredath, " given by Mithra," is one of a class
of compounds of frequent occurrence, formed from
the name of Mithra, the Iranian sun-god.
2. A Persian officer stationed at Samaria, in the
reign of Artaxerxn. or Smerdis the ilagian (Err.
It. 7). He joined with his colleagues in prevailing
upon the king to hinder the rebuilding of the Tem-
ple. In 1 Eadr. ii. IB he is called Mithkidates.
MITHRIDATES ([owe" by Mithra]: Mi9-
palarnf, [Vat.] Aire. MiflpiJemjt: Milkridatut).
1. (1 Eadr. il. 11) = Mithrbdath 1.
2. (1 Esdr. ii. 16) = Mithrkdath 3.
MITRE. [Crowkj Hrad-dbbss.]
MITYLE'NE (MiTvAf/Fij, in classical authors
and on inscriptions frequently MutiAtJktj: [Mit-
ulrne. Cod. Amiat. Mylilent}), the chief town of
Lesbos, and situated on the east coast of the island.
Its position is very accurately, though incidentally,
marked (Acta xx. 14, 15) in the account of St.
Paul's return-voyage from his third apostolical
journey. Mitylene is the intermediate place where
he stopped for the night between Assos and Chios.
It may be gathered from the circumstances of this
voyage that the wind wis blowing from the N. W. ;
and it is worth while to notice that in the harbor
or in the roadstead of Mitylene the ship would be
sheltered from that wind. Moreover it appears that
St. Paul was there at the time of dark moon : and
this was a sufficient reason for passing the night
there before going through the intricate passages
to the southward. See Life and Epittla of Si.
PntU, ch. xx., where a view of the place is given,
showing the fine forms of the mountains behind.
The town itself wis celebrated in Roman times for
the beauty of its buildings ("Mitylene pulchra,"
Hor. Apti. I. xi. 17; see Cic. c. Rail. ii. 16). In
St. Paul's day It had the privileges of a free city
(Pun. JV. B. v. 89). It is one of the few cities
of the .£gean which have continued without inter-
mission to Sourish till the present day. It has
given its name to the 'hole island, and is itself
now called sometimes Catlro, sometime* Afitylen.
Tournefort gives a rude picture of the place as it
appeared in 1700 ( Voyage du Levant, I 148, 148)
It is more to our purpose to refer to our own Ad-
miralty chart*, No*. 1665 and 1654. Mitylene
concentrates in itself the chief interest of Lesbos,
an island peculiarly famous in the history of poetry,
and especially of poetry in connection with music.
But for these points we must refer to the articles in
the Diet, of Geography. J. S. H.
MIXED MTJI/nTTJDE. With the Israel
ian who journeyed from Barneses to Succoth, the
first stage of the Exodus from Egypt, there went
ip (Ex. xii. 881 "a mixed multitude" (2^>?
Miuktos' vulgui promitcuum), who have not
litherto been identified. In the Targum the phrase
■ vaguely rendered " many foreigners," and Jarchi
explains it as " a medley of outlandish people.
\ben Em goes further and says it signifies " the
Egyptians who were mixed with them, and they
Mi&AR THE HILli
1978
are the < mixed multitude ' (*pD95£j, Num. xi.
41, who were gathered to them."' Jarchi on tin
latter passage also identifies the "mixed multi-
tude" of Num. and Exodus. During their resi-
dence in Egypt marriages were naturally contracted
between the Israelites and the natives, and the sou
of such a marriage between an Israelitnh woman
and an Egyptian is especially mentioned as being
stoned for blasphemy (l.ev. xxiv. 11), the same law
holding good for the resident or naturalized foreign-
er as for the native Israelite (Josh. viii. 35). Thi*
hybrid race ia evidently alluded to by Jnrchi and
Aben Kzra, and is most probably that to which
reference ia made in Exodus. Knobel understands
by the "mixed multitude" the remains of the
Hyksos who left Egypt with the Hebrews. Dr.
Kaliach (Comm. on Ex. xii. 38) interprets it of the
native Kgyptians who were involved in the tame
oppression with the Hebrews by the new dynasty,
which invaded and subdued Lower Egypt; and
Kurtx (Hist, of OUl Cot. ii. 312. Eng. tr.), while
he supposes the " mixed multitude " to have bean
Egyptians of the lower classes, attributes their
emigration to their having " endured the same op-
pression as the Israelites from the proud spirit of
caste which prevailed in Egypt," in consequence of
which they attached themselves to the Hebrews,
"and served henceforth as hewers of wood and
drawers of water." That the " mixed multitude "
is a general term including all those who were not
of pure Israelite blood is evident; more than this
cannot be positively asserted. In Exodus and
Numbers it probably denoted the miscellaneous
hangers-on of the Hebrew camp, whether they were
the issue of spurious marriages with Kgyptians, or
were themselves Egyptians or belonging to other
nations. The same happened on the return from
Babylon, and in Neh. xiii. 8, a slight clew is given
by which the meaning of the " mixed multitude "
may be more definitely ascertained. Upon reading
in the Law " that the Ammonite and the Moabite
should not come into the congregation of God for
ever," it is said, " they separated from Israel all
the mixed multitude:' The remainder of the chap-
ter relates the expulsion of Tobiah the Ammonite
from the Temple, of the merchants and men of
Tyre from the city, and of the foreign wives of Aah-
dod, of Ammon, and of Moab, with whom the Jews
had intermarried. All of these were included in
the " mixed multitude," and Nehemiah adds,
"thus cleansed I them from all foreigner*:'' The
Targ. Jon. on Num. xi. 4, explains the '• mixed
multitude " aa proselytes, and this view is appar-
ently adopted by Ewald, but there does not seem
any foundation for it. W. A, W.
MI'ZAR, THE HILL C"»Wl? "*!3
[mountain tmall]: tpos {jukb6i, Vat] fuinposi
mait modicw), a mountain — for the render will
observe that the word Is har in the original (sea
vol. ii. p. 1077 a) — apparently 'ji the northern
part of trans-Jordanic Palestine, from which the
author of Psalm xlii. utters his pathetic appeal
(ver. 6). The name appears nowhere else, and the
only clew we have to its situation ia the mention
of the "land of Jordan" and the "Harmons,"
combined with the general impression conveyed by
the Psalm that it la the cry of an exile ■ from Jo-
- In the Pashlto-SrriM It bears ths tfie, "Tha
Paajn which David sang whan he waa In axils, aatf
longing to return to Jenualav "
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1974
MIZPAH
"uealem, possibly on his road to BabjloL (EwmH,
Ounaer, ii. 186). If taken as Hebrew, the word h
derivable from a root signifying smallness — the
lame by which Zoar is explained in Gen. six. 80-
ti. This is adopted by all the ancient versions, and
in the Prayer-Book Psalms of the Church of Eng-
land appears in the inaccurate form of " the little
hill of Hermon." G.
MJZTAH and MIZTEH. The name
borne by several places in ancient Palestine. Al-
though in the A. V. most frequently presented as
Mi/.i'KH, yet in the original, with but few excep-
tions, the name is Mizpah, and with equally few «
isceptions is aeoompanisd with the definite article
— il^^Sil, ham-Mittpdh, [i.e. the watch toner].
1. MlZPAH (TT^VlBn i Samar. TOSSI"!,
«'. t. the pillar: $ Spturts; Veneto-Gk. 6 hrtrur-
fiif. Vulg. omits). The earliest of all, in order of
the narrative, is the heap of stones piled up by
Jacob and I-aban (Gen. xxxi. 48) on Mount Gikad
(ver. 25), to serve both as a witness to tbe cove-
nant then entered into, and also as a landmark of
tbe boundary between them (ver. 53). This heap
received a name from each of the two chief actors
in the transaction — Ualeed and Jkoar Sah a-
dutha. But it had also a third, namely, Mizfah,
which it seems from the terms of the narrative to
have derived from neither party, but to have pos-
sessed already ; which third name, in the address
of Laban to Jacob, is seized and played upon after
the manner of these ancient people : " Therefore
he called the name of it Galeed, and the Mizpah ;
for he said, Jehovah watch (itxeph, *)2^) between
me and thee," etc. It is remarkable that this
Hebrew paronomasia is put into the mouth, not of
Jacob the Hebrew, but of Laban the Syrian, the
difference in whose language is just before marked
by " Jegar-Sahadutha." Various attempts ' have
been made to reconcile this; but, whatever may be
the result, we may rest satisfied that in Mizpah we
possess a Hebraized form of the original name,
whatever that may have been, bearing somewhat the
tame relation to it that the Arabic Btit-ur bears
to the Hebrew Beth-boron, or — as we may after-
wards see reason to suspect — as Snfidi and Shnfiii
bear to ancient Mizpehs on the western side of
Jordan. In its Hebraized form tbe word is de-
rived from the root UiphAh, H^, "to lookout"
(Gesen. Lexicon, ed. Robinson, s. r. DOS) and
signifies a watch-tower. Tbe root has also the
signification of breadth — expansion. But that
the original name had the same signification as it
possesses in its Hebrew form is, to say the least,
unlikely; because in such linguistic changes the
meaning always appears to he secondary to the
likeness in sound.
Of this early name, whatever it may have been,
we find other traces on both sides of Jordan, not
*uly in the various Mizpahs, but in such names as
Zophim, which we know formed part of the lofty
Pisgah; Zaphon, a town of Hoab (Josh. xiii. 27);
Zuph and Kamathalm-Zophim, in the neighbor-
hood of Mizpeh of Benjamin; Zephathah in the
« These exceptions may be collected here with con-
rentioor : 1. Mizpah, without the article, Is fauod In
be Hebrew In Josh, xl 8, Judg. xl. 29, and 1 Sam.
exu. i on!} ; 2. MIxpali without the article In Hot. v.
, nif j 8. MJspeh with the article In Josh. it. 88
MIZPAH
neighborhood of Mizpeh of Judah ; possibly also la
Baftd, the well-known city of Galilee.
But, however this may be, the name remained
attached to the ancient meeting-place of Jacob and
Laban, and the spot where their conference had
been held became a sanctuary of Jehovah, and a
place fur solemn conclave and deliberation in times
of difficulty long after. On this natural "watch-
tower" (LXX. okotiA [Alex. Aid. McurtrqipJ] ),
when the last touch had been pat to their " misery "
by the threatened attack of the Bene-Ammon, did
the children of Israel assemble for the choioe of a
leader (Jiulg x. 17, comp. ver. 16); and when the
outlawed Jephthah bad been prevailed on to leave
bis exile and take the head of bis people, his first
act was to go to " the Mizpah," and on that con-
secrated ground utter all his words " before Jeho-
vah." It was doubtless from Mizpah that he made
his appeal to the king of the Ammonites (xi. 18),
and invited, though fruitlessly, the aid of his kins-
men of Ephraim on the other side of Jordan (xii.
2). At Mizpah he seems to have henceforward
resided; there tbe fatal meeting took place with his
daughter on bis return from tbe war (xi. 34), and
we aw hardly doubt that on tbe altar of that sanc-
tuary the father's terrible vow was consummated.
The topoKrauhical notices of Jepbthah's course in
his attack and pursuit (ver. 29) are extremely diffi-
cult to unravel; but it seems most probable that
the " Mizpeh -Uilead" which is mentioned here,
and here only, is the same as the ham-Mizpah of
tbe other part* of tbe narrative; and both, as we
shall see afterwards, are probably identical with
tbe Kamatii-Mizpkh and Ramoth-Gilead. so
famous in the later history.
It is still more difficult to determine whether
this was not also tbe place at which the great
assembly of the people was held to decide on the
measures to be taken against Gibeah after the out-
rage on the Levite and his concubine (Judg. xx.
1, 3, xxi. 1, 5, 8). No doubt there seems a certain
violence in removing the scene of any part of so
local a story to so great a distance as the other side
of Jordan. But, on the other hand, are the limits
of the story so circumscribed ? The event is repre-
sented as one affecting not a part only, but the
whole of the nation, east of Jordan as well as west
"from Dan toBeer-sheba, and the land of Gilead "
(xx. 1 ). The only part of the nation excluded
from the assembly was the tribe of Benjamin, and
that no communication oi. the subject was held
with them, is implied in tht statement that they
only " heard " of its taking place (xx. 3); an ex-
pression which would be meaningless if the place
of assembly were — as Mizpah of Benjamin was —
within a mile or two of Gibeah, in the very heart
of their own territory, though perfectly natural if it
were at a distance from them. And had there not
lieeii some reason in the circumstances of the case,
combined possibly with some special claim iu Miz-
pah — and that claim doubtless its ancient sanctity
and tbe reputation which Jepbthah's success had
conferred upon it — why was not either Bethel,
where the ark was deposited (xx. 86, 27), or Shiloh,
only ; 4. Id every other case the Hebrew text 1
the name as ham-Hltspah.
» See Ewald, Komposititm dtr Omen's. Thus la
the LXX. and Volg. versions of ver. 49, Has won
Mizpeh Is not treated as a proper name at all; aad
dUxcreut turn Is given to the vane.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MIZPAH
for the purpose? Suppose a Mizpah Mar
Gibeah, and the subject is full of difficulty : remove
it to the place of Jacob and Labsn'a meeting, and
the difficulties disappear; and the allusions to
Uiiead (xz. 1), to Jabesh-Gilead (zxi. 8, Ac.), and
to Shilob, as " in the land of Canaan," all fall nat-
urally into their places and acquire a proper force.
Mizpah is probably the same as Kamath-Miz-
rsR (nS^ttTJ "J), mentioned Josh. xiii. 26 only.
The prefix merely signifies that the spot was an
nitrated one, which we already believe it to have
been; and if the two are not identical, then we
have the anomaly of an enumeration of the chief
places of Gilead with the omission of its most
famous sanctuary. Kamath ham-Mizpeh was most
probably identical also with Ramoth-Gilead ; but
this is a point which will be most advantageously
discussed under the latter head.
Mizpah still retained its name in the days of the
Maccabees, by whom it was besieged and taken with
the other cities of Gilead (I Mace v. 36). from
Eusebius and Jerome ( OtiomatHam, "Maspha")
it receives a bars mention. It is probable, both
from their notices ( Onomatticon, " Rammotb " )
and from other considerations, that Kamoth-Gilead
is the modern a-Sall; but it is not ascertained
whether Mizpah is not rather the great mountain
Jebel Otha, a short distance to the northwest.
The name Safut appears in Van de Velde's map a
few miles east of tt-Siilt.
A singular reference to Mizpah is found in the
title of Ps. Ix., as given in the Targum, which runs
as follows: " For the ancient testimony of the sons
of Jacob and Labau .... when David assembled
his army and passed over the heap " of witness."
2. A second Mizpeh, on the east of Jordan, was
the Mizfkh-Moab (*3N*1Q HS^D : Munrncpag
[Vat -^o, Alex. M«r»ipa] t?i Mwd/S: AfntpKa
qua at ifoab), where the king of that nation was
living when David committed bis parents to his
care (1 Sam. xxii. 3). The name does not occur
again, nor is there any clew to the situation of the
place. It may have been, as is commonly con-
jectured, the elevated and strong natural fortress
sfterwards known as Kir-Moab, the modern
Kerak. But is it not at least equally possible
that it was the great Mount Pisgah, which was the
most commanding eminence in the whole of Moab,
which contained the sanctuary of Nebo, and of
which one part was actually called Zophim (Num.
xxiii. 14), a name derived from the same root with
Mizpeh?
3. A third was Tub Laxd of Mizpeh, or
more accurately "of Mizpah" (H^VISn \fTJN:
yij» Mootropoj [Comp. Aid. -jr?* Moo-or^d: Vat
3v Maatvfiai Alex, ti)y MaaaiipaB.}'' ttrra
tupha), the residence of the Hivites who joined
the northern confederacy against Israel, headed by
Jabin king of Hazor (Josh. xi. 3). No other men-
tion is found of this district hi the Bible, unless it
be Identical with
4. Tax Vallet of Mizpeh (n§?D tT2u$ :
MIZPAH
1975
tsm> TttSiwv Matraiix [Alex. Aid. Moo-tn^d") :
campus Afitphe), to which the discomfited host-
of the same confederacy were chased by Joshua
(xi. 8). It lay eastward from Miskephoth-maim ;
but this affords us no assistance, as the situation
of the latter place is by no means certain. If ws
may rely on the peculiar term here rendered " val-
ley " — a term applied elsewhere in the records of
Joshua only to the " valley of Lebanon," which is
also said to bare been "under Mount Hermon,"
and which contained the sanctuary of Baal-god
(Josh. xi. 17, xii. 7) — then we may accept the
" land of Mizpah " or " the valley of Mizpeh " as
identical with that enormous tract, the great coun-
try of Coele-Syria, the Buba'a alike of the modern
Arabs and of the ancient Hebrews (comp. Am. i.
5), which contains the great sanctuary of Baal-bek,
and may be truly said to lie at the feet of Hermon
(see Stanley, S. if P. p. 392 note). But this must
not lie taken for more than a probable inference,
and it should not be overlooked that the name
Mizpeh is here connected with a "valley" or
"plain" — not, as in the other cases, with an
eminence. Still the valley may have derived its
appellation from an eminence of sanctity or repute
situated therein ; and it may be remarked that a
name not impossibly derived from Mizpeh — Hauth
TrU-HnJiyth — is now attached to a hill a short
distance north of Baalbek.
5. Mlzi-Kir (n^Jtpn : Uatripi: Afmephn), a
city of Judah (Josh* xv. 38); in the district of the
Shtftluh or maritime lowland; a member of the
same group with Dilean, Laehish, and Eglon, and
apparently in their neighborhood. Van de VeJde
(.IfemotV, p. 838) suggests its identity with the
present Tell et-S&fit/eh — the Blanchegarde of toe
Crusaders ; a conjecture which appears very feasible
on the ground both of situation and of the likeness
between the two names, which are nearly identical
— certainly a more probable identification than
those proposed with Gath anil with Librah.
Tina, which is not improbably Dilean, is about
3 miles N. W., and Ajlun and wn IjtuiU, respect
ively 10 and 18 to the 8. W. of Tell et-Sifielt.
which itself stands on the slopes of the mountains
of Judah, completely overlooking the maritime
plain (Porter, Hantllik. p. 232). It is remarkable
too that, just as in the neighborhood of other
Mizpaha we find Zophim, Zuph, or Zsphon, sc in
the neighborhood of Tell es-Safieb it is wry prob-
able that the valley of Zkphathah was situated.
(See Rob. Bibl. Ra. ii. 31.)
6. Mizpeh, in Josh, and Samuel ; elsewhere Miz-
pah (n*^2$n In Joshua; elsewhere H^Vipn '
Mac(TTi<pd0; In Josh. Momrnpd' [Alex. Mturtpa);
Chron. and Neh. A Kaafi, and i MacW: Kings
and Hos. in both MSS. 4 <ntomi\ Alex. Ma/nsste,
[there are other variations not worth uoting;'
Meiphe, Matphn, Afntphaih), a "city" of Ben-
jamin, named in the list of the allotment between
Beeroth and Chephirab, and in apparent proximity
to Kaniah and Gibeon (Josh, xviii. 26). Its con-
nection with the two last-named towns is also
• The word bare use*— MnflTTTp TJI'IH —ex.
atbtts the transition Irani the " Jegar " of the ancient
Aramaic of Laban to the Hnjar of th« modern Arabs
•-the word by which they dssiffnats tbe heap* which
* is their oustom, ss It was Laban's, to erect as land-
stares of a boundary.
» Hsrs the LXX. (ed. Hal) omit " Hlvitat," and
perhaps read "Ibrmou" (|B"in), as M Arabs*'-
(na~IS) — tbs two worts an mors alike to the eat
than tht sys- ~m thus give the sentence, "cost
under the desert in tbs Maseuma." A somewhat srmi
lar substitution i» found In tbs LXX version of Gsa
xxxv. 27.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1976 MIZPAH
implied in the later history (I K. iv. 22; 2 Chr.
xvi. 6; Nfih. Ui. 7). It was one of the places
fortified by Asa against the incursions of the kings
of the northern Israel (1 K. xv. 22; 8 Chr. xvi. 6;
Jer. xli. 10); and after the destruction of Jeru-
salem it became the residence of the superintendent
appointed by the king of Babylon (Jer. xl. 7, Ac.),
and the scene of his murder and of the romantic
incidents connected with the name of Ishmael the
ton of Nethaniah.
But Mizpah was more than this. In the earlier
periods of the history of Israel, at the first founda-
tion of the monarchy, it was the great sanctuary
of Jehovah, the special resort of the people in
times of difficulty and solemn deliberation. In the
Jewish traditions it was for some time the resi-
dence of the ark (see Jerome, Qu. Htbr. on 1
Sam. vii. 2; Keland, Antiq. i. § 6);« but this is
possibly an inference from the expression " before
Jehovah " in Judg. xx. 1. It is suddenly brought
before us in the history. At Mizpah, when suffer-
ing the very extremities of Philistine bondage, the
natioi. assembled at the call of the great Prophet,
and with strange and significant rites confessed
their siiu, and were blessed with instant and signal
deliverance (1 Sam. vii. 6-13). At Mizpah took
place no less an act than the public selection and
appointment of Saul as the first king of the nation
(1 Sam. x. 17-25). It was one of the three holy
cities (I.XX. rots riyicuritdvoa robroit) which
Samuel visited in turn as judge of the people (vii.
8, 16), the other two being Bethel and Gilgal.
But, unlike Bethel and Gilgal, no record Is pre-
served of the cause or origin of a sanctity so
abruptly announced, and yet so fully asserted. We
have seen that there is at least some ground for
believing that the Mizpah spoken of In the tran-
sactions of the early part of the period of the judges,
was the ancient sanctuary in the mountains of
Itueari. There is, however, no reason for, or rather
every reason against, such a supposition, as applied
to the events last alluded to. In the interval be-
tween the destruction of Qibeah and the rulepf
Samuel, a very long period bad elapsed, during
whieh the ravages of Ammonites, Amalexites, Mo-
abites, and Miilianites (Judg. iii. 13, 14, vi. 1, 4,
33, x. 9) in the districts beyond Jordan, in the
Jordan Valley Itself at both its northern and south-
ern ends — at Jericho no less than Jezreel — and
along the passes of communication between the
Jordan Valley and the western table-land, must
have rendered communication between west and
east almost, if not quite, impossible. Is it possi-
ble that as the old Mizpah became inaccessible, an
sminence nearer at hand was chosen and invested
with the sanctity of the original spot and used for
the same purposes? Even if the name did not
previously exist there In the exact shape of Mizpah,
It may easily have existed in some shape sufficiently
near to allow of ita formation by a process both
natural and frequent in Oriental speech. To a
Hebrew it would require a very alight in Section to
ehange Zophini or Zuph — both of which names
were attached to places In the tribe of Benjamin —
■o Mizpah. This, however, must not be taken for
more than a mere hypothesis. And against it
« Rabbi genwars (127 note) vary Ingeniously nods
% rafcmue to Mlspeh in 1 Bam. iv. 18; whan he
mold pout the word nt?£Q (A. T. « watching '•) as
TJTJB, sod thus used "by the road to
MIZPAH
there Is the serious objection that if it had baa
necessary to select a holy place in the territory of
Ephraim or Benjamin, it would seem more natura
that the choice should have fallen on Shiloh, of
Bethel, than on one which had no previous daim
but that of its name.
With the conquest of Jerusalem and the estab-
lishment there of the Ark, the sanctity of Mizpah,
or at least its reputation, seems to have declined
The "men of Mizpah" (Xeh. iii. 7), and the
" ruler of Mizpah," and also of « part of Mizpah "
(19 and 15) — assisted in the :ebuilding of the
wall of Jerusalem. The latter expressions perhaps
point to a distinction between the sacred and the
oscular parts of the town. The allusion in vet. 7
to the "throne of the governor on this side the
river" in connection with Mizpah is curious, and
recalls the fact that Gedaliah, who was left in charge
of Palestine by Nebuchadnezzar, bad his abode
there. But we hear of no religious act in con-
nection with it til that affecting assembly called
together thither, as to the ancient sanctuary of
their forefathers, by Judas Maccabeus, " when the
Israelites assembled themselves together and came
to Hassepha over against Jerusalem ; for in Mas-
pha was there aforetime a place of prayer (raves
wpoirtvxijt) for Israel " (1 Mace. iii. 46). The
expression "over against" (ffarcVom), no less
than the circumstances of the story, seems to
require that from Mizpah the City or the Temple
was visible: au indication of some importance,
since, scanty as it is, it is the only information
given us in the Bible as to the situation of the
place. Josephus omits all mention of the circum-
stance, but on another occasion he names the place
so as fully to corroborate the inference. It is in
his account of the visit of Alexander the Great to
Jerusalem (Am. xi. 8, § 5), where he relates that
Jaddua the high-priest went to meet the king " to
a certain place called Sapha (Juupd) i which name,
if interpreted in the Greek tongue, signifies a look-
out place ((ricoirfiv), for from thence both Jerusalem
and the sanctuary are visible." Sapha is doubtless
a corruption of the old name Mizpah through ita
Greek form Maspha ; and there can be no reason-
able doubt that this is also the spot which Josephus
on other occasions — adopting as he often does the
Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name as if it were
the original (witness the &vv kyopd, "Aicpa, ri ruy
Tupovotmv <fx£pay£, etc., etc.) — mentions as " ap-
propriately named Scopus" (Swnror), because from
it a clear view was obtained both of the city and of
the great size of the Temple (B. .1. r. 2, J 3).
The position of this he gives minutely, at least
twice (B. J. ii. 19, J 4, and v. 3, § 3), as on the
north quarter of the city, and about 7 stadia there-
from; that is to say, as is now generally agreed,
the broad * ridge which forms the continuation of
the Mount of Olives to the north and east, from
which the traveller gains, like Titus, bis first view,
and takes his last farewell, of the domes, walls, and
towers of the Holy City.
Any one who will look at one of the numerous
photographs of Jerusalem taken from this point,
will satisfy himself of the excellent view of both
city and temple which it commands; and it it the
ft The word used by Josephus in speaking of it (Jl
/. v. 2, S 8) U x«VaAfc; ml It will b» observed the
the root of the word Mizpah has the force of one Ilk
as well as of o l av a ttoo. See above.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MIZPAH
tory spot r xu which mch a We* ii possible, which
sonM sns«tr the condition of the situation of Miz-
pah. A'eby SnmiM, for which Dr. Robinson argues
(B. R. i. 460), is at least Are miles, as the crow
dies, from Jerusalem ; and although from that lofty
station the domes of the " Church of the Sepulchre,"
and even that of the Sakrah can be discerned, the
distance is too great to allow us to accept it as a
spot "over against Jerusalem," or from which
either city or temple could with satisfaction be in-
spected." Nor ia the moderate height of Scopus,
sa compared with Neby Snmwll, any argument
against it, for we do not know how far the height
of a " high place " contributed to its sanctity, or
I n de e d what that sanctity exactly consisted in."
On the other hand, some corroboration is afforded
to the identification of Scopus with Mizpah, in the
Bust that Mizpah is twice rendered by the LXX.
Tswwaa.
Titus's approach through the villages of ancient
Benjamin was, as far as we can judge, a close
parallel to that of an earlier enemy of Jerusalem —
Sennacherib. In his case, indeed, there is no men
tion of Mizpah. It was at Nob that the Assyrian
kins; remained for a day feasting his eyes on " the
house of Ziou and the hill of Jerusalem," and men-
acing with " his hand " the fair booty before him.
But so exact is the correspondence, that it is diffi-
cult not to suspect that Nob and Mizpah must hare
been identical, since that part of the rising ground
north of Jerusalem which is crossed by the northern
road is the only spot from which a view of both
city and temple at once can be obtained, without
making a long dltour by way of the Mount of
Olives. This, however, will he best discussed under
Nuu. Assuming that the bill in question is the
Scopus of Josephus, and that that again was the
Mizpah of the Hebrews, the sinptn (o-s-oind) and
Matepkath of the LXX. translators, it is certainly
startling to find a village named Shdfit ' lying on
the north slope of the mountain a very short dis-
tance below the summit — if summit it can be
called — from which the view of Jerusalem, and of
Ziou (now occupied by the Sakrah), is obtained.
Can Shnfnt, or Sn/at, be, as there is good reason
to believe in the case of Tell et-Sdfieh, the remains
of the ancient Semitic name ? Our knowledge of
the topography of the Holy Land, even of the city
and environs of Jerusalem, ia so very imperfect,
that the above can only be taken as suggestions
which may be not unworthy the notice of future
explorers in their investigations.
Professor Stanley appears to have been the first
to suggest the identity of Scopus with Mizpah
(AT. <f P. 1st edit. 222). But since writing the
shore, the writer has become aware that the same
view is taken by Dr. Bonar in his Lnnd of Promise
(Appendix, { vlii.). This traveller has investigated
M1ZRAIM
1977
a * Dr. Vatenttner, for Mreral years a missionary at
Jerusalem, and familiar with the topography of ths
region, agrees with Dr. Robinson that Ntby Samwxl Is
Vie snclent Mizpah. See Zeitsckr. der deutteh. M,
wskKsc*. ail. 164. Van rte Velde thinks this to be ths
tght opinion (Syr. and Pal. Ii. 68). .rhls Neby Samvril
'» so narked a feature of the landscape, that It may
esry Justly be said to "confront "(unnm, sse ibove)
he observer as he looks towards It from Jerusalem.
The Impression lu such a case depends leas on the dls-
tanee than on tne position and consplcnousnsss of the
•eject. Bee wood-out. vol. I. p. 917. H.
» Is toe east, at the present time, a sanctity k)
the subject with great ability and clearness; and
he points out one circumstance in favor of Scopus
being Mizpah, and against Neby Snmwil, whick
had escaped the writer, namely, that the former lay
directly in the road of the pilgrims from Samaria
to Jerusalem who were murdered by Ishmael (Jer.
xli. 7), while the latter is altogether away from it
Possibly the statement of Josephus (see vol. ii. p.
1173 a) that it was at Hebron, not Gibson, that
Ishmael was overtaken, coupled with Dr. B.'s own
statement as to the pre-occupation of the districts
east of Jerusalem — may remove the only scruple
which he appears to entertaiu to the Identification
of Scopus with Mizpah. 4i.
MIZTAR fSPn [numAer] : Moo-tfvlnS
[Vat. MaAcopO Mexphar). Properly Mispae, as
in the A. V. of 1611 and the Geneva version; the
same as Mispbreth (Est. ii. 2).
MIZTKH. [Mizpah.]
M1ZRA1M (n^t) [see below]: Mte-psuV:
Mttrnim), the usual name of Egypt in the 0. T.,
the dual of Mazor, "llSOt which ia less frequently *
employed: gent, noon, '^?Q.
If the etymology of Mazor be sought in Hebrew
it might signify a " mound," " bulwark," or
" citadel," or again " distress ; " but no one of these
meanings is apposite. We prefer, with Ueeenius
( The*, a, t. "lHSD), to look to the Arabic, and
we extract the artiste on the corresponding word
from the Kdmoot, «
'wax,
e partition between
two!
things, sa also yaVx: a limit between two
lands: a receptacle: a city or a province [the ex-
planation means both]: and red earth or mud.
The well-known city [Memphis]." Gesenius ac-
oepts the meaning " limit " or the like, but it is
hard to see its fitness with the Shemites, who bad
no idea that the Nile or Egypt was on the border
of two continents, unless it be supposed to denote
the divided land. We believe that the last mean-
ing but one, " red earth or mud," ia the true one,
from its correspondence to the Egyptian name of
the country, KEM, which signifies '• black," snd
was given to it for the blackness of its alluvial soil.
It must be recollected that the term "red"
• •*
(H)
is not used in the Kamooa, or indeed ia
Semitic phraseology, in the limited sense to which
Indo-European ideas hare accustomed us; it em-
braces a wide range of tints, from what we call red
attached to the spot from which any holy place is
visible. Such spots may be met with all through tne
bills a few miles north of Jerusalem, distinguMhed by
the little beaps of stones erected by thoughtful or ptons
MoHUimans. (See Hub Beaufort's Egypt. StpnUknt,
etc. II. 88.)
c This Is the spelling given by Van as Velde In hit
map. Robinson gives it sa Ska'fiu (1. e. with the Ai%\
and l*r. Ell Smith, in the Arable lists attached M
KobinsonVlst edition yW. App. 121), Sa'fat.
* It occurs only 1 K. zU. 24s Is. xtx. «. xxxve
SB; Mb vH. 12.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1978
MIZRAIM
A a reddish brown. So, in like row ner, in Egyp-
tian the word " black " signifies dart in an equally
wide sense. We have already shown that the He-
brew word Ram, the name of the allocator of the
Egyptian*, i» evidently the same as (be native ap-
pellation of the country, the former signifying
•' warm " or >' hot," and a ooguate Arabic word,
V,«,r>, meaning " black fetid mud " (Kama*), or
" black mud " (Sihdh, MS.), and suggested that
Ham and Mazor may be identical with the Egyp-
tian REM (or KHEU), which is virtually the same
in lioth sound and sense as the former, and of the
same sense as the latter. [Egypt; Ham.] How
then are we to explain this double naming of the
country? A recent discovery throws light upon
the question. We had already some reason for
conjecturing that there were Semitic equivalents,
with the same sense, for some of the Egyptian
geographical names with which the Sbemites were
well acquainted. M. de Rouge has ascertained that
Zoan is the famous Shepherd-stronghold Avaris,
and that the Hebrew name fS% from ?7V, " he
moved tents, went forward," is equivalent to the
Egyptian one HA- WAR, " the place of departure"
(Heme ArehetJogique, 1861, p. 250). This dis-
cover}', it should be noticed, gives remarkable sig-
nificance to the passage, " Now Hebron was built
seven years before Zoan in Egypt " (Num. xiii.
2-2). Perhaps a similar case may be found in Rush
and Phut, both of which occur in Egyptian as well
an Hebrew. In the Bible, African Cush is Ethiopia
aliove Egypt, and Phut, an African people or hind
connected with Egypt. In the Egyptian inscrip-
tions, the same Ethiopia is KEESH, and an Ethi-
opian people is called ANU-PET-MERU, "the
Anu of the island of the bow," probably Mere*,
where the Nile makes an extraordinary bend in its
course. We have no Egyptian or Hebrew etymology
far KEESH, or Cush, unless we may compare
B7\*7, which would give the same connection with
bow that we find in Phut or PET, for which our
only derivation is from the Egyptian PET 1 , "a bow."
rhere need be no difficulty in thus supposing that
Mizraim is merely the name of a country, and that
Ham and Mazor may have been the same person,
for the very form of Mizraim forbids any but the
former idea, and the tenth chapter of Genesis is
enviously not altogether a genealogical list. Egyp-
tian etymologies have been sought in vain for Miz-
•»im; JULeTOTpO. "kingdom" (Gesen.
Tht*. s. v. nSC), is not an ancient form, and
the c\i same, TO-MAR (Brugsch, O'eog. Iiucin:
pi. x. nos. 367-370, p. 74), suggested ss the source
of Mizraim by Dr. Hindu, is too different to be
accepted as a derivation.
Mizraim first occurs in the account of the
. lamites in (ten. x., where we read, " And the sons
of Ham ; dish, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Ca-
naan " (ver. 6 ; conip. 1 Chr. i. 8 ,. Here we have
sonjectured that instead of the dual, the original
text had '.he gentile noun in the plural (suggesting
D^VP instead of the present D^VO), »in«
t seems strange that a dual form should occur in
tiu first generation after Ham, and since the plural
sf Uie gentile noun would he consistent with the
pinral forms of the names of the Mizraite nations
at tribes afterwards enumerated, as well as with
MIZRAIM
the like singular forms of the names of the(!sns*av
ites, excepting Sldon. [Ham.]
If the names be in an order of seniority, whether
as indicating children of Ham, or older and younga
branches, we can form no theory as to their settle-
ments from their places; but if the arrangement be
geographical, which is probable from the occurrence
of the form Mizraim, which in no case can be a
man's name, and the order of some of the Mizraites,
the placing may afford a clew to the positions of
the Hamite lands. Cush would stand first as the
most widely spread of these peoples, extending from
Babylon to the upper Nile, the territory of Mizraim
would be the next to the north, embracing Egypt
and its colonies on the northwest and northeast,
Phut as dependent on Egypt might follow Mizraim,
and Canaan as the northernmost would end the list.
Egypt, the " land of Ham," may have been tht
primitive seat of these four stocks. In the enumera-
tion of the Mizraites, though we have tribes ex-
tending far beyond Egypt, we mav suppose that
they all had their first seat in Mizraim, and spread
thence, ss is distinctly said of the Philistines. Here
the order seems to be geographical, though the
same is not so clesr of the Canaanites. 'I'he hat
of the Mizraites is thus given in Gen. x.: " And
Mizraim begat Luditn, and Anamim, and Lehabim.
and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim
(whence came forth the Philistines), and Csph-
torim " (13, 14; oomp. 1 Chr. 1. 11, 12). Here it
is certain that we have the names of nations or
tribes, and it is probable that they are all derived
from names of countries. We find elsewhere
Pathros and Caphtor, probably Lud (for the Miz-
raite Ludim), and perhaps, Lub for the I.ubim,
which are almost certainly the same as the Lehabim.
There is a difficulty in the Philistines being, so-
cording to the present text, traced to the Casluhim,
whereas in other places they come from the land
of Caphtor, and are even called Caphtorim. It
seems probable that there has been a misplacement,
and that the parenthetic clause originally followed
the name of the Caphtorim. Of these names we
haw not yet identified the Anamim and the Caslu-
him; the Lehabim are, as already said, almost cer-
tainly the same as the I.uliim, the RFBU of the
Egyptian monuments, and the primitive Libyans;
the Naphtuhim we put immediately to the west of
northern Egypt; and the Pathrusim and Caphtorim
in that country, where the Casluhim may also be
placed. There would therefore be a distinct order
from west to east, and if the Philistines be trans-
ferred, this order would be perfectly preserved,
though perhaps these last would necessarily be
placed with their immediate parent among the
trilies.
Mizraim therefore, like Cush, and perhaps Ham.
geographically represents a centre whence colonies
went forth in the remotest period of post-diluvian
history. The Philistines were originally settled in
the land of Mizraim, and there is reason to suppose
the same of the l-ehabiin, if they be those Libyans
who revolted, according to Manetbo, from the
Egyptians in a *ery early age. [LiratM.] Tb«
list, however, prolnlily arranges them according u
the settlements tbey held at a later time, if we may
judge from the notice of the Philistines' migration,
but the mention of the spread of the Canaanites
mutt be considered on the other side. We regard
the distribution of the Mizraites as showing that
their colonies were but a part of the great migre*
tion that gave the Cushites the command of tht
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MIZRAIM
Indian Own, and which explain* the affinity the
Egyptian monument* show in between the pre-
Hellanic Cretans and Carians (the latter no doubt
to* Lcieget of the Greek writen) and the PbilU-
MITASON
1979
The history and ethnology of the Hizraita na-
tion! have been given under the article Ham, so
that here it it not needful to do more than draw
attention to some remarkable particulars which did
not fall under our notice in treating of the early
Egyptians. We find from the monuments of
Egypt that the white nations of western Aftioa
were of what we call the Semitio type, and we
most therefore be careful not to assume that they
formed part of the stream of Arab colonization
that hat for full two thousand years steadily Bowed
into northern Africa. The seafaring race that first
patted from Egypt to the west, though physically
like, was mentally different from, the true pastoral
Arab, and to this day the two elements hare kept
apart, the townspeople of the coast being unable
to settle amongst the tribes of the interior, and
these tribes again being as unable to settle on the
The affinity of the Egyptians and their neigh-
bors was long a safeguard of the empire of the
Pharaohs, and from the latter, whether Cretans,
Lublin, or people of Pbut and Cush, the chief
mercenaries of the Egyptian armies were drawn;
facts which we mainly learn from the Bible, con-
firmed by the monuments. In the days of the
Persian dominion Libyan Inaros made a brave
stand for the liberty of Egypt. Probably the tie
was more one of religion than of common descent,
for the Egyptian belief appears to have mainly
prevailed in Africa as far as it was civilized, though
of course changed in its details. The Philistines
had a different religion, and seem to have been
identified in this matter with the Canunites, and
thus they may have lost, as they seem to have done,
their attachment to their mother country.
In the use of the names Mazor and Mizraim for
Egypt there can be no doubt that the dual indicates
the two regions into which the country hat always
bean divided by nature as well at by its inhabitants.
Under the Greeks and Romans there wis indeed
a third division, the Heptanomis, which ha* been
called Middle Egypt, as between Upper and Lower
Egypt, but we must rather regard it as forming,
with the Thebala, Upper Egypt. It has been sup-
posed that Mazor, as distinct from Mizraim, signi-
fies Lower Egypt; but this conjecture cannot be
maintained. For fuller details on the subject of
this article the reader is referred to Ham, Eoypt,
aud the articles on the several Mizraite nations or
tribes. R. S. P.
* According to Dr. Geo. Ebers, of Jena, who
has made this name the subject of a thorough
and learned discussion (AZyypUn und die Biehtr
Afutr'«), Mizraim was a Semitish term, which origi-
nated entirely outside of Egyptian forms of speech,
and was probably suggested by that feature of
Egypt which would most powerfully impress a
people living to the east of the Nile. In striking
contrast with the tribes of Northern Arabia which
roved from place to place, following the herbage
for their flocks, Egypt was an inclosed and secluded
•ountry. At an early period the Pharaohs forti-
ted themselves against the incursions oi Asiatic
ribea, and for a long time they were extremely
«SkUat even of commerce with foreigner*. Hence
ffce most secluded country known to the Semitic
peoples received the name of the Inclosed, the Fortt-
tified — the name Mizraim being derived from
"llSIJ. Knobel, who give* the same derivation,
traces the idea of insulation (EituchUutung), to
the geographical configuration of the country, as
shut in within the hills and the desert — the double
chain of mountains suggesting the dual form — or
possibly this may have been intended to mark the
contrast between the Nile Valley and the Delta.
To this, however, ii is objected by libers, that for
a long time, perhaps until the invasion of the
Hyksos, Egypt was known to the Pbceniciana and
other nations of the East, only through its Delta.
Indeed Pliny and other classic writers speak of the
Thebaid at a distinct country, aud not at a put
of Egypt itself. Hence to account for the dual
form of Mizraim, Ebers falls back upon the double
line of fortifications that guarded the Isthmus of
Suez ; the one termbmting at Heliopolis, the other
at Klysma, at the head of the gulf, near the site
of the modern Suez. The dual would then signify
the doubly-fortified. If this hypothesis is not tena-
ble, then the dual form may have been derived fronr
toe twofold division which appeared very early in
the political constitution of the countrv, and under
the consolidated empire wus still represented in the
colors and symbols of the double-crown. [Eoypt.]
The fundamental idea of the inclosed country
being retained, the term was adapted to this double
form. The Hebrews, already familiar with this
Semitic notion of Egypt, received their first im-
pressions of the country from that doubly-fortified
section which was their allotted home, and they
naturally adhered to a descriptive name which is
not found in the hieroglyphics, nor explained by
the Coptic, aud which probably the old Egyptians
never employed to designate their native land. In
Is. xi. 11 and Jer. xhv. 15 the plural Mizraim
appears to be used for the Delta alone.
J. P. T.
MIZ'ZAH(njt3 r/eor]: Mof«; Alex. Mo X »
[and Vat. Opofs] in 1 Chr.: Man). Son of
Keuel aud grandson of Eaau: descended likewise
through Bashtmsth from lahtnael. He was one of
the " dukes " or chiefs of tribes in the land of
Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 13, IT; 1 Chr. i. 37). The
settlements of his descendants are believed by Mr.
Forster (Hut. Gtoy. of Arab. ii. 65) to be indi-
cated in the u«rcuv{Tnr K<JAwot, or Phrat- J/uun,
at the head of the Persian Gulf.
MNAT30N (Mfdo-uif) is honorably mentioned
in Scripture, like Gains, Lydia. and others, as on*
of the host* of the Apostle Paul (Acts xxi. IB).
One or two questions of some little interest, though
of no great importance, are raised by the context.
It is moat likely, in the first place, that his resi-
dence at this time was not Caaarea, but Jerusalem.
He was well known to the Christians of Ctesare*,
aud they took St. Paul to his house at Jerusalem.
To translate the words tf/yorrc r ircu?' $ £c viaBi/Af y t
as hi the A. V., removes no grammatical difficulty,
and introduces a slight improbability into the nar-
rative. He was, however, a Jyprlan by birth, a:<d
may have been a friend of Barnabas (Acts iv. 86/,
and possibly brought to the knowledge of Chris-
tianity by him. The Cyprians who are to promi-
nently mentioned in Acts xi. 19, 30, may have
included Mnason. It is hardly likely that he could
have been converted during tue journey of Psifc
and Barnabas through Cyprus (Acts xiii. 4-M\
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MOAB
tthcrwin the Apostle would have ban personally
acquainted with him, which does not appear to
have been the caw. And the phran ipxaios
waBrrrhs point* to an earlier period, possibly to the
day of Pentecost (compare iv ipxV< ^ ct * "• "*),
or lo direct intercourse with our blessed Lord Him-
self. [Cyphus.] J. S. H.
MCAB (3<jia [tee below]: Mmdfi; Jose-
phus, Udafiof. Moab), the name of the aon of
loot's eldest daughter, the elder brother of Ben-
Aromi, the progenitor of the Ammonite! (Gen.
xix. 37); also of the nation descended from him,
though the name " Hoabites " is in both the origi-
nal and A. V. more frequently used for tbem.
No explanation of the name is given us in the
original record, and it U not possible to throw an
interpretation into it unless by some accommoda-
tion. Various explanations have however been pro-
posed, (a.) The LXX. insert the words Af'-vowa.
(k tov warpit sou, " saying ' from my father,' "
as if 3s^t3. This is followed by the old inter-
preters; as Josephus (Ant. I. 11, § 6), Jerome's
Quast. Hebr. in Genenm, the gloss of the Hseu-
dojon. Targum ; and in modern times by De Wette
(Biket), Tuch (Gen. p. 870), and J. D. Michaelis
(B. fur UngeUhrlen). (6.) By Hitler (Omm. p.
414), Simouis (Onom. p. 479), it is derived from
2r| N^<&, "ingressus, i. «. coitus, petria," (c.)
H os enmuUer (see Schumann, Gtntm, p. 308) pro-
poses to treat 10 as equivalent for D^O, in ac-
cordance with the figure employed by Balaam in
Num. xxh». 7. This is countenanced by Jerome —
" aqua paterna" (Comrn. in Mic. vi. 8) — and has
the great authority of Gesenius in its favor ( Tint.
p. 775 a); also of FUrst (Htmtkcb. p. 707) and
Bunsen (Bibtbetrk). (rf.) A derivation, probably
more correct etymologically than either of the above,
is that suggested by Maurer from the root 31JJ,
" to desire " — "the desirable land " — with refer-
ence to the extreme fertility of the region occupied
by Hoab. (See also Fiirst, Handwb. p. 707 6.)
No hint, however, has yet been discovered in the
Bible records of such an origin of the name.
Zoar was the cradle of the race of l-ot.« The
situation of this town appears to have been in the
district east of the Jordan, and to the north or
northeast of the Dead Sea. [ZoAit.] From
this centre the brother-tribes spread themselves.
Ammon, whose disposition seems throughout to
hne been more roving and unsettled, went to the
northeast and took possession of the pastures and
waste tracts which lay outside the district of the
mountains; that which in earlier times seems to
nive been known as Ham, and inhabited by the
iuiim or Zamzummim (Gen. xiv. 6; Deut. ii. 80).
Moau, whose habits were more settled and peace-
ful, remained nearer their original seat. The rich
highlands which crown the eastern side of the
chasm of the Dead Sea, ami extend northwards as
far as the foot of the mountains of Gilead, appear
at that early date to have borne a name, which in
Us Hebrew form is presented to us as Shaveh-
Kiriathaim, and to have been inhabited by a
branch of the great race of the Repbaim. Like
■ • This Is an Inadvertence. Ths " cradle of the
ass of Lot " ww In ths mountain above. 8. W,
MOAB
the Horlm before the descendant* of Esau, to*
Avim before the Philistines, or the indigenous
races of the New World before the settlers from
the West, this ancient people, the Emim, gradually
became extinct before the Hoabites, who thus o£
tained posse ss ion of the whole of the rich elevated
tract referred to — a district forty or fifty miles in
length by ten or twelve in width, the celebrated
Btlia and Kerrak of the modern Arabs, the moat
fertile on that side of Jordan, no less eminently
fitted for pastoral pursuit* than the maritime plans
of Philistia and Sharon, on the west of Palestine,
are for agriculture. With the highlands they occu-
pied alto the lowlands at their feet, the plain which
intervenes between the slopes of the mountains and
the one perennial stream of Palestine, and through
which tbey were enabled to gain access at pleasure
to the fords of the river, and thus to the country
beyond it. Of the valuable district of the high
lands they were not allowed to retain entire pos-
session. The warlike Amorites — either forced from
their original seat* on the west, or perhaps hired
over by the increasing prosperity of the young
nation — crossed the Jordan and overran the richer
portion of the territory on the north, driving Hoab
back to his original position behind the natural
bulwark of the Anion. The plain of the Jordan
Vslley, the hot and humid atmosphere of which
had perhaps no attraction for the Amorite moun-
taineers, appears to have remained in the power
of Moab. When Israel reached the boundary of
the country, this contest had only very recently
occurred. Sihon, the Amorite king under whose
command Heshbon had been taken, was still reign-
ing there — the ballads commemorating the event
were still fresh in the popular mouth (Num. xxi.
&7-30).»
Of these events, which extended over a period,
according to the received Bible chronology, of not
less than 600 years, from the destruction of Sodom
to the arrival of Israel on the borders of the Prom-
ised Land, we obtain the above outline only from
the fragments of ancient documents, which are
found embedded in the records of Numbers and
Deuteronomy (Num. xxi. 88-30; Deut ii. 10, II).
The position into which the Moabites were driven
by tbe incursion of the Amorite* was a very cir-
cumscribed one, in extent not so much at half that
which they had lost. But on the other hand Its
position was much more secure, and it was well
suited for the occupation of a people whoee disposi-
tion was not so warlike as that of their neighbors.
It occupied the southern half of the high table-
lands which rise above the eastern side of the Dead
Sea. On every aide it was strongly fortified by
nature. On the north was the tremendous chasm
of the Anion. On the west it was limited by the
precipices, or more accurately the cliffs, which
descend almost perpendicularly to tbe shore of the
lake, and are intersected only by one or two steep
and narrow passes. Lastly, on the south and east,
it was protected by a half circle of hills which
open only to allow the passage of a branch of tbe
Amon and another of the torrents which descend
to the Dead Sea.
It will be seen from the foregoing descriptioi.
that tbe territory occupied by Hoab at the period
* lor an examination of this remarkable
In son* raspeots without a pamlM In the Old
mens, ssr Nmnuaa
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MOAB
< Hi gruatt*! extent, before the invasion of the
ajDorites, divided itself naturally into three distinct
and independent portion*. Each of these portions
•ppeen to have had its name by which it is almost
invariably designated. (1.) The enclosed corner
or canton south of the Arson was the " field of
Moab" (Ruth i. 1, 3, 6, Ac.). (3.) The mm
open rolling country north of the Anion, opposite
Jericho, and up to the bills of Gilead, was the
- hud of Moab " (Deut. i. 5, xxxii. 49, Ac.). (3.)
The sunk district in the tropical depths of the
Jordan Valley, taking its name from that of the
great valley itself — the Arabah — was the Arboth-
Moab, the dry regions — in the A. V. very incor-
rectly rendered the " plains of Moab " (Num. xxii.
1, *».).
Outside of the hills, which inclosed the " field
of Moab," or Moab proper, on the southeast, and
which are at present called the Jebtl Ui-u-Kartuyth
and Jtbd tt- Tarfuyth, lay the vast pasture grounds
of the waste uncultivated country or " Midbsr,"
which is described as " lacing Moab " on the east
(Num. xxi. 11). Through this latter district
Israel appears to have approached the Promised
Ltuid. Some communication had evidently taken
place, though of what nature it is impossible clearly
to ascertain. For while in Deut. ii. 28, 2d, the
attitude of tbe Moabitee is mentioned as friendly,
this seems to be contradicted by the statement of
xxiii. 4, while in Judg. xi. 17, again, Israel is said
to have sent from Kadeeh asking permission to
pass through Moab, a permission which, like Udom,
Moab refused. At any rate tbe attitude per-
petuated by tbe provision of Deut. xxiii. 3 — a
provision maintained in full force by the latest of
the Old Testament reformers (Neb. xiil. 1, 9, 23)
— is one of hostility.
But whatever tbe communication may have
been, the result was that Israel did not traverse
Moab, but turning to the right passed outside the
mountains through the " wilderness," by the east
side of the territory above described (Deut. ii. 8;
Judg. xL 18), and finally took up their position in
the country north of the Anion, from which Moab
had so lately been ejected. Here the headquarters
sf the nation remained for a considerable time while
tbe conquest of Baahan was being effected. It was
daring this period that the visit of Balaam took
place. The whole of the country east of the Jor-
dan, with the exception of tbe one little corner
occupied by Moab, was in possession of the invaders,
and although at tbe period in question the main
body had descended from the upper level to the
plains of Shittim, the Arboth-Moab, in the Jordan
Valley, yet a great number must have remained on
the upper level, and tbe towns up to the very edge
of the ravine of the Amon were still occupied by
their settlements (Num. xxi. 24; Judg. zi. 26).
It was a situation full of alarm for a nation which
had already suffered so severely. In his extremity
the Moabite king, Balak — whose father Zippor was
doubtless the chieftain who had lost bis life In the
■Mounter with Sihon (Num. xxi. 26) — appealed
to tie Midisnite. for aid (Num. nii. 2-4). Witha
MOAB
1981
metaphor highly appropriate both to his mouth awl
to the ear of the pastoral tribe he was addressing,*
he exclaims that " this people will lick up all round
about us as the ox lioketh up the grass of the
field." What relation existed between Moab ant.
Midian we do not know, but there are various indi-
cations that it was a closer one than would ariai
merely from their common descent from Terah.
The tradition of the Jews • is, that up to this time
the two had been one nation, with kings taken
alternately from each, and that Balak was a Midian-
ite. This, however, is in contradiction to the state-
ments of Genesis as to the origin of each people.
The whole story of Balaam's visit and of the sub-
sequent events, both in the original narrative of
Numbers and in the remarkable statement of
Jephthah — whose words as addressed to Ammon-
ites must be accepted as literally accurate — bears
out tbe inference already drawn from the earlier
history as to the pacific character of Moab.
The account of tbe whole of these transactions
in the Book of Numbers, familiar as we are with
its phrases, perhaps hardly conveys an adequate
idea of the extremity in which Balak found himself
in his unexpected encounter with the new nation
and their mighty Divinity. We may realise it
better (and certainly with gratitude for the oppor-
tunity), if we consider what that last dreadful agony
was in which a successor of Italak was placed, when,
all hope of escape for himself and his people being
cut off, the unhappy Mesha immolated his own son
on the wall of Kir-haraseth, — and then remember
that Balak in his distress actually proposed the
same awful sacrifice — " his first-born for his trans-
gression, the fruit of his body for the sin of his
soul" (Mic vi. 7), a sacrifice from which he was
restrained only by the wise, the almost Christian 1 '
counsels, of Balaam. This catastrophe will be
noticed in its proper place.
The connection of Moab with Midian, and the
comparatively inoffensive character of the former,
are shown in the narrative of the events which fol
lowed the departure of Balaam. 'I he women of
Moab are indeed said (Num. xxv. 1 ) to have com
menced the idolatrous fornication which proied so
destructive to Israel, but it is plain that tLeir sb uti
in it was insignificant compared with that of Mid: in
It was a Midianitish woman whose shameless act
brought down the plague on the camp, tbe Midian-
itish women were especially devoted to destruction
by Moses (xxv. 16-18, xxxi. 16), and it was upon
Midian that the vengeance was taken. Except in
tbe passage already mentioned, Moali is not once
named in the whole transaction.
The latest date at which tbe two none* appeal
in conjunction, is found in the notice of the deft**
of Midian •' in the field of Moab " by the Edou it*
king Hadad-beu-Uedad, which occurred five genera-
tions before the establishment of the monarchy of
Israel (On. xxxvi. 35; 1 Cbr. i. 46). By the
Jewish interpreters — <■ g. Solomon Jarchi in his
commentary on the passage — this is treated as
implying not alliance, but war, between Moab and
Midian (oorap. 1 Cbr. iv. 22).
■ The word VTNB (A.T. " corners ") Is twice used
•Ufa rsspsot to HaaV(Nmn. xxtv. 17; Jer. xlviii. 45).
to on* appears yet to have dbcoverei Us force In tots
sriatkn. It can hardly have any connection with the
naps of the territory as noticed In ths text.
• eminently a pastoral osook. See the
account of tbe spoil taken from them (Num. xxxi
182-47). For ths pastoral wealth of Moab, even at thit
early period, ess the expressions la Mic. vi. 6, 7.
c See Targum Paradajonathen on Num. xxil. 4.
& Balaam's words (Mle. vL 8) are nearly identic*
with thaw quoted by our Lord Uunsslf (Matt. Ix. If
and X*. 71
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MOAB
It ia remarkable that Mom should hare taken
hit new of tbe l*romtaed land from a Moabite
sanctuary, and been buried in the land of Moab.
It ia singular too that hi* rating-place i» marked
in the Hebrew Records only by Its proximity to
the sanctuary of that deity to whom in his lifetime
he had been such an enemy. He lies in a ravine
in tbe land of Moab, {using Beth-Peor, t. e. the
abode of Boal-Peor (Dent xzxiv. 6).
After the conquest of Canaan the relations of
Moab with Israel were of a mixed character. With
the tribe o* Benjamin, whose possessions at their
aasterr. sal were separated from those of Moab only
fcj Us Jordan, they had at least one severe struggle,
In onion with their kindred the Ammonites, and
also, for this time only, the wild Amalekites from
tbe south (Judg. Hi. 13-30). The Moabite king,
Kelon, actually ruled and received tribute in Jericho
for eighteen years, but at tbe end of that time he
was 'killed by the Benjamite hero Ehud, and the
return of tbe Moabitea being intercepted at tbe
fords, a large number were slaughtered, and a stop
tut to such incursions on their part for the future. 11
4 trace of this invasion ia visible in the name of
Chephar-ha-Animonai, tbe '< hamlet of the Am-
monites," one of the Benjamite towns; and another
ia possibly preserved even to tbe present day in the
name of itukhmm, the modern representative of
Michmasb, which is by some scholars believed to
have received it* name from Chemosh the Moabite
deity.
The feud continued with true oriental pertinacity
to tbe time of Saul. Of his slaughter of the Am-
monites we have full details in 1 Sam. xi., and
mongst his other conquests Moab ia especially
mentioned (1 Sam. xiv. 47). There is not, how-
ever, as we should expect, any record of it during
Ishbosheth's residence at Mahanaim on the east of
Jordan.
But while such were their relations to the tribe
of Benjamin, the story of Kuth, on the other hand,
testifies to the existence of a friendly Intercourse
between Moab and Bethlehem, one of the towns of
Judah. The Jewish * tradition ascribes tbe death
of Mahlon and Chilion to punishment for having
broken the commandment of Dent, xxiii. 3, but no
trace of any feeling of the kind is visible in tbe
Book of Ruth itself — which not only seems to
imply a considerable intercourse between the two
nations, but also a complete ignorance or disregard
of the precept in question, which was broken in the
most flagrant manner when Ruth became tbe wife
if Bom. By his descent from Kuth, David may
te said to have had Moabite blood in his veins.
Fhe relationship vras sufficient, especially when coni-
>ined with the blood feud between Moab and Ben-
jamin, already alluded to, to warrant his visiting
die land of his ancestress, and committing his
parents to the protection of the king of Moab, when
bard pressed by Saul (1 Sam. xxii. 3, 4). But here
<U friendly relation stops for ever. The next time
the name ia mentioned is in the account of David's
war, at least twenty yean after tbe last-mentioned
rrent (2 Sam. viil. 2j 1 Chr. xviii. 8).
Tbe abrupt manner in which this war is Intro-
« To* aeeotut of Shaharelm, a man of Benjamin,
who "begat children In the field of Moab,'' In I Chr.
mi. 8, sarins, from the mention of Chud (ver. 6), to
belong t> this Urns; but the whole passage Is very
* Bet Bargain Jonathan on Math 1. 4. Thamarrlafs
MOAB
dosed into the history is no teas re marka ble that
the brief and passing terms in which its horrors
are recorded. The account occupies but a few
words in either Samuel or Chronicles, and yet it
must have been for the time little abort of a vfrtoa.
extirpation of the nation. Two thirds of the people
were put to death, and tbe remainder became bond-
men, and were subjected to a regular tribute. An
incident of this wsr is probably recorded in 8 Sam.
xxiii. 20, and 1 Chr. xi. 88. The spoils taken from
the Moabite cities and sanctuaries went to swell
the treasures acquired from the enemies of Jehovah,
which David was amassing for the future Temple
(8 Sam. viii. 11, 18; 1 Chr. xviii. 11). It was the
first time that tbe prophecy of Balaam had been
fulfilled, — >' Out of Jacob shall oome he that shall
have dominion, and shall destroy him that re-
mainetb of Ar," that ia of Moab.
So signal a vengeance can only hare bean oeea-
sioned by aome act of perfidy or insult, like that
which brought down % similar treatment on the
Ammonites (2 Sam. x.). But aa to any such act
the narrative ia absolutely silent. It has been con-
jectured that the king of Moab betrayed the trust '
which David reposed in him, and either himself
killed Jesse and his wife, or surrendered tbem to
Saul. But this, though not improbable, ia uothing
more than conjecture.
It must have been % considerable time before
Moab recovered from so severe a blow. Of this we
have evidence in tbe fact of their not being men-
tioned in tbe account of the campaign in which the
Ammonites were subdued, when it is not probable
they would have refrained from assisting their rela-
tives had they been iu a condition to do so.
Throughout the reign of Solomon, they no doubt
shared in the universal peace which surrounded
Israel; and the only mention of the name occurs
in the statement that there were Moabites amongst
the foreign women in the royal harem, and, at a
natural oonsequence, that the Moabite worship was
tolerated, or perhaps encouraged (1 K. xi. 1, 7, 88).
Tbe high place for Chemosh, '• the abomination of
Moab," waa consecrated "on tbe mount facing
Jerusalem,'' where it remained till it* "defilement"
by Josiab (8 K. xxiii. 13), nearly four cent Ties
afterwards.
At the disruption of the kingdom, Miab snare
to have fallen to tbe northern realm, probably for
the same reason that has been already remarked in
the case of Eglnn and Ehud — that the fords of
Jordan lay within the territory of Benjamin, who
for some time after the separation clung to its
ancient ally the bouse of Ephraim. But be thia a*
it may, at the death of Ahab, eighty years later,
we find Moab paying him the enormous tribute,
apparently annual, of 100,000 rams, and the same
number of wethers with their fleeces; an amount
which testifies at once to tbe severity of the terras
imposed by Israel, and to the remarkable vigor of
character, and wealth of natural resources, which
could enable a little country, not so large as tbe
county of Huntingdon, to raise year by year tbi»
enormous impost, and at the came time support its
owu people in prosperity and affluence.' It ia not
of Boas with the stranger Is vindicated by i
Ruth a proselyte In desire, If not by actual Intuition
e This affluence Is shown by the treasures which
they left on the Held of Berachah (8 Cnr. xx. 26), na
leas than by the general condition of the cosntiy
Indicated In the awerssres of Jerasat hr ta sw ; audit
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MUAB
i that the Moabttea should have sailed the
of Ahsb's death to throw off ao lurden-
a yoke; but it ia surprising, that, sjtwith-
ltTH—tr, anch a drain on their resource*, they were
raady to incur the risk and expense of a war with
a state in every reapect far their superior. Their
first step, after ssarrring their independence, waa
to attack the kingdom of Judah in company with
their kindred the Ammonites, and, aa seems prob-
able, the Mehuuim, a roving senii-Edomite people
from the mountains in the southeast of Palestine
(8 Car. xz.)- The army waa a huge heterogeneous
horde of ill-assorted elements. The route chosen
for the invasion waa round the southern end of the
Dead Sea, thence along the beach, and by the pass
of En-gedi to the level of the upper country. But
the expedition contained within itself the elements
of its own destruction. Before they reached the
enemy dissensions arose between the heathen stran-
gers and the children of Lot: distrust followed,
and finally panic; and when the army of Jehosh-
aphat came in sight of them they found that they
bad nothing to do but to watch the extermination
of one half the huge host by the other half, and to
seize the prodigious booty which was left on the
■eld.
Disastrous as waa this proceeding, that which
followed it was even still more so. As a natural
co ns e q ue n ce of the Ute events, Israel, Judab, and
Edom united in an attack on Hoab. For reasons
which are not stated, but one of which we may
reasonably conjecture was to avoid the passage of
the savage Edomites through Judah, the three con-
federate armies approached not as usual by the
north, but round the southern end of the Dead Sea,
through the parched valleys of upper Edom. Aa
the host came near, the king of Moab, doubtless
the same Mesha who threw off the yoke of Ahab,
assembled the whole of his people, from the youngest
who were of age to bear the sword-girdle," on the
boundary of his territory, probably on the outer
slopes of the line of hills which encircles the lower
portion of Moab, overlooking the waste which ex-
ended below them towards the east. 6 Here they
temained all night on the watch. With the ap-
proach of morning the sun rose suddenly above the
horizon of the rolling plain, and as his level beams
burst through the night-mists they revealed no
masses of the enemy, but shone with a blood-red
glare on a multitude of pools in the bed of the
wady at tbeir feet. They did not know that these
pools had been sunk during the nigbt by the order
of a mighty Prophet who wss with the host of
Israel, and that they had been filled by the sudden
flow of water rushing from the distant highlands
t f Edom. To them the conclusion waa inevitable.
The army had, like their own on the Ute occasion,
fallen out in the night; these red pools wen the
blood of toe slain; those who were not killed had
Jed, and nothing stood between them and the
milage of the camp.
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1988
he nasssgjn of Isaiah and Jeremlsh Thlcta are cited
farther op In this article.
« X K. 111. 21. This passags exhibit one of the
uost singular variations of ths LXX. The Hebrew
text Is UtsnUly, " and all satnerad themsslves together
that were girt with a girdle and upward." This the
tZX originally r s ui le i e d infiii^ray h ra»rftf ••»•«£-
awpoei (irf ««1 hiw which the Alexandrine Oodax
ma retains ; but In the Vatican MS. ths last words
save setaetts bean eorrepM Into ami •teas', &• — " end
easy said. Oh!"
The cry "Hoab to the spoil!" was mind.
Down the slopes they rushed in headlong disorder,
but not, as they expected, to empty tents; they
found an enemy ready prepared to reap the result
of his ingenious stratagem.' Then occurred one
of those scenes of carnage which can happen but
once or twiee in the existence of a nation. The
Moabites fled back in confusion, followed and cut
down at every step hy their enemies. Far inwards
did the pursuit reach, among the cities and forms
and orchards of that rich district: nor when the
slaughter waa over was the horrid work of destruc-
tion done. The towns both fortified and nnfortined
were demolished, and the stones str ewed over tht
carefully tilled fields. The fountains of water, tfat
llfod of an eas tern land, were choked, and ail tirr-
ber of any size or goodness felled. Nowhere else &i
we bear of such sweeping desolation; the very
besom of destruction passed over the land. A'.
List the struggle collected itself at Kib-hakb8KTH.
apparently a newly constructed fortress, which, if
the modern Ktrak — and there is every probability
that they are identical — may well have resisted aH
the efforts of the allied kings in its native impreg-
nability. Here Mesha took refuge with his family
and with the remnants of his army. The heights
around, by which the town is entirely commanded,
were covered with slingers, who, armed partly with
the ancient weapon of David and of the Benjamites,
partly perhaps with the newly-invented ma-
chines shortly to be famous in Jerusalem (3 Chi.
xxvi. 16), discharged tbeir volleys of stones on the
town. At length the annoyance oould be borne no
longer. Then Mesha, collecting round him a for-
lorn hope of 700 of his best warriors, made a des-
perate sally, with the intention of cutting his way
through to his special foe the king cf Edom. But
the enemy were too strong for him, and he was driven
back. And then came a fitting crown to a tragedy
already so terrible. An awful spectacle amazed
and horrified the besiegers. The king and his
eldest son, the heir to the throne, mounted the wall,
and, in the sight of the thousands who covered thi
sides of that vast amphitheatre, the father killed
and burnt his child as a propitiatory sacrifice to tht
cruel gods of his country. It was the same dread ■
ful act to which, as we hare seen, lialak had been
so nearly tempted in his extremity.* But the dan-
ger, though perhaps not really greater than his,
was more imminent; and Mesha had no one like
Balaam at hand, to counsel patience and rubmis-
sion to a mightier Power than Chemosh or Beat-
Poor.
Hitherto, though able and ready to fight when
necessary, the Moabites do not appear to have been
a fighting people ; perhaps, aa suggested elsewhere,
the Ammonites were the warriors of the nation of
Lot. But this disaster seems to have altered their
disposition, at any rata for a time- Shortly after
these events we bear of " bands •" — that ia pillaging
marauding parties/ — of the Moabites making
xxl. 11 — " towards ths son
» CompaiK Num.
rising."
e The l essen was not lost on king Joram, who proved
himself more cautious on a similar occasion (8 K. vU
U.U).
<* Prius scat luxurla propter lrrlguos agrcs (Janes*,
on Is. xv. 9).
« Jerome alone of all the eoaunentatora asms Is
bane noosed this. See his Omm. m MM. vL
/ Vjnj. The word " bands," by which this ■
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1984
MOAB
their incursions into Israel in the spring, as if to
spoil the early corn before it was fit to eat (2 K.
xiil. 90). With Edom there must have been many
a contest. One of these, marked bj savage ven-
geance — recalling in some degree the tragedy of
Kir-haraeeth — is alluded to by Amos (ii. 1), where
> king of Edom seems to have been killed and burnt
by Moab. This ma; have been one of the incidents
of the battle of Kir-haraseth itself, occurring per-
haps after the Edomites had parted from Israel, and
were overtaken on their road home by toe furious
king of Moab (Geaenius, Jesnin, L 504); or accord-
ing to the Jewish tradition (Jerome, on Amos ii.
1), it was a vengeance still more savage because
more protracted, and lasting even beyond the death
of the king, whose remains wen torn from his
tomb and thin consumed : Non dieo erudeu'tatem
sed rabiem; ut incenderent ossa regis Idumtee?,
et non paterentnr mortem esse omnium extremum
maloruni (lb. ver. 4).
In the " Burden of Moab " pronounced by Isaiah
(chaps, xv., xvi.), we possess a document full of in-
teresting details as to the condition of the nation,
at the time of the death of Ahaz king of Judah,
B. c. 720. More than a century and a half had
elapsed since the great calamity to which we hare
s ust referred. In that interval, Moab has regained
all, and more than all of his former prosperity, and
has besides extended himself over the district which
he originally occupied in the youth of the nation,
and which was left vacant when the removal of
Keuben to Assyria, which had been begun by l'ul
In 7*0. was completed by Tiglath-pileser about the
year 740 (1 Chr. v. 28, 28).
This passage of Isaiah cannot be considered apart
from that of Jeremiah, ch. xlviii. The latter was
pronounced more than a century later, about the
year 600, ten or twelve years before the invasion
of Nebuchadnezzar, by which Jerusalem was de-
stroyed. In many respect* it is identical with
that of Isaiah, and both are believed by the best
modern scholars, on account of the archaisms and
other peculiarities of language which they contain,
eommonly rendered with A. V. has not now the force
of the original term. ' W 11 is derived from T"T3,
to rush together and fiercely, and signifies a troop of
irregular marauders, as opposed to the regular soldiers
of an army. It is employed to denote (1.) the bands of
the Amalekites and other Bedouin tribes round Pales-
tine :as'l Sam. xxx. 8, 16, 28 (A. T.' " troop "and «eom-
ptoy ") : 2 R. rl. 28, xUl. 20, 21, xxlv. 2 ; 1 Chr. ill.
21 , 2 Chr. xxtl. 1 (A. T. « band "). It Is In this connec-
tion that It occurs lu the elaborate play on the name
3f Gad, contained in Oen. xlix. 19 [see vol. 1. p. 848 »],
i passage strikingly corroborated by 1 Chr. xli. 18,
where the Qadltea who resorted to David In his difficul-
ties — swift as roes on the mountains, with faces like
the faces of lions — ware formed by him into a " band."
In 1 K. xi. 24 It denotes the roving troop collected by
Sescn from the ramnanta of the army of Zobsh, who
took the city of Damascus by surprise, and by their
forays molested — literacy " played the Satan to " —
Bolomoo (ver. 25). Uow formidable these bands were,
may be gathered from 2 Sam. xxll. 80, where In a
momeut of most solemn exultation David speaks of
breaking through one of them as among the most
memornble exploits of his life.
(2.1 The word Is used In the general ernes of hired
soldiers — mercenaries ; ss of the host of 100,000
Cpnralmltes hired by Anuixtah In 2 Chr. xxv. 9, 10, 18 ;
where the point Is missed in the A. V. by the use of I
tee word " army." No Bedouins could have shown a
1 appetite for plunder than did these Israelites '
MOAB
to be adopted from a common source — the wmk
of some much more ancient prophet •
Isaiah ends his denunciation by a prediction —
In his own words — that within three years Moab
should be greatly reduced. This waa> pro.'ashly
with a view to Shalmaneser who destroyed Sanuria.
and no doubt overran the other side of the Jordan •
in 725, and again in 723 (2 K. x\ii. 8, xviii. 9)
The only event of which we have a record to which
it would seem possible that the passage, sa orig-
inally uttered by the older prophet, applied, m the
invasion of Pul, who about the year 770 appears to
have commenced the deportation of Keuben (1 Chr.
v. 26), and who very probably at the same time
molested Moab.' The difficulty of so many of the
towns of Keuben being mentioned, as at that early
date already in the po s s es sion of Moab, may perhaps
be explained by remembering that the idolatry of the
neighboring nations — and therefore of Moab — had
been adopted by the trans-Jordanio tribes for some
time previously to the final deportation by Tiglath-
pileser (see 1 Chr. v. 25), and that many of the
sanctuaries were probably even at the date of the
original delivery of the denunciation in the hands
of the priests of Chemoah and Milcom. If, a*
Ewald {dutch, ill. 688) with much probability
infers, the Moabites, no less than the Ammonites,
were under the protection of the powerful Dzziah *
(2 L'hr.xxri. 8), then the obscure expressions of the
ancient seer as given in Is. xvi. 1-5, referring to a
tribute of lambs (comp. 2 K. iii. 4) sent from toe
wild pasture-grounds south of Moab to Zion, and
to protection and relief from oppression afforded by
the throne ' of David to the fugitives and outcasts
of Moab — acquire an intelligible sense-
On the other hand, the calamities which Jeremiah
describes may have been inflicted in any one of
the numerous visitations from the Assyrian army,
under which these unhappy countries suffered at
the period of his prophecy in rapid succession.
But the uncertainty of the exact dates referred to
in these several denunciations does not in the least
affect the interest or the value of the allusions tbey
(ver. 18). In this sense it is probably used In 3 CI r
xxvl. 11 for the Irregular troops kept by Uiaaah for
purposes of plunder, and who an distinguished from
his " army " (ver. 18) maintained for regular engage-
ments.
(8.) In 2 Sam. III. 22 ("troop") and 2 K. v. 2 (« by
companies ") It refers to marauding raids for the pur-
pose of plunder.
« Sea Ewald (Pmpketn, 229-81). He seems to be-
lieve that Jeremiah has preserved the old prophecy
more nearly In Its original condition than Isaiah.
b Amos. B. c. dr. 780, prophesied that a nation
should afflict Israel from the entering In of Ilamath
unto the « torrent of the desert " (probably one of the
wsdies on the 8. B. extremity of the Dead Sea) ; that fa,
the whole of the country east of Jordan.
* Knobel refers the original of Is. XT., xrl. to the
time of Jeroboam II., a great conqueror beyond Jor-
dan.
* He died 768, i. 1. 12 yean after the invasion of
Pul
* The word used In this passage far the palace of
David In Hon, namely " tent " (A. V. " tabernacle "), si
remarkttb ruin Instance of the persietenee with which
the memory of the original military foundation of
Jerusalem by the warriiir-klng was p reserved by the
Prophets. Thus, In Pa. Ixxvl. 2 and Lam. U. 6 it Is
the " booth or Mvouactlng-hut or Jehovah ; " and a>
Is. xxlx. 1 the city where Dsvtd "pitched," or «ee>
camned " (not " dwelt," as In A. V.I.
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MOAB
•ooUin to the condition of Moab. They bear the
evident stamp of portiaiture by artiste who knew
their subject thoroughly. The nation appears in
them as high-spirited," wealthy, populous, and
even to a certain extent civilized, enjoying a wide
reputation and popularity. With a metaphor which
well expresses at once the pastoral wealth of the
countrv and its commanding, almost regal, position,
but which cannot be conveyed in a translation, Moab
n depicted as the strong sceptre, 1 the beautiful
staff,* whose fracture will be bewailed by all about
him, and by all who know him. In his cities we dis-
own a "great multitude" of people living in
" gfary," and in the enjoyment of great " treasure,''
crowding the public squares, the housetops, and the
assents and descents of the numerous high places and
sanctuaries where the "priestsand princes" of
Chemosh or Baal-Peor minister to the anxious devo-
tee*. Outside the towns lie the " plentiful fields,"
luxuriant as the renowned Carmel •' — the vineyards,
and gardens of '• summer fruits " ; — the harvest is
being reaped, and the " hay stored in its abundance,"
the vineyards and the presses are crowded with
peasants, gathering and treading the grapes,
the land resounds with the clamor • of the vin-
tagers. These characteristics contrast very favorably
with any traits recorded of Amnion, Edom, Midlan,
Amalek, the Philistines, or the Canaanite tribes.
And since the descriptions we are considering are
adopted by certainly two, and probably three proph-
ets — Jeremiah, Isaiah, and the older seer — ex-
tending over a period of nearly 200 years, we may
safely conclude that they are not merely temporary
circumstances, but were the enduring characteris-
tics of the people. In this case there can be no
doubt that amongst the pastoral people of Syria,
Moab stood next to Israel in all matters of material
wealth and civilization.
It is very interesting to remark the feeling which
actuates the prophets in these denunciations of
a people who, though the enemies of Jehovah, were
the blood-relations of Israel. Half the allusions of
Isaiah and Jeremiah in the passages referred to,
must forever remain obscure. We shall never
know who the " lords of the heathen " were who, in
that terrible / night, laid waste and brought to
silence the prosperous Ar-moab and Kir-moab. Or
the occasion of that flight over the Anion, when the
Hoabite women were huddled together at the ford,
like a flock of young birds, pressing to cross to the
safe side of the stream, — when the dwellers in
Aroer stood by the side of the high road which
passed their town, and eagerly questioning the
fugitives as they hurried up, " What is done? " —
« Is. m 8 j Jer. xlvHI. 29. The word (MS* (f^NS),
Its* our own word " pride," Is susceptible of a good is
well as a bad now. It Is the term used for the
"majesty " and " excellency " of Jehovah (Is. il. 10,
*e., to. xv. 7), sod la frequentlv In the A. V. ren-
dered by •< pomp."
* nt£9 ; the " rod " of Moses, and of Aaron, and
or the beads of the tribes (Num. xvll. 2, fcc). The
term also means a " tribe." No English word ex-
■ all these meanings
« VJJQ > *• word nMd *br the •■ rods " of Jacob's
etitngen ; also tor the ■ staves " m the pastoral pan-
Ms of Zeeharlah (si. 7-14).
<t Omul la the word rendered » plentiful field •' In
I*. xvL 10 and Jer. xlvUl. 88.
• What the dm of a vintage In Piloiltnc was may
1U
. MOAB 198
received but one answer from all alike — " AO U
lost ! Moab is confounded and broken down ! "
Many expressions, also, such as the " weeping at
Jazer," the "heifer of three years old," the
"shadow of Heahbon," the "lions," must remain
obscure. But nothing can obscure or render obso-
lete the tones of tenderness and affection which
makes itself felt In a hundred expressions through-
out these precious documents. Ardently as the
Prophet longs for the destruction of the enemy of
his country and of Jehovah, and . earnestly as he
curses the man " that doeth the work of Jehovah
deceitfully, that keepeth back his sword from
blood," yet he it constrained to bemoan and lament
such dreadful calamities to a people so near him
both in blood and locality. His heart mourns —
it sounds like pipes — for the men of Kir-heres; bis
heart cries out, it sounds like a harp for Moab.
Isaiah recurs to the subject in another passage
of extraordinary force, and of fiercer character
than before, namely, xxv. 10-12. Here the ex-
termination, the utter annihilation, of Moab, is
contemplated by the Prophet with triumph, as one
of the first results of the reestoblishment of Jeho-
vah on Mount Zion : " In this mountain shall the
hand of Jehovah rest, and Moab shall be trodden
down under Him, even at straw — the straw of bit
own threshing-floors at Madrnenah — is trodden
down for the dunghill. And He shall spread forth
his hands in the midst of tbem — namely, of the
Moabites — as one that rwimmeth spreadeth forth
his hands to swim, buffet following buffet, right
and left, with terrible rapidity, as the strong swim-
mer urges bis way forward: and He shall bring
down their pride together with the spoils of their
hands. And the fortress of Miagab * — thy walls
shall He bring down, lay low, and bring to the
ground, to the dust."
If, according to the custom of interpreters, th's
and the preceding chapter (ixiv.) are understood
as referring to the destruction of Babylon, then
this sudden burst of indignation towards Moab it
extremely puzzling. But, if the passage is exam-
ined with that view, it will perhaps be found tc
contain some expressions which suggest the possi-
bility of Moab having been at least within the
ken of the Prophet, even though not in the fore-
ground of his vision, during a great part of the
passage. The Hebrew words rendered "city "in
xxv. 2 — two entirely distinct terms — are posi-
tively, with a slight variation, the names of the
two chief Moabite strongholds, the same which art
mentioned in xv. 1, and one of which ' is in the
Pentateuch a synonym for the entire nation of
be Inferred from Jer. xxv. 80 : " Jehovah shall roar
from on high. ... lie shall mightily roar. ... lb
■hall give a shout as those that tread the grapes "
/ La noehe triste.
g It Is thus characterised by Ewald (.Prophetm
230). " Hoe n gans von Trailer und Mltleld hlngerla
sane, von Welchbelt serflleawnde, mehr elegtsch all
prophetifch gestiuunte Kmpflndung steht unter den
altera Propheten elnxlg da ; soger bet Hoaea 1st nkshte
gans aebnuche*."
* Io the A. V. rendered "the high fort." But then
Is good reason to take it as the name of a place (Jer
xlvUl. 1). [Hutu.]
i Oeeenlus believes Ar, "TO, to be a Moablsa torn
of Ir, ^VD, one of the two words spoken of above
Num. xxiv. 19 aequtna a new tone, If the word ren-
dered "nit; •» taterpnetd as Ar, that la Moab. **
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1986 MOAB
Moab. In this light, verse 3 may be md as
fellows: "For thou hut made of At a heap; of
Kir the defeneed a ruin; a palace" of itrangers no
longer is Ar, it shall never be rebuilt" The tame
words are found in renea 10 and 12 of the pre-
ceding ohapler, in company with kutsoth (A. V.
" atreeta ") which we know from Num. xxii. 39 to
hare been the name of a Moabite town. [KiR-
jath-huzoth.] A distinct echo of them is again
heard in zzv. 3, 4; and finally in xxvi. 1, 6, there
soenu to be yet another reference to the same two
towns, acquiring new force from the denunciation
which closes the preceding chapter: " Moab shall
be brought down, the fortress and the walla of Mis-
gab shall be laid low; but in the land of Judah
this song shall be sung, ' Our Ar, our city, is strong
Trust in the Lord Jehovah who bringeth
down those that dwell on high : the lofty Kir He
layeth it low,' " eta.
It is perhaps an additional corroboration to this
view to notice that the remarkable expressions in
xxiv. 17, " Fear, and the pit, and the snare," etc.,
actually occur in Jeremiah (xlviii. 43), in his de-
nunciation of Moab, embedded in the old proph-
ecies out of which, like Is. xv., xvi., this passage
is compiled, and the rest of which had certainly,
as originally uttered, a direct and even exclusive
reference to Moab.
Between the time of Isaiah's denunciation and
the destruction of Jerusalem we have hardly a
reference to Moab. Zephaniah, writing in the
reign of Josiah, reproaches them (ii. 8-10) for
their taunts against the people of Jehovah, but no
acta of hostility are recorded either on the one side
or the other. From one passage in Jeremiah (xxv.
9-91 ) delivered in_ the fourth year of Jehoiakim,
just before the fint appearance of Nebuchadnezzar,
it is apparent that it was the belief of the Prophet
that the cations su/rounding Israel — and Moab
among the rest — wero on the eve of devastation by
the Chaldeans and of a captivity for seventy years
(see ver. 11), from which, however, they should
eventually be restored to their own country (ver.
12, and xlviii. 47). From another record of the
events of the same period or of one only just
subsequent (2 K. xxiv. 2), it would appear, bow-
ever, that Moab made terms with the Chaldeans,
and for the time acted in concert with them in
harassing and plundering the kingdom of Je-
hoiakim.
Four or five years later, in the first year of Zede-
kiab (Jer. xxvii. I),' these hostilities must have
ceased, for there was then a regular intercourse be-
tween Moab and the court at Jerusalem (ver. 3),
possibly, as Bunsen suggests i Bibtlictrt, Prcphtlen,
p 636), negotiating a combined resistance to the
also In MIc. vi. 9, at the dose of the remarkable con-
versation between Bslak and Balaam there preserved,
the word "V3? occurs again, in such a manner that
It Is difficult not to believe that the capital dry of
'Moan Is Intended : " Jehovah's voice crlcth unto Ar
hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed
■ Armtn. The same word Is used by Amos (II. 2)
ten his denunciation of Moab.
a. There can be no doubt that K Jehoiakim " In this
•seas* should on " 2sdakiah." See ver. 8 of the same
stop., and xxviii. 1.
« Jer. xxttl. 6.
•d This feeling Is brought out very strongly In Jer.
*MH. 11, where even toe suoeasstve devastations from
MOAB
common enemy. The brunt if the ltonu must
have fallen on Judah and Jerusalem. The neigh-
boring nations, including Moab, when the dangea
actually arrived probably adopted 'be advice of
Tdeniiah (xxvii. 11) and thus escaped, though not
without much damage, yet without being carried
away as the Jews were. That these nations did
not nuffer to the same extent as Judaea is evident
from the fact that many of the Jews took refuge
there when their own land was laid waste (Jer. il.
11). Jeremiah expressly testifies that those who
submitted themselves to the King of Babylon,
though they would have to bear a severe yoke, — as
severe that their very wild animals c would be «tv
slaved, — yet by such submission should purchase
the privilege of remaining in their own country.
The removal from home, so dreadful to the Semites
mind,'' was to be the fate only of those who resisted
(Jer. xxvii. 10, 11, xxviii. 14). This is also sup-
ported by the allusion of EzekieL a few years later,
to the cities of Moab, cities formerly belonging to
the Israelites, which, at the time when the I'rophet
is speaking, were still flourishing, •' the glory of
the country," destined to become at a future day •
prey to the Bene-Kedem, the "men of the East"
— the Bedouins of the great desert of the Eu-
phrates • (Es. xxv. 8-11).
After the return from the Captivity it was a
Moabite, Sauballat of Hnrouaim, who took the
chief part in annoying and endeavoring to hinder
the operations of the rebuilders of Jerusalem (Neb.
ii. 19, iv. 1, vi. 1, Ac.). He confines himself, bow
ever, to the same weapons of ridicule and scurrility
which we have already noticed Zephaniah/ resent-
ing. From Sanballat's words (Neh. ii. 19) we
should infer that he and his country were subject
to "the king," that is, the King of Babylon.
During the interval since the return of the first
caravan from Babylon the illegal practice of mar-
riages between the Jews and the other people
around, Moab amongst the rest, had become fre-
quent. So far had this gone, that the sou of the
high-priest was married to*an Ammonite woman.
Even among the families of Israel who returned
from the Captivity was one bearing the name of
Kahath-Moab (Ear. ii. 6, viii. 4; Neb. lii. 11,
dtc.), a name which must certainly denote a Moab-
ite connection,? though to the nature of the con-
nection no clew seems to have been yet discovered.
By Ezra and Nehemiah the practice of foreign
marriages was strongly repressed, and we never bear
of it again becoming prevalent.
In the book of Judith, the date of which is laid
shortly after the return from Captivity (iv. 3),
Moakites and Ammonites are represented as dwell-
ing in their ancient seats and as obeying the calf
which Moab had suffered are counted as nothing —
as absolute immunity — since captivity had been ee
eaped.
« To the Incursions of these people, true Arabs, M
is possibly due that the LXX. In Is. xv. 9 introduce
"A<x>0« — " I will bring Arabs upon Dimoo."
/ The word HS"^, rendered "reproach" la
Zeph. U. 8, occurs several tunes in Nehemiah In refer-
ence to the taunts of Sauballat and his companions,
(see Iv. 4, vi 18, fcc.)
9 It will bj observed that this name ocean m sea
junction with Joab, who, If the well-known sea St
Zeruiah, would be a descendant of Ruth the Mussel—
But this Is uncertain. [Vol. II. p. U»7«-l
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MOAB
* the Assyrian general, flair "princes" (4p-
veWat) and "governor*" tiryouiuvu) are men-
tioned (t. S, vii. 8). The Maccabees, much u they
ravaged the country of the Ammonites, do not
appear to have molested Moab Proper, nor is the
name either of Moab or of any of the towns south
of the Anion mentioned throughout those books.
Josephus not only speaks of the district in which
Heshbon was situated as " Moabitis " (Anl. xiii.
15, § 4; also B. J. It. 8, § 2), but expressly says
that even at the time he wrote they were a " very
great nation " (Anl. i. 11, § 6). (See 6 Mace,
xxix. 19.)
In the time of Eosebius (Outmost. M»d0), ». '•
sir. A. D. 830, the name appears to have been
attached to the district, as well as to the town of
Kabbatb — both of which were called Moab. It
also lingered for some time in the name of the
ancient Kir-Hoab, which, as Charakmoba, is men-
tioned by Ptolemy « (Keland. Palculina, p. 463),
and as late as the Council of Jerusalem, A. D. 636,
formed the see of a bishop under the same title
(jo. p. 633). Since that lime the modern name
Kerak has superseded the older one, and no trace
of Moab has been found either in records or in the
country itself.
Like the other countries east of Jordan Moab has
been very little visited by Europeans, and beyond
its general characteristics hardly anything is known
of it. The following travellers have passed through
the district of Moab Proper, from Wady Uujtb on
the N. to Kerak on the 8.s —
Bestsan, March, 13)8, and January, 1807. (U. I.
Seetsen's Jfetam, etc., von Prot Erase, etc.,
voL i. p. 406-426; U. 820-877. Also the edi-
tor's notes thereon, in voL tv.)
Borckhardt, 1812, July 19. to Aug. 4. (TVai-eb,
London, 1822. 8ee also the notes of Oesenlus
to the German translation, Weimar, 1824, vol.
11. p. 1081-1064.)
iroy and Mangles, 1818, June 6 to 8. ( Travth in
Xgypt, etc., 1822, 8vo; 1847, 12mo. Chap.
TBI.)
9s Ssulcy, 1861, January. (Voyage autow de la
Jttr Moru, Paris, 1868. Also translated Into
English.)
Of the character of the face of the country these
travellers only give slight reports, and among these
there is considerable variation even when the same
district is referred to. Thus between Kerak and
Rabba, Irby (141 a) found "a fine country," of
rreat natural fertility, with " reapers at work and
the corn luxuriant in all directions; " and the same
district is described by Burckhardt as "very fertile,
and large bracts cultivated " (Syr. July 15); while
Ue Saulcy, on the other hand, pronounces that
>• from Shihan (6 miles N. of Rabba) to the Wady
Kerak the country is perfectly bare, not a tree or a
bush to be seen " — " Toujours aussi nn . . ■ pas
■n arbre, pas un arbrisseau" ( Voyage, i. 363);
which again is contradicted by Seetzen, who not
mly found the soil very good, but encumbered with
wormwood and other shrubs (Seetzen, i. 410).
tiiose discrepancies are no doubt partly due to
MOAB
1987
difference in the time of year, and other temporary
causes; but they also probably proceed from the
disagreement which seems to be inherent in all
descriptions of the same scene or spot by various
describe™, and which is enough to drive to deepen
those whose task it is to endeavor to combine then:
into a single account.
In one thing all agree, the extraordinary num-
ber of ruins which are scattered over the country,
and which, whatever the present condition of the
soil, are a sure token of its wealth in former
ages. " Wie schrecklich," says Seetzen, " ist diese
Kesidenz alter Konige und ihr Laud rerwiistet! "
(i. 419).
The whole country it undulating, and, after the
general level of the plateau is reached, without any
serious inequalities ; and in this and the absence of
conspicuous vegetation has a certain resemblance to
the downs of our own southern counties.
Of the language of the Moabites we know nothing
or next to nothing. In the few communications
recorded as taking place between them and Israel-
ites no interpreter is mentioned (see Ruth ; 1 Sam.
xxii. 3, 4, Ac.). And from the origin of the nation
and other considerations we may perhaps conjecture
that their language was more a dialect of Hebrew
than a different tongue. 6 This indeed would follow
from the connection of Lot, their founder, with
Abraham. [Wkitiho, Amer. ed.]
The narrative of Num. xxii. - xxir. must be
founded on a Moabite chronicle, though in its pres-
ent condition doubtless much altered from what
it originally was before it oame into the hands of
the author of the Book of e Numbers. No attempt
seems yet to have been made to execute the diffi-
cult but interesting task of examining the record,
with the view of restoring it to its pristine form.
The following are the names of Moabite persons
preserved in the Bible — probably Hebraized in
their adoption into the Bible record*. Of such a
transition we seem to have a trace in Shomer and
Shimrith (see below).
Spoor.
Kglon.
Ruth
Orpah (n^"]^).
Mesne (Sttfaj).
Ithmah (1 ChrV xl. 46).
Shomer (2 K. xii. 21), or Shimrith (1 Car. xn
26).
Sanballat
Add to these —
Kmlm. the name by which they called the Bepha
Im who originally inhabited their country
and whom the Ammonites called ^"ht"" 1 "* 1 '*
or Zuatm.
OamAsh, or Cemish (Jer. xlvMl. 7), the deity of
the nation.
Of names of places the following may be men
Honed:—
Moab, with Its compounds, Ssde-Moab, the fields
from the order of the lists se they now stand, Moab — the
and the latitude affixed to Charakmoba, Pto'emy ap- ' Mlloom, *f«i«h«m
of the Ammonite god, Molseh,
pears to refer to a place south of Petra.
b Some materials for an investigation of tola sub-
ject may be found in the onrioos variations of some
* the Moabite names — Chsmosh, Uhemlsh; Khv
•aiastth, Klr-hens, sto.; Shomer, Shimrith ; and —
sm a ro h s r lng the close connection of Amman with
e a this suggestion Is correct — and there most bs
some truth In it — then this passage of Numbers be-
comes no less historically important than Gen xiv.,
which Iwald (OudtuAu, i. 78, 181, fcc.) with great
reason iMiwt^|i« to be the work tt a Canasnite chron-
ielat
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1988 MOAB, COUNTRY OF
ofM. (A. T. "the country of M.*>); Arboth-
Moab, the deserts (A. T. the "pleini ") of M.,
that Is, the pert of the Arabah oeenpied by
the Moabites.
Ham-Mlihor, the high undulating country of
Moab Proper (A. T. « the plain ").
Ar, or Ar-Hoab OS). ^^ 8— "» » conjec-
tures to be a Moablte form of the word which
in Hebrew appeal* aa Ir (""TO), a dry.
Arnon, the rresr (]13"TM).
Bamoth BaaL
Beer Elba.
Betb-dlblathaim.
Dibon, or Dimon.
Bglalm, or perhape Kglath-Shelishiya (It. it. 8).
Horonaim.
Kiriathalm.
Ktojath-hueoth (Mum. xxll. 89 ; comp. la. xzIt.
11).
Kir-harawth -haneh, -hens.
Klr-Hoab.
Luhitb.
Medeba.
Nimrim, or Nlmrah.
Nobah or Nopbah (Num. xjd. 80)
bap-Pisgah.
hap- Poor.
ShaTeh-Karlathalm (?)
Zophlm.
Soar.
It should be noticed bow large a proportion of
llieae names end in tm.«
For the religion of the Moabitea see Chemosh,
Molech, Peor. [See especially Baal-Peof.]
Of their habits and customs we hare hardly a
trace. The gesture employed by Balak when he
found that Balaam's interference was fruitless —
" he smote his hands together " — is not mentioned
again in the Bible, but it may not on that account
hare been peculiar to the Moabitea. Their mode
of mourning, namely, cutting off the hair at the
back * of the head and cropping the beard (Jer.
xlviii. 37), is one which they followed in common
with the other non-Israelite nations, and which was
forbidden to the Israelites (Ler. xii. 5), who in-
deed seem to have lwen accustomed rather to leare
their hair and beard disordered and untrimmed
when in grief (see 2 Sam. xix. 24; zir. 2).
For a singular endeavor to identify the Hoabites
with the Druses, see Sir G. H. Rose's pamphlet,
The Affghatu Iht Ten Tribet, etc. (Undon, 1852),
especially the statement therein of Hr. Wood, late
British consul at Damascus (p. 164-157). G.
• MOAB, COUNTRY or FIELD OF
(Sfctta TPPrT) denotes the cultivated ground
In the upland (Gen. xxxri. 35; Num.xxi. 20; Ruth,
i. 1, 2, 6, 22, ii. 6, ir 3; 1 Chr. i. 48, riii. 8).
[Moab.] H.
• MOAB, PLAINS [A V., but properly
Deserts) OF OtflD ITO!?), Num. nil.
I. xxri. 3, 63, mi. 12, xxziii. 4-«0, xxxv. 1, xxxri.
i3 ; Deut. xxxir. 1, 8 ; Josh. riii. 32. [Moab.] H.
• MCABITE (a^'lD, Mtoafl, Num. xxii.
; Judg. iii. 28; 2 Sam. riil. 2; 1 K. xi. 33; 2 K.
Ji. 18, 21, 22, 24, xiii. 20, xxiii. 13, xxir. 2;
^b, Mew0f, Vat. M<mA Ear. ix. 1; , 3M'lO,
a So also does Shaharauo, a person who had a spe-
■lal connection with Moab (1 Chr. Till. 8).
* IJJQi u 'Usttugnished Own fT5|.
MODIN
Matafilrnt, Gen. xix. 37: ditto, Vat -Iht-, Dent
ii. 9, 11, 29, xxiii. 3; 1 Chr. xi. 48; Neb. xiii. 1
1 Esdr. riii. 69; viol Mmi$, Jud. ri. 1 (Vat. and
Vulg> omit); fern. njaNIO, M«*0ms, Vat
-/Sti-, 1 K. xi. 1: Moab, Moabites, Moabiiit), a
descendant of Moab, or an inhabitant of the coun-
try so called. [Moab.] A.
• MO'ABITESS (nplflB: m«oJKt<j,
Vat. -£«i-: Moabitu), a Moabite woman, Ruth i.
22, ii. 2, 21, ir. 5, 10; 2 Chr. xxiv. 26. A
•MO'ABITISH(n;3N>D: M«*3Jr«»,Va*.
-0tt-: Moabitu), belonging to Moab (Roth ii. 8).
A
MOADI'AH (rPTJTO yitHcal of Jtk*.
vaky. Maatal; [Vat.' Alex. FA.' omit;] FA.»
eV mupou: Moadia). A priest, or family of priests,
who returned with Zerubbabel. The chief of the
house in the time of Joiakini the son of Jeshua
was Piltai (Neh. xii. 17). Elsewhere (Neh. xii.
5) called Maadiah.
MOCHMUR, THE BROOK (o x«'M«>
boj Mox/ao^p ; [Sin. Movxpovo ;] Alex, omits Mox* :
Vulg. omits ; Syr. Ifachiil de Peor), a torrent, ». e. a
tmaU waily — the word " brook " conveys an entirely
false impression — mentioned only in Jud. rii. 18
and there as specifying the position of Kkrebel —
" near unto Chusi, and upon the brook Mochmur."
Ekbebel has been identified, with great proba-
bility, by Mr. Van de Velde in Akrabth, a ruined
site in the mountains of Central Palestine, equidis-
tant from Nabulut and Seilin, S. E. of the former
and N. E. of the latter; and the torrent Mochmour
may be either the Wady Makfuriyth, on the
northern slopes of which Akrabeh stands, or the
Wady Ahmar, 'which is the continuation of the
former eastwards.
The reading of the Syriac possibly points to the
existence of a sanctuary of Baal-Peor in this neigh-
borhood, but is more probably a corruption of the
original name, which was apparently mDI.II^
(Simonis, Onomaiticon, N. T. etc. p. 111). G.
MODIN (MaaSrir; Alex. MaSeeiu, M«Siei/a,
M«8o«i/i, and in chap. ii. MetSfCty; Joseph. M»5-
i<ip, and once MoSetiv: Modin: the Jewish form
is, in the Mishna, C^TlQil, in Joseph ben-
Gorion, ch. xx., iTSIIBn; the Syriac version of
Maccabees agrees with the Mishna, except in the ab-
sence of the article, and in the usual substitution
of r for d, Mora'im), a place not mentioned in either
Old or New Testament, though rendered immortal
by its connection with the history of the Jews in the
interval between the two. It was the native city
of the Maccabean family (1 Mace. xiii. 25), and as
a necessary consequence contained their ancestral
sepulchre ( T a>o$) (ii- 70, ix. 19). Hither Mat-
tathias removed from Jerusalem, where up to that
time he seems to have been residing, at the com-
mencement of the Antiocbian persecution (ii. 1).
It was here that he struck the first blow of resist-
ance, by slaying on the heathen altar which had
been erected in the place, both the commissioner
of Antiochus and a recreant Jew whom he had in
duced to sacrifice, and then demolishing the altar.
Mattathias himself, and subsequently his sons
Judas and Jonathan, were buried in the family
tomb, and orer them Simon erected a structura
which is minutely described in the book of Mace*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MODIK
Mi (sill. 36-30), aid, with lets detail, by Joseph**
Ant. xiii. 6, § 6), but the restoration of which has
sitherto proved u difficult a puzzle ae that of the
mausoleum of Artemisia.
At Hodin the Maooabssan arrniei encamped on
•Jba eras of two of their most memorable victories
— that of Judas o>er Antioohus Eupator (3 Mace.
xiii. 14), and that of Simon over Cendebaus (1
Mace, xvi. 4) — the last battle of the veteran chief
before his assassination. The only indication of
the position of the place to be feathered from the
above notices is contained in the last, from which
wa may infer that it was near >< the plain " (to
wttUr), i- «. the great maritime lowland of Philis-
tta (ver. S). By Eusebius and Jerome (Omm.
MsjcWp and " Modim " ) it is specified as near
Diospolis, ». e. Lydda; while the notice in the Mish-
it* (PuaduM, ix. 8), and the comments of Batten-
on and Maimonides, state that it was 15 (Roman)
miles from Jerusalem. At the same time the de-
scription of the monument seems to imply (though
for this see below) that the spot was so lofty" as
to be visible from the sea, and so near that even the
eVitsili of the sculpture were discernible therefrom.
All these conditions, excepting the last, are tolera-
bly fulfilled in either of the two cites called Labia
and Kubibfi The former of these is, by the shortest
road — that through Wady Alt — exactly 15 Ro-
man miles Horn Jerusalem ; it is about 8 English
miles from Lydd, 15 from the Mediterranean, and
9 or 10 from the river Rubin, on which it is prob-
able that Cedron — the position of Cendebams in
Simon's battle — stood. Kubib is a couple of miles
further from Jerusalem, and therefore nearer to
Lydd and to the sea, on the most westerly spur of the
hub of Benjamin. Both are lofty, and both appar-
ently — Latrin certainly — command a view of the
Mediterranean. In favor of Latrin are the exten-
sive) ancient remains with which the top of the hill
is said to be covered (Rob. BibL Set. lii. 161;
Tobler, Drittt Wand. 186), though >f their age and
particulars we hare at present no accurate informa-
tion. Kubib appears to possess no ruins,' but on
the other hand its name may retain a trace of the
monument.
The medieval and modern tradition e places
Ifodin at Svba, an eminence south of KuiyA tU
Enab; but this being not more than miles from
Jerusalem, while it is as much as 25 fr—u Lydd and
30 from the sea, and also far removed from the
plain of Philiatia, is at variance with every one of
the oouditious implied in the records. It has found
advocates in our own day in M. de Saulcy (t Art
Judatqut, etc., 377, 378) and M. Salzmann; d the
latter of whom explored chambers there which may
have been tombs, though he admits that there was
•Othing to prove it. A suggestive fact, which Dr.
Robinson first pointed out, is the want of uua-
MODLN
1989
nimlty In the accounts of the mediaeval travellers,
some of whom, as William of Tyre (viii. 1), place
Modin in a position near Emmaus-Nioopolis, No)
(Aniuibeh), and Lydda. M. Mislin also — usual!}
so vehement in favor of the traditional sites — hai
recommended further investigation. If it should
turn out that the expression of the book of Macca-
bees as to the monument being visible from the
sea has been misinterpreted, then one impediment
to the reception of Sobu will be removed ; but it is
difficult to account for the origin of the tradition
in the teeth of those which remain.
The descriptions of the tomb by the author of
the book of Maccabees and Josephus, who had both
apparently seen it, will be most conveniently com-
pared by being printed together.
a Thus the Tolg. or 1 Mace. 1L 1 has Mont Modin.
» Bwaid ( Quck. Iv. 850, note) suggests that the name
Madia may be still surviving In Dtir JhVtn. But is
act this questionable oo philological ground! ? and
she position of Dtir Main Is less in aooonlues with
she tacts than that of the two named in the text.
* 8se the copious references given by Robinson
;mt. Ba. n. 7. note).
«* The lively account of M. Sslsmaan (Mnualm,
tmstt, etc, pp. 87, 88), would be more saustaotory If
< were less encumbered with mistakes. To name but
wo. The great obstacle which Interposes Itself is
Js quest of Modin la that Boaehlus and Jerome slate
Jeat it was « near Diospolis, on a mountain in the
1 Msec, xiii. 27-80.
"And Btmon mads a
building over the sepul-
chre of bis lather sad his
brethren, sod raised It
aloft to view with polished'
stone behind and before.
And he en up upon it
seven pyramlds,one sgaloi>t
another, for his father and
his mother and his four
brethren. And on these
he made engines of war,
and set great pillars roond
Jcsephos, Ant. xlll. 6, 5 8
" And Simon built a very
large monument to bis
lather and his brethren
of white and polish**!
stone. And he raised it
up to a great and conspic-
uous height, and threw
cloisters around, and set
up pillars of a single stone,
a work wonderful to be
hold : and near to these he
built seven pyramids to his
parents and his brothers,
about, and on the pillars he one for each, terrible to
made suits of armour for a behold both for siss and
perpetual memory ; and by beauty.
the suits of armour ships
carved, so that they might
be seen by all that sail on
the sea. This sepulchre
he made at Hodln, and It And these things an pre.
stands unto this day." {served even to this day "
The monuments are said by Eusebius ( Onom. )
to have been still showu when he wrote — A. t>.
circa 890.
Any restoration of the structure from so imper-
fect an account as the above can never be anything
more than conjecture. Something has been already
attempted jnder Maccabees (vol ii. p. 1715).
But in it* absence one or two questions present
themselves. [Tomb, Amer. ed.]
(1.) The "ships " (xAoia, tuiret). The sea and
its pursuits were so alien to the ancient Jews, and
the life of the Maccabsaan heroes who preceded
Simon was — if we except their casual relations
with Joppa and Jamnia and the battlefield of the
maritime plain — so unconnected therewith, that it
is difficult not to suppose that the word is cor-
rupted from what it originally was. This was the
view of J. O. Michaelis, but he does not propose
any satisfactory word in substitution for r\oia (see
his suggestion in Grim to, ad loc.). True, Simou
tribe of Judsb." This dlOculty (which however Is
entirely tmagtaaiy, for they do not mention the name
of Judah la connection with Modin) would hare been
" enough to deter him eutlmly from the task," if he
had not " found In the book of Joshua that M'dfcn
(from which Modlm Is derived) was a part of the terrt-
tory allotted to the tribe of Judah." Mow Mlddla
(not M'dlm) was certainly in the tribe of Judah, bat
not within many miles of the spot In question, sines
It was one of the six towns which Isy In the district
Immediately bordering on the Dead Sea, probably a
the depths of the QKor Itself (Josh. it. 61).
• AifWcWry. This Swald (Iv. 888) renders n b»
scribed, or " graven " — oesoeriseeiam Skintn
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1990
MOETH
tnpmrs to have been to a certain extent alive to
the iin|iortance of commerce to hu country," and
be is especially commemorated for having acquired
the harbor of Joppa, and thiu opened an inlet for
the isles of the sea (1 Mace. xiv. 6). But it is
difficult to see the connection between this and the
placing of ships on a monument to his father and
brothers, whose memorable deeds had been of a
different description- It is perhaps more feasible
to suppose that the sculptures were intended to be
symbolical of the departed heroes. In this case it
seems not improbable that during Simon's inter-
course with the Romans he had seen and been
struck with their war-galleys, no inapt symbols of
the fierce and rapid career of Judas. How far
such symbolical representation was likely to occur
to a Jew of that period is another question.
(2.) The distance at which the "ships " were to
be seen. Here again, when the necessary distance
of Modin from the sea — Latr&n 15 miles, KuMA
13, Lydda itself 10 — and the limited size of the
sculptures are considered, the doubt inevitably arises
whether the Greek text of the book of Maccabees
accurately represents the original. De Saulcy
(L'Atl Judntque, p. 377) ingeniously suggests that
the true meaning is, not that the sculptures could
be discerned from the vessels in the Mediterranean,
but that they were worthy to be inspected by those
who were sailors by profession. The consideration
of this is recommended to scholars. G.
MOT5TH (M«#: Mediai). In 1 Esdr. viii.
83, " Noadiah the son of Binnui " (Ezr. viii. 33),
a Levite, is called " Moeth the son of Sabban."
MOL'AD AH (rTjViD ; but in Neh. iTjbb
[birth, lineage] : MwAoSS, Alex. MinJaSa; [KaAa-
5a/*, Vat.'] KwAoAau, Alex. MuAaSa; [Vat.]
MomASa, [Horn.] Alex. MwAaJa: Molada), a city
of Judah, one of those which lay in the district of
"the south," next to Edom. It is named in the
original list between Shema and llazar-gaddah, in
the same group with Beer-sheba (Josh. xv. 36);
and this is confirmed by another list in which it
appears a* one of the towns which, though in the
allotment of Judah, were given to Simeon (xix. 2).
In the latter tribe it remained at any rate till the
reign of David (1 Chr. iv. 28), but by the time of
the Captivity it seems to have come back into the
hands of Judah, by whom it was reinhabited after
the Captivity (Neh. xi. 26). It is, however, omit-
ted from the catalogue of the places frequented by
David during his wandering life (1 Sam. xxx.
*7-81).
In the Onommtiam it receives a bare mention
Jnder the head of " Molada," but under " Ether "
uid " Iether " a place named Malatha is spoken of
is in the interior of Daroma (a district which
inswered to the Negeb or " South " of the He-
orews) ; and further, under « Arath " or 'Apcuut
(i. e. Arad) it is mentioned at 4 miles from the
latter place and 20 from Hebron. Ptolemy also
speaks of a Maliattha as near Elusa. And lastly,
Josephus states that Herod Agrippa retired to a
certain tower "in Malatha of Idunuea" (ty MaAtt-
Joir tt)i 'IS.). The requirements of these notices
re all very fairly answered by the position of the
dodern et-MUk, a site of ruins of some extent, and
a tat the notice of this bet I am indebted to the
1st. B. t. Weslcott.
» Bv Bebran (IX)) the trait*
Is quoted «t
MOLE
two large wells, one of the regular stations on the
road from Petra and Ain el-Wtibth to Hebron.
El- Milk is about 4 English miles from Tell Arad
17 or IS from Hebron, and 9 or 10 due east of.
Beer-sheba. Five miles to the south is Ararah,
the Ahokk of 1 Sam. xxx. 28. It is between 3t
and 30 from Elusa, assuming ei-Khvlatah to be
that place; and although Dr. Robinson is probably
correct in saying that there u> no verbal affinity,
or only a slight one, between Molada or Malatha
and d-MUhfi yet, taking that slight resemblance
into account with the other considerations above
named, it is very probable that this identification
is correct (see Bibl. Ret. ii. 201). It is fmwrrttd
by Wilson (Land,, i. 347), Van de Velde (Memoir,
p. 335), Bonar, and others. G.
MOLE, the representative in the A. V. of the
Hebrew words Tmthemeth and Chiphir perath.
1. Tinthemrth (nptPJW : iunriXa^, AM. mtir
Aa{, in Lev. xi. 30; \apot. Aid. Aapoj: cygnut,
talpa, Hit). This word occurs in the list of unclean
birds in Lev. xi. 18; Deut. xiv. 16, where it is
translated "swan" by the A. V.; in Lev. xi. 30,
where the same word is found amongst the unclean
"creeping things that creep upon the earth," it
evidently no longer stands for the name of a bird,
and is rendered " mole " by the A. V. adopting
the interpretation of the LXX., Vulg., Unkeks,
and some of the Jewish doctors. Bochart hat,
however, shown that the Hebrew Choled, the Arabic
Khuld or Khiid, denotes the " mole," and hat
argued with much force in behalf of the " chame-
leon " being the Untliemeth. The Syriac version
and some Arabic MSS. understand " a centipede "
by the original word, the Targutn of Jonathan a
" salamander," some Arabic versions read tam-
mabiat, which Golius renders " a kind of lizard."
In Lev. xi. 30, the " chameleon " is given by the
The C h a mel eon. (ChameUo vulgaris.)
A. V. as the translation of the Hebrew fls,
rAnch, which in all probability denotes some larger
kind of lizard. [Chameleon.] The only clew to
an identification of tinthemeih is to be found in its
etymology, and in the context in which the word
occurs. Bochart conjectures that the root c from
which the Hebrew name of this creature is derived,
has reference to a vulgar opinion amongst tie
ancients that the chameleon lived on dir (comp.
Ov. Met. xv. 411, " Id quoque quod ventis animal
nutritur et aura," and see numerous quotations
from classical authors cited by Bochart (flierm.
ii. 505). The lung of the chameleon is very large,
and when filled with air it renders the body semi-
transparent; from the creature's power of absti-
nence, no doubt arose the fable that it lived on air
Muladah ,' by Stewart ( Tent and Khan, p. 217) as «t
MWsea.
• DIP}, "to breathe," wbenes mpiPJ, « bnae»»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MOLECH
It h pt obable that the animals mentioned with the
Unhemeth (Lev. xi. 30) denote different kinda of
jktards; perhaps therefore, since the etymology of
the word is favorable to that view, the chameleon
may be the animal intended by timhtmtih in Lev.
xi. SO. As to the change of color in the skin of
this animal numerous theories have been proposed;
but as this subject has no Scriptural bearing, it
will be enough to refer to the explanation given by
Milne-Edwards, whose paper is translated in voL
xrii. of the Edinburgh Nob Philotophienl Journal.
The chameleon belongs to the tribe Dendrotiurn,
srder Saura ; the family inhabits Asia and Africa,
and the south of Europe; the C. vulgarit is the
species mentioned in the Bible. As to the bird
dnthemeth, see Swan.
3. Chlj>horper6tk(ri'ri§ "I'lDrj:" Ta/iaVoia:
talpa) is rendered " moles " by the 'A. V. in Is. ii.
90; three HSS. read these two Hebrew words as
one, and so the LXX-, Vulg., Aquila, Symmachus,
and Tbeodotion, with the Syriac and Araliic ver-
sions, though they adopt difierent interpretations
of the word (Bochart, Him*, ii. 449). It is diffi-
cult to see what Hebrew word the LXX. could
have read; but compare Schleusner, Nov. The*, in
LXX. *. v. pdraiai. Gesenius follows Bochart in
considering the Hebrew words to be the plural
feminine of the noun cliapharpjrih,'> but does not
limit the meaning of the word to " moles." Mi-
ehaelis also (SttppL ad Lest, //eft. p. 876 and 3043)
believes the words should be read as one, but that
" sepulchres," or " vaults " dug in the rocks are
intended. The explanation of Oedmann ( Vtr-
mitcht. Snmta. iii. 82, 83), that the Hebrew words
signify « (a bird) that follows cows for the sake of
their milk," and that the goat-sucker ( Caprimulgw
Ettropamt) is intended, is improbable. Perhaps
no reference is made by the Hebrew words (which,
as so few MSS. join them, it is better to consider
distinct) to any particular animal, but to the holes
and burrows of rata, mice, etc., which we know
frequent ruins and deserted places. (Harmer's
Obttiv, ii. 466.) "Remembering the extent to
which we have seen," says Kitto (PicL Bib. on
Is. xx.), " the forsaken sites of the East perforated
with the holes of various cave-digging animals, we
are inclined to suppose that the words might gen-
erally denote any animals of this description."
KosenmuUer s explanation, " in ejoaionem, i. e.
foramen Afmium," appears to be decidedly the
%st proposed ; for not only is it the literal trans-
ition of the Hebrew, but it is more in accordance
with the natural habits of rats and mice to occupy
wi'h bats deserted places than it is with the habits
jf moles, which for the most part certainly frequent
(ultivated lands, and this no doubt is true of the
, artknlar species, Bpalax typhlut, the mole-rat of
Syi is and Mesopotamia, which by some has been
supposed to represent the mole of the Scriptures ;
if, moreover, the prophet intended to speak exclu-
sively of "moles," is it not probable that he
would have used tfcj term Choled (see above)?
[Weasel.] W. H.
MO-LECH Cnbten, with the article, except
n 1 K. xL 7 [the long] : tpx»y, ln Lev > / Oatrt-
• Holes of rats."
• n")g")5Q« •• If the Hs jrew work was from
MOLECH 1991
\*vs cuVrfiv, 1 K. xi. 7; b MsAa*, 3 K. xxiii. 10.
and b MoAiv /3«nA«iSi, Jer. xxxii. 35: Moloch)
The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the
children of Ammon, and essentially identical with
the Moabitiah Chemosh. Fire-gods appear to have
been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian, and
Arab tribes, who worshipped the destructive ele-
ment under an outward symbol, with the most
inhuman rites. Among these were human sacri-
fices, purifications and ordeals by fire, devoting of
the first-born, mutilation, and vows of perpetual
celibacy and virginity. To this class of divinities
belonged the old Canaanitiah Molech, against whose
worship the Israelites were warned by threats of
the severest punishment. The offender who de-
voted his offspring to Molech was to be put to
death by stoning; and in case the people of the
land refused to inflict upon him this judgment,
Jehovah would Himself execute it, and cut him off
from among his people (Lev. xviii. 31, xx. 3-9).
The root of the word Molech is the same as that of
tJJP, melee, or " king," and hence be is identified
with Malcham ("their king"), in 3 Sam. xii. 30,
Zeph. i. 5, the title by which he was known to the
Israelites, as being invested with regal honors in
bis character as a tutelary deity, the lord and
master of his people. Our translators have recog-
nized this identity in their rendering of Am. v.
38 (where "your Moloch " is literally " your king,"
as it is given in the margin), following the Greek
in the speech of Stephen, in Acts vii. 43. Dr.
Geiger, in accordance with his theory that the
worship of Molech was far more widely spread
among the Israelites than appears at first sight
from the Old Testament, and that many traces are
obscured in the text, refers " the king," in Is. xxx.
33, to that deity : "for Tophet ii ordained of old ;
yea for the king it is prepared." Again, of the
Israelite nation, personified as on adulteress, it is
said, " Thou wentest to the king with oil " (Is. Ivii.
9); Amaziah the priest of Bethel forbade Amos to
prophecy there, "for it is the king't chapel " (Am.
vii. 13); and in both these instances Dr. Geiger
woidd find a disguised reference to the worship
of Molech (Urtehiifi, etc, pp. 299-308). But
whether his theory be correct or not, the traces of
Moloch-worship in the Old Testament are suffi-
ciently distinct to enable as to form a correct esti-
mate of its character. The first direct histories!
allusion to it is in the description of Solomon's
idolatry in bis old age. He had in his harem
many women of the Ammonite race, who " turned
away his heart after other gods," and, as a conse-
quence of their influence, high places to Molech,
the abomination of the children of Amnion,"
were built on " the mount that is facing Jerusa-
lem "' — one of the summits of Olivet (1 K. xi. 7).
Two verses before, the same deity is called Milcom,
and from the circumstance of the two names being
distinguished in 2 K. xxiii. 10, 13, it has been in-
ferred by Movers, Ewald, and others, that the two
deities were essentially distinct. There does not
appear to be sufficient ground for this conclusion.
It is true that in the later history of the Israelites
the worship of Molech is connected with the Valley
of Hinnom, while the high place of Milcom was
nn the Mount of Olives, and that no mention is
made of human sacrifices to the latter. But it
seems impossible to resist the conclusion that in
1 K. xi. "Milcom the abomination of the Am-
monites," in ver. 6, if the earn) as " Molech tki
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1992
MOLECH
abomination of the children of Amnion," in ver.
t. To avoid this Movers contends, not very con-
vincingly, that the latter verse is by a different
hand. Be this as it may, in the reformation car-
ried out by Josiah, the high place of Milcom, on
the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, and
Tophet in the valley of the children of Hinuom
were denied, that "no man might make his son or
his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech "
(S K. xxiii. 10, 13). In the narrative of Chroni-
cles these are included under the general term
" Baalim," and the apostasy of Solomon is not
once alluded to. Tophet soon appears to have been
restored to its original uses, for we find it again
alluded to, in the reign of Zedekiah, as the scene
of child-slaughter and sacrifice to Molech (Jer.
xxxli. 35).
Host of the Jewish interpreters, Jarchi (on Lev.
iviii. 91), Kimchi, and Maimonidea (Mor. tftb. Hi.
88) among the number, say that in the worship of
Molech the children were not burnt but made to
pus between two burning pyres, as a purificatory
rite. But the allusions to the actual slaughter are
too plain to be mistaken, and Aben Ezra in his note
on l»v. xviii. 21, says that "to cause to pass
through " is the same as " to burn." "They sac-
rificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and
of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the
idols of Canaan" (P». cvi. 37, 38). In Jer. vii.
31, the reference to toe worship of Molech by hu-
man sacrifice is still more distinct: "they have
built the high places of Tophet . . . to burn their
sons and their daughters in tht Jire" as " burnt-
offerings unto Baal," the sun-god of Tyre, with
whom, or in whose character, Molech was wor-
shipped (Jer. xix. 6). Compare also Deut. xii. 31 j
Kz. xvi. »), 21, xxiii. 37. But the most remark-
able passage is that in 2 Chr. xxriii. 8, in which
the wickedness of Abac is described: "Moreover,
he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom,
and burnt 05?t3) his children in the fire, after
the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah
had driven out before the children of Israel." Now,
in the parallel narrative of 2 K. xvi. 8, instead of
"'J?!! " and he burnt," the reading is TOST!,
'• he made to pass through," and Dr. Geiger sug-
gests that the former may be the true reading, of
which the latter is an easy modification, serving as
a euphemistic expression to disguise the horrible
nature of the sacrificial rite*. But it is more nat-
ural to suppose that it is an exceptional instance,
and that the true reading is 13SM, than to as-
sume that the other passages have been intention-
ally altered." Tbe worship of Molech is evidently
alluded to, though not expreosly mentioned, in con-
nection with star-worship and the worship of Baal
in 2 K. xvii. 16, 17, xxi. 6, 6, which seems to show
that Molech, the flame-god, and Baal, the sun-god,
whatever their distinctive attributes, and whether
or not the latter is a general appellation including
the former, were worshipped with the same rites.
The sacrifice of children is said by Movers to have
been not so much an expiatory, as a purificatory
4te, by which the victims were purged from the
Jross of tbe body and attained union with the
• We may Infer from the expression, "after the
saomlnatSons of the nations whom Jehovah had
krran out before the children of Israel," that the
MOLECH
deity. In support of this he quotes tht myth of
Baaltia or Isis, whom Malcander, king of Bybma,
employed as nurse for his child. Isis suckled tin
infant with her finger, and each night burnt what-
ever was mortal in its body. When Astarto the
mother saw this she uttered a cry of terror, and
the child was thus deprived of immortality (Hut.
U. f Ot. ch. 16). But the sacrifice of Mesha king
of Moab, when, in despair at failing to cut his way
through the overwhelming forces of Judah, Israel,
and Edom, he offered up his eldest son a burnt-
offering, probably to Chemosh, his national divin-
ity, has more of the character of an expiatory rrW
to appease an angry deity, than of a ceremjni>l
purification. Besides, the passage from Plvtarih
bears evident traces of Egyptian, if not of Indian
influence.
Acccording to Jewish tradition, from what
source we know not, the image of Molech was of
brass, hollow within, and was situated without
Jerusalem. Kimchi (on 2 K. xxiii. 10) describes it
as " set within seven chapels, and whoso offered fine
flour they open to him one of them, (whoso offered',
turtle-doves or young pigeons they open to him
two; a lamb, they open to him three; a ram, they
open to him four : a calf, they open to him five: an
ox, they open to him six, and so whoever offered his
son they open to him seven. And his face was
(that) of a calf, and his hands stretched forth like
a man who opens his hands to receive (something)
of his neighbor. And they kindled it with fire,
and tbe priests took the babe and put it into the
hands of Molech, and the babe gave up tbe ghost.
And why was it called Tophet and Hinnom ? Be-
cause they used to make a noise with drums (to-
phim), that the father might not hear the cry of
his child and have pity upon him, and return k
him. Hinnom, because the babe wailed (QH3&.
menahtm), and the noise of hie wailing went up.
Another opinion (is that it was called) Hinnom
because the priests used to say — " May it profit
(njIT) thee! may it be sweet to thee! may it
be of sweet savor to thee! " All this detail is
probably as fictitious as the etymologies are un-
sound, but we have nothing to supply its place.
Selden conjectures that the idea of the seven chap-
els may have been borrowed from tbe worship of
Mithra, who had seven gates corresponding to the
seven planets, and to whom men and women were
sacrificed (De DU Syr. Synt. 1. e. 6). Benjamin
of Tudela describes the remains of an ancient Am-
monite temple which he saw at Gebal, in which
was a stone image richly gilt seated on a throne.
On either side sat two female figures, and before it
was an altar on which the Ammonites anciently
burned incense and ottered sacrifice (Anrty TrnveU
m Palatint, p. 79, Bonn). By these chapels
Lightfoot explains the allusion in Am. v. 26 ; Acts
vii. 43, to " the tabernacle of Moloch ; " " these
seven chapels (if there be truth in the thing) help
us to understand what is meant by Molech's tab-
ernacle, and seem to give some reason why in the
Prophet he is called Skcuth, or the Covert tiod,
because he wss retired within so many Canceli
(far that word Kimchi useth) before one oouM
come at bin " ( Comm. on Ad* vii. 48/. It wis
character of the afolech-worshJp of the time of Abas
was eawntiallv the same as that of the oil Oanaaa
ltes, although Moron maintains the contar/.
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MOLECH
•ore probably a shrine or ark in which the figure
if the god ni carried in processions, or which
gontained, as Movers conjectures, th<) bones of chil-
dren who had been sacrificed and were used for
magical purposes. [Ammok, vol. i. p. 85 a.]
Han; instances of human sacrifices are found in
ancient writers, which may be compared with the
descriptions in the Old Testament of the manner
in which Moloch was worshipped. The Carthagin-
ians, according to Augustine (De Civil. Dei, vii.
19), offered children to Saturn, and by the Gauls
even grown-up persons were sacrificed, under the
idea that of all seeds the best is the human kind.
Euaebiua (Prop, Ev. iv 16) collected from Porphyry
numerous examples to the same effect, from which
the following are selected. Among the Rhodiani
a man was offered to Rronos on the 6th July; after-
wards a criminal condemned to death was substi-
tuted. The same custom prevailed in Salamis, but
wis abrogated by Diiphilus king of Cyprus, who
substituted an ox. According to Manetho, Ainosia
abolished the same practice in Egypt at Heliopolis
sacred to Juno. Sanchoniatho relates that the
Phoenicians, on the occasion of any great calamity,
sacrificed to Saturn one of their relatives. Istrus
says the same of the Curetes, but the custom was
abolished, according to Pallas, in the reign of Ha-
drian. At Laodicea a virgin was sacrificed yearly
to Athene, and the Dumatii, a people of Arabia,
buried a boy alive beneath the altar each year.
Diodorus Siculua (xx. 14) relates that the Cartha-
ginians, when besieged by Agathocles tyrant of
Sicily, offered in public sacrifice to Saturn 200 of
their noblest children, while others voluntarily de-
voted themselves to the number of 300. His de-
scription of the statue of the god differs but slightly
from that of Molech, which has been quoted. The
image was of brass, with its hands outstretched
towards the ground in such a manner that the
child when placed upon them fell into a pit full of
Are.
Molech, •' the king," was the lord and master of
the Ammonites; their country was his possession
(Jer. xlix. 1), as Moab was the heritage of Che-
mosh ; the princes of the land were the princes of
Malcham (Jer. xlix. 3; Am. i. 15). His priests
were men of rank (Jer. xlix. 3), taking precedence
of the princes. So the priest of Hercules at Tyre
was second to the king (Justin. xviiL 4, $ 5), and
like Molech, the god himself, Baal Chamman, is
Mdkart, " the king of the city." The priests of
Molech, like those of other idols, were called Che-
marim (2 K. xxxiii. 5; Hos. x. 5; Zeph. i. 4).
Traces of the root from which Molech is derived
are to be found in the Milichus, Malica, and Mai-
eander of the Phoenicians; with the last mentioned
may be compared Adramiuelech, the fire-god of
Bepharvaim. These, as well as Chemosh the fire-god
tf Moab, Urotal, Duaares, Sair, and Thyandrites,
if the Edomites and neighboring Arab tribes,
and the Greek Dionysus, were worshipped under
4m symbol of a rising flame of fire, which was
initated in the stone pillars erected in their honor
.Movers, Phaa. i. c. 9). Tradition refers the origin
}f the fire-worship to Chaldeea. Abraham and his
ancestors are raid to have been fire-worshippers,
•id the Assyrian and Chaldean armies took with
Vmo the sacred fire accompanied by the Magi.
MONEY
1998
a The crown of Malcham, taken by David at Bab-
tag Is said to have bad In It a precious stone (a mag-
t to Klmchl), which Is described by Cyril
There remains to be noticed one passage (2 Sam
xii. 31) in which the Hebrew written text ha.
1?79) malkin, while the marginal reading is
1??Z3> malbtn, which is adopted by our trans
lators in their rendering "brick-kiln." Kimohi
explains malken as " the place of Molech," where
sacrifices were offered to him, and the children of
Amnion made their sons to pass through the fire.
And Milcom and Malken, he says, are one.' On
the other hand Movers, rejecting the points, reads
7 5 7*3, ""'fcdn, "our king," which he explains
as the title by which he was known to the Ammo-
nites. Whatever may be thought of these inter-
pretations, the reading followed by the A. V. la
scarcely intelligible. W. A. W.
MOXI (MooA* [Vat. -A««]: MohoU). Mahu,
the son of Merari (1 Esdr. viii. 47 ; comp. Ear.
viii. 18).
MOTiEO (TVlD [ieoriter] : MaWjA; Alex.
Mot at: Malid). The son of Abishur by his will
Abihail, and descendant of Jerahmeel (1 Chr. if
29).
MOTiOCH. The Hebrew corresponding to
"your Moloch " in the A. V. of Amos v. 26 is
DJJ? ?J?, maOcektm, " your king," as in the mar-
gin. In accordance with the Greek of Acts vii.
43 (t KoKix'- Moloch), which followed the LXX.
of Amos, oar translators hare adopted a form of
the name Molech which does not exist in He-
brew. Kimchi, following the Targum, takes the
word as an appellative, and not as a proper name,
while with regard to siccuth (FPBD, A. V. " tab-
ernacle ") he holds the opposite opinion. His note
is as follows: " Siccuth Is the name of an idol;
and (as for) maliekem he spake of a star which
was made an idol by its name, and he calls it
1 king,' because they thought it a king over them,
or because it was a great star in the host of heaven,
which was as a king over his host; and so ' to burn
incense to the queen of heaven,' as I have explained
in the book of Jeremiah." Gesenius compares
with the " tabernacle " of Moloch the sacred tent
of the Carthaginiana mentioned by Diodorus (xx.
65). Rosenmiiiler. and after him Ewald, under-
stood by riccuth a pole or stake on which the figure
of the idol was placed. It was more probably a
kind of palanquin in which the image was carried
in processions, a custom which is alluded to in Is.
xlvi. 1; Epist. of Jer. 4 (Selden, D» Dts Syr. Sp*.
I. c 6). W. A. W
• MOLTEN IMAGE. [Idol, 91.].
• MOLTEN SEA. [Ska, Moltkn.]
MOMDIS (MopSior ; [Vat. Mo/a5«or;] Aim
MofiSttf. Mondial). The same as Maadai, of
the sons of Bani (1 Esdr. ix. 34; comp. Ear. x.
34).
MONEY. This article treats of two principal
matters, the uncoined money and the coined money
mentioned in the Bible. Before entering upon the
first subject of inquiry, it will be necessary to speak
of uncoined money in general, and of the antiquity
of coined money. An account of the principal mon-
etary systems of ancient times is an equally need-
on Amos as transparent and Ilk* the day-saw,
Moleeh has gnmndtassiy been Identified with th»s*aaar
Venus (Tosslas, Dt Orig. Idol., II. c. 5,pvKU
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1994
MONEY
hi Introduction to the second subject, which re-
jnires a special knowledge of the Greek coinages.
A. notice of the Jewish coins, and of the coins cur-
rent in Judaea as late as the time of Hadrian, will
be interwoven with the examination of the passages
in the Bible and Apocrypha relating to them, in-
stead of being separately given.
I. Uncoined Mosey. 1. Uncoined Monty in
general. — It has been denied by some that there
ever has been any money not coined, but this is
merely a question of terms. It is well known that
ancient nations that were without a coinage weighed
the precious metals, a practice represented on the
Egyptian monuments, on which gold and silver are
shown to have been kept in the form of rings (see
eat, p. 1998). The gold rings found in the Celtic
countries have been held to have had the same use.
It has indeed been argued that this could not have
been the case with the latter, since they show no
monetary system; yet it is evident from their
weights that they all contain complete multiples or
parts of a unit, so that we may fairly suppose that
the Celts, before they used coins, had, like the
ancient Egyptians, the practice of keeping money
in rings, which they weighed when it was neces-
sary to pay a fixed amount. We have no certain
record of the use of ring-money or other uncoined
money in antiquity excepting among the Egyptians.
With them the practice mounts up to a remote
age, and was probably as constant, and perhaps as
regulated with respect to the weight of the rings,
as a coinage. It can scarcely be doubted thai the
highly civilized rivals of the Egyptians, the As-
syrians and Babylonians, adopted if they did not
originate this custom, clay tablets having been
found specifying grants of money by weight (Kaw-
linson, Her. vol. 1. p. 681); and there is therefore
every probability that it obtained also in Palestine,
although seemingly unknown in Greece in the time
before coinage was there introduced. There is no
trace in Egypt, however, of any different size in
the rings represented, so that there is no reason for
supposing that this further step was taken towards
the invention of coinage.
9. The Antiquity of Coined Monty. — Respect-
ing the origin of coinage, there are two accounts
seemingly at variance: some saying that Phidon
king of Argos first struck money, and according to
Ephorus, in j£gina; but Herodotus ascribing its
mention to the Lydians. The former statement
wohably refers to the origin of the coinage of
European Greece, the latter to that of Asiatic
Greece; for it seems, judging from the coins them-
selves, that the electrum staters of the cities of the
coast of Asia Minor were first issued as early as
the silver coins of Agina, both classes appearing
to comprise the most ancient pieces of money that
ire known to us. When Herodotus speaks of the
Lydlant, there can be no doubt that be refers not
x> the currency of Lydia as a kingdom, which
iscim to commence with the darics and similar
lilver piecei now found near Sardis, and probably
Vf the time of Croesus, being perhaps the same as
Jie staters of Croesus (Kpoio-tToi, Jul. Poll.), of
tie ancients; but that he intends the money of
fireek cities at the time when the coins were issued
.*• later under the authority of the Lydians. If we
xmcliide that coinage commenced in European and
Asiatic Greece about the same time, the next ques-
tion is whether we can approximately determine
Sin data. This is extremely difficult, since there
cm no ooin« of known period before the time of the
MONEY
expedition of Xerxes. The pieces of that age an
of so archaic a style, that it is hard, at first sight,
to believe that there is any length of time between
them and the rudest and therefore earliest of the
coins of jEgina or the Asiatic coast. It must
however, be recollected that in some conditions of
art its growth or change is extremely slow, and
that this was the case in the early period of Greek
art seems evident from the results of the excava-
tions on what we may believe to be the oldest sites
in Greece. The lower limit obtained from the
evidence of the coins of known date, may perhaps
be conjectured to be two, or at most three, centuries
before their time; the higher limit is as vaguely
determined by the negative evidence of the Homeric
writings, of which we cannot guess the age, except-
ing as before the first Olympiad. On the whole it
seems reasonable to carry up Greek coinage to the
8th century b. c. Purely Asiatic coinage cannot
be taken up to so early a date. The more archaic
Persian coins seem to be of the time of Darius
Hystaspis, or possibly Cyrus, and certainly not
much older, and there is no Asiatic money, not
of Greek cities, that can be reasonably assigned to
an early period Croesus and Cyrus probably orig-
inated this branch of the coinage, or else Darius
Hystaspis followed the example of the Lydian king.
Coined money may therefore have been known in
Palestine as early as the fall of Samaria, but only
through commerce with the Greeks, and we cannot
suppose that it was then current there.
8. Notices of Uncoined Monty in the 0. T. —
There is no distinct mention of coined money in
the books of the 0. T. written before the return
from Babylon. The contrary was formerly sup-
posed to be the case, partly because the word shekel
has a vague sense in later times, being used for a
coin as well as a weight. Since however there is
some seeming ground for the older opinion, we may
here examine the principal passages relating to
money, and the principal terms employed, in the
books of the Bible written before the date above
mentioned.
In the history of Abraham we read that Abime-
lech gave the patriarch " a thousand [pieces] of
silver," apparently to purchase veils for Sarah and
her attendants; but the passage is extremely diffi-
cult (Gen. xx. 16). The LXX. understood shekels
to be intended (^fXia titoaxna, '■ e. also ver. 14)
and there can be no doubt that they were right,
though the rendering is accidentally an unfortunate
one, their equivalent being the name of a coin.
The narrative of the purchase of the burial place
from Ephron gives us further insight into the use
bf money at that time. It is related that Abraham
offered " full silver " for it, and that Ephron valued
it at " four hundred shekels of silver," which ac-
cordingly the patriarch paid. We read, "And
Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham
weighed PpBJ'l) to Ephron the silver, which he
bad named in the audience of the sons of Heth.
four hundred shekels of silver, current with the
merchant" ("TTtb 1 ? I^S, xxiii.8 ad Jin. cap. 9
16). Here a currency is flearly indicated Bke tb«»
which the monuments of Egypt show to have been
there nsed iu a very remote age ; for the weighing
proves that this currency, like the Egyptian, did
not bear the stamp of authority, and was therefore
weighed when employed in commerce. A similai
purchase is recorded of Jacob, who bought a pans
of a field at Shaiem for a hundred kesitahs (xxxih
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18, 19). The occurrence of a name different from
shekel, mad, unlike it, not distinctly applied in any
other passage to a weight, favors the idea of coined
money. But what ia the ketUa/i (n^t&p)? The
aid interpreters supposed it to mean a lamb, and it
has been imagined to have been a coin bearing the
figure of a lamb. There is no known etymological
ground for this meaning, the lost root, if we com-
pare the Arabia fa -*i " he or it divided equally,"
being perhaps connected with the idea of division.
Yet the sanction of the LXX., and the use of
weights having the forms of lions, bulls, and geese,
by the Egyptians, Assyrians, and probably Persians,
mm Lspsras, DenbiDtUr, Abth. HI. at SB, No. 8. Be*
also Wilkinson's Ant. Eg. II. 10, for weights in the
Arm of a cronchlng antelope : and eomp. Layard's
Ifin and Bob. pp. 800-602.
: make us hesitate before we abandon a render-
ing so singularly confirmed hy the relation of the
Latin Oceania and pteut. Throughout the history
of Joseph we find evidence of the constant use of
money in p re fe r en ce to barter. This is clearly shown
in the case of the famine, when it is related that
all the money of Egypt and Canaan was paid for
eorn, and that then the Egyptians had recourse to
barter (irrii. 13-96). It would thence appear that
money was not very plentiful. In the narrative of
the visits of Joseph's brethren to Egypt, we find
that they purchased com with money, which was,
as In Abraham's time, weighed silver, for it is
spoken of by them as having been restored to their
•aeks in "its [full] weight" (xliii. 21). At the
time of the exodus, money seems to have been still
weighed, for the ransom ordered in the Law is
stated to be half a shekel for each man — " half a
shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary [of] twenty
gerahs the shekel " (Ex. xxx. 13). Here the shekel
is evidently a weight, and of a special system of
which the standard examples were probably kept by
the priests. Throughout the Law, money is spoken
of as in ordinary use; but only silver money, gold
being mentioned as valuable, but not clearly as used
ki the same manner. This distinction appears at
the time of the conquest of Canaan, when covetous
Achan found in Jericho "a goodly Babylonish
garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a
tongue of gold of fifty shekels weight" (Josh. vh.
11). Throughout the period before the rttom from
Jabyton this distinction seeme to obtain: whenever
anything of the character of ssoney is mentioned
the usual metal is sttrer, and gold generally occurs
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as the material of ornaments and costly works. A
passage in Isaiah has indeed been supposed to show
the use of gold coins in that prophet's time: speak-
ing of the makers of idols, he says, " They lavish
gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance "
(jlvi. 6). The mention of a bag is, however, s
very insufficient reason for the supposition that the
gold was coined money. Rings of gold may have
been used for money in Palestine as early as this
time, since they had been long previously so used
in Egypt; but the passage probably refers to the
people of Babylon, who may have had uncoined
money in both metals like the Egyptians. A still
more remarkable paasage would be that in Ezekkl,
which Gesenius supposes (Lex. s. v. fi|J?np) to
mention brass as money, were there any sound
reason for following the Vulg. in the literal render-
ing of Tjritpnj Tjsyn 75i, ?**» 4**** «•>
ea tuum, instead of reading " because thy filthiness
was poured out" with the A. V. (xvi. 36). The
context does indeed admit the idea of money, but
the sense of the passage does not seem to do so,
whereas the other translation ia quite in accordance
with it, as well as philologically admissible (see
Geeen. Lex. 1. c. )■ The use of brass money at this
period seems unlikely, as it was of later introduction
in Greece than money of other metals, at least silver
and electrum : it has, however, been supposed that
that there was an independent copper coinage in
further Asia before the introduction of silver money
by the Seleucidas and the Greek kings of Bac-
triana.
We may thus sum up our results respecting the
money mentioned in the books of Scripture written
before the return from Babylon. From the time
of Abraham silver money appears to have beer in
general use in Esrypt and Canaan. This money
was weighed when its value had to be determined,
and we may therefore conclude that it waa not of a
settled aystem of weights. Since the money of
Egypt and that of Canaan are spoken of together
in the account of Joseph's administration during
the famine, we may reasonably suppose they were
of the same kind ; a supposition which is confirmed
by our finding, from the monuments, that the Egyp-
tians used uncoined money of gold and of silver.
It is even probable that the form in both cases was
similar or the same, since the ring-money of Egypt
resembles the ordinary ring-money of the Celts,
among whom it was probably first introduced by
the Phoenician traders, so that it is likely that this
form generally prevailed before the introduction of
coinage. We find no evidence in the Bible of the
use of coined money by the Jews before the time
of Ezra, when other evidence equally shows that it
was current in Palestine, its general use being prtb-
ably a very recent change. This first notice of
coinage, exactly when we should expect it, is not
to be overlooked as a confirmation of the usual
opinion as to the dates of the several books of Scrip-
ture founded on their internal evidence and the
testimony of ancient writers ; and It lends no sup-
port to those theorists who attempt to show that
there have been great changes in the text. Minor
confirmations of this nature will be found in the
i ater part of this article.
II. CODIKD Mokky. 1. The Principal Mone-
tary Sytlevu of Antiquity. — Some notice of the
principal monetary systems of antiquity, as deter-
mined by the Joint evidence of the coins and of
ancient writers, ia necessary to render the next
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■action comprehensible. We mtut here distinctly I
lay down what we mean by the different systems
with which we shall compare the Hebrew coinage,
u current works are generally very vague and dis-
cordant on this subject. The common opinions
respecting the standards of antiquity have been
formed from a study of the statements of writers
sf different sge and authority, and without a due
discrimination between weights and coins. The
coins, instead of being taken as the basis ot all
hypotheses, have been cited to confirm or refute
previous theories, and thus no legitimate induction
has been formed from their study. If the contrary
method is adopted, it has firstly the advantage of
resting upon the indisputable authority of monu-
ments which have not been tampered with; and,
in the second place, it is of an essentially inductive
character. The result simplifies the examination
of the statements of ancient writers, by showing
that they speak of the same thing by different names
on account of a change which the coins at once
explain, and by indicating that probably at least
one talent was only a weight, not used for coined
money unless weighed in a mass.
The earliest Greek coins, by which we here intend
those struck in the age before the Persian War,
are of three talents or standards: the Attic, the
£ginetan, and the Macedonian or earlier Phoe-
nician. The oldest coins of Athens, of /Egina.
and of Hacedon and Thrace, we should select as
typical respectively of these standards; obtaining
as the weight of the Attic drachm about 67-5 grains
troy ; of the jEginetan, about 98 ; and of the Mace-
donian, about 68 — or 116, if its drachm be what
is now generally held to be the didrachm. The
plectrum coinage of Asia Minor probably affords
examples of the use by the Greeks of a fourth
talent, which may be called the later Phoenician,
if we hold the staters to have been tetrabrachius,
for their full weight is about 248 grs. ; but it is
possible that the pure gold which they contain,
about 186 grs., should alone be taken into account,
in which case they would be didrachms on the
£ginetan standard. Their division into sixths
(hecte) may be urged on either side. It may be
nipposed that the division into oboli was retained :
wit then the half hecta has its proper name, and
a not called an obolus. However this may be, the
gold and silver coins found at Sardis, which we
may reasonably assign to Cronus, are of this weight,
and may be taken as its earliest examples, without
of course proving it was a Greek system. They
give a tetradrachm, or equivalent, of about 246
/trains, and a drachm of 61-5 : but neither of these
joins is found of this early period. Among these
systems the Attic and the /Eginetan are easily
recognized in the classical writers; and the Mace-
Ionian is probably their Alexandrian talent of gold
and silver, to be distinguished from the Alexan-
drian talent of copper. Respecting the two Phoe-
nician talents there is some difficulty. The Eubolc
talent of the writers we recognize nowhere in the
soinage. It is useless to search for isolated in-
stances of Eubolc weight in Euboee and elsewhere,
when the coinage of the island and ancient coins
generally afford no class on the stated Eubolc
•eight It is still more unsound to force an agree-
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ment between the Macedonian talent of the coins
and the Eubolc «f the writers. It may be sap-
posed that the Eubolc talent was never used for
money; and the statement of Herodotus, that the
king of Persia received his gold tribute by this
weight, may mean no more than that it was
weighed in Eubolc talents. Or perhaps the near-
ness of the Eobolc talent to the Attic caused the
coins struck on the two standards to approximate
in their weights; as the Cretan coins on the
jEginetau standard were evidently lowered in weight
by the influence of the Asiatic ones on the later
Phoenician standard.
We must now briefly trace the history of these
talents.
(a.) The Attic talent was from a very early
period the standard of Athens. If Solon really
reduced the weight, we have no money of the city
of the older currency. Corinth followed the sum
system; and its use was diffused by the great
influence of these two leading cities. In Sicily
and Italy, after, in the case of tie former, a limited
use of the ./Egfnetau talent, the Attic weight be-
came universal In Greece Proper the jEginetan
talent, to the north the Macedonian, and in Asia
Minor and Africa the later Phoenician, were long
its rivals, until Alexander made the Attic standard
universal throughout his empire, and Carthage
alone maintained an independent system. After
Alexander's time the other talents were partly
restored, but the Attic always remained the chief.
From the earliest period of which we have speci-
mens of money on this standard to the time of the
Koman dominion it suffered a great depreciation,
the drachm falling from 67-5 grains to about 65-5
under Alexander, and about 65 under the early
Csnars. Its later depreciation was rather by adul-
teration than by lessening of weight.
(6.) The .£ginetan talent was mainly used in
Greece Proper and the islands, and seems to hare
been annihilated by Alexander, unless indeed after-
wards restored in one or two remote towns, ss
Leucas in Acarnania, or by the general issue of a
coin equally assignable to it or the Attie standard
as a hemidrachm or a tttrobolon.
(c. ) The Macedonian talent, besides being used
in Macedon and in some Thracian cities before
Alexander, was the standard of the great Phoe-
nician cities under Persian rule, and was afterwards
restored in most of them. It was adopted in
Egypt by the first Ptolemy, and also mainly used
by the later Sicilian tyrants, whose money we
believe imitates that of the Egyptian sovereigns.
It might have been imagined that Ptolemy did not
borrow the talent of Macedon, but struck money
on the standard of Egypt, which the commerce of
that country might have spread in the Mediter-
ranean in a remote age, had not a recent discorery
shown that the Egyptian standard of weight was
much heavier, and even in excess of the .£ginetan
drachm, the unit being above 140 grs., the half
of which, again, is greater than any of the drachms
of the other three standards. It cannot therefore
be compared with any of them.
(d. ) The later Phoenician talent was always used
for the official coinage of the Persian kings and
commanders," and after the earliest period was very
a Mr. Waddtngton has shown (JKftaigra dr JVswris-
•KtfifiK) that the so-called coins of the satraps were
saver issued excepting when these governors were in
sajmuand of expeditions, and wen therefore Invested
with special powers. This discovery expiates
putting to death of Arjrandas, satrap of a\r/pt,
striking a coinage of bis tva.
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reneral in the Persian empire. After Alexander, it
m scarcely und excepting in coast-towns of Asia
Minor, at Carthage, and in the Phoenician town of
Andus-
Reapecting the Roman coinage it is only neces-
sary here to state that the origin of the weight!
of it* gold and ailver money U undoubtedly Greek,
and that the denarius, the chief coin of the latter
metal, waa under the early emperors equivalent to
the Attic drachm, then greatly depreciated.
3. Coined Money mentioned in the Bible, — The
earliest distinct mention of coins in the Bible is
held to refer to the Persian money. In Ezra (ii.
89, viii. 27) and Nebemiah (vii. 70, 71, 72) current
gold coins are spoken of under the name PD?*T3>
T'S'TJH) which only occur! in the plural, and ap-
pears to correspond to the Greek ora/rip Arar-
at or Aap*uc6s, the Daric of numismatists, fhe
renderings of the LXX. and Vulg., ypoaovt, toli-
dta, drachma, especially the first and »econd, lend
weight to the idea that this was the standard gold
coin at the time of Kara and Nehemiah, and this
would explain the use of the same name in the
First Book of Chronicles (xxix. 7), in the account
of the offerings of David's great men for the Tem-
ple, where it would be employed instead of shekel,
as a Greek would use the term stater. [See Art.
Dabic.]
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Darin. Obr. : King of Persia to the right, kneeling,
bearing bow and javelin. Bar. : Irregular lncusa
square. British Museum.
The Apocrypha contains the earliest distinct
allusion to the coining of Jewish money, where It
■ narrated, in the First Book of Maccabees, that
Antiocbns VII. granted to Simon the Maccabee
permission to coin money with his own stamp, as
well as other privileges (Kal ixirpt^d <roi i-oiqtrcu
xi/ijta foW vipucua irfj X"Pf crav. XT - 8). This
waa in the fourth year of Simon's pontificate, n. c.
140. It must be noted that Demetrius II. had in
the first year of Simon, B. c. 148, made a most
important decree granting freedom to the Jewish
people, which gave occasion to the dating of their
contracts and covenants, — •' In the first year of
Simon the great high-priest, the leader, and chief
of the Jews" (xiil. 34-42), a form which Josephus
gives differently, " In the first year of Simon,
benefactor of the Jews, and ethnarch " (Ant. xiii.
«)•
The earliest Jewish coins were until lately con-
sidered to have been struck by Sfnon on receiving
Ute permission of Antiochus VII. They may be
thus described, following M. de Saulcy's arrange-
ment: —
KLVKR.
1. btnUP bpW, •< Shekel of Israel" Vase,
shove which S [Tear] 1.
I? n»"TP nbtt»TT, "Jerusalem the holy."
Bnooh bearing three floras. M.
9. bptDH >Sn, "Half-shekel." Same typt
and date.
IT/ HUnp thlDT)\ Same type. A. (Cat-
B. M.
8. ^T\W< VpU7, » Shekel of Israel." Sams
type, above which 3U7 (3 PQW), " Year S."
V n»npn D^W. Same type. A
♦. bpwn "»Sn. "Half-shekel." Same typt
and date.
Iff ntDTTpn D^nV Same type. JR.
5. bfcTlttP bpU7, "Shekel of Israel." Suns
type, above which 2W (3 PQW), « Year 8."
rj nampn a>bwrr* m same type. *
(Cut) B. M.
CUtTBK.
1. "Sri »3"W raw, "Year four: Half"
A fruit, between two Mantes*
*? 7VS nbr«lb, "Of the redemption of
Zion." Palm-tree between two battel* t &.
8. 9^1 V3HH raw, "Year four: Quarter
TwosAeosetf
^f ITS nbwb, « Of the redemption of
Zion." A fruit. JL (Cut) Mr. Wigan's col
lection.
8. »3"TH n3»,«Year fbur.'
twean two fruit*?
AsUjf b»
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ty ITS n^MJ 1 ?, "Of the redemption of
Zion." Vase. M. (Cut) Wlgan.
11m average weight of the silver coins is about
UO grains troy for the shekel, and 110 for the
half-ehekeL" The name, from bi?B7, shows that
the shekel was the Jewish stater. The determina-
tion of the standard weight of the shekel, which,
be it remembered, was a weight as well as a coin,
and of its relation to the other weights used by
the Hebrews, belongs to another article [Weights
and Measubks] : here we have only to consider
its relation to the different talents of antiquity.
The shekel corresponds almost exactly to the tetra-
drachm or didrachm of the earlier Phoenician talent
in use in the cities of Phoenicia under Persian
rule, and after Alexander's time at Tyre, Sidon,
and Berytus, as well as in Egypt. It is repre-
sented in the LXX. by didrachm, a rendering
which has occasioned great difficulty to numis-
matists. Col. Leake suggested, but did not adopt,
what we have no douht is the true explanation.
After speaking of the shekel as probably the Phoe-
nician and Hebrew unit of weight, he adds: " This
weight appears to have been the same as the
Egyptian unit of weight, for we learn from Hora-
pollo that the Moyis, or unit, which they held to
be the basis of all numeration, was equal to two
drachmae; and HSpaypav is employed synony-
mously with o-fxAoi for the Hebrew word shekel
by the Greek Septuagint ; consequently, the shekel
and the didrachmon were of the same weight. I
am aware that some learned commentators are
of opinion that the translators here meant a di-
drachmon of the Greece-Egyptian scale, which
weighed about 110 grains ; but it is hardly credible
that SiSpaxMoy should have been thus employed
without any distinguishing epithet, at a time when
the Ptolemaic scale was yet of recent origin [in
Egypt], the word didrachmon on the other hand,
having for ages been applied to a silver money, of
about 130 grains, in the currency of all cities which
follow the Attio or Corinthian standard, as well as
in the silver money of Alexander the Great and
[most of J his successors. In all these currencies,
as well as in those of Lydia and Persia, the stater
was an Attic didrachmon, or, at least, with no
greater difference of standard than occurs among
modern nations using a denomination of weight or
measure common to all; and hence the word Sl-
%paYfior was at length employed as a measure of
veight, without any reference to its origin in the
ittic drachma. Thus we find the drachma of gold
iescribed sa equivalent to ten didrachma, and the
half-shekel of the Pentateuch, translated by the
8aptaagint re f//uorv rov o*iop4°xpov. There oan
ie no doubt, therefore, that the Attic, and not
Jka GraBOO-Egyptian didrachmon, was intended by
a Ootns an not always exact fa relative weight; In
MSB* modern ooinagas the smaller coins are Intention-
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them." He goes on to conjecture that Mcses
adopted the Egyptian unit, and to state the Im-
portance of distinguishing between the Mosaic
weight and the extant Jewish shekel. "It ap-
pears," he continues, " that the half-ehekel of ran-
som had, in the time of our Saviour, been converted
into the payment of a didrachmon to the Temple:
and two of these didrachma formed a stater of the
Jewish currency. This stater was evidently the
extant ' Shekel Israel,' which was a tetradrachmon
of the Ptolemaic scale, though generally below the
standard weight, like most of the extant specimens
of the Ptolemies; the didrachmon paid to the
Temple was, therefore, of the same monetary scale.
Thus the duty to the Temple was converted from
the half of an Attic to the whole of a Ptolemaic
didrachmon, and the tax was nominally raised in
the proportion of about 106 to 65; but probably
the value of silver had fallen as much in the two
preceding centuries. It was natural that the Jews,
when they began to strike money, should have
revived the old name shekel, and applied it to their
stater, or principal coin ; and equally so, that they
should have adopted the scale of the neighboring
opulent and powerful kingdom, the money of which
they must have long been in the habit of employ-
ing. The inscription on the coin appears to have
been expressly intended to distinguish the mone-
tary shekel or stater from the Shekel ha-Kodesb,
or Shekel of the Sanctuary." Appendix to JVu-
miimtta ffeUenica, pp. S, 3.
The great point here gained is that the Egyptian
unit was a didrachm, a conclusion confirmed by the
discovery of an Egyptian weight not greatly ex-
ceeding the Attic didrachm. The conjecture, how-
ever, that the LXX. intend the Attic weight is
forced, and leads to this double dilemma, the sup-
position that the didrachm of the LXX. is a shekel
and that of the N. T. half a stater, which is the
same as half a shekel, and that the tribute was
greatly raised, whereas there is no evidence that in
the N. T. the term didrachm is not used in exactly
the same sense as in the LXX. The natural ex
planation seems to us to be that the Alexandrian
Jews adopted for the shekel the term didrachm as
the common name of the coin corresponding in
weight to it, and that it thus became in Hebra-
istic Greek the equivalent of shekel. There is no
grouud for supposing a difference in use in the
LXX. and N. T., more especially as there happen
to have been few, if any, didrachma current in Pal-
estine in the time of our Lord, a fact which gives
great significance to the finding of the stater in the
fish by St. Peter, showing the minute accuracy of
the Evangelist. The Ptolemaic weight, not being
Egyptian but Phoenician, chanced to agree with
the Hebrew, which was probably derived from the
same source, the primitive system of Palestine, and
perhaps of Babylon also. — Respecting the weights
of the copper coins we cannot as yet speak with
any confidence.
The fabric of the silver coins above described is
so different from that of any other ancient money,
that it is extremely hard to base any argument on
it alone, and the oases of other special classes, as
the ancient money of Cyprus, show the danger ot
such reasoning. Some have been disposed to « n-
sider that it proves that these coins cannot be later
than the time of Nebemiah, others will not admit
ally heavier than they would be If exact
the larger.
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t to be later than Alexander'! time, while tome
•till hold that it is not too archaic for the Macca-
oean period. Against Its being assigned to the
earlier dates we may remark that the forms are too
exact, and that apart from style, which we do not
exclude in considering fabric, the mere mechanical
work is like that of the coins of Phoenician towns
struck under the Seieucida;. The decisive evidence,
however, is to be found by a comparison of the
copper coins which cannot be doubted to complete
the aeries. These, though in some cases of a sim-
ilar style to the silver coins, are generally far more
like the undoubted pieces of the Maccabees.
The inscriptions of these coins, and all the other
Hebrew inscriptions of Jewish coins, are in a char-
acter ef which there are few other examples. As
Gesenius has observed (f.'rniu. § 5), it liears a
Strang resemblance to the Samaritan and Phoeni-
cian, and we may add to the Aratnean of coins,
which must be carefully distinguished from the
Aranuean of the papyri found in %ypt.° The use
of this character does not afford any positire evi-
dence as to age; but it is important to notice that,
although it is found upon the Maccabean coins,
there is no pabeographic reason why the pieces of
doubtful time bearing it should not be ss early as
the Persian period.
The meaning of the inscriptions does not offer
matter for controversy. Their nature would indi-
cate a period of Jewish freedom from Greek influ-
ence as well as independence, and the use of an
era dating from its commencement The form used
ou the copper coins clearly shows the second and
third points. It cannot be supposed that the dating
is by the sabbatical or jubilee year, since the re-
demption of Zion is particularised. These are sep-
arated from the known Maccabean and later coins
by the absence of Hellenism, and connected with
them by the want of perfect uniformity in their in-
scriptions, a point indicative of a time of national
decay like that which followed the dominion of the
earlier Maccabees. Here it may be remarked that
the idea of Cavedoni, that the form CbttfW,
succeeding in the second year to D?tt7T"f\ Is to
be taken ss a dual, because in that year (accord-
ing to his view of the age of the coins) the fortress
of Sion wss taken from the Syrians {Num. Bibl.
p. S3), notwithstanding its ingenuity must, as De
Saulcy has already said, be considered untenable.
The old explanation of the meaning of the types
of the shekels and half-shekels, that they represent
the pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded,
SMnt to us remarkably consistent with the inscrip-
Uu** and with what we should expect. Cavedoni
has suggested, however, that the one type is simply
s vase of the Temple, and the other a lily, arguing
against the ok) explanation'of the former that the
pot of manna had a cover, which this vase has not.
But it may be replied, that perhaps this vase hsd
a flat cover, that on later coins a vase is represented
both with and without a cover, and that the differ-
ent forma given to toe vase which is so constant on
the Jewish coins seem to indicate that it is a rep-
■ceentation of something like tht pot of manna lost
when Nebuchadneasar took Jerusalem, antf :f
which there wis therefore only a tradiJonal r-col-
jctiao.
a Res Mr. Waddlngtou's paper on the so celled ss-
s (MUtamgu dt Numimatitjtu).
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Respecting the exact meaning of the types of the
copper, save the vase, it is difficult to form a prob-
able conjecture. They may reasonably be supposed
to have a reference to the great festivals of the
Jewish year, which were connected with thanks-
giving for the fruits of the earth. But it may, on
the other hand, be suggested that they merely in-
dicate the product* of the Holy Land, the fertility
of which is so prominently brought forward iu the
Scriptures. With this idea the representation of
the vine-leaf and bunch of grapes upon the later
coins would seem to tally ; but it must be recol-
lected that the lower portion of a series generally
shows a departure or divergence from the higher in
the intention of its types, so as to be an unsafe
guide in interpretation.
Upon the copper coins we have especially to ob-
serve, as already hinted, that they form an impor-
tant guide in judging of the age of the silver.
That they really belong to the same time is not to
be doubted. Everything but the style proves this.
Their issue in the 4th year, after the silver cease
in the 3d year, their types and inscriptions, leave
no room for doubt. The style is remarkably dif-
ferent, and we have selected two specimens for en-
graving, which afford examples of their diversity.
We venture to think that the difference between
the silver coins engraved, and the small copper
coin, which most nearly resembles them in the
form of the letters, is almost ss great as that be-
tween the large copper one and the copper pieces
of John Hyrcanus. The sm.Ul copper coin, be it
remembered, more nearly resembles the silver money
than does the large one.
From this inquiry we may lay down the follow-
ing particulars as a basis for the attribution of this
class. 1. The shekels, half-shekels, and correspond-
ing copper coins, may be on the evidence of fabric
and inscriptions of any age from Alexander's time
until the earlier period of the Maccabees, i. They
must belong to a time of independence, and one «t
which Greek influence was excluded. 3. They date
from an era of Jewish independence.
M. de Saulcy, struck by the ancient appearance
of the silver coins, and disregarding: the difference
in style of the copper, has conjectured that the
whole class wss struck at some early period of
prosperity. He fixes upon the pontificate of Jad-
dua, and supposes them to have been first issued
when Alexander granted great privileges to the
Jews. If it be admitted that this was an occasion
from which an era might be reckoned, there Is a
serious difficulty in the style of the copper coins,
and those who have practically studied the subject
of the fabric of coins will admit that, though archaic
style may be long preserved, there can be no mis
take as to late style, the earlier limits of which are
far more rigorously fixed than the later limits of
archaic style. But there is another difficulty of
even a graver nature. Alexander, who was essen-
tially a practical genius, suppressed all toe varying
weights of money in his empire excepting the At-
tic, which he made the lawful standard. Philip had
struck his gold on the Attic weight, his silver on
the Macedonian. Alexander even changed his native
currency in carrying out this great commercial re-
form, of which the importance has never been recog-
nized. Is it likely that he would have allowed a
new currency to have been issued by Jaddua on a
system diflkreut from the Attic? If it be urged
that this was a sacred coinage for the tribute, and
that therefore an exception msv have been made,
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2000
MONET
HOKKT
tt most be recollected that an exeeu of weight
would not hare been so serious a matter u a defi-
ciency, and besides that it is bj no mean* clear that
the shekels follow a Jewish weight. On these
grounds, therefore, we feel bound to reject M. d*
Saulcy's theory.
The basis we have laid down is in entire accord-
ance with the old theory, that this class of coins
was issued by Simon the Maecabee. H. de Saulcy
would, however, urge against our conclusion the
circumstance that he has attributed small copper
coins, all of one and the same class, to Judas the
M aecabee, Jonathan, and John Hyrcanus, and that
the very dissimilar coins hitherto attributed to
Simon must therefore be of another period. If
these attributions be correct, his deduction is per-
fectly sound, but the circumstance that Simon
alone is unrepresented in the series, whereas we
have most reason to look for coins of him, is ex-
tremely suspicious. We shall, however, show in
discussing this class, that we have discovered evi-
dence which seems to us sufficient to induce us to
abandon M. de Saulcy's classification of copper
coins to Judas and Jonathan, and to commence
the series with those of John Hyrcanus. For the
present therefore we adhere to the old attribution
of the shekels, half-shekels, and similar copper
coins, to Simon the Maecabee.
We now give a list of all the principal copper
coins of a later date than those of the class de-
scribed above and anterior to Herod, according to
M. de Saulcy's arrangement.
COPPKB corns.
J. Judas ifuceaooma.
uJodab,
the illustrious priest,
and friend of the Jews."
barnrp
Within a wreath of olwe T
Jf. Two oornua coplse united, within which a
pomegranate. M. W.
8. Jonathan.
"John
the blffa-prlest,
and mend of the Jews "
A
pmm
arrjmn
warm
Within a wreath of oftes t
fy. Two cornna copue, within which a pc
granate. M.
mm
mprrp
rnrnn
mrra
1$. The same. M. W.
8. Juda*-Aristobulm and AnUgomm.
IOTAA . .
BA31A?
A1
Within a crown.
TUf. Two oornua copies, within which a pease
granate.
Similar coins.
7. Alexander J a tm mu .
aim
nsmn
arnrn
"Jonathan
the hlfh-prisst,
Mend of the Jews."
Within a wreath of olmt
"Bf. The same. JL W.
(A.) BA2IAEA OT (BASIAUU
AAEHANAPOT). Anchor.
HT. ibnn ]nt31>, «' Jonathan the king •
within the spokes of a wheel. M. W.
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MONEY
MONEY
2001
10.) AS AEHANAPO. Anchor.
It/, ^b&n ]rO . . . * ; within the apokes
efawheeL M. W.
(C.) BAStAEOS AAEEANAPOT. Anchor.
"ibnn ]nairP, "Jonathan the king."
flower.
The types of this hut coin raemble thoee of one
of Antiochiu V1L
(D.) BASIAEOa AAEHANA . . . Anchor.
Bf. Ster.
Alexandra.
BA31AI2 AAEHANA. Anchor.
~Bf. Star: within the rays neariy-eflkced Hebrew
inscription.
llyrcnmu (no coins).
Ar'ulotndut (no coins).
Hyreanut reetored (no coins).
OHgnrchy (no coins).
Ar iMctm/tu and Alexander (no coins).
Bgrcamm again restored (no coins).
Antigoma.
.... ITONOT (BASIAEM ANTirONOT)
around a crown.
*?. — vvra (Vran jmn nv-inD 7 )
m Mattathiah the high-priest " ? M. W.
This arrangement is certainly the most satisfac-
tory that has been yet proposed, but it presents
serious difficulties. The most obvious of these is
the absence of coins of Simon, for whose money we
hare more reason to look than for that of any other
Jewish ruler. M. de Saulcy's suggestion that we
may some day find his coins is a scarcely satisfac-
tory answer, for this would imply that he struck
wry few coins, whereas all the other princes in the
1st, Judas only excepted, struck many, judging
from those found. That Judas should hare struck
but few coins is extremely probable from the un-
settled state of the country during his rule; but
the prosperous government of Simon seems to re-
quire a large issue of money. A second difficulty
is that the series of small copper coins, having the
same, or essentially the same, reverse-type, com-
mences with Judos, and should rather ^^mence
with Simon. A third difficulty is that Judas bears
the title of priest, and probably of high-priest, far
the word ,Yn 1* extremely doubtful, and the
m
extraordinary variations and blunders in the in-
scriptions of these copper coins make it more prob-
able that vTTJ is the term, whereas it is extremely
doubtful that he took the office of high-priest. It
is, however, just possible that he may have taken
an inferior title, while acting as high-priest during
the lifetime of Alcimus. These objections are, how
ever, all trifling in comparison with one that seemi
never to have struck any inquirer. These suiat
copper coins have for the main part of their reverse-
type a Greek symbol, the united cornua copiae, and
they therefore distinctly belong to a period of Greek
influence. Is it possible that Judas the Maccabee,
the restorer of the Jewish worship, and the sworn
enemy of all heathen customs, could have struck
money with a type derived from the heathen, and
used by at least one of the hated family that then
oppressed Israel, a type connected with idolatry,
and to a Jew as forbidden as any other of the rep-
resentations on the coins of the Gentiles ? It seems
to us that this is an impossibility, and that the use
of such a type point* to the time when prosperity
bad corrupted the ruling family and Greek usages
once more were powerful in their influence. This
period may be considered to commence in the rule
of John Hyrcanus, whose adoption of foreign cus-
toms is erident in the naming of his sons far more
than in the policy he followed. If we examine the
whole series, the coins bearing the name of " John
the high-priest" are the brat in execution, and
therefore hare some claim to be considered the
earliest.
It is important to endeavor to trace the ori^n
of the type which we are discussing. The two
cornua copies first occur on the Egyptian coins,
and indicate two sovereigns. In the money of the
Seleucide the type probably originated at a mar-
riage with an Egyptian princess. The cornua
copies, as represented on the Jewish coins, are first
found, as far as we are aware, on a coin of Alex-
ander II. Zebina (n. c. 138-122), who, be it rec-
ollected, was set up by Ptolemy Physcon. The
type occurs, however, in a different form on the
unique tetradrachm of Cleopatra, ruling alone, in
the British Museum, but it may have been adopted
on her marriage with Alexander I- Balas (b. u
150). Yet even this earlier date is alter the rule
of Judas (B. c. 167-161), and in the midst of that
of Jonathan ; and Alexander Zebina was contem-
porary with John Hyrcanus. We have seen that
Alexander Jannssus (b. c. 106-78) seems to have
followed a type of Antiochua VII. Sidetes, of which
there are coins dated B. c. 132-131.
Thus far there is high probability that M. de
Saulcy's attributions before John Hyrcanus are ex-
tremely doubtful. This probability has been almost
changed to certainty by a discovery the writer has
recently had the good fortune to make. The acute
BarthSemy mentions a coin of "Jonathan the
high-priest," on which he perceived traces of the
words BA2IAE02 AAEEANAPOT, and be ac-
cordingly conjectures that these coins are of the
same class as the bilingual ones of Alexander Jan-
nasus, holding them both to be of Jonathan, and
the latter to mark the close alliance between that
ruler and Alexander I. Bales. An examination o>
the money of Jonathan the high-priest has led us
to the diseovery that many of his coins are restruck,
that some of these restruck coins exhibit traces of
Greek inscriptions, showing the original piece* to
be probably of the class attributed to Alexander
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SL002
MONEi
Jannasus by M. de Saulcy, and that one of the
tatter distinctly bears the letters ANAI. T [AAEH-
ANAPOT]- 'Die two impressions of reatruck coins
sre in general of eked; consecutive dates, the ob-
ject of restrilcing having usually been to destroy an
obnoxious coinage. That this was the motive in
the present instance appears from the large number
of reatruck coins among those with the name of
Jonathan the high-priest, whereas we know of no
other reatruck Jewish coins, and from the change
in the style from Jonathan the king to Jonathan
the high-priest.
Under these circumstances but two attributions
of the bilingual coins, upon which everything de-
pends, can be entertained, either that they are of
Jonathan the Maccabee in alliance with Alexander
I. Balas, or that they are of Alexander Janneus ;
the Jewish prince having, in either case, changed
his coinage. We learn from the case of Antigonus
that double names were not unknown in the family
of the Maccabee*. To the former attribution there
are the following objections. 1. On the bilingual
coins the title Jonathan the king corresponds to
Alexander the king, implying that the same prince
is intended, or two princes of equal rank. 2. Al-
though Alexander I. Balas sent presents of a royal
character to Jonathan, it is extremely unlikely that
the Jewish prince would have taken the regal title,
or that the king of Syria would have actually
granted it. 3. The Greek coins of Jewish fabric
with the inscription Alexander the king, would
have to be assigned to the Syrian Alexander I.,
jistead of the Jewish king of the same name. 4. It
would be most strange if Jonathan should have first
struck ooins with Alexander I., and then cancelled
that coinage and issued a fresh Hebrew coinage of
his own and Greek of the Syrian king, tbe whole
series moreover, excepting those with only the He-
brew inscription, having been issued within the
years B. c. 153-146, eight out of the nineteen of
Jonathan's rule. 5. The reign of Alexander Jan-
useus would be unrepresented in the coinage. To
SLe second attribution there is this objection, that
it is unlikely that Alexander Jaimeus would have
changed the title of king for that of high-priest;
but to this it may be replied, that his quarrel with
the Pharisees with reference to his perforniiu; the
duties of the latter office, the turning-point of his
reign, might have made him abandon the recent
kingly title and recur to the sacerdotal, already
used on hi* father's coins, for the Hebrew currency,
while probably still issuing a Greek coinage with
the regal title. On these grounds, therefore, we
maintain Bayer's opinion that the Jewish coinage
begin* with Simon, we transfer the coins of Jona-
than the high-priest to Alexander Jannem, and
propose the following arrangement of the known
money of the princes of the period we have been
just considering.
John Hyreamu, B. c. 135-106.
Copper coins, with Hebrew inscription, *■ John
the high-piiest ; " on some A, marking alliance with
Antiochus VII. Sidetes.
AriUcbuhu and Antigomu, B. c. 106-105.
(Probable Attribution.)
Copper coins, with Hebrew inscription, " Judah
the kigh(1) priest;" copper coins with Greek in-
scription, "Judah, the king," and A. for Antigonus ?
tt. de Saulcy supposes that Aristobulus bore the He-
raw name Judah, and there is certainly some prob-
•bilit} in the eonjeetora, thcxnrV the clarification
MONEY
of these coin* cannot be regarded as mora that
tentative.
Alexander Jamtanu. b. c. 105-78.
rust coinage: copper ooins with bilingual in-
scriptions — Greek, "Alexander the king;" lie-
brew, " Jonathan the king."
Second coinage: copper coins with Hebrew in-
scription, « Jonathan the high-priest; " and coppei
coins with Greek inscription, " Alexander toe king."
(The assigning of these latter two to the same ruler
is confirmed by the occurrence of Hebrew coins of
"Judah the high-priest,' ' and Greek ones of " Judas
the king," which there is good reason to attributi
to one and the same person.)
Alexandra, b, c. 78-68.
The coin assigned to Alexandra by M. de Snaky
may be of this sovereign, but those of Alexander
are so frequently blundered that wa are not certain
that it was not struck by him.
Hyreamu, b. c. 69-66 (no coins).
ArUubvhu, b. c. 66-63 (no coins).
Hyreamu restored, b. c. 63-57 (no ooins).
Oligarchy, B. c. 57-47 (no coins;
ArUtobmhu sod Alexander, b. o. 49 (no coins)
Hyreamu again B. c 47-40 (no coins).
ArUxgonui, B. o. 40-37. Copper coins, with bi-
lingual inscriptions.
It must be observed that the whole period unrep-
resented in our classification Is no more than twen-
ty-nine years, only two years in excess of the length
of the reign of Alexander Jxnnseus, that it was s
very troublous time, and that Hyrcanua, whose rule
occupied mora than half the period, was so weak a
man that it is extremely likely that he would have
neglected to issue a coinage. It is possible that
some of the doubtful small pieces are of this unrep-
resented time, but at present we cannot even oon-
jecturally attribute any.
It is not necessary to describe in detail the
money of the time commencing with the reign of
Herod and closing under Hadrian. We must,
however, speak of the coinage generally, of th*
references to it in the N. T., and of two important
classes — the money attributed to the revolt pre-
ceding the fall of Jerusalem, and that of the famous
Barkokab.
Tbe money of Herod is abundant, but of inferior
interest to the earlier coinage, from its generally
having a thoroughly Greek character. It is of
copper only, and seems to be of three denomina-
tions, the smallest being apparently a piece of brass
(xhAkoSi), the next larger its double (Sf^aA-
koi), and the largest its triple (roixaKKos), as M.
de Sauicy has ingeniously suggested. The smallest
is the commonest, and appears to be the farthing
of the N. T. Tbe coin engraved below is of th*
smallest denonination of these: it may 1« thus
describe* 1 :-
H UA BACL Anchor.
T3f Two cornua capias, within which a oado
(degraded from pomegranate). M. W.
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MONEY
We have chosen this specimen from it* remark-
able relation to the coinage of Alexander Jannaeug,
irhich make* it probable that the latter wu still
torrent money in Herod's time, having been abun-
dantly issued, and so tends to explain the seeming
neglect to coin in the period from Alexander or
Alexandra to Antigonus.
The money of Herod Archelaus, and the similar
coinage of the Greek Imperial class, of Koman
rulers with Greek inscriptions, issued by the procu-
rators of Judssa under the emperors from Augustus
to Nero, present no remarkable peculiarities, nor do
the coins attributed by M. de Saulcy to Agrippa I.,
but possibly of Agrippa n. We engrave a speci-
men of the money last mentioned to illustrate this
HAaiAeWU ATPU1A. State umbrella.
KJT Corn-stalk bearing throe ears of bearded
wheat. L S Year 8. £..
There are several passages in the Gospels which
throw light upon the coinage of the time. When
the twelve were sent forth our Lord thus com-
manded them, "I'rovide neither gold, nor silver,
nor brass in your purses " (lit. <• girdles "), Matt. x.
9. In the parallel passages in St. Mark (vi. 8), cop-
per alone is mentioned for money, the Palestinian
currency being mainly of this metal, although silver
was coined by some cities of Phoenicia and Syria,
and gold and silver Roman money was also in
use. St. Luke, however, uses the term " money,"
ioy.'pioy (ix. 3), which may be accounted for by
his less Hebraistic style.
The coins mentioned by the Evangelists, and first
those of silver, are the following: the tinier is
tpokeu if iu the account of the miracle of the tribute
money. The receivers of didraehmt demanded the
tribute, but St. Peter found in the fish a Mtaltr,
which he paid for our Lord and himself (Matt. xvii.
34-37). This stater was therefore a tetradrachm,
and it is very noteworthy that at this period almost
{be only Greek Imperial silver ooin in the East wu
tetradrachm, the didrachm being probably un-
known, or very little coined.
The didradim is mentioned as a money of
tocount in the passage above cited, as the equiva-
lent of the Hebrew shekel. [Shekel.]
The cUnnriut, or Roman penny, as well as the
Greek drachm, then of about the same weight, are
spoken of as current coins. There can be little
doubt that the latter is merely employed as another
name for the former. In the famous passages re-
specting the tribute to Cesar, the Koman denarius
of the time is correctly described (Matt. xxii. 16-
31; Luke xx 19-25). It bears the head of Tibe-
rius, who bat the title Cnsar in the accompany-
ing inscription, most later emperors having, after
heir accession, the title Augustus: here again
therefore we have an evidence of the date of the
Gospels. [Dkmahius; Drachm.]
Of copper coins the farthing and its half, the
Vita, an spoken of, and these probably formed the
thief native eurrancy. [1 akthuo ; Mm.]
MONEY 2008
To the revolt of the Jews, which ended in the
capture and destruction of Jerusalem, M. de Saulcy
assigns some remarkable coins, one of which is rep
resented in the cut beneath
JVS mn, "The liberty of Zka." Vine,
stalk, with leaf and tendril
B/ OTTO rOW. « Year two." Vase. M.
There are other pieces of the year following,
which slightly vary in their reverse-type, if indeed
we be right in considering the side with the date
to be the reverse.
Same obverse.
B/ VblD rOW. « Year three." Vase with
cover.
M. de Saulcy remarks on these pieces: " De ces
deux monnaies, celle de Ian III. est incomparable-
ment plus rare que celle de l'an II. Cela tient
probablement it ce que la liberie' des Juifs e'tait a
son apogee dans la deuxieme annee de la guerre ju-
dalque, et deja a son declin dans l'annee troiaieme.
I-es pieces analogues des annees I. et IV. manquent,
et cela doit Gtre. Dans la premiere annle de la
guerre judalque, l'autononiie ne fut pas rttablie a
Jerusalem; et dans la quatrieme annee I'anarcbie
et les divisions intestines avaient deja prepare' et
facility it Titus la conquete qu'il avait entrepriss "
(P. 154).
The subjugation of Judasa was not alone signal-
ised by the issue of the famous Roman coins with
the inscription IVDAEA CAPTA, but by that of
similar Greek Imperial coins in Judo* of Titus, on*
of which may be thus described : —
AVTOKP TITOS KAI3AP Head of Titus,
laureate, to the right.
R/ IOVAAIA2 EAAnKTIAX Victory, to the
right, writing upon a shield: before her a palm
tree. jE.
The proper Jewish series closes with the money
of the famous Rmrkokab, who headed the revolt bit
the time of Hadrian. His most important
are shekels, of which we hen engrave on*.
abWTP nY"inb. "Of the deliverance ot
Jerusalem." Bunch of fruit*?
Bf ?17&Et?. "Simeon." Tetrastyle temple:
above which star. &. R M. (Shekel.)
The half-shekel is not known, but the quartet
which is simply a reatruck dariariiis, is commoc
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2004 MONEY-CHANGERS
Ibe specimen represented below shows traces of the
ild types of * denarius of Trajan on both sides.
7WCU7. "Simeon." Bunch of grapes.
B7 BbarnVTnrfV. "Of the deliverance
of Jerusalem." Two trumpets. M. B. H.
The denarius of this time was so nearly a quar-
ter of a shekel, that it could be used for it without
occasioning any difficulty in the coinage. The
copper coins of Barkokab are numerous, and like
his silver pieces, have a clear reference to the money
of Simon the Maccabee. It is indeed possible that
the name Simon ia not that of Barkokab, whom we
know only by his surnames, but that of the earlier
ruler, employed here to recall the foundation of
Jewish autonomy. What high importance was
attached to the issue of money by the Jews, is evi-
dent from the whole history of their coinage.
The money of Jerusalem, as the Roman Colonia
vElia Capitolina, has no interest here, and we con-
clude tli is article with the last coinage of an inde
pendent Jewish chief.
The chief works on Jewish coins are Bayer's trea-
tise De Numit Hebnzo-Samaritimu ; De Saulcy's
Xumurrwtique Judajgue ; Cavedoni's Atwiitmahca
Biblicn, of which there Is a translation under the
title BibStche Ifwnumatik, by A. von Werlhof,
with large additions. Since writing this article we
Bud that the translator bad previously come to the
conclusion that the coins attributed by M. de Saul-
cy to Judas Maccabeus are of Aristobulus, and
that J jnathan the high-priest is Alexander Jannseua.
We have to express our sincere obligations to Mr.
W igan for permission to examine his valuable col-
■.•cl ion, and have specimens drawn for this article.
R. S. P.
MONEY-CHANGERS (icoKkvBurrk, Matt,
xxi. 19; Mark xi. 16; John ii. 15). According to
Ex. xxx. 13-15, every Israelite, whether rich or
poor, who had reached or passed the age of twenty,
must pay into the sacred treasury, whenever the
nation was numbered, a half-shekel as an offering
o Jehovah. Maimonides (Sliekal. cap. 1) says
Ibat this was to be paid annually, and that even
Mupers were not exempt. 11m Talmud exempts
priests and women. The tribute must in every
case be paid in coin of the exact Hebrew half-shekel,
about Ibid, sterling of English money. The pre-
mium for obtaining by exchange of other money
he half-shekel of Hebrew coin, according to the
Talmud, was a Ko'AAvfSof (collybut), and hence the
money-broker who made the exchange was called
rokXvBioT-fit . TV collybut, according to the same
authority, was equal in value to a silver obolut,
which has a weight of 19 grains, and it* money
value is about 1 Jd. sterling. The money-changers
(.KoMvBurrai) whom Christ, for their impiety,
avarice, and fraudulent dealing, expelled from the
Temple, were the dealers who supplied half-shekels,
for such a premium at they might be able to exact,
Vo the Jews from all parts of the world, who at-
MONTH
aemhled at Jerusalem during the great festivals, an 1
were required to pay their tribute or nuisoni-mone]
in the Hebrew coin ; and also for other purposes of
exchange, such as would be necessary in so great a
resort of foreign residents to the ecclesiastical me-
tropolis. The word Tocmfjlrns (trapezita), which
we find in Matt. xxv. 27, is a genera' term for
banker or broker. Of this branch of business we
find traces very early both in the oriental and clas-
sical literature (comp. Matt. xvii. 24-97: see Ught-
fbot, Hot. Heb. on Matt. xxi. 13; Buxtorf, Lex.
Bobbin. 2039). C. E. a.
* The exchangers were called rpax<£tT<u from
the tables (rpaVefu, John ii. 15) at which they
sat in the open air, with the coin before them
(to icipfia collective, John ii. 15) which they wen
accustomed to pay out or receive in return. Thia
is a very common sight at the present day in eastern
cities, as well as in the south of Europe. H.
MONTH (BJ^h; rTTJ). The terms for
" month " and " moon " have the same dose con-
nection in the Hebrew language, as in our own and
in the Indo-European languages generally; we need
only instance the familiar cases of the Greek pf)*
and n4vt), and the Latin mentis ; the German roond
and monni ; and the Sanskrit mitn, which answers
to both month and moon. The Hebrew ckodeth
is perhaps more distinctive than the corresponding
terms in other languages; for it expresses not
simply the idea of a lunation, but the recurrence of
a period commencing definitely with the new moon ,
It is derived from the word chadith, « new," which
was transferred in the first instance to the '• new
moon," and in the second instance to the " month,"
or as it is sometimes more fully expressed, B?"jh
XSV)\ "a month of days" (Gen. xxix. 14; Num
xi. 90, 21; comp. Deut. xxi. 13; 9 K. xv. 13)
The term yeraek is derived from ydrenrh, " the
moon ; " it occurs occasionally in the historical (Ex.
ii. 9; 1 K. vi. 37, 38, viii. 2; 2 K. xv. 13), but
more frequently in the poetical portions of the Bible
The most important point in connection with the
mouth of the Hebrews is its length, and the mode
by which it was calculated. The difficulties attend-
ing this inquiry are considerable in consequence of
the scantiness of the data. Though it may fairly
be presumed from the terms used that the month
originally corresponded to a lunation, no reliance
can be placed on the mere verbal argument to prove
the exact length of the month in historical times.
The word appears even in the earliest times to have
passed into its secondary sense, as describing a
period approaching to a lunation ; for, in Gen. vil.
11, viii. 4, where we first meet with It, equal periods
of 30 days are described, the interval between the
17th days of the second and the seventh months
being equal to 150 days (Gen. vil. 11, viii. 3, 4)
We have therefore in this instance an approxima-
tion to the solar month, and as, in addition to this,
an indication of a double calculation by a solar and
a lunar year bat been detected In a subsequent date
(for from viii. 14, compared with vii. 11, we find
that the total duration of the flood exceeded the
year by eleven days, in other words by the precise
difference between the lunar year of 354 days and
the solar one of 365 days), the passage has attracted
considerable attention on the part of certain critics,
who have endeavored to deduce from it argumenti
prejudicial to the originality of the Biblical ua>
rathe. It has been urged that the Hebrews thass
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MONTH
sstves knew nothing of a solar month, 'Jut they
nut have derived their knowledge of it from more
easterly nation! (Ewald, Jahrb&ch. 1854, p. 8), and
Mnsequently that the material! for the narrative,
and the date of ita composition, must lie referred to
.he period when close intercourse existed between
the Hebrews and the Babylonians (Von Bohlen's
fnti-oJ. to Gen. U. 155 ft). It is unnecessary for
us to discuss 'in detail the arguments on which
these conclusions are founded ; we submit in answer
to them that the data are insufficient to form any
decided opinion at all on the matter, and that a
mora obvious explanation of the matter is to be
found in the Egyptian system of months. To prove
the first of these points, it will be only necessary
to state the various calculations founded on this
passage: it has been deduced from it (1) that there
were 12 mouths of 30 days each [Chronouxjy] ;
(2) that there were IS months of 30 days with 6
intercalated days at the end to make up the solar
year (Ewald, L c); (3) that there were 7 months
of 30 days, and 5 of 31 days (Von Bohlen); (4) that
there were 5 months of 30 days, and 7 of 2J days
(Knobel, in Gen. viii. 1-3): or, lastly, it is possible
to cut away the foundation of any calculation what-
ever by assuming that a period might hare elapsed
between the termination of the 150 days and the
17th day of the 7th month (Ideler, ChronoL i. 70).
But, assuming that the narrative implies equal
months of 30 days, and that the date given in viii.
14, does involve the fact of a double calculation by
a solar and a lunar year, it is unnecessary to refer
to the Babylonians for a solution of the difficulty.
The month of 30 days was in use among the Egyp-
tians at a period long anterior to the period of the
exodus, and formed the basis of their computation
either by an uniutercalated year of 360 days or an
intercalated one of 366 (Rawlinson's Heralotut, ii.
283-286). Indeed, the Bible itself furnishes us with
an indication of a double year, solar ana lunar, in
that it assigns the regulation of it* length indiffer-
ently to both sun and moon (Gen. i. 14). [Ykak.]
From the time of the institution of the Mosaic
Law downwards the month appears to hare been a
lunar one. The cycle of religious feasts, com-
mencing with the Passover, depended not simply
on the month, but on the moon (Joseph. Ant. iii.
10, $ 5); the 14th of Abib was coincident with the
full moon (I'hilo, VU. Mot. iii. p. 686); and the
lew moons themselves were the occasions of regular
festivals (Num. x. 10, xxrlii. 11-14). The state-
ments of the Talmudists (Mishna, Roth hath. 1-8)
are decisive as to the practice in their time, and
the lunar month is observed by the modern Jews.
The commencement of the month was generally
decided by observation of the new moon, which may
tie detected about forty hours after the period of its
conjunction with the sun: in the later times of
Jewish history this wan effected according to strict
role, the appearance of the new moon being re-
ported by competent witnesses to the local authori-
ties, who then officially announced the commence-
MONTH
200a
ment of the new month by the twice lepeated word,
" Hekudash," i. e. contecrated.
According to the Rabbinical rule, however, there
must at all times have been a little uncertainty
beforehand as to the exact day on which the month
would begin ; for it depended not only on the ap-
pearance, but on tho announcement: if the im-
portant word Mek&dath were not pronounced until
after dark, the following day was the first of the
month ; if before dark, then that day (Roth hath,
3, § 1). But we can hardly suppose that such a
strict rule of observation prevailed in early times,
nor was it in any way necessary; the recurrence
of the new moon can lie predicted with considerable
accuracy by a calculation of the interval that would
elapse either from the last new moon, from the full
moon (which can be detected by a practiced eye),
or from the disappearance of the waning moon.
Hence, David announces definitely •' To-morrow is
the new moon," that being the first of the month
(1 Sam. xx. 5, 24, 27) though the new moon could
not hare been as yet observed, and still leas an-
nounced." The length of the month by observation
would be alternately 29 and 30 days, nor was it
allowed by the Talmudists that a month should
fall short of the former or exceed the latter number,
whatever might be the state of the weather. The
months containing only 29 days were termed in
Talmudical language chatnr, or " deficient," and
those with 30 mile, or " full."
The usual number of months in a year was
twelve, as implied in 1 ft iv. 7; 1 Chr. xxvii. 1-15;
but inasmuch as the Hebrew months coincided, as
we shall presently show, with the seasons, it follows
as a matter of course that an additional month
must have been inserted about every third year,
which would bring the number up to thirteen. No
notice, however, is taken of this month in the Bible.
We have no reason to think that the intercalary
month was inserted according to any exact rule; it
was sufficient for practical purposes to add it when-
ever it was discovered that the barley harvest did
not coincide with the ordinary return of the month
of Ahib. In the modern Jewish calendar the in
tercalary month is introduced seven times in every
19 years, according to the Metonic cycle, which was
adopted by the Jews about A. d. 360 (Prideaux's
Connection, i. 209 note). At the same time the
length of the synodical month was fixed by R. Hillei
at 29 days, 12 hours, 44 min., 3} sec., which ac-
cords very nearly with the truth.
The usual method of designating the months
■ by their numerical order, e. g. " the second
month" (Gen. vii. 11), " the fourth month '' (2 K.
xxv. 3); and this waa generally retained even when
the names were given, e. g. "in the month Zif,
which is the second month " (1 K. vi. 1), •• in the
third month, that is, the month Sivan" (Esth.
viii. 9). An exception occurs, however, in regard
to Abib'' in the early portion of the Bible (Ex. xiil.
4, xxiii. 15: Deut. xvi 1), which is always men-
tioned by name alone, inasmuch as it was neces-
o Jahn (Ant. 111. 8, f 852) regards the discrepancy
if the dates In 2 K. xxr 27, and Jar. 1H. 81, at origi-
nating In the different modes of computing, bj as tto-
wmleal calculation and by observation. It Is mor*
probable that it arises from a mistake of a copyist,
eabstttattng T for 71, as a similar discrepancy exists
si 2 K. xxr. 19 and Jar. HL 26, aithosrt admitting of
t We doubt Indeed whether AWb waa really a proper
name. In the first place It Is always accompanied by
the article, " ike Abib ; " in the second place. It appears
almost Impossible that It could have been superseded
by Nlsan, tf It had been regarded as a proper name
considering the Important sssotssMsns u o uu sasst wHk
is.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2006
MONTH
■■fly coincident with a oertain mmdd, while the
numerical order might have changed from Tear to
^ear. The practice of the writers of the poet-
Babylonian period in this respect varied : Ezra,
Esther, and Zecbariah specify both the names and
the numerical order; Neheniiah only the former;
Daniel and Haggai only the latter. The names of
the months belong to two distinct periods; in the
fust place we have those peculiar to the period of
Jewish independence, of which four only, even in-
cluding Abib, which we hardly regard as a proper
name, are mentioned, namely, Abib, in which the
Passover fell (Ex. xiii. 4, xxiii. 15, xxxiv. 18; Deut
tvi. 1), and which was established as the first
month in commemoration of the exodus (Ex. xii. 2 ) ;
Zif, the second month (1 K. vi. 1, 37); Bui, the
eighth (1 K. vi. 38); and Ethanim, the seventh
(1 K. viii. 2) — the three latter being noticed only
in connection with the building and dedication of
the Temple, so that we might almost infer that
their use was restricted to the ■ official documents
of the day, and that they never attained the popular
use which the later names had. Henoe it is not
difficult to account for their having been super-
seded. In the second place we have the names
which prevailed subsequently to the Babylonish
Captivity; of these the following seven appear in
the Bible: Nisan, the first, in which the Pass-
over was held (Nek. ii. 1; Esth. ill. 7); Sivan, the
third (Esth. viii. 9; Bar. i. 8); Elul, the sixth
(Neb. vi. 15; 1 Mace. xiv. 27); Chisleu, the ninth
(Neh. i. 1; Zech. vii. 1; 1 Mace. i. 64); Tebeth,
the tenth (Esth. ii. 16); Sebat, the eleventh (Zech.
1. 7; 1 Mace. xri. 14); and Adar, the twelfth
(Esth. iii. 7, viii. 12; 2 Mace. xv. 36). The names
of the remaining five occur in the Talmud and
other works; they were Iyar, the second (Targum,
S Chr. xxx. 2); Tammuz. the fourth (Mishn. Taan.
4, § 6); Ab, the fifth, and Tisri, the seventh (Resit
ka$h. 1, § 3); and Marcheshvan, the eighth ( Tium.
l-§3; Jooeph.Ant. i.3, § 3). The name of the inter-
calary month was Veadar," i. e. the ndrfitiowil Adar.
The first of these series of names is of Hebrew
a The name of the Intercalary month originated in
Hi portion In the calendar alter Adar and before Nisan.
The opinion of Ideler (Onmol. I. 689), that the lint
Adar was regarded as the intercalary month, because
the least of Pnrim was held in Teadar in the inter-
lalary year, has little foundation.
<• 3\3K [See Ohbosoumt.]
* IT or VT, or, more folly, as In the Targum, T*T
M'323, " the bloom of flowers." Another explana-
tion Is given m Rawlinson's Htrattotu*. 1. 622 ; namely,
that Zlv is the same as the Assyrian Biv, " boll," and
answers to the sodlaeal sign of Taurus.
'' V-Cl. The name cecum In a recently discovered
I'hoenidan Inscription (Xwald, Jahrb. 1866, p. 135). A
sogneta term, VfijD, Is need for the " delnge " (Gen.
vi. 17, fce.) ; but there Is no ground for the Inference
lrawn by Ton Bohlen (ItUrod. to Gen. II. 166), that
here is any allusion to the month Bui.
« Theniua on 1 R. viii. 2, suggests that the true name
'vas D N 3nH, as in the LXX. 'AAu^i.and that its
meaning was toe " month of gifts,'' i. r ., of fruit, from
njri, "togrve.'" There is the earns peculiarity In this
a to Abib, namely, the addition of the definite article.
/ The names of the months, bj read on the Behlston
neniptioo*, Oannapada, Bnfayadith, Atriyal*, eta-.
MONTH
origin, and has reference to the characteristics of
the seasons — a circumstance which clearly shows
that the months returned at the same period of the
year, in other words, that the Jewish year was a
■olar one. Thus Abib * was the month of " ear*
of corn," Zif c the month of " blossom," and Bui*
the month of " rain." With regard to Ethanim «
there may be some doubt, as the ususl explanation,
u the month of violent or, rather, mcittant rain,"
la decidedly inappropriate to the seventh month.
With regard to the second series, both the origin
and the meaning of the name is controverted. It
was the opinion of the Tabnudiats that the names
were introduced by the Jews who returned from
the Babylonish Csptivity (Jerusalem Talmud, Jtctk
hath. 1, § 1), and they are certainly used exclusively
by writers of the poet- Bab) Ionian period. It was,
therefore, perhaps natural to seek for their crigin
in the Persian language, and this was done some
years since by Benfey (Mmaiminnen) in a manner
more ingenious than satisfactory. The view, though
accepted to a certain extent by tiesenius in bis
Thetaanu, bss been since abandoned, both on
philological grounds and because it meets with no
confirmation from the monumental documents of
ancient Persia./ The names are probably borrowed
from the Syrians,* in whose regular calendar w»
find names answering to Tisri, Sebat, Adar, Nisar ,
Iyar, Tammuz, Ab, and Klul (Ideler, CKronol i.
430), while Chisleu and Tebeth* appear on the
Palrnyrene inscriptions (Gesen. Thnaur. pp. 702,
643). Sivan may be borrowed from the Assyrians,
who appear to have had a month so named, sacred
to Sin or the moon (Rawlinson, L 615). Marchesh-
van, coinciding as it did with the rainy season in
Palestine, was probably a purely Hebrew ' term.
With regard to the meaning of the Syrian names
we can only conjecture from the case of Tammuz,
which undoubtedly refers to the festival of the deity
of that name mentioned in Ez. viii. 14, that some
of them may have been derived from tbe names of
deities .* Hebrew roots are suggested by Uesenius
for others, but without much confidence.'
bear no resemblance to the Hebrew names (Hawlin&on'i
Hmdotui, ii. 698-696).
g The names of the months appear to nave been In
many instances of local use : for instance, the calendar
of Hellopoiis contains the names of Ag and Gelon
(Ideler, 1. 440), which do not appear In the regnku
Syrian calendar, while that of Palmyra, agate, eon-
tains names unknown to either.
* The resemblance In sound b et we e n Tebeth and
the Egyptian ToM, ss well as Its correspondence Ir. the
order of the months, was noticed by Jerome, ad St
xxxix. 1.
* Ton Bohlen connects It with the root rarluuS
(B?rn),«to boll over" (Introd. to So. U. 1C6).
The modern Jews condder it a compound word, mar,
'* drop," and CSethran, the former betokening that II
was wet, and the latter being the proper name of the
month (Ds Sola's Milium, p. 168 note).
* V?e draw notice to the similarity between Bui and
the Arable name of Venus Urania, Mil at (Herod. IB.
8>; and sgain between Adar, the Bgypttan Ather, and
the Syrian Ater-sjaus.
I The Hebrew forms of the names am: — TO*?i
->»s, )JT), tube, a$ Wjft nafrj
n#PT3, lbps, nse, tqtf, '-rjtt, mt
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MONTH
Stibsequently to the establishment of tl>e Syro-
Maeedonian empire, the DM of the Macedonian
slender m gradually adopted for purposes of
literature or intercommunication with other coun-
tries. Josephus, for instance, constantly uses the
Macedonian months, eren where he gives the He-
brew names (e. g. in Ant. i. 3, § 3, he identifies
Mareheshvan with Dius, and Niaan with Xanthicns,
and in lii. 7, $ 8, Chlsleu with Appellants). The
only instance in which the Macedonian names
appear in the Bible is in -2 Mace. xi. 30, 83, 38,
where we have notice of Xanthicns in combination
with another named Dioseorinthius (rer. 21), which
Joes not appear in the Macedonian calendar. Vari-
ous explanations hare been offered in respect to
the latter. Any attempt to connect it with the
Macedonian Dina fails on account of the interval
being too long to suit the narrative, Dius being
the first and Xanthicns the sixth month. The
opinion of Scaliger (Emend. Ttmp. ii. SI), that it
was the Macedonian intercalary month, rests ou no
foundation whatever, and Ideler'a assumption that
that intercalary month preceded Xanthicua must
be rejected along with it (CknmoL i. 399). It is
most probable that the author of 2 Mace or a
copyist was familiar with the Cretan calendar,
which contained a month named Dioocurua, hold
ing the same place in the calendar as the Mace-
donian Dystrus (Idefcr, i. 426), i. e. immediately
before Xanthicns, and that he substituted one for
the other. This view derives some confirmation
from the Vulgate rendering, Du>$corw. We have
further to notice the reference to the Egyptian cal-
endar in 3 Mace. vi. 38, Pachon and Epiphi in that
pasaage answering to Pacbons and Epep, the ninth
and eleventh months (Wilkinson, Anc. Ei/yp. i.
14, 2d ser.).
The identification of the Jewish months with
ear own cannot be effected with precision on ac-
count of the variations that must inevitably exist
between the lunar and the solar month, each of the
former ranging over portions of two of the latter.
It muct, therefore, be understood that the follow-
ing remarks apply to the general identity on an
average of years. As the Jews still retain the
names Niaan, etc., it may appear at first sight
needless to do more than refer the reader to a
modern almanac, and this would have been the
case if it wero not evident that the modern Niaan
does not correspond to the ancient one. At present
Niaan answers to March, but in early times it
coincided with April; for the barley harvest — the
first fruits of which were to be presented on the
15th of that month (Lev. xxiii. 10) — does not
take place even in the warm district about Jericho
until the middle of April, and in the upland dis-
tricts not before the end of that month (Kobinson's
RntarduM, i. 561. iii. 102, 146). To the same
effect Josephus (Ant. ii. 14, § 6) synchronizes
Niaan with the Egyptian Pharmuth, which com-
menced on the 27th of March (Wilkinson, I a),
and with the Macedonian Xanthicns, which answers
generally to the early part of April, though con-
siderable variation occurs in the local calendars
as to its place (amp. Ideler, i. 435, 442). He
further informs us (iii. 10, § 6) that the Passover
MOON
-007
<■ Tba term WtnU occurs oa j three tunes In the
tibia (Cant vi. 10; Is. xxiv. 2ft xxx. 28). Another
explanation of tba term Is proposed In Bawllnson's
ffcratfetics, L 616, to lbs enact that it has reference to
-- -- i» brisk," and ambodlas the Babylonian
took place when the sun was in Aries, which it
does not enter until near the end of March. As-
suming from these data that Abib or Niaan
answers to April, then Zif or Iyer would cor-
respond with May, Sivan with Jane, Tammuz with
July, Ab with August, FJul with September, Etha.
nim or Tisri with October, Bui or Marcbeshvan
with November, Chialeu with December, Tcbeth
with January, Sebat with February, and Adar with
March. W. L. B.
• MONUMENTS (BHW3, owfi/uua, Is.
lxv. 4). The precise meaning of the Hob. word, as
employed here (elsewhere rendered praerved, Is.
xlix. 6, hidden, xlviii. 6, betiegtd, i. 8; Eeek. vL
12, tuotii, Prov. vii. 10) is somewhat obscure, it
refers apparently to certain retired places, such
perhaps as the ndyta of heathen temples (Vulg.
dehibrn idubrum) or (observe the parallelism) se-
pulchral caverns (less probably, tone loatch-tourri,
see Flint, Lex. s. v.), resorted to for necromantic
purposes, or (a* LXX. tia Mwria) in order to
obtain prophetie dreams. D. S. T.
MOON (1TT! ! "J? 1 ?)- 1' i» worthy of ob-
servation that neither of the terms by which the
Hebrews designated the moon contains any refer-
ence to its office or essential character; they sim-
ply describe it by the accidental quality of color,
yAriachi signifying "pale," or "yellow," IcbAudJi,"
"white." The Indo-European languages recog-
nized the moon as the measurer of time, and have
expressed its office in this respect, all the terms
applied to it, pt)r, ihoob, etc., finding a common
element with /urptir, to measure, in the Sanscrit
root ma (Pott's Ktyn. Fwich. i. 194). The na-
tions with whom the Hebrews were brought into
more immediate contact worshipped the moon under
various designations expressive of its influence in
the kingdom of nature. The exception which the
Hebrew language thus presents would appear to be
baaed on the repugnance to nature-worship, which
runs through their whole system, and which in-
duced the precautionary measure of giving it in
reality no name at all, substituting the circuitous
expressions "lesser light" (Gen. i. 16), the "pale,"
or the " white." The same tendency to avoid the
notion of personality may perhaps be observed in
the indifference to gender, j/drench being mascu-
line, and lebdndh feminine.
The moon held an important place to the king-
dom of nature, as known to the Hebrews. In the
history of the creation (Gen. i. 14-16), it appears
simultaneously with the sun, and Is described In
terms which imply its independence of that body
as far as its light is concerned. Conjointly wtth
the sun, it was appointed "for signs and for
seasons, and for days and years; " though in thai
respect it exercised a more important influence, if
by the " seasons " we unde rst a n d the great relig-
ious festivals of the Jews, as is particularly stated
in Pa. civ. 19 (•• He appointed the moon for sea-
sons"), and more at length in Ecclus. xliii. 8, 7
Besides this, it had its special office in the distri-
bu* : ">n «•* light; it was appointed " to rule over the
night," as the sun over the day, and thus thf
appearance of the two founts of light served " to
notion of **'*, the moon, as being the god of arehl-
tecturt Tba strictly paraUal on of ytrtath to Joel
n. 81 and Is. xxxH. 7, as well ea tba analegy ta the
sense of the two words, sssma a strong argeasso
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2008 moos
sivide between the day and between the night'
In order to enter fully into this idea, wo mutt
remember both the greater brilliancy 11 of the moon-
light in eastern countries, and the larger amount
of work, particularly travelling, that is carried on
by its aid. The appeals to sun and moon con-
Jointly are hence more frequent in the literature
sf the Hebrews than they might otherwise hare
been (Josh. x. 12; Ps. lxxil. 5, T; Eecl. xii. 3;
Is. xxiv. 23, Ac.); in some instances, indeed, the
moon receives a larger amount of attention than
the sun (e. g. Ps. nil. 8, lxxxlx. 37»). The in-
feriority of its light is occasionally noticed, as in
Gen. i. 16; in Cant. vi. 10, where the epithets
" fair," and " clear " (or rather tpotltu, and hence
extremely brilliant) are applied respectively to moon
and sun ; and in Is. xxx. 98, where the equalizing
of its light to that of the sun conveys an image of
the highest glory. Its influence on vegetable or
animal life receives but little notice; the expression
in Deut xxxiii. 14, which the A. V. refers to the
moon, signifies rather monthi as the period of
ripening fruits. The coldness of the night-dews is
prejudicial to the health, and particularly to the
eyes of those who are exposed to it, and tbe idea
expressed in Ps. cxxi. 6 ("The moon shall not smite
thee by night") may have reference to the gen-
eral or the particular evil effect: blindness is still
attributed to the influence of the moon's ravs on
those who sleep under the open heaven, both by
the Arabs (Came's Lrltern, i. 88), and by Kuro-
peons. The connection between the moon's phases
and certain forms of disease, whether madness or
epilepsy, is expressed in the Greek vtkiivtACtirtM
(Matt. ir. 24, xvii. 15), in the Latin derivative
" lunatic," and in our " moon-struck."
The worship of the moon was extensively prac-
ticed by the nations of the East, and under a
variety of aspects. In Kgypt it was honored under
the form of Isis, and was one of tbe only two
deities which commanded the reverence of all tbe
Egyptians (lltrod. ii. 42, 47). In Syria it was
represented by that one of the Ashtaroth (i. e. of
the uiieties which the goddess Astarte, or Ash-
toreth, underwent) surnamed " Karnaim," from
the horns of the crescent moon by which she was
distinguished. [Ashtoreth.] In Babylonia, it
formed one of a triad in conjunction with ^Etber,
and the sun, and, under the name of Sin, received
the honored titles of " Lord of the month," "King
of the Gods," etc (Kawlinson't Herodotut, i.
614.) There are indications of a very early intro-
duction into the countries adjacent to Palestine of
a species of worship distinct from any that we have
hitherto noticed, namely, of the direct homage of
the heavenly bodies, sun, moon, and start, which
is the characteristic of Sabianiam. The first notice
we have of this is in Job (xxxl. 26, 27), and it is
observable that the warning of Moses (Deut lv.
19) is directed against this nature worship, rather
a The Greek nAifr*, from WAm, expresses this Idea
J brilliancy mora vividly than the Hebrew terms.
b In toe former of these passages the son may be
nielloed In the general expression " heavens " In the
preceding Terse. In the latter, " th« faithful witness
In lteaven" Is undoubtedly the moon, and not the
rainbow, as soma explain It. The regularity of the
Kuons ohangss Impressed the mind with a senss of
Inability and certainty; and heme the moon was
psetatty qualified to be a witness to God's promise.
« Tbe aasbtfuofls expression of Ho s e s (tar. 7),
MOONH
than against the form of moon-wo -ship, which the
Israelites must hare witnessed in Egypt. At s
later period, 1 however, the worship of the moon ia
its grosser form of idol-worship was introduced
from Syria: we hare no evidence indeed that the
Ashtoreth of the Zidonians, whom Solomon intro-
duced (1 K. xi. 5), was identified in the minds of
the Jews with the moon, but there can be no doubt
that tbe moon was worshipped under tbe form
of an image in Manasseh'a reign, although Movers
(PliBniz. i. 66, 164) .has taken up the opposite
view; for we are distinctly told that the king
"made an aeherah (A. T. "grove '),».«. an image
of Ashtoreth, and worshipped all the host of
heaven" (2 K. xii. 3), which atkernh was de-
stroyed by Josiah, and the priests that burned
incense to the moon were put down (xxiii. 4, 6).
At a somewhat later period the worship of the
" queen of heaven " was practiced in Palestine (J a.
vii. 18, xliv. 17); the title has been generally sup-
posed to belong to the moon, but we think it more
probable that the Oriental Venus is intended, for
the following reasons: (1) the title of Uraniii "of
heaven " was peculiarly appropriated to Venus,
whose worship was borrowed by the Persians from
the Arabians and Assyrians (Herod, i. 131, 199):
(2) the votaries of this goddess, whose chief func-
tion it was to preside over births, were women, and
we find that in Palestine the married women are
specially noticed at taking a prominent part: (3)
the peculiarity of the title, which occurs only in
the passages quoted, looks as if the worship was a
novel one; and this is corroborated by the term
cumin << applied to the "cakes," which is again so
peculiar that the LXX. hat retained it (xwAr),
deeming it to be, as it not improbably was, a for-
eign word. Whether the Jews derived their knowl-
edge of the "queen of heaven " from the Philis-
tines, who possessed a very ancient temple of Venus
Urania at Askalon (Herod, i. 105), or from the
Egyptians, whose god Athor was of the same char-
acter, is uncertain.
In the figurative language of Scripture the moon
ia frequently noticed as presaging events of the
greatest importance through the temporary or per-
manent withdrawal of its light (It xiii. 10; Joel
ii. 31; Matt xxiv. 29; Mark xiii. 24); in these
and similar passages we have an evident allusion to
the mysterious awe with which eclipses were viewed
by the Hebrews in common with other nations of
antiquity. With regard to the symbolic meaning
of the moon in Rev. xii. 1, we have only to observe
that the ordinary explanations, namely, the sublu-
nary world, or the changeableness of its affairs,
seem to derive no authority from the language of
the O. T., or from the ideas of tbe Hebrews.
WIS
MOON, NEW. [New Moot.] "
• MOONS or LUNETTES at
[Bells, Camels, Tires.]
"Mow shall a month devour them with their per-
or <■*>' Is understood by Bunssn (BiMwtrk, m loo.
ar< referring to an Idolatrous worship of the new moon
It la more generally understood of '' a month " at t
short space of time. Hltslg ( Comment. In lot.) sot
plains It In a novel manner of the crescent moon, as
a symbol of destruction, ftom Its msembsusee to
d fl
735-
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M0O8IA8
MUOSI'AS (Mooola,; [Vat. Meoroio*, Al-
«. Moot lua ■] Muo$iui). Apparently the same
u Maashah i (1 Eidr. iz. 31, comp. Eir. x.
»).
MO'BASTHITE, THB (VjqfaHan; In
■Cob, Vl^tori : i lutpaBtlmi, 6 rod Mttpao-
Itl; Alex, in Micah, MoeoaeVi: de Morastlti, Mo-
rnatUtef), that is, tin native of a place named
Hobbshbth, such being the regular formation in
Hebrew.
It ocean twice (Jer. xxvi. 18; Hie. i. 1), each
time at the description of the prophet MlCAH.
The Targum, on each occasion, renders the
word "of Mareshah;" but the derivation from
Mareshuh would be Mareshathite, and not Morss-
thita, or more accurately Morashtite. G.
MOR'DECAI [3 ayL] PST!*} [»ee below]:
MapSox"' * '• Mirduclutut), the deliverer, under
Divine Providence, of the Jews from the destruction
plotted against them by Hainan [Ksthkk], the
chief minuter of Xerxes: the institutor of the feast
of Purim [Pobiji], and probably the author as
well as the hero of the Book of Esther, which is
sometimes called the book of Mordecai. 11 The
Scripture narrative tella us concerning him that he
waa a Beqjauiite, and one of the Captivity, residing
in Shuslian, whether or not in the king's service
before Esther waa queen, does not appear certainly.
From the time, however, of Esther being queen he
was one of those " who sat in the king's gate." In
this situation he saved the king's life by discovering
the conspiracy of two of the eunuchs to kill him.
When the decree for the massacre of all the Jews
In the empire was known, it was at his earnest
advice and exhortation that Esther undertook the
perilous task of interceding with the king on their
behalf. He might feel the more impelled to exert
himself to save them, as he was himself the cause
of the meditated destruction of his countrymen.
Whether, as some think, his refusal to bow before
Hainan arose from religious scruples, as if such
salutation as was practiced in Persia (wptMrieirtiais)
were akin to idolatry, or whether, as seems far
mors probable, he refused from a stem unwilling-
ness as a Jew to bow before an Amalekite, in either
ease the affront put by him upon Haman was the
immediate cause of the fatal decree. Anyhow, he
and Esther were the instruments in the hand of
God of averting the threatened ruin. The concur-
rence of Esther's favorable reception by the king
with the Providential circumstance of the passage
In the Hedo-Pertian chronicles, which detailed
Mordecai 'a fidelity in disclosing the conspiracy,
being read to the king that very night, before Ha-
san came to ask leave to hang him ; the striking
Incident of Haman being made the instrument of
Jas exaltation and honor of his most hated adver-
sary, which he rightly interpreted as tne presage
of his own downfall, and finally the hanging of Ha-
man and bis sons upon the very gallows which he
Bad reared for Mordecai, while Mordecai occupied
Hainan's post as vizier of the Persian monarchy ;
MORDECAI
2009
are incidents too well known to need to be furthei
dwelt upon. It will be more useful, probably, to add
such remarks as may tend to point out Mordecai '•
place in sacred, profane, and rabbinical history re-
spectively. The first thing is to fix his data. This is
pointed out with great particularity by the write
himself, not only by the years of the king's reign,
but by his own genealogy in eh. ii. 6, 6. Some,
however, have understood this passage as stating
that Mordecai himself waa taken captive with Jec-
oniah. But that any one who had been taken cap-
tive by Nebuchadnezzar in the 8th year of his
reign should be vizier after the 12th year of any
Persian king among the successors of Cyrus, is ob-
viously impossible. Besides, too, the absurdity of
supposing the ordinary laws of human life to be
suspended in the case of any person mentioned in
Scripture, when the sacred history gives no such
intimation, there is a peculiar defiance of probabil-
ity in the supposition that the cousin german of
the youthful Esther, her father's brother's son
should be of an age ranging from 90 to 170 years,
at the time that she was chosen to be queen on ac-
count of her youth and beauty. But not only u
this interpretation of Esth. ii. 5, 6, excluded by
chronology, but the rules of grammatical propriety
equally point out, not Mordecai, but Kish, as being
the person who was taken captive by Nebuchad-
nezzar at the time when Jeconiah was carried away.
Because, if it had been intended to speak of Mor-
decai as led captive, the ambiguity would easily
have been avoided by either placing the clause
iT73n "^f^« "to-i immediately after ]u$in?2
iTT'Br}, and than adding his name and gene-
alogy, D lQQft, or else by writing SVT} in-
stead of "T^M, at the beginning of verse 8.
Again, as the sentence stands, the distribution of
the copulative ) distinctly connects the sentence
IJjto VTJJ in ver. 7, with TVT\ in ver. 5, show-
ing that three things are predicated of Mordecai .
(1) that he lived in Sbushan; (2) that his name
was Mordecai, son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of
Kish the Benjamite who was taken captive with
Jehoiachin; (3) that he brought up Esther. This
genealogy does then fix with great certainty the
age of Mordecai. He was great grandson of a con-
temporary of Jehoiachin. Now four generations
cover 120 yean — and 120 yean from B. C. 699
bring us to b. c. 479, L e. to the 8th year of the
reign of Xerxes; thus confirming with singular
force the arguments which led to the conclusion
that Ahaauerus is Xerxes. [Ahascbbub.] * Tha
carrying back the genealogy of a captive to tha
time of the Captivity has an obvious propriety, aa
connecting the captives with the family record pre-
served in the public genealogies, before the Captiv-
ity, just ss an American would be likely to carry
up his pedigree to the ancestor who emigrated
from England. And now it would seem both pos-
sible and probable (though it cannot be certainly
a Da Watte thinks that " the opinion that Mordecai
trots the book doss not des erve If ■» confuted,' a.- /
Saoafjh the author "darifnad that the book should be
fonsidsnd as written by Mordecai." His traa-'ator
adds, that " tha greatest part of the Jewian and Chria-
ir It to him. But ha adds, " mors
writer*, with batter Judgment aflrm only
i of the authorship " (Zand. M *4t~
847). But the objections to Mordecai's authorship an
Mdy such aa, If valid, would impugn the truth and
aiitnentkltv of the book itnlf.
b Justin has the singular statement, nprimum
Xerxes, rax Peraaram, Judssos domult " (lib. zxxvi
cap. ul.). May not this arise from a nnnfnsad kuowl
sags of the events recorded 'n Bsthert
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2010
MOBDEOAl
■moved) that the Hordeai mentioned in the dupli
sate passage, Ear. ii. 2; Neh. vii. 7, as one of the
leaders of the captives who returned from time to
time from Babjlon to Judrea [Ezra], was the
lame as Hordecai of the book of Esther. It is
very probable that on the death of Xerxes, or pos-
sibly during his lifetime, he ma; hare obtained
leave to lead back such .lews as were willing to ac-
eompany him, and that he did so. His age need
aot have exceeded 50 or 60 years, and his character
points him out as likely to lead his countrymen
back from exile, if he had the opportunity. The
name Hordecai not occurring elsewhere, makes this
supposition the more probable.
As regards his place in profime history, the do-
mestic annals of the reign of Xerxes are so scanty.
that it would not surprise us to find no mention
of Mordecai. But there is a person named by
Ctesias, who probably saw the very chronicle* of
the kings of Media and Persia referred to in Esth.
x. S, whose name and character present some
points of resemblance with Mordecai. namely, Mat-
seas, or Natacas (as the name is variously written ),
whom he describes as Xerxea's chief favorite, and
the most powerful of them all. His brief notice
of him in these words, tj)puutpVrsM> 8« fifyurroy
ttivaro NotcocSj. is in exact agreement with the
description of Mordecai, Esth. ix. 4, x. 3, 3. He
further relates of him, that when Xerxes after his
return from Greece had commissioned Megabyras
to go and plunder the temple of Apollo at Delphi,"
upon his refusal, he sent Matacas the eunuch, to
insult the god, and to plunder his property, which
Matacas did, and returned to Xerxes. It is ob-
vious bow grateful to the feelings of a Jew, such
as Mordecai was, would be a commission to dese-
crate and spoil a heathen temple. There is also
much probability in the selection of a Jew to lie
his prime minister by a monarch of such decided
Iconoclastic propensities as Xerxes is known to have
had (Prideaux, Connect. i. 231-333). Xerxes
would doubtless see much analogy between the
Magian tenets of which he was such a zealous pat-
ron, and those of the Jews' religion ; just as Pliny
actually reckons Moses (whom he couples with Jan-
ors) among the leaders of the Magian sect, in the
very same passage in which he relates that Osthanes
the Magian author and beresiarcb accompanied
Xerxes in his Greek expedition, and widely diffused
the Magian doctrines (lib. xxx. ch. i. §2); and in
f 4 seems to identify Christianity also with Magic.
From the context it seems highly probable that this
notice of Moses and of Jannes may be derived from
the work of Osthanes, and if so, the probable in-
tercourse of Osthanes with Mordecai would readily
account for his mention of them. The point, how-
gam, here insisted upon is, that the known hatred
if Xerxes to idol-worship makes his selection of a
Jew for his prime minister very probable, and that
there are strong points of resemblance in what is
hus related of Matacas, and what we know from
Scripture of Mordecai. Again, that Mordecai was,
what Matacas is related to have been, a eunuch,
seems not improbable from bis having neither wife
nor child, from his bringing up his cousin Esther
« It seems probable that some other temple, not
chat at Delphi, was at this lima ordered by Xerxes to
Ds spoiled, as no other writer mentions It It might
is that of ApoUo Didymaras, near Miletus, which was
l aat n i T sd By Xsrzss altar his return (Strab. at*, eap.
I- i *>•
MOllDBCAt
in his own house,* from his situation in the kmg'i
gate, from his access to the court of the woman,
and from his being raised to the highest post of
power by the king, which we know from Persia!
history was so often the esse with the king's
eunuchs. With these points of agreement between
them, there is sufficient resemblance in their names
to add additional probability to the supposition of
their identity. The most plausible etymology usu-
ally given for the name Mordecai u that favored
by Geseuius, who connects it with Merodach the
Babylonian idol (called Mardok in the cuneiform
inscriptions), and which appears in the names Mes-
easi Mordacua, Sisi-Mordschua, in nearly the same
form as in the Greek, MapSovauu- But it is highly
Improbable that the name of aBabylonian idol should
have been given to him under the Persian dynasty,'
and it is equally improbable that Mordecai should
have been taken into the king's service before the
commencement of tbe Persian dynasty. If then
we suppose the original form of the name to have
been Matacai, it would easily in the Chaldee or-
thography become Mordecai, just u KD"13 is
for HDS, to s 3"?B* for t33fi?, pBJtJ-ri »or
ptEfyl. etc. In tbe Targum of Esther be is said
to be called Mordecai, because be was like WTQ7
MJ3"1. "to pure my^^h. ,,
As regards his place in Rabbinical estimation,
Mordecai, as is natural, stands very high. Ths
interpolations in the Greek book of Esther are one
indication of his popularity with his countrymen.
The Targum (of late date) shows that this increased
rather than diminished with the lapse of centuries.
There Shimei in Mordecai's genealogy is identified
with Shimei the son of Gera who cursed David,
and it is said that the reason why David would not
permit him to be put to death then was, that it
was revealed to him that Mordecai and Esther
should descend from him ; but that in his old age,
when this reason no longer applied, be was slain.
It is also said of Mordecai that he knew the seren/y
langtuiytt, I. e. the languages of all the nations
mentioned in Gen. x., which the Jews count as
seventy nations, and that his age exceeded 400
years (Juchasin ap. Wolf, and Stehelin, Habb.
liter, i. 179). He is continually designated by the
appellation Ni^TO, •' the Just," and the ampli-
fications of Esth. will. 15 abound in the most glow-
ing descriptions of tbe splendid robes, and Persian
buskins, and Median scimitars, and golden crowns,
and the profusion of precious stones and Macedonian
gold, on which was engraved a view of Jerusalem,
and of the phylactery over the crown, and the
streets strewed with myrtle, and the attendants,
and the heralds with trumpets, all proclaiming the
glory of Mordecai and tbe exaltation of the Jewish
people. Benjamin of Tudela mentions the ruins of
Shushan and the remains of the palace of Abas-
uerus ss still existing in bis day, but places th*
tomb of Mordecai and Esther at Haniadan, or Ee-
batona (p. 128). Others, however, place the tomb
<> To account for this, tbe Targum adds that ha was
76 years old.
c Mr. Rawlinson (Herod. I. 270) points out Mr. L»>
ard's conclusion (Mai. 11. Ml), tha* toe Persian
adopted generally the Assyrian roiigiou, as " qaMa
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MOBBH
■T Mordeeal in Sow, and that of Either in or new
Benin in Galilee (note to Aaher's Berg, of Tvd.
a. 166). With reference to the above-named palace
of Ahamenu at Shushan, it may be added that
aonaiderable remains of it were discovered by Mr.
Loftus's excavation! in 1861, and that he thinks
the plan of the great colonnade, of which he found
the bases remaining, corresponds remarkably to the
description of the palace of Ahasuems in Eeth. i.
(Lottos, Chaldaa, ch. xxviii.). It was built or
began by Darius Hystaspis. A. C. H.
MCREH [1X1*10, archer or teacher; perh.
fruitful]. A local name of central Palestine, one
of the very oldest that has come down to us. It
occurs in two connections.
1. Ths plaix, or plains (or, as it should
rather be rendered, the oak or oaks) or Mokeh
(JTTID fbt* and nnb "^V?**; Samar. in
both cases, H*T«D fhtA : f, tpvs *, bfaKfr eon-
talHt illuttrit, valHt tendens [et intrant procul)),
the first of that long succession of sacred and ven-
erable trees which dignified the chief places of Pal-
estine, and formed not the least interesting link in
the chain which so indissolubly united the land to
(he history of the nation.
The Oak of Moreh was the first recorded halting-
place of Abram after his entrance into the land of
Canaan (Gen. xil. 6). Here Jehovah " appeared '•
to him, and hen he built the first of the series of
attars ■ whieh marked the various spots of his
residence in the Promised Land, and dedicated it
"to Jehovah, who appeared 6 unto him" (rer. 7).
It was at the " place of 'Shechem " (xii. 6), close
to (?^M) the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim
(Dent. xL 30), where the Samar. Cod. adds " over
•gainst Shechem."
There is reason for believing that this place, the
scene of so important an occurrence in Abram's
early residence in Canaan, may have been also that
of one even more important, the crisis of his later
life, the offering of Isaac, on a mountain in " the
land of Iforiah." r MoMAH.]
A trace of this ab. ent name, curiously reappear-
ing after many centuries, is probably to be found
In Morthia, which is given on some ancient coins
sa one of the titles of Neapohs, «. e. Shechem, and
by Pliny and Josephus as Mamortha d or Mabortha
(Roland, Diu. fil. § 8). The latter states (ft J.
iv. 8, § 1), that "it was the name by which the
pfavee was called by the country-people" (irix&pioi),
who thus kept alive the ancient appellation, just ss
the peasants of Hebron did that of Kirjath-arba
down to the date of Sir John Maundeviue's visit.
[See vol. ii. p. 1566 a, and note.]
Whether the oaks of Moreh had any connection
with
MORBSHETH-GATH 2011
2 Thk Hill op Hokkh (TTTUBn fiyjS :
raffaaSa/iapat [Vat -futpa] ; Alex, in rov $t>iu*
tou affap: colli* excehut), at the foot of which the
Midianites and Amalekites were encamped before
Gideon's attack upon them (Jadg. vii. 1). seems,
to say the least, most uncertain. Copious ss are
the details furnished of that great event of Jewish
history, those which enable us to judge of its precise
situation are very scanty. But a comparison of
Judg. vi. 33 with vii. 1 makes it evident that it lay
in tile valley of JezreeL rather on the north side of
the valley, and north also of the eminence on which
Gideon's little band of heroes was clustered. At
the foot of this latter eminence was the spring of
Ain-Charod (A. V. " the well of Hand "), and a
sufficient sweep of the plain intervened between it
and the hill Moreh to allow of the encampment of
the Amalekites. No doubt— although the fact is
not mentioned — they kept near the foot of Mount
Moreh, for the sake of some spring or springs which
issued from its bsse, ss the Ain-Charod did from
that on which Gideon was planted. These con-
ditions are most accurately fulfilled if we assume
Jtbtl ed-Duhy, the " little Hermon " of the modem
travellers, to be Moreh, the Ain-JnlAd to be the
spring of Herod, and Gideon's position to have been
on the northeast slope of Jebel Fuleun (Mount
Gilboa), between the village of Nurit and the last-
mentioned spring. Between Ain Jal&d and the
foot of the " Little Hermon," a space of between
9 and 3 miles intervenes, ample in extent for the
encampment even of the enormous horde of the
Amalekites. In its general form this identification
is due to Professor Stanley.* The desire to find
Moreh nearer to Shechem, where the "oak of
Moreh " was, seems to have induced Mr. Van ds
Velde to plaice the scene of Gideon's battle many
miles to the south of the valley of JezreeL " possibly
on the plain of Tiba* or of F&tir ; " in which case
the encampment of the Israelites may have been on
the ridge between Wadi Ferra' and Wndi Tibnt,
near Bwrj el- Ferra' (Syr. q* Pal. ii. 341-8). But
this involves the supposition of a movement in the
position of the Amalekites, for which there is no
warrant either in the narrative or in the circum-
stances of the case; and at any rate, in the present
state of our knowledge, we may rest tolerably cer-
tain that Jebei ed-Duhy is the hill of Mokeh
G.
MORBTSHETH-GATH' (HJ n^n'lD :
KKripovoftta T(B- harediiat Geth), a place named
by the prophet Micah only (Mio. 1. 14), in companv
with Lachiah, Achzib, Maresbah, and other towns
of the lowland district of Judah. Hiswords, "there-
fore shall thou give presents to Moresheth-gath,'
an explained by Ewald (Propheten, 330, 331) as
referring to Jerusalem, and as containing an allusion
alt may be roughly said that Abraham built altars ;
Isaac dug wells ; Jacob erected stones.
b nHPJSn. This Is a play upon She same word
avion, as We shall sss afterwards, performs an im-
eertsat part m ths name of Hobub.
e ■Betas. 1. 26 perhaps contains a play on the nam*
sjorsh— "that tnttsh people (a feet 4|t>eet)wbo
tmll In Menem. " If the pan exMed In the Hebrew
Wxt It may have bean between Blehem and Honor
<* This tain is possibly due to a confusion betwee n
eaten sod ltamrt. (Bee Bstand as above.)
• • This ldtnUA»tlooc<slo«h sad Hired (seeiibe*
above to Stanley) Is suggested also in Bertbean's Rick-
let u. Ruth, p. 119, and Bunnn's Bbeheerk on Judg.
vtt. 1. The reasons for this view an less obvious la
the A. V., owing to the mistranslation of f*g by
" well " (which would be strictly "HJa), instead of
'< fountain," and of b$ by « beskk,'° Instead of
" above," The ldenttneatlon ol the places In question
depends on these intimations. The position of Gideon
" above the fbcntaln of Band "It evident from vB. i,
where It is said that the host of MMfam were bak—
him m the valley m
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2012
MOBIAH
to the signification of the name Moresheth, which,
though not so literal at the play on those of Achzib
and Marahah, is jet tolerably obvious: "Therefore
•halt thou, O Jerusalem, giro compensation to More-
sheth-gath, itself only the possession of another city.' '
Micah was himself the native of a place called
Moresheth, since he is designated, in the only two
cases in which his name is mentioned, " Hicah the
Horashtite," which latter word is a regular deriva-
tion from Moresheth; but whether Horesheth-gath
was that place cannot be ascertained from any in-
formation given us in the Bible.
Eusebius and Jerome, in the Onomatticm, and
Jerome in his Commentary on Micah (Prdogui),
give Moraathi as the name, not of the person, but
of the place ; and describe it as " a moderate-sized
Tillage {haud grandis modus) near Eleutheropolia,
the city of Philistia (Palasstinaj), and to the east
thereof."
Supposing Bdt-jibrin to be Eleutheropolia, no
traces of the name of Moresheth-gath have been yet
discovered in this direction. The ruins of Maresba
lie a mile or two due south of Bril-jibnn ; but it
is evident from Mic. 1. 14, 16, that the two were
distinct.
The affix " gath " may denote a ooi.:«.tion with
the famous Philistine city of that name — the site
of which cannot, however, be taken as yet ascer-
tained — or it may point to the existence of vine-
yards and wine-presses, " gath " in Hebrew signi-
fying a wine-press or vat 6.
MORI' AH. A name which occurs twioa in
the Bible (Gen. xxii. 3; 2 Chr. iii. 1).
1. Tire Lasd of "Mokiah (TrWlM!? VT*?
[see below]; Samar. Flrmon '«: * -ft },
uifrr/Xri: terra* vUionu). On " one of the moun-
tains " in this district took place the sacrifice of
Isaac (Gen. xxii. 2). What the name of the moun-
tain was we are not told ; but it was a conspicuous
one, visible from " afar off" (ver. 4). Nor does
the narrative afford any data for ascertaining; its
position ; for although it was more than two days'
Journey from the " land of the Philistines " —
meaning no doubt the district of Gerar where Beer-
sheba lay, the last place mentioned before and the
first after the occurrence in question — yet it is not
said how much more than two days it was. The
mountain — the " place " — came into view in the
course of the third day; but the time occupied in
performing the remainder of the distance is not
stated. After the deliverance of Isaac, Abraham,
with a play on the name of Moriah impossible to
xmvey in English, called the spot Jefaovah-jireh,
" Jehovah sees " (i. e. provides), and thus originated
l proverb referring to the providential and op-
portune interference of God. " In the mount of
Jehovah, He will be seen."
It is most natural to take the "land of Moriah"
as the same district with that in which the " Oak
a Michaelis (.Suppl. No. 1458) suggests that the name
may be more accurately Hammoriah, since it is not
the practice in the early names of districts to add the
rtlole. Thus the land of Canaan Is ]932 y~IN,
not ]3?3Dn. [See Luuiw.]
b Vallowtng Aquila, ttjf yrfv ttjf maru^uni ; and
Svmmachus, -n\v •yip- r^t bmuriaf. The same ren-
serlng is adopted by the Samaritan version.
a Others take Moriah as Monh>h (i. : Jehovah).
MOBIAH
(A. V. 'plain') of Morefa" was situated, and not
as that which contains Jerusalem, as the modem
tradition, which would identify the Moriah of Gen
xxii. and that of 8 Chr. ill 1, affirms. The forma
was well known to Abraham. It was the first spot
on which he had pitched his tent in the Promised
Land, and it was hallowed and endeared to him by
the first manifestation of Jehovah with which he
had been favored, and by the erection of his first
altar. With Jerusalem on the other hand, except
as possibly the residence of Melcbizedek, he had not
any connection whatever; it lay as entirely out of
bis path as it did out of that of Isaac and Jacob.
The LXX. appear to have thus read or interpreted
the original, since they render both Moreh and
Moriah in Gen. by ityijA^, while in 3 Chr. iii. they
have 'Kfuipla. The one name is but the feminine
of the other" (Simonis, Onom. 414), and there is
hardly more difference between them than between
Maresba and Mareahah, and not so much as be-
tween Jerushalem and Jerushalalm. The Jewish
tradition, which first appears in Josephus — unless
9 Chr. iii. 1 be a still earlier bint of its existence —
is fairly balanced by the rival tradition of the
Samaritans, which affirms that Mount Gerizim was
the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac, and which ii
at least as old as the 3d century after Christ.
[Gkbizim.]
3. Mount Moriah (nj'flBn "in : (pei
tow 'A/utpta [Vat. -pita] ; Alex. Auopta: Mom
Moria 11 ). The name ascribed, in 8 Chr. iii. 1 only,
to the eminence on which Solomon built the Tem-
ple. " And Solomon began to build the house of
Jehovah in Jerusalem on the Mount Moriah, where
He appeared to David his father, in a place which
David prepared in the threshing-floor of Araunah
the Jebusite." From the mention of Araunah, the
inference is natural that the " appearance " alluded
to occurred at the time of the purchase of the
threshing-floor by David, and his erection thereon
of the sltar (2 Sam. xxiv.; 1 Chr. xxi.). But it
will be observed that nothing is said in the narra-
tives of that event of any " appearance " of Jehovah.
The earlier and simpler record of Samuel is abso-
lutely silent on the point. And in the later and
more elaborate account of 1 Chr. xxi. the only oc-
currence which can be construed into such a mean-
ing is that "Jehovah answered David by fin on
the altar of bumt-oftering."
A tradition which first appears in a definite
shape in Josephus {Ant. i. 13, §§ 1, 8, vii. IS, § 4),
and is now almost universally accepted, asserts that
the " Mount Moriah " of the Chronicles is identical
with the " mountain " in " the land of Moriah "
of Genesis, and that the spot on which Jehovah
appeared to David, and on which the Temple was
.built, was the very spot of the sacrifice of Isaac. In
the early Targum of Onkekw on Gen. xxii., this
belief is exhibited in a very mild form. The land
of Moriah is called the " land of worship," • and
but this would be to anticipate the existence of the
name of Jehovah, and, as M'chaeua has pointed on'
(Suppl. No. 1458), the name wonld more probably nt
Mortal, El being the name by which God was knows
to Abraham. [But sea Jiaovia, Amor, ed]
<f • for topographical nonces of Mount Moriah aw
the articles on Jaainumi; Kmaot; Turns; Trse
raox (Amsr. ed.). H. W.
Hjr^senyflj.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MOKIAH
Mr. 14 is grren — follows: » And Abraham eecri-
teed sad prayed in that place; and he said before
Jehovah, In this place shall generations worship,
oeeanae it shall be said in that day, In this moun-
tain did Abraham worship before Jehovah." But
in the Jerusalem Targum the lstter passage is thus
given, " Because in generations to come it shall be
said. In the mount of the house of the sanctuary
of Jehorah did Abraham oner up Isaac his son, and
in this mountain which is the house of the sanc-
tuary was the glory of Jehorah much manifest."
And those who wish to see the tradition in its com-
plete and detailed form, may consult the Targum
of R. Joseph on 1 Chr. xxi. 15, and 3 Chr. Hi. 1,
and the passages collected by Beer (Lebm Abrahams
*ack joduclit Sagt, 57-71).° But the single oc-
currence of the name in this one passage of Chron-
icles is surely not enough to establish a coincidence,
which if we consider it is little short of miraculous."
Mad the fact been as the modem belief asserts, snd
had the belief existed in the minds of the people
of the Old or New Testament, there could not fail
to be frequent references to it, in the narrative — so
detailed — of the original dedication of the spot by
David; in the account of Solomon's building in
the book of Kings; of Nehemiah's rebuilding (com-
pare especially the reference to Abraham in ix. 7);
or of the restorations and purifications of the Mac-
cabees. It was a fact which must hare found its
way into the paronomastie addresses of the prophets,
into the sermon of St. Stephen, ao full of allusion
to the Founders of the nation, or into the argument
of (he author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. But
not so; on the contrary, except in the case of Salem,
and that is by no means ascertained — the name
of Abraham does not, as far as the writer is aware,
appear once in connection with Jerusalem or the
later royal or ecclesiastical glories of Israel. Jeru-
salem lies out of the path of the patriarchs, and has
no part in the history of Israel till the establish-
ment of the monarchy. The "high places of Isaac,"
as far as we can understand the allusion of Amos
(vii. 9, 16) were in the northern kingdom. To
connect Jerusalem in so vital a manner with the
lift of Abraham, is to antedate the whole of the
later history of the nation and to commit a serious
anachronism, warranted neither by the direct nor
Indirect statements of the sacred records.
But in addition to this, Jerusalem is incompati-
ble with the circumstances of the narrative of Gen.
xxii. To name only two instances — (1.) The
Temple Mount cannot be spoken of as a conspicu-
ous eminence. " The towers of Jerusalem," says
Professor Stanley (8. <f P. p. 351), "are indeed
seen from the ridge of Mar Ellas at the distance
. f three miles to the south, but there is no eleva-
tion; nothing corresponding to the 'place afar off'
MOxUAH
2018
• The modern form of the belief is well c xp taa s a d
~r the Wast Jewish oommentator (Kalisch, Otntsis,
144, 445): " The place of the future temple, when it
n promised the glory of God should dwell, and
whence atonement and peace were to bless the hearts
M the Hebraws, was hallowed by the moat brilliant
let of piety, and the dead of their ancestor was thus
wire prominently prase u t e d to the Imitation of his
tsecendaats." The spot of the sseriDce of Isaac Is
tetoally shown In Jerusalem (Barclay, (Sty, 109).
'Hint tttewiss regards the mount of Abraham's saorl-
SB* aa4 that of Salomon's temple a* the ssa»(Jiuute.
788).— H.]
"■There ■ to the ■*•)
to which Abraham ' lifted up his eyas.' And tin
special locality which Jewish tradition has assigned
for the place, and whose name is the chief guaran-
tee for the tradition — Mount Moriah, the hill of
the Temple — is not visible til] the traveller is doss
upon it at the southern edge of the Valley of Hit,
nom, from whence he looks down upon it as on a
lower' eminence."
(2. ) If Salem was Jerusalem, then the trial of
Abraham's faith, instead of taking place in the
lonely and desolate spot implied by the narrative,
where not even fire was to be obtained, and whsra
no help hut that of the Almighty waa nigh, actu-
ally took place under the very walls of the city of
Melchizedek.
But, while there is no trace except in the single
passage quoted of Moriah being attached to any
part of Jerusalem — on the other hand in the
slightly different form of Morkh it did exist at-
tached to the town and the neighborhood of She-
cheni, the spot of Abram's first residence in Pales-
tine. The arguments in favor of the Identity of
Mount Uerizim with the mountain in the land
of Moriah of Gen. xxii., are stated under Gerizim
(vol. ii. pp. 901, 902). As far as they establish
that identity, they of course destroy the claim of
Jerusalem. G.
* li> snether article, Gkrizim (Amer. ed.), w»
have given our reasons for rejecting the theor}
which would identify the Moriah of Genesis wit!
Mount Gerizim, ana which is again brought for
ward in the present article. This theory has thi
respectable authority of Dean Stanley (reviving
the discredited Samaritan claim), and the weighty
endorsement of Mr. Grove and Mr. Ffbulkes. On
the other side, in corroboration of the view of its
untenableness already given, may be cited the testi-
mony of three most competent writers who have
lately traversed the ground and examined this
point. Prof. J. Leslie Porter, author of the valu-
able Handbook, etc., pronounces it '• simply impos-
sible" (Kitto's Bibl. Cyc. ii. 113); Dr. Thomson,
the veteran American missionary, whose personal
acquaintance with the country is unsurpassed, de-
clares it "incredible" {Land and Book, ii. 81S)i
snd Mr. Tristram, the observant English traveller,
who visited Gerizim two or three times, says: "I
have traversed and timed these routes repeatedly,
in a greater or less portion of their course, and
fed satisfied that ss long as the sacred text remains
as it is, 'on the third day,' the claims of Gerizim
are untenable" (Land of /trad, p. 153).
In disproving "that identity," we leave "the
claim of Jerusalem " clear of a rival. But th'i
claim is distinct, and, like the other, must rest et
its own merits. Its principal proofs are the idea
place la established as a sanctuary to make It the setae
of all the notable events, possible or Impossible, which
can by any play of wcrds or other pretext be connected
with It. Of this kind were the early Christian lsgendi
that Golgotha was the place of the burial of the first
Adam aa wall as of the death of the Second (see atlslin,
Saints Una, II. 804, 806). Of this kind also are the
Mohammedan legends which clutter round all the
abrlnea and holy places, both of Palestine and Arabia.
In the Targum of Chronicles (2 Ohr. HI. 1) alluded ta
above, the Temple mount Is made to be also the soona
of the vision of Jacob.
c See JnouuK, toL u p. 1377 a, and the plate k
Bsrtlstrs Walks there raaVred to.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2014
MORIAH
My of ita name; the distance from Beer-eheba,
which suits exactly the requirements of the narra-
tive; and the tradition of the Jews, twice recorded
by Josephus: "It was that mountain upon whioh
King David afterwards built [purposed to build]
the Temple" (Ant. i. 18, $ 2). "Now it hap-
pened that Abraham came and offered his sou
Isaac for a burnt-offering at that very place, as we
have before related. When King David saw that
God had heard his prayer and graciously accepted
his sacrifice, he resolved to call that entire place
the altar of all the people, and to build a temple
to God there " (AnL vii. 13, $ 4).
Without countervailing evidences these grounds
wruld be accepted at sufficient We will now
examine the objections to this view which are
brought forward in the present article.
(1.) "Although it was mora than two days'
journey from ' the land of the Philistines,' yet it
is not said how much more than two days it was."
This does not weigh against Jerusalem. It is
merely a negative argument in behalf of the more
distant locality, Gerizim, and has been answered
under that head.
(3.) The Septuagint makes "Moreh and Mo-
riah " etymologically the same; " the one name is
but the feminine of the other." This argument,
which belongs properly to the former article, we
have already answered, and are sustained by a
recent able author: "Moreh is strictly a proper
name, and as such, both in Gen. xii. 6 and Deut
xxix. SO, though in the genitive after a definite
noun, rejects the article; the • hill of Moreh,' men-
tioned in Judg. vii. 1, where the name has the
article, being a totally different place. On the
other hand, the name Horiah, in the two places of
its occurrence, namely, Gen. zzii. and 2 Chr. iii.
1, bears the article as an appellative, whether it
denotes the same situation in both places or not.
It is true the LXX. render the Moreh of (Sen. xii.
and the Moriah of Gen. xxii. alike by the adjective
tytlA^, m one oue translating by the words ' the
lofty oak,' in the other, by ' the high land.' It is
plain that, on whatever grounds tbey proceeded in
thus translating, this gives no support to the sup-
position that the names, as names of places, are
tynonvmous, inasmuch as they did not take the
words for names of places at all, but as descriptive
adjectives. Mr. Grove tells us that n»"V>D la
only the feminine form of JTjJIO. According to
no analogy of the construction of feminine forms
Jan this be said; the masculine form should in
Us ease hare been ''"llD (Quarry, Gtnem and
* AulhorMp, pp. 210, 211).
(3.) Abraham had little or no "connection"
with Jerusalem. " It lay out of his path," while
Gerizim was " well-known " to him, and " was
hallowed and endeared to him." The obvious
answer to this is, that the patriarch did not choose
the spot; he went to the place which the Lord
selected for him, and started apparently ignorant
of his precise destination. This argument further
assumes that he not only went to a place of his
jwn selection, but also that he started on an
igreeable excursion, which he would naturally wish
to associate with the pleasant memories of his
pilgrimage; the reverse of which we know to have
teen the fact.
(4.) "Had toe fact been as the modern belief
li nts , there could not fall to be frequent refcr-
MORIAH
enea to it, by the writers both of the <« and
New Testaments." The reply to this is strongly
put by a learned writer whom we have already
quoted : < This ar y aw u sfiwi ab tUenlio is notori-
ously not to be relied on; the instances of unae
countable silence respecting undoubted facts, whan
we might have expected them to be mentioned, am
too numerous among ancient writers to allow It
any weight, except as tending to corroborate argu-
ments that may have considerable weight in then>
selves. In the present case, the clause in 2 Cbr
iii. 1, ' which wss seen ' (Tl^n3) or ' provided by
David,' may fairly be taken as containing an
obscure reference to the Jehovah-Jireh, and the
saying, ' In the mount of the Lord it shall be
seen,' of Gen. xxii. 14, so that the absence of all
such reference is not so complete as is alleged"
(Quarry, pp. 213, 214).
Still, if this site had been selected for the Tem-
ple by King David btaam it was the scene of the
offering of Isaac (and another reason is assigned
by the sacred writer, 1 Cbr. xxi., xxii , without
any intimation of this), the absence of some more
distinct allusion to the fact, though not more un-
accountable than other omissions in the Scriptures,
must yet be admitted to be unaccountable.
(6.) "The Jewish tradition is fairly balanced
by the rival tradition of the Samaritans." Surely
not " balanced; " the latter is later and leas relia-
ble. Josephus and the rabbinical writers doubt-
less embodied the honest tradition of their coun-
trymen supported by the identity of names; the
Moriah of Genesis and the Moriah of Chronicles
being not only the same word, but used in no other
connection. The first tradition is natural; the
second is suspicious — in keeping with other Sa-
maritan claims, which we know to have been
false.
(6.) " The temple-mount is not a conspicuous
eminence, like the one to which Abraham ' lifted
up his eyes.' " This objection we have already
answered. The phrase simply indicates the direc-
tion of the eyes, whether up or down, and a fur-
ther illustration is furnished in ver. 13 of this
chapter.
(7.) The eminence was seen "afar off," and
"the hill of the Temple is not visible till the
traveller is close upon it" The phrase, " afar
off," is relative. It is modified by circumstances,
as in Gen. xxxvii. 18, where it is limited to the
distance at which a person would be seen and
recognised on a plain. In most connections it
would indicate a greater distance than is admissi-
ble here; but there is a circumstance which quali-
fies it in this passage. From the spot where the
place became visible (as is conceded by Mr. Ffoulkes)
Abraham and Isaac proceeded alone to the ap-
pointed spot, the latter bearing the wood. The dis-
tance to he traversed with this load from the point
at which Moriah becomes visible to a traveller
from the south to its summit is fully as great as
any reader would naturally associate with this fact
in the narrative.
(8.) " If Salem was Jerusalem, instead of too
lonely and desolate spot implied by the narrative,
it took place wider the very walls of the city of
Melchizedek." Mr. Grove, who suggests this, not
being eonvinoad of their identity — (" the argu-
ment* are almost equally balanced," ii. 1972) —
while Dean Stanley is fully convinced that they aw
not identical, this argument is for other minds, fa
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MOKIAH
than who hold other and positive views on this
point. Wa accept the Identity, and we feel the
force of the objection. Our only reply to it U,
that the environs of an eastern walled town an
often as free from observation, as secluded and
BtaH, as a solitude. The writer of this has passed
hoars together within a stone's throw of the walls
of the modern Jerusalem at various points undis-
turbed by any sound, and as unobserved as though
the city had been tenantleas. This view is sup-
ported by a writer already quoted : " Even under
the walla of the city of Melchizedek the whole
may have taken place without attracting tbe notice
af the inhabitants, and the desolate loneliness of
the spot, supposed to be implied in tbe narrative,
has no place in it whatever. It is not implied
that Abraham could not obtain fire, but going to
an unknown place, he took with him, by way of
precaution, what would be needful for the intended
sacrifice " (Quarry, p. 318).
This partially relieves the difficulty which Mr.
Grove has raised for those of his readers who
identify Salem and Jerusalem; but only in part,
we think. It must be acknowledged that close
proximity to a city is not a natural locality for
such a scene. We should suppose that the patri-
arch would have been directed — we should natu-
rally infer from the narrative itself that be was
directed — to some spot remote from the dwellings
of men, where, in the performance of this remark-
able rite, which even his servants were not to
witness, he would not be liable to interruption or
intrusive observation-
It must also be admitted that tbe selection of
this spot, with or without a design, for the two
events associated with it, is a most unlikely occur-
rence. " It would take a vast amount of contrary
evidence to force me to abandon this idea," says'
Dr. Thomson. It would require very little to lead
us to relinquish it ; for in itself it seems to us tbe
height of improbability. That the altar of bumt-
oflering for the Hebrew worship should have been
erected on the identical spot where centuries be-
fore the great progenitor of the nation had erected
the altar for the sacrifice of his son, led thither for
the purpose three days' journey from home — that
this should have occurred without design, have been
a mere " coincidence," — we must concur with Mr.
Grove in pronouncing " little short of miraculous."
Yet if it did occur, this is a somewhat less incredi-
ble supposition than that it was by design. That
the locality became invested with any sanctity in
the Divine mind — was divinely selected ss tbe site
if the Temple, the scene of the second manifesta-
tion, because it had been the scene of the first — is
an assumption wholly unconntenanoed by any fact
or analogy within our knowledge. The " natural
tendency " of the eastern mind, moreover, to
duster supernatural or sacred events around the
supposed scene of a known miracle, is correctly
stated by Mr. Grove. Nothing could be more
latural than for the Jews, without any clear war-
rant, to connect if possible the scene of their sacri-
fices with the offering of Isaac, and associate the
altars of their typical worship with tbe altar )n
which tbe son of promise was laid. This corr»-
mondenee is thought by some to favor tbe identity ;
we cannot but regard a double claim, so peculiar,
at in ifseif a suspicious circumstance.
We would say in conclusion that in favor of the
'dsnttty of the two sites may be urged tbe Identity
'a* the name, used without explanation in these two
MORTAB
2016
passages of Scripture alone, and "in both places
alike as an appellative bearing the article;" list
possible allusion in a clause of the latter to a elaust
in the former; the correspondence nf tbe distance
with the specifications of the journey : the ancient
and consistent Hebrew tradition, universally re-
ceived in Christendom ; the failure to establish s
single presumption in favor of any other locality ;
and the absence of any fatal or decisive objection
to this identification. On these grounds the tradi-
tional belief will probably abide. Nevertheless, for
reasons' above intimated, we cannot feel the absolute
confidence in it wbich some express. And the
most which we think can be safely affirmed is, that
Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, on which the Templa
of Solomon was built, was probably, asm the spot
where Abraham offered up Isaac. S. W.
• MORNING, SON OF THH [Loo,
KKR.]
MORTAB. The simplest and probably most
ancient method of preparing com for food was by
pounding it between two stones (Virg. JEn. i. 179)
Convenience suggested that tbe lower of the twu
stones should be hollowed, that tbe com might not
escape, and that tbe upper should be shaped so as
to be convenient for holding. The pestle and mor-
tar must hare existed from a very early period.
The Israelites in the desert appear to have possessed
mortars and handmilla among their necessary do-
mestic utensils. When the manna fell they gath-
ered it, and either ground it in tbe mill or pounded
it in the mortar (n3 v TO, mMAcilt) till it was fit
for use (Num. xi. 8). So in the present day stone
mortars are used by tbe Arabs to pound wheat for
their national dish lobby (Thomson, The Land and
the Book, ch. viii. p. 94). Niebuhr describes one
of a very simple kind which was used on board the
vessel in which he went from Jidda to Loheia.
Every afternoon one of the sailors had to take the
durra, or millet, necessary for the day's consump-
tion and pound it " upon a stone, of whioh the
surface was a little curved, with another stone
which was long and rounded " (Doer, de CArah
p. 45). Among the inhabitants of Kzzehhone, a
Druse village, Burckhardt saw coffee-mortars made
out of the trunks of oak-trees (Syria, pp. 87, 88).
The spices for the incense are said to have been
prepared by the house of Abtines, a family set
apart for the purpose, and the mortar which they
used was, with other spoils of the Temple, after
the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, carried to
Rome, where it remained till the timo of Hadrian
(Reggio in Martinet's Htbr. Chrat. p. 35). l!nx-
torf mentions a kind of mortar (ttfi-pS, cttUuk)
in which olives were slightly bruised before thaw
were taken to the olive-presses (Lex. Tain. s. T.
U?n3). From the same root as this last is de-
rived maeUth (2fo)?9, Prov. xxvii. 88), which
probably denotes a mortar of a larger kind in
which corn was pounded. " Though thou bray
the fool in the mortar among the bruised com with
the pestle, yet will not his folly depart from him."
Corn may be separated from its husk and all its
good properties preserved by such an operation,
but the fool's folly is so fsasnfisl a part of himself
that no analogous process can remove it from hiul.
Such seems the natural interpretation of this re-
markable proverb. Tbe language is intentionally
exaggerated, and there is no necessity far supposing
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2016 MORTER
in allusion to a mode of pnnishment by which
trimuiaU were put to death, by being pouuded in a
mortar. A custom of thU kind existed among the
Turks, but there U no distinct trace of it among
the Hebrews. The Ulemata, or body of lawyers,
In Turkey bad the distinguished privilege, accord-
ing to De Tott (Mem. i. p. 28, Eiig. tr.), of being
put to death only by the pestle and the mortar.
Such, however, is supposed to be the reference in
the proverb by Mr. Roberts, who illustrates it from
bis Indian experience. " Large mortars are used
in the East for the purpose of separating the rice
frc-m the husk. When a considerable quantity has
to be prepared, the mortar is placed outside the
door, and two women, each with a pestle of five
feet long, begin the work. They strike in rotation,
ss blacksmiths do on the anvil. Cruel as it is, this
is a punishment of the state: the poor victim is
thrust into the mortar, and beaten with the pestle.
The late king of Kandy compelled one of the wives
of his rebellious chiefs thus to beat her own infant
to death. Hence the saying, 'Though you beat
that loose woman in a mortar, she will not leave
her wiy* : ' which means. Though you chastise her
ever so much, she will never improve" (Orient.
lUuttr. p. 368). W. A. W.
MORTER ° (Gen. xi. 8; Ex. i. Hi Lev. xiv.
42, 45; Is. xli. 25; E*. xiii. 10, 11, 14, 15, xxil.
28; Nah. iii. 14). Omitting iron cramps, lead
[Handicraft], and the instances in which large
■tones are found in close apposition without cement,
the various compacting substances used in oriental
buildings appear to be — 1, bitumen, as in the
Babylonian structures; 2. common mud or moist-
ened clay; 3, a very firm cement compounded of
sand, ashes, and lime, in the proportions respectively
of 1, 2, 3, well pounded, sometimes mixed and some-
times coated with oil, so as to form a surface almost
impenetrable to wet or the weather. [Plastkr.]
In Assyrian, and also Egyptian brick buildings
stubble or straw, as hair or wool among ourselves,
wa- added to increase the tenacity (Shaw, Trav.
p. 200; Volney, Trav. ii. 436; Chardin, Voy. iv.
116). If the materials were bad in themselves, as
mere mud would necessarily be, or insufficiently
mixed, or, as the Vulgate seems to understand (Ex.
xiii. 10), if straw were omitted, the mortar or cob-
wall would be liable to crumble under the influence
of wet weather. See Shaw, Trav. p. 136, and
Gea, p. 1515, s. v. vQP) : a word connected with
the Arabic Tafalf a substance resembling pipe-
slay, believed by Burckhardt to be the detritus of
±t felspar of granite, and used for taking stains
sat of cloth (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 488; Hishn.
fundi, x. 3). Wheels for grinding chalk or lime
aw morter, closely resembling our own machines
w the same purpose, are in use in Egypt (Niebuhr,
rt* L 122, pi. 17; Burckhardt, Nubia, pp. 82,97,
108. 140; HaaselquUt, Trav. p. 00). [Hocsb;
AaT.] h. to. P.
• MORTGAGE, Neh. v. 3. [Loa*.]
* MORTIFY (from the late Latin mortifico)
is used in it* primitive sense, though metaphori-
« 1. IfirT: mtkoV: camentwn, a word from the
amenosfign, «ball")as m tl^\, "altos" or
'bitumen," used In the same passage, (tan. xi. 8.
flhomir Is also rendered "clay," evidently plastic
•»r. Is. xxtx. 16, and elsewhere. 2. I^V • HP**
MOSES
cally, in Rom. viii. 13 (A. V.): "If ye through
the Spirit do mortify (ScuwroSre, lit- "put tc
death," " make an end of," Noyes) the deeds of ths
body, ye shall live." So in Col. iii. 6, where it is
the rendering of vtKptbaart •■ " Mortify (' make
dead,' Eilicott, Noyes; ■sle,' Wycliffe) therefore
your members which are upon the earth;" comp.
Gal. v. 24, " They that are Christ's have cnmfiea
the flesh with its affections and lusts." A.
MOSE'RAH (rnOin [perh. fetter, ehat-
tuemtnl] : Kuratdt; Alex. Mfie-oSai; Comp. Mcxr»-
S*:] Motera, Deut x. 6, apparently the same as
osekoth, Num. xxxiii. 30, its plural form), the
name of a place near Mount Hot. Hengstenberg
(Authent. der Pental.) thinks it lay in the Arabah,
where that mountain overhangs it. Burckhardt
suggests that possibly HWj Mutita, near Petra
and Mount Hor, may contain a corruption of
Mosera. This does not seem likely. Used as a
common noon, the word means " bonds, fetters."
In Deut it is said that "there Aaron died." Prob-
ably the people encamped in this spot adjacent to
the mount, which Aaron ascended, and where he
died. H. H.
• MOSE'ROTH (rrTip'TB: Msuroiyott;
Vat in ver. 30, Mo<roup»8: Moteroth), Num.
xxxiii. 30, 31. See Moserah. A.
MO'SES (Heb. Md$heJt, TWjiti ^ drawn:
LXX, Josephus, Philo, the most ancient MSS. of
N. T., M»So-ij», declined Mo-So-sW, Ma-Oni or
M»Bof , M»Wa or MoCo^r: Vulg. Moytet, de-
clined Moyti, gen. and dat, ifoytrn, ace. : Rec.
Text of N. T. and Protestant versions, Motet:
Arabic, Miti : Numenius ap. Ens. Prop. Kv. ix.
8, 27, Moiwaios: Artapanus ap. Eus. Ibid. 27,
Mwi/o-ot : Manetho ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 26, 28, 31.
Otartipn: Chaeremon, ap. to. 32, Tint/lea: "the
man of God," Ps. xc, title, 1 Chr. xxlii. 14; "the
slave of Jehovah," Num. xii. 7, Deut. xxxiv. 6,
Josh. i. 1, Ps. cv. 26; "the chosen," Ps. cvi. ?»».
The legislator of the Jewish people/* snd in a cer-
tain sense the founder of the Jewish religion. No
one else presented so imposing a figure to the
external Gentile world ; and although in the Jew-
ish nation his fame is eclipsed by the larger details
of the life of David, yet he was probably always
regarded as their greatest hero.
The materials for his life are —
I. The details preserved in the four last books
of the Pentateuch.
II. The allusions In the Prophets and Psalms,
which in a few instances seem independent of the
Pentateuch.
III. The Jewish traditions preserved in the N.
T. (Acts Til. 20-38; 2 Tim. 111. 8, 9; Heb. xi.
23-28; Jude 9); and in Josephus (Ant. ii., iii.,
It.), Philo (Vila Moytii), and Clemens. Alex.
(Strom.).
IV. The heathen traditions of Manetho, Lysim-
achus, and Chrremon, preserved In Josephus (o
Ap. I. 26-32), of Artapanus and others in Euse-
otfam, also lima, pulvii, AT." dust," '* oowdsr," as
In 2 K. xxlll. 6, and (tan. u 7-
• Ju&.
npbntiMirrmritaviiaaThtetoMyvm adrapw
It. las. Prop. Be. vU. 8. Damp. Fhllo, V. Mm
i. SO.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MOSES
hCat {Prop- Ev. ix. 8, 36, 37), and of Heoatesus
hi Diod. Sk. xL, Strabo xvi. 2.
V. The Mussulman traditions in the Koran (ii.,
iH., x., xviii., xx. t xxviii., xL), and toe Arabian
legends, at given in Weil'i Biblicai Legends,
D'Herbelot ("Mouaa"), and Lane's Selections,
p. 182.
VI. Apocryphal Book* of Hoeea (Fabrieitu, Cod.
Pseud. V. T. i. 825): (1.) Prayers of Moses.
(8.) Apocalypse of Mow*. (3.) Ascension of Moses.
(Then are only known by fragments.)
VII. In modem times his career and legulati Ji
km been treated by Warburton, Michaelit, Ewak),
and Bunscn.
His life, in the later period of the Jewish his-
tory, was divided into three equal portions of forty
yarn each (Acta vii. 23, 30, 36). This agrees with
the natural arrangement of his history into the three
part* of his Egyptian education, his exile in Arabia,
and his government of the Israelite nation in the
Wilderness and on the confines of Palestine.
I. His birth and education. The immediate ped
arret of Moan is as follows : —
Lan
I
MOSES
2017
Gannon
tohatti
Hararl
Anuam » Joehebed
r — Miriam Aaron _ Eliaheba Moan — Bpporah
I I
Madab Abihn Msatar Ithamar Oenbom BlLnr
Phinehas. Jonathan.
In the Koran, by a strange confusion, the family
of Hoses is confounded with the Holy Family of
Nazareth, chiefly through the identification of Mary
and Miriam, and the 3d chapter, which describes
the evangelical history, bears the name of the
" Family of Amraru." Although little is known
of the family except through its connection with
thia ita moat illustrious member, yet it was not
without influence on his after-life.
The fact that he was of the tribe of Levi no
doubt contributed to the selection of that tribe as
the sacred caste. The tie tbat bound them to
Motes was one of kinship, and they thus naturally
rallied round the religion which he had been the
aaeant of establishing (Ex. xxxii. 28) with an ardor
which could not have been found elsewhere. His
own eager devotion is also a quality, for good or
aril, characteristic of the whole tribe.
The Levitieal parentage and the Egyptian origin
both appear in the family names. Gershom, Eletuar,
■re both repeated in the younger generations.
Most (tide infra) and Pkinehnt (see Brugsch,
Bin de f&gnptt, 1. 173) are Egyptian. The name
of his mother, Joehebed, implies tie knowledge of
the name of Jehovah in the bosom of the family.
It iti its list distinct appearance in the sacred hit-
lory.
• She was, affording to Artapanns, Boa. Prop We.
tx. IT) the daughter of Pahnanothw, who was w"gn-
agatHatlopolJa.and the wife of Cbenephns, who was
Jaffna* at Memphis. In this baditlon, and that w*
rnO» ( K jr. 1. t), she hat n: ehUd, and hence her
•sight at Inning one.
m
Miriam, who mutt have been considerably elder
than himself, and Aaron, who was three yean
older (Ex. vii. 7), afterwards occupy that indepen-
dence of position which their superior age would
naturally give them.
Moan was born, according to Manetho (Joa. c.
Ap. i. 36, ii. 2), at HeliopoOa, at the time of the
deepest depression of his nation in the Egyptian
servitude. Hence the Jewish proverb, " When the
tale of bricks is doubled then comes Moses." His
birth (according to Josephus, Ant. ii. 9, § 3, 8, 4)
had been foretold to Pharaoh by the Egyptian ma-
gicians, and to his father Amram by a dream — as
respectively the future destroyer and deliverer. The
pangi of hit mother's labor were alleviated so as to
enable her to evade the Egyptian midwives. The
story of his birth is thoroughly Egyptian in ita
scene. The beauty of the new-born babe — in the
later versions of the story amplified into a beauty
and size (Joa. ii. § 1, 5) almost divine (inrrtiot
re> Sea, Acts vii. 20; the word iurrtTot it taken
from the LXX. version of Ex. ii. 2, and ia used
again in Heb. xi. 23, and ia applied to none but
Motes in the N. T.) — induced the mother to
make extraordinary efibrta for ita preservation from
the general destruction of the male children of Ia
net. For three months the child was concealed in
the bouse. Then his mother placed him in a small
boat or basket of papyrus — perhaps from a current
Egyptian belief that the plant is a protection from
crocodiles (Plut. Is. <f Os. 358) — closed against
the water by bitumen. This was placed among
the aquatic vegetation by the aide of one of the
canals of the Nile. [Nile.] The mother departed
as if unable to bear the sight. The sister lingered
to watch her brother's fate. The basket (Joa. ib.
5 4) floated down the stream.
The Egyptian princess (to whom the Jewish
traditions gave the name of Thermvthis, Joa. Ant.
ii. 9, § 6 ; Artapanus, Prop. Ev. ix. 27, the name
of Merrhis, and the Arabic traditions that of Astnt,
Jalaladdin, 387) came down, after the Homeric,
simplicity of the age, to bathe in the sacred river,"
or (Jos. Ant. ii. 9, § 5) to play by its side. Her'
attendant slaves followed her. She taw the basket
in the flags, or (Joa. id.) borne down the stream,
and dispatched divert after it. The divers, or on*
of the female slaves, brought it. It was opened,
and the cry of the child moved the princess to
compassion. She determined to rear it at her own.
The child (Joe. ib.) refused the milk of Egyptian
nurses. The sister was then at hand to recommend'
a Hebrew nurse. The child was brought up as thar
princess's son, and the memory of the incident wae-
loiig cherished in the name given to the foundling,
of the water's side — whether according to ita
Hebrew or Egyptian form. Its Hebrew, form is.
nOJO, Mosheh, from fttJ^, Mashih, "to draw
out " — " because I have drawn him out of the-
water." But this (at in many other inttancet.
Babel, etc.) it probably the Hebrew form given to
a foreign word. In Coptic, mo= water,- and ushr
= saved. This it the explanation 6 given by Je
* Brugsch, however (L'Hittoin d'fltyptr, pp. IK .
178), renders the name Mn or Mason — chOil, borne
by one of the princes of Ethiopia under Barneses II
In the Arabic traditions the name is derived framJaa
d i scover) In the water and among the. trees; "ttih
the Egyptian language mo la the name-of iwatsr, eat
« te that of a tree" (Jalaladdin. 89fT
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2018
MOSES
■ephos (Ant. ii. 0, J 6 ; e. Apim. 1. 31 "), and eon-
Armed by the Greek form of the word adopted in
the LXX-, and thence in the Vulgate, MojOctji,
Jfoyses, and by Artapanua MtiOaos (Eus. Prop.
Ev. ix. 27). His former Hebrew name is said to
have been Joachim (Clem. Alex. Strom, i. p. 343).
The child was adopted by the princess. Tradition
describes its beauty as so great that passers-by
stood fixed to look at it, and laborers left then-
work to steal a glance (Jos. Ant. ii. 9, § 6).
From this time for many years Moses must be
considered as an Egyptian. In the Pentateuch this
period is a blank, but in the N. T. he is repre-
sented as " educated (<wai8<v0t)) in all the wisdom
of the Egyptians," and as " mighty in words and
deeds " (Acts vii. 22). The following is a brief
summary of the Jewish and Egyptian traditions
which fill up the silence of the sacred writer. He
was educated at Heliopolis (comp. Strain, xrii. 1),
and grew up there as a priest, under his Egyptian
name of Osarsiph (Manetho, apud Jos. c. Ap. i.
98, 28, 31) or Tisithen (Chseremon, apud ib. 32).
"Osarsiph" is derived by Manetho from Osiris,
t. «. (Osiri-tsf ?) « saved by Osiris " (Osburn, Mon-
umental Egypt). He was taught the whole range
of Greek, Chsldee, and Assyrian literature. From
the Egyptians, especially, he learned mathematics,
to train bis mind for the unprejudiced reception of
truth (Philo, V. M. i. 5). "He invented boats
and engines for building — instruments of war and
of hydraulics — hieroglyphics — division of lands "
(Artapanus, ap. Eus. Prop. Ev. ix. 27). He taught
Orpheus, and was hence called by the Greeks Mu-
tants (ii.), and by the Egyptians Hermes (to.). He
taught grammar to the Jews, whence it spread to
Phoenicia and Greece (Eupolemus, ap. Clem. Alex.
Strom, i. p. 343). He was sent on an expedition
against the Ethiopians. He got rid of the serpents
of the country to be traversed by turning baskets
full of ibises upon them (Jos. Ant ii. 10, §2), and
founded the city of Hermopolis to commemorate bis
victory (Artapanus, ap. Eus. ix. 27). He advanced
to Saba, the capital of Ethiopia, and gave it the
name of Meroe, from his adopted mother Merrhia,
whom he buried there (to.). Tharbis, the daughter
of the king of Ethiopia, fell in love with him, and
he returned in triumph to Egypt with her as his
wife (Jos. ibid.).
II. The nurture of his mother is probably spoken
of ss the link which bound him to his own people,
and the time had at last arrived when he was re-
solved to reclaim bis nationality. Here again the
N. T. preserves the tradition in a distincter form
uian the account in the Pentateuch. '■ Moses, when
he was come to years, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the re-
proach of Christ greater riches than the treasures "
— the ancient accumulated treasure of Khampsin-
itus and the old kings — ■' of Egypt " (Heb. xi.
94-26). In his earliest infancy he was reported
te have refused the milk of Egyptian nurses (Jos.
inf. ii. 9, § 5), and when three years old to have
trampled under his feet the crown which Pharaoh
bad playfully placed on his head (ib. 7). According
to the Alexandrian representation of Philo ( V. M.
6), he led an ascetic life, in order to pursue his
• PtaUo ( V. M. I. 4), mtt » water ; Clem. Alex,
(sav e s * . I. p. 848), mVu — water. Clement (to.) derives
Musi from " drawing breath.'' In an ancient ■grs-
MO8E8
high philosophic speculations. According to the
Egyptian tradition, although a ] riest of Heliopolis,
he always performed his prayers, according to the
custom of his fathers, outside the walls of the city,
in the open air, turning towards the sun-rising (Jos.
e. Apion, ii. 2). The king was excited to mitred
by the priests of Egypt, who foresaw their destroyer
(ib.), or by bis own envy (Artapanus, ap. Eus. Prop.
Ev. ix. 27). Various plots of assassination were
contrived against him, which failed. The last was
after he had already escaped across the Nile from
Memphis, warned by his brother Aaron, and when
pursued by the assassin he killed him (ib.). The
same general account of conspiracies against bis
life appears in Josephus (Ant. ii. 10). All that re-
mains of these traditions in the sacred narative Is
the simple and natural incident, that seeing an Is-
raelite suffering the bastinado from an Egyptian, and
thinking that they were alone, he slew the Egyptian
(the later tradition, preserved by Clement of Alex-
andria, said, " with a word of his mouth "), and
buried the corpse in the sand (the sand of the des-
ert then, as now, running close up to the cultivated
tract). The fire of patriotism which thus turned
him into a deliverer from the oppressors, turns hiin
in the same story into the peacemaker of the op-
pressed. It is characteristic of the faithfulness of
the Jewish records that his flight is there occasioned
rather by the malignity of his countrymen than by
the enmity of the Egyptians. And in St. Stephen's
speech it is this part of the story which is drawn
out at greater length than in the original, evidently
with the view of showing the identity of the narrow
spirit which had thus displayed itself equally against
their first and their last Deliverer (Acts vii. 25-36).
He fled into Midian. Beyond the fact that it
was in or near the Peninsula of Sinai, its precise
situation is unknown. Arabian tradition points to
the country east of the Gulf of Akaba (see La-
borde). Josephus (Ant. ii. 11, § 1) makes it "by
the Red Sea." There was a famous well (•• the
well," Ex. ii. 16) surrounded by tanks for the
watering of the flocks of the Bedouin herdsmen.
By this well the fugitive seated himself " at noon "
(Jos. iota!. ). and watched the gathering of the sheep.
There were the Arabian shepherds, and there wen
also seven maidens, whom the shepherds rudely
drove away from the water. The chivalrous spirit
(if we may so apply a modern phrase) which had
already broken forth in behalf of bis oppressed
countrymen, broke forth again in behalf of the dis-
tressed maidens. They returned unusually soon to
their father, and told him of their ad stature
Their father was a person of whom we know little,
but of whom that little shows bow great an influ-
ence he exercised over the future career of Moses.
It was Jkthro, or Rkueu or Horab, chief w
priest (" Sheykh " exactly exprestee the union of
the religious and political influence) of the Midian
ite tribes.
Moses, who up to this time had been " an Egyp-
tian " (Ex. ii. 19), now became for an unknown
period, extended by the later tradition over forty
years (Acts vii. 30), an Arabian. He marr'ed Zip-
porah, daughter of his host, to whom he slsn became
the slave and shepherd (Ex. ii. 21, iii. 1).
The blank which during the stay in Egypt ii
filled up by Egyptian traditions, can here only be
tian treatise on agriculture cited by Ohwojsoa (
ntu, etc., 12 nott) his name In given as
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MOSES
from indirect aliusbiu in other parts of
the O. T. The alliance between Israel and the
Kenite branch of the MMlmlta^ now first formed,
ni never broken. [KiNim.] Jethro became
their guide through the desert. If from Egypt, as
we have teen, was derived the secular and religious
teaming of Moses, and with this much of their out-
ward ceremonial, so from Jetbro was derived the
organisation of their judicial and social arrange-
ments during their nomadic state (Ex. xviii. 21-
83). Nor is the conjecture of Ewald (Guch. ii.
69, 60) improbable, that in this pastoral and simple
relation there is an indication of a wider concert
than is directly stated between the rising of the Is-
raelites in Egypt and the Arabian tribes, who, under
the name of " the Shepherds," had been recently
expelled. According to Artapanus (Eus. Prop. Et>.
fat. 87) Bead actually urged Hoses to make war
upon Egypt. Something of a joint action is im-
plied in the visit of Aaron to the desert (Ex. iv.
87; cotnp. Artapanus, ul nupia); something also
in the aacredness of Sinai, already recognized both
by Israel and by the Arabs (Ex. viii. 87; Jos. Ant.
it 18, i 1).
But the chief effect of this stay in Arabia is on
Moses himself. It was in the seclusion and sim-
plicity of his shepherd -life that he received his call
as a prophet. The traditional scene of this great
event is the valley of Slioayb, or Hobab, on the
N. side of Jebd Mfisa, Its exact spot is marked
by the convent of St. Catherine, of which the altar
is said to stand on the site of the Burning Bush.
The original indications are too slight to enable us
to fix the spot with any certainty. It was at " the
back" of "the wilderness" at Horeb (Ex. iii. 1):
to which the Hebrew adds, whilst the LXX. omits,
" the mountain of God." Jotephus further par-
ticularizes that it was the loftiest of all the moun-
tains in that region, and best for pasturage, from
its good grass; and that, owing to a belief that it
was inhabited by the Divinity, the shepherds feared
to approach it (Ant. U. 18, J 1). Philo ( V. if.
i. 18) adds " a grove " or " glade."
Upon the mountain was a well-known acacia
[SiirrnH] (the definite article may indicate either
"the particular celebrated tree," sacred perhaps
tlready, or " the tree " or " vegetation peculiar to
the spot "), the thorn-tree of the desert, spreading
oat its tangled branches, thick set with white
thorns, over the rocky ground. It was this tree
which became the symbol of the Divine Presence :
a flam* of fire in the midst of it, in which the dry
branches would naturally have crackled and burnt
in a moment, but which played round it without
consuming it. In Philo ( V. it. i. 12) " the angel "
Is described as a strange, but beautiful creature.
Artapanus (Eus. Prop. Ev. ix. 27) represents it
as a fire suddenly bursting from the bare ground,
tad feeding itself without fuel. But this is far less
expressive than the Biblical image. Like all the
ruriona of the Divine Presence recorded in the O.
T., as manifested at the outset of a prophetical
aanar, this was exactly suited to the circumstances
of the tribe. It was the true likeness of the condi-
tion of Israel, in the furnace of affliction, yet not
lestroyed (eomp. Philo, V. M. L 13). The place,
MOSES
2019
• The Mussulman legends speak of his white shin-
tog band as the instrument of his mtraoles (D'Herbe-
tat). Hence ■ the white hand " k prove rb ial tor the
sealing art
» aw Xwald (GooWe*l«, voL H. pi. 2, p. 106), taking
too, in the desert solitude, was equally appropriate,
as a sign that the Divine protection was not con-
fined either to the sanctuaries of Egypt, or to the
Holy I And, but was to be found with any faithful
worshipper, fugitive and solitary though he might
be. The rocky ground at once became " holy,'
and the shepherd's sandal was to be taken off no
leas than on the threshold of a palaoe or a temple.
It is this feature of the incident on which St.
Stephen dwells, as a proof of the universality of the
true religion (Acta vii. 29-83).
The call or revelation was twofold —
1. The declaration of the Sacred Name expresses
the eternal self-existence of the One God. The
name itself, as already mentioned, must have been
known in the family of Aaron. But its grand
significance was now first drawn out. [Jbho-
vah.]
3. The mission was given to Moses to deliver his
people. The two signs are characteristic — the
one of his past Egyptian life — the other of his
active shepherd life. In the rush of leprosy into his
hand » is the link between him and the people
whom the Egyptians called a nation of lepers. In
the transformation of his shepherd's staff is the
glorification of the simple pastoral life, of which
that staff was the symbol, into the great career
which lay before it. The humble yet wonder-
working crook is, in the history of Moses, as Ewald
finely observes, what the despised Cross is in the
first history of Christianity.
In this call of Moses, as of the Apostles after-
wards, the man is swallowed up in the cause. Yrt
this is the passage in his history which, more than
any other, brings out bis outward and domestic
relations.
He returns to Egypt from his exile. His Ara-
bian wife and her two infant sons are with him.
She is seated with them on the ass — (the ass was
known as the animal peculiar to the Jewish people
from Jacob down to David). He apparently walks
by their side with bis shepherd's staff. (The LXX.
substitute the general term to 6ro(6yia.)
On the journey back to Egypt a mysterious in-
cident occurred in the family, which can only be
explained with difficulty. 'lie most probable ex-
planation seems to be, that at the caravanserai
either Moses or Gershom (the context of the pre-
ceding verses, iv. 22, 33, rather points to the latter!
was struck with what seemed to be a mortal illness.
In some way, not apparent to us, this illness was
connected by Zipporah with the fact that her son
had not been circumcised — whether in the general
neglect of that rite amongst the Israelites in Egypt,
or in consequence of his birth in Midian. She
instantly performed the rite, and threw the sharp
instrument, stained with the fresh blood, at the
feet of her husband, exclaiming in the agony of a
mother's anxiety for the life of her child — "A
bloody husband thou art, to cause the death of my
son." Then, when the recovery from the illness
took place (whether of Moses or Gershom), she
exclaims again, " A bloody husband still thou art,
but not so as to cause the child's death, but only te
bring about his circumcision." b
the sickness to have visited Hoses. HosenmuUsi
makes Qershom the victim, and makes ZJppomb ad-
dress Jehovah, the Arabic word tor " marrlw " betas,
a synonym tor " circumcision." It Is pcMr-ia that na
this story Is tounded the tradition of Artap a u (xto
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2020 moses
It would seem to ham been in consequence of this
■rent whatever it was, that the wife and her chil-
dren were sent back to Jethro, and remained with
him till Mosea joined them at Rephidim (Ex. xviii.
8-61. which is the hut time that she la distinctly
mentioned. In Num. xii. 1 we hear of a Cushite
wife who gave umbrage to Miriam and Aaron.
This may be — (1) an Ethiopian (Cushite) wife,
taken after Zipporah'a death (Ewald, Gach. ii. 229).
(9.) The Ethiopian princeaa of Josephua (Ant. i.
10, § 2) : (but that whole story ia probably only an
inference from Num. xii. 1). (3.) Zipporah her-
self, which ia rendered probable by the juxtapositiou
of Cuahan with Midian in Hab. ill. 7.
The two aona also sink into obscurity. Their
names, though of Levitical origin, relate to their
foreign birthplace. Gershom, "stranger," and
Eli-ezer, " God is my help," commemorated their
father's exile and escape (Ex. xviii. 3, 4). Gershom
was the father of the wandering Levite Jonathan
(Judg. xviii. 30), and the ancestor of Shelmel,
David's chief treasurer (1 Chr. xxiil. 16, xxiv. 20).
Eliezer bad an only son, Rehabiah (1 Chr. xxiii.
17), who waa the ancestor of a numerous but ob-
scure progeny, whose representative in David's
time — the last descendant of Musts known to us
— was Shelomith, guard of the consecrated treas-
ures in the Temple (1 Chr. xxvi. 25-28).
After this parting be advanced into the desert,
and at the same Bpot where he had had his vision
encountered Aaron (Ex. iv. 27). From that meet-
ing and cooperation we have the first distinct in-
dication of his personal appearance and character.
The traditional representations of him in some
respects well agree with that which we derive from
Michael Angelo's famous statue in the church of
8. Pittro in Vinculi at Rome. Long shaggy hair
and beard is described as his characteristic equally
by Josephus, Diodorus (i. p. 424), and Artapanus
dco/iTrrn', »pud Eus. Prop. £t. ix. 27). To this
Artapanus adds the curious touch that it was of a
reddish hue, tinged with gray (ruUdxvi, woA«(i).
The traditions of his beauty ana size as a child
have been already mentioned. They are continued
to his manhood in the Gentile descriptions. " Tall
and dignified," says Artapanus (jiAjcpos, Um/mri-
gis) — " Wise and beautiful as his father Joseph "
(with a curious confusion of genealogies), says Jus-
tin (xxxvi. 2).
But beyond the slight glance at his infantine
beauty, no hint of this grand personality ia given
In the Bible. What is described is rather the
reverse. The only point there brought out is a
lingular and unlooked for infirmity. " O my Lord.
I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since Thou
hut spoken to Thy servant; but I am slow of
speech and of a slow tongue. . . . How shall Pharaoh
bear me, which am of uncircumcised lips ? " (>'. e.
slow, without words, stammering, hesitating : Io-y-
riipan'os col $apiy\u<r<rot, LXX.), bis "speech
contemptible," like St. Paul's — like the English
Cromwell (comp. Carlyle's Cromivell, ii. 219) — like
the first efforts of the Greek Demosthenes- In the
solution of this difficulty which Moses offers, we read
Soth the disinterestedness, which is the most distinct
bait of his personal character, and the future rela-
tion of the two brothers. " Send, I pray Thee, by
the hand of him -vhom Thou wilt send " (». t.
'make any one Thy apostle rather than roe").
■Wap. *» U. 27), that the
—ill mi from Hoses
MOSES
In outward appearance this prayer waa granted
Aaron spoke and acted for Moses, and was the per-
manent inheritor of the sacred staff of power. But
Moses wss the inspiring soul behind; and so at
time rolls on, Aaron, the prince and priest, has
almost disappeared from view, and Moses, the dumb,
backward, disinterested prophet, is in appearance,
what be waa in truth, the foremost leader of the
chosen people.
III. The history of Moses henceforth is the his-
tory of Israel for forty years. But as the incidents
of this hii'.ny are related in other articles, under
the beads 'if Egypt, Exodto, Plagues, Snui,
Law, Pasjover, Wasderihgs, Wildes****
it will be best to confine ourselves here to such ia-
dications of his personal character as transairt
through the general framework of the narrative.
It is important to trace his relation to his im-
mediate circle of followers. In the Exodus, ha
takes the decisive lead on the night of the flight.
Up to that point he and Aaron appear almost on an
equality. But after that, Moses is usually men-
tioned alone. Aaron still held the second place,
but the character of interpreter to Moses which hs
had borne in speaking to Pharaoh withdraws, and
it would seem as if Moses henceforth became alto-
gether, what hitherto be had only been in part, the
prophet of the people. Another who occupies s
place nearly equal to Aaron, though we know but
little of him, is Hur, of the tribe of Judah, husband
of Miriam, and grandfather of the artist Bezaleel
(Joseph. Ant. iii. 2, § 4). He and Aaron are the
chief supporters of Moses in moments of weariness
or excitement. His adviser in regard to the route
through the wilderness as well as in the judicial
arrangements, was, as we bare seen, Jethro. His
servant, occupying the same relation to him as
Elisha to Elijah, or Gehazi to Elisha, was the
youthful Hoshea (afterwards Joshua). Miriam
slways held the independent position to which her
age entitled her. Her part waa to aupply the voice
and song to her brother's prophetic power.
But Moses is incontestably the chief personage of
the history, in a sense in which no one else is de-
scribed before or since. In the narrative, the
phrase is constantly recurring, " The Lord spake
unto Moses," " Moses spake unto the children of
Israel." In the traditions of the desert, whether
late or early, his name predominates over that of
every one else, "The Wells of Moses " — on the
shores of the Red Sea. " The Mountain of Moses "
(Jebel MQsa) — near the convent of St Catherine.
The Ravine of Moses (Shuk MQsa) — at Mount
St. Catherine. The Valley of Moses (Wady MQsa)
— at Petra. " The Books of Moses " are so called
(as afterwards the Books of Samuel), In all proba-
bility from hie being the chief subject of them.
The very word " Mosaic " has been in later tiroes
applied (as the proper name of no other saint of
the O. T.) to the whole religion. Even as applied
to tesselated pavement ("Mosaic," Jfunrwa,
uowr«7o», fiowreuK6v), there is some probability
that the expression is derived from the nriegated
pavement of the later Temple, which had then be-
come the representative of the religion of Moses
(see an Essay of Redslob, ZtiUckrifl der Devttck.
iforgenl. GndU. xiv. 663).
It has sometimes been attempted to reduce this
great character into a mere passive instrument of
the Divine Will, ss though he had himself borm
no conscious psrt in the actions In which he figures
or the messages which be delivers. Thia,bowevai
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M08E8
It at incompatible with the genera] tenor of the
Scriptural account, as it it with the common Ian
fuage in which he has been described by the
Church in all ages. The frequent editresses of the
Divinity to him no more oontisTene his personal
activity and intelligence, than in the case of Elijah,
Isaiah, or St. Paul. In the N. T. the Mosaic leg-
islation is expressly ascribed to him : " Motet
gare you circumcision " (John vii. 23). " Motet,
because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you "
(Matt xix. 8). •' Did not Motet give you the
law?" (John vii. 19 ). "Motet accuseth you"
(John T. 49). St. Paul goes so far as to speak of
him as the founder of the Jewish religion: " They
were all baptized unto Motet " (1 Cor. x. 2). He
It constantly called " a Prophet" In the poetical
language of the 0. T. (Num. xxi. 18; Deut. xxxiii.
21), and in the popular language both of Jews and
Christiana, he is known as " the Lawgiver." The
ternis in which his legisUtiou is described by Philo
( V. it. ii. 1-4) is decisive as to the ancient Jewish
view. He must be considered, like all the saints
and heroes of the Bible, as a man of marvelous
gifts, raised up by Divine Providence for a special
purpose; but as led, both by his own disposition
and by the peculiarity of the Revelation which he
received, into a closer communication with the in-
visible world than was vouchsafed to any other in
the Old Testament.
There are two main characters in which he ap-
pears, as a Leader and a Prophet. The two are
more frequently combined in the East than in the
West. Several remarkable iristanoes occur in the
history of Mohammedanism : Mohammed him-
self, Abd-el-Kader in Algeria, Schaniyl in Circas-
ata.
(a.) As a Leader, his life divides itself into the
three epochs — of the march to Sinai ; the march
from Sinai to Kadeah ; and the conquest of the trar.s-
Jurdanic kingdoms. Of his natural gifts in this
capacity, we have but few means of judging. The
two main difficulties which he encountered were the
reluctance of the people to submit to his guidance,
and the impracticable nature of the country which
they had to traverse. The patience with which he
bore their murmurs is often described — at the Red
Sea, at the apostasy of the golden calf, at the re-
bellion of Korah, at the complaints of Aaron and
Miriam. The incidents with which his name was
specially connected, both in the sacred narrative and
in the Jewish, Arabian, and heathen traditions,
were those of supplying water, when most wanted.
This is the only point in his Ufe noted by Tacitus,
who describes him as guided to a spring of water
by a herd of wild asses {Hut. v. 3). In the Penta-
teuch these supplies of water take place at Marah, at
Horeb, at Kadesh, and in the land of Moab. That
at Marah is produced by the sweetening of waters
through a tree in the desert, those at Horeb and
at Kadesh by the opening of a rift in the "rock "
and in the " cliff; " that in Moab, by the united
efforts, under his direction, of the chiefs and of the
people (Num. xxi. 18).= (See Philo, V. M. i. 40.)
Of the three first of these incidents, traditional
sites, bearing his name, are shown in the desert at
the present day, though most of them are rejected
ttj modern travellers. One is Ayi» Mitu, •• the
MCSES
2021
« An niastration of thai passages Is to be found in
• of the npreventetiona of Barneses n. (oontempo-
rr wtth Moses), in like manner calling out watar
wells of Moses," immediately south of Suez, which
the tradition (probably from a confuaion with Ma-
rah) ascribes to the rod of Moses. Of the water at
Horeb, two memorials are shown. One is the Sluik
Mita, or « cleft of Moses," in the side of Mount St
Catherine, and the other is the remarkable stone,
first mentioned expressly in the Koran (ii. 57),
which exhibits the 12 marks or mouths out of
which the water is supposed to have issued for the
13 tribes.' The fourth is the celebrated " Sik," or
ravine, by which Petra is approached from the
east, and which, from the story of its being torn
open by the rod of Moses, has given his name (the
Wady Mitt) to the whole valley. The quails and
the manna are less directly ascribed to the inter-
cession of Moses. The brazen serpent that was
lifted up as a sign of the Divine protection against
the snakes of the desert (Num. xxi. 8, 9) was di-
rectly connected with his name, down to the latest
times of the nation (3 K. xviii. 4; John. Hi. 14).
Of all the relict of hit time, with the exception of
the Ark, it was the one longest preserved. [N»
BUSHTAN.]
The route through the wilderness is described as
having been made under his guidance. The par-
ticular spot of the encampment is fixed by the
cloudy pillar. But the direction of the people first
to the Red Sea, and then to Mount Sinai (where
he had been before), is communicated through
Moees, or given by him. According to the tradi-
tion of Memphis, the passage of the Red Sea was
effected through Moses's knowledge of the move-
ment of the tide (Eus. Prop. Ev. ix. 27). And in
all the wanderings from Mount Sinai he is said to
hare had the assistance of Jethro. In the Mussul-
man legends, as if to avoid this appearance of hu-
man aid, the place of Jethro is taken by El Kuhdr,
the mysterious benefactor of mankind (D'Herbelot,
Movtttt). On approaching Palestine the office of
the leader becomes blended with that of the general
or the conqueror. By Moees the spies were sent to
explore the country. Against his advice took place
the first disastrous battle at Hormah. To his guid-
ance is ascribed the circuitous route by which the
nation approached Palestine from the east, and to
his generalship the two suecesaful campaigns in
which Sihon and Oa were defeated, The narra-
tive is told so shortly, that we are in danger of for-
getting that at this last stage of his life Moses must
hare been as much a conqueror and victorious sol-
dier at Joshua.
(o.) His character at a Prophet is, from the na-
ture of the case, more distinctly brought out. He
is the first as he is the greatest example of a prophet
in the 0. T. The name is indeed applied to Abra-
ham before (Gen. xx- 7), but so casually as not to
enforce our attention. But, in the case of Moses,
it is given with peculiar emphasis. In a certain
sense, he appears as the oentre of a prophetic circle,
now for the first time named. His brother and
sister were both endowed with prophetio gifts.
Aaron's fluent speech enabled him to act the part
of Prophet for Moses in the first instance, and
Miriam is expressly called " the Prophetess.'' The
seventy eiaers, and Eldad and Medad also, all
" prophesied " (Num. xi. 26-37).
but Moses (at least after the Exodus) rose high
bom the desert-rooks (see Brugsoh, But. 4* fjtg. vol
I. p. 168).
» Sae *. * P., 48, 47, also front's TVawtt. 14 at
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2022 MOSES
liny* all these. The others are spoken of as more
jr less inferior. Their communications were made
to them in dreams and figures (Deut. xiii. 1-4;
Norn. xii. 6). But '• Moses was not so." With
him the Divine revelations were made " mouth to
mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches,
and the similitude of Jehovah shall he behold "
(Num. xii. 8). In the Mussulman legends his sur-
name is " Kelim Allah," " the spoken to by God."
Of the especial modes of this more direct commu-
nication, four great examples are given, correspond-
ng to four critical epochs in his historical career,
which help us in some degree to understand what
i < meant by these expressions in the sacred text.
(1.) The appearance of the Divine Presence in the
flaming acacia-tree has been already noticed. The
usual pictorial representations of that scene — of a
winged human form in the midst of the bush, be-
longs to Philo ( V. M. i. 12), not to the Bible. No
form is described. The " Angel," or " Messenger,"
is spoken of as being " in the flame." On this it
was that Moses was afraid to look, and hid his face,
In order to hear the Divine voice (Ex. Hi. 2-6). (8.)
Io the giving the Law from Mount Sinai, the out-
ward form of the revelation was a thick darkness as
of a thunder-cloud, out of which proceeded a voice
(Ex. xix. 19, xx. 21 ). The revelation on this occa-
sion was especially of the Name of Jehovah. Out-
side tins cloud Moses himself remained on the moun-
tain (Ex. xxiv. 1, 2, 15), and received the voice, as
from the cloud, which revealed the Ten Command-
ments, and a short code of laws in addition (Ex.
xx.-xxiii.). On two occasions he is described as
having penetrated within the darkness, and re-
mained there, successively, for two periods of forty
days, of which the second was spent in absolute se-
clusion and fasting (Ex. xxiv. 18, xxxiv. 28). On
the first occasion he received instructions respecting
the tabernacle, from a " pattern showed to him "
(xxv. 9, 40; xxvi., xxvii.), and respecting the priest-
hood (xxriii.-xxxi.). Of the second occasion hardly
anything is told us. But each of these periods was
concluded by the production of the two slabs or
tables of granite, containing the successive editions
of the Ten Commandments (Ex. xxxii. 15, 16).
On the first of the two occasions the ten moral
commandments are those commonly so called (comp.
Ex. xx. 1-17, xxxii. 15; Deut. v. 6-22). On the
second occasion (if we take the literal sense of Ex.
xxxiv. 27, 28), they are the ten (chiefly) ceremonial
commandments of Ex. xxxiv. 14-26. The first are
said to have been the writing of God (Ex. xxxi. 18,
xxxii. 16 ; Deut. v. 22) ; the second, the writing of
Moses (Ex. xxxiv. 28). (3.) It was nearly at the
close of those communications in the mountains of
Sinai that an especial revelation was made to him
personally, answering in some degree to thai which
first called him to his mission. In the despondency
produced by the apostasy of the molten calf, he
besought Jehovah to show him " His glory."
The wish was thoroughly Egyptian. The same is
recorded of Amenoph, the Pharaoh preceding the
Exodus. But the Divine answer is thoroughly Bib-
Gcal. it announced that an actual vision of God was
Impossible. " Thou canst not aee my face; for there
shall no man see my face and live." He was com-
manded to hew two blocks of stone, like those which
M had destroyed. He was to come absolutely alone.
Kven the flocks and herds which fed in the neigh-
o It Is this roorasnt whkh Is stand In the rs
ootpturs by Mr. Woollier in Uaudaff Calhednl.
MOSES
boring valleys were to be removed out of the sight
of the mountain (Ex. xxxiii. 18, 20; xxxiv. 1, 3)
He took his place on a well-known or prominent
rock (" the rock," xxxiii. 21). The cloud passed
by (xxxiv. 5, xxxiii. 22). A voice proclaimed the
two immutable attributes of God, Justice and Love
— in words which became part of the religious
creed of Israel and of the world (xxxiv. 6, 7). The
importance of this incident in the life of Moses is
attested not merely by the place which it holds in
the sacred record, but by the deep hold that it has
taken of the Mussulman traditions, and the local
legends of Mount Sinai. It is told, with soma
characteristic variations, In tie Koran (vii. 189),
and is commemorated in the Mussulman chaps]
erected on the summit of the mountain which from
this incident (rather than from any other) has
taken the name of the Mountain of Moses (Jtbel
MSta). A cavity is shown in the rock, as produced
by the pressure of the back of Moses, when he
shrank from the Divine glory" (S. o* P. p. 80).
(4). The fourth mode of Divine manifestation
was that which is described as commencing at this
juncture, and which continued with more or leas
continuity through the rest of his career. Imme-
diately after the catastrophe of the worship of the
calf, and apparently in consequence of it, Moses
removed the chief tent * outside the camp, and in-
vested it with a sacred character under the name
of '• the Tent or Tabernacle of the Congregation "
(xxxiii. 7). This tent became henceforth the chief
scene of his communications with God. He left
the camp, and it is described how, as in the expec-
tation of some great event, all the people rose up
and stood every man at his tent door, and looked
— gazing after Moses until be disappeared within
the tent. As he disappeared the entrance was
closed behind him by the cloudy pillar, at the sight
of which • the people prostrated themselves (xxxiii. *
10). The communications within the tent were
described as being still more intimate than those
on the mountain. "Jehovah spake unto Moses
face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend "
(xxxiii. 11). He was apparently accompanied on
these mysterious visits by his attendant Hoshea
(or Joshua), who remained in the tent after his
master had left it (xxxiii. 11). All the revelations
contained in the books of Leviticus and Numbers
seem to have been made in this manner (Lev. i. 1 ;
Num. i. 1).
It was during these communications that a pecu-
liarity is mentioned which apparently had not been
seen before. It was on his final descent from Mount
Sinai, after his second long seclusion, that a splen-
dor shone on his face, as if from the glory of th»
Divine Presence. It is from the Vulgate translation
of " ray " (?*^P), " cormUam habens facien," that
the conventional representation of tbe horns of
Moses has arisen. The rest of the story is told so
differently in tbe different versions that both must
be given. (1.) In the A. V. and most Protestant
versions, Moses is said to wear a veil in order to
hide the splendor. In order to produce this sense
the A. V.of Ex. xxxiv. 33 reads, "and [till] Motet
had done speaking with them " — and other ver-
sions. " he knd put on tbe veil." (2.) In the LXX
and the Vulgate, on the other hand, he la said U
pot on the veil, not during, but after the « nva*
» According to tbe LXX. it was his own teat
e Xwald, AUtnkUmt, p. 829.
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MOSES
•Hon with the people — in order to hide, not the
splendor, but the vanishing away of the splerlor;
and to have worn it till the moment " of hi return
to the Divine Pretence in order to rekindle the
light there. With this reading agrees the obvious
meaning of the Hebrew words, and it is this "en-
dering of the sense which is followed by St. Paul
in 2 Cor. iii. 13, 14, where he contrasts the fear-
lessness of the Apostolic teaching with the conceal-
ment of that of the O. T. " We have no fear, as
Hoses had, that our glory will pass away."
There is another form of the prophetic gift, in
which Moses more nearly resembles the later proph-
ets. We need not here determine (what is best
considered under the several books which bear his
aame, Pkntatkuch, etc.) the extent of his author-
ship, or the period at which these books were put
together in their present form. Eupolemus (Kits.
Prop. Et. ix. 26) makes him the author uf letters.
But of this the Hebrew narrative gives no indica-
tion. There are two portions of the Pentateuch,
and two only, of which the actual writing Is as-
cribed to Hoses: (1.) The second Edition of the
Ten Commandments (Ex. xxxiv. 28). (2.) The
register of the Stations in the Wilderness (Num.
xxxiii. 1). But it is clear that the prophetical
office, as represented in the history of Moses, in-
cluded the poetical form of composition which char-
acterizes the Jewish prophecy generally. These
poetical utterances, whether connected with Moses
by ascription or by actual authorship, enter so
largely into the full Biblical conception of his char-
acter, that they must be here mentioned.
1. '* The song which Moses and the children of
Israel sung " (after the passage of the Red Sea,
Ex. xv. 1-19). It is, unquestionably, the earliest
written account of that event; and, although it
may have been in part, according to the conjec-
tures of Ewald and Bunsen, adapted to the sanctu-
ary of Gerizim or Shiloh, yet its framework and
ideas are essentially Mosaic. It is probably this
song to which allusion is made in Kev. xv. 2, 3:
** They stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire
.... and sing the song of Hoses the servant of
God."
2. A fragment of a war-song against Amalek —
M As the hand Is on the throne of Jehovah,
Bo will Jehovah war with Amalek
from generation to generation."
(Ex. xvii. 16).
3. A fragment of a lyrical burst of indignation —
" Not the voice of them that shout tor mastery,
Nor the voice of them that cry for being overcome
Br* the notes of them that sing do I hear."
(Ex. xxxil. 18).
4. Probably, either from him or his immediate
prophetic followers, the fragments of war-songs in
Ram. xxi. 14, IB, 27-30, preserved in the " book
yt the wars of Jehovah," Num. xxi. 14; and the
tddreas to the well. xxi. 16, 17, 18.
5. The song of Moses (Deut. xxxii. 1-43), setting
forth the greatness and the failings of Israel. It
is remarkable as bringing out with much force the
Hea of God as the Rock (xxxii. 4, IS, 18, 30, 31.
T7). The special allusions to the pastoral riches
•Inli. xxxiv. 84, 86. the Tulgata apparently »••
■slowing a dUfcront reading, EF1M, '' w"h them,"
B* TFW, "with him," dinars both from the LXZ.
SMA.T
MOSB8 2028
of Israel point to the trans-Jordanic territory a*
the scene of its composition (xxxii. 13, 14).
6. The blessing of Moses on the tribes (DwA
xxxiii. 1-29). If there are some allusions in this
psalm to circumstances oaly belonging to a later
time (such as the migration of Dan, xxxiii. 22), yes
there is no one in whose mouth it could be so ap-
propriately placed, as in that of the great leader on
the eve of the final conquest of Palestine. This
poem,eombined with the similar blessing of Jacob
(Gen. xlix.), embraces a complete collective view of
the characteristics of the tribes.
7. The 90th Psalm, "A prayer of Moses, the
man of God." The title, like all the titles of the
Psalms, is of doubtful authority — and the psalm
has often been referred to a later author. But
Ewald (Pmtnun, p. 91) thinks that, even though
this be the case, it still breathes the spirit of the
venerable Lawgiver. There is something extremely
characteristic of Moses, in the view taken, as from
the summit or base of Sinai, of the eternity of God,
greater even than the eternity of mountains, in
contrast with the 6eeting generations of man.'
One expression in the Psalm, as to the limit of
human life (70, or at most 80 years) in ver. 10,
would, if it be Mosaic, fix its date to the stay at
Sinai. Jerome (Adv. Kuffin. i. § 13), on the
authority of Origen, ascribes the next eleven
Psalms to Moses. Cosniaa (Cutmogr. v. 223) sup-
poses that it is by a younger Hoses of the time of
David.
How far the gradual development of these reve
lations or prophetie utterances had any connection
with bis own character and history, the materials
are not such as to justify any decisive judgment.
His Egyptian education must, on the one hand,
have supplied him with much of the ritual of the
Israelite worship. The coincidences between the
arrangements of the priesthood, the dress, the sacri-
fices, the ark, in the two countries, are decisive.
On the other hand, the proclamation of the Unity
of God not merely as a doctrine confined to the
priestly order, but communicated to the whole
nation, implies distinct antagonism, almost a con-
scious recoil against the Egyptian system. And
the absence of the doctrine of a future state (with-
out adopting to its full extent the paradox of War-
burton) proves at least a remarkable independence
of the Egyptian theology, iu which that great
doctrine held so prominent a place. Some modern
critics have supposed that the Levitical ritual was
an after-growth of the Mosaic system, necessitated
or suggested by the incapacity of the Israelites to
retain the higher and simpler doctrine of the Divine
Unity — as proved by their return to the worship
of the Heliopolitan calf under the sanction of the
brother of Moses himself. There is no direct
statement of this connection in the sacred narra-
tive. But there are indirect indications of it,
sufficient to give some color to such an explanation.
The event itself is described as a crisis in the lift
of Moses, almost equal to that in which he received
I his first call. In an agony of rage and disappoint-
ment be destroyed the monument of his first reve-
JUMon (Ex. xxxii. 19). He threw up his sacred
» Lord Bacon has given a metrical version of this
90tn Psalm, rising in some parts to a tons of grandeur
which makes it one of the noblest hymns la oar la»
goafs. 8a> his Wbrfa, xtv. 126-127 (N. T. 1364).
■
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2024
MOSES
(it. 32). He craved and he received a
new and special n relation of the attributes of God
to console him (it. xxxiii. 18). A fresh start was
made in his career (it. xxxiv. 29). His relation
irith his countrymen henceforth became more awful
and mysterious (ib. 33-35). In point of fact, the
greater part of the details of the Levitical system
were subsequent to this catastrophe. The institu-
tion of the Levitical tribe grew directly out of it
(xxxii. 28). And the inferiority of this part of
the system to the rest is expressly stated in the
Prophets, and expressly connected with the idola-
trous tendencies of the nation. " Wherefore I gave
them statutes that were not Rood, and judgments
whereby they should not lire" (Ex. xx. 25). " I
•pake not unto your lathers, nor commanded them
in the day that I brought them out of the land of
Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices "
(Jar. vii. 22).
Other portions of the Law, such as the regula-
tions of slavery, of blood-feud, of clean and unclean
food, were probably taken, with the necessary modi-
fications, from the customs of the desert tribes.
But the distinguishing features of the law of
Israel, which ha™ remained to a considerable ex-
tent in Christendom, are peculiarly Mosaic: the
Ten Commandments; and the general spirit of
justice, humanity, and liberty, that pervades even
the more detailed and local observances.
The prophetic office of Moses, however, can only
be fully considered in connection with his whole
character and appearance. " By a prophet Jehovah
brought Israel out of Kgypt, and by a prophet
was he preserved " (Hos. xii. 13). He was in a
sense peculiar to himself the founder and repre-
sentative of his people. And, in accordance with
this complete identification of himself with his
nation, is the only strong personal trait which we
are able to gather from bis history. " The man
Moses was very meek, above all the men that were
upon the face of the earth " (Num. xii. 3). The
word " meek " is hardly an adequate reading of the
Hebrew term IJ^, which should be rather " much
enduring ; " and, in fact, his onslaught on the
Egyptian, and his sudden dashing the tables on
the ground, indicate rather the reverse of what we
should call "meekness." It represents what we
ihould now designate by the word '•disinterested."
All that is told of him indicates a withdrawal of
limself, a preference of the cause of his nation lo
■is own interests, which makes him the most com-
plete example of Jewish patriotism. He joins his
rouutrymeii in their degrading servitude (Kx. ii.
11, T. »). He forgets himself to avenge their
wrongs (ii. 14). He desires that his brother may
take the lead instead of himself (Ex. iv. 13). He
wishes that nut he only, but all the nation were
gifted alike: " Enviest thou for my sake? " (Num.
xi. 39). When the offer is made that the people
should be destroyed, and that he should be made
" a great nation " (Ex. xxxii. 10), he prays that
they may be forgiven — if not, blot me, I pray
Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written "
(xxxii. 32;. His sons were not raised to honor.
The leadership of the people passed, after his death,
to another tribe. Iu the books which bear his
same, Abraham, and not himself, appears as the
mi father of the nation. In spite of his great
■eminence, they are never " the children of
Breemln
Haass."
Id exact conformity with his life is the account
MOSES
of his end. The Book of Deuteronomy deasribta
and is, the long last farewell of the prophet to h?(
people. It takes place on the first day of thi
eleventh month of the fortieth year of the wax ier-
ings, in the plains of Moab (Deut. i. 3, 5), in the
palm-groves of Abila (Joseph. Ant. iv. 8, $ 1)
[Abkl-Smttim.] He is described as 120 years
of age, but with his sight and his freshness of
strength unabated (Dent, xxxiv. 7). The address
from ch. i. to ch. xxx. contains the recapitulation
of the Law. Joshua is then appointed his suc-
cessor. The Law is written out, and ordered to
be deposited in the Ark (ch. xxxi). The song and
the blessing of the tribes ccn.-lude the farewell (co.
xxxii., xxxiii.).
And then comes the mysterious close. As if to
carry out to the last the idea that the prophet use
to live not for himself, but for his people, ho is told
that he is to see the good land beyond the Jordan,
but not to possess it himself. The sin for which
this penalty was imposed on the prophet is difficult
to ascertain clearly. It was because he and Aaron
rebelled against Jehovah, and ■' believed Him not
to sanctify him," in the murmurings at Kadeat
(Num. xx. 12, xxvii. 14; Deut. xxxii. 51), or, as it
is expressed in the Psalms (cvi. 33), because he
spoke unadvisedly with his'lips. It seems to have
been a feeling of distrust. '• Can we (not, as often
rendered, can we) bring water out of the cliff?'
(Num. xx. 10; LXX. ^ H4l<>t*¥, "surely we
cannot.") The Talmudic tradition, characterirtic-
ally, makes the sin to be that he called the chosen
people by the opprobrious name of " rebels." He
ascends a mountain in the range which rises above
the Jordan Valley. Its name is specified so par-
ticularly that it must have been well known in
ancient times, though, owing to the difficulty of
exploring the eastern side of the Jordan, it is un-
known at present. The mountain tract was known
by the general name of Tim ptsoAH. Its sum-
mits apparently were dedicated to different divini-
ties (Num. xxiii. 14). On one of these, consecrated
to Nebo, Moses took his stand, and surveyed the
four great masses of Palestine west of the Jordan
— so far as it could be discerned from that height.
The view has passed into a proverb for all nations.
In two remarkable respects it illustrates the office
and character of Moses. First, it was a view, in
iU full extent, to be imagined rather than actually
seen. The foreground alone could be cleaily dis-
cernible; iU distance had to be supplied by what
was be) ond, though suggested by what was within
the actual prospect of the seer.
Secondly, it is the likeness of the great discoverer
pointing out what he himself will never reach. To
English readers this has been made familiar by the
application of this passage to Lord Bacon, orig
iiially in the noble poem of Cowley, and then drawn
out at length by Lord Macaulay.
" So Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in
the land of Moab, according to the word of Jeho-
vah, and He buried him in a ' ravine ' in the laud
of Moab, ' before ' Beth-peor — but no man know-
eth of his sepulchre unto this day .... And the
children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of
Moab thirty days" (Deut. xxxiv. u-8). This is
all that is said in the sacred record. Jewish, Ara-
bian, and Christian traditions have labored to fit
up the detail. " Amidst the tears <>f the peoplr —
the women beating their breasts, and thi cbildra
giving way to uncontrolled wailing — he withdrew
At a certain point in his ascent he mads a sign t»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MOSHS
lie weeping multitude to advance no further, taking
with hiin only the elders, the high-priest Eliezer,
and the general Joshua. At the top of the moun-
tain he dismissed the elders — and then, as he was
embracing Eliezer and Joshua, and still speaking
to them, a cloud suddenly stood over him, and he
vanished in a deep valley. He wrote the account
of his own death » in the sacred books, fearing lest
he should be deified" (Joseph. Ant. iv. 8, 48).
" He died in the last month of the Jewish year." *
After his death he u called " Melki " (Clem. Ales.
Strom, i. 343).
His grave, though studiously concealed in the
sacred narrative, in a manner which seems to point
a warning against the excessive veneration of all
•acred tombs, and though never acknowledged by
the Jews, is shown by the Mussulmans on the
wot (and therefore the wrong) Bide of the Jordan,
between the Dead Sea and St. Saba (& f P.p.
308).
The Mussulman traditions are chiefly exaggera-
tion! of the O. T. accounts. But there an some
stones independent of the Bible. One is the
striking story (Koran, xviii. 65-80) on which is
bunded Parnell's Hermit. Another is the proof
given by Hoses of the existence of God to the
atheist king (Chardin, x. 836, and in Fabricius, p.
836).
In the O. T. the name of Moses does not occur
so frequently, after the close of the Pentateuch, as
might be expected. In the Judges it occurs only
once — in speaking of the wandering Levite Jona-
than, ris grandson. In the Hebrew copies, fol-
lowed by the A. V., it has been superseded by
" Manssseh," in order to avoid throwing discredit
on the family of so great a man. [Manasskh,
vol. ii. p. 1776 o.] In the Psalms and the Prophets,
however, he is frequently named as the chief of the
prophets.
In the N. T. he is referred to partly as the
re p r es e ntative of the Law — as in the numerous
passages cited above — and in the vision of the
Transfiguration, where he appears side by side with
Elijah. It is possible that the peculiar word ren-
dered "decease" (ffoJot) — used only in Luke ix.
31 and 2 Pet. i. 15, where it may have been drawn
from the context of the Transfiguration — was sug-
gested by the Exodus of Moses.
As the author of the Law he is contrasted with
Christ, the Author of the Gospel: "The law was
given by Moses" (John i. 17). The ambiguity
and transitory nature of his glory is set against the
permanence and clearness of Christianity (2 Cor. iii.
13-18), and his mediatorial character (-'the law
in the hand of a mediator ") against the unbroken
communication of God in Christ (Gal. iii. 19).
His " service " of God is contrasted with Christ's
sonship(Heb. iii. 5, 6). But he is also spoken of as
a likeness of Christ; and, as this is a point of view
which has been almost lost in the Church, com-
pared with the more familiar comparisons of Christ
*■ Adam, David, Joshua, and yet has as firm a
isis in fast a* any of them, it may be well to draw
. out in detail.
1. Moses is, as it would seem, the only character
H the O. T. to whom Christ expressly likens Him-
elf, " Moses wrote of me" (John v. .46). It is
tncertaln to what passage our lx>rd alludes, but
be general opinion seems to be the true one — that
fc the view also of Phllo (F. if. in.
wrote Ins account of bis death.
MOSES 2025
it is the remarkable prediction in Deut. xviiL U\
18, 19— « The Lord thy God will raise up ante
thee a prophet from the midtt of thee, from thy
brethren, like unto me: unto him ye shall hearken
. . . . I will raise them up a prophet from among
their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my
words in his mouth ; and he shall speak unto then
all that I shall command him. And it shall corns
to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my
words which he shall speak in my name, I will
require it of him." This passage is also expressly
quoted by Stephen (Acts via. 37, [and by Peter,
Acta iii. 22] ), and it is probably in allusion to it,
that at the Transfiguration, in the presence of Moses
and Eujah, the words were uttered, " Hear ye Him."
It suggests three main points of likeness : —
(«.) Christ was, like Moses, the great Prophet of
the people — the last, as Moses was the first. la
greatness of position, none came between them.
Only Samuel and Ehjah could by any possibility be
thought to fill the place of Moses, and they only in
a very secondary degree. Christ alone appears,
like Moses, as the Kevealer of a new name of God
— of a new religious society on earth. The Israel-
ites " were baptized unto Moses " (1 Cor. x. 3).
The Christians were baptized unto Christ. There
is no other name in the Bible that could be used
in like manner.
(4.) Christ, like Moses, is a Lawgiver: "Him
shall ye hear." His whole appearance as a Teacher,
differing in much beside, has this in common with
Moses, unlike the other prophets, that He lays
down a code, a law, for his followers. The Sermon
on the Mount almost inevitably suggests the paral-
lel of Moses on Mount Sinai.
(e.) Christ, like Moses, was a Prophet out of the
midst of the nation — "from their brethren." As
Moses was the entire representative of his people,
feeling for them more than for himself, absorbed
in their interests, hopes, and fears, so, with rever-
ence be it said, was Christ. The last nnd greatest
of the Jewish prophets, He was not only a Jew by
descent, but that Jewish descent is insisted upon
as an integral part of his appearance. Two of
the Gospels open with his genealogy. " Of the
Israelites came Christ after the flesh " (Rom. ix. 6).
He wept and lamented over bis country. He eon-
fined himself during his life to their needs. H>
was not sent " but unto the lost sheep of the bouse
of Israel " (Matt. xv. 24). It is true that hie
absorption into the Jewish nationality was but the-
symbol of his absorption into the far wider and
deeper interests of all humanity. But it is only by
understanding the one that we are able to under
stand the other; and the life of Moses is the best
means of enabling us to understand them both.
2. In Heb. iii. 1-19, xii. 24-29, Acts vii. 37,
Christ is described, though more obscurely, as the
Moses of the new dispensation — as the Apostle, or
Messenger, or Mediator, of God to the people — as
the Controller and Leader of the flock or household
of God. So other person in the 0. T. could have
furnished this parallel. In both, the revelation
was communicated partly through the life, partly
through the teaching; but in both the Prophet was
incessantly united with the Guide, the Kuler, the
Shephe-d.
3. The details of their lives are sometimes
though not often, compared. Stephen (Acts at.
» In the Arabs: traditions the 7th of<A4er (Me
lao»_a. ». **>.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2026
MOSES
M-M, 35) dwelk, evidently with this view, on the
ikeneet of Moeee in striving to act as a peace-
maker, and misunderstood end rejected on that
very account. The death of Moeee, especially u
related by Joeephua (ui supra), immediately sug-
gests the Aacenaion of Christ; and the retardation
of the rise of the Christian Church, till after its
Founder was withdrawn, gives a moral as well as a
material resemblance. But this, though dwelt upon
in the services of the Church, has not been expressly
laid down in the Bible.
In Jude 9 is an allusion to an altercation between
Michael and Satan over the body of Moses. It has
been endeavored (by reading *Ii)<roO for MvvoVwr)
to refer this to Zech. iii. S. But it probably refers
to a lost apocryphal book, mentioned by Origen,
called the » Ascension, or Assumption, of Moses."
AU that is known of this book is given in Fabri-
cius, Cud. Pttudtpigr. V. T. i. 839-844. The
" dispute of Michael and Satan " probably bad
reference to the concealment of the body to prevent
idolatry. Gal. v. 6 is by several later writers said
to be a quotation from the " Revelation of Moses "
(Fabricius, ib. i. 838)." A. P. S.
* If the birth of Moses fell within the period
of the XVIIIth Dynasty, this surely cannot be
styled an " age of Homeric simplicity." On the
contrary, it was the most brilliant era of Egypt in
arts and arms, and the monuments show that the
manners of the people were highly luxurious.
Women were allowed a freedom which is nowhere
tolerated in the East at the present day, and which
was exceptional among civilized nations of an-
tiquity ; hence the use of the Nile for bathing could
not have been forbidden to their sex by any code
of Egyptian propriety. Moreover, a princess would
have been able to command a degree of privacy in
her ablutions, such, for instance, as could easily be
secured to-day along the margin of the palace
garden in the island of Koda in the Nile — where,
indeed, the Mohammedan tradition locates the
soene of the finding of Moses. This incident of the
bathing, so contrary to the customs of other nations
of antiquity with regard to women, gives veri-
similitude to the story.
The entire absence of the marvelous in this
Biblical narrative of the infancy of Moses is in
striking contrast with the Rabbinical legends, and
with the tendency of an inventor to exaggerate the
early history of such a hero, and to multiply fables
and wonders. The stories of Romulus and Remus,
exposed on the bank of the Tiber, suckled by a
wolf and fed by a wood-pecker, and of Semiramia
preserved in infancy by pigeons that brought her
food, bear no analogy to this account of the preser-
vation of Moses. The whole air of the former is
fabulous ; while the latter gives a natural and suffi-
cient explanation of the incident, without seeking
to magnify the incident itself. It was natural, for
the reason assigned, that the Egyptian king, jealous
of the growing numbers of a foreign race, should
seek to exterminate them by destroying their msle
• In later history, the name of Moms has not been
Ivgotten. In the early Christian Church he appears
la the Roman catacombs In the likeness of St. Peter,
eerily, doubtless, from his bring the leader of the
levish, as Peter of the Christian Church, partly from
Ida connection with the Rock. It la as striking the
Husk that be appears under Peter's Dame.
In she Jewish, as in the Arabian nation, bis name
ass hs later yean been more common than in
MOSE8
offspring. It was natural that the parents of Moeee
should seek to save him alive. When they could
no longer hide him, the expedient of committing
him to a floating cradle upon the reedy margin of
the river that flowed by the door, was but tht
natural ingenuity of maternal affection. The find-
ing of the child by the king's own daughter was
a perfectly natural incident, and her immediate
adoption of the child was but the natural prompting
of a woman's sympathy. The addition of Philo
that she afterwards used devises upon her own
person with a view to represent Moses as her own
child, is one of those fanciful legends which by con-
trast enable one the better to appreciate the sim-
plicity of the Bible story. (Phil. Mot. i. 5.) This
narrative has nothing in common with the mythi-
cal inventions of later times.
The incident which first brings Moses before us
in the character of a deliverer illustrates the mag-
nanimity of his nature, in openly espousing the
cause of the injured, and identifying himself with
his oppressed race, while at the same time it ex-
hibits a rude impulsiveness of spirit which needed
to be subdued before be could be fitted for his great
work of leadership. Augustine condemns his kill-
ing the Egyptian as a deed of unjustifiable violence
The Koran represents it as a work of Satan, of
which Moses repented. Philo applauds it as a
pious action. In his own code Moses makes a wide
distinction between killing by guile, and killing
through sudden heat, to avenge an injury or injus-
tice. Certainly a quick sympathy with the suffer-
ing and oppressed marks a noble nature ; yet, from
the subsequent narrative, it would appear that
Moses in this act had mistaken the w ill of God as
to the manner of delivering Israel, since this would
be accomplished not by a violent insurrection, but
by the manifestation of Divine power.
In the wilderness of Arabia Petnea Moses would
find a secure retreat from the rage of Pharaoh —
especially if at that time the Egyptians had been
dispossessed of their dominion in the peninsula.
Bunsen (t'gypft Plact, bk. iv. pt ii. tec v.) argues
that since the copper mines of Sarbut el Khadlm
were worked from the time of Tuthmosis II. dowr
to that of Rameses the Great, the life of Moses
could not have fallen within this period. Lepsius
(Brief t nut jEijyptm) traces the steles of Sarbut
from the last dynasty of the old monarchy to the
last king of the XlXth Dynasty. Yet the presence
of an Egyptian garrison at Sarbut may have been
no greater restraint upon the Nomads of that time,
than are the garrisons of Nukhl and Akaba upon
the Alouins of to-day.
The scenes of the desert life of Moses, following
so closely upon his life in Egypt, again verify the
narrative by their fidelity to nature. The incident
at the well could hardly have happened in Egypt,
where water for almost all purposes was drawn
from the river, and where the people were more
agricultural than pastoral, — but it belongs to
Arabian life.
ages, though never occurring again (perhaps, as In the
case of David, and of Peter In the Papacy, from mo-
tives of refe r e n ce) In the earlier annals, as t e mi dea
in the Bible. Moeee Maimooides, Moses Mendelssohn,
Muse the conqueror of Spain, are obvious instances
Of the Ant of these three a Jewish proverb
that "Prom Moses to Mess* then was do
Moms."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MOSES
It m in the desert, where the greatness end
■njniljr of God ere so strikingly contrasted with
the littleness and nothingness of man, and where
everything invites to religion! contemplathn, that
Moan attained to that high spiritual develvnment
which qualified him to be " the apokeaman and
interpreter of the divine mysteries." As Ewald
( Uetchiehtt del Volkei Itrael) has said, " It was
necessary for Hoses, before his prophetic work be-
gan, to be so imbued with the power of religion Jat
from that moment he became a new man. rhia
first seized on him in the calm and stillness of life;
— the bush in the desolate waste suddenly became
to the simple shepherd a .urniiig shrine, out of
whose brightness the angei of God spake to him.
Thenceforth be thought and acted under the direct
assurance of God. That there is no redemption
from Egyptian bondage but in free obedience to the
dearly perceived will of the Heavenly Father, no
deliverance from idolatry and the whole superstition
of Egypt but by the service of the purely spiritual
God ; these truths, and such as these, must have
some before the eye of Moses in all the power of a
divine illumination, while as yet tbey had never
been recognized with equal certainty by any one.
In Hoses were present all the necessary conditions
to make him the greatest prophet of high an-
tiquity."
The influence of Egyptian thought, manners, and
institutions upon Hoses has been considered in
another place. [Law or Hoses.] But his con-
ception of God as a pure spirit, infinitely holy, and
bis conception of love as the true basis of human
society, are so remote from Egyptian influence, and
so sublime in themselves, as almost to necessitate
the theory of a divine inspiration to account for
their existence.
As the incident of the burning bush rests solely
upon the authority of Moses himself, same have
treated it as a spiritual hallucination, and others
have caused it with the pretended night-vision of
Mohammed. But Mohammed never wrought a
miracle openly; whereas Moses, using the staff
given him at the burning-bush, wrought miracles
upon the grandest scale in presence of two nations.
Hence, to discredit bis story of the burning bush
and the serpent-rod, is either to set aside the whole
history of the Exodus and of Israel in the desert,
or to assume that by the miracles in Egypt Jehovah
put his seal to a fantasy or an imposture. More-
over there is nothing in this story to magnify Moses
u a hero; on the contrary, with a hesitancy that
borders upon stubbornness, and a distrust that be-
trays a lurking unbelief, he appears quite at disad-
vantage. The story of the divine call of Moses is
very unlike the mythical treatment of a hero. And
the same Is true of the whole narrative of bis inter-
views with Pharaoh, and of the wonders performed
in Egypt, at the Bed Sea, and in the wilderness
of Sinai. Never was there a great leader who ob-
.roded himself so little, and was so careful to ascribe
ill his achievements to God — even putting upon
record his own infirmities, whenever he was for a
moment betrayed into petulance or presumption
The artlessness and honesty of the story in all that
soneems Moses himself prepares us to receive as
Tadible the supernatural events that are incor-
porated with it.
It is quite possible that some traces of Hose* will
fat be bund in Egyptian literature, more definite and
Beehive than the brief allusions of Hanetho which
Maw come down to us through Josephus. Lauth
HOSES 202'
( .treses der EkHer) finds the Moses of the Hebrew
books in the Atetu of the Papyri at Leyden, regis-
tered as Anastasi I. and Anastasy I. 360, and he
has even attempted to identify him with the Mohar
or hero whose travels in Syria and Phoenicia in the
fourteenth century B. c. have lately been deciphered
by Ohabas ( Voyage (Tun Hgyptten). As yet, how-
ever, this interpretation is simply tentative; but we
may confidently hope to obtain from Egyptian
sources some verification of the personality and the
period of a man who figured so grandly in Egyptian
and Arabian history. J. P. T.
* A Latin version of a large portion of the work
referred to by some of the Christian fathers as the
" Ascension " or " Assumption ('AfdAw^u) of
Moses" is contained in a palimpsest manuscript
of the sixth century belonging to the Ambrosian
Library at Milan, and was first published by the
Librarian, A. M. Ceriani, in his Monumtnla tacra
et profana, etc. Tom. I. Fasc. i., Mediolani, 1861.
It was first critically edited by Hilgenfeld in his
Novum Tctiamentum extra Canmem receptum,
Fasc. i. pp. 93-115 (Lips. 1866), who, with the
aid of Gutschmid, Lipsius, and others, corrected
many of the errors of the manuscript, and brought
the text, for the most part, into a readable con-
dition. It was next edited with a German trans-
lation and copious notes by Volkmar, as the third
volume of his flandbuch zu den Apohryphen, Leipz.
1867, and again by M. Schmidt and A. Merx in
Men's Archh fir wiuentch. Erfortchmg drt
alien Trit., 1867, Heft 2. Still more recently it
has been retranslated from Latin into Greek, with
critical and explanatory notes, by Hilgenfeld, in his
ZeUtehr. f. wist. ThtoL, 1868, pp. 273-309, 356.
Critical discussions of various points connected with
the work will also be found in the same periodical
for 1867, pp. 217 ff. (against Volkmar), 448 (by SI.
Haupt), 1868, pp. 76-108 (by H. Ronsch), 466 ff.
(do.), and 1869, pp. 213-228 (do.). See also Ewald
in the Udtlinyer Gel. Ant. for 1862, pp. 3-7; 1867,
pp. 110-117 ; and OVscA. Chrultu', 3° Ausg. (1867),
pp. 73-82; Langen (Cath.), Dai Judenthim, etc.
(1866), pp. 102-110; F. Philippi, Dai Bach Henoch,
etc. (1868). pp. 166-191; and an article by Wiese-
ler. Die, jingsi auftjefundent Aufnahme Muter
nach Uriprunq and Inhalt unteriucht, in the Jahrb
f. deuUche TheoL, 1868, pp. 622-648.
The work may be divided into two principal
parts. In the first, Moses, just before his death,
is represented as giving to Joshua, as his appointed
successor, a sketch of the future history of the
chosen people, ending with their final triumph over
the Koman power, here symbolized by the Eagle,
as in the 2d book of Kadras. This is followed by
a self-distrustful speech of Joshua, to which Moses
makes an encouraging reply, broken off abruptly
by the imperfection of the manuscript, which has,
besides, a considerable number of illegible lines or
words. Though the importance of this document
is strangely exaggerated by Volkmar, it is of no
little interest as illustrating the state of feeling and
the theocratic or Messianic expectations of a por-
tion, at least, of the Jews, at the time when it was
written. The critics as yet differ pretty widely
concerning the date. Ewald assigns its origin te
the year 6 a. r>. Wieteler supposes it to have been
written by a Galihean Zealot, about 9 yean before
Christ, soon after the troubles connected with the
death of Herod. Hilgenfeld places it in the reign
of Gaudins, A. D. 44; Langen soon after the d»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2023
MOSES, BOOKS OF
it ruction of Jerusalem ; Volkmar and Philippl aoout
i:>7 a. p. The most important passage boring
mi the date Is unfortunately mutilated in the manu-
icript. To discuss here thia or other question*
oonneeted with the work would lead ui too far.
It should be added that a " Revelation of Moses '
has recently been published from four Greek nianu
scripts by Teschendorf in his Aptxalyput npocry-
phie. Lips. 1866. It is a fanciful amplification of
the Biblical history of Adam and Eve and their
immediate descendants, In the spirit of the Jewish
1 laggada, resembling the Book of Jubilees or Little
lit nests. A.
• MOSES, BOOKS OF. [Pehtateich.]
• MOSES, LAW OF. [Law of Moses.]
MOSOL'LAM(Mocto'A.A<iuu>j: Bmoramtu) =
Mkshuixam 11 (1 Esdr. in, U; conip. Ear. x.
15).
MOSOI/LAMON (MoaiWapos: [Vat. Mt-
FoKa0ap ■■] Motolamm) = Mkphuu.ah 10 (1
Esdr. viii. 44; comp. Ezr. viii. 16).
• MOTE bcifHfnt : futuai). Matt. vii. 0-6;
Luke vi. 41, 42. The original word here used
properly denotes a small particle of something dry,
as wood, chaff, or straw. The rendering " straw "
or "splinter" is preferred by some as forming a
more lively antithesis to "beam." For the proverb
see the notes of Wetstein and Tholuck on Matt,
rii. 3-5. A.
MOTH (try," 'a$h: ai,, ipix"!, rapa X *i,
Spins; Sym. tipif, Aq. jSpwm : tinta, aranea).
y the Hebrew word we are certainly to under-
stand some species of clothes-moth (tinett); for the
Greek o>f)t, and tlie Latin tinea, are used by ancient
authors to denote either the larva or the imago of
this destructive insect, and the context of the sev-
eral passages where the word occurs is sufficiently
indicative of the animal. Reference to the de-
structive habits of the clothes-moth is made in
Job iv. 19, ziii. 28; Ps. xxxix. 11; Is. I. 9, li. 8;
Hos. v. 12; Matt. vi. 19, 20; Luke xii. 83, and in
Ecdus. xix. 3, xlii. 13; indeed, in every instance
hut one where mention of this insect is made, it is
in reference to its habit of destroying garments;
in Job xxvii. 18, "He buildeth his house as a
moth," it is clear that allusion is made either to
the well-known case of the Tinea ptUionella (see
woodcut), or some allied species, or else to the leaf-
building larva: of some other member of the Lepi-
doplera. " I will be to Ephraim as a moth," in
Hos. t. 12, clearly means » I will consume him as
a moth consumes garments." The expression of
the A. V. in Job ir. 19, " are crushed before the
moth," is certainly awkward and ambiguous; for
the different interpretations of this passage see
Kosenraiiller's SchoL ad loc., where it is argued
that die words rendered "before the moth" signify,
'• a$ a moth (destroys garments)." So the Vulg.
" consnmentur veluti a tinea " (for this use of the
Hebrew phrase, see 1 Sam. 1. 16. Similar is the
Latin ad faciem, in Plaut. Cutell. I. 1, 73).
Others take the passage thus — "who are crushed
«.veo si the frail moth is crushed." Either sense
will nit the passage; but see the different explana-
aoii cf Lee (Comment, on Job, ad loc.). Some
■litem understand the word 0pu<ris of Matt. ri.
19, 90, to denote some species of moth (tinta gra-
ta* root ITlJJy , " to fall away."
MOUNT. MOUNTAIN
neUnt); others think that trhs «ol jSpaWu ■>}
hendiadyt = (H)« fiifipiimovm (see Sculte*. Ex.
Annuo, ii. c. 36). [Kubt.] The Orientals wen
fond of forming repositories of rich apparel (Ham-
mond, Ant*, on Matt vi. 19), whence the frequent
allusion to the destructiveness of the clothes-moth
The Clothes-Moth. (Tlium psWoMds.)
a. Lfcrra In a ease constructed oat of the mhetanee
on which it Is feeding
t. Case cat at the ends,
c Case eat open by the lam for enlarging It.
d, t. The perfect Insect.
The British tines: which are injurious to clothes,
fur, etc., are the following : tinea tapetzeUa, a com-
mon species often found in carriages, the larva feed-
ing under a gallery constructed from the lining,
(. pellionella, the larva of which constructs a port
able case out of the substance in which it feeds,
and is very partial to feathers. This species, write*
Mr. H. T. Stainton to the author of this article,
" certainly occurs in Asia Minor, and I think yoo.
may safely conclude, that it and buettiala (an
abundant species often found in horse-hair lining*
of chairs) will be found in any old furniture ware-
house at Jerusalem." For an Interesting account
of the habits and economy of the clothes-moths,
see Rennie's Insect Architecture, p. 190, and for
a systematic enumeration of the British species of
the genus Tinea, see Imecta BrUannica, vol. iiL
The clothes-moths belong to the group Tmeina,
order Lepidnptera. For the Hebrew DIJ (84m)
> Wokm. W. H.
MOTHER (DN : plrrrip: mater). The supe-
riority of the Hebrew over all contemporaneous
systems of legislation and of morals is strongly
shown in the higher estimation of the mother in
the Jewish family, as contrasted with modern
oriental, ss well ss ancient oriental and classical
usage. The king's mother, as appears in the case
of Bathsheha, was treated with especial honor (1
K. ii. 10; Ex. xx. 12; Lev. xix. 8; Deut. v. 16,
xxi. 18, 21 ; Prov. x. 1, XT. SO, xvii. 26, xxix. 16,
xxxi. 1, 30). [Children; Father; Kikdhkd;
Kiho, vol. ii. p. 1640 6; Womex.]
H. W. P.
MOUNT, MOUNTAIN. In the O. T. ear
translators have employed this word to represent
the following terms only of the original: (1) the
Hebrew "IH, nor, with its derivative or kindred
"nrj, har&r, or "Hi}, Aerer; and (8) the Cfcal-
dee "TO, tir: this last occurs only in Dan. H. 3k,
46. In the New Testament it is confined
Digitized by
Google
MOUNT MOUNTAIN
idnsin'v to representing (pos. In the Apocrypha
he Mine mage prevails as in the N. T., the only
ueeption being hi 1 Mace, xii. 36, where " mount"
k put lor Ityer, probably a mound, u we should
now say, or embankment, by which Simon out off
the communication between the citadel on the Tem-
ple mount and the town of Jerusalem. For this
Josephus {Ant xiii. 6, $ 11) has rtixot, » wall.
But while they have employed " mount" and
» mountain " tor the above Hebrew and Greek
terms only, the translators of the A. T. have also
occasionally rendered the same terms by the Eng-
lish word " hill," thereby sometimes causing a
confusion and disconnection between the different
parts of the narrative which it would be desirable
to avoid. Examples of this are given under Hills
(vol. it p. 1077). Others will be found in 1 Msec,
xiii- 62, compared with xvi. 90; Jnd. ri. 19, 18,
emnp. with x. 10, xiii. 10.
The Hebrew word Anr, like the English " moun-
tain," is employed both for single eminences more
or leas isolated, such ss Sinai, Gerixim, Ebal, Zion,
and Olivet, and for ranges, such as Lebanon. It Is
also applied to a mountainous country or district,
as in Josh. xi. 16, where " the mountain of Israel "
is the highland of Palertine, as opposed to the
" valley and the plain ; " and in Josh. xi. 91, xx. 7,
where " the mountain of Judah " (A. V. in the
former case "mountains") is the same as "the
hill-oountry " in xxi. 11. Similarly Mount Ephraim
(Har Ephraim) is the mountainous district occupied
by that tribe, which is evident from the fact that
the Mount C!aasb, Mount Zemaraim, the hill of
Phinehas, and the towns of Sheebem, Shamir,
Timoath-Serach, besides other cities (3 Chr. xv. 8),
were all situated upon it." So also the >< mountain
of the Amorites " is apparently the elevated coun-
try east of the Dead Sea and Jordan (Deut. 1. 7,
IB, 90), and " Mount Naphtali " the very elevated
and hilly tract allotted to that tribe.
The various eminences or mountain-districts to
which the word har is applied in the O. T. are as
follow: —
Abasum; Am am a; or the Am alekites; or
tub Amokitks; Ararat; Baalaii; Baal-
Herxos; Bashas; Bkthkl; Bktiieh; Oab-
mel; Ebal; Ephraim; Bi'HHO.n; Esau; Gaash;
Geruim; Gilboa; Gilkao; Halak; Herbs;
Heritor; Hor 6 (9); Hokeu; ok Israel; Jb-
arim; Jodah; Olivet, or or Olives; Mizar;
Moriaii; Naphtali; Nebo; Pa ran; Pera-
ziti; 'Samakia; Seir; Sepiiar; Sinai; Sum,
SlRloa, or Siikjiih (all names for Hermon); Sha-
phkr; Tabor; Zalmon; Zemaraim; Zion.
The Moont or the Valley (pl^Wl "171:
t tpot 'Erstf; Alex. * Zvok- «k»is coniallii) wss a
district on this East of Jordan, within the territory
allotted to Reuben (Josh. xiii. 19), containing a
number of towns. Its name recalls a similar juxta-
position of " mount " and " valley " in the name
a In the Sams manner " The Peak," originally the
earns of toe highest mountain of Derbyshire, has now
Mm extended to the whole district.
b Mount Hor H probably the " gnat mountain r —
lie " mountain of mountains," according to the ^ri-
<nul custom of emphasiing an exprasskw by doubling
ae word
c lBLmrl. H, " the hffl Samaria ;•> accurately, "the
aownttln Snamsron."
«* The same reading Is found la toe LXX. of Jar.
vt7B. a. IBX. 4.
MOUNT, MOUNTAIN 2029
of " longdate i ikes," a well-known mountain in
our own country.
The word knr became, at least in one instance,
incorporated with the name which accompanied K,
so ss to form one word. Har Gerirxim, Mount
Gerixim, appears in the writers of the first centuries
of the Christian era as wi\ts 'Aoyapt(lr (Eupole-
mus), Spot 'Apyapl(as (Marinua), mons Agamrtn
(/ma. HitrovAym. p. 587). This is also, as has
already been noticed (see vol. 1. p. 156 4), the origin
of the name of Armageddon; and it may possibly
be that of Atabyrion or Itabyrion, the form under
which the name of Mount Tabor is given by tin
l.XX., Stephanus of Byzantium, and others, and
which may hare been a corruption, for the sail
of euphony, from 'Kfnafiiotov ; — 'kra&vpiw,
*lTa&upioP'
The frequent occurrence throughout the Scrip
tares of personification of the natural features nf
the oountry is very remarkable. The following are,
it is believed, ail the words « used with this object
in relation to mountains or hills: —
1. Head, BW~), Risk, Gen. viii. S; Ex. xix.
90 ; Deut. xxxhr. 1 ; 1 K. xviii. 42 (A. V
"top").
2. Ears, /TUTM, Axnow. Aznoth-Tabor, Josh
xix. 84: possibly in allusion to some projection on
the top of the mountain. The same word is perhaps
found in Uzzen-Shkrah.
8. Shoulder, ^HS, C&thiph. Deut. xxxiii.
19; Josh. xv. 8, and xviii. 16 ("side"); all re-
ferring to the hills on or among which Jerusaleu)
is placed. Josh. xv. 10, •' the ndt of Mount
Jesrim."
4. Side, *TS, Ttad. (See the word for the
" side" of a man in 2 Sara, ii 16, Ex. iv. 4, Ac.)
Csed in reference to a mountain in 1 Sam. xxiii.
26, 2 Sam. xiU. 84.
5. Loms or Flank*, nbpS, CuUA. Chis-
loth-Tabor, Josh. xix. 19- It occurs also in the
name of a village, probably situated on this port
of the mountain, Ha-Cesulloth, HIvMH, f. ».
the " loins " (Josh. xix. 18). [ChkeulLoth.]
6. Rib, JjVv, T$ila. Only used once, in speak-
ing of the Mount of Olives, 9 Sam. xvi. 18, and
there translated " side," lit x-AevpSr roii tpovf .
7. Back, 03$, Shtcem. Possibly the Kot of
the name of the' town Shtchem, whioh may be
derived from its situation, as it were on the back
of Gerixim.
8. Thioh, nyi.i JanSk. (See the word for
the " thigh " of a man In Judg. Ul. 16, 91.) Ap-
plied to Mount Ephraim, Judg. xix. 1, 18 ; and to
Lebanon, 9 K. xix. 23; la. xxxvii. 94. Vied aim
for the " sides " of a cave, 1 Sam. xxiv. 3.
« With perhaps four exceptions, all the above terms
are used In our own language ; but, in addition, wa
spesk of the "crown," the "Instep," the "foot,"
the "toe," and the « breast" or « bosom" of a
mountain or hill. " Top " Is psrhaps only a corrup.
tion of Imp/, "head." Similarly we spesk of ths
•moath," and ths "gorgr " (i «. the " throiU ") of
a ravtoe ; and a " tongue l: of lead. Onmpsie S0O ms
worttol, " neck," In rrsa. a.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2030
MOUNT
*. The word translated •> covert " In 1 Sam. m,
W la "UHD, Sither, from "VID, « to hide," and
probably refers to the shrubbery or thicket through
which Abigail's path lay. In this passage " hill "
should be " mountain."
The Chaldee TltO, nlr, is the name still given
to the Mount of Olives, the Jebtl eU Tir.
The above is principally taken from the Appendix
to Professor Stanley's Sinai and Palatine, § S3.
See also 249, and 338 note, of that work. O.
MOUNT (Is. six. 8; Jer. vi. 6, Ac.).
[Siege.]
• MOUNT OF THE AM'ALEKITES
(Jade;, xii. IB, and eomp. v. 14, A. V.), or
MOUNT OF AM'ALEK. [Amauhutiep ]
• MOUNT ETHRAIM. [Efhraim,
Mouht, Amer. ed.]
MOUNTAIN OF THE AM'ORITES
(yfEtyJ T7' tpos toB 'Afiopfialov: Mont
Amorrhai), specifically mentioned Deut L 19, 90
(comp. 44), in reference to the wandering of the
Israelites in the desert. It seems to be the range
which rises abruptly from the plateau of et-Tia,
running from a little S. of W. to the N. of E., and
of which the extremities are the Jebel Araif en-
Naknh westward, and Jtbel tl-Uukrah eastward,
and from which line the country continues moun-
tainous all the way to Hebron. [Wildekxebs of
Wakdebiwo.] H. H.
MOURNING.' The numerous list of words
employed in Scripture to express the various actions
which are characteristic of mourning, show in a
great degree the nature of the Jewish customs in
this respect They appear to have consisted chiefly
in the following particulars : —
1. Beating the breast or other parts of the body.
3. Weeping and screaming in an excessive de-
gree.
3. Wearing sad-colored garment*.
4. Songs of lamentation.
6. Funeral feasts.
8. Employment of persona, especially women, to
aunent
And we may remark that the same words, and
In many points the same customs prevailed, not
•nly in the case of death, but in cases of affliction
or calamity in general
(1. ) Although in some respects a similarity exists
between Eastern and Western usage, a similarity
• 1. TO mourn. 7JH,
2 - <■) !»?• W»>¥«. —* W i"W' '"**'<-<*"<'■
from (6) n»3M and njJSFI, trmyutt, ftmftv*.
a lam. B. 6, nunwotf*m, hvmiliatia; A. V.
i momtang, n "lamentation- 1 *
S. rFOa, Wrtot, JUium; A. V. Buhttk. Also
IT??, and H"33, Baca, from ft"??, **alm,Jlto.
4. ^n*}, tpynt, eanita. In Be. U. 10, Vf, tpqnt,
mmmtatio. In an. xxvU. 82, *0, taint, tamun
Vt«*w, from nrrj, tynpfe, coats.
9 *TO, *nnn, Info.
ft. tJ^L-u, rarvrfc, pmrtus, nxm TpP. ihnt,
•tore. 8ea Jfcal. xll. &.
MOURNING
which in remote times and In particular i anions
was stronger than ia now the case, the diiBrcve)
between each ia on the whole very striking. Ons
marked feature of oriental mourning ia what may
be called its studied publicity, and the careful
observance of the prescribed ceremonies. Thus
Abraham, after the death of Sarah, came, as it wen
in state, to mourn and weep for bar, Gen. xxiii. 9.
Job, alter his misfortunes, "arose and rent his
mantle (met', Dress, 1. 691 a), and shaved his
head, and fell down upon the ground, on the ashes,"
Job i. 80, ii. 8, and in like manner hi* friends
" rent every one hi* mantle, and sprinkled dost
upon their heads, and sat down with him on the
ground seven day* and seven nights" without
speaking, it 12, 13. We read also of high places,
streets, and house-tops, as places especially chosen
for mourning, not only by Jews but by other nations,
Is. xv. 3; Jer. iii. 21, xlviii. 38; 1 Sun. xi. 4, nx
4; 9 Sam. xv. 30.
(2.) Among the particular form* observed the
following may be mentioned : —
a. Rending the clothes, Gen. xxxvii. 29, 84, xlh>.
13; 2 Chr. xxxiv. 27; Is. xxxvL 22; Jer. xxxvi.
24 (where the absence of the form ia to be noted),
xli. 5; 2 Sam. iii. 31, xv. 32; Josh. vii. 6; Joel H»
13; Ktr. ix. 5; 2 K. v. 7, xi. 14; Matt. xxvi. 6fi,
Ipartov; Mark xiv. 63, yireV.
b. Dressing in sackcloth [Sackcloth], Gen.
xxxvii. 84; 2 Sam. iii. 81, xxl. 10; Ps. xxxv. 18;
Is. xxxvii. 1; Joel i. 8, 13; Am. viii. 10; Jon. iii.
8, man and beast; Job xvi. 15; Esth. iv. 8, 4; Jer.
vi. 26; Lam. ii. 10; 1 K. xxl. 27.
c. Ashes, dust, or earth sprinkled on the person,
2 Sam. ziii. 19, xv. 39; Josh. vii. 6; Esth. It. 1,
3; Jer. vi. 26; Job ii. 19, xvi. 18, xw. 6; I*. hL
3; Rev. xviii. 19.
d. Black or sad-colored garments, 9 Sam. xiv. 9
Jer. viii. 91; Pa. xxxviii. 6, xliL 9, xliii. 2; MaL
iii. 14, marg.; Ges. p. 1195.
e. Removal of ornament* or neglect of person,
Deut. xxi. 12, 13; Ex. xxxiii. 4: 9 Sam. xiv. 9,
xix. 24; Ex. xxvi. 16; Dan. x. 8; Matt. vi. 16, 17.
[Naiu]
f. Shaving the head, plucking out the hair of
the head or beard, Lev. x. 6; 2 Sam. xix. 24; Ear.
ix. 3; Job i. 90; Jer. vii. 29, xvi. 6.
g. Laying bare some part of the body. Isaiah
himself naked and barefoot, Is xx. 2. The Egyp-
tian and Ethiopian captives, ib. ver. 4; Is. xlviL 9,
1. 6; Jer. xiii. 99, 26; Nah. Hi. S; Mle. i. 11; Am.
viii. 10.
T - "^"3iJ» awrrkpjtx, monitor, L *. to wear dtaw
colored dothaa. Jer. vUL 21.
8. ]TM, dolor. [B*a-om.]
•• n 30. r^ot, earmtn. Is. B. 10.
10. ntl.D, tCovot, ammmum; A. T. mass
" mourning nut-" Jer. xvL 6.
11. yp, or fV, "to beat." Hane* mot
n'XIj'lplp, Jer. ix. 17; *>sK>Sni, lammtatrieu
In N. T. (per*-, iXoM(m, tAcAi?», topvfiionm,
"*", xWa», cOrropoi, KOWtnt, wtrtt, »Ka»S>ll
U*pi>*> ; aaree^fo, plan, Mango, motrto, rjuU, htetm
fttnt, motror, ptanctut, uhtlatuM.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MOUBN1NU
k. Farting or abstinence in meat and drink, 8
1MB. i. IS, iii. 39, si. 18, 39; 1 Sam. xxxi. 13;
Ear. x. 6; Nan. L 4; Dan. z. 3, ri. IS; Joel L 14,
li. IS; Es. xxiv. 17; Zech. rii. 5, a periodical fast
luring captivity; 1 K. xxi. 9, 12; Is. Iviii. 3, 4, 6,
xxir. 7, V, 11; Mai. Ui. 14; Jer. xxxvi 9; Jon.
lii. 5, 7 (of Ninereh); Judg. xx. 23; 9 Chr. xx. 3;
Ear. riu. 91; Matt. ix. 14, 15.
i. In the same direction may be mentioned
diminution in offerings to God, and prohibition to
partake in sacrificial food, l*v. rii. 90; Dent. xxri.
14; Uos. ix. 4; Joel L 9, 13, 16.
k. Covering the "upper lip," i. e. the lower
part of the face, and sometimes the head, in token
of alienee; specially in the caae of the leper, Lav.
xiii. 43; 9 Sam. xr. 30, xix. 4; Jer. xir. 4; Ex.
xxir. 17; Hie. ui. 7.
L Cutting the flesh, Jer. xrl. 6, 7; xli. 6.
[CCTTUioa in the Flbsh.] Beating the body,
Es. xxi. 12; Jer. xxxi. 19.
m. Employment of persona hired for the purpose
of mourning, women "skillful in lamentation,"
Bod. xii. 5; Jer. ix. 17; Am. v. 16; Matt. ix. 23.
Abo flute-players, Matt. ix. 93 [Minstrel]; 9
Car. xxxr. 95.
n. Akin to this usage the custom for friends or
passers-by to join in the lamentations of bereaved
or afflicted persons, Gen. I. 3; Judg. xi. 40; Job
ii 11, xxx. 95, xxril. 15; fs. Ixxviii. 64; Jer. ix. 1,
xxu. 18; 1 K. xir. 13, 18; 1 Chr. rii. 22; 2 Chr.
xxxr. 24, 95; Zech. xii. 11; Luke rii. 19; John xi.
31; Acts riii. 2, ix. 39; Rom. xii. 15 So also in
times of general sorrow we find large numbers of
persons Joining in passionate expressions of grief,
Judg. ii. 4, xx. 26; 1 Sam. xxriii. 3, xxx. 4; 2
Sam. i. 12; Est. Hi. 13; Es. rii. 16, and the like
is mentioned of the priests, Joel ii. 17; Mai. ii. 13;
see below.
a The sitting or lying posture in silence indica-
tive of grief, Gen. xxiii- 3 ; Judg. xx. 26, 8 Sam.
xfi. 16, xiii. 31; Job i. 20, ii. 13; Est. ix. 3; Lam.
it 10: Is. Hi. 26.
p. Mourning feast and cup of oousolation, Jer.
iri.7,8.
The period of mourning varied. In the ease of
Jacob it was seventy days, Gen. L 3; of Aaron,
Num. xx. 23, and Moses, Deut. xxxir. 8, thirty.
A further period of seven days in Jacob's case.
Gen. 1. 10. Seven days for Saul, which may have
been an abridged period in time of national danger,
1 Sam. xxxi. 13.
Excessive grief in the ease of an lndiridual may
be noticed in 2 Sam. lii. 16; Jer. xxxi. 15, and the
same hypocritically, Jer. xli. 6.
(8.) Similar practices are noticed in the Apocry-
phal books.
a. Weeping, fasting, rending clothes, sackcloth,
ashes, or earth on head, 1 Maoo. ii. 14, lii. 47, iv.
89, r. 14, xi. 71, xiii. 45; 9 Maoo. Hi. 19, x. 95,
xir. 15; Jud. ir. 10, 11; riii 6, ix. 1, xir. 1«
(Assyrians), x. 2, 8, rffi. 5 ; 3 Msec. ir. 8; 9 Esdr.
X. 4; Esth. xir. 2.
6. Funeral feast with wailing, Bar. vi. 39 [or
Eptrt. of Jer. 32] ; also Tob. ir. 1"; see in reproof
i+ the practice, Aug. Cm. D. riii. 97.
e. Period of mourning, Jud. viii. 6; EccW xxil.
. ft, seven days, so also perhaps 9 Esdr. r. 90. Bel
and Dragon rer. 40.
el Priests ministering in sackcloth and ashes,
Jss altar dressed in sackcloth, Jud. iv. 11, 14, 15.
a. Idol priests with clothes rent, head and beard
MOTJBNLNu
2031
shorn, and head bare, Bar. vi. 81 [or Epial of Jer.
31o].
(4.) In Jewish writings uot Scriptural, these
notices are in the main confirmed, and in some
cases eiilarged.
a. Tearing hair and beating breast, Joseph. AM
xvi. 7, $ 5, xr. 3, § U.
ft. Sackcloth and ashes, Joseph. Ant. xx. 6, $ 1,
xix. 8, § 9, BeU. Jud. ii. 12, § 5; clothes rent, ii.
15, $ 4.
c Seven days' mourning for a father, Joseph.
.Int. xrii. 8, § 4, BeU. Jud. ii. 1, $ 1; fee thirtf
days, B. J. iii. 9, $ 5.
d. Those who met a funeral required to jcic ■
Joseph, c. Ap. ii. 26; see Luke vii. 12, and K i
xii. 15.
«. Flute-players at a funeral, BeU. Jud. UL (,
$ 5. [Jairos, Amer. ed.]
The Mislina prescribes seven days' mourning for
a father, a mother, sou, daughter, brother, sister,
or wife (Bortenora, on liotd Katun, iii. 7).
Kending garment* is regularly graduated aecori
ing to the degree of relationship. For a father or
mother the garment was to be rent, but not with
an instrument, so as to show the breast; to 1m
sewn up roughly after thirty days, but never closed.
The same for one's own teacher in the Law, but for
other relatives a palm breadth of the upper garment
to suffice, to be sewn up roughly after seven days
and fully closed after thirty days, Moed Kat. iii.
7; Shabb. xiii. 3; Carpzov, App. Bib. p. 650.
Friendly mourners were to sit ou the ground, not
on the bed. On certain days the lamentation was
to be only partial, Hoed Kat. 1. a. For a wife
there was to be at least one hired mourner and two
pipers, Cetuboth, iv. 4.
(6.) In the last place we may mention a, the
idolatrous " mourning for Tsmmuz," Es. viu. 14,
as indicating identity of practice in certain cases
among Jews and heathens ; and the custom in later
days of offerings of food at graves, Ecclus. xxx. 18.
b. The prohibition both to the high-priest and to
Nazarites against going into mounting even for a
father or mother, Lev. xxi. 10, 11; Num. ri. 7;
see Near, rii. 1. The inferior priests were limited
to the cases of their near relatives, Lev. xxi. 1, 9, 4.
c The food eaten during the time of mourning was
regarded as impure, Deut xxri. 14; Jer. xvi. 5, 7;
Es. xxir. 17; Uos. ix. 4.
(6.) When we turn to heathen (writers we find
similar usages prevailing among various nations of
antiquity. Herodotus, speaking of the Egyptians,
says, " When a man of any account dies, ail the
womankind among his relatives proceed to smear
their heads and faces with mud. They then leave
the corpse in the house, and parade the city with
their breasts exposed, beating themselves as thejr
go, and in this they are joined by all the wonts:
belonging to the family. In like manner the men
ala, meet them from opposite quarters, naked to the
waist and beating themselves" (Her. u. 85). He
also mentions seventy days as the period of embalm-
ing (ii. 86). This doubtless includes the whole
mourning period. Diodorus, speaking of a king's
death, mentions rending of garments, suspension of
sacrifices, heads smeared with clay, and breasts
bared, and says men and women go about in com-
panies of 900 or 300, making a wailing twice-a-day,
tbfituut prr' <Mij». They abstain from flesh,
wheat-bread, wine, the bath, dainties, and in gen-
eral all pleasure; do not lie on beds, but lament as
for an only child during seventy-two days. Ou tat
Digitized by VjOOQlC
tHS'2 MOURNING
u! da; a tort of trial was held of the merit* of
me deceased, and according to the verdict pro-
nounced by the acclamations of the crowd, he was
treated with funeral honors, or the contrary (Dind.
Sic. i. 72). Similar usages prevailed in the case of
private persons, ii. 01, 93.
The Egyptian paintings confirm these accounts
as to the exposure of the person, the beating, and
the throwing clay or mud upon the head; and
women are represented who appear to be hired
mourners (Long, Jiff. Ant. li. 164-159; Wilkinson,
Eg. Ant. ii. pp. 358, 887). Herodotus also mentions
the Persian custom of rending the garments with
wailing, and also cutting off the hair on occasions
of death or calamity. The last, be says, was also
usual among the Scythians (Her. ii. 66, viii. 09,
is. 24, iv. 71).
Lucian, in his discourse concerning Greek mourn-
ing, speaks of tearing the hair and flesh, and
wailing, and beating the breast to the sound of a
flute, Ljrial of slaves, horses, and ornament* as
likely to be useful to the deceased, and the practice
for relatives to endeavor to persuade the parent* of
the deceased to partake of the funeral-feast (*•€»<-
twrvov) by way of recruiting themselves after
their three days' fast (De Luctu, vol. ii. p. 803,
305, 307, ed. Amsterdam). Plutarch mentions
that the Greek* regarded all mourners as unclean,
and that women in mourning cut their hair, but
the men let It grow. Of the Romans, in carrying
corpses of parents to the grave, the sons, he says,
cover their heads, but the daughters uncover them,
contrary to their custom in each case ( QuaiL Hot*.
vol. vii. pp 74, 82, ed. Reiske).
Greeks and Romans both made use of hired
mourners, prafica, who accompanied the funeral
procession with chant* or songs. Flowers and per-
fumes were also thrown ou the grave* (Or. Fatl.
ri. 660; Tiitt. v. 1, 47; Plato, Ltyg. vii. 0; Diet
tfAntiq. art. Fumu). The prafica seem to be the
predecessors of the " mutes " of modem funerals.
(7.) With the practices above mentioned, orien-
tal and other customs, ancient and modern, in
great measure agree. D'Arvieuz says, Arab men
are silent in grief, but the women scream, tear
their hair, hands, and face, and throw earth or sand
en their heads. The older women wear a blue veil
and an old abba by way of mourning garments.
They also sing the praises of the deceased ( Trav.
pp. 269, 270). Niebuhr says both Mohammedans
and Christians in Egypt hire wailing women, and
wail at stated times (Voy. i. 150). Burckhardt
says the women of Atbara Id Nubia shave their
heads on the death of their nearest relatives, a cus-
tom prevalent also among several of the peasant
tribes of Upper Egypt. In Berber on a death they
usually kill a sheep, a cow, or a camel. He also
mentions waning women, and a man in distress
Desmearing his face with dirt and dust in token of
grief (Nubia, pp. 176, 226, 374). And, speaking
rf the ancient Arab tribes of Upper Egypt, u I have
«een the female relations of a deceased man dance
efom his house with sticks and lances in their
nandsand behaving like furious soldiers" (Notei
on Bed. i. 980). Shaw says of the Arabs of Ber-
liary, after a funeral the female relations during
the space of two or three mouths go once a week to
Arab. J J«, Heb. SV, Ok. tXafaife 4X«A*>,
ajais, saato, aa onomatoRostts word eesamon to
MOURNING
weep over the grave and offer eatable* fan Eeeha
xxx. 18). He also mention* mourning woroec
(Trot, pp. 220, 242). "In Oman," Wellsted
says, "there are no hired mourning women, bo*
the females from the neighborhood assemble after
a funeral and continue for eight days, from sunrise
to sunset, to utter loud lamentations'' (Trav. i.
216). In the Arabian Nights are frequent allu-
sions to similar practices, ss rending cloth'*,
throwing dust on the head, cutting off the hah-
loud exclamation, visits to the tomb, plucking the
hair and beard (i. 65, 263, 297, 358, 518, ii. 854,
237, 409). They also mention ten days and forty
days a* periods of mourning (i. 427, ii. 409). Sir
J. Chardin. speaking of Persia, cay* the tomb* are
visited periodically by women ( ley. ri. 489). Ht
•peaks also of the tumult at a death (ib 483 i.
Mourning lasts forty days : for eight days * fast is
observed, and visits are paid by friends to the be-
reaved relatives; on the ninth day the men go to
the bath, share the bead and beard, and return
the visit*, bat the lamentation continues two or
three times a week till the fortieth day. The
mourning ferment* are dark-colored, but never
black (ib. p. 481 ). Russell, speakzog of the Turk*
at Aleppo, says, " the instant the death takes
place, the women who are in the chamber give the
alarm by shrieking as if distracted, and are joined
by all the other females in the harem. This eou-
clamation is termed the " wulwaly " : « it is so shrill
as to be heard, especially in the night, at a pro-
digious distance. The men disapprove of and take
no share in it; they drop a few tears, assume a re-
signed silence, and retire in private. Some of the
near female relations, when apprised of what has
happened, repair to the house, and the wulwaly,
which bad paused for some time, is r e newed upon
the entrance of each visitant into the harem "
(Aleppo, i. 308). He also mentions professional
mourners, visits to the grave on the third, seventh,
and fortieth days, prayers at the tomb, flowers
strewn, and food distributed to the poor. At
these visits the shriek of wailing I* renewed: the
chief mourner appeals to the deceased and re-
proaches him fondly for his departure. The men
make no change in their dress; the women lay
aside their jewels, dress in their plainest garments,
and wear on the head a handkerchief of a dusky
color. They usually mourn twelve months for a
husband and six for a father (to. 811, 312). Of
the Jews he says, the conelamation is practiced by
the women, but hired mourners are seldom called
in to assist at the wulwaly. Both sexes make sons
alteration in dress by way of mourning. The women
lay aside their jewels, the men make a small rent
in their outer vestment (ii. 86, 87).
Lane, speaking of the modem Egyptian*, says,
" After death the women of the family raise erua
of lamentation called ' welweWh ' or ' wflwaV utter-
ing the most piercing shrieks, and calling upon the
name of the deceased, ' O, my master ! O, my re-
source ! O, my misfortune 1 O, my gli ry ! ' (see Jer.
xxii. 18). The females of the neighborhood cenm
to Join with them in this conelamation ; generally,
also, the family send for two or more ntdddbtkt, ot
public wailing women. Each brings a tambourine
and beating them they exclaim, 'Ala* for him.
many languaaas. Sss Oes. p. 596; BehaM,
Cmutit. p. 64; and Koatsll, voL I nets S3,
from Saaanssa.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MOUSE
(lie famakt relative, domestics, snd friends, with I
their hair disheveled, and sometimes with rent
clothes, beating their bees, cry in like manner,
> Alas, for him ! ' These make no alteration in
dress, but women, in some cases, dye their shuts,
head-veils, and handkerchiefs of a dark-blue color.
They visit the tombs at stated periods " (Mod. Eg.
iii. 168, 171, 195). Wealthy families in Cairo have
in the burial-grounds regularly furnished houses of
mourning, to which the females repair at stated
periods to bewail their dead. The art of mourning
is only to be acquired by loug practice, and regular
professors of it are usually hired, on the occasion
of a death, by the wealthier classes (Mrs. Poole,
EngSskm. fa Egypt, ii. 100). Dr. Wolff men-
tions the wailing over the dead in Abyssinia, Aulo-
biog. ii. 373. Pietro delta Valle mentions a prac-
tice among the Jews of burning perfumes at the
site of Abraham's tomb at Hebron, for which see
2 Chr. xri. 14, xxi. 19; Jer. xxxiv. 5; P. della
Valle. Vxnggi, i. 306. The customs of the K.
American Indians also resemble those which have
been described in many particulars, as the howling
ind wailing, and speeches to the dead : among some
'jibes the practice of piercing the flesh with arrows
MOWING
2033
or sharp stones, visits to the place of the dead
(Carver, TmttU, p. 401; Bancroft, Hist, of U.
Stnlet, ii. 912; Catiin, N. A. /niliimt, i. 90).
The former and present customs of the Welsh,
Irish, and Highlanders at funerals may also be
cited as similar in several respects, e. g. wailing
and howling, watching with the corpse, funeral en-
tertainments ("funeral baked meats "), flowers on
the grave, days of visiting the grave (Brand, Pop.
Antiq. ii. 128, Ae.; Harmer, Obt. iii. 40).
One of the most remarkable instances of tradi-
tional customary lamentation is found in the weekly
wailing of the Jews at Jerusalem at a spot as near
to the Temple as could be obtained. This custom,
noticed by St. Jerome, is alluded to by Beiyjamin
of Tudela, and exists to the present day. Jerome
ad Sophon. i. 16 ; ml Pauiam, Ep. xxxix. ; En, <j
Trav. in Pal., p. 83; Raumer, PalSitina, p. 293;
Martineau, Eaitern Life,f. 471; Robinson, i. 237.
H. W. P
* It is customary among the Christian men of
the upper classes in Syria to make a change t*
black garments on occasion of a death in the fisca-
lly, or at least to wear black crape over the tar-
lioosh. G. E. P.
Copper Coins of Vespasian, representing the mourning of Juila* fur her Captivity.
MOUSE P3??, '<Mdr: M E«: miu) occurs
.n Lev. xi. 29 as one of the unclean creeping
things which were forbidden to be used as food. In
1 Sam. vi. 4, 6, five golden mice, " images of the
mice that mar the land," are mentioned as part of
the trespass offering which the Philistines were
to send to the Israelites when they returned the
ark. In Is. lxvi. 17, it is said, •• They that sanc-
tify themselves .... eating swine's flash, and the
■Domination, and the mouse, shall be consumed
ogether." The Hebrew word is in all probability
generic) and is not intended to denote an; partic-
ular species of mouse; although Bochart (tfteros.
"i 427). following the Arabic version of Is. lxvi.
7, restricts its meaning to the jerboa (Oipiu jae-
uhu). The original word denotes a nekl-ravager,"
and may therefore comprehend any destructive ro-
dent. It is probable, however, that in 1 Sam. vi.
5, " the mice that mar the land " may include and
more particularly refer to the short-tailed field-mice
(Articola agratu, Flem.j, which Dr. Kitto says
cause great destruction to the corn-lands of Syria.
" Of all the smaller rodentia which are injurious,
both in the fields and in the woods, there is not,''
says Prof. Bell (flirt. Brit. Z*ad. p. 325), "one
« Beehart derive, it from bjj, « to
"^ "corn."
191
which produces such extrusive destruction as this
little animal, when its increase, as is sometimes the
case, becomes multitudinous." The ancient writers
frequently speak of the great ravages committed by
mice. Herodotus (ii. 141 ) ascribes the loss of Sen-
nacherib's army to mice, which in the night timi
gnawed through the bow-strings and shield-straps
Col. Hamilton Smith (Kitto's CycL art
" Mouse ") says that the hamster and the dormourc
are still eaten in common with the jerboa by the
Bedoueens; and Gesenius (Thtt. a. v.) believes
some esculent species of dormouse is referred to in
Is. lxvi. 17. W. H.
MOWING (*;.'• Umrio, Am. vii. 1— LXX.
reads Tiiy i fatotKtit, either from a various reading
or a confusion of the letters T and 3 — a word sig-
nifying also a shorn fleece, and rendered in Pa.
Ixxii. 6 " mown grass " ). As the great heat of the
climate in Palestine and other similarly situated
countries soon dries up the herbage itself, hay-
making in our sense of the term is not iu use. The
term " hay," therefore, in P. B. version of Pa. ovi.
20, for dtpV. is Incorrect. A. T. '•grass." So
also Prov. xxvii. 25, and Is. it. 6. The com des-
tined for forage is cut with a tickle. The ten
"Tgp, a. T. " mower," Pa. exxix. 7. is Boat «•*»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2084
MOZA
•auly In A. V. " reaper; " and one, Jer ix. 22,
« harvest-mail."
The « king's mowings," Am. rii. 1, i. t. mown
pus, Pa. luii. 6, nuj perhaps refer to some royal
right of early pasturage for the use of the cavalry.
See I K. xviii. 5. (Shaw, Trav. p. 138; Wilkinson,
Anc. Eg. abridgm. ii. 48, 60; Early Trav., p. 805.
Pietro della VaUe, Viaytji, ii. p. 237 ; C'hardin, ley.,
iii. 370; Layard, Nm. 4 Bub, p. 330; Niebuhr,
Doer, de tAr. p. 139; Harwer. Ob$., iv. 386;
Burckhardt, Notes on Bed., i. 210.) H. W. P.
MCZA (H?*© [going forth, door, yrfc:]
Moad; [Vat. Imo-oy;] Alex, lava' .'/»«).
1. Son of Caleb the son of Hesron by his concubine
Kphah (1 Chr. ii. 46).
2. (.Mauri, 1 Chr. Tiii. 36, 37; Mocuri, Alex.
[FA.] Mtura, 1 Chr. ix. 42, 43). Son of Ziniri,
and descendant of Saul through Micah the sou of
Hephibceheth.
MCZAH (TTSbn [pah. thtfounUiin], with
the definite article, ham-Hotsah: 'Apmrih Alex.
A»im! Amo$a), one of the cities in the allotment
of Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 26 only), named between
hao-Cephirah and Kekem The former of these
has probably been identified with Kefir, 2 miles
east of Yolo, but no trace of any name resembling
Hotsah has hitherto been discovered. Interpreting
the name according to its Hebrew derivation, it
may signify " the spring-head " — the place at
whioh the water of a spring gushes out (Stanley,
S. <f P- App. § 62). A place of this name is men-
tioned in the Mishna (Svccah, iv. § 5) as follows:
— " There was a place below Jerusalem named
MoUn ; thither they descended and gathered willow-
branclies,*' i. e. for the '• Feast of Tabernacles " so
called. To this the Oemara adds, " the place was
a Colon!* a (N'3blp), that is, exempt from the
king's tribute" (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. 2043;,
which other Talmudists reconcile with the original
name by observing that Motaah signifies an outlet
or liberation, e. g. from tribute. Bartenora, who
Bred at Jerusalem, and now lies in the " valley of
Jehoshaphat " there, says (in Surenhusius' Mithna,
ii. 274) that Hotsah was but a short distance from
the city, and in his time retained the name of Colo-
nia. On these grounds Schwara (127) would
identify Mozah with the present Kulonitti, a village
about 4 miles west of Jerusalem on the Jafia road,
at the entrance of the great Wady Beit Hatmnh.
The interpretations of the Rabbis, just quoted, are
not inconsistent with the name being really derived
from its having been the seat of a Roman eolotiia,
ar suggested by Robinson, (BibL Ret. iii. 168). The
only difficulty in the way of the identification is
that Kulonieh can hardly be spoken of as " below
Jerusalem " — an expression which is most natural-
ly interpreted of the ravine beneath the city, where
he Bir-tCyuh is, and the royal gardens formerly
*ere. Still there are vestiges of much vegetation
about Kulonieh, and when the country was more
« Oan this tills be In any way eonnaeted with the
Koalcn IkovAopIi which Is one of the eleven names
buerted by the LXX In the catalogue of the cities of
Jcdah, between vents 69 and 60 of Josh. rv.T
* • It depends on the season of the year whether
Me river-bed Is "dry" or contains water. Severn)
, as Richardson, Otto von Hchter, Prokeech,
r that It Is quits a running stream, at certain
■ of the rear, of widen Indeed proof Is seen In
MULBBKRY-T11EB8
C tally cultivated and wooded, and the duusts
arid than at present, the dry river-bed > which
the traveller now crosses may have flowed with
water, and have formed a not unfavorable spra> fill
the growth of willows. U.
• MUFFLERS. [Vmn, (».)]
MTJLBEBKY-TREE8 (D'N3?, bedlw ;
KAovfyuV, snrwi: pyri) occurs only in 2 Sam. v.
23 and 24, and in the parallel passage of 1 Chr.
xiv. 14. The Philistines having spread themselves
in the Valley of Kephaim, David was ordered to
fetch a compass behind them and come npon them
over sgainst the mulberry-trees ; and to attack then
when he heard the " sound of a going in the top*
of the mulberry-trees."
We are quite unable to determine what kind o*
tree is denoted by the Hebrew r> * ~ '< many at
tempts at identification have been made, bnt tbej
are mere conjectures. The Jewish Rabbis, with
severs] modern versions, understand the mulberry-
tree; others retain the Hebrew word. Celsius
(Hierob. L 836) believes the Hebrew bid is iden-
tical with a tree of similar name mentioned in a
MS. work of the Arabic botanical writer Abu'l
Fadli, namely, some species of Amyrit or Baltam-
odendron. Host lexicographers are satisfied with
this explanation. Some modern English authors
have adopted the opinion of Dr. Royle, who (Kltto's
Cyc art Baca) refers the Hebrew bid to the
Arabic Shajrat-aUmk,' " the gnat-tree," which he
identifies with some species of poplar, severs] kinds
of which are found in Palatine. Rosenmuller fol-
lows the LXX. of 1 Chr. xiv. 14, and believes
" pear-trees" are signified. As to the chum of the
mulberry-tree to represent the bedim of Scripture,
it is difficult to see any foundation for such an in-
terpretation — for, as RosenmUller hss observed
(Aft. Art. p. 256), it is neither "countenanced by
the ancient versions nor by the occurrence of any
similar term in the cognate languages " — unless
we sdopt the opinion of Ursinus, who (Arbor. Bib.
iii. 75). having in view the root of the word bacah, 6
" to weep," identifies the name of the tree in ques-
tion with the mulberry, " from the blood-like team
which the pressed berries pour forth." Equally un-
satisfactory is the claim of the " pear-tree " to repre-
sent the bid i for the uncertainty of the LXX., In
the absence of further evidence, is enough to show
that little reliance is to be placed upon this ren-
dering.
As to the tree of which Abnl Fadli speaks, and
which Sprengel {Hut. Art herb. p. 12) identifies
with Amyrit yileodentit, Un., it is impossible that
it can denote the bid of the Hebrew Bible, al-
though there is an exact similarity in form betweer.
the Hebrew and Arabic terms : for the Amyri-
dncta are tropical shrubs, and never could have
grown in the Valley of Rephaim, the Seriptms. 1
locality for the bedim.
The explanation given by Royle, that some poplai
the striking fertility of the valley which it
(See D auaiiruL LT. vol. 1. p. 577, Am. ed.) H.
e (SjJt K -. «gv *- , of which, however, frsytsf
iys. " Arbor eulkum. ulmus, quia f
rails sxsfceato euUcee gignuntur."
* HJJS: ■ to flow by drops," "so was*. "
an Ml
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MULE
b signified, although in soma respects it is wcD
•sited to the context of the Scriptural passages, is
an ten able; for the Hebrew bid and the Arabic
bata are clearly distinct both in form and significa-
tion, as is evident front the difference of the second
radical letter in each word."
As to the M55 of Pa. IxxxJt. 6, which ttie A.
V. retains as a proper name, we entirely agree with
Hengstenberg ( Com. on Pi. ad loc.), that the word
denotes " weeping," and that the whole reference
to Baca trees must be given up, but see Baca.
Though there is no evidence to show that the
mulberry -tree occurs in the Hebrew Bible, vet the
fruit of this tree is mentioned in 1 Mace. vi. 34,
as having been, together with grape juice, shown
to the elephants of Antiochus Eupator in order to
irritate those animals and make them more formida-
ble opponents to the army of the Jews. It is well
known that many animals are enraged when they
see blood or anything of the color of blood. For
further remarks on the mulberry-trees of Palestine
see Stcajuhb. W. H.
MULE, the representative in the A. T. of
the following Hebrew words, — Ptrtd or Pirddk,
Rteieth, and IWa
J. Ptrtd, PMik (TIB, JTna :» 6 a*uW,
4 »i/uoro»: m*hu, mult), the common and feminine
Hebrew nouns to express the " mule; " the first of
which occurs in numerous passages of the Bible,
the latter only in 1 K. i. 33, 38, 44. It is an
interesting fact that we do not read of mules till
the time of David (as to the yfmbn, A. V.
" mules," of Gen. zzzvi. 24, see below), just at the
time when the Israelites were becoming well ac-
quainted with horses. After this time horses and
mules are in Scripture often mentioned together.
After the first half of David's reign, as Michaelis
( Comment, on Laic* of Motet, ii. 477) observes,
they became all at once very common. In Ear. ii.
66, Neh vii. 68, we read of two hundred and forty-
five mules; in 9 Sam. xiiL 39, " all the king's sons
arose and every man gat him up upon his mule."
Absalom rode on a mule in the battle of the wood
of Ephraim at the time when the animal went
away from under him and so caused his death.
Mules were amongst the present* which were
brought year by year to Solomon (1 K. x. 26).
The Identical law forbade the coupling together of
animals of different species (Lev. xlx. 19), conse-
quently we must suppose that the mules were im-
ported, unless the Jews became subsequently less
strict in their observance of the ceremonial injunc-
tions, and bred their mules. We learn from Ezekiel
(xxvii. 14) that the Tyrians, after the time of Solo-
mon, were supplied with both horses and mules
from Armenia (Togarmah), which country was cele-
brated for it* good hones (see Strabo, xi. 18, § 7,
sd. Kramer; comp. also Xenoph. Anab. iv. I, 36;
Herod, vii. 40). Michaelis conjectures that the
Israelites first became acquainted with mules in the
war which David carried on with the king of Nisibis
MUPPIM
2035
" 3to the Helww, J In the Arable; S33, ijj.
b A word of doubtful «trmoJciT. Qaasmns refers it
to the wjrkw 'J- 3 , "onofcn*." damp.
Tfiri, La*, tanfo, and sea aUehaaus'
• From amoaed root DV, "qaaaaVerii
tabsBSs vtdatsz n (Satan. Ba.)
O*uiufto
(Zobah), (2 Sam. viii. 3, 4). In Solomon's time M
is possible that mules from Egypt occasionally ao-
oompanied the horses which we know the king of
Israel obtained from that country ; for though the
mule is not of frequent occurrence in the monu-
ments of Egypt (Wilkinson's Anc. Ei/npt. i. 386,
Lond. 1864), yet it is not easy to believe that the
Egyptians were not well acquainted with this
animal That a friendship existed between Solo-
mon and Pharaoh is clear from IK. ii. 16, as well
as from the fact of Solomon having married the
daughter of the king of Egypt; but after Shishak
came to the throne a very different spirit prevailed
between the two kingdoms: perhaps, therefore,
from this date mules were obtained from Armenia.
It would appear that kings and great men only
rode on mules. We do not read of mules at all in
the N. T., perhaps therefore they had ceased to be
imported.
2. Seehetk (W^). See Dhohkdakt.
3. rimim (DO V - * to» 'Io/iak, Vat and Alex.;
to* esuilr, Compl. ; root lafitlv, Aq. and Sym.1
aqua calidm) is found only in Gen. xxxri. 24, where
the A. V. has " mules" as the rendering of the
word. The passage where the Hebrew name oc-
curs is one concerning which various explanations
have been attempted. Whatever may be the proper
translation of the passage, it is quite certain that
the A. V. is incorrect in its rendering — "This
was that Anah that found the mules in the wilder-
ness as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father."
Michaelis has shown that at this time horses were
unknown in Canaan ; consequently mules could not
have been bred there. The Talmudical writers be-
lieve that Anah was the first to find out the man-
ner of breeding mules : but, besides the objection
urged above, it may be stated that neither the He-
brew nor its cognates have any such a word to sig-
nify " mules." Boohart (ffierac L 209. 10), follow-
ing the reading of the Samaritan Version and Onk-
etos, renders yimlm by "emims" or "giants"
(Gen. xiv. 6); but this explanation has been gen-
erally abandoned by modern critics (see Rosenmttt-
ler, SchoL in Gen.; Geddes, CrU. Bern. xiv. j).
The most probable explanation is that which inter-
prets yimlm to mean "warm springs," as the
Vulg. has it; and this is the interpretation adopted
by Gesenius and modern scholars generally: the
passage will then read, " this was that Anah who
while he was feeding his father's asses in the desert
discovered some hot springs." This would be con-
sidered an important discovery, and as sueh worthy
of record by the historian ; but if, with some writers,
we are to understand merely that Anah discovered
water, there is nothing very remarkable in the fact,
for bis father's asses could not bare survived with-
outIt.<< W. H.
MUPTIM (CStf) [perh- darkneu, torrow,
Furst]: Mondifju; [Alex. Hafvpt ifi:] Mophim),»
Benjamite, and one of the fourteen descendants of
Rachel who belonged to the original colony of the
sons of Jacob hi Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 21 ). In Num.
xxvi. 39 the name is written Shupuam, and the
* The plural form at a noon (O^f?**. "Tt"' 1
which is apparently of Persian origin, 'rendered
" camel " by the A. T., ocean In Ath. vUl. 10. 14,
and seems to denote some One bread of mules. 8w
Boshart ,Hum. 1. 219). [On Oen. xxxri. 24, sm ad
dWon to Alan, Amar. sd.1
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2086
MURDER
brail; sprung from him are called Shuphainites.
In 1 Chr. vii. 12, 19, it U Shuppim (the same as
xxvi. 16), and viii. 5, Shephaphan. Hence it U
probable that Muppira is a corruption of the text,
and that Shupham ii the true form. [Becher.]
According to 1 Chr. vii. 13, he and hii brother
Huppim were the sons of Ir, or Iri (ver. 7), the
•on of Bela, the son of Benjamin, and their sister
Haachah appears to have married into the tribe of
Manasseh (ib. 15, 16). But ver. 15 aeema to be
in a most corrupt state. 1 Chr. viii. 3, 6, assigns
in like manner Sbephuphan to the family of Beta,
ss do the LXX. in Gen. xlvi. 21. As it seems to
be impossible that Benjamin could have had a
great-grandson at the time of Jacob's going down
into Egypt (comp. Gen. 1. 93), and as Machir the
husband of Maachah was Manasseh's son, perhaps
the explanation of the matter may be that Shu-
pham was Benjamin's son, as he is represented
Num. xxvi. 38, but that his family were afterwards
reckoned with that of which Ir the son of Bela wss
chief (comp. 1 Chr. xxv. 9-31, xxvi 8, 8, 11).
A.C.H,
MURDER." The principle on which the act
of taking the life of a human being was regarded
by the Almighty as a capital offense is stated on
its highest ground, as an outrage, Philo calls it
sacrilege, on the likeness of God in man, to be
punished even when caused by an animal (Gen. ix.
6, 6, with Bertheau's note; see also John viii. 44;
1 John iii. 12, 15; Philo, D* Spec Leg. iii. 15,
vol. ii. p. 313). Its secondary or social ground ap-
pears to be implied in the direction to replenish the
earth which immediately follows (Gen. ix. 7). The
exemption of Cain from capital punishment may
thus be regarded by anticipation as founded on the
social ground either of expediency or of example
(Gen. iv. 12, 15). The postdiluvian command,
enlarged and infringed liy the practice of blood-
revenge, which it seems to some extent to sanction,
was limited by the Law of Moses, which, while it
protected the accidental homioide, denned with
additional strictness the crime of murder. It pro-
hibited compensation or reprieve of the murderer,
or* his protection if he took refuge in the refuge-
city, or even at the altar of Jehovah, a principle
which finds an eminent illustration in the case of
Joab (Ex. xxi. 12, U; Lev. xxiv. 17, 31 ; Num.
xxxv. 16, 18, 21, 31; Deut. xix. 11, 13; 2 Sam.
xvii. 36, xx. 10; 1 K. ii. 5, 6, 81; Philo, L «.;
Michaelix, On Laws of Motes, § 133). Bloodshed
even in warfare was held to involve pollution (Num.
sxxv. 33, 34; Deut xxi. 1, 9; 1 Chr. xxviii. 3).
Philo says that the attempt to murder deserves
punishment equally with actual perpetration ; and
the Minima, that a mortal blow intended for
another is punishable with death ; but no express
legislation on this subject is found in the Law
(Philo, /. c; Hiahn. Sank. ix. 2).
No special mention is made in the Law («) of
child-murder, (6) of parricide, nor (c) of taking
life by poison, but its animus Is sufficiently obvious
n all these cases (Ex. xxi. 15, 17; 1 Tim. i. 9;
Matt. xv. 4), and the 3d may perhaps be specially
Intended under the prohibition of witchcraft (Ex.
« (Tab.) 1. l"nP, " to erueh," " to sill," whencs
Bar'. n5" • • wT ft i ntMrJsetar, nsi momkUHi,
MU8HITB8
xxil. 18; Joseph. AnL ir. 8, { 34; Philo, De Bpst
Leg. lit 17, voL ii. p. 815).
It is not certain whether a master who kilki ha
slave wss punished with death (Ex. xxi. 30; KnobeL
ad lac.). In Egypt the murder of a slave was
punishable with death as an example d fortiori in
the esse of*a freeman ; and parricide wss punished
with burning; but child-murder, though treated
as an odious crime, was not punished with death
(Diod. Sic. i. 77). The Greeks also, or at least
the Athenians, protected the life of the slave (/Met
of Antiq. art. Servos, p. 1036; Miiller, Dorian*,
iii. 3, § 4; Wilkinson, Anc Eg. ii. 308, 308).
No punishment is mentioned for suicide at-
tempted, nor does any special restriction appear
to have attached to the property of the sunada
(3 Sam. xvii. 83).
Striking a pregnant woman so as to cause h*
death was punishable with death (Ex. xxL 38;
Joseph. Ant. iv. 8, $ 33).
If an animal known to be vicious caused the
death of any one, not only was the animal de-
stroyed, but the owner also, if he had taken no
steps to restrain it, was held guilty of murder (Ex.
xxi. 29, 81 ; Michadia, § 274, vol. iv. pp. 334, 835).
The duty of executing punishment on the mur-
derer is in the Law expressly laid on the " revenger
of blood ; " but the question of guilt was to be
previously decided by the Levities! tribunal. A
strong bar against the license of private revenge
was placed by the provision which required the
concurrence of at least two witnesses in any capital
question (Num. xxxr. 19-30; Deut. xvii. 6-18,
xix. 12, 17). In regal times the duty of execution
of justice on a murderer seems to have been as-
sumed to some extent by the sovereign, as well as
the privilege of pardon (3 Sam. xiii. 39, xiv. 7, 11 ;
1 K. ii. 34). During this period also the practice
of assassination became frequent, especially in the
kingdom of Israel. Among modes of effecting this
object may be mentioned the murder of Uenhadad
of Damascus by Hazael by means of a wet cloth
(1 K. xv. 87, xvi. 9; 8 K. viii. 15; Thenius, ad
foe.; Jahn, Hist. i. 137; 8 K. x. 7, xi. 1. 16, xfi
20, xiv. 5, xv. 14, 85, 30).
It was lawful to kill a burglar taken at night in
the act, but unlawful to do so after sunrise (Ex.
xxii. 8,3).
The Koran forbids child-murder, and aDowi
blood-revenge, but permits money-compensation for
bloodshed (ii. 81, Iv. 72, xvii. 830, ed. Sale).
[Blood, Kkvkngkh op; Makslayer.]
H. W. P.
• MURRAIN. [Plaques, the Tex, « ]
MU'SHI OtnO [wilkdramug, forsaking] :
'Ofunxri, Ex. vi. 19; a Mew', 1 Chr. vi. 19, xxffl.
81, xxiv. 36, 30; Mowrl, Num. iii. 30; 1 Chr. A
47, xxiii. 23; [Vat. O/unxrtt, o Moiwst, Mown,
etc.;] Alex. Opoiwsi, Ex. vi. 19; O/uwo-i, Num.
iii. 30; 1 «'lir. vi. 47; o Mown, 1 Chr. vi. 19
xxiv. 30; Mown, 1 Chr. xxiii. 31, xxiv. 16: Jfmsi*
The son of Merari the son of Kohath.
• MUT3HITES ("JT'TO : Mown", Vat. Mo
murfieio, stride ; whaoos 3*171 (satts), ~ ssaMsa- ;
«*ay4; stasis, Oss. p. 8BB. 8. ban, fae-a VeJJJ
«kUl,"aas.p. 1218.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MUSIC
m, Akx. Qnnwt: Mtmta, Mum\ Num. ill. 33,
on. 68. Descendants of Mubhi. A.
MUSIC. Of music u a science among the
Hebrews we have no certain knowledge, and the
trice* of it are to slight as to afford no ground fin*
reasonable conjecture. But with regard to its
practice there Is less uncertainty. Tht inventor
of musical instruments, like the first poet and the
(rat forger of metals, was a Cainite. According
a tti narrative of Gen. iv., Juhal the sot. of
Lameen vu -the father of all such as handle the
harp and organ," that is of all players upon
stringed and wind instruments. 11 it has been
conjectured that Jubal's discovery may have been
perpetuated Uy the pillars of the Sethites men-
tioned by Josephus (Ant. i. 2), and that in this
way it was preserved till after the Flood ; but such
conjectures are worse than an honest confession
of ignorance. The first mention of music in the
times after the Deluge is in the narrative of Lilian's
interview with Jacob, when he reproached his son-
in-law with having stolen away unawares, without
allowing him to cheer his departure ■> with songs,
with tabret, and with harp " (Gen. xxxi. 27; So
that, in whatever way it was preserved, the prac-
tice of music existed in the upland country of
Syria, and of the three possible kinds of musical
instruments, two were known and employed to
accompany the song. The three kinds are alluded
to in Job xxi. 12. On the banks of the Red Sea
sang Moses and the children of Israel their tri-
umphal song of deliverance from the hosts of Egypt ;
sod Miriam, in celebration of the same event,
exercised one of her functions as a prophetess by
leading a procession of the women of the camp,
chanting in chorus the burden to the song of
Moats, " Sing ye to Jehovah, for He hath tri-
umphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath
He thrown into the era." Their song wss accom-
panied by timbrels and dances, or, as some take
the latter word, by a musical instrument of which
the shape is unknown but which is supposed to
have resembled the modern tainboriue (Dancf,
vol L p. 516 o), and, Hke it, to have been used as
an accompaniment to dancing. The expression in
the A. V. of Ex. xv. 21, "and Miriam nntioertil
them," seems to indicate that the song was alter-
nate, Miriam leading off with the solo while the
women responded in full chorus. But it is prob-
able that the Hebrew word, like the corresponding
Arabic, has merely the sense of singing, which is
retained in the A. V. of Ex. xxxii. 18: Num. xxi.
IT; 1 Sam. xxix. 6; Pa. exlvii. 7; Hos. ii. 18.
The same word is used for the shouting of soldiers
in battle (Jer. Ii. 14), and the cry of wild beasts
(Is. xiii. 29),'and in neither of these cases can the
notion of response be appropriate. All that can
be inferred is that Miriam led off the song, and
this is confirmed by the rendering of the Vulg.
mtdntbat. The triumphal hymn of Moses had
u nquest ionably a religious character about it, but
the employment of music in religious service,
though idolatrous, is mora distinctly marked in
■ From the occurrence of the nam* Mshalalsal,
Shirt in fce s sn t from 8*th, which tigaOrt giving
stales to God," Schneider concludes that vocal mush
b religious services must bavs been still sarlier In uss
unuug lbs aelhltas (A'U.-f ura. Danullvng dtr Httr.
thai*, p. xt,).
• With this may bs compared the musical servtos
■ bash aeeompwisd th* dedication of tbs golden mugs
MUSIC
2037
the festivities which attended the erection of the
golden calf/ The wild cries and shouts which
reached the ears of Moses and Joshua as they came
down from Uie mount, sounded to the latter as thr
din of battle, the voices of victor and vanquished
blending in one harsh chorus. But the quicks
sense of Moses discerned the rough music with
which the people worshipped the visible representa-
tion of the God that brought them out of Egypt.
Nothing could show more clearly than Joshua's
mistake the rude character of the Hebrew music
at this period (Ex. xxxii. 17, 18), as untrained and
wild as the notes of their Syiian forefathers/
The silver trumpets made by the metal workers
of the Tabernacle, which were used to direct the
movements of the camp, point to music of a very
simple kind (Num. x. 1-10), and the long blast
of the jubilee horns, with which the priests brought
down the walls of Jprifho, bad probably nothing
very musical about it (Josh, vi.), any more than
the rough concert with which the ears of the
sleeping Midisnites were saluted by Gideon's thraa
hundred warriors (Judg. vii.). The song of Debo-
rah and Barak is cast in a distinctly metrical form,
and was probably intended to be sung with a musi-
cal accompaniment as one of the people's songs,
like that with which Jephthah's daughter and her
companions met her Either on his victorious return
(Judg. xi-).
The simpler impromptu with which the women
from the cities of Israel greeted David after the
slaughter of the Philistine, was apparently struck
off on the spur of the moment, under the influence
of the wild joy with which they welcomed their
national champion, " the darling of the songs of
Israel." The accompaniment of timlirela and in-
struments of music must have been equally simple,
and such that all could take part in it (1 Sam.
xviii. 6, 7). Up to this time we meet with noth-
ing like a systematic cultivation of music among
the Hebrews, but the establishment of the schools
of the prophets appears to have supplied this want.
Whatever the students of these schools may have
been taught, music was an essential part of their
practice. At Bethel (1 Sam. x. 5) was a school
of this kind, as well as at Naioth in liamah
(1 Sam. xix. 19, 20), at Jericho (2 K. ii. 8, 7,
15), Gilgal (2 K. iv. 38), and perhaps at Jeru-
salem (2 K. xxii. 14). Professional musicians soon
became attached to the court, and though Saul, a
hardy warrior, had only at intervals recourse to
the soothing influence of David's harp, yet David
seems to have gathered round him " ainginr; men
and singing women," who could celebrate his vic-
tories and lend a charm to bis hours of peace (2
Sam. xix. 35). Solomon did the same (EocL ii.
8), adding to the luxury of his court by his patron-
age of art, and obtaining a reputation himself a*
no mean composer (1 K. iv. 32).
But tht Temple wss the great school of music
and it was consecrated to its highest service In the
worship of Jehovah. Hefore, however, the elaborate
arrangements had been made by David for the
toe th* plains of Dura (Dan. HI.), tbs oomssenosment
of which was to bs th* signal for tbs multitude M
prostrate themselves In worship.
e Compare lam. II. 7, waars the war-cry of tbs
enemy In the Temple Is Ukraol to th* nolss of ths
multitude on a solemn *jest4ay : R Tbsr bar* aaads
a nolss In th* houss of Jehovah a* in tbs day of a
ist"
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2038
MUSIC
•mpk choir, there must have ben a considerable
ood y of musicians throughout the country (2 Sam.
ri. S), and in the procession which accompanied the
ark from the house of Obededom, the Levites, with
Chenaniah at their head, who had acquired skill
from previous training, played on psalteries, harps,
and cymbals, to the words of the psalm of thanks-
giving which David had composed lor the occasion
(1 Chr. zv., xri.). It is not improbable that the
Levites all along had practiced music and that
some musical service was part of the worship of
the Tabernacle ; for unless this supposition be made,
it is inconceivable that a body of trained singers
and musicians should be found ready for an occa-
sion like that on which they make their first ap-
pearanee. The position which the tribe of Levi
occupied among the other tribes naturally favored
the cultivation of an art which is essentially char-
acteristic of a leisurely and peaceful lift. They
were free from the hardships attending the struggle
for conquest and afterwards for existence, which
the Hebrews maintained with the nations of Ca-
naan and the surrounding countries, and their sub-
sistence was provided for by a national tax. Con-
sequently they had ample leisure for the various
ecclesiastical duties devolving upon them, and
among others for the service of song, for which
some of their families appear to have possessed a
remarkable genius. The three great divisions of
the tribe had each a representative family in the
choir: Heman and his sons represented the Ko-
hathites, Asaph the Gershonites, and Ethan (or
Jeduthun) the Merarites (1 Chr. xv. 17, xxiii. 6,
xxv. 1-6). Of the 38,000 who composed the tribe
in the reign of David, 4,000 are said to have been
appointed to praise Jehovah with the instruments
which David made (1 Cbr. xxiii. S) and for which
he taught them a special chant This chant for
ages afterwards was known by bis name, and was
sung by the Levites before the army of Jehosha
phat, and on laying the foundation of the second
Temple (comp. 1 Chr. xvi. 84, 41 ; 2 Chr. vii. 6,
xx. 21; Rzr. iii. 10, 11); and again by the Hac-
cnbasui army after their great victory over Gorgias
( 1 Mace. iv. 34 ). Over this great body of musi-
cians presided the sons of Asapb, Heman, and
Jeduthun, twenty-four in number, as beads of the
twenty-four courses of twelve into which the skilled
minstrels were divided. These skilled or cunning
CP"3"3, 1 Chr. xxv. 6, 7) men were 288 in num-
ber, and under them appear to have been the scholars
""'"'"?7i"3 1 Chr. xxv. 8), whom, perhaps, they
rained*, and who made up the full number of
4,000. Supposing 4,000 to be merely a round
number, each course would consist of a full band
of 166 musicians presided over by a body of twelve
■killed players, with one of the sons of Asaph, He-
man, or Jeduthun as conductor. Asaph himself
sppears to have played on the cymbals ( 1 Cbr. xvi.
6), and this was the case with the other leaders
(1 Cbr. xv. 19), perhaps to mark the time more
distinctly, while the rest of the band played on
jealteries and harps. The singers were distinct
torn both, as is evident in Ps. Ixviii. 26, "the
lingers went before, the players on instruments
followed after, in the midst of the damsels playing
with timbrels;" unless the ginger* iu this ease
were the cyrrbai-players, like Heman, Asaph, and
Ethan, wbc, in 1 Chr. xv. 19, are called " singers,"
md perhaps while giving the time with their cym-
MU8IO
bab led the choir with their voices, rbe « patyan
on instruments " (0* , 3")3, ndoMm), as the word
denotes, were the performers upon stringed instru-
ments, like the psaltery and harp, who have beet
alluded to. The "players on Instrument*'
(D^VVn, cAHilim), in Ps. lxxzrii. 7, wen difler-
ent from these last, and were properly pipers ot
performers on perforated wind-instruments (see 1
K. i. 40). " The damsels playing with timbrels '"
(comp. 1 Chr. xiii. 8} seem to indicate that women
took part in the temple choir, and among the
family of Heman are specially mentioned three
daughters, who, with his fourteen sons, were all
"under the hands of their father for song in the
bouse of Jehovah " (1 Cbr. xxv. 6, 6). Besides,
with those of the Captivity who returned with
Zerubbabel were "200 singing men and tinging
women " (Ear. ii. 66). Bartenora adds that chil-
dren also were included.
The trumpets, which are mentioned among the
instruments played before the ark (1 Chr. xiii. 8),
appear to have been reserved for the priests akr-j
(1 Chr. xv. 24, xvi. 6). As they were also uari in
royal proclamations (S K. xi. 14), they wr: ; prob-
ably intended to set forth by way of symbol the
royalty of Jehovah, the theocratic king of his
people, as well as to sound the alarm against his
enemies (2 Chr. xiii. 12). A hundred and twenty
priests blew the trumpets in harmony with the
choir of Levites at the dedication of Solomon's
Temple (2 Cbr. v. 12, 13, vii. 6), as in the restora-
tion of the worship under Hezekiah, in the descrip-
tion of which we find an indication of one of the
uses of the temple music. " And Hezekiah com-
manded to offer the burnt-oflering upon the altar.
And when the burnt-offering began, the song of
Jehovah began also, with the trumpets and with
the instruments of David king of Israel. And all
the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang,
and the trumpeters sounded; all until the burnt
offering was finished " (2 Chr. xxix. 27, 28). The
altar wss the table of Jehovah (Hal. i. 7), and the
sacrifices were his feasts (Ex. xxiii. 18), so the
solemn music of the Levites corresponded to the
melody by which the banquets of earthly monarch*
were accompanied. The Temple was his palace
and as the Levite sentries watched the gates by
night they chanted the songs of Zion ; one of these
it has been conjectured with probability is Pa
exxxiv.
The relative numbers of the instruments in the
temple band have been determined in the traditions
of Jewish writers. Of psalteries there were to be
not less than two nor more than stx; ( of flutes not
less than two nor more than twelve; of trumpets
not lass than two but as many as were wished; of
harps or citherns not less than nine but as many a*
were wished ; while of cymbals tbere was only one
pair (Forkel, AUg. Ctteh. der Mutik, e. iii. § 28).
The enormous number of Instruments and dresses
for the Levites provided during the magnificent
reign of Solomon would seem, if Josephus be cor-
rect {Ant. viii. 3, § 8), to have been intended for aL
time. A thousand dreams for the high-priest, linen
garments and girdles of purple for the priests
10,000; trumpets 200,000; psalteries and harps of
electrnm 40,000; all these were stored up in the
temple treasury. Tha costume of the Levite staff-
ers at the dedication of the Temple was of Ira
linen (2 Chr. v. Ml.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MUSIC
In the prirata as well as in the religious life o? the
fidmn music held a prominent place. The king*
had their court musicians (Eocl. ii. 8) who bewailed
their death (S Chr. mr. 85), and in the luxurious
times of the later monarchy the effeminate gallants
if Israel, reeking with perfumes and stretched upon
their oouches of ivory, were wont at their banquets
to accompany tile song with the tinkling of the
psaltery or guitar (Am. vi. 4-6 J, and amused them-
selves with devising musical instruments while their
nation was perishing, as Nero fiddled when Rome
was in flames. Isaiah denounces a woe against
those who sat till the morning twilight over their
wine, to the sound of " the harp and the viol, the
tabret and pipe " ([». r. 11, 19). But while music
was thus made to minister to debauchery and ex-
cess, it was the legitimate expression of mirth and
gladness, and the indication of peace and pros-
perity. It was only when a curse was upon the
land that the prophet could say, " the mirth of
tabret* ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice end-
eth, the joy of the harp ceaseth, they shall not
drink wine with a song " (Is. xxiv. 8, 9). In the
sadness of captivity the harps hung upon the wil-
lows of Babylon, and the voices of the singers re-
fused to sing the songs of Jehovah at their foreign
captors' bidding (Ps. exxxrii.). The bridal proces-
sions as they passed through the streets were ac-
companied with music and song (Jer. vii. 34), and
these ceased only when the land was desolate (Ez.
cxvi. 13). The high value attached to music at
Banquets is indicated in the description given in
Ecclus. xxxii. of the duties of the master of a feast.
" Pour not out words where there is a musician,
and show not forth wisdom out of time. A con-
cert of music in a banquet of wine is as a signet
of carbuncle set in goM. As a signet of an em-
erald set in a work of gold, so is the melody of
music with pleasant wine." And again, the mem-
ory of the good king Josiah was " as music at a
banquet of wine" (Ecclus. xlix. 1). The music
of the banquets was accompanied with songs and
dancing (Luke xv. 25).° The triumphal proces-
sions which celebrated a victory were enlivened by
minstrels and singers (Ex. xv. 1, 30; Judg. v. 1,
xi. 34; 1 Sam. xviii. 6, xxi. 11; 2 Chr. xx. 28;
J ad. xv. 12, 13), and on extraordinary occasions
they even accompanied armies to battle. Thus the
Lerites sang the chant of David before the army of
Jehoshapbat as he went forth against the hosts of
Ammoo, and Hoab, and Mt. Seir (2 Chr. xx. 19,
21); and the victory of Amjah over Jeroboam is
attributed to the encouragement given to Judah
by the priests sounding their trumpets liefore the
ark (2 Chr. xiii. 12, 14). It is clear from the nar-
rative of Elisha and the minstrel who by his play-
ing calmed the prophet's spirit till the hand of Je-
hovah was upon him, that among the camp follow-
ers of Jehoshaphat's army on that occasion there
i i «re to be reckoned musicians who were probably
MUSIC
2039
• At the royal banquets of Babylon were sung
hymns of praise In honor of the gods (Dao. v. 4, 28),
and perhaps on some such occasion as the least of Bel-
ihsiesr the Hebrew captives might r«ve been brought
In lo stag the songs of their native land (P«. .-xxxvu.).
* The use of music In the religious services of the
Fberapeutn is described by Phllo ( Dr Vila coHitn.pt/
I. 901, ed. rnuikof.). At a certain period Id theservii
me it the worshippers rose aod mag a song of pre!
to God, either of his own composition, or one from
<Msr »«•*». He was followed by others in a
Levites (9 K. iii. 15). Besides sonjs ot triumph
there were also religious songs (Is. xxx. 29; Am
v. 23; Jam. v. 18), "songs of the temple" (Am.
viii. 9), and songs which were sung in idolatrous
worship (Ex. xxxii. 18).' Love songs are alluded
to in Ps. xlv. title, and Is. v. 1. There were also
the doleful songs of the funeral procession, and the
wailing chant of the mourners who went about the
streets, the professional " keening " of those who
were skillful in lamentation (2 Chr. xxxv. 25; Reel,
xii. 5; Jer. ix. 17-20; Am. r. 16). Lightfout
(Hot. ffei. on Matt ix. 93) quotes frou the Tal-
mudists (Chtluih. cap. 4, hal. 6), to the effect that
every Israelite on the death of his wife " will afford
her not less than two pipers and one woman tc
make lamentation." The grape gatherers sang as
tbey gathered in the vintage, and the wine-presses
were trodden with the shout of a song (Is. xvi. 10;
Jer. xlviti. 33); the women sang as they toiled at
the mill, and on every occasion the land of the He-
brews during their national prosperity was a land
of music and melody. There is one class of musi-
cians to which allusion is casually made (Ecclus.
ix. 4), and who were probably foreigners, the har-
lots who frequented the streets of great cities, and
attracted notice by singing and playing the guitar
(U. xxiii. 15, 16).
There are two aspect* in which music appears,
and about which little satisfactory can be said : the
mysterious influence which it bad in driving out
the evil spirit from Saul, and its intimate connec-
tion with prophecy and prophetical inspiration.
Miriam " the prophetess " exercised her prophet-
ical functions as the leader of the chorus of women
who sang the song of triumph over the Egyptians
(Ex. xv. 20). The company of prophets whom
Saul met coming down from the hill of God had
a psaltery, a tabret, a pipe, and a harp before them,
and smitten with the same enthusiasm he "propli-
esiett among them " (1 Sam. x. 5, 10). The priests
of Baal, challenged by Elijah at Cartnel, cried aloud,
and cut themselves with knives, and prophaitd till
sunset (1 K. xviii. 29). The sons of Asaph, He-
man, and Jeduthun, set apart by David for the
temple choir, were to " prophety with harps, with
psalteries, and with cymbals" (1 Chr. xxr. 1);
Jeduthun "prophesied with the harp" (1 Chr.
xxr. 3), and in 2 Chr. xxxv. 15 is called "the
king's $etr" a term which is applied to Heman
(1 Chr. xxv. 5) and Asaph (2 Chr. xxix. 80) as
musicians, as well as to Gad the prophet (2 Sam.
xxiv. 11 ; 1 Chr. xxix. 29). The spirit of Jehovah
came upon Jahaziel, a Levite of the sons of Asaph,
in the reign of Jehoehaphat, and he foretold the
success of the royal army (2 Chr. xx. 14). From
all these instances it is evident that the same Hi-
brew root (W22) is used to denote the inspiration
under which the prophets spoke and the minstrels
sang: Geeenius assigns the latter as a secondary
order, the congregation remaining quiet till the con-
cradUg prayer. In which all Joined. Alter a simple
meal, the whole congregation arose and formed twe
ohoira one of men and one of women, with the most
sktllfu 1 slnfaar of each for leader; and In this way
sang _,,nins to God, sometimes with the full chorus,
and sometimes with each choir alternately. In con-
clusion, ooth men aod women Joined In a single choir
In imitation of that on the shores of 'he Bad Fes
which was led by Mceeo and Miriam
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2040 music
meaning. In the cue of Eliiha, the minstrel ud
th« prophet are distinct personage*, but it ia not
till the minstrel has played that the hand of Jeho-
vah cornea upon the prophet (2 K. iii. 15). This
influence of music has been explained as follows by
a learned divine of the Platonist school : " These
divine enthusiasts were commonly wont to compose
their songs and hymns at the sounding of some
one musical instrument or other, ss we find it
often suggested in the Psalms. So Plutarch ....
descrihes the dictate of the oracle antiently ....
' how that it was uttered in verse, in pomp of
words, similitudes, and metaphors, si the sound of
a pipe.' Thus we have Asaph, Heman, and Jedu-
thun let forth in this prophetical preparation, 1
Chr. u?. 1 Thus R. Sal. expounds the place
. . . . ' when they played upon their musical in-
strcments they prophesied after the manner of
Eliiha ' . . . . And this sense of this place, I think,
is much more genuine than that which a late au-
thor of our own would fasten upon it, namely, that
this prophesying was nothing but the singing of
psalms. For it is manifest that these prophets
were not mere singers but composers, and such sa
were truly called prophet* or enthusiasts " (Smith,
Select Discourses, vi. c. 7, pp. 338, 839, ed. 1600).
All that can bo safely concluded is that in their
external manifestations the effect of music in ex-
citing the emotions of the sensitive Hebrews, the
frenzy of Saul's madness (1 Sam. iviii. 10), and
the religious enthusiasm of the prophets, whether
if Baal or Jehovah, were so nearly alike as to be
described by the same word. The case of Saul is
more difficult still. We cannot be admitted to the
secret of bis dark malady. Two turning points in
bis history are the two interviews with Samuel, the
first and the last, if we except that dread encounter
which the despairing monarch challenged before the
fatal day of Uilboa. On the first of these, Samuel
foretold his meeting with the company of prophets
with their minstrelsy, the external means by which
the Spirit of Jehovah should come upon* him, and
ha should be changed into another man (1 Sam. x.
5). The last occasion of their meeting was the
disobedience of Saul in sparing the Amalekites, for
which he was rejected from being king (1 Sam.xv.
98). Immediately after this we are told the Spirit
of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an " evil spirit
from Jehovah troubled hici" (1 Sam. xvi. 14);
and his attendants, who had perhaps witnessed the
strange transformation wrought upon him by the
music of the prophets, suggested that the same
means should be employed for bis restoration.
' Let our lord now command thy servants before
thee, to seek out a man, a cunning player on an
harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit
from Ood is upon thee, that he shall play with his
hacd, and thou ahalt be well And it came tn
K* when the spirit from Ood was upon Saul, that
vid took an harp and played with his hand. So
Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit
departed from bim " (I Sam. xvi. 16, 23). -But on
•wo occasions, when anger and jealousy supeityened,
he remedy which had soothed the frenzy of insStjity
iad lost Its charm (1 Sam. xvili. 10, 11 ; xii. 9, NQ).
It seems therefore that the passage of Seneca, whicW
has often been quoted in explanation of this pbe-»
somenon, » Pythagoras perturbatioi.es lyra oompo-1 "LL^?
aebat " {Dt fro, ill. 9), is scarcely applicable, Jnd A!£TS!,
m mart be content to leave the narrative as it
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. In addi
tion to the instruments of music which have beer,
represented in our version by some modern word,
and are treated under their respective titles, then
are other terms which are vaguely or generally
rendered. These are —
1. )1~Ut dnchMn, Chald., rendered '•instru-
ments of musick " in Dan. vi. 18. The margin
gives "or table, perhaps lit. concubines." The
last mentioned rendering ia that approved by Qese-
nius, and seems most probable. The translation,
" instruments of musiok," seems to have originated
with the Jewish commentators, R. Nathan, K.
Levi, and Aben Ezra, among others, who re p r e sent
the word by the Hebrew neginoUt, that is, stringed
instruments which were played by being struck
with the hand or the plectrum.
S. 0*323, minnim, rendered with great probsv
bility "stringed-instruments" in Pa. cL 4. It
appears to be a general term, but beyond this
nothing is known of it; and the word is chiefly
interesting from its occurrence in a difficult pas-
sage in Ps. xlr. 8, which stands in tbe A. V. "out
of the ivory palaces whereby 03D, minni) they
have made thee glad,'' a rendering which is neither
intelligible nor supported by tbe Hebrew idiom.
Uoenius and nust of the modems follow Sebastian
Schmid in translating, "out of the ivory palaces
the stringed-instruments make thee glad."
3. ""ilBjy, 'djdr, "an instrument often strings,'
Ps. xui. 3. The full phrase is "HEPy b"J3., neb*.
'aA/r, " a ten-stringed psaltery," as in Ps. xxxiii.
2. cxliv. 9; and the true rendering of the first-
mentioned passage would be " upon an instrument
of ten strings, even upon the psaltery." [PaAL-
TKRT.]
4. rTJtn, shiddih, is found only in one very
obscure passage, Eccl. ii. 8, " I gat me men-singers
and women-singers, and the delights of tbe sons of
men, musical instruments, and that of all sorts"
(ri>VW}rr$ti,thiddahttshiddtOi). The words
thus rendered have received a great variety of
meanings. They are translated " drinking- vessels "
by Aquila and the Vulgate; "cup-hearers" by the
LXX., Peshito-Syriac, Jerome, and the Arabic ver-
sion ; "baths" by tbe Chaldee; and "musical
instrument* " by Dav. Kimchi, followed by Luther
and the A. V., at well as by many commentators
By others they are supposed to refer to the womei
of the royal harem. But the most probable inter-
pretation to be put upon them is that suggested
by the usage of the Talmud, where nT'EP, shldah,
denotes a "palanquin" or "litter" for women.
The whole question is discussed in Gesenius'
Thesaurus, p. 1385.
5. WXD 7tp, shalisMm, rendered " instruments
of musick " in the A. V. of 1 Sam. xviii. 6, and
in the margin '• three-stringed instruments," from
the root shiUsh, " three." Roediger (Uesen. Tint
p. 1499) translates "triangles," which are said to
have been invented In Syria, from the same root
We have no means of deciding which is the man
Tbe LXX. and Syriac give " cymbals,'
and the Vulgate "sistra; " while others render S
ST™ *? H 2' «*le songs " (comp, Prov. nil. 20,
W. A. W . 1 1
W. AW
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MUSTARD
MUSTARD U.'mnn: siwioU) occurs in Matt
»Ui. 31; Mark iv. 31 ; Luke xiii. 19, in which pas-
sages the kingdom of heaven it compared to a
pain of mustard-seed which a man took and
•owed in his garden ; aud in Matt, xvii 30, Luke
xrii. 8, where our Lord says to hia Apostles, " if
y» had faith as a grain of muatard-eeed, ye might
■a; to thia mountain, remove heuce to Yonder
MUSTARD
2041
The aubject of the mustard-tree of Scripture has
<d late rears been a matter of considerable contro-
versy, the common mustard-plant being supposed
unable to fulfill the demands of the Biblical alia
tion. In a paper by the late Dr. Royle, read
before the Royal Asiatic Society, and published in
No. it. of their Journal (1844), entitled, "On the
Identification of the Mustard-tree of Scripture,'
the author coucludes that the Salmdora periien is
the tree in question. He supposes the Salmdora
perticn to be the same as the tree called Khartkd
(the Arabic for mustard), seeds of which are em-
ployed throughout Syria as a substitute for mus-
tard, of which they hare the taste and properties.
Thia tree, according to the statement of Mr.
Ameuny, a Syrian, quoted by Dr. Royle, is found
all along the banks of the Jordan, near the lake
of Tiberias, and near Damascus, aud is said to be
generally recognized in Syria as the mustard-tree
of Scripture. It appears that Captains Irby and
Mangles, who had observed this tree near the
Dead Sea, were struck with the idea that it was
the mustard-tree of the parable. As these travel-
lers were advancing towards hierek from the south-
ern extremity of the Dead Sea, after leaving its
borders they entered a wooded country with high
rushes and marshes. "Occasionally," they say,
44 we met with specimens of trees, etc., such as
none of our party had seen before. . . . Amongst
the trees which we knew, were various species of
\cacia, and in some instances we met with the
dwarf Mimosa. . . . There was one curious tree
which we observed in great numbers, and which
bore a fruit in bunches, resembling in appearance
•he currant, with the color of the plum ; it has a
pleasant, though strong aromatic taste, reaemliling
mustard, and if taken in any quantity, produces a
limilai irritability in the nose and eyes. The
leaves of this tree have the same pungent flavor as
the fruit, though not so strong. We think it
probable that this is the tree our Saviour tUuded
to in the parable of the mustard -seed, and not the
mustard-plant which is to be found in the north "
(Trot. May 8). Dr. Koyle thus sums up hi*
arguments in favor of the Sahxviora periica repre-
senting the mustard-tree of Scripture: 44 The S.
peraca appears better calculated than any other
tree that has yet been adduced to answer to every
thing that I* required, especially if we take into
account its name and the opinions held respecting
it in Syria. We have in it a small seed, which
town iu cultivated ground grows up and abounds
in foliage. Tbit being pungent, may like the
seeds have been used as a condiment, as mustard
and-eress is with us. The nature of the plant is
«• become arboreous, and thus it will form a large
shrub or a tree, twenty-five feet high, under which
a horseman may stand when the soil and climate
are favorable; it produces numerous branches and
leaves, under which birds ma) and do tike shelter,
w weD at bnild their nests; it has a name in Syria
which may bfl considered as tradition*, from the
•truest timet of wh. ih the Greek it a correct
translation; its seeds are used for the same par-
poses as mustard; and in a country where trees
are not plentiful, that is, the shores of the lake of
Tiberias, this tree is said to abound, that it in tht
very locality where the parable was spoken "
(Treatue on the ifuttard-tret, etc, p. 94).
Notwithstanding all that has been adduced by
Dr. Royle in support of his argument, we confess
ourselves unable to believe that the subject of the
mustard-tree of Scripture is thus finally settled.
But, before the claims of the Salvadara ptrriea
are discussed, it will be well to consider whether
some mustard-plant (Sinapit) may not after all
be the mustard-tree of the parable: at any rate
this opinion has been held by many writers, who
appear never to have entertained any doubt upon
the subject. Hitler, Celsius, RosenmiiUer, who all
studied the botany of the Bible, and older writers,
such a* Erasmus, Zegerus, Grotius, are content to
believe that some common mustard-plant it tht
oalradora Persist.
plant of the parable; and more recently Mr. Lam-
bert in his •' Note on the Mustard-plant of Scrip-
ture" (see Uniterm Tram, vol. xvii. p 449), hat
argued in behalf of the Sinnp'u nigra.
The objection commonly made against any Sina-
pit being the plant of the parable is, that the
teed grew into " a tree " ( Sirtpor), or is St. Luke
has it, "a great tree" (HvSinr ft fa), In the
branches of which the fowls of the air are said to
come and lodge. Now in answer to the above
objection it is urged with great truth, that the
expression is figurative and oriental, and that in a
proverbial simile no literal accuracy it to be ex-
pected ; it it an error, for which the lai guage of
' Scripture is not accountable, to assert, ss Dr. Royle
and some others have done, that the passage im-
plies that birds "built their nests" in the tree, the
Greek word Karaoicnriv has no such meaning, the
word merely means " to settle or rest upon " any
thing for a longer or shorter time; the birls came,
"iniridendi et versandi cauta" at Hiller (Hiero-
pkft. ii. 63) explains the phrase: nor is there any
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2042
MUSTAKD
•ecuion to suppose that the expression >• fowls of
the air " denotes an; other than the smaller ma-
larial kinds, linnets, finches, etc., and not the
" aquatic fowls by the lake side, or partridges and
pigeons hovering over the rich plain of Gennesa-
retb," which Prof. Stanley (S. d- P. p. 427) recog-
nizes as " the birds that came and devoured the
seed by the way-side " — for the larger birds are
wild and avoid the way-side — or as those " which
took refuge in the spreading branches of the mus-
tard-tree." Hiller's explanation is probably the
correct one; that the birds came and settled on the
mustard-plant for the sake of the seed, of which
they are very fond. Again, whatever the aivawi
may be, it is expressly said to be an herb, or more
properly " a garden herb " (Aaxaror, ohu). As
to the plant being called a " tree " or a " great
tree," the expression is not only an oriental one,
bat it is clearly spoken with reference to some other
thing; the g|»n with respect to the other herif
of the garden may, considering the sice to which
It grows, justly be called " a great tret," though
Stnspta Nigra.
of Sonne, with respect to tree* properly so named,
It could not be called one at all. This, or a some-
what similar explanation is given by Celsius and
Hiller, and old commentators generally, and we
confess we see no reason why we should not be
satisfied with it. Irby and Mangles mention the
large size which tbe mustard-plant attains in Pales-
tine. In their journey from Bysan to Adjelouu,
in the Jordan Valley, they crossed a small plain
very thickly covered with herbage, particularly the
mustard-plant, which reached as high as their
bones' heads. ( Trav. March 12.) Dr. Kitto says
.his plant was probably the Sinapit oritntalit
a Dr. Hooker has read tha proof-sheet of this article,
tad returned It with the following remarks : « I quits
«(res with all you say about Mmtard. My best in-
bnnants Ifywl at the ides of the Salvador** ptnitm
sttber being the mustard, or as being sufficiently well
known to b* mads saw of In a pubis at all. I am
MUSTABD
(nigra), which tttains under a favorini climate •
stature which it will not reach in out country
Dr. Thomson also (The Land and Ike Boat, p
414) says be has seen tbe Wild Mustard on the
rich phun of Akkar as tall as the horse and
the rider. Mow, it is clear from Scripture that the
drari was cultivated in our Lord's time, the seed
a "man took and sowed in bis field;" St Lake
says, " cast into his garden : " if then, the wild
plant on tbe rich plain of Akkar grows as high as
a man on horseback, it might attain to tbe ssme
or a greater height when in a cultivated garden;
and if, as Lady Calicott has observed, we take into
account the very low plants and shrubs upon which
birds often roost, it will readily be seen that soma
common mustard-plant is able to fulfill all the
Scriptural demands. As to the story of the Rabbi
Simeon Ben Calaphtha having in his garden a
mustard-plant, into which he was accustomed to
climb ss men climb into a fig-tree, it can only be
taken for what Talmudical statements generally
are worth, and must be quite insufficient to afford
grounds for any argument. But it may be asked
Why not accept tbe explanation that the Suha-
dora ptrtiea is the tree denoted ? — a tree whu-h
will literally meet all the demands of tbe parable.
Because, we answer, where tbe commonly received
opinion can be shown to be in full accordance with
the Scriptural allusions, there is no occasion to be
dissatisfied with it ; and again, because at present
we know nothing certain of the occurrence of the
Sahadora pertica in Palestine, except that it
occurs in the small, tropical, low valley of Engedi.
near the Dead Sea, from whence Dr. Hooker saw
specimens, but it is evidently of rare occurrence.
Mr. Ameuny says he bad seen it all along tbe
banks of the Jordan, near the lake of Tiberias and
Damascus; but this statement is certainly errone-
ous. We know from Pliny, Dioscorides, and other
Greek and Roman writers, that mustard-seeds were
much valued, and were used as a condiment; and
it is more probable that the Jews of our Lord's
time were in the habit of making a similar use of
the seeds of some common mustard (Sinnpit), than
that they used to plant in their gardens the seed of
a tree which certainly cannot fulfill the Scriptural
demand of being called " a pot-herb."
The expression " which is indeed the least of all
seeds," is in all probability hyperbolical, to denote
a very small seed indeed, as there are many seeds
which are smaller than mustard. " The Lord, in
his popular teaching," says Trench (Nottt on Par-
abUt, 108), " adhered to the popular language; "
and the mustard-seed was used proverbially to de-
note anything very minute (see the quotations from
the Talmud in Buxtorf, Lex. Tain. p. 822 : also the
Koran, Sur. 31).
The parable of the mustard-plant may be thus
paraphrased : "The Gospel dispensation is like
a grain of mustard seed which a man sowed in bis
garden, which indeed is one of tbe least of all
seeds; but which, when it springs up, becomes a
tall, branched plant, on the branches of which the
birds come and settle seeking their food." °
W. H.
satisfied that It is a very rare plant in Syria, and li
probably eonflosd to tbe hot, low, sub-tropical Bnged'
valley, where various other Indian and Arabian type*
appear at tbe Ultima ThtUt of their northern wan
darings. Of tbe mustard-pbnb which I saw no cot
banks of the Jrrdaa, one wsa 10 ftet high, draws
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MTJTH-LABBEN
* The writer, in crossing the Plain of Akka
ton Bbrweh, on the north side, to Mount Cermet,
en the south, met with e field — a little foreet it
might ahnoet be culled — of the common mustard-
plant of the country. It was in blossom at the
time, fall grown; in some cases, as measured, six,
■even, and nine feet high, with a stem or trunk
more than an inch thick, throwing out branches on
every side. It might well be called a tree, and
certainly, in comparison with its tiny seed, "a
great tree." But still the branches, or stems of
the branches, were not rery large, and to the eye
did not appear rery strong. Can the birds, I said
to myself, rest upon them ? Are they not too slight
and flexible? Will they not bend or break beneath
the superadded weight? At that very instant, as
I stood and revolved the thought, lo ! one of the
fowls of heaven stopped in its flight through the
air, alighted down on one of the branches, which
hardly moved beneath the shock, and then began,
perched there before my eyes, to warble forth a
strain of the richest music.
la this occurrence every condition of the parable
was fully met. A* remarked above, the Greek ex-
pression does not say that the birds build their nests
among such branches, but light upon them or make
their abode among them. [Niters, Amer. ed.]
This plant is not only common in Palestine in a
wild state, but is cultivated in gardens (oomp. Matt,
xiii. 31). This circumstance shows that the Khnr-
dal or mustard-tree of the Arabs (Saivadora ptr-
mca) cannot be meant, for that grows wild ouly.
Certain birds are fond of the seeds, and seek them
as food. The associating of the birds and this
plant as in the parable was the more natural on
that account. Further, see Tristram, /fat. But.
efthe Bible, p. 473 £ H.
MTJTH-LAB'BEN. » To the chief musician
upon Muth-Labben " (]»V fflO b"S : Mp r«r
rbivr roi vlov- pro occulta JUii) is the title of
ix., which has given rise to infinite conjecture-
Two difficulties in connection with it have to be
resolved : first, to determine the true reading of the
Hebrew, and then to ascertain its meaning. Neither
of these points has been satisfactorily explained.
It is evident that the LXX. and Vulgate must
have read niD?J| vy, " concerning the mys-
teries," and so the Arabic and Ethiopia versions.
The Targam, Synmachus, and Jerome, 6 in his
translation of the Hebrew, adhered to the received
text, while Aquila,' retaining the consonants as
they at present stand, read al-muih as one word,
PRD vj, " youth," which would be the regular
form of the abstract noun, though it does not
occur in Biblical Hebrew. In support of the
leading HID v5 as one word, we have the au-
thority of 38 of Kennicott's MSS., and the asser-
tion of Jarcbi that he had seen it so written, as in
Ps. xlviii. 14, in the Great Masorah. If the read-
ing of the Vulgate and LXX. be correct with regard
to the consonants, the words might be pointed
fins, rnnlps Vy> *<& 'Wm6&, •• upon ai»
woth," as in the title of Ps. xlvi., and pb Is
MTJTH-LABBEN
20*8
sp among boshes, etc., and not thicker than whip-
ear*. I was toil It was a well-known ooodJment, and
sulttvaM by she Arabs; it la (he common wild Sm.
saJsJrSjr*."
possibly a fragment of rnp "D^b, tibni A'oracA,
" for the sons of Korah," which appears in the
same title. At any rate, such a rending would
have the merit of being intelligible, which is more
than can be said of most explanations which hare
been given. But if the Masoretic reading be the
true one, it is hard to attach any meaning to it.
The Targum renders the title of the Psalm, — « on
the death of the man who came forth from between
(^5) the camps," alluding to Goliath, the Philis-
tine champion (D^gH B^M, 1 Sam. xvil. 4).
That David composed the psalm as a triumphal
song upon the slaughter of his gigantic adversary
was a tradition which is mentioned by Kimchi
merely as an on dit. Others render it " on the
death of the son," and apply it to Absalom ; but,
as Jarchi remarks, there is nothing in the char-
acter of the psalm to warrant such an application.
He mentions another interpretation, which appears
to have commended itself to Grotius and Hengsteu-
berg, by which Inibcn is an anagram of nabal, and
the psalm is referred to the death of Nabal, but the
Rabbinical commentator had the good sense to re-
ject it as untenable, though there is as little to be
said in favor of his own view. His words are —
>< but I say that this song is of toe future to come,
when the childhood and youth of Israel shall be
made white (]3 viT), and their righteousness be
revealed and their salvation draw nigh, when Esau
and his seed shall be blotted out." He takes
r¥Bi75 as one word, signifying •' youth," and
7S 1 ? " 7SV? " «o whiten." Menahem, a com-
mentator quoted by Jarchi, interprets the title as
addressed " to the musician upon the stringed in-
struments called Alamoth, to instruct," taking
\3h as if It were Y^f} or )jfO l > Dooesh
supposes that labben was the name of a man who
warred with David in those days, and to whom
reference is made as " the wicked " in verse fi.
Arama (quoted by Dr. Gill in his Exposition) iden-
tifies him with Saul. As a last resource Kimchi
suggests that the title was intended to convey in-
structions to the Levite minstrel Ben, whose name
occurs in 1 Chr. xv. 18, among the temple choir,
and whose brethren played "with psalteries on
Alamoth." There is reason, however, to suspect
that the reading in this verse is corrupt, as the
name is not repeated with the others in verse 30.
There still remain to be noticed the oonjectmvs of
Delitzsch, that Muth-labben denotes the tone or
melody with the words of the song associated with
it, of others that it was a musical instrument, and
of Hupfeld that it was the commencement of an
old song, either signifying " die for the son," or
•'death to the son." Hitzig and others regard it
as an abbreviation containing a reference to Ps.
xlviii. 14. The difficulty of the question is suffi-
ciently indicated by the explanation which Geeenius
himself ( Tka. p. 741, a) was driven to adopt, that
the title of the psalm signified that it was " to bt
chanted by ooys with virgins' voices."
The renderings of the LXX. and Vulgate in-
duced the early Christian commentators to rets
a Hspi Aurfrov rail vioS. » Bupm marts Km
e N — w snrios nS efoft.
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2044
MUZZLE
the psalm to the Messiah. Augustine understands
" the nori " as " the only begotten son of God."
The Syriac version h quoted in support of tliia in-
terpretation, but the titles of the Psalms iu that
version are generally constructed without any ref-
erence to the Hebrew, and therefore it cannot be
appealed to as an authority.
On all accounts it seems extremely probable that
the title in ita present form U only a fragment of
the original, which may have been in full what has
been suggested above. But, in the words of the
Assembly's Annotations, " when all hath bean said
that can he said, the conclusion must be the same
as before; that these titles are very uncertain
things, if not altogether unknown in these days."
W. A. W.
•MUZZLE. [Ox]
MYN'DUS (Mivtos), a town on the coast of
Caria, between Milktus and Halicarxassus.
The convenience of its position in regard to trade
was probably the reason why we find in 1 Maoc.
it. 23 that it was the residence of a Jewish popu-
lation. Its ships were well known iu very early
times (Herod, v. 33), and iu harbor is specially
mentioned by Strain (xiv. 658). The name still
lingers in tie modern Mtntetche, though the re-
mains of the city are probably at Gumithlu, where
Admiral Ueaufort found an ancient pier and other
ruins J. S. H.
MY'RA (to Jtipa [ointments: Vulg. Lystm]),
an important town in Lycia, and interesting to us
as the place where St. Paul, on his voyage to Koine
(Acts xxvii. 5), was removed from the Adraniyttian
ship which had brought him from Ccesarea, and
entered the Alexandrian ship in which he was
wrecked on the coast of Malta. [Adramyttium.]
The travellers had availed themselves of the first of
these vessels because their course to Italy necessa-
rily took them past the coasts of the province of
Asia (ver. 3), expecting iu some harbor on these
coasts to find another vessel bound to the west-
ward. This expectation was fulfilled (ver. 6).
It might be asked how it happened that an Alex-
andrian ship bound for Italy was so for out of her
course as to be at Myra. This question is easily
answered by those who have some acquaintance
with the navigation of the l-evant. Mjra is nearly
due north of Alexandria, the harbors in the neigh-
borhood are numerous and good, the mountains
high and easily seen, and the current sets along the
coast to the westward (Smith's Voyage and Ship-
wreck of St. Paul). Moreover, to say nothing of
the possibility of landing or taking in passengers or
goods, the wind wss blowing about this time con-
tinuously and violently from the N. W , and the
same weather which impeded the Adraniyttian
ship (ver. 4) would be a hindrance to the Alexan-
drian (see ver. 7; Life and EpUtlu of St. Paul,
ch. xxiii.).
Some unimportant MSS. having Aiirrpa in this
passage, Grotius conjectured that the true reading
might be Afuupa (Bentleii Critica Sacra,ed. A A.
Ellis ). This supposition, though ingenious, is quite
unnecessary. Both Limyra and Myra were well
known among the maritime cities of l.ycia. The
harbor of the latter was strictly Andriace. distant
from it between two and three miles, but the river
was navigable to the city (Appian, B C. iv. 82).
a From root "^O f "to drop."
* Plutarch, however, was probably In error, and
MYRRH
Myra (called Dembra by the Greeks) is remark-
able still for its remains of various periods of his-
tory. The tombs, enriched with ornament, and
many of them having inscriptions in the ancient
Lycian character, show that it must have been
wealthy in early times. Its enormeus theatre at-
tests its considerable population in what may be
called its Greek age. In the deep gorge which
leads into the mountains is a Large Byzantine
church, a relic of the Christianity which mar have
J begun with 8t. Paul's visit. It is reasonable to
conjecture that this may have been a metropolitan
church, inasmuch as we find that when Lycia was
a province, in the later Roman empire, Myra was
j its capital (Hierocl. p. 684). In later times it wss
I curiously called the port of the Adriatic, and visited
i by Anglo-Saxon travellers (Early Travth in Pales-
tine, pp. 33, 138). Legend says that St. Nicholas,
the patron saint of the modern Greek sailors, was
; horn at Patara, and buried at Myra, and his sup-
posed relics were taken to St. Petersburg by a Ros-
| sian frigate during the Greek revolution.
The remains of Myra have had the advantage of
very full description by the following travellers:
Leake, Beaufort, Fellows, Texier, and Spratt and
Forbes. J. S. H.
MYRRH, the representative in the A. V. of
the Hebrew words if or and Lit.
1. Mir ("Hi : o-uspra, ffreaerfi, niprirot,
Kpixos: myrrha, myrrhinut, myrrhn ) is mentioned
in Ex xxx. 23, as one of the ingredients of the
"oil of holy ointment; " in Esth ii. 12, as one of
the substances used in the purification of women ;
in Ps. xlv. 8, Prov. vii. 17, and in several passages
in Canticles, as a perfume. The Greek a^ipya
occurs in Matt. ii. 11 amongst the gifts brought
by the wise men to the infant Jesus, and in Mark
xv. 23, it is said that " wine mingled with myrrh "
(oTvot ia/ivptentvot) was offered to, but refused
by, our Lord on the cross. Myrrh was also used
for embalming (see John xix 39, and Herod ii. 86).
Various conjectures have been made as to the real
nature of the substance denoted by the Hebrew tnbr
(see Celsius, Hitrob. i. 522); and much doubt has
existed as to the countries In which it is produced.
According to the testimony of Herodotus (Hi. 107),
Uioscorides (i. 77). Theophrastus (ix. 4, § 1),
Diodorus Siculus (ii. 49), Strabo, Pliny, etc., the
tree whioh produces myrrh grows in Arabia — Pliny
(xii 16) says, in different parts of Arabia, and
asserts that there are several kinds of myrrh both
wild and cultivated: it is probable that under the
name of myrrliu he is describing different resinous
productions. Theophrastus, who is generally pretty
accurate in his observations, remarks (ix. 4, $ 1 ),
that myrrh is produced in the middle of Arabia,
around Saba and Adramytta. Some ancient wri-
ters, as Propertius (i. 2, 3) and Oppian (ffalieut.
iii. 403), speak of myrrh as found iu Syria (see also
Belon, Observ. ii. oh 80); others conjecture India
and ^Ethiopia ; Plutarch (It. el Our. p. 383 ) asserts
that it is produced in F^rypt, and is there called
Bui "The fact," observes Dr. Rojle (a. v Mir,
Kitto's CycL), "of myrrh being called bal among
the Egyptians is extremely curious, lor but is the
Sanscrit bula, the name for myrrh throughout
India."*
It would appear that the ancients generally an
has confounded the Coptic sal, " myrrh," with bat,
« an eye." See Jablonski, Opmc. t. 49, ed. te Water
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MYRRH
rorreet in what they state of the locaJties when
myrrh ii produced, for Ehrenberg and Hemprich
have proved that myrrh 1* found in Arabia Felix,
thus confirming the statement* of Theophrastus
sad Pliny; and Mr. Johnson ( Travtls in Abj/uiaia,
i. 819) found myrrh exuding from cracks in the
back of a tree in Koran-kt&ulaa in Adal, and
Forskil mentions two myrrh-producing trees,
Anu/rii Katnf and Amgrit Knfai, as occurring
near Haes in Arabia FeBx. The myrrh-tree which
Ehrenberg and Hemprich found in the borders of
Arabia Felix, and that which Hr. Johnson saw in
Abyssinia, are believed to be identical; the tree is
the BaUnmodewlron myrrha, " a low, thorny,
rugged-looking tree, with bright trifoliate leaves: "
It Is probably the Mvrr of Abu '1 Fadli, of which
be says " murr is the Arabic name of a thorny tree
like an acacia, from which flows a white liquid,
which thickens and becomes a gum."
MYRRH
2045
Walsamnflandron Myrrhs.
Tost myrrh has been long exported from Africa
we learn from Arrian, who mentions ttfiipva as one
of the articles of export from the ancient district
of Barbaria ; the Egyptians perhaps obtained their
myrrh from the country of the Troglodytes (Nubia),
a* the best wild myrrh-trees are said by Pliny
(xii. 15) to come from that district Pliny states
also that " the Sebasi even cross the sea to procure
it in the country of the Troglodytes." From what
AUienania (it. 689) says, it would appear that
myrrh was imported into Egypt, and that the
Greeks received it from thence. Dioscorides de-
scribes many kinds of myrrh tinder various names,
for which see Sprengel's Annotntiont, i. 73, Ac.
The Balfimodendron myrrha, which produces
the myrrh of commerce, has a wood and bark which
emit a strong odor; the gum which exudes from
the bark is at first oily, but becomes hard by ex-
ooeure to the air: it belongs to the nai-iral orda
TtrtUnthacta. There can be little doubt that
his tree it identical with the Murr of Abu'l Fadli,
the cTfiipm of the Greek writers, the " stillata cor-
pses myrrha " of Ovid and the Latin writers, and
he mtr of the Hebrew Scriptures.
The "wine mingled with myrrh," which the
i eoidieni presented to our Lord on the cross.
was given, according to the opinion of some com-
mentators, in order to render him less sensitive to
pain; but there are differences of opinion on this
subject, for which see Gall.
2. Lit (15' v : orwrrr) : itacte), erroneously
translated "myrrh " In the A. V. in Gen. xxxvii.
85, xliii. 11, the only two passages where the word
is found, is generally considered to denote the odor-
ous resin which exudes from the branches of the
Cwtw cretieut, known by the name of ladamtm
or labdamm. It is clear that Ut cannot signify
" myrrh," which is not produced in Palestine, yet
the Scriptural passages in Genesis apeak of this sub-
stanoe as being exported from Gilead law Egypt.
Outus Orencus.
Ladamtm was known to the early Greeks, for
Herodotus (iii. 107, 112) mentions x-fiiaror, Of
AtteWor, as a product of Arabia, and says it Is
found " sticking like gum to the beards of hc-goata,
which collect it from the wood ; " similar is the
testimony of Dioscorides (i. 128), who says that the
best kind is " odorous, in color inclining to green,
easy to soften, fat, free from particles of sand and
dirt ; such is that kind which is produced In Cyprus,
but that of Arabia and Libya is inferior in quality."
There are several species of Chita, all of which are
believed to yield the gum ladanum ; but the species
mentioned by Dioscorides is in all probability iden-
tical with the one which la found In Palestine,
namely, the Citrus cretieut (Strand, Flor. PabmL
iVfb, "to
i on ram feverai
«se stent.
Digitized by
Google
2046
MYRTLE
No. 989). The C. ladnnifenu, a native of Spain
and Portugal, produces the greatest quantity of the
ladaoum ; it has a white flower, while that of the
C. creticut is rose-colored. Toumefort ( Voyage,
i. 79) has given an interesting account of the mode
in which the gum ladanum la gathered, and has
figured the instrument commonly employed by the
people of Candia for the purpose of collecting it
There can be no doubt that the Hebrew 45*, the
Arabic Indnn, the Greek K^Sarof, the Latin and
English lidntmm, are identical (see Roeenmuller,
Bib But. p. 158; Celsius, Hitrob. 1. 388). Ladanum
wis formerly much used as a stimulant in medicine,
and is now of repute amongst the Turks aa a per-
fume.
The Cistus belongs to the Natural order Citta-
ttee, the Rock-rose family. W. H.
MYRTLE (Dirj" kadat: papain), Spot:*
myrttu, myrittum). There is no doubt that the
A. V. is correct in its translation of the Hebrew
word, for all the old versions are agreed upon the
p jint, and the identical noun occurs in Arabic —
In the dialect of Yemen, 8. Arabia — as the name
of the " myrtle." c
Mention of the myrtle is made in Neh. riii. 15 ;
Is. xli. 19, lr. 18; Zech. i. 8, 10, 11. When the
Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated by the Jews on
T
the return from Babylon, the people of Jerusalem
were ordered to "go forth unto the mount and
fetch olive-branches, and pine-branches, and myrfle-
branches, and to make troths." The prophet
Isaiah foretells the coming golden ace of Israel,
when the 1-oM shall plant in the wilderness " the
sbittab-tree and the myrtle-tree and the oil-tree."
The modern Jews still adom with myrtle the booths
and sheds at the Feast of Tabernacles. Myrtles
(Myrhu communis) will grow either on hills or in
•alleys, but it is in the latter locality where they
* The derivation of this word Is unssrtssa ; sot ass
sw Hebrew Lexicons.
• His LZZ. reading DTfil, mstsa* of tWlTI.
MYSTERY
attain to their greatest perfection. Formerly, at
we learn from Nehemiah (viii. 15), myrtles grew
on the hills about Jerusalem. " On Olivet," says
Prof. Stanley, " nothing is now to be seen but the
olive and the fig tree: " on some of the hills, how-
ever, near Jerusalem, Hssselquist ( Trav. 1S7, Load.
1766) observed the myrtle. Dr. Hooker says it is
not uncommon in Samaria and Galilee. Irby and
Mangles (p. 222) describe the rivers from Tripoli
towards Galilee aa having their banks covered with
myrtles (see also Kltto, Phyt. Hit. of Pale*, p.
268).
The myrtle (hadat) gave her name to Iladassah
or Esther (Esth. ii. 7); the Greek names Myrtilus,
Myrtoeasa, etc., have a similar origin. There are
several species of the genus Myrttu, but the
Myrttu ammmit is the only kind denoted by the
Hebrew hadni: it belongs to the natural order
Myrtacea, and is too well known to need descrip-
tion. W.-H.
* The myrtle is found very widely distributed
through Mt. Lebanon, and on the whole sea-coast.
I have collected it as for north aa the plain of
LattaHyeh. The black berries are eaten in Syria.
A 7
The bush is known by the two names of At, itwf,
and Rihdn, .jLsU. The dried leaves of this
plant are employed by the natives as a stuffing for
the beds of children, with the idea that their odor
is promotive of health, and that they keep off
vermin. G. E. P.
MY'SIA (Mwrla). If we were required to fix
the exact limits of this northwestern district of
Asia Minor, a long discussion might be necessary
But it is mentioned only once in the N. T. (Acta
xvi. 7, 8), and that cursorily and in reference to s
passing journey. St. Paul and his companions, on
the second missionary circuit, were divinely pre-
vented from staying to preach the Gospel either in
Asia or Bithyhia. They had then come Hard
tJ)» VLvaiar, and they were directed to Troas,
wcu>fA6oVr<s tV Mvo-lar; which means either
that they skirted its border, or that they passed
through the district without staying there. In feet
the best description that can be given of Mysia
at this time is that it was the region about the
frontier of the provinces of Asia and Bithynia.
The term is evidently used in an ethnological, not a
political sense. Winer compares it, in this point of
view, to such German terms as Susbia, Breiagau,
etc. Illustrations nearer home might be found in
such districts as Craven in Yorkshire or Appia
in Argyllshire. Assoe and Adramytttum were
both in Mysia. Immediately opposite was the
island of l^sbos. [Mitylemk.] Troas, though
within tbe same range of country, had a small
district of its own, which was viewed as politically
separate. J. S. H.
• MYSTERY (/jwrrtVior). The origin and
etymological import of the Greek word (jumrfipuir'.
are partially involved in doubt. Its claims to a
Hebrew derivation, though plausible, are undoubt-
edly to be rejected. It evidently stands couu s O sd
with fiicnft, one i niti at ed, namely, into the mj»
• LpJJB (Hsb. D^H). Myrsas
JnMm FttieU. Ka»ws (frsytig, Jr. iaw. a. t*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
MYBTBHY
loin, and thus with pvsw, to initiate. Thl* verb
•gun ia probably from pit) (/uifw) to ebet, to
•*«/, but whether the eyes, or the tiouth, Menu
uncertain. If the former, the /tiiirnfr may either
be une who voluntarily closes hi* bodily eyes that
the eye of his spirit may be opened, or one who
closes them as it were in death, the initiated being
regarded as dead to the world of sense, and living
only in the world of unseen realities. If the Utter,
je may be denominated either from whispering
secrets with compressed lips, or from taking the
row of perpetual silence and secrecy, symbolized
by the sealed mouth. Whichever be the precise
explanation, the etymology of ftucrr^pior links it
first naturally with religious doctrines and symbols,
and secondly with truths hidden from the natural
sense, and from the merely natural reason. It
points to facts which need a reveliHon (inroKtL
Kxrtyu), and which revelation may be made either
by the sole internal influence of the Spirit, or by
this conjointly with the progress of outward events.
But while the fuxrrtipiov thus implies something
hidden, and inaccessible to the unaided reason,
and usually also of weighty ioiport, it by no means
necessarily denotes anything strictly mysterious
and incomprehensible. The fact or truth, though
requiring to be revealeil, may, when revealed, be
of a very elementary character. It may be very
adequately made known, and the sole condition of
toe reception of the knowledge U u spiritual mind ;
to the animal (ifruxixo'f) man the outward revelfl-
NAAMAH
N.
2047
NA'AM (C?J [pfauanaiett, ernes]: NeJa
[Alex. Noou:] Naham). One of the sow of
Caleb the son of Jephunneh (1 Cbr. iv. 15).
NA'AM AH Ornjja [j>teating, lovely]). L
(Nosuel: Noima.) One of the four women whose
names are preserved in the records of the world
before the Flood; all except Eve being Oainites.
She was daughter of Lamech by bis wife ZiDah,
and sister, as is expressly mentioned, to Tubal-osbi
(Gen. iv. 22 only). No reason is given us why
these women should be singled out for mention U
the genealogies; and in the absence of this mat
of the commentators have sought a dew in tho
significance of the names interpreted as Hebrew
terms; endeavoring, in the characteristie words of
une of the latest Jewish critics, by " due energy to
strike the living water of thought even out of the
rocky soil of dry names " (Kalisch, Gaunt, p.
14U). Thus Naamah, from Na'am, " sweet, pleas-
ant," signifies, according to the same interpreter
" the lovely beautiful woman," and this and otb.tr
names in the same genealogy of the Cainites an
interpreted as tokens that the human race at this
period was advancing in civilization and arts. But
not only are such deductions at all times hazard-
ous and unsatisfactory, but in this particular in-
. ■, ,, ,, •■ ... stance it is surely begging the question to sssume
tion u of course made in vain (1 Cor. u. 14). V~ ' ., _• ^!r L u.l .» ._. _..
t- . . . ,, v , t . . __ . > that these early names are Hebrew at any rate
That sueh is the New Testament meaning of ^^ / _j- . .. .t u. :_
fuMrrfiptov, namely, a hidden truth unveiled, but
not unknowable, may be abundantly demonstrated.
Thus Paul speaks of " knowing all mysteries " (1
Cor. xiii. S), and prays that the Colossians may
come into the " recognition of the mysteries of
Christ" (Col. ii. 2). Our Lord declares to his
disciples that to them it is given "to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of God " (Matt. xiii. 11 ;
Mark iv. 11); and even the person speaking with
tongues, who " with the spirit spenketh mysteries "
(1 Cor. xiv. S), utters what is unintelligible indeed
to others, but not to himself.
The word is applied in the New Testament to
the doctrines and facts of the Gospel, as formerly
hidden, but now unveiled both by outward facts
and spiritual communications. The kingdom of
heaven (Matt. xiii. 11), the doctrine of the cross
(1 Cor. 1. 18, ii. 7), the resurrection of the dead
(1 Cor. xv. 51), are the great New Testament
" mysteries." In fact the entire life of our Lord
in its various cardinal features is the actual un-
veiled "great" mystery of godliness (1 Tim. iii.
16). Special mysteries are also the divine purpose
In the partial hardening of Israel (Rom. xi. 25),
tnd the admission of the Gentiles to co-heirehip
with the Jews (Eph. iii. 5, 6). In accordance too
with the etymology of the word, it applies natu-
rally to the hidden import of parables and symbols,
which, as partly veiling the truths they set forth,
demand a d'^ine elucidation. Thus the hidden
sense of the Saviour's parables (Matt xiii. 11);
the import of the seven stirs and seven candle-
sticks (Rev. '. 20); and of the woman clothed in
scarlet (Rev. xvii. 7); the deeper significance of
marriage as symbolizing the union of Christ and
tb) Church (Eph. v. 83), an illustrations of this
is* of the term. A.C.K.
tbe onus prvltnndi rests on those who make im-
portant deductions from such slight premises. In
the Targum Pseudojonathau, Naamah is commemo-
rated as the " mistress of lainenters and singers; "
and in the Samaritan Version her name is given as
Zalkipha.
2. ([Rom. Natuut, NaavaV, SoonfU; Vat, in
1 K. xiv. 21] Moaxau,; Alex. Nacuta, Noo/tpa;
Joseph. Noouar: Ifaatna.) Mother of king Reho-
boam (1 K. xiv. 91, 31;' 2 Chr. iii. 13). On
each occasion she is distinguished by the title " the
(not 'an,' as in A. V.) Ammonite.'' She was
•ierefore one of tbe foreign women whom Solo-
mon took into his establishment (1 K. xi 1). In
the LXX. (1 K. xii. 24, answering to xiv. 31 of
the Hebrew text) she is stated to have been the
"daughter of Ana (i. «. Hanun) the son of Na-
hash." If this is a translation of a statement
which once formed part of the Hebrew text, and
may be taken as authentic history, it follows that
tbe Ammonite war into which Hanun's insults
had provoked David was terminated by a re-alli-
ance; and, since Solomon reigned forty years, and
Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he cam*
to the throne, we can fix with tolerable certainty
the date of the event It took place before David't
death, during that period of profound quiet whid
settled down on the nation, after the failure of
Absalom's rebellion and of the subsequent attempt
of Sheba the son of Bichri had strengthened more
than ever thr affection of the nation for the throne
of David ; and which was not destined to be again
disturbed till put an end to by the shortsighted
rashness of the son of Naamah. 0.
NA'AMAH (npjJJ [fore/j]: NaytdV; Aha
Nayia: Xaama), on* of the town* of Judah hi
• 1WUI
this to«k.xn.sltstvsr
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2048
NAAHAN
the district of the lowland or Shr/elaJi, belonging
to the same group with Lachish, Eglon, and Mak-
kedah (Josh. xv. 41 ). Nothing more ia known of
H, nor has any name corresponding with it been
jet disoovered in the proper direction. But it
teems probable that Kaamah should be connected
with the Naamathites, who again were perhaps
identical with tin Mehunim or Hhueans, traces of
whom are found ou the southwestern outskirts of
Judah; one such at Minois or d-Mim/ay, a few
miles below Gaza. G.
NA'AMAN O^SS [otenmtfnets, grace]:
HsuuaV; N. T. Bee. text, NeepoV, but Lachm.
(Tbch. Treg.] with [Sin.] ABD, NoipaV; Joseph.
A/uarot: Ifaaman) — or to give him the title con-
ferred on him by our Lord, " Naaman the Syrian."
An Aramite warrior, a remarkable incident in
whose life is preeerred to us through his connec-
tion with the prophet Elisha. The narrative is
given in 2 K. v.
The name is a Hebrew one, and that of ancient
date (see the next article), but it is not improbable
that in the present case it may hare been slightly
altered in its insertion In the Israelite records.
Of Naaman the Syrian there is no mention in the
Bible except in this connection. But a Jewish
tradition, at least as old as the time of Josephus
(Ant. viii. lb, § 6), and which may very well lie a
genuine one, identifies him with the archer whose
arrow, whether at random or not, "struck Ahab
with his mortal wound, and thus "gave deliver-
ance to Syria." The expression is reuiarkalile —
" because that by him Jehovah had given deliver-
ance to Syria." To suppose the intention to be
that Jehovah was the universal ruler, and that
therefore all deliverance, whether afforded to his
servants or to those who, like the Syrians, ac-
knowledged Him not, was wrought by Him, would
be thrusting a too modern idea into the expression
of the writer. Taking the tradition above-men-
tioned into account, the most natural explanation
perhaps is that Naaman, in delivering his country,
bad killed one who was the enemy of Jehovah not
less than he was of Syria. Whatever the particu-
lar exploit referred to was, it had given Naaman a
great position at the court of Benhadad. In the
first rank for personal prowess and achievements,
he was commander-in-chief of the army, while in
dvil matters he was nearest to the person of the
king, whom he accompanied officially, and sup-
ported, when the king went to worship in the
Temple of Rimmon (ver. 18). He was afflicted
with a leprosy of the white kind (rer. 87), which
had hitherto defied cure. In Israel, according to
the enactments of the Mosaic Law, this would
save cut off even b Naaman from intercourse with
every one ; he would there have been compelled to
dwell in a " several house." But not so in Syria;
he maintained his access* to the king, and his con-
tact with the members of his own household. The
orcunistances of bis visit to Elisha have been
drawn out under the latter head [vol. i. p. 718],
and need not be repeated here. Naaman's appear-
ance throughout the occurrence is most character-
NAJLMAN
istis and consistent. He is every inch a sotdk*
ready at onee to resent what he considers as a
slight cast either on himself or the natural glories
of his country, and biasing out in a moment
into sudden "rage," but calmed as speedily b)
few good-humored and sensible words from his
dependants, and, after the cure has been effected,
evincing a thankful and simple heart, wheat
gratitude knows no bounds and will listen to no
refusal.
His request to be allowed to take away twe
mules' burden of earth is not easy to understand.
The natural explanation is that, with a feeling akin
to that which prompted the risen invaders to take
away the earth of Aceldama for the Campo Santo
at Pisa, and in obedience to which the pilgrims to
Mecca are said to bring back stones from that
sacred territory, the grateful convert to Jehovah
wished to take away some of the earth of his
country, to form an altar for the burnt-offering and
sacrifice which henceforth be intended to dedicate
to Jehovah only, and which would be inapproprkvn
if offered on the profane earth of the country ot
Kinimon or Hadad. But it should be remembered
that in the narrative there is no mention of aa
altar ; d and although Jehovah had on one occasion
ordered that the altars put up for offerings to Him
should be of earth (Ex. xx. 34), yet Naaman oould
hardly have been aware of this enactment, unless
indeed it was a custom of older date and wider
existence than the Mosaic law, and adopted into
that law as a significant and wise precept for some
reason now lost to us.
How long Naaman lived to continue a worship-
per of Jehovah while assisting officially at that of
liimmon, we are not told. When next we hear
of Syria, another, llaznel, apparently holds the
position which Naaman formerly filled. But, at
has been elsewhere noticed, the reception which
Elisha met with on this later occasion in Damascus
probably implies that the fame of "the man of
God," and of the mighty Jehovah in whose name
he wrought, had not been forgotten in the city ^
Naaman.
It is singular that the narrative of Naaman's
cure is not found in the present text of Josephus.
Its alisence makes the reference to him as the
slayer of Ahab, already mentioned, still more re-
markable.
It h quoted by our Lord (Luke iv. 27) as an
instance of mercy exercised to one who was not
of Israel, and it should not escape notice that the
reference to this act of healing is recorded by none
of the Evangelists but St. Luke the physician.
6.
NA'AMAN (ft?J?« lamtuitf, plta$nntmtu\:
Nonulr; [in Num., Alex. Nospo, Vat omits; in
1 Chr., NesuuE, Koo/id: Vat. Nanus; Alex, in ver.
4, Maapav: Naamnn, In Num. ffoiinnn]). One
of the family of Benjamin who came down is
Egypt with Jacob, as we read in Gen. xlvi. HI,
According to the LXX. version of that passage OS
was the son of Beta, which is the parentage as-
signed to him in Num. xxvi. 40, where, in 0-t
• UXX. rtwroxat, «• «• "with good aim," possibly a
transcriber's variation from ttnrx*i-
e It did drive a king into strict seclusion (3 Ohr
art. SI).
• The A. V. of ver. 4 conveys a wrong im p rss rl on..
H to aeearatsly rot "ens went ia," bat "bo (•'. :
Naaman) went in and told his master" (< «. the krocl
The word rsnder*l "lord" Is the same as Is render*!
"master" in ver. 1.
* Th* LXX. (Tat MBS.) omits even tat worts -*r
i," ver. IT
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NAAMATHITE
of the sons of Benjamin, he ii Mid
to be the «on <«" Bela, end head of the family of
the Naamites. He ii also reckoned among the
•one of Bela in 1 Chr. riii. 8, 4. Nothing ia
known of Mi personal history, or of that of the
Naamitee. For the account of the migrations,
apparently oompohwry, of some of the aona of
Berdamin from Geba to Manahath, in 1 Chr. viii.
6, 7, is so contused, probably from the corruption
of the text, that it ia impossible to aay whether the
family of Naaman waa or waa not included in it.
The repetition in ver. 7 of the three names Naaman,
Alums, Gem, in a context to which they do not
seam to belong, looks like the mere error of a
copyist, inadvertently copying over again the same
names which he had written in the same order in
sex. 4, 6 — Naaman, Ahoah, Gera. If, however,
the names are in their place in rer. 7, it would
•earn to indicate that the family of Naaman did
migrate with the sons of Ehud (called Abihud in
*ar. 8) from Geba to Manahath. A. C. H.
NA'AMATBUTE (VK?$3 [patr. as below] :
Utraimr [Vat. Sin. Mnrauir] frurtktis, i Hv
auet [Vat. Met-] : Nnamalkita), the gentilio name
of one of Job's friends, Zophar the Naamathito
(Job ii. 11, xi. 1, xx. 1, xlii. 9). 'Here isno other
trace of this name in the Bible, and the town,
<"TOS3, whence it is derived, is unknown. If we
may judge from modem usage, several places so
called probably existed on the Arabian borders of
Syria. Thus in the Geographical Dictionary,
Mmatid tUIttdUa, are Noam, a castle in the Ye-
men, and a place on the Euphrates; Niameh,aplace
belonging to the Arabs; and Noaroee, a valley in
nhameh. The name Naam&n (of unlikely deriva-
tion however) is very common. Bochart (Phaltg,
emp. xxii-), as might be expected, seizes the 1JCX.
reading, and in the " king of the Mintei " sees a
confirmation to his theory respecting a Syrian, or
northern Arabian settlement of that well-known
people of classical antiquity. It will be seen, in
art. Dirla, that the present writer identifies the
Hinaa with the people of Ma'een, in the Yemen ;
and there is nothing improbable in a northern
colony of the tribe, besides the presence of a place
so named in the Syro-Arabian desert. But we
regard this point as apart from the subject of this
article, thinking the LXX. reading, unsupported as
it ia, to he too hypothetical for acceptance.
E 8. P.
NA'AMITES, THE PBSSrj: Samar.
^DJWn [At lately one] : Jjjuor i Xot/uvl [Vat.
-r«i], Alex, omits: familia Naamitnrum, and JVbe-
mnmUnrmn), the family descended from Naaman,
the grandson of Benjamin (Num. xxvi. 40 only).
[Xaamax, p. 9048 i.] The name is a contraction,
M » Hod which does not often occur in Hebrew.
Aeeordirgly the Samaritan Codex, as will be seen
above, presents it at length — "the Nsamanites."
O.
IT A'ARAH (rnjj [mtiden] : Boaii [rather
AmUji Alex. Noopot: JV««ra),the second wife of
Ashar, s descendant of Judah (1 Chr. iv. 6, 6).
Irealtof PQ^J, '
so H3J, n adaqt-hlar,''ttietsrmeanu
mas the launtets drpeodeot est a tltv.
190
icmlri
NABAT, 2049
Nothing ia known of the persons (or placet) record-
ed as the ohildren of Naarab. In the Vat. LXX.
the children of the two wives are interchanged.
[Bather, in ver. fi the names of the two wives an
transposed. A.]
NA'ABAI T3 sjL] CTH [Jehomh reveali f] .
Soaped; [Alex. Noepa:] Mmraf). One of the
valiant men of David i armies (1 Chr. xi. 37). In
1 Chr. be is called the son of Exbai, but in 3 Sam.
xxili. 38 he appears as " Paarai the Arbite." Ken-
nicott (Din. pp. 309-211) decides that the former
is correct.
NA'ARAN (pja [boyith, juvenile, Get.]:
[Rom. Noapar', Vat] Noopvw; Alex. Nocumu/:
Nonin), a city of Ephralm, which in a very ancient
record (1 Chr. vii. 38) ia mentioned as the eastern
limit of the tribe. It is very probably identical
with N a a rath, or more accurately Naarab, which
seems to have been situated In one of the great
valleys or torrent-beds which lead down from the
highlands of Bethel to the depths of the Jordan
valley.
In 1 Sam. vi. 91 the Peabito-Syriac and Arabic
versions have respectively Naarin and Naaran for
the Kirjath-jearim of the Hebrew and A. V. If
this is anything more than an error, the Naaran to
which it refers can hardly be that above spoken
of, but must bsve been situated much nearer to
Bethsbemesh and the Philistine lowland. G.
NA'ARATH (the Heb. is nj^ngj, = to
Naarah, iTlJjS, [maiden:] which is therefore the
real form of the name: at ° kuiuu avrwy; Alex.
NaapaSa Kai ai Kttfuu aura*: Nnrathii), a place
named (Josh. xvi. 7, only) as one of the landmarks
on the (southern ) boundary of Epbraim. It ap-
pears to have lain between Ataroth and Jericho.
If Ataroth I* the present Alnra, a mile and a half
south of et-Bireh and close to the great natural
boundary of the Wady SuweinU, then Naarab was
probably somewhere lower down the wady. Euae-
bius and Jerome (Onomnit.) speak of it as if well
known to them — " Naorath,* a small village of the
Jews five miles from Jericho." Schware (147) fixes
it at " Neania," also " five miles from Jericho,"
meaning perhaps Nn'imtli, the name cf the lower
part of the great Wady Mutyah or tl-Asot, which
runs from the foot of the hill of R&mmon into the
Jordan valley above Jericho, and in a direction gen-
erally parallel to the Wiuly Suwemit (Rob. RUtl.
Ret. iii. 390). A position in this direction is in
agreement with 1 Cbr. vii. 38, where Naaran ia
probably the same name as that we are now con-
sidering. G.
NAASH'ON, Ex. tL 38. [Nahbhoh.]
NAAS'SON (Nature-air: Naatton). The
Greek form of the name Nahsiios (Matt. i. 4:
Luke iii. 33 only).
NA'ATHTJS (Ncfovot; [Vat. AaBos:] JVV
atktu). One of the family of Addi, according to
the list of 1 Ksdr. ix. 31. There is no name corre-
sponding in Ear. x. 30.
NATJAIi (b^J =/»«: NojSeU), on* of the
* Ths "OopM In the pnsent text e» Kuaebms ahoaM
obviously have prefixed' to ft the r from the font
which precedes It (Ths edition of Lanow and Pa*
] Compere Nieoa.
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2050 NABAL
eharaeteni introduced to us in David's wanderings,
apparently to give one detailed glimpse of liia whole
state of life at that time (1 Sam. m.). Nabal
himself is remarkable as one of the few examples
given to us of the private life of a Jewish citi-
r«n. He nulla in this respect with Boak, Bak-
ziluu, Naboth. He was a sheep-master on the
confines of Judaea and the desert, in that part of
the country which bore from its great conqueror
the name of Caleb (1 Sam. xxx. 14, xxv. 3; so
Vulgate, A. V., and Ewald). He was himself, ac-
cording to Josepbus (AnL vi. 13, § 6), a Ziphite,
md his residence Emmaus, a place of that name
not otherwise known, on the southern Carmel, in
the pasture lands of Maon. (In the LXX. of xxv.
4 he is called " the Carmelite," and the LXX. read
" Maon " for •' Paran " in xxv. 1.) With a usage
of the word, which reminds us of the like adapta-
tion of similar words in modern times, he, like
Barzillai, is styled " very great," evidently from his
wealth. His wealth, as might be expected from
his abode, consisted chiefly of sheep and goats,
which, as in Palestine at the time of the Christian
era (Matt. xxv. ), and at the present day (Stanley,
& <f P.), fed together. The tradition preserved
in this case the exact number of each — 8000 of
the former, 1000 of the latter. It was the custom
of the shepherds to drive them Into the wild downs
on the slopes of Carmel ; and it was whilst tliey
were on one of these pastoral excursions, that they
met a band of outlaws, who showed them unexpected
kindness, protecting them by day and night, and
never themselves committing any depredations (xxv.
7, 15, 16). Once a year there was a grand ban-
quet, on Carmel, when they brought back their
sheep from the wilderness for shearing — with eat-
ing and drinking " like the feast of a king " (xxv.
8, 4, 36).
It was on one of these occasions that Nabal came
across the path of the man to whom he owes his
place in history. Ten youths were seen approach-
ing the hill; in them the shepherds recognized the
slaves or attendants of the chief of the freebooters
who had defended them in the wilderness. To
Nabal they were unknown. They approached him
with a triple salutation — enumerated the services
of their master, and ended by claiming, with a
mixture of courtesy and defiance, characteristic of
the East, " whatever cometh into thy band for thy
servants (LXX. omit this — and have only the
next words), and for Ihy nm David." The great
sheep-master was not dis|>oeed to recognize this un-
expected parental relation, lie was a man notorious
for his obstinacy (such seems the meaning of the
word translated "churlish ") and for his general
low conduct' (xxv. 3, " evil in bis doings: " xxv. 17,
" a man of Belial " ). Josepbus and the I -XX.
taking the word Caleb not as a proper name, hut
as a quality (to which the context certainly lends
itself ) — add " of a disposition like a dog " — cyn-
k*l — swikoV On hearing the demand of the
ten petitioners, he sprang up (LXX. avrrl)ir)<rt),
and broke out into fury, " Who is David ? and who
la the son of Jesse? " — " What runaway slaves
an these to interfere with my own domestic ar-
rangements?" (xxv. 10, 11). The moment that
the messengers were goi e, the shepherds that stood
by perceived the danger that their master snd them-
tsrvee would incur. To Nabal himself they durst
jot speak (xxv. 17). But the sacred writer, with a
linge of the sentiment which such a contrast
arrays suggests, proceeds to describe that this brutal
N A BOTH
ruffian was married to a wife as beurtiru! -ud m
wise, as he was the le ie is e (xxv. 3). [Abigail.]
To her, as to the good angel of the household, one
of the shepherds told the state of affairs. She, with
the offerings usual on such occasions (xxv. 18,
comp. xxx. 11, 2 Sam. xvi. 1, 1 Chr. xii. 40), load-
ed the asses of Nabal's large establishment — her-
self mounted one of them, and, with her attendants
running before her, rode down the hill toward
David's encampment. David had already made
the fatal vow of extermination, couched in the usr.s]
terms of destroying the household of Nabal, so as
not even to leave a dog behind (xxv. 89). At tl.'i
moment, as it would seem, Abigail appeared, threw
herself on her face before him, and poured forth ho
petition in language which, both in form and ex-
pression almost assumes the tone of poetry: —
Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thins
audience, and bear the words of thine handmaid."
Her main argument rests on the description of her
husband's character, which she draws with that mix-
ture of playfulness and a riousness which above all
things turns away wrath. His name here came in
to his rescue. " As his name is, so is he: Nabal
[fool] is his name, and folly is with him " (xxv.
85; see aim rer. 26). She returns with the news
of David's recantation of his vow. Nabal fa) then
in, at the height of his orgies. like the revellers
of Palestine in the later times of the monarchy, h"
had drunk to excess, and his wife dared not com-
municate to liim either bis danger or his escape
(xxv. 36). At break of day she told him both.
The stupid reveller was suddenly roused to a sense
of that which impended over him. '• His heart died
within him, and he became as a stone." It was as
if a stroke of apoplexy or paralysis had fallen upon
him. Ten days he lingered, " end the l.ord smote
Nabal, and he died" (xxv. 37, 38). The sus-
picions entertained by theologians of the last cen-
tury, that there was a conspiracy between David
and Abigail to make away with Nalial for their
own alliance (see " Nal.al " in Winer's Renla. ii.
189), have entirely given place to the better spirit
of modem criticism, and it is one of the many
proofs of the reverential, as well as truthful appre-
ciation of the Sacred Narrative now inaugurated
in Germany, that Kwald enters fully into the feel-
ing of the narrator, and dimes his summary of
Nabal's death, with the reflection that "it was not
without justice regarded as a Divine judgment "
According to the (not improbable) LXX. version
of 2 Sam. iii. 83, the recollection of Naiad's death
lived afterwards in David's memory to point the
contrast of the death of Abner: "Died Aimer a*
Nabal died?" A. V. S.
N ABARI' AS (Kafiaplas [Vat. -g«-] : A'«A»
rins). Apparently a corruption of Zecharizh (]
Esdr. ix. 44; comp. Neh. viii. 4).
NA'BATHITES, THE (of No/Samuei,
and NavaraToi; [Sin. in v. 25, oi arajBaraiei ;]
Alex, [in ix. 35] NcuSarroi: Nalmtiai), 1 Mat*.
v. 85 ; ix. 36. [Nicbaioth.]
NA0BOTH (hl^ [fruto, rvwnietfow] :
Ha&aiat), victim of Aliab and Jezebel. Be was
a Jezreelite, and the owner of a small portion of
ground (8 K. ix. 85, 86) that lay on the enters
slope of the hill of Jezreel. He had also a vine-
yard, of which the situation is not quite certain
According to the Hebrew text (1 K. xxi. 1' H was
in Jezreel. but the LXX. render the wic*. akust
differently, omitting the words "wt'ci ras hi
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NABTJOHODONOSOR
' and mding instead of " the palace," the
Utrttkmg-jloor of Ahab kii>g of Samaria." Tbia
points to the view, certainly moat eonaiatent with
the aubeequent narrative, that Naboth'a vineyard
ma on the hill of Samaria, cloae to the " tbreshing-
floor" (the word tranalated in A. V " raid place ")
which andoubtedlj existed there, hard by the gate
of the city (1 K. xxiv.). The royal palace of Ahab
waa cloae upon the city wall at JezreeL According
to both texts it immediately adjoined the vineyard
(1 K. xxi. 1, 2, Heb.; I.K. xx. 2, LXX.; 9 K. ii.
80, 36), and it thai became an object of desire to
the king, who ottered an equivalent in money, or
another vineyard in exchange for this. Nabotb, in
the independent ipirit of a Jewish landholder, re-
fused. Perhaps the tarn of his expression implies
that his objection was mingled with a religious
aeruple at forwarding the acquisitions of a half-
heathen king: •« Jehovah forbid it to me that I
should give the inheritance of my fathers unto
thee." Ahab was cowed by this reply; but the
proud spirit of Jesebel wa< roused. She and her
husband were apparently in the city of Samaria
(1 K. xxL 18). She took the matter into her own
hands, and sent a warrant in Ahab'a name and
sealed with Abab's seal, to the elders and nobles
of Jexreel, suggesting the mode of destroying the
man who had insulted the royal power. A solemn
bet was proclaimed as on the announcement of
some great calamity. Naboth was " set on high " "
in the public place of Samaria; two men of worth-
less character accused him of having ** cursed c
God and the king." He and his children (2 K.
b. 96), who else might have succeeded to his
ather's inheritance, were dragged out of the city
and despatched the same night. 1 ' The place of
execution there, as at Hebron (2 Sam. iii.), was
by the large tank or reservoir, which still remains
so the slope of the hill of Samaria, immediately
outside the walls. The usual punishment for blas-
phemy was enforced. Naboth and his sons were
stoned; their mangled remains were devoured by
she dogs (and swine, LXX.) that prowled under
the walla; and the blood from their wounds ran
down into the waters of the tank below, which was
the common bathing-place of the prostitutes of the
city (coup. 1 K. xxi. 19, xxii. 38, LXX.). Jose-
phus (Ami. viii. 15, § 8) makes the execution to have
been at JezreeL where he also places the washing
of Abab's chariot.
For the signal retribution taken on this judicial
murder — a remarkable proof of the high regard
paid in the old dispensation to the claims of justice
and independence — see Ahab, Jehu, Jezebel,
JczrKEL. A. P. S.
NiBUCHODON'OSOK (Na$ov X o9ori-
NADAB
2051
* Compare the eases of David and Amman (2 8am.
cstr.), Omri and Shemer (1 K. xvL).
* The Hebrew word which Is rendered, here only,
on high," Is more accurately "at the head of " or
ra the enJefcs* place among " (1 Sam. lx. 22). The
tassaeje Is obscured by our Ignorance of the nature
is" the ceremonial In which Naboth was made to take
part; bat, In default of this knowledge, we may
-ecept the explanation of Josephus, that an aasembly
JmKA^via) was convened, at the head of which Na-
both, In virtue of his position, waa placed in jrder
that she charge of blasphemy and the sijssotoii*.
vsastrophe might bo more tailing.
* By the LXX. tub Is given nAoyeov, «
" ' BBerelr for the sake of eanbaanjssa.
cop: Nabuchodonotor). Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon (* Esdr. L 40, 41,46, 48, [ii. 10, v. 7, vt
lb, 18, 26;] Tob. xiv. 15; Jud. i. 1, 5, 7, 11, 18
a. 1, 4, 19, iii. 9, 8, iv. 1, vi. 9, 4, xi. [1, 4,] 7.
23, xii. 13, xiv. 18; [Bar. i. 9, 19; Esth. xi. 4].
NA'OHOITS THRESHING -FLOOB
(Via^pi: [Rom. &Xm Nax«5/>! Vat] a\m
nSa$; Alex. oAwuuros H*x°>* : ■ irea Nachon),
the place at which the ark had arrived in its prog-
ress from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem, when Uzzah
lost his life in his too hasty zeal for its safety (2
Sam. vi. 6). In the parallel narrative of Chron-
icles the name is given as Chidoh, which is also
found iu Josephus. After the catastrophe it re-
ceived the name of Perez-uzzah. There is nothing
in the Bible narrative to guide us to a conclusion as
to the situation of this threshing-floor, — whether
nearer to Jerusalem or to Kirjath-jearim. The
words of Josephus (Ant. vii. 4, § 2 ), however, imply
that it was close to the former.* Neither is it cer-
tain whether the name is that of the place or of a
person to whom the place belonged. The careful
Aquila translates the words — eat? ikuros (Tofpi)i
— "to the prepared/ threshing-floor," which is
also the rendering of the Targum Jonathan. G.
NA'CHOR. The form (slightly the more ac-
curate) in which on two occasions the name else-
where given as Nahob is presented in the A. V.
1. ("WIJ [niereer, tlayer, Fiirst; morting,
lit*.]: Nax«V : MiesVor.) The brother of Abra-
ham (Josb. xxiv. 2). [Nahob 1.]
Ch is commonly used in the A V. of the Old
Testament to represent the Hebrew St and only
very rarely for fl, as in Nachor. Charashim, Ra-
chel, Marchesran, are further examples of the latter
usage.
2. (Nax<ip : [J*acnor].) The grandfather of
Abraham (Luke iii. 34). [Nahob, 2.] G.
NATDAB (a"J) [noWe, gtnerom: NoJd/3 :
Naifob]). L The eldest son of Aaron and Eli-
sheba, Kx. vi. 93; Num. iii. 2. He, his father
and brother, and seventy old men of Israel were
led out from the midst of the assembled people (Ex.
xxiv. 1 ), ami were commanded to stay and worship
God " alar off." below the lofty summit of Sinai,
where Moses alone was to come near to the Lord.
Subsequently (l.ev. x. 1) Nadab and his brother
[Abihu] were struck dead before the sanctuary by
fire from the Lord. Their offense was kindling the
incense in their censers with " strange " fire, i. e.,
not taken from that which burned perpetually (Lev.
vi. 13) on the altar. From the injunction given,
Lev. x. 9, 10, immediately after their death, it bar
** ttv&H. The word rendered " yesterday " In 2
K. lx. 28 baa really the meaning of yesterafeat, ud
thus bean testimony to the precipitate haste both of
the execution and of Ahab's entrance on his jiew
acquisition. [Bee Kluaii, vol. I. p. 706 ».)
i His words are, " Having brought the ark into Jrm-
mum " (tit 'Itoaw&uniai. In some of the Greek ver-
sions, or variations of the LXX., of which fragments
are preserved by Bahrdt, the name Is given q jju*
'Epri (Oman) re* IcSevanuov, Identifying It with the
floor of Araunah.
/ As If from yo to make ready. A similar ie»
a * ri »«i \ftnQ "V^S" to "°°ployed in the Taigast
Joseph, of ) Ohr. xht 9. for the floor of Ckidtm
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2052 NADABATHA
bam inferred (Rosennriiller, m foeo) that the broth-
am were in a state of intoxioation when they com-
mitted the offense. The spiritual meaning of the
injunction ia drawn out at great length by Origen,
Horn. Tii. ia Ltvitic. On thia occasion, as if to
mark more decidedly the divine displeasure with the
offenders, Aaron and his surviving son were for-
bidden to go through the ordinary outward cere-
monial of mourning for the dead.
2. [Rom. No/3dV) Vat. No/Sag, Nafla-r; Alex.
No/Jar, Na/9a2: Nadab.] King Jeroboam's son,
who succeeded to the throne of Israel B. c. 954,
and reigned two years, 1 K. iv. 25-31. Gibbethon
in the territory of Dan (Josh. xix. 44), a Levities]
town (Josh. xxi. 28), was at that time occupied by
the Philistines, perhaps having been deserted by its
lawful possessors in the general self-exile of the
Lorites from the polluted territory of Jeroboam.
Nadab and all Israel went up and laid siege to this
frontier-town. A conspiracy broke out in the midst
of the army, and the king was slain by Bassha, a
man of Iasaehar. Atujah's prophecy (1 K. xiv. 10)
was literally fulfilled by the murderer, who proceeded
to destroy the whole house of Jeroboam. So per-
ished the first Isrselitish dynasty.
We are not told what events led to the siege of
Gibbethon, or how it ended, or any other incident
in Nadab's short reign. ' It does not appear what
ground Ewald and Newman have for describing the
war with the Philistines as unsuccessful. It is re-
markable that, when a similar destruction fell upon
the family of the murderer Baasha twenty-four
years afterwards, the Israelitish army was again
engaged in a siege of Gibbethon, 1 K. xvi. 15.
3. [NaSct/S] A son of Shammai, 1 Chr. ii. 28,
30, of the tribe of Judah.
4. [Tat. in 1 Chr. viii. 30, A8o8] A son of
Gibeon [rather, of Jehiel], 1 Chr. viii. 30, ix. 38,
of the tribe of Benjamin. W. T. B.
N ADAB'ATHA [Sin. ra0aSar; Rom.] Alex.
NabafidB: Syriac, *-£^J> Nobot: Madnba), a
place from which the bride was being conducted
by the children of Jambri, when Jonathan and
Simon attacked them (1 Mace. ix. 37). Josephus
(Ant. xiii. 1, § 4) gives the name Taftadi- Jerome's
conjecture (in the Vulgate) can hardly be admitted,
because Hedeba waa the city of the Janihrites (see
ver. 86) to which the bride was being brought, not
that from which she came. That Nadabatha was
on the eaat of Jordan ia most probable; for though,
even to the time of the Gospel narative, by " Chana-
anites " — to which the bride in thia case belonged
— is signified Phoenicians, yet we have the author-
ity (such as it is) of the Book of Judith (v. 3) for
attaching that name especially to the people of
Moab and Ammon; and it is not probable that
when the whole country was in such disorder a wed-
ding cortigt would travel for so great a distance as
from Phoenicia to Hedeba.
On the east of Jordan the only two names that
occur as possible are Nebo — by Euwhius and Je-
rome written Nabo and Nabau — and Nabathan.
Ompare the lists of places round tt-Salt, in Robin-
san, 1st ed. iii. 187-70. G.
NAG'GR (Nayyoi). or, as some MSS. read,
Iryml), one of the ancestors of Christ (Lake Iii.
16). It represent* the Hob. P^l, ivojo* (Mwyal,
LZX.), whieh was Ik* nan* of one of David's
NAHAX1EL
soot, as we read in 1 Chr. iii. 7. Naggt must htm
lived about the time of Oniaa I. and the eommeae»
ment of the Macedonian dynasty. It is interesting
to notice the evidence afforded by this name, both
as a name in the family of David, and from its
meaning, that, amidst the revolutions and conquests
which overthrew the kingdoms of the nations, the
house of David still cherished the hope, founded
upon promise, of the revival of the splendor (noon*)
of their kingdom. AC. H.
NATTALAL Wjnj [perh./wKwre] : 3t,\A<i i
Alex. NooAuX: Naalot)', one of the cities of Zeb-
ulun, given with its " suburbs " to the Merarite Le-
vites (Josh. xxi. 35). It is the same whieh in tbt)
list of tbe allotment of Zebulun (Josh. xix. 15) is
inaccurately given in the A. V. aa Narallai,
the Hebrew being in both cases identical Else-
where it is called Nahalol. It occurs in the list
between Katuth and Shimron, but unfortunately
neither of these places baa yet been recognised.
The Jerusalem Talmud, however (MtyiUak, cb. i ;
Mnaur Sheni, ch. v.), as quoted by Schwarz (172),
and Reland (PaL 717), asserts that Nahalal(or
Mahalal, as it is in some copies) waa in post-bib-
lical times called Malilul ; and this Schwarz iden-
tifies with the modem Matut, a village in the plain
of Esdraelon under the mountains which inclose
the plain on the north, 4 miles west of Nazareth,
and 2 of Japhia ; an identification concurred in by
Van de Velde (Memoir). One Hebrew MS. (30
K. ) lends countenance to it by reading V«>i lb,
i. e. Mahalal. in Josh. xxi. 35. If the town waa in
the great plain we can understand why the Israel-
ites were unable to drive out the Canaanites from
it, since their chariots must bare been extremely
formidable as long as they remained on level or
smooth ground.
NA'HALLAL (^TQ [poster.]: NofiWA
Alex. NaaAaiA: Naalol), an inaccurate mode of
spelling, in Josh. xix. 15, the name which in Josh,
xxi. 35, is accurately given as Naiialal. The
original is precisely the same in both. G.
N AH AXIEL ( U N^ q? = torrent [or waltty]
of God f Samar.bHVrO : [Vat.] Ma>«ft>; [Rom.]
Alex. NaaAirJA: NahaUtl), one of the baiting-
places of Israel in the latter part of their progress
to Canaan (Num. xxi. 19). It lay " beyond," that
is, north of tbe Amon (ver. 13), and between Mat-
tanah and Bamoth, the next after Bamoth being
I'isgah. It does not occur in the catalogue of Num.
xxxiii., nor anywhere besides the passage quoted
above. By Eusebius and Jerome ( Ottoman!. " Na-
aliel ") it is mentioned as close to the Amon. Its
name seems to imply that it was a stream >r wady,
and it is not impossibly preserved in that of tbe
Wady KncheyU, which runs into the Mojeb, the
ancient Amon, a abort distance to the east of tbe
place at which the road between Rabba and Aroer
crosses the ravine of the latter river. Tbe name
v ncheyU, when written in Hebrew letters
(nVrON), is little more than ^K^PD, trans-
posed. Burckhardt waa perhaps the first to report
this name, but he suggests the Wady Walt as the
Nahliel (Syria, July 14). Thia, however, ssenj
unnecessarily far to the north, and, in addition,
retains no likeness to the original name.
O
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NAHALOL
HA'HALOIi (Vbn? [jMafcrre] Ao^mt,
Asax. lnwu>; [Comp. Nat***:] JVoa«), a va-
riation in the mode of giving the name (both in
Hebrew and A. V.) of the place elsewhere called
Nthalal. It oceun only in Judg. i. 80. The vari-
ation of the LXX. ii remarkable. G.
NA / HAM(nn3[«»ijoi.<wii]: Na X <Hili Rat.
Nax«8; Alex. NaY«M=] Nak-im). The brother
of Hodiah, or Jehud\jah, wile of En, and father
of Keiiah and Eahtemoa (1 Chr. iv. 19).
NAHAMATfl (*?9"I2 [cmnpat&mati] :
Hayart ; [Vat. NosMOMt;] FA. Kaamtmnt-
Hakamtau). A chief man among thoae who re-
tanned from Babylon with Zernbbabel and Jeahua
(Neb. vii. 7.) Hit name U omitted in Ear. ii. 9,
and in the parallel list of 1 Etdt. v. 8, ia written
Enraw.
NAHASH
2058
NA"HARAI [3 *yL] PlHi [»"orer, Gea.]:
Nav*V> Alex. NcutMtf: iVaarat). The armor-
bearer of Joab, called in the A. V. of 9 Sam. xxiii.
37, Nahabi. [So in later edition*, here and in 1
Chr. xi. 39, bat not in the ed. of 1611 and other
early edition*.] He waa a native of Beeroth (1
Car.xi.39).
NA'HARI 0TCJ3 [mortr]: nxmfi; Alex.
r«3am; [Comp. Najcooat:] Ifaiarot). The tame
a* Nahabai, Joab'i armor-bearer (3 Sam. xxiii.
37). In the A. V. of 1611 the name ia printed
« Nahabai the Berothlte."
NA'HASH (ttfTTJ, urpaU). L (Noi, but
in 1 Chr. is. 3 [Tat.] Amu; [Rom.] Alex, in both
Haas- ff'iat.) " Nahaah the Ammonite, king of
the Beoe-Ammon at the foundation of the mon-
archy in Israel, wbo dictated to the inhabitant* of
Jabesh-Gilead that cruel alternative of the loaa of
their right eye* or slavery, which round the swift
wrath of Saul, and caused the destruction of the
whole of the Ammonite force (1 Sam. xi. 1, 9-11)
According to Josephus ( AnL. vi. 5, § 1) the siege
of Jabesh was but the climax of a long career of
similar • ferocity with which Nahash had oppressed
the whole of the Hebrew* on the east of Jordan,
and hi* success in which had rendered him *o self-
confident that be despised the chance of relief
which the men of Jabesh eagerly caught at. If,
a* Josephus (lb. % 3) also states, Nahash himself
waa killed in the rout of hi* army, then the Na-
haah who waa the Esther of the foolish young king
Ilanon (9 Sam. x. 8; 1 Chr. xix. 1, 3) mutt have
been hi* eon. In this ease, like Pharaoh in Egypt,
aud also perhaps like Benbadad, Achish, and Agag,
ia the kingdoms of Syria, Philiitia, and Amalek,
a Nahash " would seem to have ban the title of
tew Hug of the Ammonite* rather than the name
of an individual.
However this was, Nahash the father of Hanun
had rendered David some special and valuable ser-
vice, which David was anxious for an opportunity
of requiting (S Sam. x. 3). No doubt this had
■wen during his wanderings, and when, as the victim
< Saul, the Ammonite king would naturally sym-
pathise with and assist him. The particulars of
the service are not related in the Bible, bat the
Jewish traditions affirm that it consisted in hit
having afforded protection to one of David's brothers,
who escaped alone when his family were massacred
by the treacherous king of Hoab, to whose can
they had been entrusted by David (1 Sam. ixii.
•1, 4). and who found an asylum with Nahash.
(See the Midrath of ft. Tanchum, a* quoted by S.
Jarchi on 2 Sam. x. 2.)
The retribution exacted by David for the annoy-
ing insults of Hanun is related elsewhere. [David,
vol i. 661 4 ; Joab, vol ii. 139A b ; Ubiah.] One
casual notice remains which seems to imply that
the ancient kindness which had existed between
David and the family of Nahash had not been ex-
tinguished even by the horrors of the Ammonite
war. When David was driven to Mahanaim, into
the very neighborhood of Jabesh-GUead, we find
" Sbobi the ton of Nahash of Rabbah of the Bene-
Ammon " (3 Sam. xvil. 27) among the great chiefs
who were so forward to pour at the feet of the fiillen
monarch the abundance of their pastoral wealth,
and that not with the grudging spirit of tributaries,
but rather with the sympathy of friends, " for they
•aid, the people is hungry and weary and thirsty
ia the wilderness " (ver. 29).
2. (Ndor.) A person mentioned once only ('.1
Sam. xvil. 85) in stating the parentage of Amasa,
the commander-in-chief of Absalom's army. Amasa
is then said to have been the son » of a certain
Ithra, by Abigail, "daughter of Nahash, and sitter*
to Zeruiah." By the genealogy of 1 Chr. ii. 16 it
appear* that Zeruiah and Abigail were sisters of
David and the other children of Jesse. The question
then arises. How could Abigail have been at the tame
time daughter of Nahash and sister to the children
of Jesse? To this three answers may be given : —
1. The universal tradition of the Rabbis that
Nahash and Jesse were identical. 1 * " Nahash,"
says Solomon Jarchi (in his commentary on 3 Sam.
xvii. 25), " was Jesse the father of David, because
he died without tin, by the counsel of the serpent "
(nnchaih) j i. e. by the infirmity of his fallen
human nature only. It must be owned that it u
easier to allow the identity of the two than to aocept
the reason thus assigned for it.
9. lie explanation lint put forth by Professor
Stanley in this work (vol. i. 552 a), that Nahash
waa the king of the Ammonites, and that the tame
woman had first been bis wife or concubine — in
which capacity she hsd given birth to Abigail and
Zeruiah — and afterwards wife to Jesse, and the
mother of his children. In this manner Abigail
and Zeruiah would lie sisters to David, without
being at the same time daughters of Jesse. This
has in its favor the guarded statement of 1 Chr. ii.
16, that the two women were not themselves Jesse's
children, but sisters of his children : and the im-
probability (otherwise extreme) of so close a con-
nection between an Israelite and an Ammonite
king is alienated by Jesse's known descent from a
Moabitess, and by the connection which bat been
shown above to have existed between David and
Nahash of Amnion.
•> The statement in 1 Sam. xB. 13 appears to be at
tutsan wttta that of vol. 4, 6 ; bat H bear* a mart-
Ma tastbnonv to tew dread snts t tal u et of tts savafe
*t*f. In aasrlbloK the aoopMoa of sseaenhy by Israel
• the panic ceased by bis approach.
* Taw wbds ex pre ss ion essms to
c -The Alex. LXX. rcaare* Nahash at tmh» oc
Zaruah — eVyarcpa Smas a6cAAov Zopovi«c.
d 8cs the extract from the Taitrnm on Both Iv. 31
(hm. ji the not* to Jam, vo. ii. p. IMS a. Also the
crtattons from the Talmud In Meyer, Mar Ohm, IS
also Jerome, Qmut. Bear, ad las.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2054
NAHATH
i. A third possible explanation is that Nahash
Ma the name not of Jesse, nor of a former husband
ef hi* wife, but of his wife herself. There is nothing
in the name to prerent its being borne equally by
either sex, and other instances may be quoted of
women who are given in the genealogies as the
laughters, not of their fathers, but of their mothers :
e. g. MehetabeL daughter of Hatred, daughter of
Mesahab. Still it seems very improbable that
Jesse's wife would be suddenly intruded into the
narrative, as she is if this hypothesis be adopted.
G.
NA'HATH (/ICQ [utHng down, red] :
N«x<>0, Alex. Nagou., Gen. xxxvi. 13; Nax«j0,
Alex. Noxo«, Ge»- **»»• 17; NaWi, [Alex. Na-
X ee\] 1 Chr. 1. 87: JfaJuitk). X One of the
"dukes" or phylarehs In the land of Edom, eldest
sod of Reuel the son of Esau.
S. (Kaumdf; [Vat Alex.* Koira*.]) A Ko
bathite Lerite, son of Zophai and ancestor of
Samuel the prophet (1 Chr. vl. 96).
NAHOK
3. (No**; [Vat Mm* - -]) A Lerite in the rags
of Hexekiah, who with others was orerseer of the
tithes and dedicated things under Cononiab and
Shimei (9 Chr. xxxl 13).
NAHTBI 031113 [hidden, Gas.; pnUetm.
Flint]: Ka$l; [Vat N«u3«;] Alex. Kaga: As
hah). The son of Vophsi, a Naphtalite, and oat
of the twelve spiee (Num. xiii. 14).
NA'HOR n'VTJ [tee Nachor] : No**?;
Joseph. Naxeioift: " Nakor, sod Nadior), the
name of two persons in the family of Abraham.
1. His grandfather: the son of Serug and fittbar
of Tenth (Gen. xi. 88-26; [1 Chr. i. 96]). He is
mentioned in the genealogy of our I/wd, Luke iB.
34, though there the name is given in the A. T.
in the Greek form of Nachor.
8. Grandson of the preceding, son of Terah and
brother of Abraham and Haran (Gen. xi. 96, 97).
The members of the family are brought together in
the following genealogy : —
Tank
I
Mlloh-NADoa— Beunab.
Has Bus Kemuel ChcMd H
(l«.Cs) I | (fcuierof
I Chudlmor
MM | J | ChaldMnej
Joe EUha Armmi
(Ham
Job zxxtl. r).
It fate been already remarked, under Lot (vol.
U. p. 1685 nott), that the order of the ages of the
family of Terah is not improbably inverted in the
narrative; in which case Nahor, instead of being
younger than Abraham, was really older. He mar-
ried Milcah, the daughter of his brother Hunan;
and when Abraham and Lot migrated to Canaan,
Nahor remained behind in the land of his birth, on
the eastern aide of the Euphrates — the boundary
between the Old and the New World of that early
lge — and gathered his family around him at the
sepulchre of his lather.* (Corop. 8 Sam. xix. 17.)
Like Jacob, and also like Ishmael, Nahor was
the father of twelve eone, and further, as in the
ease of Jacob, eight of them were the children of
his wife, and four of a concubine (Gen. xxii. 21-84).
Special care is taken in speaking of the legitimate
branch to specify its descent from Hilcah — " the
ton of Hilcah, which she bare unto Nahor." It
was to this pure and unsullied race that Abraham
and Kebekah in turn had recourse for wives for
their sons. But with Jacob's flight from Haran
the intercourse ceased. The heap of stones which
he and " Laban the Syrian " erected on Mount
Uilead (Gen. xxxi. 46) may be said to have formed
it once the tomb of their past connection and the
wrier against its continuance. Even al. that time
a wide variation had taken place in their language
ver. 47), and not only in their language, but, as
would eeem, in the Object of their worship. The
'God of Nahor" appears as a distinct divinity
Fuduh junto* B.O.U
Tebah
Ofthun
Thahaih
isbtn
I
Btbekoh-Uaaa
L .
I.
I
a This Is the form given In the Benedlctlna edition
K larome's BibHolhrca Divinn. The other is found
at the ordinary copies or the Vnlgats.
t The statements of Gen. xi. 27-82 appear to imply
•sat Nahor did not advance from Ur to Haran at the
an okas with Terah, Abraham, and Lot, bat re-
i till a la tor date. Coupling that with the
from the " God of Abraham and the Fear of 1
(ver. 53). Doubtless this was one of the "other
gods " which before the Call of Abraham were
worshipped by the family of Tenth ; whose images
were In Kaehel's po ssess ion during the con fe rence
on Gilend: and which had to be discarded before
Jacob could go into the Presence of the u God of
Bethel" (Gen. xxxv. 8: comp. xxxi. 13). Hence-
forward the line of distinction between the two
families is most sharply drawn (as in the allusion
of Joeb. xxiv. 2), and the descendants of Nahor
confine their communications to their own Imme-
diate kindred, or to the members of other non-
fsraelite tribes, ss in the case of Job the man of
Da, and his friends, FJihu the Buzite of the kindred
of Ram, Eliphax the Temanite, and Bildad tlie
Shuhite. Many centuries later David appears t-<
have come into collision — sometimes friendly,
sometimes the reverse — with one or two of tbo
more remote Nahorite tribes. Ttbhath, proloihlv
identical with Tebah and Maaeah, are mentioned
in the relation of his wars on the eastern frontier
of Israel (1 Chr. xviii. 8, xix. 6*; and the mother
of Absalom either belonged to ut was connected
with the latter of the above nations.
No certain traces of the name of Nahor hare beer.
recognized in Mesopotamia. Ewald ((tiKhielitr, i.
369) proposes Badithn, a town on the Euphrates
just above Hit, and bearing the additional name
of el-Nitura ; also another place, likewise called
tl-Na'wn, mentioned by some Arabian geographers
statement of Judith v. 8, and the universal tmdiUoo
of the Heat, that Terah'e departure from Ur waa a r»
linauishinant of false worship, an additional forea b
given to the mention of « the god of Nahor " COen
xxxi 68) as distinct from the God of Abraham's d>
•saodants. Two generations kusr Nahor*a Dually wra
certainly living at Saras (Gen. xxrltt. », xxtx 4J.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NA HSHOSf
M tying further north ; and iVacArein, which, bow-
war, seems to lie out of Mesopotamia to the cut.
Utnere have mentioned Naarda, or Nebardea, a
town or district in the neighborhood of the above,
celebrated a* the site of a college of the Jewi (Did.
of Otogr. " Naarda").
May not Aram-Naharaim have originally derived
ha name from Nahor? The fact that in it* present
form it haa another signification in Hebrew U no
argument againat auch a derivation.
In Joah. xxiv. 2 the name is given in the A. V.
in the form (more nearly approaching the Hebrew
than the other) of Nachob. G.
NAH'SHON. or NAASH'ON O^H?
[mckanter, Get.]-' NooaW*, LXX. and N. t.:
Naiuamm, O. T.; Nannn, N. T.), (on or Am-
minedab, and prince of the children of Judah (as
he is styled in the genealogy of Judah, 1 Cbr. ii.
10) at the time of the first numbering in the wilder-
ness (Ezod. vi. 23; Num. i. 7, Ac.). His sister,
EUabeba, was wife to Aaron, and his son, Salmon,
was husband to Bahab after the taking of Jericho.
From Eliaheba being described as " sister of Naa-
thon " we may infer that he was a person of con-
siderable note and dignity, which his being ap-
pointed as one of the twelve princes who assisted
Moses and Aaron in taking the census, and who
were aO " renowned of the congregation
beads of thousands in Israel," shows him to have
been. No less conspicuous for high rank and posi-
tion does he appear in Num. ii. 3, vii. 12, x. 14,
where, in the encampment, in the offerings of the
princes, and in the order of march, the first place
is assigned to Nahshon the son of Amininadub as
captain of the host of Judah. Indeed, on these
three last-named occasions he appears as the first
man in the state next to Hoses and Aaron, whereas
at the census he comes after the chiefs of the tribes
of Reuben and Simeon." Nahshon died in the
wilderness according to Num. xxri. 64, 65, but no
further particulars of his life are given. In the
N. T. he occurs twice, namely, in Matt. i. 4 and
1-uke iii. 38, in the genealogy of Christ, where his
lineage in the preceding and following descents are
exactly the same aa in Huth iv. 18-20; 1 Chr. ii.
10-18, which makes it quite certain that he was
the sixth in descent from Judah, inclusive, and
bat David waa the fifth generation after him.
[Ammisadab.] A. C H.
NA'HTJM (DTD [coruolatUm]: Kaoi/f- No-
•**). " The book of the vision of Nahuni the
Klkoahite" stands seventh in order among the
writings of the minor prophets in the present ar-
-angement of the canon. Of the author himself we
tare no more knowledge than is afforded us by the
icanty title of his book, which gives no indication
whatever of his date, and leaves his origin obscure.
J he site of Elkoah, his native place, is disputed,
»>me placing it in Galilee, with Jerome, who was
shown the ruins by his guide; others in Assyria,
irha-e the tomb of the prophet is still visited a* a
■acred spot by Jews from all parts. Benjamin of
Todda (p. 63, Heb. text, ed. Asber) thus briefly
• It Is enrfaras to notice that, In the second nam-
Bering (Num. xxvi.), Reuben still conns first, and
'adah fourth, go alio 1 Chr. 11. 1.
^ Capernaum, literally " village of Nahum," la sup-
asasol to havts derived Its name from the prophet.
tehwan (Jauar. if flsl. p. 188) mentions a Ktjm Tfc-a-
XAHUM 205£
alludes to it: "And In the city of Asshur (Mo-
sul) is the synagogue of Obadiah, and tbc synagogue
of Jonah the son of Amittai, and the synagogue of
Nahum the Elkoshite." [Elkosh.] Those who
maintain the latter view assume that the prophet's
parents were carried into captivity by Tiglath pile-
ser, and planted, with other exile colonists, in the
province of Assyria, the modern Kurdistan, and
that the prophet was bom at the village of Alkuah,
on the east bank of the Tigris, two miles north of
Mosul. Ewald is of opinion that the prophecy was
written there at a time when Nineveh was threat-
ened from without. Against this it may be urged
that it does ndt appear that the exiles were carried
into the province of Assyria Proper, but into the
newly-conquered districts, auch as Mesopotamia,
Babylonia, or Media. The arguments in favor of
an Assyrian locality for the prophet are supported
by the occurrence of what are presumed to be
Assyrian words: 33n, ii. 7 (Heb. 8), "iT^JIJB,
TT^P?^! iU. 17; and the atrange form
n 22*J Y*3 m U ' 18 (Heb> U) > which U '"PPO** 1
to indicate a foreign influence. In addition to this
is the internal evidence supplied by the vivid de
scription of Nineveh, of whose splendors it is eon-
tended Nahum must have been an eye-witness;
but Hitzig justly observes that these descriptions
display merely a lively imagination, and such
knowledge of a renowned city as might be pos-
sessed by any one in Anterior Asia. The Assyrian
warriors were no strangers in Palestine, and that
there was sufficient intercourse between the two
countries is rendered probable by the history of the
prophet Jonah. There Is nothing in the prophecy
of Nahum to indicate that it was written in the
immediate neighborhood of Nineveh, and in full
view of the scenes which are depicted, nor u the
language that of an exile in an enemy's country.
No allusion is made to the Captivity; while, on the
other hand, the imagery U such aa would be nat-
ural to an inhabitant of Palestine (i. 4) to whom
the rich pastures of Bashan, the vineyards of Car-
niel, and the blossom of Lebanon, were emblems
of all that was luxuriant and fertile. The lan-
guage employed in 1. 15, U. 2, is appropriate to
one who wrote for his countrymen in their na-
tive land. 6 In fact, the sole origin of the theory
that Nahum flourished in Assyria is the name of
the village Alkuah, which contains his supposed
tomb, and from its similarity to Elkosh waa ap-
parently selected by mediaeval tradition as a shrine
for pilgrims, with as little probability to recom-
mend it aa exists in the case of Obadiah and Jeph-
tbah, whoae burial-places are still shown in the
same neighborhood. This supposition is more rea-
sonable than another which has been adopted in
order to account for the existence of Nahum's tomb
at a place, the name of which so closely resembles
that of his native town. Alkuah, it is suggested,
waa founded by the Israelitiah exiles, and so named
by them in memory of Elkosh in their own country.
Tradition, as usual, has usurped the province of
history. According to Pseudo-Epiphanius (De VUU
dkum or ivaraum, close on ChlimereUi, and 2\ Kngliab
miles N. of Tiberias. " They point on then the gnvai
of Nahum the prophet, of Rabbis Tanohum and Tan
flhuma, who all repose then, and through thm* t*w
ancient position of the vluag* is aaallv kaowr '■
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2966
NA3CM
Prtph. Opp. il. p. 247), Nahum m of the tribe
*f Simeon, "from Elcesei beyond the Jordan at
Begaher (Htrro3df>; Chron. Peach. 150 B. Birro-
flapfj)," at Hethabara, where he died in paue and
was buried. In the Roman martyrology the let of
Dee uu ber ia consecrated to his memory.
The date of Nahum's prophecy can be deter-
mined with as little precision as his birthplace. In
the Seder Ohm Rabba (p. 65, ed. Meyer) be is
made contemporary with Joel and Habakkuk in the
reign of llanasseh. Syocellus (Chron. p. SOI d)
places him with Hosea, Amos, and Jonah in the
reign of Joash lung of Israel, more than a century
earlier; while, according to Kutychius {An. p. 269),
be was contemporary with Haggai, Zecbariah, and
Malaehi, and prophesied iu the fifth year after the
destruction of Jerusalem. Josephus {Ant. iz. 11,
f 2) mentions him aa living in the latter part of
the reign of Jotbam; " about this time was a cer-
tain prophet, Nahum by name; who, prophesying
concerning the downfall of Assyrians and of Nin-
eveh, said thus," etc. ; to which be adds, " and all
that was foretold concerning Nineveh came to pass
after 115 jears." From this Carpzov concluded
that Nsbum prophesied in the beginning of the
reign of Ahaz, about B. c. 742. Modern writers
are divided in their suffrages. Bertholdt thinks it
probable that the prophet escaped into Judahwhen
the ten tribes were carried captive, and wrote in
the reign of Hezekiah. Keil (Ltlirb. d. KM. m rf.
A. T.) places him in the latter half of Hezekiah °s
reign, after the invasion of Sennacherib. Vitringa
( Typ. Ductr. prnph. p. 37 ) was of the like opinion,
and the same view is taken by De Wette (KM. p.
328), who suggests that the rebellion of the Medea
against the Assyrians (n. c. 710), and the election
of their own king in the person of Deloces, may
hare been present in the prophet's mind. But the
history of Deloces and his very existence are now
generally believed to be mythical. This period also
is adopted by Knobel (Pro/thrl. ii. 207, Ac.) as the
date of the prophecy. He was guided to his con-
clusion by the same supposed facts, and the destruc-
tion of No Animon, or Thebes of Upper Egypt,
which be believed was effected by the Assyrian
monarch Sargon (b. c. 717-716), and is referred
to by Nahum (iii. 8) as a recent event. In this
ease the prophet would be a younger contemporary
uf Isaiah (conip. Ia. u. 1). Ewald, again, con-
ceives that the siege of Nineveh by the Median
king Phrsortes (B. c. 630-626), may hare sug-
gested Nahum's prophecy of its destruction. The
existence of Phraortes, at the period to which he la
resigned, is now believed to be an anachronism.
[Mbueb.] Junius and Tremellius select the last
years of Joeiah aa the period at which Nahum
prophesied, but at this time not Nineveh but Bab-
ylon was the object of alarm to the Hebrews. The
arguments by which Strauss (A'ahumi de JVmo
I'uticmiwn, prol. c. 1, § 3) endeavors to prove that
the prophecy belongs to the time at which Ma.
naaseh was in captivity at Babylon, that ia between
the years 680 and 667 B. c, are not convincing.
Assuming that the position which Nahum occupies
in the canon between Micah and Habakkuk sup-
plies, as the limits of his prophetical career, the
asigns uf Hezekiah and Joeiah, he endeavors to
•how from certain apparent resemblances to the
■Tilings of the older prophet*. Joel, Jonah, and
■ssleli, that Nahum must have been familiar with
their writings, eud consequently later in point of
Unto than any of them. But a careful examme-
XAHCX
then of the passages by which thh. argument at
maintained, will show that the phrases and talis
of expression upon which the resemblance is sop-
posed to rest, are in no way remarkable or charac-
teristic, and might have been freely need by any
one fcrnlli" - with oriental metaphor and iiu ate i i
without incurring the charge of plagtarir n. Two
exceptions sre Nah. ii 10, where a striking ex-
pression is used which only occurs besides in Joel
ii. 6, and Nah. 1. 16 (Heb. ii. 1), the first clause ol
which is nearly word for word the same as that of
Is. lit 7. But these passages, by themselves, would
equally prove that Nahum was anterior both to
Joel and Isaiah, and that his diction was copied
by them. Other references which are supposed to
indicate imitations of older writers, or, at lrast,
familiarity with their writings, are Nah. i. 3 com -
pared with Jon. iv. 2; Nah. i. 13 with Is. x. 27;
Nah. iii. 10 with la xiii. 16; Nah. ii. 2 [1] with
Is. xxlv. 1; Nah. iii. 6 with Is. xlvii. 2, 8; and
Nah. iii. 7 with is. Ii. 19. For the purpose of
showing that Nahum preceded Jeremiah, Strauss
quotes other pamaurs in which the later prophet is
believed to have bad in hie mind expressions of hia
predecessor with which he wss familiar. The moat
striking of these are Jer. x. 19 compared with Nah.
iii. 19; Jer. xiii. 26 with Nah. iii. 5; Jer. 1. 87, Ii.
30 with Nah. iii. 18. Words, which are assumed
by the same commentator to lie peculiar to the
times of Isaiah, are appealed to by him ae evi-
dences of the date of the prophecy. But the
only examples which he quotes prove nothing:
F)£1T, iJieleph (Nah. i. 8, A. V. « flood "), occurs
in Job, the Psalms, and in Proverbs, but not once in
Isaiah; and JTTlStJ, meuvrM (Nah. ii. 1 [2],
A. V. "munition") ia found only once in Isaiah,
though it occurs frequently in the Chronicles, and
is not a word likely to be uncommon or peculiar,
so that nothing can he inferred from it. Besides,
all this would be as appropriate to the times of
Hezekiah as to those of Mantisaeh. That the proph-
ecy was written before the final downfall of Nin
eveh, and its capture by the Medes and Chaldeans
(dr. B. c. 625), will be admitted. The allusions U
the Assyrian power imply that it was still unbroken
(i. 12, ii. 13, 14 (E. V. 12, 13), Iii. 15-17 >. The
glory of the kingdom was at its brightest iu the
reign of Esarhaddon (b. c. 680-660), who for 13
years made Babylon the seat of empire, and tb.ii
fact would incline us to fix the date of Nahnrr
ratber in the reign of hie father Sennacherib, foi
Nineveh alone is contemplated in the destruction
threatened to the Assyrian power, and no hint if
given that its importance in the kingdom was d i
minished, ss it necessarily would be, by the estsb
lishment of another capital. That l'ale&une was
suffering from the effects of Assyrian invasion at
the time of Nabuin'a writing seems probable from
the allusions in i. 11, 12, 13, ii. 2; and the vivid
description of the Assyrian armament in ii. 3, 4.
At such a time the prophecy would be appropriate,
and if i. 14 refers to the death of Sennacherib in
the house of Nisroch, it must have been written
before that event. The capture of No Amnion, or
Thebes, has not been identified with anything tike
certainty. It is referred to as of recent occurrence,
and it has been conjectured with probability thus
it was sacked by Sargon in the invasion of Egyz*
alluded to in Is. xx. 1. These circumstances erase:
to determine the 14th year of Hezekiah (n. c 7U
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NAHUM
m Uw period before which the prophecy of Nahum
sould not have been written. The condition of
Assyria in the reign of Sennacherib would corre-
spond with the eUte of thing) implied in the proph-
ecy, and it ia on all account* most probable that
Nahum flourished in the latter half of the reign of
Hezekiah, and wrote hii prophecy eoon after the
date above mentioned, either in Jerusalem or it*
neighborhood, where the echo itill lingered of " the
rattling of the wheel*, and of the prancing horses,
and of the jumping chariot*" of the Assyrian
boat, and " the flame of the sword and lightning
of the spear " still flashed in the memory of the
beleaguered citizens.
The subject of the prophecy is, in accordance
with the superscription, •• the burden of Nineveh."
The three chapters into which it is divided form a
eonsscntive whole. The first chapter is introduc-
tory. It commences with a declaration of the char-
acter of Jehovah, '■ a God jealous and avenging,"
aa exhibited in his dealings with his enemies, and
the swift and terrible vengeance with which He
pursues them (i. 2-6), while to those that trust in
Him He ia "good, a stronghold in the day of
trouble " (i. 7), in contrast with the overwhelming
flood which shall sweep away his foes (i. 8). The
language of the prophet now becomes more special,
and points to the destruction which awaited the
hosts of Assyria wou had just gone up out of
Judah (i. 9-11). In the verses that follow the in-
tention of Jehovah is still more fully declared, and
addressed first to Judah (i. 12, 13), and then to the
monarch of Assyria (i. 11). And now the vision
grows more distinct. The messenger of glad, tidings,
the news of Nineveh's downfall, trod the mountains
that were round about Jerusalem (i. 15), and pro-
claimed to Judah the accomplishment of her vows.
But round the doomed city gathered the destroying
armies; " the breaker in pieces " had gone up, and
Jehovah mustered his hosts to the battle to avenge
his people (ii. 1, 2). The prophet's mind in vision
asea the burnished bronze shields of the scarlet-clad
warriors of the besieging army, the flashing steel
scythes of their war-chariots s* they are drawn np
in battle-array, and the quivering cypress-shafts of
their spears (ii. 3). The Assyrians hasten to the
defense : their chariots rush madly through the
streets, and run to and fro like the lightning in the
broad ways, which glare with their bright armor
kike torches. But a panic has seized their mighty
ones; their rsnks are broken aa they march, and
they hurry to the wall only to tee the covered bat-
tering-ram* of the besiegers ready for tbe attack
(U. 4, 6). The crisis hastens on with terrible
rapidity. The river-gates are broken in, and the
royal palace is In the hands of the victors (ii. 6).
And then comes the end ; the city is taken and
carried captive, and her maidens " moan as with
the voice of doves," beating their breasts with sorrow
<iL 7). The Sight becomes general, and the leaders
.n vain endeavor to stem the torrent of fugitives
(it 8). The wealth of the city and it* accumu-
lated treasures becom* the spoil of the captors, and
3»e conquered suffer all the horrors that follow tbe
ssssnlt and storm (ii. 9, 10). Over the charred
and blackened ruin* the prophet, a* the imuth-
aleee of Jehovah, exclaims in triumph, " Where is
jbe lair of the lions, the feeding place of the young
Ion*, where walked lion, lioness, lion's whelp, and
tone made (them) afraid V " (ii. 11, 19). But for
lU thi* the downfall of Nineveh was certain, for
' I! ' in aesinst thee, saith Jehovah of
NAHUM
2057
Host* " (ii. 13). The vision ends, and the prophet,
recalled from the scenes of the future to the real-
ities of the present, collects himself, as It were, foi
one filial outburst of withering denunciation against
the Assyrian city, not now threatened by her Me-
dian and Chaldean conquerors, but in the full tide
of prosperity, the oppressor and corrupter of na-
tions. Mingled with this woe there ia no touch of
sadness or compassion for her fate; she will fell
unpitied and unlamented, and with terrible calm-
ness the prophet pronounces her final doom : " all
that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands
over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness
passed continually? " (iii. 19).
A* a poet, Nahum occupies a high place in the
first rank of Hebrew literature. In proof of this
it is only necessary to refer to the opening verses
of his prophecy (i. 2-6), and to the magnificent
description of the siege and destruction of Nineveh
in ch. ii. His style is clear and uninvolved, though
pregnant and forcible; bis diction sonorous and
rhythmical, the words reechoing to the sens*
(conip. ii. 4, iii. 3). Some words and forms of
word* are almost peculiar to himself; as, for ex-
ample, nnytp for rn3Q, in i. 3, occurs only
beside* in Job ix. 17; VOVfl ** M$2> in 1. S, ia
found only in Josh. xxiv. 19; n^GI-l, ii. 9 [10],
is found in Job xxiii. 3, and there not in the same
sense; TTTT, in Hi. 2, is only found in Judg. v.
22; nVt 1 ^ and b?n, ii. 3 [4], 371}, ii. 7 [8],
nrjfia and nijop, a. 10 pij, trntfa, m.
17, and ftnS, iii. 19, do not occur elsewhere.
The unusual form of the pronominal suffix in
rQ3$V5. ". is [H], into} for «*:}, hi. is,
are peculiar to Nahum ; "IJttA iii' °> '• °niy found
in 1 K. vii. 36; N 3l2, iii. 17, occurs beside* only
in Am. vii. 1 ; and the foreign word "IDpB, iii.
17, in tbe slightly different form "IpSB, is found
only In -Irr. Ii 27.
For illustrations of Nahum's prophecy, see to*
article Niheveh. W. A. W.
* For the general writers on the Minor Prophets
see the addition .o Mioah (Aroer. ed.). Part xix,
of Lange'B Bibtht*ik da A. Tat. by Dr. r*al
Kleinert (1868) includes Nahum. It furnishes ■
new translation of the text, instead of adhering to
that of Luther. Among the special writers on this
prophet are BihHander, Pnphtta Vah.juxta nri-
Mem Hebr. (1531) ; Abarbanel, Conn, in NnK
rabb. tt Lot. (1703); Kalimki, Vatiemt.. {Hob. tt)
Noh. etc. (1748); Kreenen, ffab. tntidnhatt, past,
tt erft. expotitum (1808): Justi, Nth. nni fiber,
tttzt u. erlSutert (1820); Hoelemann, Nah. orae-
ulum iUtutravit (1842); and O. Strauss, Nahwm
dt 1 ~itn vaticinium (1853). There is a •' Transla-
tion of the Prophecy of Nahum with Note* " b»
Prof. & B. Edwards in the Bibl. Sacra, v. 551-
576. It is a fine example of exact Biblical exegesis.
Recert explorations in the East have given fresh
interest to the study of Nahum. Among tbe works
which illustrate tbe connections of the book with
Assyrian and Babylonian history in addition to ths
commentaries, are M. von Nlebuhr's OetchidtU
Aaw's «. Babtft (1857); O. Strauss, JVwmmsj.
dot Wort Gotta (1855); Lavard. Auiem* am>
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2058
naXdus
id Rcnu.'mt ; Vance Smith, The Prophecia
relating to Nineveh and the Auyriaw (Lond.
1867); Rawlinson, Ancient Monorchia, vol. i. See
the copious lint of works in German, French, and
English, relating to the fall of Nineveh in I-ange's
BiMwcrk (p. 100) as above. Nineveh, which dis-
appeared so suddenly after its doom was pronounced
by the prophet, may almost be said to stand liefora
us again in the light of the remains restored to us
by modern discoveries. The articles on Nahuni
by Winer in his Bibl. Renlw.. by Niigelsbach in
rlerrog's RenU/Cncgk., and by Wunderlich in
ZeDer's BiU. Wtotrh. should not be overlooked.
[n opposition to the view that Nahuni lived in
Assyria, Week (Kint. in dn$ A. Tat. p. 544) agrees
with those who decide that the prophet was not
only born in Palestine, but wrote the book which
bears bis name in Jerusalem or the vicinity (i.
19 t). [Klkosii. Amer. ed.]
The book of Nahum contains nothing strictly
Messianic. It is important as a source of per-
manent instruction because it illustrates so signally
the law of retribution according to which God deals
with nations, and the fidelity with which He fulfills
his promises and threateninga to the righteous or
the wicked. 11.
NA'iDUS (Noftoj; Alex. NattSot : Rwrnnt)
= Benaia ii, of the sons of l*ahath Moab (1 Ksdr.
fax. 81; comp. Gar. x. SO).
NAIL. I. (of finger)." — 1. A nail or claw
of man or animal, i. A point or style, t. g. (at
writing : see Jer. xvii. 1. Tappdren occurs in
Dent xxi. 12, in connection with the verb H1B73?,
'itdli, " to make," here rendered rtpiorvxlfa, <"""-
cumcidu, A. V. "pare," but in marg. "dress,"
" suffer to grow." Uesenius explains " make neat.'"
Much controversy has arisen on the meaning of
this passage : one set of interpreters, including
Josephus and Philo, regarding the action as in-
dicative of mourning, while others refer it to the
deposition of mourning. Some, who would thus
belong to the latter class, refer it to the practice or
staining the nails with henneb.
The word tunh, " make," is used both of " dress-
ing," i. e. making clean the feet, and also of
" trimming," »'. e. combing and making neat the
beard, in the case of Mephihoshcth, 2 Sam. xix. 24.
It seems, therefore, on the whole to mean •• mske
suitable" to the particular purpose intended, what-
ever that may lie: unless, as Geseniua thinks, the
passage refers to the completion of the female cap-
tive's month of seclusion, that purpose is evidenth
one of mourning — a month's mourning inter|iose<l
for the purpose of preventing on the one hand ton
hasty an approach on tlie part of the captor . and
on the other too sudden a shock to natural reeling
in the captive. Following this line of interpreta-
tion, the command will stand thus: The captive is
so lay aside the " raiment of her captivity," namely,
her ordinary dress in which she had been taken
■satire, and she is to remain in mourning retire-
• *1§C?, I>*«r, a Chaldat tn of the 1Kb. pfeS,
aafaama, thorn Hw root **)Q9, connertcd with "'gO,
•aartor, " to scrap*," or " pars : " in( : «iur»M.
* *?fl\ jmUil : wimXat : pnxiHut. datm ; akks
* ~*
t. Arab. tX3«ji "■*»*», " to fix a pax-"
NAIK
ment for a mon.h with hair shortened and nail
made suitable to the same purpve, thus presenting
an appearance of woe to which the nails tmtrimmrd
and shortened hair would seem each in their way
most suitable (see Job i. 20).
If, on the other hand, we suppose that the shaving
the head, etc., indicate the time of retirement com-
pleted, we must suppose also s sort of Nazaritic
initiation into her new condition, a supposition for
which there is elsewhere no warrant in the Law,
besides the fact that the " making," whether paring
the nails or letting them grow, is nowhere men-
tioned as a Nazaritic ceremony, and also thit the
shaving the head at the end of the month would
seem an altogether unsuitable introduction to toe
condition of a bride.
We conclude, therefore, that the captive's head
was shaved at the commencement of the month,
and that during that period her nails were to he
allowed to grow in token of natural sorrow and
consequent personal neglect. Joseph. Ant. iv. 8-
23; Philo, i-tpl <pi\a*ep. e. 14, vol. ii. p. 394, ed.
Mangey; Clem. Alex. Strom, ii. e. 18, iii. e. 11,
vol. ii. pp. 475, 643, ed. Potter; Calmet, Patrick;
CriL Saer. on Heut. xxi. 12; Sehleusner, Ltt.
V. T. rtpionxK" '• Seine ! de Jur. Nat. v. xiii.
p. 644; Harmer, (H>». iv. 104; Wilkinson, Anc.
Kg. ii. 345; Lane, M. E. I. 64; Gesenins, p. 1076;
Michaelis, Lmci vf Mcma, art. 88, vol. i. p. 464,
ed. Smith; Num. vi. 2, 18.
II. — 1." A nail (la. xli. 7), • stak (la. xxxiii.
20), also a tent-peg. Tent pegs are usually of wood
and of large size, but sometimes, as was the ease
with those used to fasten the curtains of the Taber-
nacle, of metal (Kx. xxiii. 19, xxxviii. 20; see
Lightfoot, Spirit, in Ex. § 42; Joseph. Ant. v.
6, 4). [Jaw, Tkkt.]
2.* A nail, primarily a point."' We are told thai
David prepared iron for the nails to be used in the
Temple; and as the holy of holies was plated with
gold, the nails also for fastening the plates were
probably of gold. Their weight is said to have been
50 shekels, = 25 ounces, a weight obviously so much
too small, unless mere gilding he supposed, for the
total wright required, that IJCX. and Vulg. render
it as expressing that of each nail, which is equally
excessive. To remedy this difficulty Thenins sug-
gests reading 500 for 50 shekels (1 Chr. xxii. 3:
2 Chr. iii. 9: Herthean, an Chiimidet, in Kvrtgtf
Ifandb.). [On "nails" in Keel. xii. 11. see
Maotkii. Amer. ed.]
" Nail," Vnlg. pnlus, is the rearing of wtur-
o-aAot in Ecrlus. xxvii. 2. In N. T. we bn-.e jjA*;
and *po<rn\6m in speaking of the nails of the ( roai
(John xx. 25; Col. ii. 14). [See addition to
Ckuiifixiok.] II. W. P.
NA'IN (Nolr [either from T'SJ, pnshnv, »
VTJi grneffuhwu : Nam]). There are no ma-
trrials for a long history or a detailed dewriptior
of this village of Galilee, the gate of which it mads
illustrious by the raising of the widow's sen (Lulu
*1CP9, «MMmr>,l only used In p)»r. : fast
* From ipO, "stand on en*," aa ball (Oss.
Wl).
1 Caadr amid to Arab.
J |„,«1, ■fcwar, aasaV
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NAIOTH
M. 19). Bat two point* connected with It are of
extreme interest to the Biblical student. The lite
»f the village ii certainly known ; and there can be
no doubt aa to the approach by which our Saviour
waa ooming when He met the funeral. The modern
/fern is aituated on the northwestern edge of the
••little Hermou," or Jtbtt eUDuhy, where the
ground falls into the plain of Eadraelon. Nor has
the name ever been forgotten. The crusaders knew
it, and Eusebius and Jerome mention it in its
right connection with the neighborhood of Endor.
Again, the entrance to the place must probably
always hare been up the steep ascent from the
plain; and here, on the west side of the village,
the rock is full of sepulchral cares. It appears also
that there are similar cares on the east side.
(Robinson, Biol Acs. U. 361; Tan de Velde, Syria
and Palatine, ii. 383; Stanley, Sinai and Falet-
(mm, p. 367; Thomson, Land and Bonk, p. 445;
Porter, Handbook to Syria, p. 358.) J. S. H.
* Nain is distinctly risible from the top of Tabor
across an intervening branch of the pbiin of Es-
dmekn. It is but afew miles distant from Nasareth.
Shunem and Endor are in the neighborhood. The
present name (though variously written hy travel-
lers) is the identical ancient name. Mr. Tristram
(Land of hrael, p. 130) speaks of a fountain here,
which explains why the place has been so long in-
habited. Thomson states (Land and Book, ii. 158)
that "the tombs are chiefly on the east of the
village," and not on the west (see abore). On the
miracle of restoring to life the son of the widow
at Nain (Luke vil. 11-15), see Trench on Wiracles,
p. 833. The custom of carrying the dead for in-
terment outside of the cities and villages, is still, as
on that occasion, almost universal in 1'alestine.
Whether we understand "bier" or •• coffin " to
bo meant by aop6t in the narrative, is immaterial
to ha accuracy. Present usages show that the body
in either case was not so confined as to make it im-
possible for the " young man " to rise and sit up
at the command of Christ. [Coffin, Amer. ed.]
The writer has witnessed funerals in Greece at
which the upper side of the eoffin was left entirely
open, and the lid carried before the corpse until the
procession reached the grave (see Ilimtr. of Scrip-
lire, p. 190). H.
NAIOTH (nVj, according to the Ktri or
corrected text of the Masorets, which is followed
by the A. V., but in the Cethib or original text
n^TJ," t. c Nevaioth [habitations] : [Rom. Novate;
Vat J Ainu?; Alex. NavIvO : Ifaiotk), or more
My,* « Naioth in Ramah ; " a place in which
Social and David took refuge together, after the
latter had made bis escape from the Jealous fury
of Saul (1 Sam. xix. 18, 19, 33, S3, xx. 1). It is
evident from rer. 18, that Naioth waa not actually
in Ramah, Samuel's habitual residence, though
<rom the affix it must tnre been near it (Ewald,
lii- 66). In Its corrected form (Keri) the name
signifies '■• habitations," and from an early dote has
keen interpreted to mean the hats or dwellings of a
NAMES
2059
echo jl or college of prophets over which Samuel pro-
sided, aa EKsha did over those at Gilgal and Jericho.
This interpretation was unknown to Josephus
who gives the name TaKBiaS, to the translators
of the LXX. and the Peshito-Syriac (Jonath), and
to Jerome.' It appears first in the Targum-Jon-
aihan, where for Naioth wo find throughout fPJ
r^^^H, "the house of Instruction," the term'
which appears in later times to hove been regularly
applied to the schools of the Rabbis (Buxtorf, Lex
TaJm. 106) — and where ver. 30 is rendered, "and
they saw the company of scribes singing pi situs,
and Samuel teaching, standing over them," thus
introducing the idea of Samuel as a teacher. TbJa
interpretation of Naioth is now generally accepted
by the lexicographers and commentators. G.
• NAKED. [Dbbss, vol. i. p. 630 6.]
* NAMES, Biblical; thkir Origin ahd
Significance. — Names are archseologieal monu-
ments. Especially is this true of those presented
to us in the primitive languages of mankind. Orig-
inally given for the purpose of distinguishing dif-
ferent objects, or of indicating the significance
which those objects possessed for the name-giver,
they connate and perpetuate the conceptions, feel-
ings, and modes of thought of their originators. It
is on this account that their study is at once so
fascinating and of such real utility. It is the study
of the thought-fossils of mankind.
The two principal cautions to be given to the
student of names, are, first, to guard against false
etvmologies, and secondly, to beware of mystical
or merely fanciful interpretations. A recent Eng-
lish writer has wittily illustrated the first danger
by saying, that the tyro must not think he has
discovered a wonderful fitness in the denomination
of the metropolitan residence of the English primate,
Lambeth, because forsooth Lnma is a Mongolian
word for " Chief Priest." and Btth the Hebrew
term for " house " ; since, if the truth must be
told, the term Lambeth is derived from an Anglo-
Saxon compound, signifying " the muddy landing
place " ! An equally striking exemplification of
the second liability is furnished us by a recent
American writer in this department, Mr. W. Arthur.
In his work on the " Derivation of Family Names"
(N. Y. 1857) we find an old Christian-rabbinical
idea thus rehabilitated: " The signification of the
Hebrew names recorded in the fifth chapter of
Genesis, when arranged in order, present an epitome
of the ruin and recovery of man through a Re-
deemer, thus : —
Adam . . . . ' Man In the Imago of God '
Seth < Substituted by. 1
Knot ' Frail man.'
Canaan .... ' Lamenting. 1
Mahalaleel . . . • The bleated God.'
Jered ' Shall eome down '
. . 'Teaching.'
. . ' His death shall ami'
. . < To the humble.'
a The plural of fTO. The original km (Onh»)
•cold be the plural of ITJ3 (Hummus, Onom 30), a
aatd which does not appear to have existed.
» » Naioth >• ocean both In Hob. sad A. V. m 1 Bam.
Bx. Id <tnir. The LXX. svpplv <V Topi In *b»t
•ant The Vohjats adheres to the Hebrew.
e In his notice of this name In the Onomautam
(" Namotta "), Jennie refers to his observations thereoa
in the " libit Hebrsfcanun quaesrlonum." As. how-
over, we at presen t pos s e ss than books, they centals
no l a tii e uu t so Naioth.
d It occurs again in the Targum for the :
ot Huldah the prophetess (3 K. xxM. U .
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2060 NAMES
" These names In the order in which they mre
■Horded read thus: 'To man, once made in the
Image of God, now substituted by man, frail and
faH of sorrow, the blessed God shall oome down
himself to the earth teaching, and his death shall
send to the humble consolation ' " ( !) The orig-
inal author of this remarkable piece of interpreta-
tion seems to hare been Ursinus, chief author of
the Heidelberg Catechism. Dr. Alabaster repeated
it in a sermon on 1 Chron. i. 1-1 delivered before
the University of Cambridge, and Dr. Brown of
Haddington Introduces it with evident approbation
Into his "Dictionary of the Bible," art. Adam.
(For analogous instances of ezegetlcal trifling on the
part of the cabalistic writers, see McOintock and
Strang's Cyclop, of Bib., TheoL, and Ecck$ia$L
Literatwt, art. Cabala.)
Notwithstanding such fanciful attempts to dis-
cover the whole system of Christian truth in a
genealogical table, it must not be forgotten that
the names of the Bible have in innumerable in-
stances a real and profound significance. This is
apparent from the fact, that on mentioning a name
the sacred writers in almost countless cases pause
to call our attention either to its etymological sig-
nification or to the reasons which led to its bestow-
lnent. In view of the special attention paid to
etymology in the American edition of the present
work, we shall restrict ourselves in this article to
general facts and statements relative to names of
places and persons. For information respecting
particular names whose derivation or signification
present especial problems, we may safely refer the
reader to the appropriate articles in the Dictionary
snd to the literature given below.
I. Nauks op Places. Then may be divided
into two general classes, descriptive and historical.
The former are such as mark some peculiarity of
the locality, usually a natural one, e. g., Sharon,
"plain"; Gibeah, "hill"; Pisgab, "height";
Mizpah, " watchtower," ■ etc. The extraordinary
richness and expressiveness of the Hebrew topo-
graphical vocabulary (see Stanley, Appendix to <S.
and P. pp. 471-619), rendered the construction of
descriptive names in this way an exceedingly easy
and natural process. How apt the designations
were can yet be seen in hundreds of instances. See
for example, Camel, " the park," in volume first
,rf this work.
Of the second class of local names, some were
given in honor of individual men, e. g., the city
Enoch, Gen. iv. 17; Dan, Judg. xviii. 29; Jebus,
Ofraarea, Ca?*area Philippi, etc. More commonly,
however, such names were given to perpetuate the
memory of some important historic occurrence.
Thus Babel, we are told, received its name " be-
cause the Lord did there confound the language of
all the earth," Gen. xi. 9. (See, however, the
native etymology, sub twee.) Bethel perpetuated
through all Jewish history the early revelations of
God to Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 19, xxxv. 16. See
Jehovah jireh, Gen. xxii. 14 ; Isaac's wells, Gen.
xxvi. 80 ff. ; Hahanaim, Gen. xxxii. 9; Peniel, G-n.
xxxii. SO; Massah and Meribah, Ex. xvii. 7; Kib-
■oth-hattaavah, Num. xi. 84; Hormah, Num. xxi.
I; Achor, Josh. vii. 36; Bochim, Jud. ii. fi; Cabtd,
. K. Ix. 13, Ac., Ao. In some instances it may
• • lbs Hebrew forms of the names in tab article
vW be found in connection with in* English forms In
half ws pee Un places, and need not be repeated hare.
H.
NAMES
be difficult to determine to which class a partleniaa
name belongs ; thus Golgotha, or Calvary, is sup-
posed by some to have been so called because it
the form of " a skull," «. e. a well-marked hillock,
others however, deny that the traditional conception
of a " Mount Calvary " has any Scriptural warrant,
and trace the name to the fact that it was the cus-
tomary place for capital executions. The former
class would make it a descriptive, the latter a his-
torical, name. The importance of the question in
a topographical point of view is self-evident.
In forming compounds to serve as names of
towns or other localities, some of the most common
terms employed by the Hebrews were Kir, a " wall "
or " fortress " (Kir-haresh); Kirjuth, « city " (Kir-
jath-arba ; Kirjach-huzoth, " city of streets " : Kir-
jath-jearim, "city of woods " = Fnreatville; Kir-
jath-sepher, "city of books"; Kirjath -sannah,
" city of learning " ) ; En, " fountain " (En-eglaim,
" fountain of the two calves " ; En-gannim, " foun-
tain of the gardens " ; Eo-gedi, " fountain of tin
kid"; En-liakkore, "fountain of the cry or prayer,"
Judg. xv. 19; En-rogd, "fountain of the fuller,"
etc); Beer, "a well" (Beer-elim, "well of the
mighty ones" or " well of the terebinth '; Beer-
lahai-roi, " Puteut (Dei) ritentit, otpicientu me,"
Simonis; Beer-eheba, "well of the oath"); Belk,
"house" (Beth-arabah, "bouse of the desert";
Betb-aven, "house of vanity" or of idols; Beth-
emek, " house of the valley " ; Beth-horon, " placs
of the great cavern " ; Bethlehem, " house of
bread " ; Beth-shan, " house of rest " ; Beth-
shemesh, "house of the sun" etc., etc.). The
names of rivers and bodies of water were almost
always of a descriptive character, e. c., Jordan,
" descending " ; Kishon, " tortuous " ; Chebsr,
"abundant" or "vehement"; Kidron, "very
black"; Herom, "a high place" (fully written
Mey-merom, " waters of the heights " ) ; Jam-Svph,
"sea of weeds'' (Ked Sea); Jtm-Arabah, "sea
of the desert," or Jam-ffammtlack, "salt sea"
(Dead Sea); Jam-chinnerelJ), "sea of the Harp"
(Sea of Galilee, said to have been as called from its
shape). The names of countries and sections of
country were almost universally derived from the
name of their first settlers or earliest historic popu-
lations, t. g., Canaan; Miaraim (Egypt); Edom;
Asshur (Assyria); Tarshish; Havilah, etc In the
Geographical Appendix to Osborn's Palatine,
Past and Present, Piila. 1868, may be found an
exhaustive list of the names of all places and
nations mentioned in the O. or N. Test., with
references to all the passages where they occur and
the latitude and longitude of each locality so far as
ascertained. The Bible Atlas of Maps and Plans
by the Rev. Samuel Clark, published by the Society
for Promoting Christian Knowledge (Lond. 1868),
hat a " Complete Index to the Geographical Names
in the English Bible," including the Apocrypha,
by George Grove.
II. Names op Pebsohb. Unlike the Romans, but
like the Greeks, the Hebrews were a mononymout
people, that is, each person received but a single
name. In the case of boys this was oonfer td upon
the eighth day in connection with the rite of cir-
cumcision (Luke i. 69, ii. 81 ; comp. Gen. xvii.
5-14, xxi. 3, 4). To distinguish an individual
from others of tbe same name it was customary, ai
among most, if not all primitive peoples, L add U
his own proper name that of bis father, or if thai
was insufficient, the names of several ancestors is
ascending order (Jer. xxxvi. 14). Instead of tbj
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NAMES
ttfher'a name that of the mother wu aometimes
ased, possibly in cases where the mother wu the
more wide)}' known of the two (1 C'hr. ii. 18). la
some instances the nttber is represented aa con-
ferring the name, in other* the mother. Thus,
to pare over the naming of the animala and of
Eve by Adam, Seth named Enoa, Lamech Noah,
Jacob Benjamin, etc. On the other hand Eve
Darned Cain and Seth, probably abo Abel; Lot'a
daughters named Moab and Amnion; Leah gave
Daniel to Keuben, Simeon, l*vi, Judah, Gad,
Aaher, laaaehar, Zebulun, and Dinah; Rachel to
Dan, Naphtali, Joaeph, and bar laat born, which
ana however changed by Jacob. (See Moroni,
Dmowirio. )
Distinguishing with Ewald three rlaaaca of names,
the simple, the derivative and the compound, we
will briefly treat of each in order.
1. Simple namtt. These in Hebrew, aa in all
languages, were largely borrowed from nature, t. g .
Deborah, "bee"; Arieh, "Leo" or "Lyon"
Taniar, " a palm-tree " ; Jonah, '• dove " ; Rachel,
"ewe"; Shoal, >>foz"; Caleb, "dog"; Hodeah,
"new moon"; Cheran, "lamb"; Diahan, "ga-
selle," etc., etc Others are of a descriptive char-
acter, e. j); Aahur, ■» black " (oomp. however
Simonis); Edom, "red"; Esau, "hairy"; Gareb,
"scabbed " ; Korah, " bald " ; Chimcham, " pining "
(can be understood, however, in the sense of Dt$i-
aVrnu.aoliySiiuonia); Paaaah," the lame"; Ikkesh,
" crooked " (here too, Simonis has an interpretation
of his own, understanding the term aa relating to
Ibr hair, like the Ijttin name CViiyws). Still other
names were borrowed from human occupations and
conditions, e. </., Dan, "a judge"; Sarah, "a
princess"; Canni, "vine-dresser," etc., etc.
Whether diminutives are found in Hebrew may be
doubted. Ewald and others have claimed that
Zebulun and Jeduthm are sueh. This peculiarity
of the Hebrew is the more remarkable from the
fact, that its near cognate, the Arabic, abounds in
diminutives.
%. Ihrfaitive n/imri. Many names of women
wen derived from tbose of men by change of ter-
mination : Hanmieleeh, " the king," Hammoleketh,
"the queen," (like the German KOnig, Kdnii/in)\
MeahulUni, " Pita," Mesbullameth, '• I'ii " ;
Haggi or llaggai, ■'exultation," and Hagifith;
Judah, Judith ; Dan, Dinah, etc., etc. Such deri-
vations, however, are limited to simple names, no
instance occurring where a feminine name is derived
from a compound masculine one. On this pecu-
liarity Ewald remarks, that aa the same ootnpound
names are sometimes used both for men and women,
and as names are applied to women which could
not originally have been applicable to any but men,
aa Abigail, and Ahinoam, we mint assume that the
plastic power of language had already exhausted
itself in this remote province, and that for this
reason, the distinction of the feminine waa omitted ;
in the same way as Sanskrit and Greek adjectives
af the form <vSafu»r, c vrvg^v, are not able to dis-
tinguish the feminine in form.
The final syllable -U or -»i, in such names as
Amittai, BanriUai, is regarded by Ewald as a deriv-
ative particle, so that according to this gnunma-
4an the nwiee mentioned would be equivalent to
' Truman ' and " Ironman." All other etyuiol-
<giits, however, whom we have consulted, regard
the syllable m question as an imperfectly expressed
Ink. at* interpret the names " Truth of Jehovah,"
• Iron of Jehovah, ' etc Of the use of the same
NAMES 2061
termlnational syllable to form patronvmiea in He
brew, see Wilkinson, pp. 99-43.
The most anomalous phenomenon observable in
the derivation of Hebrew names is the met, that
in the employment of names derived from abstract
nouns masculine ones are often applied to women.
and feminine ones to men, while In other oases
names identical in meaning and distinguished as
to gender by their termination are applied to a
single sex. In this respect Hebrew usage seems
to have been subject to no rule. Thus Shelomi,
" peaceable " or " my peace," and Shrlomo, He-
brew for Solomon, are masculine forms and were
used as masculine names, but Shelomitb, the
feminine form, was not only a name of women, hot
also of men, 1 Cbr. xxvi. 25, 26, xxiii. 9. ftbem.T
and Shimri, "watchful" or "guarded" (*f God),
are names of men both in form and fact The
feminine form, Shimrath, is nevertheless applied to
a man, 1 Chr. viii. 21; while in 2 Chr. xxiv. 20
another feminine form, Shimrith, is the name of a
woman. Analogous to this is the fact, that many
titles of men were feminine and required to be con-
strued with feminine adjectives, etc, as Pechah,
" governor," Koheleth, " preacher," etc., while in
other cases masculine nouns took feminine termi-
nations in the plural, e. g. Ab, "father," plural
nboOi not ainm ; or feminine nouns the plural end-
ing of the masculine, e. g., MiUah. " word," MU-
lim, " words." See the Grammars.
3. Compound Namtt. These constitute in all
languages the most interesting and instructive class,
since they reflect emotions and ideas, for whose ex-
pression a conscious exercise of the onomatopoetie
faculty was requisite. In Hebrew we find some,
which hare no especial religious or social signifi-
cance, as for example, Phinehae, " mouth of brass " ;
lahod, " man of beauty " ; Gemalli, " oaroel-owner/'
The majority, however, have such significance, being
compounded either (1 ) with terms denoting relation-
ship, as AH, at no (Abibud, "father of praise";
Abysm, "f. of the sea"; Abimeleeh, " f. of the
king"; Abinoam, "f. of pleasantness"; Abitub,
" f. of goodness " etc. etc.);— Aohi (Kng. ver. Ahi\
■' brother " (Ahihud, Abiinelecb, Ahinoam, Ahitub,
etc., etc.); — flen (Syriac »ir), "ion" (Bononi,
" eon of my sorrow " ; Benjamin, " s. of my right
hand"; Ben-hail, "g. of the host"; Barabbas,
liar-jona, eta.),— or Bath, "daughter" (Batb-
sheba, Bath-abua, "d. of an oath "); or (2) with
nouns borrowed from the sphere of national life and
aspiration, auch aa Am (D7) " people," raseml ling
the tiuuieroui Greek compounds with \ait en-1
tq/tet ( Amniinadab, q. ». ; Ammizabad, " people
of the Giver" i. e. God; Jeroboam, " whose people
are ccuntleas," or "increasor of the people";
Jaaholieaiu, " he will return among the people,"
Jonas, "people's leader," Kwald. "lubitabit in
popjio," Simonis; Jekameam, "gatlierer of tlx
people," etc.); — Metech, "king" (Abimdach,
" father of the king " ; Ahimelech, " brother of tin
king." On Nathan-melech, Ebed-nielech, aud
Kegem-melech, see Wilkinson, pp. 396-S97); or
(3) with names of God, as for instanoa, Sknddai
(Ammiahaddai, " people of the Almighty," and
Zurisbaddai, " my rook is the Almighty "); — Af,
prefixed or suffixed (Elnathan or Nathaniel, equiv-
alent to Theodotus or Doattbeua; FJieaar, "God
of help " or Ger. OoUhilf; Israel, " puguator Dei,"
Winer; Qipbalet, "Godofaslvation"; ArieL"lioii
of God"; Kuahapbat, "God is judge;" Abdiel,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2062 NAMES
" servant of God "') ; — Adorn, « lord " (Adoninun,
- lord of exaltation," Adonljah, " my lord b Je-
hovah " ; Adonikam, '• lord of the enemy," Geae-
nius, or " lord who assists," FUrat, " Dominus sur-
rexit," Simonis and Jones); — JeliotnJi, when pre-
fixed shortened to JcJio, or Jo, when suffixed to
Jnhn arj'ik or i (Jonathan and NethanUh, parallel
with Elnathan and Nathaniel, " Jehovah-given,'*
ooinp. Jehonadab and Jehohanan ; Jehoiada, " Je-
hovah knows"; Jelioiachin, "Jehovah will estab-
lish"; Joab, "whose father is Jehovah"; Elijah,
"the strength of Jehovah"; Ishmerai, "whom
Jehovah shall keep," etc). It remains to be ob-
served in this connection, that AH, or At, is sup-
pond by Geaenius and moat etymologists to have
originally designated in all instances a direct Mood
relationship, but in the process of time to have
become a constituent part of proper names, which
were used without reference to their strict ety-
mological meanings. This view is opposed by
Ewald, who thinks, however, that in later times the
term " father " was often used to express a certain
dignity, as " father " or lord of a town. So in
1 Chr. ii. 29, 42, 49, 50, &c., where Ah is com-
pounded with names of places. On the possessive
sense of Ab or Ahi in composition, see Wilkinson,
pp. 365-367.
The non- Hebrew names of the Old Testament
are chiefly Egyptian, Canaanitish, and Persian.
These are separately treated by Simonis, sec xi.,
and Wilkinson, pp. 410-481.
Glancing a moment at the history of names and
name-giving among the Hebrews, we readily dis-
tinguish many of those changes which characterize
popular customs and habits in this particular among
ail peoples. In their first or ruder age their names
are simple and " smell of nature." In the period
of their highest national and religious development
we find more compounds and more allusions to
artificial refinements. In the period of their hu-
miliation and conflicts under the judgments of God,
whole passages of Scripture were appropriated as
in modern times by the Puritans of Great Britain.
Hence such name* a* ilodaiah, •• preiae-ye-the
Lord"; Elioenal, " mine-eyes-are-unto-Jehovah."
liacelelponi, '•give-shade-tbou-that-turnest-tfay-
*ace-to-me " (Oehler), or, " give-shadow-that-seest-
ne " (Ewald). As soon as the people grew weary
if this uuwieldly nomenclature a very natural re
action led to the repristination of the simple and
hallowed names of early Hebrew history. \xm of
independence and intermarriage with foreigners
led to the introduction of foreign names, the use
of the Greek language to a translation of many
Hebrew ones and to the modification of others, so
that in the New Testament we find almost as great
a variety of names at among the modern nations
at* Europe. There are pure Hebrew names, such
as, Joseph, Simeon or Simon, Levi, Gamaliel, Saul,
etc; Hebrew names which have become grecized
in form, such as Lazarus from Eleazar, Matthaeua
(nm Mattathlah or Mattaniah, Anna from Han-
aah, Zebedaeus from Zabdi or Zebadiah, Zacchams
from Zaccai, Ananias from Chananiah, Alcimus
from Eliakim, Jason from Joshua, etc. ; Aramavm
names, such as Martha, Tabitha, Caiaphas, etc. ;
Greek names, such as Andreas, Andronicus.
Euodla, Antipater, Philippos, etc.; Latin names
Marcus, Aquila, Hriscilla. Justus, Paulus, etc., etc.,
sod finally, even names which were derived from
hate cf the gods of Greece nnil Rome, e. g., Apol-
•cdss, Pbutbe, Nereus, Uemetrius, Diotrephes.
NAMES
Epapbroditns, Dlonysius, Her mas, Olj mpiodoros
Hyiuetiaeua, Artemas, etc., etc. These last namat
were doubtless given by heathen parents. On the
New Testament proper names see particularly
Schirlitz's Grumhiye der neatest. GraatSt (Giee-
sen, 1861), pp. 140-161.
" Nomen est omen." Among no ancient peoplt
was thia truer than among the Hebrews. Doubt-
less the more customary names became in time
conventional, at least to some extent. Even an
Ahab could give to sons home him by Jezebel names
compounded with Jehovah, as AhaziflA and Jural*
Still, it cannot be denied that, in most Instance*,
the choice of the name was understood as an act
of religious profession and confession on the part
of the parents. Even when the name must hate
grown perfectly familiar, we discover a tendency to
seek for correspondences between its meaning and
its bearer. See Abigail's allusion to the name rf
Nabal, 1 Sam. xxv. 95, Naomi's to her own, Roth
i. 20. Probably the perception of the significance
of names was keener among ancient peoples, tinea
tbeir roots were almost universally of the vernacular
language. Even Cicero cannot resist the tempta-
tion to play upon the name of the conspirators
against Caesar (the Bruti), and who can ever forget
the cutting pasquinade on the Papal despoilers of
the Pantheon : " ("uorf non ftcerunt Barlari, '/>-
cere Barlierini ! " Among the Hebrews, this iden-
tification of name and person reached its climax.
A tendency to it was characteristic of the nation,
and under the supernatural tuition of Revelation
it was fully developed. " In the spirit of that truth-
fulness, which desires to see all contradiction be-
tween name and nature done sway, and every one
called by his right name (oonip. Is. r. 20, xxxil. 5;
Kev. iii. 1 ), a series of names is here produced,
which really express the personal significance and
life-station of those who bear them, and which thus
themselves become attestations of Revelation, abid-
ing pledges of divine guidance and promise. These
significant names are partly birth-names, partly and
more commonly, new appellations. As outside the
circle of Revelation, particularly among the oriental
nations, it is customary to mark one's entrance into
a new relation by a new name, in which case the
acceptance of the new name involves the acknowl-
edgment of the sovereignty of the name-giver, so
the importance and new sphere assigned to the
organs of Revelation in God's kingdom are fre-
quently indicated by a change of name. Examples
of this are Abraham, Gen. xvii. 5; Sarah, xvii. 15
Israel as designation of the spiritual character, h"
place of Jacob which designated the natural char
acter, xxxii. 28; Joshua, Num. xiii. 16; conip. ahv.
■lerubbaaL Judg. ri. 32; bi N. T. Cephas or Prtei,
John i. 42; Boanerges, Mar. iii. 17; Barnabas,
Acts iv. 36. It is, however, remarkable, that in
many instances where no particular reason is given,
a striking correspondence is seen between the nam*
and the character of the person ; e. g. Saul, David,
Solomon (comp. however 1 Cbr. xxii. V), Elijah
(1 K. xviii. 86). What peculiar weight the prophets
attached to name* is well known. Nathan gives
Solomon the name Jedidiab," because of the Lord."
Hosea (ohap. i.) and Isaiah (nil. 8) express then:
prophecies in the names of their children. Isaiah
comforts himself with the merciful pledge contain^
in the significance of his own name (viii. 18). Tin
prophet* frequently play npon the names -af persoea
and places, and siieh instances of paronomasia *n
not to bt regarded as mere rhetorical nm tstt n sa
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NAMES
Mican's play upoo bu own name, Me.
id. 18 (Caspari, Couunentar, p. 90 ff. j . such pas-
sages as I*, zxr. 10; Micah i. 1C ff.. Jer. XX. 3,
uiii. 8. Thii intimate concrete relation betwixt
name and person explains, finally, certain Biblical
modea of speech. When God elects a man by virtue
of personal qualification, he ii said to call him by
■ame (Ex. xxxi. 2; Is. xL 3, 4). When Jehovah
eays to Moses, ' I know thee by name ' (Ex. xxxiii.
19), he means, he has placed himself in a specifically
personal relation to Moses, in a relation pertaining
to Moaes alone, and therefore connected with his
name. This explains also Is. xliii. 1 : ' I hare
called thee by thy name and thou art mine'
(cotnp. xlix. 1). Receiving a 'new name' from
God (Is. lxv. IS, Ixii. 2: Kev. ii. 17, Ui 12) is the
expression employed to denote a new personal rela-
tion to him established by an act of divine grace "
(Oehler).
The attempt made by Strauss (Leben Jem, pat-
mi*), Bertholdt (EinUitung int A. T. pp. 2337-
1367), and others, to prove from the peculiar sig-
nificance of names the mythical orii»iu of different
books of the canon is simply puerile. Even The-
odore Parker ridicules the former, by showing in
like manner the mythical character of the Declara-
tion of Independence from the fact of its reputed
promulgation at Philadelphia, " the city of brotherly
love" (see his review of Strauss's I^ebenJetu}. lie
also styles Bertholdt's arguments " merely nuga-
tory," adding that all B. says of the names in the
book of Ruth •< may be said of almost all Hebrew
names " ( Traiutitim of De Welle' t Introduction
totheOU Tett, i. 319). What havoc some future
myth-hunter may make even of the names and
achievements of these brave destroyers themselves !
Strauss means "ostrich," "dispute," "strife";
Hitag, •• hot-beaded *' ; Bauer, a " peasant," " rode
fellow"; Keander, "new man"; Schleiermaeher,
"fail-maker"; Hengstenberg, "stallion-mountain,"
eomp. Ang. Sax. "mare's-nest," — Ergo the tale
of the famous battle in the nineteenth century, in
Germany, between belief and unbelief is aA a myth !
No such man ae Strauss ever lived, no such men
as his reputed opponents!
Literature. — Eusebius, Onomatticon (Ugolinl's
Thetaurut, voL v.). Hieronytuus, Liber de nomin-
ibut BebraicU, De Situ et Nominibut Loeonun
Bebraicorum, etc. (Opera, Benedictine ed. voL iii.).
Hiller, Onomatticon, Hamb. 1706. J. Simoois,
Onomatticon Veterit TrtL, Hake Magd. 1741;
Fjusdem, Onomatticm fiuti TrtL et Librorum,
V. T. Apocryphorum, Haue Magd. 1789 (the
ablest writer of the last century in this field).
Ewald, Autfihr. Lehrbuch der hebr. Sprache, f
971, Die Eigennamen dtr Bibel, bet. det A. T.,
pp. 578-593 (prepared for Kitto's Cgclopadia,
where the Eng. Torsion may be found). Kedslob,
iJie alttett. Namen der BevBlkerung del /traet-
iitrttnaU, etynoL betrachtet, Hamb. 1846. Oehler,
at. Name, in Herxog's RenUEncykL Bd. x. (a
translation by the present writer may be found in
She Tktoiogicai Eclectic, vol. iv. No. 5). Moroni,
Oimmario eft erudmone ttorico-eccletiatlict, art.
Waste, voL xlvilL, Ten. 1 847. (Of Uttle value. ) .1.
<amr, Proper Namet of (As Bible, 2d ed. Lond.
1844. Alfred Jones, Tie Proper Namet of the Obi
Tut. Scripture! expounded and ilhmraied, Lond.
1M6, 4to. (A valuable work, arranged in alpba-
o s tt sa l order. Quite a number of the obscurer
■mobs, however, hare been overlooked.) Proper
Vm m of Ike Old Testament with Bit*, and Geog '
NANBA '2Q6S
IPtttratioiu for the use of Bcbrea Student! and
Teaehert, Lond. 1860. W. F. Wilkinson, Ptr-
tonal Namet in the Bible interpreted and iltuf
(rated, Lond. 1865. (Latest and most readable of
English works upon this subject. )
On the genetal subject of names the following
works may be consulted : A. K. Pott, Die Pertonen-
namen, intbttondere die Fnmiliennamen uml ihri
Entttehungtarten, 1-eipi 1853. Eusebe Salverte,
Let nomt <f Homme de Peuplet et de Lieux, 2
torn. Paris, 1824; translated into Eng. by L. II.
Mordacque, 9 vols. Lond. 1862-64. W. Papa,
Wtrterbuch der Griechitchen Eigennamen, 9» A nil.,
Braunschw. 1850. Articles Women and Ci gnome*
in Panly's Reat-EnegclopadU and William Smith's
Diet, of Greet and Soman AntiquiUet. Root.
Ferguson, Tkt Teutonic Name-Syttem applied tt
the Family Nnmet of France, England, and Ger-
many, Lond. 1864. Isaac Taylor, Wordt and Placet,
Lond. 1864. Miss C. M. Yonge, llitlory of Chrit-
tian Namet, 9 vols. Lond. 1863. M. A. Lower,
Englitli Surnames, 3d ed., 2 vols. Load. 1849
Patrongmica Britannica, Lond. 1860. De Cog
nominum vriyine dutertatio, Muratori, Antiq
ItaL, vol. rill. Robt- Ferguson, English Surnanut
and their Place in the Teutonic Family, Lond.
1858. J. M. Kemble, Namet, Surnamet, and
Nicknames of the Anglo- Saxont, Lond. 1846.
Wiarda, Oebtr deuttche Vornamen und Getcalechlt-
namen, Berl. 1800. F. A. Pischon, Die Taufna-
men, Berl. 1857. B. II. Dixon, Surnames, Boat
1867. N. J. Bowditch, Suffolk Surnamet, Sd ed.
Boat, 1861 (very entertaining). C. E. Ferrari
Vocabolario de' numi pmprii, bologna, 1837.
In eouclusion, for literature of the namet of God,
see art. .Ikiiiivah, and the Ulliogrupliicnl man-
uals. W. F. VV.
NANB'A [more correctly NakVa] (Norafa :
Nanea). The last act of Antiochus Kpiphauea
(vol I. p. 116 4) was his attempt to plunder the
temple of Names at Klymais, which had been en-
riched by the gifts and trophies of Alexander the
Great (1 Mace. vi. 1-4; 9 Mace. i. 13-16). The
Persian goddess Names, called also 'Aram* by
Strebo (xv. p. 73:)), is apparently the Moon god-
dess, of whom the Greek Artemis was the nearest
representative in Polybius (quoted by Joseph. Ant
xii. 9, f 1). Beyer calls her the " Elymean Venus "
{.ad J oh. Seldeni, etc., addit. p. 845), and Winer
(Real*).) apparently identifies Nairn with Meni,
and both with the planet Venus, the star of link,
called by the Syrians U M ; Nani. and in Zand
Nahid or Anahid.
lilpbiuatone in 1811 found coins of the 8as-
sanians with the inscription NANAIA, and onl
reverse a figure with nimbus and k>(>j """
(Movers, Plum. i. 696). It is probal.l
is identical with the deity named by"
532) as the numen pali-mm of t 1 '
was also honored by the Medes, <
many districts of Asia Minor,
name are '
iue, 'Avtirtf
Alexaiidrinus, imi ™o» ,-,- .«■„.«.» - . «,
so.,» MSS. of Strabo »-■•*»* *£ valW**,
of a confusion U,w«, ^f^j! «• •fSS-
W-'^ott".
. 'AMfa, Riven b, *■ «W^er tor.* * £
!"' b ^ ." Ut T Ch ,w/ra^. ^,V c^
mythologies, Nan«r» Y '
teniit mid Aphrodite, ■
ideiit'"
who was invwteo wi '
vid repreariited tli
iblWJ
\*i««
t\i»t A*
; osoducW V
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2064
NAOMI
b this cue some weight may be allowed to the
conjecture, that " the deaire of women " mentioned
In Dan. ». 37 is the same aa the goddeat Nansea.
In 8 Mace. ix. 1, 2, appeaia to be a different
iccount of the tame sacrilegious attempt of Anti-
oebui; but the scene of the event is there placed
at Persepolia, " the city of the lVrsians," where
tbare might well have been a temple to the national
deity. But Grimm considers it far more probable
that it was an Elymasan temple which excited the
cupidity of the king. See Geaeuiua. Jttnia, iii.
837, and Grimm's Conuntntnr in the Kuitgtf.
Handb. W. A. W.
NA'OMI OBJ?? [mydeayht,pknmie : Rom.
N<nfdr; Vat] Naxuetv; Alex. Noou/teir, Nocu-
ewr, Noo/tei, etc.: Noemi), the wile of Elimelech,
and mother-in-law of Ruth (Ruth i. 2, Ac, ii. 1,
Ac., iii. 1, It. 3, Ac.). The name is derived from
a root signifying sweetness, or pleasantness, and
this significance contributes to the point of the
paronomasia in i. 20, 21, though the passage con-
tains also a play on the mere sound of the name: —
" Call me not Naomi (pleasant), call me Mara
(bitter) .... why call ye me Naomi when Je-
hovah hath testified (anak, PIJ^) against me? "
G.
* The hie of tbia Hebrew woman, one of the
most checkered which la given in the sacred
record, derives its chief general interest from ber
relation to Ruth, ber daughter-in-law, and from
the position of the latter in Jewish history. But
Naomi is really the heroine of the Hook of Ruth,
and ber character appears beautiful as presented
In this charming narrative. Her tenderness and
generosity, her devout trust in God and grateful
recognition of his hand, serve to explain the strong
confidence and affection which she inspired in the
daughter of Mouu who identified herself with her
darkest fortunes. Her constant counsels guided
her faithful daui;hter-iii-law — and, spared to be-
come the nurse of her eon, not a little of the moral
influence which distinguished the line thus founded
may hare been transmitted from ber. [Runt,
Book of, Amer. ed.] S. W.
* The name is properly Noonii, and not Naomi
aa in the A. V , perhaps after the Latin transla-
tion of Tremeluus and Junius (Nahumi). See
Wright's Book of Kutk, p. 3. The orthography
of the. A. V. appears in the Bishops' Bible. H.
NATHISH (87*9}, "according to the Syriac
asige, 'refreshment,'" Gee.: NooWi, Ntupiatuoi :
Nnphis), the last but one of the sous of Ishuiael
(Gen. xxv. 15; 1 Cbr. 1.31). The trilie dexceudeil
Vim Nodab was subdued by the Reulienitea, the
jaditea, and the half of the tribe of Alauaseeh.
whan "they made war witli the Hagarites, with
letur, and Nephuh (Naa>uroia>r ( LXX.), and No-
lab " (1 Cbr. r. 19). The tribe is not again found
a lhat la, according to the Hebrew idiom, " un-
mans* wnetlings." "Ah>ix«T | k otw, " as if lmahd-
bla," la the explanation of the name given by Joss-
(.kis (Ant. i. 19. 5 8).
» An attempt has been made by Kedslob, to his
atngujar traatise Die Aut'U. Namtn, etc. (Hamb. 1846,
pp. 88, 89), to show that '' Naphtalt" la nothing but
a synonym for '• Oalllee,** and that again tor " Cabal. 1 '
all three being opprobrious appellations. But If there
•are no other difficult!* in the way, this has the die-
Jvautjfjt of batng In direct contradiction to the high
NAPHTALT.
m the aacred records, nor is it mentioned by ktai
writers. It has not been identified with anv Are>
bian tribe; but identifications with Ishntaeiite tribes
are often difficult. The difficulty in question arise*
from intermarriages with Keturahitea and Joktan
ites, from the influence of Mohammedan history
and from our ignorance respecting many of tha
tribes, and the towna and districts, of Arabia
The influence of Mohammedan history la here
mentioned as the s tr ongest instance of a class of
influences very common among the AvaL*, by which
prominence has been given to certain triles nr^trk-
able in the rise of the religion, or hi the history of
the country, its language, etc But Intermarriag**
exercise even a stronger influence on the name* el
tribes, causing In countless instances the adortkt
of an older name to the exdnaicn of the moat
recent, without altering the pedigree. Thus Mo-
hammad churned descent from the tribe of Mndad,
although be gloried in being an Ishmaelite: Mudad
took Its name from the father of Ishmael's wife
and the name of lalimael himself ia merged hi that
of the older race. [Ibumaei-]
If the llagarenes went southwards, into the
province of Hejer, after their defeat, Naphiah may
have gone with them, and traces of his name
should in this ease be looked for in that obscure
province of Arabia. He is described in Chron-
icles, with the confederate tribes, aa pastoral, and
numerous in men and cattle. [Nodab.]
K. 8. P.
NAPH'ISI ([Vat.] Noouunf; [Rom.] Alex.
Noauo-f: Natiuim), 1 Esdr. v. 81. [Nxruusisi.]
NAPHTALI P^J-IM : N******!*, sod so
also Josephus; [Rom. Alex. NeeXtaAf, -a/sh -Asl,
-Ael)»; Vat. -A«i, -Aeu*t Sin. in Pa. Ixvui. 97,
-Ku/i, in Is. ix. 1, -Aim: NepkiaU,} NeptlkaH).
The fifth son of Jacob ; the second child borne to
him by Bilhah, Rachel's slave. Ilia birth and the
bestowal of his name are recorded in Gen. xzx. 8:
"and Rachel said 'wrestlings (or contortions —
ttnphlile) of God a have I wrestled (ni/Jitalti) with
my sister and have prevailed.' And she called his
name * Naphtali."
By hia birth Naphtali waa tbue allied to Dan
(Gen. xxxv. 26): and be also belonged to the sams
portion of the family as Ephraim and Benjamin,
the sons of Rachel; but, as we shall see, these eon
necttons appear to have been only imperfectl / main
tabled by the tribe descended from him.
At the migration to Egypt f° ur * UDr **• atbib
uted to Naphtali (Gen. xlvi. 24; Ex. i. 4; 1 Chi
vii. 13). Of the individual patriarch not a single
trait is given hi the Bible: but in the Jewish
traditions he is celebrated for his powers as a
swift runner, and he is named as one of the ftw
who were chosen by Joseph to represent the fmni.lr
before Pharaoh (7'arg. Pnauhjon. ou Gen. Ill
and xlvii. 2).«
estimation In whlrh tbe tribe waa held at the date of
the couiporitlon of the Songs of Deborah and Jacob.
c In the " Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs,"
Naphtali diea la hla 188d year, in the ith mouth, oa
the 4th day of the month. He explains hia una as
given " because. Baehel had dealt deceitful)* " ;,»
wavevpryie. eVoti|«). He also gives the genealogy ot
hia mother: Bails (BUhah), the daughter of Rouihaloa,
tbe brother of Deborah, Bebeaah's nurse, waa Nwsj
the sams day with Baehel. Bouthalna waa a ObsJ
dawn of the kindred of Abraham , who, bains; sasaas
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NAPHTAM
What the eeusus tn token at Mount Sinai the
Mb* numbered no lea than 93,400 fighting man
<Nom. i. 43, ii. 30). It thus held exactly the
middle position in the nation, haviLg five above it
in numbers, and liz bekir. But when the borders
of the Promised Land wen reached, it* cumbers
were reduced to 45,400, with four only below it
in the teak, one of the four being Ephralm (Num.
xxvi. 48-50; eomp. 37). The leader of the tribe
at Sinai was Ahira ben-Enan (Num. ii. 89); and
at Shilefa, Pedahel ben Amuiihud (xudr. 28).
Amongst the spies its representative was Nahbi
ben-Vophsi (ziii. 14).
During the march through the wilderness Napb-
tali occupied a position on the north of the Sacred
Tent with Dan, and also with another tribe, which
though not originally so intimately connected be-
came afterwards his immediate neighbor — Asher
(Num. ii. 25-31). The three formed the "Camp
of Dan " and their common standard, according
to the Jewish traditions, whs a serpent or basilisk,
with the motto, " Return, Jehovah, unto the
many thousands of Israel! " {Targ. Ptexulojon. on
Num. ii. 35).
In tie spportionment of the land, the lot of
Naphtali was not drawn till the last bnt one. The
two portions then remaining unappropriated were
the noble but remote district which lay between
the strip of coast-land already allotted to Asher
and the upper part of the Jordan, and the little
canton or corner, more central, but in every other
respect far inferior, which projected from the terri-
tory of Judah into the country of the Philistines,
aud<rarmed the "marches" between those two uever-
tiring combatants. Naphtali chose the former of
these, leaving the latter to the Danites. a large
number of whom shortly followed their relatives to
their home in the more remote but more undis-
turbed north, and thus testified to the wisdom of
Naphtali's selection.
The territory thus appropriated was inclosed on
three sides by those of other tribes. On the west,
as already remarked, lay Asher; on the south Zehu-
lun, and on the east the trans -Jordanic Manasseh.
The north terminated with the ravine of the
Litany or Leontes, and opened into the splendid
valley which separates the two ranges of Lebanon.
According to Joaephus (.-Jul. v. 1, } 28) the eastern
side of the tribe reached as far as Damascus ; but
of this — though not impossible in the early times
of the nation and before the rise of the Syrian
monarchy — there is no indication in the Bible.
The south boundary was probably very much the
same as that'which at a later time separated Upper
bom Lower Galilee, and which ran from or about
the town of Akin to the upper part of the Sea of
Gennesaret. Thus Nuphtali was rut off from the
great plain of Eedruelou — the favorite resort of
the hordes of plunderer* from beyond the Jordan,
and the great battlefield of the country — by the
mass of the mountains of Nazareth ; while on the
«ut it had a communication with the Sea of Gali-
k», the rich district of the Ai-d tUIlilth and the
Mttj Agin, and all the splendidly watered country
shout BrntiiM and Hiitbtyn, the springs of Jordan.
"O Naphtali," thus accurately does the Song
lUributed to the dying lawgiver express itself with
i a slave by btban,
save ntm his maU Aina or Ira to *U», br whom he
lesaha OEUpah) — so called team tee plant In
130
NAPHTALI 2066
regard to this part of the territory of the tribe —
" O Naphtali, satisfied with favor and fuD of
Jehovah's bleating, the sea" and the south possess
thou!" (Deut. zxxiii- 83). But the capabilities
of these plains sod of the access to the Lake,
which at a later period raised Gaulkx and Uk.n-
ntoabxt to so high a pitch of crowded and
busy prosperity, were not destined to be developed
while they were in the keeping of the tribe of Naph-
tali. It was the mountainous country ("Mount
Naphtali," Josh. xx. 7) which formed the chief
part of their inheritance, that impressed or brought
out the qualities for which Naphtali was remark-
able at the one remarkable period of its history.
This district, the modern Btlad-BeAarak, or "land
of good tidings," comprises some of the most beau-
tiful scenery, and some of the most fertile soil in
Palestine (Porter, p. 368), forests surpassing those
of the renowned Carmel itself (Van de Velde, i.
293) ; as rich in noble and ever varying prospects
as any country in the world (ii. 407). As it is
thus described by one of the few travellers who
have eraased Its mountains and descended into its
ravines, so it was at the time of the Christian era ;
>' The soil," says .losrphua ( B. J. ill. 8, § 9), « uni-
versally rich and productive; full of plantation
of trees of all sorts; so fertile ss to invite the most
slothful to cultivate it." But, except in the per-
manence of these natural advantages, the. contrast
between the present and that earlier time is com-
plete; for whereas, in the time ofJosephus, Galilee
was one of the most populous and busy districts
of Syria, now the population is in an inverse pro
portion to the luxuriance of the natural vegetation
(Van de Velde, 1. 170).
Three of the towns of Naphtali were allotted to
the Gerahonite Levites — Kedesh (already called
Kedeah-in-Ualilee), Hanunoth-dor, and Kartaii
Of these, the first was a city of refuge (Josh, xx
7, xxi. 32). Naphtali was one of Solomon's com-
missariat districts, under the charge of his son-in-
law Ahimaax; who with his wife Basmath resided
in his presidency, and doubtless enlivened that
remote and rural locality by a miniature of the
court of his august father-in-law, held at Safed or
Kedesh, or wherever his residence may have been
(1 K. iv. 15). Here he doubtless watched the
progress of the unpromising new district presented
to Solomon by Hiram — the twenty cities of Cabul,
which seem to have been within the territory of
Naphtali, perhaps the nucleus of the Galilee of
later date. The ruler of the tribe (TM) — «
different dignity altogether from that of Ahimaax
— was, In the reign of David, Jerimoth ben-Azriel
(1 Chr. xxvii. 19).
Naphtali had its share in those incursions and
molestations by the surrounding heathen, which
were the common lot of all the tribes (Judah per-
haps alone excepted) during the first centuries after
the conquest. One of these, apparently the sever-
est struggle of all, fell with special violence on the
north of the country, and the leader by whom
the Invasion was repelled — Barak of Kedesb-
Naphtali — was the one great hero whom Naphtali
is recorded to have produoed. How gigantic were
the efforts by which these heroic mountaineers
which he had been oapttvs -and Bella (fefeitatus.
Cad. Pumltpitr. V. T. I. 669, *«.).
a rom,rmdeisd«wsst n mtl>sA.T. l e«ji')S>itaar'l
the««M • of flatties.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2066 NAPH1ALI
sated their darling highland* from the twain* of
Uanmnitea who followed Jabin and Siaera, and
how grand the position which they achieved in the
eyes of the whole nation, ma; be gathered from
the narrative of the war in Judg. iv., and still
more froin the expressions of the triumphal song
in which Deborah, the propheteM of Kphraim, im-
mortalized the victor*, and branded their reluctant
countrymen with everlasting infamy. Gilead and
lieu ben lingered beyond the Jordan amongst their
flocks: Dan and Asher preferred the luxurious calm
of their hot lowlands to the free air and fierce
strife of the mountains | Issachar with character-
istic tlnggishneas seems to have moved slowly if he
moved at all; but Zebulun and Naphtali on the
tummita of their native highlands devoted them-
selves to death, even to an extravagant pitch of
heroism and adf-devotion (Judg. v. 18): —
"zebuinn are a people that
even unto death —
And Naphtali, on the Mgh
threw a away thatrllvi
places of the naU."
The mention of Naphtali contained in the Song
attributed to Jacob — whether it is predictive, or
as some writers believe, retrospective — must have
reference to this event: unless indeed, which is
hardly to be believed, some other heroic occasion is
referred to, which has passed unrecorded in the
history. The translation of this difficult passage
jiveii by Kwald (tlctchichU, ii. 380) has the merit
>f being more intelligible than the ordinary ver-
sion, and also more in harmony with the expres-
siunx uf Deborah's Song: —
" Naphtali la a towering Terebinth ;
lie hath a goodly orest."
IV allusion, at once to the situation of the tribe
at the very apex of the country, to the heroes who
towered at the head of the tribe, and to the lofty
mountains on whose summits their castle*, then as
now. were perched — is very happy, and ei.t'rely in
the vein of these ancient poems.
After this burst of heroism, the Naphtalites
appear to have resigned themselves to the inter-
course with the 6 heathen, which was the bane of
the northern tribes in general, and of which there
sre already indications in Judg. i. 33. The loca-
tion by Jeroboam within their territory of the great
sanctuary for the northern part of his kingdom
mast have giveu an impulse to their nationality,
end for a time hare revived the connection with
Iheir brethren nearer the centre. But there waa
one circumstance fatal to the prosperity of the
ttirw, ruiuely, that it lay in tbe very path of the
jortheni invaders. Syrian and Assyrian, Benha-
<iad and Ttglath-pileaer, each had their first taste
f the plunder of tbe Israelites from tbe goodly
.and of Naphtali. At length in the reign of
lVkah king of Israel (dr. B. c. 730), Tiiclath-
ptleser overran the whole of the north of Israel,
•wept oft* the population, and bore them away to
Assyria.
But though the history of the tribe of Naphtali
NAPHTHAS
ends has*, and the sauna is not again nmatlaeti
except in the well-kuown citation of St Matt how
(iv. IB), and the mystical references of Kxekiei
(xlvUi. S, a, 34) and of the writer of the Apoca-
lypse (Rev. vil. 6), yet under the title of Gtuui
— apparently an ancient uame, though not hr-juxht
prominently forward till the Chriatian era — the
district which they bad formerly occupied waa des-
tined to become in every way far more important
than it had ever before been. For it was the cradle
of tbe Christian faith, lbs native place of most
of the Apostles, and the " home " of our Lord.
[Ualii.ee, vol. i. p. 860 «; < .'ArKBjutm, 381.}
It also became populous and prosperous to s
degree far beyond anything of which we hare any
indications in the Old Testament; but this, as any)
as the account of its sufferings and heroic rrtirtn-w
during the campaign of" Titus and Vespasiau priot
to the deaiructioii of Jerusalem, must ha given
elsewhere. [Gaui.kk; I'ALtsnMt.] G.
NAPHTALI, MOUNT O^W "«?: i,
re? Spti r«7 N«a>0oAf I [Rom. -xf] : if om Nrpk-
pili). The mountainous district which formed the
main part of the inheritance of Naphtali (Josh,
xx. 7), answering to "Mount Kphraim" in the
centre and " Mount Judah " in the south of Pales-
tine.
NAPHTHAR M^Saf. Nrpl>thnr). The
name given by Neheiniah to the substance* which
after the return from Babylon was discerned in
the dry pit in which at the destruction of the Tem-
ple the sacred Hre of the altar had been hidden
~ Mace. i. 36, comp. 19). The legend is a curious
one; and it is plain, from tbe description of the
substance — " thick water," d which, being poured
over tbe sacrifice and the wood, waa kindled by the
great heat of the sun, and then burnt with an
exceedingly bright and clear flame (ver. 38) — that
it was either the same as or closely allied to the
naphtha of modem commerce (/tyro/emu). The
narrative it not at all extravagant in its terms,
and is very probably grounded on some actual'
occurrence. The only difficulty it presents is the
explanation given of the name : " Naphthar, which
is, being interpreted, cleansing " (anfopio'uo't), and
which has hitherto puzzled nil the interpreters. It
is perhaps due to some mistake in copying. A list
of conjectures will he found in (irimni (Krmytf.
Hnndi. ad loo.), and another in Reland's Dits, rf«
ttt. Ling. Pm. lxriii.
The place from which this combustible wster wai
taken was inclosed by the " king of Persia " (Ar-
taxerxes Longimauus), and converted into a sanc-
tuary (such seems I he force of itpbv wottly ver. 84).
In modern times it has been identified with tbe
large well called by tbe Arabs Bir-tyi\ situated
beneath Jerusalem, at tbe confluence of the valleys
of Kidron and Ilinnom with the Wmly en-Nnr
(or " valley of the fire " ), and from which the mafat
water supply of the city is oMained.
This well, the Aral> name of which may be Die
well of Joab or of Job, and which is usually identi-
• Bo Bwald, wrgwerfmd (DrcAur, 1. 180).
6 This Is Implied In the asms of Galilee, which, at
as early data, is styled Vytl V?$, f«M hag.
•**m, QeJIUe of the Gentiles.
« Hot to the ptur., as Id the Vulgats, — Amu lo-
* Tbe word " water " Is hen ased merely lor " Uo.-
vrid," as la aqua m'tce. Native naphtha Is i
obtained without a lor, and to appearance not unlike
• Grimm, (p. 50) notices a passage in the n Adam
book " of the Ethiopian Christians, In which mm a
said to have discovered In the vaults of tat. Tempts
eenssr rail of the Sacred (Ire which had fossa**)
burnt In the Sanctuary .
Digitized by VjOOQlC
XAPHTUHIM
M with En-ngd, ■ asm known te Jm Frank
Christians ss the " WeD of Nebemiah." Aceord-
ktg to Dr. Robinson (BibL Ru < 831, 2 note), the
first trace of this name is in Quaresmlni (Ekieuh-
Ho, etc ii. 370-4), who wrote in the early part of
the 17th cent. (1618-86). He cab H « the well of
Nehemiafa and of fire," in word! which seem to im-
ply that such was at that time ita recesjnued name:
"Celebris ilia et nominatus puteus, Nahemisj et
Ignis ippellatus." The valley which rune from it
to the Dead Sea is called Wady tn-Nar, " VaHey
af the Fin; " bnt no streea can be laid on this, aa
the nam* may hare originated the tradition. A
description of the Bhr-eytb u given by WiHianu
(Boty City, ii. 489-95), Barclay (City, etc., 618-
16), and by the careful Tobler ( Umgtbunyen, tte.,
p. 60). At present it would be an equally unsuitable
spot either to store fire or to seek for naphtha.
One thine; ie plain, that it cannot hare been En-
rage! (which was a tiring spring of water from the
days of Joahoa downwards), and a naphtha well
also. G.
NAPHTUHIM (BTVlja [Egyptian, see
below] : S«p9a\tlfH [In 1 Chr!, Rom. Vat. omit,
Comp. Aid. Keo)eW«ut; Alex. N«p0aAf«i/t,
Nt<p6aXifi:] Nephttdm, Ntphlhuim), a Mizraite
nation or tribe, mentioned only in the account of
the descendants of Noah (Gen. z. 13; 1 Chr. i. 11).
If we may judge from their position in the list of
the Mixraites, according to the Masoretic text (in
the LXX. in Gen. x. they follow the Ludim and
■recede the Anamim, 'Erc/urufu), immediately
after the Lehabim, who doubtless dwelt to the west
of Egypt, and before the Pathruslm, who inhabited
that country, the Naphtubim were probably settled
at first, or at the time when Gen. x. was writ-
ten, either in Egypt or immediately to the west of
it. In Coptic toe city Marea and the neighboring
territory, which probably corresponded to the older
Mareotie nome, la called JU&4.I4.T «*
IU<i<?LJ<S/rX, a name composed of the word
rfcAJA.T * $A.14.aY, "" miknown mean-
ing, with the plural definite article A] prefixed.
In hieroglyphics mention is made of a nation or
confederacy of tribes conquered by the Egyptians
sailed "the Nine Bows," " a name which Cham-
BoOkm read Naphit, or, as we should write H,
NA-PETU, >• the bows," though be called them
••the Nine Bows."* It seems, however, more
reasonable to suppose that we should read (ix.)
PBTU "the Nine Bows" literally. It is also
eubtful whether the Coptic name of Marea con-
•aaas the word " bow," which la only found in the
firms It!T€ (S. msec.) and $! r f~ (M. fern.
-a rainbow "); but it is possible that the second
■art of the former may hare been originally the
mow as the latter. It is noteworthy that there
should be two geographical names connected with
the bow in hieroglyphics, the one of a country,
MERC-PET, « the Island of the bow," probably
MEROR, and the other of a nation or confederacy,
•' the Nine Bows," and that in the hat of the Ham-
Baa there should be two similar names, Phut and
Waa htnhim , besides Cosh, probably of like sense.
NATHAN
20rJ7
i this name" the Urns Peseta"!
fi»e i ie »« a v ii Jhwetn/t**, H. p. »>.
t Akowmh*ex*r/setabPK,PlC,C(PnU.i
No important historical notice of the Nine Bews
has been found in the Egyptian inscriptions: they
are only spoken of in a general manner when the
kings are said, in laudatory inscriptions, to bare
subdued great nations, such ss the Negroes, or ex-
tensive countries, such sa KEKSH, or Cash. Per
haps therefore this name ia that of a confederacy ot
of a widely-epreed nation, of which the members or
tribes are spoken of separately in records of a more
particular character, treating of special conquests
of the Pharaohs or enumerating their tributaries.
R. S. P.
• NAPKIN (<mtipu>,\ tmJnrhm), Luke six.
20; John xi. 44, xx. 7. The original term is not
so restricted in its meaning as our word napHa,
but rather corresponds to handkkhchiek, which
see. "Napkin" was formerly used in this wider
sense, as by Shakespeare. A.
NABOIS'BUS (Na>*i<ro-M ["daffodil":
Narcmw]). A dweller at Rome (Rom. xvi. 11),
some members of whose household were known
as Christians to St Paul. Some persons hare
assumed the identity of this Narcissus with the
secretary of the emperor Claudius (Suetonius,
Cloudhu, § 28). Bat that wealthy and powerful
freedman satisfied the revenee of Agrippina by a
miserable death in prison (Tac. Ann. xiii. 1), in
the first year of Nero's reign (A. I>. 64-56), about
three years before this Epistle wss written. Die
Cassius, Ixir. 8, mentions another Narcissus, who
probably was living in Rome at that time; he at-
tained to some notoriety as an associate of Nero,
and was put to an ignominious death with Helios,
Patrobius, Locusts, snd others, on the accession of
Ualbs, a. d. 68. His name, however (see Reimar's
note, in loco), was at that time too common in
Rome to give any probability to the guess that
he was the Narcissus mentioned by St. PauL A
late and improbable tradition (Pseudo-Hippoljtue)
makes Narcissus one of the seventy disciples, and
bishop of Athens. W. T. a
N ARD. [Spikenard.]
NAS'BAS (Nao-jOh; [Sin. Na£a3:] JVa&nM).
The nephew of Tobit who came with Aohiacharua
to the wedding of Tobias (Tob. xi. 18). Grotius
considers him the same with Acbiacharus the son
of Ansel, but according to the Vulgate tbey were
brothers. The margin of the A. V. gives " Junius "
ss the equivalent of Nasbas.
NA'SITH (Nairf: [Vat Nairn;] Atex.N<un»>
Ifont) = Nkziah (1 Esdr. v. 83: somp. En. n.
M).
NA'SOR, THB PLAIN OF (to t,K»
Kao-iip [Sin. snd 4 cursiveMSS. Atrttp, see below] ;
Cam/na Atar), the scene of an action between Jona-
than the Maccabee and the forces of Demetrius (»
Mace. xi. 67, comp. 63). It waa near Cades (Ka-
desh-Naphtall) on the one side, and the water of
Gennesar (Lake of Genneesret) on the other, and
therefore may be safely identified with the Hazor
which became so renowned in the history of the
conquest for the victories of Joshua and Barak
(vol. Ii. p. 10156). In fact the name is the same,
except that through the error of a transcriber the
N from the preceding Creek word hss become at-
tached to it Josephus (Ant. xiii. 5, § 7) gives i)
eoneeUy,'Ao-<fp. [Comp. Naaratii, p. 804* note]
Q
NATHAN f*."n [fiscal.*, of God]: NdW
-Vatkan), an eminent Hauraw prophet in the reigns
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2068 NATHAN
«f David and Solomon. If the expression " first
and but," in 9 Chr. ix. 99, is to bo taken literally,
ha mast have lived late into the life of Solomon, in
which ease he most hare been considerably younger
than David. At any rate he seems to have been
the younger of the two prophets who accompanied
him, and may be considered as the latest direct
representative of the schools of Samuel.
A Jewish tradition mentioned by Jerome ( On.
Htb. on 1 Sam. xrii. 19) identifies him with the
eighth son of Jesse. [David, vol. i. p. 552 A.]
But of this there is no proof.
He first appears in the consultation with David
about the building of the Temple. He begins by
advising it, and then, after a vision, withdraws his
advice, on the ground that the time was not yet
come (3 Sara. vii. 3. 3, 17). He next comes for-
ward js the reprover of David for the sin with Bath-
shaba; and his famous apologue on the rieh man
and the ewe lamb, which is the only direct example
of his prophetic power, shows it to have been of a
very high order (3 Sam. xii. 1-19).
There is an indistinct trace of his appearing also
at the time of the plague which fell on Jerusalem
in accordance with the warning of Gad. " An an-
gel," says Eupolemus (Euseb. Prop. JEv. ix. 80),
11 pointed him to the place where the Temple was
to be, but forbade him to build it, as being stained
with blood, and having fought many wars. His
name was Dianathan." This was probably occa-
sioned by some confusion of the Greek version,
Juk NcuW, with the parallel passage of 1 Chr. xxii.
8, where the bloodstained life of David is given as
a reason against toe building, but where Nathan is
not named.
On the birth of Solomon he was either specially
charged with giving him his name, Jkdidiah, or
else with his education, according as the words of
2 Sam. xii. 96, "He sent (or 'sent him') by (or
•into') the hand of Nathan," are understood. At
any rate, in the last years of David, it is Nathan
who, by taking the side of Solomon, turned the
scale in his favor. He advised Bathsheba; he him-
self ventured to enter the royal presence with a
remonstranoe against the king's apathy; and at
David's request be sssisted in the inauguration of
Solomon (lK.i. 8, 10, 11, 93, 28, 94, 39, 34,38,48).
This is the last time that we hear directly of his
intervention in the history. His son Zabud occu-
pied the post of " King's Friend," perhaps suc-
ceeding Nathan (9 Sam. xr. 37; 1 Chr. xxvii. 33).
His Influence may be traced in the perpetuation of
his manner of prophecy in the writings ascribed to
Solomon (compere EoeL ix. 14-16 with 9 Sam. xii.
1-4).
He left two works behind him — a lifcof David
(1 Chr. xxix. 99), and a Life of Solomon (9 Chr.
fat 99). The last of these may have been incom-
plete, as we cannot be sure that he outlived Solo-
mon. But the biography of David by Nathan is,
of all the losses which antiquity, sacred or profane,
has sustained, the moat deplorable.
The consideration in which he was held at the
time is indicated by the solemn announcement of
sis approach — '• Behold Nathan the prophet "
(1 K. i. 33). The peculiar affix of" the prophet,"
as distinguished from " the seer," given to &*•**
and Gad (1 Chr. xxix. 99), shows his identification
with the later view of the prophetic office indicated
at 1 Sam. ix. 9. His grave is shown at HaUtul
mm Hebron (see Robinson, Bibi Rts. 1.916 mote).
A. P. 8.
NATHAN ABL
2. A soi if David; one of the (bar who wen
borne to him by Bathsheba (1 Chr. Hi. S; oomp
xiv. 4, and 3 Sam. v. 14). He was thus own
brother to Solomon — if the order of the lists is to
be accepted, elder brother; though this is at variance
with the natural inference from the narrative of 9
Sam. xii. 94, which implies that Solomon was
Bathsheba's second son. The name was not un-
known in David's family; Nethan-eel was one of
his brothers, and Jo-nathan his nephew.
Nathan appears to have taken no part in the
events of his father's or bis brother's reigns. Hs
is interesting to us from his appearing as one of the
forefathers of Joseph in the genealogy of St. Luke
(iii. 81 ) — "the private genealogy of Joseph, exhib-
iting his line as David's descendant, and thus show-
ing how he was heir to Salomon's crown " (vol. i
p. 886). The hypothesis of Lord Arthur Herrey hj
that on the failure of Solomon's line in Jehoiaohin
or Jeconiah, who died without issue, Sahthiel of
Nathan's house became heir to David's th-one, and
then was entered in the genealogical tablw as " son
of Jeconiah " (i. 885 A). That the family of Na-
than was, as this hypothesis requires, well known
at the time of Jehoiachin's death, is implied by its
mention in Zech. xii. 19, a prophecy the date of
which is placed by Ewald (Prophtttn, 1. J91 ) at
fifteen years after Habbakuk, and shortly before the
destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar —
that is, a few years only after Jehoiachin's death.
3. [In 9 Sam., Rom. Tat. NoeW-] Son, or
brother, of one of the members of David's guard (2
Sam. xxiii. 36: 1 Chr. xL 88). In the former of
these two parallel passages he is stated to be "of
Zobah," i. e. Aram-Zobah, which Kennioott in his
investigation (Dissert. 915, 916) decides to have
been the original reading, though he also decides
for " brother " against " son."
4. One of the head men who returned from
Babylon with Ezra on his second expedition, and
whom he despatched from his encampment at the
river Ahava to the colony of Jews at Cadphia, to
obtain thence some Levites and Nethinim for the
Temple service (Ear. viii. 16; 1 Esdr. viii. 44).
That Nathan and those mentioned with him wen
laymen, appears evident from the concluding words
of the preceding verse, and therefore it is not im-
possible that he may be the same with the " son
of Bani " who was obliged to relinquish his foreign
wife (Esr. x. 39), though on the other hand these
marriages seem rather to have been contracted by
those who had been longer in Jerusalem than he,
who had so lately arrived from Babylon, could be.
G.
NATHAN'AEL (NaetosmA, cjrt of God;
[NalhmntI]), a disciple of Jesus Christ oonesrning
whom, under that name at least, we learn from
Scripture little more than his birth-place, Cane of
Galilee (John xxi. 9), and his simple truthful
character (John 1. 47). We have no particulars of
his life. Indeed the name does not occur in the
first three Gospels.
We learn, however, from St. John that Jesus, on
the third or fourth day after his return from the
some of bis temptation to that of his ^-pti—*.
having been proclaimed by the Baptist ss the Lamt
of God, was minded to go into Galilee. He first
then called Philip to follow Him, but Philip could
not set forth on his Journey without communi-
cating to Nathanael the wonderful intelligenoi
which he had received from his master the Baptist
namely, that the Messiah so long foretold by mot*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NATHANAEL
nd the Prophets had at bit appeared. Nat h a n a e l,
■he seems to have heard the announcement at first
with some distrust, as doubting wnether anything
good could oorae out of so small and inconsiderable
s place as Nazareth — a place nowhere mentioned in
the Old Testament — yet readily accepted Philip's
invitation to go and satisfy himself by his own
personal observation (John i. 46 ). What follows is
a testimony to the humility, simplicity, and sin-
cerity of his own character from One who could
read his heart, such as is recorded of hardly auy
other person in the Bible. Nathanael, on his ap-
proach to Jesus, is saluted by Hini as " an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no guile " — a true child of
Abraham, and not simply according to the flesh.
So little, however, did he expect any such distinctive
praise, that he could not refrain from asking how it
was that he had become known to Jesus* The
answer," before that Philip called thee, when thou
wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee," appears to have
satisfied him that the speaker was more than man —
that Ue must have read his secret thoughts, and
heard his unuttered prayer at a time when he was
studiously screening himself from public observa-
tion. The conclusion was inevitable. Nathanael at
once confessed " Kabbi, thou art the Son of God ;
thou art the King of Israel" (John i. 49). The
name of Nathanael occurs but once again in the
Gospel narrative, and then simply ss one of the
small company of disciples to whom Jesus showed
Himself at the Sea of Tiberias after his resurrec-
tion. On that occasion we may fairly suppose that
he Joined his brethren in their night's venture on
the lake — that, having been a sharer of their fruit-
less toil, he was a witness with them of the mirac-
ulous draught of fishes the next morning — and
that he afterwards partook of the meal, to which,
without daring to ask, the disciples felt assured in
their hearts, that He who had called them was the
Lord (John xxi. 19). Once therefore at the begin-
ning of our Saviour's ministry, and once after his
resurrection, does the name of Nathanael occur in
the Sacred Record.
This scanty notice of one who was intimately
associated with the very ehiefest Apostles, and was
him se l f the object of our Lord's most emphatic
commendation, has not unnaturally provoked the
inquiry whether he may not be identified with an-
other of the well-known disciples of Jesus. It is
indeed very oommonly believed that Nathanael and
Bartholomew are the same person. The evidence
for that belief is sa follows: St. John, who twice
mentions Nathanael, never introduces the name of
Bartholomew at alL St. Matt x. 3; St. Mark iii.
18, and St. Luke vi. 14, all speak of Bartholomew,
bat never of Nathanael. It may be, however, that
Nathanael was the proper name, and Bartholomew
(son of Tbolmai) the surname of the same disciple,
Just as Simon was called Bar-Jona, and Joses, Bar-
NAUM
2069
It was Philip who first brought Nathanael to
Jesus, just si Andrew had brought his brother
Simon, and Bartholomew is named by each of the
Ant three Evangelists immediately after Philip;
while by St. Luke he Is ooupled with Philip pre-
cisely hi the same way as Simon wun his brother
tadrew, and James with his brother John. It
should be observed, too, that, as all the other dis-
ciples mentioned in the first chapter of St. John
seesaw Apostles of Christ, it is difficult to suppose
Jhat end who had been so singularly commended
by Jesus, and who in his turn had so promptly and
so fully confessed Him to be the Son of God, should
be excluded from the number. Again, that Na-
thanael was one of the original twelve, is inferred
with much probability from his not being proposed
as one of the candidates to fill the place of Judas-
Still we must be careful to distinguish conjecture,
however well founded, from proof.
To the argument based u|ion the fact, that in St.
John's enumeration of the disciples to whom our
Lord showed Himself at the Sea of Tiberias Na
thsnael stands before the sons of Zebedee, it is replied
that this was to be expected, as the writer wss him-
self a sou of Zebedee; and further that Nathanael
is placed after Thomas Ui this list, while Bartholo
mew comes before Thomas in St. Matthew, St.
Mark, and St. Luke. Hut as in .the Acts St Luke
reverses the order of the two names, putting Thomas
first, and Bartholomew second, we cannot attach
much weight to this argument
St. Augustine not only denies the claim of Na-
thanael to be one of the Twelve, but assigns as a
reason for his opinion, that whereas Nathanael was
most likely a learned man in the 1-aw of Moses, it
was, as St Paul tells us, 1 Cor. i. 26, the wisdom
of Christ to make choice of rude and unlettered
men to confound the wise (in Jo/tnn. AV. e. i. J 17).
St Gregory adopts the same view (on John i. 33,
c. 16. B). In a dissertation on John i. id, to be
found in Thtt. Theo. philuhg. ii. 370, the author,
J. Kindler, maintains that Bartholomew and Na-
thanael are different persons.
There is a tradition that Nathanael was toe
bridegroom at the marriage of Cana (Calinet), and
Epiphanius, Adv. /far. i. § 223, implies his belief
that of the two disciples whom Jesus overtook on
the road to Kmmaus Nathanael was one.
2. 1 Eadr. i. 9. [NkthankbuJ
3. (NoeWai)\os: [JVntAanes] ) 1 Esdr. ix. 22
[NethakekuJ
4. (Nnthania$.) Son of Sanuel; one of the
ancestors of Judith (Jud. viii. 1), and therefore a
Simeonite (ix. 2). E. H. . . . 8.
NATHANI'AS (NoeWos : om. in Vulg.)^
Nathan of the sons of Bani (1 Esdr. ix. 34;
comp. Ear. x. 39).
NATHAN-METLECH (TJ^plOJ [<v-
poinitd of the Hag, Ges.] : Naewr /JariAfes : No-
thnn-meltch). A eunuch (A. V. "chamlerlain "<
in the court of Josiah, by whoso chamber at the
entranoe to the Temple were the horses which the
kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun (9 K.
xxiii. 11). The LXX. translate the latter part of
the name as an appellative, " Nathan the king."
• NAUGHTINESS (1 Sam. xvil. 2f ; Piot.
xl. 6; James i. 21), signified wickedness v ten our
present version of the Scriptures was made. Keosnt
translators (as Conant, Nojes) substitute " exoess
of wickedness" for " superfluity of naughtiness"
(wspisWoy kokuu) in James as above. [Naugh-
ty.] H.
• NAUGHTY, formerly used in the sense of
worthless, bad, as in Jer. xxiv. 2, " naughty figs " ,
and hence asm morally corrupt, wicked, as Prov.
vi. 12, u a naughty person, a wicked man," and
Prov. r"tt- 4, " a naughty tongue." It is now ap-
plied generally to the conduct of pert or mischiev-
ous children. H.
NA'UM (Naoe>: tlfahum], son of Estt, and
father of Amos, in the genealogy of Christ (Labs
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2070
NAVE
O. 85), about contoroporary with the high-priest-
hood of Jason and the reign of Antioobus Epiph-
anes. The only point to be remarked ii the circum-
stance of the two coneeeutire names, Naum and
Amos, being the aaoie aa tboee of the prapheta N.
and A. But whether thii ia aooidental, or haa any
peculiar significance, it ia difficult to say. Nauni
ia aim a Phoenician proper name (Qeeen. a. «. and
M on. PIubh. p. 134). Nthemiah ia formed from the
same root, Df!}, " to comfort." A. C. H.
NAVE. The Heb, 22, gov, conveys the notion
of convexity or protubenuioe. It ia rendered in
A. V. boss of a shield, Job xt. 96; the eyebrow,
Lev. xiv. 9; an eminent place, Ex. xvi. 81; once
wily in ptur. naves, rSroi, radii, 1 K. vii. 83: but
Id Kb, i. 18 twice, wroe, "rings," and niarg.
etrakes," an old word apparently used both for
the nave of a wheel from wbieh the spokes pro-
ceed, aud also more probably the felloe or the tire,
aa making the streak or stroke upon the ground,
(ilalliwell, Phillips, Bailey, Asb, Eng. Dictionm-itt,
"strake.") Geaenius, p. 258, renders atrvalwa
rotarvm. [Chariot; I.avkr; Gabbatha.]
II. W. P.
NA'VE (NcnW): JVnte). Joshua the son of
Nun is always called in the I XX. " the son of
Nave," and this form is retained in Ecclus. xlvi. 1.
NAZ'ARENE (Nafvpajos.Nafapnro'i: [•ATi's-
araut, Namrenue]), an inhabitant of Nazareth.
This appellative is found in the N. T. applied to
Jesus by the demons in the synagogue at Caper-
naum (Mark i. 24; Luke iv. 34); hy the people,
who so describe him to Bartimeus (Mark x. 47:
Luke xviii. 37): by the soldiers who arrested Jesus
(John xviii. 5. 7): by the servants at his trial
(Matt. xxvi. 71; Mark xiv. 67); by Pilate in the
inscription on the crow (John xix. 19); by the dis-
ciple* on the way to Emmaui (Luke xxiv. 19); by
Peter (Acta ii. 22, iii. 6, iv. 10); by Stephen, as
reported by the false witness (Acts vi. 14); by the
ascended Jesus (Acts xxii. 8); and by Paul (Acta
xxvi. 9). This name, made striking in so many
ways, and which, if first given In scorn, was adopted
and gloried in by the disciples, wears told, in Matt
ii. 23, possesses n prophetic significance. Its ap-
plication to Jesus, in consequence of the providen-
tial arrangements by which his parent* were led to
take up their abode in Nazareth, was the filling out
of the predictions in which the promised Messiah
is deacriiied as a M titer (1?3), i. e. a tkoot, tprout,
of Jesse, a humble and despised descendant of the
decayed royal family. Wheuever men spoke of
Jesus as the Nazarene, they either consciously or
unconsciously pronounoed one of the names of the
predicted Messiah, a name indicative both of his
royal descent and his humble condition. This ex-
planation, which Jerome mentions aa that given by
learned (Christian) Jews in his day, has been
adopted by Surenhusitis, Fritzsche, Gieseler, Krabbe
(Leben Jetu), Drechaler (on Is, xl. 1), SchirliU
(ff. T.Wdrlerb.), Robinson (JV. T. Lex.), Hengs-
tenberg (Chrittol.), De Wette, and Meyer. It is
confirmed by the following considerations: (1.)
Vilter, as Hengstenberg, after de Dieu and others,
as proved, was the proper Hebrew name of Naz-
<reth. (2. ) The reference to the etymological sig-
nification of the word is entirely in keeping with
" - ii. 21-93. (3.) The Messiah U expressly
la AViserinIa.xi.1. (4.) The same thought,
NAZABBTH
and under the same image, although expressed by
a different word, ia found in Jar. xxlii. 6, xxxiii
15; Zeoh. iii. 8, vi. 12, which aceounta for the
statement of Matthew that this prediction was
uttered " by the impket* " in the plural
It is unnecessary therefore to resort to the hy-
pothesis that the passage in Matt. ii. 93 is a quo-
tation from some prophetical book now lost (Chrys-
ost., Theopbyl., Clerical), or from some apocryphal
book (Kwald), or was a traditional prophecy (Calo-
vius; Alexander, Connection and Harmony of the
Old and N. T.), all which suppositions are refuted
by the fact that the phrase •' by the prophets," m
the N. T., refers exclusively to the ennonieat books
of the O. T. The explanation of others (Tert,
Erasm., Calr., Bee, Grot., Wetstein), according to
whom the declaration is that Jeaua should be a AT>r*>
nrite ("I^^J), i. e. one specially coruecraied or de-
voted to God (Judg. xiii. 6), ia inconsistent, to say
nothing of other objections, with the LXX. mode
of spelling the word, which ia generally Jia(ipa7ot,
and never Ha(mpcuos Within the last century
the interpretation which finds the key of the pas-
sage in the contempt in which Nazareth may be
supposed to have been held has been widely re-
ceived. So l'aulus, itoaenm., Kuin., Van der Palm,
Gersdorf, A. Barnes, Olsb., Davidson, ICbrard, Lange.
According to this view the reference is to the de-
tpittd am!it'«m of the Messiah, as predicted in Ps.
xxii., Ia. liii. That idea, however, ia more surely ex-
pressed in the first explanation given, which has also
the advantage of recognizing the apparent impor-
tance attached to the signification of the name
("He shall be called"). Recently a suggestion
which Witsius borrowed from Socinus has been
revived by Zuachlag and Riggenbach, that the
true word ia "13b or ^"J?^, ""/ Saviour, with ref-
erence to Jesus as the Saviour of the world, but
without much success. Once (Acts xxiv. 6) the
term Nnzirtnri is applied to the followers of Jesus
by way of contempt. The name still exists in Arabic
as the ordinary designation of Christians, and the
recent revolt in India was connected with a pre-
tended ancient prophecy that the Nazarenes, after
holding power for one hundred years, would be ex-
pelled. (Spanheim, Dubia Evangelica, ii. 588-
648; Wolf, Cura Philobgica,L 48-48; Hengsten-
berg, airistvio;iy of the O. T.,li. 106-112; Zuach-
lag in the Zeittckrift fir de Lmtheriteke Theo-
logit, 1854, 417-446; Riggeubach in the Studitn
mid Kritiken, 1856, 688-619.) O. K. D.
NAZ'ARETH (written Nofoper and Naf-
afit; also Na(apa\ Tisch. 8th ed., in Matt. iv. 13
and Luke iv. 16: Ifaxnreth) is not mentioned in
the Old Testament or in Joaephus, but occurs first
in Matt ii. 23, though a town could hardly fail to
have existed on so eligible a spot from much earlier
times. It derives its celebrity almost entirely from
its connection with the niatory of Christ, and in
that respect has a hold on the imagination and
feelings of men which it shares only with Jerusa-
lem and Bethlehem. It is situated among the
hills which constitute the south ridges of Lebanon,
just before they sink down into the Plain of
Ksdraelon. Among those hills is a valley which
runs in a waving line nearly east and west about
a mile long and, on the average, a quarter of a
mile broad, but which at a certain point entarsres
itself considerably so as to form a sort of l«ba
In this basin or inclosme, along the lower edge ea
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NAZARETH
Jk hns mtn. lira thi quirt, sorliirttri llllt^f In wtiirh
Use Saviour of men spent the greater part of bis
earthly existence. The surrounding heights very
in altitude, some of them rise to iy. or 000 feet
The; have rounded tops, ere eompoeed of the
gHttering limestone which it n common in that
co untr y, and, though on the wnole sterile and un-
attractive in appearance, present not an unpleaaing
aspect, diversified as they are with the foliage of
fig- trees and wild shrubs and with the rerdure of
occasional fields of grain. Our familiar hollyhock
faj one of the gay flowers which grow wild there.
The inclosed valley is peculiarly rich and well cul-
tivated: it h filled with corn-field*, with gardens,
hedges of cactus, and clusters of fruit-bearing trees.
Being to sheltered by hills, Nazareth enjoys a mild
atmosphere and climate. Hence all the fruits
of the country, — as pomegranates, oranges, figs,
olives, — ripen enrlv aiul attain a rare perfection.
No thoroughfare invaded the seclusion of Naz-
areth. The line of travel from the north through
Cosls-Syria (the /nUvtVi) to the south of Palestine
it by different routes on the east and the
NAZARETH
2071
west, and that from East-Jordan to the Meditarra
nean passed it on the south.
Of the. identification of the ancient site there
can be no doubt. The name of the present village
is en-ffdariHi, the same, therefore, as of old; it
is situated among hills and on a hill-side (I.uke ir.
99); it is within the limits of the province of
I Galilee (Mark i. 9); it is near Cans (whether we
assume Kimn on the north or Knnn on the north-
I east as the scene of the first miracle), according to
t the implication in John ii. 1, 2, 1 1 ; a precipice
exists in the neighborhood (Luke iv. 39); and
i finally, a series of testimonies (Reland, Pal., p. 90S)
reach back to Eusebius, the father of Church his-
tory, which represent the place as having occupied
an invariable position.
The modem Nazareth belongs to the better class
I of eastern villages. It has a population variously
estimated from 3000 to 5000. It consists of Mo-
hammedans, latin and Greek Christians, and a
I few Protestants. There are two mosques (one
of them very small), a Franciscan convent of huge
i dimensions but displaying no great architeetnsal
hearty, a ax>iH Maronite church, a Greek church,
sod pernios a church or chapel of some of the
other confessions. Protestant missions have lieeu
attempted, but with no very marked success. Most
of the houses are well built of stone, and have a
neat and comfortable appearance. A few of the
people dwell in recesses of the limestone cliffs,
natural or excavated for that purpose. As streams
in the rainy season are liable to pour down with
violence from the hills, every " wise man. 1 ' instead
jf building upon the loose soil on the surface, di^s
(Jeep and lays his foundation upon the rock (iwl
-in» titpay) which is found so generally in that
sentry at a certain depth in the earth. The
•treats or lanes are narrow and crooked, and after
via an so full of mud and mire as to I* almost
A description of Nazareth would be incomplete
without mention of the remarkable view from It*
tomb of Neby Ismail on one of the hills behind
the town. It must suffice to indicate merely the
objects within sight. In the north are seen the
ridges of l«banon and, high alwve all, the white
top of llerinon; in the west, Carmei. glimpses of
the Mediterranean, the bay and the town of Akka;
east and southeast are Gilead, Tabor, Gilhoa: and
south, the Plain of Ksdraekm and the mountains
of Samaria, with villages on every side, among
which are Kana, Nein, Kndor, Zertn (Jezreet;, and
Tiiannuk (Taanach). It is unquestionably one of
the most Iwautiful and sublime spectacle* (for it
combines the two features) which earth has to
show. I)r. Robinson's elaborate description of the
scene {Bit',. Ret., ii. 336, 337) conveys no exag-
gerated idea of its magnificence or historical inter-
est, 't is sasv to believe that the Saviour, dswiaf
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2072 NAZARETH
the days of his seclusion in the adjacent rails;,
same often to this very spot and looked forth thence
■pon those glorious works of the Creator which
so lift the soul upward to Him. One of the grand-
est news of Jtbtl eth-Sheik, the ancient Hertnon,
is that which burst* on the traveller as he ascends
from the valley eastward on the way to Cana and
Tiberias.
The passages of Scripture which refer expressly
to Nazareth, though not numerous, are suggestive
and deserve to be recalled here." It was the home
of Joseph and Mary (Luke ii. 39). The angel
announced to the Virgin -there the birth of the
Messiah (Luke i. 86-88). The holy family returned
thither after the flight into Egypt (Matt. ii. 83).
Nazareth is called the native country (q wo-rsl;
mbrov) of Jesus : He grew up there from infancy
to manhood (Luke iv. 16), and was known through
life as " The Nasarene." He taught in the syna-
gogue there (Matt. xiii. 54; Luke iv. 16), and was
dragged by hia fellow-townsmen to the precipice
in order to be cast down thence an*} be killed («ir
to KaraicpTiiuilacu cuYroV). " Jesus of Nazareth,
king of the Jews" was written over his Cross
(John xix. 19), and after his ascension He revealed
Himself under that appellation to the persecuting
Saul (Acts xxii. 8). The place has given name to
hia followers in all ages and all lauds, a name
which will never cease to be one of honor and
reproach.
The origin of the disrepute in which Nnzareth
stood (John i. 46) is not certainly known. All
the inhabitants of Galilee were looked upon with
contempt by the people of Judaea because tliey
spoke a ruder dialect, were leas cultivated, and
were more exposed by their position to contact
with the heathen. But Nazareth labored under a
special opprobrium, for it was a Galihean and not
a southern Jew who asked the reproachful queation,
whether 'any good thing" oould come from that
source. As the term "good " (oVyatfoV) has more
commonly an ethical sense, it has been suggested
that the inhabitants of Nazareth may have had a
bad name among their neighbors for irreligion or
some laxity uf morals. The supposition receives
support from the disposition which they manifested
towards the person and ministry of our lx>rd.
They attempted to kill Him; they expelled Him
twice (for Luke iv. 16-89, and Matt. xiii. 54-58,
relate probably to different occurrences) from their
borders ; they were so willful and unbelieving that
He performed not many miracles among them
(Matt. xiii. 68); and, finally, they compelled Him
to turn his back upon them and reside at Caper-
naum (Matt. ir. 18).
It is impossible to speak of distances with much
« • The name of Nazareth occurs 27 times In the
Greek text, and twice more in the A. V., namely, Luke
rrlU. 87 and xxiv. 19, where the Greek, however, is
NagWfMMx. H.
» * Yet, with this vicinity of Cane to Nazareth,
Nathanaei, who lived at Uana, appears never to have
leard of Jesus until called to be one of his disciples
it the beginning of hia ministry (John I. 46-50).
*n strictly private, unofficial, was the Saviour's life at
Nazareth until the time came for Him " to be made
manifest to Israel " (John 1. 81). This obscurity Is
Irreconcilable with the Idea that Christ wrought
miracles before He entered on his public work. H.
« * Tor so enumeration or these " places " and the
esjs ud s connected with them, one may see Bepp*s
rJsnu. ask* dm* htil. Lamd, U. 78-91). They srs de-
NAZARETH
exactness. Nazareth is a moderate journey of
three days from Jerusalem, seren hoars, or aboat
twenty miles, from Akka or Ptolemaia (Acts ad.
7), five or six hours, or eighteen miles, from the
sea of Galilee, six miles west from Mount Tabes-,
two hours from Cana," and two or three from
Endor and Nain. The origin of the name m)
uncertain. For the conjectures on the subject, see
Nazakxhe.
We pass over, ss foreign to the proper object of
this notice, any particular account of the "holy
places" which the legends have sought to connect
with events in the life of Christ.' They an de-
scribed in nearly all the books of modern tourists;
hut, having no sure connection with Biblical geog-
raphy or exegesis, do not require attention hen.
Two localities, however, form an exception to tIJs
statement, inasmuch as tht>y po sses s, though ji
different ways, a certain interest which no one will
fail to recognize. One of these is the " Fountain
of the Virgin," situated at the northeastern ex-
tremity of the town, where, according to one tra-
dition, the mother of Jesus received the angel's
salutation (Luke i. 28). Though «e may attach
no importance to this Utter belief, we must, en
other accounts, regard the spring with a feeling
akin to that of religious veneration. It derives
its name from the fact that Mary, during her life
at Nazareth, no doubt accompanied often by " the
child Jesus," must hsre been accustomed to repair
to this fountain for water, as is the practice of the
women of that village at the present day. Cer-
tainly, as I)r. Clarke observes ( Trarth, ii. 487),
" if there be a spot throughout the holy land that
was undoubtedly honored by her presence, we may
consider this to have been the place: becaure the
situation of a copious spring is not liable to change,
and because the custom of repairing thither to
draw water has been continued among the female
inhabitants of Nazareth from the earliest period
of its history." The well-worn path which leads
thither from the town has lieen trodden by the feet
of slmost countless generations. It presents at all
hours a busy scene, from the number of those,
hurrying to and fro, engaged in the labor is «a*er-
carrying. See the engraving, i. 838 of wis i>io-
tumarg.
The other place is that of the atten.pted Pre-
cipitation. We are directed to the true scene of
this occurrence, not so much by any tradition as
by internal indications in the Gospel history itself.
A prevalent opinion of the country has transferred
the event to a hill about two miles southeast of
the town. But there is no evidence that Nazareth
ever occupied a different site from the present one:
and that a mob whose determination was to pot to
scribed still more fully In the new work of Titus
Tobler, NaxarelK in Palaatina (Berlin, 1888). Thta
work la founded partly on the author's third journ-r
to the Holy Land In 1846, but still more on eommubl
canons from the missionary Zeller, who has resided at
Nazareth since 1858. It forms a valuable eonnibs-
Uon to our knowledge of the hWtnry, statistics, and
topography of this tarred place. The plan of the little
village, Inserted at the end, representing the fours*
of the valley, the market, atn-ets, fountains, convents,
ohurcbes. In s great help to the reader. It may be
added that Dr. Tobler, though a Catholic, rejects Us
tradition of the Latin monks respecting the aits of the
precipice at Na*»reth, and agrees with those ens
decide that It must be sought within the pea s ant vtj
lags, probably near the Maronlts Church. at.
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XAZABETH
Ike object of (heir rage, should repair to so
■ is pesos fir that purpose, is entirely iuered-
bie. "Us presort village, ss already stated, lies
alamg the hill-side, but much neater the base than
the summit- Above the bulk of the town are
seve r al rooky ledges over which no person could
he thrown without almost certain destruction. But
there is one very remarkable precipice, almost per-
pendiou l ar and forty or fifty feet high, near the
Marooite Church, which may well be supposed to
be the identical one over which his infuriated
townsmen attempted to hurl Jesus. Not far from
the town, on the northwest declivity of the hill,
are a few excavated stone-sepulchres, almost the
anly Jewish mouument which now remains to be
seen there.
The singular precision with which the narrative
relates the transaction deserves a remark or two.
Casual readers would understand from the aoeount
that Nazareth was situated on the summit, and
that the people brought Jesus down thence to the
brow of the hill as if it ms between tlie town and
the valley. If these inferences were oorrect, the
narrative and the locality would then be at vari-
anos with each other. The writer is free to say
that he himself had these erroneous impressions,
and was led to correct them by what he observed
oa the spot Even Kebuid (PaL p. 906) says:
u Na£o0('0 — urhs aedificata super rvptm, un<le
Christum precipitare conati sunt." But the lan-
guage of the Evangelist, when more closely exam-
ined, is found neither to require the inferences in
question on the one hand, nor to exclude them
on the other. What he asserts is, that the incensed
crowd " rose up and cast Jesua out of the city, and
brought him to the brow of the hill on wliich the
city was built, that they might east him down
headlong." It will be remarked here, in the first
place, that it is not said that the people either went
op or descended in order to reach the precipice,
but simply that they brought the Saviour to it,
wherever it was ; and in the second place, that it
is not said that the city was built " on the brow
of the hill" (t»f vijj i^piot too Spmt), but
iqually as well that the precipice was "on the
brow," without deciding whether the cliff over-
looked the town (as is the fact) or was below it"
It will be seen, therefore, how very nearly the
terms of the history approach a mistake and yet
■said it. As Paley remarks in another Base,
Dona but a true account could advance thus to
■ha very brink of contradiction without falling
into it
Hie fortunes of Nazareth have been various.
Eniphanius states that no Christians dwelt there
autil the time of Constantino. Helena, the mother
af that emperor, is related to have built the first
Church of the Annunciation here. In the time of
the Crusaders, the Episcopal See of Bethsean was
transferred there. The birthplace of Christianity
•as lost to the Christians by their defeat at Hattin
in 1183, and was laid utterly in ruins by Sultan
Khars in 1363. Ages passed away before it rose
from this prostration. In 1820 the Fran-
rebuilt this Church of the Annunciation
NAZABITB
2078
and connected a cloister with it In 178S the
Turks assaulted the French General Jurat at
Nazareth; and shortly after, 3,100 French, under
Kleber and Napoleon, defeated a Turkish srmy of
35,000 at the foot of Mount Tabor. Napoleon
himself, after that battle, spent a few hours at
Nazareth, and reached there the northern limit of
his eastern expedition. The earthquake which de-
stroyed Safed, in 1837, injured also Nazareth. No
Jews reside there at present, which may be ascribed
perhaps ss much to the hostility of the Christian
sects as to their own hatred of the prophet who
was sent "to redeem Israel." H. B. H.
NAZ'ARITE, more properly NAZ1HITK
(•VJ3 and D-rrS^I "VTJ: wiyMrfW and .ifd-
u«n». Num. vi. ; rafipaios, Judg. xiii. 7, Law. ir.
7 : Nommbw), one of either sex who was bound by
a vow of a peculiar kind to be set apart from others
for the service of God. The obligation was either
for Lfc or for a defined time. The Minima names the
two classes resulting from this distinction, ^"VB
DTI17, •'perpetual Nazarites " ( Nutnrm natmi),
and ttV* s ~t*f2, " Nazarites of days " (Ifa*-
arai volivi).
I. There is no notice in the Pentateuch of Naz-
arites for life; but the regulations for the vow ot •
Nazarite of days are given Num. vi. 1-31.
The Nazarite, during the term of his consecra-
tion, was bound to abstain from wine, grapes, with
every production of the vine, even to the stones and
skin of the grape, and from every kind of intoxica-
ting drink. He was forbidden to cut the hair of
his head, or to approach any dead body, even
that of his nearest relation. When the period of
his vow was fulfilled, he was brought to the door
of the Tabernacle and was required to oner a he-
lamb for a burnt-offering, a ewe lamb for s sin-
offering, and a ram for a peace-offering, with the
usual accompaniments of peace-offerings (Lev. vii.
13, 18) and of the offering made at the consecra-
tion of priests (Ex. xxix. 3) " a basket of unleavened
bread, cakes of fine Sour mingled with oil, and
wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil"
(Num. vi. 15). He brought also a meat-offering
and drink-offering, which appear to have been pre-
sented by themselves as a distinct act of service
(ver. 17). He wss to out off the hair of " the
bead of his separation " (that is, the hair which
bad grown during the period of his consecration)
at the door of the Tabernacle, and to put it into
the fire under the sacrifice on the altar. The priest
then placed upon his hands the sodden left shoulder
of the ram, with one of the unleavened cakes snd
one of the wafers, and then took them again and
waved them for a wave-oflering These, as well as
the breast and the bean, or right shoulder (to
which he was entitled in the case of ordinary peace-
offerings, Lev. vii. 33-34), were the perquisite of
the priest. The Nazarite also gave him a present
proportioned to his circumstances (ver. 31 )."
If a Nazarite incurred defilement by accidentally
a • Mr. Tristram's view, that « the old Nazareth
vason tka brow of the hill " {Land of Una, p 122,-
•a el.), and not " on the steep slops " ss at present, If
as* "a mlalatarpratatton " (as Tobler ehaiaetatxsss It,
Wssai il* p. 63), fa certainly unnimsssr/. B.
• It Is said that at the southeast comer or ths
court of the women, in Band's tempts, than was an
apartment appropriated to ths Nasantas , in which they
used to boll their peacs-oOsrlDgs i-id cutoff their hair
UfchUbot, ftsaswtt of «fa TtwtpU, «. xvH.: H ak art . a
B.9 Lakes MIL
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2074
NAZARITB
touching a dead body, ha bad to undergo certain
rites of purification and to recommence . the full
period of big consecration. On the seventh da; of
his uncleanness he was to cut off his hair, and on
'Me following da; he bad to bring two turtle-doves
or two young pigeons to the priest, who offered one
for a sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering
He then hallowed his head, offered a lamb of the
first year as a trespass-offering, and renewed his
row under the same conditions aa it had been at
first made.
It has been conjectured that the Nazarite vow
was at first taken with some formality, and that
h was accompanied by an offering similar to that
prescribed at its renewal in the ease of pollution.
But if any inference may be drawn from the early
sections of the Mishnical tiretise Naur, it seems
probable that the sot of self-consecration was a
private matter, not accompanied by any prescribed
lite.
There is nothing whatever said in the Old Testa-
ment of the duration of the period of the vow of
the Nacarite of days. According to Nruir (cap. i.
§ 8, p. 148) the usual time was thirty days, but
double vows for sixty days, and treble vows for a
hundred days, were sometimes made (cap. iii. 1-4)
One instance is related of Helens, queen of Adja-
bene (of whom some particulars are given by Jose-
phus, Ant. xx. 2), who, with the seal of a new con-
vert, took a vow for seven years in order to obtain
the divine favor on a military expedition which
her son was about to undertake. When her period
of consecration had expired she visited Jerusalem,
and was there informed by the doctors of the
school of Hillel that a vow taken in another country
must be repeated whenever the Nazarite might
visit the Holy Land. She accordingly continued a
Nazarite for a second seven years, and happening
to touch a dead body just as the time was about to
expire, she was obliged to renew her vow according
to the law in Num. vi. 9, etc. She thus continued
« Nazarite for twenty-one years."
There are some other particulars given in the
Mishna, which are curious as showing how the in-
stitution was regarded in later times. The vow
was often undertaken by childless parents in the
hope of obtaining children: this may, of course,
have been easily suggested by the cases of Manoah's
wife and Hannah. A female Nazarite wbose vow
wis broken might be punished with forty stripes.
— The Nazarite was permitted to smooth his hair
with a brush, but not to comb it, lest a single hair
might be torn out.
II- Of the Nazaritea for life three are mentioned
fa the Scriptures : Samson, Samuel, and St. John
the Baptist. The only one of these actually called
« Nazarite is Samson. The Rabbis raised the
inaction whether Samuel was in reality a Nazarite.'
In Hannah's vow, it is expressly stated that no
naor should come upon her sou's head (1 Sam. i.
a fiazir, cap. 8, S 6, p. 166.
A JVoxrr, cap. 9. R 6, with Bartenora's note, p. 178.
c Aid tovto 6 cat /JaaiAcwr «al irpo$irrwv tUyurros.
Xapavi|A oZyor xal ptfwrpa, m o iepbc Aoyoc "too-iV,
expt TcAxvT^c ov iricrcu. — Phil, de Ebrittaie, vol 1. p.
tTO, edit. Manger.
d See Fcjtirta, quoted by Drnslus on Num. vL
« Nazir, cap. 4, f 8, p. 169.
/ JVastr, cap. 1, 4 2, p. 147.
f Tbe primary meaning of this word Is that of aap-
irswaa with a holy purpose. Hence It Is assd to ex-
NAZABITE
11); but no mention is made of abstinence ten
wine. It is, however, worthy ■/ notice that Phils
makes a particular point of this, and seems to reset
tbe words of Hannah, 1 Sam. i. 16, to Samuel
himself.' In reference to St. John the Baptist, the
Angel makes mention of abstinence from wine and
Strang drink, but not of letting the hair grow
(Luke 1. 16).
We are but imperfectly informed of the difference
between the observances of the Nazarite for life and
those of tbe Nazarite for days. The later Rabbis
slightly notice this point.'' We do not know whether
the row for life was ever voluntarily taken by the
individual. In all the cases mentioned in the sa-
cred history, it was made by the parents before tbe
birth of the Nazarite himself. According to the
general law of vows (Num. xxx. 8), the mother
could not take the vow without the father, and
this is expressly applied to the Nazarite vow in to*
Mishna.' Hannah must therefore either have pre-
sumed on her husband's concurrence, or secured it
beforehand.
The Mishna/ makes a distinction between tbe
ordinary Nazarite for life and the Samson-Nazarita
(pt£H237 TT3). The former made a strong
point of his purity, and, if he was polluted, offered
corban. But as regards his hair, when it became
inconveniently long, he was allowed to trim it, if he
was willing to offer the appointed victims (Num.
vi. 14). The Samson-Nazarite, on tbe other hand,
gave no corban if he touched a dead body, but ha
was not suffered to trim his hair under any condi-
tions. This distinction, it is pretty evident, was
suggested by tbe freedom with which Samson must
have come in the way of the dead (Judg- xv. 16,
eto.), and tbe terrible penalty which *he paid for
allowing bis bair to be cut.
III. The consecration of the Nazarite bore s
striking resemblance to that of the high-priest
(Lev. xxi. 10-12). In one particular, this is
brought out more plainly in the Hebrew text than
it is in our version, in the LXX ., or in the Vulgate.
One word CTM)>' deri'.ed from the same root ai
Nazarite, is used for the long hair of the Nazarite,
Num. vi. 19, where the A. V. has "hair of his
separation," and for tbe anointed bead or the high-
priest, Lev. xxi. 12, where it is rendered " crown."
The Misbna points out the identity of tbe law for
both the high-priest and the Nazarite in respect to
pollution, in that neither was permitted to approach
the corpse of even the nearest relation, while for an
ordinary priest the law allowed more freedom (Lev.
xxi. 2). And Haimonides (Mure Nervdiim, iii
48) speaks of the dignity of the Nazarite, in regard
to his sanctity, as being equal to that of the high-
priest. The abstinence from wine enjoined upon
the high-priest on behalf of all the priests when
they were about to enter upon their ministrations,
is an obvious, but perhaps not such an important
press the consecration of the Nazarite (Nam. vi. 4, 6,
9). Bat U appears to have been especially applied tc
a badge of consecration and difttuction worn on u»
head, such as the crown of a king (2 Sam. L 10 ; 2 K.
xL 13), the diadem (\^S) of the high-priest (fc. San
6, xxxlx. 80), aa well as his anointed hair, the long hall
of the Nazarite, and, dropping the idea of conseeratine
altogether, to long hair la a general dense (Jer. vll Sfa)
This may throw light on Geo. xlix. 26 aud Bam
xxzlil. 16. SeesscttonVI. of this artteta.
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HAZARITE
Whit in the comparison. Tharaii a passage in the
eeoount given by Hegesippus of St. James the
Just (Eusebius, Hist. £ce. ii. 33), which, if we may
■name it to represent a genuine tradition, is worth
a notice, and seems to show that Nazarites were
permitted enran to enter into the Holy of Holies.
He says that St. James was consecrated from his
birth neither to eat meat, to drink wine, to cut
his hair, nor to indulge in the use of the bath, and
that to him alone it was permitted (rovra> )x6vtp
lli)r) to enter the sanctuary. Perhaps it would
net be unreasonable to suppose that the half sacer-
dotal character of Samuel might have been con-
nected with his prerogative as a Nazarite. Many of
the Fathers designate him as a priest, although St.
Jerome, on the obvious ground of his descent, de-
nies that he had any sacerdotal rank.
TV. Of the two vows recorded of St Paul, that
In Acta xviii. 18,' certainlj cannot be regarded as
a regular Nazarite vow. All that we are told of it
Is that on his way Item Corinth to Jerusalem, he
" shaved his head in Cenchreas, for he had a vow."
It would seem that the cutting off the hair was at
the commencement of the period over which the
vow extended ; at all events, the hair was not cut
off at the door of the Temple when the sacrifices
were offered, as was required by the law of the
Nazarite. It is most likely that it was a sort of
vow, modified from the proper Nazarite vow, which
had come into use at this time amongst the re-
ligious Jews who had been visited by sickness, or
any other calamity. In reference to a vow of this
kind which was taken by Bernice, Josephus says
that "they were accustomed to row that they
would refrain from wine, and that they would cut
off their hair thirty days before the presentation of
their offering." * No hint is given us of the pur-
pose of St. Paul in this act of devotion. Spencer
conjectuiee that it might have been performed with
a view to obtain a good voyage; d Neander, with
greater probability, that it was an expression of
thanksgiving and humiliation on account of some
recent illness or affliction of some kind.
The other reference to a vow taken by St. Paul
is m Acts xxi. 24, where we find the brethren at
Jerusalem exhorting him to take part with four
Christians who had a vow on them, to sanctify
(not purify, as in A. V. ) himself with them, and to
be at charges with tbem, that they might shave
their heads. The reason alleged for this advice is
that he might prove to those who misunderstood
him, that he walked orderly and kept the law.
Now it cannot be doubted that this was a strictly
legal Nazarite vow. He Joined the four men for
the last seven days of their consecration, until the
NAZABITE
207*
« J. 0. Ortlob, in an essay In the Thesaurus Novus
Iheoiopto-Pkilologiats. vol. I. p. 587, entitled " Sam-
uel Judex at Propheta, non Pontifrx aut saesraos ssc-
rifieans." has brought forward a man of testimony on
this subject.
I Qrotlus, Meyer, Howson, and a few others, refer
this vow to Aqulla, not to St. Paul. The beet argu-
ments In favor of this view are given by Mr. Howson
(I£» of /». Pawl, vol. I. p. 458). Dean Alford, In his
nets on Acts xvill. 18, has satisfactorily replied to them
* Dr. Howson formerly held that opinion, but re-
tracts it in his Lectures on the Character of St. Paul p
M (3d ed. 1884), where he admits that the vow la mora
trooably that of Paul than that of Aqulla. Further,
ssi addMon to Aomu, Amer. ed. H.
* tern Meander's flaming ami Training of the ~\unM,
I 308 (Inland's translation). In toe passsga trans-
ofisring was msde for each one of them, and their
hair was cut off in the usual form (ver. 36, 37). It
appears to have been no uncommon thing for those
charitable persons who could afford it to assist in
paying for the offerings of poor Nazarites. Joao-
phus relates that Herod Agrippa I., when he de-
aired to show his seal for the religion of his fathers,
gave direction that many Nazarites should have
their heads shorn:' and the Gemara (quoted by
Reland, AnU Sac.), that Alexander Jannssus con-
tributed towards supplying nine hundred victims
for three hundred Nazarites.
V. That the institution of Nazaritism existed
and had become a matter of course amongst the
Hebrews before the time of Hoses is beyond a
doubt. The legislator appears to have done no
more than ordain such regulations for the vow
of the Nazarite of days ss brought it under the
cognizance of the priest and into harmony with
the general system of religious observance. It has
been assumed, not unreasonably, that the conse-
cration of the Nazarite for life was of at least
equal antiquity./ It may not have needed any
notice or modification in the Law, and hence, prob-
ably, the silence respecting it in the Pentateuch.
But it is doubted in regard to Nazaritism in gen-
eral, whether it was of native or foreign origin.
Cyril of Alexandria considered that the letting the
hair grow, the most characteristic feature in the
vow, was taken from the Egyptians. This notion
has been substantially adopted by Fagius, o Spen-
cer,* Michaelis,' Hengatenberg,* and some other
critics. Hengstenberg affirms that the Egyptians
and the Hebrews were distinguished amongst an-
cient nations by cutting their hair as a matter of
social propriety ; and thus the marked significance
of long hair must have been common to them both.
The arguments of Bahr, however, to show that the
wearing long hair in Egypt and all other heathen
nations had a meaning opposed to the idea of the
Nazarite vow, seem to be conclusive; ' and Winer
justly observes that the points of resemblance be-
tween the Nazarite vow and heathen customs are
too fragmentary and indefinite to furnish a safe
foundation for an argument in favor of a foreign
origin for the former.
Ewald supposes that Nazarites for life were
numerous in very early times, and that they multi-
plied in periods of great political and religious ex-
citement. The only ones, however, expressly named
in the Old Testament are Samson and Samuel.
The rabbinical notion that Absalom was a Nazarite
seems hardly worthy of notice, though Spencer and
Lightibot have adopted it™ When Amos wrote, the
Nazarites, as well as the prophets, suffered from
lated from Joseph. B. J. 11. 16, 1 1, an emendation ol
Neander's la adopted. See also Knlnosl on Acts xrlU. 18.
d De Ug. Hear, lib. 111. chap. vL { 1.
• jMiq. xU. 8, { 1.
/ Bwald seems to think that It was the more autoo*
of the two (AUerthUmer, p. 96).
a Oitici Sacri, on Num. vl. 6.
* DeLeg. Jhbr. lib. Hi. chap. vl. J 1.
i Commentaries on the Law of Motet, bk. HI.
|146.
k Egypt ami tat Books of Moses, p. 190 (Bngttsh
vers.).
i Bahr, i^mooltt, vol. U. p. 489.
m Spencer, Dt Lee. Hebr. lib. 111. e. vl. § 1. light-
foot, Exereit. in 1 Cor. xl. 14. Some have Imagine*
that Jephtha's daughter was consigned to a Nsssrits
vow by ner father. See Oarpsov, p. 168.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2076
NA2ABITB
Ae perteontion and contempt of the ungodly. The
Jivine word respecting them wat, " 1 raised up of
four sons for prophet* and of your young men for
Nazarites. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to
drink, and commanded the prophet*, saying,
Prophesy not " (Am. ii. 11, IS). In the time of
Judas Maccabeus we find the devout Jewr, when
they were bringing their gifts to the priests, stirring
up the Nazarites of days who had completed the
time of their oonaecration, to make the accus-
tomed offering* (1 Mace. iii. 49). From this inci-
dent, in connection with what haa been related of
the liberality of Alexander Jannaeus and Herod
Agrippa, we may infer that the number of Nazarites
must hare been very considerable during the two
centuries and a half which preceded the destruction
of Jerusalem The instance of St. John the Baptist
and that of St. James the Just (if we accept the
traditional account) show that the Nazarite for life
retained his original character till later times; and
the act of St. Paul in joining himself with the four
Nazarites at Jerusalem seenia to prove that the
row of the Nazarite of daya wai as little altered in
its important features.
VI. The word "l^TJ occurs in three passages of
the Old Testament, in which it appears to mean
one separated from others as a prince. Two of the
passages refer to Joseph: one la in Jacob's benedic-
tion of his sons (Gen. xlix. 38), the other in Moses'
benediction of the tribes (Deut xxxiii. 16). Aa
these texta stand in our version, the blessing is
spoken of aa falling " on the crown of the head of
him who waa separated from his brethren." The
LXX. render the words in one place, M KopveVqr
if y-rhtraro aeVA T )eu>, and in the other M
mf>va>V So{<Kr0«Vru in d&sAaVur. The Vulgate
translates them in each place " in rertiee Naomi
inter fratree." The expression it strikingly like
that used of the high-priest (Lev. xxi. 10-19), and
seems to derive illustrations from the use of the
word *7T3.
The third passage is that in which the prophet
is mourning over the departed prosperity and beauty
of Sion (Lam. iv. 7, 8). In the A. V. the words
are " Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they
were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in
body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire,
their visage is blacker than a coal, they are not
known in the street*, their skin cleaveth to their
hones, it is withered, it it become like a stick." In
favor of the application of this passage to the
Nazarites are the renderings of the IJQL, the
Vulg., and nearly all the versions. But Getenius,
de Watte, and other modern critics think that it
refers to the young princes of Israel, and that the
word "1 % 13 la used in the tame tente a* it it in
regard to Joseph, Gen. xlix. 98 and Dent xxxiii.
16.
VII. The vow of the Nazarite of days mutt
have been a telf-impoted discipline, undertaken with
t specific purpose. The Jewish writers mostly re-
■ 8m note*, p. 9074.
b Halmonldea, tlor. /ttr. B 48.
* Nicolas Fuller baa discussed the subject of the
■bees of the Naxarlte* (aa well aa of the prophets) in
Us MUcfQa nta Sacm. Sea Oitid Sacri, roL tx. p.
1088. loose who have lmagfaM# that the Naaarltee
won a peculiar dreai, doubt whether it waa of royal
awrnle, of rougU halr-elota (like St John's), or of
state whits
NAZABITB
garded K aa a kind of penance, and hence acco unte d
for the place which the law regulating it holds in
Leviticus immediately after the law relating to
adultery.* Aa the quantity of hair which grew
within the ordinary period of a row could not have
been very considerable, and aa a temporary ab-
etinence from wine waa probably not a more notice-
able thing amongst the Hebrews than it ia in
modern society, the Nazarite of daya might have
fulfilled his vow without attracting much notice
until the day came for him to make bis offering in
the Temple.
But the Nazarite for life, on the other band,
mutt have been, with hit flowing hair and per-
sistent refusal of strong drink, a marked man.
Whether in any other particular his daily lift was
peculiar ia uncertain-' He may have had tome
privileges (aa we have teen) which gave him some-
thing of a priestly character, and (as it haa been
conjectured) he may have given up much of hit
time to sacred studies'' Though not necessarily
cut off from social life, when the turn of his mind
was devotional, consciousness of his peculiar dedica-
tion must have influenced bis habits and manner,
aud in tome cases probably led him to retire from
the world.
But without our retting on anything that may
be called in question, be mutt have been a public
witness for the idea of legal strictness and of what-
ever else Nazaritiam waa intended to express: and
at the vow of the Nazarite for lift was taken by hit
parent* before he waa conscious of it, hit observance
of it waa a sign of filial obedience, like the peculi-
arities of the Rechabites.
The meaning of the Nazarite vow hat been re-
garded in different lights. Some consider it at t
eymbolical expression of the Divine nature working
in man, and deny that it involved anything of a
strictly ascetic character; others tee in it the prin-
ciple of stoicism, aud imagine that it wai intended
to cultivate, and bear witness for, the sovereignty
of the will over the lower tendencies of human
nature: while tome regard it wholly in the light
of a etarinct of the peraou to God.
(a.) Several of the Jewish writers bare taken
the first view more or lets completely. Abarbanel
imagined that the hair r epr ese n ts the intellectual
power, the power belonging to the head, which the
wise man was not to suffer to be diminished or to
be interfered with, by drinking wine or by any other
indulgence; and that the Nazarite waa not to ap-
proach the dead because he waa appointed to bear
witness to the eternity of the divine nature.* Of
modern critics, Biihr appears to have most com-
pletely trodden in the tame track/ While he denies
that the life of the Nazarite was, in the proper
tense, ascetic, be contends that hit abstinence fron.
winev* and hit not being allowed to approach the
dead, figured the separation from other men which
characterizes the consecrated servant of the Lord ;
and that bis long hair signified hit holiness. The
hair, tccording to hit theory, at being the bloom
d Vatablut on Num. tl. (OuM aaen).
• Quoted by Da Mult on Num. vL (Oitiei Satr^.
/ Symbol*, vol. U. p. 416-480.
t He will not allow that thai acauaeoe* at ail m»
tamblad In Its meaning that of the priests, when
eoftged in their niiolttnttooa, which waa inCanaM
only to secure strict propriety In the dftebataa of that
Digitized by VjOOQlC
KAZABITB
sf manhood, it the lymbol of growth in tbr vegeta-
sls M weD n the animal kingdom, wid therefor*
sf the operation of the Divine power.
(A.) Bat the philosophical Jewish dootora, for
tut moat part, seem to hare preferred the second
new. Thus Bechai speaks of the Nazarite as a
conqueror who subdued his temptations, and who
wore his long hair as a crown, " quod ipse rex sit
eupiditatibus imperans prater morem reliquorum
hominuni, qui cupiditatum sunt serri." * He sup-
posed that the hair was worn rough, as a protest
against foppery. But others, still taking it as a
legal emblem, have imagined that it was kept
elaborately dressed, and fancy that they see a proof
of the existence of the custom in the seren looks of
Samson (Judg. xvi. 18-19).''
(o.) Philo has taken the deeper new of the sub-
ject. In his work, On Animals fit for Sacrifice,'
be gives an account of the Nazarite vow, and calls
it 4/ «v%4) ovydAi). According to him the Nazarite
did not sacrifice merely his possessions but his
person, and the act of sacrifice was to be performed
In the eompletest manner. The outward obser-
vances enjoined upon him were to be the genuine
expressions of his spiritual devotion. To represent
spntlsai purity within, he was to shun defilement
from the dead, at the expense even of the obligation
of the closest family ties. As no spiritual state or
act can be signified by any single symbol, he was
to identify himself with each one of the three vic-
tims which he had to offer as often as he broke his
vow by accidental pollution, or when the period of
his vow came to an end. He was to realize in
himself the ideas of the whole burnt-offering, the
sin-offering, and the pesos-offering. That no
mistake might be made in regard to the three
sacrifices being shadows of one and the same sub-
stance, it was ordained that the victims should be
individuals of one and the same species of animal.
The shorn hair was put on the fire of the altar in
order that, although the divine law did not permit
the offering of human blood, something might be
offered up actually a portion of his own person.
Ewald, following in the same line of thought, has
treated the row of the Nazarite as an act of self-
sacrifice; but he looks on the preservation of the
hair as signifying that the Nazarite is so set apart
for God, that no change or diminution should lie
made in any part of his person, and as serving to
himself and the world for a visible token of his
peculiar consecration to Jehovah/
That the Nazarite vow was essentially a sacrifice
af the person to the Lord is obviously in accordance
with the terms of the Law (Num. vi. S). In the
old dispensation it may have answered to that
" living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God," which
the believer is now called upon to make. As the
NBAH
2077
a Bear defends this notion by several philological
sewatDsote, which do not seem to be mneta to the point.
The ne ar est to the purpose Is that derived from Lav.
lav. 6, where the unpruned vtnee of the sabbatical
veer are called Nasarllce. But toll, of course, can be
well explained as a metaphor from unshorn hair.
» Oarpeov, App. Oil. p. 162. Agenesia uaas very
stmOar tsognage (Druti*3, on Num. vl. 7).
e This was also the opinion of Ughtfbot, Sctrtit. in
I Uor. xL 14, and Sermon on Judg. xl. 88.
* Spenser, Be Leg. Btbr. 111. vl. § 1.
• Optra, vol. II. p. 349 red. Mangey).
/ Lexkttet la manned to favor certain Jewish
witters who Meattf/ the vine with the tree of knowU
•dsja of feed sad evil, sad to eanneet the NsantUe law
Nazarite was a witness for the straitness of the
law, as distinguished from the freedom of the Gospel,
his sacrifice of himself was a submission to the
letter of a rule. Its outward manifestations were
restraints and eocentricities. The man was sep-
arated from his brethren that he might be peculiarly
devoted to the Lord. This was consistent with the
purpose of divine wisdom for the time for which it
was ordained. Wisdom, we are told, was justified
of her child in the life of the great Nazarite who
preached the baptism of repentance when the Law
was about to give way to the Gospel. Amongst
those liorn of women, no greater than he had arisen,
" but he that is least in the kingdom of Heaven is
greater than he." 1 be sacrifice which the believer
now makes of himself is not to cut him off from
his brethren, but to unite him more closely with
them ; not to subject him to an oitward bond, but
to confirm him in the liberty with which Christ
has made him free. It is not without significance
that wine under the Law was strictly forbidden to
the priest who wss engaged in the service of the
sanctuary, and to the few whom the Nazarite vow
bound to the special service of the Lord ; while in
the Church of Christ it is consecrated for the use
of every believer to whom the command has come,
" drink ye all of this," »
Carpzov, Appnrittiu Criticvs, p. 148; Kektnd,
Ant. Sneros, p. ii. c. 10; Meinhard, Pauli .Viwms-
ntm (Themurm T/ieologico-philohgictu, ii. 473).
The notes of Do Muis and Drusius on Num. vi.
( Critici Sncri) ; the notes of Grotius on Luke i.
IS, and Kuinoel on Acts xviii. 18; Spencer, Dt
Legibut Hebroorum, lib. iii. cap. vi. § 1 ; Michaelis,
Commentaries on the Laws of Motes, book iii. f
145 ; the Hishnical treatise Narir, with the notes
in Surenhusius's Mithna, iii. 146, Ac.; Bohr, Sym-
botik, ii. 416-430; Ewald, AUtrthimcr, p. 96; also
Gcschichte, ii. 43. Carpzov mentions with praise
Nnziirmu, sett Commentariut literalis et myslicut
in Legem Natiraorwn, by Cremcr. The essay
of Meinhard contains a large amount of information
on the subject, besides what bears immediately on
St. Paul's vows. Spencer gives a full account of
heathen customs in dedicating the hair. The Notes
of l)e Muis contain a valuable collection of Jewish
testimonies on the meaning of the Nazarite vow In
general. Those of Grotius relate especially to the
Nazarites" abstinence from wine. Hengstenherg
( Egypt and the Book* of Afmet, p. 190, English
translation) confutes BMhr's theory. S. C.
NE'AH (rryan [tile settlement, Filrst; pern.
inclination, descent, Dietr.], with the def. article:
Vat. omits; Alex. Know- Anea*), a place whi h
was one of the landmarks on the boundary cf
Zebulun (Josh. xix. 13 only). By Eusabi'ui and
with the eondiaon of Adam before he fell (Ktoaft. <a
Luc. I. Id). Tola strange notion la made still mat
tactful by Maces (Atonement and Sacrifice, Uluatra
tlou xxzvttL).
v This consideration might surely have famished
St. Jerome with a better answer to the Tatlanlsts, who
alleged Amos II. 12 In defeon of their abstinence from
wine, than bis bitter taunt that they ware bringing
" Jodalcas fabulas " Into the church, and that they
were bound, on their own ground, neither to cut their
hair, to eat grapes or raisins, or to approach the oorpaa
of a dead parent (» Amot IL 12).
* This Is the reading of the text of the TnifsM
given in the Benedictine edition of Jei
dinar' eoBisahave Arm
Digitized by VjOOQIC
2078 NEAPOLIS
Jerome ( Onomatt. •> Anna " ) it U mentioned merely
with b caution that there is a place of the aame
name, 10 miles S. of Neapolis. It has not jet been
Identified even by Schwarz. If ei-Methhnd, about
2j miles E. of Seffuriek, be Gath-HEFHKK, and
Rummaneh about 4 miles N. E. of the same place,
Rimmom, then Neah must probably be sought
somewhere to the north of the but-named town.
6.
NEAP"OLI8 (NtdVoAu, "new city": Ntnp-
oli$) is the place in northern Greece where Paul
and his associates first landed in Europe (Acts xvi.
II); where, no doubt, be landed also on bis second
visit to Macedonia (Acts xx. I), and whence cer-
tainly he embarked on his hut journey through
that province to Troas and Jerusalem (Acts xx. 6 ).
Philippi being an inland town, Neapolis was evi-
dently the port; and hence it is accounted for, that
Luke leaves the verb which describes the voyage
from Troas to Neapolis (tWvtponfa'H***), *° de-
scribe the continuance of the journey from Neapolis
to Philippi. It has been made a question whether
this harbor occupied the site of the present Kavalla,
a Turkish town on the coast of Roumelia, or should
be sought at some other place. Cousine'ry ( Vvyaye
inns la Macedoine) and Tafel (Dt Via MUiUir!
ftomttnorum Jignntia, etc.) maintain, against the
common opinion, that Luke's Neapolis wss not at
Kavalla, the inhabited town of that name, but at a
deserted harbor ten or twelve miles further west,
known as Eski or Old Kavalla. Most of those who
contend for the other identification assume the
point without much discussion, and the subject de-
mands still the attention of the Biblical geographer.
It may be well, therefore, to mention with some
fullness the reasons which support the claim of
Kavalla to be regarded as the ancient Neapolis, in
opposition to those which are urged in favor of the
other harbor.
First, the Roman and Greek ruins at Kavalla
prove that a port existed there in ancient times.
Neapolis, wherever it was, formed the point of con-
tact between Northern Greece and Asia Minor, at
a period of great commercial activity, and would
he expected to have left vestiges of its former im-
portance. The antiquities found still at Kavalla
fulfill entirely that presumption. One of these is a
massive aqueduct, which brings water into the town
rom a distance of ten or twelve miles north of
Kavalla, along the slopes of Symbolum. It is built
on two tiers of arches, a hundred feet long and
eighty feet high, and is carried over the narrow
valley between the promontory and the mainland.
The upper part of the work is modem, but the
substructions are evidently Roman, as is seen from
the composite character of the material, the cement,
and the style of the masonry. Just out of the
western gate are two marble sarcophagi, used as
watering-troughs, with Latin inscriptions, of the
sge of the emperor Claudius. Columns with chap-
iHs of elegant Ionic workmanship, blocks of marble,
fragments of hewn stone, evidently antique, are
■ Colonel Leake did not visit either this Kavalla or
the other, and bis assertion that there are ** the ruins
of a Greek city " there (which he supposes, however,
to have been Oalepsus, and not Neapolis) appears to
east on Onudneir's statement. But as Involving this
claim of Hskl Kavalla in still greater doubt. It may be
added that the situation oTGalepros Itself Is quite un-
esrtalu. Dr. Arnold (note on Thncyd. tv. 107) places
• near the mouth of the Btrrmon, and hence mush
NEAPOLIS
numerous both in the town and the suburbs. 0*
some of these are inscriptions, mostly in Latin, but
one at least in Greek. In digging for the founda-
tion of new houses the walls of ancient ones are
often brought to light, and sometimes tablets with
sculptured figures, which would be deemed curious
at Athens or Corinth. For fuller details, see BM.
Sacra, xvii. 881 ff. (October, 1860). [CoLorr,
Amer. ed.] On the contrary, no ruins have been
found at Eski Kavalla, or Paleopoli, as it is also
called, which can be pronounced unmistakably
ancient- No remains of walls, no inscriptions, and
no indications of any thoroughfare leading thence
to Philippi, are reported to exist there. Cousinery,
it is true, speaks of certain ruins at the place which
he deems worthy of notice: but according to the
testimony of others these ruins are altogether in-
considerable, and, which is still more decisive, an
modern in their character." Cousinery himself, in
fact, corroborates this, when he says that on the
isthmus which binds the peninsula to the main
land, " on troure In rutnc* dt Pnnciemte KinpalU
ou cellfi <tun chateau rtcotatruit dims U mojrrw
igt." h It appears that a medieval or Venetian
fortress existed there; but as far ss is yet ascer-
tained, nothing else has been discovered which
points to an earlier period.
Secondly, the advantages of the position render
Kavalla the probable site of Neapolis. It is the
first convenient harbor south of the Hellespont, on
coming from the east. Tnaeos serves as a natural
landmark. Tafel says, indeed, that Kavalla has no
port, or one next to none; but that is incorrect.
The fact that the place is now the seat of an active
commerce proves the contrary. It lies open some-
what to the south and southwest, but is otherwise
well sheltered. There is no danger in going into
the harbor. Even a rock which lies off the point
of the town has twelve fathoms alongside of it.
The bottom affords good anchorage; and although
the bay may not be so large as that of Eski Kavalla,
it is ample for the accommodation of any number
of vessels which the course of trade or travel be-
tween Asia Minor and Northern Greece would he
likely to bring together there at any one time.
Thirdly, the facility of intercourse between this
port and Philippi shows that Kavalla and Neapolis
must be the same. The distance is nearly ten
miles,' and hence not greater than Corinth was
from Cenchrese, and Ostia from Rome. Both places
are in sight at once from the top of Symhomm.
The distance between Philippi and Eski Kavalla
must be nearly twice as great Nature itself hat
opened a passage from the one place to the other
The mountains which guard the plain of Philippi
on the coast-side fall apart just behind Kavalla, and
render the construction of a road there entirely
easy. No other such defile exists at any other
point in this line of formidable hills. It is impos-
sible to view the configuration of the country from
the sea, and not feel at once that the only natural
place for crossing into the interior is this break-
down in the vicinity of Kavalla.
further west than Leake supposes. According t»
Oousingry, Oalepsus Is to be sought at Kavalla.
ft On p. 119 be says again : n Lea mines de l'andenni
ville de Neapolis ss composent prtndpalement der
restes d'un chateau dn moyen age entierement aha*
donni at pen a cce ssible''
e * The recent French explorers (JViss ton Archt
oltgiqut) make the distance from 11 to 18 kilometres
t. «. about 9 Roman miles. B.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEAPOLIS
Fourthly, th„ aaaam of the an:veut writers lead
• to ado, i the same view. Thus Dio Caenus says
(Hi*. Rom, xlvii. 85). that Neapolis was opposite
Thasos (kot' omrrpat Qioov), and that is the
situation of Kavalla. It would be much fen cor-
net, if correct at all, to say that the other Karelia
was so situated, since no part of the island extends
so fa- to the west Appian says (Bell. Civ. iv. 106),
that the camp of the Republicans near the Ganges,
the river (a-orouos) at Philippi, was nine Roman
miles from their triremes at Neapolis (it was con-
siderably further to the other place), and that
Thasos was twelve Roman miles from their naval
station (so we should understand the text); the
latter distance appropriate again to Kavalla, but
not to the harbor further west.
Finally, the ancient Itineraries support entirely
the identification in question. Both the Antonine
and the Jerusalem Itineraries show that the Kgna-
tian Way passed through Philippi. They mention
Philippi and Neapolis as next to each other in the
order of succession; and since the line of travel
which these Itineraries sketch was the one which
led from the west to Byzantium, or Constantinople,
it k reasonable to suppose that the road, after
leasing Philippi, would pursue the most convenient
and direct course to the east which the nature of
the eo unti y allows. If the road, therefore, was con-
structed on this obvious principle, it would follow
the track of the present Turkish road, and the next
station, consequently, would be Neapolis, or Kavalla,
on the coast, at the termination of the only natural
defile across the intervening mountains. The dis-
tance, as hsa been said, is about ten miles. The
Jerusalem Itinerary gives the distance between
Philippi and Neapolis as ten Roman miles, and the
Antonine Itinerary as twelve miles. The difference
In the latter case is unimportant, and not greater
than in some other instances where the places in
the two Itineraries are unquestionably the same.
It must be several miles further than this from
Philippi to Old Kavalla, and hence the Neapolis
of the Itineraries could not be at that point. The
theory of Tafel is, that Akontisma or Herkontroma
(the same place, without doubt), which the Itin-
eraries mention next to Neapolis, was at the present
Kavalla, and Neapolis at Leutere or Kaki Kavalla.
This theory, it is true, arranges the places in the
order of the Itineraries; but, as Leake objects, there
would be a needless detour of nearly twenty miles,
and that through a region much more difficult than
the direct way. The more accredited view is that
Akontisma was beyond Kavalla, further east.
Neapolis, therefore, like the present Kavalla, was
on a high rocky promontory which juts out into
the j£gean. The harbor, a mile and a half wide
at the entrance, and half a mile broad, lies on the
west side. The indifferent roadstead on the east
should not be called a harbor. Symbolum, 1670
feet hkrh, with a defile which leads into the plain
of Philippi, comes down near to the coast a little
to the west of the town. In winter the sun rinks
behind Mount Athos in the southwest as early as
4 o'clock P. M. The land along the eastern shore
is low, and otherwise unmarked by any peculiarity.
The island of Thasos bears a little to the S. E.,
twelve or fifteen miles distant. Plane-trees just
seyood thj walls, not las than four or five hundred
nam old, cast their shadow over the road which
*W followed on his way to Philippi. Kavalla has
a population of fire or six thousand, nine-tenths of
i are Mussulmans, and the rait Greeks.
NKARIAH
2079
For Neapolis as the Greek name of Sheohem.
now NabuCu, see Shechkm. H. B. 11.
* The region of Neapolis or Macedonia appears
to have been the northern limit of Paul's travels.
It may have been in this country and climate that
the Apostle suffered some of the privations (among
which were "cold" and u nakedness " ) of which
lie writes in 2 Cor. xi. 27. The winter, for example,
of 1857 is said to have been one of great severity.
Symbolum, over which the road passes to Philippi
from the coast, was covered with deep snow, and the
road thence onward to Theasalonica became for a
time impassable. Shepherds and travellers wen
frozen to death, and the flocks were destroyed in a
frightful manner. During a sojourn there of two
weeks in December, 1858, the thermometer fell re-
peatedly below zero. Huge icicles hung from the
arches of the old aqueduct. All the streams and
pools were frozen, and Thasos in the distance ap-
peared white with snow to the very shore. For
successive days the streets of Kavalla were almost
deserted. It is not at all improbable that the
Apostle's first sojourn in Macedonia, and perhaps
part of his second, fell in that season of 'the year.
The Apostle arrived in Macedonia on his second
visit early in the summer; for, remaining at Kphesus
until Pentecost (as may be inferred from 1 Cor.
xvi. 8), and tarrying for a short time at Troas
(2 Cor. ii. 12, 13), he then proceeded directly to
Macedonia. Hut as he went, at this time, west-
ward as far as lllyricum (Rom. xv. 19), and as he
spent but three months at Corinth before his return
to Macedonia, at the time of the succeeding Pente-
cost (Acts xx. 6), he must have prolonged his stay
in northern Greece into or through December.
Kavalla (CatWfo, so common in many of the
books, is unknown on the ground) consists of an
inner or upper part, inclosed by a crenelated
mediseval wall, and an outer part or subuib, also
surrounded by a wall, but of more recent construc-
tion. Even the outer wall does not include the
entire promontory, but leaves the western slope out-
side, part of which is tilled, and the remainder is
naked rock. The celebrated Mohammed Ali, Pasha
of Egypt, was born here in 1769. He showed
through life, a warm attachment to bis native placj ,
and, among the proofs of this, was his munificent
endowment of a madruth, or college, in which at
the present time three hundred scholars are taught
and supported, without any expense to themselves.
The funds are so ample, that doles of bread and
rice are given out, daily, to hundreds of the in-
habitants of Kavalla. Just before his death in
1848, the Pasha made a final visit to his birth'
place. On landing he went to the house in whhr.
he was born ; but remained there only a few hours,
and having spent these in religious worship, under
the roof which first sheltered him, hastened back
to his ship, and the next day departed for Egypt
(For other information see BibL Sacra as above.)
IL
• NEAP'OLIS, a later name of Emmaus in
the south of Palestine. [Emhaus, 2.]
NEARI'AH (rP"?y? [KrvantofJehocaky.
rtmatla: [Vat NawScia; Comp. Nsapia.:] JVaana).
X. One of the six sons of Shemaian in the line of
the roval family of Judah after the Captivity (1 Ohr.
HI. 22, 33).
2. [Comp. Noaeis.] A son of Ishi, and one of
the captain* of the BOO Simsouites who, fat the
Digitized by
Google
2080 NEBAI
jays of Hezekiab, drove out the AouUeMtet from
Mount Seir (1 Chr. tr. 48).
NB'BAI [2«jL] (^13; Kerf, "O^ [pert.
/™a/«/]s N«0of; [Vat. FA. B»«u:] Jv*«*«f). A
hmily of the heads of the people who signed the
so»enant with Nehemiah (Neb. x. 19). The LXX.
followed the written text, while the Vulgate adopted
the reading of the margin.
NBBA'IOTH, [3 syL] NEBA'JOTH
(DV33 [height: in Gen. xxr. 18, SafUuM;
xxvili.9, Rom. No3«c««0 NafrxXM: Nabajoth),
the " first-born of Ishniael " (Gen. xxr. 18; 1 Chr.
I. 89), and father of a pastoral tribe named after
him, the " rams of Nebaioth " being mentioned by
the prophet Isaiah (lx. 7) with the flocks of Kedar.
From die days of Jerome (Comment, m Gen. xx.
13), this people had been identified with the Na-
bathaeans, until M. Quatremere first investigated
the origin of the latter, their language, religion,
and history; and by the light he threw on a very
obscure subject enabled us to form a clearer judg-
ment respecting this assumed identification than
was, in the previous state of knowledge, possible.
It will be convenient to recapitulate, briefly, the
results of M. Quatremere's labors, with those of the
later works of M. Chwolson and others on the same
subject, before we consider the grounds for identify-
ing the Nabathssens with Nebaioth.
From the works of Arab authors, M. Quatrrnit-re
(.tf«Wre mtr let Nabatiem, Paris, 1835, reprinted
from the ffouetnu Journ. AnnU Jan. -Mar., 1885)
proved the existence of a nation called Nabat
(Jawj), or Nabeet (JoaaJ), pL Anbat (JbU>f),
(Sxhih and Kdmom), reputed to be of ancient
origin, of whom scattered remnants existed In Arab
time*, after the en of the Flight. The Nabat, in
the days of their early prosperity, inhabited the
country chiefly between the Euphrates and the
Tigris, Beyn en Nahreyn and El- Irak (the Mesopo-
tamia and Chaldtea of the classics). That this was
their chief seat and that they were Aramaeans, or
more accurately Syro-Cbaldasans, seems in the
present state of the inquiry (for it will presently be
seen that, by the publication of oriental texts, our
knowledge may be very greatly enlarged) to be a
snfe conclusion. The Arabs loosely apply the name
Nabat to the Syrians, or especially the eastern
Syrians, to the Syro-Chaldcans, etc. Thus Kl-
Mes'oodee (op. Quatremere, /. c.) says, '< The Syr-
ians are the same as the NabaUueans (Nabat).
. . The Nimrods were the kings of the Syrians
whom the Arabs call Nabathasans. . . . The Chal-
deans are the tame as the Syrians, otherwise called
Nabat (Kjdb eU Tenbeeh). The Nabathieans . . .
founded the city of Babylon. . . . The inhabitants
of Nineveh were part of those whom we call Nabeet
or Syrians, who form one nation and speak one
language; that of the Nabeet differs only in a small
number of letters; but the foundation of the lan-
guage is identical " (KMb ifHrooj-edh-Dkahnb).
Tlwe. and many other fragmentary passages, prove
sufficiently the existence of a great Aram van people
called Nabat, celebrated among the Arabs for then-
knowledge of agriculture, and of magic, astronomy,
•nedidne, and science (so called) generally. But we
nva atronger evidence to this effect. Quatremere
introduced to the notice of the learned world the
■rat important retts of that people's literature, a
NEBAIOTH
on Nabat agriculture. A study of an Im-
perfect copy of thai work, which unfortunately we*
all he could gain access to, induced him to dale U
about the time of Nebuchadnezzar, or or B. c
800. M. Chwolson, professor of oriental languages
at St Petersburg, woo had shown himself fitted for
the inquiry by his treatise on the Sabians and their
religion (Die Stabler una* der Stabitmut), has since
made that book a subject of special study ; and in
bit Remaini of Ancient Babylonian Literature in
Arabic Translation! (Ueber die UebtrretU der
Alt-Babylonuchen Literatw in Arabitchen Ueber-
utxungen, St. Petersburg, 1859), he has published
the results of his inquiry. Those results, while
they establish all M. Quatremere had advanced
respecting the existence of the Nabat, go far beyond
him both in the antiquity and the importance M.
Chwolson claims for that people. Ewald, however,
in 1857, stated some grave causes for doubting this
antiquity, and again in 1859 (both papers appeared
in the Uoettinguclie gtlehrte Ameigen) repeated
moderately but decidedly his misgivings. M. Renan
followed on the same side (Journ. de f fattitut, Ap.-
May, 1800); and more recently, M. ce (Jutacbmid
(Zeittchnjl d. Deuttch. Atorgenland. OtttlUrhaft,
xv. 1-100) has) attacked the whole theory in a
lengthy essay. The limits of this Dictionary forbid
us to do more than recapitulate, as shortly as pos-
sible, the bearings of this remarkable inquiiy, as
far as they relate to the subject of the article
The remains of the literature of the Nabat con-
sist of four works, one of them a fragment: the
•• Book of Nabat Agriculture " (already men-
tioned); the "Book of Poisons;" the "Book of
Tenkeioosha the Babylonian; " and the « Book of
the Secrets of the Sun and Moon " (Chwolson,
0e6erre«<e, pp. 10, 11). They purport to Save
bean translated, in the year 90*, by Aboo-Bekr
Ahmad Ibn-'Ak* the Chaldean of Kisseen," better
known as Ibn- Waheheeyeh. The •' Book of Nabat
Agriculture" was, according to the Arab trans-
lator, commenced by Daghreeth, continued by Yan-
bushadh, and completed by Kuthamee. Chwolson,
disregarding the dates assigned to these authors by
the translator, thinks that the earliest lived some
3500 years b. c, the second some 300 or +00 years
later, and Kuthamee, to whom he ascribes the chief
authorship (Ibn-Wahsheeyeh says he was little
mora than editor), at the earliest under the 6th
king of a Canaanite dynasty mentioned In the
book, which dynasty Chwolson — with Bunaen —
makes the same as the 6th (or Arabian) dynsstv
of Berosns (Chwolson, Ueberre**, p. 68, Ac,
Bunsen, A'mpt, iii. MS, Ac; Cory's Ancient Fray
menu, id ed. p. W), or of the 13th century B. O.
It will thus be teen that he rejects most of M.
Quatremere's reasons for placing the work in the
time of Nebochsdneaxar. It is remarkalle that
that great king Is not mentioned, and the author
or authors were, it Is argued by Chwolson, ignorant
not only of the existence of Christianity, but of
the kingdom and faith of Israel. While then and
other reasons, if granted, strengthen M. Chwolson's
case for the antiquity of the work, on the other
hand it Is urged that even neglecting the diffi-
culties attending an Arab's translating so ancient
a writing (and we reject altogether the snppoattloB
that it was modernised ss being without a parallel,
at least in Arabic literature), and conceding thai
■ Or ftersn. Be* Chwolson, Ueberrau, p. t, feet
noes. Ds Uej* 'AU+t-Latttf, p. 48*.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEBAIOTH
to wee of Quldau or Nabat race — *e encounter
formidable intrinsic difficulties. The book con-
tains mentions of personages bearing names closely
resembling those of Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah,
Shem, Nimrod, and Abraham; and M. Chwolsou
himself is forced to confess that tlia particulars
related of them are iu some respects similar to those
tecorded of the Biblical patriarclis. (f this diffi-
culty proves insurmountable, it shows that the
author borrowed from the Bible, or from late Jews,
and destroys the claim of an extreme antiquity.
Other apparent evidences of the same kind are
not wanting. Such are the mentions of Ermeesa
'Hermes), Agathadeemoon (Agathodaemon), Tam-
■uz (Adonis), and Voonan (Ioniana). It is even
a question whether the work should not be dated
several centuries after the commencement of our
era. Anachronisms, it is asserted, abound; geo-
graphical, linguistic (the use of late words and
phrases), historical, and religious (such as the traces
of Hellenism, ss shown in the mention of Hermes,
ate., and influences to be ascribed to Neoplatonism).
The whole style is said to be modern, wanting the
rugged vigor of antiquity (this, however, is a deli-
cate issue, to he tried only by the ripest scholar-
ship). And while Ohwolson dates the oldest part
of the Book of Agriculture B. c. 25(10, and the
Book of renkeloosha in the 1st century, A. d. at
the latest (p. 136), Kenan asserts that the two are
so similar as to preclude the notion of their being
separated by any great interval of time (Journal
dc PlmtUul).
Although Quatremere r ec ov e r e d the broad out-
lines of the religion and language of the Nabat, a
more extended knowledge of these points hangs
mainly on the genuineness or spuriousnees of the
work of Kuthamee. If M. Chwobjon's theory be
correct, that people present to us one of the most
ancient forms of idolatry; and by their writings
we can trace the origin and rise of successive
phases of pantheism, and the roots of the compli-
cated forms of idolatry, heresy, and philosophical
: juUeiity, which abound in the old seats of the
Irani asm race. At present, we may conclude that
they were Sabians (vJyoLo), ■ at least in late
tinea, as Sabeism succeeded the older religions;
and their doctrines seem to have approached (how
nearly a further knowledge of these obscure sub-
jects will show) those of the Menda'ees, Hendaites,
or Gnostics. Their language presents similar diffi-
culties; according to M. Chwolson, it is the ancient
language of Babylonia. A cautious criticism would
(tiH we know more) assign it a place as a compara-
tively modern dialect of Syro-ChaMee (oomp. Qua-
tremere, Mm. 100-103).
Thus, if H. Ghwolson's results are accepted,
the Book of Nabat Agriculture exhibits to us an
ancient civilization, before that of the Greeks, and
at least as old as that of the Egyptians, of a great
and powerful nation of remote antiquity; mak-
ing ns -rr"«i-».»d with sages hitherto unknown,
and with the religions and sciences they either
rounded or advanced; and throwiug a flood of
light on what has till now been one of the darkest
pages of the world's history. But until the orig-
inal text of Kuthamee's treatise is published, we
1 withhold our acceptance of facts so startling,
NEBAIOTH
2081
• fjsM-otn Is commonly held by the Arabs so akmtfy
originally « Apostates."
131
and regard the antiquity ascribed to it even by
Quatremere as extremely doubtful. It is suffi-
cient for the present to know that the most im-
portant facts advanced by the latter — the moat
importaut when regarded by sober criticism — are
supported by the results of the later inquiries of
M. Chwolson and others It remains for us to
state the grounds for connecting the Nabat with
the Nabathssans-
As the Arabs speak of the Nabat as Syrians, so
conversely the Greeks and Romans knew the Ne-
bathasans (o( Ncu3aTTCuot and Na0arcuo(, LXX. ;
Alex. Na/Sarsoi ; Nabuthssi, Vulg. : 'A*oTOibi, or
NwraToioi, Ft. vi. 7, $ 21; Naflirai, Suid. s. v.:
Nabatlue) as Arabs. While the inhabitants of
the peninsula were comparative strangers to the
classical writers, and very little was known of the
further-removed peoples of (JhJJaai and Mesopo-
tamia, the Nabathteans bordered the well-known
Egyptian aud Syrian provinces. The nation was
famous for its wealth and commerce. Even when,
by the decline of its trade (diverted through Egypt),
its prosperity waned, Petra is still mentioned as a
centre of the trade both of the Sabaans of South-
ern Arabia [Shkba] and the Gerrharans on the
Persian Gulf. It is this extension across the desert
that most clearly connects the Nobathtean colony
with the birthplace of the nation in Chaldaga.
The notorious trade of Petra across the well-
trodden desert-road to the Persian gulf is sufficient
to account for the presence of this colony; just ss
traces of Abrahamic peoples [Dkdan, etc.] are
found, demonstrably, on the shores of that sea on
the east, and on the borders of Palestine on the
west, while along the northern limits of the Ara-
bian peninsula remains of the caravan stations still
exist. Nothing is more oertain than the existence
of this great stream of commerce, from remote
times, until the opening of the Egyptian route
gradually destroyed it Josephus (Ant. i. 12, § 4)
speaks of Nabataa (Naflaroia, Strab ; Na/SarnWj,
Joseph.) as embracing the country from the Eu-
phrates to the Red Sea — t. e. Petrsea and all the
desert east of it The Nabat of the Arabs, how-
ever, are described as famed for agriculture and
science; in these respects offering a contrast to the-
Nabattueans of Petra, who were found by the-
expedition sent by Antigonus (b. c. 312) to be-
dwellers in tents, pastoral, and conducting the
trade of the desert; but in the Red Sea again they
were piratical, and by sea-faring qualities showed)
a non-Semitic character.
We agree with M. Quatremere (Mb*, p. 81l).
while rejecting other of his reasons, that the civill
ration of the Nabathasans of Petra, far advance*
on that of the surrounding Arabs, is not easily em-
plained except by supposing them to be a different
people from those Arabs. A remarkable confirms*,
tion of this supposition is found in the character
of the buildings of Petra, which are unlike any-
thing constructed by a purely Semitic race. Archi-
tecture is a characteristic of Aryan or mixes)
races. In Sonthern Arabia, Nigritians and Sam-
ites (Joktanites) together built huge edifices; so »
Babylonia and Assyria, and so too in Egypt, mixes)
races left this unmistakable mark. [Arabia.]
Petra, while it is wanting in the colossal features
of those more ancient remains, is yet unmistakably
foreign to an unmixed Semitic race. Further, the
subjects of the literature of the Nabat, which are
scientific and industrial, are not such ss are found
in the writings of pure Semites or Aryans, ee R ees e
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2082
NEBAIOTH
{But. tltt Lnngw* Semitiqvet, p. 837) has well
observed; and he points, as we have above, to a
foreign (" Couschite," or parti; Nigritian) settle-
ment in Babylonia. It ii noteworthy that 'Abd-
el-1-ateel (at the end of tlie fourth section of his
first book, or treatise, see De Laey's ed.) likens the
Ucpts in Egypt (a mixed race) to the Nabat in
fcVIrak.
From most of these, and other considerations,' 1
we think there is no reasonable doubt that the
Nabathaeans of Arabia Petnea were the same peo-
ple as the Nabat of Chaldssa; though at what
ancient epoch the western settlement was formed
remains unknown. 6 That it was not of any im-
portance until after the Captivity appears from the
notices of the iiihah^anta of Edom in the canonical
books, and their bsolute silence respecting the
Nabathaeans, except (if Nebaioth be identified with
them) the passage in Isaiah (lx. 7).
The Nabathteans were allies of the Jews after the
Captivity, and Judas the Maccabee, with Jonathan,
while at war with the Edomites, came on them
three days south of Jordan (1 Mace. v. 3, 24, Ac. ;
Joseph. Ant. xii. 8, 5 3), and afterwards "Jona-
than had sent his brother John, a captain of the
people, to pray his friends the Nabathites that
they might leave with them their carriage, which
was much " (ix. 35, 86). Diod. Sic. gives much
information regarding them, and so too Strain,
from the expedition under jfilius Gallus, the object
of which was defeated by the treachery of the
Nabathaeans (see the Diet, of Geography, to which
the history of Nabatsea in classical times properly
belongs).
Lastly, did the Nabathaeans, or Nabat, derive
their name, and were they in part descended, from
Nebaioth, son of Ishmael? Josephus says that
Nabatsea was inhabited by the twelve sons Of Ish-
mael ; and Jerome, " Nebaioth ononis regio ab Eu-
phrate usque ad Mare Kubrum Nabathena usque
hodie dicitur, quae pars Arabia; est " ( Comment, in
Gen. xxv. 13). Quatremere rejects the identifica-
tion for an etymological reason — the change of
fl to JO' but this change is not unusual ; in
words Arabicized from the Greek, the like change
of r generally occurs. Kenan, on the other hand,
accepts it; regarding Nebaioth, after his manner,
merely as an ancient name unconnected with the
Biblical history. The Arabs call Nebaioth, Na-
bit (cob), and do not connect him with the
Nabat, to whom they give a different descent ; but
all their Abrahamic genealogies come from late
Jews, and are utterly untrustworthy. When we
remember the darkness that enshrouds the early
history of the " sons of the concubines " after they
were sent into the east country, we hesitate to deny
a relationship between peoples whose names are
strikingly similar, dwelling in the same tract. It is
possible that Nebaioth went to the far east, to the
country of his grandfather Abraham, intermarried
a We have not entered Into the subject of the lan-
guage of the Nabathonns. The little that Is known
jf It tends to strengthen the theory of the Chaldamn
origin of »aat people. The Due de Luynes, la a paper
cat the coins of the latter la the Revue Numismaliquc
(Doav. aerie, 111. 1868), addons tacts to show that they
saHsd themselves Nabat 11233.
-♦•It Is remarks)!!* thai, while remnants of the Nabat
NEBO, MOUNT
with the Chakueans, and gave birth to • nixed
race, the Nabat. Instances of ancient tribes adopt-
ing the name of more modern ones, with which they
have become fused, are frequent in the history of the
Arabs (see Midia.n, foot-note) ; but we think it is
also admissible to hold that Nebaioth was so named
by the sacred historian because he intermarried
with the Nabat. It is, however, safest to leave un-
settled the identification of Nebaioth and Nabat
until another link be added to the chain that at
present seems to connect them. E. S. P.
NEBAL'LAT (15^55 [perh. projection, spew,
Dietr.; hard, firm toil, Flint] : Vat [Rom. Akx ]
omit; Alex, [rather, FA. 8 ] NafcAAar: NebaUat),
a town of Benjamin, one of those which the Ban
jamite< reoccupied after the Captivity (Neb. xi. 34),
but not mentioned in the original catalogue of allot-
ment (comp. Josh, xviii. 11-28). It is here named
with Zeboim, Lon, and Oho. I/>d is I.ydda, the
modern LAdd, and Ono not impossibly Kefr Anna,
four miles to the north of it. East of these, and
forming nearly an equilateral triangle with them,'
is Beit Neb&la (Kob. ii. 332), which is possibly the
locum taunt of the ancient village. Another place
of very nearly the same name, Bir Neb&la, lies to
the east of el-Jib ((iibeon), and within half a mile
of it This would also be within the territory of
Benjamin, and although further removed from Lod
and Ono, yet if Zeboim should on investigation
prove (as is not impossible) to be in one of the
wadies which penetrate the eastern side of this dis-
trict and lead down to the Jordan Valley (comp. 1
Sam. xiii. 18), then, in that case, this situation
might not be unsuitable for Neballat G.
NE'BAT (tS^3 ; [new, ntptct, Gee.: cultiva-
tion J Fiirst]: NaMr; [Vat in 1 K. tiafiaO *" d
No/htr, elsewhere NajSor :] Nabat, but Nnbalk in
1 K. xi. ). The father of Jeroboam, whose name is
only preserved in connection with that of his dis-
tinguished son (1 K. xi. 36, xii. 2, 15, xv. 1, xvi.
3, 36, 31, xxi. 22, xxii. 52; 2 K. ill. 3, ix. 9, x.
29, xiii. 2, 11, xiv. 34, xv. 9, 18, 24, 38, xrii. 31,
xxiii. 15; 3 Chr. ix. 29, x. 3, 15, xiii. 6). He is
described as an Ephrathite, or Ephraimite, of Zereda
in the Jordan Valley, and appears to have died while
his son was young. The Jewish tradition preserved
in Jerome (Qwest, ffebr. m lib. Reg.) identifies
him with Shimei of Gera, who was a Benjamits.
[Jeboboam.]
NETBO, MOUNT ('^aT^n [MmatiNtbo,
i. «., a heathen god = Mercury}: tpotSafiaS: ssossi
Nebo). The mountain from which Moses took bat
first and last view of the Promised Land (Dent
xxxii. 49, xxxiv. 1). It is so minutely described,
that it would seem impossible not to recognize it:
in the land of Moab; racing Jericho; the head ox
summit of a mountain called the Pisgah, which
again seems to have formed a portion of the gen-
eral range of the " mountains of Abarim. ' Its
position is further denoted by the mention of tbt
valley (or perhaps more correctly the ravine) in
an mentioned by trustworthy Arab writers as extsUnf
In their own day, do Arab record connecting that peo-
ple with Petra has been found. Oauastn believes thai
to hare arisen from the Chaldaean spee ch of the Nabs,
thesana, and their corruption of Arable (.Start sav
VHist. dts Arabes avanl Plslamume, I. 89).
e Schwars (p. 184), with less than usual aoenraey
" Beth-Naballa " at « live milas now of Bess
It Is reaUr about that distance N. St of *
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEBU, MOUNT
ftdoa Mom waa buried, and which was apparently
Be of the defts of the mount itself (xxxii. 60) —
'the ravine in the land of Moab facing Beth Peor "
fxxtiv. 8). And yet, notwithstanding the minute-
sen of this description, no one has yet succeeded
n pointing out any spot which answers to Nebo.
Vmed from the we st ern side of Jordan (the nearest
point at which most travellers are able to view
then) the mountains of Moab present the appear-
use of a wall or cliff, the upper line of which is
almost straight and horizontal. " There is no peak
sr point perceptibly higher than the rest; but all is
•at apparently level line of summit without peaks
•rgspa" (Rob. BiLL Rtt. i. 570). >> On ne distingue
pai an sommet, pas la moindre cinie; seulement on
•aarcoit, c» et la, de legerea inflexions, romme «i
In an du peintre qui a trad ctttt lii/ne horiton-
•alr ssr k del tit tiembie dant quelquet en/roils "
(Caiiaaubriand. /tfattau-e, part 3). » Possibly,"
•ooturaes Robinson, "on trarelling among these
■anntains, some isolated point or summit might
be band answering to the position and character
rf Nebo." Two such points hare been named.
(1.) SeBtxen (March 17, 1806; Reite, vol. i. 408)
ana to hare been the first to suggest the D$chib-
W Attarit (between the Wadu Ztrka- Mam and the
Araoo, 3 miles below the former, and 10 or 12
snth of Heahbon) as the Nebo of Moses. In this
•j is followed (though probably without any com-
samiettioii) by Burckhardt (July 14, 1812), who
smbooos it as the highest point in that locality,
■si therefore probably " Mount Nebo of the Scrip-
tsre." This is adopted by Irby and Mangles,
'booga with hesitation (TraveU, June 8, 1818).
(S.) The other elevation above the general sum-
ait level of these highlands is the Jebtl ' Otha, or
iaabi', or Jebtl tUHtid, " the highest point in
•8 the eastern mountains," " overtopping the whole
sf the Belka, and rising about 3000 feet above the
<*ir" (Burckhardt, July 2, 1812; Robinson, i.
H7 tote, 570).
Bat these eminences are alike wanting in one
oia essential of the Nebo of the Scripture, which
h stated to have been " facing Jericho," words
■hick in the widest interpretation must imply that
it an " some elevation immediately over the but
■tare of the Jordan," vrhile ' Otha and Attaria are
sgoallj remote in opposite directions, the one 15
Biles north, the other 15 miles south of a line
warn eastward frum Jericho. Another requisite
bribe identification is, that a view should be ob-
swabk from the summit, corresponding to that
snspect over the whole land which Moses is said
to save bad from Mount Nebo: even though, as
hafcsaw Stanley baa remarked (5. <f P. 301), that
*b • view which in Its full extent must have been
■Banned rather than actually seen. The view from
Jtbd Jaw has been briefly described by Mr. Porter
(Aside. 309), though without reference to the
a i as h i l i ty of its being Nebo. Of that from Jebtl
stares, no description is extant, for, almost in-
■taibls as it strain, none of the travellers above
aused, although they believed it to be Nebo, ap-
(■* to base made any attempt to deviate so far
«■» their route a* to ascend ar eminence, which,
■* their ojuj e ttiiH B be correct, mmr be the most
■■westing spot in the world. Q
NKBO. MOUNT
2088
• TKa view was probably tdantlcal with that Stan
f ■*■*■ (Man. xxrH. 14)- It la heauttrally drawn
• s sen* by Ps* Stanley (& » P. 290).
* It is a pleasure to add, that since the date of
the preceding article, the lost Nebo from which
Moses beheld the land of promise, just before his
death, has in all probability been identified. Da
Saulcy may have singled out the right summit, but
he did not verify his conjecture, and we are mainly
indebted to Mr. Tristram for the discovery. This
traveller ascended one of the ridges or " brows " of
the Abarim or Moab Mountains, on the east of the
Jordan, which in its position and the wide prospect
which it commands agrees remarkanly with the
Biblical account. It is about three miles southwest
of lltthbdn (Heahbon), and about a mile and a half
due west of Mam (Baal-Meon). It overlooks the
mouth of the Jordan, " over against Jericho "
(Deut. xxxiv. 1), and the gentle slope of its aidVa
may well answer to " the field of Zophim " (Num.
xxiii. 14). It is not an isolated peak, but one of
" a succession of bare turf-clad eminences, so linked
together that the depressions between them wen
mere hollows rather than valleys." It is "the
highest " of these, which differ, however, so little
that Mr. Tristram thought it impossible " to pitch
upon the exact Pisgah with certainty."
It must be left to the traveller's own words to
describe the magnificent panorama which lies spread
out before the eye from this summit.
" The altitude of the brow cannot be less than
4,500 feet, so completely does it overlook the heights
of Hebron and of Central Judaea. To the eastward,
as we turned round, the ridge seemed gently to slops
for two or three miles, when a few small ruin-clad
'tells' or hillocks (Htstibdn, Mum, and others)
broke the monotony of the outline; and then,
sweeping forth, rolled in one vast unbroken expanse
the goodly Belka — one boundless plain, stretching
far into Arabia, till lost in the horizon — one waving
ocean of com and gnus. Well may the Arabs boast,
' Thou canst not find a country like the Belka.'
. ... Ax the eye turned southwards towards the
line of the ridge on which we were clustered, the
peak of Jebtl Shihin just stood out behind Jebtl
AUarni, which opened to reveal to us the situation
of Kerak, though not it* walls. Beyond and behind
these, sharply rose Mounts Hor and Seir, and the
rosy granite peaks of Arabia faded away into the
distance towards Ak'ibnk. Still turning westwards
in front of us, two or three lines of terraces reduced
the height of the plateau as it descended to the
Dead Sea, the western outline of which we could
trace, in its full extent, from Uxlum to Fetlikkak.
It lay like a long strip of molten metal, with the
sun mirrored on its surface, waving and undulating
on its further edge, unseen on it* eastern limits, as
though poured from some deep cavern beneath our
feet. There, almost in the centre of the line, a
break in the ridge and a green spot below marked
EnireHi, the uest once of the Kenite, now of the
wild goat. The fortress of Mattida and jagged
Shukif rose above the mountain-line, but still far
below us, and lower, too, than the ridge of Hebron,
which we could trace, as it lifted gradually from
the southwest, as far as Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
The buildings of Jerusalem we could not see, though
all the familiar points in the neighborhood were at
once identified. There was the Mount of Olives,
with the church at its top, the gap in the liiDs
leading up from Jericho, arid the rounded heights
of Benjamin on its other side. Still turning nottV
ward, the eye was riveted by the deep Ghtr, wits
the rich great Islets of Am Sultan unaAmDtk-
the twin oases, nettling, as) it were, mylar the wal U
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2084
NBBO
Quarantama [the traditionary scene of Christ's
temptation] Then — closer still, beneath us —
bed Israel's last camp extended, in front of the
green fringe which peeped forth from under the
terraces in our foreground. The dark sinuous bed
of Jordan, clearly defined near its mouth, was soon
Inst in dim haze. Then, looking over it, the eye
rested on Orkim's rounded top; and, further still,
opened the plain of Esdraelon, a shoulder of Cer-
niel, or.some other intervening height, just showing
to the right of Gerisim; while the faint and distant
bluish haze beyond it told us that there was the sea,
the utmost sea. It seemed as if but a whiff were
needed to brush oft* the base and renal it clearly.
Northwards, again, rose the distinct outline of un-
mistakable Tabor, aided by which we could iden-
tify Gilboa and Jebel Duky. Snowy Hermon's top
was mantled with cloud, and Lebanon's highest
range must have been exactly shut behind it; but
in front, due north of us, stretched in long line
the dark forests of Ajhm, bold and undulating,
with the steep sides of mountains here and there
whitened by cliffs ; terminating in Mount Gilead,
behind et-Salt. To the northeast the vast Hauran
stretched beyond, filling in the horizon line to the
Bcltti, between which and the Hauran (Bashan)
there seems to be no natural line of separation.
The tall range of Jebel Hauran, behind Bozrab,
was distinctly visible " (Land of Israel, pp. MI-
IMS. 2d ed.)
De Saulcy reports that he heard this mountain
(it seems to have been this) called Nebbeh (Neb)
by the Arabs: but the statement needs confirma-
tion. Sir. Tristram states his own conclusion thus:
" We were undoubtedly on the range of Nebo,
among the highlands of Anarim, and in selecting
this highest point, the crest just west of Mabi, we
tninht reasonably flatter ourselves that we stood on
Pisgah's top." [Nbbo.] Mr. Grove, who in the
above article rejects all previous claims to the iden-
tification of this Nebo, admits now ((lark's Bible
Allot, p. 104), that "probably " Jtbtl Nebbah is
the mount in question. The difficulty in regard to
the possibility of seeing so far has been exagger-
ated. An oriental atmosphere, as compared with
our own, has a transparency which is marvelous.
Dr. Thomson, who has dwelt more than a quarter
of a century amid the scenery of Lebanon, says
(Land and Book, i. p. 18) that he can show
» many a Pisgah in Lebanon and Hennon from
which the view is far more extensive " than that
m which the eye of Moses rested as he looked
abroad from Ncbo. We are to remember, too, that,
though the Hebrew lawgiver was a hundred and
twenty years old when he died, we are expressly
told that " his eye was not dim nor his natural
force abated " (Deut. xxxiv. 7). H.
NB30 Ocq [see above]). L (NoflaS: Nebo
NBBO
and ffabo.) A town on the eastern side of JmuVan
situated in the pastoral country (Num. xxxii. 8)
one of those which were taken possession of and
rebuilt by the tribe of Ketiben (rer. 38).* In theat
fists it is associated with Kirjatbaim and Baal-
meon or Boon ; and in another record (1 Chr. v. 8,
with Aroer, as marking one extremity, possibly the
west, of a principal part of the tribe. In the re-
markable prophecy adopted* by Isaiah (xv. 2) and
Jeremiah (xlviii. 1, 28) concerning Moab, Nebo is
mentioned in the same connection as before, though
no longer an Israelite town, but in the hands of
Moab. It does not occur in the catalogue of the
towns of Reuben in Joshua (xiii. 15-28); bat
whether this is an accidental omission, or whether
it appears under another name — according to the
statement of Num. xxxii. 38, that the Israeiita
changed the names of the heathen cities they re-
tained in this district — is uncertain. In the esse
of Nebo, which was doubtless called after the deity «
of that name, there would he a double reason fix
such a change (see Josh, xxiii. 7).
Neither is there anything to show whether there
was a connection between Nel* the town and
Mount Nebo. The notices of F.usebius and Jerome
( OnomaHioon) are confused, but they at least de-
note that the two were distinct and distant from
each other."* The town (Nafkip and '• Nabo ") they
identify with Nobah or Kenath, and locate it 8
miles south • of Heshbon, where the ruins of et-IJn-
bit appear to stand at present; while the mountain
(No0av and " Nahan ") is stated to be 6 miles east
(Jer.) or west (Eus.) from the same spot.
In the list of places south of et-Sall given by
Or. Robinson (BibL Set. 1st ed. vol. iii. App. 170)
one occurs named Neba, which may possibly bs
identical with Nebo, but nothing is known of its
situation or of the character of the spot
2. (NaBoi, Alex. Na£«; in Neb. [Ram. Alex.
XaBla, FA. NnSsia, Vat] KaBtaa: Ntbo.) The
children of Nebo (Bene-Nebo) to tbe number of
fifty-two, are mentioned in the catalogue of the
men of Judah and Benjamin, who returned from
Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ez. u. 29 ; Neb. vii. 33)/.
Seven of them had foreign wives, whom they were
compelled to discard (Ezr. x. 43). The name oc-
curs between Bethel and Ai, and Lydda, which, if
we may trust the arrangement of tbe list, implies
that it was situated in the territory of Benjamin to
the N. W. of Jerusalem. This is possibly the mod-
ern BeU-Nibah, about 12 miles N. W. by W. of
Jenualem, 8 from Lydda, and close to Yah, which
seems to be the place mentioned by Jerome (Onom.
" Anab," and " Anob ; " and KpiL Paula, § 8) as
Nob the city of the priests (though that identification
is hardly admissible), and both in bis snd later
times known ss Bethannaba or Bettenuble.'
It is possible that this Nebo was an onahoot of
• The nam* is omitted In this passage in the Tat.
Kan LXX. T| •> Alex. MSB. has re* Sop*.
e See Moss, p. 1984 a.
e Ssldsu (fl» Dit Syr. Sunt. II. cap 12) assumes on
the authority of Hssycbias , Interpretation of Is. xv.
1, that Diboo contained a temple or sanctoerj of
v«bo. But It would appear that Nebo the place, and
«ot Nebs the divinity, Is referred to in that passage.
d In another passage (ad Eaaiam, xv. 2), Jerome
ataSss that tbe "eooseorated Idol of Chamosh — that
si, Balpnagor" — Baal Peer, redded In Nebo.
' Kmmirat, the repr— e n t en te of Kasath, Is MO
•esse* sbUss H. M. of Haehbun.
/ In Nan. the name Is given as the "other Neba,"
iny '*OP (eomp. Sua), ss If two panes of that
name were mentioned, but this Is not the case.
a The words of vrtlham of Tyre (xtr. 8) are well
worth quoting. They are evidently those of an eye
witness. « Nobs qui heme vulgar! appellations dssrtvj
Bettenuble, t'n aVaonuv mMlim, fit prmrit su aa nril
(aapfcUs ?) eampextrimi, via qui itur Uddssa .... lit
enim In taodbns montium inter angusttas InevitabOal
.... AsoalonltU rabltas trrupoonea line teeae* sow
sastts." Just as ten Philistines did hi the time at
Ban*. — Can this bs Gob or Nob, where eVsy was* m
freqaantly encountered"
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NHBO
teooiu oat of Jordan ; in whun eaae we have
toother town added to thon already noticed in the
awritory of "*^j.mln which retain the name* of
foreign and heathen aettler*. [B«juamu«, vol. i.
p. 877, note; Michmash; Ophmi.]
A town named Nomba ia mentioned by the
LXX (not in Heb.) amongrt the plaoei in the
■oath of Jndah frequented by David (1 Sam. in.
10), but ita aituation forbid* any attempt to iden-
tify toil with Nebo. G.
NB'BO (T35 [eee above]: Nafta, [NoflaD;
in It., Alex. Aaym/i] JVaou), which occur* both in
latiah (xlvi. 1) and Jeremiah (xlviii. 1) a* the
name of a Chaldean god, u a well-known deity of
the Babylonians and Aatyrian*. The original na-
tive name wa*, in Ham i tic Babylonian, JV'ioiu, in
Semitic Babylonian and Aatyrian, Nairn. It is
naaonably conjectured to be connected with the
Hebrew S33, "to propheay," whence the com-
mon word WO), » prophet " (Arab. iVeoy). Nebo
waa the god who presided over learning and letter*.
"Nebo."
Be b ealied " the far-hearing," " he who ponene*
satoDbjanee,'' " he who teaches or instruct*. " The
■Badge or arrow-head — the eaaential element of
aoneUbrm writing — appear* to have been hi* em-
ileni ; aud hence he bore the name of Tir, which
signifies " a shaft or arrow." Hi* general character
xarreaponda to that of the Egyptian Thoth, the
Greek Hermes, and the Latin Mercury. Astro-
nomically he is identified with the planet nearest
the aim, called Nebo also by the Mendsav*. and
Tar by the ancient Peruana.'
Nebo waa of Babylonian rather than of Aaayrian
■rhjbv. In the early Aaayrian Pantheon ha otoa-
NBBUCHADNBZZAB 2085
p*aa a very inferior position, being either omitted
from the list* altogether, or occurring as the laat of
the minor god*. The king supposed to be l*ul
first bring* him prominently forward in Aesyria
and then apparently in consequence of some pecu
liar connection which he himself had with Babylon
A statue of Nebo was set up by this monarch at
Calah (Nimrud), which is now in the British
Museum. It has a long inscription, written acroat
the body, and consulting chiefly of the god's vari-
oua epithet*. In Babylonia Nebo held a prominent
place from an early time. The ancient town of
Boraippa waa especially under his protection, ami
the great temple there (the modern Biit-Nimrud)
waa dedicated to him from a very remote age.
[Bauel, Towek of.] He wa* the tutelar god
of the most important Babylonian kings, in whoa*
names the word ffiilm, or Nebo, appears a* an
element: e. y. Nabo-nassar, Nabo-polassar, Nebu-
chadnezzar, and Nabo-nadius or Labynetua; and
appear* to have bean honored next to Bel-Merodaoh
by the later king*. Nebuchadnezzar completely
rebuilt hi* temple at Bonippa, and called after him
hi* famous seaport upon the Persian Gulf, which
became known to the Greek* a* Tendon or Diri-
doti* — " given to Tir," i. e. to Nebo. The wor-
ship of Nebo appear* to have continued at Boraippa
to the 3d or 4th century after Christ, aud the
ft*}*""" of Harran may have preserved it even to
a later date. (See the Essay On the Religion of
tae Babyloniani nnd Auyriatu, by Sir H. Rawlin-
ton, in the 1st vol. of Kawlinaon'a Herodotiu, pp
637-640; and compare Norberg'* Onamattiam, a
v. Nebo, pp. »8, 99.) G. R.
NE BTJCH ADNKZ'Z AR, or NBBUOH AD ■
KBZ'ZAB (-IgNJ-jyOJ, [-iSJ-ptt?,] «•
"T5M^73 !a 5 : Ncu3o»x»*o»«V<>/> ! ffabuehodone.
tor), waa the greatest and most powerful of the
Babylonian kings. His name, according to the
native orthography, ia read aa lf'tbukuduri-ut$ur,
and is explained to mean " Nebo is the protector
against misfortune," kwJuri being connected with
the Hebrew "VITJ, "trouble" or " attack," and
aztur being a participle from the root "'§3, " to
protect. ' The rarer Hebrew form, used by Jere-
miah and Ezekiel, — Nebuchadrezzar, ia thus very
eloae indeed to the original. The Persian form,
Nabukudrachnra (Bch. Inter. ooL i. par. 16), iaj
lea* correct; while the Greek equivalent* are some-
times very wide of the mark. KafiovKoSpitropot,
which v>as used by Abydenua and Megasthenea, i*
the best of them: Na/JoaoA.dVapor, which appear*
in the Canon of Ptolemy, the worst. Strabo'a
Na/foKos>oVopof (xv. 1, § 6) and Berusuaa Na0oir
XcSoyiiTopos lie between these extremes.
Nebuchadnezzar waa the son and successor of
Nabopolaatar, the founder of the Babylonian Em-
pire. He appears to have been of marriageable
age at the time of hi* father'* rebellion against
Assyria, B. c. 636; for, according to Abjdenus
(ap. Eueeb. Chron. Can. i. 9), the alliance between
this prince and the Median king was cemented by
the betrothal of Amuhia, the daughter of the
latter, to Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolaatar'* son.
Little further i* known of him during hi* father'*
I jfetime. It i* suspected, rather than proved, that
ne wa* the leader of a Babylonian contingent waist
accompanied Cyaxare* in hi* I ydian war [Kxuita]
by wfcJa* inwrpoaitioo, on the occasion of an <
Digiti.
zed by G00gle
2086 NBBTJCHADNEZZAK
that war was brought to a cine,* »• c. aUO. At
any rate, a few jean later, he iu placed at the
head of a Babylonian army, and sent by hie father,
who was now old and infirm, to chastiae the inso-
lence of Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt. This
prince had recently invaded Syria, defeated Joaiah,
king of Judah. at Megiddo, and reduced the whole
tract, from Egypt to Carchemish on the upper
Euphrates [Cakchkmish], which in the partition
of the Assyrian territories on the destruction of
Nineveh had been assigned to Babylon (2 K. xziii.
99, 80; Beros. ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 19). Necho
had held possession of these countries for about
three years, when (b. c. 605) Nebuchadnezzar led
an army against him, defeated him at Carchemiah
in a great battle (Jer. xlvi. 2-12), recovered Coele-
syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, took Jerusalem
(Dan. i. 1, 2), pressed forward to Egypt, and was
engaged in that country or upon its borders when
intelligence arrived which recalled him hastily to
Babylon. Nabopolassar, after reigning 21 years,
had died, and the throne was vacant: for there is
no reason to think that Nebuchadnezzar, though
he appeared to be the " king of Babylon " to the
Jews, bad really been associated by his father. In
some alarm about the succession he hurried back
to the capital, accompanied only by his light troops;
and crossing the desert, probably by way of Tad
mor or Palmyra, reached Babylon before say dis-
turbance had arisen, and entered peaceably on his
kingdom (b. a 604). The bulk of the army, with
the captive* — Phoenicians, Syrians, Egyptians, and
Jews — returned by the ordinary route, which
skirted instead of crossing the desert. It was at
this time that Daniel and his companions were
brought to Babylon, where they presently grew
into favor with Nebuchadnezzar, and became per-
sons of very considerable influence (Dan. i. 3-20).
Within three years of Nebuchadnezzar's first
expedition into Syria and Palestine, disaffection
again showed itself iu those countries. Jehoiakim
— who, although threatened at first with captivity
(2 Chr. nivi. 6), had been finally maintained on
the throne as a Babylonian vassal — after three
years of service " turned and rebelled " against his
suzerain, probably trusting to be supported by
Egypt (2 K. zxiv. 1). Not long afterwards Phoe-
nicia seems to have broken into revolt; and the
Chaklaean monarch, who had previously endeavored
to subdue the disaffected by his generals (to. ver.
2), once more took the field in person, and marched
first of all against Tyre. Having invested that
city in the seventh year of his reign (Joseph, c. Ap.
L 21), and left a portion of his army there to con-
tinue the siege, he proceeded against Jerusalem,
which submitted without s struggle. According
to Josephus, who is here our chief authority,
Nebuchadnezzar punished Jehoiakim with death
(Ant z. 6, § 8; eomp. Jer. xxii. 18, 19, and zxxvi.
30), but placed bis son Jehoiachin upon the throne.
Jehoiachin reigned only three months; for, on his
showing symptoms of disaffection, Nebuchadnezzar
name up against Jerusalem for the third time,
deposed the young prince (whom he carried to
Babylon, together with a large portion of the
population of the oity, sod the chief of the Tem-
ple treasures), and made his uncle, Zedekiah, king
Id his room. Tyre still held out; and it was not
« Herodotus terns IbU leader Ubvnetus (I. 74); a
roef which does not rigbtly reader the Babylonian
W i i al a n n» M-, but does render another Babylonian
NKBUCHADNKZZAB
tut the thirteenth year from the Urns of its nraf
investment that the city of merchants fell (n. c
686). Ere this happened, Jerusalem had beat
totally destroyed. This consummation was owing
to the folly of Zedekiah, who, despite the warnings
of Jeremiah, made a treaty with Apnea (Hophra),
king of Egypt (F-z. xvii. 16), and en the strength
of this alliance renounced his allegiance to the
king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar commenced the
final siege of Jerusalem in the ninth year of Zede-
kiah, his own seventeenth year (u. c. 588), and
took it two years later (b. c. 686). Oi t eflbit to
carry out the treaty seems to hare been made by
Apries. An Egyptian army crossed the front er,
and began its march towards Jerusalem; npoa
which Nebuchadnezzar raised the siege, and Ml
off to meet the new foe. According to Josephca
(Ant. z. 7, § 3) a battle was fought, in which
Apries was completely defeated ; but the Scriptural
account seems rather to imply that the Egyptians
retired on the advance of Nebuchadnezzar, and
recrossed the frontier without risking an engage-
ment (Jer. xzxvii. 6-8). At any rate the attempt
failed, and was not repeated; the "broken reed,
Egypt," proved a treacherous support, and after an
eighteen months' siege Jerusalem fell. Zedekiah
escaped from the city, but was captured near Jeri-
cho (ib. xxziz. 5) and bi ought to Nebuchadnezzar
at Riblah in the territory of Hamath, where his
eyes were put out by the king's order, while his
sons and his chief nobles were slain. Nebuchad-
nezzar then returned to Babylon with Zedekiah,
whom he imprisoned for the remainder of his life;
leaving Nebuzar-adan, the captain of his guard, to
complete the destruction of the city and the pacifi-
cation of Judaea. Gedaliah, a Jew, was appointed
governor, but he was shortly murdered, and the
rest of tin Jews either Bed to Egypt, or were car-
ried by Nebuzar-adan to Babylon.
The military successes of Nebuchadnezzar can-
not be traced minutely beyond this point. His
own annals have not come down to us; and the
historical allusions which we find in his extant
inscriptions are of the most vague and general
character. It may be gathered from the prophet-
ical Scriptures and from Josephus, that the eon-
quest of Jerusalem was rapidly followed by the fall
of Tyre and the complete submission of Phoenicia
(Ex. xxri. -xxviii.; Joseph, e. Ap. i. SI); after
which the Babylonians carried their anna into
Egypt, and inflicted severe injuries on that fertile
country (Jer. xhri. 13-26; Ex. xxbt. 2-20; Joseph.
Ant. x. 9, § 7). But we have no account, on
which we can depend, of these campaigns Our
remaining notices of Nebuchadnezzar present him
to us as a magnificent prince and beneficent ruler,
rather than a warrior; and the great fame which
has always attached to his name among the east-
ern nations depends rather on his buildings and
other grand constructions than on any victories or
conquests ascribed to him.
We are told by Berosus that the first care of
Nebuchadnezzar, on obtaining quiet possession of
his kingdom after the first Syrian expedition, was
to rebuild the Temple of Bel (Bei-Merodnch) at
Babylon out of the spoils of the Syrian war (ap.
Joseph. Ant. x. 11, § 1). He next proceeded to
strengthen and beautify the city, which he
Nabopolassar may have baa a I
of this name ; or the Labynetua of Herod. 1. 74 ■
be Wabopolsssar himaalt
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HBBUCHADNEZZAB
ated throughout, aud surrounded with ami linn
& fbrtincattcti, himself adding one entirely new
pouter Having finished the walk and adorned
lbs gates magnificently, he constructed a new
palace, adjoining the old residence of hi* father —
• tuperb edifice, which he completed in fifteen days 1
In the grounds of this palace he formed the cele-
brated u hanging garden," which was a pleaseunce,
built up with huge atones to imitate the varied
surface of mountains, and planted with trees and
ihrubs of every kind. Diodonu, probably follow-
iag Ctesias, describes this marvel as a square, four
fielkm (400 feet) each way, and 60 cubits (76
feet) high, approached by sloping paths, and sup-
ported on a series of arched gaileriea Increasing in
height from the base to the summit. In these
plleries were various pleasant chambers ; and one
of then contained the engines by which water
wis raised from the river to the surface of the
mound. This carious construction, which the
Ureek writers reckoned among the seven wonders
af the world, was said to have been built by Nebu-
ftiadniimr for the gratification of his wife, Amu-
sis, who, having been brought up among the
Median mountains, desired something to remind
her of them. Possibly, however, one object was
to obtain a pleasure-ground at a height above that
to which the mosquitoes are accustomed to rise.
This complete renovation of Babylon by Nebu-
toadneaar, which Berosus asserts, is confirmed to
■ in every possible way. The Standard Inscrip-
tion of the king relates at length the construction
of the whole series of works, and appears to have
bees the authority from which Berosus drew. The
rains confirm this in the most positive way, fur
sine-tenths of the bricks in titu are stamped with
Sebsdtadneazar's name. Scripture, also, adds an
Indirect but important testimony, in the exclama-
tion of Nebuehaduezzar recorded by Daniel; " Is
oat this great Babylon tcliich I have buiit t " (Dan.
ir. 3D).
But Nebuchadnezzar did not confine his efforts
to the ornamentation and improvement of his
capital Throughout the empire, at Borstppa, Sip-
am, Cutha, Chilmad, Duraba, Tendon, and a
amhitude of other places, he built or rebuilt cities,
noshed temples, constructed quays, reservoirs,
aula, and aqueducts, on a scale of grandeur and
issrnuVenee surpassing everything of the kind
stomal in history, unless it be the constructions
'nor two of the greatest Egyptian monarchs.
' I have examined,'* says Sir H. Kswlinson, " the
visa a* sir*, belonging perhaps to a hundred
liferent towns and cities in the neighborhood of
aagadad, and I never found any other legend than
iat of Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nahopolassar, king
/Bib] lost" (Comix, on Ike Inter, nf Atsyria and
Sabjfaeta, pp. 76, 77). "Nebuchadnezzar," says
SAjasaus, « on succeeding to the throne, fortified
Babylon with three lines of walls. He dug the
V/isr Itolcka, or Royal River, which was a branch
ttraun derived from the Euphrates, and also the
acncsnns. He likewise made the great reservoir
•hove the city of Sippara, which was thirty pan-
sum (90 miles) in circumference, and twenty
iiboins (ISO feet) deep. Here he placed sluices
w fad-gates, which enabled him to irrigate the
NEBUCHADNEZZAR 2081
low country. He also built a quay along the short
of the Red Sea (Persian Gulf), and founded the
city of Tendon on the borders of Arabia." It is
reasonably concluded from these statements, thai
an extensive system of irrigation was devised by
this monarch, to whom the Babylonians wen prob-
ably indebted for the greater portion of that vast
net-work of canals which covered the whole alluvial
tract between the two rivers, and extended on the
right bank of the Euphrates to the extreme verge
of the stony desert. On that side the principal
work was a canal of the largest dimensions, still to
be traced, which left the Euphrates at Hit, and
skirting the desert ran southeast a distance of
above 400 miles to the Persian Gulf, when it
emptied itself into the Bay of Grant.
The wealth, greatness, and general prosperity of
Nebuchadnezzar are strikingly placed before us in
the book of Daniel. " The God of heaven " gave
him, not a kingdom only, but " power, strength,
and glory " (Dan. ii. 37). His wealth is evidenced
by the image of gold, 60 cubits in height, which he
set up in the plain of Dura {ii. iii. 1). The gran-
deur and careful organization of his kingdom ap-
pears from the long list of his officers, " princes,
governors, captains, judges, treasurers, councillors,
sheriffs, and rulers of provinces," of whom we have
repeated mention (to. w. 3, 3, and 37). We see
the existence of a species of hierarchy in the " magi ■
cians, astrologers, sorcerers," over whom Daniel
was set (('&. ii. 48). The " tree, whose height was
great, which grew and was strong, and the height
thereof reached unto the heavens, and the sight
thereof to the end of all the earth; the leaves
whereof were fair, and the fruit much, and in which
was food for all; under which the beasts of the
fielJ had shadow, and the fowls of heaven dwelt in
the branches thereof, and all flesh was fed of it"
(<&. iv. 10-12), is the fitting type of a kingdom at
once so flourishing and so extensive.
It has been thought by some (De Wette, Th.
Parker, etc.), that the book of Daniel represents the
satrapial system of government (Satrapm-Einrich
lung) as established throughout the whole empire ,
but this conclusion is not justified by a close exam-
ination of that document Nebuchadnezzar, like
h o Assyrian predecessors (Is. x. 8), is represented
as a " king of kings " (Dan. ii. 37); and the offi-
cers enumerated in eh. ii. are probably the author-
ities of Babylonia proper, rather than the gover-
nors of remoter regions, who could not be all spared
at once from their employments. The instance of
Gedaliah (Jer. xL 5; 9 K.. xxv. 33) is not that of a
satrap. He was a Jew; and it may be doubted
whether he stood really in any diffeieut relation to
the Babylonians from Zedekiah or Jehoiachin ; al
though a* he was not of the seed of David, the
Jews considered him to be " governor " rather than
king.
Towards the close of his reign the glory of Neb-
uchadnezzar Buffered a temporary eclipse. As a
punishment for his pride and vanity, that strange
form of madness was sent upon him which the
Greeks called Lycunthropy (\vKa*8pa*la) ; wherein
the sufferer imagines himself a beast, and quitting
the h.tunts of men, insists on leading the life of a
beast (Dan. iv. 33).» Berosus, with the pardon-
I.
* ■ hot Bawlinton des c r i bes more folly this atngu- 1 1a 35). " This malady, which Is not unknown to the
«r sausay fa a later work, the third volume of his I pcrsicrtns, bat been tanned < Lvcsnthropy.' It est*
aVa*' tut VOW iaoni Eatttrn World, p. 508 (Umd. I stats tn the belief that one Is not a nan be* a I
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2088
NEBUCHADNEZZAR
■bis tendemeu of a native, anxious lor the good feme
of his country's greatest king, suppressed this fact;
and it may be doubted whether Herodotus in his
Babylonian travels, which fell only about a century
after the time, obtained any knowledge of it Neb-
uchadnezzar himself, however, in his great inscrip-
tion appears to allude to it, although in a studied
ambiguity of phrase which renders the passage very
difficult of translation. After describing the con-
struction of the most important of his great works,
he appears to say — " For four yean ( ?) • • • the
seat of my kingdom . . . did not rejoice my heart.
In all my dominions I did not build a high place of
power, the precious treasures of my kingdom I did
not lay up. In Babylon, buildings for myself and
for the honor of my kingdom I did not lay out.
In the worship of Merodach, my lord, the joy of
my heart, in Babylon the city of his sovereignty,
and the seat of my empire, I did not sing his
praises, I did not furnish his altars with victims,
nor did I clear out the canals " (Kawlinson's Herod.
ii. 586). Other negative clauses follow. It is
plain that we have here narrated a suspension —
apparently for four years — of all those works and
occupations on which the king especially prided
himself — his temples, palaces, worship, offerings,
and works of irrigation ; and though the cause of
the suspension is not stated, we can scarcely imag-
ine anything that would account lor it but some
sueh extraordinary malady as that recorded in
Daniel.
It has often been remarked that Herodotus
■iseribes to a queen, Nitocris, several of the impor-
tant works, which other writers (Derosus, Aby-
denus) assign to Nebuchadnezzar. The conjecture
naturally arises that Nitocris was Nebuchadnez-
zar's queen, and that, as she carried on his con-
structions during his incapacity, they were by some
considered to In hers. It is no disproof of this to
urge thnt Nebuchadnezzar's wife was a Median
princess, not an Egyptian (as Nitocris must have
been from her name), and that she was called, not
Nitocris, but Amyitis or Amybia; for Nebuchad-
nezzar, who married Amyitis in H. c. 628, and
who lived after this marriage more than sixty years,
may easily have married again after the decease of
his first wife, and his second queen may have been
an Egyptian. His latter relations with Egypt
appear to have been friendly; and it is remarkable
that the name Nitocris, which belonged to very
primitive Egyptian history, had in fact been resus-
citated about this time, and is found in the Egyp-
tian monuments to have been borne by a princess
belonging to the family of the Psammetiks.
After an interval of four, or perhaps 11 seven
man (Dan. far. 16), Nebuchadnezzar's malady left
(urn. As we are told in Scripture that u bis reason
returned, and for the glory of his kingdom his hon-
or and brightness returned; " and he " was estab-
ta the disuse or language, tba rejection of all ordinary
human nod, and sometimes In (he loss of the erect
posture and a preference for walking on all fours.
Within a year of the time that he received the warn-
ing (Dan. iv. 29), Nebucbadoerxer was smitten. The
treat king became a wretched manlae. Allowed to
todulge his distempered fancy, he eschewed human
habitation*, 11 red in the open air night and day, fed
sn herbs, dl s uwiq ..lithlng, and becau.e covered with
i rough coat of hair (ver. 88). Hi» subjects gen-
erally, It le probable, were not allowed to know oi u.
avngtMan, though they could not but be aware that
NEBUCHAJDNEZZAB
lithed in his kingdom, and excellent majesty ass
added to him " (Dan. iv. 36), so we find in the
Standard Inscription that he resumed his great
works after a period of suspension, and added fresh
" wonders "in his old age to the marvelous con-
structions of hit manhood. He died in the yen
B. C. 861, at an advanced age (88 or 84), having
reigned 43 years. A son, Kvil-Mkbodach, suc-
ceeded him.
The character of Nebuchadnezzar must be gath-
ered principally from Scripture. There is a con
ventional formality in the cuneiform inscriptions,
which deprives them of almost all value for the il-
lustration of individual mind and temper. Osten-
tation and vainglory are characteristioi of tin
entire series, each king seeking to magnify abcve
all others his own exploits. We can only observe
as peculiar to Nebuchadnezzar a disposition to rest
his lame on his great works rather than on his mil-
itary achievements, and a strong religious spirit;
manifesting itself especially in a devotion, which is
almost exclusive, to one particular god. Though
his own tutelary deity and that of his father was
Nebo (Mercury), yet his worship, his ascriptions ot
praise, bis thanksgivings, have in almost every case
for their object the god Merodach. Under his pro-
tection be placed his son, Evil-Merodach. Merodach
is "his lord," " his great lord," "the joy of his
heart," " the great lord who has appointed him to
the empire of the world, and has confided to his care
the far-spread people of the earth," " the great lord
who has established him in strength," etc. One
of the first of his own titles is, " he who pays bom-
age to Merodach." Even when restoring the tem-
plet of other deities, he ascribes the work to the
suggestions of Merodach, and placet it under his
protection. We may hence explain the appearance
of a sort of monotheism (Dan. i. 9; iv. 84, 32, 34,
37), mixed with polytheism (ii. ii. 47; iii. 12. 18,
29 ; iv. 9), in the Scriptural notices of him. While
admitting a qualified divinity iu Nebo, Nana, and
other deities of his country, Nebuchadnezzar main-
tained the real monarchy of Bet-Merodach. Hi
was to him " tbe supreme chief of the gods," " the
most ancient," " the king of the heavens and the
earth." * It was hit image, or symbol, undoubt-
edly, which was " set up " to be worshipped in the
" plain of Dura " (ii. iii. 1), and hit " bouse " in
which the sacred vessels from the Temple were
treasured (ii. i. 2). Nebuchadnezzar seems at
some times to have identified this, his supreme god,
with the God of the Jews {ii. ch. iv.); at others,
to have regarded the Jewish God as one of the local
and inferior deities (ch. iii.) over whom Merodach
ruled.
The genius and grandeur which characterized
Nebuchadnezzar, and which have handed down hie
name among the few ancient personages known gen-
erally throughout the East, are very apparent in
be was suffering from some terrible malady, lbs
queen most likely beld the reins of power, and ser-
ried on the government In his name.
We must not suppose that the afflicted monarch
was allowed to muse freely through the country. Hi
was no doubt utrictly confined to the private gardens
attached to the palace." H
a Darnel's expression is " seven times " We eaa MS
be sun that by a " time " Is meant a year.
b These expressions are all applied to Meredaeh hf
Mebnnhsdnomr in his Inscriptions.
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NEBUCHADNEZZAR
Scripture, and indeed in au the accounts of hi*
reign and actions. Without perhaps an; strong
railitary turn, he must have possessed a fair amount
rf such talent to have held his own in the east
•gainst the ambitious Medea, and in the west
•gainst the Egyptians. Necho and Apnea were
both princes of good warlike capacity, whom it is
some credit to have defeated, lie prolonged siege
of Tyre is a proof of the determination with which
he prosecuted his military enterprises. But his
greatness lay especially in the arts of peace. life
law in the natural fertility of Babylonia, and its
unple wealth of waters, the foundation of national
voaperity, and so of power. Hence his vast canals
and elaborate system of irrigation, which made the
whole country a garden; and must have been a
main cause of the full treasury, from which alone
his palaces and temples can have received tneir
magnificence. The forced labor of captives may
have raised the fabrics ; but the statues, the enam-
eled bricks, the fine woodwork, the gold and silver
plating, the hangings and curtains, had to be
bought; and the enormous expenditure of this
monarch, which does not appear to have exhausted
the country, and which cannot have been very
hugely supported by tribute, must have been really
supplied in the main from that agricultural wealth
which he took so much pains to develop. We
may gather from the productiveness of Babylonia
uuder the Persians (Herod, i. 193, 193, iii. 92),
after a conquest and two (three ?) revolts, some
idea of its flourishing condition in the period of
independence, for which (according to the consen-
tient testimony of the monuments and the best
authors) it was indebted to this king.
The moral character of Nebuchadnezzar la not
such as entitles him to our approval. Besides the
overweening pride which brought upon him so
terrible a chastisement, we note a violence and fury
(Dan. ii. 12, iii. 19) common enough among orien-
tal momwchs of the weaker kind, but from which
the greatest of them have usually been free; while
at the same time we observe a cold and relentless
cruelty which is particularly revolting. The blind-
ing of Zedekiah may perhaps be justified as an
ordinary eastern practice, though it is the earliest
ease of the kind on record; but the refinement of
cruelty by which be was made to witness his sons'
execution before his eyes were put out (2 K. xxv.
7) is worthier of a Dionysius or a Domitian than
ef a really great king. Again, the detention of Je-
hoiasbin in prison for 36 years for an offense com-
mitted at the age of eighteen (2 K. xxiv. 8), is a
severity surpassing oriental harshness. Against these
grave {suits we have nothing to set, unless it be a
feeble trait of magnanimity in the pardon accorded
to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, when he
found that he was without power to punish them
(Dan. iii. 26).
It baa been thought remarkable that to a man
of this character, God should have vouchsafed a
.-wrebuiou of the future by means of visions (Dan.
i. 20, iv. 2). But the circumstance, however it
may disturb our preconceived notions, is not really
NEBTJZABADAN
2089
a in lbs usual copies of the Hebrew Bible tins final
n Is written small, and noted In the Masora eosord-
Intly. la several of KennJcott's MSS. s (T) Is (bond
■M a ss I of n (]), making the came Nebmltasrias, with
jet lisps an introttonal plar of sound, sax aeaaaag
at variance with the general laws of Uod's provi-
dence as revealed to us in Scripture. As with hie
natural, so with his supernatural gifts, they are no.
confined to the worthy. Even under Christianity,
miraculous powers were sometimes possessed by
those who made an ill use of them (1 Cor. xiv. 2-
33). And God, it is plain, did not leave the old
heathen world without some supernatural aid, but
made his presence felt from time to time in visions,
through prophets, or even by a voice from Heaven.
It is only necessary to refer to the histories of
Pharaoh (Geo. xli. 1-7, and 28), Abimelech (•*.
xx. 3), Job (Job iv. 13, xxxviii. 1, xl. 6; com;.
Dan. iv. 31), and Balaam (Num. xxii.-xxiv. ), la
order to establish the parity of Nebuchadnezzar's
visions with other facts recorded in the Bible. He
was warned, and the nations over which be ruled
were warned through him, God leaving not Him-
self " without witness " even in those dark times.
In conclusion, we may notice that a heathen writer
(Abydenus), who generally draws his inspirations
from Kerosus, ascribes to Nebuchadnezzar a mirac-
ulous speech just before his death, announcing to
the Babylonians the speedy coming of " a Persian
mule," who with the help of the Modes would en-
slave Babylon (Abyd. ap. Euseb. Prop, Ev. ix. 41).
G. R.
NEBUSHAS'BAN ("^T^n},;. e. Nebu-
shazban: LXX omit*: Nabtuttban)', one of the
officers of Nebuchadnezzar at the time of the cap-
ture of Jerusalem. He was Rab-saris, i. t. chief
of the eunuchs (Jer. xxxix. 1-3), as Nebuzaradan
was Rab-tabbachim (chief of the body-guard), and
Nergal-sharezer, Rab-Mag (chief of the magicians),
the three being the most important officers then
present, probably the highest dignitaries of the
Babylonian court.* Nebu-shasban's office and title
were the same as those of Ashpenaz (Dan. i. 3),
whom he probably succeeded. In the list given
(ver. 3) of those who took possession of the city in
the dead of the night of the 11th Tammuz, Nebu-
sbasban is not mentioned by name, but merely by
his title Kab-saris. His name, like that of Nebu-
chadnezzar and Nebu-zaradan, is a compound of:
Nebo, the Babylonian deity, with some word which:
though not quite ascertained, probably signified
adherence or attachment (see Geeen. Thet. 840 &•
burst, Hiwlwb. ii. 7 0). G.
NEBUZAR'ADAN OTtfWO? [*» »►
low] : NajSovfaoSdV or Na0ovfapo'£r ; Joseph,
Na0i>i/fap3(li'Tjt ! tfebtanrdtm), the Rab-tabb*-
chim, i. e. chief of the slaughterers (A. V. " captain
of the guard"), a high officer in the court of
Nebuchadnezzar, apparently (like the Tartan in. the-
Assyrian army) the next to the person of the
monarch. He appears not to have been present
during the siege of Jerusalem; probably he was-
occupied at the more important operations at Tyre>
but as soon as the city was actually in the- hand*
of the Babylonians he arrived, and from that
moment everything was completely directed by.
him. It was he who decided, even to the i
6 So at tbe Assyrian Invasion In tne time of Heas-
klah Tartan, Rab-sarls, and Rab-shakeh, as the thras
highest dignitaries, addressed the Jew* from the head
ot their army (2 K. xviil. 17). Possibly these-tara*
ameers in the Assyrian court answered to the ttrsw
above In tba Babylonian.
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2090
NECHO
letailt of fire-pant and bowl* (2 K. xxt. 15), what
should be carried off and what burnt, which per-
sons ahould be taken away to Babylon and which
left behind in the country. One act only is re-
ferred direclly to Nebuchadnezzar, the appointment
of the governor or superintendent of the conquered
district. All thia Nebuzaradan seems to have car-
ried out with wisdom and moderation. His con-
duct to Jeremiah, to whom his attention had been
directed by his master (.ler. xxxix. 11), is marked
by even higher qualities than these, and the prophet
has preserved (xl. 2-5) a speech of Nebuzaradan's
to him on liberating him from his chains at
Itamah, which contains expressions truly remark-
able in a heathen. He seems to have left Judtsa
for this time when he took down the chief people
of Jerusalem to his master at Kiblah (2 K. xxv.
18-20). In four years he again appeared (Jer.
lii. 30). Nebuchadnezzar in his twenty-third year
made a descent on the regions east of Jordan,
including the Ammonites and Moabites (Joseph.
Ant. x. 9, § 7), who escaped when Jerusalem was
destroyed. [Moab, p. 1986 o.] Thence he pro-
ceeded to Egypt (Joseph, ibid.), and, either on
the way thither or on the return, Nebuzaradan
again passed through the country and carried off
seven hundred and forty-five more captives (Jer.
Ui. 30).
The name, like Nebu-chadnezzar and Nebu-
sliaslnn, contains that of Nebo the Babylonian
deity. The other portion of the word is less cer-
tain. Gesenius ( Tliri. p. 839 o) translates it by
"Hercurii dux dominua," taking the "It as =
m if, " prince," and 73t? »»=7 , '*'$ "lord."
Fiirst, on the other hnnd (Bandwb. ii. 6), treats it
as equivalent in meaning to the Hebrew fib-
tnbthtcltiiii, which usually follows it, and sometimes
occurs by itself (2 K. xxv. 18; Jer. xl. 2, 6). To
obtain this meaning he compares the last memlier
of the name to the Sanskr. Mna, from <4>, " to cut
off" Geaenius also takes zaradan as identical
with the first element in the name of Sardanap-
alus. Hut this latter name is now explained by
Sir H. Kawlinson as Assur-dan-1-pal (Uawlinson's
Herod, i. 460). O.
NE'CHO ('13J : N«xosi: [AVcAoo]), 2 Chr.
ixxv. 20, 22; xxxri. 4. [Pharaoh-Nkcho.]
NBCO'DAN (N,K»Siy: Necltoda1au) = XBr
koua (1 Esdr. v. 37; comp. Ezr. ii. 60).
• NECROMANCER (Deut-XTui.il). See
Maoic.
NEDABI'AH (nj3T? : No/hSfai ; [Vat.
A«r<0«:] Nadabin). Apparently one of the sons
of Jeconiah, or Jehoiachin, king of Judah (1 Cbr.
Ui. 18). Lord A. Hervey, however, contends that
this list contains the order of successsion and not of
lineal descent, and that Nedabiah and his brothers
wen sons of Neri.
• NEEDLEWORK. See Dbksh, 2.
NEEMI'AS (Ni«/»f«; [in Ecclus., Vat. Nr-
uov<rir, Sin. Nc/uuo-i; in 2 Mace. i. 18, 21, 23,
36, ii. 13, Alex. Ntcueiai :] Nthtmint) = Keiie-
MIAR the son of Hachaliah (Kcclus. xlix. 13; 2
Uacc. i. 18, 20, 21, 23, 81, 38, ii. 13).
NBGINAH (nj-a?), properly Ntgmxth, as
the text now stands, occurs in the title of Ps. lxi.,
"to the chief musician upon Neginath." If the
intent .reading be correct, the form of the word
XEHELAHITB
may be compared with that of Mthalath (Pa. Hi. i
But the l.X.V. (cV fyfoit), and Vulg. (in kgmmt)
evidently read " Neginoth " in the plural, which
occurs in the titles of five Psalms, and it perhaps
the true reading. Whether the word be ainguhu
or plural, it is the general term by which ah
stringed instruments an described. In the singu-
lar it hat the derived sense of " a song rang tc
the accompaniment of a stringed instrument," and
generally of a taunting character (Job xxx. 9 ; Pa.
lxix. 12; Lam. ui. 14). [NaoutOTB.]
W. A W.
NEGaNOTH (/TOVQ). This word is (bond
in the titles of Ps. iv., vi., liv., It., Ixrii., Ixxri., and
the margin of Hab. iii. 19, and there seems but
little doubt that it it the general term denoting all
stringed instruments whatsoever, whether played
with the band, like the harp and guitar, or with \
plectrum." It thus includes all those instrument*
which in the A. V. are denoted by the special terms
" harp," " psaltery " or '• rioL" " sackbnt," as wei
as by the general descriptions "stringed instru-
ments" (l't. c! 4), " instruments of musie " (1
Sam. xviii. 6), or, as the margin gives it, « three-
stringed instruments," and the " instrument of ten
striugs" (Ps. xxxiii. 2, xeii. 3, cxliv. 9). "The
chief musician on Neyittoth " was therefore the
conductor of that portion of the Temple -choir who
played upon the stringed instruments, and who
are mentioned in Ps. Ixriii. 25 (0*333, niginim).
The root (]?] = npov»ty) from which the word hi
derived oecun in 1 Sam. xvi. 16, 17, 18, 23, xviii.
10, xix. 9; Is. xxxviii. 20, and a comparison of
these passages confirms what has been said with
regard to its meaning. The author of the Skiltt
HaggMorim, quoted by Kircher (.1/iuuroiVi, L 4,
p. 48), describes the Neginoth as instruments of
wood, long and round, pierced with several aper-
tures, and having three strings of gut stretched
across them, which were played with a bow of
horsehair. It is extremely doubtful, however,
whether the Helrews were acquainted with any-
thing so closely resembling the modem violin.
W. A W.
NEHEI/ AMITE, THE ("Q^CSr? : 4
KlXapinit [Vat. -«; Alex. FA. EAauun)?:] ATe-
htliimiln). The designation of a man named
Shemaiah, a false prophet, who went with the Cap-
tivity to Babylon (Jer. xxix. 24, 81, 32). The
name is no doubt formed from that either of Stw-
maiah's native place, or the progenitor of his
family: which of the two is uncertain. No place
called Nehehun is mentioned in the Bible, or known
to have existed in Palestine,' nor does it occur in
any of the genealogical lists of families. It re-
sembles the name whioh the LXX. have attached
to Ahyah the lYopbet, namely the Knlaniite —
i 'EvAapW; but by what authority they substitute
that name for " the ShUonite " of the Hebrew test
is doubtful. The word " Nehelamite " also prob-
ably contains a play on the "dreams" (Imbnm)
and "dreamers," whom Jeremiah is never wearied
of denouncing (see ec. xxiii., xzrii., xxix.). This
a Hence Synunarhu* remler* at* sVaA i sjpi w .
* The Tsrxum rives the mast at Hrfaat, —^~~ l .
A paws of this nam lay s a ne wb re bstwese the i»
dan and the Euphrauw. Fes vol U. f. UK I
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KEHEMIAH
B hintad in the margin of the A. T. — from what
source the writer hu not been able to diaoorer.
G.
NBHEMI AH liTpnj [amtoltd 6y Jtko-
•oA: Ntt/aio,] Nttulas' \Ntkemu<$1 ,. L Son
af Hanhaliah, and apparently of the trtoe of Jodah,
since hii father! were buried at Jerusalem, and
Hanani hie kinsman seems to have been of that
tribe (Neb.. I 2, ii. 3, vii. 2). He is called indeed
"Nehemiab. the Prieat" (Neh. sacerdos) in the
Vulgate of 8 Haoo. i. 21 ; but the Greek baa it,
that "Nehemiab ordered the print* (hptis) to
pom* the water," ete. Nor does the expression in
ver. 18, that Nehemiah " offered sacrifice," imply
any more than that he provided the sacrifices.
Other* again have inferred that he was a priest
from Neh. z. 1-8; but the words "these were the
priests" naturally apply to the names which follow
Nehemiah's, who signed first as the head of the
whole nation. The opinion that he was connected
with the house of David is more feasible, though
it cannot be proved. The name of Hanani his
kinaman, as well as his own name, are found slightly
varied in the house of David, in the case of H&-
nsniah the son of Zerubbkbel (1 Chr. iii. 19), and
Naom (Luke iii. 26).° If he were of the house
of David, there would be peculiar point in his
allusion to his " fathers' sepulchres " at Jerusalem.
Makiaa of Antioeh (Chrwwgr. vi. 160), as cited
by Grimm, on 2 Mace i. 21, singularly combines
the two views, and calls him " Nebeiniah the priest,
of the seed of David."
All that we know certainly concerning this emi-
nent man is contained in the book which bears his
His autobiography first finds him at Shu-
, the winter * residence of the kings of Persia,
in high office as the cupbearer of king ArUxerxes
Longimanus. In the 20th year of the king's reign,
i. e. b. c. 446, certain Jews, one of whom wss a
near kinsman of Nehemiah's, arrived from Judaea,
and gave Nebemiah a deplorable account of the
state of Jerusalem, and of the residents in Judsea,
He immediately conceived the idea of going to
Jerusalem to endeavor to better their state. Alter
three or four month* (from Chisleu to Nisan), in
which be earnestly sought God's blessing upon his
undertaking by frequent prayer and fasting, an
opportunity presented itself of obtaining the king's
consent to his mission. Having received his ap-
pointment as governor' of Judas, a troop of
cavalry, and letters from the king to the different
satraps through whose provinces he was to pass, as
weU as to Asaph the keeper of the king's forests,
to supply him with timber, he started upon his
journey: being under promise to return to Persia
arlihir. a given time. Josephus says that he went
in the first instance to Babylon, and gathered round
him a band of exiled Jews, who returned with him.
Tins is important as possibly indicating that the
book which Josephus followed, understood the Nehe-
aaiab mentioned in Ezr. ii. 2; Neh. vii. 7, to be
the son of Harhaltah.
KEHEMIAH 2091
Nehemiah's great work was rebuilding, for thf
first time since their destruction by Nehuzaradan,
the walls of Jerusalem, and restoring that city te
its former state and dignity, as a fortified town
It is impossible to overestimate the importance u
the future political and ecclesiastical prosperity of
the Jewish nation of this great achievement of
their patriotic governor. Hew low the commo
nity of the Palestine Jews had fallen, is apparent
from the fact that from the 6th of Darius to the
7th of Artaxerxes, there is no history of them
whatever ; and that even after Ezra's commission
and the ample grants made by Artaxerxes In his
7th year, and the considerable reinforcements, both
in wealth and numbers, which Ezra's goverrmeut
brought to them, they were in a state of abject
" affliction and reproach " in the 20th of Arta-
xerxes; their country pillaged, their citizens kid-
napped and made slaves of by their heathen neigh-
bors, robbery and murder rite in their very capital,
Jerusalem almost deserted, and the Temple falling
again into decay. The one step which could
resuscitate the nation, preserve the Mosaic insti-
tutions, and lay the foundation of future inde-
pendence, was the restoration of the city walls.
Jerusalem being once again secure from the attacks
of the marauding heathen, civil government would
become pocsilile, the spirit of the people, and their
attachment to the ancient capital of the monarch)
would revive, the priests and Invites would be
encouraged to come into residence, the tithes and
first-fruits and other stores would be safe, and
Judah, if not actually independent, would preserve
the essentials of national and religious life. To
this great object therefore Neheiniah directed his
whole energies without an hour's unnecessary
delay.' By word and example he induced the
whole population, with the single exception of the
Tekoite nobles, to commence building with the
utmost vigor, even the lukewarm high-priest Kli-
ashib performing his part. In a wonderfully short
time the walls seemed to emerge from the heaps
of burnt rubbish, and to encircle the city as in the
days of old. The gateways also were rebuilt, and
ready for the doors to be hung upon them. But
it soon became apparent how wisely Nehemiah had
acted in hastening on the work. On his very first
arrival, as governor, Sanbaliat and Tobiah had
given unequivocal proof of their mortification at
his appointment; and, before the work was even
commenced, had scornfully asked whether he in-
tended to rebel against the king of Persia. But
when the restoration was seen to be rapidly pro-
gressing, their indignation knew no bounds. They
not only poured out a torrent of abuse and con-
tempt upon all engaged in the work, but actual!}
made n great conspiracy to fall upon the builders
with iui armed force and put a stop to the under-
taking. The project was defeated by the vigilance
and prudence of Nehemiah, who armed all tbe
people after their families, and showed such a
strong fr?nt that their enemies dared not attack
them. This armed attitude was continued iron)
a 8m QlMlO*' afowr Lard J. C, p. lift. [Nzhx-
saua, Sow or Azsui.]
* Irhatam was ths summer, Babylon the spring,
•ml nmepotfa the autumn rsaldenos of the Unas of
riefsaa (rliknurkm). Suss was tka Brfcotpal pslu»
(Bctab. n*. xv. cap- IB. i »)■
• nn*3, tka tana applied to himself and other
' by lIsSMsmah The
of TfrOuuMa. which Is applied only to Nehemiah, im
doubtful. I. Is by most modern scholars thought
to mean Governor (Gesso, s. v.); bnt the sense cn/i-
itarrr, (Ivan by older commentators, seems more prolt
able.
d Tbe tbne days, mentioned Neh. tt. 11, and Br
vtii. 82 seems tt point to some customary interval
perhaps for purification after a journey. Bee in Ore
dan's fbsiMiiTlaw.fi " Third Day '' ani " Tans flays.-'
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8092
NEHEMIAH
mat day forward. Various stratagems were then
resorted to to get Nehemiah away from Jerusalem,
and if possible to take his life. But that which
most nearly succeeded was the attempt to bring
him into suspicion with the king of Persia, as if he
intended to set himself up for an independent king,
as soon as the walls were completed. It was
thought that the accusation of rebellion would also
frighten the Jews themselves, and make them cease
from building. Accordingly a double line of action
was taken. On the one hand Sanballat wrote a
letter to Nehemiah, in an apparently friendly tone,
telling him, on the authority of Geshem, that it
was reported among the heathen (i. e. the heathen
nations settled in Samaria, and Galilee of the
nations), that he was about to head a rebellion of
the Jews, and that he had appointed prophets to
aid in the design by prophesying of him, " thou
art the king of Judah; " and that he was building
the walls for this purpose. This was sure, he
added, to come to the ears of the king of Persia,
and he invited Nehemiah to confer with him as to
what should he done. At the same time he had
also bribed Noadiah the prophetess, and other
prophets, to induce Nehemiah by representations
of his being in danger, to take refuge in the for-
tress of the Temple, with a view to cause delay,
and also to give an appearance of conscious guilt.
While this portion of the plot was conducted by
Sanballat and Tobiah, a yet more important line
of action was pursued in concert with them by the
chief officers of the king of Persia in Samaria.
In a letter addressed to Artaxerxes they repre-
sented that the Jews had rebuilt the walls of Jeru-
salem, with the intent of rebelling against the
king's authority and recovering their dominion on
"this side the river." Keferring to former in-
stances of the seditious spirit of the Jewish people,
they urged that if the king wished to maintain
his power in the province he must immediately put
a stop to the fortification. This artful letter so far
wrought upon Artaxerxes, that he issued a decree
■topping the work till further orders." It is prob-
able that at the same time he recalled Nehemiah,
or perhaps Nehemiah's leave of absence had pre-
viously expired ; in either case had the Tirshatha
been less upright and less wise, and bad he fallen
into the trap laid for him, his life might have
been in great danger. The sequel, however, shows
that his perfect integrity was apparent to the king.
For after a delay, perhaps of several years, he was
permitted to return to Jerusalem, and to crown
his work by repairing the Temple, and dedicating
the walls. What, however, we have here to notice
\ that owing to Nehemiah's wise haste, and his
refusal to pause for a day in his work, in spite of
threats, plots, and insinuations, the designs of his
enemies were frustrated. The wall was actually
finished and ready to receive the gates, before the
king's decree for suspending the work arrived. A
little delay, therefore, was all they were able to
effect. Nehemiah does not indeed mention this
adverse decree, which may have arrived during his
absence, nor give us any clew to the time of his
eturn; nor should we have suspected his absence
St all from Jerusalem, but for the incidental allu-
sion in ch. ii. 6, siiL 6, coupled with the long
NEHEMIAH
interval of yean between the earlier and later
chapters of the book. Hut the interval betweac
the close of ch. vi. and the beginning of ch. vii. is
the only place where we can suppose a considerable
gap in time, either from the appearance of the
text, or the nature of the events narrated. It
serins to suit both well to suppose that Nehemiah
returned to Persia, and the work stopped imme-
diately after the events narrated in vi. 18-19, and
that chapter vii. goes ou to relate the measures
adopted by him upon his return with fresh powers.
These were, the setting up the doors in the various
gates of the city, giving a special charge to Hanani
and Hananiah, as to the time of opening and shot-
ting the gates, and above all providing for the duo
peopling of the city, the numbers of which wen
miserably small, and the rebuilding of the numer-
ous decayed houses within the walls. Then fol-
lowed a census of the returned captives, a burg*
collection of funds for the repair of the Temple,
the public reading of the Law to the people by Ears
(who now appears again on the scene, perhaps
having returned from Persia with Nehemiah), a
celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, such ss had
not I een held since the days of Joshua: a no less
solemn keeping of the Day of Atonement, when
the opportunity was taken to enter into solemn
covenant with God, to walk in the law of Moses
and to keep God's commandments.
It may have been after another considerable in-
terval of time, and not improbably after another
aloence of the Tirshatha from his government, that
the next event of interest in Nehemiah's life oc-
curred, namely, the dedication of the walls of Jeru-
salem, including, if we may believe the author of
2 Mace., supported by several indications in the
Book of Nehemiah, that of the Temple after its
repair by means of the funds collected from the
whole population. This dedication was conducted
with great solemnity, and appears to have been the
model of the dedication by Judas Maccabeus, when
the Temple was purified and the worship restored
at the death of Antiochus F.piphanes, as related
1 Mace. iv. The author of 3 Mace, says that on
this occasion Nehemiah obtained the sacred ire
which had been hid in a pit by certain priests at
the time of the Captivity, and was recovered by
their descendants, who knew where it was con-
cealed. When, however, these priests went to the
place, they found only muddy water. By Nehe-
miah's command they drew this water, and sprinkled
it upon toe wood of the altar and upon the victims,
and when the sun, which had been over-clouded,
presently shone out, a great fire was immediately
kindled, which consumed the sacrifices, to the great
wonder of all present The author also inserts the
prayer, a simple and beautiful one, said to have)
been uttered by the priests, and responded to by
Nehemiah, during tbe sacrifice; and adds, that the
king of Persia inclosed the place where the fire wsa
found, and that Nehemiah gave it the name of
Naphtbar, or cleansing. [Naphthas..] He tells
us further that an account of this dedication wsa
contained in the " writings and commentaries of
Nehemiah " (2 Mace B. 13), and that Nehemiah
founded "a library, and gathered together the
sets of the kings, and the prophets, and of David
a The reader most remember that this application
of sm*. Iv. 7-98 to this thus Is novel, and most exsr-
•%•» Us own judgment ss to Its sdmfassblUty.
* talk as the osteogen of money and priests' gar-
ments mentioned In Neb., vii. 7); fcr. H. 68; ts»
allusion to the pollution of the Temple, xxH. T-»
sod the nature of the osresasoiss Isssrited in est xt
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NEHEMIAH
tad the euiatlea of the kings (of PertU) concerning
the hoi; gift*." How much of thii has any his-
torical foundation ii diffiooli to determine. It
ihould be added, however, that the win of Sirach, in
celebrating Nehemiah 'i good deeds, mentions only
that he " raised up for us the walla that were fallen,
and net up the gates and the bars, and raised up
our ruins again," Ecclus. xlix. 13. Returning to
the sure ground of the sacred narrative, the other
principal achievements of this great and good gov*
amor may be thus signalized. He firmly repressed
the exactions of the nobles, and the usury of the
rich, and rescued the poor Jews from spoliation and
slavery. He refused to receive his lawful allowance
as governor from the people, in consideration of their
poverty, during the whole twelve years that he was
in office, bnt kept at his own charge a table for 150
Jews, at which any who returned from captivity
were welcome. He made most careful provision for
the maintenance of the ministering priests and Le-
vitts, and for the due and constant celebration of
Divine worship. He insisted upon the sanctity of
the precincts of the Temple being preserved invi-
olable, and peremptorily ejected the powerful Tobias
from one of the chambers which Kliashib had as-
signed to him. He then replaced the stores and
vessels which had been removed to make room for
him, and appointed proper Levities! officers to su-
perintend and distribute them. With no less firm-
ness and impartiality he expelled from all sacred
functions those of the high priest's family who had
eontracted heathen marriages, and rebuked and
punished those of the common people who had
likewise intermarried with foreigners; aud lastly,
he provided for keeping holy the Sabbath day,
which was shamefully profaned by many, both
Jews and foreign merchants, and by his resolute
conduct succeeded in repressing the lawlew traffic
on toe day of rest-
Beyond the 33d year of Artoien.es, to which
Nebemiah's own narrative leads us, we have no ac-
count of him whatever. Neither had Josephus.
For when he tells us that •' when Nehemiah had
done many other excellent things ... he came to
a great age and then died," he sufficiently indicates
that he knew nothing more about him. The most
probable inference from the close of his own me-
moir, and in the absence of any further tradition
concerning him is, that he returned to Persia and
died there. On reviewing the character of Nehe-
mlah, we seem unable to find a single fault to coun-
terbalance bis many and great virtues. For pure
and disinterested patriotism he stands unrivaled.
Hie man whom the account of the misery and ruin
of his native country, and the perils with which his
countrymen were beset, prompted to leave his spleu -
dial banishment, and a post of wealth, power, and
influence, in the first court in the world, that he
might share and alleviate the sorrows of bis native
and, must have been preeminently a patriot. Every
act of his during his government bespeaks one who
bad no selfishness in his nature. All he did was
noble, generous, high-minded, courageous, and to
the highest degree upright. But to stern integ-
rity he united great humility and kindness, and a
princely hospitality. As a statesman he combined
^rethought, prudence, and sagacity in counsel, with
igor, promptitude, and decision in action. In deal-
jog with the enemies of his country be was nr,
eccctntiug, and liold. In directing (he internal
•o-uomy of the state, he took a oomprehensivt '
daw of the real welfare of the people, and adopted I
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF 2093
the measures best calculated to promote It, le
dealing whether with friend or foe, he was utterl)
free from favor or fear, conspicuous for the situ
plicity with which he aimed only at doing what
was right, without respect of persons. But in noth-
ing was he more remarkable than for his piety, and
the singleness of eye with which he walked before
God. He seems to have undertaken everything it
dependence upon God, with prayer for his blessiiu?
and guidance, and to have sought his reward only
from God.
The principal authorities for the events of Nehe-
miah'a life, after Josephus, are Carpzov'i Intro-
duct, ad V. T.; Eichbom, Einleitung; Harer-
nlck's fiinleit. ; Rambach in Lib. Nehem ; Le Clare
in Lib. hittor. V. T., besides those referred to in the
following article. 'loose who wish to see the ques-
tions discussed of the 30th Artaxerxes, as the ter-
minal a quo Daniel's seventy weeks commence, and
also the general chronology of the times, may refer
to Genealogy of our Lord Jetui Chritt, ch. xi.;
and for a different view to Prideaux, Connect, i.
251, Ac. The view of Scaliger, Hottinger, etc.,
adopted by Dr. MilL Vindic. of our Lord* Gencat-
ogg, p. 185 note, that Artaxerxes Hnemon was
Nehemiah's patron, is almost universally aban-
doned. The proof from the parallel genealogies of
the kings of Persia and the high-priests, that lie
was Longimanus, is stated in a paper printed for
the Chronolog. Institute by the writer of this ar-
ticle.
8. [N«e/.(os, Nscufa; Vat- in E-r., Nsquot:
Nehemia, ffehemiai.] One of the leaders of the
first expedition from Babylon to Jerusalem under
Zerubbabel (Ear. ii. 2; Neh. vii. 7).
3. [Nscufar; FA. Netptiaf- Nehemias.] Sou
of Azbuk, and ruler of the half part of Beth-zur,
who helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem (Neh.
iii. 16). Beth-zur was a city of Judah (Josh. xv.
58; 1 Chr. ii. 45), belonging to a branch of Caleb's
descendants, whence it follows that this Nehemiah
was also of the tribe of Judah. A. C H.
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF. The latest of
all the historical books of Scripture, both as to the
time of its composition and the scope of its nam
tive in general, and as to the supplementary matter
of ch. xii. in particular, which reaches down to the
time of Alexander the Great. This book, like the
preceding one of Ezra [Ezra, Book up], is clearly
and certainly not all by the same hand. By far th»
principal portion, indeed, is the work of Nehemiah,
who gives, in the first person, a simple narrative
of the events in which he himself was concerned;
but other portions are either extracts from various
chronicles and registers, or supplementary narra-
tives and reflections, some apparently by Ezra,
others, perhaps, the work of the same person who
inserted the latest genealogical extracts frcm the
public chronicles.
1. The main history contained in the book of
Nehemiah covers about 12 years, namely, from the
20th to the 32d year of Artaxerxes Longimanus,
i. e. from b. c. 445 to 433. For so we seem to
learn distinctly from v. 14 compared with xiii. 6;
nor does there seem to be any historical grown
whatever for asserting with Prideaux and many
others that the government of Nehemiah, after his
return in the 33d of Aruxerxea, extended to the
loth year oi Darius Nothus, and that the events ol
oh. xiii. belong to this later period (l'rid. Connect.
B. c. 409) The argument attempted to be derived
from Neh. xiii. 38, (hat Ehaahib was then dead &>W
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2094 NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
foiada his son high-priest, U utterly without weight.
There is a precisely parallel phrase in 2 Chr. xixv.
3, where we read " the house which Solomon the
son of David king of Israel did build." But the
doubt whether the title " kiug of Israel " applies to
David or Solomon is removed by the following
verse, where we read, " according to the writing of
David king of Israel, and according to the writing
of Solomon his son." The LXX. also in that pas-
sage have $atri\t'ut agreeing with David. There
Is, therefore, not the slightest pretense for asserting
that Kehemiah was governor after the 33d of Ar-
taxerxes (see below).
The whole narrative gives us a graphic and in-
teresting account of the state of Jerusalem and the
returned captives in the writer's times, and, inci-
dentally, of tile nature of the Persian government
and the condition of its remote provinces. The
documents appended to it also give some further
information as to the times of Zerubbabel on the
one hand, and as to the continuation of the gene
•logical registers and the succession of the nigh-
priesthood to the close of the Persian empire on
the other. The view given of the rise of two fee
tions among the Jews — the one the strict religious
party, adhering with uncompromising faithfulness
to the Mosaic institutions, headed by Nehemiab;
the other, the gentilizing party, ever imitating
heathen customs, and making heathen connections,
headed, or at least encouraged by the high-priest
Eliashib and his family — sets before us the germ
of much that we meet with in a more developed
state in later Jewish history from the commence-
ment of the Macedonian dynasty till the final de-
struction of Jerusalem.
Again, in this history as well as in the book of
Ezra, we see the bitter enmity between the Jews
and Samaritans acquiring strength and definitive
form on both religious and political grounds. It
would seem from ir. 1, 2, 8 (A. V.), and vi. 8, 0,
Ac., that the depression of Jerusalem was a fixed
part of the policy of Sanballat, and that he had
the design of raising Samaria as the bead of Pales-
tine, upon the ruin of Jerusalem, a design which
stems to have been entertained by the Samaritans
in later times.
The book also throws much light upon the
domestic institutions of the Jews. We learn inei-
ientally the prevalence of usury and of slavery as
.ts consequence, the frequent and burdensome op-
pressions of the governors (v. 15), the judicial use
of corporal punishment (xiii. 89), the continuance
of false prophets as an engine of policy, as in the
days of the kings of Judah (vi. 7, 13, 14), the resti-
tution of the Mosaic provision for the maintenance
of the priests and Levites and the due performance
of the Temple service (xiii. 10-13), the much freer
•womulgation of the Holy Scriptures by the public
sading of them (viii. 1, ix. 3, xiii. 1), and the more
g'eneral acquaintance • with them arising from their
collection into one volume and the multiplication
of copies of them by the care of Ezra the scribe and
Kehemiah himself (8 Mace. ii. 13), as well as from
the stimulus given to the art of reading among the
Jewish people during their residence in Babylon
[Hilkiah] ; the mixed form of political govern-
NBHEMIAH, BOOK OF
ment still surviving the ruin of their independena
(v. 7, 13, x.), the reviving trade with Tyre (xiii
16), the agricultural pursuits and wealth of the
Jews (v. 11, xiii. 15), the tendency to take heathen
wives, indicating, possibly, a disproportion in the
number of Jewish males and females among the
returned captives (x. 30, xiii. 8, 23), the danger
the Jewish language was in of being corrupted '
(xiii. 34), with other details which only the nar-
rative of an eye-witness would have preserved to us.
Soma of these details give us incidentally infor-
mation of great historical importance.
(a.) The account of the building and dedication
of the wall, HI., xii., contains the most valuabh
materials for settling the topography of Jerusalem
to be found in Scripture. [Jerusalem, vol. ii. pp
1321-22.] (Thrupp's AncUnt Jerusalem.)
(o.) The list of returned captives who came
under different leaders from the time of Zerubbabel
to that of Nehemiah (amounting in all to only
42,360 adult males, and 7,337 servants), which is
given in ch. vii., conveys a faithful picture of the
political weakness of the Jewish nation as compared
with the times when Judah alone numbered 470,000
fighting men (1 Chr. xxi. 6). It justifies the de-
scription of the Palestine Jews as " the remnant
that are left of the captivity " (Neb., i. 3), and as
" these feeble Jews " (iv. 2), and explains the great
difficulty felt by Xehemiah in peopling Jerusalem
itself with a sufiicient number of inhabitants to
preserve it from assault (vii. 3, 4, xl. 1, 2). It is
an important aid, too, in understanding the sub-
sequent history, and in appreciating the patriotism
and valor by which they attained their independ-
ence under the Maccabees.
(c.) The lists of leaders, priests, Levites, and of
those who signed the covenant, reveal incidentally
much of the national spirit as well as of the social
habits of the captives, derived from older times.
Thus the fact that ticelce leaders are named in
Neh. vii. 7, indicates the feeling of the captives
that they represented the twttte tribes, a feeling
further evidenced in the expression " the men of
the people of Israel." The enumeration of 21 and
and 22, or, if Zidkijah stands for the head of the
house of Zadok, 23 chief priests in x. 1-8, xii. 1-7,
of whom 9 bear the names of those who were head*
of courses in David's time (1 Chr. xxiv.) [Js>
hoiahxbJ, shows how, even in their wasted and
reduced numbers, they struggled to preserve these
ancient institutions, and also supplies the reason
of the mention of these particular 22 or 23 names.
But it does more than this. Taken in conjunction
with the list of those who sealed (x. 1-27), it proves
the existence of a social custom, the knowledge of
which is of absolute necessity to keep us from gram
chronological error, that, namely, of calling chiefs
by the name of the clan or bouse of which they
were chiefs. One of the causes of the absurd eon-
fusion which has prevailed, as to the times of
Zerubbabel and Nehemiah respectively, has been
the mention, t. g. of Jesbua and Kadmiel (Ear.
iii. 9) as taking part with Zerubbabel in building
the Temple, while the very same Levites take an
active part in the reformation of Nehemiah (Neh.
ix. 4, 5, x. 9, 10); and the statement that soma
■ This lately acquired acquaintance with the Serln-
turas appears Incidentally In the large quotations In
Has prayers of Nehemiat and the Uvitaa, ee. I., Ix.,
dtt.tS.fce.
6 The evidence of Hebrew having ceased to be rkrt
vernacular language of the Jews, which soma mat b
Neh. vM». 8, Is very doubtful, and o>paod*nt eat m
of B^tlJI.
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NEHEMIAH BOOK OP
II or S3 priests came up with Xerubbabel (lii. 1-7),
soupled with the fact '.hat tliese very same names
•ere the names of those who sealed the covenant
under Nehemiah (x. 1-8). But immediately [as soon
m] we perceive that these were the names of the
courses, and of great Levitical houses (as a compari-
son of 1 Chr. xxiv. ; Ezr. ii. 40 ; Neb. vii. 43 ; aud of
Neb, x. 11-27 with vii. 8-38, proves that thej were),
the difficulty vanishes, and we have a useful piece
of knowledge to apply to many other passages of
Scripture. It would be very desirable, if possible,
to ascertain accurately the rules, if any, under which
this use of proper names was confined.
(</.) Other miscellaneous information contained
- in this book embraces the hereditary crafts prac-
ticed by certain priestly families, t. g. the aputhe-
carief, or makers of the sacred ointments and in-
cense (iii. 8), and the goldsmiths, whose business
it probably was to repair the sacred vessels (iii. 8),
and who may have been the ancestors, so to speak,
of the money-changers in the Temple (John ii. 14,
15); the situation of the garden of the kings of
Judah by which Zedekiah escaped (2 K. xxr. 4),
ma seen iii. IS; and statistics, reminding one of
Domesday- Book, concerning not only the cities and
families of the returned captives, but the number
jf their horses, mules, camels, and asses (cb. vii.):
to which more might be added.
The chief, indeed the only real historical diffi-
culty in the narrative, is to determine the time of
the dedication of the wall, whether in the 32d year
of Artaxerxes or before. The expression in Neh.
xiii. 1, " On that day," seems to fix the reading
of the law to the same day as the dedication (see
lii. 43). But if so, the dedication must hare been
after Nebemiah's return from Babylon (mentioned
xiii. 7); for Eliashib's misconduct, which occurred
" before " the reading of the law, happened in
Nebemiah's absence. But then, if the wall only
took 52 days to complete (Neh. ri. 15), and was be-
gun immediately [when] Nehemiah entered upon his
government, how came the dedication to be deferred
till 12 years afterwards ? The answer to this prob-
ably is that, in the first place, the 52 days are not
to he reckoned from the commencement of the
suilding, seeing that it is incredible that it should
be completed in so short a time by so feeble a com-
munity and with such frequent hindrances and
interruptions; seeing, too, that the narrative itself
indicates a much longer time. Such passages as
Nehemiah ir. 7, 8, 12, v., and t. 16 in particular,
ri. 4, 5, coupled with the indications of temporary
essation from the work which appear at iv. 6, 10,
.5, seem quite irreconcilable with the notion of
teas than two months for the whole. The 52 days,
therefore, if the text is sound, may be reckoned
from the resumption of the work after iv. 15, and
a time exceeding two years may hare elapsed from
the commencement of the building. But even then
k would not be ready for dedication. There were
he gates to be hung, perhaps much rubbish to be
amoved, and the ruined houses in the immediate
-icinity of the walls to be repaired. Then, too, as
we shall see below, there were repairs to be done to |
•he Temple, and it is likely that the dedication of
the walls would nut take place till those repairs
were completed. Still, even these causes would not
be adequate to account for a delay of 12 years,
/usephus, who is seldom in harmony with the book
of Nehemiah, though he justifies our suspicion that
a longer time must have elapsed, by assuming two
nam and four months to the rebuilding, and
NEHEMIAH. BOOK OF 209b
placing the completion in the 28th year of the
king's reign whom lie calls Xerxes (thus inter-
posing an interval of 8 years between Nebemiah's
arm si at Jerusalem as governor aud the comple-
tion ; , yet gives us no real help. He does not at-
tempt to account for the length of time, be makes
no allusion to the dedication, except as far as his
statement that the wall was completed in the ninth
month, Chisleu (instead of Elul, the sixth, as Neh.
vi. 15), may seem to point to the dedication
(1 Mace. iv. 59), and takes not the slightest notice
of Nebemiah's return to the king of Persia. We
are left, therefore, to inquire for ourselves whether
the book itself suggests any further causes of delay.
One cause immediately presents itself, namely, that
Nehemiah's leave of absence from the Persian
court, mentioned ii. 6, may have drawn to a close
shortly after the completion of the wall, and before
the other above-named works were complete. And
this is rendered yet more probable by the circum-
stance, incidentally brought to light, that, in the
321 year of Artaxerxes, we know he was with the
king (xiii. 6).
Other circumstances, too, may have occurred to
make it imperative fcr him to return to Persia
without delay. The last words of ch. vi. point to
some new effort of Tobiah to interrupt his work,
and the expression used seems to indicate that it
was the threat of being considered as s rebel by the
king. If he could make it appear that Artaxerxes
was suspicious of his fidelity, then Nehemiah might
feel it matter of necessity to go to the Persian court
to clear himself of the charge. And this view both
receives a remarkable confirmation from, and throws
quite a new light upon the obscure passage in Kzr.
iv. 7-23. We hare there a detailed account of the
opposition made by the Samaritan nations to the
building of the walls of Jerusalem, in the reign
of Autaxkkxes, and a copy of the letter they
wrote to the king, accusing the Jews of an inten-
tion to rebel as soon as the wall should be finished ;
by which means they obtained a decree stopping
the building till the king's further orders should
be received. Now, if we compare Neh. vi. 0, 7,
where mention is made of the report " among the
heathen " as to the intended rebellion of Nehemiah,
with the letter of the heathen nations mentioned
in Ezr. iv., and also recollect that the only time
when, as far as we know, the walls of Jerusalem
were attempted to be rebuilt, was when Nehemiah
was governor, it is difficult to resist the conclusion
that Ezra iv. 7-23 relates to the time of Nehemiah's
government, and explains the otherwise unaccount-
able circumstance that 12 years elapsed before the
dedication of the walls was completed. Nehemiah
may have started on his journey on receiving the
letters from Persia (if such they were) sent him by
Tobiah, leaving his lieutenants to carry on the
works, and after his departure Rehum and Shimsha)
and their companions may have come up to Jeru-
salem with the king's decree and obliged them to
desist. It should seem, however, that at Nehe-
miah's arrival in Persia, he was able to satisfy the
king of his perfect integrity, and that he was per-
mitted to return to his government in .ludtea- His
leave of absence may again have been of limited
duration, and the business of the census, of re-
peopling T ennalem, setting up the city gates,
rebuilding the ruined houses, and repairing the
Temple, may harp occupied his whole time till his
second return to th* king. During this «eoond
absence another evil arose — the gentilbnntr pvtj
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2096 KEHBMIAH, BOOK Oi-
recovered strength, and the intrigues with Tobiah
(vL 17}, which had already begun before his first
departure, were more actively carried on, and led so
br that Eliashib the high-priest actually assigned
one of the store-chambers in the Temple to Tobiah's
use. This we are not told of till ziii. 4-7, when
Nebemiah relates the steps he took on his return.
But this very circumstance suggests that Nebemiah
does not relate the events which happened in his
absence, and would account for his silence in regard
to Kebum and Shimshai. We may thus, then,
account for 10 or 11 years baring elapsed before
the dedication of the walls took place. In fact it
did not take place till the last year of his govern-
ment; and this leads to the right interpretation
of ziii. 6 and brings it into perfect harmony
with T. 14, a passage which obviously imports that
Nehemiah's government of Judea lasted only 12
years, namely, from the 20th to the 32d of Arta-
xerxes. For the literal and grammatical rendering
of xiii. 6 is, " And in all this time was not I at
Jerusalem: but in the two-and-thirtieth year of
Artaxerxes king of Babylon, came I unto the king,
and after certain days obtained I leave of the king,
and I came to Jerusalem " — the force of *3 after
a negative being but rather than for (Uesen. Thet.
p. 680); the meaning of the passage being, there-
fore, not that he left Jerusalem to go to Persia in
the 3Sd of Artaxerxes, but, on the contrary, that
in that year he returned from Persia to Jerusalem.
The dedication of the walls and the other reforms
named in ch. xiii. were the closing acts of his ad-
ministration.
It has been already mentioned that Josephus
does not follow the authority of the Book of Nebe-
miah. He detaches Nehem. viii. from its context,
and appends the narratives contained in it to the
times of Ezra. He makes Ezra die before Nehe-
miah came to Jerusalem as governor, and conse-
quently ignores any part taken by him in conjunc-
tion with Nehemiali. He makes no mention either
whatever of Snnlwllat in the events of Nehemiah's
government, but places him in the time of Jaddua
and Alexander the Great. He also makes the
laughter of Sanballat marry a son, not of Joiada,
as Neb. xiii. 28, but of Jonathan, namely, Manasseh
the brother of the High-priest Jaddua, thus en-
tirely shifting the age of Sanballat from the reign
of Artaxerxes Longimanus, to that of Darius Codo-
manus, and Alexander the Great. It is scarcely
necessary to observe, that as Artaxerxes Longi-
manus died B. c. 424, and Alexander the Great was
not master of Syria and Palestine till B. c. 332, all
ittempts to reconcile Josephus with Neheminh most
be lost labor. It is equally clear that on every
{round the authority of Josephus must yield to
that of Nebemiah. The only question therefore is
what was the cause of Josephus 1 variations. Now,
as regards the appending the history in Neh. viii.
to the times of Ezra, we know that be was guided
by the authority of the Apocryphal 1 Esdr. as he had
been in the whole story of Zerubbabel and Darius.
From the florid additions to his narrative of Nehe-
miah's first application to Artaxerxes, as well as
from the passage below referred to in 2 Mace. i. 23,
we may be sure that there were apocryphal versions
<• It Is worth remarking, that the apocryphal book
quoted In 2 Mace. I. 28 seems to have made Nehemlab
tonUiufonij with Jonathan, or Johana, the hifh-
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
of the sU>ry of Nebemiah. " The account of Jad
dua's interview with Alexander the Great savors
strongly of the same origin. There can be litth)
doubt, therefore, that in all the points in whick
Josephus differs from Nehemiah, he followed apoc-
ryphal Jewish writings, some of which have since
perished. The causes which led to this were various
One doubtless was the mere desire for matter with
which to fill up his pages where tbe narrative of the
canonical Scriptures is meagre. In making Nebe-
miah succeed to the government after Ezra's death,
he was probably influenced partly by the wish to
give an orderly, dignified appearance to the succes-
sion of Jewish governors, approximating as nearly
as possible to the old monarchy, and partly by (hs
desire to spiu out his matter into a continuous his-
tory. Then the difficulties of tbe books of Ezra and
Nebemiah, which the compiler of 1 Esdr. had tried
to get over by his arrangement of tbe order of
events, coupled with Josephus' gross ignorance of
the real order of tbe Persian kings, and his utter
misconception as to what mouarchs are spoken of
in the looks of Ezra, Nebemiah, and Esther, had
also a large influence. The writer, how.-ver, who
makes Darius Codomanus succeed Artaxerxes Lou-
gimanus, and confounds this last-named king with
Artaxerxes Mnemon ; who also thinks that Xerxes
reigned abo\e 62 years, and who falsifies his best
authority, altering tbe names, as in the case of the
substitution of Xerxes for Artaxerxes throughout
the book of Nehemiah, and suppressing the facts, as
in the case of the omission of all mentiou of Ezra,
Tobias, and Sanballat during the government of
Nebemiah, is not entitled to much deference on our
part. What has been said shows clearly how little
Josephus' unsupported authority is worth ; and how
entirely the authenticity and credibility of Nehe-
miah remains unshaken by his blunders and ton-
fusions, and that there is no occasion to resort to
the improbable hypothesis of two Sanballats, or to
attribute to Nebemiah a patriarchal longevity, in
order to bring his narrative into harmony with that
of the Jewish historian.
8. As regards the authorship of the book, it is
admitted by all critics that it is, as to its main
parts, the genuine work of Nehemiah. But it is
no less certain that interpolations and additions
have been made in it since bis time ; * and there
is considerable diversity of opinion as to what an
the portions which have been so added. From i. 1
to vii. 6, no doubt or difficulty occurs. The writer
speaks throughout in the first person Lingular, and
in his character of governor i"tr!§. Again, from
xii. 31, to the end of the book (except xii. 44-i">,
the narrative is continuous, and the use of the first
person singular constant (xii. 31, 38, 40, xiii. 6, T
Ac.). It is therefore only in tbe intermediate chsp-
ters, vii 6 to xii. 26, and xii. 44-47), that we hav»
to inquire into the question of authorship, and thU
we will do by sections: —
(a.) The first section begins at Neh. vii. 6, and
ends in the first half of viii. 1, at the words " one
n." It has already been asserted [Ezba, Book
op, vol. i. p. 805 b] that this section is Identical
with the paragraph beginning Ezr. ii. 1, and ending
iii. 1; and it was there also asserted that the par-
6 K. F. Kell, In bis EinUititng, endeavors IndaM
to vindicate Nehemiah's authorship for the wbNe book
but without s ucce s s.
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NEHEMIAH, BOOK OP
<gra(.h originally belonged to the book of Nehe-
inJab, and wu afterwards inserted in the place it
samples in Ezra." Both these assertions must now
be made good ; and first as to the identity of the
tav passage*. They are actually identical word for
word, and letter for letter, except in two points.
One that the numbers repeatedly vary. The other
that there is a difference in the account of the
■ftrings made by the governor, the nobles, and the
people. But it can he proved that these are merely
variations (whether accidental or designed) of the
same text. In the first place the two passages are
one and the same. The heading, the content*, the
narrative about the sons of Barzillai, the fact of the
efsVrings, the dwelling in their cities, the coming of
the seventh month, the gathering of all the people to
Jerusalem as one man, are in words and in sense
the very self-same passage. The idea that the very
same words, extending to 70 verses, describe defer-
ent events, is simply absurd and irrational. The
numbers therefore must originally have been the
same in both books. But next, when we examine
the varying numbers, we see the following particu-
lar proofs that the variations are corruptions of the
original text. Though the items vary, the sum
total, 42,360, is the same (Exr. ii. 64; Neh. vii.
88). In like manner the totals of the servants, the
singing men and women, the hones, mules, and
asses an all the same, except that Ezra has two
hundred, instead of two hundred and forty-five,
singing men and women. The numbers of the
Priests and of the l-evites are the same in both,
except that the singers, the sons of Asaph, are 128
in ~Rzra against 148 in Nehemiah, and the porters
139 against 138. Then in each particular case
when the numbers diner, we see plainly how the
difference might arise. In the statement of the
number of the sons of Arah (the first case in which
the lists differ), Ear. ii. 5, we read, HIKE} 373tp
CP73B7) nWDPI, "seven hundred five and
seventy," whereas in Neh. vii. 10, we read, CB?
UyOfa EFtynq /TINE}. But the order of the
numerals in Exr. Ii. 6, where the units precede the
tens, is the only case in which this order is found.
Obviously, therefore, we ought to read D'tPQO,
instead of rTTTOq, J(ftg instead of Jh*. No
leas obviously DT93B? may be a corruption of
the almost Identical tTOtP and probably caused
the preceding change of HQpQQ into 0*07130.*
But the tens and nuita being identical, it is evi-
dent that the variation in the hundreds is an error,
■•rising from both tix and seren beginning with the
same letter 37. The very same interchange of six
and seven takes place in the number of Adonikam,
and Bigvai, only in the units (Neh. vii. 18, 19;
Exr. ii. 13, 14). In Pahath-Moah, the variation from
9812, Exr. ii. 6, to 2818, Neh. rii. 11; in Zattu,
Awn 945, Exr. ii. 8, to 846, Neb. vii. 13; in Bin-
eoi, from 642 to 648; in Belmi, from 623 to 628;
• So aiao Grottos (notes on br. Ii., Neh. vii.), with
jja usual clear sens* and sound judgment. See *•-
aaataUy his not* on ear. U. 1, when b* says that manv
Ores*, copies of earn omit en. Ii.
• Or If TiyaS Is the right rrading m mar. H. » "n-
m
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF 2097
in Hashnm, from 223 to 328; in Seuaah, from
3630 to 3930; the same cause has operated, name-
ly that in the numbers two and eight, three and
eight, nine and six, the same initial t£? is found;
and the resemblance in these numbers may prob-
ably have been greatly increased by abbreviations.
In Axgad (1222 and 2322) as in Senaah, the mere
circumstance of the tens and units being the sain*
in both passage*, while the thousands diner by the
mere addition or omission of a final D, is suf
ficieut proof that the variation is a clerical one
only. In Adin, Neh. vii. 20, tix for /bur, in the
hundreds, is probably caused by the tix hundred
of the just preceding Adonikans. In the four
remaining cases the variations are equally easy of
explanation, and the result is to leave not the
slightest doubt that the enumeration was identical
in the first instance in both passages. It may,
however, be added, as completing the proof that
these variations do not arise from Ezra giving the
census in Zerubbabel's time, and Nehemiah that
in hi* own time (as Ceillier, Prideaux, and other
learned men have thought), that in the cases of
Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Shephatiah, Bebal,
Azgad, and Adonikam, of which we are told in
Ezr. viii. 3-14, that considerable numbers came up
to Judasa in the reign of Artaxerxes — long sub-
sequent therefore to the time of Zerubbabel — toe
numbers are either exactly the earn* in Exr. ii. and
Neh vii., or exhibit such variations a* have no
relation whatever to the numbers of those families
respectively who were added to the Jewish resi-
dent* in Palestine under Artaxerxes.
To turn next to the offerings. The book of
Ezra (ii. 68, 89) merely give* the turn total, a*
follows: 61,000° drachms of gold, 5,000 pound*
of silver, and 100 priests' garments. The book
of Nehemiah gives no sum total, but give* the
following items (vii. 72) : —
The Tirohatha gave 1000 • drachms of gold, 50
basons, 530 priests' garment*.
The chief of the fathers gave 20,000 drachm*
of gold, and 2,200 pounds of silver.
The rest of the people gave 20,000 drachm*
of gold, 2,000 pound* of silver, and 67 prieata'
garment*.
Here then we learn that these offerings were
made in three shares, by three distinct parties : the
governor, the chief fathers, the people. The sum
total of drachms of gold, we learn from Ezra, was
61,000. The shares, we learn from Nehemiah.
were 20,000 in two out of the three donors, but
1,000 in the case of the third and chief donor!
Is it not quite evident that in the case of Nehe-
miah the 20 has dipped out of the text (a* in 1
Eadr. v. 45, 60,000 has), and that his real con-
tribution was 21,000? his generosity prompting
him to give in excess of his fair third. Next, as
regards the pounds of silver. The sum total was
according to Ezra, 5,000. The shares were, accord-
ing to Nehemiah, 2,200 pounds from the chiefs,
and 2,000 from the people. But the l.XX. give
2,300 for the chiefs, and 2,-200 for the -wople,
making 4,500 in all, and so leaving a deniiency
stead of WVytf), then the WO0 nf Neh. vU. 10
Is easily accounted fbr by the feet that the two pre-
ceding, numbers of Parosh and Shephatiah both en*
with the same number two.
• Observe the odd thousand In both mem
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2098 NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
of 500 pounds M compared with Ezra's total of
5,000, and ascribing no silver oflering to the Tir-
shatha. As regards the priests' garments. The
sum total as given in both the Hebrew and Greek
text of Ezra, and in 1 Ksdr., is 100. The items
as given in Neh. vii. 70, are 530 + 07 = £4*7.
But the LXX. give 30 + 67 = 97, and that this
Is nearly correct is apparent from the numbers
themselves. For the total lieing 100, 33 is the
nearest whole number to i J.S, and 67 is the near-
est whole number to | X 100. So that we can-
not doubt that the Tirshatha gave 33 priest*'
garments, and the rest of the people gave (17,
probably in two gifts of 34 and 33, making in all
100. But how came the 600 to be added on to
the Tinthutlia's tale of garments? Clearly it is
a fragment of the missing (00 pounds of silver,
which, with the 60 bowls, made up the Tirshatha'*
donation of silver. So that Neh. vii. 70 ought to
be read thus, " The Tirshatha gave to the treasure
21,000 drachms of gold, 50 basons, 500 pounds of
Hirer, and 3:) priests' garments." The offerings
then, as well iu the numbers in the lists, were once
identical in both books, and we learn from Kzr. ii.
68, what the book of Nehemiah does not expressly
tell us (though the prutti' yitrmatft strongly in-
dicate it), what was the purpose of this liberal con-
tribution, namely, " to set up the House of God in
his place " (TTOP by Vripyn 1 ?). From this
phrase occurring in Ear. ii. just before the account
of the building of the Temple by Zerubbabel, it
has usually l<een understood as referring to the
rebuilding. But it really means no such thing.
The phrase properly implies restoration and preser-
vation, aa may lie seen in the exactly similar case
of the restoration of the Temple by Jelioiada, 2
Chr. xxiv. 13, after the injuries and neglect under
Atbalia, where we read, rPaTIr* VPDJjM
Sfi^Srp by D^rrbNn. "they set the House
»f God in its state " (camp, also 1 K. xv. 4 ). The
fact then was that, when all the rulers and nobles
«id people were gathered together at .lerusalem to
* registered in the seventh month, advantage was
taken of the opportunity to collect their contribu-
tions to restore the Temple also (2 Mace. i. 18),
which had naturally partaken of the general misery
lud affliction of Jerusalem, but which it would
not have been wise to restore till the rebuilding
tf the wall placed the city in a state of safety.
At the same time, and in the same spirit, they
(brmed the resolutions recorded in Neh. x. 32-39,
o keep up the Temple ritual.
It already follows, from what has been said, that
the section under consideration is in its right place
in the book of Nehemiah, and was inserted subse-
quently in the book of Ezra out of its chronological
order. But one or two additional proofs of this
must he mentbned. The most convincing and
palpable of these is perhaps the mention of the
Tirshatha in Ezr. ii. 63; Neh. vii. 65. That the
Tirshatha, here and at Neh. vii. 70, means Nehe-
miah, we are expressly told (Neh. viii. 9, x. 1),' and
therefore it is perfectly certain that what is related
(Ezr. ii. 62; Neh. vii. 64) happened in Nehemiah's
time, and not in Zerubbabd's. Consequently the
a It Is worth noticing that Nehemiah's name Is
mu lineal as the Tirshatha in 1 *Mr. v. 40.
* Wees St not tar the mention of Nehemiah sad
NBHEMIAH, BOOK OF
taking of the census, which gave rise to tint Ijci
dent, belongs to the same time. In other word*
the section we are considering is in its original and
right place in the book of Nehemiah, and was
transferred from thence to the book of Ezra, where
it stands out of it* chronological order. And this
is still further evident from the circumstance that
the closing portion of this section is an abbrevia-
tion of the same portion as it stands in Nehemiah,
proving that the passage existed in Nehemiah be-
fore it was inserted in Ezra. Another proof is the
mention of Ezra as taking part in that aainihly
of the people at Jerusalem which is described in
Ezr. iii. 1 ; Neh. viii. 1 ; for Ezra did not come In
Jerusalem till the reign of Artaxerxes (Ezr. rii.)
Another is the mention of Nehemiah as one of tht
leaders under whom the captives enumerated in
the census came up, Ezr. ii. 2; Neh. vii. 7: is
both which passages the juxtaposition of Nelie-
miah with Seraiah, when compared with Neh. x.
1, 2, greatly strengthens the oonclusion that Nehe-
miah the Tirshatha is meant- Then again, that
Nehemiah should summon all the families of Israel
to Jerusalem to take their census, and that, having
done so at great cost of time and trouble, he, or
whoever was employed by him, should merely
transcribe an old census taken nearly 100 yean
before, instead of recording the result of his owe
labors, is so improbable Chat nothing but the plain-
eat necessity could make one believe it. The only
difficulty in the way is that the words in Neh. rii.
5, 6, seem to describe the register which follows as
" the register of the genealogy of them which came
up at the first," and that the expression, " and
found written therein," requires that the words
which follow should be a quotation from that
register (conip. vi. 6). To this difficulty (and it
difficulty at first sight) it is a sufficient
answer to say that the words quoted are only those
(in Neh. vii. 6) which contain the title of the
register found by Nehemiah. His own new reg-
ister begins with the words at ver. 7: D^Man,
eto., « The men who came with Zerubbabel," etc-,
which form the descriptive title of the following
catalogue.' Nehemiah, or those employed by hiss
to take the new census, doubtless made use of the
old register (sanctioned a* it had been by Haggai
and Zechariah) as an authority by which to decide
the genealogies of the present generation. And
hence it was that when the sons of Barzilbi
claimed to be entered into the register of priestly
families, but could not produce the entry of their
house in that old register, Nehemiah refused to
admit them to the priestly office (63-65), but made
a note of their claim, that it might be decided
whenever a competent authority should arise.
From all which it is abundantly clear that the
section under consideration belongs properly to th*
book of Nehemiah. It does not follow, however,
that it was written in its present form by Nehe-
miah himself. Indeed the sudden change to the
third person, in speaking of the Tirshatha, in tt.
65, 70 (a change which continues regularly till th*
section beginning xii. 31), is a strong indicate
of a change in the writer, as is also the use of the
term Tirshatha instead of Techah, which last if
Mordaeal In far. 7, one might bars thottgnt I
mlah'a register began with th* words, "The ■■
of th* men," In var. 7.
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NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
Jm official designation by which Nehemiah speaks
it himself ud other governors (v. 14. 18, ii. 7, 9,
lii. 7). It Menu probable, therefore, that oh. vii.,
(rom ver. 7, contains the tubttnnct of what waa
bund in this part of Nebemiah's narrative, but
abridged, and in the form of an abstract, which
mar account fur the difficulty of separating Nehe-
miah'i register from Zerubbabel's, aud alas for tlie
very abrupt mention of the gifts of the Tirsuatha
and the people at the end of the chapter. Thia
abstract formed a transition from Nehemiah's nar-
rative in the preceding chapters to the entirely new
matter hiaerted in the following sections.
(4.) The next section commences Neh. rill.,
latter part of ver. 1, and ends Neh. xi. 3. Now
thnnghout thia section several things are observ-
able. (1.) Nehemiah does not once speak in the
first person (viii. 9, z. 1). (2.) Nehemiah is no
longer the principal actor in what is done, but
almost disappears from the scene, instead of being,
as in the first six chapters, the centre of the whole
action. (3.) Ezra for the first time is introduced,
and throughout the whole section the most promi-
nent place is assigned either to him personally, or
to strictly ecclesiastical affairs. (4.) The prayer
in eh. ix. is very different in its construction from
Nebemiah's prayer in oh. i., and in its frequent
re ferenc es to the various books of the 0. T. singu ■
larly suited to the character and acquirements of
Ban, " the ready scribe in the law of Hoses."
(6.) The section waa written by an eye-witness and
actor in the events described. Thia appears by the
minute details, e. g. vill. 4, 5, 6, 4c., and the use
of the first person plural (x. 30-39). (6.) There
is a strong resemblance to the style and manner of
Eva's narrative, and also an identity in the use of
particular phrases (comp. Est. iv. 18, Neh. viii. 8;
Ear. vi. 28, Neh. viii. 17). This resemblance is
admitted by critics of the most opposite opinions
(see Kail's Evdeihmg, p. 461). Hence, as Ezra's
manner la to speak of himself in the third as well
as in the first person, there is great probability in
the opinion advocated by Hiivernick and Kleinert,'
that this section is the work of Ezra. The fact,
too, that 1 Esdr. ix. 38 sqq. annexes Neh. viii. 1-13
to Ezr. x., in which it is followed by Josephus
(Anl. xi. S, 5 8), is perhaps an indication that it
was known to be the work of Ezra. It is not
necessary to suppose that Ezra himself insetted
this or any other part of the present book of
Nehemiah in the midst of the Tirshatha's his-
tory. Bat if there was extant an account of
these transactions by Ezra, it may have been thus
incorporated with Nebemiah's history by the last
editor of Scripture. Nor is it impossible that the
onion of Ezra and Nehemiah as oue book in the
ancient Hebrew arrangement (as Jerome testifies),
■nder the title of the Book of Ezra, may have bad
«s origin in this circumstance.
(«.) The third section consists of ch. xi. 8-36.
It contains a list of the families of Judah, Benja-
min, and Levi (priests and Lerites), who took up
their abode at Jerusalem, in acoordarse with the
resolution of the volunteers, and the decision of
the lot, mentioned in xi. 1, 2. Thia list forms
« kind of supplement to that in vii. 8-00, as
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF 2099
apDears by the allusion in xt. 3 to that previous
document. For ver. 3 distinguishes the following
list of toe " dwellers at Jerusalem " from the fore-
going one of "Israel, priests, Levi Us, Kethiuim,
sod children of Solomon's servants," who dwelt in
the cities of Israel, as set forth in ch. vii. Tnia
list is an extract from the official roll preserved in
the national archives, only somewhat abbreviated,
appears by a comparison with 1 Clir. ix., where
an abstract of the same roll is also preserved
in a fuller form, and in the latter part especially
with considerable variations and additions : it
seems also to be quite out of its place in Chroni-
cles, and its insertion there probably caused the
repetition of 1 Chr. viii. 29-40, which is found in
duplicate ix. 35-44: in the latter place wholly
unconnected with ix. 1-34, but connected with
what follows (ch. x. ff.), as well as with what
precedes cb. ix. Whence it appears clearly that
1 Chr. ix. 2-34 is a later insertion made after
Nebemiah's census, 6 but proving by its very in-
coherence that the book of Chronicles existed pre-
vious to its insertion. But this by the way. The
nature of the information in this section, and
the parallel passage in 1 (Jhr., would rather in-
dicate a I-evitical hand. It might or might not
have been the same which inserted the preceding
section. If written later, it is perhaps the work
of the same person who inserted xii. 1-30, 44-47.
In conjunction with 1 Chr. ix. it gives us minute
and interesting information concerning the fam-
ilies residing at Jerusalem, and their genealogies,
and especially concerning the provision for the
Temple-service. The grant made by Artaxerxes
(ver. 23) for the maintenance of the singers is
exactly parallel to that made by Darius as set
forth iu Ezr. vi. 8, 9, 10. The statement in ver.
24 concerning Pethahiah the Zarhite, as "at the
king's hand in all matters concerning tbe people,"
is somewhat obscure, unless perchance it alludes to
the time of Nebemiah's absence in Babylon, when
Pethahiah may have been a kind of deputy-
governor id interim.
(d.) From xii. 1 to 28 is clearly and certainly am
abstract from the official lists made and inserted
here long after Nebemiah's time, aud after the
destruction of the Persian dynasty by Alexander
the Great, as is plainly indicated by the expression
Darius the Persian, as well as by the mention of
Jaddua. Tbe allusion to Jeshua, and to Nehe-
miah and Ezra, in ver. 26, is also such ss would
be nude long posterior to their lifetime, and con-
tains a remarkable reference to the two censuses
taken and written down, the one in Jeshua and
Zerubbabel's time, the other in the time of Nehe
niiah ; for it is evidently from these two censuses,
the existence of which is borne witness to in Neh.
vii. 8, that the writer of xii. 26 drew his informa-
tion concerning the priestly families at those two
epochs (compare also xii. 47).
The juxtaposition of the list of priests in Zerub-
babel's time, with that of those who sealed the
covenant in Nehemiah's time, as given below, both
illustrates the use of proper names abuve referred
to, and also the clerical fluctuations to which proper
names are subject.
« Dsmart aa ml bss eh. rill, to an assistant, ix. anl
. to Bam himself. 8as Da Wette's KmUitung, Pai-
arl tranaL n. SSL
Oomp. 1 Ohr. Ix. 2 with Hen. vii. 78
e That toss* famines were objects of aspsrnl rah
as. appears from Neh. xL 2.
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2100 NEHEMIAH BOOK OF
IWi. x. 1-8. Ken. xU. 1-7.
Beraiah Beralaa.
Asarlah . . . bm
Jeremiah Jeremiah
Psshur
Aim tilth ... nnvflriih
Malolujah . ... sUlluch
Hattosb ... Hattush
Ehebanlah Shecaniah
aulluoh Vattuck (above)
Uarim Bahum
Meremotu . ... Merunoth
Obadlah Iddo
Daniel
Qtnnethon Qlonetha
Barach — —
Mesbullam ^—
AhUah Ab(jah
BUJamln Mlamtn
*»— '->) M^Hl.tf
Bugat Bllgab
Bfaamatah . ... Hhnrnnlah
Jotarlb
Jadaiab
Sella
Amok
Hllldab
Jadaiab.
(e.) xii. 44-47 is an explanatory interpolation,
made in later times, probably by the but renter
of the book, whoever be was. That it ia so U evi-
dent not only from the Hidden change from the
first person to the third, and the dropping of the
personal narrative (though the matter is one in
which Nehenuah necessarily took the lead), but
from the fact that it describes the identical transac-
tion described in xiii. 10-13 by Nehemiah himself,
where he speaks as we should expect him to speak :
" And I made treasurers over the treasuries," etc.
The language, too, of ver. 47 is manifestly tint
of one looking back upon the times of Zerubbnbel
and those of Nehemiah ss alike past. In like man-
ner xii. 27-30 is the account by the same annotator
of what Nehemiah himself relates, xiii. 10-12.
Though, however, it is not difficult thus to point
out those passages of the book which were not part
of Nehemiah's own work, it is not easy, by cutting
them out, to restore that work to its integrity.
For Neh. xii. 31 does not fit on well to any part
of ch. vii., or, in other words, the latter portion
of Nehemiah's work does not Join on to the former.
Had the former part been merely a kind of diary
entered day by day, one might have supposed that
It was abruptly interrupted and as abruptly re-
raised. But ss Neh. v. 14 distinctly shows that
the whole history was either written or revised by
the author after ha had been governor twelve yean,
such a supposition cannot stand. It should seem,
Iheiefbre, that we have only the first and last parts
of Nehemiah's work, and that for some reason the
intermediate portion has been displaced to make
room fo* the narrative and documents from Neh.
til. 7 to xii. 27.
And we are greatly confirmed in this supposition
y observing that in the very chapter where we
i*** notice this abrupt change of person, we have
another eriuence that we have not the whole of
what NelMsniiah wrote. For at the close of chap,
rii. we hate an account of the offerings made by
• It Is not necessary to believe that Nehemiah wrote
all that Is attributed to him in 2 Maoc. It Is very
probable that there was an apocryphal version of bis
book, with additions and embellishments. Still even
the erJftaal work may ban eontained matter either
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
the governor, the chiefs, and the people, bat we
are not even told foajwhat purpose these ctterings
were made. Only we are led to guess that it moot
have been for the Temple, as the parallel passage ix
Est. ii. tells as it was, by the mention of the
priests' garments which formed a part of the offer-
ings. Obviously, therefore, the original work must
have contained an account of some transactions
connected with repairing or beautifying the Tem-
ple, which led to these contributions being made.
Now, it so happens that there la a passage in 2
Mace. ii. 13, in which " the writings and commen-
taries of Nehemiah " are referred to in a way whieh
shows that they contained matter relative to the
sacred fire having consumed the sacrifices offered by
Nehemiah on some solemn occasion when he repelled
and dedicated the Temple, which is not found in
toe present book of Nehemiah ; and if any depend-
ence can be placed upon the account there given,
and in i. 18-36, we seem to have exactly the tiro
facts that we want to justify our hypothesis. The
one, that Nehemiah's narrative at this part con-
tained some things which were not suited to form
part of the Bible;' the other, that it formerly
contained some account which would be the natu-
ral occasion for mentioning the offerings whieh
come in so abruptly at present. If this were so,
and the exceptional matter was consequently omit-
ted, and an abridged notice of the offerings retained,
we should have exactly the appearance which w«
actually have in chap. vii.
Nor is such an explanation less suited to connect
the latter portion of Nehemiah's narrative with the
former. Chap. xii. 31 goes on to describe the
dedication of the wall and its ceremonial. How
naturally this would be the sequel of that dedica-
tion of the restored Temple spoken of by the
author of 2 Mace, it ia needless to observe. So
that if we suppose the musing portions of Nehe-
miah's history which described th: dedication ser-
vice of the Temple to have followed his description
of the census in ch. vii., and to have been followed
by the account of the offerings, and then to have
been succeeded by the dedication of the wall, wo
have a perfectly natural and consistent narrative,
fn erasing what was irrelevant, and inserting the
intervening matter, of course up pains were taken,
because no desire existed, to disguise the operation,
or to make the joints smooth ; the object being
simply to preserve an authentic record witboat
reference to authorship or literary perfection.
Another circumstance which lends much proba-
bility to the statement in 2 Mace, i* that the
writer closely connects what Nehemiah did with
what Solomon had done before him, in this, on*
may guess, following Nehemiah's narrative. But
in the extant portion of our book, Neh. i. 6, wa
have a distinct allusion to Solomon's prayer (1 kv.
viii. 28, 29), as also in Neb. xiii. 26, we have to
another part of Solomon's life. So that on the
whole the passage in 2 Mace, lends considerable
support to the theory that the middle portion of
Nehemiah's work was out out, and that there was
substituted for it partly an abridged abstract, and
partly Ezra's narrative and other appended docu-
ment*.*
not strictly authentic, or for soma other reason net
suited to have a place In toe canon.
» CeUlier also supposes that part * NstMCsuuV
work may be now lost
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NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
We may than affirm with tolerable certainly that
Ul the middle part of the book of Nehemiah hat
Men nipplied bj rthir" hands, and that the first »ii
chapters and part of the aerenth, and the but
jhapter and half, were alone written by him, the
intermediate portion being inserted by those who
had authority to do so, in order to complete the
history of the transactions of those times. The
difference of authorship being marked especially
bj this, that, in the first and last portions, Nehe-
miah intariaMy speaki in the first person singular
(except in the inserted verses xli. 44-47), but in
the middle portion never. It is in this middle
portion alone that matter unsuited to Nehemiah's
Hums (as e. g. Neb. xii. 11, 22) is (bund, that
obscurity of connection exists, and that the variety
of style (as almost all critics admit) suggests a
different authorship. But when it is remembered
that the book of Nehemiah Is in fact a continua-
tion of the Chronicles," being reckoned by the
Hebrews, as Jerome testifies, as one with Kara,
which was confessedly so, and that, as we hare
■ecu under Ezra, Chronicuw, and Kings, the
customary method of composing the national
chronicles was to make use of contemporary writ-
ings, and work them up according to the require
menta of the case, it will cease to surprise us in
the least that Nehemiah's diary should hare been
so used: nor will the admixture of other con-
temporary documents with it, or the addition of
any reflections by the latest editor of it, in any
way detract from its authenticity or authority.
As regards the time when the book of Nehemiah
was put into its present form, we hare only the
following data to guide us. The latest high-priest
mentioned, .laddua, was doubtless still alive when
nn name was added. The descriptive addition to
the name of Darius (xii. 22) " the Persian," indi-
cates that the Persian rule had censed, and the
Greek rule had begun. JaHdua's name, therefore,
and the clause at the end of ver. 22, were inserted
early in the reign of Alexander the Great. But it
appears that the registers of the Levites, entered
into the Chronicles, did not come down lower than
the time of Jobanan (ver. 23) ; and it even seems
bom the distribution of the conjunction " and " in
ver. 22, that the name of Jaddua was not included
when the sentence was first written, but stopped
st Johamtn, and that Jaddua and the clause about
the priests were added later. So that the close of
the Persian dominion, and the beginning of the
Greek, is the time clearly indicated when the latest
additions were made. But whether this addition
was anything more than the insertion of the docu-
ments contained from ch. xi. 3 to xii. 26, or even
much less ; or whether at the same time, or at an
earlier one, the great alteration was made of sub-
stituting the abridgment in oh. vii. in the contem-
porary narratives in ch. viii., IX., x., for what
Nehemiah had written, there teems to be no means
ef deciding.* Nor is the decision of much conse-
quence, except that it would be interesting to know
exactly when the volume of Holy Scripture defini-
tively assumed its present shape, and who wer* the
persons who put the finishing hand to it.
3. In respect to language and style, this book is
isry similar to the Chronicles and Eara. Nehe-
• Solwaidalao.
• 11 we km tbe ml history of toe title Ttaahatba,
t aught assist as in natsrmlnlng the data of to» aat-
iHaaasan.
NEHEMIAH, BOUa, OF 2101
miah has, it is true, quite his own manner, and, as
De Wette has observed, certain phrases and loodee
of expression peculiar to himself. He has slat
some few words and forms not found elsewhere in
Scripture ; but the general Ilebn w style is exactly
that of the books purporting to be of the tana)
age. Some words, as DVJ^SP, "cymbals,"
occur in Cbron., Err., and Neh., but nowhere else.
2J3r)1 occun frequently in the tame three books,
bnt only twice (in Judg. v.) besides. T^M or
NiT-ftH, "a letter," is common only to Neh.
Etth., Ezr., and Chron. iT^S, and its Chaldee
equivalent, NH^S, whether spoken of the palace at
Susa, or of the Temple at Jerusalem, are com.
mon only to Neb., Err., Esth., Dan., and Chron.
?3tZr to Neh., and Dan., and Ps. xlv. The phrase
D^JtJJn VT 7j? . and its Chaldee equivalent, "the
God of Heavens,'*' are common to Kzr., Neh., and
Dan. n*nb*Q, "distinctly," is common to Kzr
and Neh. Such words as Tff, nyjtj, DT'jQ,
and such Aramaisms as the use of ;"JT1, i. 7,
fJTip"), v. 7, i 1 'lb, v. 4, Ac, are alto evidences
of the age when Nehemiah wrote. As examples
of peculiar words or meanings, used in this
book alone, the following may be mentioned :
3 -Ijjp, "to inspect," II. 13, 15; fTr^J, In the
sense of "interest," v. 11; I 5 !* (in Hiph.), "to
shut," vii. 3 j by'lO, «a lifting up," vUi. 8;
n'lTJi^, " praises," or " choirs." xii. 8 ;
nynrjri, » a procession," xii. 81 ; rTJpB,
in sense of "reading," viii. 8; TTJ'^M, for
n'^SfiM, xiii. 13, where both form and sense are
alike unusual.
The Aramean form, TT^rTJ, Hiph. of TTJJ far
n^T, is very rare, only five* other analogous ex-
amples occurring in the Heh. Scriptures, though
it is very common in Biblical Chaldee.
The phrase B^H "in^tt? U^M, Iv. 17 (which
is omitted by the LXX.) u incapable of explana-
tion. One would have expected, instead of Offf],
'TTJ5, as in 2 Chr. xxiii. 10.
Mntgnnn, " •*• Tirahatha,'' which only occurs
in Ear. ii. 63; Neh. vii. 65, 70, viii. 9, x. 1, is of
uncertain etymology and meaning. It is a term
applied only to Nehemiah, and seems to be more
likely to mean "cupbearer" than "governor,"
though tbe latter interpretation is adopted by
Gesenius ( Thn. s. v.).
The text of Ni-Jiemiah is generally pun and free
from corruption, except in the proper names, in
which there Is considerable fluctuation in the
orthography, both as compared with other parts
of the same book and with the same names in
other parts of Scripture: and also in numeral*
• Pi. xW. 18, ezrt 6; 1 Sam. xrti. 47 ; Is. lit •
■a. xlvt 'it tJom*. •/ «u lit. Jan. 1881. p. 8B1I
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2102 NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
Of the latter we h»ve Ken several examples in the
parallel parage* Ear. ii. and Neh. vii.; and the
same list* will give variation* In name* of men. So
will xii. 1-7, compared with xii. 12, and with x.
1-8.
A comparison of Neh. xi. 3, Ac., with 1 Chr.
Ix. 2, Ac, exhibits the following fluctuation*: Neh.
xi. 4, Athninh of the children of Perez = 1 Chr.
ix. 4, Uthni of the children of Perez; r. 6, Mao-
teinh the son of Shilonl = T. 6, of the Shilonites,
Aioin/i ; t. 9, Jminh the son of Senaah (Heb.
Hasenuah) = v. 7, Hodaviah the ion of Haaenuah ;
». 10, Jedaiah the ton of Joiarib, Jachin = v. 10,
Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin ; v. 13, Amnsni son of
Arareel = v. 12, Maani son of Jahzerah; r. 17,
Bficah the son of Znbdi = v. 19, Mieah the son
of Zkhri (comp. Neh. xii. SB). To which many
others might be added.
Han; various readings are also indicated by the
LXX. version. For example, at ii. 13, for D^SIFI,
"dragon," the} read D'OHfy "Kg*," and render
it r«r avxiiv. At ii. 20, for WpJ, "we will
arise," they read D^f??, " pure," and render it
KaBapal. At iii. 2, for 133, <> they built," they
read twice "'JJ?, vlir; and so at ver. 13. At iii.
is, for tiSsu yfr rhfrs rgn?, «the
pool of Siloah by the' king's garden," they read
H T^7 no," the king - * fleece," and render it
Kt>\vfilH)0pas T&yKaStav rri Kovpq tov fiaoikitcr
Kovpa being the word by which TJJ is rendered in
Deut. xviii. 4. TTVSgTJ is rendered by KuSlur,
"sheep-skins," in the Chaldee sense of nbtt? or
WVptp, a fleece recently stripped from the animal
(Castell. Ux.l. At iii. 18, for 13,3., "over
against," they read ?3, "the garden;" comp. ver.
26: in iii. 34, 36 (iv. 2, 3), they seem to have had
a corrupt and unintelligible text. At v. 6, for
^"inS. "others," they read D"nhn, "the
nobles:" r. 11, for fVjIJ, "the hundredth," tliey
read HNO, "some of," rendering ixi: vi. 1, for
^J? ^3. there wa* left no "breach in it,"
namely, the wall, they read TVTI D3, " spirit in
thein," namely, Sanballat, etc., rendering i r avroij
Trofj- vi. 8, for ng"1M, » I leave it," they read
•JNfJ-jli "I complete it," reKiuivu- which gives
a better sense. At vii. 68, ff., the number of asses
is 2,700 instead of 6,720; of priests' garments, 30
Instead of 530 : of pounds of silver, 2,300 and 2,200.
tatead of 2,200 and 2,000, as has been noticed
above; and ver. 70, t«? Nftpfo, for "the Tirsba-
tha." At xi. 11. for T33, "mler," they read
1%, "over against," iireWri. At xii. 8, for
HV7*n, ' thanksgiving," rfriyi, M rnr
vhow: xii 26, for ^PSi "the treasuries,"
*9Pk, "my gathering together," 4, T «7 trwa-
ywyti, us-: and at xU. 44, for > yp, "the neWa,"
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
they read V3jp, "the princes," ip X °"*t rip wt
Ktav: with other minor variations. The prin-
cipal additions are at viii. 8, 15, and ix. 6, when
the name of Ezra ia introduced, and in the first
passage also the words 4r trurHipQ rupiov. Th*
omissions of words and whole verses are numerous:
is at iii. 37, 38 (A. V. 6, 6); iv. 17 (23, A. V.
and LXX.); vi. 4, 6, 6, 10, 11; vii. 68, 69; viii.
4, 7, 9, 10; ix. 3, 6, 23; xt 18, 16-21, 23-26,
28-85; xii. 3-7, 9, 25, 28, 29, the whole of 38, 40,
41, and half 42; xiii. 13, 14, 16, 20, 24, 25.
The following discrepancies seem to have their
origin in the Greek text itself: viii. 16, wAsn-etaa
tS» U\tms, instead of irvAfo Heb. TJrTr*
D^pH: x. 2. T102 APAIA for KAI 2APAIA:
xi. 4, Xaftapta for 'Kfiapia, the final 2 of tbe pre-
ceding viis having stuck to th* beginning of the
name: xii. 31, krb»tytcw>, instead of — «-a* " I
brought up:" xii. 39, l^SvpAr, instead of IxQvrr
pin, as in iii. 3. It is also worthy of remark that
a number of Hebrew words are left untranslated
in the Greek version of the LXX., which probably
indicates a want of learning in the translator.
The following are the chief instances: Chaps, i. 1,
and vii. 2, ifitpd, and rf/r jBnxl, for rTpSin; ii
18, toC ■ys.JVnAd' for nVb MjaH; ib. 14, ret
u, for )?pn ; ia. 6, ei e»«tu for crayon ;
ib. bZwpip. for t3TJTT«3; ib. 6, Wore* fat
nja?} ; ib. 8, psMMtu for CFnfipjj ; ib. u, T *v
Stwovptu for C'TUUnn; iii. IB, toeayyaplp. for
onaan jts; a. 20, 21, 0q0«\«t«wa for
3"KJ;^ n N S, of. 24; ib. 22, >E* X «X«> *»
~>^3rj; ib. 81, tov vaptQl for *D"1&TJ, and
8»9a» NaBiv/u for BW1?n iT? ; vii. 34
•HAomooV for "I™ 0^^ ; ib. 66, iBepvadcL,
and x. 1, bprcurmrei, for WnOHWfl ; rli. 70,
72, xccBayie for ^13^3 J xii. 27, vvSaM for
niTW ? xiii. 5. 9, rvfr fuivai for rrTOSn.
4. The book of Nebemiah has always' had an
undisputed place in the Canon, being included by
the I lebrews under the general head of tbe Book
of Ezra, and as Jerome tells us in the Prolog. Gal.,
by the Greeks and l.atins under the name of the
Second Book of Ezra. [Esdras, First Book
op.] There is no quotation from it in the N. T-,
and it has been comparatively neglected by both
the Greek and Latin lathers, perhaps on account
of its simple character, and tbe absence of any-
thing supernatural, prophetical, or mystical in Us
contents. St. Jerome (ad Pavlinnm) does indeed
suggest that the account of the building of the
walls, and the return of the people, the description
of the Priests, I-evites, Israelites, and proselytes,
and the division of the labor among tbe different
families, have a hidden meaning: and alio hints
that Nehemiah's name, which he interprets eon-
toUitor a Domino, points to a mystical sense. Bert
the book does not easily lend itself to such applica-
tions, which are so manifestly forced and strained
that even Augustine says of the whole book of
Esra that it is simply historical rather than pro
pheticsl ( Dt CmL Dti, xviii. 36). Those, bowne*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEHEMIA8
•an wish to tee St Jerome's hint elaborate!; eer-
Uti ant, may refer to the Ven. Bede's AUtgoriea
Expotitio in Librum Ifehetnia, qui et Ezra Se-
cumin*, as well as to the p.-eface to hit reposition
of Ezra; and, in another sense, to Bp. Pilkington's
Exposition upon Nehemiah, and John Fox's Preface
(Part. Hoc.). It may be added that Bede de-
scribes both Ezra and Nehemiah as prophet*, which
b the head under which Joaephua includes them
in his description of the sacred books (C Ap.
1.8).
Kails Einlcitung; Winer's Realutirt.; De
Wette's Einlcitung, by Th. Parker; Prideaux's
Omntdim; Ceillier'a Avteur* EccUtiatt.; Wolf,
BiU. Hebraic i Ewald, Gctchichtt, i. 223, if. 144;
Thrnpp's Ancient Jerutalem ; Busanquet's Timet
tf Esra and Nehemiah. A. C. H.
* The circle of inquiry relating to the author-
ship, structure, and contents of the book of Nehe-
miih, coincides very nearly with that of the same
topics connected with Ezra. We are not to lay
too much stress on the argument against the
unity of the hook, from the narrator's interchange
af the first and third persons in different parts.
That conclusion, as Prof. Rawlinaon remarks, does
not always follow from such premises. Daniel, for
instance, uses the third person through his first
six chapters and at the opening of the seventh,
and then the first to the end of ch. ix. In the first
Terse of eh. x. he returns to the third person, but
in the two remaining ehapters employs again the
first (Historical Evidences, lect V.). Thucydides
furnishes a similar example among Greek writers.
Neh. xii. 10-2*2 appears to be the only part which
it is necessary, on account of the subject of dis-
course, to ascribe to a later hand. As for the rest,
Em and Nehemiah may have depended on each
other, or have used common sources.
Among the commentators on Nehemiah are Jo.
Clerieus, Comm. in Libivt Hittoricot V. T. (1708);
Strigelins, Scholia in Nehtm. (1575); Rambach,
Annot'ttt. in libr. Nehem. ; Bertheau, Exeget.
Ihwtb. xvii. ; Wordsworth, Holy Bible, with NoUt
mad Jnlri'luctiont, iii. 325-357. Other important
sriters are Havemick, fftindb. der EinL in da* A.
T., ii. 302-328; Herbst-Welte, EinL in da* A.
Test, ii 231-249; Keil, Lehr/iuch der Einl. in
da* A. TttL, pp. 460-468 (3" Aufl ): Bleek, Einl.
M dn* A. Tctt., pp. 373-391 ; 0. Nngelsbach, Etra
u. N'hemin in Herzog's Real- Encyk iv. 165-174;
Wandnrlich in Zeller's BiU. Wbrttrb. il. 186-188.
Davidson's Hebrew Text of the 0. T., rented
from Critical Source*, pp. 206-209, furnishes some
material for textual emendation (Lond. 1855).
The true orthography of several of the proper names
Is uncertain. H.
NEHEMI'AS (Nee/u'ai ' Nehemiat). 1.
Nehemiah, the contemporary of Zerubbabel and
Jeshua (1 Esdr. v. 8).
2. [Tat Nouuat.] Nehemiah the Tirshatha,
son of Hachaliah (1 Esdr. v. 40).
NETIIL.OTH. The title of Ps. v. in the
A V. is rendered " to the chief musician upon
Nehlloth" (niVr^n-b^l); I.XX., Aquila,
tyinmachus, and Theodotion translate the last
"wo words bwep tt/t KA-npovopovtrns, and the
Vulgate, " pro ea qua; ha-reditatem conseqoitur,"
oy which Augustine understands the Church ""he
xbjjn of their error was a mistaken etymology, by
e-kfah Nehiloth is derived, from Vj}, tOA-/,
NEHU8HTAN
2103
to inherit Other etymologies have ixtu proposed
which are equally unsound. In Chaldee 'TO,
nichtl, signifies " a swarm of bees," and hence
Jarchi attributes to Nehiloth the notion of multi-
tude, the Ps-Um being sung by the whole peopk
of IsraeL R. Hai, quoted by Kimchi, adopting
the same origin for the word, explains it as an
instrument, the sound of which was like the hum
of bees, a wind instrument, according to Sonutag
(ate tit, Ptnl. p. 430), which had a rough tone.
Michaelis (SuppL ad Lex. Heb. p. 1629) suggests,
with not unreasonable timidity, that the root is to
be found in the Arab. JmfcVj, nachaln, to win-
now, and henee to separate and select the better
part, indicating that the Psalm, in the title cf
which Nehiloth occurs, was " an ode to be chanted
by the purified and better portion of the people.*'
Ft is most likely, as Gesenius and others explain,
that it is derived from the root V/fJ, clidbil, io
bore, perforate, whence '''Trj, ckSBt, a flute or
pipe (1 Sam. x. 5; 1 K. i. 40), so that Nehiloth
is the general term for perforated wind-instruments
of all kinds, as Neginoth denotes all manner of
stringed instruments. The title of Ps. v. is there-
fore addressed to the conductor of that portion of
the Temple-choir who played upon flutes and the
like, and are directly alluded to in Ps. lxxxvii. 7,
where (D^v/TI, chdllltm) "the players upon in-
struments" who are associated with the singers
are properly " pipers " or " flute-players."
W. A W.
NE'HTJM (D-inj [comfort Fi.rst] : Imatfi ;
[Tat. Alex. FA. Naovp:] Nahum). One of those
who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Neh.
vii. 7). In Ear. ii 2 he is called Kehum, and in
1 Esdr. v. 8, Roimus.
NEHUSHTA (NJp^TT? [bran]: NeVrfra;
Alex. Nois-fa: Nohttta). The daughter of Ehnv-
than of Jerusalem, wife of Jehoiakim, and mother
of Jehoiaehin, kings of Judah (2 K. xxiv. 8).
NEHUSHTAN n^^C? [*™«n]: Neeo-
0dV, but [Vat] Mai's ed. N<e-0a*ef ; Alex. Nee-
fay: Nohextan). One of the first acts of Heze-
kiah, upon coming to the throne of Judah, was
to destroy all traces of the idolatrous rites which
had gained such a fast hold upon the people during
the reign of his father Abas. Among other objects
of superstitious reverence and worship was the
brazen serpent, made by Hoses in the wilderness
(Num. xxi. 9), which wss preserved throughout
the wanderings of the Israelites, probably as a
memorial of their deliverance, and according to a
late tradition was placed in the Temple. The
lapse of nearly a thousand years had invested this
ancient relic with a mysterious sanctity which
easily degenerated into idolatrous reverence, and a*
the time of Hezekiab's accession it had evidently
been long an object of worship, "for unto those
days the children of Israel did burn incense to it,"
or as the Hebrew more fully implies, " had been in
the habit of burning incense to it" The expres-
ai n points to a settled practice. The name by
which the brazen serpent was knowu at- this time,
am 1 by which it had been worshipped, was Nehush-
tai. ,2 K. xviii. 4). It is evident that our trans-
lators r • their rendering, "and be called t Ne-
hnaMan, ' understood with many eonimeotazon
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2104
NEIEL
that the subject of the sentence u Hezekiah, mid
tint when he destroyed the brazen serpent be gave
It the name Nelmahtan. "a brazen thing," in
token of hb utter contempt, and to impress upon
the people the idea of it* worthlenness. This
rendering hag the rapport of the LXX. and Vul-
gate, Junius and Tremelhua, Miinster, Clerieus,
and others; but it is better to understand the He-
brew as referring to the name by which the serpent
wu generally known, the subject of the verb being
indefinite — " and one called it ' Nehuahtan.' "
Such a construction is common, and instances of
it ma)- be found in Gen. xxv. 96, xxxviii. 89, 80,
where our translators correctly render " his name
was called," and in Gen. xlviii. 1, 2. This was
the view taken in the Targ. Jon. and in the
Peshito-Syriac, "and they called it Nehuahtan,"
which Buxtorf approves (Hut. Serp. jEn. cap. vi.).
It has the support of Luther, Pfeiffer (Dub. Vex.
cent. 3, toe. 5), J. D. Michaelis (Bibel fir Un g tl.\
and Bunsen (BiMmtvk), as well as of Ewald
(Cetch. iii. 682), Keil, Thenius, and most modern
commentators. [Serpent.] W. A. W.
NEIEL (^55 [pern. = bv*W% ire/iture
of Cud, tin.]', "irmfx; Alex. Ari»X:'.WeAtV/), a
place which formed one of the landmarks of the
boundary of the tribe of Asher (Josh. xix. 87, only).
It occurs bctweeen Jiphthah-ei. and Cabul- If
the former of these be identified with JefAl, and
the latter with KaUU, 8 or 9 miles E. S. E. of
Akka, then Neiel may possibly be r e pr e sented by
iff at; a Tillage conspicuously placed on a lofty
mountain brow, just half-way between the two
(Koh. iii. 87, 103; also Van de Velde's Map,
1858). The chance of X into M, and L into R,
is frequent, and Miar retains the Ain of Neiel.
G.
NE'KEB (2Qjfl with the def. article [the
cavern] : Ka \ No/Sox ; [Vat. Na/3«K :] Alex. Noire :
owe est Neceb), one of the towna on the boundary
of Naphtali (Josh. xix. 33, only). It lay between
Ada mi and Jabxeel.
A great number of commentators, from Jona-
than the Targumut and Jerome ( I ulgnte as above)
to Keil (Jotun, ad loc.), hare taken this name as
being connected with the preceding — Adami-ban-
Nekeb (Junius and Tremellius, " Adamsei fossa");
and indeed this is the force of the accentuation of
the present Hebrew text But on the other hand
the LXX. give the two as distinct, and in toe
Talmud the post-biblical names of each are given,
that of han-Nekeb being Ttiadathak (Gtmara
ffitrag. Cod. Megilla, in Reland, Pal. pp. 645, 717,
817; also Schwarz, p. 181).
Of thia more modern name Schwarz suggests
that a trace is to be found in " Hatedhi," 8 Eng-
tsfa miles N. from al- Chatti. G.
NEKODA (tTPPJ [dutmguiihaq : Neasr-
14; m Ear. it 48, [Vat Nex-oo,] Alex. N«mr-
lar; [hi Neh., FA. NeiraScu* :] ffecoda). L
The descendants of Nekoda returned among the
Nsthinim after the Captivity (Ear. ii. 48; Neh.
rii. 60).
8. [NsKwSrf.] The sons of Nekoda were among
hose who went up after the Captivity from Tet-
sulah, Tel-ham and other places, but were unable
to pro>e their descent from Israel (Ear. ii. 60; Neh.
rB.68).
noMvio. fanzi r*» •/ c«* o«-i
NEPHTOAH, THE WATER OF
NtutovTJX : Ifamuel). 1. A Reubenite, son f
Eliab, and eldest brother of Dathan and Abirm
(Num. xxvi. 9).
8. The eldest son of Simeon (Num. xxvi. 19
1 Chr. iv. 24), from whom were descended tbi
family of the Nemuelites. In CJen. xlvi. 10 he ii
called Jemukl.
NEMU'ELITES, THE ObHBDjn [an
above]; Sy/ios 6 NauowjAf: Alex. Napsvr/Aei,
and so [Vat.] Mai: NamueUtat). The descend-
ants of Nemuel the first-born of Simeon (Num.
xxvi. 12).
NETHEG U93 [tprout]: No«W«: Nepkeg).
1. One of the sons of Izhar the son of Kohath,
and therefore brother of Korah (Ex. vi. 81).
3. [Na«k«:] in 1 Chr. iii. 7, [Vat. Nosfe*,]
Alex. Naqbe-y; 1 Chr. xiv. 6, NooWff, [Alex.
Na^xry, FA. Natt^rr: Nrpheg, Nnpheg.'] One of
David's sons horn to him in Jerusalem after he was
come from Hebron (2 Sam. v. 15 ; 1 Chr. iii. 7,
xiv. 6).
* NEPHEW. This term wherever employed
in the A. V., is used in the sense of grandchild «
descendant generally. The corresponding Hebrew
and Greek words are "TJ3, Job xviii. 19, Is. trr.
22; Caj "33, Judg. xii. 14; and try.**
1 Tim. v. 4. For the old English usage of this
word, see Richardson's Eng. Did. s. v., and
Trench's Authorized Vert, of the N. T. p. 446 (ed.
1869). [Sister's Sob.] D. S. T.
NETHI (Ntftael; Alex. Neatfop: ffephi).
The name by which the Naphthar of Nebe-
miah was usually (wapa. roit roWoit) called (8
Mace. i. 36). The A. V. [after the Bishops' Bi-
ble] has here followed the Vulgate.
NETHIS (Kifls ; [Vat Ktifeal Alex.
♦i»«» : AM. Nn«>(*:] Liptit). In the corrupt
list of 1 Esdr. v. 21, " the sons of Nepbis " appar-
ently correspond with " the children of Nebo " in
Ear. ii. 89, or else the name is a corruption of
Magbish.
NE'PHISH (ttJ>5? [recreate : Vat] Na-
tpuraXawr, [Rom.] Alex. Swpi<rcuai: Naphit). An
inaccurate variation (found in 1 Chr. v. 19 only
[where the Bishops' Bible reads Nrphit]) of tin
name elsewhere correctly given in the A. V. Na-
phisii, the form always preserve d in the original.
NEPHISH'ESIM (D^DI^IQ^ [cans.
•NMS,Ges.]; Keri, CDtp^: NeeWar [Vat
-trti\ i Aka. Nefsto-acip; [FA. Nc^mrao-eip:] Xe-
phumm). The children of Nephishesim were among
the Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel (Neh.
vii. 52). The name elsewhere appears as Nephu-
sim and Naphisi. Gesenius decides that it it a
corruption of the former. ( The*, p. 899.)
NEPHTHALT ([Rom. tie<p6aXi ; Vat
Alex. FA.] NeawoAnp: tfrphikaU). The Vul-
gate form of the name Naphtali (Tob. L 1, 9,
4,6).
NEPHTHALIM ([Neo^oAi; Vat] N«t>
6aAfi; [Sin.] Alex. Nf+OaXei^ and so N. T.
NcphthaXlfephduiGm). Another form of the asaas
name aa the preceding (Tob. vii. 3: Matt, if It
15; Rev. vii. 6).
NEPHTCAH, THE WATBB OF (*!}
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NBPHU8IM
?TFI93 [* aler ' of opening] : Map ticupBi; [Vst
fa Joso,' xv. '•>,] Ma^m: aqua, and oguo, JVe/>A-
lioa). The (priug or source (7^7, A. V. " foun-
tain " and " well ") of the water or (inaccurately)
mien of Nephtoah was one of the landmarks in
the boundary-line which separated Judah from
Benjamin (Josh. xv. 9, xviii. 15). It was situated
between the " head," or the " end," of the moun-
tain which Diced the valley of Hinnom on the
west, and the cities of Ephron, the next point be-
yond which was Kirjath-jearim. It lay therefore
N. W. of Jerusalem, in which direction it seems
to have been satisfactorily identified in Ain Lifta,
a spring situated a little distance above the village
of the same name, in a short valley which runs
into the east side of the great Wady Beit ffamna,
about U miles from Jerusalem and 6 from Kuriti
ti-Knab (K.-jearim). The spring — of which a
view is given by Dr. Barclay ( City, etc., 544) — is
very abundant, and the water escapes in a consid-
erable stream into the valley below.
Nephtoah was formerly identified with various
springs — the spring of St. Philip (Ain Ilaniyeli)
in the Wady eU Wtrd; the Ain Yalo in the same
valley, but nearer Jerusalem ; the Ain Karim, or
Fountain of the Virgin of medieval times (Doub-
ann, Voyige, 187 ; see also the citations of Tobler,
TapograpkU, 851; and Sandys, lib. iii. p. 184);
and even the so-called well of Job at the western
and of the Wady Aly n ( Afutin, ii. 155); but thaw,
especially the last, are unsuitable in their situation
■a respects Jerusalem and Kirjath-jearim, and
have the additional drawback that the features of
the country there are not such as to permit a
boundary line to be traced along it, while the tine
through Ain Li/la would, in Barclay's words,
■* pursue a course indicated by nature."
The name of Lifta is not less suitable to this
identification than its situation, since T and L
frequently take the place of each other, and the
rest of the word is almost entirely unchanged.
The earliest notice of it appears to be by Stewart*
( Tent and Khan, 349), who speaks of it as at that
time (Feb. 1854) " recognized." G.
NKPHITSIM (D^p^J; Keri, D^D*©? :
HupoiHrln; [Vat. Na^eicwr;] Alex. NcetaiKretp:
ffephutim). The same as Nephishksim , of which
name according to Ueseniua it is the proper form
(Ear. it 50).
NBR 03 [Uylit, lamp] : Nt)p [Vat. in 1 Sam.
afv. BO, NttMiO Wer), son of Jehiel, according
to 1 Chr. viii. 33. father of Kish and Abner, and
grandfather of Ring Saul. Abner was, therefore,
nude to Saul, as expressly sUted 1 Sam. xiv. 60.
But some confusion has arisen from the state-
ment in 1 Chr. ix. 36, that Kish and Ner were
both sons of Jehiel, whence it has been concluded
that they were brothers, and consequently that
Abner and Saul were first cousins. But, unless
there was an elder Kish, uncle of Saul's father,
which is not at all probable, it is obvious to ex-
plain the insertion of rush's najae (as that of the
NEB
2105
• This must arise from a confusion between Yalo
JJslen), near which the " well cf JoO " is situated.
SBdtU>4u< rate.
» Bbmrnrt, while arwismg Dr. Bubtnson of Inaoea-
numerous names by the side of it; in 1 Chr ix
86, by the oommon practice in the Chronicles of
calling all the heads of houses of fathers, torn of
the phylareh or demareh from whom they sprung,
or under whom they were reckoned in the genealo-
gies, whether they were sons or grandsons, or lata
descendants, or even descendants of collateral
branches. [Bbchkk.]
The name Ner, combined with that of his son
Abner, may be compared with Nadab in rer. 36,
and Abinadab ver. 89 ; with Jesse, 1 Chr. ii. 18,
and Abishai, ver. 16; and with Juda, Luke Iii.
36, and Abind, Matt. i. 13. The subjoined table
shows Ner's family relatio n s,
Benjamin
Becker, or Bechorath 8am. Ix. Ii 1 Car. vH. a, f>
AbUh, Dt Aphlmi (ib.)
Zeror, or Zur (1 Chr. vUL SO)
Ablet, or Jehiel a Chr. Ix. M)
tva Klih BiLl
Ner Nsdsb Gedor Ahlo
Kb* Abna
B.UL"
The family seat of Ner was Gibeon, where his
father Jehiel was probably the first to settle (1
Chr. ix. 85). From the pointed mention of his
mother, Haachah, as the wife of Jehiel, she was
perhaps the heiress of the estate in Gibeon. This
inference receives some confirmation from the fact
that " ttaachah, Caleb's concubine," is said, in 1
Chr. ii. 69, to have borne >• Sheva the father of
Machbenah and the father of Gibea," where,
though the text is in ruins, yet a connection of
some sort between Moaehah (whoever she was) and
Gibeah, often called Gibeah of Saul, and the same
oa Gibeon, 1 Chr. xiv. 16, is apparent. It is a cu-
rious circumstance that, while the name (Jehiel) of
the " father of Gibeon " is not given in the text
of 1 Chr. viii. 39, the same is the case with " the
father of Gibea " in 1 Chr. ii. 49, naturally sug-
gesting, therefore, that in the latter passage the
same name Jehiel ought to be supplied which is
supplied for the former by the duplicate passage
1 Chr. ix. 35. If this inference is correct it would
place the time of the settlement of Jehiel at Gib-
eon — where one would naturally expect to find it
— near the time of the settlement of the tribes in
their respective inheritances under Joshua. Haa-
chah, his wife, would aeein to be a daughter or de-
scendant of Caleb by Ephah his concubine. That
she was not " Caleb's concubine " seems pretty
certain, both because Ephah is so described in ii. 44
and because the recurrence of the name Ephah hi
ver. 47, separated from the words 37^ B?^ £*9
only by the name Shaaph, rf creates a strong pre-
sumption that Ephah, and not Maacliah is the
name to which this description belong] m ' er. 47,
aa in ver. 46. Moreover, Sfnachah cannot be the
nom. case to the masculine verb *Tv\ Supposing,
war is taty, ha» bin mu° fkuan Into a curious eonre- ' Hatri
•ton between Nephtoah and Netophah. Dr. Bobineoa
is In this Instance perfectly right.
. fhers are doubtless some links missing In thai
genealogy, as at all events the head of the family of
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2106
NBREUS
then, Maachah, the ancestress of Saul, to ham
been thua a daughter or granddaughter of Caleb,
we have a curious coincidence in the occurrence
of the name Saul, aa one of the Edomitiah kings,
1 Chr. i. 48, and as the name of a descendant of
the Edomitiah Caleb. [Calkb.] The element
Baal (1 Chr. ii 36, Ac) in the names Eih-Baal,
MrriUxwL, the descendants of Saul the son of
Kith, may also, then, be compared with Boat-Ha-
inan, the successor of Saul of Reboboth (1 Chr. t
49), aa also the name Mutrtd (ib. 60) with ifatri
(1 Sam. x. 91). A. C. H.
NE'RETJS [2 syl.J (Nnpefa: fferevi). A
Christian at Rome, saluted by St. Paul, Rom. xri.
15. Origen conjectures that he belonged to the
household of Philologus and Julia. Estius sug-
gests that he may be identified with a Nereus, who
Is said to hare been baptized at Rome by St. Peter.
A legendary account of him is given in Bolland,
Acta S<mc*>me» ; 12th Hay; from which, in the
•pinion of Tillemont, H. E. ii. 188, may be gath-
ered the fact that he waa beheaded at Terracina,
probably in the reign of Nerva. His ashes are
said to be deposited in the ancient church of SS.
Nereo ed Archilleo at Rome.
There is a reference to his legendary history in
Bp. Jeremy Taylor's Sermon, The Ifarriage-ring,
Part i. W. T. B.
NER'GAL(b3"!3: 'KpytK: Nerget), one of
the chief Assyrian and Babylonian deities, seems to
have corresponded closely to the classical Han.
He was of liabylonian origin, and his name signi-
fies, in the early Cusbite dialect of that country,
" the great man," or " the great hero." His mon-
umental titles are — "the storm-ruler," " the king
of battle," " the champion of the gods," " the mate
principle " (or " the strong begetter "), " the tute-
lar god of Babylonia," and "the god of the chase."
Of this last he is the god preeminently ; another
deity, N'm, disputing with him the presidency over
war and battles. It is conjectured that he may
represent the deified Nimrod — " the mighty hunter
before the Ix>rd " — from whom the kings both of
Babylon and Nineveh were likely to claim descent.
The city peculiarly dedicated to hia worship is
found in the iuxcriptions to lie Cutha or Tiggaba,
which la in Arabian tradition the special city of
Nimrod. The only express mention of Nergal
contained in sacred Scripture is in 2 K. xvii. 30,
where '• the men of Cutha," placed in the city of
Samaria by a king of Assyria (Eaar-haddon?),
are add to hare " made Nergal their god " when
transplanted to their new country — a fact in close
accordance with the frequent notices in the inscrip-
tions, which mark him aa the tutelar god of that
slty. Nergal's name occurs aa the initial element
ka JVerynMbar-ezer (Jer. xxxix. 3 and 13); and is
also found, under a contracted form, in the name
of % comparatively late king — the Abenneriytu of
Joseph™ (Aul. xx. 2, § 1).
Nergal appears to hate been worshipped under
the symbol ofthe "Man-Lion." The Semitic
name for the god of Cutha was Aria, a word
which signifies " lion " both in Hebrew and Syriac.
Nit; the first element of the god's name, is capa-
ble of the same signification. Perhaps the habits
4* the lion as a hunter of beasts were known, and
be mi thus regarded as the most fitting symbol of
see god who presided over the chase.
It is in connection with their hunting excursions
east the Assyrian kings make most frequent men-
KEROAL-BHARKZKR
Mob of this deity. As early aa b. c. 1H0, !%
lath-pileaer I. speaks of him aa furnishing the ar-
rows with which be slaughtered the wild animals
Aumr-diini-pal (Sardanapalua), the son and sue*
cesser of Eaar-haddon, never fails to invoke his aid,
and ascribes all his hunting achievements to his
influence. Pul sacrificed to him in Cutha, and
Sennacherib built him a temple in the city of Tar-
bisa near Nineveh: but in general be waa not
much worshipped either by the earlier or the later
kings (see the Euay of Sir H. Rawlinson in Raw-
linaon'a IUrodottu, i. 031-634). G. B.
NEB'GAL-SHARE'ZEBCl^tt'bjna
[see above]: [Rom. Vat Mapyarcuripi FA. MoJ>-
yarratrap ; Alex.] NtipytX-icuratrip • Nerrgil,
Sert$tr, [Nrrtgel ti Scre&er]) occurs only la
Jeremiah xxxix. 3 and 13. There appear to have
been two persons of the name among the " princes
of the king of Babylon," who accompanied Nebu-
chadnezzar on his last expedition against Jerusa-
lem. One of these is not marked by any addi-
tional title; but the other has the honorable
distinction of Rab-mag (2^"2*^), and it is to
him alone that any particular interest attache*. In
sacred Scripture he appears among the persons,
who, by command of Nebuchadnezzar, released
Jeremiah from prison; profane history gives m
reason to believe that he was a personage of great
importance, who not long afterwards mounted the
Babylonian throne. This identification depends
in part upon the exact resemblance of name,
which is found on Babylonian bricks in the form
of NergnLtharjuur ; but mainly it rest* upon
the title of Rubu-tmgn, or Rab-Mag, which thai
king bears in his inscriptions, and ou the improb-
ability of there having been towards the cloa*
of the Babylonian period — when the monumen-
tal monarch must have lived — two persons of
exactly the same name holding this office. [Rab-
mag.]
Assuming on these grounds the identity of the
Scriptural " Nergal-sharezer, Rab-Mag," with the
monumental " Nergal-thnrtattr, Pvbu-emgn," we
may learn something of the history of the prince
in question from profane authors. There cannot
l« a doubt that he was the monarch called Nerig-
lisaar or Neriglissoor by Berosus (Joseph c. Ap. L
20), who murdered Erii-Merodach, the son of
Nebuchadnezzar, and succeeded him upon tb*
throne. This prince was married to a daughter
of Nebuchadnezzar, and waa thus the brother-in-
law of hia predecessor, whom be put to death.
Hia reign lasted lietween three and four years.
He appears to have died a natural death, and
certainly left his crown to a young son, Idtboro-
soarchod, who was murdered after a reign of
nine months. In the canon of Ptolemy he ap-
pears, under the designation of Nerigassolossar, aa
reigning four years between llknrudanius (Evil-
Merodach) and Nabonadius, his son's reign not
obtaining any mention, because it fell short of a
year.
A palace, bnilt by Neriglissar. haa been discov-
ered at Babylon. It is the only building of any
extent on the right bank of the Euphrates. (Set
plan of Baiitlum.) The bricks bear the name o»
Nergal shar-uzur. the title of Rab-Mag, and also
statement — which is somewhat surprising — that
Nergal-ahar-uzur was the son of a certain " Bet-fik-
karuiun, king of Dabylcm." The only explanaiio*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NBKI
whleh has been offered of this statement U a con
lecture (Rawliiison's Herodotus, vol. 1. p. 618),
that Bel-zikkar-iskun may possibly have been the
■chief Chaldaaui," who (according to Berraus)
kept the royal authority for Nebuchadnezzar during
the interval between his father's death and Ida own
arrival at Babylon. [Nebuchadnezzar] Neri-
gliaaar could scarcely hare given bia (ither the title
of kiug without aonie ground ; and thia ia at any
rate a possible ground, and one compatible with the
non-appearance of the name in any extant list of the
later Babylonian monarchs. Neriglisnr'a office of
Kab-Mag will be further considered under that
word. It is evident that he was a personage of
importance before he mounted the throne. Some
(as Larcber) hare sought to ideutify him with Da-
rius the Made. But this view is quite untenable.
There is abundant reason to believe from his name
and bis office that he was a native Babylonian —
a grandee of high rank under Nebuchadnezzar, who
regarded him at a tilting match for one of his
daughters. He did not, like Darius Medus, gain
Babylon by conquest, but acquired his dominion
by an internal revolution. His reign preceded that
of the Median Darius by 17 years. It lasted from
a. c. 659 to B. c. 556, whereas Darius the Mecle
cannot have ascended the throne till B. c. 538, on
the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus. G. R.
NE"BI (Nipt [Tisch. N»e«J with Sin. A B etc]
r epre s en ting the Heb. v 13, which would be a abort
form for nj"13, Neriah, " Jehovah is my lamp : "
JVer»'),« son of Helchi, and father of Salathid, in
the genealogy of Christ, Luke iii. 27. Nothing
b known of him, but his name is very important as
indicating the principle on which the genealogies
of our Lord are framed. He was of the line of
Nathan; but his son Salathiel became Solomon's
heir on the failure of Solomon's line in king Jecon-
iah, and was therefore reckoned in the royal geneal-
ogy among the sons "f Jeconiah; to whose status
and prerogatives he succeeded, 1 Chr. iii. 17 ; Matt,
i. 12. The supposition that the son and heir of
David and Solomon would be called the son of Neri,
an obscure individual, because he had married
Xeri's daughter, as many pretend, is too absurd to
need refutation. Tha information given us by St.
Luke — that Neri, of the line of Nathan, was Sal-
athiel's father — does, in point of fact, clear up and
settle the whole question of the genealogies. [Gen-
ealogy of Jesus Christ.] A. C. H.
NERI' AH (nnj [and VT»"}3, lamp of
Jehovah] : Nimfar, but Ni»«fa> [Alex. Ni)«t«] in
Jer. li. 59; [Vat. also -ate- in xliii. 8:] Neri"; but
Ntri in xxxii. 13). The son of Maaseiah, and
Cither of Baruch (Jer. xxxii. 18, xxxvi. 4, xliii. 3,
[also xxxii. 16, xxxvi. 8, 14, 33, xliii. 6, xlv. 1]),
and Seraiah (Jer 1L 59).
NERI'AS (N-nplas: Nerirn). The Stther of
Baruch and Seriah (Bar. i. 1).
• NE8T. The Greek word mrraaKhntaa,
rendered nesf in Matt. viil. 30 and Luke ix. 68,
means strictly the pitching of a tent and then a lent
sr dvxtlmg, an abode- Coupled as it is in these pas-
i with the holes of foxes, and contrasted with
NET
2107
• BBS Gineal. of Om Lord J. C, p. 160.
oar Saviour's want of s home or lodging-plus, M
seems plainly not to have the specific meaning of
nasui but places of resort, lodging places, " haunts."
So the corresponding verb in Matt. xiii. 32, Mark
iv. 33, and Luke xiii. 19 is rendered lodge ; in Acts
ii. 36, reit. " Nest " is undoubtedly meant by
•'house" in Ps. sir. 17: "As for the stork the
fir-trees are her house." This bird " in the Eaa*
selects ruins wherever they are to be found, mora
especially or for the most part where there is water or
neglected marsh in their neighborhood. But when
neither houses nor ruins occur, it selects any tress
tail and strong enough to provide a firm platform
for its huge nest, and for this purpose none an
more convenient than the fir-tree " (Tristram, If at.
Hut. of tlit Bible, p. 348). The eagle's stirring np
of her nest, i. e. the young in the nest (Deut- xixii.
12), refers to the efforts of the eagle to encourage
her young ones to fly and coax them to leave their
nest (Tristram, p. 170). R. D. C. R.
NET. The various terms applied by the He-
brews to nets had reference either to the construc-
tion of the article, or to its use and objects. To
the first of these we may assign the following terms:
-MaemArfi and its cognates, micmar' and imo-
rn'ireth,* all of which are derived from a root signi-
fying " to weave ; " and, again, tibdedh « and
tibac/ derived from another root of similar signifi-
cation. To the second head we may assign chiremf
from a root signifying " to enclose; " wid/sdrf* with
its cognates, mluddah ' and milzuddh* from a root
signifying " to lie in wait; " and rethelh, ' from a
root signifying "to catch." Great uncertainty
prevails in the equivalent terms in the A. V. : mdaxVJ
is rendered " snare " in Eccl. vii. 36, and " net "
in Job xix. 6 and Prov. xii. 12, in the latter of
which passages the true sense is " prey; " t&oieik
is rendered "snare" in Job xviii. 8;
■grpaan landhsx-ost. OVUktnson.)
"snare" in Ex. xii. 13, xvil. 30, and "net" sj
I's. lxvi. 11; micmirefh, "drag" or "flue-net"
in Hab. 1. 15, 16. What distinction there ton
have been between tha various nets describe*
by the Hebrew terms, we are unable to decide
The etymology tells us nothing, and the equrr
alents in the LXX. vary. In the New Testa-
ment we meet with three terms, — o~aey4\vn (from
oirrm, •' to load "), whence our word teine, a large
hauling or draw-net; it is the term used in the par-
able of the draw-net (Matt. xiii. 47): Ayicvi/SAi)*-
Tporffrom a^i/SdAAv, "to east around"), a cast-
ing-net (Matt. ir. 18; Mark i. 16): and ourrvo*
(from Sine, "to throw "), of the same description
as the one just mentioned (Matt. Ir. 30; John xxi
jrfwp. * ttjkq.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2108
NBT
t,aL). The net was used for the purposes of nsb-
Ing and hunting: the mode in which it wee and
he* been already described in the articles on those
subjects. [Fiamaci; Hukting.] The £gjptiaiis
constructed their nets of flax-string : the netting-
needle was m» do of wood, and in shape closely re-
sembled our «wn (Wilkinson, ii. 95). The nets
varied in fonr according to their use; the landing-
net has «**■ already represented ; we here give a
sketch o' «h« iraw-net from the same source.
BgjptUn draw-net (Wilkinson).
As the nets of Egypt were well known to the
•fiiy Jews (Is. xir. 8 ), it is not improbable that
the material and form was the same iu each coun-
rj. The nets used for birds in Egypt were of two
kinds, clap-nets and traps. The latter consisted
of network strained over a frame of wood, which
was so eonstructed that the sides would collapse by
puffing a string and catch any birds that niinht have
alighted on them while open. The former was
made on the same principle, consisting of a doublu
frame with the network strained over it, which
might be caused to collapse by pulling a string.
The metaphorical references to the net are very
numerous: it was selected as an appropriate image
is* the subtle devices of the enemies of God on the
ne hand (e. g. He. ix. It, zzv. IS, zxxi. 4), and
of the unavertable vengeance of God on the other
hand (Lam. 1. 13; Ex. xii. IS; Hot. vii. 12).
We must still notice the use of the term sttdc,
in an architectural sense, applied to the open orna-
mental work about the capital of a pillar (1 K. vii.
•7), and described in similar terms by Josephus,
tixrvoy t\irn va*"'? wtfiittTKtyiiivor {Ant.
.ai.8,5 4). W. I.. II.
NETHANIAB
HETHAJTEEL faWT? {gkm <f tJmfJ.
Na0avat\: IfathmatI). ll The son of Zuar, and
prince of the tribe of Imachar at the time of the
Exodus. With his 54,400 men his post hi the
camp was on the e-ut next to the camp of Judah
which they followed ic the march. The same ordej
was observed in the onerings at the dedication of
the Tabernacle, when Nethaued followed Nahshon
the prince of the tribe of Judah (Num. i. 8, ii. 5,
vii. 18, 23, x. 16).
2. The fourth son of Jean and brother of David
(1 Chr. U. 14).
3. A priest in the reign of David who blew the
trumpet before the ark, when it was brought from
the house of Obed-edom (1 Chr. xv. 34).
4. A Invite, father of Shemaiah the scribe in
the reign of David (1 Chr. xxiv. 6).
6. [Vat. Noo> Is i»A.] The fifth son of Obed-
edom the doorkeeper of tie ark (1 Chr. xxvi 4).
6. One of the princes of Judah, whom Jeboshav
phat in the third year of his reign sent to teach m
the cities of his kingdom (2 Chr. xvii. 7).
7. A chief of the Levites in the reign of Josiah,
who took part in the solemn paatorer kept by that
king (2 Chr. xxxv. 9).
8. A priest of the family of Pashur, in the time
of Ears, who had married a foreign wife (Ear. x.
82). He is called Nathamael in 1 Esdr. ix. 22.
9. [Vat Alex. FA.i omit.] The rcpresentatrn
of the priestly family of Jedaiah in the time of
Joiakim the son of Jeshua (Neh. xii. 31).
10. [Vat Alex. FA.i omit] A Levhe, of the
asos of Asaph, who with his brethren played upon
the musical instruments of David, in the solemn
procession which accompanied the dedication of the
wall of Jerusalem under Ears and Nehemiah (Nek.
xii. 36). W. A. W.
NETHANI'AH (Tr^ [ofem 0/ /e-
•wsoa]: and in the lengthened form V^jnp,
Jar. xL 8, xii. 9 : KaftWar, exc. 2 K. xxv. 83, when
the Alex. MS. has Mo60oWas: tfnthama). 1. The
son of Elishann, and father of Ishmael who mur-
dered UedaHah (3 K. xxv. 33, 35; Jer. xl. 8, 14,
16, xii. 1, 8, 6, 7, 9, 10, II, 18, 16, 16, 18). He
was of the royal fiunily of Judah.
8. («T:jrq in 1 Chr. xxv. IS: [NoeWss,
NafrfV; Vat in ver. 13 NaBcJuat.] ) One of the
four sons of Asaph the minstrel, and chief of the
6th of the 24 courses into which the Temple choir
was divided (1 Chr. xxv. 3, 13).
3. (irr^nj: [Vat. Ma»*aMa».]) A Letlts
in the reign of Jeboshaphat, who with eight others
of his tribe and two priests accompanied the princes
of Judah who were sent by the king through the
country to teach the law of Jehovah (3 Chr
xvii. 8).
4. The father of Jehudi (Jer. xxxvi. 14).
NETH1NIM [A. V. •' Nethmuns "] (DTO?
[see below]: [FA.*] NoeWuM, Neh. xi. 31, [Rom.
Vat Alex. FA.1 omit;] NafcWp [Vat No/Win,
Alex. NoAimuoi], Err. ii. 43; [there are many
variations in the MSS. in other places;] oi tr
SoasVei [Comp. NsaKraoi], 1 Chr. ix. 2: NnOiinai)
As applied specifically to a distinct body of met
connected with the services of the Temple, this
" Prov. i. 17, Is accurately as follows: n Surely
to the eves of say bird the net Is spread for nothing."
as It stands In the * V. It Is simply contrary to tut.
This Is one of the admirable
Mr. Bernard. (Set
Grammar.)
Mans of las law
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NETHINIM
mm first meets us in the later bookiof t>e O.T.;
n I Chron . Earn, and Nehemiah. The word, and
the ideu embodied in it may, however, he traced
to a much earlier period. Ai derived from the
rarb 1-0}, nithan ( = give, set apart, dedicate), it
was applied to those who were special!; appointed
to the liturgical offices of the Tabernacle." Like
many other official titles it appears to have had at
bit a much higher value than that afterwards
assigned to it. We must not forget that the Levites
wen gitt* to Aaron and his sons, i. e. to the
priests aa an order, and were accordingly the drat
Nethinim (DSlTty Num. Ui. 0, viii. 19). At firat
they were the only attendants, and their work must
hare been laborious enough. The first conquest*,
however, brought tbem their share of the captive
slaves of the Midlanites, and 820 were given to
them as having charge of the Tabernacle (Num.
xxxl. 47), while 89 only were assigned specially to
the priests. This disposition to devolve the more
laborious offices of their ritual upon slaves of an-
other race showed itself again in the treatment of
the Gibeonitea. They, too, were "given " (A. V.
"made") to be "hewers of wood and drawers cf
water" for the house of God (Josh. ix. 37), and
the addition of so large a number (the population
of five cities) must have relieved the Invites from
much that had before been burdensome. We know
little or nothing aa to their treatment. It was a
matter of necessity that they should be circumcised
(Ex. xii. 48), and conform to the religion of their
conquerors, and this might at first seem hard
enough. On the other hand it must be remem-
bered that they presented themselves sa recognizing
the supremacy of Jehovah (Josh. ix. 9), and that for
many generations the remembrance of the solemn
covenant entered into with tbem made men look
with horror on the shedding of Gibeonite blood
(2 Sam. xxL 9), and protected tbem from much
Mttrage. No addition to the number thus em-
ployed appears to have been made during the period
of the Judges, and they continued to be known by
their old name aa the Gibeonitea. The want of a
farther supply was however felt when the reorgan-
isation of worship commenced under David. Either
the massacre at Nob had involved the Gibeonitea
as well as the priests (1 Sam. xxii. 19), or else they
had fallen victims to some other outburst of Saul's
fury, and, though there were survivors (2 Sam.
tad. 2), the number was likely to be quite in-
adequate for the greater stateliness of the new
worship at Jerusalem. It is to this period accord-
ingly that the origin of the class bearing this name
may be traced. The Nethinim were those " whom
David and the princes appointed (Hen. give) for
the service of the Levites" (Ezr. viii. 20). Analogy
would lead us to conclude that, in this as in the
former instances, these were either prisoners taken
in war, or else some of the remnant of the Canaan-
ite»; • but the new nam* in which the old seems
to hare been merged leaves it uncertain. The
kjreigr. character of the names m Ezr ii. 43-64 is
NETHINIM
2109
unmistakable, bat was equally natural on either
hypothesis.
From this time the Nethinim probably live*
within the precincts of the Temple, doing its
rougher work, and so enabling the Levites to take*
a higher position aa the religious r epr es en tatives
and instructops of the people. [Licvmu.] They
answered in some degree to the male UpitovKoi,
who were attached to Greek and Asiatic temple*
(Josephus, Ant. ri. 5, § 1, uses this word of them
iu hi* paraphrase of the decree of Darius), to
the grave-diggers, gate-keepers, bell-ringers of the
Christian Church. fcwald {AlUrOiitm. p. 299)
refers to the custom of the more wealthy Arab*
dedicating slaves to the special service of the
Kaaba at Mecca, or the Sepulchre of the Prophet
at Medina.
The example set by David was followed by his
successor. In close union with the Nethinim in
the statistics of the return from the Captivity,
attached like them to the Priests and Levites, we
find a body of men described as " Solomon's ser-
vants" (Err. ii. 66; Neh. vii. 60, xi. 3), and these
we may identify, without much risk of error, with
some of the '■ people that were left " of the earlier
inhabitants whom he made "to pay tribute of
bond-service " (1 K. ix. 20; 3 Chr. viii. 7). The
order in which they are placed might even seem to
indicate that they stood to the Nethuiini in the
same relation that the Nethinim did to the Levites.
Assuming, as is probable, that the later Kabbinie
teaching r e pr e s en ts the traditions of an earlier
period, the Nethinim appear never to have lost the
stigma of their Caiiaanite origin. They had no
jut commkii (Geniar. Uabyl. Jebam. ii. 4; Kid-
duiA. iv. 1, in Carpzov, App. (Ml. dc jfeth.), and
illicit intercourse with a woman of Israel waa pun-
ished with scourging (Carpzov, I e.); but theii
quasi-eacred position raised them in some measure
above the level of their race, and in the Jewish
order of precedence, while they stood below the
Mamzerim (bastards, or children of mixed mar-
riages), they were one step above the Proselytes
fresh come from heathenism and emancipated slaves
(Gemar. Hieros. Horajoth, fW. 482; in Lightfoot,
Hor. //to. iid Matt, xxiii. 14). They were thus
all along a servile and subject caste. The only
period at which they rise into anything like prom-
inence is that of the return from the Captivity
In that return the priests were conspicuous and
numerous, but the Levites, for some reason un-
known to us, bung back. [Lkvttes.] Under
Zerubbabel there were but 341 to 4,289 priests
(Ezr. ii. 36-12). Under Ezra none came up at all
till after a special and solemn call (Ezr. rlL 16).
The services of the Nethinim were consequently
of more importance (Ezr. viii. 17), but ir thert
case also, the small number of those that Joined
(393 under Zerubbabel, 230 under Ezra, including
"Solomon's servants") indicates that many pre-
ferred remaining in the land of their exib ta
returning to their old service. Those that did
some were consequently thought worthy of special
mention. The names of their families were regis-
tered with as much care as those of the priests
« This Is the reeetved Interpretation. Bochurt
(JUjnfcr. u. 1) gins a more active uwaoinf to the
•ords, "These who have devoted tnsmselves." go
rheodorst (Qm. in 1 Paralip.), who explains the name
ui, ravreen, rev evrot 6cov. and looks
i as Israelites of other tribes voluntarily giving
v<* s* the asrvke sf the eanatuarv. This Is,
however, without adequate grounds, and at varhuaoi
with nvsts Coop. PMhngrr Dt Natkmmu, in Ugounlt
Ta i s san n , vol. xliL
» The Identity of the Olbeooltes an 1 Nethinim. ex
eluding the Idea of any addition, la, however, mats
bvr--
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2110
NETOPHAH
(Bar. U. 43-58). The; wen admitted, in strict
(onfbrmlty to the letter of the rule of Deut. xxix.
II, to join in the great covenant with which the
restored people inaugurated iu new lift (Neh. x.
T»). They, like the Priests and Levites, were
exempted from taxation by the Perxian Satraps
(Ear. \ii. 34). They were under the control of a
chief of their own body (Ear. ii. 43; Neh. vii. 46).
They took an active part in the work of rebuilding
the city (Neh. iii. 26), and the tower of Ophel. con-
venient from its proximity to the Temple, was
assigned to some of them as a residence (Neh. xi.
III, while others dwelt with the Levitts in their
cities (Ezr. ii. 70). They took their place in the
chronicles of the time as next in order to the
Levites (I Chr. ix. 8).
Neither in the Apocrypha, nor in the N. T., nor
yet in the works of the Jewish historian, do we
(bid any additional information about the Nethi-
nim. The latter, however, mentions incidentally a
festival, that of the Xylophoria, or wood carrying,
of which we may perhaps recognize the beginning
to Neh. x. 34, and in which it was the custom for
all the people to bring large supplies of firewood
lor the sacrifices of the year. This may have been
designed to relieve them. They were at any rate
likely to bear a conspiiuous part in it (Joseph. B.
I. ii. 17, § 6).
Two hypotheses connected with the Nethinim
are mentioned by Ifeffinger in the exhaustive
monograph already cited: (1), that of Forster
(Did. Htbr., Basil, 1564), that the first so called
were sons of David, i. e., younger branches of the
royal house to whom was own the defense of the
city and the sanctuary; (2), that of Boulduc (re-
ferred to also by Selden, De Jure Nat. et O'enL),
connected apparently with (1), that Joseph the
husband of the Virgin was one of this class."
E. H. P.
NETOPHAH (n^bj [dutWation, Ges.]:
Struiid, 'ArwexU Alex. NeAura; [Avrrmpa; in
1 Esdr. v. 18, Nrrvafcjt, Vat. NtrrjSas, Alex.
Nrrv^acj i\'rt<ifJm, [in 1 Esdr. ffrpopni]), a
town the name of which occurs only in the cata-
logue of those who returned with Zeruhbabel from
the Captivity (Kxr. ii. 22; Neb. vii. 96: 1 Esdr.
*. 18). But, though not directly mentioned
till so lata a period, Netophah was really a much
elder place. Two of David's guard, Mahahai
and Hklkb or Hbxdai, leaders also of two of the
monthly courses (1 Clir. xxvii. 13, 16), were Neto-
phathites, and it was the native place of at least
one* of the captains alio remained under arms
near Jerusalem after its destruction by Nebuchad-
nezzar. The " villages of the Netophathites "
■ere toe rstidence of the Levites (1 Chr. ix. 16), a
hct which shows that they did not confine them-
selves to the places named in the catalogues of
Josh. xxi. and 1 Chr. vi. From another notice we
earn that the particular Invites who inhabited
these villages were singers (Neh. xii. 28).
That Netophah belonged to Judah appears from
the fact that the two heroes above mentioned be-
longed, the one to the Zarhitea — that is, the great
fcmily of Zerah, one of the chief houses of the
ribe — and the other to OthnieL the son-in-law of
<• The only toes of any tradition corresponding to
Us theory is the description in the Arabian History
4 Joseph (e. 2), according to which he la of the city of
IMM and the tribe of Judah, and yet, on account
NETTLE
Guv* To judge from Neb. vii. 26 it wa« iu the
neighborhood of, or closely connected with, Beth-
lehem, which is also implied by 1 Chr. ii. 54,
though the precise force of the latter statement
cannot now be made out. The number of Neto-
phathites who returned from Captivity is not
exactlv ascertainable, but it seems not to have
been more than sixty — so that it was probably
only a small village, which indeed may account
for its having escaped mention in the lists of
Joshua,
A remarkable tradition, of which there is no
trace in the Bible, but which nevertheless in not
improbably authentic, is preserved by the Jewish
authors, to the effect that the Netophathites slew
the guards which had been placed by Jeroboam on
the roads leading to Jerusalem to stop the passage
of the first-fruits from the country villages to the
Temple (Targum on 1 Chr. ii. 54; on Bulh iv.
20, and Keel. iii. 11). Jeroboam's obstruction,
which is said to have remained in force uD the
reign of lloahea (see the notes of Beck to Targum
on 1 Chr. ii. 64), was commemorated by a fast on
the 23d Sivan, which is still retained in the Jewish
calendar (see the calendar given by Basnage, IlitL
dti Jnify vi. ch. 29).
It is not mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome, and
although in the Mishna reference is made to the
•> oil of Netophah " (Peak 7, §§ 1, 2), and to the
« valley of Beth Netophah," in which artichokes
flourished, whose growth determined the date of
some ceremonial obaervancs (Sheriit/i 9, § 7), noth-
ing is said as to the situation of the place. The
latter may well be the present ullage of Beit NeMf,
which stands on the edge of the great valley of the
Wady e»-Sumt (Rob. BM. Re*, ii. 16, 17; Porter,
ffrmdbk. 248); hut can hardly be the Netophah
of the Bible, since it is not near Bethlehem, but in
quite another direction. The only name in the
neighborhood of Bethleliem suggestive of Netophah
is that which appears in Van de Velde's map (1856)
as Antibeh, and in ToHer (30* Wand. 80) as Om
Tuba (UaJs »|), attached to a village about 2
miles N. K. of Bethlehem and a wady which &us
therefrom into the Wady est Nnr, or Kidron.
G
NETOTHATHI (Y)9bj [patron, see
above]: Vat. [Rom. Alex. FA.>] omit; Alex.
[rather, FA.*] Nrro^oSi: Nethuphati), Neh. xtt.
28. The same word which In other passages is
accurately rendered " the Netophathite," escort
that here it is not accompanied by the article.
NETOTHATHITE, THE (Y]$b$n, in
Chron. Y^lta^n [as above]: 6 Err»«*rref--»t,
N»«>«Wif (tt/i , NeSaxpartl, 6 Ik r/rrovcWr ;
[these are readings of Vat. M. ; Rom. Alex. FA.
have many other variations :] Netaphalhita, [Nets
phnli, Nelnplmtittt, de NeUphati] ), 2 Sam. xxili.
28, 29; 2 K. xxv. 23; 1 Chr. xi. 80, xxvii. 13, 16
Jer. xl. 8. The plural form, the Nbtophathitxi
(the Hebrew word being the same as the abov»
occurs in 1 Chr. ii. 64, ix. 16. G.
NETTLE. The representative In the A V
of his wisdom and piety. " aaeerdos austns m: ha tern
plo Domini " (Tlschendorf, Bumf. Apcc., p. 1M>
» Oomp. 2 K. xxv. 28, with Jer. xL t
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NETTLE
at the Hebrew word* ch&ril and khitmitk or
NEW MOON
2111
1. WoVstf (b«nn: tytryara tyoia:" tntit,
nr'ka, s/nna) team in Job xu. 7 — the patriarch
oomnlains of the contempt in which be was held
by the lowest of the people, who, from poverty, were
obliged to live on the wild thru be of the desert:
" Among the Lashes they brayed, under the charvl
(bey were gathered together," and in Prov. xxiv.
31, where of " the field of the slothful," it is said,
"it waa all grown over with thorns (HmnilthMm),
and charul&m had covered the face thereof; " see
also Zepb. ii. 9 : the curse of Moab and Amman is
that they shall be " the breeding of chdi-ul and
•alt-pits."
There is very great uncertainty as to the meaning
of the word chir&l, and numerous are the plants
which commentators hare sought to identify with
it: brambles, sea-orache, butchers' broom, thistles,
hare all been proposed (see Celsius, llitrob. ii. 165).
The generality of critics and some modem versions
are in favor of the nettle. Some have objected to
the nettle as not being of a sufficient size to suit
the passage in .lob (i c); but in our own country
nettles grow to the height of six or even seven feet
when drawn up under trees or hedges; and it is
worthy of remark that, in the passage of Job quoted
above, bushes and charul are associated. Not much
better founded is Or. Roylc's objection (Kitto's
Cfe. art. Charul) that both thorny plants and net-
tles must be excluded, " as no one would voluntarily
resort to such a situation ; " for the people of whom
Job b speaking might readily be supposed to resort
io such a shade, as in a sandy desert the thorn-
bushes and tall nettles growing by their side would
afford; or we may suppose that those who "for
want and famine " were driven into the wilderness
were gathered together under the nettles for the
purpose of gathering them for food, together with
the sea-orache and juniper-roots (Job xxx. 4). Cel-
sius believes the chartil is identical with the Christ-
thorn {Zizyphug Palivnu) — the Pnliurtu actileatus
of modern botanist* — but bis opinion is by no
means well founded. The passage In Proverbs
(i c.) appears to forbid us identifying the charul
with the PaUurta aculentut ; for the context, " I
went by, and lo it was all grown over with khmhon
and ehnruUlm," seems to point to some weed of
quicker growth than the plant proposed by Celsius.
Dr. Royle has argued in favor of some species of
wild mustard, and refers the Hebrew word to one
of somewhat similar form in Arabic, namely, Kliar-
oW, to which he traces the English charlock at
kedlock, the well-known troublesome weed. The
Scriptural passages would suit this interpretation,
and it is quite possible that wild mustard may be
intended by ch&rtiL The etymology * too, we may
add, is as much in favor of the wild mustard as of
with
top
•Wyw* (from tVnSyw, "to burn," "to roast,"
reference to the derivation of the Hebrew word)
' signifies « dry ssfcks," " fronts."
Vnjl, from "HI (."Tin, " to burn "), " addlta
taattOM hyrjorhoristlca of." Bee Furrt, Heb.
t. ; ef. letieo ab m o.
i. r. the Italian version of Dlodatt. We hare often
the Latin forms of writers, as being nunl"v
of Celsius and Bochart.
4 EPjWtsJjJ, Blur, (root f'lttft^i?.
the nettle, one or other of which plants appears to
be denoted by the Hebrew word. We are inclined
to adopt Dr. Boyle's opinion, as the following word
probably denotes the t.etth.
3. Kimmdth or khnitk (BftttJ?, ttfiOT?:
lucdrSiva fiiAo, axarBa, SAtflpor-' urlica). "Very
many interpreters," says Celsius (Hierub. ii. 207)
" understand the nettle by this word. Of the oldef
Jewish doctors, K. Ben Helech, on Prov. xxiv. 31,
asserts that kimmdth is a kind of thorn (tjnim),
commonly called a nettle." The Vulgate, Arias
Montanus, Luther, Deodatius,« the Spanish tat
English versions, are all in favor of the nettle.
The word occurs in Is. xxxiv. 13: of Edom It hi
said, that " there shall come up nettles and bra.n-
bles in the fortresses thereof: " and in Ho*, ix. 8.
Another form of the same word, kiinmishovhi. *
(" thorns," A. V.), occurs in Prov. xxiv. 31: the
field of tie slothful was all grown over with k'uit-
uitshdnim.*' Modem commentators are generally
agreed upon the signification of this term, which,
as it is admirably suited to all the Scriptural pas-
sages, may well be understood to denote some epe
cies of nettle ( Urtie i). W. H.
new moon (trhh, t&jhrr ts*h:
reoiir/ria, vovuujyl a : calendar neornenii). The first
day of the lunar month was observed as a holj day.
In addition to the daily sacrifice there were offered
two young bullocks, a ram and seven lambs of the
first year as a burnt offering, with the proper meat-
offerings and drink-offerings, and a kid as a sin-
offering (Num. xxviii. 11-15).* It was not a day
of holy convocation [Festivals], and was not
therefore of the same dignity as the Sabbath V
But, as on the Sabbath, trade and handicraft-work
were stopped (Am. viii. 5), the Temple was o|iened
for public worship (Ex. xlvi. 3; la. lxvi. 23), and,
in the kingdom of Israel at least, the people seem to
have resorted to the prophets for religious instruc-
tion.* The trumpets were blown at the offering of
the special sacrifices for the day, as on the solemn
festivals (Num. x. 10; Ps. lxxxi. 3). That it waa
an occasion for state-banquets may be inferred from
David's regarding himself as especially bound to
sit at the king's table at the new moon (I Sam.
u. 5-24). In later, if not in earner times, fasting
was intermitted at the new moons, as it was on th*
Sabbaths and the great feasts and their eves (Jud
riii. 6). [Fasts.]
The new moons are generally mentioned so as te
show that they were regarded as a peculiar class of
holy days, to be distinguished from the solans
feasts and the Sabbaths (Ex. xlr. 17; 1 Chr.xxiil
31; 2 Chr. ii. 4, viii. 13, xxxl. 8; Ezr. iii. 5; Nrfj
x. 33).
The seventh new moon of the religion* year, t sfrq
that of Tisri, commenced the civil year, an 1 had
< The day of the new moon Is not mentioned la
Exodus, Leviticus, or Deuteronomy.
/ * It has been usual to understand " new moon
days " as Intended In Gal. lr.10.; but the term (juijracl
may signify " months," i. t. certain of them regarded
as specially sacred, In conformity with the stricter
sense of the word and an ancient Jewish usage (ssa
Meyer m lot.)* M.
» 2 K. Iv. 28. When tbarJhunamssJtefe going to the
prophet, her husband asks bar, " Wherefore wilt tboa
go to him to-day t It la neither new moon nor sab
bath" 8s* th* ants* of Vatablue, Grottos, sax
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2112
NEW TESTAMENT
i significance and rite* of its own. It ma a dar of
holy convocation. [Trumpets, Feakt or.]
By what method the commencement of the
month wa* ucerUioed in the time of Hon* i* un-
certain. The Mishna* deaeribe* the manner in
which it wai determined aeven time* in the year by
observing the first appearance of the moon, which,
according to Maimonide*, derived it* origin, by
tradition, from Mow*, and oontinued in use a*
long as the Sanhedrim existed. On the 30th day
of the month watchmen were placed on command-
ing height* round Jerusalem to watch the sky. A*
soon a* each of them detected the moon he hastened
to a house in the city, which was kept for the pur-
pose, and was there examined by the president of
the Sanhedrim. When the evidence of the appear-
ance was deemed satisfactory, the president rose up
and formally announced it, uttering the words, " It
la consecrated " (tDllpD). The information wa*
Immediately sent throughout the land from the
Mount of Olives, by beacon-fires on the top* of the
hill* At one period the Samaritans are said to have
deceived the Jews by false fires, and swift messen-
gers were afterwards employed. When the moon
was not visible on account of clouds, and hi the five
month* when the watchmen were not sent out. the
month wa* considered to oommence on the morning
of the day which followed the 30th. According to
Maimonide* the Kabbinista altered their method
when the Sanhedrim ceased to exist, and have ever
since determined the month by astronomical calcu-
lation, while the Canutes have retained the old cus-
tom of depending on the appearance of the moon.
The religious observance of the day of the new
moon may plainly be regarded a* the consecration
of a natural division of time. Such a usage would
so readily sugf-Ht itself to the human mind that it
i* not wonderful that we find traces of it amongst
other nations. There seems to be but little ground
for founding on these traces the notion that the
Hebrews derived it from the Gentile*, as Spencer
and Michaeli* hare done; • and still less for attach-
ing to it any of those symbolical meanings which
ha** been imagined by some other writers (see C'arp-
sov, App. Crit. p. 426). Ewald thinks thai it was
at first a simple household festival, and that on this
account the law does not take much notice of it.
He also considers that there is some reason to sup-
pose that the day of the full moon was similarly
observed by the Hebrews in very remote times.
(Carpzor, ApparaL HitL Cril. p. 423; Spencer,
Dt Ley. Iltb. lib. iii. dissert, iv.; Selden, Dt Ann.
Civ. /fee. iv., xi. ; Mlahna, Roth Hnthanah, vol. ii.
p. 338, ed. Surenbus. ; Buxtorf, Synagoya Judaiea,
cap. xxii.; Ewald, AUerthumer,p. 394; Cudworth
on lie Limit Supper, c. iii.; Ughtfoot, Temple
Service, cap. xi.) S. C.
NEW TESTAMENT. The origin, history,
and characteristics of the constituent books and of
the great versions of the N. T., the mutual rela-
tion* of the Gospels, and the formation of the Canon,
are discussed in other articles. It is proposed now
to consider the Text of the N. T. The subject
« Reek /autoaiaA, Sorenhushu, 11. 888, sq.
»n» three ns*n*)*i final aiielaatwrlWff wntehSMStt
■Mat I* lb* point of than which are quoted, are in
Hacrobius, Horses, and Taeitsa. The ant aav*. ' Prla-
efci t— potions ponunct mtnori ban prarlneia ilnliajsts
NEW TESTAMENT
I naturally divide* itself into the following head*,
which will be examined in succession: —
I. The- History or the Wun-reii Text.
§§ 1-11. The earliest history of the text
Autographs. Corruptions. The text of
Clement and Origen.
§§ 12-15. Theories of recension* of the text
§§ 16-26. External characteristic* of MSS
§§ 86-29. Enumeration of MSS. §28. Dn
cial. 29. Cursive.
§§30-40. CUasincation of rarioo* reading*
n. The Histokt or the Printed Text.
§ 1. The great periods.
§§ 2-6. § 2. The C'omplutensian PorygfcU.
§ 3. The editions of Erasmus. § 4. Tbi
editions of Sb-phms. § 6. Beta and El-
zevir (English version).
§§6-10. §6. Walton; CurceHieus; Mffi.
§ 7. Bentley. § 8. G. r. Maestrieht;
[Bengd:] Wetstein. § 9. Griesbach,
Mattha-i. §10. Scholz.
§§ 11-13. § 11. I-achmann. § 12. Tiseben-
dorf. § 13. Tregelles; Alford..
III. Pamripi.Es or Textual Criticism.
§§ 1-9. External evidence.
§§ 10-13. Internal evidence.
IV. The I*ah«uace or the New TKSTAiuarr
I. The History or the Writtkw Text.
1. The early history of the Apostolic writing!
offers no point* of distinguishing literary interest,
Kxtemally, as far as it can be traced, it is the same
as that of other contemporary books. St. Paul,
like Cicero or Pliny, often employed the service* of
an amanuensis, to whom lie dictated his letters,
affixing the salutation " with his own hand " (1
Cor. xvi. 21; 2 Then. iii. 17: Col. ir. 18). In one
can the scribe haa added a clause in his own nam*
(Rom. xvi. 22). Once, in writing to the Galatiana,
the Apostle appears to apologize for the rudeness
of the autograph which be addressed to thou, as ii
from defective sight (Gal. vi. 11). If we pan on-
wards one step, it does not appear that any special
care was taken in the first age to preserve the books
of the N. T. from the various injuries of time, or
to insure perfect accuracy of transcription. They
were given a* a heritage to man, and it waa some
time before mm felt the full value of the gift. The
original copies seem to haw soon perished; and we
may perhaps see in this a providential provision
against that spirit of superstition which in earlier
time* converted the symbols of God's redemption
into objects of idolatry (9 K. xviii. 41. It is cer-
tainly remarkable that in the controversies at the
close of the second century, which often turned
upon disputed readings of Scripture, no appeal waa
mane to the Apostolic originals. The few passage*
in which it has been supposed that they are rt tan i
to will not bear examination. Ignatius, so far freer
appealing to Christian archives, distinctly tons, as
lw
aamqua real nermcnlonunaaret " (.Sat. 1. IS). In Sat
second (he day Is ratirnd to aa a social festival (Orf
Ui. as, 9) ; and to Tarltua we ant informed that um
ancient Germans assambled on the days of saw sad
fall moon, eonflaartag them to b* an
smoBttaklaas (Osrat. a. xl.).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEW TESTAMENT
ihe whole context shows, to the examples of the Jew-
ish Church (tA apx<"< 1 — nd Phil id. S). Tertullian
a^in, when he apealu of " the authentic epistles "
of the Apostles (Ot Prater. Uatr. xxxri., " apud
quae ipsa* authentic* litters eoruni reeiUntur' ),
uses the term of the pare Greek text as contrasted
with the current latin version (comp. de Munog.
xi., u tenunm plane non aie ease in Graeco nuUien-
lico""). The silence of the sub-Apostolic age is
made more striking by the legends which were
circulated after. It was said that when the grave
of Barnabas in Cyprus was opened, in the fifth
century, in obedience to a vision, the saint was
found holding a (Greek) copy of St. Matthew writ-
ten with his own hand. The copy was taken to Con-
stantinople, and used as the standard of the sacred
lest (Credner, A'M. §39; Assem. Bibl Or. ii. 81).
The autograph copy of St. John's Gospel (afrro to
!Si4x*'po' tov svayysXivrov) was said to be pre-
served at Epbesus " by the grace of God, and wor-
shipped (xfxxrKvrtiTai) by the faithful there," in
the fourth century (?), ([l'etr. Alex.] p. 618, ed.
Migne, quoted from Chron. Patch, p. 6); though
according to another account it was found in the
ruins of the Temple when Julian attempted to re-
build it (Philoetorg. vii. 14). A similar belief was
curreut even in the last century. It was said that
parts of the (Latin) autograph of St. Mark were
preserved at Venice and Prague ; but on examina-
tion these were shown to be fragments of a MS. of
the Vulgate of the sixth century ( Dohrowsky, Frag-
nenlum P ragout Ev. S. Marti, 1778).
8. In the natural oourse of things the Apostolio
autographs would be likely to perish soon. The ma-
terial which was commonly used for letters, the pa
pyrus-paper to which St. John incidentally alludes
(2 John 18, tia xdpTOv «fol /tsXavor; comp. 3
John 18, 8ii stsAarot ical xaXaVov), was singularly
fragile, and even the stouter kinds, likely to be used
tor the historical books, were not fitted to bear con-
stant use. The papyrus fragments which have come
down to the present time hare been preserved under
peculiar circumstances, as at IlercuUneum or in
Egyptian tombs : and Jerome notices that the li-
brary of Paraphilias at Cssarea was already in part
destroyed (ex parte eorruptam) when, in less thin
a century after its formation, two presbyters of the
Church endeavored to restore the papyrus MSS.
the context implies) on parchment (" in membra-
nis," Hieron. Ep. xxxiv. (141), quoted by Tischdf.
in Herzog's Encyll., Biliellext det .V. T. p. 159).
l*arehroent (SI Tim. iv. 13, /u/i/SpaVa), which was
more durable, was proportionately rarer and more
costly. And yet more than this. In the first age
the written word of the Apostles occupied no au-
thoritative position above their spoken word, and
the vivid memory of their personal teaching. And
when the true value of the Apostolic writings was
afterwards revealed by the progress of the Church,
then collections of " the divine oracles " would be
chiefly sought for among Christians. On sll ac-
counts it seems reasonable to conclude that the
autographs perished during that solemn pause
which followed the Apostolic age, in which the
s dea of a Christian Canon, parallel and supple-
NEW TESTAMENT
2118
• O ri ssbach (Optuctla, U. 69-78) raosavors to show
thai toe word simply means pun, itnromrpud.
* Papyrus fragments of part of 8t Matthew, dating
fan the Hist eenturj (T>), an announced (1861) for
aawHiisfton bv Dr. Slmonldes. [It Is hardly
•e sac that these are fergerlM. A.)
1U
mentary to the Jewish Canon, was first distinctly
realized.
8. In the time of the Diocletian persecution
(A. D. 303) copies of the Christian Scriptures were
sufficiently numerous to furnish a special object for
persecutors, and a characteristic name to renegades
who saved themselves by surrendering the sacred
looks (tradilora, August. Ep. lxxvi. 2). Partly,
perhaps, owing to the destruction thus caused, but
still more from the natural effects of time, no MS.
of the N. T. of the first three centuries remains.'
Some of the oldest extant were certainly copied
from others which dated from within this period,
but as yet no one can be placed further back than
the time of Constantino- It is recorded of this
monarch that one of his first acts after the founda-
tion of Constantinople was to order the preparation
of fifty MSS. of the Holy Scriptures, required for
the use of the Church, « on fair skins (it Si<p0ipcut
cumrrcurcfOoif ) by skillful calligraphists " (Euseb.
Vii Const iv. 36); and to the general use of this
better material we probably owe our most venerable
copies, which are written on vellum of singular
excellence and fineness. But though no fragment
of the N. T. of the first century still remains, the
Italian and Egyptian papyri, which are of that
date, give a clear notion of the calligraphy of the
period. In these the text is written in columns,
rudely divided, in somewhat awkward capital let-
ters (uncials), without any punctuation or division
of words. The iota, which was afterwards *■&•
Kribtd, is commonly, but not always, adtaibed ;
and there is no trace of accents or breathings. The
earliest MSS. of the N. T. bear a general resem-
blance to this primitive type, and we may reason-
ably believe that the Apostolic originals were thus
written. (Plate i. fig. 1.)
4. In addition to the later MSS., the earliest
versions and patristic quotations give very important
testimony to the character and history of the ante-
Nicene text. Express statements of readings which
are found in some of the most ancient Christian
writers are, indeed, the first direct evidence which
we have, and are consequently of the highest in*,
portance. But till the last quarter of the second
century this source of information fails us. Not
only are the remains of Christian literature up to
that time extremely scanty, but the practice of'
verbal quotation from the N. T. was not yet prow
slent. The evangelic citations in the Apostolic
Fathers and in Justin Martyr show that the oral
tradition was still as widely current as the written/
Gospels (comp. Westeott's C'<non of tit N. Ti pp.
126-195), and there is not in those writers one-
express verbal citation from the other Apostolio
books.* This latter phenomenon is in a great
measure to be explained by the nature of their
writings. As soon as definite controversies arose-
among Christians, the text of the N. T. assumed
its true importance. The earliest monuments of
these remain in the works of Irenens, Hippolytua
(Pseudo-Origen), and TertuUian, who quota many
of the arguments of the leading adversaries of the
Church. Charges of corrupting the sacred text are
urged on both sides with great acrimony. Die-
c In the epistle of Polycarp •cms Intersrtlng various
readings occur, which an round also In lstn nnptss
Acts tt. 24, tov {gov fcr roi swim ; 1 Ttoi. vt 7, Att
•vU •» ftjAov »n ovM; 1 John tv. 8, tV nasi iAwa*
Comp. 1 Pet I. 8 (Polje. mi Plat. I el.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2114
NEW TESTAMENT
rtuim of Corinth (t cir. A. o. 178, ap. Euseb. If. K.
Iv". S3), Irena?ua (cir. A. D. 177; Iv. 6, 1), Tertul-
lian (dr. A. D. 310; De Cnrne Chruti, 19, p. 385;
Adv. Mare, iv., v. patriot), Clement of Alexandria
(cir. A. r>. 200; Strom. It. 6, $ 41 ), mnd at a later
time Ambrose (cir. A. D. 875; Dt S/iir. S. iii. 10),
accuse their opponents of this offense; but with
one great exception the instances which are brought
forward in support of the accusation generally re-
solve themselves into various readings, ir. which (he
uecision cannot always be given in favor of the
catholic disputant ; snd even where the unorthodox
reading is certainly wrong it can be shown that it
was widely spread among writers of different opin-
ions («. g. Matt. xi. 27, " nee Filiuni nisi Pater et
eui voluerit Kilius revelare:" John i. 13, fj» —
/yuvryih))- Willful interpolations or changes are
extremely rare, if they exist at all (eomp. Valent
ap. Iren. i. 4, 5, add. tfcoVnrcr, Col. i. 16), except
in the case of Mansion. His mode of dealing with
the writings of the N. T., in which he was followed
by his school, was, as Tertullian says, to use the
knife rather than subtlety of interpretation. There
can be no reasonable doubt that he dealt in the
most arbitrary manner with whole hooks, and that
he removed from the Gospel of St. I.uke many
passages which were opposed to his peculiar views.
Rut when these fundamental changes were once
made he seems to have adhered scrupukmgly to the
text which he found. In the isolated readings
which he is said to haw altered, it happens not
unfrequently that he has retained the right read-
ing, and that his opponents are in error (Luke v.
14 ora. to Jipoe; Gal. ii. 5, oh titi; 2 Cor. iv.
5?). In very many cases the alleged corruption is
a various reading, more or less supported by other
authorities (Luke xii. 38, io-rcptrjj; 1 Cor. x. 9,
Xpiff-raV; 1 These, ii. 15, add. ttiovt). And where
the changes seem most arbitrary there is evidence
to show that the interpolations were not wholly due
to his school: Luke xviii. 19, & warlip; xxiii. 2; 1
Cor. x. 19 (28), add. Itp&Bvrov. (Comp. Hahn,
EvangeUum Mardonis ; Chilo, Oxf. Apttcr. i. 403-
488; RitachL Dai Kvmg. Mare. 1846; Volekmar,
Dai Evang. Mare., Ijiipsic, 1852: but no exam-
ination of Marckni's text is eompletelv satisfac-
tory).
5. Several very important conclusions follow from
this earliest appearance of textual criticism. It is
in the first place evident that various readings ex-
isted in the books of the N. T. at a time prior to
all extant authorities. History affords no trace of
the pure Apostolic originals. Again, from the
preserva tion of the first variations noticed, which
are often extremely minute, in one or more of the
primary documents still left, we may he certain
that no important changes have been nmde in the
laered text which we cannot now detect The
materials for ascertaining the true reading are found
to be complete when tested by the earliest witnesses.
And yet further: from the minuteness of some of
the variations which are urged in controversy, it is
obvious that the words of the N. T. were watched
with the most jealous care, and that the least dif-
of phrase were guarded with scrupulous
NEW TE8TAJIENT
and faithful piety, to be used in after-time by thai
wide-reaching criticism which was foreign to the
spirit of the first ages.'
6. Passing from these isolated quotations we find
the first great witnesses to the Apostolic text in the
early Syriac and Latin versions, and in the rich
quotations of Clement of Alexandria (t cir. A. u.
220) and Origen (A. D. 184-254). The versions
will be treated of elsewhere, and with them the
I.atin quotations of the translator of Irenams and
of Tertullian. The Greek quotations in the re-
mains of the original text of tremens and in Tlip-
polytus are of great value, but yield in extent and
importance to those of the two Alexandrine fathers.
From the extant works of Origen alone no incon-
siderable portion of the whole N. T., with tho ex-
ception of St James, 2 Peter. 2 and 3 John, and
the Apocalypse, might be transcribed, and the re-
currence of small variations in long passages proves
that the quotations were accurately made and not
simply from memory.
7. The evangelic text of Clement is fax from
pure. Two chief causes contributed especially to
corrupt the text of the Gospels, the attempts to
harmonize parallel narratives, and the influence of
tradition. The former assumed a special import-
ance from the Dinteuarm of Tatian (dr. A. D
170. Comp. BitL nf N. T. Canon, 358-362,
Tischdf. on Matt xxvii. 49) » and U» latter, which
was, as has been remsrked, very great in the time
of Justin M., still lingered.' The quotations of
Clement suffer from loth these disturbing forces
(Matt viii. 22, x. 30, xi. 27. xix. 24, xxiii. 27. xxv.
41, x. 26, omitted by Tischdf. [cf. Mark iv. 22 and
the reading of Origen, 0/i/>. iii. 235] Luke iii. 22),
and he seems to have derived from his copies of the
Gospels two sayings of the I-ord which form no
part of the canonical text (Comp. Tisclidf. on
Matt vi. 33; Luke xvi. 11.) Kkewhere his quota
tions are free, or a confused mixture of two nar-
ratives (Matt. r. 45, vi. 26, 32 f., xxii. 37: Mark
xii. 43), but in innumerable places he has preserved
the true reading (Matt. v. 4, 5, 42, 48, viii. 22, xi.
17, xiii. 25, xxiii. 26: Acta ii. 41, xvii. 36). His
quotations from the Kpistles are of the very highest
value. In these tradition had no prevailing power,
though Tatian is said to have altered in parts the
language of the Kpistles (Euseb. //. E. ir. 29);
and the text was left comparatively free from cor-
ruptions. Against the few false readings which he
supports (e. g. 1 Pet. ii. 3, Xp<orot: Rom. iii. 26,
'rncovr; viii. 11, Jii rod iroac. *r.) may be
brought forward a long list of passages in which
he combines with a few of the best authorities in
upholding the true text (f. g. 1 Pet. ii. 3; Rom.
ii. 17, x. 3, xv. 29; 1 Cor. ii. 13, vii. 3, 5, 35, 89
viii. 2, i. 84).
8 But Origen stands as far first of all the ante-
Xicene fathers in critical authority aa he does is
commanding genius, and bis writings ore an almost
inexhaustible storehouse fcr the history of the text
In many places it seems that the printed text of
his works has been modernized ; and till a new and
, thorough collation of the MSS. ha* been made, a
doubt must remain whether his quotation* have
■ lrsnsras notices two various raadings of import- 6 Jamme Boons the result of this In Ida one bs
•net. In which he maintains the true text, Matt. i. 18, strong terms, Tnff. m Evan*,
tci ti j«m> (HI. 16, 2), Apoc. xlil. 18 (v. 80, 1). » To what extent tradition might ro«ttf> the carnal
The letter of Ptolenueos (cir. a. b. 150) to Mora text Is still rhariy seen from tbs CMnr Bn* saw
(■pipit- 1. 216) contains some important early variations name I»Un co pies, which probably give a text i
IB Sqa.aTSnaaWr teat In essence from tbs does of the U canton
Digitized by VjOOQlC
HKW TESTAMENT
IK raftered by the hands of scribes, is the MSS.
«f the N. T. hare suffered, though in a less degree.
The testimony which Origan bears as to the cor-
ruption of the text of the Gospels in his time differs
Iran the general statements which have been al-
ready noticed as being the deliberate judgment of
i scholar and not the plea of a controversialist.
* As the ease stands," he says, " it is obvious that
the difference between the copies is considerable,
partly from the carelessness of individual scribes,
partly from the wicked daring of some in correcting
what is written, partly also from [the changes made
by] those wbo add or remove what seems good to
them in the process of correction " " (Orig. In
Mutt, t, xv. § 14). In the case of the LXX., he
ssos, he removed or at least indicated those eor-
raptkms by a comparison of '• editions " (frooWr),
sod we may believe that he took equal care to as-
eertain, at least for his own use, the true text of
the X. T., though he did not venture to arouse the
prejudice of his contemporaries by openly revising
it, ss the old translation adds (/a Matt. xv. teL int.
"■in exernpUribus autem Nov! Testament! hoc
iptom me posse fivcere sine periculo non putavi ").
Even in the form in which they have come down
to as, the writings of Origen, as s whole, contain
the molest early memorial of the apostolic text.
And, though there is no evidence that he published
any recension of the text, yet it is not unlikely that
at wrote out copies of the X. T. with his own
asnd (Redepenning, Origenet, ii. 184), which were
spread widely In after time. Thus Jerome appeals
to "the copies of Adamantius," «". e. Origen (/n
Mutt xxiv. 36; Out. iii. 1), and the copy of
ramphihu can hardly hare been other than a copy
sf Origrn's text (Cod. H, Subscription, Inf. § 26).
Fran I'amphilus the text passed to Eusebius and
Eathafius, and it is scarcely rash to believe that it
eas be traced, though Imperfectly, in existing MSS.
is C L (Comp. Griesbach, Symb. Crit. i. lxxvi.
C; exxx. ft)
9. In thirteen eases (Norton, Genuineness of
lis Gospels, i. 334-836 [Add. Notes, pp. xcviii.-
sl, Id Amer. ed.] ) Origen has expressly noticed
nrieties of reading in the Gospels (Matt. viii. 28,
tri. », xvifl. 1, xxi. 5, 9, 15, xxvii. 17; Mark iii.
It: l-uke i. 46, ix. 48. xiv. 19, xriil. 45; John i.
I 4: 28).* In three of these passages the varia-
tions which he notices are no longer found in our
Greek copies (Matt. xxi. 9 or 15, oUtp for vly ;
Trqreues, ad foe. ; Mark iii. 18 (ii. 14), AsjBfcr Tea-
rs. 'AA«>. (? [D with some l.atin MSS. reads Af/3
6W]): Luke I. 46, 'EWctdrr for Mapid/i: so in
israe Latin copies); in seven our copies are still
divided; in two (Matt. viii. 28, ratapnrav; John
I- ", BntaBaoy ) the reading which was only found
U > few MSS. is now widely spread : in the re-
saining place (Matt, xxvii. 17, 'Iiprovr Bapa00ar)
s few copies of no great age retain the interpolation
which was found in his time " in very ancient
sopies." [t is more remarkable that Origen asserts,
h answer to Celaus, that our Ixird is nowhere
wiled ••the carpenter" in the Gospels circulated
■> the churches, though this is undoubtedly the
Iras reading in Mark vi. 3 (Orig. c Celt. vi. 36).
10. The evangelic quotations of Origer are not
•soiy free from the admixture of traditional glosses
m to rater tt be pmte s l onal eor-
saarMui.sVrlfr).
• t» torn Mr. Hort (to whom the wrHr- owes many
NBW TESTAMENT 2115
which have been noticed in Clement, and often pre-
sent a confusion of parallel passages (Matt. v. 44,
vi. (3.1), vii. 21 ff, xiii. 11, xxvi. 37 f.; 1 Tim. iv.
1); but there is little difficulty in separating his
cenuine text from these natural corruptions, and s
few references are sufficient to indicate its extreme
importance (Matt iv. 10, vi. 13, xv. 8, 35; Mark
i 2, x. 29; Luke xxi. 19; John vii. 39; Acts x. 10;
Rom. viii. 28).
11. In the Epistles Origen once notices a strik-
ing variation in Heb. ii. 9, yaulr fltoS for xdfm
ttov, which is still attested; but, apart from the
specific reference to variations, it is evident that he
himself used MSS. at different times which varied
in many details (Mill, Prolegg. § 687). Griesbach,
who has investigated this fact with the greatest care
(MeleUmn i. appended to Comm. Crit. ii. ii.-il),
seems to hare exaggerated the extent of these dif-
ferences while he establishes their existence satis-
factorily. There can be no doubt that in Origen's
time the variations in the N. T. MSS., which we
have seen to have existed from the earliest attain-
able date, and which Origen describes as consider,
able and wide-spread, were beginning to lead to the
formation of specific groups of copies.
Though materials for the history of the teal
during the first three centuries are abundant, noth-
ing has been written in detail on the subject since
the time of Mill (Prolegg. 340 ft".) and K. Simon
(Mttoire Ctntigue, 1685-93). What is wanted is
nothing less than a complete collection at full
length, from MS. authority, of all the ante-Nicene
Greek quotations. These would form a centre
round which the variations of the versions and
Latin quotations might be grouped. A first step
towards this has been made by Anger in his Syn-
opsis Km. Matt. Mare., Luc., 1851. The Latin
quotations are well given by Sabatier, Bibliorum
Sncrorum Latino versiones ontiqua, 1751.
12. The most ancient MSS. and versions now
extant exhibit the characteristic differences whioh
have been found to exist in different parts of the
works of Origen. These cannot have had their
source later than the beginning of the third cen-
tury, and probably were much earlier. In classical
texts, where the MSS. are sufficiently numerous, it
is generally possible to determine a very few primary
sources, standing in definite relations to one an-
other, from which the other copies can be shown to
flow ; and from these the scholar is able to discover
one source of all. In the case of the N. T. the
authorities for the text are infinitely more varied
and extensive than elsewhere, and the question has
been raised whether it may not be possible to dis-
tribute them in like manner and divine from later
documents the earliest history of the text. Various
answers have been made which are quite valueless
as far as they profess to rest on historical evidence;
and yet are all more or less interesting as explaining
the true conditions of the problem. The chief facts,
it must be noticed, are derived from later docu-
ments, but the question itself belongs to the last
half of the second century.
Bengel was the first (1734) who pointed out the
affinity of certain groups of MSS., which, ss he re-
marks, must have arisen before the first versions
were made (Apparatus Critiem, ed. Burk, p. 425)
and corrections hi this articte) adds Hart
Cramer, On. « ■ph. rr. 81 where Grins
unroof) of ,u^.
t. 22, from Oramer
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2116
NEW TESTAMENT
rMginauy he distinguished three families, of which
Uie Cod. Alex. (A), the Grssco-Latin MSS., end
the man of the more recent HSS. were respec-
tively the types. At ■ later time (1737) he adopted
tiis simpler division of "two nations," the Asiatic
and the African. In the latter be included Cod.
Alex., the Greco-Latin HSS., the iEthiopic, Cop-
tie [Memphitic], and Latin versions: the mass of
the remaining authorities formed the Asiatic class.
80 far no attempt was made to trace the history of
the groups, but the general agreement of the most
ancient witnesses against the more recent, a (act
which Bentley announced, was distinctly asserted,
though Bsngel was not prepared to accept the an-
cient reading as necessarily true. Semler contrib-
uted nothing of value to Bengel's theory, but made
it more widely known (SpidLgiwn Obtcrv'timum,
etr.., added to his edition of Wetstein's Libttti ad
Critin atque Int. N. T. 1788) Apparatus, etc.,
1787). The honor of carefully determining the
relations of critical authorities for the N. T. text
belongs to Griesbach. This great scholar gave a
summary of his theory in his Hittoria Text. dr.
Kvist. Paul (1777, Opusc. ii. 1-136) and in the
preface to his firat edition of the Greek Test. His
earlier essay, Dissert. Crit. lie Cold, stuff. Evany.
Origenianis (1771, Oputc. i.), is incomplete. Ac-
cording to Griesbach {Nov. Tett. Prsef. pp. lxx. If.)
two distinct recensions of the Gospels existed at the
beginning of the third century: the AUxandrine,
represented by B C L, 1, 13, 33, 69, 106, the Cop-
tic, JEthlop., Arm., and later Syrian version*, and
the quotations of Clem. Alex., Origen, Kusebius,
Cyril. Alex., Isid. Pelus. ; and the Western, repre-
sented by I>, and in part by 1, 13, 69, the ancient
l-atin version and Fathers, and sometimes by the
Syriac and Arabic versions. Cod. Alex, was to be
regarded as giving a more recent (Constantinopol-
itan ) text in the Gospels. As to the origin of the
variations in the text, Griesbach supposed that
copies were at first derived from the separate auto-
graphs or imperfect collections of the apostolic
looks. These were gradually interpolated, especially
as they were intended for private use, by glosses of
various kinds, till at length authoritative editions
of the collection of the Gospels and the letters
(tvayyiXiov 6 awoWo&ot, to awocrroAiiroV) were
made. These gave in the main a pure text, and
thus two classes of MSS. were afterwards current,
those derived from the interpolated copies ( West-
riii), and those derived from the t'uayyiXiov and
qWoo-toXikoV (Alexandrine, Pattern; Optuc. il.
77-99 : Meletemata, xllv. ). At a later time Gries-
I*cb rejected these historical conjectures (Nov. Tett.
td. 2, 1796; yetcorap. Melttem. 1. c), and repeated
with greater care and fullness, from his enlarged
knowledge of the authorities, the threefold division
which he had originally made (JV. T. i. Prof.
Ixx.-Uxrii. ed. Schub). At the same time he reo-
»»ni ted the existence of mixed and transitional texts ;
Hid when be characterized by a happy epigram
(grammaticum egit Alexandrinus center, inter-
pretem occidmtatis) the difference of the two ancient
families, he frankly admitted that no existing docu-
trwjnt exhibited either " recension " in a pure form.
Ifls great merit was independent of the details of
" This be states distinctly (St/mi. Crit. i. exxll.):
1 Prspeipuus Taro noensionum In eriseos sacra) exer-
wtjo usns hte est, nt eonnn auotoritats lecttones bona*,
ssd in Bauds ltbrls superntsss defeodamus advetsus
fr m l w a at vulsawtam nocUcum Innimierabllcra pane
KEW TESTAMENT
his system : he established the existence of a gross
of ancient MSS. distinct from those which could
be accused of Latinising (Tregelles, Borne, p
106).
18. The chief object of GrieiUcb in propound-
ing his theory of recensions wss to destroy the
weight of mere numbers." The critical result with
him had far more interest than the historical pro-
cess; and, apart from all consideration as to the ori-
gin of the variations, the facts which he pointed
out are of permanent value. Others earned on the
investigation from the point where he left it. Hug
endeavored, with much ingenuity, to place the
theory on a historical basis (Auittifwio in JV". T.
1st ed. 1808; 3d, 1826). According to him, tfat
text of the N. T. fell into a state of eonsiderabli
corruption during the second century. To this form
he applied the term kou>J) IkSocis (common edi-
tion), which had been applied by Alexandrine critics
to the unrerised text of Homer, and in later times
to the unrerised text of the LXX. (L 144). In the
course of the third century this text, be supposed,
underwent a threefold revision, by Hesychiua in
Egypt, by Lucian at Antiocb, and by Origen in
Palestine. So that our existing documents repte-
sent four classes: (1.) The unrerised, U. 1, 18, 89
in the Gospels; D E. in the Acts; D s F, G f In ths
Pauline Epistles: the old Latin and Thebaic, and
in part the Peshito Syriac; and the quotations of
Clement and Origen. (2.) The Egyptian recension
of HesYchius; B C L in Gospels: A B C 17 in the
Pauline Epistles; ABC Acts and Catholic Epis-
tles; A C in the Apocalypse: the Memphitic ver-
sion; and the quotations of Cyril. Alex and Ath-
anasius. (3.) The Asiatic (Antiocb-Conatantinople)
recension of Lucian; E F G H S V and the recent
MSS. generally; the Gothic and Slavonic versions,
and the quotations of Theophylaet (4.) The Pal-
estinian recension of Origen (of the Gospels) ; A
K M ; the Philoxenian Syriac ; the quotations of
Theodoret and Chryaostom. But the slender exter-
nal proof which Hug adduced in support of this
system wss, in the main, a mere misconception of
what Jerome said of the labors of Hesychiua and
Lucian on the LXX. (Prof, in PmrnHp. ; e. Ruff
ii. 27 ; and Ep. cvi. (135) § 2. The only other pas-
sages are De Vbit iltiutr. cap. lxxrii. Lucianus,
Praf. in qnaU Kv.)\ the assumed recension of
Origen rests 00 no historical evidence whatever.
Yet the new analysis of the Internal character of
the documents was not without a valuable result.
Hug showed that the line of demarcation between
the Alexandrine and Western families of Griesbach
was practically an imaginary one. Not only are the
extremo types of the two classes connected by a
aeries of intermediate links, but many of the quota-
tions of Clement end Origen belong to the so-
called Western text. Griesbach, in examining
Hug's hypothesis, explained this phenomenon by
showing that at various times Origen used MSS.
of different types, and admitted that many Western
readings are found in Alexandrine copies (Melttem.
xlviil. comp. Insurance, Rtmnrkt on the Systematic
Classification of MSS., 1814).
14. Little remains to be said of later theories
Eichhom accepted the classification of Hug (J£sn-
turbam." Comp.it/. U.SMn. The necessity of nav U o j 1
lug this grand source of error was supreme, ss may as
ssso not only (ram such canons as Q. v. Maaatratht (1
} 8, n.), bat also tram Watstsln's Rut* xvtH.
plurhna cmllcuau csrtsrls paribus prasaawaoa est."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEW TESTAMENT
1818-87). Matthajl, the Utter adversary
af Griesbacb, contented himself with asserting the
paramount claim* of the later oopiee against the
more ancient, allowing eo far their general d'fter-
enee (Utbtr dit tog. BtcensUmen, 1804; JV. T.
1783-88). SchoU returning to a simpler arrange-
ment divided the authorities into two classes, Alex ■
endrine and Constaiitinopolitan (A - . T. i. p. xt. ff),
and maintained the superior purity of the latter on
the ground of their assumed unanimity. In prac-
tice he failed to carry out his principles; and the
■nanlnilty of the later copies has now been shown
to be quite imaginary. Since the time of SchoU
theories of recensions have found little favor.
Iii.hmmn w bo accepted only ancient authorities,
simply divided them into Kastern (Alexandrine)
and Western. Teschendorf, with some reserve, pro-
poses tax) great classes, each consisting of two pairs,
the Alexandrine and Latin, the Asiatic and Byzan-
tine. Treadles, discarding all theories of recension
as historic facts, insists on the general accordance of
ancient authorities as giving an ancient text in con-
trast with the recent text of the more modern cop-
ies. At the same time he points out what we may
■appose to be the " genealogy of the text." This
ae exhibits in the following form : —
D NBZ
" CLH133
P Q T It A
X (A) 69 K M H
E F Q 8 U, ess."
16. The fundamental error of the recension theo-
ries is the assumption either of an actual recension
or of a pure text of one type, which was variously
modified in later times, while the fact seems to be
exactly the converse. Groups of copies spring not
from the imperfect reproduction of the character of
one typical exemplar, but from the multiplication
of characteristic variations. They are the results
of a tendency, and not of a fact. They advance
Umartls and do not lead from that form of text
which we regard as their standard. Individuals,
ss Origen, may hare exercised an important iuliu
nice at a particular time and place, but the silent
and continual influence of circumstances was greater.
A pure Alexandrine or Western text is simply a
fiction. The tendency at Alexandria or Cartilage
was in a certain direction, and necessarily influ-
enced the character of the current texts with accu-
mulative force as far as it was unchecked by other
influences. This is a general law, and the' history
of the apostolic books is no exception to it. The
history of their text diners from that of xither books
iliiefly in this, that, owing to the great multiplicity
U testimony, typical copies are here represented by
typical groups of copies, and the intermediate
stages are occupied by mixed texts. But if we look
beneath this complication general lines of change
■sty be d et ected. All experience shows that certain
*ytx» of variation propagate and perpetuate them-
selves, and existing documents prove that it was so
with the copies of the N. T. Many of the links
NEW TESTAMENT
2117
k the genealogical table of our MSS. may be want-
ing, but the specific relations between the groups,
and their comparative antiquity of origin, are clear.
This antiquity is determined, not by the demon-
stration of the immediate dependence of partieulai
copies upon one another, but by reference to a
common standard. The secondary uncials (E S U
etc) are not derived from the earlier (B C A) by
direct descent, but rather both are derived by dif-
ferent processes from one original. And here va-
rious considerations will assist the judgment of the
critic The accumulation of variations may be mora
or less rapid in certain directions. A disturbing
force may act for a shorter time with greater inten-
sity, or its effects may be slow and protracted.
Corruptions may be obvious or subtle, the work of
the ignorant copyist or of the rash scholar; they
may lie upon the surface or they may penetrate
into the fabrio of the text. But on such points no
general rules can be laid down. Here as elsewhere,
there is an instinct or tact which discerns likenesses
or relationships and refuses to be measured mechan-
ically. It is enough to insist on the truth that the
varieties in our documents are the result of slow
and natural growth and not of violent change.
They are due to the action of intelligible laws and
rarely, if ever, to the caprice or imperfect judgment
of individuals. They contain in themselves their
history and their explanation.
16. From the consideration of the earliest history
of the N. T. text we now pass to the sera of MSS.
The quotations of Diostsids Alkx. (TA. d. 861),
I'etbdb Alex, (fc a. d. 819), Mkthodios ( t a. n.
311), and Euskbids (Ta. d.840), confirm the prev-
alence of the ancient type of text; but the public
establishment of Christianity in the Roman empire
necessarily led to important changes. Not only were
more copies of the N. T. required for publie use
(Conip. §8). but the nominal or real adherence of
the higher ranks to the Christian faith must have
largely increased the demand for costly MSS. As
a natural consequence the rude Hellenistic forms
gave way before the current Greek, and at the same
time it is reasonable to believe that smoother and
fuller constructions were substituted for the rougher
turns of the apostolic language. In this way the
foundation of the Byzantine text was laid, and the
same influence which thus began to work, continued
uninterruptedly till the fall of the Eastern empire.
Meanwhile the multiplication of copies in Africa and
Syria was checked by Mohammedan conquests. The
Greek language ceased to be current in the West.
The progress of the Alexandrine and Occidental
families of MSS. was thus checked ; and the mass
of recent copies necessarily represent the accumu-
lated results of one tendency.
17. The appearance of the oldest MSS. has been
already described. (§ 3.) The MSS. of the 4th
oentury, of which Cud. Vutioan. (B) may be taken
aa a type, present a close resemblance to these.
The writing is in elegant continuous (capitals) un-
cials,* in three columns • without initial letters or
iota tubterift, or atcripL A small interval serves
a " Those oodles* are placed together which appear
to demand such an arrangement ; and toose whloh
stand below others are soon as show stUi mora and
x«ore of the Intermixture of mooarnised readings " (Tre-
ejewa, ttnu, [vet. lv.) p. 108,
* Jerome describes the ads* taste of many In his
•see (e. a. >. 400) with regard to MSS. of the Bible
qui volant veteres libra, vel In meubrams duaion, p. 3d, n. ( *w other examples
purpurea) auro argentoqua dsserlptos, vel uncialibua :
ut vulgo slant, lltterls oners tnagis exanta, quam oo>
cubes: dummodo mini melsque permlttant pauperaf
habere seta-*dulas, et non lam pnleros codices qnu
emendate* (Aw/. » Jobum, lx. 1004, ed. Mlgne).
e The Cooex Sinaltieus (Cod. FrUL Aug.) has /est
columns ; oud. Alex. (A) two. Of.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2118
NEW XKSTAMJSNT
as a simple punctuation ; and there are uo accenu i
ar breathing* by the hand of the fint writer, though
these have been added subsequently, L'ncuil writing
continued in general use till the middle of the HHh
century." One uncial MS. (S), the earliest uated
copy, bears the date 949 ; and for service books the
same style was retained a century later. From the
11th century downwards cm tin writing prevailed,
but this passed through several forms sufficiently
distinct to fix the date of a MS. with tolerable cer-
tainty. The earliest cursive Biblical MS. is dated
964 A. D. (Gosp. 14, Scrivener, Introduction, p. 36
note ), though cursive writing was used a century
before (a. d. 888, Scrivener, L c). The MSS. of
the 14th and 15th centuries abound in the contrac-
tions which afterwards passed into the early printed
books. The material as well as the writing of MSS.
underwent successive changes. The oldest MSS.
are written on the thinnest and finest vellum : in
later copies the parchment is thick and coarse.
Sometimes, as in Cod. Cotton. (N= J), the vellum
is stained. Pnpyrus waa very rarely used after the
9th century. In the 10th century cotton paper
(charia bombycina or Damasctnn) was generally
employed in Europe ; and one example at least oc-
ean of its use in the 9th century (Tischdf. A'ot
Cod. Sin. p. 54, quoted by Scrivener, Introduction,
p. 21). In the 12th century the common linen or
rag paper came into use; but paper was "seldom
used for Biblical MSS. earlier than the 13th cen-
tury, and had not entirely displaced parchment at
the era of the invention of printing, c. A. D.
1450 " (Scrivener, Introduction, p. 21). One other
kind of material requires notice, redressed parch-
ment (waAi/i^t)0TOf, charta dtUticia). Even at
a very early period the original text of a parchment
MS. was often erased, that the material might be
used afresh (Cic. ad Fam. vii. 18; Catull. xxii.).»
In lapse of time the original writing frequently re-
appears in faint lines below the later text, and in
this way many precious fragments of Biblical MSS.
which bad been once obliterated for the transcrip-
tion of other works hare been recovered. Of these
palimpsest MSS. the most famous are those noticed
below under the letters € R Z g. The earliest
Biblical palimpsest is not older than the 5th cen-
tury' (Plate 1. fig. 3).
18. In uncial MSS. the contractions are usually
limited to a few very common forms (ec, IC,
[XC, KC, TC,] riHP, AAA, etc., >. t. 0«fs, 'ln-
roSr, [x/uotoV, nipios, vlis,] war^p, AatttiS;
• A toll and Interesting account of the various
ihangas in the uncial alphabet at different times Is
gtvsn by Scrivener, Introduction, pp. 27-36.
b This practice was condemned at the Quinlsextine
Council (a. b. 892), Can. 68 ; but the Commentary of
Balaamon shows that in his time (t i. ». 1204) the prac-
ttos had not ceased : enuui-mt ravra iU row 0t0Ai-
MGaanjAovr rout awaXei^ovrus vie pcpftMtvae rwr $tim*
ypn«w A Biblical fragment In the British Museum
has bean erased, and used twice afterwards for Syrian
writing (Add. 17, 186. Cod. Nt> Tischdf.).
c As s» the use of cursive MSS. In this respect of
-eve axaipt or subscript, Mr. Scrivener found that "of
any-lhree MSS. now in England, twelve have no ves-
tige of either fashion, fifteen represent the ascript use,
ante the subscript exclusively, while the lew that re-
main have both indifferently " (Introduction, p. SB).
The earliest ua of the suhwHpt Is in a US. (71) dated
1180 (Scrivener, I. «.).
J Mr. Scrivener mean* »n exception in the ease of
tbeSrstfoni ■ines of eu-u *.xumnof the Book of Uen-
MJbW testament
eomp. Serivener, Introduction, p. 43). A few mess
occur in later uncial copies, in which there are alas
some examples of the ascript ioin, which ocean
rarely in the Codex Sinaiticus. 17 Accents are not
found in MSS. older than the 8th century .«* Breath-
ings and the apostrophus (Tischdf. Proltg. exxxi.,
occur somewhat earlier. The oldest punctuation
after the simple interval, is a stop like the modern
Greek colon (in A C D), which is accompanied by
an interval, proportioned in some esses to the length
of the pause.* In E (Gospp.) and B» (Apoc),
which are MSS. of the 8th century, this point marks
a full stop, a colon, or a comma, according as it if
placed at the top, the middle, or the base of the
letter (Scrivener, p. 42)./' The present note of is
terrogation (;) came into use in the 9th century.
IS. A very ingenious attempt was made to sop
ply an effectual system of punctuation for public
reading, by Euthaliua, who published an arrange-
ment of St. Paul's Epistles in clauses (trriroi) in
468, and another of the Acts and Catholic Epistles
in 490. The same arrangement was applied to the
Gospels by some unknown band, and probably at
an earlier date. The method of subdivision was
doubtless suggested by the mode in which the
poetic books of the O. T. were written in the MSS.
of the LXX. The great examples of this method
of writing are D (Gospels), Hj (F.pp.), D a (Epp.).
The Cod. Laud. (E, Acts) is not strictly sticho-
metrical, but the parallel texts seem to be arranged
to establish a verbal connection between the Latin
and Greek (Tregelles, Borne, 187). The nrlx*
vary considerably in length, and thus the amount
of vellum consumed was far more than in an or-
dinary MS., so that the fashion of writing in
" clauses " soon passed away ; but the numeration
of the orrlyot in the several books waa still pre-
served, and many MSS. (e. a. A Ep., K Gosp.)
bear traces of having been copied from older testa
thus arranged-"
90. The earliest extant division of the N. T. into
sections occurs in Cod. B. This division is else-
where found only in the palimpsest fragment of St.
Luke, H- In the Acts and the Epistles there is a
double division ill B, one of which ia by a later
hand. The Epistles of St. Paul are treated as one
unbroken book divided into 93 sections, in which
the Epistle to the Hebrews originally stood between
the Epistles to the Galatians and the Ephesians.
This appears from the numbering of the sections,
which the writer of the MS. preserved, though ha
eats •' In Cod. A, which, he says, Is famished with ac-
cents and breathings by the first hand (Introduction,
p. 40). Dr. Tregelles, to whose kindness I am indebted
for several remarks on this article, expressed to me his
strong doubts as to the correctness of this assertion :
and a very careful examination of the MS. leaves a*
question bat that the accents and breathings were the
work of the later scribe who accentuated the whole of
the first three columns. There Is a perceptible diner-
•era in the shade of the red pigment, which Is deci-
sively shown tn the Initial B.
• The division in John I. 3, 4, $ yeyerer ir awn?
(«* fir (cf. Tregelles, ad toe.), Bom. vtil. 20 (Origen),
Ix. 6, shows the attention given to this question in the
earliest times.
/ Dr. Tregelles, whose acquaintance with ane 4 *BI
MSS. Is not Inferior to that of any scholar, expresses
a doubt " whether this is at all uniformly the ease."
t Oomn. Tlsshd. N. T. ed. 1859, under the subsets?
dons to the several books. Wssstatn Proltg. as>.aw>
108.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
HBTVT TE3TAMBMT
fnnsf. osed the book to the place uefore the pastoral
tphthe."
31. Two other divisions of the Gospels mint be
noticed. The fin* of thaw was a division Into
' chapters " («e<(>dAaia, WtAoi, breves), which cor-
respond with distinct sections of the narrative, and
are on an average a little more than twice as long
as the sections in B. This division is found in A,
C, R, Z, and must therefore have come into general
use some time before the 5th century. 1 The other
division was constructed with a view to a harmony
of the Gospels. It owes its origin to Ammonius
of Alexandria, a scholar of the 3d century, who
constructed a Harmony of the Evangelists, taking
St. Matthew as the basis round which be grouped
the parallel passages from the other Gospels. Euse-
bhu of Ccsarea completed his labor with great in-
genuity, and constructed a notation and a' series of
tables, which indicate at a glance the parallels which
exist to any passage in one or more of the other
Gospels, and the passages which are peculiar to
each. There seems every reason tn believe that the
sections as they stand at present, as well as the
ten *' Canons," which give a summary of the Har-
mony, are due to Eusehius, though the sections
sometimes occur in MSS. without the correspond-
ing Canons.' The Cod. Alex. (A), and the Cot-
Ionian fragments (N), are the oldest MSS. which
contain both in the original hand. The sections
oceur In the palimpsests C, K, '/., I', Q, and it is
possible that the Canons may have I en there orig-
inally, for the vermilion (icivrifiapis, Euseb. Kp. ad
Otr/t.), or paint with which they were marked,
would entirely disappear in the process of preparing
the parchment afresh. 1 '
38. The division of the Acts and Epistles into
chapters same into use at a later time. It does not
occur in A or C, which give the Ammonian sec-
tions, and is commonly referred to Euthalius (( "omp.
§ 19), who, however, says that he borrowed the
divisions of the Pauline Epistles from an earlier
father; and there b reason to believe that the divis-
ion of the Acts and Catholic Epistles which be
published was originally the work of Pamphiius
the Martyr (Montfouoon, BibL C'uislia. p. 78). The
Apocalypse was divided into sections by Andreas
of Ccaarea about A. n. 600. This division con
anted of 34 Kiyoi, each of which was subdivided
into three " chapters '• (K^<bA\aut)■•
33. The titles of the sacred books are from their
nature additions to the original text- The distinct
names of the Gospels imply a collection, and the
titles of the Epistles are notes by the possessors
and not addresses by the writers Clv&yvov <t,
0,tU~). In their earliest form they are quite sim-
ple, Aceonhng to Matthew, etc. (hotA MaBBaior
SJ.T.A.); To the Romans, etc. (s-pii 'Pwuaiovs
«.T..\.>; First of. Peter, etc (IKVoov a'); Acts
Tf Apostles, (wpi(fa aroor6\uv): Apocalypse.
Ihsse headings were gradually amplified till they
KBW TESTAMBNT
2119
• The oldest division Is not found In 2 Pet. (ad. Tar-
sail. p. 125). (air. Burt.) It Is found in Jcde ; 3, 8
lean.
6 The Kt^iKeLM do not begin wtt k the beginning
af the books (Orlesbacn, Comm. Oil. U. 40} This Is
Important In reference to the objectlrns raised against
Watt. I.
' Tbssa vary useful canons and sections are printed
■ die Oxford Text (Uoyd) In Teschendorf (lbuD), and
tea 00180100 Is very easily mastered. A more complete
nt of the canons, ztrlnc the order of the
assumed such form* as The holy Gospel accords**
to John ; The first Catholic Kpistle of the hot)
and nil-praiseworthy Peter; The Apocalypse of
the holy and most glorious Apostle and EmngcUst,
the beloved virgin who rested on the boson of
Jesus, John the Divine. In the same way the
original subscriptions (tnroypaipal), which were
merely repetitions of the titles, gave way to vagus
traditions as to the dates, etc., of the books
Those appended to the Epistles, which have been
translated in the A. V., are attributed to Eutha-
lius, and their singular inaccuracy (Haley, flora
Paulina, ch. xv.) is a valuable proof of the utter
absence of historical criticism at the time when
they could find currency.
24. Very few MSS. contain the whole N. T.,
" twenty-seven in all out of the vast mas* of extant
documents" (Scrivener, Introduction, p. 61). The
MSS. of the Apocalypse are rarest; and Chrysoa-
tom complained that in hi* time the Acts was very
little known. Besides the MSS. of the N. T., or
of parts of it, there ore also Lectionaries, which
contain extracts arranged for the Church-services.
These were taken from the Gospels (ivayyiK,
ordpia), or from the Gospels and Acts (-rpa^aro-
otoAoi), or rarely from the Gospels and Epistles
(amocToXotvayyikia) The calendars of the les-
sons (owofapio), are appended to very many MSS.
of the N. 1 . ; those for the saints-day lessons,
which varied very considerably in different times
and places, were called juijpoAcVyia (Schok, N. T.
i. 453-493; Scrivener, 68-75).
25. When a MS. was completed it was com-
monly submitted, at least in early times, to a
careful revision. Two terms occur in describing
this process, i fam$dK\t»v and Siopffarrjr. It
has been suggested that the work of the former
answered to that of " the corrector of the press,"
while that of the latter was more critical (Tregelles,
Home, pp. 85, 88). Possibly, however, the words
only describe two parts of the same work. Several
MSS. still preserve a subscription which attests a
revision by comparison with famous copies, though
this attestation must have referred to the earhei
exemplar (comp. Tischdf. Jude subscript.); but
the Coislinian fragment (H s ) may have been itself
compared, according to the subscription, " with the
copy in the library at Csesarea, written by the
hand of the holy Pamphiius." (Comp. Scrivener,
Introduction, p. 47.) Besides this official correc-
tion at the time of transcription, MSS. were often
corrected by different hands in later times. Thus
Tiscbendorf distinguishes the work of two cor-
rectors in C, and of three chief correctors in Da
In later MSS. the corrections are often much more
valuable than the original text, as in 67 (Epp.);
and in the Cod. Sinait. the readings of one cor-
rector (9 b) are frequently as valuable as those of
the original text/
(The work of Montfaucon still remains the claasl-
Kctloni In each Evangelist, originally drawn up by
Dr. Tmgelles, Is found In Dr. Wordsworth's Ok. Tut.
vol.1.
(' A comparative table nf the ancient and moders
divisions of the N. T. Is given by Scrivener (Intnduo
linn, p. 58).
• tot las later division of the Bible Into our pre*
sot chapters and verses, see Bmi, I. 807, 808.
/ Examples of the attestation and signature of JV8S
with a list of the name* of scribes, are given by Marl
faueon (Pulxograpkm, pp. 88-108).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2120
NEW TESTAMENT
Ml authority on Greek Paleography (PahmgrophM
Graea, Paris, 1708), though much has been ui«-
oovered since hit time which modifies some of hia
statements. The plates in the magnificent work
rf Silvestre and Champollion (Paleugrnphi* Urn-
teruUe, Paris, 1841, Awe. Tram, by Sir F. Mad-
den, London, 1850) give a splendid and Writ
accurate series of facsimiles of Greek HSS. (Plates,
liv.-ieiv.). Tlscbendorf announces a new work on
Paleography (N. T. Praf. cxxxiii.), »nd this, if
published, will probably leave nothing to be desired
b the Biblical branch of the study.
86." The number of uncial MSS. remaining,
though great when compared with the ancient
HSS. extant of other writings, is inconsiderable.*
Tiachendorf (N. T. Praf. cxxx.) reckons 40 in
the Gospels, of which t are entire, BKM8D;
8 nearly entire, E L A; 10 eontain very consid-
erable portions, ACDKGHVXrA;ofthe
remainder 14 contain very small fragments, 8 frag-
ments more (I P Q K Z) or less considerable
(N T Y). To these must be added M (Cod.
SinaU.), which is entire; S (?) [n] «■ »•» MS.
of Tiachendorf (Not. Cod. Sin. pp. 51, 62), which
is nearly entire; and B (Cod. Zacynlh.), which
contains considerable fragments of St. I-uke.
Tiachendorf haa likewise obtained 6 [9] additional
fragments (L c). In the Acts there are 9 (10
[18] with M [G, PJV of which 4 eontain the text
entire (H A B), or nearly (R,) so; 4 [5] hare
birge fragments, (C DH,G, = 1« [PJ); 2 [3]
small fragments. In the Catholic Epistles 5 [7]
of which 4 [5, H] A B K 3 G, = L, are entire;
1 [8] (C [PJ) nearly entire. In the Pauline
Epistles there are 14 [18, H entire:] 3 [3] nearly
entire, 1) 2 I-j [PJ ; 7 hare very considerable por-
tions, A B C Eg F» G s K» (but E a should not lw
reckoned); the remaining 5 [7] some fragments.
In the Apocalypse 3 [5], 3 [8] entire ([H] A B a ),
I nearly entire (C [PJ).
27. According to date these MSS. are classed as
Idlows: —
Fourth century. M B.
Fifth century. A C, and some fragments
including [P, \ *, I"] Q [QJ T".
Sixth century. D P R Z, Eg, Dj H>, and
4 [9] smaller fragments.
Stttnth century. Some fragments includ-
ing 6, [K*i and Gj.]
Eighth century. E I. A [?9th cent.] S, Bj
and some fragments.
KinUt century. F K M X [Y r A II] A.
II, G,= L, [P»], F 2 G s K„ M 2 and frag-
ments.
Tenth century. G H S D, (E»).
38. A complete description of these MSS. is
riven in the great critical editions of the N. T. :
ere those only can be briefly noticed which are of
ritnary importance, the first place being given to
NEW TESTAMENT
the latest discovered and most oom p laU Cask*
Bina&cm.
A (1). Primary Uncials of the Gospels.
S (Coda Sinaitieui = Cod. Frid. Aug. of
LXX), at St. Petersburg, obtained by Tlscben-
dorf from the convent of St. Catherine, Mount
Sinai, in 1859. The fragments of LXX. published
Cod. Frid. Aug. (1846), were obtained at the
same place by Tiachendorf in 1844. The X. T.
is entire, and the Epistle of Barnabas and parte
of the Shepherd of Hennas are added. The whole
MS. is to be published in 1862 by Tlscbendorf at
the expense of the Emperor of Russia. It is
probably the oldest of the MSS. of the N. T.,
and of the 4th century (Tischdf. Not. Cod, Sin-
I860).
• The MS. was published at St Petersburg h.
1862 in magnificent style, in 4 Tola, folio, with the
title: " BMiorum Coda Sinaitieui PetropoUtamm
. . . edidU C. TUclienJorf," the edition being lim-
ited to about 300 copies. It was printed with
type cast for the purpose so as to resemble Uw
characters of the MS., which it represents one
for line with the greatest attainable accuracy.
The first vol contains Prolegomena, notes on the
alterations made at different times by many cor-
rectors, and 21 pages of facsimiles, the first 19
representing different parts of the MS., and the
remaining 3 containing facsimiles of the writing
of 36 MSS. of great palawgraphical interest, Ulna-
trating the changes in the style of writing from
the first century (papyri) to the seventh in 1868
a comparatively cheap edition of the N. T. part
of the MS. was published by Tiachendorf at
Music, in ordinary type, with enlarged Prolego-
mena and some corrections (A'orwn Ttttnmentum
Sinnhcum, etc., 4to). The Kef. F. H. Scrivener
published in 1864 A Full Collation of the Codtx
Hinniticm with the Rtcehtd Ttwt of the N. T.
(rather, Stephens' ed. of 1660), to which ie pre-
fixed a Critical Introduction ; the same collation
also appeared in a new edition of Wordsworth's
Urttk Ttttamtnt, for which it was originally
made. In 1865 Tiachendorf issued a new edition
of the N. T. portion of the MS. (N. T. Grease a
Sinaitico Codtce, 8vo), noting in the margin the
alterations of later correctors, as also the various
readings of the Vat. MS. (B) so far as they were
then known, and of the Elzevir or Received Text,
with a valuable Introduction of 83 pages, in which
(pp. xliii.-xlix.) be gives a list of errata in Scrim
ner's generally accurate collation. A.
A (Codtx AUxnndHnus, Brit- Mus.), a MS. of
the entire Greek Bible, with the Epistles of Clement
added. It was given by Cyril Luear, patriarch of
Constantinople, to Charles I. in 1628, and is now
in the British Museum. It contains the whole of
the N. T. with some chasms: Matt. i.-xxv. 6,
iitpyto-Be; John vi. 60, fca-viii. 53, Xeyei; 3
Cor. iv. 18, eVfoTfuo-a-xii. 6, .{ iuoi. It was
probably written in the first half of the 6th cen-
tury. The N. T. has been published by Woide
(fol. 1786), and with some correctioni by Cowpet
• a * Id supplementing the account of the HSS. In
this and the following sections much use has been
■arte of Thcliendorf i art. BlbtUrxt da II. Tatamenti
a Barsog's lieal-EncyU. six. pp. 187-196 (1866).
e ■»• the time of Wetitein the uncial MSS. have
I by eaplul letUi*, the cursives by num-
bers (and later by small letters). In consequence of
the confusion which arises from applying the sari
letter to different MSS., I have oil ttngninhed til
dlfhrent MSS. by the notation M, Mg, M„, [H, H,, Hi
— there Is no M„], retaining the aster rk (as orsjusle:
■ml) to mart the Brat, etc., hands.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NSW TBSTAMKKT
!8vo. 1860J." Comp. Wetstein, Prokgg. pp UM»
(ad. Lotas). (Plate I. fig. 2.)
II (CW« Vaticamt, 1309), a MS. of we en-
tire Greek Kihle, which Menu to have been in the
Vatican Library almost from its commencement
(c A. D. 1*60). It contains the X. T. entire to
Heb. ix. 14, *oflo: the rest of the Kpistle to the
Hebrews, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Apocalypse
wen added in the 15th century. Vaiious colla-
tions of the N. T. were made by Bartnlocci (1069),
by Mico for Bentley (c. 17*20), whose collation was
La part revised by Kulotta (1726), and by Birch
(1788). An edition of the whole MS., on which
Mai had been engaged for many years, was pub-
lished three years after his death, in 1857 (S volL
4to, ed. Vercellone; N. T. reprinted I.ond. and
Leipsic}. Mai had himself kept back the edition
(■Tinted 18-28-1838), being fully conscious of its
imperfections, and had prepared another edition of
the N. T.. which was published also by Vercellone
in 1869 (8ro.). The errors in this are less numer-
ous than in the former collation; but the literal
text of H ii still required by scholars. Toe MS.
is assigned to the 4th century (Tischdf. N. T.
exxxTi.-ezliz.).
• In 1867 Tischendorf published at Leipaic
Tttt. Svr. Vaticnnum, pott Any. Mali aliorumqut
imperfrcti* Labortt, etc., 4to, and also Appendix
Coi'd. •'•in. Vat. Alex, cum Imitation* iptcmtm
ami/ui Maim Scriptorum, fbl. Though allowed
to examine the Vatican MS. but 42 hours, be spent
the time so well that be was able to determine the
true reading in all cases of discrepancy -between
different collators, and to correct the text as given
by Card. Mai in more than 400 places. In 1868
a splendid edition of the N. T. portion of the Vat.
MS. and abo of Cod. B of the Apocalypse was
published at Rome, by authority of the I'ope,
under the editorship of Vercellone and Cozza.
This ia printed with type cast from the same font
that was made for the Codex Sinaiticua, and in
the style of Tischendorf s edition of that MS.;
the Old Testament la to follow in 4 vols., and a
volume of Prolegomena and Notes will complete
the long desired work. Though uot immaculate,
it appears to be executed with great care. Since
iu appearance, Tischendorf has published at 1-eip-
•ic an Appemlix N. T. VnUcnni, containing the
text of MS. B of the Apocalypse and corrections
of hia A'. T. Vat. from the recent Komau edition,
together with a criticism on that edition, in which
be points out some defects and oversights. A.
C ( Codex Ephraemi retcriptut, Paris, Bibl. Imp.
0), a palimpsest MS. which contains fragments
Of the LXX. and of every part of the N. T. In
the 12th century the original writing was effaced
NBW TESTAMENT
2121
' It Is much so be regretted that the editor has
a»! lowed the bad example of Card. Mai In introd'tcing
oottstn punctuation, breathings, and accents, which
an by no means always Indifferent («. g. Luke vli. 12),
***t Xtipf u t lrm without note, where probsbly the
MS reprwents ««Va (or avnf) jpfpa). It Is scarcely
Has oaastuunte that he has not always f"»en the
atttlnal punctuation, however absurd it may appear,
ead the law contractions which occur In the MS
•fit* these drawbacks, the text seems to be given on
1st whose aacBratetr.
- An edition of lour great texts of the despair K,
t, O, O) la at peasant (1861) in preparatloo at Oifcrd
tj raw lev. B. H. BanseU. The Greek text of D has
-««■ laafuaaoeed In orthography by 'be Latin : c. r.
and some Greek writings of Ephmeiu Syrus wen
written over it. The MS. was brought to Florence
from the East at the beginning of the 16th cen-
tury, and came thence to Paris with Catherine do
Meaicis. Wetatein was engaged to collate it fbt
Bentley (1716), but it was first fully examined by
Tischendorf, who published the N. T. in 1843: the
O. T. fragments in 1846. The only entire books
which have perished are 2 These, and 2 John, bat
lacuna; of greater or lest extent occur constantly.
It is of about the same date as Cud. Alex.
D (Codex Beta, Univ. Libr. Cambridge), a
Grace-Latin MS. of the Gospels and Acts, with a
small fragment of 3 John, presented to the Uni-
versity of Cambridge by Beza in 1581. Some read-
ings from it were obtained in Italy for Stephens'
edition ; but afterwards Beza found it at the sack
of Lyons in 1562 in the monastery of St. Irencus.
The text is very remarkable, and, especially in the
Acta, abounds in singular interpolations. The
MS. hat many lacunae. It was edited in a splendid
form by Kipling (1793, 2 vols, fbl.), and no com.
plete collation hat been since made; but arrange-
ments hare lately been (1861) made for a new
edition under the care of the Kev. F. H. Scrivener.
The MS. is referred to the 6th century. Cf.
Credner, Britrdue, i. 452-518; Bornemann, Acta
Apoftotnnm, 1848; Schulz, De Codice I), Cantab.
1827.'
* Scrivener's edition of the Codex Beat was
published at Cambridge in 1864, 4to. It appears
to be executed with great care and thoroughness.
A.
L (Pnrit. Cod. Imp. p. 62), one of the moat
important of the late uncial MSS. It contains
the four Gospels, with the exception of Matt iv.
22- v. 14, xiviii. 17-20; Mark x. 16-20, xv. 2-20;
John xxi. 16-26. The text agrees in a remarkable
manner with B and Origen. It hat been published
by Tischendorf, Monumenta Sacra Inedita, 1846.
Cf- Grieebach, Synb. Crit. L pp. lxvi. -cxli. It si
of the 8th century.
It (Brit Mm. Add. 17,211), a very valuable
palimpsest, brought to England in 1847 from the
convent of St Mary Deipara in the Nitrian desert
The original text ia covered by Syrian writing of
the 9th or 10th century. About 685 verses of St
Luke were deciphered by Tregelles in 1864, and
by Tischendorf in 1855. The hitter has published
them in hia Man. Sacra Inedita, Nova Coll., voL
i. 1857. It ia assigned to the 6th century. (Pbvt*
i. fig. 8.)
X (Codex tfonacentu), in the University Li-
brary at Munich. Collated by Tischendorf and
Tregelles. Of the [9th or] 10th century.
Z (Cod. IMMnrmii retcriptut, in the library
2opopiTa»in> l A/rpawot, £AnyeAA»«w (Wetatein, f*»
legg. p. 40): but the charge of more serious alttaa-
tions from this source cannot be maintained.
* The work of Mr. Hansel], referred to above, was
published at Oxford In 1884, In 8 vols. 8vo., with tba
title: Nov. Tut. Qratt Antiauissimorum Coitd. Texlm
in Ordint para / teto dispositi Aeeedit CoUatio Cod.
Sinaitiei. It gives, In such a manner that they oaa
be compared at one view, the readings of A B C J) %.
and also thosa of E-j In the Acta and D. 2 la the Cokv
ties. But the editor does not stem to hate bean ^Mo-
getter c ompetent for his task (see TunhendorTs M. X.
Or. ez Sin. Cod. o. U., note), and the readings of bast
B and D have since been published' far more earn
DWtelv and aconratalv a.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2122
NEW TESTAMENT
■i Ilia. Coll. Dublin), a palimpsest containing
large portions of St. Matthew. It wu edited by
Barrett (1801); and Tregelles has since (1858) re-
examined the MS. and deciphered all that was left
undetermined before (Hittoi-y «f Printed Tert, pp.
186-169). It is assigned to the 6th century.
A (Codex Sangallentu), a MS. of the Gospels,
with an interlinear Latin translation, in the Library
of St. Gall. It once formed part of the same
folume with G». Published in lithographed fac-
simile by Kettig (Zurich, 1836). [Oth cent.]
g (Codex ZitryntJtius), a palimpsest in posses-
sion of the Bible Society, London, containing
Important fragments of St. Luke. It is probably
of the 8th century, and Is accompanied by a
Catena. The later writing is a Greek Lectionary
if the 18th century. It has been transcribed and
published by Tregelles (l-ondon, 1861).
The following are important fragments: —
* F» (Cul. Cuiilin., Paris). A few fragments
of the Gospels, Acts, and Pauline Kpistles. 7th
sent. A.
I (Tlschendorf), various fragments of the Gos-
pels (Acta, Pauline Epistles), some of great value,
published by Tischendorf, Momnn. Saer. Kota
ColL vol. i. 1855. [5th, 6th, and 7th cent.]
* I* is now used by Tischendorf to denote the
MS. described below under N b . A.
N (Cod! Cotton.), (formerly J N), twelve leaves
of purple vellum, the writing being in silver. Four
leaves are in Brit Mus. (Cotton. C xv.). Pub-
lished by Tischendorf, .Won. Sacr. med., 1846.
Sex. vi.
* 83 additional leaves of this MS., containing
fragments of the Gospel of Mark, have been
recently found at Patmos, and are used in Tisclien-
dorf « 8th critical edition of the N. T. A.
Kb (Brit. Mus. Add. 17, 136), a palimpsest.
Deciphered by Tregelles and Tischendorf, and pub-
lished by the latter: Man. Sua: med. Sum Coll,
vol. ii. Sac. iv., v. [This MS. is now desig-
nated by Tischendorf as l b . — A.]
* O denotes fragments of the Gospel of John at
Moscow (Matthaji, No. 15). 9th cent. A.
* Otbcdtf denote the hymns in Luke i. as found
in uncial MSS. of the Psalms in various libraries.
O, 6th cent-; O*, 7th; Chef, 9th. A.
PQ (CooVi Guelpfierbytani, Wolfenhiittel), two
palimpsests, respectively of the 6th and 5th cen-
turies. Published by Knittel, 1762, and P [Q
rather] again, more completely, by Tischendorf,
Mm. Sua: med. iii. 1860, who has Q [P rather]
ready for publication.
T ( Cod. Boryiamu, Propaganda at Rome), of
the 5th century. The fragments of St. John, ed-
ited by Giorgi (1789); those of St. Luke, collated
l.y B. Ii. Alford (1859). Other fragments were pub-
lished by VVoide. (Tischd. N. T. ProUy. clxvli.).
* T b denotes fragments of John, and T> of Mat-
thew, similar to the above, the former at St. Peters-
burg (Imp. lib.), the latter belonging to the Rus-
sian bishop Porfiri. 6th cent. T d denotes frag-
ments of Matt., Mark, and John, from Borgian
MSS. of the 7th cent A.
T (Cod. Barbtrim, 225, Rome). Saee. via.
Edited by Tischendorf, Man. Sua: ined. 1848.
«• (Cod. ruchendmf. 1., Leipsic). See. vii.
Utted by Tischendorf in Hon. Saer. ined. 1846.
- 4 be4r%h an fragments at St. Pet- burg,
NEW rESTAnlBUr
ranging from the 6th to the 9th cent. Of tlsM
Sex are the most valuable. A.
(ii.) The Secondary Uncials are in the Gee-
pels: —
E (BauUenrit, K. Iv. 35, Basle). Collatfd by
Tischendorf, Mueller, Tregelles. See. viii.
F (Rheno-Trajectima. Utrecht, formerly Bo
reeli). Coll. by Heringa, Traj. 1843. Saw. fat
G (Brit Mus. Hart 6684). ColL by Tregelles
and Tischendorf. Sex. ix., x.
H (Hamburgeni*, Seidelii). Cott. by Tregelles,
1850. Saw. ix. [vel x.].
K ( Cod. Cypriut, Paris, Bibl. Imp. 63). ColL
by Tregelles and Tischendorf. Sax. ix.
M ( Cod. Ciimpianut, Paris, Bibl. Imp. 48). ColL
by Tregelles, and transcribed by Tischendorf. Sew.
x. [ix. Tisch.]
S ( VaUcamu, 854). ColL by Birch. Saw. x.
U ( Cod. Naninrmt, Venice). Coll. by TrvgeBrs
and Tischendorf. Sax. x.
V (Afotquentit). Coll. by HatthaL Sax. ix.
• Wsbcd denote fragments of the 8th and 8th
centuries at Paris, Naples, St. Gall, and the Library
of Trinity College, Cambridge, respectively. A.
r (Bodleiamu). Sax. ix. Cf. Tischdf., N. T.
p. cbixiii. Coll. by Tischendorf and TregeOes.
Freeh portions of this MS. have lately been taken
by Tischendorf to St. Petersburg.
A- Cod. Tischendorf iii. (Bodleian). Saw. viii.
ix. Coll. by Tischendorf and Tregelles. [9th cent,
Tisch.]
[n, not] 2 (St Petersburg). Saw. viii. ix. (?).
A new MS. as yet unoollated.
• This MS., containing the Gospels nearly com-
plete, wss procured by Tischendorf at Smyrna. Its
readings sre given in his 8th ed. of the Greek N. T.
A.
B (>•)• Primary Uncials of the Acts and Cath-
olic r.piatles.
S A B C D.
Ej ( Codex Laudiamu, 35), a Graco-Latin MS.
of the Acts, probably brought to England by Theo-
dore of Tarsus, 668, and need by Bede. It was
spven to the University of Oxford by Archbishop
I-aud in 1636. Published by Hearne, 1715; bat
a new edition has been lately undertaken (1881)
l>y Scrivener, and is certainly required. [Another
edition is promised by Tischendorf.] Sax. vi., vii.
• F«- A few fragments of the Acts, 7th cent
A.
• I (St Petersburg). 8 fragments, one, Acts
xxviii. 8-17, of the 5th cent ; the others 7th cent
A.
(ii. ) The Secondary Uncials sre —
G, = L, (Cod. Angelina (I'sationd) Kxne).
Coll. by Tischdf. and Treg. Sew. ix.
• Gj is now used by Tischendorf to denote a
leaf of the 7th cent brought by him in 1869 !a
St Petersburg, containing Acts ii. 46 - iii 8.
A.
lit (Corf, ifutmenti; MonVna), of the Acta.
Coll. by Tischdf. and Treg. Sax. ix.
K, (.Wmquensu), of the Catholic Epistles. Col.
by Matthei. Sox. ix.
• Lj. Formerly G,; see above. A.
• Pj, an important palimpsest of the 9th cent
bek>nirii.g to the library of the bishop Porfiri Us-
penski In St. Petersburg, containing the prindne,
part of the Acts, the Catholic and Pauline EpUtlas,
and the Apocalypse, In the Acts sod 1 Peter Ms
Digitized by VjOOQlC
HBW TE8TAMHBT
felt agrees with that of the later doom, but in the
-emainder of the N. T., particular); in the Apoc-
lljpae, it la greatly superior to then- It nu pub-
lished in 1804 (Epistles) and 1869 (Acta and Rev.)
In Tab). ». and vi. of Tischendorf '• a/onam. Sacra
mttL, Nova CoUectio. A.
C (••)■ Primary UneiaU of the Pauline Epis-
tle.:—
MABC.
Dj (Codtx Ctn owaaaaV ii is m , i. e. from Clermont,
near Beauvaia, Paris, Bibl. Imp. 107), a Greco-
Latin MS. of the Pauline Epistles, once (like L>)
in the potactrion of Beza. It passed to the Royal
library at Paris In 1T07, where it has since re-
aoained. Wetatein collated it carefully, and, in
1859, it was published by Tischendorf, who had
been engaged on it as early as 1840. The MS. was
independently examined by Tregeues, who commu-
nicated the results of his collation to Tischendorf,
and by their oombined labors the original text,
which has been altered by numerous correctors, has
been completely ascertained. The MS. is entire
except Rom. i. 1-7. The passages Rom. i. 87-30
(in Latin, i. 34-37) were added at the close of the
6th century, and 1 Cor. xiv. 13-33 by another an-
cient hand. The MS. is of the middle of the 6th
sentury. Cf. Griesbach, Sgnb. CriL ii. 31-77.
F, {Codex Augieruu, Coll. SS. Trin. Cant. 11,
17, 1), a Grasjo-Latin MS. of St Paul's Epistles,
bought by Bentley from the Monastery of Reiche-
nau (Augia Major) in 1718, and left to Trin. Coll.
by bis nephew in 1786. This and the Cod. Boer-
mrinntu (G,) were certainly derived from the same
Greek original. The Greek of the Ep. to the He-
brews is wanting in both, and they hare four com-
mon lacuna: in the Greek text: 1 Cor. lit 8-16, Vi.
7-14; CoL ii. 1-8; Phileiii. 31-35. Both likewise
hare a vacant space between 3 Tim. ii. 4 and 5.
The latin version is oomplete from the beginning
of the MS. Rom. iii. 19, fut Atytt, dkiL The MS.
has been admirably edited by F. H. Scrivener,
Cambr. 1859. It is assigned to the 9th century.
The Latin version is of singular interest; it is closer
to the best Hieronymian text than that in Gj, es-
pecially when the Greek text is wanting (Scrivener,
Cod. Aug. xxviii. ), but has many peculiar readings
and many in common with G s .
G* (Codex Boerneriantu, Dresden), a Greco-
Lati* MS., which originally formed a part of the
same volume with A. It was derived from the same
Greek original as F* which wis written eootinu-
eoaly, but the Latin version in the two MSS. is
widely different." a and lx a seem to hare been
written by an Irish scribe in Switzerland (St. Gall)
In the 9th century. The Greek with the win linear
I atin versioav waa carefully edited by Matthsei,
1791. Scrivener has given the variations from Fj
ti bit edition of that MS.
" Pf For this important palimpsest, see above
joder B (ii) A.
The following fragments are of great value: —
* F*- A few fragments of the 7th cent. A.
• 1 (Si. Petersburg), 3 leaves, 1 Cor. xv. 58 —
rvi. 9, Tit. I 1-13, 5th cent. A.
« at the sod of the lacuna after PhUsswm 30 8,
erf lamtienun meipu iputota
vpov Aaovfeunrrsc a«x*nu mo-rcAa;
tbs fossa of the Greek same shows aunort eoa-
»HW TESTAMENT 2128
H, (Code* Couiinianm, Paris, BihL Imp. SOS),
part of a stlchametricsl MS. of the 6th century,
consisting of twelve leaves: two more are at St,
Petersburg. Edited by Montfaueon, Bibl. Ooulin.
351-61; and again transcribed and prepared far
the press by Tischendorf. It was compared, accord-
ing to the subscription (Tischdf. N. T. p. olxxxix.),
with the autograph of Pamphilus at Cessna.
* Two more leaves at Moscow, marked N« b)
Tischendorf If. T. ed. vii., belong to this MS., aqe
there is another in the possession of the Russian,
bishop Porfiri Uapenskl at St. Petersburg. A.
M 8 (Hamburg; London), containing Heb. L 1-
hr. 3; xii. 30-end, and 1 Cor. xv. 52-3 Cor. L 15 (
3 Cor. x. 13-irii. 5, written in bright red ink in the
10th [9th, Tisch.] century. The Hamburg frag-
ments were collated by Tregeues: all were pub-
lished by Tischendorf, Anecdot. Sacr. el Prof
1855 [new ed., with corrections, 1861].
* Oj (St. Petersburg). Fragments of the 6th
cent., containing 3 Oar. i. 30 - ii. 13. A.
* Qi (St. Petersburg, Porfiri). Fragments of
a papyrus MS. of the 5th century. A.
(ii.). The Secondary Uncials are: —
K» Lj [formerly J].
Ej {Cod. Sangermaneiuu, St Petersburg), a
Gnsco-Latin MS., of which the Greek text was
badly copied from D s after it had been thrice cor-
rected, and is of no value. The Latin text is of
some slight value, but has not been well examined
Griesbach, Symb. Crit. ii. 77-85.
* N 2 (St Petersburg). Fragments of the 9th
cent from Heb. v., vi., and Gal. v., vi. A.
D (i.) The Primary Uncials of the Apocalypse.
M AC.
(H.) The Secondary Uncial is —
B, (Codex Vaticnmu) (Basilianus), 3066). Ed-
ited (rather imperfectly) by Tischendorf, if on
Baer. 1846, and by Mai in his edition of B. Tisch
endorf gives a collation hf the differences, N. T.
Prssf. cxlii— Iii. [Tregelies proposes to call this
MS. L.]
* This MS. was accurately published at Roma
in 1808 by Vereellone and Conn in connection
with their edition of the N. T. portion of the Vat
MS., and from their edition by Tischendorf in his
A/iprndix N. T. Valiemd, 1869. A.
* Pf See above under B (U.) The text of this
palimpsest in the Apocalypse is more valuable than
that of &>. It has just been published by TisoheD-
dorf (1869). A.
89. The number of the cursive H3S. (nu'nwv-
cultt, in existence cannot be accurately calculated.
Tischendorf catalogues about 600 of the Gospels,
300 of the Acts and Catholic Epistles, 350 of the
Pauline Epistles, and a little less than 100 of the
Apocalypse (exclusive of lectionaries); but this
enumeration can only be accepted as ■ rough ap-
proximation. Many of the MSS. quoted are only
known by old references; still more have been " in-
spected " most cursorily ; a few only hare been
thoroughly collated. In this hat work the Ren.
olnalvely that the Braek words are only a tranelatka
of th» Latin title which the scribe round in his Lathi
MB., fat which, as In many others, the apocryphal
epistle as the Lsodlwans was found.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2124
NEW TESTAMENT
F. H. Scrivener (Collation of about 80 MSS. of
Ike Rob/ GotptU, Camb. 1863; Cod. Aug., etc.,
Ounb. 1859) dm labored with the greatest success,
sod removed many common errors as to the char-
acter of the later text. 9 Among the MSS. which
are well known and of great nine the following are
the most important: —
A. Primary Cursives of the Gospels.
1 (Act I.; Paul, i.; BanUam, K. iii. 3).
Saw. x. Very valuable in the Gospels, ('oil. by
Both and Tregelles.
33 (Act. 13; Paul. 17; Paris, Bibl. Imp. 14).
8sc. xi. Coll. by Tregelles.
69 (Coll. Gonv. et Cai. Cambr.). Saw. xii. CoU.
ty Scrivener, 1860, but as yet unpublished.
69 (Act. 31; Paul. 87; Apoc.14; Cod. Leicet-
trmsit). Saw. xiv. The text of the Gospels is
especially valuaHe. Coll. by Treg. 1853, and by
Seriv. 1856, who published his collation in Cod.
Aug. etc, 1859.
118 (Bodleian. MiaeeU. 13: Harsh L SI). Sax.
xili. Coll. by Griesbach, Symb. Cril., p. ccii. ff.
184 (Ciesar. Vindob. NesseL 188). Sec xii.
Coll. by Treschow, Alter, Birch.
137 (Cod. Vaticanui, 349). Sec. xi. Coll. by
Birch.
131 (Act 70; Paul. 77; Apoc. 66; Cod. Vati-
canus, 360). Saw. xi. Formerly belonged to Al-
dus Manutius, and was probably used by him iti
his edition. Coll. by Birch.
167 (Cod. Urbino-Vat. 3). Ssec xii. Coll. by
Birch.
318 (Act 65; Paul. 57; Apoc. 33; Caesar.
Vindob. S3). See. xiii. Coll. by Alter.
238, 359 (Moscow, S. Synod. 43, 45). Saw. xi.
CoU. by Matthei.
363, 300 (Paris, Bibl. Imp. 63, 186)
xi. ColL (?) by Scbolz.
346 (Milan, Ambrot. 33). Sac xii. ColL (?)
by Scbob.
So (St Petersburg. PetropoL vl. 470). Sac.
is. CoU. by Muralt (Transition cursive)
c*er, geer, (Lambeth, 1177, 538, Wetstein, 71).
Saw. xii. Coll. by Scrivener.
p» (Brit Mus. Burney SO). Saw. xiii. CoU.
by Scrivener.
w*cr (Cambr. Coll. SS. Trin. B. x. 16). Saw.
xiv. ColL by Scrivener.
To tbesa mutt be added the Evangelistarium
(B M. Burney, 33), marked y*= r , collated by Scriv-
ener.' Plate ii. fig. 4.)
Sac. x,
a Mr. Sarlvener has kindly famished me with the
following snmmsiT of his catalogue of N. T. M88.,
which Is bj xar the most complete and trustworthy
■TauDscatton yet made (Rain Introduction, p. 226) : —
Uncial.
Comlre.
ilospels ....
84
601
act- Usth. Bpp. . .
10
229
Panl
14
368
»»oe.
4
102
KvaocaUstarla . .
68
188
apostates ....
7
66
IMbI . . .
137
1468
Duplicates
already
deducted
82
12
14
64
NEW TESTAMENT
The following are valuable, but need eaten! est
lation:«
13 (Paris, Bib, Imp. 50). ColL 1797. Saw
xii. (Cf. Griesbach, Symb. Crit. i. pp. eUv.-dxvL
88 (Paris, BibL Imp. 73). Saw. xi.
38 (Paris, Bibl. Imp. 379). ColL Schotx.
73 (Brit Mus. Hart. 6647). Saw. xL
106 (Cod. Winchelsea). Saw. x. Coll. Jacksoa
(used by Wetstein), 1748.
113, 114 (B M. Harl. 1810, 6640).
126 (Cod. Guelpherbytanus, xvt 16). Saw. xL
130 (Cod. Vaticanus, 369). Saw. xiii.
209 (Act 96; Paul. 138; Apoc 46; Venice.
BibL S. Maroi 10). Saw. xv. The text of tht
Gospels is especially valuable.
325 (Vienna, BibL Imp. KoUar. 9, Forbs. 31>
Ssec. xii.
872, 382 (Borne, Vatican. 1161, 9070). Sew
xr., xiii.
405, 408, 409 (Venice, S. Maroi, 1. 10, 14, 16)
Saw. xi., xii.
B. Primary Cursives of the Acts and Catholic
Epistles.
13=Gosp. 83, Paul. 17.
31 = Gosp. 69 (Codex Lace*trem*$).
66 = Gosp. 218.
73 (Panl. 80. Vatican. 867). Saw. xL Col
by Birch.
96, 96 (Venet 10, 11). Saw. xiv. xi. Coll. by
Rinck.
180 (Argentor. Bibl. Sem. M). CoU by
Arrndt
lo«=D"cr 61 (Tregelles), (Brit Mus. Add.
20,003). Saw. xi. CoU. by Scrivener.
. **r (Lambeth, 1188). Ssec. xU. CoU. by
Scrivener.
c*» (Lambeth, 1184). CoU. Sanderson ap.
Scrivener.
The following are valuable, but require mon
careful coUation.
5 (Paris, Bibl. Imp. 106).
85, 37 (Paul. 81, Apoc. 7; Paul. 33. Brit Mas.
Harl. 5537, 5630). Cf. Griesbach, Symb. Cril.
U. 184, 185.
39 (Paul. 85, Genev. 30). Ssec xi., xtt.
36 (CoU. Nov. Oxon.).
40 (Paul. 46, Apoc 12, Alex. Vatican. 179).
Saw. xi. CoU. by ZacagnL
66 (Paul. 67).
68 (PauL 78, Upsal). Saw. xii., xi.
69 (Paul. 74, Apoc 80, Gudph. xvi. 7). Sam
xiv., xiii.
81 (Barberini, 377). Saw. xi.
187 (Milan, Ambrot. 97). Saw. xi., CoU. by
Scholx.
143 (Mutinensis, 343). Saw. xU.«
» The rending! marked 102 (Matt. xxlv.-Msrk vtll
1) which were taken by Wetstein fron* the margin of
a printed copy, and said to have been derived from a
Medlcean M8., cannot have been derived from any
other source than an imperfect co lla t ion of B. I have
noticed 86 places in which It is quoted In 8t Mark,
and In every one, except 11. 22, it agrees with B. la
Bt Matthew it Is noticed as agreeing with B 70 tunes,
while It differs from It 6 tunes. These fcw variations
are not difficult of explanation.
e It Is to be hoped that scholars may enmWne te
accomplish complete collations of the MSS. given la
these lists. One or two summer vacations, vM
proper cooperation, might accomplish the work.
d Three other Mf»., contenting the Oelhorel "
Digitized by VjOOQlC
I. Brit. Km.— Hp.m> pj j
noTOYiHitvtKvrM&MrtHYnHko
*£-*y IBAMii-Orf.Ata.-'iatMitU)
fCl7 M A fXTtrl MOXOrOCKAlOAOfflMN
Tl f OCTO NONKAI eC M NOX O TO C •
Oy-roC HHeNApCHllfOCTON6H
rrxKi-r^A. i vyrovereMeroi <j»uc«»
pe i c KYTOve re m eToov^e e m-
OrerON6NeNAVTU)«WHHM
KJk i M Z OL> H H MT"0<b CAf CT CUM*r4**»**
KA|TOd>U)CeNTHCKOTix6*l
Me I KATMCKOTlAAYTOOYlW'e
& BkU. Mm— Aid. 17, 211. —(St Lata n. 9, Itt)
UN
t£ yceN
LVOTo
recup
K'AlJfrie
see n^po
5KA NoYc
1<AI Ptu
SPCCIWN9 OF (WEEK MSS. FROM THE 1st TO THE VI th CENT^? by
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEW TESTAMENT
O Primary Cursives in the Pauline Epistles.
17 = Gasp. 33.
87 = Gosp. 89 (Cod Uieatrauu).
07 = Gotp.918.
108, 109= Act 95, 96.
115, 116 (Act. 100, 101, Mosqu. Matt d. f.).
137 (Uoep. 863, Act. 117, Fkrn, BibL Imp. 61).
The following ire valuable, but require more
■refill eoUathn.
8 = Act. 6.
93 (Pub, Colalin. 88). Sac. xi. Deeer. by
afontfaucon.
81 (Brit. Mas. Harl 6,637) =1«". Apoc. Sue.
rifi.
39 (Act S3. Oxford, ColL Lincoln. 9).
48 = Act. 40.
47 (Oxford, Bodleian. Roe 16). Sac xi. [Col-
htted by Tregelles for hie ed. of the Greek Test
Griesb. Symb. VriL L 156 ft*. A.]
56 (Act. 46. Monaeentia).
67 (Act. 66. Vindob. Lambeo. 34). The cor-
rections are especially valuable.
70 (Act. 67. Vindob. Lambec 37)
71 (Vindob. Fork*. 19). Sac. zil
78 (Act 68).
. 80 (A<^ T3. Vatican. 367).
177-8-8 (Mutin.).
D. Primary Cursives of the Apocalypse.
7 = 1" (Act 36. Brit Mus. Harl 5,537).
Saw. xi. ColL by Scrivener.
14 = Gosp. 69 (Cod. Lekulrentit).
31 = C" (Brit Mui. Harl 5,678). Ssee. xv.
CoD. by Scrivener.
NEW TESTAMENT
2126
require notice, not from their tntrinsio worth, but
ban their connection with the controversy on 1 John
w. 7.8.
84 (Gasp. 61, Coll. 83. Trin. Dublin, Codrx Mont-
/ortuauu). Sew. xv., xvi. Tbsra Is no doubt that
tbjs was the Cadiz Britannieus, on the authority of
whfcsh Braamus, according to his promlss, Inserted the
Interpolated words, bt ry ovpa*ip, vanfp, A6yof *a*
wnvpa «Ytof, «<u o&rot oi r. i. i. Kol t. i. oi >i. iv r. y. :
but did not omit, on the same authority (which ex-
actly follows the late latin MSB.), the last clause or
ver. 8, «ol oi to. — tioi*. The page on which the
vetse steads is the only glued page In the volume.
A collation of the MS. has been published by Dr.
Dobbin, London, 1864.
162 (Paul. 200. Vat. Ottob. 298.) Sam. xv. A Oneeo-
Latta MS. It Te e i s , awd rou ovpavov, wanjp, Aoyoc
cai wvrvpa mytor eel oi rout «iv re iv «o-s (Tiegellee,
Harm, p. 217). Sahols says that the MS. contains
« innumerable transpositions," but gives no clear ac-
count of its character.
178 (Paul. 211. Naples, Bibl. Borbon.) Sew. xi.
The Interpolated words, with the articles, and the last
asanas of ver. 8, are given by a second hand (Sao.
set).
Coda Ramanm (110 Oosp.) is a men transcript of
the H. T. of the Oomplutenalan Polyglot, with varia-
tions from Kresmus and Stephens. Oomp. Qriesbaoh,
ay»i». cut. i cbuxi.-cixxxxii.
a The accompanying plates will give a good Idea of
thw different forms of Biblical Ok. MSS. For permis-
sion to take the tracings, from which the engravings
nave been admirably made by Mr. Netberclift, my
sinners thanks are due to Sir P. Madden, K. H. ; and
[ am also mueh Indebted to the other officers of the
MSB. department of the British Mnseum, for the help
vkfch they gave ma fas making Ibsen.
PL I. Re;. L A few lines from the Aoyot JwtraeWr
sTHyaaeiaes (eol. 9, 1. 4, of the edition of Bev. C.
eaatngton), a papyrus of the fires eentary, or not
enath lalar in Mr. Babtugtonl
88 (Vatican. 679). Sao. xiii. ColL by a H.
Alford.
47 (Cod. Dreedeoeis). Sac. xi. ColL by Mat
the'
61 (Paris, Bibl Imp.). ColL by Reich*.
per (Parham, 17). Sac. xi., xfi. Ocfl. bj
Scrivener.
m >cr (Mddlehill)=87. Sac xi., xiL OoD
by Scrivener.
The following an valuable, but require mom
careful collation.
9 (Act 10. Paid. 13. Paris. BibL Imp. 387).
6 (Act 93. PauL 88. Bodleian. Darooc I).
Sac xii., xiii.
11 (Act 39. PauL 48).
18= Act 40.
17, 19 (Ev. 85. Act 14. PauL 18; Aet IT
PauL 31. Paris. Coislin. 199, 905).
98 (Bodleian, Barooc 48).
86 (Vindob. Forioa. 99). Sac sir.
41 (Alex-Vatican. 68). Sao. xiv.
46 = Gosp. 309.
83 (Act 179. PauL 198. Home 911)
30. Having surveyed in outline the history oi
the transmission of the written text, and the chief
characteristics of the MSS.° in which it is pre-
served, we are in a position to consider the extent
and nature of the variations which exist in different
copies. It is impossible to estimate the number
of these exactly, but they cannot be lees than 130,-
000 In all (Scrivener, Introduction, 8), though of
these a very large proportion consist of d if fe r e n ces
adscript after voum is omitted wrongly. It Is In feet
partly hidden under a fibre of the papyrus, but easily
seen from the side. Two characteristic tranesripeural
errors occur in trie psasage : ve> rovrw vpowey for rf
tovtov rpovy, and (by itaclsm, § 81) ewtAovnu lbs
OVMAeWi.
Fig. 2. The opening verses of St. John's Gospel from
the Cod. Alex. The two first lines are rubricated.
The specimen exhibits the common contractions, §C,
ANON, and an example of itaclsm, xwpci'v. The stop
at the end of the fifth line, oiU tv, is only visible in
a strong light, but certainly exisbi there, as in C D L.
etc.
Klg. 8. A very legible specimen of the NItrlan pal.
lmpsest of St Luke. The Uresk letters In the original
are lea defined, and vary variable in dnt : the Syrian
somewhat heavier than in the engraving, which Is on
the whole very faithful. The dark lines show where
the vellum wes folded to form the new book for the
writings of Beverus of Aotioch. The same M3S. con-
tained fragments of the Iliad, edited by Dr. Cureton,
and a piece of Euclid.
Pi. 11. fig. 1. Part of the first column of the famous
Harlelan Evangtlistarium, oolUted by Scrivener. II
Is dated a. s. 996 (Scrivener, Cod. Aug. p. xlvUL).
The letters on this page are all In gold. The initial
letter is illuminated with red and blue. The MS. la a
magnificent example of a service-book.
Kg. 2. Prom TiacbendorFs valuable MS. of the Acts
,61 Tregsllee) It was written a. D. 1044 (Scrivener,
Cod. Aug. uu> ). The specimen contains the Imcma *
Xp 6n ar (xpovor ' and rtvrUorra.
Fig. 8. The beginning of St John, from Ood. 114
of the Gospels rOrleebesh, Bomb. Oil. I. p. exefll.), a
MS. ofthelSthoent
Flg.4. Partofthe beginning of St John, from the
jvery valuable Soanfolutarmm yser (Ser l vener, Cot-
lotion, etc., pp. lxl. ft".). The Initial letter of the
Oospel is a rude illumination. The MS beam a deas
1819 : but Mr Scrivener Justlv 4oubts whsthsr rah)
Ism the hand of the original asrlbe
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2126 SKW TKSTAKKNT
if (polling and isolated aberrations of •Tribes," and
of the remainder comparatively few alteration! an
sufficiently well supported to create reasonable
doubt aa to the final judgment. Probably there
are not more than 1600-2000 placet in which the
true reading is a matter of uncertainty, even if we
Include in thit questions of order, inflexion, and
orthography: the doubtful readings by which the
sense is in any way affected are very much fewer,
and those of dogmatic importance can be easily
numbered.
31. Various readings are due to different causes:
some arose from accidental, others from intentional
alterations of the original text, (i.) Accidental va-
riations or trrnla, are by far the most numerous
stags, and admit of being referred to several obvious
sources, (a) Some are errors of sound. The most
frequent form of this error is called Itndim, a con-
f ision of different varieties of the I-sound, by which
(im, v) w, i, «, «, etc., are constantly interchanged. 6
Other vowel-changes, as of a and a, ov and », etc.,
occur, but less frequently. Very few MSS. are
wholly free from mistakes of this kind, but some
abound in them. As an illustration the following
variants occur in F 2 in Rom. vi. 1-16: 1 iptvpitp;
8 trtptt, ffrei (tVi); 8 ayvottrcu (-t«); 6 tvi-
luufa; 8 nwot&youtp ; 9 aa-oeV^o-m, fret; 11
ifus, \oyt(«xim; 13 rafiocr^irartu; 14 tVral
(-Tf)s 16 ot«; 16 ofSoTai, Orel, vapturrivtTM
(nvptorapiTi), eVrrai, (rwaKovtrat. An instance
of fair doubt as to the true nature of the reading
occurs in ver. 9, where (4jtrap.tr may be an error
for (htroiur, or a real variant.' Other examples
of disputed readings of considerable interest which
involve this consideration of Itacisin are found,
Rom. xii. 2, owrxipLari&otou -9t\ xvi. SO, evp-
rsnfst -at. James iii. 8, <{ 3< (Its). Rom. v 1,
fgwuer, t%oiur (cf. vi. IS). Luke iii. 18, 14;
John jJt. 93; Hebr. vi. 3; James iv. 16 (-rat-fioviJ.tr
-o/itp). Matt, xxrii. 60, itainp, Kcre?. John xv.
4, iulrp, \iirf (cf. 1 John ii. 87). Matt xi. 16,
erepoit, hotpots. Matt xx. IB, *,, «'. 8 Cor.
xil. 1. Sit, Hi. 1 Tim. t. 81, wooVxAno-u',
rpivuXwir. 1 Pet ii. 3, xpnoror t iciptot,
Xpurrht t iripios.
To these may be added such variations as Matt
xxvi. 89, Ac yiwiiita, yippupm. 8 Pet ii. 12,
ypytpptipJpa, yrytptipttpa. Matt i. 18; Luke i.
14, yin-nait, yS-tnt. Matt, xxvii. 35, BdWorrts,
fiaxirrts. 1 Pet ii. 1, <pe6nt, (pint.
82. fJ3) Other variatjons are due to errors of
light. These arise commonly from the confusion
«f similar letters, or from the repetition or omission
of the same letters, or from the recurrence of a
similar ending in consecutive clauses which often
souses one to be passed over when the eye mechan-
loaly returns to the copy (tpaurrixtvtop). To
t h es e may be added the false division of words in
transcribing the text from the continuous uncial
■ The whole amount fa considerably less In number
•w Is found to the espies of other texts, If account
te taken of the number of the MSS. existing. Camp,
fjorton, Gcntuntnrv oftht GorptU. I. p. 191 M.
& * The perpetual Interchange of «* and « (which
wars pronounced alike) should bs partfcohurly noted.
"Ths spsUrag ," says Trsfolles, « has no authority at
id fart, Jjf«t» and txrrm, and
■ran If every MB. should agree to one
i would bo no liberty taken by any who
; ataee these vomts and diphthongs
•en used bxiiscriiBuuiMlT.'" — hund. to tic ftxvawi
Ost.s/tstN. T.,» 61. A.
WKW TKSTAMKNT
writing The uncial letters e, O, C, B, are pas*
liariy liable to confusion, and examples may easil)
be quoted to show how their similarity led to aria-
takes; 1 Tun. iii. 18, OC. eCi 8 Cor. ii. ft, otO
CXfl; Mark iv. 22. CAN, OCAN, OCAN.
The repetition or omission of similar letteti may
be noticed in Matt xxi. 18, EnANArATON,
ETIANAmN. Lake x. 87; Rom. nil. 9; Tit H. 7;
James L 27, ceATTON, CATTON (c£ TJschdf.
ad Horn. xili. 9). Luke vli. 21, EXAPIXATO
BAEI1EIN, EXAPIXATO TO BAEIIEIN. Mark
viii. 17, 2TNIETE, XTNIETE ETI. I-uke it 38,
(ATTH) ATTH TH HPA. Matt xi. 83, KA+AP-
NAOTM MH, KA*APNAOTM H. 1 These. 0.
7, ErENHSHMEN NHniOI, ErENHOHMEN
HniOI. IJike ix. 49, EKBAAAONTA AAI-
MONIA, EKBAAAONTA TA AAIM. Mark dr.
35, nPOCEAenN, nPOEAeON. 8 Cor. iiL
10, OT AEAOHAXTA1, OTAE AEAOBAXTAI
1 I'et iii. 20, AIIAE EAEXETO, AITEH-
EAEXETO [the received text appears to be a mere
conjecture of Erasmus. — A.]. Acts x. 36, TON
AOIX>N AHEXTEIAE, TON AOrON ON AIIEX-
TEIAE. Sometimes this cause of error leads to
further change: 2 Cor. iii. 15, HNIKA AN ANAH-
NflXKHTAI, HNIKA ANAriNOZKETAI/' Ex-
amples of omission from Homoiotekuton occur
John vii. 7 (in T); 1 John ii. 23, iv. 3; Apoc ix.
1, 2, xiv. 1; Matt. v. 20 (O). Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 86-
27, 54 (F„ G,); xv. 15 (Origen). And some have
sought to explain on this principle the »*fenffl from
the best authorities of the disputed clause in Matt.
x. 23, and the entire verses, Luke xvii. 36, Matt.
xxiii. 14.
Instances of false division are found, Mark xr. 8,
ttnrtp -frovrro. Or wupnTovrre. Phil- i. 1, wpr
vio-KoVou, <rbr ivuricirots. Matt xx. 83, SAAou,
iAA' off. Gel I. 9, w0O«fft)K<UMi>, rmimn
liir. Acts xvii. 25, Kara raVra, ceil to wsWsu
In a more complicated example, cpa li (vtrrqssi
'l-qaovr) is changed into trpiar (owrnofcuO in Acts
xiii. 23 ; and the remarkable reading of Latin au-
thorities in 1 Cor. vi. 20 el poriate arose from con-
founding tpa re sad apart. In some places the
true division of the words is still doubtful. 8 Cor.
xii. 19, rette rdVra, to Si s-arra. Acts xvii. 86,
wpoorrraypipovs naipois, wsor Tfraypiron
KtupoAt. In Cod. Aug. (Fi) the false divisions of
the original scribe have been carefully corrected by
a contemporary hand, and the frequency of their
occurrence is an instructive illustration of the cor-
ruption to which the text was exposed from this
source (e. g. in Gal. i. there are 15 such corrections,
and four mistakes, w. 13, 16, 18 are left uncor-
rected). Errors of breathing, though necessarily
more rare, are closely connected with these: Matt
ix. 18, th ixMp, rureAeVsV. John ix. 80, ^»
reeVy, %p revre. Luke vii. 18; Rom. vii. 10:
1 Cor. vii. 19, oStw, «M. Mart xJL 31, oorw.
e The readings an taken from Mr. S uil ia uai * ssV
miiable transcript, [n the same volume Mr. Bartra—
has given valuable s uuus s a les of the ftssjnsuey of the
occurrenes of the dlflsnsit fbrsss of ltacdsm la <
MSS. whleh he has eoUateel
d TtwnmaricabtoreadtnglnMstt. xxvH. 17, 1a*m
Bsssffflsr. seems to have nrtgl sa t sd in that way
YMINBAPABBAN bshsg wrJtSan YMININBAPA*
BAN, and hssM TMINIM, i. «. tpjp TawseV ffs M SS
kavaaiscl.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1. Brit. Mas. — Hart. 5M6. — (St John 5. 1, 2.,
' - r
TArrAfrMj£TnA&v
NApCJlfiNOAO 1
f tfrjn|0(TJH4rt,.
K Al^( ft ML 0A0T0 1 *
nf^wtH'H+nAH
2. Brit. Mm.— Add. 20,003. — (Act* xiii. 18-20.)
'W-tMU'bnc*' ^r»rtCx°4»«-<^ • K*nrf-
ifc g-' fepfc ti bc c<k*Lovtcvr£«ArH*i Horn
3. Brit. Him. — Had. 5540. — (St. John i. 1-3.)
» ?
,_ *» ** * *** 6frj « & 6 » W M^— "
4. Brit. Miu. — Bnrney 22. — (St. John i. 1, 2.)
ofcyoo •ouTO(rHut /
Digitized by VjOOQlC
CPcriUPNS OF GREEK MSS. FROM THE Xth TO THE XIV«h CENTURY.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEW TESTAMENT
There are yet tome other various readings which
ire arron of tight, which do not fall under mo; of
(he heads already noticed: e. y. 9 Pet i. 8, Ma
W(., Suk J<f{n». 9 Cor. v. 10, r« Jio roii o-cJ/w-
ret, to Oca toS o^^aTot." Kom. xil. 13, jynfajt ,
firtlmu. Hebr. ii. 9, x^P"< X°V >T> (')■ •^ m '
the remarkable substitution of mup? for cvely in
Rom. lii. 11 seema to hare been caused by a ftuse
rendering of an unusual contraction. The tame
explanation may alto apply to the variants in 1 for.
U- 1, fuipripity, /utarlip'O*. 1 Tim. i. 4, eucoro-
33. Other variations may be described as errors
uf imprtu'um or meimny. The copyist after read-
ing a sentence from the text before him often failed
to reproduce it exactly. He transposed the words,
or substituted a synonym for some very common
term, or gave a direct personal turn to what was
objective before. Variations of order are the most
frequent, and very commonly the most puzxling
questions of textual criticism. Examples occur in
every page, almost in every Terse of the N. T.
The exchange of synonyms it chiefly confined to a
few words of constant use, to variations between
simple and compound words, or to changes of tense
or number: \4ytiy, ciVfir, fiyai, XoAeir, Matt,
xil. 48, xt. 12, xix. 31; Mark xiv. 31; John xiv.
10, Ac.; tyftpw. tirytlp* Matt. i. 24; iytp8nycu,
brcurrijrm, Matt. xvii. 0; Luke- ix. 22| Ihieiy,
as-cA0tir, t|«A0<u>, Matt. xiv. 25; Luke xxiii.
33; Acts xri. 89; 'I. X., 'Ino-oSs, Xpi<rr6t, i
xifiot, Hebr. UI. 1; 1 Pet v. 10; Col. iii. 17;
Acts xviiL 25, xxL 13; iwt, iwi, ix, Matt. vii. 4;
Mark 1. 26, viii. 81; Kom. xiii. 1, Ac.; ISaxa,
SiSttKa, ttt&iu, Luke x. 19; John vii. 19, xii. 49,
Ac.; dug. tndjiur. Matt til. 8; 1 Pet. ii. 1; Matt,
xxhr. 18. The third form of change to a more
personal exhortation is seen constantly in the Kpis-
tles in the substitution of the pronoun of the first
person (4/i««) for that of the second (&fu?t): 1
Pet 1. 4, 10, 13, Ac. To these changes may be
added the insertion of pronouns of reference
(airris, etc.): Matt. vi. 4, xxv. 17, Ac.; /laffrjro/.
ftaSifTai avrov, Matt xxvi. 38, 46, 66, xxvii. 64,
Ac. ; wvrfip, Tarfip am John vl. 66, viii. 28, Ac.
And it may lie doubtful whether the constant
insertion of connecting particles teal, 81, yip, olr,
i* not at much due to an unconscious instinct to
supply natural links in the narrative or argument,
as to an intentional effort to give greater clearness
to the text Sometimes the impression it more
purely mechanical, at when the copyist repeats a
termination incorrectly: Apoc. xi. 9 ((.'); 1 Thess.
v. 4(7): 9 Pet iii. 7 (?).»
34. (H.) Of intentional changes some affect the
re p ression, others the substance of the passage,
(a-) The intentional changes in. language are partly
cliinget of Hellenistic forms for those in common
use, and partly modifications of harsh construc-
tions. These may in many cases hare been made
aneoiudoualy, just as might be the case if any one
now were to transcribe rapidly one of the original
MS. pages of Milton; but more commonly the
later scribe would eorrect at mere blunders dialectic
pecuttaritiet which were wholly strange to him.
Thus the forma rtaatpaKarra, ipauvar, ixaBt-
»(•*•, Xtyltar, etc., ijAau, twtaa, etc., and the
• Df I similar change Athauaslus ( IM Incarn.
(rH, 6) and others gin In Wlad. U. 28, *aV «U*Va
•U film t tl itrsrsi fcr lbs reading rrc IMn ih&rtm.
» II was ease i sully by a ataaOar error (Tragellas.
NEW TESTAMENT 212l
irregular constructions of Or, Stop, are removal!
almost without exception from all but a few MSB.
Imperfect constructions are completed in different
ways: Mark vii. 2, add. ifii/u^iarro, or tcariyvw
any; Rom. i. 32, add. owe iy6i)<rcw, etc.; 1 Cor
viii. 4, <idl. e7{o<r8ou ; 1 Cor. x. 24, odd. inaarai
Apparent tolecitmt are corrected: Matt. v. 98,
ainris for avrr/y; xr. 32, rifiipas for iiuSpai; Heb>
it. 3, avyictKtpcuriiiym for -ptyovt. Ine Apoca-
lypse has suffered especially from this grammatical
reriaion, owing to the extreme boldness of the rod*
Hebraizing dialect in which it is written: t. y.
Apoc. ir. 1, 8, vi. 11, xi. 4, xxi. 14, Ac. Varia-
tions in the orthography of proper names ought
probably to be placed under this head, and in soma
cases it is perhaps impossible to determine tat)
original form ('IoxaeiaWiif, 'laKapt&t, jitapi&t,
Na(af>i, -t$, -at, -or, -er).
35. (3.) The changes introduced into the tub-
stance of the text are generally additions, borrowed
either from parallel passages or from marginal
glosses. The first kind of addition it particularly
frequent in tbe Gospels, where, however, it is often
very difficult to determine how far the parallelism
of two paasages may have been carried in the
original text Instances of unquestionable inter-
polation occur: Luke iv. 8, xi. 4; Matt i. 96, v.
44, via. 13, xxvii. 36 (49); Mark xr. 28; Matt
xix. 17 (compare Acts ix. 5, 6, xxii. 7, xxvi. 14).
Similar interpolations occur also in other books:
Col. i. 14; 1 Pet i. 17; Jude 16 (Rom. xvL 27);
Apoc. xx. 3; and this is especially the case in
quotations from the LXX., which are constantly
brought into exact harmony with the original text:
Luke ir. 18, 19, xix. 46; Matt xii. 44, xr. 8; Heb.
ii. 7, xii. 20.
Glosses are of more partial occurrence. Of all
Greek MSS. Cud. Baa (D) is the most remarkable
fur the variety and singularity of the glosses which
it contains. Examples of these may be seen : Matt
xx. 28; Luke r. 6, xxii. 86-38; Acta i. 6, xiv. 2.
In ten verses of the Acts, taken at random, the fol-
lowing glosses occur: Acts xii. 1, «f rp 'IevSaia ;
3, f) twix*tpv<rtt M Teas wioroot ; 6, roAA^ Si
rpocrtvyii $r Ir ixrtyela wept oaref < 7, (Verrw
rip Tlirptp; 10, Karlfirioay robt C JSaOuatfs.
Some simple explanatory glosses have pasted into
the common text: Matt. vi. 1, sVuti/uo-wnu' for
ZiKctoeivTir; Mark vii. 6, avlrrois for minus;
Matt. r. 11, iftvSoptrot: eomp. John t. 4 (Luke
xxii. 43, 44)
36. (y.) Many of the gloeses which were intro-
duced into the text spring from tbe ecclesiastical
use of tbe N. T., just ss in the Gospels of our own
Prayer-book Introductory clauses hare been inserted
here and there («. y. 3d and 4th Sundays after
Kaster: "Jesus said to his disciples"). These
additions are commonly notes of person or phot :
Matt ir. 18, xii. 95, Ac, 6 'Iiprovi inserted, John
xiv. 1, koI el-riy rott uaBtfratt aarea. Acta Hi.
11, xxviii. 1 (of. Mill, Prolegg. 1065-66). Some-
times an emphatic olauee it added: Matt. xiii. 83,
xxv. 9B} Mark vii. 16; Luke viii. 16, xil. 81, i
lx» sVra it. t. A., Luke xiv. 34, roKXo) yip
t'urty a-Airro( *. T. A. But the most remarkable
liturgical insertion is the doxology in the Lord's
Prayer, Matt vi. 13; and it is probable that the
Harm*. Iv. 927) that, In the A. T. of Hebr. x. 28, "tat
proftnrioa of oar faith" stands fcr "the pwttstton
of our Asps." The fame* la towna In no doeaawnt
whatever
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2128
NEW TESTAMENT
Interpolated vine (Act* viii. 37) is due to a similar
cause. An instructive example of the growth of
such an addition may be aeen in the readings of
Luke L 65, aa given in the text of the Gospel and
In the collections of ecclesiastical hymns.
37. (J.) Sometimes, though rarely, various read-
ings noted on the margin are incorporated in the
text, though this may be reckoned as the effect of
ignorance rather than design. Signal examples
of this confusion occur: Matt. xvii. 26, xxvi. 69,
60 (D); Rom. vi. 12. Other instances are found,
Matt. t. 10; Rom. xiv. 9; 2 Cor. i. 10; 1 Pet.
lii. 8.
38. («.) The number of readings which seem to
have been altered for distinctly dogmatic reasons is
extremely small. In spite of the great revolutions
in thought, feeling, and practice through which the
Christian Church passed in fifteen centuries, the
copyists of the N. T. faithfully preserved, according
to their ability, the sacred trust committed to
them. There is not any trace of intentional re-
vision designed to give support to current opinions
(Matt. xvii. 21 ; Hark ix. 29; 1 Cor. vii. 6, need
scarcely l« noticed). The utmost that can be
urged is that internal considerations may have
decided the choice of readings: Acts ivi. 7, xx.
28: Rom. v. 14; 1 Cor. xv. 51; 2 Co. v.7; 1 11m.
iii. 18; 1 John v. 7, in Latin copies; (Rom. viii.
1 1 1. And in some cases a feeling of reverence may
have led to a change in expression, or to the intro-
duction of a modifying clause: Luke ii. 33, 'Iwrfja)
for 6 mriip airrov; ii. 43, 'Ixaiif «al y \J\Tt\f
abrov for ol yoptts' avrovl John vii. 89, othnt yap
»}» ■mv/ia ScSousW: Acts xix. 2 (l>); Gal. ii.
6; Mark xiii. 32, cm. oM t mis (cf. Matt. xxiv.
36); Matt. v. 22, add. «VJj: 1 Cor. xi. 29, add.
kn#m* (I-uka xiii. 43, 44, am.).
But the general effect of these variations is
scarcely appreciable; nor are the corrections of
assumed historical and geographical errors much
more numerous: Matt. i. 11, viii. 28, r(p7«n)v«v;
xxiii. 36, am. ulov Biwax'ov; xzvii. 9, vm. 'Up*-
liiov, or Zaxcuilov; Mark i. 2, <V rots irpo^j-
toii for i, 'H<r. rj wo.; ii. 28, ma. M "Afl.
aVxispfot; John i. 28, Bqfa/tapf ; v. 2, wis* 8/
for tori 6V; vii. 8, ofnro for obx (?); viii. 57,
reccrcpdjcorra for wcrr^irorra: xix. 14, &pa if*
4s rplTW for iirrn ; Acts xiii. 33, r«7 tttrripy for
Ttf wastry.
89. It will be obvious from an examination of
the instances quoted that the great mass of various
leadings are simply variations in form. There are,
liowever, one or two greater variations of a different
character. The most important of these are John
vii. 63 -viii. 12; Mark xvi. 9 -end; Rom. xv
« The history and characteristics of the Versions
ire discussed elsewhere. It may be useful to add a
short table of the Fathers whose works are of the
greatest Importance for the history of the text. Those
sf the flrst rank aro marked by [small] capitals ; the
lavtlo Fathers by UaUn.
NEW TESTAMENT
26-27. The first stands quite by itself; and then
seems to be little doubt that it contains an authen-
tic narrative, but not by the hand of St. John
The two others, taken in connection with the hud
chapter of St. John's Gospel, suggest the possi-
bility that the apostolic writings may have under
gone in some cases authoritative revision r a sup-
position which does not in any way affect theii
canonical claims: but it would be impossible tc
enter upon the details of such a questioi here.
40. Manuscripts, it must be remembered, are
but one of the three sources of textual criticism.
The versions and patristic quotations are scarcely
less important in doubtflil cases. But the texts
of the versions and the Fathers were themselves
liable to corruption, and careful revision is nttct-
sary before they can be used with confidence.
These considerations will sufficiently show bow
intricate a problem it is to determine the text of
the N. T., where " there is a mystery in the very
order of the words," and what a vast amount of
materials the critic must have st his ootuntanca
before be can offer a satisfactory solution. It
remains to inquire next whether the Ant editors
of the printed text had such materials, or wen
competent to make use of them.
II. This History ok thx Printed Text.
1. The history of the printed text of the N. T.
may be divided into threo periods. The first of
these extends from the labors of the Complutensiau
editors to those of Mill : the second from Mill to
Scholz: the third from Lacuniami to the present
time. The criticism of the first period was neces-
sarily tentative and partial: the materials available
for the construction of the text were few, and im-
perfectly known : the relative value of various wit-
nesses was as yet undetermined ; and however highly
we may rate the scholarship of Erasmus or Boa,
this could not supersede the teaching of long expe-
rience in the sacred writings any more than in the
writings of classical authors. The second period
marks a great progress : the evidence of MSS., of
versions, of Fathers, was collected with the greatest
diligence and success: authorities were compared
and classified : principles of observation and judg-
ment were laid down. But the influence of the
former period still lingered. The old >' received "
text was supposed to have some prescriptive right
in virtue of its prior publication, and not on the
ground of its merits: this was assumed ss ths
copy which waa to be corrected only so far as was
absolutely necessary. The third period was intro-
duced by the declaration of a new and sounder
law. It was laid down that no right of posses-
Jusuous M., c. 108-168.
Ixmaroi, e. 120-190.
trenai Uunpra. e. 180.
TUXTVLLIANOS (Mar-
don), e. 180-240.
Uucunts Alix., t c. 220.
Jajsnas, 136-268.
bappolytus.
Crrm tAirca, t 247.
Masushts Alex., t 285.
IVtrus Alex., t 818.
Methodius, * e. 811.
Eusxsms Casus.. 284-840.
Anuiusios. 296-878.
Cvrillus Hierosol., 816-
886.
LVOIFMK, t 870.
Kphraem Byros, t 878.
Basoios aUawos, 829-879.
Himmoxymdm, 840-420.
Awtrmivi, 840-897.
AMBROSIAHTXR,C.SeO-
VielorimUy c. 880.
Custsostomos, 847-407.
Didtkus, t 896.
Kmfhuius, t 402.
Jbyhuis, o. 846-410.
AuecsTMVB, 864-480.
Theodoras slops., t 429.
Ciamos Alix., t 444.
Hilaritu, t 449 [8881.
Theodorstus, 898-468.
a • Mr. Weateott baa ben Inadvertantly con lun iisTsS
Tbeophyhwttu slmoeatta, wheae written am of no I)
fence In textual criucbm, with the celebrated Orsak
mentetoe Tbeopbylaet, e. 1077.
Euthsllus, c. 460.
Cauiodonin, c 468-686.
Victor Annochenos.
Thsophylactus, t c. (8S.«
Aitosau (Apoo.l, e. 686-
700.
PrimaMiia ( Apoc. ). [e. 660.
Johannes Dsmasoanus, t
0.766.
(Beunienius, e. 960.
Kuthymius, e. 1100.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEW TESTAMENT i
(km eouM be pleaded against evidence. The " re-
•eived " text, as stick, m allowed ito weight
whatever. Its authority, on this Mew, mu> depend
solely on iU critical worth. From first to last, iti
minute details of order and orthography, as well
a* in graver questions of substantial alteration, the
text most be formed by a free and unfettered judg-
ment. Variety of opinions may exist as to the
true method and range of inquiry, as to the rela-
tivn importance of different forms of testimony:
all '.hat is claimed is to rest the letter of the N.
T. .oinpkstely and avowedly on a critical and not
on a conventional basis. This principle, which
"tee as, indeed, to be an axiom, can only lie called
!n question by supposing that in the first instance
fib* printed text of the N. T. was guarded from
the errors and imperfections which attended the
eaily editions of every classical text; and next that
the laws of evidence which hold good everywhere
else fail in the very ease where they might be
expected to And their noblest and most fruitful
application — suppositions which are refuted by the
whole history of the Bible. Kach of these periods
will now require to be noticed more in detail.
(i.) From the Compluitruian Poh/t/lott to Mill
2. The Complutentitn Puli/gtott. — The Latin
Vulgate and the Hebrew text of the O. T. had
been published some time before any part of the
original Greek of the N. T. The Hebrew text was
exiled for by numerout and wealthy Jewish con ■
gregations (Soneino, 1482-88), the Vulgate satis-
fied ecclesiastical wants ; and the few Greek scholars
who lived at the close of the loth century were
hardly likely to hasten the printing of the Greek
lastament Yet the critical study of the Greek
text had not been wholly neglected. Ijiurentius
Valla, who was second to none of the scholars of
his age (eomp. Russell's Life of Bp. Awlrewes, pp.
183-310, quoted by Scrivener), quotes in one place
(Matt. xxviL 13) three, and in another (John vii.
49), seven Greek MSS. in his commentaries on the
Nf. T., which were published in 1505, nearly half
s eentory after his death (Michaelis, lntro.1. ed.
Harsh, ii. 839, 340). J. Kaber (1512) made use of
five Greek MSS. of St Paul's Epistles (Michaelis,
p. 410. Meanwhile the Greek Psalter had been pub-
lished several times (first at Milan, 1481 ?), and the
Hymns of Zacharuis and the Virgin (Luke i. 42-
56, 88-80) were appended to a Venetian edition of
I486, as frequently happens in MS. Psalters. This
was the first part of the N. T. which was printed
in Greek. Eighteen years afterwards (1601), the
first six chapters of St. John's Gospel were added
to an edition of the poems of Gregory of Naxian-
ras, published by Aldus (Guericke, EM. § 41).
NEW TESTAMENT
2129
• " Teetarl possamus. Pater sanetliwlme [«. t. Leo
X.}. Dasahnaili laboris nostri partem ia eo pneclpoe
ftstne venatam ut . . . . easttgatlaslma omnl ex parte
vecusuavhnaqae exemplar!* pro archetjrpis haberemus
qnoram qaldem tain Hebneorum quam Qnecortun ac
lAtiooratn muldpUeem copuun varlis ex loda non trine
snmmo labor* eonqui*irlmus. Atqne ex ipsls qnjdem
Orsna Sancrltatl tuas debemiu : qui ex lata ApostoUea
WUiotbaea anaquiaBunos turn Valeria turn Nori Tes-
MeUees perquam homane ad ncs misled ; qui
m hoe n*gook> nuudmo fuemnt adjunwnto "
(rrel. in. ay And again, torn. v. Put/. : « Hind lec-
tarata non latest non quarrls exetnpiwia lmp t ess l oni
hole arehetypa folsse, sed aotiqtusauna emeodarleslma-
aoaae tanue pia s lei ea retustana ut Adam els abrogan
■seas vfcteatur (rpoc ftvowoAev «twu nwapmwmy val
ts»V n < , sU\ qua* sanettsrkniia In Obnsso pate- <t
134
But the glory of printing the first Greek Testament
is due to the princely Cardinal Ximk.ies. This
great prelate as early as 1502 engaged the services
of a number of scholars to superintend an edition
of the whole Bible in the original Hebrew and
Greek, with the addition of the Chaldee Targum
of Onkelos, the LXX. version, and the Vulgate
The work was executed at Alcala (Complutum),
where he had founded a university. The volume
containing the N. T. was printed first, and was com-
pleted on January 10, 1514. The whole work was
not finished till July 10, 1517, about four months
before the death of the Cardinal. Various obsta-
cles still delayed its publication, and it was not gen-
erally circulated till 1528, though Leo X. (to whom
it was dedicated ) authorized the publication March
22, 1520 (Tregelles, UitL of Ptintcd Text of If
T.; MUL ProUgg.).
The most celebrated men who were engaged on
the N. T., which forms the fifth volume of the en-
tire work, were Lebrixa (Nebrissensis) and Stunica.
Considerable discussion has been raised as to the
MSS. which they used. The editors describe these
generally as " copies of the greatest accuracy and
antiquity," sent from the Papal Library at Home;
and in the dedication to Leo acknowledgment is made
of his generosity in sending MSS. of both >< the Old
and N. T." a Very little time, however, could have
been given to the examination of the Roman MSS.
of the N. T, as somewhat less than eleven months
elapsed between the election of Leo and the com-
pletion of the Complutensian Testament ; and it U
remarkable that while an entry is preserved in the
Vatican of the loan and return of two MSS. of parte
of the LXX., there is no trace of the transmission
of any N. T. MS. to Alcala (Tiachd. .V. 7 Isuit.
p. Ixxxii. n. ). The whole question, however, u now
rather of bibliographical than of critical interest.
There can be no doubt that the copies, from what-
ever source they came, were of late date, and of the
common type.* The preference which the editors
avow for the Vulgate, placing it in the centre column
in the O. T. " between the Synagogue and the East-
ern Church, tatiquam duos nine et inde latrones,"
to quote the well-known and startling words of the
preface, " medium autem Jesum hoe est, Romanant
sive I-atinam ecclesiam " (vol. i. f. iii. b.), has sub-
jected them to the charge of altering the Greek text
to suit the Vulgate. But except in the famous inter
notation and omission in 1 John v. 7, 8, and some
points of orthography (Bif\(e$oifi, BeAioA,
Tischdf. p. lxxxiii.), the charge is unfounded
(Marsh, on Michaelis ii. p. 851, gives the literature
of the controversy). The impression was limited
to six hundred copies, and as, owing to the delays
Lao X. pontllex miliums hole insti-
tute rarer* enplane ex ApostoUea BlbUotheca educta
must."
b On* MS. Is specially appealed to by Stunica In bin
con tro versy with Erasmus, the Corf. Rhoditnsii, but
nothing Is known of it wbtoh ean lead to Its ldantln-
oatfon. The famous story of the destruction of M8S.
by the lire-work maker, as useless parchments, has
been fully and clearly refuted. All the MSS. of XI-
menee which were used lor the Polyglot* are now at
Madrid, but then Is no MS. of any part of the Ok
Test, among them (Tregelles, Hist, of Printed' IVzt.
pp. 13-18). The edition has many readings In common
.with the Landiaa MS. numbered 61 Gtosp., 83 Aeta, St
Paul (Mill. Pnkf. 1030, 1489-88). Many nf the reeu,
liar readings an collected by MU1 (Probe;. 1033-1 kW
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2130
NEW TESTAMENT
whlrh occurred between the printing and publica-
tion of the book, its appearance was forestalled bj
that of the edition of Erasmus, the Complutenaian
N. T. exercised comparatively small influence on
later tents, except in the Apocalypse (comp. § 3).
The chief editions which follow it in the main, are
those of Piantin, Antwerp, 1664-1612 ; Geneva,
1609-1632; Mainz, 1753 (Heuas, Vetch. d.N. T.
i 401 ; Le Long, Biblioth. &icra, ed. Mascb. i. 191-
195); Hill regretted that it was not accepted as
the standard text (Pivlcg. 1115); and has given
a long list of passages in which it offers, in his
opinion, better readings than the Stephanie or El-
sevirian texts (Proieg. 1098-1114).
8. Tht editiont of Eratmut. — The history of
the edition of Erasmus, which was the first pub-
tithed edition of the N. T., is happily free from all
obscurity. Erasmus had paid considerable attention
to the study of the N. T. when he received an ap-
plication from Froben, a printer of Basle with whom
he was acquainted, to prepare a Greek text for the
press. Froben was anxious to anticipate the pub-
lication of the Complutenaian edition, and the haste
with which the work of Erasmus was completed,
shows that little consideration was paid to the exi-
gencies of textual criticism. The request was made
on April 17, 1515, while Erasmus was in England.
The details of the printing were not settled in Sep-
tember in the same year, and the whole work was
finished in February, 1616 (TregeUes, But. of
Primed Text, 19, 20). The work, as Erasmus
afterwards confessed, was done in reckless haste
("pnecipitatumTeriusquameditum." Comp. Epp.
r. 26; xii. 19), and that too in the midst of other
heavy literary labors (Ep. i. 7. Comp. Wetstein,
Prokgg. pp. 166-67).<" The MS8. which formed
the basis of his edition are still, with one exception,
preserved st Basle; and two which he used for the
press contain the corrections of Erasmus and the
printer's marks (Michaelis, ii. 220, 221). The one
is a MS. of the Gospels of the 16th century of the
ordinary late type (marked 2 Gosp. in the cata-
logues of MSS. since Wetstein ) : the other a MS.
of the Acts snd the Epistles (2 Acts, Epp.), some-
what older, but of the same general character.*
Erasmus also made some use of two other Basle
MSS. (1 Gosp.; 4 Acta, Epp.); the former of these
is of great value, but the important variations from
NEW TESTAMENT
1 the common text which it offers, made him stupes!
' that it had been altered from the Lathi.* For th*
Apocalypse he had only an imperfect MS. which
belonged to Reuchlin rf The last six verses wets
wanting, and these he translated from the Latin,*
a process which he adopted in other places where it
was less excusable. The received text contains two
memorable instances of this bold interpolation.
The one is Acta viii. 37. which Erasmus, ss he says,
found written in the msrgin of a Greek MS. though
it was wanting in that which he used : the other is
Acta ix. 5. 6, craArjooV <roi — ayixrrifii for oAAa
a>d7rr»0<, which has been found as yet in co
Greek MS. whatsoever, though it is still perpet-
uated on the ground of Erasmus' conjecture. But
be did not insert the testimony of the heavenly wit-
nesses (1 John v. 7), an act of critical faithfulness
which exposed him to the attacks of enemies. Among
these was Stunica — his rival editor — and when
argument foiled to silence calumny, he promised to
insert the words in question 6n the authority of
any one Greek MS. The edition of Erasmus, like
the Complutensian, was dedicated to l.eo X. ; and
it is a noble trait of the generosity of Cardinal Xi-
uienes, that when Stunica wished to disparage the
work of Erasmus which robbed him of bis well-
earned honor, he checked him in the words of
Moses, " I would that all might thus prophesy,"
Num. xi. 29 (Tregelles, p. 19). After his first edi-
tion was published Erasmus continued his labors on
the N. T. (Ep. iii. 31); and in March, 1519, a second
edition appeared which was altered in about 400
places, of which Mill reckons that 330 were im-
provements (Prokgg. § 1134). But his chief labor
seems to have been spent upon the Latin version,
and in exposing the "solecisms" of the common
Vulgate, the value of which be completely misun-
derstood (comp. Mill, PruUgg. 1 124-1183)./' These
two editions consisted of 3,400 copies, and a third
edition was required in 1622, when the Complu-
tensian Polyglott also came into circulation. In
this edition 1 John v. 7 was inserted for the first
time, according to the promise of Erasmus, on the
authority of the " Codex Britannicua " (i. e. Cod.
Montfortianus), in a form which obviously betrays
its origin as a clumsy translation from the Vulgate
(" ne cui foret causa calumniandi," Apui. ml Btwau-
cam, ad loc.).» The text was altered in about 118
a a marvelous proof of baste occur* on the title-
page, In which he quotes « Vulgsrlus " among the
chief lathers whose authority be followed. The tiaine
was formed from the title of the see of Theophylaxt
(Bulgaria), and Theophylsot was converted into an
epithet. This « Vulgsrlus " Is quoted on Lake xl. 85,
and the name remained unchanged in subsequent
editions (Wetstein, Proieg. 169).
b According to Hill (ProUg, 1120), Erasmus altered
the text In a little mors than fifty places In the Acts,
and in about two hundred places In the Epistles, of
which changes ail bat about forty were improvements.
Specimens of the corrections on the margin of the MS.
an given by Wetstein (Proieg. p. 68, ed. Lotas). Of
these several were simply on the authority of the Vul-
gate, one of which (Matt ii. 11, rfpov for ttter) baa
retained its plsce in the received text.
« The reading in the received text, Hark vi. 16,4
it etc tm> aaeehrmv, in place of Ac «Ic t»» waewataV,
Is a change Introduced by Erasmus on the authority
of this MS., which has been supported by tome alight
additional evidence since. Mill (Proieg. f *, 1117, 18)
I the* Erasmus used the uncial Bask M8. of toe
■ (Ik " correcting it lightly In about sixty -eight
plsce*, wrongly In about dfty seven." This opinion
has been refuted by Wetstein (Pwleg. p. 50). The
MSS. wss not then st Basis : " Hires codex Basileeosi
Acsdemue dono datus est anno 1669 " (Lotss ad Wet-
stein, /. «.).
d • This MS. has been recently discovered by I.
DeHtxech snd carefully collated with the text of Eras-
mus, who, It appears, did not use the HS. itself ibr his
edition of the Apocalypse, but only an Inaccurate tran-
script of It. Sen Delltssch, HandtckrifUidu Finite, 1
Belts, Lttps. 1861-62. A.
» Traces of this unauthorised rotmuslstion remain
In the received text: Apoc. xxii. 16, iptpwie. 17.
tAsV (bis) i i/Mrm i Ao^nWna to. 18. avitfiafmpoiiuu
yoi(>,eir«n#i)»p«tTa»To.l9. icWff 0i0A<ie,«jro0c*Ao»
r. {. Some of these are obvious blunders In rendering
from the Latin, and yet they are consecrated by use.
/ Luther's Qern^n version wss made from this teal
(Benas, (toe*. d. H. S. % 400 [471, 8a Ausg.]) One con-
jecture of Erasmus 1 Pet. ill. 20, £«-«f <{eUxm, sun-
ported by no MS., penned from this edition into las
received text.
a In the course of the controversy on this passage
the Cod. Vatic. B was appealed to (162U Some Teste
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEW TESTAMENT
•ken (Mil, Prolegg. 1138). Of these corrections
18 were borrowed from an edition published at
Venice in the office of Aldus, 1518, which was
taken in the main from the firat edition of Erasmus,
even so as to preserve errors of the press, but yet
differed from it in about 200 places, partly from
error and partly on MS. authority (Mill, § 1129).
This edition is further remarkable as giving a few
(19) various readings. Three other early editions
pre a text formed from the second edition of Eras-
mus and the AkUne, those of [Gerbelius at] Hage-
aau, 153 1, of CephaUeus at Strasburg. 1524, of Bebe-
lios at Basle [1524], 1531. Erasmus at length ob-
tained a copy of the Complutensian text, and in his
fourth edition in 1527, gave some various readings
from it in addition to those which he had already
aoted, and used it to correct his own text in the
Apocalypse in 90 places, while elsewhere he intro-
duced only 16 changes (Mill, 5 1141). His fifth
and last edition (1535) differs only in 4 places from
the fourth, and the fourth edition afterwards be-
came the basis of the received text This, it will
he seen, rested on scanty and late Greek evidence,
without the help of any versions except the Latin,
whieh was itself so deformed in common copies, as
not to show its true character and weight.
4. The edition* <•/ Stephens. — The scene of our
history now changes from Basle to Paris. In 1543,
Simon de Colines (Colin.cus) published a Greek
text of the N. T., corrected in about 150 places on
fresh MS. authority. He was charged by Bexa
with making changes by conjecture; but of the ten
examples quoted by Mill, all but one (Matt, viii.
33, aVcura for wdura) are supported by*MSS., and
bur by the Parisian MS. Reg. 85 (119 Gospp.)."
The edition of Coliiueus does not appear to have
obtained any wide influence. Not long after it ap-
peared, K. Estienne (Stkphahus) published his
first edition (1546), which was based on a collation
NEW TB8TAMENT
2181
alar (1584) 8epulveda describe* the MS. In a letter to
■rasmus, giving a general description of Its agreement
wltn the Vulgate, and a selection of various readings.
In reply to this Erasmus appeals to a supposed fadus
cum Gratis, made at the Council of Florence, 148B, In
accordance with which Greek copies were to be altered
to agree with the Latin ; and argues that B may have
been so altered. When Sepulveda answers that no
such compact was made, Erasmus replies that he had
baud from Cuthbert [Tonstall] or Durham that It was
agreed that the Oreak MSS. should be corrected to
harmonise with the Latin, and took the statement for
granted. Yet on this simple misunderstanding the
credit of the oldest MSS. has been Impugned. The
influence at the Idea In "fadus cum Gratis " has
•arrived all belief m the fact (Tregelles, Home, It. pp.
rr.-xvll.)
• An examination of the readings quoted from
Ooli nana by Mill Shows conclusively that he used Cod.
119 X the Gospels, 10 of the Pauline Epistles (8 of the
Act*, the MS. marked i« by Stephens), and probably
■8 of the Gospels and 5 of the Catholic Epistles. The
readings la 1 Cor. xlv. 2, 1 Pet. v. 2, 2 Pet III. 17,
seam to be mere errors, and are apparently supported
by no authority.
This edition and Its rountarps^* (1549) are known
as the ** O mirificam " edition, from the opening words
af the preface : " mirificam regis nostri opthrl et
pnettantissimi prlndpis Uberautatem," In allusion to
me new font of small Oreak type which the king had
iidsnjii to be eat, and which was now used for the
list time.
"The Oomplatenslan Influence on these editions
ass been over ssrlmstsd. In the last verses of the
of MSS. in the Royal Library with the Comuloten-
aian text 6 He gives no detailed description of the
MSS. which he used, and their character can oalr
be discovered by the quotation of their readings
which is given in the third edition. According to
Mill, tbe text differs from the Complutensian in
581 places, and in 198 of these it follows the last
edition of Erasmus. The former printed texts are
abandoned in only 37 places in favor of the MSS.,
and the Erasmian reading is often preferred to that
supported by all the other Greek authorities with
which Stephens is known to have been acquainted:
t. g. Matt vi. 18, viii. 5, ix. 5, Ac." A second
edition very closely resembling the first both in
form and text, having the same preface and the
same number of pages and lines, was published hi
1549; but the great edition of Stephens is that
known as tbe Regin, published in 1550. d In this
a systematic collection of various readings, amount-
ing, it is said, to 2194 (Mill, § 1227), is given for
the first time; but still no consistent critical use
wss made of them. Of the authorities which he
quoted most have been since identified. They were
the Complutensian text, 10 MSS. of the Gospels,
8 of the Acta, 7 of the Catholic Epistles, 8 of the
Pauline Epistles, 2 of tbe Apocalypse, in all 16
distinct MSS. One of these was the Codex Beta
(I)). Two have not yet been recognised (comp.
Griesbach, N. T. ff. xxiv.-xxxvi.). The collations
were made by his sou Henry Stephens; but they
fail entirely to satisfy the requirements of exact
criticism. The various readings of D alone in the
Gospels and Acts are more than the whole number
given by Stephens; or, to take another example,
while only 598 variants of the Complutensian am
given, Mill calculates that 700 are omitted (Prolegg,
§ 1226).* Nor was the use made of the materials
more satisfactory than their quality. Less than
thirty changes were made on MS. authority (MID,
Apocalypse (§8) they follow what Erasmus supplied
and not any Greek authority " (Trognlles).
c Stephens' own description of his edition cannot
be received literally. n Codices nactl aliquot Ipsa
vetustatts specie pene adorandoe, quorum copUm nobis
bibllotheca regla facile suppeditablt, ex Us lta hune
nostrum rscensulmus, at rtuUam omnirto litteram seeus
esse paiertmw, auam stores iiout metiores libri, tarn-
guam testes, eomprobarent. Adjutl prssterea somas
cum sills (»'. t. Erasml) turn vero Complutenst editions,
quern ad vetustisslmos blbllothecss Leonls X. Pont
codices exeadl Jussentt Hhpsn. Card. Fr. Slmenlus ;
quos cum nostrls mlro consensu sajpisslme convenlre
ex Ipsa collations deprehendlmus " (Pref. edit 1546-9).
In the preface to the third edition, he says that be
used the same 16 copies for these editions as for that
J " Novum Jesd Ohrlstl D. N. Testamentum. Ex
Bibllotheca Regis. Lutetias. Bx officios Robert!
Strphanl typographl regll, rsgils typis. MDL." In
this edition Stephens simply says of his " 16 copies,"
that the first Is the Complutensian edition, the second
( Co'tez Beta) " a most ancient copy, collated by friends
In Italy ; 8-8, 10. 16, copies from the Royal Library ;
eastern sunt eaqme undlqne oorrogare licult" (Pref.).
' * According to Scrivener (Inirod. p. 800), the Com-
platensian differs from Stephens 1 third edition In mora
than 2J0O places, In which It is cited correctly only
i'.i runes, falsely 66 times, and In more than 1,690
places luot Including ltacbms and mere errata) the
variation Is not noted. Scrivener has given In the
same work (pp. 819-868) a full collation of the Own.
plntensisn N. T. with the Hsevir edition of 1624. Tbe
text of the Oomplatenslan has been carefully reprmtai
by Grata. Tubing. 1821, new sd., Meats. 1827. *
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2132
NEW TESTAMENT
1228); and except in the Apocalypse, which follows
tli« Complutensian text moat closely, " it hardly
ever deserts the hut edition of Erasmus " (Tregel-
let). Numerous instances occur in which Stephens
deserts his former text and (iff hit MSS. to restore
an Kntsmian reading. Mill quotes the following
examples among others, which are the most inter-
esting, because they have passed from the Stephanie
text into our A. V.: Matt. ii. 11, tupon for »7Jor
(without the authority of any Greek MS., as far as
1 know, though Scholz says "cum codd. muttit "),
hi. 8, Kctfirobs Hlovt for napwbr &£ioy. Mark vi.
88 add. l £x^°' : "•'"• 8 add. rax». Luke rii. 81
add. (ht 8< i Kvpios. John xir. 80 add. roerov.
Acts r. 23 add. ?(», Rom. ii. 5 om. koL before
iatatonpio-iai. James T. 9, ttarairpitfqrs for
KciKfrt. Prescription as yet occupied the place
of evidence: and it was well that the work of the
textual critic was reserved for a time when he
eould command trustworthy and complete colla-
tions. Stephens published a fourth edition in 16S1
(Geneva), which is only remarkable as giving for
the first time the present division into verses.
6. Tht vlitimt «f Ban and Ekerir. — Nothing
can illustrate more clearly the deficiency among
scholars of the first elements of the textual criticism
of the N. T. than the annotations of Bkxa (1586).
'His great divine obtained from H. Stephens a
copy of the N. T. in which he had noted down
various readings from about twenty-five MSS. and
from the early editions (Cf. Marsh, on Michaelis,
ii. 858-60), but he used the collection rather for
exegetical than for critical purposes. Thus he
pronounced in favor of the obvious interpolations
in Matt. i. 11: John xviii. 13. which have conse-
quently obtained a place in the margin of the A. V.,
and elsewhere maintained readings which, on crit-
« The edition of Bess of 1589 and the third of
Stephens may be regarded as giving the fundamental
Greek text of the A. V. In the following passages in
the Gospels the A. V. diners from Stephens, and agrees
with Besa: —
Matt. ix. 88, om. Jr.. Yet this particle might be
omitted in translation,
ii xxl. 7, hmcoBtvav for forKoeMrtv.
•• xxlU. 18, 14, transposed in Steph.
Hark vi. 29, om. T <f.
•• rill. 24, <w fcvtpa for m « JsVopa.
u Ix. 40, tutir for vimw, " against most 1188."
ss Besa remarks.
Lake I. 85, add i. <™» (not In the 1st sd).
u II. 22, avTTjv for avrSw*
«< x. 22, om. «<u oTfxujxlt— t«t«. Yet given in
marg., and noticed by Bass.
u XT. 26, om. avrov.
« xtU. 86, add verse. The omission noticed in
msrg. snd by Bess,
•i xx. 81, add ui. Bo Bern 1st ed., but not 8d
(by error?)
Mm xlU. 81. ore olv itfjM,. « Against all the old
MSS." (Besa).
u xrlil. 24, add oiy.
la jthrra 11 agrees with Stephens against Besa : —
Matt i 28, ftuAfoovm for soAAmt. The marg.
may be intended to give the other read-
ing.
m XX. 15, «i tor tj.
Mark xvl. 20, add 'Apigv " the end.
John It. 6, iv*ip for Stxap.
John xtU. 20, Tomn for nivratn " So in the
old MSS " (Besa).
In other parts or the N. T. I have noticed the fol-
ewing passages In which the A. V. sgrees with the
■at of Bass's edltioa of 1689 against Stephens (Acts
NEW TESTAMENT
iesl grounds, are wholly indefensible: Matt. b. 17
Mark iii. 16, xvi. 2. The interpolation in Afoe.
xi. 11, col 6 teyytKos tUrHiKti has passed into
the text of the A V. The Greek text of Besa
(dedicated to Queen Elizabeth) was printed by H.
Stephens in 1565, and again in 1576; but his
chief edition was the third, printed in 1582, which
contained readings from the Codices Beat and
Clnromonittmu. The reading followed by the text
of A. V. in Bom. vii. 6 (ivoSaj'oVTot for tWs-
tfarsWes), which is supported by no Greek MS.
or version whatever, is due to this edition. Other
editions by Beza appeared in 1588-89, 1598, and
his (third ) text found a wide currency.' Among
other editions which were wholly or in part based
upon it, those of the Elzevirs alone require to
be noticed. The first of these editions, famoas to
the beauty of their execution, was published at
Leyden in 1624. It Is not known who acted as
editor, but the text is mainly that of the third
edition of Stephens. Including every minute va-
riation in orthography, it diners from this in 278
places (Scrivener, JV. T. Cambr. 1860, p. vi.). In
these cases it generally agrees with Besa, more
rarely it differs from both, either by typographical
errors (Matt. vi. 84, XT. 27; Luke x. 6 add. t, xL
12, xiii. 19 ; John iii. 6) or perhaps by manuscript
authority (Matt. xxiv. 9, obi. tsh>; Luke vii. 12,
viii. 29; John xii. 17, 8Vi). In the second edition
(Leyden, 1633) it was announced that the text was
that which was universally received (Itxtum ergo
Iwbes nunc ab omrribiu rtccptum), and the declara-
tion thus fboldly made was practically fulfilled.
From this time the Elzevirian text was generally
reprinted on the continent, and that of the third
edition of Stephens in England, till quite recent
times. Yet it has been shown that these texts
xtU. 25, xxl. 8, xxil. 25, xxtv. 18, 18; Bom. tH. 6
(note), rill. 11 (note), xll. 11, xvl. 20 ; 1 Cor. V. 11,
xt. 81; 2 Cor. 111. 1, vi. 16, vU 12, 16, xl. 10; OeL L
1 [2?], 24, II. 10 [18?] ; 1 Thess. 11. 16; 2 These. 2. 4;
Tit. U. 10 ; Hebr. Ix. 2 (note) ; James 11. 18 (note), Iv.
18, 16, v. 12; 1 Pet I. 4 (note); 2 Pet. UI. 7; 1 John
1. 4.11. 28 (In Italics), UI. 16; 2 John 8; 8 John 7;
Jude 24 ; Apoe. Ui. 1, v. 11, vU. 2, 10, 14, via. 11, xl.
1, 2, xiil. 8, xlv. 18, xvl. 14, xvH. 4. On the other
hand the A. V. sgrees with Stephens against Bass,
Acts Iv. 27, xvl. 17, xxv. 6 (note), xxvt. 8 ; Bom. v.
17; 1 Cor. 1U. 8, vii. 29. xl. 22, x. 88 (error of press?);
2 Cor. Ui. 14 ; Oat. It. 17 (note); Phil. L 28 ; Tit tt.
7; Hebr. x. 2; 1 Pot U. 21, Ui. 21; 2 Pet U. 12;
Apoc. iv. 10, ix. 6, xU. 14, xlv. 2, xvttl. 6, xix. 1. The
enumeration given by Scrivener 'A Supplement U the
Authorized Version, pp. 7, 8) differs slightly from this,
which Includes a few more passages ; other passages
are doubtful: Acta vU. 26, it. 82, xix. 27 ; 2 Cor. xl.
I, xiU. 4 ; Apoc. Iv. 8, xriii. 16. In other places, Matt
II. 11, x. 10; John [vUl. 6, xll. 26, xrl. 25 A. V. ed.
1811,] xvULl; Acts xxvtt.29; 2 Pet I. 1, they M
low neither. In Jsmes It. 15, ftoopjv sssms to be a
conjecture. [No ; A. V. follows " £d. Bt 2. Wscbet
prob. Krssmo." See Wetsteln. — A.] The additional
notes on readings, Matt 1. 11, xxri. 26 ; Mark ix. 16 ;
Luke 11. 88 ; John xrUl. 18 ; Acts xxv. 6 ; Bph. vL 9 ;
Jsmes U. 18; 2 Pet II. 2, 11, 18; 1 John Ii. 28;
John 8, all come from Besa.
• In the following passsges, Acts xxl. 8 ; Apoe. vU
2, 14, xvU. 4 ; 1 Pet U. 21 (*>&r, few), Apoc. ix. 6.
xU. 14, xlv. 2, xvui. 6, xix. 1, the statements anon
do not apply to vie text of Bess's edition of 1683-8V
In 1 Pet. II. 21 the A. V. follows Bess s ed. of 1181
against Strpheus in adding cat', even. — Mr. Weefteojet*
enumeration Is by no moans complete. A
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEW TESTAMENT
vara substantially formed on lata US. authority,
a-ithout the help of any complete collations or rf
my reading! (except of D) of a first clam MS.,
without a good text of the Vulgate, and without
the assistance of oriental versions. Nothing short
of a miracle could hare produced a critically pure
•tit from such materials and those treated without
say definite system. Yet, to use Bentley's words,
which are not too ttrong, '< the text stood as if an
apostle were R. Stephens' compositor." Habit
hallowed what was commonly used, and the course
of textual polemics contributed not a little to pre-
serve without change the common field on which
controversialists were prepared to engage.
(ii.) From Miiilo ScAofs.— 6. The second period
of toe history of the printed text may be treated
with less detail. It was influenced, more or less,
throughout by the Itxtnt receptut, though the au-
thority of this provisional text was gradually shaken
by the increase of critical materials and the bold
enunciation of principles of revision. The first
important collection of various readings — for that
of Stephens was too imperfect to deserve the name
— was given by Walton in the 6th volume of his
Polyglott. The Syriac, Arabic, .fithiopic, and
Persian versions of the N. T., together with the
readings of Cod. Alex., were printed in the 5th
volume together with the text of Stephens. To
these were added in the 6th the readings collected
hy Stephens, others from an edition by Wechel at
Frankfort (1S97), the readings of the Codiea Btta
and Clnrnmmt, and of fourteen other MSS. which
bad been collated under the care of Archbp. Ussher.
Some of these collations were extremely imperfect
(Scrivener, Cod. Aug. p. lxvii. ; Introduction, p.
148), as appears from later examination, yet it is
not easy to overrate the importance of the exhibi-
tion of the testimony of the oriental versions side
by side with the current Greek text. A few more
MS. readings were given by Cubcell.-kus (de
Coureelles) in an edition published at Amsterdam,
1658, Ac, but the great names of this period con-
tinue to be those of Englishmen. The readings
of the Coptic and Gothic versions were first given
in the edition of (Bp. Fell) Oxford, 1675; ed.
Gregory. 1703 ; but the greatest service which Fell
rendered to -the criticism of the N. T. was the
liberal encouragement which he gave to Mill. The
work of Mill (Oxon. 1707; Amatelod. [also Roter-
od.] ed. Kuster, 1710; other copies hare on the
title-page 1723, 1746, 4a) marks an epoch in the
history of the N. T. text. There is much in it
which will not bear the test of historical inquiry,
much that is imperfect in the materials, much that
h crude and capricious in criticism, but when every
drawback bat been made, the edition remains a
splendid monument of the labors of a life. The
work occupied Mill about thirty years, and was
finished only a fortnight before his death. One
(reat merit of Mill was that he recognized the im-
tortance of each element of critical evidence, the
testimony of MSS. versions ind citations, as well
as internal evidence. In particular be averted the
claims of the Latin version a»-d maintained, against
much opposition, even from his patron Bp. Fell,
ihe great value of patristic quotations. He bad
also a clear view of the necessity of forming a gen.
aval estimate of the character of each authority,
and described in detail those of which he made use.
At the tame time be gave a careful analysis of the
xigin and history of previous texts, a labor which,
•rsn war, bit in many carts not been superseded.
NEW TESTAMENT
2133
But while he pronounced decided judgments on
various readings both in the notes and, without
any reference or plan, in the Prolegomena, he did
not venture to introduce any changes into the
printed text He repeated the Stephanie text of
1550 without any intentional change, and from his
edition this has passed (ss Mill's) into general use
in England. Hit caution, however, could not save
him from Tenement attacks. The charge which
was brought against Walton of unsettling the
sacred text, was renewed against Mill, and, unhap-
pily, found an advocate in Whitby (Examen va-
rumtium leclimum J. MiUii S. T. P. annexed t:
hit Annotations), a man whose genius was worthy
of better things. The 30,000 various readings
which he was said to have collected formed a com-
mon-place with the assailants of the Bible (Bentley,
Remirkt, iii. 348-358, ed. Dyce). But the work
of Mill silently produced fruit both in England and
Germany. Men grew familiar with the problems
of textual criticism and were thus prepared to meat
them fairly.
7. Among those who hsd known and valued
Mill was K. Bkstlky, the greatest of English
scholars. In his earliest work ( Kpitl. ad J. MU-
fium, ii. 363, ed. Dyce), in lfi'Jl, Bentley bad
expressed generous admiration of the labors of
Mill, and afterwards, in 1713, in hit Remirkt,
triumphantly refuted the charges of impiety with
which they were assailed. But Mill had only
" accumulated various readings as a promptuary to
the judicious and critical reader; " Bentley would
■' make use of that promptuary and not
leave the reader in doubt and suspense" (Answer
to Rrmarkt, iii. 503). With this view he an-
nounced, in 1716, hit intention of publishing an
edition of the Greek Testament on the authority
of the oldest Greek and Latin MS., '■ exactly as it
was in the best examples at the time of the Council
of Nice, so that there (.hall not be twenty words
nor even particles' difference " (iii. 477 to Archbp.
Wake). Collations were shortly afterwards under-
taken both at Paris (including C) and Rome (B),
and Bentley himself spared neither labor nor
money. In 1720 he published his I*roposala and
a Specimen (Apoc. xxii.). In this notice he an-
nounces his design of publishing " a new edition
of the Greek and Latin .... as represented in
the most ancient and venerable MSS. in Greek
and Roman (?) capital letters." In this way "he
believes that he has retrieved (except in a very
few places) tbe true exemplar of Origen ....
and is sure that the Greek and Latin MSS., by
their mutual assistance, do so settle the original
text to the smallest nicety as cannot be performed
now in any clnmc author whatever." He pur-
posed to add all the various readings of the first
five centuries, '* and what bat crept into any copies
since is of no value or authority." The proposals
were immediately assailed by Middleton. A vio-
lent controversy followed, but Bentley continued
his labors till 1729 (Dyce, iii. 483). After that
time they seemed to have ceased. Tbe troubles
in which Bentley was involved render it unneces-
sary to seek for any other explanation of tbe sus-
pension of his work. The one chapter which be
published shows clearly enough that he waa pre-
pared to deal with variations in his copies, tod
<■ swpsdallv by the gnat Puritan Own In hie dm
tUeraliom. Walton repllsd with straritr In TV Cm
ttderator con* imtd.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2184
NEW TESTAMENT
than is no sufficient reason for eoncltuling that
the disagreement of his ancient codices caused him
to abandon the plan which he had proclaimed with
undotibting confidence (Scrivener, Cod. Aug. p-
xix.). A complete account of Bentley's labors on
the N. T. is prepared for publication (1861) by the
Rev. A. A. Ellis, under the title Bentkii Critiea
Sacra. [I'ublisbed in 1868. — A.]
8. The conception of Bentley was in advance
tott of the spirit of bit age and of the materials
at his command. Textual criticism was forced to
undergo a long discipline before it was prepared to
follow out his principles. During this time Oer-
toan scholars hold the first place. Foremost among
these was Bfngel (1087-1762), who was fed to
study the variations of the N. T. from a devout
sense of the infinite value of every divine word.
His merit in discerning the existence of families
of documents has been already noticed (1. § 12);
but the evidence before him was not sufficient to
show the paramount authority of the most ancient
witnesses. His most important rule was, Procliri
teriptioni praetat ardua f but except in the Reve-
lation he did not venture to give any reading
which had not been already adopted in some edi-
tion (Prodromal N. T. 6V. reclt cauteque odor-
mrndi, 1725; Not. Tettnm 1734; Appa-
ratus) criticut, ed. 2*" cura I*. D. Burk, 1763).
But even the partial revision which Bengel had
made exposed him to the bitterest attacks; and
Wetstein, when at length he published his great
edition, reprinted the received text. The labors
of Wetstein (1693-1754) formed an important
epoch in the history of the N. T. While still
very young (1716) be was engaged to collate for
Bentlev, and he afterwards continued the work for
himself. In 1733 be was obliged to leave Basle,
his native town, from theological differences, and
his Greek Testament did not appear till 1761-52
at Amsterdam. A first edition of the Prolego-
mena had l*en published previously in 1730 ; but
the principles which he then maintained were after-
wards much modified by his opposition to Bengel
(eomp. l'reface to JV*. T. euro Gerardi dt 7Vw-
('teta, ed. &*». 1735).° The great service which
V'etstein rendered to sacred criticism was by the
collection of materials. He made nearly as great
ail advance on Mill as Mill bad made on those who
preceded him. But in the use of his materials he
showed little critical tact; and his strange theory
of the httiniztttion of the most ancient MSS.
pr ived for a long time a serious drawback to the
■Oiind study of the Greek text (Prolegomenn, ed.
temlet, 1766, ed. Lotae, 1831).
0. It was the work of Ghiesbach (1746-1812)
to place the comparative value of existing docu-
KBW TESTAMENT
its in a clearer light. The time was now cbsm
when the results of collected evidence might he sat
out; and Grieabach, with singular sagacity, cour-
tesy, and zeal, devoted his life to the work. His
first editions (Synqosts, 1774; Nov. Tat. ed. 1,
1777-76) were based for the most part on the ate
cal collections of Wetstein. Not long afterwards
Matthjsi published an edition baaed on the aeon-
rat* collation of Moscow, MSS. ( N. T. ex Code.
Hoeoueniilmt .... Riga, 1782-88, IS vols.; ed.
*>•, 1803-1807, 8 vols.). These new materials
were further increased by the collections of Altar
(1786-87), Birch, Adler, and Moldenhawer (1788-
1801 ), ss well as by the labors of Grieabach himself.
And when Grieabach published his second edicioa
(1796-1806, 3d ed. of vol. i. hy D. Scbulx, 1887)
be made a noble use of the materials thus placed
in his hands. His chief error was that be altered
the received text instead of constructing the test
afresh; but in acuteneas, vigor, and candor be
stands below no editor of the N T., and his judg-
ment will always retain a peculiar value. In 1806
be published a manual edition with a selection of
readings which be judged to be more or less wor-
thy of notice, and this has been often reprinted
(eomp. Symbol* Critic*, 1786-1793 ; Opmcula,
ed. Gahler, 1824-25; Commentnrnu Criticu*. 1798-
1811; White's Critem Grieebachian* . . . Sfstop-
tu, 1811).
10. The edition of Scnou contributed more
in appearance than reality to the furtherance of
criticism (JV. T. ad farm lot. erit 1830-
1836). This laborious scholar collected s greater
mass of various readings than had been brought
together before, but bis work is very inaccurate,
and his own collations singularly superficial. Yet
it was of service to call attention to the mass of
unused MSS.; and, while depreciating the value
of the more ancient MSS., SchoU himself showed
the powerful influence of Griesbach's principles by
accepting frequently the Alexandrine in preference
to the Constantinopolitan reading (i. § 14. Cotnp.
BibUech-Krilieche Acute . . . 1828; Cur* Critiem
. . . 1820-1845).'
(iii.) From Lnchmtmn to the promt time. — 11.
In the year after the publication of the first volume
of Scholz's N. T. s small edition appeared in a
series of classical texts prepared by Lachmakx
(t 1851). In this the admitted principles of
scholarship were for the first time applied through-
out to the construction of the text of the N. T.
The prescriptive right of the textue rteepha was
wholly Bet aside, and the text in every part was
regulated by ancient authority. Before publishing
his small edition (JV. T. Gr. ex receneioue C. Laeb-
manni, Berol. 1831) tachmann had given s short
« Gerhard von Maastricht's N. T. nnt appeared In
1711, with a selection of various readings, and a series
of canons jompoooil to Justify the received text. Some
at these canons deserve to be quoted, as an Illustra-
tion of the bold assertion of the claims of the printed
text, as such.
Gas. Ix " Ihua coda non fecit varlantetn lecdonem
. . modo rccepta lectio fit secundum anaiogiam
$m1H n . . .
Cut. x n Neqoe duo todiets fadunt Tarlantem lee-
ionem . . . contra rrerptam et tditam et earn sensue
«non»a maxims in omittendo "...
U». xiv " fenumes attest anuquissinra at tditit et
.Aanueertptli diss 1 — i ts* . ostpndtuit oseftantiam
WsepraOs
Cat. xvH. "Gtatimes Patntm textus N. T. DOS
faoere debent varlantem lecuonem."
Caw. xxix. " Etficexior lectio textus recepti."
As examples of Can. Ix. we And, Matt. L16, jnxvrst
tor 'I, 6 A*y. \p. • 1. 25, owl. rW sy e er eroaor : Bom. i.
81, em. ttrmiitom. Oa 1 John r. 7, 8, the editor
raters to the Oomplutensku edition, and adds : " Ex
hae editions, qua ad ndem prssslaaUs si morum MS 9
edita est, indicium clanun habemns, quod in plurlmls
msonacrlptU loons tic inventus et lectus sit " (p. 86).
b • in a pamphlet published in 1846, Behobi says
that if he should prepare another edition of she H. I,
be should receive into the text most -f those i sadxttg
which he had designated In the inner margin of ha
8nek Testament as Alexandrine. 8ee the q wsss s lns
la Borlvsnsr'e Astros', p. M0. A
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NEW TESTAMENT
Wiut of hU design (Slud. h. Krit. 1880, iv.), to
which he referred his readers in > brief postscript,
but the book itself contained no Apparatus or Pro-
legomena, and waa the subject of great and painful
ansrepresentalinns. When, however, the distinct
assertion of the primary claims of evidence through-
out the N. T. waa more fairly appreciated, Lach-
mann felt himself encouraged to undertake a larger
edition, with lioth Latin and Greek texts. The
Greek authorities for this, limited to the primary
uncial AISS. (ABC DPQTZE,U,D, H a ),
and the quotations of Irenaeua and Origen, were
arranged by the younger Buttmann. l^achmann
himself prepared the Latin evidence (Tregellea,
HitL of Gr. Text, p. 101), and revised both texts.
Hie first volume appeared in 1848. the second was
printed in 1845, but not published till 1860, owing
in a great measure to the opposition which Lach-
mann found from his friend Oe Wette (N. T. ii.
Prof, iv.; TregeUes, p. 111). The text of the
new edition did not diner much from that of the
former; but while in the former he had used
Western (Latin) authority only to decide in cases
where Eastern (Greek) authorities were divided;
in the Utter he used the two great sources of
evidence together. Lachmann delighted to quote
Bentley ss his great precursor (§ 7); but there waa
an important difference in their immediate aims.
Bentley believed that it would be possible to obtain
the true text directly by a comparison of the oldest
Greek authorities with the oldest HSS. ol the
Vulgate. Afterwards very important remains of
the earlier Latin versions were discovered, and the
whole question was complicated by the collection
of fresh documents. Lachmann therefore wished
'■ the first instance only to give the current text
xf the fourth century, which might then become
the basis of further criticism. This at least was a
great step towards the truth, though it must not
ie accepted as a final one. Griesbach had changed
JK current text of the 15th and 16th centuries in
eumberless isolated passages, but yet the Lite text
w.ie the foundation of his own ; ljichmann admit-
ted the authority of antiquity everywhere, in orthog-
raphy, in construction, in the whole complexion
and arrangement of his text. But 1-aclmiann's
edition, great aa its merits are as a first appeal to
ancient evidence, is not without serious faults.
The materials on which it was based were imper-
fect. The range of patristic citations was limited
arbitrarily. The exclusion of the oriental versions,
however necessary at the time, left a wide margin
for later change (t. f. fire/, p. xxiv.). The neg-
ieet of primary cursives often necessitated absolute
confidence on slender MS. authority. I^achmann
ami able to use, but little fitted to collect, evi-
dence (t i. pp. xxv., xxxviii., xxxix.). It was,
however, enough for him to have consecrated the
highest scholarship by devoting it to the service of
the N. T., and to hare claimed the Holy Scrip-
tures as a field for reverent and searching criticism.
(The best account of Lachmann 's plan and editioc
is in Tregeues, Hitt. nf Printed Ttxt, pp. 97-115
His most important critics are Fritzacbe, Dt Con.
formrtime N. T. Crilica . . . 1M1; Tischen-
ijrf, Proltgg. pp. cii. -cxil.)
NEW TESTAMENT
2135
IS. The chief defects of Lachmann 's edition arise
from defleieney of authorities. Another German
scholar, TiscjrXNDOKF, has devoted twenty yearr
to enlarging our accurate knowledge of ancient MSS.
The first edition of Tischendorf (1841) hie now no
special claims for notice. In his second (Leipslc)
edition (1849) he folly accepted the great principle
of Lachmann (though he widened the range of
ancient authorities), that the text " must be sought
solely from ancient authorities, and not from the
so-caned received edition " (Praf. p. xii), and gave
many of the results of hi* own laborious and val-
uable collations. The size of this manual edition
necessarily excluded a full exhibition of evidence i
the editor's own Judgment waa often arbitrary and
inconsistent; but the general influence of the edi-
tion was of the very highest value, and the text, aa
a whole, probably better than any which had pre-
ceded it. During the next few years Tischendorf
prosecuted his labors on MSS. with unwearied dili-
gence, and in 1855-59 he published hi* third (sev-
enth ") critical edition. In this he has given the
authorities for and against each reading in consid-
erable detail, and included the chief results of his
later discoveries. The whole critical apparatus is
extremely valuable, and absolutely indispensable to
the student The text, except in details of orthog-
raphy, exhibits generally a retrograde movement
from the most ancient testimony. The Prolegom-
ena are copious and full of interest.
• In Oct. 1864 Tischendorf published the 1st
Llefemmj of his 8th critical edition of the N. T.,
of which 5 parts have now appeared, extending to
John vi. 33, and the 6th part, completing the Gos-
pels, has probably by this time (May, 1809) been
issued in Germany. The critical apparatus is greatly
enlarged, and in settling the text, Tischendorf at-
taches more importance to the most ancient author-
ities, and in particular, to the agreement of the oldest
Greek and I.atin MSS., than he did in the preced-
ing edition. A.
Id. Meanwhile the sound study of sacred crit-
icism had revived in England. In 1844 Tkkoblucb
published an edition of the Apocalypse in Greek and
English, and announoed an edition of the N. T.'
From this time he engaged in a systematic exam
ination of all unpublished uncial MSS., going ovet
much of the same ground as Tischendorf, and com-
paring results with him. In 1854 be gave a de-
tailed account of bis labors and principles (An
Acawnt of the Printed Text of the Greet .Vew
Testament .... London), and again in his new
edition of Home's Introduction (1856), [to which
" additions " and a " Postscript" were published is
1860. On the remarkable reading povoyeyfjs ttii,
John 1. 18, dismissed in this Postscript, there is XL
article in the BM. Sacra for Oct. 1861, pp. 840-
872. — A.] The first part of his Greek Testament,
containing St. Matthew and Si. Mark, appeared in
1867; the second, completing the Gospels, hss just
appeared (1861). [The third, Acts and Cath. Epis-
tle*, waa published in 1865; the fourth, Homans to
9 Thess , in 1869. — A.] In this he gives at length
! the evidence of all uncial MSS., and of some neen-
| liaiiy valuable cursives : of all versions up to the 7th
century: of all Fathers to Eusebius inclusive. The
I-
« Tke neood and third editions ware Onseo-Uan i(fburtli) edition of 1849. The sixth waa aTekdoU H.T
axtslo-is, published at Paris in 1842, of no critical va-Je
at ftoli ff. cxxlv^v.). [The 2d edition contained no
text. — A.] The Mh was a pimple text, with
of Kssvir, dually a reprint of the
1854-00 (Omsk, Latin, German) ; 1858 (Ores* and Lai
In).
* Dr. TnfsUas' tat specimen wsa rniMamsd > 1888
(Hisi. of Printed Tact, » 1681
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2136
NEW TESTAMENT
I -»tiu Vulgate ia added, chiefly from the Cod. Amia-
tinut with the readings of the Clementine edition.
This edition of Tregelles differs from that of Lach-
.lvuin by the greater width of its critical founda-
tion ; and from that of Tischendorf by a more con-
itant adherence to ancient evidence. Every possible
precaution has been taken to insure perfect accuracy
in the publication, and the work must be regarded
as one of the most important contributions, as it is
perhaps the most exact, which has been yet made
to the cause of textual criticism. The editions of
Knapp (1797, Ac.), Vater (1824), TUtmann (1820,
Ac.), and Hahn (1840, Ac.) [also Theile, 1844, Ac.]
■■are no peculiar critical value. Meyer (1829, Ac. )
paid greater attention to the revision of the text
which accompanies his great commentary; but his
critical notes are often arbitrary and unsatisfactory.
In the Greek Testament of Alford, as in that of
Meyer, the text is subsidiary to the commentary ;
but it ia impossible not to notice the important ad-
vance which has been made by the editor in true
principles of criticism during the course of its pub-
lication. The fourth edition of the 1st vol. (1859)
contains a clear enunciation of the authority of
ancient evidence, as supported both by its external
and internal claims, and corrects much that was
vague and subjective In former editions. Other
annotated editions of the Greek Testament, valu-
able for special merits, may be passed over as having
little bearing on the history of the text. One simple
text, however, deserves notice (Cambr. 1860, [ed.
auctior et emend., 1862]), in which, by a peculiar
arrangement of type, Scrivener has represented at
a glance all the changes which have been made in
the text of Stephens (1550), Elzevir (1624), and
Beta (1565), by Lachmonn, Tischendorf, and Tre-
gelk*
14. Besides the critical editions of the text of
the N. T., various collections of readings have been
published separately, which cannot be wholly omit-
ted. In addition to those already mentioned (§ 9),
the most important are by Kinck, Lucubratio Crit-
ica, 1830; Reiche, Codicum MSS. N. T. Ur. ali-
quot intigniorum in Bibl. Reg. Port* .... collatio
1847; Scrivener, A Colin lion of about Twenty
Grids M3S. of the Holy GotptU 1863; A
Transcript of the Cod. Aug.,mlh a full Collation
of Fifty MSS. 1859; and E. de Muralt, of Rus-
sian MSS. (N. T. 1848). The chief contents of
the splendid series of Tischendorf 's works ( Codex
Kphraemi Retcriptut, 1843: Codex Claromonta-
*nv, 1852; Monumenta taera inedita, 1846-1866:
[ lion, taera intd. noon coll., vol. i. (1855). ii. (1867),
lii. (I860), T. (1865), vi. (1869);] Atucdota taera
*t profana, 1855, [new ed., enlarged, 1861 ;] No-
titin Cod. Sinaitici, 1860; {Codex Sinaiticut,
1862, If. T. Sinaiticum, 1868, and N. T. Or. ex
Sin. Cod. 1865; Appendix Codd. Sin. Vat. Alex.
1867; Nov. Tett. Vat. 1867, and Appendix Nat.
TetU Vaticani, 1869]) are given in his own and
other editions of the N. T. [His editions of im-
portant Latin MSS., Eoangelium Palntinum (unte-
Hieronymian), 1847, and Cod. Amiatinut, 1860.
new ed. 1854, may also be mentioned here. — A.]
The chief works on the history of the printed text
•re those of Tregelles, Hit. of Printed Text, 185*;
tteuss, Getchichte d. R. Sckrifl. §§ 395 ft, where
de vary complete bibliographical references; and
• * The unwary student should bs warned against
ass ssMobk e> llaho and Buttmann (1856. fcc). See
NEW TESTAMENT
the Prolegomena of Mill, Wetstein, Grkabaeh, sal
Tischendorf. To these must he added the prom-
ised (1861) Introduction of Mr. Scrivener.
III. Principles of Tkxtuai. Ckiticism.
The work of the critic can never be shaped by
definite rules. The formal enunciation of prin
ciples is but the first step in the process of revision.
Even Ijwhmann, who proposed to follow the moat
directly mechanical method, frequently allowed play
to his own judgment. It could not, indeed, be
otherwise with a true scholar; and if there is need
anywhere for the most free and devout exercise of
every faculty, it must be in tracing out the very
words of the Apostles and of the Lord himsdf
The justification of a method of revision lies be
the result. Canons of criticism ore more frequently/
corollaries than laws of procedure. Yet such canons
are not without use in marking the course to ha
followed, but they are intended only to guide, and
not to dispense with the exercise of tact and schol-
arship. The student will judge for hiuiself how
for they ore applicable in every particular case;
and no exhibition of general principles can super-
sede the necessity of a careful examination of the
characteristics of separate witnesses and of groups
of witnesses. The text of Holy Scripture, like the
text of all other books, depends on evidence. Kulea
may classify the evidence and facilitate the decision,
but the final appeal must be to the evidence itself.
What appears to be the only sound system of crit-
icism vrill be seen from the rules which follow. The
examples which are added can be worked oat in
any critical edition of the Greek Testament, and
will explain better than any lengthened description
the application of the rules.
1. The text mutt throughout be determined by
evidence without allowing any prescriptive right to
printed edition*. In the infancy of criticism it was
natural that early printed editions should posses*
a greater value than individual MSS. The lan-
guage of the Complutensi an editors, and of Erasmus
and Stephens, was such as to command respect fb>
their texts prior to examination. Comparatively
few manuscripts were known, and none thoroughly;
but at present the whole state of the question is
altered. We are now accurately acquainted with
the materials possessed by the two latter editors
and with the use which they made of them. If
there is as yet no such certainty with regard to the
basis of the Complutensiau text, it is at least dear
that no high value can be assigned to it. On the
other hand we have, in addition to the early appar-
atus, new sources of evidence of infinitely greau*
variety and value. To claim for the printed text
any right of possession is, therefore, to be faithless
to the principles of critical truth. The received
text may or may not be correct in any particular
case but this must be determined solely by an ap-
peal to the original authorities. Nor ia it right
even to assume the received text as our basis. The
question before us is not What it to be changed t
but, W hat is In be read t It would be superfluous
to insist on this if it were not that a natural in-
firmity makes every one uinustly conservative in
criticism. It seems to lie irreverent to disturb an oU
belief, when real irreverence lies in perpetuating ar
error, however slight it may appear to be. Thst
holds good universally. In Holy Scripture «*""*'"i
Appendix to Norton's Sfttmmt if Rente**, 21 at
0.441 ft and BiU. Sacra tar Cst Wi, ». «77 «. 4
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NEW TESTAMENT
aui be indifferent; and it U the supreme dutj "f
Dm critic to apply to details of order and orthog-
raphy the tune aire a* he bestows on what may be
|u Iged weightier points. If, indeed, there were any-
thin; in the circumstances of the first publication
c f the N. T. which might teem to remove it from
(be ordinary fortunes of books, then it would be
impossible not to respect the pious sentiment which
accept* the early text as an immediate work of
Prcridenoe. But the history shows too many
marks of human frailty to admit of such a sup-
position. The text itself contains palpable and ad-
mitted errors (Matt. ii. 11, elpor; Acta tiii. 37,
be 5, 6; Apoe. v. 14, xiii. 11; not to mention 1
John T. 7), la every way analogous to those which
occur in the first classical texts. The conclusion
is obvious, and it is superstition rather than rever-
ence which refuses to apply to the service of Scrip-
tare the laws which have restored so much of their
native beauty to other ancient writings. It may
not be possible to fix the reading in every case
finally, but it la no less the duty of the scholar to
advance as tar as he can and mark the extreme
range of uncertainty.
%. Every element of evidence mutt be tiken into
aceowU before n decision it made. Soma uncer-
tainty must necessarily remain; for, when it ia said
that the text must rest upon evidence, it ia implied
that it nnut nut on an examination of the whole
evidence. But it can never be said that the mines
of criticism are exhausted. Vet even here the pos-
sible limits of variation are narrow. The available
evidence ia so full and manifold that it is difficult
to conceive that any new authorities could do
more than turn the scale in cases which are at
present doubtful. But to exclude remote chances
of error it ia necessary to take account of every
testimony. No arbitrary line can be drawn ex-
thsding HSS. versions or quotations below a cer-
tain date. The true text must (as a rule) explain
all variations, and the most recent forms may illus-
trate the original one. In practice it will be found
Jiat certain documents nviy be neglected after ex-
amination, and that the value of others is variously
affected by determinable conditions ; but still, as no
variation is inherently indifferent, no testimony
•sin be absolutely disregarded.
3. The relative weiykl of the teveral efaises of
evidence it modified by tlieir generic character.
Manuscripts, versions, and citations, the three
great abases of external authorities for the text,
an obviously open to characteristic errors. The
trat are peculiarly liable to errors from tnnscrip-
•on (eorup. t } 31 AT.). The two bet are liable to
his cause of corruption and also to others. The
genius of the language into which the translation
h made may require the introduction of connecting
particles or words of reference, as can be seen from
the italicised words in the A. V. Some uses of the
srtieb and of prepositions cannot be expressed or
distinguished with certainty in translation. Glosses
or marginal additions are more likely to pass into
the text in the process of translation than in that
if transcription. Quotations, on the other hand,
are often partial or from memory, and long use
may give i traditional fixity to a slight confusion or
adaptation of passages of Scripture. These grounds
ef tnaeuiraoy are, however, easily determined, and
■ere b generally little difficulty in deciding whether
the rendering of a version or the testimony of a
Father can be fairly quoted. Moreover, tin moat
ikaortanl versions are so close to the Greek text
NEW TESTAMENT
2137
that they preserve the order of the original witt
scrupulous accuracy, and even in representing mi-
nute shades of expression, observe a constant uni-
formity which could not have been anticipated
(eomp. Lachmann, A'. T. i. p. xlv. ff.). It u a far
more serious obstacle to the critical use of these
authorities that the texts of the versions and Fa-
thers generally are in a very imperfect state. With
the exception of the Latin Version there is not one
in which a thoroughly satisfactory text is available;
and the editions of Clement and Origan are little
qualified to satisfy strict demands of scholarship.
As a general rub the evidence of botffmay be trusted
where they differ from the bte text of the N. T.,
but where they agree with this against other early
authorities, there is reason to entertain a suspicion
of corruption. This is sufficiently clear on com-
paring the old printed text of Chrysostom with the
text of the best MSS. But when full allowance has
been made for all these drawbacks, the mutually
corrective power of the three kinds of testimony U
of the highest value. The evidence of versions
may show at once that a MS reading is a transcrip-
tural error: John i. 14, 6 tbniy (B C); Jude 13,
as-dVuf (A); 1 John i. 2, icol s iopdxa+itv (H), ii.
8, o-a-i'a for o-Korio (A),iii. 31, ( x ,i(H); 2 Pet. ii.
16, <V arSpirotsi and the absence of their support
throws doubt upon readings otherwise of the high-
est probability : 2 Pet. ii. 4, crttpois, 11- 6, avifrt'irv-
The testimony of an early Father is again sufficient
to give preponderating weight to slight MS. author-
ity: Matt i. 18, to» 81 xp" rr '>'> •> yiyvs't ami
since versions and Fathers go back to a time ante-
rior to any existing MSS., they furnish a standard
by which we may measure the conformity of any
MS. with the most ancient text. On questions
of orthography MSS. alone have authority. The
earliest Fathers, like our own writers, seem (if we
may Judge from printed texts) to have adopted the
current spelling of their time, and not to have
aimed at preserving in this respect the dialectic
peculiarities of N. T. Greek. But MSS., again,
are not free from special idiosyncrasies (if the phrase
may be allowed) both in construction and orthog-
raphy, and unless account be taken of these a
wrong judgment may be made in isolated passages.
4. The inert prt/imilerance of numben it in
iUelf of no might. If tbe multiplication of copies
of the N. T. had beer uniform, it is evident that
the number of later copies preserved from the
accidents of time would have far exceeded that of
the earlier, yet no one would have preferred the
fuller testimony of the 13th to the scantier docu-
ments of the 4th century. Some changes are
necessarily introduced Mi the most careful copying,
and these are rapidly multiplied. A recent MS
may hare been copied from one of great antiquity,
but thb must be a rare occurrence. If all MSS.
were derived by successive reproduction from oi t
source, the most ancients though few, would claim
supreme authority over the more recent mass. Aa
it fa, the case b still stronger. It has been shown
that the body of later conies wss made under one
influence. They give the testimony of one churih
only, and not of all. For many generations Byzan-
tine scribes must gradually, r m though uncon-
sciously, nave assimilated the text to their current
form of expression. Meanwhile the propagation of
toe Syrian and African types of text was left te
the casual reproduction of an ancient exemplar.
These were necessa r ily far rarer than later an<
modified copies, and at the sauna time likely Is
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2138
NEW TESTAMENT
be far less used. Representative! of one clan
were therefore multiplied rapidly, while those of
other classes barely continued to exist. From this
it follows that MSS. have no abstract numerical
value. Variety of evidence, and not a crowd of
witnesses, must decide on each doubtful point ; and
it happens by no means rarely that one or two
MSS. alone support a reading which is unques-
tionably right (Matt. i. 25, v. 4, 5; Mark ii. 22,
4c).
5. The more ancient reading 1$ generally prrf-
eraOU. This principle seems to be almost a
truism. It can* only be assailed by assuming that
the recent reading is itself the representative- of an
authority still more ancient. But this carries the
decision from the domain of evidence to that of
conjecture, and the issue must be tried on indi-
vidual passages.
6. The more ancient reading is generally tht
reading of the more ancient AfSS. This proposi-
tion is fully established by a comparison of explicit
early testimony with the text of the oldest copies.
It would be strange, indeed, if it were otherwise.
In this respect the discovery of the Codex Sinai-
llcm cannot but have a powerful influence upon
Biblical criticism. Whatever may be its individual
peculiarities , it preserves the ancient readings in
characteristic passages (Luke ii. 14; John i. 4, 18;
1 Tim. Hi. 16). If the secondary uncials (E F S
IT, etc.) are really the direct representatives of a text
more ancient than that in N Ft C Z, it is at least
remarkable that no unequivocal early authority pre-
sents their characteristic readings. This difficulty
is greatly increased by internal considerations. The
characteristic readings of the most ancient MSS.
are those which preserve in their greatest integrity
those subtle characteristics of style which are too
minute to attract the attention of a transcriber,
and yet too marked in their recurrence to be due
to anything less than an unconscious law of com-
position. The laborious investigations of Gersdorf
{Reitr&ge zur Sprach- Characteriitik d. SchrifU
tttUer d. ff. T. Leipzig, 1818) have placed many
of these peculiarities in a clear light, and it seems
impossible to study his collections without gaining
the assurance that the earliest copies have preserved
the truest image of the Apostolic texts. This
conclusion from style is convincingly confirmed by
the appearance of the genuine dialectic forms of
Hellenistic Greek in those MSS., and those only,
which preserve characteristic traits of construction
uid order. As long as it was supposed that these
jbrms were Alexandrine, their occurrence was natu-
rally held to be a mark of the Egyptian origin
of the MSS., but now that it is certain that they
were characteristic of a class and not of a locality,
(t is impossible to resist the inference that the
facuments which have preserved delicate and
tranescent trait* of apostolic language must have
preserved its substance also with the greatest
accuracy.
7. The ancient text it often preeervea iubttnn-
faily in recent copies. But while the most ancient
opies, M a whcle, give the mom ancient text, yet
JS is by no means confined exclusively to them.
The text of D in the Gospels, however much it has
Been interpolated, preserves in several cases almost
tione the true reading. Other MSS. exist of
■knoet every date (8th cent. L B. 0th cent. X A
F, G,, 10th cent 1,106, 11th cent. 33, 22, Ac.),
contain in the main the oldest text, though
NEW TESTAMENT
in then the orthography is modernized, and otasf
changes appear which indicate a greater or bat
departure from the original copy. The importance
of the beat cursives has been most strangely neg-
lected, and it is but recently that their true claims
to authority have been known. In many cases
where other ancient evidence is defective or divided
they are of the highest value, and it seldom hap-
pens that any true reading is wholly unsupported
by late evidence.
8. The agreement of ancient AfSS., or of AfSS.
containing an ancient text, uith alt Uie earliest
versions and citations marks a certain reading.
The filial argument in favor of the text of the moct
ancient copies lies in the combined support which
they receive in characteristic passages from the
most ancient versions and patristic citations. The
reading of the oldest MSS. is, as a general rule,
upheld by the true reading of Versions and the
certain testimony of the Fathers, where this can
be ascertained. The later reading, and this U not
less worthy of notice, is with equal constancy
repeated in the corrupted text of the Versions,
and often in inferior MSS. of Fathers. The force
of this combination of testimony can only be
apprehended after a continuous examination of
passages. A mere selection of texts conveys only
a partial impression ; and it is moat important to
observe the errors of the weightiest authorities
when isolated, in order to appreciate rightly their
independent value when combined. For this pur-
pose the student is urged to note for himself the
readings of a few selected authorities (A B C I' L
X 1, 33, 69, Ac., the MSS. of the old Latin abc
ffk, etc., the best MSS. of the Vulgate, am. for.
hart., etc., the great oriental versions) through a
few chapters; and it may certainly be predicted
that the result will be a perfect confidence in the
text, supported by the combined authority of the
classes of witnesses, though frequently one or
two Greek MSS. are to be followed against all
the remainder.
9. The disagreement of the most ancient author-
ities often marks the existence of a corru/tlim
anterior to them. But it happens by no means
rarely that the most ancient authorities are divided.
In this case it is necessary to recognize an alterna-
tive reading; and the inconsistency of Tischei.dorf
in his various editions would have been less glaring,
if he had followed the example of Grieabach in
noticing prominently those readings to which a
alight change in the balance of evidence would
give the preponderance. Absolute certainty is not
in every case attainable, and the peremptory asser-
tion of a critic cannot set aside the doubt which
lies on the conflicting testimony of trustworthy
witnesses. The difference* are often in themselves
(as may appear) of little moment, but the work
of the scholar is to present clearly in its minutest
details the whole result of his materials. Exam-
ple* of legitimate doubt as to the true readme
occur Matt vii. 14, Ac ; Luke x. 42, Ae. ; John i.
18, ii. 8, Ac; 1 John lii. 1, v. 10, Ac; Rom. iii.
26, It. 1, Ac In rare cases this diversity appears
to indicate a corruption which is earlier than any
remaining documents: Matt. xi. 27; Mark I. 27
2 Peter i. 21; James iii. 6, iv. 14; Rom. i. 32
v. 6 (17), xiii. 6, xri. 26 ff. ( Ine special form of
variation in the most valuable authorities require!
particular mention. An early difference of ordai
frequently indicates the interpolation of a gloss
and when the best authorities are H.us divided
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NEW TESTAMENT
say ancient though alight evidence for tba omis-
sion of the transferred clause deaervei the greatest
consideration : Matt. i. 18, r. 32, 39, xii. 38, 4c.
Rom. iv. 1, 4c. | Jam. i. 23. And generally seri-
oua variations in expression between the primary
authorities point to an early corruption by addi-
tion: Matt. x. 89; Rom. i. 27, 29, iii. 22, 20.
10. The argument from internal tculrnce it
ntvxit/t precarious. If a reading is in accordance
with the general style of the writer, it niay be
•aid on the one side that this net ia in its iivor,
and on the other that an acute copyist probably
changed the exceptional expression for the more
usual one: e. g. Matt. L 24, il. 14, vii. 21, Ac.
If a reading is more emphatic, it may be urged
that the sense is improved by its adoption: if less
emphatic, that scriliea were habitually inclined to
prefer stronger terms : e. g. Matt. v. 13, vi. 4, 4c.
Evan in the case of the supposed influence of
parallel passages in the synoptic Evangelists, it is
by no means easy to resist the weight of ancient
testimony when it supports the parallel phrase, in
favor of the natural canon which recommends the
choice of variety in preference to uniformity : e. g.
Matt. iii. 6, iv. 9, viii. 32, ix. 11, Ac But though
internal evidence is commonly only of subjective
value, there are some general rules which are of
very wide, if not of universal application. These
have force to decide or to confirm a judgment;
but in every instance they must be used only in
combination with direct testimony.
11. The more ihfficidt rending it preferable to
the timpler (praclivi lectioni praatat ardua, Bengel).
Except in cases of obvious corruption this canon
prololily holds good without exception, in ques-
tions of language, construction, and sense. Kara
ar provincial forms, irregular usages of words, rough
turns of expression, are universally to be taken in
preference to the ordinary and idiomatic phrases.
The bold and emphatic agglomeration of clauses,
with the fewest connecting particles, is always
likely to be nearest to the original text The usage
of the different apostolic writers varies in this
respect, but there are very few, if any, instances
where the mass of copyists have left out a genuine
connection ; and on the other hand there is hardly
a chapter in St- Paul's Epistles where they have
not introduced one. The same rule is true in
questions of interpretation. The hardest reading
is generally the true one: Matt. vi. 1, xix. 17, xxi.
31 (4 ve-Ttpos); Rom. viii. 28 (4 eWj); 2 Cor. v.
1; unless, indeed, the difficulty lies below the sur-
ace: as Rom. xii. 11 (areups? for icvpltp), xii. 13
(turflcus for xpsfeur). The rale admits yet further
jf another modified application. The less definite
'oading is generally preferable to the more definite.
lus the future is constantly substituted for the
■regnant present, Matt. vii. 8; Rom. xv. 18: corn-
found for simple words, Matt. vii. 28, viii. 17, xi.
£5; and pronouns of reference are frequently in-
troduced to emphasize the statement, Matt. vi. 4.
But caution must* be need lest our own imperfect
sense of the naturalness of an idiom may lead to
me neglect of external evidence (Matt. xxv. 16,
'toivom wrongly for Mpt-notv)-
12. The ihorter reading it gene-rally preferable
J lie longer. This canon is very often coincident
sith the former one; but it admits also of a wider
application. Except in very rare cases copyists
sever omitted intentionally, while they constantly
introduced into the text marginal glosses and even
isfious readings (oonin. § 13), either from iguo-
KBW TESTAMENT
2139
ranee or from a natural desire to leave out nothing
which teemed to come with a claim to authority
The extent to which this instinct influenced th»
character of the later text can be seen from at
examination of the various readings in a few chap-
ters. Thus in Matt. vi. the following interpola-
tions occur; 4 burro's), «V to; <partpy- 6 (&»
Sri ar- 6 <V to; (paviptf- 10 «V1 vijs y. 13 tri
e-av • • ayst)v. 15 (to, raparr. nirrmv)- 10 Sri JW.
19 tv t»/> atari py. The synoptic Gospels were the
most exposed to this kind of corruption, but it
occurs in all parts of the N. T. Everywhere tits
fuller, rounder, more complete form of expression
is open to the suspicion of change; and the pre-
eminence of the ancient authorities is nowhere seen
more plainly than in the constancy with which
they combine in preserving the plain, vigorous, and
abrupt phraseology of the apostolic writings. A
few examples taken almost at random will illustrate
the various cases to which the rule applies: Matt
ii. 15, iv. 6, xii. 25; James iii. 12; Rom. il. 1, viii.
23, x. 15, xv. 29 (comp. § 13).
18. That reading it preferable which explains
the origin of the othert. This rule ia chiefly of
use in eases of great complication, and it would be
impossible to find a better example than one which
has been brought forward by Tischendorf for a
different purpose (N. T. Prof. pp. xxxiii , xxxiv.).
The common reading in Mark ii. 22 is i olvot
Ikxutoi koI at octroi iarokoimi, which is per-
fectly simple in itself, and the undoubted reading
in the parallel passage of St. Matthew. But here
there are great variations. One important MS.
(L) reads i otvos tVxeiToi (to) oi lurxoi: another
(D with il) i olvot seal lurxoi aWoAovrrai: an-
other (B) 6 olyos InrAWvrai ko) of tlo-Kof. Hare,
if we bear in mind the reading in St. Matthew, it
ia morally certain that the text of B is cornet.
This may hare been changed into the common
text, but cannot have arisen out of it. Compare
James iv. 4, 12; Matt. xxiv. 38; Jude 18; Rom.
vii. 25; Mark i. 16,27.
(For the principles of textual criticism compare
Griesbach, N. T. Prolegg. § 3, pp. lviii. ff. ; Tischen-
dorf, jV. T. Prolegg. pp. xxiii. - xliv. ; TregeOst,
Piinttd Text, pp. 132 fT. ; (Home's) Introduction,
iv. pp. 342 ff. The Critit of WeUtein (Prolegg
pp. 206-240, Lotxe) is very unsatisfactory.)
* On the application of these principles the
student will find valuable hints in Uriesbach'a
Commmlariut Criticut, 2 pt. 1798-1811, and in
T. S. Green's Course of Developed Criticism, etc.,
Ixtnd. 1856. Reiche's Commentarius Criticus, 3
torn. Gott 1853-62, 4to, is not very important
A
IV. Thb Lamooaob of the New Testa -
tirr.
1. The eastern conquests of Alexander opened
a new field for the development of the Greek Ian
guage. It may be reasonably doubted whether a
specific Macedonian dialect Is not a mere fiction of
grammarians; but increased freedom both in form
and construction was a necessary consequence of
the wide diffusion of Greek. Even in Aristotle
there is a great declension from the classical stand-
ard of purity, though the Attio formed the basis
of his language; and the rise of the comnum at
Grecian dialect (SrtUcxror koiW), or J. 'EAAnrurfj)
is dated from his time. In the writings of edu-
cated men who were familiar with ancient models
this "common" dialect always preserved a dost
to the normal Attic but in tht inter-
Digitizedby VjOOQlC
2140
NEW TESTAMENT
wane of ordinary life the corruption must have
been both great and rapid.
3. At no place could the corruption have been
greater or more rapid than at Alexandria, where a
motley population, engaged in active commerce,
adopted Greek aa their oommon medium of oom-
munieation. [Alkxahdkia, 1. p. 63.] And it
is in Alexandria that we mint look for the origin
of the language of the New Testament. Two
distinct elements were oombined in this marvelous
dialect which was destined to preserve forever the
fullest tidings of the Gospel. On the one ride
there *aa Hebrew conception, on the other Greek
expression. The thoughts of the Kast were wedded
io the words of the West. This was accomplished
b) the gradual translation of the Hebrew Scrip-
tures into the vernacular Greek. The Greek had
already lost the exquisite symmetry of its first
form, so that it could take the clear impress of
Hebrew ideas; and at the same time it had gained
rather than lost in richness and capacity. In this
manner what may be called the theocratic aspect
of nature and history was embodied in Greek
phrases, and the power and freedom of Greek
quickened and defined Eastern speculation. The
theories of the "purists" of toe 17th century
(eomp. Winer, Griimmatik, § 1; Reins, Gttch. d.
If. 8. § 47) were based on a complete misconcep-
tion of what we may, without presumption, feel
to hare been required for a universal Gospel. The
message was not for one nation only, but for all;
and the langu:ige in which it was promulgated —
like its most successful preacher — united iu one
complementary attributes. [IIklucnist. ii. p.
1039 ff.]
3. The Greek of the LXX.— like the English
of the A. V. or the German of I.uther — naturally
determined the Greek dialect of the mass of the
Jews. It is quite possible that numerous provin-
cialisms existed among the Greek-speaking Jews of
Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor, but the dialect
of their oommon Scriptures must have given a
general unity to their language. It is, therefore,
more correct to call the N. T. dialect Hellenistic
;han Alexandrine, though the form by which it
ia characterized may have been peculiarly Alexan-
drine at first. Its local character was lost when
the LXX. was spread among the Greek Dispersion ;
and that which was originally confined to one city
X one work was adopted by a whole nation. At
:he same time much of the extreme harshness of
the LXX. dialect was softened down by intercourse
with Greeks or grecising foreigners, and conversely
ho wide spread of proselytism familiarized the
Greeks with Hebrew ideas.
4. The position of Palestine was peculiar. The
Aramaic (Syro-Chaldaic), which was the national
dialect after the Return, existed side by side with
the Greek. Both languages seem to have lieen
renerally understood, though, if we may judge
from other instances of bilingual countries, the
Aramaic would be the chosen language for the
common intercourse of Jews (2 Mace. vii. 8, 21,
17). It was in this language, we may believe, that
jot Lord was accustomed to teach the people; and
■t appears that He used the same in the more
private acts of his life (Mark iii. 17, v. 41, vii. 34;
Matt, xxvii. 48; Juan i. 42; cf. John xx. 16).
3ut the habitual use of the I OCX. is a sufficient
•roof of tlie familiarity of the Palestinian Jews
with the Greek dialect ; and the judicial proceed-
soft beforr Pilate must have been conducted in
NEW TESTAMENT
Greek. (Comp. Grinfleid, Apology/or IM» LXX
pp. 76 ff.) [Language or the N. T.]
5. The Roman occupation of Syria was not
altogether without influence upon the language A
considerable number of Latin words, chiefly lefer-
ring to acts of government, occur in the N. T.
and they are probably only a sample of larger inno-
vations dri}i>a*oi, AcyusV, KOvorsSfa, iaadpiov,
KoopdWns, SnKdptor, uiAioy, wpaiT&ptoy, e>pa-
ytkXovr, St. Matt., etc.; Ktvrvpiar, artitoiiXi-
rap, to Uaybr roijjaai, St. Mark; \4mor,
ffov&dptov, rfrAor, St. John, etc.; AijScpru'oi,
xo\uvla, atiuiclrtior, trueiptos, St. Luke; fid-
KtMov, ntn&p&va, St Paul). Other words In
common use were of Semitio {6fpafiip, fifdVioy,
itop$avat, Aa&Pti), Persian (byyaptiee, furyot,
nipa^ wapdSficrai), or Egyptian origin (Jtitor)-
6. The language which was moulded under then
various influences presents many peculiarities, both
philological and exegetical, which have not yet
been placed in a clear light. For a long time K
has been most strangely assumed that the lingulstie
forms preserved in the oldest MSS. are Jlaum-
drine and not in the widest sense HtUtnutic, and
on the other hand that the Aramaic modifications
of the N. T. phraseology remove it from the sphere
of strict grammatical analysis. These errors are
necessarily fatal to all real advance in the accurate
study of the words or sense of the apostolic writ-
ings. In the ease of St Paul, no leas than In the
case of Herodotus, the evidence of the earliest
witnesses must be decisive aa to dialectic forms.
Egyptian scribes preserved the characteristics of
other books, and there is no reason to suppose that
they altered those of the N. T. Nor is it reason-
able to conclude that the later stages of a language
are governed by no law or that the introduction
of fresh elements destroys the symmetry which in
reality it only changes. But if old misconceptions
still linger, very much has been done lately to open
the way to a sounder understanding both of the
form and the substance of the N. T. by Tischen-
dorf (as to the dialect, N. T. [ed. 7] Prokgg.
pp. xlvi.-lxii.), by Winer (as to the grammatical
laws, Gramm. d. N. T. Sp-achid., 6th ed., 1866
[7th ed., 1867]; comp. Green's Grammar of N.
T. dinUct, 1842 [2d ed., 1862, and A. Buttmann,
Gram. d. neulett. Sprachgtbraucht, 1899] ), and
by the later commentators (Fritzsche, Lticke, Bleak,
Meyer, Alford, [Ellieott, Lightfoot, BaumWn]).
In detail comparatively little remains to be done,
but a philosophical view of the N. T. language aa
a whole is yet to be desired. For this it would
be necessary to take account of the commanding
authority of the LXX. over the religious dialect,
of the constant and living power of the spoken
Aramaic and Greek, of the mutual influence of
inflection and syntax, of the inherent vitality of
words and forms, of the history of technical term*
and of the creative energy of Christian truth
Some of these points may be 'discussed in other
articles; for the present it must be enough to
notice a few of the most salient characteristics of
the language as to form and expression.
7. The formal differences of the Greek of the
N. T. from classical Greek are partly differences of
vocabulary and partly differences of construction.
Old words are changed in orthography (1) or in
inflection (2); new words (3) and rare or novel
constructions (4) are introduced. One or tax
examples of each of these classes may be noticed
Bat it must be again remarked that the latigaagt
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NEW TESTAMENT
ef the N. T., both u to its lexicography and aa
bo its grammar, ia baaed on the language of the
LXX. The two stages of the dialect cannot be
examined satisfactorily apart. The uaage of the
earlier books often confirms and illustrates the
uaage of the later; and many characteristics of
X. T. Greek haw been neglected or set aside from
ignorance of the fact that they are undoubtedly
bund in the LXX. With regard to the forum of
words, the similarity between the two is perfect;
with regard to construction, it must always be
remembered that the LXX. is a translation, exe-
cuted under the immediate influence of the He-
brew, while the books of the N. T. (with a partial
exception in the case of St Matthew) were written
freely in the current Greek.
(1.) Among the most frequent peculiarities of
orthography of Hellenistic Greek which are sup-
ported by conclusive authority, are — the preserva-
tion of the p. before ifi and <p in \ap$Jya> and its
derivations, K-fin^nrai, byrt\-f)n>fnu; and of r in
compounds of au¥ and in, owffjK, avr/iaSrirfis,
irytypannivr). Other variations occur in ronrr-
fjjtorra, 4pw>¥&v, etc., inaStplafhi, etc. It is
more remarkable that the aspirate appears to have
been introduced into some words, as i\wh (Rom.
riii. 90; Luke vi. 35). The v i^f\Kuerruc6n in
verbs (but not in nouns) and the t of otrvt are
always preserved before consonants, and the hiatus
(with oAAa especially) is constantly (perhaps
always) disregarded. The forms in -•(-, -«-, are
more difficult of determination, and the question is
not limited to later Greek.
(3.) Peculiarities of inflection are foiuid in ur
Xaipp, -ni, X'V * (?>> o-uyytvrir (?), /SafcVwj,
etc. These peculiarities are much more common
in verbs. The augment is sometimes doubled:
sVs-«KaTco~Tcb)i), sometimes omitted : olicoS6p.r\<Tt¥,
uarauTxyriif The doubling of A is commonly
neglected; iairrurw. Unusual forma of tenses
are used: tareira, sTira, [ilAeW,] etc.; unusual
moods: «u>ft)(rapa< (1 Cor. xiu\ 3 V); and un-
usual conjugations: rucavrrt for riaraWi, i\\4ya
tot iwiyn, rapsiffftvifo-av for TaptiafSuaar
(Jude 4).
* Note also aVavdno-otTW, Rev. xiv. 13, 3d
fat. pass, of aravavv, strangely misunderstood by
Robinson, If. T. Lex. p. 804 (Addenda); also
such forms as (fXn<p<«, KiKoriaKts; (yvuxaM,
ttfiiKcw, iriwaKar, yiyovay; ftx<xray, iSitoaar,
■ Tapt\i$o<rcw. A.
(3.) The new words are generally formed ac-
cording to ok) analogy — oiatoSttnroVns, thxaipuv,
pBtlHtoiv6s, iwoKapaSoKtiy; and in this respect
le frequency of compound words is particularly
\. orthy of notice. Other words receive new senses :
Xowuarfftir, tyiptor, xtpunratrBai, owfo-nMu;
and some are slightly changed in form : ItriStpa
(-npa), itiwira (ijf), 8*vl\ur<ra. (oomp. Winer,
Vramm. § 3).
(4.) The most remarkable construction, which
la wed attested both in the LXX. and in the N.
C, is that of the conjunctions X*a, trar, with the
resent indicative: GaL vi. 19(?), Tva Sufcorroi,
Luke xi. 3, 8>av TpovtixtoUt, as well as with
the future indicative (oomp. Tischdf. Mark iii. %).
Orar is even found with the imperfect and aot.
.die., Mark Mi. 11, JVo» i9<Apovr; A.-oc. viii. 1,
rm* 4m£»>. Other irregular constructions in
aVs combination of moods (Apoe. iii. 9) and in
sfcstiv* oonoords (Mark ix. 36) can be paralleled
NEW TESTAMENT
2141
in classical Greek, though such constructions an
more frequent and anomalous in the Apocalypse
than elsewhere.
8. The peculiarities of the N. T. language which
have been hitherto mentioned have only • rare
and remote connection with interpretation. They
illustrate more or less the general history of th
decay of a language, and offer in some few instance*
curious problems as to the corresponding changes
of modes of conception. Other peculiarities have
a more important bearing on the sense. These an
in part Hebraisms (Aramaiams) in (1) expression
or (2) construction, and in part (3) modification*
of language resulting from the substance of th*
Christian revelation.
( 1.) The general characteristic of Hebraic expres-
sion is vividness, as simplicity is of Hebraic syntax
ftence there is found constantly in the N. T. a
personality of language (if the phrase may be need)
which is foreign to classical Greek. At one time
this occurs in the substitution of a pregnant meta-
phor for a simple word: oiitoSopttr (St. Paul),
OTAcryyWfo/uu (Gospels), a-AareVcir rtir mtpStar
(St. Paul), wpiaarov Kan&Avttv, wpoo-anroAtyid'fa,
■mpocuwoKifiirrur. At another time in the use
of prepositions in place of cases: Kp4(m> ir ite-
■ydAn ^xwjj, <V pax<up? turoAcVOat, iBAoi ire
tov dtpjXToi. At another in the use of a vivid
phrase for a preposi'ion: Ji4 x"P*" TU/ °» y
WcOai, aWooTr'AAf u> trbv x*H^ irys'Aoi;, Iv x«ip'
ttso-irov, (ptvytir arc vpotrtisoo tiv6i. And
sometimes the one personal act is used to describe
the whole spirit and temper: mptictrSat iteicrm
Ttrit.
(2.) The chief peculiarities of the syntax of the
N. T. lie in the -eproduction of Hebrew forma.
Two great features by which it is distinguished
from classical sj-ntax may be specially singled out
It is markedly deficient in the use of particles and
of oblique and participial constructions. Sentences
are more frequently coordinated than subordinated.
One clause follows another rather in the way of
constructive parallelism than by distinct logical
sequence. Only the simplest words of connection
are used In place of the subtle varieties of expres-
sion by which Attic writers exhibit the interde-
pendence of numerous ideas. The repetition of a
key-word (John I. 1, v. 31, 32, xi. 33) ur of a
leading thought (John x. 11 If, xvii. 14-10) >ften
serves in place of all other conjunctions. The
words quoted from another are given in a direct
objective shape (John vii. 40, 41). Illustrative
details are commonly added iu abrupt parenthesis
(John iv. 6). Calm emphasis, solemn repetition,
grave simplicity, the gradual accumulation of
truths, give to the language of Holy Scripture ■
depth and permanence of effect found nowhere
else. It is difficult to single out isolated phrases
in illustration of this general statement, sinee the
final impression is more due to the iteration of
many small points than to the striking power of a
few. Apart from the whole context the influenos
of details la almost inappreciable. Constructions
which an most distinctly Hebraic (a-AnOiVaw
w&qstots, sWaVy rtKtvray, teSoKfiv tv ru>i,
copj ifutprtat, etc.) an not those which give the
i deepest Hebrew coloring to the N. T. diction, but
rather that pervading monotony of form which,
though correct in individual abuses, is wholly for-
eign to the vigor and elasticity of classical Ursek.
If the student will carefully analyse a few chapters
of St John, in whom the Hebrew spirit is not
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2142
NBW TESTAMENT
constant and marked, inquiring at each step how
a classical writer would have avoided repetition by
Uie use of pronouns and particles, how he would
have indicated dependence by the use of absolute
eases and the optative, how be would hare united
the whole bj establishing a clear relation between
the parts, he will gain a true measure of the
Hebraic style mora or less pervading the whole
N. T. which cannot be obtained from a mere cata-
logue of phrases. The character of the style lies
in its total effect and not in separable elements: it
is seen in the spirit which informs the entire text
for more vividly than in the separate members
(somp. [Westeott's] introduction to Me Oviptlt,
pp. 341-202).
(S) 'Ine purely Christian element in the N. T.
requires the most careful handling. Words and
phrases already partially current were transfigured
by embodying new truths and forever consecrated
to their service. To trace the history of these is a
delicate question of lexicography which has not yet
been thoroughly examined. Tneie is a danger of
confounding the apostolic usage on tin one side
with earlier Jewish usage, and on the other with
later ecclesiastical terminology. The steps by which
the one served as a preparation for the apostolic
sense and the latter naturally grew out of it require
to be diligently observed, liven within the range
of the X. T. itself it is possible to notice various
phases of fundamental ideas and a consequent mod-
ification of terms. Ijinguage and thought are both
living powers, mutually dependent and illustrative
Examples of words which show this progressive his-
tory are abundant and full of instruction. Among
others may be quoted, wiartu witrr6i, wtartiftv
eXs rural Siav.ios, oikcuSw] £710;, aytdfal xaAeiy,
icAf/Vii, K\mot, (VAsKro'r; or/Jury, iKwts, X<W>
tiarrylAm, ettayyt\l(«r8cu, rcnpiatreiv, irlipvyfia;
aWoroAaf, vpfa&irtpot, Maxairot, Siixopof.
iprov nAdVai, 0awri(tiv, leoivuvla; aip(, <|«x4t
Tvcvpa; KoVu»s, a-crrnpla, a<i{av; Kvrpouaiai,
KaraAAdV<r<u>. Nor is it too much to say that in
the history of these and such like words lies the
history of Christianity. The perfect truth of the
ipostolic phraseology, when examined by this most
rigorous criticism, contains the fulfillment of earlier
anticipations and the germ of later growth.
9. For the language of the N. T. calls for' the
exercise of the must rigorous criticism. The com-
plexity of the elements which it involves makes the
inquiry wider and deeper, but does not set it aside.
The overwhelming importance, the manifold expres-
sion, the gradual development of the messagr « hich
it conveys, call for more intense devotion in the use
rf every faculty trained in other schools, but do
aot suppress inquiry. The Gospel is for the whole
nature of man, and is sufficient to satisfy the n mod
u well as the spirit. Words and idioms admit of
invrstignition in all stages of a language. Decay
itself is subject to law. A mixed and d< generate
dialec*. is not less the living exponent of definite
(bought, than the most pure and vigorous. Rude
Mid unlettered men may have characteristic modes
of thought and speech, but even (naturally speaking)
there is no reason to expect that they will be less
exact than others in using their own idiom. The
Sterol sensu 01 toe apostolic writings must be gained
b the saite way as the literal sense of any other
writings, by the fullest use of every applinnce of
■cVuarship, and the most complete confidence in
Jbe necessary and absolute connection of words and
noughts. No variation of phrase, no peculiarity
NEW TESTAMENT
of idiom, no change of tense, no change of 1
can be neglected. The truth lies in the whole ex-
pression, aud no one can presume to set aside an)
part a* trivial or indifferent.
10. The importance of investigating most pa-
tiently and most faithfully the literal meaning of
the sacred text must be felt with tenfold fores,
when it is remembered that the literal sense is tea)
outward embodiment of a spiritual sense, which lies
beneath and quickens every part of Holy Scripture
[Ou> Testament]. Something of the same hand
of double sense is found in the greatest works of
human genius, in the Ortttea for example, or Haw-
let ; and the obscurity which hangs over the deepest
utterances of a dramatist may teach humility te
those who complain of the darkness of a prophet.
The special circumstances of the several writers,
their individual characteristics reflected in their
books, the slightest details which add distinctness
or emphasis to a statement, are thus charged with
a divine force. A spiritual harmony rises out of an
accurate interpretation. And exactly in proportion
as the spiritual meaning of the Bible is felt to be
truly its primary meaning, will the importance of
a sound criticism of the text be recognized ss the
one necessary and sufficient foundation of the noble
superstructure of higher truth which is afterwards
found to rest upon it. Kaith in words is the begin-
ning, faith in the word is the completion of Bib-
lical interpretation. Impatience may destroy the
one and check the other; but the true student will
find the simple text of Holy Scripture ever pregnant
with lessons for the present and promises for ages
to come. The literal meaning is one and fixed: the
spiritual meaning is infinite and multiform. The
unity of the literal meaning is not disturbed by the
variety of the inherent spiritual applications. Truth
is essentially infinite. There is thus one sense to
the words, but countless relations. There is an
absolute fitness in the parables and figures of Scrip-
ture, snd hence an abiding pertinence. The spiritual
meaning is, so to speak, the life of the whole, living
on with unchangiug power through every change
of race and age. To this we can approach only
(on the human side) by unwavering trust in the
ordinary laws of scholarship, which finds in Scrip-
ture its final consecration.
For the study of the language of the N. T., Tisch-
endorfs 7th edition (1859), Grinfields A'otaie
Httltnittka (with the Scholia, 1848-48), Brnder's
CMcvrdtmtin (1842 [3d ed. 1867]), and Winer's
GrnmmaHk (8tb edition, 1863, translated by Mae-
son, Kdinh. 1859), are indispensable. To these may
be added Trommius's Concordantia . . . LXX. ns-
terpretum, 1718, for the ussge of the LXX., and
Suicer's TheMnnrm, 1682 [2d ed. 1728], for the
later historv of some words. The lexicons of
Sehleusner to the LXX. (1820-21), and N. T. (4th
ed. 1819 ) contain a large mass of materials, but are
most uncritical. Those of Wah! (K. T. 1822 [trans-
lated by K. Robinson, Andover, 1826: 3d ed. of tha
original. 1843]; Apocrypha, 1863) are much better
in point of accuracy and scholarship. On questions
of dialect and grammar there are important collec-
tions in Stun, ftt Dinlecto Maced. tt Alex. (1786) ■
Thiersch, Or Pent. ten. Ale*. (1841); Loheck*s
Phrynicktu (1820), Parahpomena Gr. Gr. (1837),
Pathol Bern. Gr. Prolegg. (1848), [Piuurrura*-
s. Verbb. Gr. rt /fo mi m tm verbal Technologia,
(1846),] Pathol. Sera. Gr. Elan. ([2 pt 1863-
69] ). The Indices of Jeeobson to the Patret Apt»
tolid (1840) an very complete and ureral. Tns
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NBW TESTAMENT
parallels gathered by Ott and Krebs froir Jneephus,
lad by Loesner and Kfihn from Philo hare been
folly used by most recent commentators. Further
bibliographical references are given by Winer,
Gramm. pp. 1-31; Keuaa, Qe$ch. d. Beil Sehrift-
ea, pp. 88-37; GrinSeld'a If. T. Editio HeUenit-
Sea, Pnef. xi., xii. [Schirlitz, . Gntndtige d. nen-
tart. Gracitat, pp. 101-126.] B. F. W.
* Among the more recent works on the language
of the N. T. the following also deserve notice. K.
6. Bratschneider, Lex. man. Gr.-LnU in Libroe
N. T., 1824, 3d ed., greatly Improved, 1840, 4to.
E. Robinson, (Jr. and K*g. /.ex. of the If. T.,
Boat 1838, new ed. K. Y. 1850, largely combining
the best features of Wahl and Bretecbneider. S. T.
Bloomfield, Gr. and Eng. Lex. to the If. T., Loud.
1840, 3d ed. 1860. C. G. Wilke, Ctavit If. T.
philologica, Dresd. et Lips. 1840-41, 2d ed. 1850,
new ed mostly rewritten by C. L. W. Grimm, under
whose name it also appears with the title Lex. (!r.-
Lat. N. T., Lips. 1868 (a translation of this is
promised by Professor Thayer of Andover). S. C.
Sdfcirlitz, Gritch.-Deuttchet WUrterb. mm N. T.,
G l ess e n, 1851, 3' Aufl. 1888. Herm Cramer, Bibl-
tkeoL WSrterb. tier Neutett. Gracitat, Gotha, 1866,
Engl, trans. 1872. The Glaetary of Later ami
Btpnntine Greek by E A Sophocles, forming vol.
vii. (New Ser.) of the .Wemtrirt of the Amer.
Acuiemy, Cainbr., 1860, 4to, hss been for some
time out of print, but a new edition greatly en-
larged and improved, is now in press (1869). Of the
works named above, those of Bloomfield and Schirlitz
are the least important; Bretachneider is rich in
Bhutrations from the LXX., Josephus, Philo, and
toe Pseudepigrapha of the O. and N. T. ; Wahl is
particularly full on the particles, and in grammat-
ical references; and the new lexicon of Grimm is
characterized by good judgment, competent leani-
ng, and the exclusion of useless matter.
On the tymmymi of the N. T. we have J. A. II.
nttmann. De Syn. in N. T. lib. I., II., Lips. 1829
-33, transl. by V. Craig, 3 vols. Edin. 1833-34; R.
C. Trench, Syn. of the If. T., 2 parts, reprinted
S. Y. 1855-64, new ed. in 1 vol., Lond. 1865; and
the work of Webster, referred to below.
On the grammar of the N. T„ we may note also
the works of Professor Stuart, Andover, 1834, 2d
ed. 1841; W. Trollope, Ixmd. 1842; T. S.Green.
Treatue on the Gram, if the If. 7'., new ed. Lond.
1883 (first ed. 1842), containing some acute obser-
vations; Alex. Buttmann, Gram, dee neutett.
Bprarhiiliomt, Berl. 1859 (valuable); S. C. Schir-
Btx, (hitwkirje der neutett. GrdcitSt, Giessen,
1861; K H. A. Upsiits, Gram. UptcrrerJungenOb.
1. iM. Grdcitit (only doer die Leteseichen), Leipx.
18S3; and William Webster, Syntax and Syno-
«»»» of the Gr. Tat., I<ond. 1864, strangely ex.
tolling Seliirlitx. and disparaging Winer The 7th
idition of Winer, superintended by I 'iiiemann
Leipx. 1867), we hare at last, thanks to Professor
Thaver, in a really accurate translation (Andover,
186J). In the 3d ed. of Jelf 's Greek Grnmmnr
(Oxf. 1851, 4th ed. 1868) particular attention is
paid to the constructions of the Greek Testament.
Professor W. W. I iondwin's Syntax of the Mount
lay/ Tentei of the Greek Verb, 2d ed. O'aniur.
\W>. though not often referring specially to the
3T T.. wi!l he found of great value to the philo-
logical student. On the Greek article there is the
wefl-known work of Bishop Middleton, Ixmd. 1808,
retrmted N V. 18 13, new ed. by liose, Lond. 1865;
NEZIB
2143
comp. Professot Stout's flinti and Cnutiuu m the
Bibl Repot, for April 1834, ir. 277-327, and C.
WinsUnley, Vindication of Certain Pattagu in
the Com. Eng. Vernon of the N. T.,addrttttd to
Granville Sharp, Etg., reprinted with addition
Carabr. 1819.
See further, on the language and style of the
N. T., Planck, De vera Natmra et Indole Oral.
Groom If. T., Getting. 1810, 4to, transl. by Dr.
Robinson in the Bibl Repot, for Oct. 1831, i 638-
691. (In the same vol. of this periodical are other
valuable articles bearing on the subject.) *!lso
Klausen (Danith Clausen), Hermeneutik d. If. T'.,
Leipz. 1841, p. 337 ff.; Wilke, BermenetOik <l .V.
T., Leipz. 1843-44, and Neutett. Rhetorik, i U.
1843; and Zezschvritz, Profangr&citat a. UbKuMr
Sprachgeitt (1859).
Works on the style of particular writers of ti.»
N. T. might also be mentioned here; see, for ex-
ample, the addition to John, Gospel of, vol. it
p. 1439 b. See also J. 1). Schulze, Per tchrift-
ttelltritehe Werth «. Char, del Petrtu, J tula* u.
Jaeubut, Weissenfels, 1802; ditto, de* Evang.
Markut, in Keil and Txschirner's Analekten, Bde
ii., Hi.; Gersdorf, Beitrage sot Sprach-Chnrak
terietik der SchriftiUUer del If. T., Theil i
(I-eipz. 1816; no more published); Holtzniann,
Die Synopt. Evangelien (Leipz. 1863), pp. 271-
358; and the various discussions on the genuine-
ness of the Acts of the Apostles, the Pastoral Epis-
tles of PauL the authorship of the Epistle to the
Hebrews, the 2d Epistle of Peter, and the Apoc-
alypse, for which see the articles on the respectiv
books.
The Critical Gnei and Ent/lUh Concordance to
the If. T., by the late C. V. Hudson, which is an-
nounced for speedy publication (Boston, 1869), will
be a valuable supplement to Binder, giving the
various readings of Griesliacb, Lacbmann, Tischen-
dorf, and Tregelles, and at the same time preserv-
ing the best features of the Englithman't Greek
Concordance of the If. T. It will be incomparably
superior to Schmoller's recent work, which is very
unsatisfactory. A.
NEW YEAH. [TRnMi-ETs, Feast of.]
NEZI'AH (iT^J [/.'imms, -FUrsts cow
quered, Ges.] : SaaBii, [Vat. Naaovs,] Alex.
NeeV in Kzr. : Nio-io, [Vat. FA. A<r«io, Alex.
Ncio-eia,] in Neh. : Natia). The descendants of
Neziah were among the Nethinim who returned
with Zerubbabel (Est. ii. 64; Neh. vii. 56). The
name appears as Nasith in 1 Esdr. r. 39.
NE'ZIB (a* 1 ?? [garriton, pillar : Vat.]; Ms
0-eijS; [Rom. NourijS;] Alex. N<o-iiS: Ifenh), a
city of Judah (Josh. xv. 43 only), in the district
of the Shefelah or Ixiwland, one of the same grot-p
with Keilah and Mareshoh. To Eusebius and
Jerome it was evidently known. They place it on
the road between Eieutheropolis and Hebron, 7 or
T> (Euseb.) miles from the former, and there it still
stands under the almost identical name of Beit fft-
lib, or Chirbeh Ifano. 2£ hours from Beit JibrtM,
j on a rising ground at the southern end of the Wady
I ef-SaV, and with Keilah and Mareshah within easy
i distance. It lias been visited by Dr. Robinson (ii.
220. 221 ) and Tobler (3/e irWfcrwno, 150). The
former mentions tlie remains of ancient buildings,
especially one of apparently remote age, 180 feet
long by 30 broad. This, however — with the
curious discrepancy which is so remarkable in Rs»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2144
NIBHAZ
tem explorers — is denied by the latter traveller,
who states that " but for the ancient name no one
would suspect this of being an ancient site."
Nexib" adds another to the number of places
which, though enumerated as in the Lowland, have
been found in the mountains. [.Tiphtah; Kd-
LAII.] G.
NIJVHAZ an33, and in some MS3. ]n^3
and TIT53 [set below]: N.flx<f» [?] or [Alex.]
Nai/fcb; for which there is substituted in some
jopies an entirely different name, *A$aa(4p, Na-
0aa(7p, or 'E$\a(4p [Rom.], the latter being prob-
ably the more correct, answering to the Hebrew
"^35 3ft "grief ° r ">• ruler": Nebatmz), a
deity of the Antes, introduced by them into Sa-
maria in the time of Shalmaneeer (2 K. xvi. 31).
There is no certain information as to the character
of the deity, or the form of the idol so named. The
Kabbins derived the name from a Hebrew root nd-
bnch (njJS), " to bark," and hence assigned to it
the figure of a dog, or a dog-headed man. There
is no n priori improbaliility in this ; the Egyptians
worshipped the dog (Plut De 1$. 44), and accord-
ing to the opinion current among the Greeks and
Romans they represented Annbis as a dog-headed
man, though Wilkinson (Ane. Egypt, i. 440, Sec-
ond Series) asserts that this was a mistake, the
head being in reality that of a jackal. Some : ndi-
cations of the worship of the dog have been found
n Syria, a colossal figure of a dog having formerly
listed between Berytus and Tripolis (Winer, Renho.
v.). It is still more to the point to observe that
on one of the slabs found at Khorsabad and repre-
sented by Botta (pi. 141), we hare the front of a
temple depicted with an animal near the entrance,
which can be nothing else than a bitch suckling a
puppy, the head of the animal having, however,
disappeared. The worship of Idols representing the
human body surmounted by the head of an animal
(as in the well-known case of Niaroch) was com-
mon among the Assyrians. According to another
equally unsatisfactory theory, Nibhaz is identified
with the god of the nether world of the Sabian
worship (Gesen. Thnnu. p. 842). W. L. B.
NIB SHAN (with the definite article,
*7^j»Bn [the furnncr, Fiirst; toft sort, Ges.] :
NcupAafifr; Ale*. Nefl<ro»: Nebmn). One of the
«x cities of Judah (Josh. zv. 62) which were in
the district of the Mldbar (A. V. "wilderness' - ),
which probably in this one case only designates the
lepressed region on the immediate shore of the Dead
Sea. usually in the Hebrew Scriptures called the
Ar&bah. [Vol. 11. p. 1491 <>.] Under the name
of Xempaan or Nebsan it is mentioned by Eusebius
and Jerome in the Otumnttiam, but with no at-
tempt to fix its position. Nor does any subsequent
traveller appear to have either sought for or dis-
covered any traces of the name. G.
NICATTOR (Nwbwp [eonoueror] : ffwtnnr),
the son of Patnelua (2 Mace. viil. 9), a general
a To* wort titiM, Identical with the above
If several times employed for a garrison or an officer
if the Philistines (see 1 Sam. x. 6. xlll. 8, 4; 1 Chr.
it. 16). This suggests the possibility of Neslb having
base a Philistine place. But the application of the
tann I the PhlUsttnes, though frequent, is not ezata-
NIOODEMTJ8
who waa engaged in the Jewish wars under AnttV
ochus Epiphanes and Demetrius I. He took part
in the first expedition of Lysiaa, n c. 166 (1 Maes
iii. 38), and was defeated with his fellow-commander
at Eiumaus (1 Mace ir. ; ef. 2 Mace viii. 9 ft).
After the death of Antiochus Eupator and Lysiaa,
he stood high in the favor of Demetrius (1 Mace
vii. 26), who appointed him governor of Judaea (t
Mace. xiv. 12), a command which be readily under-
took as one " who bare deatiiy hate unto Israel "
(1 Mace. vii. 26). At first he seems to have en-
deavored to win the confidence of Judas, but when
his treacherous designs were discovered he had re-
course to violence. A battle took place at Caphar-
salaroa, which was indecisive In its results; hot
shortly after Judas met him at Adasa (b. c. 161),
and he fell " first in the battle." A general root
followed, and the 13th of Adar, on which the en-
gagement took place, " the day before Mardocheutf
day," was ordained to be kept forever as a festival
(I Mace. vii. 49; 2 Mace. xv. 36).
There are some discrepancies between the narra-
tives in the two books of Maccabees as to Nicanor.
In 1 Mace, he is represented as acting with delib-
erate treachery : in 2 Mace, he is said to have been
won over to a sincere friendship with Judas, which
was only interrupted by the intrigues of Alcimua,
who induced Demetrius to repeat his orders for the
capture of the Jewish hero (2 Msec. xiv. 23 IE).
Internal evidence is decidedly in favor of 1 Mace.
According to Josephus {Ant. xii. 10, { 4), whe
does not, however, appear to have had any other
authority than 1 Mace, before him, Judas waa
defeated at Capharsalama; and though his account
is obviously inaccurate (a.yayK<i(ti to* 'ioiSar . .
. M tt/v eWsar 4><6y«u>), the events which fol-
lowed (1 Mace. vii. 33 ft".; comp. 2 Mace xir.
33 ff) seem at least to indicate that Judas gained
no advantage. In 2 Mace, this engagement is not
noticed, but another is placed (2 Mace. xiv. 17)
liefore the connection of Nicanor with Judas, while
this was after it (1 Mace. vii. 27 ff.), in wbieh
"Simon .ludas' brother" is said to have been
" somewhat discomfited."
2. One of the first seven deacons (Acta vi. 6).
According to the Pseudo-llippolytus he was one
of the seventy disciples, and " died at the time of
the martyrdom of Stephen " (p. 953, ed. Migne).
RF.W.
NICODE-MUS (Nuc<ioi)uot [conqueror of
Hit people] : Nicodemui), a Pharisee, a ruler of
the Jews, and' teacher of Israel (John iii. 1, 10),
whose secret visit to onr Ixird was the occasion
of the discourse recorded by St. John. The name
was not uncommon among the Jews (Joseph. Ant.
xiv. 8, § S), and was no doubt borrowed from the
Greeks. In the Talmud it appears under the form
TICTfpU, and some would derive it from N p3,
innocent, CH, blood (i e. " Soeleris porog");
Wetstein, ff. T. i. 150. In the case of Nieodetnue
Ben Gorion, the name is derived by R. Nathan
from a miracle which he is sup p osed to have per-
formed (Otbo, Lex. Rnli a. v.).
b If originally a Hebrew name, probably from the
same root as Baahsn — a sandy soil
e The srtlele in John 111. 10 (4 ttUn-i, is probaMr
only generic, although Winer and Bp. aOddktoa saaj>
pose that It implies a nsboka.
Digitizedby VjOOQlC
NICODEMUS
i is only mentioned by St. John, who
hie nocturnal Tint to Jegua, and the con-
versation which then took place, at which the
Evangelist may himself have been present The
high station of Nicodemus as a member of the
Jewish Sanhedrim, and the avowed scorn under
which the rulers concealed their inward conviction
(John iii. 9) that Jesus was a teacher sent from
God, are sufficient to account for the secrecy of the
interview. A constitutional timidity is discernible
in the character of the inquiring Pharisee, which
could not be overcome by his vacillating desire to
befriend and acknowledge One whom he knew to
be a Prophet, even if he did not at once recognize
in him the promised Messiah. Thus the few words
which he interposed against the rash injustice of
his colleagues are cautiously rested on a general
principle (John vii. 50), and betray no indication
of his faith in the Galilean whom his sect despised.
And even when the power of Christ's love, mani-
fested on the cross, had made the most timid
disciples bold, Nicodemus does not come forward
with his splendid gifts of affection until the exam-
ple had been set by one of his own rank, and
wealth, and station in society (xix. 39).
In these three notices of Nicodemus a noble
candor and a simple love of truth shine out in
the midiit of hesitation and fear of man. We can
therefore easily believe the tradition that after the
resurrection (which would supply the last outward
impulse necessary to confirm his faith and increase
his courage) he became a professed disciple of
Christ, and received baptism at the hands of Peter
and John. All the rest that is recorded of him is
highly uncertain. It is said, however, that the
Jews, in revenge for his conversion, deprived him
of his office, beat him cruelly, and drove him from
Jerusalem; that Gamaliel, who was his kinsman,
hospitably sheltered him until his death in a coun-
try house, and finally gave him honorable burial
near the body of Stephen, where Gamaliel himself
was afterwards interred. Finally, the three bodies
are said to have been discovered on August 3, A. D.
415, which day was set apart by the Komiah
Church in honor of the event (Phot. Bi/iUuth. Cod.
171; Uician, Dt 8. Sttph. inrenlimc).
The conversation of Christ with Nicodemus is
sppointed ss the Gospel for Trinity Sunday. The
choice at first sight may seem strange. There are
n that discourse no mysterious numbers which
might shadow forth truths in their simplest rela-
tions; no distinct and yet simultaneous actions of
Jw divine persons; no separation of divine attrib-
utes. Yet the instinct" which dictated this choice
was a right one. For it is in this conversation
alone that we see how our Lord himself met the
difficulties of a thoughtful man ; bow be checked,
without noticing, the self-assumption of a teacher;
how he lifted the half-believing mind to the light
of nobler truth.
If the Nicodemus of St. John's Gospel be identi
sal with the Nicodemus Ben Gorion of the Talmud,
be must have lived till the fall of Jerusalem, which
is not impossible, since the term ytpay, in John
iii. 4, may not be intended to apply to Nicodemus
himself. The argument* for their identification
in that both are mentioned as Pharisees, wealthy,
pious, and members of the Sai.hedrim (TaanWi,
NICOLAITANS
2146
m writer is indebted te tb>
i wr Mr. Wsstoott.
136
remark lea MS.
f. 19, 4c. See Otho, Lex. Rat. s. r.); and that
in Tantuth the original name (altered on the occa-
sion of a miracle performed by Nicodemus in order
to procure rain) is said to hare been ''S'Q, whict
is also the name of one of five Rabbinical disciples
of Christ mentioned in Sanhed. f. 43, 1 (Otho,
a. r. Chruttu). Finally, the family of this Nico-
demus are said to have been reduced from great
wealth to the most squalid and horrible poverty,
which however may as well be accounted for by
the fall of Jerusalem, as by the change of fortune
resulting from an acceptance of Christianity.
On the Gospel of Nicodemus, see Fabricius, Cod.
Puudepigr. i. 213; Thilo, Cod. Apoer. I. 478.
In some HSS. it is also called "The Acta of
Pilate." It is undoubtedly spurious (as the con-
clusion of it sufficiently proves), and of very little
value. F. W. F.
* Nicodemus is called a " ruler of the Jews "
(ttpxay rip 'louSaimr) in John iii. 1; and as that
title (&px»i>) is given in some passages (John vii.
36; Acta iii. 17, Ac.) to members of the Sanhe-
drim, it has been inferred that he was one of that
body. He was probably also n scribe or teacher
of the Law (SiSdV«aAot to5 'Io-aafjX, John HL
10 = vo/ioSi SiffKaKos) ; and hence belonged to that
branch of the Council which represented the learned
class of the nation. Of tbe three occurrences (sea
above) in which Nicodemus appears in the Gospel-
history, the second occupies an intermediate posi-
tion between the first and the third as to tbe
phase of character which they severally exhibit;
and in this respect, as Tholuck suggests, the narra-
tive is seen to be "psychologically true " (h'vnng.
Johanms, p. 305, 6 M Ami). We have no means
of deciding whether Nicodemus was present in
the Sanhedrim at the time of the Saviour's arraign-
ment and trial before that court. If he was
present he may have been too undecided to inter-
poje any remonstrance (none is recorded ), or may
have deemed it unavailing amid so much violence
and passion. Stier would find in otiantv as
plural a characteristic shrinking from anything
like a direct personal avowal of his own belief
(Redm Jem, iv. 11, 4* AufL); but, more probably,
ha meant, In this way, to recognize more strongly
the ample evidence furnished by Christ's miracles
that He was a teacher sent from God. In this
confession perhaps he associates with himself soma
of bis own rank who were already known to him
as secret believers (see xii. 43; xix. 38).
For a list of writers on the character of Nico-
demus and his interview with Christ, see Hnae'a
Leber, Jest, § 52 (4>» Aufl.). On the apocryphal
Gospel of Nicodemus see the articles on the
Apocryphal Gospels generally by Hofmann in Her-
zog's RenUKncyk. xii. 325-327; by Bishop FJli-
oott in the Cambridge Eunyt for 1856, p. 161 ff. - r
and by C. E. Stowe, D. D., in the RibL Sacra, ix.
p. 79 f.; and particularly Tischendorf, Emngelia
Apocrypha (Lips. 1858), pp. liv. ff., 203 ff. H.
NICOLAITANS (NhcoAoIto.: NicolaUm).
The quest' on how far the sect that is mentioned by
this name in Rev. ii. 6, 15, was connected with the
Nicolas of Acts vi. 6, and the traditions that have
gathered round his name, will be discussed below.
[Nicolas.] It will here be considered how far
we can get at any distinct notion of what the seat
itself was, and in what relation it stood total Bfc
of the Apostolic age.
It has been suggested as one step towards this
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2146 MIOOLAITANS
nralt that the name before ui tn symbolic rather
than historical. The Greek ftix6\aos is, it ha>
been said, an approximate equivalent to the Hebrew
Balaam, the lord (Vitringa, deriving it from 75?):
or, according to another derivation, the devourer of
the people (so Hengstenberg. as from Sv|).« If
we accept this explanation we have to deal with one
■est instead of two— we are able to compare with
what we find in Kev. ii. the incidental notices of
the characteristics of the followers of Balaam in
Jude and 2 Peter, and our task is proportionately
an easier one. It may be urged indeed that this
theory rests upon a false or at least a doubtful ety-
mology (Gesenius, s. c. DP??, makes it = pert-
grimu), and that the message to the Church of
Pergamos (Rev. ii. 14, 15) appears to recognize
"those that hold the doctrine of Balaam," and
" those that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,"
as two distinct bodies. There is, however, a suffi-
cient answer to both these objections. (1.) The
whole analogy of the mode of teaching which lays
stress on the significance of names would lead us
to look, not for philological accuracy, hut for a
broad, strongly-marked paronomasia, such as men
would recognize and accept. It would be enough risk that its Agapa? might become as full of abomi
KICOLATtAKS
at the close union of the moral and the poeHIm
commands may seem to us, it did not seem so Is
the synod at Jerusalem. The two sins were very
closely allied, often even in the closest proximity of
time and place. The fathomless impurity which
overspread the empire made the one almost as
inseparable as the other from its daily ro-ial lift.
The messages to the Churches of Asia and the
later Apostolic Epistles (2 Peter and Jude) indicate
that the two evils appeared at that period also in
close alliance. The teachers of the Church branded
them with a name which expressed their true char-
acter. The men who did and taught such tl bigi
were followers of Balaam (2 Pet. ii. 16; Jude 11).
Tbey, like the false prophet of Pethor, united bras*
words with evil deeds. They made their "liberty"
a cloak at once for cowardice and licentiousness
In a time of persecution, when the eating or not
eating of things sacrificed to idols was more than
ever a crucial test of faithfulness, tbey persuaded
men more than ever that it was a thing indifferent
(Rev. ii. 13, 14). This was bad enough, but there
was a yet worse evil. Mingling themselves in the
orgies of idolatrous feasts, they brought the im-
purities of those feasts into the meetings of the
Christian Church. There was the most imminent
for those who were to hear the message that they
should perceive the meaning of the two words to
be identical.' (2.) A closer inspection of Kev. ii.
16 would show that the offVou ?x<"< *- T - A -
imply the resemblance of the teaching of the
Nicolaitant with that of the historical Balaam
mentioned in the preceding verse, rather than any
kind of contrast.
We are now in a position to form a clearer
Judgment of the characteristics of the sect. It
comes before us as presenting the ultimate phase
of a great controversy, which threatened at one
time to destroy the unity of the Church, and after-
wards to taint its purity. The controversy itself
was inevitable as soon as the Gentiles were admit-
ted, in any large numbers, into the Church of
Christ. Were the new converts to be brought into
subjection to the whole Mosaic law ? Were they
to give up their old habits of life altogether — to
withdraw entirely from the social gatherings of
their friends and kinsmen? Was there not the
risk, if they continued to join in them, of their
eating, consciously or unconsciously, of that which
had been slain in the sacrifice* of a false worship,
and of thus sharing in the idolatry ? The apostles
and elders at Jerusalem met the question calmly
and wisely. The burden of the Law was not to
be imposed on the Gentile disciples. They were
to abstain, among other things, from "meats
offered to idols " and from " fornication " (Acts
it. 20, 29), and this decree was welcomed as the
great charter of the Church's freedom. Strange
nations as the Bacchanalia of Italy had been (9
Pet. ii. 12, 13, 18; Jude 7, 8; comp. liv. xxxix.
8-19). Their sins had already brought scandal
and discredit on the "way of truth." And all
this was done, it must be remembered, not simply
as an indulgence of appetite, but as part of a sys-
tem, supported by a " doctrine," accompanied by
tbe boast of a prophetic illumination (2 Pet. ii. 1).
The trance of the son of Beor and the sensual
debasement into which he led the Israelites wen
strangely reproduced.
These were the characteristics of the followers
of Balaam, and, worthless as most of the traditions
about Nicolas may be, tbey point to tbi same dis-
tinctive evils. Even in the absence of any teacher
of that name, it would be natural enough, as baa
been shown above, that the Hebrew name of igno-
miny should have it* Greek equivalent. If then
were such a teacher, whether the proselyte of
Antioch or another,' the application of the name
to his followers would be proportionately more
pointed. It confirms the view which has been
taken of their character to find that stress is laid in
the first instance on the "deeds" of the Kicolaitani
To hate those deeds is a sign of life in a Church
that otherwise is weak and faithless (Kev. ii. 8).
To tolerate them is well nigh to forfeit the glory
of having been faithful under persecution (Rev. ii.
14, 15). (Comp. Neander's Apottelotsch. p. 820;
Gieseler's Keel. Hut. { 29; Hengstenberg and
Alford on Rev. ii. 6; Stier, Words of the Roe*
Sarhur, x.) E. H. P.
o Cooerlua (Cogitat. in See. 11. 6) has the credit of
Mag tbe first to suggest this Identification of the
NlcolaiUns with the follows™ of Balaam. He baa
bum followed by the elder Vitringa (Dissert, ife Argum
Bpist. Petri positr. In Hue's Uirsavnis, 11.967), Heng-
stenberg (its Jor.). 8ti« ( Words of thr Risen Lord. p.
125, Bug. tranal), and others. Ugbtfbot (Hot. He*.
m Act. Apost. vi. b) suggests another and more start-
ing paronomasia. The word, In his view, was chosen,
as Identical In sound with hV"D*3, "let us eat,"
and as thns marking out the special characteristic of
6 Vitringa (J. c.) finds another Instance of this In-
direct expression of feeling In the peculiar form,
" Balaam the son of Bosor," In 2 Pet. H. 16 The
substitution of the latter name for the Bcwp of the
LXX. originated, according to his conjecture, in the
wish to point to his antitype In the Christian Chares
as a true "H&B"^?, a JUitu tonus.
c It Is noticeable (though the documents then.
selves are not of much weight as evidence) that Is
two instances the Nlcolaltans am <na to bs '• Masti
so called" tytvewinuH, Ignat. ad Iroii. It- -msat
Apost. rt. ii.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NICOLAS
MOOLAH (NimfXMM [awotierer o/tfejeo-
pit]: Nicohmt), Acts x* f A native of Antioch,
tnd a proselyte to the Jewish faith. When the
tkurob <u still confined to Jerusalem he became
s convert; and being a man of honest report, full
of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, he was chosen
by the whole multitude of the disciples to be one
of the first seven deacons, and he was ordained by
the Apostles, A. D. 83.
A sect of Nicolaitans is mentioned in Rev. ii. 6,
16 : and it has beeu questioned whether this Nicolas
was connected with them, and if so, how closely.
The Nicolaitans themselves, at least as early as
the time of Irenseus (Conn-. Hear. i. 26, % 3),
etrimed kirn ss their founder. Epiphanins, an in-
tceunte writer, relates (Aih. Hmr. i. 2, § 25, p.
76) some details of the life of Nicolas the deacon,
and describes him as gradually sinking into the
grossest impurity, and becoming the originator of
the Nicolaitans and other immoral sects. Stephen
Gobar (Phottl Bib'ltk § 332, p. 991, ed. 1824)
states — and the statement is corroborated by the
recently discovered Philutophumenn, bk. vii. § 36 —
that Hippolytus agreed with Epiphanius in his un-
favorable view of Nicolas. The same account i»
believed, at least to some extent, by Jerome ( tp.
147, t_ i. p. 1082, ed. Vallars. etc.) and other
writers in the 4th century. But it is irreconcilable
with the traditionary account of the character of
Nicolas, given by Clement of Alexandria (Strom.
iiL 4, p. 187, Sylb. and apud ICuub. H. E. iii. 99;
see also Hammond, Atmot. on Rev. ii. 4), an earlier
and more discriminating writer than Epiphanius.
He states that Nicolas led a chaste life and brought
up his children in purity, that on a certain occasion
having been sharply reproved by the Apostles as a
iealous husband, he repelled the charge by offering
to allow his wife to become the wife of any other
person, and that he was in the habit of repeating a
saying which is ascribed to the Apostle Matthias
also, — that it is our doty to fight against the flesh
and to abuse (rayKurjrirsfai) it. His words were
p e rv erse l y interpretedby the Nicolaitans ai an au-
thority for their immoral practices. Theodoret
(Haerti. Fab. iii. 1) in his account of the sect
repeats the foregoing statement of Clement; and
charges the Nicolaitans with false dealing in bor-
rowing the name of the deacon. Ignatius," who
was contemporary with Nicolas, is said by Stephen
Gobar to have given the same account as Clement,
Eussbins, and Theodoret, touching the personal
character of Nicolas. Among modern critics, Co-
teterius in a note on Conttit. Apott. vi. 8, after re-
citing the various authorities, seems to lean towards
the favorable view of the character of Nicolas
Prjfcssor Burton (Lectures on Ecclrtintticul Hit-
hrf, Lett. xii. p. 364, ed. 1833) is of opinion that
the origin of the term Nicolaitans is uncertain;
and that, "though Nicolas the deacon has been
mentioned as their founder, the evidence is ex-
tremely slight which would convict that person
himself of any immoralities." Tillemont (H. E.
i. 47), possibly influenced by the fact that no
sonor is paid to the memory of Nicolas by any
branch of the Church, allows perhaps too much
■eight to the testimony against him; rejects per-
tmptorily Cassian'i statement — to wAich Neander
[Minting of the Church, bk. v. p. 8W. ed. Bohn)
fives his adhesion — that seme other Nicolas was
NICOPOLIS
2141
the founder of the sect; and concludes that if nut
the actual founder, he was so unfortunate as to give
occasion to the formation of the sect, by his indie
creet speaking. Grotius's view, ss given in a not*
on Rev. ii. 6, is substantially the same as that of
Tillemont
The name Balaam is perhaps (but see 3esen.
The*. 210) capable of being interpreted as a He-
brew equivalent of the Greek Nicolas. Some com-
mentators think that this is alluded to by St. John
in Kev. ii. 14; and C. Vitringa (0b>. Soar. ir. 9)
argues forcibly in support of this opinion.
W. T. B.
NICOP-OLIS (Nia-oWn [dig of victory):
Nico/*>Ha) is mentioned in Tit. iii. 12, as the place
where, at the time of writing the epistle, St. Paul
was intending to pass the coming winter, and where
he wished Titus to meet him. Whether either or
both of these purposes were accomplished we cannot
toll. Titus was at this time in Crete (Tit. i. 5).
The subscription to the epistle assumes that the
Apostle was at Nicopolis when he wrote; but we
cannot conclude this from the form of expression.
We should rather infer that he was elsewhere, pos-
sibly at Ephesus or Corinth. He urges that no
time should be lost (ovovsWoir i\@tir) ; hence we
conclude that winter was near.
Nothing is to be found in the epistle itself to
determine which Nicopolis is here intended. There
were cities of this name in Asia, Africa, and Eu-
rope. If we were to include all the theories which
have been respectably supported, we should he
obliged to write at least three articles. One Nicop-
olis was in Thrace, near the borders of Macedonia.
The subscription (which, however, is of no author-
ity) fixes on this place, calling it the Macedonian
Nicopolis : and such is the view of Chrysostom and
Theodoret. De Wette's objection to this opinion
(Pailurat-Briefe, p. 21), that the place did not
exist till Trajan's reign, appears to be a mistake.
Another Nicopolis was in Cilicia; and Scbradet
(Drr Apvttel Paulut, i. pp. 115-119) pronounces
for this; but this opinion is connected with a pecu-
liar theory regarding the Apostle's journeys. We
have little doubt that Jerome's view is correct, and
that the Pauline Nicopolis was the celebrated city
of Epirus ("scribit Apostolus de Nicopoli, qua
in Actiaco littore sita," Hieron. Praam, ix. 195).
For arrangements of St. Paul's journeys, which
will harmonize with this, and with the other facts
of the Pastoral Epistles, see Birks, Hone ApotUi-
lot, pp. 296-304; and Conybeare and liowson
Life and Epp. of St. Paul (2d ed.), ii- 564-673.
It is very possible, as is observed there, that St.
Paul was arrested at Nicopolis and taken thence tc
Rome for his final trial.
This city (the <> City of Victory ") was built h,
Augustus in memory of the battle of Actium, and
on the ground which his army occupied before the
engagement. It is a curious and interesting cir-
cumstance, when we look at the matter from a Bib
lical point of view, that many of the handsomest
parts of the town were built by Herod the Great
(Joseph. Ant. xvi. 5, J 8). It is likely enough that
many Jews lived there. Moreover, it was conven-
iently situated for apostotio journeys in the eas-
tern parts of Achala and Macedonia, and aho to
the northwards, where churches perhaps wan
founded. St. Paul had long before preached the
■ Usher conjectures that this r efe ren ce la m aha in- (De Ignatii BputoH*, 1 6, Vfai Ooteler. Pur. is**
rpatstsd copy of the Spittle to the TrauJane, eh. «v la. 196, ad. 1784.)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2148
NIGER
Gospel, it least on the confine! of Illyricum (Bom.
ct. 19 J, and soon after the very period under con-
sideration Titus himself m wot on a minion to
Dalmatia (2 Tim. ir. 10).
Nicopolis was on a penineula to the met of the
Bay of Actium, in a low and unhealthy situation,
and it ii now a very desolate place. The remain!
have been often described. We may refer to Leake's
Norther* Greece, i. 178, and iii. 491; Bowen'i
Athot and JCpirtu, 311; Wolfe in Journ. of R.
Utog. Soc. iii. 93; Merirale's Rome, iii. 327, 328;
Wordsworth's Greece, 339-333. In the last men-
tioned work, and in the Diet, of Greek and Roman
Grog, maps of the place will be found.
J.S.H.
NI'GER (■Nlytp [Mack]: Niger) i* the addi-
tional or distinctive name given to the Synieon
(iufut&y), who was one of the teachers and prophets
in the Church at Antioch (Acts ziii. 1). He is not
known except in that passage. The name was a
common one among the Romans; and the conjec-
ture that he was an African proselyte, and was
called Niger on account of his complexion, is un-
necessary as well as destitute otherwise of any sup-
port. His name, Svmeon, shows that he was a Jew
by birth; and as in other similar cases (e. g. Saul,
Paul — Silas, Silvanus) he may be supposed to have
taken the other name as more convenient in bis in-
tercourse with foreigners. He is mentioned second
among the five who officiated at Antioch, and per-
haps we may infer that he had some preeminence
among them in point of activity and influence. It
is impossible to decide (though Meyer makes the
attempt) who of the number were prophets (-rpoQ-
ttcu), and who were teachers (SiJoVkoAoi).
H. B. H.
NIGHT. The period of darkness, from sunset
to sunrise, including the morning and evening twi-
light, was known to the Hebrews by the term
^^?» to***, "t ^fl* loyllM. It is opposed to
" day," the period of light (Gen. i. 5). Following
the oriental sunset is the brief evening twilight
(SBJ, netheph, Job xxhr. 15, rendered " night "
in Is. t. 11, xxi. 4, lix. 10), when the stars appeared
(Job iii 9). This is also called ••evening"
&??> *ereft, Pror. Til. 9, rendered "night" in
Gen. xllx. 37, Job vii. 4), but the term which es-
pecially denotes the evening twilight is iltoby,
iUm (Gen it. 17, A. V. "dark; " Ea. xii. 6, f,
13). 'Are* also denotes the time just before sun-
set (Dent, xxiii. 11 ; Josh. rill. 89 ), when the women
vent to draw water (Gen. xxiv. II), and the decline
vf the day is called "the turning of evening"
£"?? nh39, ptntlh ■err*, Gen. xxiv. 63), the
time of prayer. This period of the day must also
re that which is described as " night " when Boaz
winnowed his barley in the evening breeze (Ruth
Ii. 3), the cool of the day (Gen. iii. 8), when the
shadows begin to fall (Jer. vi. 4), and the wolves
prowl about (Hab. i. 8; Zeph. iii. 8). The time
of midnight (nb?bn ^SPT, chilri hallaylMh,
Ruth lil. 8, and nS^bn HTSq, chitttth halla-
■NfU. Ex. xL 4) or greatest darkness Is called in
' njjjrn?.
NIGHT-HAWK
tot. vii. 9 < the pupil of night " (nVb fwfa,
tihin layil&h, A. V. " black night "). 'The period
between midnight and the morning twilight was
generally selected for attacking an enemy by sur
prise (Judg. vii. 19.) The morning twilight is de
noted by the same term, netheph, as the evening
twilight, and is unmistakably intended in 1 Sam
xxxi. 18; Job vii. 4; Ps. cxix. 147; possibly alac
in Is. t. 11. With sunrise the night ended. In
one passage, Job xxvi. 10, 7|l$n, chdehec, "dark-
ness," is rendered "night" in the A. V., but to
correctly given in the margin.
For the artificial divisions of the night see the.
articles Dat and Watches. W. A. W.
NIGHT-HAWK (D^rjW.tacAmds.- ytotti
nocUia). Bocbait (Bierat. ii. 880) has endeavored
to prove that the Hebrew word, which occurs only
(Lev. xl. 16; Deut. xiv. 15) amongst the list of
unclean birds, denotes the " male ostrich," the pre-
ceding term, bath-yaan&h <* (owl, A. V.), signifying
the female bird. The etymology of the word points
to some bird of prey, though there is great uncer-
tainty as to the particular species indicated. The
LXX., Vulg., and perhaps Onkelos, understand
some kind of '• owl; " most of the Jewish doctors
indefinitely render the word '-a rapacious bird:"
Geseuius ( Tliet. s. v.) and Rosenmiiller (SchoL ad
Lev- xi. 16 ) follow Bochart. Bochart's explanation
is grounded on an overstrained interpretation of the
etymology of the verb c/idmat, the root of tachmis ;
he restricts the meaning of the root to the idea of
acting " unjustly " or " deceitfully," and thus
comes to the conclusion that the " unjust bird " to
the male ostrich [Ostrich]. Without stopping ts
consider the etymology of the word further than to
refer the reader to Gesenius, who gives as the first
meaning of chdmat " he acted violently," and to
the Arabic chamatk, " to wound with claws," 6 it
is not at all probable that Hoses should have speci-
fied loth the male and female ostrich in a list
which was no doubt intended to be as comprehen-
sive as possible. The not unfrequent occurrence of
the expression ■' after their kind " is an argument
in favor of this assertion. Michaelis believes some
kind of swallow (Hirundo) is intended: the word
used by the Targum of Jonathan is by Kitto (PicL
Bib. Lev. xi. 16) and by Oedmann (I'ermisch
Samm. i. p. 3, c. It.) referred to the swallow, though
the last-named authority says, " it is unoertain, how
ever, what Jonathan really meant." Buxtorf (Lex.
Rabbin, s. v. Nl^TBtjn) translates the word used
by Jonathan, " a name of a rapacious bird, liar-
pyjn." It is not easy to see what claim the swallow
can have to represent the lachmie, neither Is it at
all probable that so small a bird should hare been
noticed in the Leritical law. The rendering of the
A. V. rests on no authority, though from the ab-
surd properties which, from the time of Aristotle,
have been ascribed to the night-hawk or goat-sucker,
and the superstitions connected with this bird, its
claim is not so entirely destitute of every kind of
evidence.
As the LXX. and Vulg. are agreed that tackmm
denotes some kind of owl we believe K to safer (■
follow these versions than modern commentators
ii-'. | *»■ scalpel, ungmbus
•ss fiv/tat- >. «.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NIGHT-MONSTEB
tl» Greek ykait is used by Aristotle lor some
sommoo species of owl, in all probability for the
Strix jtammea (white owl) or the Syn»Mn ttridxUa
(tawny owl);« the Veneto-Greek reads rwrri-
«4pa{, a synonym of £toj, Aristot., i. e. the Otus
migm is, Flem. (long-eared owl) : this is the species
which Oedmann (sou above) identifies with ttichm&t.
■•The name," he says, "indicates a bird which
exercises power, but the force of the power is in the
Arabia root chamjtth, ' to tear a face with claws.'
How, it is well known in the East that there is a
(pedes of owl of which people believe that it glides
Into chambers by night and tears the flesh off the
■sees of sleeping children." Hasselquist ( Trat. p.
186, Loud. 1766) alludes to this nightly terror, but
ae calls it the "Oriental owl" (Strix Onenlalit),
and dearly distingui ihes it from the Slrix otut,
Iin. The Arabs in Egypt call this infant-killing
owl mattntn, the Syrians bona. It is believed to
be identical with the Syrnium ttrittula, but what
foundation there may be for the belief in its child-
killing propensities we know not. It is probable
that some common species of owl is denoted by
tnehm&t, perhaps the Strix finmmea or the Athene
meridionali*, which is extremely common in Pales-
tine and Egypt. [Owl.] " \V. H.
• NIGHT-MONSTER, Is.xxxiv.14, marg.
NILE. 1. Namtt of the Nik. - The Hebrew
names of the Nile, excepting one that is of ancient
Egyptian origin, all distinguish it from other
rivers. With the Hebrews the Euphrates, as the
great stream of their primitive home, was always
" the river," and even the long sojourn in Egypt
eould not put the Nile in its place. Most of their
geographical terms and ideas are, however, evi-
dently traceable to Canaan, the country of the
Hebrew language. Thus the sea, as lying on the
west, gave its name to the west water. It was
only in such an exceptional case as that of the
Euphrates, which had no rival in Palestine, that
the Hebrews seem to have retained the ideas of
their older country. These circumstances lend no
support to the idea that the Shemites and their
language came originally from Egypt. The He-
brew names of the Nile are Shichir, " the black,"
a name perhaps of the same sense as Nile; Yein;
"the river," a word originally Egyptian; "the river
of Egypt; " "the Nuchal of Egypt " (if this appel-
lation designate the Nile, and Nachal be a proper
name); and " the rivers of Cush," or " Ethiopia,"
It must be observed that the word Nile nowhere
•sears in the A. V.
(a.) ShtcMr, "IVTttJ, ~iTtti, Thtf, «the
Usek," from TRjJ, "be or it was or became
black." The idea of blackness conveyed by this
word has, as we should expect in Hebrew, a wide
sense, applying not only to the color of the hair
(Lev. xiii. 31, 87), but also to that of a fine
tanned by the son (Cant. i. o, 6), and that of a
skin black through disease (Job xxx. 30). It
teems, however, to be indicative of a very dark
xllat; for it is said in the Lamentations, as to the
fcaJsbed Nanrites in the besieged oity, "Their
NILE
2149
• Not to bseonibandetwith the Nyaiarax of mod-
n ornithology, which Is a genus of ArdHom (herons).
• Into. xxxvll. 26 the ratsreoos seems A be to an
Wan ram eonqnast of BgrpL
• The Nile was probably menUonsd by this
visage is darker than blackness" (iv. 8). Thai
the Nile is meant by Sbihor is evident torn it
mention as equivalent to Yetr, « the river," and as
a great river, where Isaiah says of Tyre, " And by
great waters, the sowing of Shihor, the ban est of
the river ("IN}) [is] her revenue" (xxiii. 3); from
its being put as the western boundary of the Prom-
ised Land (Josh. xiii. 8; 1 Cbr. xiii. 6), instead
of "the river of Egypt" (Gen! xv. 18); and from
its being spoken of as the great stream of Egypt,
just as the Euphrates was of Assyria (Jer. ii. 18).
If, but this is by no means certain, the name Nile,
NciXvt, be really indicative of the color of the
river, it must be compared with the Sanskrit
^TcTf, atUcs, "blue" especially, probably "dark
blue," also even " black," as 4ivmcn, nilapanka,
" black mud," and must be considered to be the
Indo-European equivalent of Shihor. The signifi-
cation " blue " is noteworthy, especially as a great
confluent, which most nearly corresponds to the
Nile in Egypt, is called the Blue River, or, by
Europeans, the Blue Nile.
(o.) Yetr, IV*?, ~lk), is the same as the
ancient Egyptian ATTJR,'aUR, and the Coptic
eiepo, i«tpo, lipoo (M), jepo (S).
It is important to notice that the second form of
the ancient Egyptian name alone is preserved in
the later language, the second radical of the first
having been lost, as in the Hebrew form ; so that,
on this double evidence, it is probable that this
commoner form was in use among the people from
early times. Yein; in the singular, is used of the
Nile alone, excepting in a passage in Daniel (xii.
6, 6, 7), where another river, perhaps the Tigris
(oomp. x. 4), is intended by it. In the plural,
O v "lH?, this name is applied to the branches and
canals of the Nile (Ps. lxxviii. 44; Ex. xxix. 3 «'.,
xxx. 12), and perhaps tributaries also, with, in
some places, the addition of toe names of the
country, Mitsnim, Hatsor, D^?D v ">t*! (is-
vii. 18, A. V. "rivers of Egypt"), "tatty "H 5 **}
(xix. 6, "brooks of defence: " xxx vii. 2S,» "rivers
of the besieged places"); but it is also used of
streams or channels, in a general sense, when no
particular ones are indicated (see Is. ixiiii. 91;
Job xxviii. 10). It is thus evident that this name
specially designates the Nile; and although prop
erly meaning a river, and even used with that
signification, it is probably to be regarded as a
proper name when applied to the Egyptian river.
The latter inference may perhaps be drawn from
the constant mention of the Euphrates as " the
river; " but It is to be observed that Shihor, or
" the river of Egypt," is used when the Nile and
the Euphrates are spoken of together, as though
Yetr could not be well employed for the former,
with the ordinary term for river, ndAdr, for the;
latter.*
(c.) "The river of Egypt," B?"D?B "inj, »
mentioned with the Euphrates in the promise of
In the original of aVmlsslasnena zxrr. ST, wbsn tha
Greek text reeds i, e*c, "foty having lisea sam»
dssatood (Gesanlos, IW a. v.)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
£150 NIU5
Use extent of the land to be given to Abraham's
posterity, the two limits of which were to be ■< the
river of Egypt" and "the great river, the river
Euphrates " (Gen. zv. 18).
(ii) " The Nachal of Egypt," D^JO bn2,
has generally been understood to mean " the tor-
rent" or ••brook of Egypt," and to designate a
desert stream at Rhinocorura, now El-'Areesh, on
the eastern border. Certainly ?03 usually signi-
fies a stream or torrent, not a river; and when a
river, one of small size, and dependent upon
mountain-rain or snow; but as it is also used for a
valley, corresponding to the Arabic addee C^.0 \m\
which is in like manner employed in both
it may apply like it, in the case of the Guadal-
quivir, etc., to great rivers. This name must
signify the Nile, for it occurs in cases parallel to
those where Shihor is employed (Num. xxxiv. 5;
loan, zv. 4, 47; 1 K. viii. 65; 2 K. xxiv. 7; Is.
ixvii. 12), both designating the easternmost or
Pelusiac branch of the river as the border of the
Philistine territory, where the Egyptians equally
put the border of their country towards Kanaan
or Kanana (Canaan). It remains for us to decide
whether the name signify the " brook of Egypt," or
whether Nachal be a Hebrew form of Nile. On
the one aide may be urged the unlikelihood that
the middle radical should not be found in the Indo-
European equivalents, although it is not one of
the most permanent letters; on the other, that it
is improbable that ntihrtr "river" and nachal
"brook " would be used for the same stream. If
the latter be here a proper name, NtiXot must be
supposed to be the same word; and the meaning
of the Greek as well as the Hebrew name would
remain doubtful, for we could not then positively
decide on an Indo-European signification. The
Hebrew word nachal might have been adopted as
very similar in sound to an original proper name;
and this idea is supported by the forms of various
Egyptian words in the Bible, which are suscepti-
ble of Hebrew etymologies in consequence of a
alight change. It must, however, be remembered
that there are traces of a Semitic language, appar-
ently distinct from Hebrew, in geographical names
in the east of Lower Egypt, probably dating from
the Shepherd-period ; and therefore we must not,
if we take nachal to be here Semitic, restrict its
meaning to that which it bears or could bear in
Hebrew.
(e.) "The rivers of Cush," \&Q ^HJ, are
alone mentioned in the extremely difficult prophecy
contained in Is. xviii. From the use of the plural,
a single stream cannot be meant, and we must
suppose •' the rivers of Ethiopia " to be tbe con-
fluents or tributaries of the Nile. Gesenius (Ltx.
•• v. "ITO) makes them tbe Nile and the Asta-
boraa. Without attempting to explain this proph-
scy, it is interesting to remark that the expression,
■Whose hind the rivers have spoiled " (w. 2, 7),
f it apply to any Ethiopian nation, may refer to
tbe ruin of great part of Ethiopia, for a long dis-
tance above the First Cataract, In consequence of
the {all of the level of tbe river. This change has
beta effected through the breaking down of a bar-
rier (t that cataract, or at Silsilia by which the
fday has bean placed abovi the reach of the
BILE
fertilizing annual deposit. The Nile is i
poetically called a sea, DJ (Is. xviii. 2; Nah.iii.8
Job. xli. 81 ; but we cannot agree with Gesenius
Tlies. i. v., that it is intended in Is. ziz. 5): this,
however, can scarcely be considered to be one of its
It will be instructive to mention the presort
appellations of the Nile in Arabic, which may
illustrate the Scripture terms. By the Arab* it it
called Babren-Neel, "the river Nile," the word
"bahr" being applied to seas and tbe greatest
rivers. The Egyptians call it Bahr, or "tb»
river" alone; and call the inundation En-Nee), of
"the Nile." This latter use of what is property
a name of the river resembles the use of the pmra.
of Yelr in the Bible for the various channels or
even streams of Nile-water.
With the ancient Egyptians, the river was sacred,
and had, besides its ordinary name already given,
a sacred name, under which it was worshipped,
Hapee, or Hapf.k-mc, "tbe abyss," or "the abyss
of waters," or "the hidden." Corresponding to
the two regions of Egypt, tbe Upper Country and
the Lower, the Nile was called Hapee-res, " the
Southern Nile," aud Hapke-mehket, "the North-
em Nile," the former name applying to tbe river
in Nubia as well as in Upper Egypt. The god
Nilus was one of the lesser divinities. He is rep-
resented as a stout man having woman's breasts,
and is sometimes painted red to denote the river
during its rise aud inundation, or High Nile, and
sometimes blue, to denote it during the rest of the
year, or Low Nile. Two figures of Hapee are
frequently represented on each side of the throne
of a royal statue, or in the same place in a baa-
relief, binding it with water-plants, as though the
prosperity of the kingdom depended upon the
produce of the river. The name Hapee, perhaps,
in these cases, Hepee, was also applied to one of
tbe four children of Osiris, called by Egyptologers
the genii of Amext or Hades, and to the bull
Apis, the most revered of all the sacred animate.
The genius does not seem to hare any connection
with the river, excepting indeed that Apis was
sacred to Osiris Apis was worshipped with a
reference to tbe inundation, perhaps because the
myth of Osiris, the conflict of good and evil, was
supposed to be represented by tbe struggle of the
fertilizing river or inundation with the desert and
the sea, the first threatening the whole valley, and
the second wasting it along the northern coast.
2. Description of tlit Nile. — We cannot as yet
determine the length of the Nile, although recent
discoveries have narrowed the question. There is)
scarcely a doubt that its largest confluent is fed by
the great bikes on and south of the equator, ft
has been traced upwards for about 2,700 milea,
measured by its course, not in a direct line, and its)
extent is probably upwards of 1,000 miles more,
making it longer than even the Mississippi, and the
longest of rivers. In Egypt and Nubia it flow*
through a bed of silt and slime, resting upon
marine or nummulitic limestone, covered by a biter
formation, over which, without the valley, lie tbe
sand and rocky debris of the desert. Beneath the
limestone is a sandstone formation, which'rises and
bounds the valley in its stead in the higher part of
the Thebals. Again beneath the sandstone is thi
breccia verde, which appears above it in the d esert
eastward of Thebes, and yet lower a group of isnt.
rocks, gneisses, quartzes, mica schists, and rk
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NILE
asks, raiting upon the red granite and syenite
Bat rise through all the upper strata at the First
Satinet.' The river's bed is cut through these
hyers of rook, which often approach it on either
sde, and sometimes confine it on both sides, and
sren obstruct its course, forming rapids and cata-
racts. To trace it downwards we must first go to
equatorial Africa, the mysterious half-explored
home of the negroes, where animal snd vegetable
life flourishes around and in the vast swamp-land
that waters the chief part of the continent Here
an two great shallow lakes, one nearer to the coast
than the other. From the more eastern (the
Ukerswe, which is on the equator), a chief tribu
tarj of the White Kile proliably takes its rise, and
the more western (the Ujeejee), may feed another
tributary. These lakes are filled, partly by the
heavy rains of the equatorial region, partly by the
malting of the snows of the lofty mountains dis-
eovered by the missionaries Krapf and Rebmann.
Whether the lakes supply two tributaries or not,
it is eertain that from the great region of waters
where they lie, several streams fall into the Bahr
d-Abyed, or White Nile. Grant, however, as is
the body of water of this the longer of the two
thief confluents, it is the shorter, the Bahr el-
Axnk, or Blue River, which brings down the allu-
vial soil that makes the Nile the great fertilizer
of Egypt and Nubia. The Bahr el-Azrak rises in
the mountains of Abyssinia, and carries down from
than a great quantity of decayed vegetable matter
and auuriuni. The two streams form a junction at
Kbtrtoom, now the seat of government of Sooddn,
» the Black Country under Egyptian rule. The
Bahr el-Azrak ia here a narrow river, with high
rteep mud-banks like those of the Nile in Egypt,
sad with water of the same color ; and the
Bahr el-Abyad is broad and shallow, with low
hanks and clear water. Further to the north
another great river, the Atbara, rising, like the
Bahr el-Azrak, in Abyssinia, falls into the main
stream, which, for the remainder of its course,
sees not receive one tributary more. Throughout
the rest of the valley the Nile does not greatly
vary, excepting that in l/>wer Nubia, through the
Wl of its level by the giving way of a barrier in
indent times, it does not inundate the valley on
other hand. From time to time its course is
impeded by cataracts or rapids, sometimes extend-
ing many miles, until, at the First Cataract, the
wnndary of Egypt, it surmounts the last olwtaclc.
After s course of about 550 miles, at a short dis-
tance below Cairo and the Pyramids, the river
parts into two great branches, which water the
Oaks, nearly forming its boundaries to the east
md west, and flowing into the shallow Mediter-
ranean. The references in the Bible are mainly to
■as characteristics of the river in Egypt. There,
there the Delta, its average breadth may be put
at from half a mile to three-quarters, excepting
•here large islands increase the distance. In the
Delta Its branches are usually narrower. The
nter is extremely sweet, especially at the season
■hen h is turbid. It is said by the people that
■boat who have drank if it and left the country
•sat return to drink of it again.
The great annual phenomenon of the Nue is the
s lhs tsolofv of the NUe-vauey Is excellently
*sa ay Hash Mill*r (ZVirtmmy */ lit Katkt, p.
Met.
NILE 2151
inundation, the failure of which produces • lamia*
for Egypt is virtually without rain (see Zech. jdv
17, 18). The country is therefore devoid of tlsj
constant changes which make the husbandmen o.
other lands look always for the providential can
of God. " For the land, whither thou goest in to
possess it, [is] not ss the land of Egypt, from
whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed,
and wateredst [it] with thy foot, as a garden of
herbs: but the land, whither ye go to possess it,
[is] a land of hills and valleys, [and] drinketh
water of the rain of heaven : a land which the Lord
thy God careth for : the eyes of the Lord thy God
[are] always upon it, from the beginning of the
year even unto the end of the year " (Deut. xi. 10-
12). At Khartoom the increase of the river is
observed early in April, but in Egypt the first signs
of rising occur about the summer solstice, and
generally the regular increase does not begin until
some days after, the inundation commencing about
two months after the solstice. The river then
pours, through canals and cuttings in the banks,
which are a little higher than the rest of the soil,
over the valley, which it covers with sheets of water.
It attains to its greatest height about, or not lonp
after, the autumnal equinox, and then, falling more
slowly than it had risen, sinks to its lowest point
at the end of nine mouths, there remaining station
ary for a few days before it again begins to rise
The inundations are very various, and when they
are but a few feet deficient or excessive cause great
damage aud distress. The rise during a good in-
undation is aliout 40 feet at the First Cataract,
about 36 at Thebes, and about 4 at the Rosetta
and Damietta mouths. If the river at Cairo attain
to uo greater height than 18 or 20 feet, the rise is
scanty; if only to 2 or 4 more, insufficient; if to
24 feet or more, up to 27, good ; if to a greater
height, it causes a flood. Sometimes the inunda-
tion has failed altogether, as for seven years in the
reign of the Katimee Khaleefeh El-Mustansir bi-
llab, when there was a seven years' famine; and
this must have been the case with the great famine
of Joseph's time, to which this later one is a re-
markable parallel [Famine], Low inundations
always cause dearths; excessive inundations pro-
duce or foster the plague and murrain, besides
doing great injury to the crops. In ancient times,
when every square foot of ground must have been
cultivated, and a minute system of irrigation main-
tained, both for the natural inundation and to
water the fields during the Low Nile, and when
there were many fish-pools as well as canals for
their supply, far greater ruin than now must have
been caused by excessive inundations. It was prob-
ably to them that the priest referred, who told
Solon, when he asked if the Egyptians had ex-
perienced a flood, that there had been many floods,
instead of the one of which he had spoken, and not
to the successive past destructions of the world by
water, alternating with others by fire, in which
some nations of antiquity believed (Plat 7Tim«u»,
21 ff.).
The Nile in Egypt is always charged with alio
vium, especially during the inundation; but the
annual deposit, exoepting under extraordinary cir-
cumstances, is very small in comparison with what
would be conjectured by any one unacquainted with
subjects of this ■ ature. Inquiries have come tc
different results ss to the rate, but the discrepancy
does not general!) exceed an inrh in a century.
The ordinan- average increase of .he soil In Egypt
Digitized by VjOOQlC
. 2152 nilb
■ mbout four incliui and a half in a century. The
mltivable soil of Egypt is wholly the deposit of the
Nile, but it is obviously impossible to calculate,
bora its present depth, when the river first began
to flow in the rocky bed now so deeply covered
with the rich alluvium. An attempt has however
been made to use geology as an aid to history, by
first endeavoring to ascertain the rate of increase
it the soil, thru digging for indications of man's
existence iu the country, and lastly applying to the
depth at which any such remains might be dis-
covered the scale previously obtained. In this
manner Mr. Homer (PliiL Transaction*, vol. 148),
when his laborers had found, or pretended to find,
a piece of pottery at a great depth on the site of
Memphis, argued that man must hare lived there,
and not in the lowest state of barbarism, about
13,000 years ago. He however entirely disregarded
various causes by which an object could have been
deposited at such a depth, as the existence of canals
and wells, from the latter of which water could be
anciently as now drawn up in earthen pots from a
very low level, and the occurrence of fissures in the
earth. He formed his scale on the supposition
that the ancient Egyptians placed a great statue
before the principal temple of Memphis in such a
position that the inundation each year reached its
base, whereas we know that they were very careful
to put all their stone works where they thought
they would be out of the reach of its injurious in-
fluence; and, what is still more serious, he laid
stress upon the discovery of burnt brick even lower
than the piece of pottery, being unaware that there
Is no evidence that the Egyptians in early times
used any but crude brick, a burnt brick being as
lure a record of the Roman dominion a* an im-
perial coin. It is important to mention this ex-
traordinary mistake, as it was accepted as a correct
result by tie late Baron Bunsen, and urged by him
and others as a proof of the great antiquity of man
hi Egypt ( Qua/ttrly Review, Apr. 1839, No. ccx. ;
Modern Kyyptitint, 5th ed., note by Ed., p.
*98 ff.).
In Upper Egypt the Nile is a very broad stream,
lowing rapidly between high, steep mud-banks,
rhich are scarped by the constant rush of the
water, which from time to time washes portions
uray, and stratified by the regular deposit. On
either side rise the bare yellow mountains, usually
a few hundred feet high, rarely a thousand, looking
from the river like cliffs, and often honeycombed
with the entrances of the tombs which make Egypt
one great city of the dead, so that we can under-
stand the meaning of that murmur of the Israelites
to Moees, " Because [there were] no graves iu
Egypt, bast theu taken us away to die in the wil-
derness? " (Ex. xiv. 11). Frequently the moun-
tain on either side approaches the river in a rounded
promontory, against whose base the restless stream
washes, and then retreata and leaves a broad bay-
tike valley, bounded by a rocky curve. Rarely both
mountains confine the river in a narrow bed. rising
steeply on either side from a deep rock-cut channel
through which the water pours with a rapid cur-
rant. Perhaps there in a remote allusion to the
rocky channels of the Nile, and especially to its
primeval bed wholly of bare rock, in that passage
tf Job where the plural of Veor is used. " He
mtteth out rivers (D > "1S?) among the rocks, and
\\m tye sceth every precious thing. He hindeth
tkt floods from overflowing " (xxviil. 10, 11). It
NILK
most be recollected that there are sUtutons fa
Egypt, and especially to its animals and product*
in this book, so that the Nile may well be ben
referred to, if the passage do not distinctly mention
it. In Lower Egypt the chief differences are thai
the view is spread out in one rich plain, only
bounded on the east and west by the desert, of
which the edge is low and sandy, unlike the moun-
tains above, though essentially the same, and that
the two branches of the river are narrower than
the undivided stream. On either bank, during
Low Nile, extend fields of corn and barley, and
near the river-side stretch long groves of palm-trees.
The villages rise from the level plain, standing upon
mounds, often ancient sites, and surrounded by
palm groves, and yet higher dark-brown morndt
mark where of old stood towns, with which olta>.
" their memorial is perished " (Pa. ix. 6). The
villages are connected by dykes, along which pass
the chief roads. During the inundation the whole
valley and plain is covered with sheets of water,
above which rise the villages like islands, only to
be reached along the half-rained dykes. The aspect
of the country is as though it were overflowed by
a destructive flood, while between its banks, here
and there broken through and constantly giving
way, rushes a vast turbid stream, against which no
boat could make its way, excepting by tacking,
were it not for the north wind that blows cease-
lessly during the season of the inundation, making
the river seem more powerful as it beats it into
waves. The prophets more than once allude to
this striking condition of the Nile. Jeremiah says
of Pharaoh-Necho's army. Who [is] this [that]
cometh up as the Nile [Ye«"J> whose waters are
moved as the rivers? Egypt riseth up like the
Nile, and [hi*] waters are moved like the riven;
and he saith, I will go up, [and] will cover the
land ; I will destroy the city and the inhabitant*
thereof" (xlvi. 7, 8). Again, the prophecy " against
the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza,"
commence*, " Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, water*
rise up out of the north, and shall be a* an over-
flowing stream (nuchal)," and shall overflow the
land, and all that is therein ; the city, and them
that dwell therein " (xlvii. 1, 2). Amos, also, a
prophet who especially refers to Egypt, uses the
inundation of the Nile as a type of the utter deso-
lation of his country. " The Lord bath sworn by
the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget
any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for
this, and every one mourn that dweUeth therein ?
and it shall rise up wholly as the Nilo CW$) <
and it shall be cast out and drowned, a* [by] the
Nile (D^?D -fVCi) of Egypt" (Till. 7, 8; see
ix. 5).
The banks of the river are enlivened by th*
women who come down to draw water, and, lik*
Pharaoh's daughter, to bathe, and the herds of kin*
and buffaloes which are driven down to drink and
wash, or to graze on the gnus of the swamps, lik*
the good kine that Pharaoh saw in his dream as
" he stood by the river," which were ■' coming nj
out of the river," and " fed in the air uh-graas '
(Gen. xli. 1, 2).
The river itself abounds in fish, whicn anciently
formed a chief mean* of sustenance to the inhaU-
o The use of " naehal " here affords a strong ai|t
ment In favor of the opinion that It I* aavted to Hw
Nik.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NILE
tail of the country. Perhaps, as has bean acutely
remarked In another article, Jacob, when bleating
Ephraim and Hanacaeh, used for their multiplying
the term nj'J (Gen. xlviii. 16), whicu u con-
nected with 3^, a fiah, though it does not seem
certain which ii the primitive; as though he had
been struck by the abundance of fiah in the Nile
or the canala and pools fed by it. [Manasskh,
vol. ii. p. 1769 a.] The Israelites in the desert
looked back with regret to the fish of Egypt: " We
member the fish, which we did eat in Egypt
freely" (Num. xi. 6). In the Thebala crocodiles
an found, and during Law Nile they may be seeu
basking in the sun upon the sandbanks. The
eroeodile is constantly spoken of in the Bible as
the emblem of Pharaoh, especially in the prophecies
of Esekiel. [Egypt, vol. i. p. 674 «.]
The great difference between the Nile of Egypt
in the present day and in ancient tiroes is caused
by the failure of some of its branches, and the
waning of some of its chief vegetable products ; and
the chief change in the aspect of the cultivable
land, as dependent on the Nile, is the result of the
ruin of the fish-pools and their conduits, and the
consequent decline of the fisheries. The river was
famous for its seven branches, and under the Roman
dominion eleven were counted, of which, however,
there were but seven principal ones. Herodotus
notices that there were seven, of which he says that
two, the present Damietta and Rosetta branches,
were originally artificial, and he therefore speaks
of " the five mouths " (ii. 10). Now, as for a long
period past, there are no navigable and unobstructed
branches but these two that Herodotus distin-
guishes as in origin works of man. This change
was prophesied by Isaiah: " And the waters shall
fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and
dried up " (six. 5). Perhaps the same prophet, in
yet more precise words, predicts this, where he
says, "And the Lord shall utterly destroy the
tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty
wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and
shall smite it in the [or ' into '] seven streams, and
make [men] go over dryshod [' in shoes '] " (xi.
15). However, from the context, and a parallel
passage in Zechariah (x. 10, 11), it seems probable
that the Euphrates is intended in this passage by
" the river.'' Ezekiel also prophesies of Egypt that
the Lord would " make the rivers drought " (xxx.
19), here evidently referring to either the branches
or canals of the Nile. In exact fulfillment of these
prophecies the bed of the highest part of the Gulf
of Sues has dried, and all the streams of the Nile,
excepting those which Herodotus says were origin-
ally artificial, hare wasted, so that they can be
crossed without fording.
The monuments and the narratives of ancient
(titers show us in the Nile of Egypt iu old times,
stream bordered by flags and reeds, the covert of
i . undant wild fowl, and bearing on its waters the
fragrant flowers of the various colored lotus. Now,
to Egypt, scarcely any reeds or water-plants — the
famous papyrus lieiii? nearly if not quite extinct, and
he lotus almost unknown — are to be seen, except-
ng in the marshes near the Mediterranean. This
ilso was prophesied by Isaiah ■ " The papyrus-reeds
(? nWf) to the river ("V*T), on the edge of
Hie river, and everything growing [lit. " sown " n
D the river shall be dried up, driven iway [by
•sswradl, ssisl [shall] notbe"(xix.7). When t
NILE 2158
is recollected that the water-plants of Egypt wen
so abundant as to be a great source of revenue in
the prophet's time, and much later, the exact ful-
fillment of his predictions is a valuable evidence of
the truth of the old opinion as to " the sure word
of prophecy." The failure of the fisheries is also
foretold by Isaiah (xix. 8, 10), and although this
was no doubt a natural result of the wasting of the
river and streams, its cause could not have bean an-
ticipated by human wisdom. Having once been
very productive, and a main source of revenue as
well as of sustenance, the fisheries an now scarcely
of any moment, excepting about Lake Hensdeh,
and in some few places elsewhere, chiefly in ths
north of Egypt.
Of old the great river must have shown a men
fair and busy scene than now. Boats of many kinds
were ever passing along it, by the painted walla of
temples, and the gardens that extended around the
light summer pavilions, from the pleasure-galley
with one great square sail, white or with variegated
pattern, and many oars, to the little papyrus skiff,
dancing on the water, and carrying the seekers of
pleasure where they could shoot with arrows, or
knock down with the throw-stick, the wild-fowl that
abounded among the reeds, or engage in the dan-
gerous chase of the hippopotamus or the crocodile.
In the Bible the papyrus-boats are mentioned ; and
they are shown to hare been used for their swiftness
to carry tidings to Ethiopia (Is. xviii. 2).
The great river is constantly before us in the
history of Israel in Egypt. Into it the male chil-
dren were cast; in it, or rather in some canal or
pool, was the ark of Hoses put, and found by
Pharaoh's daughter when she went down to bathe.
When the plagues were sent, the sacred river — a
main support of the people — and its waters every-
where, were turned into blood. [Plaodeb or
Egypt.]
The prophets not only tell ns of the future af
the Nile; they speak of it as it was in their days.
Ezekiel likens Pharaoh to a crocodile, fearing no one
in the midst of his river, yet dragged forth with the
fish of his rivers, and left to perish in the wilder-
ness (xxix. 1-6; comp, xxxiii. 1-6). Nahum thus
speaks of the Nile, when he warns Nineveh by the
ruin of Thebes: " Art thou better than No-Amon,
that was situate among the rivers, [that had] the
waters round about it, whose rampart [was] the
sea, [and] her wall [was] from the sea? " (Hi. f».
Here the rirer is spoken of ss the rampart, and
perhaps as the support of the capital, and the sit-
uation, most remarkable in Egypt, of the city on
the two banks is indicated [No-Amom]. But still
more striking than this description is the use which
we have already noticed of the inundation, as a
figure of the Egyptian armies, and also of ths
coming of utter destruction, probably by an in-
vading force.
In the New Testament there is no mention of
the Nile. Tradition says that when Our Lord was
brought into Egypt, his mother came to lleuopotts
[On.] If so, He may have dwelt in hi> .shildbood
by the side of the ancient rirer which witnessed so
many events of sacred history, perhaps the coming
of Abraham, certainly the rule of Joseph, and the
:ng oppression and deliverance of I'irael their pos-
terity. R. S. P.
* The problem of the sources of the Nile has
been solved by the explorations of Captain J* H.
Speke in 1860-63, and of Sir Samuel W. Baker hi
1881-64. Already in 1898 Speke had discovered
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2154 NILB
She Victoria Nuanxa, a rut (beet of water 3,308
hat abort the ocean, lying approximately between
11° 3<V and 96° W E. long, and l»t J° S. and
the equator. Thia lake Speke explored only along
Ita western border, from Munnza, its extreme
southern point, to a cormpoiulhig point at the
extreme north Information derived from Aral*
who had traversed the country to the east, between
the lake and the mountain region of K ilimatuljaro
and A'em'a, satisfied him that upon that siile the
Sytnztt receives no tributariea of any importance,
toe country lioing hilly, with salt lakes and salt
plains chiefly between the first and second degrees
of south latitude, and having only occasional run-
nels and rivulets along the margin of the lake.
This opinion, however, does not coincide with the
impressions of the missionaries Krapf and Keb-
■nann, who travelled extensively in the countries
of Utambara, Jagya, and Uknmb nu, and heard
of rivers running westward from Mount Ktnia,
although from the more southern peak of Kiliman-
jaro the waters Bow to the east.
Dr. Krapf penetrated as far as Kitui, from which
point he distinctly saw the horns of the Kenvi
Mountain, in lat. 2° 8., km. 36° E. He did not
attempt to reach the mountain, but be learned from
the natives that a river ran from Ktnin toward the
Nile, and also that there was a large salt lake to
the northeast of the Victoria Nyniua. Upon the
western side of the lake the only feeder of any im
portance is the Kitimyule River, a broad, deep
stream, — about eighty yards wide at the point
where Speke crossed it — that issues from the
great ** Moon mountain " Ufumbiro, and enters
the lake at about the first degree of south latitude.
Just north of the equator, between 33° and 34°
E. long., the White Nile emerges from the Victoria
Nyataa by the plunge of Jii/xm Fullt, a cataract
between four and five hundred feet in width, and
about twelve feet deep. From Ripon Fullt to Urun-
dogani the river is clear but boisterous : thence to
Karumn it presents the sluggish appearance of a
large pond. Between the head of the lake and
(jondvkoiv are three principal cataracts — to Urom-
dogani a fall of 507 feet, to Paira a second fall of
.072 feet, and the third to GoaJolcoro, of 561 feet.
After following the course of the Nile from Riptm
FalU to Knruma Fall*, Captain Speke there
crossed the river, and leaving it upon the west of
him, continued his Journey by land to Gmuiukwo,
and so lost the opportunity of completing his great
discovery.
At Ointtohnv Speke met Baker, who was about
starting for Karumn Fall; and communicated to
him the results of his own explorations, together
with a map of his route, and some valuable sug-
gestions touching the westward bend of the Nile,
and its probable connection with the Little lJUa
.Vtige. Baker had already devoted much time to
the exploration of the numerous tributaries of the
White Nile. Of these one of the most important
« the Svoal, coming from the southeast, whicb be
estimated to be 120 yards wide and 25 feet deep.
The BAhr (jnznl, farther to the south, flows so
sluggishly that it seems like dead water, and the
whole region between Khartum and Gtmtfokoro
abounds in desolate and fever-smitten marshes.
The main river now received his attention. Kol-
eywing the course of the stream from the point
where Speke had abandoned it, he found that from
• nrstma FaUt the Nile runs almost due west;
bat Its whole volume is precipitated through a
NIMBJM, THE WATERS OI
granite gap fifty yards wide over a perpeoiieuiai
fall of 190 feet To this stupendous cataract tht
explorer gave the name Murchison Kails, in honor
of the President of the Royal Geographical Society.
After passing these falls, the river enters into a vast
lake, the Albert Nj/anta, which stretches over a dis-
tance of 280 geographical miles, — from 2° south
1st. to Dearly 3° north, and mainly between 29°
and 31° E. long. Emerging 6tL_ this lake near its
northern extremity, the NUe purraes its coarse to-
ward Gondotoro. The Albert Numua lies in a net
rock basin, about 1,500 feet below the general arret,
and receives the drainage of a region of ten-months'
rain. In the volume of water and the area of drain-
age the Albert A'yman is probably the principal
source of the NUe; but the southern extremity of
the Victoria Ay iiujo marks the greatest distance
yet measured, and gives a total length of 2,300
miles.
Wile the substantial fruits of the discoveries of
Speke and Baker, as given above, cannot be affected
by any future exploration, it is necessary for a com-
plete knowledge of toe sources of the Nile, that the
Victoria ATyuui shall be circumnavigated, and the
country to the east of it scientifically explored;
and also, that the Albert Nyataa be followed np
to its bead, and explored for tributaries along its
western shore. J. P. T.
NIM'RAH (rnpp [panther]: [Rom. Naur-
pa; Vat] NafuSpa; Alex. Aufipa/ii Nemra), a
place mentioned, by this name, in Num. uzii. 3
only, among those which formed the districts of
the " land of JaziT and the land of Uilead," on the
east of Jordan, petitioned for by lieubeu and Gad.
It would appear from this passage to hare been near
.later and Heshbon, and therefore on the upper
level of the country. If it is the same as Bxtra-
mmraii (rer. 36), it belonged to the tribe of Gad.
By Kusebius, however ( OnomntL tttfipi I, it is cited
as a " city of Reuben in Uilead," and said to hare
been in his day a very large pUce (miun pryio-ra)
in "Batansea, hearing the name of Abara. This
account is full of difficulties, for Keuben never pos-
sessed the country of Uilead, and Batanasa was sit-
uated several days* journey to the N. W. of the
district of Heshbon, beyond not only the territory
of Keuben. but even that of Uad. A wady and a
town, both called .Vimreh, have, however, been met
with in Betheniyeh, east of the Lrjah, and five
miles N. W. of Kunmcdt (see the maps of 1'orter,
Van de Velde, and Wetzstein ). On the other band
the name of N'tmiin is said to be attached to s
watercourse and a site of ruins in the Jordan Val-
ley, a couple of miles east of the rivr, at the em-
bouchure of the NWy Shoaib. [Uicni-NlMRAii.]
But this again is too far from Heshbon in the ctbet
direction.
The name Jtimr (•• panther "), appears to be s
common oue on the east of Jordan, and it ms<t be
| left to future explorers (when exploration in that
region becomes possible) to ascertain which (if
either) of the places so named is toe Nimrah in
question. G.
NIMIUM, THE W ITERS OF 0Q
D"Hl?3 : la Is. to Stop riji Ne/ntpf^ [Sin- twi
Ns/Spip,] Alex, rnt Nsuee u\ in Jer. to Bits;
NtjSptfy, Alex. N</9p«u: Aqua tfemrim), a stream.
a The present Greek ant has Xavwmia; act tan
correction la obvious.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NIMROD
■ brook (not improbably it stream with pools)
within the country of Moab, which u mentioned
In the denunciation* of that nation uttered, or
looted, by laaiah (it. 6) and Jeremiah (xlviU. 14).
From the former of tbeae passage* it appears to
have been famed for the abundance of its grass.
If the view taken of these denunciations under
the head of Moab (pp. 1984, 1985) be correct, we
should look for the site of Nimrim in Moab proper,
i. a. on too southeastern shoulder of the Dead Sea,
a position which agrees well with the mention of
the " brook of the willows " (perhaps Wady Ban
Hammed) and the " borders of Moab," that is, the
range of hills encircling Moab at the lower part of
the territory.
A name resembling Nimrim still exists at the
southeastern end of the Dead Sea, in the Waily
tm-Xemtirnh and Bwj m-Ntmtirah, which are
situated on the beach, about half-way between the
southern extremity and the promontory of rl-Lium
(Ue Saulcy, Voyage, i. 384, Ac; Seetzen, ii 354).
Kusebiiu ( flmnn. Ncirqpf/*) places it N. of Soora,
i. e. Zoar. How far the situation of tn-Nemtirnh
correspond* with the statement of Eusebius cannot
be known until that of Zoar is ascertained. If the
Witdy en-Nemeirak really occupies the place of the
waters of Nimrim, Zoar must hare been consider-
ably further south than is usually supposed. On
the other hand the name " is a common one in the
transjordaiiic localities, and other instances of its
occurrence may yet be discovered more in accord-
ance with the ancient statements. G.
NIM'ROD ("T V >93 [firm, ttrung, Dietr.; a
hero, Fttrst]: Nefyeft', [In 1 Chr., Comp. Ntupit:]
Ntmrnl), a son of Cush and grandson of Ham.
The events of his life are recorded in a passage
(Gen. x. 8 ff.) which, from the conciseness of its
language, is involved in considerable uncertainty.
We may notioe, in the first place, the terms in ver.
8, 9, rendered in the A. V. " mighty " and " mighty
hunter before the Lord." The idea of any moral
qualities being conveyed by these expressions may
be at onee rejected ; for, on the one hand, the words
" before the lord " are a mere superlative adjunct
(as in the parallel expression in Jon. iii. 3), and
contain no notion of Diriue approval ; and, on the
other hand, the ideas of violence and insolence with
which tradition invested the character of the hero,
as delineated by Josephus » (Ant. i. 4, § 2), are
not necessarily involved in the Hebrew words,
■ A racy and characteristic passage, aimed at the
da trina kareticamm, and playing on the name as sig-
nifying a kiopard, will be found in Jerome's (-ommen-
ssty on Is. xt. 6.
e The view of Nlmrod's character taken by this
writer originated partly perhaps in a false etymology
cf the name, as though h were connected with the
Hebrew root mArad (TT3), " to rebel," and partly
from the supposed connection of the hero's history
with the building of the tower of Babel. There is no
ground for the first of these assumptions : the name
Is either Cushite oi Assyrian. Nor, again, does the
Bible connect Nimrod with the building of the tower ;
aw it only states that Babel formed one of bis capitals
Indications have, Indeed, been noticed by Hansen (ifc-
Wkktx, t. 74) of a connection between the two narra-
te**; they hare undoubtedly a common Jehorlatie
W HSswe r ; but the point on which he lays most stress
be expression in I 2, "from the east," or "eastward "
» ta reality worthless for the purpose. The Influenct
•7 ihs view taken by Josephus ts curio uuy dsrslonsa i
NIMBOD 2155
though the term gibbor * is occasionally taken !n (
bad sense (e. o. Ps. Iii. 1). The term may be re-
garded as betokening personal prowess with tie
accessory notion of gigantic stature (as in ths
I.XX. ylyas)- It is somewhat doubtful whether
the prowess of Nimrod rested on his achievements
as a hunter or as a conqueror. The literal render-
ing of the Hebrew words would undoubtedly apply
to the former, but they may be regarded as a trans-
lation of a proverbial expression originally current
in the land of Nimrod, where the terms significant
of u hunter " and " hunting " appear to have been
applied to the forays of the sovereigns against tbe
surrounding nations. 1 ' The two phases of prowess,
hunting and conquering, may indeed well hare been
combined in the same person in a rude age, and the
Assyrian monuments abound with scenes which
exhibit the skill of the sovereigns in the chase.
But the context certainly favors the special appli-
cation of the term to the case of conquest, for other-
wise the assertion in ver. 8, " he began to be a
mighty one in the earth," is devoid of point —
while, taken as introductory to what follows, it
seems to indicate Nimrod as the first who, after the
flood, established a powerful empire on the earth,
the limit* of which are afterwards defined. The
next point to be noticed is the expression in ver. 10,
" The beginning of his kingdom," taken in con-
nection with the commencement of ver. 11, which
admits of the double sense: "Out of that land
went forth Asshur," a* in the text of the A. V.,
and " out of that land he went forth to Assyria,"
as in the margin. These two passages mutually
react on each other; for if the words "beginning
of his kingdom '' mean, as we believe to be the
case, " his Jirat kingdom," or, as Uesenius ( The*.
p. 1252) renders it " tbe territory of which it was
at first composed," then the expression implies a
subsequent extension of his kingdom, in other
words, that •■ he went forth to Assyria." If, how-
ever, the sense of ver. 11 be, "out of that land
went forth Asshur," then no other sense can be
given to ver. 10 than that " the capital of his king-
dom was Bab) Ion," though the expression must
be equally applied to the towns sutisequently men-
tioned. This rendering appears untenable in all
respects, and the expression may therefore be cited
in support of the marginal rendering of ver. 11.
With regard to the latter passage, either sense is
permissible in point of grammatical construction
for the omission of the local affix to the word As-
ia the Identification of Nimrod with the constellation
Orion, the Hebrew name rail (7*D5)i " foolish,"
being regarded as synonymous with Nimrod, and the
giant form of Orion, together with Its Arable name.
" the giant," supplying another connecting link. Jo
sepbus follows the LXX. In his form of the name,
Nc0pu£nc. The variation in the LXX. Is of no real
importance, as It may be paralleled by a similar ex
change of for O in the case of 2t0Aa (1 Chr. I. 47).
and. In a measure, by the insertion of the before the
liquids in other cases, such as Maji0pij (Gen. xlr. 18).
The variation hardly deserves the attention It has re-
ceived ha KawUnson's Herod. I. 596.
« 133.
* Hghtth-pUaser *•> *> r Instance, is described ss ha
the* ■' "arenas after " or " hunts the people of Btlw
Nrprn * Bo also of other kings (Sawttnsoa's Omd
1.097)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2156 NIMBOD
■bur, whlob forms the chief objection to the nwr-
ginti rendering, if not peculiar to toil pusage
(eomp. 1 K. xi. 17 j 3 K. xv. 14), Dor U it neces-
sary even to usume a proltptit in the application
of the term Asshur to the land of Assyria at the
time of Nimrod's invasion, inasmuch as the his-
torical date of this event ma; be considerably later
than the genealogical statement would imply. Au-
thorities both ancient and modern are divided on
the subject, but the most weighty names of modern
times support the marginal rendering, as it seems
best to accord with historical truth. The unity of
the passage is moreover supported by its peculiar-
ities both of style and matter. It does not seem to
have formed part of the original genealogical state-
ment, but to be an interpolation of a later date; "
it is the only instance in which personal character-
istics are attributed to any of the names mentioned ;
the proverbial expression which it embodies bespeaks
its traditional and fragmentary character, as there
is nothing to connect the passage either with what
precedes or with what follows it. Such a fragmen-
tary record, though natural in reference to a single
mighty hero, would hardly admit of the introduc-
tion of references to others. The only subsequent
notice of the name Nimrod occurs in Mic. v. 6,
where the "land of Nimrod " is a synonym either
for Assyria, just before mentioned, or for Itabykmia.
The chief events in the life of Nimrod, then, are
(1) that he was a Cushite; (2) that he established
an empire in Shinar (the classical Babylonia), the
chief towns being Mabel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh ;
and (3) that be extended this empire northwards
along the course of the Tigris over Assyria, where
he founded a second group of capitals, Nineveh,
Rehoboth, Calah, and Kesen. These events cor-
respond to and may be held to represent the
salient historical tacts connected with the earliest
stages of the great Babylonian empire. 1. In the
first place, there is abundant evidence that the race
that first held sway in the lower Babylonian plain
was of Cushite or Hamitic extraction. Tradition
assigned to Belus, the mythical founder of Baby-
lon, an Egyptian origin, inasmuch as it described
biru as the son of Poseidon and Libya (Diod. Sicul.
. 28; Apollodor. ii. 1, § 4; Pausan. iv. 23, § 6);
the astrological system of Babylon (Diod. Sicul. i.
81 ) and perhaps its religious rites (Hestiieus * ap.
Joseph. Ant. i. 4, $ 3) were referred to the same
quarter; and the legend of Oannes, the great
teacher of Babylon, rising out of the Erythraean
sea, preserved by Syncellus (Chronogr. p. 28),
points in the same direction. The name Cush
itself was preserved in Babylonia and the adjacent
tonntries under the forms of Cosssei, CUsia, Cut-
oah, and Susiana or CkuritUm. The earliest
written language of Babylonia, as known to us
from existing inscriptions, bears a strong resem-
blance to that of Egypt and Ethiopia, and the same
words have been found in each country, as in the
ease of ilirikh, the Meroe of Ethiopia, the Mars
tf Babylonia (Rawlinson, 1. 442). Even the name
<■ The expnavlons "HS?, vrtTT, and SHU mora
h» oh of the (arm nii"P, are regarded as Indica-
tions of a Jebovisdc original, while the genealogy It-
saaT is Elohiitlc. It should be farther noticed that
share Is nothing to mark the connection or distinction
BMwssn Nimrod and the other eons of Ousb.
% flat passage quoted by Josephus la of so frag-
NIMROD
Nimrod appears in the list of the Egyptian king*
of the 22d dynasty, but there are reasons fix
thinking that dynasty to have been oi Assyria!
extraction. Patting the above-mentioned consid-
erations together, they leave no doubt as to the
connection between the ancient Babylonians and
the Ethiopian or Egyptian stock (respectively the
Nimrod and the Cush of the Mosaic table). More
than this cannot be fairly inferred from the data,
and we must therefore withhold our tasent from
Bunsen's view {Bibtheerk, v. 69) that '.he Cushite
origin of Nimrod betokens the nestwu d progieas
of the Scythian or Turanian races from the coun-
tries eastward of Babylonia; for, though branches
of the Cushite family (such as the Gossan) had
pressed forward to the east of the Tigris, and
though the early language of Babylonia bears in
its structure a Scytbic or Turanian character, yet
both these features are susceptible of explanation
in connection with the original eastward progress
of the Cushite race.
2. In the second place, the earliest seat of empire
was in the south part of the Babylonian plain
The large mounds, which for a vast number of
centuries have covered the ruins of ancient cities,
have already yielded some evidences of the dates
and names of their founders, and we can assign the
highest antiquity to the towns represented by the
mounds of Kiffer (perhaps the early Babel, though
also identified with Calneh), Warka (the Biblical
Erech), Mughtir (Ur), and Senkerel, (Ellasar),
while the name of Accad is preserved in the title
Klnzi Akkad, by which the founder or embellisher
of those towns wss distinguished (Rawlinson, i.
436). The date of their foundation may be placed
at about B. c. 2200. We may remark the coin-
cidence between the quadruple groups of capitals
noticed in the Bible, and the title Kiprat at
Kiprnt-arba, assumed by the early kings of Baby-
lon and supposed to mean "four races" (Rawlin-
son, i. 438, 447).
3. In the third place, the Babylonian empre
extended its sway northwards along the course of
the Tigris at a period long anterior to the rise of
the Assyrian empire in the 13th century ». c. We
have indications of this extension as early as about
I860 when Shamas-Iva, the son of Ismi-dsgon
king of Babylon, founded a Temple at KUtk-
thtrgnl (supposed to be the ancient Asshur). The
existence of Nineveh itself can be traced up by
the aid of Egyptian monuments to about the mid-
dle of the 15th century b. c, and though the
historical mime of its founder is lost to as, yet
tradition mentions a Belus as king of Nineveh at
a period anterior to that assigned to Ninus (Lay-
ard's Nineveh, ii. 231 J, thus rendering it probable
that the dynasty represented by the latter name
was preceded by one of Babylonian origin.
Our present information does not permit us tc
identify Nimrod with any personage known to as
either from inscriptions or from classical writers.
Ninus and Belus are representative titles rather
mentary a character, that Its original purport eaa
hardly be gowned. Ha adduces It apparently to Illus-
trate the name Shinar, but the context favors the
supposition that the writer re fer red to the period
subsequent to the Mood, In which case we may toist
the belief (1) that the population of Babylonia was
not autochthonous, but Immigrant ; (2) that the posnt
tram which It Immigrated was tram the wast, Bares
being Identified with Zeus ear/alias.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NIM3HI
lawn personal name*, and are but equivalent temn
Sor u the lord," who in regarded as the founder
of the empires of Nineveh and Babylon. We
have no reason on thu account to doubt the per-
sonal existence" of Nimrod, for the events with
which he is connected fall within the shadows of a
remote antiquity. But we may, nevertheless, con-
sistently with this belief, assume that a large por-
tion of the interest with which he was invested
was the mere reflection of the sentiments with
which the nations of western Asia looked back on
the m ershadowuM? greatness of the ancient Baby-
lonian empire, the very monuments of which seemed
so teU of days when " there were giants in the
earth." The feeling which suggested the coloring
of Nimrod as a representative hero still finds place
in the land of his achievements, and to him the
modern Arabs* ascribe all the great works of
ancient times, such as the Bin-Mmrid near
Babylon, Ttl ffimr&d near Bnghdnd, the dam of
Sakr tl-Nimrud across the Tigris below Motvl,
and the well-known mound of Nimrud in the
same neighborhood. W. U B.
NIM'SHI ("B7P? [drown out, saved, Ges.] :
Nopsov'; [Vat Neuico'dci, Haiucati, Nojibt-
o*«ov; Alex. Afito-tt, Nafjunrati, NoftfCiov; in 2
Chx NopaoW, [Alex. Naiuaci:] Ifaturi). The
grandfather of Jehu, who is generally called " the
son of Nimshi " (1 K. xix. 16: 2 K. ix. 2, 14, 30;
8 Chr. xxii. 7).
• NIN'EVE [3 syl.] (Apocr. Nweinj, Ninite;
N. T. Nivcvi, Kec. Text, but Lachm. Treg. Nivsvr-
rax, 'fitch. 8th ed. -«ir<u : Ntmcitti), only Luke xi.
tS in the N. T., but repeatedly in the O. T. Apocry-
pha (Tob. i. 3, 10, 17, Ac). It is the Greek form,
instead of the Hebrew employed elsewhere [Nine-
vih]. See Wail's Cluv!$ Ubr. Vet. Tett. Apocr.
v. H.
NIN'EVBH (mj"? [see below]- [n»mw«,
in Gen., Knm.] NirevT: ATuu'ce), the capital of the
ancient kingdom and empire of Assyria; a city of
great power, sixe, and renown, usually included
amongst the moat ancient cities of the work) of
which there is any historic record. The name
appears (o be compounded from that nf an Assyr-
ian deity, "Nin," corresponding, it is conjectured,
with the Greek Hercules, aud occurring in the
sues of several Assyrian kings, as in " Ninus,"
Jba mythic founder, according to Greek tradi-
tion, of the city. In the Assyrian inscriptions
Nineveh is also supposed to he called " the city of
|el."
Nineveh is first mentioned in the 0. T. in con-
nection with the primitive dispersement and migra-
tions of the human race. Asthur, or, according to
NINEVEH
2157
a We must notlea, without however adopting, the
vim lately propounded by M. D. Chwolson in his
pamphlet, Utber die Utberrutt dtr aUbabyloniscAen
LUtnsur. Ha has discovered the name Nemrod or
rtenwoda to the manuscript works of an Arabian
writer named Ibn-Wa'hiwnjjjah, wbo professes to give
translation of certain original literary works in the
abathse&n language, one of which, H on Nabathsean
agriculture,'* is In part assigned by nim to a writer
named Qut'aml. This Qut'aml Incidentally mentions
that he lived in Babylon under a dynasty of Canaan-
pas, which had been founded by a priest Lamed Nam-
tad. U. Chwolson assigns Ibn-Wa'hachiJJah to the
sad off the 9th century of our new era, and Qut'aml
• the early pert iff the ttth century l. o. Be regards
the marginal reading, which is generally preferred,
Nimrod, is there described (Gen. x. 11) as exteueV
big hit kingdom from the land of Shinar. or
Babylonia, in the south, to Assyria In the north
and founding four cities, of which the most famous
was Nineveh. Hence Assyria was subsequently
known to the Jews as " the land of Nimrod " (cf
Mic. r. 6), and was believed to have been first peo-
pled by a colony from Babylon. The kingdom of
Assyria and of the Assyrians is referred to in the
O. T. at connected with the Jews at a very early
period; as in Num. xxiv. 22, 24, and Pa. Ixxxiii.
8 : but after the notice of the foundation of Nine-
veh in Genesis no further mention is made of the
city until the time of the book of Jonah, or th«
8th century B. c, supposing we accept the earliest
data for that narrative [Jonah], which, however,
according to some critics, must be brought down
300 years later, or to the 5th century b. c. In
thit book neither Assyria nor the Assyrians are
mentioned, the king to whom the prophet was sent
being termed the " king of Nineveh," sad his
subjects "the people of Nineveh." Assyria is
first called a kingdom in the time of Menahem,
about b. o. 770. Nahum ( ? B. c. 648) directs hit
prophecies against Nineveh; only once against the
king of Assyria, eh. lii. 18. In 2 Kings (xix. 36)
and Isaiah (xxxvii. 37) the city is first distinctly
mentioned as the residence of the monarch. Sen-
nacherib was slain there when worshipping in the
temple of Nhroch his god. In 2 Chronicles (xxxii.
21 J, where the same event is described, the name of
the place where it occurred is omitted. Zephaniah,
about B. o. 630, couples the capital and the king-
dom together (ii. 13); and this is the last mention
of Nineveh st an txittiny city. He probably lived
to witness its destruction, an event impending at
the time of hit prophecies. Although Assyria and
the Assyrians are alluded to by Ezekiel and Jere-
miah, by the former as a nation in whose miserable
ruin prophecy had been fulfilled (mi.), yet they
do not refer by name to the capital. Jeremiah,
when enumerating " all the kingdoms of the world
which are upon the face of the earth " (ch. xxv.),
omits all mention of the nation and the city.
Halmkknk roily speaks of the Chaldarans, which
may lead to the inference ttint the date of his proph-
ecies it somewhat later than that usually assigned
to them. [Hahakkuk ] From a comparison of
these data, it hat been generally assumed that the
destruction of Nineveh and the extinction of the
empire took place between the time of Zephaniah
and that of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The exact
period of these events has consequently been fixed,
with a certain amount of concurrent evidence
derived from classical history, at b. c. 606 (Clinton,
Fori HtUen. i. 269). It has been shown that i*
the term Nabathrsan as meaning old Babylonian, and
the works of Qut'aml as the remains of a Babyloulan
literature. He further Identifies the Canaaulte dynasty
with the fifth or Arabian dynasty of Berosus, and
adduces the legand of Oepheus, the king of Jopra,
who reigned from the Mediterranean to the Brythrsau
sea, in confirmation of such a Canaanlttsh Invasion.
It would be beyond our province to discuss the vari-
ous questions raised by this curious discovery. Tht
result, If established, would be to bring the dais of
Nimrod down to about a. o. 1500.
6 The Arabs retain Joasphas' view of the imsuvj
of Nimrod, and have a collection of legenue i
lng his idolatry his enmity
(Uyard's Ninn*, I 34, note).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2158 NINEVEH
may hare occurred 30 jean earlier. [Assyria.]
The city wag then laid waste, its monument* de-
stroyed, and it* inhabitants scattered or carried
away into captivity. It never rose again from its
rains. This total disappearance of Nineveh is
fully confirmed by the records of profane history.
There is no mention of it in the Persian cuneiform
inscriptions of the Achsemenid dynasty. Herodotus
(i. 193) speaks of the Tigris as " the river upon
which the town of Nineveh formerly stood." Me
must have passed, in his journey to Babylon, very
near the site of the city — perhaps actually over
it. So accurate a recorder of what he saw would
scarcely have omitted to mention, if not to describe,
any ruins of importance that might have existed
there. Not two centuries had then elapsed since
the fall of the city. Kqually conclusive proof of its
condition is afforded by Xenophon, who with the
ten thousand Greeks encamped during his retreat
on, or very near, its site (b. c. 401). The very
name had then been forgotten, or at least he doer
not appear to have been acquainted with it, for he
calls one group of ruins " Larissa," and merely
states that a second group was near the deserted
town of Mespila (Annb. b. iii. 4, § 7 ). lie ruins,
as he descriliee them, correspond in many respects
with those which exist at the present day, except
that he assigns to the walls near Mespila a circuit
of six parasangs, or nearly three times their actual
dimensions. Ctesias placed the city on the Eu-
phrates (Frag. i. 2), a proof either of his igno-
rance or of the entire disappearance of the place.
Fie appears to have led Diodorus Siculus into the
same error (ii. 27, 28).™ The historians of Alex-
ander, with the exception of Arrian (Ind. pp. 42,
43), do not even allude to the city, over the ruins
of which the conqueror must have actually marched.
His great victory of Arhela was won almost in
sight of them. It is evident that the later Greek
and Roman writers, such as Strabo, Ptolemy, and
Pliny, could only have derived any independent
knowledge they possessed of Nineveh from tradi-
tions of no authority. They concur, however, in
placing it on the eastern bank of the Tigris.
Daring the Roman period, a small castle or fortified
town appears to have stood on some part of the
site of the ancient city. It was probably built by
the Persians (Ammian. Marcell. xxiii. 32) ; and sub-
sequently occupied by the Romans, and erected by
the Emperor Claudius into a colony. It appears
to have borne the ancient traditional name of
Nineve, as well as its corrupted form of Ninas and
Ninus, and also at one time that of Hierapolis.
Tacitus (Ann. xii. 13), mentioning its capture by
Meherdates, calls it " Ninos : " on coins of Trajan
It is "Ninus," on those of Maximums " Kiniva,"
in both instances the epithet Claud iopolis being
added. Many Roman remains, such as sepulchral
vases, bronze and other ornaments, sculptured
figures in marble, terra-cottas, and coins, have been
discovered in the rubbish covering the Assyrian
loins; besides wells and tombs, constructed long
titer the destruction of the Assyrian edifices. The
toman settlement appears to have been in its turn
tbandoned, for there is no mention of it when
Heraclius gained the great victory over the Per-
uana in the battle of Nineveh, fought on the very
a In a fragment from Ctenlas. pr es et r e d by Meo-
ws Damasceoos, tbe city 1% restored to its true sit*.
■■Bsr, frag. Oitt. Brae. Ul. 858.)
NINEVEH
site of the ancient city, A. D. 617. After the.
Arab conquest, a fort on the east bank iif the Tigris
bore the name of •' Ninawi " (Rawlinson, At. Boe
Journal, vol. xii. p. 418). Benjamin of Tudela, in
the 13th century, mentions tbe site of Nineveh as
occupied by numerous inhabited villages and small
townships (ed. Asher, i. 91). Tbe name remained
attached to the ruins during the Middle Ages ; and
from them a bishop of tbe Chaldrean Church derived
his title (Asaemani, iv. 489); but it is doubtful
whether any town or fort was so called. Kariy
English travellers merely allude to the site (Pnr-
chas, ii. 1387). Niebuhr is the first modern trav-
eller who speaks of " Nuniyah "' as a village itandV.
ing on one of the ruins which he describes as "■
considerable bill " (ii. 363). This may be a cor-
ruption of " Nebbi Tunus," the Prophet Jonah, a
name still given to a village containing his apocry-
phal tomb. Mr. Rich, who surveyed the site in
1820, does not mention Nuniyah, and no such place
now exists. Tribes of Turcomans and sedentary
Arabs, and Chaldean and Syrian Christians, dwell
in small mud-built villages, and cultivate tbe soil
in the country around the ruins; and occasionally
a tribe of wandering Kurds, or of Bedouins driven
by hunger from the desert, will pitch their tents
amongst them. After the Arab conquest of the
west of Asia, Mosul, at one time the flourishing
capital of an independent kingdom, rose on tbe
opposite or western bank of tbe Tigris. Some
similarity in the names has suggested its iden-
tification with the Mespila of Xenopbon; but its
tint actual mention only occurs after the Arab con-
quest A. h. 16, and a. d. 637). It was sometimes
known as Athur, and was united with Nineveh
as an Episcopal see of the Chaldrean Church (As-
aemani, iil. 969). It has lost all iU ancient pros-
perity, and the greater part of the town is now in
ruins.
Traditions of the unrivaled size and magnificence
of Nineveh were equally familiar to the Greek and
Roman writers, and to the Arab geographers. But
the city had <&Den so completely into decay before
the period of authentic history, that no description
of it, or even of any of its monuments, is to be
found in any ancient author of trust. Diodorus
Siculus asserts (ii 3) that the city formed a quad-
rangle of 150 stadia by 90, or altogether of 480
stadia (no less than 60 miles), and was surrounded
by walls 100 feet high, broad enough for three
chariots to drive abreast upon them, and defended
by 1,600 towers, each 300 feet in height. Accord-
ing to Strabo (xvi. 737) it was larger than Babylon,
which was 385 stadia in circuit In the O. T. we
find only vague allusions to the splendor and wealth
of the city, and tbe very indefinite statement in ths
book of Jonah that it was " an exceeding great
city," or « a great city to God," or " for God "
(i. e. in the sight of God ), " of three days' journey ; "
and that it contained " six score thousand persona
who could not discern between their right hand
and their left hand, and also much cattle " (iv. 11).
It is obvious that the accounts of Diodorus are for
the most part absurd exaggerations, founded upon
fabulous traditions, for which existing remains
afford no warrant. It may, however, be remarked
that the dimensions he assigns to the area of the
city would correspond to the three days' journey
of Jonah — tbe Jewish day's journey being SC
miles — if that expression be applied to the eirenh>
of the walla. •' Persons not discerning betwear
their right hand and their left " may either alhtdi
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NINEVEH
jo children, or to the ignorance of the whole popu-
lation. If the first he intended, the number of
inhabitants, according to the usual calculation,
would have amounted to abou , 600,000. But such
expressions are probably mere eastern figures of
speech to denote vastnesa, and far too vague to
admit of exact interpretation.
The political history of Nineveh is that of As-
syria, of which a sketch has already been given.
[Austria.] It has been observed that the ter-
ritory included within the boundaries of the king-
iom of Assyria proper was comparatively limited
:n extent, and that almost within the immediate
neighborhood of the capital petty kings appear to
have ruled over semi-independent states, owning
allegiance and paying tribute to the great Lord of
the Empire, " the King of King*," according to
his oriental title, who dwelt at Nineveh. (Of. Is.
x. 8: "Are not my princes altogether kings?")
These petty kings were in a constant state of re-
bellion, which usually shewed itself by their refusal
to pay the apportioned tribute — the principal link
between the sovereign and the dependent states —
and repeated expeditions were undertaken against
them to enforce this act of obedience. (Of. 2 K.
xvi. 7, xviL 4, where it is stated that the war made
by the Assyrians upon the Jews was for the pur-
pose of enforcing the payment of tribute.) There
was, consequently, no bond of sympathy arising
out of common interests between the various popu-
lations which made up the empire. Its political
condition was essentially weak. When an inde-
pendent monarch was sufficiently powerful to carry
ou a successful war against the great king, or a
dependent prince sufficiently strong to throw off
his allegiance, the empire soon came to an end.
.Tie fall of the capital was the signal for universal
disruption. Each petty state asserted its independ-
ence, until reconquered by some warlike chief who
could found a new dynasty and a new empire to
replace those which had fallen. Thus on the bor-
ders of the great rivers of Mesopotamia arose in
turn the first Babylonian, the Assyrian, the Median,
the second Babylonian, the Persian, and the
Seleucid empires. The capital was however in-
variably changed, and generally transferred to the
principal seat of the conquering race. In the East
men have rarely rebuilt great cities which have
sine fallen into decay — never perhaps on exactly
the same site. If the position of the old capital
was deemed, from political or commercial reasons,
mure advantageous than any other, the population
was settled in its neighborhood, as at Delhi, and
not amidst its ruins. But Nineveh, having fallen
with the empire, never rose again. It was aban-
doned at once, and suffered to perish utterly. It
is probable that, in conformity with an eastern
custom, of which we find such remarkable illustra-
tions in the history of the Jews, the entire popula-
tion was removed by the conquerors, and set".!ed
as colonists in some distant province.
Tin Rum. — Previous to recent excavations
tnd researches, the ruins which occupied the pre-
sumed site of Nineveh seemed to consist of mere
sh apele ss heaps or mounds of earth and rubbish.
Unlike the vast masses of brick masonry which
Hark the site of Babylon, they showed externally
to signs of artificial construction, except perhaps
nana and there the traces of a rude wall of sun-
xrisd bricks. Some of these mounds were of enor
boos dimensions — looking in the distance rather
Hbt natural elevations than the work of men's
NINEVEH 216C
hands. Upon and around them, however, were
scattered innumerable fragments of pottery — the
unerring evidence of former habitations. Soma
had been chosen by the scattered population of the
land as sites for villages, or for small uiud-buut
forts, the mound itself affording means of refuge
and defense against the marauding parties of Bed-
ouins and Kurds which for generations have swept
over the face of the country. Tlie summits of
others were sown with oorn or barley. During the
spring months they were covered with grass and
flowers, bred by the winter rams. The Arabs call
these mounds " Tel," the Turcomans and Turks
" Teppeh," both words being equally applied to
natural hills and elevations, and the first having
been used in the same double sense by the most
ancient Semitic races (of. Hebrew vfl, " a hill,''
>' a mound," a heap of rubbish," Ex. iii. 15; Ear.
ii. 69; Neh. vii. 61; 8 K. tix. 12). They are
found in vast numbers throughout the whole region
watered by the Tigris and Euphrates and their con-
fluents, from the Taurus to the Persian Gulf. They
are seen, but are less numerous, in Syria, parts of
Asia Minor, and in the plains of Armenia. When-
ever they have been examined they appear to have
furnished remains which identify the period of their
construction with that of the alternate supremacy
of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires.
They differ greatly in form, size, and height. Some
ore mere conical heaps, varying from 50 to 150 feet
high; others have a broad, flat summit, and very
precipitous cliff-like sides, furrowed by deep ravines
worn by the winter rains. Such mounds are espe-
cially numerous in the region to the east of the
Tigris, in which Nineveh stood, and some of them
must mark the ruins of the Assyrian capital. There
is no edifice mentioned by ancient authors as form-
ing part of the city, which we are required, as in
the case of Babylon, to identify with any existing
remains, except the tomb, according to some, of
Ninus, according to others of Sardanapalus, which
is recorded to have stood st the entrance of Nineveh
(Diod. Sic. ii. 7; Amynt. frag. ed. Miiller, p.
136). The only difficulty is to determine which
ruins are to be comprised within the actual limits
of the ancient city. The northern extremity of the
principal collection of mounds' on the eastern bank
of the Tigris may be fixed at Shereef Khan, and
the southern at Nimroud, about 6} miles from the
junction of that river with the great Zab, the
ancient Lycus. Eastward they extend to Khor-
sabad, about 10 miles N. by E. of Shereef Khan,
and to Karamless, about 15 miles N. E. of Nim-
roud. Within the area of this irregular quadrangle
are to be found, in every direction, traces of ancient
edifices and of former population. It comprises
various separate and distinct groups of ruins, four
of which, if not more, are the remains of fortified
iuclosures or strongholds, defended hy walls and
ditches, towers and ramparts The principal are
— 1, the gr>up immediately opposite Mosul, in-
eluding the great mounds of Kouyunjik (also called
by the Arabs, Armousheeyah) and Nebbi Tunns;.
2. that near the junction of the Tigris and Zab,
comprising the mounds of Nimroud and Athnr;
3, Khorsaliad, about 10 miles to the east of the
former river; 4, Shereef Khan, about 5) miles to
the north of Kouyunjik; and 5, Selamiyah, 3 miles
to the north of Nimroud. Other large www*nris
are Baaskeikhab, and Karamless, where the tv
mains of fortified iuclosures may perhaps be traced
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2160 NINEVEH
rJaazani, Yarumjeh, and Bellawat. It is scarcely
n ecessa r y to observe that all theae names are com-
paratively modem, dating from alter the Moham-
medan conquest. The respective position of that
ruins will he kmii In the accompanying map. We
will describe the most important.
NINEVEH
The ruins Apposite Mosul constat of a:. ::ickosure
farmed by a continuous line of mounds, rewmbting
a vast embankment of earth, but marking the re-
mains of a wall, the western face of which is inter-
rupted by the two great mounds of Kouyonjlk and
Nebbl Yunua (p. 8161). To the east of this ill-
Plan of Roliu which comprise ancient Nfawvsh.
closure are the remains of an extensive line of de-
fenses, consisting of moats and ramparts. The
inner wall forma au irregular quadrangle with very
unequal sides — the northern being 9,333 yards, the
n, nr the river-n>ce, 4,638, ths eastern (where
the wall la almost the segment of a cfrele, MOO
yards, and the southern but little more than 1,000;
altogether 13,800 yards, or 7 English miles 4 ta-
kings. The present height of this earthen wall ie
between 40 and 60 feet. Here and there a mound
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NINEVEH NINEVEH 2161
) lofty than I be rot coven Uie muniiia of a parts, ran for tome distance almost parallel to II
or a gateway. The wiil'a appear to have \f ), and supplied the place of au artificial ditch
been originally faced, at least to a certain height, for about half the length of the K. wall The re-
with stone masonry, some remains of which have inainder of the wall was protected by two wide
moats (h ), fed by the stream, the supply of water
being regulated by dams, of which traces still exist
In addition, one or more ramparts of earth were
thrown up, and a moat excavated between the innei
walls and the Khosr, the eastern bank of which
was very considerably raised hy artificial means
Below, or to the S- of the stream, a third ditch
been discovered. The mound of Kouyunjik is of
irregular form, being nearly square at the S. W.
comer, and ending almost in a point at the N. K.
It it about 1,400 yards in length, by 600 in its
greatest width ; its greatest height is 98 feet, and
its sides are precipitous, with occasional deep ravines
or watercourses. The summit is nearly flat, but
tails from the W. to the E. A
small village formerly stood upon
it, but has of late years been
abandoned. The Khosr, a narrow
but deep and sluggish stream,
sweeps round the southern side
of the mound on its way to join
the Tigris. Anciently dividing
itself into two branches, it com-
pletely surrounded Kouyunjik.
Kebbi Yunus is considerably
smaller than Kouyunjik, being
about 530 yards by 430, and oc-
cupying an area of about 40 acres.
In height it is aliout the same.
It is divided into two nearly equal
parts by a depression in the sur-
face. Upon it is a Turcoman
village containing the apocryphal
tomb of Jonah, and a liuriat-
grouud held in grput sanctity by
Mohammedans from its vicinity
tovthis sacred edifice. Remains
of entrances or gateways have
been discovered in the N. and E.
walls (6). The Tigris formerly
ran beneath the W. wall, and at
the foot of the two great mounds.
It is now about a mile distant
from them, hut during very high
spring floods it sometimes reaches
its ancient l*d. The W. face of P1 » n Of Kouyunjik and Vebbt Yunus.
the inclosure (■>) was thus protected hy the river, excavated In the compact conglomerate rock, ami
ITie N. and S. faces (4 and '/) were strengthened about 200 feet broad, extended almost the whole
by deep and broad moat*. The K. (c) being nn*t length of the E. face, joining the moat on the S
accessible to an enemy, was most strongly fortified. An enormous outer rampart of earth, still in some
■nd presents the remains of a very elalmrate srsturn places above 80 feet in height (i), completed the
of defenses. The Khosr, before entering the in- defenses on this side. A few mounds outside this
closure, which K divides Into two nearly equal rampart probably mark the site of detached towers
The great mound of .Vuiroud
or fortified posts. This elaborate system of fortifi-
cations was singularly well devised to lesist the
attacks of an enemy. It is remarkable that within
the inclosure, with the exception of Kouyunjik and
NeSbi Yunus, no mounds or irregularities in the
I of the soil denote ruins of anj sue. The
1.16
ground is, however, strewed in every direction witfc
fragments of brick, pottery, and the usual signs of
aucieut population.
Nimroud consists of a similar inclosure of con
secutive mounds — the remains of ancient wall*
The system of defenses is however very inferior Ir
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2162 NINEVEH
importance and completeness to that of Kouyunjik.
The indications of towers occur at regular intervals;
10b may still be traced on the-N. and K. sides.
The ana forms an irregular square, abcut 3,331
yards by 2,095, containing about 1 ,000 acres. The
X. and E. sides were defended by moats, the W.
and S. walls by the river, which once flowed im-
mediately beneath them. On the S. W. face U a
great mound, 700 yards by 400, and covering about
SO acres, with a cone or pyramid of earth about
140 feet high rising in the N. W. corner of it At
the S. E. angle of the inclosure is a group of lofty
mounds culled by the Arabs, after Niniruud's
lieutenant, Athur (cf. (Jen. z. 11). According to
the Arab geographers this name at one time ap-
plied to all the ruins of Nimroud (Layard, Nin.
and itt Rem. ii. 245, note). Within the inclosure
a few slight irregularities in the soil mark the sites
of ancient habitations, but there are no indications
of rains of buildings of any size. Fragments of
brick and pottery abound. The Tigris is now 1}
mile distant from the mound, but sometimes
reaches them during extraordinary floods
The inclosure- walls of Khorsabad form a square
of about 2,000 yards. They show the remains of
towers and gateways. There are apparently no traces
of moats or ditches. The mound which gives its
name to this group of ruins rises on the N. W. face.
It may be divided into two parts or stages, the up-
per about 66!) feet square, and 30 feet high, and the
lower adjoining it, about 1,350 by 300. Its sum-
mit was formerly occupied by an Arab village. In
one comer there is a pyramid or cone, similar to
that at Nimroud. but very inferior in height and
size. Within the interior are a few mounds mark-
ing the sites of propylca and similar detached
monuments, but no traces of considerable buildings.
These ruins were known to the early Arab ge-
ographers by the name of "Saraoun," probably a
traditional corruption of the name of Sargon, the
king who founded the palaces discovered there.
Shereef Khan, so called from a small village in
the neighborhood, consists of a group of mounds
of no great size when comjiared with other Assyr
ian ruins, and without traces of an outer-wall.
9elamiyab is an inclosure of irregular form, situ-
ated upon a high bank overlooking the Tigris,
about 5,000 yards in circuit, and containing an
area of about 410 acres, apparently once surrounded
by a ditch or moat. It contains no mound or ruin,
and even the earthen rampart which marks the
walls has in many places nearly disappeared. The
name is derived from an Arab town once of some
importance, but now reduced to a miserable village
nhabited by Turcomans.
The greater part of the discoveries which, of Lite
years, have thrown so much light upou the history
and condition of the ancient inhabitants of Nineveh
were made in the ruins of Nimroud, Kouyunjik,
and Khorsabad. The first traveller who carefully
examined the supposed site of the city was Mr.
Rich, formerly political agent for the Ksst India
Company at Baghdad ; but his investigations were
almost entirely confined to Kouyunjik and the sur-
rounding mounds, of which he made a survey in
1820. From them he obtained a few relics, such
as inscribed pottery and bricks, cylinders, and genu.
Some time before a lias-relief representing men and
animals had been discovered, but had been de-
stroyed by the Mohammedans. He subsequently
visited the mound of Nimroud, of which, however,
hs was unable to make more than a hasty exami-
NINEVEH
nation (tfnrratwt of a Reridtnce in nTavoaikta
ii. 131). Several travellers described the mim
after Mr. Rich, but no attempt was made to
explore them systematically until M. Botta was
appointed French consul at Mosul in 1843. Whilst
excavating in the mound of Khorsabad, to which
he had been directed by a peasant, be discovered a
row of upright alabaster slabs, forming the panel-
ing or skirting of the lower part of the walls of a
chamber. This chamber was found to communi-
cate with others of similar construction, and it
soon became evident that the remains of an edifice
of considerable size were buried in the niound.
The French government having given the neces-
sary funds, the ruins were fully explored. They
consisted of the lower part of a number of halls,
rooms, and passages, for the most part wainscoted
with slabs of coarse gray alabaster, sculptured with
figures in relief, the principal entrances being
formed by colossal human -beaded winged onus.
No remains of exterior architecture of any great
importance were discovered The calcined lime-
stone and the great accumulation of charred wood
and charcoal showed that the building bad been
destroyed by fire. Its upper part had entirely
disappeared, and its general plan could only be
restored by the remains of the lower story. The
collection of Assyrian sculptures in the Louvre
came from these ruins.
The excavations subsequently carried on by MM
Place and Fresnel at Khorsabad led to the dis-
covery, in the inclosure below the platform, of
propyUea, clanked by colossal human-headed bulls,
and of other detached buildings forming the ap-
proaches to the palace, and also of some of the
gateways in the inclosure-walls, ornamented with
similar mythic figures.
M. Botta's discoveries at Kborsabad were fol-
lowed by those of Mr. Layard at Nimroud and
Kouyunjik, made lietween the years 1845 and 1850.
The mound of Nimroud was found to contain the
ruins of several distinct edifices, erected at different
periods — materials for the construction of the
latest having been taken from an earlier building.
The most ancient stood at the N. W. corner of the
platform, the most recent at the 8. K. In general
plan and in construction they resenil led the ruins
at Khorsabad — consisting of a number of halls,
chambers, and galleries, paneled with sculptured
and inscribed alabaster slabs, and opening one into
the other by doorways generally formed by pairs
of colossal human-headed winged bulls or lions.
The exterior architecture could not be traced. The
lofty cone or pyramid of earth adjoining this edi-
fice covered the ruins of a building the basement
of which was a square of 165 feet, and consisted
to the height of 20 feet, of a solid mass of sun
dried bricks, faced on the four sides by blocks of
stone carefully squared, lieveled, and adjiuted
This stone facing singularly eno'igh coincides ex
actly with the height assigned by Xenopbou t>.
the stone plinth of the walls {Anab Hi. 4). and is
surmounted, as lie descrilies the plinth to have
been, by a superstructure of bricks, nearly ever*
kiln-burnt brick bearing an inscription. Upon this
snlid substructure there probably rose, as in the
Babylonian temples, a succession of platforms or
stages, diminishing in size, the highest having a
shrine or altar upon it (Babel; Layard, rVus. nwd
Bab. eh. v ). A vaulted chamber or gallery, 100
fret long, 6 broad, and 12 high, crossed the centre
of the mound on a level with the summit of the
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NINEVEH
It had evidently been broken into I
and rifled of its conteuU at some remote period, i
and may have < een a royal sepulchre — the tomb I
of .Sinus, or Sardanapalus, which stood at the |
eutranee of Nineveh. It is the tower described
by Xenophon at Larisaa as being 1 plethron (100
feet) broad and 2 plethra high. It appears to have
been raised by the son of the king who built the
N. W. palace, and whose name in the cuneiform
inscriptions is supposed to be identified with th.it
of Sardanapalus. Shalmanubar or Shalmaneeer,"
the builder of this tomb or tower, also erected in
the centre of the great mound a second palace,
which appears to hare been destroyed to furnish
materials for later buildings. The black obelisk
now in the British Museum was found amongst it*
ruins. On the \V. face of the mound, and adjoin-
ing the centre palace, are the remains of a third
edifice, built by the grandson of Shalraanulinr.
whose name is read Iva-Lush, and who is believed to
be the Pul of the Hebrew Scriptures. It contained
some important inscribed slabs, but no sculptures.
Hi-*— M-- raised (about u. c. liSOl at the S. W.
MNEVEH 2168
comer of the platform another royal abode of con-
siderable extent, but constructed principally with
materials brought from his predecessor's palace*.
In the opposite or S. E. corner are the rains of a
still later palace, built by his grandson Ashur-
emit-ili, very interior in size and in splendor to
other Assyrian edifices. Its rooms were small;
it appears to have had no great halls, and the
chambers were paneled with slabs of common
stone without sculpture or inscriptions. Some im-
portant detached figures, believed to bear the name
of the historical Semiramis, were, however, found
in its niins. At the S. W. corner of the mound
of Kouyunjik stood a palace built by Sennacherib
(aliout b. o. TOO), exceeding in size and in mag
nificence of decoration all others hitherto explored.
It occupied nearly 100 acres. Although much of
the building yet remains to be examined, and much
has Altogether perished, alwut 60 courts, halls
(some nearly 150 feet square 1 , rooms, and passage
(one 200 feet long), have been discovered, all
paneled with sculptured slabs of alabaster. The
entrances to the edifice and to the principal i
Khonabed — Wsw of li-
bers were flanked by groups of winged liuiiian-
headed lions and bulls of colossal proportions — ,
some nearly 20 feet in height; 27 portals thus
formed were excavated by Mr. Layard. A second
palace was erected on the same platform by the son
of Kasarhaddon, the third king of the name of
Sardanapalus. In it were discovered sculptures
of great interest and beauty, amongst them the
series representing the lion-hunt now in the British
Museum. Owing to the sanctity attributed by
Mohammedans to the supposed tomb of Jonah,
jurat difficulties were experienced in examining
the mound upon which it stands. A shaft sunk
within the walls of a private house led to the dis-
covery of sculptured slabs; and excavations sub-
sequently carried on by agents of the Turkish
Government proved that they formed part of a
palace erected by Kasarhaddon. Two entrances or
gateways in the great inclosure-walla have been
excavated — one (at 6 on plan) fiank«d by colossal
• It most be observed, once for si:, that whilst the
Martian proper narm -■* giv»o in tL, text according
human-headed bulls and human figures. They, as
well as the walls, appear, according to the inscrip-
tions, to have been constructed by Sennacherib.
No propyhea or detached buildings have as yet
been discovered within the inclosure. At Shereeff
Khan are the ruins of a temple, but no sculptured
slabs have lieen dug up there, it was founded
by Sennacherib, and added to by his grandson
At Selamiyah no remains of buildings nor any
fragments of sculpture or inscriptions have beea
discovered.
The Assyrian edifices were so nearly alike in
general plan, construction, and decoration, that one
description will suffice for all. They were built
upon artificial mounds or platforms, varying in
height, but generally from 80 to 80 feet above the
level of the surrounding country, and solidly con-
structed of regular layers of sun-dried bricks, as at
Nimroud. or consisting merely of earth and r.thbiah
heaped up, as at Kouyunjik. The mode of raising
tr the latest interpretation!* of the rilr.Klfunn imvrip
ttoos, tbey are very doubtful.
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2164
NINEVEH
Ibe Utter kind of mound la represented in a series
of bas-reliefs, in which captives and prisoner* are
teen amongst the workmen (Layard, Man. of Nin.
%i series, pi. 14, 15). This platform was probably
r=-
hoed witn stooe-maaourr, remains of which were
discovered at Nimroud, and broad flights of steps
(snob as wen found at Khoraaiiad) or inclined
ways ksd up to its summit. Although only the
NINEVEH
general plan of the ground -floor can now be traosd,
it is evident that the palaces had several stories
built of wood and sun-dried bricks, which, when
the building was deserted and allowed to fall to
decay, gradually buried the lower chambers with
their ruins, and protected the sculptured slabs from
the effects of the weather. The depth of soil and
rubbish alnve the alabaster slabs varied from *
few inches to about 20 feet It is to this accumu-
lation of rubbish above them that the bas-reliefs
owe their extraordinary preservation. The portions
of the edifices still remaining consist of balls,
chambers, and galleries, opening for the most (-art
into large uncovered crart*. The partition wjlls
vary from 8 to 15 feet in thickness, and are sdidly
built of sun-dried bricks, against which are placed
the paneling or skirting of alabaster slabs. No
windows have hitherto been discovered, and it is
probable that in most of the smaller chambers light
was only admitted through the doors. The wall,
above the wainscoting of alabaster, was plastered,
and painted with figures and oruameute. The
pavement was formed either of inscribed slabs of
alabaster, or large, flat, kiln-burnt brick*. It rested
upon layers of bitumen and fine sand. Of nearly
similar construction are the modern house* of
Mosul, the architecture of which has probably been
preserved from the earliest times aa that best suited
to the climate and to the manner* and wants of an
oriental people. The rooms are grouped in the
same manner round open courts or large halls.
The same alabaster, usually carved with ornament*,
is used for wainscoting the apartments, and the
walls are constructed of sun-dried bricks. The
upper part and the external architecture of the
Assyrian palaces, both of which have entirely dis-
appeared, can only be restored conjecturally, from
a comparison of monument* repr es e nted in the boe-
reliefs, and of edifices built by nations, such as the
Persians, who took their arts from the Assyrian*.
By such means Mr. Fergusson has, with much
ingenuity, attempted to reconstruct a palace of
Nineveh ( The Palaces of NinevtX and Pemyoiu
rtttored). He presumes that the upper stories
were built entirely of sun-dried bricks and wood —
a supposition warranted by the absence of stone
and marble columns, and of remain* of stone and
burnt-brick masonry in the rubbish and toil which
cover and surround the ruins; that the exterior
was richly sculptured and painted with figure* and
ornaments, or decorated with enameled brick* of
bright colors, and that light was admitted to the
principal chambers on the ground-floor through a
kind of gallery which formed the upper part of
them, and upon which rested the wooden pillar*
necessary for the aupport of the superstructure.
The capitals and various detail* of the** pillm,
the friezes and architectural ornaments, he fes V s tf *
from the stone columns and other remain* at
Peraepoli*. He conjectures that curtains, sus-
pended between the pillars, kept out the gluing
light of the sun, and that the ceilings were of
wood-work, elaborately painted with pattern* sim-
ilar to those rep r esen ted in the sculptures, and
probably ornamented with gold and ivory. The
discovery at Rhorsabad of an arched entrance of
considerable size and depth, constructed of sun-
dried and kiln-burnt bricks, the latter enameled
with figures, lead* to the inference that some of toe
■mailer chambers may have been vaulted.
The sculptures, with the exception of the human-
headed lion* and bull*, were for the most part is
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NINEVEH
tow relict The ooloaul figures usually represent
the king, hie attendants, and the gods ; the smaller
sculptures, which either cover the whole face of
the slab, or are divided into I wo compartments by
bands of inscriptions, represent battles, sieges, the
than, single combats with wild beasts, religious
seremonles, etc., etc. All refer to public or national
events; the hunting-eoenes evidently recording the
prowess and personal valor of the king as the head
rf the people — " the mighty hunter before the
Lord." The sculptures appear to have been painted
— remains of color having been found on most of
them. Thus decorated, without and within, the
Assyrian palaces must have displayed a barbaric
magnificence, not, however, devoid of a oertain
grandeur and beauty, which no ancient or modern
edifice has probably exceeded. Amongst the small
objects, undoubtedly of the Assyrian period, found
in the ruins, were copper-vessels (some embossed
and incised with figures of men and animals and
graceful ornaments), bells, various instruments and
tools of copper and iron, arms (such as spear and
Arrow heads, swords, daggers, shields, helmets, and
fragments of chain and plate armor), ivory orna-
ments, glass bowls and vases, alabaster urns, figures
and other objects in terra-cotta, pottery, parts of a
throne, inscribed cylinders and seals of agate and
other precious materials, and a few detached stat-
ues. All these objects show great mechanical skill
and s correct and refined taste, indicating consid-
erable advance in civilization.
These great edifices, the depositories of the na-
tional records, appear to have been at the same time
the abode of the king and the temple of the gods —
thus corresponding, as in Egypt, with the character
of the monarch, who was both the political and
religions chief of the nation, the special favorite of
the deities, and the interpreter of their decrees.
No building has yet been discovered which possesses
any distinguishing features to mark it specially ss
temple. They are all precisely similar in general
plan and construction. Most probably a part of the
palace was set apart for religious worship and cere-
monies. Altars of stone, resembling the Greek tripod
in form, hare been found in some of the chambers
— in one instance before a figure of the king him-
self (Layard, JVin. and Bab. p. 351). According to
the inscriptions, it would, however, appear that the
Assyrian monarchs built temples of great magnifi-
cence at Nineveh, and in various parts of the em-
pire, and profusely adorned them with gold, silver,
ind other precious materials.
Site of the City. — Much diversity of opinion
exists as to the identification of the ruins which
nay be properly included within the site of ancient
Nineveh. According to Sir H. Rawlinson and those
irho concur in his interpretation of the cuneiform
characters, each group of mounds we have described
■•presents a separate and distinct city. The name
ipplied in the inscriptions to Nimroud is supposed
to read " Kalkhu," and the ruins are consequently
lenUned with those of the Calah of Genesis (z. 11) ;
&horsabad is Sargina, as founded by Sargon, the
name having been retained in that of Sarghun, or
Janoun, by which the ruins were known to the
\rnb geographers ; Shereef Khan is .arbiii. Sela-
miyah has not yet been identified, no inscription
having been found in the ruins. The ram* of Nin-
eveh is limited to the mounds opposite Mosul, in-
vading Konyunjik and Nebbi Yunus. Sir H. Raw-
loson was at one time inclined to exclude even the
r mound from the precincts of the city (Jovrn.
NINEVEH 2165
of At. See. xii. 418). Furthermore, the ancient and
primitive capital of Assyria is supposed to hav
been not Nineveh, but a city named Asshur, v/hoss
ruins hare been discovered at Kalah Sherghat, >
mound on the right or W. bank of the Tigris,
about 60 miles S. of Mosul. It need sesreeiy bs
observed that this theory rests entirely upon the
presumed accuracy of the interpretation of the cu-
neiform inscriptions, and that it is totally at vari-
ance with the accounts and traditions preserved by
sacred and classical history of the antiquity, size,
and importance of Nineveh. The area of the in-
ckaure of Kouyunjik, about 1,800 acres, is far tot
small to represent the site of the city, built v 'I
must have been in accordance with eastern euatoci
and manners, even after allowing for every exagger-
ation on the part of ancient writers. Captain Jones
( Topography of N'mmrh, Journ. of R. AtiaL Soe.
xv. p. 324) computes that it would contain 174,000
inhabitants, 50 square yards being given to each
person; but the basis of this calculation would
scarcely apply to any modern eastern city. If
Kouyunjik represents Nineveh, ard Nimroud Calah,
where are we to plane Resen, " a great city " be-
tween the two? (Gen. x. 12.) Scarcely at Sela-
miyah, only three miles from Nimroud, and where
no ruins of any importance exist. On the other
hand, it has been conjectured that these groups x
mounds are not ruins of separate cities, but of for-
tified royal residences, each combining palaces, tent-
pies, propyhea, gardens, and parks, and having its
peculiar name; and that they all formed part of
one great city built and added to at different periods,
and consisting of distinct quarters scattered over a
very large area, and frequently very distant one from
the other. Nineveh might thus be compared with
Damascus, Ispahan, or perhaps more appropriately
with Delhi, a city rebuilt at various periods, but
never on exactly the same site, and whose ruins
consequently cover an area but little inferior to that
assigned to the capital of Assyria. The primitive
site, the one upon which Nineveh was originally
founded, may possibly have been that occupied by
the mound of Kouyunjik. It is thus alone that
the ancient descriptions of Nineveh, if any value
whatever is to be attached to them, can be recon-
ciled with existing remains. The absence of all
traces of buildings of any size within the inclosures
of Nimroud, Kouyunjik, and Khoraabad, and the
existence of propyltea forming part of the approaches
to the palace, beneath and at a considerable distance
from the great mound at Khorsaliad, seem to add
weight to this conjecture. Even Sir H. Rawlinson
is compelled to admit that all the ruins may have
formed part of " that group of cities, which in the
time of the prophet Jonah, was known by the com-
mon name of Nineveh" (On the Intcriptiwu of
Bnbylimia and Auyria, Joum. At. Boc.). But the
existence of fortified palaces is consistent with ori
ental custom, and with authentic descriptions of
uicient eastern cities. Such were the residences of
the kings of Babylon, the walls of the largest of
which were GO stadia, or 7 miles in circuit, or little
less than those of Kouyunjik, and considerably
greater than those of Nimroud [Babylon]. The
Persians, who appear to have closely imitated the
Assyrians in most things, constructed similar for-
tified parks, or paradises — as they were cafljd -
which included royal dwelling-places (Quint Curt
L 7, c. 8). Indeed, if the Interpretation of the en
ndform inscriptions is to be trusted, the Assyrian
palaces wen of precisely the same character; for
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2166
NINEVEH
that built by Essarhaddan it Nebbi Tunus is stated
U> hare been so large that bones and other animals
ware not only kept, but even brad within its walls
(Fox Talbot, Assyr. Texts translated, p. 17,18). It
is evident that this description cannot apply to a
building occupying so confined an area as the sum-
mit of this mound, but to a vast inclosed space.
This aggregation of strongholds may illustrate the
allusion in Nahum (iii. 14), " Draw thee waters for
the siege, fortify thy strongholds," and " repair thy
fortified places." They were probably surrounded
by the dwellings of the mass of the population,
aithar collected in groups, or scattered singly in the
midst of fields, orchards, and gardens. There are
still sufficient indications in the country around of
the sites of such habitations. The fortified inclo-
tures, whiUt including the residences of the king,
his family or immediate tribe, his principal officers,
and probably the chief priests, may also have served
as places of refuge for the inhabitants of the city
at large in times of danger or attack. According
to I-Hodorus (ii. 9; and Quintus Curtius (v. 1),
there was land enough within the precincts of Uab-
j!jn, besides gardens and orchards, to furnish com
for the wants of the whole population in case of
siege ; and in the book of Jonah, Nineveh is said
to oontain, besides its population, •' much cattle "
(iv. 11). As at Babylon, no great consecutive wall
of inclosure comprising all the ruins, such as that
described by Diodurus, has lieeu discovered at Nin-
eveh, and no such wall ever existed, otherwise some
traces of so vast and massive a structure must
have remained to this day. The river Gomel, the
modern Ghazir-Su, may have formed the eastern
boundary or defense of the city. As to the claims
of the mound of Kalah Sherghat to represent the
site of the primitive capital of Assyria called As-
shur, they must rest entirely on the interpretation
of the inscriptions. This city was founded, or added
to, they are supposed to declare, by one Shamas
Iva, the son and viceroy, or satrap, of Ismi-Dagon,
king of Babylon, who reigned, it is conjectured,
about n. c 1840. Assyria and its capital remained
subject to Babylonia until B. c. 1273, when an in-
dependent Assyrian dynasty was founded, of which
fourteen kings, or more, reigned at Kalah Sherghat.
\bout B. c. 930 the seat of government, it is as-
serted, was transferred liy Sardanapalus (the second
of the name, and the Sardanapalus of the Greeks)
to the city of Kalkbu or Calah (Niuiroud), which
had been founded by an earlier monarch named
bhalmanuhar. There it continued about 250 years,
wnen Sennacherib made Nineveh the capital of the
empire [Abmthia]. These assumptions seem to rest
upon very slender grounds; and Dr. Hindu alto-
gether rejects the theory of the Babylonian character
of these early kings, believing them to be Assyrian
(liepn-t to Trustees of Brit. Mus. on Cylinders
and Term- Coitus). It is believed that on an in-
scribed terra-cotta cylinder discovered at Kalah
Sherghat. the foundation of a temple is attributed
to this Shamas-Iva. A royal name similar to that
of his father, Ismi-Dagon, is read on a brick from
some ruins in southern Babylonia, and the two
kings are presumed to be identical, although there
b no other evidence of the fact (KawL Herod, i. D.
" To support the theory of the ancient capital of
assytta being Anuur, a further identification is re-
lulreJ of two kings whose names an read Ttglath
lilase one found In a rock-cat Inscription at Bavlan |awJ note.)
NINEVEH
456, ncte 5) ; indeed the only son of this Babyk>
nian king mentioned in the inscriptions is read
Ibil-anu-duina, a name entirely different from that
of the presumed viceroy of Asshur. It is by nt
means an uncommon occurrence that the asms
names should be found in royal dynasties of very
different periods." The Assyrian dynasties furnish
more than one example. It may be further observed
that no remains of sufficient antiquity and impor-
tance have been discovered at Kalah Sherghat to
justify the opinion that it was the ancient capital.
The only sculpture found in the ruins, the seated
figure in black basalt now in the British Museum,
belongs to a later period than the monumental frees,
the N. \V. palace at Nimroud. Upon the presumed
identification above indicated, and upon no other
evidence, as far as we can understand, an entirely
new system of Assyrian history and chronology has
been constructed, of which a sketch has been given
under the title Assyria (see also Rawlinson's
HerotL vol. !■ p. 489). It need only be pointed out
here that this system is at variance with sacred,
classical, and monumental history, and can scarcely
be accepted as proven, until the Assyrian ruins
have been examined with more completeness than
has hitherto been possible, and until the decipher-
ment of the cuneiform inscriptions has made far
greater progress. It has been shown bow contin-
uously tradition points to Nineveh as the ancient
capital of Assyria. There is no allusion to any other
city which enjoyed this rank. Its name occurs in
the statistical table of Karnak, in conjunction with
Naharaina or Mesopotamia, and on a fragment re-
cently discovered by M. Mariette, of the time of
Thotmas III., or about B. c. 1490 (Birch, Trans.
R. Soc. of Lit. ii. 34S, second series), and no men-
tion has been found on any Egyptian monument
of such cities as Asshur and Calah. Sir H. Raw-
linson, in a paper read before the K. S. of Lit., has,
however, contended that the Naharayn, Saenkar,
and Assuri of the Egyptian inscriptions are not
Mesopotamia, Singar, and Assyria, and that Nin-
i-iu is not Nineveh at all, but refers to a city in the
chain of Taurus. But these conclusions are alto-
gether rejected by Egyptian scholars. Further re-
searches may show that Sennacherib's palace at
Kouyunjik, and that of Sardanapalus at Nimroud,
were built upon the site and above the remains of
very much earlier edifices. According to the inter-
pretation of the inscriptions, Sardanapalus himself
founded a temple at " Nineveh " (Rawl. Herod. \.
462), yet no traces of this building have been dis-
covered at Kouyunjik. Sargon restored the walla
of Nineveh, and declares that he erected his palace
" near to Nineveh " (id. 474), whilst Sennacherib
only claims to have rebuilt the palaces, which were
" rent and split from extreme old age " (id. 476),
employing 360,000 men, captives from Chaldm,
Syria, Armenia, and Cilicia, in the undertaking,
and speaks of Nineveh as founded of old, and gov-
erned by his forefathers, " kings of the old time "
(Fox Talbot, on Belliiio's cylinder. Jour*, of At.
Soc. vol. xviii.). Old palaces, a great tower, arm
ancient temples dedicated to Ishtar and Bar Muri,
also stood there. Hitherto the remains of no nthet
edifices than those attributed to Sennacherib and
in toe mountains to the B of Mosul, the other oeeaa
ling on the Kalah Sherghat cylinder. M. Oppsrt hat
questioned the identity of the two (BawL Bend. L 4M
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NINEVEH
ab successors have been discovcreJ il the group
H mint opposite Moeul.
Frophrritt n luting to Xintvth, and llhulia-
n'oiu uf tlie 0. T. — These »re excluaivelj oon-
taioed in the books of Nahuni and Zephaniah; for
although Isai.ili foreU-Us the downfall of the Assyr-
ian empire (elis x and xiv.), he mokes no mention
of its capital. Nahum threatens the entire destruc-
tion of the city, so that it shall not rise again from
its ruins: "With an overrunning flood he will
make an utter end of the place thereof." " He will
make an utter end ; affliction shall not rise up the
second time " (i. 8, 9). " Thy people is scattered
upon the mountains, and no otte gathereth them,
facre is no healing of thy bruise" (iii. 18, 19).
(he manner in which the city should be taken
seems to l>e indicated. " Tin defence shall be pre-
pared " (ii. 5: u rendered in the marginal reading
» the covering or coverer shall he prepared," and by
Mr. Vance Smith (Tnt/thnda an A&*yrin anil Me
Auyrimu, p. -J i-2). "the covering machine," the
covered IsMteriiig-rmn or tower supposed to he rep-
resented ill the has reliefs as bcinj used in-sieges.
Some commentators lielieve that " the overrunning
flood " refers to the agency of water in the destruc-
tion of the walls by an extraordinary overflow of
NINEVEH
2167
the Tigris, and the consequent exposure of the eity
to assault through a breach ; others, that it applies
to a large and devastating army. An allusion to
the overflow of the river may be contained in ii. 6,
" The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the
palace shall be dissolved," a prophecy supposed tc
have been fulfilled wheu the Medo-Babylonian army
captured the city. Diodorus (ii. 27) relates of that
event, that " there was an old prophecy that Nin-
eveh should not he taken till the- river became an
enemy to the city ; and in the third year of the
siege the river being swoln with continued rains,
overflowed part of the city, and broke down the
wall for twenty stadia; then the king thinking (hat
the oracle was fulfilled and the river become an
enemy to the city, built a large funeral pile in the
palace, and collecting together all his wealth, and
his concubines and eunuchs, burnt himself and the
palace with them all: and the enemy entered thr
breach that the waters had made, and took thj
eity." Most of the edifices discovered bad teen
destroyed by fire, but no part of the walls of either
Nimroud or Kouyunjik appears to have been washed
away by the river. The Tigris is still subject to
very high and dangerous floods during the winter
and spring rains, and eveu now frequently reaches
King feasting. From Konjnnjik.
the ruins. When it flowed in its ancient bed at
the foot of the walls a part of the city might have
been overwhelmed by an extraordinary inundation.
The likening of Nineveh to "spool of water " (ii. 8)
has lieen conjectured to refer to the moats ami dams
by which a portion of the country around Nineveh
could be flooded. The city was to be partly destroyed
by fire, " The fire shall devour thy bars." " then
shall the fire devour thee " (iii. 13, 15). The gate-
aray in the northern wall of the Kouyunjik inclo-
mre had been destroyed by fire as well as the pal-
aces. The population was to be surprised when
unprepared, " while they are drunk as drunkards
they shall he devoured as stubble fully dry " (i. 10).
Diodorus states that the last and fatal assault was
made when they were overcome with wine. In the
bas-reliefs carousing scenes are represented, in which
she king, his courtiers and even the queen, reclining
an couches or seated or thrones, and attended by mu-
sicians, appear to he pledging each other in howls
if wine (Hotta. Man. n't .Yin. pi. 63-67. 112, 113,
ami one very interesting slab in the Brit. Mua.,
Igured aliove). The captivity of the inhabitants,
sod their removal to distant provinces, are predicted
<HL 18). 'llieir dispersion, which occurred when the
city fell, was in accordance with the barbarous cut-
torn of the age. The palace-temples were to be
plundered of their idols, " out of the house of thy
gods will [ cut off the graven image and the molten
image " (i. 14), and the city sacked of its wealth :
" Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of
gold " (ii. 9). For ages the Assyrian edifices hare
been despoiled of their sacred images; and enor-
mous amounts of gold and silver were, accotding to
tradition, taken to Ecbatana hv the conquering
Moles (I)iod. Sic. ii.). Only one or two fragment*
of the precious metals were found in the rui::s.
Nineveh, after its fall, was to be "empty, and
void, and waste " (ii. 10); '■ it shall come to pass,
that all they that look upon thee shall flee from
thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste" (iii. 7). These
epithets describe the present state of the site of th»
city, lint the fullest and the most vivid and poet-
ical picture of its ruined and deserted condition is
that given by Zephaniah, who proliaMv lived to see
its fall. " lie will make Nineveh a desolation, and
dry like a wilderness. And flocks shall lie down
in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations:
both th-. cormorant and the bittern shall lodge is
i the upper lintels of it! their voice shall sine i*
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NINEVEH
2168 NINEVEH
the window,: desolation shall be in the thresh- 1 (xxiii. 14, 15). "She «f men of •n.lptured wort-
olds: for he shall uncover the cedar work . . . how | nuuiship upon the wallsj; Jikemssestf the ChakUe-
is (he become a desolation, a place for beast* to lie
town in '. every one that passeth by her shall his*
Winged deity.
and wag hi* hand ' (ii. 13, 14, 15.) The canals
whioh once fertilised the toil are now dry. Kxcept
when the earth is green after the periodical rains
the site of the city, as well at the surrounding
country, is an arid yellow waste. Flocks of sheep
and herds of camels may be seen seeking scanty
ans pictured in red, girded with girdles upon theii
loins, with colored Bowing head-dresses upon th-ii
heads, with the aspect of princes all of them " (I.*)
Kin. tnul in Rem. ii. 307 ) ; a description strikingly
illustrated by the sculptured likenesses of the At
Syrian kings and warriors (see especially Botta
Mon. de A'in pi. 12). The mystic figures seen by
the prophet in his vision (ch. i ), uniting the man,
the lion, the ox, and the eagle, may have beer,
suggested by the eagle-headed idols, and man-
beaded bulls and lions (by some identified with
the cherubim of the Jews [ChkkI'b]), and the
sacred emblem of the "wheel within wheel"
by the winged circle or globe frequently repre-
sented in the bas-reliefs (Lay. M'n. and' it* Rem.
ii. 465).
Aiii. — The origin of Assyrian art is a subject
at present involved in mystery, and one which
oners a wide field for speculation and research.
Those who derive the civilization and political sys-
tem of the Assyrians from Bab\ Ionia would trace
their arts to the same source. One of the principal
pasture amongst the mounds. From the unwhole-
some swamp within the ruins of Kborsabad, and , . .... ,, _..» • , , , r -
Ln the rjdy bank, of the little stream, that flow I f «". lre8 ° f the ' r "reb'tecture, he art.fioal pUtXorn,
uC3 and Nimroud may be heard tll . »en,ng a. a^tructure for the,r natjonal ed.fices,
creak of the cormorant and the bittern. The "»T "»« l ^ fl t f ken . from ,, a P~P'« 1 » n » 1 " '"8
cedar-wood which adorned the celling, of the pal- 1 1— P^ctljr fl* ^ «eh . *« , of Shmar, rOtar
Winged globe
than an undulating country in which natural
elevations are not uncommon, such as As-
syria proper. But it still remains to be
proved that there are artificial mounds in
Babylonia of an earlier date than mounds
on or near the site of Nineveh. Whether
other leading features and the detail* of
Assyrian architecture came from the tame
source, is much more open to doubt. Such
Babylonian edifices as hare been hitherto
explored are of a later date than those of
Nineveh, to which they appear to bear but
little resemblance. The only features in
common seem to be the ascending stage. n(
the temples or tombs, and the use of enameled
bricks. The custom of paneling walls with ala-
baster or stone must have originated in a country
in which such materials abound, as in Assyria, and
not in the alluvial plains of southern Mesopotamia
where they cannot lie obtained except at great cost
by great labor. The use of sun-dried and
tees has been uncovered by modem explorers (Ijiy-
ard, iVm. nnrf Bub. p. 357 ), and in the deserted balls
the hyena, the wolf, the fox, and the jackal, now
lie down. Many allusions in the O. T. to the dress,
arms, modes of warfare, and customs of the people
of Nineveh, as well a* of the .lews, are explained hi
the Nineveh monuments. Thus (Nah. ii. 3), "the lor
»h:eld of his mighty men is made red, the valiant ! kiln-burnt brick* and of wooden column* would
.nen are in scarlet." The shields and the dresses 1 1* common to both countries, as also such ar-
»f the warriors are generally painted red in the ! raiigementa for the admission of light and exclu-
Iculptures. The magnificent description of the ' sion of heat as the climate would naturally sog-
aaaault upon the city (iii. 1, 2, 3) is illustrated in ' gest.
almost etery particular (l^yard, ffin. nnd its Rem. In none of the arts of the Assyrians have any
h., part ii., ch. v.). The mounds built up against traces hitherto been found of progressive change.
.he walls of a besieged town (Is. xxxvii. 33; 2 K. Ill the architecture of the most ancient known
tix. 32; .ler. xxxii. 24, Ac.), the battering-ram (r>.
iv. 2), the various kinds of armor, helmets, shields,
■pear*, and swords, used in battle and during a
siege; the chariots and horses (Nah. iii. 3; Char-
iot), are all teen in various bas-reliefs (1-ayard.
Nin. ami il$ Rem. ii., part ii., chaps, iv. and v. ).
The custom of cutting off the heads of the slain
edifice all the characteristics of the style are already
fully developed ; no new features of any importance
teem to have been introduced at a later period.
The palace of Sennacherib only excels tbote of hi,
remote predecessors in the vastnets of its propor-
tions, and in the elaborate magnificence of its
details. In sculpture, as pn>l*bly in painting
and placing them in heaps (2 K. x. 8) it constantly I also, if we possessed the means of comparison, the
*eprese>ited (Layard, ii 184). The allusion in 2 same thing is observable a* in the remains of
£. xix. 2!l, " I will put my. hook in thy nose and ancient Egypt. The earliest works hitherto di#-
ny bridle in thy lips," is illustrated in a bas-relief covered show the result of a lengthened period of
from Kborsabad (to*. 376). I gradual development, which, judging from toe slow
Ths interior decoration of the Assyrian palaces progress made by untutored men in the arts, mutt
■ d e s cri bed by Kzekiel, himself a captive In A*- have extended over a vast number of yean. The;
ryria and an eye-witness of their magiihVenee txhibit the art* of the Assyrians at the high**
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NINEVEH
mg» of eseellence they probably ever artaiiwd-
The only change we can trace, aa in Egypt, is orm
\A decline or "decadence." The latest monuments,
inch as those from the jnlacea of Kssarhaddon and
his son, show perhaps a closer imitation of nature,
especially in the representation of animals, such as
the lion, dog, wild ass, etc , and a more careful and
minute execution of details than those from the
earlier edifices ; but they are wanting in the sim-
plicity yet grandeur of conception, in the inven-
tion, and in the variety of treatment displayed in
the most aucient sculptures. This will at once be
perceived by a comparison of the ornamental details
of the two periods. In the older sculptures there
occur the most graceful and varied combinations
of flowers, beasts, birds, and other natural objects,
treated in a conventional and highly artistic man
ner; in the later there is only a constant and
monotonous tepetition of rosettes and commonplace
forms, without much display of invention or imag-
ination (compare Layard, Mon. of Nineveh, 1st
series, especially plates 5, 8, 43-48, 50, with 2d
■eries, patrim; and with Botta, Monument dt
Vi'mw). The same remark applies to animals.
The lions of the earlier period are a {grand, ideal,
and, to a certain extent, conventional representa-
tion of the beast — not very different from that of
the Greek sculptor in the noblest period of Greek
art (Layard, Mun. if Nin., 3d series, pi. 2). In
the later bas-reliefs, such as those from the palace
■if Sardanapalus III., now in the British Museum,
the lions are more closely imitated from nature
without any conventional elevation; but »hat is
gained in truth is lost in dignity.
The same may be observed in the treatment of
the human form, though in its representation the
Assyrians, like the Egyptians, would seem to have
been, at all times, more or less shackled by relig-
ious prejudices or laws. Kor instance, the face is
almost invariably in profile, not because the sculptor
was unable to represent the full face, one or two
examples of it occurring in the bas-reliefs, but
probably because he was bound by a generally
received custom, through which he would not
break. No new forms or combinations appear to
have been introduced into Assyrian art during the
four or five centuries, if not longer period, with
which we are acquainted with it. We trace
throughout the same eagle-headed, lion-beaded,
and fish-headed figures, the same winged divini-
ties, the same composite forms at the doorways.
In the earliest works, an attempt at composition,
that is at a pleasing and picturesque grouping of
the figures, is perhaps more evident than in the
ater — as may he illustrated by the I Jon-hunt
from the N. W. Palace, now in the British Museum
(Layard, Mon, of Nin., pi. 10). A parallel may
in many respect* be drawn between the art* of the
Assyrians from their earliest known period to their
latest, and those of Greece from Phidias to the
Koraan epoch, and of Italy from the 15th to the
18th century.
The art of the Nineveh monuments must in the
■resent state of our knowledge be accepted as an
original and national art, peculiar, if not to the
Assyrians alone, to the races who at rart'ua period*
possessed the country watered by the 'Pgris and
Euphrates. As it win undoubtedly brougnt to its
sigbest perfection by the Assyrians, and is espe-
aally characteristic of them, it may well and con-
asniently liear their namii. From whence it was
wiginally derived there Is nothing aa yet to snow
NINEVEH
216S
If from Babylon, a* some bare conjectured, then
are no remains to prove the fact. Analogic may
perhaps be found between it and that of Egypt,
but they are not sufficient to convince us that tU
one was the offspring of the other. These analo-
gies, if not accidental, may bare been derived, at
some very remote period, from a common souro*
The two may have been offshoots from some com
man trunk which perished ages before either Nine-
veh or Thebes was founded ; or the Phoenicians, a*
it has been suggested, may have introduced InU.
the two countries, between which they were placed,
and between which they may have formed a com-
mercial link, the arts peculiar to each of them.
Whatever the origin, the development of the art*
of the two countries appears to have been affected
and directed by very opposite conditions of national
character, climate, geographical and geological posi-
tion, politics, and religion. Thus, Egyptian archi-
tecture aeenis to have been derived from a stone
prototype, Assyrian from a wooden one — it accord-
ance with the physical nature of the two countries.
Assyrian art is the type of power, vigor, and
action ; Egyptian that of calm dignity and repose.
The one is the expression of an ambitious, conquer-
ing, and restless nature; the other of a race which
seems to have worked for itself alone and for
eternity. At a late period of Assyrian history, at
the time of the building of the Kboraabad palace
(about* the 8th century B. a), a mora intimate
intercourse with Egypt through war or dynastic
alliances than had previously existed, appears to
have led to the introduction of objects of Egyptian
manufacture into Assyria, and may have influenced
to a limited extent its arts. A precisely similar
influence proceeding from Assyria has been re-
marked at the same period in Egypt, probably
arising from the conquest and temporary occupa-
tion of the latter country by tho Assyrians, under
a king whose name is read Asshur-bani-pal, men-
tioned in the cuneiform inscriptions (Birch, Tram,
of X. Soc. ofl.il., new series). To this age belong
the ivories, bronzes, and nearly all the small objects
of an Egyptian character, though not apparently
of Egyptian workmanship, discovered in the Assyr-
ian ruins. It has been asserted, on the authority
of an inscription believed to contain the names
of certain Hellenic artists from Idalium, Citium,
Salamis, Paphos, and other Greek cities, that
Greeks were employed by Essarhaddon and his son
in executing the sculptured decorations of their
palaces (Kawl. Herod, i. 483). But, parsing over
the extreme uncertainty attaching to the decipher-
ment of proper names in the cuneiform character,
it must be observed that no remains whatever of
Greek art of so early a period are known, which
can be compared in knowledge of principles and in
beauty of execution and of design with the sculp-
tures of Assyria. Niebuhr has remarked of Hel-
lenic art, that " anything produced before the
Persian war was altogether barbarous " (34th Lee
ture on AncUtU Hittory). If Greek artiste could
execute such monuments in Assyria, why, it may
be asked, did they not display equal skill in their
own country? The influence, indeed, seems to
have been entirely in the opposite direction. The
disooverijs at Nineveh show almost beyond a doubt
that the Ionic element in Greek art was derived
from Assyria, aa the Doric came from Egypt
There is scarcely a leading form or a detail in the
Ionic order which cannot be traced to Assyria -
the volute of the column, the frieat of griffin*, the
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2170 NINEVEH
honeynukle-lxnder, the guiUoche, the Caryatides,
ind many other ornaments peculiar to the style.
The art* of the Assyrians, especially their archi-
tecture, spread to surround big nations, as is usually
the case when one race is brought into contact with
another in a lower state of civilization. They
appear to have crossed the Euphrates, and to have
had more or less influence on the countries between
it and the Mediterranean. Monuments of an
Assyrian character have been discovered in various
parts of Syria, and further researches- would prob-
ably disclose many more. The arts of the Phoeni-
cians, judging from the few specimens preserved,
ihow the same influence. In the absence of even
the most insignificant remains, and of any imple-
ments which may with confidence be attributed to
the Jews [Akhb] there are no materials for com-
parison between Jewish and Assyrian art. It is
possible that the bronzes and ivories discovered at
Nineveh were of Phoenician manufacture, like the
vessels in Solomou's Temple. On the lion-weights,
now in the British Museum, are inscriptions both
in the cuneiform and Phoenician characters. The
Assyrian inscriptions seem to indicate a direct
dependence of Judwa upon Assyria from a very
early period. From the descriptions of the Tem-
ple and "houses" of Solomon (cf. 1 K. ri., vii.;
2 Cbr. iii , iv. ; Joseph, viil. 3; KergussoD's Pair-
actt of Nincrth ; and Layard, Am. and Bab. p.
642), it would appear that there was mucB simi-
larity between them and the palaces of Nineveh,
if not in the exterior architecture, certainly in the
interior decorations, such as the walla paneled or
wainscoted with sawn stones, the sculptures on the
slabs representing trees and plants, the remainder
of the walls above the skirting painted with vari-
ous colors and pictures, the figures of the winged
cherubim caned "all the house round," and es-
pecially on the doorways, the ornaments of open
Sowers, pomegranates, and lilies (apparently corre-
sponding exactly with the rosettes, pomegranates,
and honeysuckle ornaments of the Assyrian bas-
reliefs, Botta, tifvti. tie Nin., and Layard, Mon. of
Nin.), and the ceiling, roof, and beams of cedar-
wood. The Jewish edifices were however very
much inferior in size to the Assyrian. Of objects
of art (if we may use the term) contained in the
Temple we hate the description of the pillars, of
the brazen sea, and of various bronze or copper
vessels. They were the work of Hiram, the son
if a Phoenician artist by a Jewish woman of the
tribe of Naphtali (1 K. vii. 14), a bet which gives
us some insight into Phoenician art, and seems to
show that the Jews had no art of their own, as
Hiram was fetched from Tyre by Solomon. The
Ass, rian character of these objects is very remark-
able. The two pillars and " chapiters " of brass
had o> Moments of lilies and pomegranates; the
brazen sea was supported on oxen, and its rim was
ornamented with flowers of lilies, whilst the bases
were graven with lions, oxen, and cherubim on the
vxders, and the plates of the ledges with cherubim,
ni, and palm-trees. The vail of the Temple, of
liflerent colors, had also cherubim wrought upon
it (Cf. Layard. Nin. and Bab. woodcut, p. 588,
in which a large vessel, probably of bronze or
copper, is represented supported upon oxen, and
Mm. of Nin., series 2, pi. 60, 66, 68, — in which
V f ts r l o with enibotNcd rims apparently similar to
those in Solomou's Temple are figured. Also
series 1, pi. 8, 44, 48, in which embroideries with
therubun occur.)
NINEVEH
The influence of Assyria to the eastward on*
even more considerable, extending far into Asia
The Persians copied their architecture (with tool
modifications as the climate and the building-
materials at hand suggested), their sculpture, prob
ably their painting and their mode of writing
from the Assyrians. The ruined palaces of Persep-
olis show the same general plan of coustructior.
as those of Nineveh — the entrances formed by
human-headed animals, the skirting of sculptured
stone, and the inscribed slabs. The various relig-
ious emblems and the ornamentation have the
same Assyrian character. In Persia, however, a
stone architecture prevailed, and the columns in
that materia] have resisted to this day the ravages
of time.
The Persians made an advance in one respect
upon Assyrian sculpture, and probably painting
likewise, in an attempt at a natural representation
of drapery by the introduction of folds, of which
there is only the slightest indication on Assyrian
monuments. It may have been partly through
Persia that the influence of Assyrian art passed
into Asia Minor and thence into Greece; but it
had probably penetrated far into the former country
long liefore the Persian domination. We find it
strongly shown In the earliest monuments, is in
those of Lycia and Phrygia, and in the archaic
sculptures of Branchidai. But the early art of
Asia Minor still offers a most interesting field fur
investigation. Amongst the Assyrians, the arts
were principally employed, as amongst all nations
in their earlier stages of civilization, for religions
and national purposes. The colossal figures at the
doorways of the palaces were mythic combinations
to denote the attributes of a deity. The " Man-
Bull " and the " Man-Lion," are conjectured to be
the gods " Nin " and " Nergal," presiding over
war and the chase: the eagle-beaded and fish-
headed figures so constantly repeated in the sculp-
tures, and as ornaments on vessels of metal, or in
embroideries — Nisroch and Dagon. The bas-
reliefs almost invariably record some deed of the
king, as head of the nation, in war, and in combat
with wild beasts, or his piety in erecting vast
palace-temples to the gods. Hitherto no sculp-
tures specially illustrating the private life of the
Assyrians have been discovered, except one or two
incidents, such as men baking bread or tending
horses, introduced as mere accessaries into the
historical bas-reliefs- This may be partly owing
to the fact that no traces whatever have yet been
found of their burial-places, or even of their mode
of dealing with the dead. It is chiefly upon the
walls of tombs that the domestic life of the Egyp-
tians has been so fully depicted, (n the useful arts,
as in the fine arts, the Assyrians had made a prog-
ress which denotes a very high state of civiliza-
tion [Ahcyria]. When the inscriptions hare
been fully examined and deciphered, it will prc"„-
ably be found that they had made no inconsiderable
advance in the sciences, especially in astronomy,
mathematics, numeration, and hydraulics. Al-
though the site of Nineveh afforded no specie,
advantages for commerce, and although she owed
her greatness rather to her political position as the
capital of the empire, yet, situated upon a naviga-
ble river communicating with the Euphrates ana
the Persian Gulf, she must have soon formed one
of the great trading stations between that impor
tant inland tea, and Syria, and the Mediterranean,
and must have become a depot for the merchandise
Dialled b
Google
NINEVEH
2171
mad Indifferently. Tbii constitutes one of the prin-
cipal difficulties in the process of decipherment. Thi
investigation first commenced by Urotefend (He*
ren, Asiatic Nation; vol. ii. App. 2) has since beer
carried on with much success by Sir H. Kawlinaon,
Dr Hincks, Mr. Norris, and Mr. Fox Talbot, in
England, and by M. Oppert in France (see papers
by those gentlemen in the JoumaU of tin. Roy
At. Soc., in Tmtunctimt of Royal Iruli Academy,
in Journal of Sacred Litmituie, and in the Alhe-
namin). Although considerable doubt may still
reasonably prevail as to the interpretation of de-
tails, as to grammatical construction, and especially
NINEVEH
to a great part of Alia Mil./-, Armenia.
wd Persia. Her merchants are described in
Esekiel (xxrii. H) as trading in blue clothes and
broidered work (such as is probably represented in
the sculptures), and in Nahum (iii. 16) as " multi-
plied above the stars of heaven." The animals
represented on the black obelisk in the British
Museum and on other monuments, the rhinoceros,
the elephant, the double-humped camel, and various
kinds of apes and monkeys, show a communication
direct or indirect with the remotest parts of Asia.
This intercourse with foreign nations, and the prac-
tice of carrying to Assyria as captives the skilled
*rtists and workmen of conquered countries, must at to the rendering of proper names, sufficient prog
have contributed greatly to the improvement of j ress has been made to enable the student to aace»
Assyrian manufactures. . tain with some degree of confidence the genera'
Writing and Language. — The ruins of Nin- meaning and contents of an inscription. The
sreh have furnished a vast collection of inscriptions people of Nineveh spoke a Semitic dialnct, con-
partly carved on marble or stone slabs, and partly nected with the Hebrew and with tho so-called
impressed upon bricks, and upon clay cylinders, or Chaldee of the Books of Daniel and Ezra. This
six-sided and eight-sided prisms, barrels, and tab- 1 agrees with the testimony of the 0- T. But it is
lets, which, used for the purpose when still moist, f asserted that there existed in Assyria, as well as in
■ere afterwards baked in a furnace or kiln. (Cf. Babylonia, a more ancient tongue belonging to a
Ezekiel, iv. 1, " Take thee a
t-^rZrUTA y ~f<« a- h« ^n « I « * -v
The cylinders are hollow, w A -y _ . ._ .www w _W
sndappear, from the hole a- fcj \^] J^fl |- ^ *=TTT= "*~ E|
pierced through them, to have
been mounted so as to turn
round, and to present their
several sides to the reader.
The character employed was
the arrow-headed or cunei-
form—so called from each Specimen of the Arrow-headed or Cuneiform Writing
letter being formed by marks or elements resem- Turanian or Scythic race, which is supposed to
Ming an arrow-head or a wedge. This mode of i have inhabited the plains watered by the Tigris
writing, believed by some to be of Turanian or ] and Euphrates long before the rise of the Assyrian
Scythic origin, prevailed throughout the prov- empire, and from which the Assyrians derived their
y ^ ^T ^ •** <& **!T
ineaa comprised in the Assyrian, Babylonian,
and tlie eastern portion of the ancient Fenian
empires, from the earliest times to which any
known record belongs, or at least twenty cen-
turies before the Christian era, down to the period
of the eonquests of Alexander; after which epoch,
although occasionally employed, it seems to have
gradually fallen into disuse- It never extended into
Syria, Arabia, or Asia Minor, although it was
adopted in Armenia. A cursive writing resembling
the ancient Syrian and Phoenician, and by some
believed to be the original form of all other cursive
writing used in Western Asia, including the He-
brew, appears to have also been occasionally em-
ployed in Assyria, probably for documents written
en parchment or papyrus, or perhaps leather skins.
The Assyrian cuneiform character was of the same
class as the Babylonian, only differing from it in
fce less complicated nature of its forms. Although
lie primary elements in the later Persian and so-
ealled Median cuneiform were the same, yet their
combination and the value of the letters were quite
distinct. The latter, indeed, is but a form of the
Assyrian Herodotus terms all cuneiform writing
the "Assyrian writing" (Herod, iv. 87). This
character may have been derived from some more
ancient form of hieroglyphic writing; but if so, all
traces of such origin have disappeared. The As-
syrian and Babylonian alphabet (if the term may
ts applied to above 800 signs) is of the most com-
plicated, imperfect, and arbitrary nature — some
rhaiaetert being phonetic, others syllabic, others
civilization and the greater part of their mythology.
It was retained for sacred purposes by the conquer-
ing race, as the Ijitin was retained after the fall of
the Roman Empire in the Catholic Church. In
fragments of vocabularies discovered in the record-
chamber at Kouyunjik words in the two languages
are placed in parallel columns, whilst a centre col-
umn contains a monographic or ideographic sign
representing both. A large number of Turanian
words or roots are further supposed to have existed
in the Assyrian tongue, and tablets apparently in
that language have been discovered in the ruins.
The monumental inscriptions occur on detached
stele and obelisks, of which there are several speci-
mens in the British Museum from the Assyrian
ruins, and one in the Berlin Museum discovered in
the island of Cyprus; on the colossal human-beaded
lions and bulls, upon parts not occupied by sculp-
ture, as between the legs; on the sculptured slabs,
generally in bands between two bas-reliefs, to which
they seem to refer: and, as in Persia and Armenia,
caned on the face of rocks in the hill-country. At
Nimroud the same inscription is carved on nearly
every slab in the N. W. palace, and generally re-
peated on the back, and even carried across the
sculptured colossal figures. The Assyrian inscrip-
tions usually contain the chronicles of the king who
built oi restored the edifice in which they are found,
records of his wars and expeditions Into distant
countries, of the amount of tribute and spoil taken
from conquered tribes, of the building of temples
and palaces, and invocations to the gods of Assyr
daographi] — tb* same eh vaster being frequently ' Frequently every stone and kiln-burnt brick used hi
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2172
NINEVEH
a building bears the name and titles of the king,
and generally thoae of hit father and grandfather
are added. These inscribed bricks are of the great-
est value in restoring the royal dynasties. The
longest inscription on stone, that from the N. W.
palace of Nineveh containing the records of Sar-
danapalus II., has 325 lines, that on the black ob-
elisk has 210. The most important hitherto dis-
covered in connection with Biblical history, is that
upon a pair of colossal human-headed bulls from
Kouyunjik, now in the British Museum, containing
the records of Sennacherib, and describing, amongst
other events, his wars with Hezekiah. It is accom-
panied by a aeries of bas-reliefs believed' to repre-
sent the siege and capture of Lachish (Lachdjh;
Ujvd, If in. and Bab. pp. M8-153)
Sennacherib on his Throne
NINEVEH
A long list might be given of Biblical names
occurring in the Assyrian inscriptions (ML 698)
Those of three Jewish kings hare been read, Jehr.
son of Khutnri (Omri),on the black obelisk (Jkiid
Iasansstons of lbs Signets of the Kings of Assyria and
■gypt. (Original alas.)
Jewish Captives
(KoovoQJlk).
Part of Oartooobs of Sabaeo, enlarged from the lea
prasdon of his Slgnst.
Layard, tfin. and Bab. p. 813), Henahem on a sab
from the S. \V. palace, Nimroud, now in the Brit-
ish Museum (id. 617), and Hnekiah in the Kou-
yunjik records. The most important inscribed terra-
cotta cylinders are — those from Kalah Sherghat,
with the annals of a king, whose name is believed
to read Tiglath Pileser, not the same mentioned in
the 2d Book of Kings, but an earlier monarch,
who is supposed to have reigned about B. c. 1110
(Kawl. Herod, i. 467); those from Kborsabad con-
taining the annals of Sargon ; those from Kouyun-
jik, especially one known as BeUino's cylinder, with
the chronicles of Sennacherib; that from Nebbi
Yunus with the records of Esaar-
haddon, and the fragments of
three cylinders with those of hie
son. The longest inscription on
a cylinder is of 820 lines. Such
cylinders and inscribed slabs
were generally buried beneath
the foundations of great public
buildings. Many fragments of
cylinders and a vast collection
of inscribed clay tablets, many
in perfect preservation, and some
bearing the impressions of seaia,
were discovered in a chamber at
Kouyunjik, and are now depos-
ited in the British Museum
They appear to include histories,
documents, vocabularies, astrc
nomical and other calculations
calendars, directions for the per
formanoe of religious osrsmo
ok*. Hate of the gods, then at
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NINEVEH
annates, and the day* appointed for their worship,
description* of countries, lists of animal*, grant*
of land*, etc., etc. In thia chamber was alio found
the piece of da; bearing the aeal of the Egyptian
king, So or Sabaco, and that of an Assyrian mon-
arch, either Sennacherib or hi* son, probably affixed
to a treaty between the two, which having been
writtet. en parchment or papyrus, had entirely
perished (Layard, Nin. and Sab. p. 166).
The mo*t important result* may be expected
when inscriptions so numerous and so varied in
character are deciphered. A list of nineteen or
twenty kings can already be compiled, and the
annals of the greater number of them will prob-
»bly be restored to the lost history of one of the
most powerful empires of the ancient world, and
of one which appear* to hare exercised perhaps
greater influence than any other upon the subse-
quent condition and development of civilized man.
[Aksthia.]
The only race now found near the ruins of Nine-
veh or in Assyria which may have any claim to be
considered descendants from the ancient inhabitants
of the country are the so-called Cbakuean or Nes-
torian tribes, inhabiting the mountains of Kur-
distan, the plains round the lake of Ooroomiyah in
Persia, and a few villages in the neighborhood of
Mosul. They still speak a Semitic dialect, almost
identical with the Chaldee of the books of Daniel
and Etra. A resemblance, which may be but
fanciful, has been traced between them and the
representations of the Assyrians in the bas-reliefs.
Their physical characteristics at any rate seem to
mark them as of the same race. The inhabitants
of this part of Asia have been exposed perhaps
more than those of any other country in the world
to the devastating inroads of stranger hordes.
Conquering tribes of Arabs and of Tartars have
mora than once well-nigh exterminated the popu-
lation which they found there, and have occupied
their places. The few survivors from these terrible
msssirrni have taken refuge in the mountain fast-
nesses, where they may still linger. A curse' seems
to hang over a land naturally rich and fertile, and
capable of sustaining a vast number of human
beings. Those who now inhabit it are yearly
diminishing, and there seems no prospect that for
generations to come this once-favored country
should remain other than a wilderness.
(Leyard's Ninereh and it* Remain* ; Nintttk
mot Sabybm; and MonumenU of Nineveh, 1st
and 2d series; Botta's Monument de Nimvi;
Fergusson, Palace* of Nineveh and Pertepoti*
Restored; Vaux'a Nineveh and Pertepoti*.)
A. H. L.
* We referred under Nahttm to some of the
writers on the history and fall of Nineveh. We
add here the names of a few others who treat of this
■abject, relying in part on Dr. Kleinert's catalogue
mentioned under the above head. 6. F. Grote-
fand, Oeber Anlage ft. Zerttbrung dtr Oebiude
Nimrud (1851). J. Brsndis, Veber den hut.
"*wmn out der Entxifferung der Auyr. In-
KkrifUn (1863). Gumpacb, Abria der Auy-
■uch-bnbyL Getchichte. J. Olshausen, P-ifung
:es Character* der in den Auyr. Intchriftm
unit. Sprache. F. A. and O. Strauss, Lander u.
Stolen der heil. Schrifl. J 861, p. 828 (1855). F.
3piegeL "Ninive" in Herzog's RfilEncyk. x.
161-381 (1858), and a supplementary article, under
«M same title, xx. 819-835 (1866). J. Oppert,
flhvnnhgi* dee A—yrient et Babflomem. F.
NI8KOCH
2178
Fresnel, Exp ed ition Sdtnlifiqut en Me'topotamie
pubtiee par J. Oppert (1858). Bonomi, Nineveh
and it* Palace* (1852), founded on liotts and
Layard. W. K. Loftus, Trnrtlt anil Rettnrchei
in Chnldaa and Sutiana (1858). Dr. Pusey on
Jonah, Minor Prophet*, with a Commentary, Part
iii. (1861). Dr. Spiegel speaks in hi* second
article in a much stronger tone of con&denoa with
regard to the success of the efforts which b >ve
been msde to read the Assyrian inscriptions. He
declares his belief that the deciphering of the
Assyrian alphabet has been pursued hith'rto m
systematic and scientific principles; that there -»
good reason to hope that future studies will on*
come any still remaining obstacles to a more per-
fect interpretation, and, in the mean time, that we
may confide in the results already gained. S
would be premature to expect this view to be
universally accepted at present.
The cabinet of Amherst College contains som*
interesting antiquities from the ruins of Nineveh
and Babylon. They are such as several mystii
figures of Assyrian deities sculptured on alabastet
slabs, taken from the palace of Sardanapalus (on*
of them eagle-beaded, and supposed to be the
Nisroch of Scripture, 2 K. xix. 37); a repre-
sentation of Sardanapalus, armed as a warrior, and
in the act of giving thanks for victory, with in-
scriptions which record his exploits; a winged
human-beaded lion; Sennacherib at the siege of
Ijnchish (2 Chr. xxxii. 9);« a fish-god, the head
of the fish forming a mitre above the man; a
sphinx, the body that of a lion, the face beardless,
surmounted with a highly ornamented cap; a
winged horse, the original type of the Greek
Pegasus ; a gryphon, the body that of a lion, with
the wings and head of an eagle; and five bricks
bearing inscriptions, among which are the names
and titles of three successive kings. "All the
slabs liear inscriptions, reading from. left to right,
which are precisely identical, and refer to the king
who built the palace. They are written in the
cuneiform character, which was the monumental
writing of the Assyrians, while an entirely distinct
form was used for private documents " (see O'uide
to tlie Public Room* and Cabinet* of Amherst
College, Amh. 1868). II.
NIN'EVITES (Nirewrcu; [Tisch. 8th ed
Nirc ve ito! :] Ninevita). The inhabitants of Nine-
veh (Luke xi. 30).
NI'BAN. [Mouths.]
NISTROCH (Tfipa [seebelov,): Mnreodx,
Msi's ed. 'Eo-Sodx; Alex. tZoCpax [Comp. Nesr-
pi x ] in 2 K. ; Nwrapdx [Alex. Atrapav] in Is. ;
Nttroch). The proper name of an idofof Nine-
veh, in whose temple Sennacherib was woi shipping
when assassinated by his sons, Adrammelech ant.
Sharezer (2 K. xix. 37; Is. xxxvii. 88). SeHen
confesses his ignorance of the deity denoted by
this name (de Dl» Syrit, synt. ii. c 10); but
Beyer, in his Additamenta (pp. 323-825) ha* col-
lected several conjectures. Jarchi, in his note on
Is. xxxvii. 88, explains Nisroch as "a beam, or
plank, of Noah's ark," from the analysis which
is given of the word by Rabbinical expositor!
:~PD3 = NTTO pTIDa). What the true ety-
o • See the plats which probably rs pu i sn ts tba
slegs of Leehlsh ss deptettd on the monumsats, vol
«. p. J57». a
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2174
NITRE
■oology niay be is extremely doubtftil. If the
irlcin of the word be Shemitic, it may be derived,
u tiesenius suggests, from the Heb. ™l??3, which
Is in Arab. mm - , " an eagle," with the termination
t'ch or Ach, which U intensive in Persian," so that
Nisroeh would signify "the great eagle" (comp.
Amocu). But it must be confessed that this
explanation is far from satisfactory. It is adopted,
however, by Mr. Layard, who identifies with Nis-
roeh the eagle-headed human figure, which is one
of the most prominent on the earliest Assyrian
monuments, and is always represented as contend-
ing with and conquering the lion or the bull
(Nineveh, ii. 168, 459). In another passage be
endeavors to reconcile the fact that Asahur was the
supreme god of the Assyrians, as far as can be
determined from the inscriptions, with the appear-
ance of the name Nisroeh aa that of the chief god
of Nineveh, by supposing that Sennacherib may
have been slain in the temple of Asshur, and that
the Hebrews, seeing everywhere the eagle-headed
figure, "may have believed it to be that of the
peculiar god of the Assyrians, to whom they con-
sequently gave a name denoting an eagle " (Nm.
and Bab. p. 637, note). Other explanations, based
upon the same etymology, have been given ; such
is that suggested by Beyer (AMU. p. 3241. that
Nisroeh deno'es " Noah's eagle," that is "Noah's
turd," that is " Noah's dove,' ' the dove being an
abject of worship among the Assyrians (Lucian,
de Jov. trag. c- 42); or that mentioned as more
probable by Winer (Rtidic. s. v.), that it was the
constellation Aquila, the eagle being in the Persian
religion a symbol of Ormuzd. Parkhurst, deriving
the word from the Chaldre root "t\~JQ, ferae
(which occurs in Dan. vi. in the form NJ2"1D,
atreenyytf, and is rendered in the A. V. " presi-
dents"), conjectures that Nisroeh may be the
impersonation of the solar fire, and substantially
identical with Molech and Milcom, which are both
derived from a root similar in meaning to ternc.
Nothing, however, is certain with regard to Nis-
roeh, except that these conjectures, one and all,
are very little to be depended on. Sir II. Rawlin-
tan says that Asshur had uo temple at Nineveh
Bi which Sennacherib could have been worshipping
(Kawlinson, I/emd. i. p. 590). He conjectures
that Nisroeh is not a genuine reading. Josephus
has a curious variation. He says (Ant. x. 1, § 5)
that Sennacherib was buried in his own temple
called Arrive (ir ry itttp ray 'ApdVirn Aryo/u-
4*f). W. A. W.
NITRE (ira, nether: S\kos, vtrpor: ni-
trum) occurs in Prov. xxv. 20, " As be that take'h
away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar
upon nether, so is be that singeth tongs to an
heavy heart; " and in Jer. ii. 22, where it is said
of sinful Judah, " though thou wash thee with
nsther and take thee much borith [Soap], yet
thine iniquity is marked before me." The sub-
stance denoted is not that which we now under-
stand by the term nitre, i. e. nitrate of potassa —
"saltpetre" — but the rt'rpor or xhpor of the
Greeks, the nitrum of the Latins, and the natron
sr native carbonate of soda of modern chemistry.
Much has been written on the subject of the nitrum
■ So he says In bis Thenar., but fat his Jaain (I.
r7() he et-rectlr calls It a dlmlnutlv*.
NOAH
of the ancients; it will be enough to refer Mat
reader to Beckmann, who (Binary of Inven tio n .
ii. 482, Bohu's ed.) has devoted a chapter to this
subject, and to the authorities mentioned in the
notes. It is uncertain at what time the Kngttah
term nitre first came to be used for wltpetre, but
our translators no doubt understoou thereby the
carbonate of soda, for nitre is to used by Holland
in his translation of Pliny (xxxi. 10) to contra-
distinction to saltpetre, which he gives as the
marginal explanation of aphronitmm.
The latter part of the passage in Proverbs is
well explained by Shaw, who says ( Trot. ii. 887),
" the unsuitableness of the singing of songs to i
heavy heart is very finely compared to the con-
trariety there is between vinegar and natron."
This is far preferable to the explanation given
by Michaelia (De Nitro Bebraor. in Commentat.
Societ. Reg. pnrlect. i. 186; and SvppL Lex. Heb.
p. 1704), that the simile alludes to the unpleasant
smell arising from the admixture of the add and
alkali; it points rather to the extreme mental
agitation produced by ill-timed mirth, the grating
against the feelings, to make use of another meta-
phor. Natron was and is still nsed by the
Egyptians for washing linen ; the value of soda in
this respect is well known ; this explains Jer. I. e.,
" though thou wash thee with soda," etc. Hastd-
quiat ( Tniv. p. 275 ) says that natron is dng out
of a pit or mine near Mantura in Egypt, and far
mixed with limestone and is of a whitish-brown
color. The Egyptians use it, (1) to put into
bread instead of yeast, (2) instead of soap, (3) as
a cure for the toothache, being mixed with vine-
gar. Compare also Forskal (Flor. JSgypL Arab.
p. xlvi.) who gives its Arabic names, atttm or
nntrun.
Natron is found abundantly in the well-known
soda lakes of Egypt described by Pliny (xxxi. 10),
and referred to by Strabo (xvii. A 1155, ed.
Kramer), which are situated in the barren valley
of Bahr-bela-ma (the Waterless Sea), about 50
miles W. of Cairo; the natron occurs in whitish
or yellowish efflorescent crusts, or in beda three or
four feet thick, and very hard (Volney, Trot. i.
15), which in the winter are covered with water
about two feet deep ; during the other nine months
of the year the lakes are dry, at which period the
natron is procured. (See Andreoasi, Memoire no-
In Vallee de* Lace de Natron, in Mem. swr
tEgyptt, ii. 276, Ac. ; Berthollet, Obtervat. nr It
Natron, ibid. 310; DetcripL de CEgypte, xxi.
205.) W. H.
NO. [No-Amok.]
NOADI'AH (nj*r? 5 [whom Jtkovak
meets]: tiaabla: [Vat. Nuattia; Alex. Natota:]
Noadnin). L A I-evite, son of Binnui, who with
Meremoth, Eleazar, and Jozabad, weighed the
vessels of gold and silver belonging to the Temple
which were brought back from Babylon (Ezr. viii
33). In 1 Esdr. viii. 63, he is called " Hoeth the
ton of Sabban."
2. ([NoNiSia; FA. Noatia:] NoatHa.) The
prophetess Noadiah joined Sanballat and Tobias
in their attempt to intimidate Nrhemiah whils
rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. vi. 14).
She is only mentioned in Nehrmiah's deounds)
tion of hit enemies, and is n' ' prominent in ths
narrative.
NO'AH (Vib [rest, Get. ; or,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NOAH
Rsntjt Ndt; Joseph. NaW: A"*;, «<* tenth
In liiiniil Ikon Adam, in the line of Seth, wu
the na of Ijuneeh, and grandson of Methuselah.
Of hie father I junech all that we know U corn-
prfeed in the worda that he uttered on the birth
of hie 100, words the more significant when we
eentnat them with the saying of the other Lantech
of the race ol Cain, which hare also been preserved.
The one exults in the discover; of weapons by
which he may defend himself in case of need.
The other, a tiller of the soil, mourns over the
corse which rests on the ground, seeing in it evi-
dently the consequence of ain. It is impossible to
mistake the religious feeling which speaks of " the
ground which JeliovUi hath cursed." Not leas
evident is the bitter sense of weary and fruitless
labor, mingled with better hopes for the future.
We read that on the birth of a son "he called his
name Noah, saying, 'litis shall comfort us, for our
work and labor of out hands, because of (or from)
the ground which Jehovah hath cursed." Nothing
ean be more exquisitely true and natural than the
way in which the old man's saddened heart turns
fondly to his son. His own lot had been cast in
evil times; "but this," be says, "shall comfort
as." One hardly knows whether the sorrow or
the bone predominates. Clearly there is an almost
prophetic feeling in the name which he gives his
son, and hence some Christian writers have seen
in the language a prophecy of the Messiah, and
have supposed that as Eve was mistaken on the
birth of Cain, so Lantech in like manner was de-
ceived in his hope of Noah. But there ia no
reason to infer fiom the language of the narrative
that the hopes of either were of so definite a
nature.' The knowledge of a personal Deliverer
was not vouchsafed till a much later period.
In the reason which ljunech gives for calling his
son Noah, there is a play upon the name which it
ia impossible to preserve in English. He called
his name Noah (TJj, Noaeh, rest), saying, " this
same shall comfort m " (33QOs*, yttutclmmini).
It is quite plain that the name "rest," and the
verb "comfort," are of different roots; and we
must not try to make a philologist of 1 jtmech, and
suppose that he was giving an accurate derivation
of the name Noah. He merely plays upon the
name, after a fashion common enough in all ages
and countries.
Of Noah himself from this time we hear noth-
ing more till he is 600 years old, when it ia said
he begat three aona, Sheni, Ham, and Jnphet."
Very remarkable, however, is the glimpse which
we get of the state of society in the antediluvian
world. The narrative it is true ia brief, and on
many points obscure: a mystery hangs over it
which we cannot penetrate. Hut some few facts we
dear. The wickedness of the world ia described
NOAH 2171
as having reached a desperate pitch, owing, it would
seem, in a great measure to the fusion of two races
which had hitherto been distinct. And further the
marked features of the wickedness of the age went
lust and brutal outrage. " They took them wives
of all which they chose:" and, "the earth wu
filled with violence." "The earth was corrupt
for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."
So far the picture is dear and vivid. Rut when we
come to examine some of its details, we are kit
greatly at a loss. The narrative stands thus:
11 And it came to pass when men (the Adam)
began to multiply on the face of the ground and
daughters were born unto them ; then the sons ol
God (the Klohim) saw the daughters of men (the
Adam) that they were fair, and they took to them
wives of all that they chose. And Jehovah said,
Hy spirit shall not for ever rule (or be humbled) in
men, seeing that they are [or, in their error they
are] but flesh, and their days shall be a hundred
and twenty years. The NephUim were in the earth
in those days; and also afterwards when the sons
of God (the Elohim) came in unto the daughters
of men (the Adam), and children were born to
them, these were the heroes which were of old, men
of renown."
Here a number of perplexing questions present
themselves: Who were the sons of God? Who
the daughters of men ? Who the N'ephilim ? What
is the meaning of " My spirit shall not always rule,
or dwell, or be humbled in men ; " and of the words
which follow, " But their days shall be an hundred
and twenty years V "
We will briefly review the principal solutions
which have been given of these difficulties.
n. Sons of God and daughters of men.
Three different interpretations hare from very
early times been given of thia most aingular pas-
sage.
1. The " sons of Elohim " were explained to
mean sons of princes, or men of high rank (as in
Ps. lxxxii. 6, b'ni'Elyon, sons of the Most High)
who degraded themselves by contracting man tags*
with " the daughters of men," i. e. with women of
inferior position. This interpretation was defended
by Ps. xiix. 3, where " sons of men," b'ni aildm,
means " men of low degree," as opposed te b'ni IA
" men of high degree." Here, however, the oppo-
sition is with b'ni hn-Elohim, and not with b'ni isA
mid therefore the passages are not parallel. Thi
is the interpretation of the Targum of Onkelos.
following the oldest Palestinian Kahbala, of the
later Targum, and of the Samaritan Vers. So alar
Symmachus, Saadia, and the Arabic of Erpenius,
A ben Ezra, and R. Sol. Isaaki. In recent times
this view has been elaborated and put in the mod
favorable light hy Schiller (Werke, x. 401, Ac.);
but it has been entirely abandoned by every modern
commentator of any note.
« In marked contrast with the simplicity and sober-
ness of the Biblical narrative, is the wonderful story
".old of Nosh's birth in the Book of Enoch. Lantech's
wife, It is said, " brought forth a child, the 1e>h of
which was white's* snow and rod as a rose . -he hair
jf whose head was white like wool, and long ; and
whose eves were beautiful, When be opened them he
^laminated all the house like the sun. And when he
was taken from the hand of the midwife, opening also
JM mouth, he spoke to the Lord of righteousness."
utaaseb la terrified at the prodigy, and goes to ha) la-
aw ssatfanasla and tells him that he has begotten a
sod Who la untlk* other children. On hearing the story,
Msthntalii proceed*, at Lantech's entreaty, to nonsuit
Enoch. '" whom iwWence I* with the angels." Enoch
explain* tiiat. in the day* of his father Jaxsd, M those
who were from heaven disregarded the word of the
Lord . . . laid aside their class and Intermingled with
women ; " that conwt'ientiy a deluge was to be sent
upon the earth, whereby It should be n washed from
all corruption ; " that Noah and his children should
be saved ; and that his posterity should beget on the
earth giants, not spiritual, but carnal {Book of jsktr-v*
eh. cv. p. 161 61).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2176 NOAH
1 A second interpretation, perhaps not leas an-
nent, understands by the •• nous of Elohim," angels.
So sooe MSS. of the LXX., which according to
Proeopius and Augustine (De Cit'U. Dei, xv. 23),
had the reading ayytkoi rov Btov, whilst others
had viol rov Btov, the last baring been generally
preferred since Cyril and Augustine; so Joseph.
Ant. i. 8; Fhilo De Cigantibut (perhaps Aquibi.
who has viol toS Btou, of which, however, Jerome
says, Deot intelligent angelot sire tanctnt); the
Book of Enoch as quoted by Georgiui Syncellus
in his Chronographia, where they are termed oi
iyptyopoi, "the watchers" (as in Daniel): the
Book or Jubilees (translated by Dillniann from the
Ethiopia); the later Jewish Hagada, whence we
bare the story of the fall of Shamcbazai and Ax-
aael," given by Jeuuiek in the Midrath Abchir ;
and most of the older Fathers of the Church, find-
ing probably in their Greek MSS. &yyi\oi rov
0cav, as Justin, Tatian, Athensgoras, Clemens
Alex., Tertullian, and Lactantius. This view, how-
ever, seemed in later times to be too monstrous to
l« entertained. R. Sim. b. Jochai anathematized
ft. Cyril calls it AroraVaror- Theodoret ( Quatt.
in (Jen.) declares the maintainors of it to have lost
their aenres, lp0poVri)roi ical Aryan $hl8u>i\ Fhi-
lastrius numbers it among heresies, Chrysostom
among blasphemies. Finally, Calvin says of it,
" Vetus Mud eommentum de angdorum eoncubitu
cum niulieribus sua absurditate abuude refellitur,
ac mirutu est doctos viros tani crassis et prodigiosis
deliriis fuisse olim fiucinatos." Notwithstanding
all which, however, many modem German commen-
tators very strenuously assert this view. They rest
their argument in favor of it mainly on these two
particulars : first, that " sons of God " is every
where else in the U. T. a name of the angels ; and
next, that St. Jude seems to lend the sanction of
his authority to this interpretation. With regard
to the first of these reasons, it is not even certain
that in all other passages of Scripture where
" toe sons of God " are mentioned angels are
meant. It is not absolutely ntctaary to to under-
stand the designation either in Pa. xxix. 1 or
Ixixix. 6, or even in Job i., ii. In any of these
passages it might mean holy men. Job xxxviii. 7,
jtnd Pan. Hi. 26, are the only places in which it
trininly means angels. The argument from St.
Jude is of more force ; for he does compare the sin
of the angels to that of Sodom and Gomorrha
(roinois in ver. 7 must refer to the angels men-
tioned in ver. 6), as if it were of a like unnatural
kind. And that this was the meaning of St. Jude
is rendered the more probable when we recollect
his quotation from the Book of Enoch where the
lame view is taken. Further, that the angels had
the power of assuming a corporeal form seems clear
from many parts of the O. T. All that can l«
urged in support of this view has been said by De-
h'tzsch in his Die (Sennit nmgelegt, and by Kurtz,
O'eteh. Jet Allen Buntiet, and his treatise, Vie JChen
der Sdltne Outlet. And it must be confessed that
their arguments are not without weight. The early
ixistenco of such an interpretation seems at any
rate to indicate a starting-point for the heathen
a InSeraA. Rob. in Gen. vl. 2, this Asusl Is declared
to be the tutelary deity of women's ornaments and
saint, and is Identified with the Aaasrl In Uv. xvl. 8.
• Thomas Aquln. (pars I. qo. 61, art. 8) argues that
« was possible for anpa' in ban children by mortal
NOAH
mythologies. The fact, too, that from such an a
tereourse " the mighty men " were born, points in
the same direction. The Greek " heroes " were sons
of the gods; ova- olo-flo, says Plato in the Cratylns,
Jti iifiiBeoi ol iipmef, wdWcf Ufrov yeyiravn
ipa&tmts 1) Ssij eVwrqi 1) Brnrol teat- Ever
Hesiod's account of the birth of the giant*, mon-
strous and fantastic as it is, bears tokens of having
originated in the same belief. In like manner It
may be remarked that the stories of inoaii and
tuccnOi, so commonly believed in the Kiddle Ages,
and which even Heidegger (Hut. Sncr. i. 289) dost
not discredit, had reference to a commerce b e t we en
demons and mortals of the same kind a* that Bar-
rated in Genesis."
Two modem poets, Byron (in bis drama of CM*)
and Moore (in his Lovet of tie AngeU), have availed
themselves of this last interpretation for Use pur-
pose of their poems.
3. The interpretation, however, which it now
most generally received, is that which understands
by " the sons of the Elohim " the family and de-
scendants of Seth, and by " the daughters of man
(Adam)," the women of the family of Cain. So
the Clementine Recognitions interpret " the tons
of the Elohim " as Homines justi qni sngeloram
vixerant vitam. So Ephrem, and the Christian
Adam- Book of the East: so also, Theodoret, Chry-
sostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Jerome, Augustine, and
others ; and in later times Luther, Helanctbon, Cal-
vin, and a whole host of recent commentators. They
all suppose that whereas the two lines of descent
from Adsm — the family of Seth who preserved
their faith in God, and the family of Cain who
lived only for this world — had hitherto kept dis-
tinct, now a mingling of the two races took place
which resulted in the thorough corruption of toe
former, who falling away, plunged into the deepest
abyss of wickedness, and that u was this universal
corruption which provoked the judgment of the
Hood.'
4. A fourth interpretation has recently been ad-
vanced and maintained with considerable ingenuity,
by the author of the O'enetu of Oie Earth and
ifnn. He understands by " the sons of the Elo-
him " the " servants or worshippers otfalte gait "
[taking Klohim to mean not God but gods], whom
he supposes to hsve belonged to a distinct pre-
Adainite race. " The daughters of men," be con-
tends, should be rendered " the daughters of Adam,
or the Adamites," women, that is, descended from
Adsm. These last had hitherto remained true in
their faith and worship, but were now perverted
by the idolaters who intermarried with them. But
this hypothesis is opposed to the direct statements
in the early chapters of Genesis, which plainly
teach the descent of all mankind from one common
source.
Whichever of these interpretations we adopt (tne
third perhaps is the most probable), one thing at
least is clear, that the writer intends to describe a
fusion of races hitherto distinct, and to connect
with this two other (acts: the one that the off-
spring of these mixed marriages were men remark-
able for strength and prowess (which is only in ac-
cordance with what has often lieen observed since,
namely, the superiority of the mixed race as com-
pared with either of the parent stocks); the other
c • Dr. Conant supports this explanation m a i«o>
nots on Oen. vl. 2 {Book of Qmais, with • Artiest
Tertian, N. Y. 1868). ■
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NOAH
that the malt of thii intateouna ni the thorough
ji.d hopeless corruption of joth families alike.
4. Bat who wen the Nephilim? It shc-ild be
obeened that they are not spoken of (as hat some-
times been assumed) as the offspring of the " sons
of the Klouim" and "the daughters of men."
The sacred writer says, " the Nephilim were on the
•nth in those days," before he goes on to speak
of the children of the mixed marriages. The name,
which has been variously explained, only oecnrs
ocee again in Num. xiii. 33, where the Nephilim
are said to hare been one of the Cunaamtiah
tribes. Tbey are there spoken of as " men of
great stature," and hence probably the rendering
•Jeyarret of the LXX. and "the giants'' of our
A. V. Bat there is nothing in the word itself to
Justify this interpretation. If it is of Hebrew
origin (which, however, may be doubted), it must
mean either " fallen," •'. e. apostate ones; or those
who •• fall upon " others, violent men, plunderers,
freebooters, etc. It is of far more importance to
observe that if the Nephilim of Canaan were de-
scendants of the Nephilim in Geo. vi. 4, we have
ben a very strong argument for the non-unirersal-
*y of the Deluge. [Guxra.]
e. In consequence of the grievous and hopeless
wickedness of the world at this time, God resolves
to destroy It " My spirit," He says, " shall not
always dwell" (LXX. Vulg. Saad), or "beer
■way," in man, inasmuch as be is but flesh. The
meaning of which seems to be that whilst God hod
pot his Spirit in man, i. e. not only the breath of
fife, bat a spiritual part capable of recognizing,
loving, and worshipping Him, man had so much
rank down into the lowest and most debasing of
fleshly pleasures, as to hare almost extinguished
the higher light within him ; as one of the Fathers
says: mtm victn libidm* Jit can : the soul and
spirit became transubstantiated Into flesh, 'then
follows: "But his days shall be a hundred and
t vent j years," which has been interpreted by some
to mean, that still a time of grace shall be given
for repentance, namely, ISO years before the Flood
shall come; and by others that the duration of
human life should in future be limited to tbis term
of years, Instead of extending over centuries as
before. Tbis last seems the most natural interpre-
tation of the Hebrew words. Of Noah's life during
this age of almost universal apostasy we are told
but little. It is merely said, that he was a right-
eous man and perfect in his generations (t. e.
amongst his contemporaries), and that he, like
Enoch, walked with God. This last expressive
phrase is used of none other but these two only.
To him God revealed his purpose to destroy the
world, commanding him to prepare an ark for the
Bating of hit house. And from that time till
the day came for him to enter into the ark, we can
hardly doubt that he was engaged in active, but as
It proved unavailing efforts to win those about him
bom their wickedness and unbelief. Hence St.
Peter calls him " a preacher of righteousness."
Besides this we are merely told that he had three
KOAH
2177
■ SfW'i Place, etc, 1.432.
* Knobel's explanation la different. By the words,
" to a eubit (or within a cubit) srutlt thou finish It
above," be nndezstaods that, the window being In the
tide of the ark, a span of a cubit was to be left be-
tween the top of the window and the overhanging roof
of the ark which Noah nmovea a"er the flood bad
I (TiH. 13). There is, however, no re a son to eon-
137
sons, each of whom had married a wife; that he
built the ark in accordance with Divine direction ;
and that he was 600 yean old when the Flood
came.
Both about the ark and the Flood so many
questions have been raised, that we must consider
each of these separately.
The Ark. — The precise meaning of the He-
brew word (n^l, UMh) is uncertain. The word
only occurs here and in the second chapter of Ex-
odus, where it is used of the little papyrus boat in
which the mother of Moses entrusted her child to
the Nile. In all probability it is to the Old Egyp-
tian that we are to look for its original form
Bnnsen, in his vocabulary, gives lb >, " a chest,"
tpt, " a boat," and in the Copt Vers, of Ex. ii. 3,
5, OHSl is the rendering of Ubdn. The LXX
employ two different words. In the narrative of
the Flood they use mfimrit, and in that of Moses
tt$is, or according to some MSS. flrjjity. The
Book of Wisdom has ax'Sla', Berosus and Nicol.
Damasc. quoted in Josephus. wAoior and Adpra{.
The last i> also found in Lucian, Dt Dei Syr. c
12. In the Sibylline Verses the ark is tovpirtor
Sayta, dbtot and m/heroY The Targum and the
Koran have each respectively given the Chaldee sad
the Arabic form of the Hebrew word.
This ••chest," or ••boat," was to be made of
gopher (i. t. cypress) wood, a kind of timber which
both for its lightness and its durability was em-
ployed by the Phoenicians for building their vessels.
Alexander the Great, Arrian tells us (vii. 19),
made use of it for the same purpose. The planks
of the ark, after being put together, were to be
protected by a coating of pitch, or rather bitumen
053, LXX. {UnpaArof ), which was to be laid on
both inside and outside, ss the most effectual
means of making it water-tight, and perhaps also
as a protection against the attacks of marine ani-
mals. Next to the material, the method of con-
struction is described. The ark was to consist of
a number of '• nests " (D N 9j7), or small compart-
ments, with a view no doubt to the convenient dis-
tribution of the different animals and their fbodJ
These were to be arranged in three tiers, one above-
another; "with lower, second, and third (stories)
»halt thou make it." Means were also to be pro-
vided for letting light into the ark. In the A. V.
we read, >' A wimhw shall thou make to the ark,
and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above: " — words-
which it must be confessed convey no very intelli-
gible idea. The original, however, is obscure, and
has been differently interpreted. What the ••win-
dow," or <• light-hole " ("l"^. Udkmr) was, Is very
puzzling. It was to be at the top of the ark appar-
ently. If the words •• onto a cubit (njjbjfbr*}
shalt thou finish it abort,'' refer to the window
and not to the ark itself, they seem to imply that
this aperture, or skylight extended to the breadth
of a cubit the whole length of the roof.* But if
elude, as he does, that there was only one light. The
great objection to rappaetog that the window was la
the side of the ark, U that then a great part of the
ln'flrior must have been left In darkness. And again
we are told (vM. 18), that when the Mood abated Noah
removed the covering of the ark, to look about htm
to we if the earth wen dry. This would have base
wn necca e u T if the window had been in the eta*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2178
NOAfi
h. It could not hare been merely an open slit, for
that would have admitted the rain. Are we then
to anppoae that tome transparent, or at least trans-
lucent, substance was employed ? It would almost
seem ao ■ A different word is nsed in Gen. viii. 6,
where it is said that Noah opened the window of
the ark. Then the word ia ]'lVn (cliall6»), wliich
frequently occurs elsewhere in the same sense. Cer-
tainly the story as there given does imply a trans-
parent window as Saalschiitz (ArchHul. i. 81 1) has
remarked.'' For Noah could watch the motions of
the birds outside, whilst at the same time he had to
open the window in order to take them in. Sup-
posing then the ttdhar to be, as we have said, a
skylight, or series of skylights running the whole
length of the ark (and the fern, form of the noun
inclines one to regard it as a collective noun), the
chaUtn* might very well be a single compartment
of the larger window, which could be opened at
wilL But besides the window there was to be a
door. This was to be placed in the side of the ark.
" The door must hare been of some size to admit
the larger animals, for whose ingress it was mainly
intended. It was no doubt above the highest
draught mark of the ark, and the animals ascended
to it probably by a sloping embankment. A door
in the side is not more difficult to understand than
the port holes in the sides of our vessels." *
Of the shape of the ark nothing is said ; but its
dimensions are given. It was to be 300 cubits in
length, GO In breadth, and 30 in height. Supposing
the cubit here to be the cubit of natural measure-
ment, reckoning from the elbow to the top of the
middle finger, we may get a rough approximation
at to the size of. the ark. The cubit, so measured
(called in Deut. iii. 11, "the cubit of a man "),
must of course, at first, like all natural measure-
ments, hare been inexact and fluctuating. In later
tides no doubt the Jews had a standard common
cubit, a* well as the royal cubit and sacred cubit.
We shall probably, however, be near enough to the
mark if we take the cubit here to be the common
cubit, which was reckoned (according to Mich.,
" Unto a cubit ahalt thou finish It above " can hardly
mean, aa soma have supposed, that the roof of the
ark was to have this pitoh ; for, considering that the
ark was to be SO cubits In breadth, a roof of a cubit's
pitch would have been almost flat.
• Srnun. renders the word Jia^aWt . Theodoret has
merely sv'pav ; Gr. VeneL jxarayvyiy ; Vulg. fen,*-
tram. The LXX. translate, strangely enough, i m -
wFa-ynirwociffffftf rip* frt/Swrdv. The root of the word
Indicates that the /s3aor was something shining Hence
probably the Talmudle explanation, that God told Noah
to fix precious stones in the irk, that they might give
as much light as midday (Sanh. 108 »).
& The only serious objection to this explanation to
the supposed Improbability of any substance like glass
having been discovered at that early period of the
world's history. But we must not forget that even
according to the Hebrew chronology the world had
been in existence 1666 years at toe tune of tbe Flood,
and according to the LXX., which Is the more proh-
ibit, 2J81 Vast strides must have been made In
knowledge and civilisation in such a lapse of tune.
Arts and sciences may have reached a ripeness, of
which the record, from its scantiness, conveys no ad-
equate conception. The destruction eanaed by the
Plotd must have obliterated a thousand discoveries,
wd left men to recover again by slow and patient steps
<ba jeeund thev had lost
VOAB
Jahn, Genii, and others) as equal to six l..ind
breadths, the hand-breadth betig 3) inches. Thh
therefore gives SI inches for the cubit.* A Jeord
ingly the ark would be 696 feet in length, ST feet
8 inches in breadth, and 69 feet 6 inches in height.
This is very considerably larger than tbe largest
British man-of-war. Tbe Great Eastern, however,
is both longer and deeper than the ark, being 680
feet in length (891 on deck), 88 in breadth, and 58
in depth. Solomon's Temple, the proportions of
which are given in 1 K. vi. 9, was the same height
aa tbe ark, but only one-fifth of the length, and leas
than half the width.
It should be remembered that this huge structure
was only intended to float on the water, and was
not in the proper sense of the word a ship. It had
neither mast, sail, nor rudder; it was in fact noth-
ing but an enormous floating house, or oblong box
rather, <> as it is very likely," says Sir W. Raleigh,
" that the ark had fmdum planum, a fiat bottom,
and not raysed in form of a ship, with a sharpnesa
forward, to cut the waves for the better speed."
The figure which ia commonly given to it by paint-
ers, there can he no doubt ia wrong. Two objects
only were aimed at in its construction : the one wat
that it should have ample stowage, and the) other
that it should be able to keep steady upon the water.
It was never intended to be carried to any great
distance from the place where it was originally
built. A curious proof of the suitability of the
ark for the purpose for which it was intended was
given by a Dutch merchant, Peter Jansen, the
Mennonite, who in the year 1604 had a ship built at
Hoorn of the same proportions (though of course
not of the same size) as Noah's ark. It was 120
feet long, 20 broad, and 12 deep. This vessel,
unsuitable as it was for quick voyages, was found
remarkably well adapted for freightage-/ It wat
calculated that it would hold a third more lading
than other vessels without requiring more hands to
work it. A similar experiment is also said to have
been made in Denmark, where, according to Key-
her, several vessels called " fleuten " or floats were
built after the model of the ark.
c a different word from either of these Is need m
vU. 11 of the windows of heaven, nBTfct, '«"***«*
(from 3TM, " to interweave •'), lit. "net-works •' or
"gratings" (Qes. T»«. In v.).
rf Kltto, Bible IUuUratioiu, Anleditveutni, etc , p.
142. The Jewish notion was that tbe ark was entered
by means of a ladder. On the steps of this ladder, the
story goes, Og, king of Bashao, was sitting when the
Flood came ; and on his pledging himself to Noah and
his sons to be their slave forever, he was Nuficnd H
remain there, and Noab gave him his food each avj
out of a hole in the ark (Plrke R. EHeser).
i See Winer, Htalv>. " Kile." 8u- Walter Baletgfa,
In his Hillary of (At WaHd, reckons I he cubit at IS
Inches. Dr. Kltto calls this a safe ws • of estimating
the cubit In Scripture, bnt gives it himself ss = 21.888
inches. For this Inconsistency he Is taken to task by
Hugh Miller, who adopts the measurement cf Sir W
Raleigh.
/ Augustine (Df Oiv. D. lib. xv.) long ago dkemv
end another excellence In the proportions of the ark
and that Is, that they were the same as the prefer
Uons of the perfect human figure, the length of whlee,
from the sole to tbe crown Is six times the wktst
across the chest, and tan times the depth of the re-
cumbent figure measured In a right Mae fnsa Ufc.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NOAH
After luring given Noah the niirssnry Instruc-
,iuu for the building of the ark, God tails him the
purpose for which it was designed Mow for the
first time we hear how the threatened destruction
wss to be accomplished, as well as the provision
which was to be made for the repeopling of the
rarth with its various tribes of animals. The earth
is to be destroyed by water. " And I, behold I do
bring the flood (TIS^T?) — waters upon the
earth — to destroy ail flesh wherein is the breath
of life . . . but I will establish my covenant with
thee, etc." (ri. 17, 18). The inmates of the ark
am then specified. They are to be Noah and his
wife, and his three eons with their wives: whence
it is plain that ho and his family had not yielded
to the prevailing custom of polygamy. Noah is
ab» to take a pair of each kind of animal into the
ark with him that he may preserve them alive;
birds, domestic animals (fT^n?)," and creeping
things are particularly mentioned*. He is to pro-
vide for the wants of each of these stores «■ of every
kind of food that is eaten." It is added, •' Thus
did Noah; according to all that God (Elohira)
commanded him, so did he."
A remarkable addition to these directions occurs
in the following chapter. The pairs of animals are
now limited to one of unclean animals, whilst of
olran animals and birds (ver. 8) Noah is to take to
him seven pairs (or as others think, seven individ-
uals, that is three pairs and one supernumerary male
for sacrifice).* How is this addition to be accounted
for? May we not suppose that we have here traces
of a separate document interwoven by a later writer
with the former history ? The passage indeed hns
not, to all appearance, been incorporated intact, but
there is a coloring about it which seems to indicate
that Mows, or whoever pnt the Book of Genesis
into its present shape, had here consulted a differ-
ent narrative. The distinct use of the Divine
names in the same phrase, ri. 22, and vii 5 — in
the former Elohim, in the latter Jehovah — sug-
gests that this may have been the case.« It does
not follow, however, from the mention of clean
and unclean animals that this section reflects a
Leviticai or post-Mosaic mind and handling.
There were sacrifices before Moses, and why may
there not have been a distinction of clean and
unclean animals ? It may be true of many other
things besides circumcision : Moses gave it you, not
NOAH
2179
because it waa of Moses, but because it via of the
father*.
Are we then to understand that Nca\h literally
conveyed a pair of all the animals of the world into
the ark? This question virtually contains in it
another, namely, whether the deluge was universal,
or only partial? If it wss only partial, then of
coarse it was necessary to find room but for s
comparatively small number of animals; and the
dimensions of the ark are ample enough for ths
required purpose. The argument on this point has
already been so well stated by Hugh Miller in his
Testimony of Me Rods, that we need do little
more than give an abstract of it here. After say-
ing that it had for ages been a sort of stock
problem to determine whether all the animals in
the world by sevens, and by pairs, with food suffi-
cient to serve them for a twelvemonth could have
been accommodated in the given space, he quotes
Sir W. Raleigh's calculation on the subject. 1 ' Sir
Walter proposed to allow " for eighty-nine distinct
species of beasts, or lest any should be omitted, for
a hundred several kinds." He then by a curious
sort of estimate, in which he considers "one ele-
phant at equal to four beeves, one lion to two
wolves," and so on, reckons that the space occupied
by the different animals would be equivalent to the
spaces required for 91 (or say 120) beeves, four
score sheep, and three score and four wolves.
" All these two hundred and eighty beasts * might
be kept in one story, or room of the ark, in their
several cabins; their meat in a second; the birds
and their provision in a third, with space to spare
for Noah and bis family, and all their necessaries."
" Such." says Hugh Miller, " was the calculation
of the great voyager Raleigh, a man who had a
more practical acquaintance with stowage than
perhaps any of the other writers who have specu-
lated on the capabilities of the ark, and his esti
mate seems sober and judicious." He then goes
on to show how enormously these limits are ex-
ceeded by our present knowledge of the extent
of the animal kingdom. Buffbn doubled Raleigh's
number of distinct species. During the last thirty
years so astonishing has been the progress of dis-
covery, that of mammals alone there have been
ascertained to exist more than eight times the
number which Buffbn gives. In the first edition
of Johnston's Physical Alius (1818), one thousand
six hundred and twenty-six different species of
" Only tarns animals of the larger kinds are s>
wesstf mentioned (vi. 20) ; and If we could be sure
that none others were taken, the difficulties connected
with the necessary provision, i towage, etc ., would be
materially lessened. It may, however, be urged that
in the first instance " every living thing of all flesh "
(yi. 19) wss to come Into the ark, and that afterwards
(rU. 14) " every living thing " Is spoken of not as in-
oWmr, bat a* distinct from the tame cattle, and that
eoneeouently the Inference Is that wild animals were
assent.
» Calv., Qes., Tueh, Baaing., and Delltasch, under-
stand seven individuals of each species. Del. argues
that, If we take Pl^tt? here to mean seven pairs, we
moat also take the D" 1 3">"? before to mean two pairs
;aod Orlgen does so take It, eont. Otis. lv. 41). Bat
without arguing, with KnoM, that the repetition of
fee nom*ral in this case, and not h the other, may
ssrkaps be designed to denote that here pain are to be
■oderstood as any rate the vkSlon " male and bis
• thas thenar* probeMe interpretation.
' It to remarkable, moreover, that whilst in ver. 2
it is said, " Of every ctran beast tbou ihslt take to thee
by sevens," In w. 8, 9, It Is said, " Of dean heasts,
and of beasts that are not clean," etc., " them went in
<iro and too unto Nosh Into the ark." This again
looks like a compilation from different sources.
<* The earliest statement on the subject I have met
with is in the Plrke R. Slleeer, where it Is said that
Noah took 82 kinds of birds, and 886 species of besets,
with him into the ark.
• Heidegger in Uke mioner (Hist. Saer. I. (18!
thinks he Is very literal In allowing 800 kinds of ani-
mals to have been taken Into the ark, and considers
that this would give 60 cubits of solid contents for
each kind of animal. He then subjoins the far more
elaborate and really very curious computation of Joh.
Temererlus in his Chrvnot. Demonstr. % who reckons
after Sir VY. Baleigb s fashion, but enumerates all ths
different species of known animals (amongst which he
mentions Pegssl, Sphinxes, and Satyrs), the kind and
quantity of provision, the method of stowage, ee»
See B atdaejs r, as above, pp. 606. 607. end 618-00
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2180
NOAH
mammals are enumerated ; and in the second edi-
tion (1856) one thousand six hundred and fifty-
sight species. To these we must sdd the six
thousand twj hundred and sixty-six birds of
Lesson, and the six hundred and fifty-seven or
(subtracting the sea-snakes, and perhaps the tur-
tles) the six hundred and forty-two reptiles of
Charles Bonaparte.
Take the ease of the dean animals alone, of
which there were to be seven introduced into the
ark. Admitting, for argument sake, that only
■even individuals, and not seven pairs, were intro-
duced, the number of these alone, sa now known,
is sufficient to settle the question. Mr. Water-
house, in the year 1856, estimated the oxen st
twenty species; the sheep at twenty-seven species;
the goats at twenty; and the deer at fifty-one.
" In short, if, excluding the lamas and the musks
as doubtfully clean, tried by the Mosaic test, we
but add to the sheep, goats, deer, and cattle, the
forty -ei«ht species of unequivocally clean antelopes,
and multiply the whole by seven, we shall hare as
the result a sum total of one thousand one hun-
dred and jixty-two individuals, a number more
than four times greater than that for which
Raleigh made provision in the ark." It would be
curious to ascertain what number of animals could
possibly be stowed, together with sufficient food
to last for a twelvemonth, on board the Great
Eastern.
But it it not only the inadequate size of the ark
to contain all, or anything like all, the progenitors
of our existing species of animals, which is con-
clusive against a universal deluge. Another fact
point* with still greater force, if possible, in the
same direction, and that is the manner in which
we now find these animals distributed over the
earth's surface. " Linnteus held, early in the last
century, that all creatures which now inhabit the
globe had proceeded originally from some such
common centre as the ark might have furnished ;
but no zoologist acquainted with the distribution
of species can acquiesce in any such conclusion now.
We now know that every great continent has its
own peculiar fauna; that the original centres of
distribution must have been not one, but many;
further, that the areas or circles around these cen-
tres must have been occupied by their pristine
animals in ages long anterior to that of the Noa-
chian Deluge; nay that in even the latter geologic
ages they were preceded in them by animals of the
same general type." Thus, for instance, the ani-
mals of South America, when the Spaniards first
penetrated into it, were found to he totally distinct
from those of Europe, Asia, or Africa. The puma,
the jaguar, the tapir, the lama, the sloths, the
armadilloes, the opossums, were animals which had
never been seen elsewhere. So again Australia
has a whole class of animals, the marsupials, quite
unknown to other parts of the world. The vari-
ous species of kangaroo, phtscolomys, dasyurus,
and perameles, the flying phalangers, and other no
less singular creatures, were the astonishment of
naturalists when this continent was first discov-
ered. New Zealand likewise, " though singularly
devoid of indigenous mammals and reptiles . . .
has a scarcely less remarkable fauna than either
»f these great continents. It consists almost ex
emsively of birds, some of them so ill provided
• • This arfunMnt against she mrivarsalltv of the
M valid, of eouns, only against those who asny
NOAH
with wings, that, like the mka at the natives, they
aui only run along the ground." And what is
very remarkable, this law with regard to the diatri
bution of animals does not date merely from the
human period. We find the gigantic forms ol
those different species which during the later ter-
tiary epochs preceded or accompanied the existing
forms, occupying precisely the same habitats. In
8. America, for instance, there lived then, side by
side, the gigantic sloth (megatherium) to be seen
in the British Museum, and the smaller animal of
the same species which has survived the extinction
of the larger. Australia in like manner had then
its gigantic marsupials, the very counterpart in
everything but in size of the existing species.
And not only sre the same mammals found in the
same localities, but they are surrounded in every
respect by the same circumstances, and exist in
company with the same birds, the same insects,
the same plants. In fact so stable is this law that,
although prior to the pleistocene period we find a
different distribution of animals, we still find each
separate locality distinguished by its own species
both of fauna and of flora, and we find these
grouped together in the same manner as in the
later periods. It is quite plain, then, that if all
tbe animals of the world were literally gathered
together in the ark and so saved from the waters
of a universal deluge, this could only have beet
effected (even supposing there was space for then
in the ark) by a most stupendous miracle. Tbe
sloth and the armadillo must have been brought
across oceans and continents from their South
American home, the kangaroo from his Australian
forests and prairies, and the polar bear from his
icebergs, to that part of Armenia, or the Euphrates
Valley, where tbe ark was built. These and all
the other animals must have been brought in per-
fect subjection to Noah, and many of them must
have been taught to forget their native ferocity in
order to prevent their attacking one another. They
must then further, having been brought by super-
natural means from the regions which they occu-
pied, have likewise been carried back to the same
spots by supernatural means, care having moreover
been taken that no trace of their passage to and
fro should be left.
But the narrative does not compel us to adopt
so tremendous an hypothesis. We shall see more
clearly when we come to consider the language
used with regard to the Flood itself, that even
that language, strong as it undoubtedly is, does
not oblige us to suppose that the Deluge was uni-
versal. But neither does tbe language employed
with regard to tbe animals lead to this conclu-
sion. It is true that Noah is told to take twt
" of every living thing of all flesh," but that eonk
only mean two of every animal then known t*
him, unless we suppose him to have had super-
natural information in zoology imparted — a thing
quite incredible. In fact, but for some misconcep-
tions as to the meaning of certain expressions, nc
one would ever have suspected that Noah's knowl-
edge, or the knowledge of the writer of the narra-
tive, could have extended beyond a very limited
portion of the globe.
Again, how were the carnivorous animals sup-
plied with food during their twelve months' sbodt
in the ark? This would have been difficult eves
the propagation
g enu a or types.
of "sxtttmg
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NOAH
it the very limited number of wild animals in
Noah's immediate neighborhood. For the very
.arge numbers which the theory of a miireraal
Deluge supposes, it would have been quite impos-
lible, unleaa again we hare recourse to miracle,
and either maintain that the; were miraculously
nipplied with food, or that for the time being the
nature of their teeth and stomach waa changed, so
that they were able to live on vegetables. But
these hypotheses are so extravagant, and so utterly
unsupported by the narrative itself, that they may
be safely dismissed without further comment.
The Flood. — The ark was finished, and all iU
living freight was gathered into it at in a place of
safety. Jehovah shut him in, says the chronicler,
speaking of Noah. And then there ensued a
solemn pause of seven days before the threatened
destruction waa let loose. At last the Flood same;
the waters were upon the earth. The narrative
is vivid and forcible, though entirely wanting in
that sort of description which in a modern his-
torian or poet would have occupied the largest
space. We see nothing of the death-struggle ; we
hear not the cry of despair; we are not called
upon to witness the frantic agony of husband and
wife, and parent and child, as they fled in terror
before the rising waters. Nor is a word said of
the sadness of the one righteous man who, safe
himself, looked upon the destruction which he
could not avert. But one impression is left upon
the mind with peculiar vividness, from the very
simplicity of the narrative, and it is that of utter
deflation. This is heightened by the contrast and
repetition of two ideas. On the one hand we are
reminded no less than six times iu the narrative
in co. vi., vii., viii., who the tenants of the ark
were (vi. 18-21, vii. 1-3, 7-9, 13-16, viii 16, 17,
W, 19), the favored and rescued few; and on the
SVlier hand the total and absolute blotting out of
(very-thing else is not less emphatically dwelt upon
(vi. 1.1, 17, vii. 4, 81-23). This evidently designed
tontrast may especially be traced in cb. vii. Find,
te read in ver. 6, " And Noah was six hundred
rears old when the flood came — waters upon the
airth." Then follows au account of Noah and
nia family and the animals entering into the ark.
Next, verses 10-12 resume the subject of ver. 7:
" And it came to pan after seven days that the
waters of the flood were upon the earth. In the
six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second
month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on
the self-same day were all the fountains of the great
deep broken up, and the windows (or flood-gates)
of beat-en were opened. And the rain was upon
the earth forty days and forty nights." Again
the narrative returns to Noah and his companions
and their safety In the ark (w. 13-16). And
then in ver. 17 the words of ver. 13 are resumed,
wad from thence to the end of the chapter a very
simple bat very powerful and impressive detcrip-
NOAH
2181
a It is impossible so say how this reckoning of time
was seeds and whether s lunar or solar year Is meant.
Hash ingenuity has seen expended on this question
sss DeUtaseh's Comment.), but with no satisfactory
waits.
• The raven was supposed to foretell ihangts in -Jut
.aether both by its flight and Its err '«Uan, H 4.
vB. T ; Tlrg. Otorg. 1. 882, 410). according to Jewish <ra-
tMoo, the raven was preserved in the arc In urdar to
ie the progenitor of the bhrds which ana s w ard s sad
i ay the brook Oberith.
tion is given of the appalling catastrophe: "Am 1
the flood waa forty days upon the earth: and the
waters increased and bare up the ark, and it
was lift up from off the earth. And the waters
prevailed and increased exceedingly upon the
earth : and the ark went on the face of the waters.
And the waters prevailed very exceedingly upon
the earth, and all the high mountains which
[were] under the whole heaven were covered.
Fifteen cubits upwards did the waters prevail, and
the mountains were covered. And all flesh died
which moveth upon the earth, of fowl, and of cat-
tle, and of wild beasts, and of every creeping thing
which creepeth upon the earth, and every man.
AU in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all
that was in the dry land, died. And every sub-
stance which waa on the fine of the ground was
blotted out, as well man at cattle and creeping
thing and fowl of the heaven: they were blotted
out from the earth, and Noah only was left, sod
they that were with him in the ark. And the
waters prevailed on the earth a hundred and fifty
days.''
The waters of the Flood increased for a period of
190 days (40+160, comparing vii. 12 and 24).
And then " God remembered Noah," and made a
wind to pass over the earth, so that the waters
were assuaged. The ark retted on the seventeenth
day of the seventh month <■ on the mountains of
Ararat. After this the waters gradually decreased
till the first day of the tenth month, when the tops
of the mountains were seen. It waa then that
Noah sent forth, first, the raven, 6 which flew hither
and thither, resting probably on the mountain-tops,
but not returning to the ark ; and next, after an
interval of seven days (cf. viii. 10) the dove, " to
aee if the waters were abated from the ground "
(». e. the lower plain country). " But the dove,"
it is beautifully said, " found no rest for the sole
of her foot, and she returned unto him into the
ark." After waiting for another seven days he
again sent forth the dove, which returned this tin e
with a fresh (1"TB) olive-leaf in hermoutl , a sign
that the waters were still lower.' And once more,
after another interval of seven days, he tent forth
the dove, and she " returned not again unto him
any more," having found a home for herself upon
the earth. No picture in natural history was ever
drawn with more exquisite beauty and Cdelity than
this: it is admirable alike for it* poetry and its
truth.
Un reading this narrative it is difficult, it must
be confessed, to reconcile the language employed
with the hypothesis of a partial deluge. The
difficulty does not lie in the largeness of most of
the terms used, but rather in the precision of one
single expression. It is natural to suppose that
the writer, when he speaks of " all flexh," " all
in whose nostrils was the breath of lifs," refers
e The olive-tree is an evergreen, and seems so have
the power of living under water, according to Tneo-
phraatoe (Hist. Plant. Iv. 8) and Pliny (H. N. xlii.
60), who mention olive-trees In the Bad Sea. The
olive grows in Armenia, but only In the valleya on the
south side of Ararat, not on the slops* of the mountain.
It will not flourish at an elevation where even the
mnlba ry, walnut, and apricot are (bond (Bttwar
Bntkm-1; x. SOD).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2182 NOAH
wily to hii own locality. This tort of language is
common enough in the Bible when only a small
part of the globe is intended. Thus, for instance,
It is said that " nil eouniritt came into Egypt to
Joseph to buj oorn ; " and that " a decree went
out from Cesar Augustus that all the world should
be taxed." In these and many similar passages
the expressions of the writer are obviously not to
be taken in an exactly literal sense. Even the
apparently very distinct phrase " all the high hills
that were under the whole henteu were covered "
nay be matched by another precisely similar,
where it is said that God would put the fear and
the dread of Israel upon every nation under
heaven. It requires no effort to see that such lan-
guage is framed with a kind of poetic breadth. The
real difficulty lies in the connecting of this state-
ment with the district in which Noah is supposed
to have lived, and the assertion that the waters
prevailed fifteen cubits upward. If the Ararat on
which the ark rested be the present mountain of
the same name, the highest peak of which is more
than 17,000 feet above the sea [Ararat], it would
have been quite impossible for this to have been
covered, the water reaching 16 cubits, t. e. 88 feet
above it, unless the whole earth were submerged.
The author of the Genetit of the Karth, etc., has
endeavored to escape this difficulty by shifting the
scene of the catastrophe to the low country on the
banks of the Tigris and Euphrates (a miraculous
overflow of these rivers being sufficient to account
for the Deluge), and supposing that the " fifteen
cubits upward " are to be reckoned, not from the
top of the mountains, but from the surface of the
plain. By " the high hills " he thinks may be meant
only slight elevations, called " high " because they
were the highest parts overflowed. But fifteen
cubits b only a little more than twenty-six feet,
and it seems absurd to suppose that such trifling
elevations are described as " all the high hills under
the whole heaven." At this rate the ark itself
must have been twice the height of the highest
mountain. The plain meaning of the narrative is,
that far as the eye oould sweep, not a solitary moon-
tain reared its head above the waste of waters. On
the other hand, there is no necessity for assuming
that the ark stranded on the high peaks of the
mountain now called Ararat, or even that that
mounUin was visible. A lower mountain-range,
such as the Zagros range for instance, may lie in-
ended. And in the absence of all geographical
•ertainty in the matter it is better to adopt some
such explanation of the difficulty. Indeed it is out
of the question to imagine that the ark rested on
the top of a mountain which is covered for 4,000
feet from the summit with perpetual snow, and the
descent from which would have been a very serious
natter both to men and other animals. The local
tradition, according to which fragment* of the ark
are still believed to remain on the summit, can
weigh nothing when balanced against so extreme an
Improbability. Assuming, then, that the Ararat
here mentioned is not the mountain of that name
in Armenia, we may also assume the inundation to
Have been partial, and may suppose it to have ex-
pended over the whole valley of the Euphrates, and
eastward as far as the range of mountains running
Jown to the Persian Qui; or further. As (he
i In a valuable paper by Mr. Junsh Piaa t wtah
Jematly published In the Plttu'Sophval Iramsctim*),
Hsimiilnl Mill In ill in liilillllj the origin of man
NOAH
inundation is said to have bean caused by the
breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, a.
well aa by the rain, some great and sudden sub-
sidence of the land may have taken place, accom-
panied by an inrush of the waters of the Persian
Gulf, similar to what occurred in the Bunn of
Cutch, on the eastern arm of the Indus, in 1819
when the sea flowed in, and in a few hours con-
verted a tract of land, 2,000 square miles in ana,
into an inland sea or lagoon (see the account of
this subsidence of the Delta of the Indus iu Lyell's
PrincipUt of Geology, pp. 460-61).
It has sometimes been asserted that the facta of
geology are conclusive against the possibility of a
universal deluge, formerly, indeed, the aristmea
of shells and corals at the top of high moun-
tains was taken to be no less conclusive evident the
other way. They were constantly appealed to as
a proof of the literal truth of the Scripture narra-
tive. And so troublesome and inconvenient a proot
did it seem to Voltaire, that he attempted to ac-
count for the existence of fossil sheila by arguing
that either they were those of fresh-water lakes and
rivers evaporated during dry seasons, or of land-
snails developed in unusual abundance during wet
ones ; or that they wen shells that had been dropped
from the hats of pilgrims on their way from the
Holy I And to their own homes ; or in the case of
the ammonites, that tbey were petrified reptiles.
It speaks ill for the state of science that such argu-
ments could be advanced, on the one side for, and
on the other against, the universality of the Del-
uge. And this is the more extraordinary — and
the fact shows how very slowly, where prejudices
stand iu the way, the soundest reasoning will be
listened to — when we remember that so early as
the year 1617 an Italian named Fracastoro had dem-
onstrated the untenableneas of the vulgar belief
which associated these fossil remains with the Mo-
saic Deluge. >' That inundation," he observed,
" wss too transient; it consisted principally of flu-
viatile waters ; and if it had transported shells to
great distances, must have strewed them over the
surface, not buried them at vast depths in the in-
terior of mountains. . . . But the clear and phil-
osophical views of Fracastoro were disregarded, and
the talent and argumentative powers of the learned
were doomed for three centuries to be wasted in the
discussion of these two simple and preliminary
questions: first, whether fossil remains had ever
belonged to living creatures: and secondly, wheth-
er, if this be admitted, all the phenomena could not
be explained by the Deluge of Noah " Lyell, Pritt-
ci/ilee of Geology, p. SO, 9th ed.). Even within
the last thirty years geologists, like Ctrrier and
Buckland, have thought that the nptrficinl depoe-
Um might be referred to the period of the Noacbian
blood. Subsequent investigation, however, showed
that if the received chronology were even approxi-
mately correct, this was out of the question, aa
these deposits must have taken place thousands of
years before the time of Noah, and Indeed before
the creation of man. Hence the geologic diluvium
is to be carefully distinguished from the historic.
And although, singularly enough, the latest discov-
eries give some support to the opinion that man may
have been in existence during the formation of the
drift," yet even then that formation could not hava
will have to be thrown back Into a greatly earlier ac
ttqnity than that usually assigned to It, but the Dials
toesns deposits to be brought down to a much iao»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NOAH
milled from a mere temporary submersion Bke
Jut of the M *aie Deluge, but mnit hs«s been the
Act of eaasei in operation fir ages. So far then,
t b dear, there ia no evidence no* on the earth'*
lurbee hi finer of a univerul Deluge.
Bat ia there an; positive geological evidence
igainat it ? Hugh Millar and other geologist* have
msmuuneri that there is. They appeal to the fact
that in various parte of the world, such as Auvergne
ia France, and along the flanks of /Etna, there are
oases of loose scoriae and ashes belonging to long
•timet volcanoes, which must be st least triple the
antiquity of the Noachiau Deluge, and which yet
sshsbst no traces of sbrasion by the action of water.
That kose cones, they argue, must hare oeen swept
sway had the water of the Deluge ever reached
them. But this argument is by no means con-
The heaps of scoria) are, we hare been
i by careful scientific observers, not of that
loose incoherent kind which they suppose. And it
would have been quite possible for a gradually ad-
vancing inundation to have submerged these, and
then gradually to have retired without leaving any
saatk of its action. Indeed, although there ia no
proof that the whole world ever was submerged at
cue time, and although, arguing from the observed
bets of the geological cataclysms, we should be dis-
posed to regard such an event as in the highest de-
gree improbable, it cannot, on geological grounds
•lone, be pronounced impossible. The water of the
globe b to the land in the proportion of three-fifths
to two-fifths There already existed therefore, in
■he different seas and Likes, water sufficient to cover
the whole earth. And the whole earth might have
been submerged for a twelvemonth, as stated in
Genesis, or even for a much longer period, without
any trace of such submersion being now discernible.
There is, however, other evidence conclusive
sgsinst the hypothesis of a universal deluge, miracle
apart. "The first effect of the covering of the
■bole globe with water would be a complete change
ia ha t"^~ »». the general tendency being to lower
ad equalize the temperature of all parts of its sur-
Stee- Pari passu with tins process . . . would
msne the destruction of the great majority of ma-
rine animals. And this would take place, partly by
lesson of the entire change in climatal conditions,
tao sadden and general to be escaped by migration ;
sod, in still greater measure, in consequence of the
sodden change in the depth of the water. Ureat
multitudes of marine animals can only live between
tide-marks, or at depths less than fifty fathoms ;
and a* by the hypothesis the land had to be de-
pressed many thousands of feet in a few months,
sad to be raised again with equal celerity, it follows
that the animals could not possibly bave accommo-
dated themselves to such vsst and rapid changes.
All tks littoral animals, therefore, would have been
killed- The race of acorn-shells and periwinkles
would have been exterminated, and all the coral
reefs of the Pacific would at once bave been con
varied into dead coral, never to grow again. But so
ar b this from being the case, that acorn-shells,
periwinkles, and coral still survive, sod there is
good evidence that they have continued to exist
ud flourish for many thousands of years. On the
•Cher hand Noah was not directed to take marine
sunaah of any kind into the ark, nor indeed u it
«••■ to see bow they could have been preserved.
NOAH
218fc
period, sxologfcaUv speaking, man feologiaki
allowed.
>> Again, had the whole globe been submerged
the sea-water covering the land wouldat once hart
destroyed every fresh-water fish, molluak, and
worm ; and as none of these were taken into the
ark, the several species would have become extinct.
Nothing of the kind hss occurred.
' Lastly, such experiments as hare been mads
with regard to the action of sea-water upon terres-
trial plants leave very little doubt that submergence
in sea-water for ten or eleven months would hare
effectually destroyed not only the great majority of
the plants, but their seeds as well. And yet it is
not said that Noah took any stock of plants with
bim into the ark, or that the animals which issued
from it had the slightest difficulty in obtaining pas-
ture.
"There are, then, it must be confessed, very
strong grounds for believing that no universal
deluge ever occurred. Suppose the Flood, on the
other hand, to hare been local: suppose, for in-
stance, the valley of the Euphrates to hare been
submerged ; and then the necessity for preserving
all the species of animals disappears. For, In the
first place, there was nothing to prevent the birds
and many of the large mammals from getting
away ; and in the next, the nuoilier of species pe-
culiar to that geographical area, and which would
be absolutely destroyed by its being flooded, sup
posing they could not escape, is insignificant."
All these consideration -point with overwhelming
force in the same direction, and compel us to
believe, unless we suppose that a stupendous mira-
cle was wrought, that the Flood of Noah (like othet
deluges of whioh we read) extended only over a
limited area of the globe-
It now only remains to notice the later allusiona
to the catastrophe occurring in the Bible, and the
traditions of it preserved in other nations besides
the Jewish.
The word specially used to designate the Flood
of Noah ( v'QZBn hammabbul) occurs in only one
other passage of Scripture, Ps. xxix. 10. The poet
there sings of the Majesty of God as seen in the
storm. It is not improbable that the heavy rain
accompanying the thunder and lightning had been
Buch as to awell the torrents, and perhaps cause a
partial inundation. This carried back his thoughts
to the Great Flood of which be had often read,
and he sang, "Jehovah sat as king at the Flood,"
and looking up at the clear face of the sky, and on
the freshness and glory of nature around bim, bo
added, " and Jehovah remaineth a king forever."
In Ia. liv. 9, the Flood is spoken of as " the waters
of Noah." God Himself appeals to his promise
made after the Hood as a pledge of his faithfulness
to Israel: " For this is as the waters of Noah unto
Me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Nosh
should no more go over the earth : so have I sworn
that I would not he wroth with thee nor rebuke
thee."
In the N. T. our Lord gives the sanction of bis
own authority to the historical truth of the narra-
tive. Matt. xxiv. 87 (cf. Luke xvii. 36), declaring
thak the state of the world at his Second Coming
aha-* be such as it was in the dsys of Noah. St.
Peter speaks of the " long suffering of God,"
which " waited in the days of Noah while the ark
m t preparing, wherein few, that is, eight snub
were saved by water," and sees in the waters of
the Flood by which the ark was borne up a type
of Baptism, by which the Church is nansrsft
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2184
NOAH
)rom the world. And again, in hu Second Epistle
tii- 5), lie cites it as an inatance of the right-
eous judgment of Uod who spared not the old
world, etc.
The traditions of many nations hare preserved
'Jbe memory of a great and destructive flood from
which but a small part of mankind escaped. It
is not always very clear whether they point back
to a common centre, whence they were carried by
the different families of men as they wandered
east and west, or whether they were of national
growth, and embody merely records of catastro-
phes, such as especially in mountainous countries
are of no rare occurrence. In some instances no
doubt the resemblances between the heathen and
the Jewish stories are so striking as to render it
aurally certain that the former were borrowed
from the latter. We find, indeed, a mythological
element, the absence of all moral purpose, and a
national and local coloring, but, discernible amougst
these, undoubted features of the primitive history.
The traditions which come nearest to the Biblical
account are those of the nations of Western Asia,
Foremost amongst these is the Chaldsean. It is
preserved in a Fragment of Berosus, and Is as
follows: "After the death of Anlates, his son
Xisuthras reigned eighteen sari. In his time hap-
pened a great Deluge: the history of which is thus
described. The Deity Krotios appeared to him in
a vision, and warned him that on the 15th day of
the month Dasius there would be a flood by which
mankind would be destroyed. He therefore en-
joined him to write a history of the beginning,
course, and end of all things; and to bury it in
the City of the Sun at Sippara: and to build a
vessel (tncdipos), and to take with him into it his
friends and relations; and to put on board food
and drink, together with different animals, birds,
and quadrupeds ; and as soon as he hod made all
arrangements, to commit himself to the deep.
Having asked the Deity whither he was to sail V
he was answered, ' To the gods, after having offered
a prayer for the good of mankind.' Whereupon,
not being disobedient (to the heavenly vision), be
Vuilt a vessel five stadia in length, and two in
readth. Into this he put everything which be
nad prepared, and embarked in it his wife, his
ehildren, and his personal friends. After the flood
Had been upon the earth ami was in time abated,
Xisuthras sent out some birds from the vessel,
/rhich not finding any food, nor any place where
they could rest, returned thither. After an inter-
nal of some days Xisuthras sent out the birds a
second time, and now they returned to the ship
with mud on their feet. A third time he repeated
the experiment and then they returned no more:
thence Xisuthrus judged that the earth was visible
iliove the waters; and accordingly he made an
opening in the vessel (?), and seeing that it was
stranded upon the site of a certain mountain, he
quitted it with his wife and daughter, and the
jilot Having then paid his adoration to the earth,
uid having built an altar and offered sacrifices to
the gods, he, together with those who had left the
.'esse! with him, disappeared. Those who bad
remain-id behind, when they found that Xisuthrus
and his companions did not return, in their turn
left tn« vessel and began to look for him, calling
bun by his name. Him they saw no more, but a
fofoe came to them from heaven, bidding them lead
■leas lives, and so join him who was gone to live
with th> gods; and further informing them that
NOAH
his wife, his daughter, and the pilot had shared tb*
same honor. It told them, moreover, that they
should return to Babylon, and how It was ordained
that they should take up the writings that had
been buried in Sippara and impart them to man-
kind, and that the country where they then wen
was the land of Armenia. The rest having heard
these words, offered sacrifices to the gods, and
taking a circuit journeyed to Babylon. The vessel
being thus stranded in Armenia, some part of it
still remains in the mountains of the Corcyrcans
(or Cordycans, i. e. the Kurds or Kurdistan) in
Armenia ; and the people scrape off the bitumen
from the vessel and make use of it by way <t
charms. Now, when those of whom we b*n
spoken returned to Babylon, they dug up the
writings which bad been buried at Sippara; ti»'T
also founded many cities and built tempies, and
thus the country of Babylon became inhabited
again " (Cory's Ancient Fragment*," pp. 86-29).
Another version abridged, but substantially the
same, is given from Abydenus (Ibid. pp. 33, 34).
The version of Eupolemus (quoted by Euaebiua,
I'raep. Ktang. t, B) is curious: "The city of
Babylon," he says, "owes its foundation to those
who were saved from the Deluge; they were giants,
and they built the tower celebrated in history."
Other notices of a Flood may be found (a) in the
Phoenician mythology, where the victory of Pontus
(the sea) over Deuiarous (the earth) is mentioned
(see the quotation from Sanction iathon in Cory, as
above, p. 13): (b) in the Sibylline Oracles, partly
borrowed no doubt from the Biblical narrative, and
partly perhaps from some Babylonian story. In
these mention is made of the Deluge, after which
Kronos, Titan, and Japetus ruled the world, each
taking a separate portion for himself, and remain-
ing at peace till after the death of Noah, when
Kronos and Titan engaged in war with one another
(lb. p. 52). To these must be added (c) the
Phrygian story of king Annakos or Nannakos
(Knoch) in Iconium, who reached an age of -uore
than 300 years, foretold the Hood, and wept and
prayed for his people, seeing the destruction that
was coming upon them. Very curious, as showing
what deep root this tradition must have taken in
the country, is the fact that so late as the time of
Septimius Severus, a medal was struck at A names,
Uoln of Apamea in Phrjgia, nprassntiog the 1
on which the Flood is commemorated. " The city
is known to have been formerly called ■ Kiboios
or • the Ark; ' and it is also known that the coini
of cities in that age exhibited some leading point
in their mythological history. The medal in ques-
a W« hare hen and then made an alteration, when
tba translator seemed to us not auiie to nave eaaa>
the meaning of the original.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NOAH
um represents » lund of eqtnse vessel floating in
Ik* water. Through an opening in it are lean two
persons, a man and a woman. Upon the top of
Urn cheat ur ark is perched a bird, whilst another
lies toward it carrying a branch between its feet.
Before the vessel sre rep res en ted the same pair as
baring just quitted it, and got upon the dry land.
Singularly enough, too on some specimens of this
medal the letters NO, or NAE, hare been found on
the waul, aa in the annexed cut. (See Eckhel
fit 193, 133; Wiseman, Lectures m Science and
Strtnlrd Religion, H. 128, 129.) This fact H no
•out* remarkable, but too much stress must not
be had upon it; for, making full allowance for the
toeal tradition aa having occasioned it, we must not
forget tba influence which the Biblical account
•oald hare in modifying the native story.
Aa belonging to this cycle of tradition, must be
reckoned also (1) the Syrian, related by Lucian
(Dt Dtd SyrA, e. 13), and connected with a huge
chasm in the earth near Hieropolis into which the
waters of the Flood sre supposed to have drained :
sad (9) the Armenian, quoted by Josephua (Ant.
1 1) from Nicobus Damaaeenns, who flourished
about the age of Augustus. He says: "There is
above Minyas in the land of Armenia, a great
swuntain, which is called Baris [>'. e a ship], to
which it is said that many persons fled at the time
of the Deluge, and so were saved ; and that one in
particular was carried thither upon an ark («V1
Aderaicot), and was landed upon its summit; and
that the remain! of the vessel's planks and timbers
were long preserved upon the mountain. Perhaps
this was the same person of whom Hoses the Legis-
lator of the Jews wrote an account."
A second cycle of traditions is that of Eastern
Asia. To this belong the Persian, [ndian, and
Chinese. The Persian is mixed np with its cos-
mogony, and hence loses anything like an historical
aspect "The world having been corrupted by
Ahriman, it was necessary to bring over it a uni-
versal flood of water that all impurity might be
washed away. The rain came down in drops as
large as the head of a bull ; the earth was under
water to the height of a man, and the creatures of
Ahriman were destroyed.' 1
The Chinese story is, in many respects, singu-
hrly fike the Biblical, according to the Jesuit M.
Kartinius, who says that the Chinese computed it
to have taken place 4,000 years before the Christian
era. Kah he, the reputed author of Chinese civil-
isation, is said to have escaped from the waters of
the Deluge. He reappears as the first man at the
production of a renovated world, attended by seven
companions — his wife, bis three sons, and three
daughters, by whose intermarriage the whole cir.de
of the universe is finally completed (Hardwick,
(Irisf and other Matters, iii. 16)."
The Indian tradition appears in various forms.
Of these, the one which most remarkably agrees
rth the Biblical account is that contained in the
NOAH '2185
) Mahabbarata. We an there told that Brahma,
I having taken the form of a fish, appeared to tin
pious Hanu (Satya, i. e. the righteous, as Neat
is also called) on the banks of the river Wlrinl
Thence, st his request, Manu transferred him wher.
be grew bigger to the Ganges, and finally, when
be was too large even for the Ganges, to the ocean.
Brahma now announces to Hanu the approach of
the Deluge, and bids him build a ship and put it
it all kinds of seeds together with the seven Bishis,
or holy beings. The Flood begins and covers the
whole earth. Brahma himself appears in the form
of a horned Ash, and the vessel being made fast tc
him be draws it for many years, and finally lands
on the loftiest summit of Mount Himarat (i. e. the
Himalaya). Then, by the command of God, the
ship is made fast, and in memory of the event thf
mountain called Naubandhana (i. a. ihip-bimhng).
By the favor of Brahma, Hanu, after the Flood,
creates the new race of mankind, which are hence
termed Manudsha, i. e. born of Hanu (Bopp, die
Sundjtulh). The Puranic or popular version is of
much later date, and is, "according to its own
admission, colored and disguised by allegorical
imagery." Another and perhaps the most ancient
version of all is that contained in the (^atapat'ha-
Brahmana. The peculiarity of this is that its
locality is manifestly north of the Himalaya range,
over which Hanu is supposed to have crossed
into India. Both versions will be found at length in
Hardwick's Chriet and other Mculert, ii. 146-152.
The account of the Flood in the Koran is drawn,
apparently, partly from Biblical, and partly from
Persian sources. In the main, no doubt, it follows
(be narrative in Genesis, but dwells at length on
the testimony of Noah to the unbelieving (Sale's
Koran, ch. xi. p. 181). He Is said to have tarried
among his people one thousand save fifty years (ch.
xxix. p. 327). The people scoffed st and derided
him ; and " thus were they employed until our sen-
tence was put in execution and the oven poured forth
water." Different explanations have been given of
this oven which may be seen in Sale's note. He
suggests (after Hyde, de Rel Pen.) that this idea
was borrowed from the Persian Magi, who also fan-
cied that the first waters of the Deluge gushed out
of the oven of a certain old woman named Zala
Cufa. But the word Tannir (oven), he observes,
may mean only a receptacle in which waters are
gathered, or the fissure from which they brake
forth.* Another peculiarity of this version is, that
Noah calls in vain to one of bis sons to enter into
the ark : he refuses, in the hope of escaping to a
mountain, and is drowned before his father's eyes
The ark, moreover, is said to have rested on the
mountain Al Jfldi, which Sale supposes should ba
written Jordi or Giordi, and connects with the Gor-
dyasi, Cardu, etc., or Kurd Mountains on the bor-
ders of Armenia and Mesopotamia (ch. xi. pp. 181-
183, and notet).
A third cycle of traditions Is to be found among
■ D Quttlair, In a paper " On Buddhism In China," • It Is stated, on good authority, that the Chinese
mamnmlraHnl to the Royal Asiatic Society {Journal, < attribute the origin of their famous cycle of 60 years
rrl. 79), says that he saw In one of the Buddhist tern i to Ts-Nso, i. 1. Nso the great, or divine Nao (WU-
Dei, " hi beautiful stucco, the soeoa where Kmn-yin
aw OoMeat of Mercy. looks down bom heaven upon
nV lonely Noah In his ark, amidst the raging waves
ef be deluge, with the dolphins swimming around as
ah last means of safety , and the dove with an olive-
i to its beak 0ylng toward the veeeeL Nothing
I the beauty of the execution."
Jama's Middle Kingdom, il. 201, and Pauthler's China
II. 28). * H.
e The road from Salsburg to Bad-Oastein passes by
soma very singular fissures made In the li me sto n e by
the course of the stream, which are known by ta>
name of " Me Men," or « The Oven*."
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218$ KOAH
he American nations. These, aa might be expected,
show occasionally some marks of resemblance to the
Asiatic legends. The one in existence among the
Cherokees reminds as of the story in the Mahah-
barata, only that a dog here renders tlie same ser-
vice to his master as the fish does there to Maim.
■•This dog was very pertinacious in visiting the
banks of a river for several days, where he stood
gazing at the water and howling piteously. Being
thsrply spoken to by his master and ordered home,
he revealed the coming evil. He concluded his pre-
diction by saying that the escape of hia master and
tunily from drowning depended upon their throw-
ing Aim into the water; that to escape drowning
himself he must take a boat and put in it all be
wished to save: that it would then rain bard a long
time, and a great overflowing of the land would
lake place. By obeying this prediction the man
and his family were saved, and from them the earth
was again peopled." (Schoolcraft, Nottt on Iht
Iroquoit, pp. 358, 359.)
" Of the different nations that inhabit Mexico,"
■ays A. von Humboldt, "the following had paint-
ings resembling the deluge of Coxoox, namely, the
Aztecs, the Mixtecs, tbe Zapotecs, the llascaltecs,
and the Mechoacans. The Noah, Xisuthrus, or
Manu of these nations is termed Coxcox, Teo-
Cipactli, or Tezpi. He saved himself with his
wife XochiquetzatI in a bark, or, according to other
traditions, on a raft. The painting represents
Coxcox in the midst of the water waiting for a
bark. The mountain, the summit of which rises
above the waters, is the peak of Colhuacan, the
Ararat of the Mexicans. At the foot of the moun-
tain are the heads of Coxoox and his wife. The
latter is known by two tresses in the form of horns,
denoting the female sex. The men born after the
Deluge were dumb: the dove from the top of a
tree distributed among them tongues, represented
under tbe form of small commas." Of the Me-
rhoacan tradition he writes, " that Coxcox, whom
they called Tezpi, embarked in a spacious aalli
with his wife, his children, several animals, and
grain. When the Great Spirit ordered the waters
to withdraw, Tezpi sent out from his bark a vul-
ture, the zopilote or vultur aura. This bird did
not return on account of the carcases with which
tbe earth was strewed. Tezpi sent out other birds,
one of which, the humming-bird, alone returned,
holding in its beak a branch clad with leaves.
Tezpi, seeing that fresh verdure covered the soil,
quitted his bark near the mountain of Colhuacan "
{Vue$ des Cordillires tt Monument de 1* Ameiiqur,
pp. 226, 827). A peculiarity of many of these
American Indian traditions must be noted, and that
is, that the Flood, according to them, usually took
place in the time of the First Man, who, together
with his family, escape. But Miiller (Amnican-
iscAe Urreligionen) goes too far when he draws
from this the conclusion that these traditions are
sonsequently cosmogonic and have no historical
a • Mcken, as quoted by Auberlsn (Dit BUM.
Offmbanmg, 1. 144), remarks, respecting than tradi-
tions among the American aborigines, that the form In
which the natives relate them agrees In such a striking
banner with tbo Bible history that we cannot blame
the astonished Spaniards If on their first di*"overy of
that continent, they believed, on account of these and
shnllar traditions, that the Apostle Thomas must hare
arseehed Christianity there. Truly we must regard it
m * work of Providence thai this new world, which
KOAH
value. The met seems rather to be that all metwir)
of the age between tbe Creation and the Flood had
perished, and that hence these two great events
were brought into close juxtaposition. This is the
less unlikely when we see how very meagre even the
Biblical history of that age is.
It may not be amiss, before we go on to speak ol
the traditions of more cultivated races, to mention
the legend still preserved among tbe inhabitants of
the Ffjf islands, although not belonging to our last
group. They say that, " after tbe islands had been
peopled by the first man and woman, a great rain
took place by which they were finally submerged;
but before the highest places were oovered by the
waters, two large double canoes made their appear-
ance. In one of these was Kokora tbe god of car-
penters, in the other Kokola his head workman, whn
picked up some of the people and kept them on
board until the waters had subsided, after which
they were again landed on the island. It is reported
that in former times canoes were always kept in
readiness against another inundation. The per-
sons thus saved, eight in number, were landed at
Mbenga, where the highest of their gods is said to
have made his first appearance. By virtue of this
tradition, the chiefs of Mbenga take rank before a!]
others and have always acted a conspicuous part
among the Ffjfs They style themselves NgaU-
dwii-kUangi — subject to heaven alone." (Wilkes,
Exploring KxptiHtum). a
One more cycle of traditions we shall notice —
that, namely, of the Hellenic races.
Hellas has two versions of a flood, one associated
with Ogyges (Jul Afric. as quoted by Enseb-
Pretp. Ac. x. 10), and the other, in a far mora
elaborate form, with Deucalion. Both, however, are
of late origin — they were unknown to Homer and
Hesiod. Herodotus, though he mentions Deucalion
as one of tbe first kings of the Hellenes, says not
a word about the Flood (i. 56).' Pindar is the
first writer who mentions it (Olymp. ix. 37 ff.) In
ApoUodorus (Biblio. i. 7) and Ovid (Metam. i. 260),
the story appears in a much more definite shape.
Finally, Lucian gives a narrative (De Dei Syr. c.
12, 13), not very different from that of Ovid, ex-
cept that be makes provision for the safety of the
animals, which Ovid does not. He attributes the
necessity for the Deluge to the exceeding wicked-
ness of the existing race of men, and declares that
the earth opened and sent forth waters to swallow
them up, as well as that heavy rain fell upon
them. Deucalion, as the one righteous man, es-
caped with bis wives and children and tbe animals
he had put into the chest (kapraica), and landed,
I after nine days and nine nights, on the top of Par-
nassus, whilst the chief part of Hellas was undes
water, and nearly all men perished, except a few
who reached the tops of the highest mountains
Plutarch (de Solkrt. Anim. J 13) mentions the
dove which Deucalion made use of to ascertain
whether the flood was abated.
perhaps tor centuries, unknown to the net of mankind
and separated from them, followed their own course
of training, when suddenly discovered in the midst of
the tight of historical times, shows at ones an agree,
moot with the traditions of the old world, which moat
| convince even the most Incredulous that all ■w«nfclw T '
must originally have drunk from tbe same eoounns
! source of Intellectual lift {Du TWi'n'mm dtt tin
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NOAH
Most of these account!, it must be observed,
aslize the Flood, and confine it to Greece or some
fart of Greece. Aristotle apeaks of a local inun-
dation near Dodona only (Meieorot. i. J 4).
It must also be confessed, that the later the narra-
tive, the more definite the form it assumes, and
the more nearlj it resembles the Mosaic account.
It seems tolerably certain that the Egyptians
had no records of the Deluge, at least if we are to
credit Manetho. Nor has any such record been
detected on the monuments, or preserved in the
mythology of Egypt. They knew, however, of the
flood of Deucalion, but seem to have been in doubt
whether it was to be regarded as partial or uni-
versal, and they supposed it to have been preceded
by several others. 11
Everybody knows Ovid's story of Deucalion and
Pyrrha. It may be mentioned, however, in refer-
ence to this as a very singular coincidence that,
Hist as, according to Ovid, the earth was repeopled
by Deucalion and Pyrrha throwing the bones of
their mother (». e. stones) behind their backs, so
among the Tamanaki, a Carib tribe on the Orinoko,
the story goes that a man and his wife escaping
from the flood to the top of the high mountain
Tapanacu, threw over their beads the fruit of the
Hauritia-polm, whence sprung a new race of men and
women. This curious coincidence between Hellenic
and American traditions seems explicable only on
the hypothesis of some common centre of tradition. 6
After the Flood. — Noah's first act after he left
the ark was to build an altar, and to offer sacrifices.
This is the first altar of which we read in Scripture,
and the first burnt sacrifice. Noah, it is said, took
of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and
offered burnt-ofierings on the altar. And then the
narrative adds with childlike simplicity: "And
Jehovah smelled a smell of rest (or satisfaction),
and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse
the ground any more for man's sake; for the im-
agination of man's heart is evil from bis youth:
neither will I again smite any more every living
thing as I have done." Jehovah accepts the sacri-
fice of Noah as the acknowledgment on the part
of man that he desires reconciliation and com-
munion with God ; and therefore the renewed earth
shall no more be wasted with a plague of waters,
but so long as the earth shall last, seed-time and
harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day
and night shall not cease.
NOAH
2187
<* • A friend conversant with the literature of this
inject, Rev. B. Burgess, very properly suggests that
;uti statement as to the ignorance of the Egyptians
woeeming a flood is too unqualified. Some Egyp-
tologers maintain a different opinion. (1.) They allege
*at the name of Noah himself (iV», NuA, Nou, etc.)
Is found on the monuments, represented as " the god
of water " (see Osburu's Monumental Egypt, 1. 289).
Osburn cites Champolllon and Birch in favor of this
Interpretation, and has no doubt that the name Is that
of the patriarch through whom the race was perpet-
uated after the flood. (2.) The names of the first of
She eight great gods of the Egyptians, as given by WU-
tinson from the monuments, are believed to be different
brms of the name Noah (Manners a-d Customs of
inetent Egypt, second series, . 241). (8.) In the legend
V Osiris, the chief primitive dlvtnit;- of the Egyptians,
taeidenta are stated which mem clearly to Identify that
Mty with Noab of the Hebrew Scriptures (Bryant,
Mvb-iology, U. 286 ff. [lend. 1776] ; Kenriek's Hist.
•r j&ypt, 1. 866 ; Wilkinson's Manners and Customs
if JneitrJ Egypt, 1. 264 ff.). (4.) We have perhaps a
renes of the three sons of Noah in the oeeur-
Then follows the blessing of God (Elohim) upon
Noah and his sons. They are to be fruitful and
multiply: they are to hare lordship over the inte-
rior animals; not, however, as at the first by na-
tive right, but by terror is their rule to be estab-
lished. All living creatures are now given to man
for food; but express provision is made that the
blood (in which Is the life) should not be eaten.
This does not seem necessarily to imply that animal
food was not eaten before the flood, but only that
now the use of it was sanctioned by divine permi/
sion. The prohibition with regard to blood reap -
pears with fresh force in the Jewish ritual (Lev .
iii. 17, vii. 26, 27, xvii. 10-14; Deut, xii. 16, »■
21, xv. 23), and seemed to the Apostles so esses-
tially human as well as Jewish that they thought
it ought to be enforced upon Gentile converts. In
later times the Greek Church urged it as a reproach
against the Latin that they did not hesitate to eat
things strangled (mffocuta in quitnu sanguis tent-
tin).
Next, God makes provision for the security of
human life. The blood of man, which is his life,
is yet more precious than the blood of beasts.
When it has been shed God will require it, whether
of beast or of man : and man himself is to be the
appointed channel of Divine justice upon the hom-
icide: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man
shall hia blood be shed ; for in the image of God
made He man." Hence is laid the first foundation
of the civil power. And just as the priesthood is
declared to be the privilege of all Israel before it is
made representative in certain individuals, so here
the civil authority is declared to be a right of hu-
man nature itself, before it is delivered over into
the hands of a particular executive.
Thus with the beginning of a new world God
gives, on the one hand, a promise which secures
the stability of the natural order of the universe,
and, on the other hand, consecrates human life
with a special sanctity as resting upon these two
pillars — the brotherhood of men, and man's like-
ness to God.
Of the seven precepts of Noah, as they are
called, the observance of which was required of
all Jewish proselytes, three only are here expressly
mentioned: the abstinence from blood; the pro-
hibition of murder; and the recognition of the
civil authority. The remaining four: the prohi-
bition of idolatry, of blasphemy, of incest, and of
ranee of numerous localities in Egypt in which a titad
of deities was worshipped. Wilkinson gives a list of
a number of such places, among them Thebes, with the
names of the deities (Wilkinson as above, 1. 230).
The knowledge of a Hood ascribed by Plato to tha
Egyptians in the Timaeus (p. 28 Steph.) Is that they
knew of several deluges, but affirmed that their own
land had never been thus visited. Their national cg>
tism may have led them to claim this exemption as
the special favorites of heaven. H.
6 • « These primeval traditions of the human race,'
says Auberlen, " illustrate as much the historical cred-
ibility of the Mosaio writings, even in their minuts
recitals, as they do their essential purity and elevation,
in contrast with the heathen myths. In this lattei
respect I' will be seen especially how Israel only, to.
gether witm tha fact, maintains at tha same time thi
Innermost Idea of tha fact ; while the heathen pmservt
to* external forms remarkably enough, but elotlu
tnam with fantastic and national costumes. There b
a dlflsrenee here similar to that between the canonical
and the apocryphal Gospels" (Die OVttliiks Offrn
bansHg : ens apaloftisdur Ytrsueh, i. 147 o). B
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2188
NOAH
theft, retted apparently on the genera!
mankind.
It it in the terms of the bleating and the cov-
:nant made with Noah after the Flood that we
find the strongest evidence that in the sense of the
writer it wai universal, i. e. that it extended to all
the then known world. The literal truth of the
narrative obliges us to believe that the whole human
lice, except eight persona, perished by the waters
of the flood. Noah is clearly the head of a new
human family, the representative of the whole
race. It is as such that God makes his covenant
with him; and hence selects a natural phenom-
enon as the sign of that covenant, just as later in
making a national covenant with Abraham, He
made the seal of it to be an arbitrary sign in the
flesh. The bow in tne cloud, seen by every nation
wider heaven, is an unfailing witness to the truth
of God. Was the rainbow, then, we ask, never
teen before the Flood ? Was this " sigu in the
heavens" beheld for the first time by the eight
dwellers in the ark when, after their long imprison-
ment, they stood again upon the green earth, and
saw the dark humid clouds spanned by its glorious
arch ? Such seems the meaning of the narrator.
And yet this implies that there was no rain before
the flood, and that the laws of nature were changed,
at least in that part of the globe, by that event.
There is no reason to suppose that in the world at
large there has been such change in meteorological
phenomena as here implied. That a certain por-
tion of the earth should never have been visited by
rain is quite conceivable. Egj-pt, though not ab-
solutely without rain, very rarely sees it. Hut the
country of Noah and the ark was a mountainous
country; and the ordinary atmospherical condi-
tions must have been suspended, or a new law must
have come into operation after tho Flood, if the
rain then first fell, and if the rainbow had conse-
quently never before been painted on the clouds.
Hence, many writers have supposed that the mean-
ing of the passage is, not that the rainbow now
appeared for the first time, but that it was now for
the first time invested with the sanctity of a sign ;
that not a new phenomenon was visible, but tbat
a new meaning was given to a phenomenon already
existing. It must be confessed, however, that this
is not the natural interpretation of the words:
" This is the sign of the covenant which I do set
between me and you, and every living thing which
is with you for everlasting generations: my bow
have I set in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign
of a covenant between me and the earth. And it
shall come to pass that when I bring a cloud over
the earth, then the bow shall be seen in the cloud,
and I will remember my covenant which is between
we and you and every living thing of all flesh," etc.
Noah now for the rest of his life betook himself
to agricultural pursuits, following in this the tra-
dition of his family. It is particularly noticed
ial he planted a vineyard, and some of the older
Jewish writers, with a touch of poetic beauty, tell
as that he took the shoots of a vine which had
-rendered out of paradise wherewith to plant his
NOAH
vineyard. 4 Whether in ignorance »t its proper
ties or otherwise, we are not informed, but hi
drank of the Juice of the grape till be became
intoxicated and shamefully exposed himself in hit
own tent. One of his sons, Ham, mocked openly
at his father's disgrace. The others, with dutifu,
care and reverence, endeavored to hide it Noah
was not to drunk as to be unconscious of the
indignity which his youngest son had put upon
him: and when he recovered from the effects of
his intoxication, he declared that in requital for
this act of brutal unfeeling mockery, a curse
should rest upon the sons of Ham, that Ae who
knew not the duty of a child, should aee bis own
son degraded to the condition of a slave. With
the curse on his youngest son was joined a blessing
on the other two. It ran thus, in the old poetic
or rather rhythmical and alliterative form into
which the more solemn utterances of antiquity
commonly fell. And he said: —
Conoid be Canaan,
A alava of slaves shall he be to his brethren.
And he said: —
Blessed be Jehovah, God of Shem,
And let Canaan be their slave!
Hay God enlarge Japhet,*
And let him dwell in the tenia of Shem,
And let Canaan be thalr slave !
Of old, a father's solemn curse or blessing was
held to have a mysterious power of fulfilling itself
And in this case the words of the righteous man,
though strictly the expression of a wish (Dr. Pyc
Smith is quite wrong in translating all the verba
as futures; they are optatives), did in fact amount
to a prophecy. It has been asked why Noah did
not curse Ham, Instead of cursing Canaan. It
might be sufficient to reply that at such timet
men are not left to themselves, and that a divine
purpose as truly guided Noah's lips then, as it did
the hands of Jacob afterwards. But, moreover, it
was surely by a righteous retribution that he, who
as youngest son had dishonored his father, should
see the curse light on the head of his own young-
est son. The blow was probably heavier than if it
had lighted directly on himself. Thus early in the
world's history was the lesson taught practically
which the law afterwards expressly enunciated, that
God visits the sins of the fathers upon the children.
The subsequent history of Canaan shows in the
clearest manner possible the fulfillment of the
curse. When Israel took possession of his land,
he became the slave of Shem: when Tyre fell
before the arms of Alexander, and Carthage suc-
cumbed to her Roman conquerors, he became tha
slave of Japhet: and we almost hear the echo
of Noah's curse in Hannibal's Agnoteo fortmum
Carthaginu, when the head of Haadrubal bit
brother was thrown contemptuously into the Punic
lines/
It is uncertain whether in the words, " And let
him dwell in the tents of Shem," 'God," or
" Japhet," is the subject of the verb At first it
seems more natural to suppose that Noah prayi
° Armenia It has been observed, Is still nvrorable
to the growth of the vine. Xenophon (Anab. It. 4, 9)
Bflflaws of the excellent wines of U» country, and his
amount has been confirmed In more recent times (Bitter,
SMI. z. 819, EM, etc.). The Greek myth referred the
ttau o rs ij and cultivation of the vine to Dtonvsos, who
asoordtng to one version brought it from India (Mod.
8te. HI. 82), aoeordlng to another from Phrygla (Strain
x. 469). Asia at all event* la the acknowledged hoaa
of the vine.
6 There Is an alliterative play open worts haw
winch cannot be pre s et, le d In f
c Bee Daubach. Camas, as let.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NOAH
bU Uod would dwell than (the root of the verb b
Jhe saaie u that of the noun Sliechinah). Bat
the blessing of Shem hu been spoken already. It
u better therefore to take Japhet u the subject.
What then U meant by hia dwelling in the tent*
uf Shem ? Not of course that he should so oocupy
Ujom as to thrust out the original possessors; nor
eveu that the; should melt into one people; but,
as it would seem, that Japhet may enjoy the
rtUgiau* privileges of Shem. So Augustine :
"laiiioet Deus Japheth et habitat in tentoriia
Sam, id est, iu Koclesiis quae filii Prophetarum
Apoitnli construxerunt." The Talmud sees this
blessing fulfilled iu the use of the Greek language
in sacred things, such as the translation of the
Scriptures. Thus Shem is blessed with the knowl-
edge of Jehovah: and Japhet with temporal in-
crease and dominion in the first instance, with the
further hops of sharing afterwards in spiritual
advantages. After this prophetic blessing we hear
no more of the patriarch but the sum of his years.
"And Noah lived after the flood three hundred
and fifty years. And thus all the days of Noah
ware nine hundred and fifty years: and he died."
For the literature of this article the various
Sommentaries on Genesis, especially those of mod-
ern date, may be consulted. Such are those of
Tuch.1838; of Baunigarten, 1843; KnobeL 1853 ;
Schroder, 1846; Delitzsch, 3d ed. 1860. To the
last of these especially the present writer is much
indebted. Other works bearing on the subject
more or less directly are LyeU's Principle* uf
Geology, 1853 ; Pour's Schopfungs-Geschichte,
1855; Wiseman's Ledum on Science and Re-
vealed Religion; Hugh Miller's Testimony of the
Bock* ) Hardwick's Chiitt and other Masters,
1857 ; Hiiller'a Die Americanisclien Urreliyumen ;
Bunaen's Bibelwerk, and Ewald's Jahrbucher, have
also been consulted. The writer has further to
express his obligations both to Professor Owen and
to Professor Huxley, and especially to the latter
gentleman, for much valuable information on the
scientific questions touched upon in this article.
J. J. S. P.
* See especially Nagelsbach'e article on Noah
(Henog's RutLKncykL x. 394-403) for an admi-
rable summary of the historical testimonies to the
Mosaic account of the deluge. It is a satisfaction
to observe that the author cites at every step the
proper authority for his statements. On the ques-
tion of the universality of the flood, may be men-
tioned, among American writers, Dr. Edward
Hitchcock on the Historical and Geological Deluges
in the Bibl Repository (ix. 78 ff., x. 328 IT., and
xi. 1 ff. ), and his Rtliyim of Geology, lect. xii.
(Boat. 1861); Prof. C. H. Hitchcock on the Rela-
tions of Geology to Theology, Bibl. Sacra, xxiv.
463 ft ; and Prof. Tayler Lewis, who inserts an
excursus on Gen. viii. 1-19, in his translation
rf L&nge's Commentary on Genesis, pp. 314-823
(N. Y. 1868). These writers understand that
the flood was limited locally, but was coextensive
srith the part of the earth inhabited at that tiros.
NO-AMON, NO
2189
Dr. Edward Robinson has same good remarks or
the philological or etymological proofs of the Bibli
eel deluge under Ark, in his ed. of Calmet'i
Dictionary of the Bible (Boat. 1832). On tha.
branch of the argument, see especially 1'hilipp
Buttmann's Mythotogus oder Die Sagen des
Attertliums, I 180-234 (Berl. 1828). He finds
evidence of the diffusion of the names of the Bib-
lical Shemitio patriarchs, under analogous forms,
in the languages of various ancient nations. Kaw-
linson mentions the Chaldean legends of the Hood
(Ancient Monarchies, L 184). 11.
NOAH (TVf$ {motion, commotion]: Novel:
Noa). One of the five daughters of Zelophehad
(Num. xxvi. 38, xxvii. 1, xxxvi. 11; Josh. xvii. 3).
NO-A'MON, NO (PD8 Mb [sea below]:
IUfU 'Auuetf- Alexandria (populorum), Nan. in.
8:" M3: AtoVwoXu: Alexandria, Jet. xlvi. 25;
Ex. xxx. 14, 15, 16), a city of Egypt, Theba
(Thebes), or Diospolis Magna. The second part
of the first form is the name of AMEN, the chief
divinity of Thebes, mentioned or alluded to in
connection with this place in Jeremiah, " Behold.
I will punish Amon [or 'the multitude,' with
reference to Amen 6 ] in No, and Pharaoh, ana
Egypt, with their gods, and their kings " (t «.).
and perhaps also alluded to in Esekiel (xxx. 15)
[Amos.] The second part of the Egyptian secret
name of the city, HA-AMEN, "the abode of
Amen," is the same. There is a difficulty as to
the meaning of No. It has been supposed, in
accordance with the I.XX. rendering of No-Anion
by iupU 'ApuoV, that the Coptic JtOg,
JIOVP, funis, funiculus, once funis mensorius
(MJc it 4), instead of JlOg itpOJO), might
indicate that it signified "portion," so that the
name would mean " the portion of Amon." But
if so, how are we to explain the use of No alone?
It thus occurs not only in Hebrew, but also in the
language of the Assyrian inscriptions, in which it
is written Ni'a, according to Sir Henry Rawlinson
("Illustrations of Egyptian History and Chro-
nology," etc., Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. 2d Ser. vii
166)." The conjectures that Thebes was called
n HI 11 AJU.OTJ1, " the abode of Amen,"
or, still nearer the Hebrew, Jt<J. ^.HOVfl.
>• the [city] of Amen," like JU.HCJ, « the
[city] of bis," or, as Gesenius prefers, AX&.
AJU.OTJI, "theplaceof Amen" (7»es.s- v.)
are all liable to two serious objections, thai they
neither represent the Egyptian name, nor afford
an explanation of the use of No alone. It seems
most reasonable to suppose that No is a Semitic
name, and that Anion is added in Nahum (/. c.)
to distinguish Thebes from some other place bear-
ing the same name, or on account of the connec-
tion of Amen with that city. Thebes also bears
in ancient Egyptian the common name, of doubt
' • In Nan. IU. 8, the A. T. has Incorrectly " popu-
oas No," Instead of No-Amon. H.
• The former Is the more probaAe reading, as the
sees of Bgypt am mentioned almost Immediately
kSer.
.- far Henry BawUnson identifies Nl'a wltt No-Amon.
(as whole paper (pp. 137 ft) I* of gnat Importance,
as Illustrating the reference In Nahum to the capture
of Thebes, by showing that Egypt was conquered by
both JSsarbaddon and Asehur-banl-pei, and mat the
latter twice took Thebes. If these wars were aftsi
the prophet's time, u., narrative of them makes it
more probable than It before seemed that there was s
still earlier conquest of Kgypt by the Assyrians.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2190
NOB
fill xignificatioii, AP-T or T-AP, which the Greek*
represented by Thebes. The whole metropolis, on
both banks of the river, was called TAM. (See
Brugsch, Utogr. lnschr. i. 175 ff.)
Jerome supposes No to be either Alexandria or
Egypt itself (In Jemiim, lib. v. i. iii. col. 123, ed.
Paris, 1704). CharapoUion takes it to be Dios-
polis in Lower Egypt (L'Egyptt tutu la Pkaraont,
ii. 131); but Gesenius (L c.) well observes that
It would not then be compared in Nahum to
Nineveh. This and the evidence of the Assyrian
record leave no doubt that it is Thebes. The
description of No-Anion, as "situate among the
riven, the waters round about it" (Nah. Z c),
remarkably characterizes Thebes, the only town of
ancient Egypt which we know to have been built
on both sides of the Nile; and the prophecy that
it should "be rent asunder " (Ex. xxx. 16) cannot
tail to appear remarkably significant to the observer
who stands amidst the vast ruins of its chief
edifice, the great temple of Amen, which is rent
and shattered as if by an earthquake, although it
must be held to refer primarily, at least, rather to
the breaking up or capture of the city (comp. 8 K.
ixt. 4, Jer. Iii. 7), than to its destruction. See
THEBK8. K. S. P.
NOB Qb [elevation, height]: Nop£a; [Vat.
Nop/to, 1 Sam. xxii. 11 ;] Alex. No$a, exc.
No&ae, 1 Sam. xxii. 11; (FA. - '] No/9, Neh. xi. 32
[where Rom. Vat. Alex. KA. omit] : A'obe, Nub
in Neh.) was a sacerdotal city in the tribe of
Benjamin, and situated on some eminence near
Jerusalem. Tbat it was on one of tbe roads
which led from the north to the capital, and within
sight of it, is certain from the illustrative passage
in which Isaiah (x. 28-32) describes the approach
•f the Assyrian army : —
"He comes to Ai, passes through Migron,
At Mkhmash deposits his baggage ;
They cross the pass, Geba is our night-station ;
Terrified is Bamah, GHbcah of Saul flees.
Shriek with thy voice, daughter of Uallim ;
Ustsn, Utah ! Ab, poor Anathoth !
Hadmenah eecapos, dwellers in Oeblm take flight. <■
Yet this day he halts at Nob :
He shakes his hand against the mount, daughter
of Hon,
The hill of Jerusalem."
In this spirited sketch the poet sees the enemy
pouring down from the north ; they reach at length
the neighborhood of the devoted city; they take
possession of one village after another; while tbe
inhabitants flee at their approach, and fill tbe
country with cries of terror and distress. It is
implied here clearly that Nob was tbe last station
in their line of march, whence the invaders could
see Jerusalem, and whence they could be seen, as
hey "shook the hand " in proud derision of their
enemies. Lightfoot also mentions a Jewish tradi-
tion (Opp. ii. 203) that Jerusalem and Nob stood
within sight of each other.
Nob was one of the places where the tabernacle,
or ark of Jehovah, was kept for a time during the
days of its wanderings before a home was provided
fa it on Mount Ziou (2 Sam. vi. 1, 4c.). A corn-
si "The fall Idea," says Qessnius (Handw. s. v.),
*!e that they hurry off to conceal their treasures."
» • Bttetnhl takes the mm view of this dUBcnlty
•ad dtdlas sgalnst the identification (Henog's Rtat-
•suysV. x. V V The/r'Uw miaaMii (Oewu.) has little
NOB
pany of the Benjamites settled ben after the tatara
from the exile (Neh. xi. 89). But tbe event tm
which Nob was most noted in the Scripture annals,
was a frightful massacre which occ u rred there is
the reign of Saul (1 Sam. xxii. 17-19). David had
fled thither from the court of the jealous king;
and tbe circumstances under which he had escaped
being unknown, Ahimelech, tbe high-priest at Nob,
gave him some of the shew-hread from the golden
table, and the sword of Goliath which he had in
his charge as a sacred trophy. Doeg, an Edomite,
the king's shepherd, who was present, reported the
affair to bis master. Saul was enraged on bearing
that such favor had been shown to a man whom
be bated as a rival; and nothing would appeaaa
him but the indiscriminate slaughter of all the
inhabitants of Nob. The king's executioners hav-
ing refused to perform the bloody deed (1 Sam.
xxii. 17), he said to Doeg, the spy, who had be-
trayed the unsuspecting Ahimelech, " Turn thou,
and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite
turned, and he fell upon tbe priests, and slew on
tbat day four-score and five persons that did wear
a linen ephod. And Nob, tbe city of the priests,
smote he with the edge of the sword, both men
and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and
asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword "
Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, was the only person
who survived to recount tbe sad story.
It would be a long time, naturally, before the
doomed city could recover from such a blow. It
appears in fact never to have regained its ancient
importance. The references in Is. x. 39 and Neh.
xi. 32 are the only later allusions to Nob which
we find in the O. T. All trace of the name has
disappeared from the country long ago. Jerome
states that nothing remained in his time to indicate
where it had been. Geographers are not agreed as
to the precise spot with which we are to identify
the ancient locality. Some of the conjectures on
this point may deserve to be mentioned. " It must
have been situated,'' says Dr. Robinson (Reteurcket,
vol. i. p. 464), "somewhere upon toe ridge of tbe
Mount of Olives, northeast of the city. We
sought all along this ridge from the Damascus
road to the summit opposite tbe city, for some
traces of an ancient site which might be regarded
as the place of Nob ; but without the slightest suc-
cess." Kiepert's map places Nob at et-ZtSteteh,
not far from An&ti, about a mile northwest of Je-
rusalem. Tobler ( Tcpogrxphie ton Jrrtu. U. J 719)
describes this village as beautifully situated, and
occupying unquestionably an ancient site. But it
must be regarded as fatal to this identification that
Jerusalem is not to be seen from that point.' EL
Jtiwteh is in a valley, and the dramatic representa-
tion of the prophet would be unsuited to such a
place. Mr. Porter (Handb. il. 324) expresses the
confident belief tbat Nob is to be sought on a low
peaked tell, a little to the right of the northern
road and opposite to Sh&f&L He found there
several cisterns hewn in the rock, large building
stones, and various other indications of an ancient
town. The top of this hill « affords an extensive
view, and Mount Zion is distinctly seen, though
or no significance unless tboss menaced could ass Ojs
Invaders at the moment. Mr. Grove gives the prefer
ansa to sf-isswU* (Clark's SMt Attn, p. 904). B.
c • This bill, says Lieut Warren (Jtej» rt.Oei. Is)
1887), Is called Samoa. Ik
Digitized by VjOOQlC ■
NOBAH
Moriah and Olivet are hid by in Intervening
rtdg*.
The Nob spoken of above is not to be confounded
with another which Jerome mention! in the plain
rf Sharon, not far from Lydda. (See Von Ban-
ner'* PaUtlma, p. 196.) No allusion is made to
Ibis latter place in the Bible. The Jews after re-
covering the ark of Jehovah from the Philistines
mold be likely to keep it beyond the reach of a
assQar disaster; and the Nob which was the seat
of the sanctuary in the time of Saul, must have
been among the mountains. This Nob, or NobUt
as Jerome writes, now Bei> A'tiba, could not be
the village of that name near Jerusalem. The
towns with which Isaiah associates the place put
that view out of the question. H. B. H.
NOBAH (n^h [o..rfa«o, a bud cry]:
N«/W»\ NajSoJ; Alex. KafiuS, Nofl««: JVoiw,
[If not]). The name conferred by the conqueror
of Kkmath and the villages in dependence on it
on his new acquisition (Num. xxxii. 4*2). For a
certain period after the establishment of the Israel-
ite rule the new name remained, and is used to
mark the course taken by Gideon in bis chase after
Zebah and Zalmunna (Judg. viii. 11). But it is
not again heard of, and the original appellation, a*
is usual in such cases, appears to have recovered its
bold, which it has since retained ; for in the slightly
modified form of Asmdraif it is the name of the
place to the present day (see Onomatlicon, Nabo).
Ewald (Gttch. ii. 268, note 2) identifies the
Nobah of Gideon's pursuit with Nophah of Num.
xxi. 30, and distinguishes them both from Nobah
of Num. xxxiL 42, on the ground of their being
mentioned with Dibon, Medeha, and Jogbeuali.
But if Jogbehah be, as he elsewhere (ii. (04, note
4) suggests, eUebeioth, between Ammdn and <•«-
&iU, there is no necessity for the distinction. In
truth the lists of Gad and Beuben in Num. xxxii.
ire so confused that it is difficult to apportion the
towns of each in accordance with our present im-
perfect topographical knowledge of those regions.
Ewald also (ii. 392, note) identifies Nobah of Num.
xxxii. 42 with Waioa or Neve, a place 15 or 16
miles east of the north end of the Lake of Gennea-
aret (Bitter, Jordan, p. 356). But if Kenath and
Nobah are the same, and Kundtmt be Kenath, the
identification is both unnecessary and untenable.
Eusebius and Jerome, with that curious disregard
of probability which is so puzzling in some of the
articles in the Onamastiam, identify Nobah of
Judg. viii. w>th Nob, " the city of the Priests, af-
terwards laid waste by Saul " ( Onvm. Nofifld and
" Nabbe sive Nobba "). G.
NO'BAH (rOb [*ar«Bo, a loud cry] : No-
flo5: JVotVi). An Israelite warrior (Num. xxxii.
42 only), probably, like Jair, a Manassite, who dur-
ing the conquest of the territory on the east of
Jordan possessed himself of the town of Kenath
and the villages or hamlets dependent upon it
(Heh. "daughters"), and gave them his own
name. According to the Jewish tradition (Seder
'Jlam Hnbba, be.) Nobah was born in Egypt, died
titer the decease of Moses, and was buried during
the passage of the Jordan.
It will be observed that the form of the name in
im IJCX is the same as that given to Nebo.
G.
• • atastasw, it is true, has a nut pun, which tltpd-
t n w w child " (vill. 6). Lake has the sane
NOBBA 2191
• NOBLEMAN (pWiAunfr), the title of •
courtier or royal officer of Herod Antipaa, who
came to Jesus at Cans, to entreat him to heal his
son, whom be had left at the point of death at
his home, in Capernaum. On his return he
found that the cure had been wrought at the very
moment when Jesus said, " Thy son liveth " (John
iv. 46, 47). Some critic* (Ewald, DeWette with
some hesitation, Baur) regard this miracle as identi
cal with that of the healing of the centurion's sa-
vant (Matt. viii. 6; Luke vii. 1-10). But it it
difficult to reconcile the differences in the two
accounts with this supposition. Cana was the soma
of the miracle related by John, and Capernaum
that of the miracle related by Matthew and Luke.
One of the men was a Jew (included at least among
the Galileans, John iv. 48) in the service of the
king or tetraroh, as his designation implies, the
other a Roman and a centurion (Luke vii. 2).
In one can it was a son of the petitioner who
was sick, in the other his servant, and, finally, the
nobleman requested Jesus to come to his house,
whereas the centurion felt that he was utterly un-
worthy to receive him under his roof. He is called
PeuriKucii with the same propriety that Herod
Antipaa is called &curi\fvs (Mark vi. 14), though
the stricter title of the latter was Trrpdfx 1 )' (Matt.
xiv. 1). It is a complimentary title rather than
official as applied to both. H.
NOD [113, wandering: NotS: profitgtis].
[Cais.]
NO'DAB (3TQ [nobiSty]: NoSo&ubt: JVo-
dab), the name of an Arab tribe mentioned only
in 1 Chr. v. 19, in the account of the war of the
Keubenites, the Gadites, and the half of the tribe
of Manasseh, against the Hsgarites (w. 9-22),
" and they made war with the Hagaritea, with Jetur,
and Nephisb, and Nodab" (ver. 19). In Gen.
ixv. 16 and 1 Cbr. L 31, Jetur, Naphiah, and
Kedemah are the last three sons of Ishmael, and it
has been therefore supposed that Nodab also was
one of bis sons. But we have no other mention
of Nodab, and it is probable, in the absence of ad-
ditional evidence, that he was a grandson or other
descendant of the patriarch, and that the name, in
the time of the record, was that of a tribe sprung
from such descendant. The Hagaritea, and Jetur,
Nephish, and Nodab, were pastoral people, for the
Keubenites dwelt in their tents throughout all the
east [land] of Gilead (1 Chr. v. 10), and in the
war a great multitude of cattle — camels, sheep,
and asses — were taken. A hundred thousand
men were taken prisoners or slain, so that the
tribes must have been very numerous and the Is-
raelites "dwelt in their steads until the captivity."
If th? Hagaritea (or Hagarenes) were, as is moat
probable, the people who afterwards inhabited Hejer
[Kaoarenks], they were driven southwards, into
the northeastern province of Arabia, bordering the
mouths of the Euphrates, and the low tracts sur
rounding them. [Jktur; Itub.ka; Nai-hish.]
E. S. P.
NO'E (Now : Not). The patriarch Noah (Tob
..'. 12; Matt. xxiv. 37, 38; Luke iU. 86, xvii. 26
97). [Noah.]
NOTBBA (Nes/ja: Nachoba) = Nbkoda 1
(1 Esdr. t. 31; comp. Ezr. ii. 48).
(vH. 7) ; but the latter has also too touAov avroi (Tea,
S), and this resolves th* amMgnHy. B ,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
3192
NOGAH
NOGAH (PTJ3 [dawn, day-break]: Nayai,
SayM; [Alex, in 1 Cbr. iii. 7, N<ry«, Comp.
N07*'; FA. in xiv. 6, Nayrr:] Noge, Ifoga).
One of the thirteen sons of David who were born
•jo him in Jerusalem (1 Chr. iii. 7, xiv. 6). Hi*
name ii omitted from the list in 3 Sun. t.
NCHAH (nn'13 [rest]: >W; [Vat. NooaO
Ifohaa). The fourth son of Benjamin (1 Chr. viii.
2).
• NOISOME (O. F. noirir, "to hurt," Lat.
norere) u used in its primitive sense of noxious,
baae/ul, destructive, in Pa. xci. 8, Ex. xir. 21, and
Ex. viii. 31, Job xxxi. 40, marg. A.
NON (fD [in 1 Chr. vii. 27; but elsewhere,
*|13, afith]: NoeV; [Vat Alex. NovpO Nun).
Ncn, the rather of Joshua (1 Chr. vii. 27).
NOPH, MOPH {T\b [see below]: M^»:
Memphis, Is. xix. 13, Jer. ii. 16, Ex. xxx. 13, 16;
*|&: M^<f>is: Memphis, Hos. ix. 6), a city of
Egypt, Memphis. These forms are contracted
from the ai.cieiit Egyptian comnioii name, MEN-
NCFH, or MEN-NEFRU, "the good abode,"
or perhaps "the abode of the good one:" also
contracted in the Coptic forms M-ftllCjI,
Aiejuqi, iienSe, wejuSe
(M), JHeilCfe (S)i in the Greek M«>-
pw; and in the Arabic Menf, v_AjuO. The He-
>rew forms are to be regarded as representing col-
joquial forms of the name, current with the Shem-
ites, if not with the Egyptians also. As to the
meaning of Memphis, Plutarch observes that it
was interpreted to signify either the haven of good
ones, or the sepulchre of Osiris (*ol t))v pty w6\tv
of lit* ipixov iryaBuv ipiynytiovaty, ol V [Hi ] air
ritbov 'Oaipi&os. De Jstde et Osii-ide, 20). It is
probable that the epithet " good " refers to Osiris,
whose sacred animal Apis was here worshipped, and
here had its burial-place, the Serapeum, whence the
name of the village Busiris (PA-HESAK? "the
[abode?] of Osiris "), now represented in name, if
not in exact site, by Aboo-Seer," probably originally
a quarter of Memphis. As the great Egyptian
city is characterized in Nahum as " situate among
the rivers " (iii. 8), so in Hosea the lower Egyptian
one is distinguished by iU Necropolis, in this pas-
sage as to the fugitive Israelites : " Mirraim shall
gather them up, Noph shall bury them ; " for its
burial-ground, stretching for twenty miles along
toe edge of the Libyan desert, greatly exceeds that
of any other Egyptian town. (See Brugsch, Oeogr.
fnschr. i. 234 ff., and Memphis.) R. S. P.
NOTHAH (Hgi, Nopbach ; the Samar. has
the article, nB3H [hill, FUrst; I)ietr.]i al yv
mtKts, Alex, al y. atnay: Nophe), a place men-
tioned only in Num. xxi. 30, in the remarkable
song apparently composed by the Amorites after
a This Arabic name afford* a curious instance of
Aa me of Semitlo names of rimUar sound but different
ftgntnoaslon In the place of names of other languages.
• 1. "I|?n, apttVot, properly inquiry, innattga-
•tr (Iss |* 616).
NUMBER
their conquest of Heshbon from the Moabitet, an*
therefore of an earlier date than the Israelite invs
sion. It Is named with Dibou and Medoba, and
was possibly in the neighborhood of Heshbon. A
name very similar to Nophah is Nobah, which is
twice mentioned ; once as bestowed by the oonquerot
of the same name on Kenath (a place still exist
ing more than 70 miles distant from the scene of
the Amorite conflict), and again in connection witl
Jogbehah, which latter, from the mode of its occur-
rence in Num. xxxii. 36, would seem to have been
in the neighborhood of Heshbon. Ewild (Uesck,
ii. 268, note) decides (though without giving hit
grounds) that Nophah is identical with the latter
of these. In this case the difference would be >
dialectical one, Nophah being the Moabite or 1
rite form. [Nobah.] G
NOSE-JEWEL (C*3, pL eonstr. S £J3 '
ivtrrtm,: maurtss A. V., Gen. xxiv. 98; Ex.xzxv.
Arab woman with past ring.
22, " earring; " Is. Iii. 21; Ex. xvi. 12, "jewel on
the forehead : " rendered by Tbeod. and Synun.
i-wtp^tyiov, Get. p. 870 ). A ring of metal, sometimes
of gold or silver, passed usually through the right
nostril, and worn by way of ornament by women
in the East. Its diameter is usually 1 in. or 1 { in.,
but sometimes as much as 3} in. Upon it are
strung beads, coral, or jewels. In Egypt it is now
almost confined to the lower classes. It it men-
tioned in the Mishna, Shabb. vi. 1 ; Celim, xi. 8.
(.ayard remarks that no specimen has been found
in Assyrian remains. (Burckhardt, A'ofe* on Bed.
i. 61, 232; Niebuhr, Deter, de fArnb. p. 67;
Voyages, I. 133, ii. 66; Chardin, Toy. viii. 200;
Lane, Mod. Egy/H. i. 78; App. iii. 226 ; Saanchuta,
Hebr. Arch. i. 3, p. 26; Layard, A'm. and Bab.
pp. 262, 644.) H. W. P.
• NOVICE, ™*>i/Tor, "neophyte," that which
is newly born, or planted, is used in 1 Tim. iii. 6,
figuratively, of one who had just embraced the
Christian religion, "anew convert." Suchapersot
was not a fit candidate for the office of bishop of
overseer (eVfoKoiroi, ver. 2) ; for the self-confidence
of one who had just entered an untried course of
life might lead him far astray. U. I). C. K.
NUMBER." Like most oriental nation*, t
2. i"iD5*?> *P**i """•"•»■
•. "OIJ, Wx», ArtarM, probably a deity (G
796) ; rtodanjd « nmnber," Is. lxv. 11.
4> ]J3JJ, Chald from tarns root as «.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NUMBER
a probabie that the Helrawa in (heir written eal
tubiions mode me of the letters of the alphabet,
l'hat they did so in post-Babylonian times we have
xncloshe evidence in the Maocaba-aii coins ; and
it is highly proliable that this was the case also in
earlier Units, both from internal evidence, of which
»e shall presently speak, and also from the practice
of the Greeks, who liorrowed it with their earliest
alphabet from the Phoenicians, whose alphabet
•gain was, with some slight variations, the same as
that of the Samaritans and Jews (Chardin, I by.
ii. 491, hr. US and folL, Langles; Thiersch, Ur.
Gr. J§ xii , hutiiL, pp. S3, 163; Jelf, Or. Ur. i.
I; HuUrr, JStnuier, ii. 117, 321; Eng. Cycl.
'Coins," "Numeral Characters;" Lane, Mod.
Egypt, i. 91 ; Donaldson, New Cititylus, pp. 146,
151; Winer, ZahUn).
Bnt though, on the one band, it is certain that
in all existing MSS. of the Hebrew text of the O. T.
the numerical expressions are written at length
(Lee, Htbr. Grain. §} 19, 3*2), yet, on the other,
the variations in the several versions between them-
selves and from tbe Hebrew text, added to the evi-
dent inconsistencies in numerical statement between
certain passages of that text itself, seem to prove
that some shorter mode of writing was originally in
vogue, liable to be misunderstood, and in fact mis-
understood by copyists and translators. The fol-
lowing may serve as specimens : —
1. In 3 K. xxiv. 8 Jehoiacbin is said to have been
18 years old, but in 3 Cbr. xxxvi. 9 the number
given is 8.
5. In Is. vii. 8 Vltringa shows that for threescore
ud five one reading gives sixteen and five, tbe letter
tod ■* (10) after ihiih (6) having been mistaken for
tne Rabbinical abbreviation by omission of the mem
from tbe plural tkuMim, which would stand for
sixty. Six -(- 10 was thus converted into sixty -+-
ten.
3. In 1 Sam. vi. 19 we have 50,070, but the
Syriac and Arabic versions have 6,070.
4. In 1 K. iv. 96, we read that Solomon had
40,000 stalls for chariot-horses, but 4,000 only fa
1 Cbr. ix. 36.
6. The letters vau (6) and taym (7) appear to
have been interchanged in some readings of Gen.
ii. 2.
These variations, which are selected from a oopious
Est given by Glass (Dt Cavsrit Corruption*, i.
{ 93, vol. ii. p. 188, ed. Dathe), appear to have
proceeded from the alphabetic method of writing
numbers, In which it is easy to see how, e, g. such
letters as win (1) and jod 0), mm (3) and caph
(3), may have been confounded and even some-
times omitted. The final letters, also, which were
unknown to the early Phoenician or Samaritan
slphal-et, were used as early as the Alexandrian
period to denote hundreds between 600 and 1,000.°
But whatever ground these variations may afford
for reasonable conjecture, it is certain, from the
(act mentionud above, that no positive rectification
of them can ut present be established, more es-
pecially as there is so little variation in tbe num-
NUMBEK
2198
». -i^n.
S. STVVSp in Blur. Pa. tan. It, vpc-ffMtniat, **-
■■fain*
* WO-
hers quoted from the O. T., both in N. T. and
in tbe Apocrypha, e. g. ({) Num. xxv. 9, quoted
1 Cor. x. 8. (9.) Kx. xii. 40, quoted GaL Hi. 17.
(8.) Ex. xvi. 85 and Ps. xcv. 10, quoted Acts xiiL
18. (4.) Geo. xvii. 1, quoted Rom. iv. 19. (6.1
Num. i. 46, quoted Ecclus. xvi. 10.
Josephus also in the main agrees in his state-
ments of numbers with our existing copies.
There can be little doubt, however, as was re-
marked by St Augustine («». D. x. 13, § 1), that
some at least of the numbers mentioned in Scrip-
ture are intended to be representative rather than
determinative. Certain numbers, as 7, 10, 40, 100,
were regarded as giving the idea of completeness.
Without entering into his theory of this usage, we
may remark that the notion of representative num-
bers in certain cases is one extremely common among
eastern nations, who have a prejudice against count-
ing their possessions accurately; that it enters
largely into many ancient systems of chronology,
and that it is found in tbe philosophical and met-
aphysical speculations not only of the Pi thagoreau
and other ancient schools of philosophy, both Greek
and Roman, but also in those of the later Jewish
writers, of the Gnostics, and also of such Christian
writers as St Augustine himself (August Dt Doctr.
CbruL ii. 16,95; 6%. D. xv. 80; Philo, Dt Mmd.
Opif. I. 91; Dt Abroh. ii. 6; Dr Sept. Num. ii.
981, ed. Mange;; Joseph. B. J. vii. 6, 5 6: Mish-
na, PirkeAboth, T. 7, 8; Ireiueus,i. 3, ii 1, v. 99,
30; Hieronym. Com. in la. iv. 1, vol iv. p. 79,
ed. Migne; Arist Metapliy*. L 6, 6, xii. 6, 8;
iGlian, V. H. iv. 17; Varro, lleldom. iragui. i.
366, ed. Bipont; Niebulir. Hit. of Borne, ii. 79,
ed. Hare; Burckhardt, Tiiiv. tin Arabia, i. 75;
Syria, p. 660, corap. with Gen. xiii. 16 and xxii.
17; also see papers on Hindoo Chronology in Sir
W. Jones's Works, Suppl. vol. ii. pp. 968, 1017).
We proceed to give some instances of numbers
used (n ) representatively, and thus probably by de-
sign indefinitely, nr ('<) definitely, but as we may
say preferentially, i. t. because some meaning
(which we do not in all cases understand) was at-
tached to them.
1. Sertn, as denoting either plurality or com-
pleteness, is so frequent as to make a selection only
of instances necessary, e. g.tevenfold, Gen. iv. 94;
teten timet, i. e. completely, Lev. xxvi. 94; Ps. xii.
6; seven (•'. t. many) untyt. Deut. xxviii. 96. See
also 1 Sam. ii. 6; Job v. 19, where six also is used,
Pror. vi. 16, ix. 1; Ecol. xi. 2, where eight also is
named; Is. iv. 1; Jer. xv.9; Hie. v. 6; also Matt
xii. 46, seven tph-iU ; Mark xvi. 9, seven ritvilt ;
Rev. iv. 6, seven Spirit*, xv. 1, seven plague*.
Otho, Lex. Rabb. p. 411, says that Scripture uses
seven to denote plurality. See also Christian au-
thorities quoted hy Suicer, The*. Heel. a. v. iBSo-
Itas, Hofmann, Lex. s. v. " Septem," and the pas-
sages quoted above from Varro, Aristotle, and
iElian, in reference to the heathen value for the
number 7.
9. Ten as a preferential number is exemplified
in the Ten Commandments and the law of Tithe.
It plays a conspicuous part in the later Jewish rit-
ual code. See Otho, Lex. Rabb. p. 410.
To number is (1) TOD, *>*>-.<••>- awa-isre. (9-J
3^?n, At-yi?o-uu, i. t. value, account, as In Is. sat
17. In Plal, count, or number, which Is the primary
notion of the word (Qes. p. 681).
a 1 denotes 660, 0800,] 700, ^ 800, Tf W
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2194
NUMBER
i. Stmnig, as compounded of 7 X 10, appears
frequently, e. g. uverUg-fold (Gen. it. 24; Matt,
xviii. 22). Its definite uae appears in the offerings
of 70 shekels (Num. vii 13, 19, and foil.); the 70
elders (zi 16); 70 jean of captivity (Jer. xxiv. 11).
To three mar be added the 70 descendant* of Noah
((Jen. z.), and the alleged Rabbinical qualification
for election to the office of Judge among the 71
members of the Great Sanhedrim, of the knowledge
»f 70 languages (Sanh. ii. 6; and Carjaov, App.
BikL p. 676). The number of 78 translators may
perhaps also be connected with the same idea.
4. Fvet appears in the table of punishments, of
legal requirements (Ex. xxii. 1 ; Lev. T. 16, xxii.
14, xxvii. 15 ; Num. T. 7, xviii. 16), and in the five
empires of Daniel (Dan. ii.).
6. Four is used in reference to the 4 winds (Dan.
tU. 2), and the so-called 4 corners of the earth ;
the 4 creatures, each with 4 wings and 4 feces, of
Ezekiel (i. 6 and foil.); 4 rivers of Paradise (Gen.
ii. 10); 4 beasts (Dan. vii. and Rev. iv. 6); the 4
equal-aided Temple-chamber (Ez. xL 47).
6. Three was regarded, both by the Jews and
other nations, as a specially complete and mystic
number (Plato, De Leg. iv. 716; Dionys. Halic.
Hi. c 12). It appears in many instances in Scrip-
ture as a definite number, e. g. 3 feasts (Ex. xxitt.
14, 17; Deut. xvi. 16), the triple offering of the
Nazarite, and the triple blessing (Num. vi. 14, 24),
the triple invocation (b. vi. 8; Rev. i. 4), Daniel's
3 hours of prayer (Dan. vi. 10, oonip. Ps. Iv. 17),
the third heaven (2 Cor. xii. 2), and the thrice-
repeated vision (Acts x. 16).
7. Ticelve (3X4) appears in 12 tribes, 12 stones
in the high-priest's breast-plate, 12 Apostles, 12
foundation -stones, and 12 gates (Rev. xxi. 19-21):
12,000 furlongs of the heavenly city (Rev. xxi. 16);
144,000 sealed (Rev. vii. 4).
8. Forty appears in many enumerations ; 40 days
nf Moses (Ex. xxiv. 18); 40 years iu the wilder-
ness (Sum. xiv. 84); 40 days and nights of Elijah
(1 K. xix. 8); 40 days of Jonah's warning to Nin-
eveh (Jon. iii. 4); 40 days of temptation (Matt.
Iv. 8). Add to these the very frequent use of the
number 40 in regnal years, and in political or other
period. (Judg. iii. 11, xiii. 1; 1 Sam. iv. 18; 2 Sam.
v. 4, xv. 7; 1 K. xi. 42; Ex. xxix. 11, 12; Acts
xiii. 81).
9. One hundred.— 100 cubits' length of the
Tabernacle-court (Ex. xxvii. 18); 100 men, •'. e. a
large number (Lev. xxvl. 8); Gideon's 300 men
(Judg. vi. 6); the selection of 10 out of every 100,
(xx. 10); 100 men (2K. iv.43); leader of 100 men
(1 Chr. xii. 14); 100 stripes (Prov. xrii. 10); 100
times (Eccl vili. 12); 100 children (vi. 3); 100
cubits' measurements in Exekiel's Temple (Ez. xl.,
xh\, xiii.); 100 sheep (Matt, xviii. 12); 100 pence
(Matt xviii. 28); 100 measures of oil or wheat
(Luke xvi. 6, 7).
10. lastly, the mystic number 666 (Rev. xiii.
18), of which the earliest attempted explanation is
the conjecture of Irenseus, who of three words,
Euanthas, Lateinos, and Teitan, prefers the last as
fulfilling its conditions best. (For various other
interpretations see Calmet. Whitby, and IrensBus,
De Antichrist, v. c. 29, 30.)
It if evident, on the one band, that whilst the
representative, and also the typical character of
certain numbers must be maintained («. n. Matt,
xix. 28), there is, on the other, the greatest danger
of overstraining any particular theory on the sub-
lets, ai d thus degenerating into that subtle trifling,
NUMBERS
from which neither the Gnostics, nor sum* also ot
their orthodox opponents were exempt (see Clem
Alex. Strom, vi. c 11, p. 782, ed. Potter, and Au-
gust. I «.), and of which the Rabbinical writings
present such striking '"«**'"»» (Chbohouwt
Ceksus.] H. W. P.
NUMBERING. [Ontsus.]
NUMBERS PSTOi from the first i
I^Tffl?, from the words >J*J "15TP5, in 1. 1 :
'AptSfioi: Numeri: called also by the later Jews
D^BDJpn 155, or D^TIpSn), the fourth
book of' the law or Pentateuch. It takes its nan I
in the LXX. and Vulg. (whence our "Numbers")
from the double numbering or census of the people;
the first of which is given in oc. l.~iv., and the
second in ch. xxvi.
A. Contenlt. — The book may be said to con-
tain generally the historj of the Israelites from the
time of their leaving Sinai, in the second year after
the Exodus, till their arrival at the borders of the
Promised Land in the fortieth year of their jour-
neying*. It consists of the following principal
divisions: —
I. The preparations for the departure from Sinai
(i. 1-x. 10).
II. The journey from Sinai to the borders of
Canaan (x. 11-xiv. 45).
III. A brief notice of laws given, and events
which transpired, during the thirty-seven years'
wandering in the wilderness (xv. 1-xix. 22).
IV. lie history of the last year, from the second
arrival of the Israelites in Kadeah till they reach
>• the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho " (xx.
1-xxxvi. 13).
I. (a.) The object of the encampment at Sinai
has been accomplished. The Covenant has been
made, the law given, the Sanctuary set up, the
Priests consecrated, the service of God appointed,
nnd Jehovah dwells in the midst of his chosen
people. It is now time to depart in order that
the object may be achieved for which Israel has
been sanctified. That object is the occupation of
the Promised Land. But this is not to be accom-
plished by peaceable means, but by the forcible
expulsion of its present inhabitants ; for " the in-
iquity of the Amorites is full," they are ripe for
judgment, and this judgment Israel is to execute.
Therefore Israel must be organized as Jehovah's
army: and to this end a mustering of all who are
capable of bearing arms is necessary. Hence the
book opens with the numbering of the people,
chapters i.-iv. These contain, first, the census of
all the tribes or clans, amounting in all to six hun-
dred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty,
with the exception of the I-evitex, who were not
numbered with the rest (ch. i.); secondly, the ar
rangement of the camp, and the order of march
(ch. ii.); thirdly, the special and separate census
of the Levites, who are claimed by God instead ot
all the first-bom, the three families of the tribe
having their peculiar offices in the Tabernacle ap-
pointed them, both when it was at rest ans" when
they were on the march (cc. Hi., It.).
(A.) Chapters v., vt. Certain laws apparently
supplementary to the legislation in Leviticus ; tin
removal of the unclean from the camp (v. 1 4)
the law of restitution (v. 5-10); the trial of jea.
a BssKurksOwA. <tu Alien Xk m iu , ft. I
Digitized by VjOOQlC
JTUMBEB8
may (*. 11-81); the law of the Naxaritee (vi. 1-
U); the form of the priestly blessing (vi. 22-87).
(c.) Chapter* vii. 1-x. 10. Event* occurring at
toil time, and regulations connected with them.
Uh. vii. gives au aoeount of the offerings of the
prince* of the different tribes at the dedication of
the Tabernacle; ch. viii. of the consecration of the
Levites (ver. 89 of ch. vii., and w. 1-1 of ch.
riii. seem to be out of place J ; eb. ix. 1-14, of the
■econd observance of the Passover (the first in the
wilderness) on the 14th da; of the second month,
and of certain provisions made to meet the case of
those who bj reason of defilement were unable to
keep it. Lastly, ch. ix. 16-28 tells how the eloud
sod the fire regulated the march and the encamp-
ment; and x. 1-10, how two silver trumpets were
•mployed to give the signal for public assemblies,
for war, and for festal occasions.
II. March from Sinai to the borders of Canaan,
(n.) We nave here, first, the order of niaroh de-
scribed (x. 14-28); the appeal of Moses to his
father-in-law, Hobab, to accompany them in their
journeys; a request urged probably because, from
his desert life, he would be well acquainted with
the best spots to encamp in, and also would have
inflnwioe with the various wandering and predatory
tribes who inhabited the peninsula (29-32); and
the chant which acecompanled the moving and the
resting of the ark (w. 36, 36).
(4.) An account of several of the stations and of
the events which happened at them. The first was
at Taberah, where, because of their impatient mur-
murings, several of the people were destroyed by
lightning (these belonged chiefly, it would seem,
to the motley multitude which came out of Egypt
with the Israelites) ; the loathing of the people for
the manna; the complaint of Moses thai be cannot
bear the burden thus laid upon him, and the ap-
pointment in consequence of seventy elders to serve
and help him in his office (xi. 10-29); the quails
tent, and the judgment following thereon, which
gave its name to the next station, Kibroth-hat-
taavah (the graves of lust), xi. 31-35 (of. Ps.
Imviii. 30, 81, cvi. 14, 15); arrival at Hazeroth,
where Aaron and Miriam are jealous of Moses, and
Miriam is in consequence smitten with leprosy (xii.
1-15); the sending of the spies from the wilderness
of Paran (et- Tyh), their report, the refusal of the
people to enter Canaan, their rejection in conae-
anence, and their rash attack upon the Amalekites,
which resulted in a defeat (xii. 16-xiv. 45).
III. What follows must be referred apparently
to the thirty-seven years of wanderings; but we
have no notices of time or place. We have laws
respecting the meat and drink offerings, and other
■scrinoes (xv. 1-31); an account of the punishment
sf a Sabbath-breaker, perhaps as an example of the
presumptuous sins mentioned in w. 30, 31 (xv.
22-38 1; the direction to put fringes on their gar-
sasnts as mementos (xv. 37-41); the history of the
rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the
ssormuring of the people (xvi.); the budding of
tana's rod as a witness that the tribe of Ijevi was
jhosen (xvii. ) ; the direction that Aaron and his sons
mould bear the iniquity of the people, and the duties
«f the priests and Levites (xviii.); the law of the
water of purification (xix.).
IV. (a.) The narrative returns abruptly to the
BMood encampment of the Israelites in Kadesh.
Hare Miriam dies, and the people murmur for
water, and Moses and Aaron, "speaking unad-
Issdiy," an not allowed to enter the 'Vomised
NUMBERd
2196
Land (xx. 1-18). They intended perhaps, as before,
to enter Canaan from the south. This, however,
was not to be permitted. They therefore desired *
passage through the country of Edotn. Moses sent
a conciliatory message to the king, asking permis-
sion to psaa through, and promising carefully to
abstain from all outrage, and to pay for the provis-
ions which they might find necessary. The jeal-
ousy, however, of this fierce and warlike people was
aroused. They refused the request, and turned
out in arms to defend their border. And as those
almost inaccessible mountain passes could have been
held by a mere handful of men against a largo and
well-trained army, the Israelites abandoned the at-
tempt as hopeless and turned southwards, keeping
along the western borders of Idumssa till they
leached Ecion-geber (xx. 14-21).
On their way southwards they stop at Mount
Hot, or rather at Moserah, on the edge of the
Edomite territory; and from this spot it would
seem that Aaron, accompanied by his brother Moses
and his son Eleatar, quitted the camp in order to
ascend the mountain. Mount Hor lying itself
within the Edomite territory, whilst it might have
been perilous for a larger number to attempt to
penetrate it, these unarmed wayfarers would not be
molested, or might escape detection. Bunseu sug-
gests that Aaron was taken Co Mount Hor, in the
hope that the fresh air of the mountain might be
beneficial to his recovery; but the narrative does
not justify such a supposition.
After Aaron's death, the march is continued
southward; but when the Israelites approach the
head of the Akabah at the southernmost point of the
Edomite territory, they again murmur by reason
of the roughness of the way, and many perish by
the bite of venomous serpents (xx. 22-xxi. 9). The
passage (xxi. 1-3) which speaks of the Canaanito
king of Arad as coming out against the Israelites
is clearly out of place, standing aa it does after toe
mention of Aaron's death on Mount Hor. Arad ia
in the south of Palestine. The attack therefor*
must have been made whilst the people were yet in
the neighborhood of Kadesh. The mention of
Hormah also shows that this must have been the
case (coinp. xiv. 45). It is on this second occasion
that the name of Hormah is said to have been giien
Either therefore it ia used prolepticaUy in xiv. 48,
or there is some confusion in the narrative. What
" the way of Atharim " (A. V. •' the way of the
spies ") wss, w» have no means now of ascertain-
ing.
(A.) There is again a gap in the narrative. We
are told nothing of the march along the eastern edge
of Edom, but suddenly find ourselves transported
to the borders of Moab. Here the Israelites suc-
cessively encounter and defeat the kings of the
Araorites and of Bashan, wresting from the r their
territory and permanently occupying it (xxi. 10-
35). Their successes alarm the king of Moab, who.
distrusting his superiority in the field, sends for a
magician to curse his enemies; hence the episode
of Balaam (xxiii. 1-xxv. 26). Other artifices are
employed by the Moabites. to weaken the Israelites,
especially through the influence of the Moabitish
women (xxv. 1), with whom the Midianites (ver.
6) are also joined; this evil is averted by the sea!
of Phinehas (xxv. 7, 8 ) ; a second numbering of the
Israelites takes place in the plains of Moali prepar-
atory to their crossing the Jordan (xxvi.). A
Question arises as to the inheritance of daughters,
and a decision is given thereon (xxvii. 1-11 ); Mesa
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2106 NUMBEBS
h warned of hii death, and Joshua appointed to
saoesed him (xzvii. 13-23). Certain laws ate given
aoneerning the daily sacrifice, and the offering* for
ssJjbaths and featival* (xxviii., nix.); and the law
respecting vows (ui.|; the conquest of the Mid-
ianites u narrated (xxxi.); and the partition of the
oountrj east of the Jordan among the tribes of
Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Hanasseh
(xxxii.). Then follows a recapitulation, though
with tome difference, of the various encampments
of the Israelites in the desert (xxxiii. 1-49); the
eommand to destroy the Canaanites (xxtiii. 60-
66); the boundaries of the Promised Land, and the
men appointed to divide it (xxiiv.); the appoint-
ment of the cities of the Invites and the cities of
refuge (xxxr.); further directions respecting heir-
esses, with special reference to the case mentioned in
eh. xxvii, and conclusion of the book (xxxri.).
B. Integrity. — This, like the other books of the
Pentateuch, is supposed by many critics to consist
of a compilation from two or three, or more, earlier
documents. According to De Wette, the following
portions are the work of the Elohist [Pkmta-
rsociij: Ch. i. 1-x. 38; xiii. 2-16 (in its orig-
inal, though not in its present form); xv. ; xvi. 1,
*-U, 16-23, 24 (?); xvu.; xji.; xx. 1-13, 22-29;
txv.-xxxi. (except perhaps xxvi. 8-11); xxxii. 6,
28-42 (vt. 1-4 uncertain); xxxiii.-xxxvi. The
rest of the look is, according to him, by the
Jehovist or laUf editor. Von Lengerke ( Ketuum,
a. Ixxxi ) and btahelin (§ 23) make a similar divis-
ion, though they differ as to some verses, and even
whole chapters. Vaihinger (in Heraog's Encyklo-
Kfc/ie, art. >< 1'eutateuch ") finds traces of three dis-
tinct documents, which he ascribes severally to the
pre-Elohist, the Elohist, and the Jehovist. To the
first he assigns ch x. 29-36; xi. 1-12, 16 (in its
original form); xx. 14-21; xxi. 1-9, 13-35; xxxii.
83-42; xxxiii. 66,66. To the Elohist belong ch.
i. 1-x. 28; xi. 1-xii. 16; xiii. 1-xx. 13; xx. 22-
22; xxl. 10-12; xxii. 1; xxv. 1-xxxi. 54; xxxii.
1-32; xxxii. 1-xxxvi. 19. To the Jehovist, xi.
1-xtt. 16 (tterarietta); xxu. 2-xxiv. 25; xxxi.
B,*e.
But the grounds on which this distinction of
documents rests are in every respect moat unsatis-
factory. The use of the divine names, which was
the starting-point of this criticism, ceases to be a
criterion; and certain words and phrases, a par-
ticular manner or coloring, the narrative of miracles
or prophecies, are supposed to decide whether a pas-
sage belongs to the earlier or the later documents.
Thus, for instance, Stahelin alleges as reasons for as-
signing ce. xi., xii. to the Jehovist, the coming down
sf Jehovah to speak with Moses, xi. 17, 25 ; the pillar
if a cloud, xii. 5; the relation between Joshua and
Moses, xi. 28, as in Ex. xxxiii., xxxir. ; the seventy
elders, xi 16, as Ex. xxiv. 1, and so on. So again
In the Jehovistic section, xiii., xiv., he finds traces
or " the author of the First Legislation " in one
passage (xiii. 2-17), because of the use of the word
ItSQ, signifying "a tribe," and rPB73, as in
Nnrr i. and vii. But WUJ3 is used also by the
supposed supplementist, as in Ex. xxii. 27, xxxiv.
SI; and that HIOQ is not peculiar to the older
documents baa been shown by Keii (Comm. on
/osatvi, s. xix.). Von Lengerke goes still further,
sod cuts off xi>i. 2-18 altogether from what follows.
Ha thus makes the story of the spies, ss given by
jm Elohist, strangely maimed. We only hear of
NTJMBKR8
their being sent to Canaan, but nothing of task
return and their report. The chief reason for this
separation is that in xiii. 27 occurs the Jehovistic
phrase, " flowing with milk and honey," and soma
references to other earlier Jehovistic passages. De
Wette again finds a repetition in xiv. 26-38 of xiv.
11-25, and accordingly gives these passages to the
Elohist and Jehovist respectively. This has more
color of probability about it, but has been answerer?
by Ranke ( Unleriuek. il. s. 197 ffi). Again, ch.
xvi. is supposed to be a combination of two dif-
ferent accounts, the original or F.lohist.ic docu m ent
having contained only the story of the rebellion of
Korah and his company, whilst the Jehovist mixed
up with it the insurrection of Dathan and A btraan,
which waa directed rather against the tempaiml dig-
nity than against the spiritual authority of Moses.
But it is against this view, that, in order to jus-
tify it, w. 12, 14, 27, and 32, are treated as Inter-
polations. Besides, the discrepancies which It I*
alleged have arisen from the fusing of the two
narratives disappear when fairly looked at. Then
is no contradiction, for instance, between xvi. 18,
where Korah appears at the tabernacle of the con-
gregation, and ver, 27, where Dathan and Abtram
stand at the door of their tenia. In the last pas-
sage Korah is not mentioned, and, even if we sup-
pose him to be included, the narrative allows tic
for his having left the Tabernacle and returned to
his own tent. Nor again, does the statement, ver.
35, that the 250 men who offered incense were de-
stroyed by fire, and who had, as we leam from ver.
2, joined the leaders of the insurrection, Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram, militate against the narra-
tive in ver. 82, according to which Dathan and
Abiram and all that appertained unto Korah wen
swallowed up alive by the opening of the earth.
Further, it is clear, as KeU remarks (EvUdt. p. 94),
that the earlier document (die Grundtchrifl) im-
plies that persona belonging to the other tribes
were mixed up in Koran's rebellion, because they
say to Moses and Aaron (ver. 3), " All the congre-
gation is holy," which justifies the statement in vr.
1, 2, that, besides Korah the Levite, the Reubenites
Dathan, Abiram, and On, were leaders of the in-
surrection.
in ch. xii. we have a remarkable instance of
the jealousy with which the authority of Moses
was regarded even in his own family. Considering
the almost absolute nature of that authority, this
is perhaps hardly to be wondered at On the other
hand, as we are expressly reminded, there was
everything in his personal character to disarm
jealousy. '« Now the man Moses was very meek
above all the men which were upon the face of the
earth," says the historian (ver. 3). The pretext fcf
the outburst of this feeling on the part of Miriam
and Aaron was that Moses bad married an Ethio-
pian woman (a woman of Cush). This was prob-
ably, as Ewald suggests, a second wife marries!
after the death of Zipporah. But there is no
reason for supposing, as he does (Getek. ii. 239,
note), that we have here a confusion of two ac-
counts. He observes that the words of the broth**
and sister " Hath the Lord indeed spoken only
by Moses, hath He not also spoken by us ? " snow
that the real ground of their jealousy was the ap-
parent superiority of Moses in the prophetical office,
whereas, according to the narrative, their dislike
waa occasioned by bis marriage with a foreigner
and a person of inferior rank. Bat nothing surely
can be mors natural than that the hug pent- at
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NUMBERS
Ming of Jealous; should have fastened upon the
marriage as a pretext to begin the quarrel, and
then have shown itself in Its true character In the
words recorded by the historian.
It is not perhaps to be wondered at that the
episode of Balaam (xxii. 2-xxiv. 39) should hare
been regarded as a later addition. The language
is peculiar, as well as the general cast of the narra-
tire. The prophecies are rind and the diction of
them highly finished : very different from the rug-
ged, vigorous fragments of ancient poetry which
meet us in ch. xxi. On these grounds, as well
as on the score of the distinctly Messianic charac-
ter of Balaam's prophesies, Ewakl gives this episode
to his Fifth Narrator, or the latest editor of the
Pentateuch. This writer he supposes to have lived
In the former half of the 8th century B. c, and
hence be accounts for the reference to Assyria and
the Cypriotes (the Kittim); the latter nation about
that time probably infesting a* pirates the coasts
of Syria, whereas Assyria might be joined with
Cher, because as yet the Assyrian power, though
hostile to the southern nations, was rather friendly
than otherwise to Judah. The allusions to Edotn
and Moab as vanquished enemies have reference,
it is said, to the time of David (Ewald, (lack.
i- 143 IF., and compare ii. 377 If. ). The prophecies
of Balaam, therefore, on this hypothesis, are viiti-
diua ex eventu, put into his mouth by a clever,
bat not very scrupulous writer of the time of
Isaiah, who, finding some mention of Balaam as a
prince of Midian in the older records, put the story
into shape as we have it now. But this sort of
criticism is so purely arbitrary that it scarcely
merits a serious refutation, not to mention that it
rests entirely on the assumption that in prophecy
there is no such thing as prediction. We will only
observe that, considering the peculiarity of the
man and of the circumstances as given in the his-
tory, we might expect to find the narrative itself,
and certainly the poetical portions of it, marked by
some peculiarities of thought and diction. Kven
{ranting that this episode is not by the same writer
<a the rest of the book of Numbers, there seems no
valid reason to doubt its antiquity, or its rightful
claim to the place which it at present occupies.
Nothing can be more improbable than that, as a
later invention, it should have found its way into
the Book of the Law.
At any rate, the picture of this great magician
is wonderfully in keeping with the circumstances
under which he appears and with the prophecies
which he utters. This is not the place to enter
into all the questions which are suggested by his
appearance on the scene. How It was that a heathen
became a prophet of Jehovah we are not informed ;
bat such a fact seems to point to some remains of
a primitive revelation, not yet extinct, in other na-
tions besides that of Israel. It is evident that his
knowledge of God was beyond that of most heathen,
ind he himself could utter the passionate wish to
v found in his deatn among the true servants of
Jehovah ; but, because the soothsayer's craft prom-
wad to be gainful, and the profession of it gave
Mm an additional importance and influence in the
ryes of men Oka Balak, he sought u> combine it
•ritfc his higher vocation. There is nothing more
remarkable in the early history of Israel than Ba-
laam's appearance. Summoned from his home by
lbs Euphrates, he stands by hi* red altar-fires,
■waving his dark and subtle sorceries, or goes to
s*sk for enchantment, hoping, as he looked down
NUMBERS
2191
upon the tents of Israel among the scacia - gr oves
of the valley, to wither them with bis word, yet
constrained to bless, and to foretell their future
greatness.
The book of Numbers is rich in fragments of
ancient poetry, some of them of great beauty, and
all throwing an interesting light on the character
of the times in which they were composed. Such,
for Instance, is the blessing of the high-priest (vt
34-88): —
" Jehovah bless thee and keep thee :
Jebovah make his countenance shine upon thee,
And be gracious unto thee :
Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee,
And give thee peace."
Such too are the chants which were the signal
for the ark to move when the people journeyed,
and for it to rest when they were about to en-
camp: —
" Arias, Jehovah ! let thine enemies be scattered ;
Let them alio that hate thee flee before thee."
And,—
" Return, Jehovah,
To the ten thousands of the families of Israel . "
In ch. xxi. we have a passage cited from a book
called the " Book of the Wars of Jehovah." This
> probably a collection of ballads and songs com-
posed on different occasions by the watch-fires of
the camp, and for the most part, though not per-
haps exclusively, in commemoration of the victories
of the Israelites over their enemies. The title
shows us that these were written by men imbued
with a deep sense of religion, and who were there-
fore foremost to acknowledge that not their own
prowess, but Jehovah's right hand, had given
them the victory when they went forth to battle.
Henee it was called, not " The Book of the Wars
of Israel," but >• The Book of the Wars of Jeho-
vah." Possibly this is the book referred to in Ex.
xvii. 14, especially as we read (ver. 16) that when
Hoses built the altar which he called Jehovah-Nissi
(Jehovah is my banner), he exclaimed "Jehovah
will have war with Amalek from generation to gen-
eration." This expression may have given the name
to the book.
The fragment quoted from this collection is diffi-
cult, because the allusions in it are obscure. The
Israelites had reached the Amon, "which," says
the historian, "forms the border of Moab, and
separates between the Moabitcs and Amorites."
" Wherefore it is said," he continues, " In the Book
of the Wan of Jehovah,—
' Tabeb In Supbah and the torrent-beds \
Amon and the slope of the torrent-beds
Which tometh to where Ar Ueth,
And which leaneth upon the border of M»b.' "
The next is a song which was sung on the dig-
ging of a well at a spot where they encamped, and
which from this circumstance was called Beer, o»
" The Well." It runs as follows : —
" Spring np, well ! ring ye to It :
Well, which the princes dug,
Which the nobles of the people bored,
With the soeptre of office, with their staves."
This song, first sung at the digging of the web.,
was afterwards no doubt commonly used by those
who came to draw water. The maidens of Israel
chanted it one to another, verse by verse, a* (hay
toiled at the bucket, and thus beguiled their labor.
" Spring up, O well ! " was the burden or refrain
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2198
NUMBEBS
if the song, which would pan ftom one month to
■nether at each fresh eoil of the rope, till the full
bucket reached the well's mouth. But the peculiar
charm of the song lies not only in its antiquity,
but in the characteristic touch which so manifestly
connects it with the life of the time to which the
narrative sssigns it. The one point which is dwelt
upon is, that the leaders of the people took their
part in the work, that they themselves helped to
dig the well. In the new generation, who were
about to enter the Land of Promise, a strong feel-
ing of sympathy between the people and their rulers
bad sprung up, which augured well for the future,
and which left its stamp even on the ballads and
songs of the time. This little carol is fresh and
lusty with young life; it sparkles like the water of
the well whose springing up first occasioned it; it
is the expression, on the part of those who sung it,
of livly confidence in the sympathy and coopera-
tion of tjeir leaders, which, manifested in this one
instance, might be relied upon in all emergencie
(Ewald, Cesch. ii. 264, 265).
Immediately following this " Song of the Well,'
comes a song of victory, composed after a defeat of
the Moabites and the occupation of their territory.
It is in a taunting, mocking strain ; and is com
monly conjidcred to have been written by some
Jtraelitieh hard on the occupation of the Amorite
territory. Yet the manner in which it is intro-
duced would rather lead to the belief that we have
here the translation of an old Amorite ballad. The
history tells us that when Israel approached the
eountry of Sihon 'they sent messengers to him, de-
manding permission to pass through his territory.
The request was refused. Sihon came out against
them, but was defeated in battle. " Israel," it is
said, '-smote him with the edge of the sword, and
took his land in possession, from the Arnon to the
Jabbok and as far as the children of Animon; for
the border of the children of Animon was secure
(»'. e. they made no encroachments upon Atnmon-
itiab territory). Israel alto took all these cities,
and dwelt in all the cities of the Amorite* in Hesh-
bon, and all her daughters (». e. lesser towns and
villages)." Then follows a little scrap of Amorite
history: " For Hcshbou is the city of Sihon, king
of the Amorites, and he had waged war with the
former king of Moab, and had taken from bim all
bis land as far as the Arnon. Wherefore the
fullad-aingen (CbtBDH) say,—
« < Come ye to Hsshbon,
Let the city of Sihon be built and established !
for Ore went forth xrum Heshbon,
A flams oat of the stronghold (i"P"1p) of Sihon,
Which devoured Ar of Moab,
The lords" of the high places of Arnon.
Woe to thee, Moab !
Thou art undone, people of Chemoah !
Be (i. e. Chemosh thy god) bath given up tus sons as
fugitives,
And his daughters Into captivity,
To Sihon king of the Amorites.
then we cast them aown ; * Heshbon perished even
unto Dibon.
tod we laid (it) waste unto Nophah, which (reacheth)
onto UedeM.' "
■ Or " the posssssori of, the men of, the high
■seas," etc.
• fk ks loaw Bible, sad this is the sbnptost nm-
NUN
If the song is of Hebrew origin, then the fonnsi
part of it is a biting taunt, " Coma, ye Amorites,
into your city of Heshbon, and build it up again.
Ye boasted that ye had burnt it with fire and
driven out its Moabite inhabitants; but now we
are come in our turn and have burnt Heshbon, and
driven you out as ye once burnt it and drove out
its Moabite possessors."
C. The alleged discrepancies between many
statements in this and the other books of the Pen-
tateuch, will be found discussed in other articles,
Deuteronomy; Exodus; Pektatkocm.
J. J. S. P.
* Recent exegetical work*. — Horsley, Note* m
Numbert (BM. CriL voL L 1820); BaumgartSB-
Crusius, TkeoL Com. sum Pent. 1843; Ban-
sen, Bibehcerk, Iter Tk. Dot Getetz, 1868; Kno-
bel, Die Bicker Num. Devi. u. Jot. erUort, 1861
(Exeyet Bandb. xiii.); Chr. Wordsworth, /Vw
Books of Mote; 2d ed. 1861 (Holy Biol* aitk
Note; vol. i.); Keil, Num. u. DeuL 1862 (Keil u.
Delitssch, Bibl Com. 2ter Band); Lange, Bibel-
werk (iu press, 1868).
Special treatises on particular subjects of the
book. On the brazen serpent: Moebins (Deterp.
or., 1686); Turretin, Opera, vol iv.; Vitringa,
Obt. tncr. ii. 15; Crusius, De Up. ttrp. aw.;
Kohler (Heraog's ReaLEncyk. art. SchUmge,
ehernr). Michaelis, De censibut Hebr. (Com-
mental. Getting. 1774). Carpzov, De ttella ea
Jncobo oiiunda, 1692. Hoebius, Balaam hitt.
1675; Deyling, De Balaamo (Ob*, saer. iii. 10);
Waterland, Hitt. and Char, of Balaam ( (Forte,
vol. iz ); De Ueer, De Bileamo, ejus Met. et vatic
1816; Horsley. Balaam' t Prophecies (Bibl Grit
vol. ii.); Hengstenberg, Gcsch. Bileamt «. seats
Weiuag. 1842; Vaihinger (Heraog's Real-En-
cyk. art. BUeam). [Balaam, Amer. ed.]
T. J.C.
NTJMBTIITJS (NouuT>ior [belonging to, or
born al the time of, the new moon] : Numenna),
son of Antiochus, was sent by Jonathan on an em-
bassy to Rome (1 Mace xil. 16) and Sparta (xil.
17), to renew the friendly connections between
these nations and the Jews, c. B. c. 144. It appears
that he had not returned from his mission at the
death of Jonathan (1 Mace xiv. 22, 23). He was
again disjntched to Rome by Simon, c. B. c. 141
(i Mace. xiv. 24), where be was well received and
obtained letters in favor of his countrymen, ad-
dressed to the various eastern powers dependent on
the Republic, B. c. 139 (1 Mace. xv. 15 IF.). [Lu-
cres.] B. F. W.
NUN (713, * 7*0, 1 Chr. vli. 87 [jts*] ;
Navf) : Nun). The father of the Jewish captain
Joshua (Ex. xxxiii. 11, Ac 1. His genealogical de-
scent from Ephraim is recorded in 1 Chr. vil.
Nothing is known of his life, which was doubtless
spent in Egypt. The mode of spelling his name b
the LXX. has not been satisfactorily accounted fc».
Gesenius asserts that it is a very early mistake of
transcribers, who wrote NATH for NATN- But
Ewald (Getch. ii. 298) gives some good etymons;
leal reasons for the more probable opinion that tin
final N is omitted intentionally. [See also Nosr.
W. T. B.
'We burned
Others: •• We shot at tbam."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
NURSE
AtJBSE." It is dear, both from Scripture and
¥o«a Greek and Roman writer*, that in ancient
turn the position of the nuns, wherever one was
maintained, was one of much honor and impor-
tance. (See Gen. xxiv. 59, xzxv. 8; 3 Sam. it. 4;
2 K. xi. 8; 3 Msec. i. 30; Horn. Od. ii. 361, xix.
18, 861, 466: F.nrip. Ion, 1357; Hippol 967 and
bl.; Virg. j£n. vii. 1.) The same term is applied
to a foster-father or mother, e. g. Num. xL 19;
Ruth ir. 16; Is. xlix. 23. In great families male
servants, probably eunuchs in later times, were en-
trusted with the charge of the boys, 3 K. x. 1, 6.
[Children.] See also Kirnn, to. 63, Tegg's
ed.; Mrs. Poole, Kuala, w Eg. iii. 201.
H. W. P.
NUTS- The representative in the A. V. of the
words botnim and tgfa.
1. Brtnlm (DVlt^ : rtpifarto* : terebtnthut).
Among the good things of the land which the sons
of Israel were to take as a present to Joseph in
Egypt, mention is made of botntm. There can
scarcely be a doubt that the botntm denote the
Irnit of the Pistachio-tree (Pietacia vera), though
NUTS
2199
most modern versions are content with the general
term mitt. (See Boehart, Chnnnan, i. 10.) For
other attempted explanations of the Hebrew term,
somp. Celsius, f/ierob. i. 24. The LXX. and Vulg.
read terebinth, the Persian version has pmteh, from
which it is believed the Arabic foetak is derived,
whence the Greek tio-t<Uio, and the Latin putacia ;
the Putacia vera a hi form not unlike the P. terv-
binthuM, another species of the same genus of plants;
it is probable therefore that the terebinthm of the
LXX. and Vulg. is used genetically, and is hen
intended to denote the pistachio-tree, for the tere-
binth does not yield edible fruit 6 Syria and Pal-
estine have been long famous for pistachio-trees;
see Dioscorides (i. 177), and Pliny (xiii. 6), who
says " Syria has several trees that are peculiar to
itself; among the nut-trees there is the well-known
pistacia; " in another place (xv. 22) he states that
Vitellius introduced this tree into Italy, and that
Klaccus Pompeius brought it at the same time into
Spain. The district around Aleppo is especially eess-
brated for the excellence of the pistachio-nuts, sat
Russell (Hut. of Alep. i. 82, 2d ed.) and Galen
(<le Fae. Alim. 2, p. 613), who mentions Berrhoea
(Aleppo) as being rich in the production of the**
trees ; the town of Batna in the same district is be-
lieved to derive its name from this circumstance
Betoniin, a town of the tribe of Gad (Josh. xiii. 26).
has in all probability a similar etymology. [Bkto-
nim.] Boehart draws attention to the fact that
pistachio-nuts are mentioned together with almonds
in Gen. xliii. 11, and observes that Dioscorides,
Theophrastus, and others, speak of the pistachio-
tree conjointly with the almond-tree. At there it no
mention in early writers of the Pistacia vtra grow-
ing in Egypt (see Celsius, Hierub. i. 27), it was
doubtless not found there in Patriarchal times,
wherefore Jacob's present to Joseph would have
been most acceptable. There is scarcely any allu-
sion to the occurrence of the Pittaci'i vera in Pal-
estine amongst the writings of modem travellers ;
Kitto ( Pliys. llitt. Pal p. 323 ) says « it is not much
cultivated in Palestine, although found there grow-
ing wild in some very remarkable positions, as on
Mount Talior, and on the summit of Mount Atta-
rous " (see llurckhardt, Syria, p. 334). Dr. Thom-
son (Land and Book, p. 367) says that the tere-
binth trees near Mait eUJtbtl had been grafted
with the pistachio from Aleppo by order of Ibrahim
Pasha, but that " the peasants destroyed the grafts,
lest their crop of oil from the berries of these trees
should be diminished." Dr. Hooker saw only two
or three pistachio-trees in Palestine. These were
outside the north gate of Jerusalem. But ho says
the tree is cultivated at Beirut and elsewhere in
Syria. The Pittaeia vera is a small tree varying
from 15 to 30 ft. in height; the male and female
flowers grow on separate trees ; the fruit, which it
a green-colored oily kernel, not unlike an almond,
is inclosed in a brittle shell. Pistachio-nuts art
much esteemed as an article of diet both by Orien-
tals and Europeans ; the tree, which belongs to the
natural order Anacardiacaa, extends from Syria
to Bokhara, and is naturalized over the south of
Europe; the note are too well known to need ml
mite description.
3. font (TT2$: Kapia- ma) occurs only ia
Cant. ri. 11, "I "went into the garden of nuts."
« 1. yO , m., n 0rp6<, tutrix, nutritiue; fTJIjM,
, n0rp6t,nutrix, from Jljlj, to carry (as* It. lx.4).
3. nj$ , S» P"*- * moh > boa P?» "•"*.'*
nth nt»M, ymni rpo^mWa (Bx. II 7). Connected
vlth toll It the doubtful vert jTft fW&>, nttrio
let. •. 887).
that rpo+*f , matrix (1 Thais, n. 7)
The Aratdo
(butm ) appears to be also i
generically. Ii Is more generally applied to the ten.
blnth, but may comprehend the pistachio-tree, as Oc-
senJns conjectures, and Dr. Royle (Kltto's CyeL) has
proved. He says the word Is applied In some Ambit
works to a tree which has green-color*** Kernels Tins
most be the Pittaeia tarns.
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
£200
NYMPHAS
The Hebrew won! in all probability is here to I*
understood to refer to the Walnut-tree ; the Greek
<n>fiua is supposed to denote the tree, xifoov the
nut (are Soph. Fr. 892). Although ndpuoy and
mix may signify any kind of nut, yet the walnut,
as the nut tot' ito%1\y, U more especially that
which is denoted by the Greek and Latin terms
(see Casaubon on Athtnmu, ii. 65; Ovid, Nux
Elegi-i ; Celsius, Hierob. i. 28). The Hebrew term
is evidently nllied to the Arabic jaws, which is
from a Persian word of very similar form ; whence
Abu'l Kadli (in Celsius) says " the Arabs have bor-
rowed the word Gjaut from the Persian; hi Arabic
the term is Cliiaf, which is a tail tree." The
Chutf or Chatf, is translated by Freytag, "an
nculent nut, the walnut" The Jewish Kabbis
understand the walnut by Eydz.
Aeeording to Josephns (B. J. Ui. 10, § 8) the
walnut-tree was formerly common, and grew most
luxuriantly around the lake of Gennesaret; Schulz,
speaking of this game district, says be often saw
walnut-trees growing there large enough to shelter
four-and-twenty persons. See also Kitto (Phy.
Ilitt. Pal. p. 250) and Burckhardt (Syria, p. 266).
The walnut tree (.luylnns rtyia) belongs to the
natural order Jugtmuhicea ; it is too well known
to require any description. W. II.
* The walnut is cultivated very extensively in
Syria At J tain el-llaUny, on the side of JrM
Kithin, inland alxnit five hours from Sidon. there
are large orchards of this tree, and the nuts are very
cheap. I have liought them at a dollar and a quar-
ter a thousand, including their transportation to
a village two days distant. They are of the best
quality. The common name for them in Syria is
)*-&■>> which is undoubtedly the same as the
Hebrew (tHatf). G. E. P.
NYMTHA8 (Ni;/upSf [tpome, bridegroom] :
Mym/ihat), a wealthy and zealous Christian in
Laodicea (Col. iv. 15). His bouse was used aa a
place of assembly for the Christians; and hence
Grotius. making an extraordinarily high estimate
of the probable number of Christians in Taodioea,
infers that he must have lived in a rural district.
In the Vatican HS. (B) this name is taken for
that of a woman ; and the reading appears in some
Latin writers, aa pseudo-Ambrose, peeudo-Anselm,
and it ha* been adopted in Lsichmann's N. T.
The common reading, however, is found in the
Alexandrian MS. and in that of Epbrem Syrus
(A and C). and is the only one known to the Greek
Fathers. W. T. B.
o.
OAK. The following Hebrew words, which
appear to be merely various forms of the same
root," occur in the 0- T. aa the names of some
species of oak, namely, it, lUth, 06n, Udn, alUh,
tnd allin.
1. El (V»M: LXX. Vat. T « p4$iy9of, Atex.
"eovpirtot; Aq., Sym., Theod., Spit! eampettria)
only in the sing, number in Gen. xiv. 6
• trom \»m% VH • V?!}, «to be strong.'
OAK
(•> H-naran ">. It is uncertain ahether If snoot*
be joined with 1'srao to form a proper nanie, ot
whether it is to be taken separately, as the "tere-
binth," or the "oak," or the "grove" of Paran
Onkelos and Saadias follow the Vulg., whence the
"plain " of the A. V. (margin). (See Stanley, &
4 P. pp. 619, 620, App.) Kosenmulkr (Sehol. ad
1. c.) follows Jarcbl (Comment, in Pent, ad Gen.
xiv. 6), and is for retaining the proper name.
Three plunl form of il occur: i&m, ilMk, and
(lath. Ehm, the second station where the Israel-
ites halted after they had crossed the Bed Sea. hi
all probability derived its name from the seventy
palm-trees there; the name il, which mors pst>
ticularly signifies an "oak," being here put for
any grove or plantation. Similarly the other
plural form, ilith or iliitli, may refer, aa Stanley
(S. c* P- P- 20) conjectures, to the palm-grove at
Akaba. The plural elim occurs in Is. L 29, where
probably "oaks" are intended, in Is. bd. 3, and
Ez. xxxi. 14, any strong nourishing trees may be
denoted.
2. Elih (n^M: TV/Wot, tpos, 'HAe*. Up
Spoy, StySpoy avo-Kla(or, Symm.; wAaVavos u.
Hot. iv. 13; SivSooy <rwrKu>y: tereMnthtu,quema.
"oak," "dah," "teU-tree" in Is. vi. 18: "elms"
in Hoe. iv. 13). There is much difficulty in de-
termining the exact meanings of the several varie-
ties of the term mentioned above: the old versions
are so inconsistent thet they add but little by way
of elucidation. Celsius (Hierob. 1. 34) has en-
deavored to show that ft, elim, (Ion, tl&k, and
alldh, all stand for the terebinth-tree (Pitaaa
terebinthut), while nllin alone denotes an oak.
Koyle (in Kitto's Cyc. art. " Alah ") agrees with
Celsius in identifying the ilah (n^H) with the
terebinth, and the allon O'lVH) with the oak.
Hiller (HieraphuL i. 348) restricts the virions
forms of this word to different species of oak, and
says no mention is made of the terebinth in the
Hebrew Scriptures. Roeenmiiller (Bib. Not. p.
237) gives the terebinth to il and ilih, and the
oak to alUh, allin, and fldn O'lV^I).
For the various opinions upon the meaning of
these kindred terms, see ties. Thet. pp. 47, 51*
103, and Stanley, S. if P. p. 619.
That various species of oak may well hate de-
served the appellation of mighty trees is clear, from
tbe nut that noble oaks are to this day occasionally
seen in Palestine and Lebanon. On this subject
we have been favored with some valuable remarks
from Dr. Hooker, who says, "The forests nave
been so completely cleared off all Palestine, that
we must not look for existing evidence of what
the trees were in Biblical times and antecedently.
In Syria proper there are only three common oaks.
All form large trees in many countries, but very
rarely now in Palestine; though that they do as
occasionally is proof enough that they once did.'
Abraham's oak, near Hebron, is a familiar example
of a noble tree of one species. Dr. Robinson
(BM. Ra. ii. 81) has given a minute account of
it; and "his description," says Dr. Hooker, "is
good, and his measurements tally with mine."
If we examine the claims of the terebinth to rep-
resent the llih, as Celsius and others assert, we
shall see that in point of size it cannot compete
with some of the oaks of Palestine; and thai
therefore, if MM ever denotes the terebinth, whk*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OAK
M oy DO means assert it does not, the term ety-
usotogicauy is applicable to It only in a second
degree; tor the Pittacia terebinthui. although it
also occasionally grows to a great size, " spreading
its boughs," as Robinson (Bibl. Res. ii. 222) ob-
serves, "far and wide like a noble oak," yet it
does not form so conspicuously a good tree as
either the Querent pttudo-ooecijera or Q. agilopt.
Dr. Thomson (Land and Book, p. 248) remarks
on this point: " There are more mighty oaks here
iu this imirediate vicinity (Mejdtl et-Skemt) than
there are terebi-.ths in all Syria and Palestine
together. I have travelled from end to end of
these countries, and across them in all directions,
and speak with absolute certainty." At p. 000, the
same writer remarks, " We have oaks in Lebanon
twice the sue of this (Abraham's oak), and every
way more striking and majestic." Dr. Hooker
has no doubt that Thomson is correct in saying
there are far finer oaks in l-ebanon; "though," he
observes, " I did not see any larger, and only one
or two at all near it. Cyril Graham told me there
were forests of noble oaks in Lelenou north of the
OAK
2201
cedar valley " It is evident from those tbsava-
tions that two oaks (Quercui ptenda-ecedfen
and Q. ayilopt) are well worthy of the name of
mighty trees; though it is equally true that over
a greater part of the country the oaks of Palestine
are at present merely bushes.
3. EUm O'Vm : i, tpvi 4 tyv\4>, r, *Uai ot,
'H\«V : eonvallii illustrit, querent) occurs fre-
quently in the O. T., and denotes, there can be
little doubt, some kind of oak. The A. V., fol-
lowing the Targum, translates tlfa by "plain."
(See Stanley, 8. <f P. p. 520, App.)
4. lion (7VN : Untport arbor) is found only
in Dan. iv. as the tree which Nebuohadnesaar taw
in his dream. The word appears to be used for
any "strong tree," the oak having the best dala
to the title, to which tree probably indirect allu-
sion may be made.
h ripiuwtot'- Aq. and Syin»
Aim(7l\t*:
t) Spv>: querent) occurs only in Josh, siiv
and is correctly rendered "oak " by the A. V.
28
■s oak In ths Hates of Messrs.
6. JBim (IV?** : r; $i\ms, BMw 0a\<i»ov,
Spit- qu er en t) is uniformly rendered "oak" by
the A. V., and has always been so understood by
commentators. It should be stated that all&n
occurs in Hoe. tv. 13, as distinguished from the
other form iWt; consequently it is necessary to
suppose that two different trees are signified by
the terms. We believe, for reasons given above,
mat toe difference is specific, and not generic —
that two species of oaks are denoted by the Hebrew
terms: alUm may stand for an evergreen oak, as
the Querent pteudo-eoccifera, and il&k tat one
I' the deciduous kinds. The Pittacin vera could
•ar lie mistaken for an oak. It therefore.
specific allusion was ever made to this tree, wi
cannot help believing that it would have Uw
under another name than any one of the numer
ous forms which are used to designate the different
species of the genus Querent; perhaps under s
Hebrew form allied to the Arable butm, « the tere-
binth." The oak-woods of Bashan are mentioned
in Is. ii. 13; Ez. uvii. 6; Zech. xi. «. The oaks
of Baahan belong in all probability to the specie*
known as Quercui agilopt, the Vakmia oak, whic.'
is said to be common in Giiead and ijaahac
Sacrifices were offered under oaks (Hos. iv. 13: Ii
1. 30); of cak-timber the Tyrians manuactursc
oars (Ks uvii 6). and idolater* *h»ir imtgea (Is
Digitized by
Google
2i02
OAK
tllr. U); under the shade of oak-tree* the Head
mn sometimes interred (Gen. xxxv. 8; ice also
I Sam. mi. 18).
Quints pseudo-cocci/tnt.
Another species or oak, betides those named
above, is the Querent infectoria, which is common
In Galilee and Samaria. It is rather a small tree
in Palestine, and seldom grows shore 30 ft. high,
though in ancient times it might have been a
noble tree.
For a description of the oaks of Palestine, see
Dr. Hooker's paper read before the Linneaii Society,
Jane, 1861, [and Tristram's Nat. llitt. of Ihe
BiU., pp. 367-371.] W. H.
* The Queraufatdo-eoeci/era, the evergreen
task of Syria, is the largest spedes. It is the one
•anally found near the Welies or tombs of the
arophett.
• X tlvfr*, Apt 1 , maiutietio, jwamaavm, with
•avaw/K 7M, the namo of God (Ots. pp. 44,»).
OATH
Q. mgilapi does not ordinarily attain as large
a size, and, as its leaves are deciduous, it is not a
favorite in the neighborhood of tombs. Neverthe-
less it is often found in groves, rarely by itself in
anr 1 around grave-yards. The number of forests
of this and the preceding species is immense
The oomuon name for Q. ptatdo-eocctfera is
,oLj Juuu, SimKA*, and of Q. mgiiapt J«Xc,
Meiiil. Then it another common species called
JU, lik, by the Arabs. G. S. P.
OATH." I. The principle on which an oati.
is held to be binding is incidentally laid down in
Heb. vi. 16, namely, at an ultimate aj ipeal to divine
authority to ratify an assertion (see the principle
stated and defended by Philo, De Leo. AUet,. iii.
73, i. 128, ed. Mang.). There the Almighty it
represented at promising or denouncing with an
oath, i. e. doing so in the moat positive and solemn
manner (see such passages as Gen. xxii. 16, xii. 7,
compared with ixiv. 7 : Ex. xvii. 16 and Lev. xxvi.
14 with Dan. ix. 11; 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13, with Act*
U. 30; Ps. ex. 4 with Heb. vii. 21, 28; Is. xlv. 28;
Jer. xxii. 5, xxxii. 22). With this Divine assever-
ation we may compare the Stygian oath of Greek
mythology (Ifcm. ILxv. 37; He*. Thtoy. 400, 805 :
see also the Linos of Menu, e. viii. 110 ; Sir W
Jones, Works, iii. 291).
II. On the same principle, that oath has always
been held most binding which appealed to taw
highest authority, both as regards individuals and
communities, (a.) Thus believers in Jehovah ap-
pealed to him, both judicially and extra-judicially,
with such phrase* at " The God of Abraham
judge; " " As the Lord lireth; " " God do so to
me and more also ; " " God knoweth," and the like
(see Gen. xxi. 23. xxxi. 63; Num. xiv. 2, xxx. 2;
1 Sam. xiv. 39, 44; 1 K. ii. 42; la. xlriii. 1, lxv.
16; Hoe. iv. 16). So alto our Lord himself ac-
cepted the high-priest's adjuration (Matt, xxvi
63), and St. Paul frequently appeals to God in con-
firmation of his statements (Acts xxvi. 29: Rom.
i. 9, ix. 1; 2 Cor. i. 28, xi. 31 . Phil. i. 8: sea
also Rev. x. 6). (6.) Appec!* cf this kind to au-
thorities recognized respectively by adjuring parties
were regarded as bonds of international security,
and their infraction as being not only grounds of
International complaint, but also offenses against
divine justice. So Zedekiah, after swearing fidelity
to the king of Babylon, was not only punished by
him, but denounced by the prophet at a breaker of
his oath (2Chr. xxxvi. 13: Ex. xvii. 13, 18). Some,
however, have supposed that the Law forbade any
intercourse with heathen nations which involved
the necessity of appeal by them to their own deities
(Ex. xxiii. 32: Selden, De Jur. Nat. ii. 18; see
Liv. i. 24: Lam of Menu, viii. 118; Diet, of
Antitj. " Jut Jurandum ").
III. As a consequence of this principle, (a) ap-
peals to God'* name on the one hand, and to heatbew
deities on the other, are treated in Scripture at
tests of allegiance (Ex. xxiii. 18, xxxiv. 8; Dent
nix. 12; Josh, xxiii. 7, xxiv. 16; 2 Chr.xv. 12
14; la. xix. 18, xlv. 28; Jer. xii. 1« ; Am. vitt
1 nyD?J and n^tf?, from 231$,
th« saere-t Bas&bsr («•*. ap. t«54, 1868), ipcoc,
meaMaa.
Digitized by
Google
OATH
U.Zeph.i.l>). (*) So also the sovereign's nw I*
lometimes and as a form of obligation, as wm the
:s*e among the Romans with the name of the em-
peror; and Hofmann quotei a custom by which the
kings of France used to appeal to themselves at
their coronation (Gen. xlii. 15; 2 Sam. xi. 11, xiv.
ID; Martyr. S. Polycarp. c ix.; Tertull. ApoL a.
39; Suet. Call;, c. 87; Hofmann, Lex. art. " Ju-
nuuentum " ; Diet, of Antiq. u. s. ; Michaclis, On
Uuet of Motet, art. 256, vol. iv. 102, ed. Smith).
IV. Other forms of oath, serious or frivolous,
are motioned; as, by the " Mood of Abel " (Selden,
Dtjur. Not. t. 8); by the "head; " by " Heaven,"
the " Temple," etc., some of which are condemned
by our Lord (Matt v. 83, xxiii. 18-82; and see
Jam. v. 12). Yet He did not refuse the solemn
adjuration of the high-priest (Matt. xxrt. 83, 64;
we Juv. Sat vi. 16; Mart, xi. 94; Mishna, Sanh.
lii. 2, compared with Am. viii. 7; Spencer, Dt
Leg. Htbr. ii. 1-4).
As to the subject-matter of oaths the following
cases may be mentioned: —
1. Agreement or stipulation for performance of
certain acts (Gen. xiv. 22, xxiv. 2, 8, 9; Ruth 1.
17; 1 Sam. xiv. 24; 2 Sam. v. 8; Ear. x. 5; Neb.
v. 12, x. 29, xiii. 95; Act* xxiii. 21; and eee
Joseph. Ftt e. 53).
2. Allegiance to a sovereign, or obedience from
an inferior to a superior (Eccl. viii. 2; 2 Chr. xxxvi.
13; 1 K. xviii. 10). Josaphus says the Essenes
considered oaths unnecessary for the initiated,
though they required them previously to initiation
(B. J. ii. 8, §§ 6, 7 : Ant xv. 10, { 4; PUJo, Quod
mil /irvbut, I. 12, ii. 458, ed. Maogay.).
3. Promissory oath of a ruler (Josh. vi. 96;
1 Sara. xiv. 94, 28; 2 K. xxv. 94; Matt xiv. 7).
Priests took no oath of office (Heb. vii. 21).
4. Vow made in the form of an oath (Lev. v. 4).
5. Judicial oaths, («.) A man receiving a pledge
from a neighbor was required, in case of injury
happening to the pledge, to clear himself by oath
of the blame of damage (Ex. xxii. 10, 11 ; 1 K. viiL
31; 2 Chr. vi. 22). A willful breaker of trust, es-
pecially if he added perjury to his fraud, was to be
severely punished (Lev. vi it— 5; Deut xix. 16-18).
(5.) It appears that witnesses were examined on
oath, and that a false witness, or one guilty of sup-
pression of the truth, was to be severely punished
(Lev. v. 1; Prov. xxix. 94; Michaelis, U c art. 256,
iv. 109; Deut xix. 16-19; Grotius, in Oriu 8aer.
on Matt xxvi. 63 ; Knobel on Lev. v. 1, in Kvrtg.
Pxtg. U'mdb.). (e.) A wife suspected of incon-
tinence was required to clear herself by oath (Mum.
'. 19-22).
It will be observed that a leading feature of Jew-
en criminal procedure was that the accused person
was put upon his oath to clear himself (Ex. xxii.
11; Num. v. 19-22; 1 K. viii. 81; 2 Chr. vi. 22;
Matt. xxvi. 68).
The forms of adjuration mentioned in Scripture
ere : 1. Lifting up the hand. Witnesses laid their
hands on the bead of the accused (Gen. xiv. 22;
Lev. xxiv. 14: Deut xxxii. 40; Is. Hi. 7; Ex. xx.
K 6; Sue. v. 85; Rev. x. 6; see Horn. It. xix.
<54; Virg. JEn. xii. 196; Carptov, Apparatut,
p. 652).
2. Putting the hand under the thigh of the per-
m to whom the promise was made. As Josaphus
esscribss the usage, this osremony wss performed
•y each of the contracting parties to each other. It
vs been <n plained (a) as having reference to the
of dreams iaiini (Gedwyn, Motet and
OATH
220*
Aaron, vL 6, Carpaor, L c p. 658); (5) a* ooav
taining a principle similar to that of phallic sym-
bolism (Her. ii. 48; Plut. />. tt Otir. vii. 412, ed.
Reiske; Knobei on Gen. xxiv. 2, in Kurzg. Exeg.
Hdb.)\ (c) as referring to the promised Messiah
(Aug. Qm. in Bept. 62; CS». Dei, xvi. 33). It
seems likely that the two first at least of these ex-
planations may be considered as closely connected,
if not identical with each other (Gen. xxiv. 2, xlvii.
29; Nicolaus, De Jur. xi. 6; Gee. p. 631, t. *.
TH1V Fagius »nd others in CriL 8acr.\ Joseph.
Ant. i. 16, § 1).
3. Oaths were sometimes taken before the altar,
or, as some understand the passage, if the persona
were not in Jerusalem, in a position looking towards
the Temple (1 K. viii. 31; 2 Chr. vi. 22; Godwyn,
L e. vi. 6; Carpzov, p. 654; see also Juv. Sat. xtf.
219; Horn. H xiv. 979).
4. Dividing a victim and passing between or
distributing the pieces (Gen. xv. 10, 17 ; Jer. xxxiv.
18). This form was probably used to intensify the
imprecation already ratified by sacrifice according
to the custom described by classical writers under
the phrases tpKia TJ/wtty, fmhu ferire, etc We
may perhaps regard in this view the acta recorded
Judg. xix. 29, 1 Sam. xi. 7, and perhaps Herod,
vii. 39.
As the sanctity of oaths was carefully inculcated
by the Law, so the crime of perjury was strongly
condemned; and to a false witness the same punish-
ment was assigned which was due for the crime to
which he testified (Ex. xx. 7; Lev. xix. 12; Deut
xix. 16-19; Ps. xv. 4; Jer. v. 2, vii. 9; Es. xvi
69; Ho*, x. 4; Zech. viii. 17). Whether the
" swearing " mentioned by Jeremiah (xxiii. 10) and
by Hoeea (iv. 2) was false swearing, or profane
abuse of oaths, is not certain, if the latter, the
crime is one which had been condemned by the
Law (Lev. xxiv. 11, 16; Matt xxvi. 74).
From the Law the Jews deduced many special
eases of perjury, which are thus classified: 1. Jut
jttrandum promittorium, a rash inconsiderate prom-
ise for the future, or false assertion respecting the
past (Lev. v. 4). 9. Vanum, an absurd self-con-
tradictory assertion. 3. Dtpotiti, breach of con-
tract denied (Lev. xix. 11). 4. Tettimonii, judicial
perjury (Lev. v. 1; Nicolaus and Seldeu, DeJura-
meruit, in Ugolini, Thttaurut, xxvi.; Lightfoot,
Hot. Hebr. on Matt v. 83, vol. ii. 292; Mishna,
Sheb. iii. 7, iv. 1, v. 1, 9; Otho, Ltx. Rabb., art
" Juramentum " ).
Women wet* forbidden to bear witness on oath, as
was inferred from Deut six. 17 (Mishna, Bheb. iv. 1).
The Christian practice in the matter of oaths
was founded in great measure on the Jewish. Thus
the oath on the Gospels was an imitation of the Jew-
ish practice of placing the hands on the Book of th*
Law (P. Fagius, on Onktl nd Ex. xxiii. 1 ; Justin-
ian, Nov. c. viii. Epil : Matth. Paris. IlitU p. 910V
Our Lord's prohibition of swearing was clearly
always understood by the Christian Church as di-
rected against profane and careless swearing, not
aguinat tin serious judicial form ( Bingham, Antiq.
EccL xvi. 7, H 4, 5; Aug. if. 167, c. v. 40); and
thus we find the fourth Council of Carthage (c. 61)
reproving clerical persons for swearing by created
objects
The most solemn Mohammedan oath is made on
the open Koran. Mohammad himself used the
fom, " By the setting of the stars " (Cnardin,
Voy. vi. 87; Safe's Koran, lvi. p. 437).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2204 OBADIAH
Bedouin Arabs me various sorts of adjuration,
one of which somewhat resemble* the oath " by
the Temple." The person takes hold of the mid-
dle tent-pole, and swears by the life of the tent and
ill owners (Burekhardt, Nota on Bed. i. 137, foil. ;
see aim another ease mentioned bj Burekhardt,
Byrin, p. 388).
The stringent nature of the Roman military
«tli, and the penalties attached to infraction of it,
are alluded to, more or less certainly, in several
places in N. T., e. g. Matt. viii. 9, Acta xii. 19,
xvi. 27, xxvii. 42; see also Dionys. HaL xi. 43,
and AuL Cell. xvi. 4. [Pkbjvbt.] H. W. P.
OBADI'AH 0TJ"P& [fsnmf of Jehovah] :
ABtia; [Vat A08«a':] Obdia). toe name of
Obadiah was prouably as common anion,? the He-
brews as Abdallah among the Arabians, both of
them having the same meaning and etymology.
1. The sons of Obadiah are enumerated in a
corrupt passage of the genealogy of the tribe of
Judah (1 Chr. iii. 21). The reading or the LXX.
and Tulg. was "0?, "Ida ton," and of thePeahito
Syriao "75, " son of," for ''35, "sons of;" so
that according to the two former versions Obadiah
was the son of Arnan. and according to the last
the son of Jesaiab.
3. ('Afittai; [Vat corrupt; Alex. OflJia:]
Obndin.) According to the received text, one of
the fire sons of Izrabiah, a descendant of Issachar
and a chief man of bis tribe (1 Chr. vii. 3). Four
only, however, are mentioned, and the discrepancy
is rectified in four of Kennicott's MSS., which omit
the words " and the sons of Izrahiah " thus mak-
ing Izrahiah brother and not father, of Obadiah, and
both sons of Uzzi. The Syriac and Arabic ver-
sions follow the received text, but read " four "
instead of " five."
3. (AflMa; [Vat Sin. A/JJeic,:] Obdia.) One
ef the six sons of Axel, a descendant of Saul (1
Chi. viii. 38, ix. 44).
*. pA08i'a; Vat Aj3J eu »; Alex. 0/38io.] A
Levite, son of Shemaiah, and descended from
Jeduthun (1 Chr. ix. 16). He appears to have
been a principal musician in the Temple choir in
the time of Nehemiah (Neh. xii. 25). It is evi-
dent, from a comparison of the last-quoted passage
with 1 Chr. ix. 15-17 and Neh. xi. 17-19, that
the first three names " Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah,
Obadiah," belong to ver- 24, and the last three,
" Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub," were the families
ef porters. The name is omitted in the Vat. MS.
[so in Rom. Alex. FA 1 ] in Neh. xii. 2o, where
J» Codex Frid.-Aug. [FA. 8 ] has 'o$Slm and
the Vnlg. ObetUa, In Neh. xi. 17, « Obadiah the
son of Shemaiah, is called " Abda the son of
Shammua."
6. ([Vat FA. Aflotia:] Obdiag.) The second
In older of the lion-faced Gadites, captains of the
host, who joined David's standard at Ziklag (1
Chr. xU. 9).
6. ['AjSSfa: Vat Apia-] One of the princes
3f Judah in the reign of Jehoshaphat, who were
■ent by the king to teach in the cities of Judah
(« Chr. xvii. 7).
7. CA£«8m ; [Vat At, La :] 06e*i.) The
on of Jebiel, of the sons of Joab, who came up
ta the second caravan with Earn, accompanied by
US of his kinsmen (Ear. viii. 9). [Abadias.]
8. PAMfa; [Vat FA A08**:] Vbdiat.) A
OBADIAH
priest, or family of priests, wh> seeled Use aevo
nant with Nehemiah (Neh. x. 5). W. A W.
9. CO/3«io(J; [Vat OjSScuw; Alex. Afittun
(Inser.), AjSSiauO Abdiat.) The prophet Obadiah.
We know nothing of him except what we can
gather from the short book which bears his name.
The Hebrew tradition adopted by St Jerome (/■
AM.), and maintained by Abarbanel and Kimchi,
that he is the same person as the Obaduh of
Ahab's reign, is as destitute of foundation as
another account, also suggested by Aharbanel,
vrhich makes him to have been a converted Idn-
auean, " the hatchet," according to the Hebrew
proverb, "returning into the wood out of which
it was itself taken" (Abarb. In Obad. apud
PfeMeri Opera, p. 1092, TJItraj. 1704). The
question of his date must depend upon the Inter-
pretation of the 11th verse of his prophecy. He
there speaks of the oonqnest of Jerusalem and
the captivity of Jr.m/b. If he is referring to the
well-known captivity by Nebuchadnezzar he D4nt
have lived at the time of the Babylonish Captivity,
and have prophesied subsequently to the year B. c.
588. If, further, his prophecy against Edom found
its first fulfillment in the conquest of that oountry
by Nebuchadneazar in the year B. c. 583, we have
its date fixed. It must have been uttered at tome
time in the five years which intervened be t ween
those two dates. Jeger argues at length for an
earlier date. He admits that the 11th verse refers
to a capture of Jerusalem, but maintains that it
may apply to its capture by Shishak in the reign
of Rehoboam (1 K. xiv. 25; 2 Chr. xii. 2); by the
Philistines and Arabians in the reign of Jehoraai
(2 Chr. xxl. 16); by Joash In the reign of Amadah
(2 Cbr. xxv. 23); or by the Chaldeans in the reign
of Jehoiakim and of Jehoiacbin (2 K. xxiv. 2 and
10). The Idumaeans might, be argues, have Joined
the enemies of Judah on any of these occasions,
as their inveterate hostility from an early date is
proved by several passages of Scripture, «. g. Joel
iii. 19; Am. i. 11. He thinks it probable that
the occasion referred to by Obadiah is the capture
of Jerusalem by the Ephraimites in the reign of
Amaziah (2 Chr. xxv. 23). The utmost force of
these statements is to prove a possibility. The
only argument of any weight for the early date
of Obadiah is his position in the list of the books
of the minor prophets. Why should he have been
inserted between Amos and Jonah if his date is
about B. o. 586 ? Schnurrer seems to answer this
question satisfactorily when he says that the proph-
ecy of Obadiah is an amplification of the last five
verses of Amos, and was therefore placed next after
the book of Amos. Our conclusion is in favor of
the later date assigned to him, agreeing herein with
that of Pfeifler, Schnurrer, Koeeuniiiller, De Wette,
Hendewerk, and Maurer.
The book of Obadiah is a sustained denunciation
of the Kdomites, melting, as is the wont of the
Hebrew prophets (cf. Joel Iii., Am. ix.), Into I
vision of the future glories of Zfon, when the arm
of the Lord should have wrought her deliverance
and have repaid double upon her enemies. Pre-
vious to the Captivity, the Kdomites were in •
similar relation to the Jews to that which the
Samaritans afterwards held. They were near neigh-
bora, and they were relatives. The result was that
Intensified hatred which such conditions are likely
to produce, if they do not produce cordiality and
g<od-will. The Edomltea are the types of those
who ought to be friend* and are sat— ef the*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OBADIAH
■ho ought to be helpers, but in the da y of calamity
are found "standing on the other aide." The
prophet first touches on their pride and self-confi-
dence, and then denounces their " violence against
their brother Jacob" at the time of the capture
of Jerusalem. There is a sad tone of reproach in
the form into which be throws bis denunciation,
which contrasts with the parallel denunciations of
Ezekiel (xxv. and xxxv.), Jeremiah (Lam. iv. 21),
and the author of the 137th Psalm, which seem to
hare been uttered on the same occasion and for the
same cause. The psalmist's " Remember the
children of Edom, Lord, in the day of Jeru-
salem, how they said, Down with it, down with it,
even to the ground ! " coupled with the imme-
diately srjooteding imprecation on Babylon, is a
sterner utterance, by the side of which the " Thou
■houldast not " of Obadiah appears rather as the
sad remonstrance of disappointment. He com-
plains that they looked on and rejoiced in the
destruction of Jerusalem; that they triumphed
aver her and plundered her; and that they cut off
the fugitives who were probably making their way
through Idumsea to Egypt.
The last six verses are the most important part
of Obadiab's prophecy. The vision presented to
the prophet is that of Zion triumphant over the
Idumasans and all her enemies, restored to her
ancient possessions, and extending her borders
northward and southward and eastward and west-
ward. He sees the house of Jacob and the house
of Joseph (here probably denoting the ten tribes
and the two) consuming the house of Esau as Are
devours stubble (ver. 18). The inhabitants of the
city of Jerusalem, now captive at Sepharad, are
to return to Jerusalem, and to occupy not only the
dty itself, but the southern tract of Judiea (ver.
90). Those who had dwelt in the southern tract
are to overrun and settle in Idumea (ver. 19).
The former inhabitants of the plain country are
also to establish themselves in Philistia (Hi. ). To
the north the tribe of Judah is to extend itself ss
far as the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, while
Benjamin, thus displaced, takes possession of Gilead
(ti>.). The captives of the ten tribes are to occupy
the northern region from the borders of the en-
larged Judah as far as Sarepta near Sidon (ver.
20). What or where Sepharad is no one knows.
The LXX., perhaps by an error of a copyist, read
'ZippaBi- St. Jerome's Hebrew tutor told bim
the Jews held it to be the Bosphorue. St Jerome
himself thinks it is derived from an Assyrian word
meaning; " bound " or " limit," and understands
it as signifying " scattered abroad." So Maurer,
who compares of ir rf Sicunropa of Jam. 1. 1.
Hardt, who has devoted a volume to the con-
sideration of the question, is in favor of Sipphara
in Mesopotamia. The modem Jews pronounce for
Spain. Sehultc is probably right in saying that
it is some town or district in Babylon, otherwise
unknown.
The question is asked, Hare the prophet's de-
nunciations of the Edomites been fulfilled, and has
lis vision of Zion's glories been realized? Typ-
ically, partially, and imperfectl; they have bean
fulfilled, but, as RosenmuJIer 'justly says, they
await a fuller accomplishment. The first fulfill-
ment nf the denunciation on Edom in C proba-
bility took place a few years sfter its utterance.
For we read in Josephus (Ant. x. 9, § 7) that fire
rears after the capture of Jerusalem Nebuehad-
sssaar reducer' the Ammonites and Moabttes, and
OBADIAH 2205
after their reduction made an ex|*dh\on inks
Egypt This he could hardly have done without
at the same time reducing Idumau. A more full,
but still only partial and typical fulfillment would
have taken place in the time of John Hyrcanus,
who utterly reduced the Idumsauis, and ouly
allowed them to remain in their country on the
condition of their being circumcised and accepting
the Jewish rites, after which their nationality
was lost for ever (Joseph. Ant. xiii. 9, § 1). Sim-
ilarly the return from the Babylonish Captivity
would typically and imperfectly fulfill the promise
of the restoration of Zion and the extension
of her borders. But " ntagnificentior sane eat
tueo promissio qtuun ut ad Sorobabelica ant
Maccabaica tempore referri possit," says Roam*
mttller on ver. 91. And « necessitaa eogtt ut om-
nia ad prndlcationem evangelii referamus," soya
Luther.
The full completion of the prophetical descrip-
tions of the glories of Jerusalem — the future
golden age towards which the seers stretched their
hands with fond yearnings — is to be looked for in
the Christian, not in the Jewish Zion — in the
antitype rather than in the type. Just as the fata
of Jerusalem and the destruction of the world are
interwoven and interpenetrate each other in the
prophecy uttered by our Lord on the mount, and
his words are in part fulfilled in the one event, but
only fully accomplished ir, the other ; so in figure
and in type the predictions of Obadiah may have
been accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar, Zerubbabel,
and Hyrcanus, but their complete fulfillment is
reserved for the fortunes of the Christian Church
and her adversaries. Whether that fulfillment has
already occurred in the spread of the Gospel through
the world, or whether it is yet to come (Rev. xx.
4), or whether, being conditional, it is not to be
expected save in a limited and curtailed degree, is
not to be determined here.
The book of Obadiah is a favorite study of the
modem Jews. It is here especially that they read
the future fate of their own nation and of the
Christians. Those unversed in their literature may
wonder where the Christians are found in the book
of Obadiah. But it is a fixed principle of Riib-
binical interpretation that by Edomites is prophet-
ically meant Christians, and that by Edom is meant
Rome. Thus Kimchi, on Obadiah, lays it down
that "all that the prophets hare said about the
destruction of Edom in the last times has refer-
ence to Rome." So Rabbi Bechai, on Is. Levi. 17;
and Aharband has written a commentary on Oba-
diah resting on this hypothesis ss its basis. Other
examples are given by Buxtorf (Lex. Tnlm. in vac
OYTJtt, and Synagoga Judaica). The reasons of
this Rabbinical dictum are as various and as
ridiculous as might be imagined. Nachmanides,
Bachai, and Abarbanel say that Janus, the first
king of Latium, was grandson of Esau. Kimchi
(on Joel iii. 19) says that Julius Cesar was an
Idumasan. Scaliger (ad Chrtm. Emeb. n. 2159;
reports, '• The Jews, both those who are compara-
tively ancient and those who are modem, believe
that Titus was an Edomite, and when the prophets
denounoe Edom they frequently refer it to Titus.
Aben Ezra says that there were no Christians
except such ss were Idunueans until the time ot
Constantino, and that Constantino having embraced
their religion the whole Roman empire became
entitled Idunuean. St Jerome says that sons* of
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2206
OBADIAH
the Jews read H^TI, Rome, for !"HpW f Dumah,
In la. xxi. 1 1. Finally, some of the Babbit, and
with thein Abarbanel, maintain that it wu the
soul of Esau which lived again In Christ.
The color given to the prophecies of Obadiah,
when looked at from this point of view, is most
curious. The following is a specimen from Abar-
banel on ver. 1 : " The true explanation, as I have
said, is to be found in this: The Idumseans, by
which, as I have shown, all the Christiana are to
be understood (for they took their origin from
Borne), will go up to lay waste Jerusalem, which is
the seat of holiness, arid where the tomb of their
God Jesus is, as indeed they have several times
gone up already." Again, on ver. S: "I have
several times shown that from Edom proceeded the
kings who reigned in Italy, and who built up
Rome to be great among the nations and chief
among the provinces; and in this way Italy and
Greece and all the western provinces became filled
with Idumaans. Thus it is that the prophets
call thi whole of that nation by the name of
Edom." On ver. 8: "There shall not be found
counsel or wisdom among the Edomite Christians
when they go up to that war." On ver. 19:
" Those who hare gone as exiles into the Edom-
ites', that is, into the Christians' land, and have
there suffered affliction, will deserve to have the
best part of their country and their metropolis
as Mount Seir." On ver. 20 : '• Sarepta " is
"Frances " "Sepharad " is "Spain." The "Mount
of Esau," in ver. 21, is •' the city of Rome," which
la to be judged; and the Saviours are to be "the
[Jewish] Messiah and his chieftains," who are to
be " Judges."
The first nine verses of Obadiah are so similar
to Jer. xlix. 7, Ac., that it is evident that one of
the two prophets must hare had the prophecy
of the other before him. Which of the two wrote
first is doulitful. Those who give an early date to
Obadiah therehr settle the question. Those who
place him later leave the question open, as he
would in that case be a contemporary of Jeremiah.
Luther holds that Obadiah followed Jeremiah.
Schnurrer makes it more probable that Jeremiah's
prophecy is an altered form of Obadiah's. Eich-
bom, Schulz, liosemniiller, and Maurer agree with
him.
See Ephrem Syrua, Ex/jL in Abd. v. 269, Rome,
1740; St. Jerome, Comm. in Abd. Op. iii. 1455,
Paris, 1704: Luther, A'nnrr. in Abd. Op. iii. 538,
Jena:, 1612; Pfeifter, Tract Phii. Antirrabbin.
Op. p. 1081, Ultraj. 1704; Schnurrer, Diuertalio
1'hiiJogicn in Obndiam, Tubing. 1787; Schulz,
SclioUa m let. Test. Norinib. 1793; RosenmuUer,
Hchoii-i in Vet. Tt$t. lips. 1813; Maurer, Comm.
m Vet. Test. Lips. 1836; Jaeger, Veber dot Ztit-
atter C-badja't, Tubing. 1837. F. M.
* For the commentators on the Minor Prophets
ne Amos; Habakkuk; Haogai (Amer. ed.).
Dr. Pusey'e unfinished work (Minor Propbtt; with
a Commentary (1861), and Dr. Paul Kleinert's Pt,
tix. of Ijuige's Bibeheerk dtt A. TttL (1868), con-
tain Obadiah. Other separate writers (see above)
are Zeddel (AnnaUM. in Ob. 1-4, 1830), Hendewerk
(Obadja oraculum in fdwnaoe (1836), C. P. Cae-
pari (Dtr Pnyibet Obndjak, 1842, an important
work, pp 1-145), Kr. Delltzsch (Warn* miungtt
Obadjuk 1 in ZriUehrifi fir hUkeriteb* Tktoi-
>aie, 1851, pp. 91-102), and Nagetsbseh (Hen.
eW-£*cufc. x. 606 ff.). The epitomized results in
OBADIAH
the recent O. T. Introductions (Keil 1859 an*
Bleak 1860) show how wide a field of criticises
this shortest book of the O. T. embraces.
Prof. Stuart (Old Ttrt. Canon, p. 403) points om*
a use of this prophetic fragment which the history
of nations shows to be sot yet obsolete. " When
Edom is held up before my eyes by Obadiah aa
having rushed upon the Jews, in the day of their
humiliation by the power of Babylon; when Uw
embittered enmity, the spirit of vengeance and of
rapacity, and the unspeakable meanness of thai
Edomites, and their consequent punishment, an
embodied and made palpable and held up to open
view in this way ; I am for more affected and even
instructed by It, than I am by any abstract pre-
cept " which may inculcate the same lesson. H.
10. ( ! 6V"$B : 'AjSSioo; [Vat A#8«ov; Alac
A80iou, eight times, but Afittov, ver. 9:] Abdhu.)
An officer of high rank in the court of Ahab, who
is described aa "over the house," that is, appar-
ently, lord high chamberlain, or mayor of the pal-
ace (1 K. xviii. 8). His influence with the king
must hare been great to enable him to retain hie
position, though a devout worshipper of Jehovah,
during the fierce persecution of the prophets by
Jezebel. At the peril of his life be concealed a hun-
dred of them in caves, and fed them there with
bread and water. But he himself does not seem
to have been suspected (1 K. xviii. 4, 13). The
occasion upon which Obadiah appears in the history
shows the confidential nature of his office. In the
third year of the terrible famine with which Sa-
maria was visited, when the fountains and stream*
were dried up in consequence of the long-continued
drought, and horses and mules were perishing for
lack of water, Ahab and Obadiah divided the land
between them and set forth, each unattended, to
search for whatever remnants of herbage might still
be left around the springs and in the fissures of the
river beds. Their mission was of such importance
that it could only be entrusted to the two principal
persons in the kingdom. Obadiah was startled oc
his solitary Journey by the abrupt apparition of
Elijah, who had disappeared since the commence-
ment of the famine, and now commanded him to
announce to Ahab, " Behold Elijah ! " He hesi-
tated, apparently afraid that his long-concealed at-
tachment to the worship of Jehovah should thus
be disclosed and his life fall a sacrifice. At the same
time he was anxious that the prophet should not
doubt his sincerity, and appealed to what he had
done in the persecution by Jezebel. But Eujah
only asserted the more strongly his intention of
encountering Ahab, and Obadiah had no choice
but to obey (1 K. xviii. 7-16). The interview and
its consequences belong to the history of Elijah
[voL i. p. 527]. According to the Jewish tradition
preserved in Ephrem Syrus (Assemani, BibL Or.
Clem. p. 70), Obadiah the chief officer of Ahab
was the same with Obadiah the prophet. He was
of Shechem in the land of Ephraim, and a disciple
of Elyah, and was the third captain of fifty who
was sent by Ahaaiah (9 K. i. 18). After this be
left the king's service, prophesied, died, and was
buried with his father. The " certain woman of
the wives of the sons of the prophets " who cams
to Elisha (2 K. Iv. 1) was, sooording to the tradi-
tion in Rashi, his widow.
11. CA|88fM| [Vat Aflttas.}) The father ot
Ishmaiah, who was chief of the tribe of Z i b stss
in Davids reign (1 Chr. xxvil 19V
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OTjAL
U- pAJW'w Vat. A£8«io>] A Merarite Le-
rita In the rugn of Josiah, and one of the over-
Ben of the workmen in the restoration of the
Trmpk (9 Cfar. xxxiv. 13). W. A. W.
(KBAL (bjTW [4<iM, frare, M mid of a coun-
try, Dietr.]: eWa: [Comp. N/SoA :] £M- Ann
of Joktan, am], like the reet of hii family, appar-
ently the founder of an Arab tribe (Gen. z. 88),
which haa not jet been identified. In 1 Chr. 1. 22 the
aame ii written Ebal \Xf$ • Alex. repw: Be-
bal\ which Knobel (Genem) eomparea with the
Ctlmmln of 1'liny, a tribe of Southern Arabia.
The aimUarity of the name with that of the Am-
ate, a troglodyte tribe of East Africa, induced Bo-
ebxrt (Pknteg, ii. 33) to conjecture that Obal mi-
grated thither and game hi* name to the Sinus
AbaOn or Amlitt* of Pliny (vi. 34).
W. A. W.
OBDI'A ('O08(a; [Vat. O0/9«o:] Obin).
Probably a corruption of Obaia, the form in which
the name H ah.viah appeara (comp. 1 Eedr. t. 38
with Ear. iL 81).
CBED (TaTO [he who lerrei, «c. Jehovah,
Gsa., Fiirst]: 'QMS; ['icfl^J, Alex, hi 1 Chr.,
and N. T. ed. Lachm. Tiach. Treg.:] Obert). L
Son of Boax and Kuth the Hoabiteu (Ruth iv. 17).
The circumatancea of hia birtb, which make up all
that we know about him, are Riven with much
beauty in the book of Ruth, and form a most in-
teresting specimen of the religious and social life
of the Israelites in the days of Eli, which a com-
parison of the genealogies of David, Samuel, and
Abiathar shows to have been about the time of bis
birth. The famine which led to Knmelecb and his
sons migrating to the land of Moab may naturally
oe assigned to the time of tbe Philistine inroads in
Eh"s old age. Indeed there is a considerable re-
semblance between the circumstances described in
Hannah's song (1 Sam. ii. 5), " They that were
hungry ceased, so that the barren hath borne seven,"
and those of Obed's birth as pointed at, Ruth i. 6,
, sod in the speech of the women to Naomi : " He
shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nour-
iaber of thine old age; for thy daughter-in-law
which loveth thee, which is better to thee than
seven sons, hath borne him : " as well as between
the prophetic saying (1 Sam. 11. 7), " The Lord
malceth poor, and maketh rich : be bringeth low,
sod lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of tbe
dost, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill,
to set them among princes, and to make them in-
herit the. throne of glory : " and the actual history
of tbe bouse of Elimelech, whose glory was prayed
for by the people, who said, on the marriage of
Kuth to Boas, " The Lord make the woman that
is come into thine bouse like Rachel and like Leah,
which two did build the house of Israel, and do
thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Beth-
lehem.'* The direct mention of the Lord's Christ
in 1 Sam. ii 10, also connects the passage remark-
ably with tbe birth o! that child who was grand-
father to King Davi£, and the lineal ancestor of
•ems Christ.
The name of Obed occurs only in Kuth iv. 17,
tad in the four genealogies, Ruth iv. 31, 23; 1 Chr.
• • Not in aUnaasah, says Kiletsehl (Heraog's
W&#. xx. SMS), bnt in Dan (Josh. xiv. 46- *xt
*H Tula writer rorognlses only oos Obtd-aaom,
■joejk ne doss not aipUln why the Lories Is apoar-
OBED-EDOM 2207
II. 13; Matt. L A; Luke iu. 32. In all these fin
passages, and in the first with peculiar emphasis
he is said to be the father of J tut. It Is Incred-
ible that in David's reign, when this genealogy was
compiled, his own grandfather's name should havs
been forgotten, and therefore there is nn escape from
the conclusion that Obed was literally Jesss's father
and that we have all the generations recorded from
Nahshon to David. [Jason; Nahshoh.]
A.C.H.
a. (Alex. [Aid.] let/8480 A descendant of
Jarha, the Egyptian slave of Sheahan in the lint
of JerahmeeL He was grandson of Zobad, one of
David's nighties (1 Chr. ii. 37, 38).
3. ('OM«; [Vat. lw/Sne; FA. I«j3ttA| 3o«n>
'n/8f,J;] Alex. IevSnS-) One of David's mighty
men (1 Chr. xi. 47).
4. 0007,8! Alex. I»0n8) One of the gate-
keepers of the Temple: son of Shemabth the first-
born of Obed-edom (1 Chr. xxvi. 7 ).
5. (Alex. \mfrrfi-) Father of Aiarlah, one of
the captains of hundreds who joined with Jehoiade
in the revolution by whleh Athaliah fell (3 Chr.
xxlii. 1). W. A. W.
CBED-ETJOM (nVl£ l^S [(errant of
Adorn]: 'A$tS8aal in Sam. '[and 1 Chr. liii. 18,
14], 'hfittt6n [Vat FA. A/38o8ou] In [1] Chr.
[xv. 25 j; Alex. A/JcSoaoo/t in 2 Sam. vi. 11;
[Vat. AjS(<8<uo/t, FA. -or, in 1 Chr. xiii. 14:]
Obed-edom). 1. A Invite, apparently of the family
of Kolmth. He is described as a Uittite (2 Sam.
vi. 10, 11), that is, probably, a native of the Le-
vities! city of Gath-Kimmon in Manasseh," which
was assigned to the Kohathites (.Insh. xxi. 25), and
is thus distinguished from " Obed-edom tbe son of
.teduthun," who was a Merarite. After the death
of L'zzah, the ark, which was being conducted
from the house of Abinadab iu Uibeah to the city
of David, was carried aside into the house of Obed-
edom, where it continued three months, and brought
with its presence a blessing upon Obed-edom and
hia household. Hearing this, David, at the head
of a large choir of singers and minstrels, cbthed
in fine linen, and attended by the elders of Israel
and the chief captains, " went to brim; up the ark
of tbe covenant of Jehovah out of the house of
Olwd-ednm with joy " (I Chr. xv. 28; 2 Sam. vi
13).
8. ['K$i(S6u.; Vat. FA. in 1 Chr. xvi. 6, 38,
KBSoSop; so Vat. xxvi. 4, 8, 15, and Alex. xvi. 38,
xxvi. 4. 8, and 16 once; FA. 1 Chr. xv. 18, AjSsV
«3»u: Vat. 1 2 Chr. xxv. 24, laffSttuf*; Comp. gen-
erally 'a$h> 'ESiip] " Obed-edom the son of
leriuthun " (1 Chr. xvi. 38), a Merarite Levitt),
appears to lie a different person from the last-men-
tioned. I le whs a Levite of the second degree and
a gate-keeper for the ark (1 Chr xv. 18, 24), ap
pointed to sound " with harps on the Sheminith to
excel " (IC'hr. xv. 21, xvi. 6). With his fiunily of
seven [eight] sons and their children, " mighty
men of valor " (1 Chr. xxvi. 4-8), he kept the South
Gate (1 Chr. xxvi. 15) and the house of Asuppim.
There is one expres s ion, however, which seems to
imply thitt Obed-edom the gate-keeper and Obed-
edom the Uittite may hare been the same. After.
enumerating his seven [eight] sons the chronicler
sntly called a Kohatnlts and a sou of Jaduthun at ths
same time. There Is no rsason except this tor sus>
posing two parsons of this nam* U> be moans, ■■
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2208
OBKTll
(1 Chr. xxvi. 5} add*, " for God blessed him," le-
ferring apparently to 2 Sam. vi. XI, "the Lord
blessed Obed-edom and all his household." The
family still remained at a much later time as keep-
en of the vessels of the Temple in the reign of
rfmsxiah (2 Chr. xxv. 21). W. A. W.
O'BETH ('Ofite; [Vat. Ovfay-] om. in
Vnlg.). £bkd the son of Jonathan is so called in
1 Eedr. viil. 82.
00811/ ( 1 ? , 9 , W [eamet-drimry. 'A/Mar: Alex.
[Aid.] Oi$las; [Comp. 'afit\i] Writ). An Ish-
maelite who was appropriate!; appointed keeper of
the herds of camels in the reign of David (1 Chr.
zxvii. 30). Bochart (Hierat. pt. i., ii. 2) conjec-
tures that the name is that of the office, alidl in
Arabic denoting " a keeper of camels."
OBLATION. [Sacrifice.]
OTJOTH (rfah [hoUou pautt, Fiirst]:
'a fiit; [Vat. in Num. xxxiii. 2a>/9«6:] Oboth),
one of the encampment* of the Israelites, east of
Moab (Num. xxi. 10, xxxiii. 43). Its exact site is
unknown. [Wilderness or the Waxderixg.]
• OCCUPY occurs in the sense of " to use,"
Exod. xxxriii. 24, Judg. xvi. 11, and especially, " to
use in trade," as money, or " to deal in," as mer-
chandise, Ez. xxrii. 9, 2 Esdr. xvi. 42; hence, in-
transitively, "to trade" or "traffic," Ez. xxvii.
18, " they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, pur-
ple," etc.; so Ez. xxvii. 19, 21, 22; I.uke xix. 13.
These uses of the word were formerly common.
So " the occupieri of thy merchandise," Ez. xxvii.
27, means " the traders in thy merchandise.''
A.
• OOCURKENT= "occurrence," 1 K.T.4.
A.
CCHIEL COx'SAos: Alex* OfiaAos: Ori-
el). The form in which the name Jkikl appears
in 1 Esdr. i. 9 (comp. 2 Chr.xxxv. 9). The Geneva
version has Chiklvs.
OCIDE'LUS COxibiJun; [Vat. n*oiAi)Jo«i]
Alex. Il«tiSq&o>: Jutno. Reddut). This name
occupies, in 1 Esdr. ix. 22, the place of Joaabad
in Ezr. x. 22, of which it is a manifest corruption.
The original name is more clearly traced in the
Vulgate.
OCI'NA ([Rom. 'OkW; Vat.] o««m, and so
Alex. ; [Sin. and] Vulg. omit). " Sour and
Ocina " are mentioned (Jud. ii. 28) among the
places on the sea-coast of Palestine, which were
terrified at the approach of Holofernes. The names
seem to occur in a regular order from north to
eouLa; and as Ocina ii mentioned between Sour
(Tyre) and Jemnaan (Jabneh), its position agrees
with that of the ancient Accho, now Aklca, and
in media?val times sometimes called Aeon (Bro-
eardus; William of Tyre, etc.). G.
OCKAN 0"??y [frtmbkr or troubled]:
'Ex/xtr: Ochran). The fa'her of Pagiel, chief of
a Dr. Hour hu suggested to us that the nam* Kku-
mln» repmnoti the ancient Hanth (JCAorert). This
Is ingenious, and may ha »or»et ; but Tobler ( Umgr-
imngt n, etc., pp. 622, £28) has mode out a strong rase for
he name being that of Charelton, or Kreton, a fiuuoiu
■seen* hermtt of the 3d or 4th century, who founded
ft Laura m the cavern In question. (See Acta Sonet.
vast. 28)
• Van da Veld* (Sfr- 1 P*>- ii. 88) Illustrates this
ODOLLAM
the tribe of Asher after the Exodus (Num. i. t*
ii. 27,viLT2, 77, x.28).
OTJED (Tj'W [erecniso, confirming] .
'Q&4S; Alex. Atat [and so Rom. Vat. in ver. 8:j
Oded). L The lather of Azariah the prophet in
the reign of Asa (2 Chr. xv. 1). In 2 Chr. xv. 8,
the prophecy in the preceding verses is attributed
to him, and not to his son. The Alex. MS. and the
Vulgate retain the reading which is probably the
true one, " Azariah the sou of Oded." These are
supported by the Peshito-Syriac, in which " Atur"
is substituted for Oded.
2. ['11848-] A prophet of Jehovah in Samaria,
at the time of Pekah's invasion of Judah. Josophus
(Ant ix. 12, $ 2) calls him 'nflnSaj. On the re-
turn of the victorious army with the 200,000 cap-
tires of Judan and Jerusalem, Oded met them and
prevailed upon them to let the captives go free (2
Chr. xxviii. 9). He was supported by the chivalrous
feelings of some of the chieftains of Ephrsim ; and
the narrative of the restoration of the prisoners, fed,
clothed, and anointed, to Jericho the city of palm-
trees, is a pleasant episode of the last days of the
northern kingdom. W. A. W.
ODOL'LAM ('OIoAAoV OdoUam). The
Greek form of the name Adcllam; found in 3
Mace. xii. 88 only. Adullam is stated by Eusebius
and Jerome (Onomait " Adollam ") to have been
in their day a large village, about 10 miles east of
Eleutberopolis ; and here (if Bdt-jibrin be Eleo-
tberopolis) a village with the name of Bet Dila
(Tobler, Bethlehem, p. 29; Dritte Wand. p. 161) or
Beit Via (Robinson, 1st ed. App. p. 1 17 ) now stands.
The obstacle to this identification is not that
Adullam, a town of the Shefelnli, should be found
in the mountains, for that puzzling circumstance is
not unfrequent (comp. Keilah, etc., ii. 1529 a),
so much as that in the catalogue of Joshua xv. it
is mentioned with a group Df towns (Zoreah, Socoh,
etc. ) which lay at the N. W. corner of Judah, while
Bet Dila is found with those (Nezib, Keilah, etc.)
of a separate group, farther south.
Further investigation is requisite before we can
positively say if there is any cavern in the neigh-
borhood of Bet Dila answering to the >' cave of
Adullam." The cavern at Khweilun* 3 miles
south of Bethlehem, usually shown to travellers as
Adullam, is so far distant as to put it out of the
question. It is more probable that this latter is
the cavern in the wilderness of Engedi, in which
the adventure 6 of Sanl and David (1 Sam. xxiv.)
occurred. Ever} thing that can lie said to identify
it with the care of Adullam has been said by Dr. Bo-
nar (Land of Promue, pp. 248-50) ; but his strong-
est argument — an inference, from 1 Sam. xxi 1,
in favor of Its proximity to Bethlehem — cimes
into direct collision with the statement of Jaroma
quoted above, which it should be observed is equally
opposed to Dr. Robinson's proposal to place it at
IMr-DubbSn. [See Adullam, Amer. ed.]
The name of Adullam appears to have been fit**
eharmlDg narrative more forcibly than Is his wont
The rave, he says, has still " the m» narrow navum
vaulting at the entrance, the same huge chamber In the
rack, probably the plan where 8»ul lay down to rest
In the heat of the day ; the auie side vaults, too
where David and his men lsy concealed, when, aonas
tomed to the obscurity of the cavern, they saw Hon,
enter, while Saul, blinded by the ghue of light e
saw nothing of them."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
ODONARKES
ij plied to Kkure&m at tin time of the Crusades
(Win. of Tyre, xv. 6). G.
ODONARTCES (mug. Odomsrra; [Rom.
'OSoafiMr; Sin. Alex. Comp. Aid.] 'OSofiypi:
Odartt), the chief of a nomad tribe (lain by Jona-
than (1 Mace. ix. 66). The form in the A. V.
doea not appear to be supported by any authority.
The Genera vsrsion has •' Odomerai."
RF. W.
* OFFENCE occurs in several passages of the
A. V. as the rendering of the Heb. VMJ?D,
micsAai, " a stumbling-block," or of the Gr. o*mir-
taAev> wpiaKOfiim, rpoaKowt), and is used in such
• way as not to suggest the proper meaning to the
common reader. Thus the declaration in Is. tlii.
14, " he sr.iU be for a stone of stumbling and a
rock of of met (" a rock to strike against," Noyes)
to both the bouses of Israel," describes the ruinous
consequencos rather than the fact of the unbelief
and disobedience of the Jews ; comp. ver. 15, and
Jer tL 21; Ex. iii. 20. In Matt xvi. 28, "thou
art an offtnet to me," is literally " thou art my
■tumbling- block " (so Noyes); " thou wouldst cause
me to fall " (Norton). In Matt, xviii. 7, and Luke
xr3. 1 " offence " (truirSaXor) means an occasion
of sin, or a hindrance to the reception of Christ;
see the context To eat •• with offence " (Sid
upoowoVpoTor, Kom. xiv. 20) is so to eat as to be
an occasion of sin to the weaker brother. [Of-
fend.] A.
* OFFEND, from the Latin offendo, "to
strike against," like Offence (which see) is used
in the A. V. in senses which we do not now asso-
ciate with the word, though they are naturally
derived from its primitive meaning. " Great peace
hare they who love thy law, and nothing shall of-
fmtl them (Pa, exix. 165); lit '• there is no stum-
bling-block to them," t. e. their path shall be
smooth, no evil shall befall them. In Matt v. 29
("if thy right eye offend thee " ), 30, xviii. 6, 8, 9,
Mark ix. 42, 43, 45, 47, •' to offend " (aicavSaXl-
Qta) means " to lead into sin," literally, " to be a
stumbling-block to," " to cause to tall." Similarly,
in Matt. xiH. 21, xxiv. 10, xxvi 31, 33; Mark ir.
17, xiv. 27, 29; John xvi. 1, " to be offended "
does not suggest to the common reader the mean-
ingof o-icartioL\l{fcrflai, which would in these pas-
sages be better translated "to fall away." In
Rom. xiv. 21 and 2 Cor. xi. 29 the rendering of the
A. V. is likewise misleading. A.
OFFERINGS. [Sachifice.]
« L 3V2J, N<«r((l,Vulg.»io«remi»a,from 3^,
to place. "
2. From same, D83, part plur. InNlph. D^Stt^
astatra psVet, yntfmi, 1 K. iv. 7.
K D"HD, Gen. xl. 2, rivovxot. [Kowoost.]
4. T|7^> Brth ' *• •> * m l u *X* i 0*a. xtt. 82,
r u^X Tt • "«"- **- •> Mwm : prafwitnu ; A. V.
5. rnWJ, wporrinit, tenet, (braostr.; properly,
rises, Bee <* authority " in Sag. Both of these words
(4) and (6) from Tj?^, "visK."
«. 3}, olxm*L<K,rrm*p,. Mb. i. 8, Jouwd with
, '^J, Dan. L 8.
182
og 2209
OFFICER." It is obvious that most, if not
all, of the Hebrew words rendered '• officer," an
either of an indefinite character, or are synony-
mous terms for functionaries known under other and
more specific names, as >' scribe," "eunuch," etc.
The two words so rendered in the N. T. each
bear in ordinary Greek a special sense. In the case of
fornpsVni this is of no very definite kind, but the
word is used to denote an inferior officer of a court
of justice, a messenger or bailiff, like the Roman
viator or lictor. Tlpiteropet at Athens were offi-
cers whose duty it was to register and collect fines
imposed by courts of justice; and "deliver to the
officer " * means, give the name of the debtor to
the officer of the court (Demosthenes (or Dinarehus)
e. Theocr. p. 1218, Reiske; Did. of Antig. " Prae-
tores," "Hyperetes;" Jul. Poll. viii. 114; De-
mosth. c Aritt. p. 778; JSech. c. Timarek. p. 5-
Grotius, on Luke xii. 58).«
Josephus says, that to each court of justice
among the Jews, two Levites *" were to be attached
as clerks or secretaries, Ant. iv. 8, § 14. The
Mishna also mentions the crier and other officials
but whether these answered to the officers of Jose-
phus and the N. T. cannot be determined. Sel-
den, from Maimonides, mentions the high estima-
tion in which such officials were held. Sanhedr. iv.
3, vi. 1; SeUen, rfe Senear-, ii. 13, 11. [Puhibh-
mekts; Sekjeamts.]
The word "officers" is used to render the
phrases ol Awe (or M) rnv xptt&y, I Mace. x.
41, xiii. 37, in speaking of the revenue officers of
Demetrius.
It is also used to render \etrovpyol, Eeclus. x.
2, where the meaning Is clearly the subordinates
in a general sense to a supreme authority.
fl. W. P.
OG (3*15 [long-ntckedj] : 'ay. Og), an Amorit-
ish king of Bashan, whose rule extended over sixty
cities, of which the two chief were Ashtaroth-Kar-
naim and Edrei (Josh. xiii. 12). He was one of
the last representatives of the giant race of Repliaim
According to eastern traditions, be escaped tb
deluge by wading beside the ark (Sale's Koran
cb. v. p. 86). He was supposed to be the largest
of the sons of Anak, and a descendant of Ad. He
is said to bare lived no less than 3,000 years, and
to hare refused the warnings of Jethro (Shoaib),
who was sent as a prophet to him and his people
(D'Herbelot «. n>. " Fulatthin," "Anak"). Sot-
outhi wrote a long book about him and his race,
chiefly taken from Rabbinic traditions, and called
7. "113B7, part, from "1£5w, " cut, 11 or « In-
scribe," Ex. v. 6, Ypowtamfe, exactor; Num. xi. 16,
ypawMTfifc. Deut. xri. 18, ypawieneicraymyeve , mar-
ister, Josh. 1. 10, princep*.
8. The word "officer" Is also used, Bsth. Ix. 8, to
render 71^*^0, which U Joined with "»^>,
•narg . " those that' did the business," ypafifianSt, sre-
■vraloru.
Id N. T. " officer" to used to render, (1) fanplrvt,
minister, (2) wpixrup, Luke xil. 58, exactor.
b Tlapa&ovra* t$ rpaxr.
« Ttpitrmp Is used in LZX. to render tPjb, to
Ul. 12; AT. "oppressor," one who u e is s uuto s uj ax
action.
d ' fr es fr et.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2210
oo
Amgjlkha/w Aoug (Id. $. v. "Aug"). Set, too,
the Journal Ariatique tat 1841, and Chronique dt
Tabati trad, dte person par Dubewc, i. 48, t
(Ewaid, Gach. i. 80S).
Passiug over these idle fables, we Bud from
8eriptnre that be was, with his children and his
people, defeated and exterminated by the Israelite*
at Kdrei, immediately after the conquest of Sihon,
who ia represented by Joaephus as his friend and
ally (Joseph. Ant. iv. 5, § 8). His sixty proud
fenced eities were taken, and his kingdom assigned
tc the Reubenttee, Gaditee, and half the tribe of
alanasseh (Deut. iii. 1-13; Num. xxxii. 33. Also
Deut 1. 4, iv. 47, xxxi. 4; Josh. 11. 10, Ix. 10, xiii.
12, 80). The giant stature of Og, and the power
and bravery of hi* people, excited a dread which
God himself alleviated by his encouragement to
Moses before the battle; and the memory of this
victory lingered long in the national memory (Ps.
cxiiv. 11, cxxxvi. 80).
The belief in Og's enormous stature is corrob-
orated by an appeal to a relic still existing fat the
time of the author of Deut. lit. 11. This was an
iron bedstead, or bier, pr es erve d in " Rabbath of the
children of Amnion." How it got there we are not
told ; perhaps the Ammonites had taken it in some
victory over Og. The verse itself has the air of a
later addition (Dathe), although it is of course pos-
sible that the Hebrews may have beard of so curious
a relic as this long before they conquered the city
where it was treasured. Kabbath was first subdued
in the reign of David (2 Sam. xii. 28); but it does
not therefore follow that Deut. iii 11 was not
written till that time (Havemick ad be.). Some
have supposed that this was one of the common flat
beds [Bkiis] used sometimes on the housetops of
eastern cities, but made of iron Instead of palm-
branches, which would not hare supported the
giant's weight It is more probable that the words
s\ )3 a/ j5, era bnrttt, mean a " sarcophagus
of black basalt," a rendering of which they undoubt-
edly admit The Arabs still regard black basalt as
iron, because It is a stone " ferrei colons atque du-
ritic " (Plin. xxxri. 11 ), and " contains a large
percentage of iron." [Ikon.] It is most abun-
dant in the Hauran ; and indeed ia probably the
cause of the name Argob (the stony) given to a part
■>f Og's kingdom. This sarcophagus was 9 cubits
long, and 4 cubit* broad. It does not of course
follow that Og was 16J feet high. Maimonides
(Mart Ntrochim, ii. 48) sensibly remarks that a
bed (supposing " a bed " to be intended) is usually
one third [?] longer than the sleeper; and Sir J.
Chardin, as well as other travellers, have observed
the ancient tendency to make mummies and tombs
far larger than the natural size of men, in order to
leave an impression of wonder.
Other legends about Og may be found in Hen-
LJzxiel on Num. xxi. 33, Midrash JalqiU, fol. 13
(quoted by Ewald), and in Mohammedan writers;
sa that one of hi* bones long served for a bridge
•vera river; that he r oas ted at the sun a fish freshly
« ,1. "in?^fto»j-in5, "stuns " (Oes. pp. 1162-
18), wuinri, cXuav, olnon, clear olive-oil, as distln
<-"r$^t "praant jtnos," Dtawr, aim, mm
jail?, "hseomsaW'MOas. p. 1487) ; sontetuoaa Joined
•Sal njtj Vuuor i( iluumr, Mam dt otirtlis, dwta-
OIL
•aught, etc. An apocryphal Book of King Og,
which probably contained these and other traditions,
was condemned by Pop* Ueksius (DtcrtL vi.
18, Sixt SeneasM, BibL Sonet p. 86). Tbeorigia
of the name is doubtful: some, but without any
probability, would connect it with the Greek Ogy-
ca* (Ewald, Gach. i. 8(18, U. 269). F. W. F.
• OFTEN in the expression "often infirmi-
ties," 1 Tun. v. 23, is an adjective, and not an im-
proper use of the adverb, as some allege. Ita re-
stricted adverbial sense belongs to a later period
than king James's time. See Trench, Autkoruett
Vtrdat, p. 60 (1859). H.
O'HAD (TPlh [power]: •*,»; [V«t Im3
and] Alex. huraoi in Ex.: Ahod). One of the six
sons of Simeon (Gen. xlvi. 10; Ex. vi. IS). Hi*
name is omitted from the lists in 1 Chr. iv. 24 and
Num. xxvi. 14, though in tie former passage the
Syriao ha* *Ol|, rttf- as in Gen. and Ex.
CHKL (bflN [tent]: 'oiK: [Vat Oe->:]
Okol). A* the text now stands Ohd was one of
the seven ions of Zerubbabel, though placed in a
group of five who for some cause are separated
from the rest (1 Chr. iii. 20). Whether they were
by a different mother, or were born after the return
from Babylon, can only be conjectured.
OIL." (I.) Of the numerous substances, animal
and vegetable, which were known to the ancients as
yielding oil, the olive-berry is the one of which
most frequent mention is made in the Scriptures. It
is well-known that both the quality and the value of
olive-oil differ according to the time of gathering
the fruit, and the amount of pressure used in the
course of preparation. These processes, which do
not essentially differ from the modern, are described
minutely by the Roman writers on agriculture, and
to their description* the few notion occurring both
in Scripture and the Rabbinical writings, which
throw light on the ancient oriental method, nearly
correspond. Of these descriptions the following
may be taken as an abstract The best oil ia made
from fruit gathered about November or December,
when it has begun to change color, but before it
ha* become black. The berry in the mora ad-
vanced state yields more oil, but of an inferior
quality. Oil was also made from unripe fruit by a
special proceed as early as Septemlier or October,
while the haruer sorts of fruit were sometimes de-
layed till February or March (Virg. Gtorg. ii. 819;
l'slladius, R. R. xii. 4; Columella, R. R. xii. 47,
50; Cato, R. R. 66: Pliny, AT. H. xv. 1-8; Varro,
R. R. i. 55; Hor. 2 Sal. ii. 46.)
I. Gathering. — Great care is necessary in gath-
ering, not to injure either the fruit Hack* or tat
boughs of the tree; and with this view it was
either gathered by hand or shaken off carefully will
a light reed or stick. The " houghing " of Dent
xxiv. 20 (marg.),* probably corresponds to the
" shaking " ' of Is. xvii. 6, xxiv. 13, 1. «. a subs*
quent beating fur the use of the poor. See Misbna
(uiahuuj olive-jute* nan oil produced from otfaa
sources. Aon semattasas In A. V. « ointment " (Osi
alas, Wnb. U. 279).
8. nttJp, Chald., (Uur, stnast, only a* Jfcr. v
9,vi. 88.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
on,
ihebiitk, b. 9; Penh, vii. 9, viii. 3. After gather
tag and careful cleansing, the fruit m either at
race carried to the pieee, which is reeonunendMl as
the best coarse; or, if necessary , laid on tables with
hollow traye made sloping, so as to allow the first
mice (Amnrca) to flow into other receptacles be-
neath ; care being taken not to heap the fruit too
much, and so prevent the free escape of the Juice,
which is injurious to the oil though itself useful in
Jther ways (Colum. «. «. xii. 60; Aug. tYt>. Dei, 1.
M).
9. Premng. — In order to make oil, the fruit
was either bruised in a mortar, crushed in a press
loaded with wood or stones, ground in a mill, or
trodden with the feet Special buildings used for
grape-pressing were used also for the purpose of
alive-pressing, and contained both the press and the
wosp tac le for the p res sed juice. Of these processes,
the one least expedient was the last (treading),
which perhaps answers to the " canalis et soles,"
aientioned by Columella, and was probably the one
usually adopted by the poor. The " beaten " oil of
Ex. xxvii 20; Lev. xxiv. 9, and Ex. xxix. 40;
Num. xxviii. 5, was probably made by bruising in
a mortar. These processes, and also the place and
the machine for pressing, are mentioned in the
Mishna. Oil-mills are often made of stone, and
tamed by hand. Others consist of cylinders in-
closing a beam, which is turned by a camel or
other animaL An Egyptian olive- press is de-
scribed by Niebuhr hi which the pressure exerted on
'J» fruit is given by means of weights of wood and
stone placed in a sort of box above. Besides the
above cited Scripture references, the following pas-
sages mention either the places, the processes, or
the machines used in olive-pressing : Mie. ri. 15 ;
Joel ii. 94, iii. 13; Is. Ixlii.3; Lam. i. 15; Hag.
U. 16; JfcfenocA. viii. 4; Shebiilh, iv. », rii. 6 (see
Gas. p. 179, «. v. ~\1) \ Terum. x. 7; Skabb. i.
»; Axon Altera, iv. 5; Gee. pp. 351, 795, 848,
1096; Vitruvius, x. 1; Cato, R. R. 3; Celsius,
Hitmb. ii. 846, 350 ; Niebuhr, Vog. i. 129, pi. xvU. ;
AmndeU, Aria Minor, ii. 196: WeUsted, Trnv.ti.
430. [Ua-rasKMAifE.]
3. Keeping. — Both olives and oil were kept in
jars carefully cleansed ; and oil was drawn out for
use in boms or other small vessels (Crush). These
vessels for keeping oil were stored in cellars or
storehouses; special mention of such repositories is
bade in toe inventories of royal property and rev-
enue (1 Sam. x. 1, xvi. 1, 13; 1 K. i. 39, xvii. 16;
9 K. iv. 9, 6, ix. 1,3; 1 Chr. xxvii. 98; 9 Chr.
ii. 11, xxxtt. 98; Prov. xxi. 20; Shebiilh, v. 7;
Ctiim, il. 5, xvii. 19; Cciumell. L C).
Oil of Tekoa was reckoned the best ( \fenacb.
rill 8). Trade in oil was carried on with the Tyr-
isrs, by whom it was probably often reexported
to Egypt, whose olives do not for the most part
produce good oil. Oil to the amount of 20,000
hatha (9 Chr. il. 10; Joseph. Ant. viii. 9, § 9), or
90 measures (core, 1 K. v. 11) was among the
supplies furnished by Solomon to Hiram. Direct
trade in oil was also carried on between Egypt and
Palestine (1 K. v. 11; 9 Chr. ii. 10, II; Ear. iii
T Is. xxx. 6, Mi. 9; Es. xxvii. 17; Hue. xii. 1;
8. Hieronym. Com. m 0$ee, iii. 19; Joseph. Ant.
rHi. 9, § 9; B. J. ii. 21, $ 9; Strabo, xvii p. 809;
fUny, xt. 4, 13; Wilkinson, Ana. Egypt ii. 98, sm.
Kd.; Hssselquist, 7Vm>. pp. 53, 117). [Com-
mci ; Weights and Msaiurbs.]
(II. ) Besides the use of olives themselves as food
OIL
2211
lesmmon to all oUre-produehsg countries (Hor. 1
| Od. xxxt 15; Martial, xiii. 86; Arvienx, Trot.
|p. 909; Ttntmoth, i. 9, ii. 8), the principal uses
of olive-oil may be thus stated.
1. AtfimL — Dried wheat, boiled with either
butter or oil, but more commonly the former, is a
common dish for all nlssiss in Syria. Hssselquist
speaks of bread baked in oil as being particularly
sustaining ; and Faber, in hie Pilgrimage, mentions
eggs fried in oil as Saracen and Arabian dishes. It
was probably on amount of the common use of oil
in food that the "msat-ofibrings" prescribed by the
Law were so frequently mixed with oil (Lev. ii. 4.
7, 15, viii. 96, 81; Num. vii 19, snd foil.; Deut
xii. 17, xxxH. 18; 1 K. xvii 19, 15; 1 Chr. xii.
40; Es.xvi. 18, 19; S. Hieronym. VU. 8. Hilatiun.
c 11, vol. ii. p. 82; Ion Batata, Drat. p. 60, ed.
Lee; Volney, 7Vov. i. 369, 406; Russell, Aleppo,
i. 80, 119; Harmer, Obi. i. 471, 474; Shaw, 7Vnt>.
p. 932; Bertrandon de la Broequiere, Early Trtn.
p. 332; Burekhardt, Trae. fa Arab. I 64; Notm
en Bed. i. 59; Arvieux, L «.; Chardin, Vog. iv.
84: Niebuhr, Vog. ii. 809; Hssselquist, Trav. p.
139; Faber, Emgatorium, vol. i. p 197, ii. 159,
415). [Food; Ovmuxo.]
9. C osmetic . — Am is the case generally in hot
climates, oil was used by the Jews for anointing
the body, e. g. after the bath, and giving to the
skin and hair a smooth and comely appearance,
e. g. before an entertainment. To be deprived of
the use of oil wss thus a serious privation, assumed
voluntarily in the time of mourning or of calamity.
At Egyptian entertainments it was usual fot a
servant to anoint the head of each guest, as ne
took his seat [Ointmeot] (Deut. xxviii. 40; 9
Sam. xiv. 9; Kuth iii. 3; 2 Sam. xii. 20; Pa.
xxiii. 5, xoii. 10, civ. 15; Dan. x. 3; Is. lxi. 3;
Hie. vi. 15; Am. vi. 6; Sua. 17; Luke rii 46).
Strabo mentions the Egyptian use of castor-oil for
this purpose, xviii. 824. The Greek and Roman
usage will be found mentioned in the following
passages: Horn. IL x. 677, xviii. 69B, xxiii. 281;
()<(. vii. 107, vi. 96, x. 364; Hor. 3 Od. xiii. 6; 1
Sat. vi 198; 2 Sat. i. 8; Pliny, xiv. 99; Aristoph.
Wrnpg, p. 608, Cloud; p. 816; Roberts, pi. 164
Butter, as is noticed by Pliny, is used by the
negroes snd the lower class of Arabs for the like
purposes (Pliny, xi. 41; Burekhardt, Trnv. i. 53|
Nubia, p. 215; Lighlfbot, Hor. Ilebr. ii. 375; sss
Deut xxxiii. 24; Job xxix. 6; Ps. cix. 18).
The use of oil preparatory to athletic exercises,
customary among the Greeks and Romans, can
scarcely have had place to any extent among the
Jews, who in their earlier times had no such con-
tests, though some are mentioned by Josephus witb
censure ss taking place at Jerusalem and Csesarea
under Herod (Hor. 1 Od. viii. 8; Pliny, xv. 4;
Atbeneus, xv. 84, p. 686: Horn. Od. vi. 79, 215:
Joseph. Ant xv. 8, § 1, xvi 5, J 1; Did. of Antiq
"Alipts)").
3. Funereal. — The bodies of the dead were
anointed with oil by the Greeks and Romans,
probably as a partial antiseptic, and a similar
oustom appears to have prevailed among the Jews
(IL xxir. 587; Virg. Jin. vi. 919). [Anoint;
Burial.]
4 MediemaL — Aa oil la in use in many cases
in modem medicine, so it is not surprising, that it
should have been much used among the Jews and
other nations of antiquity for medicinal purposes
Oalsus repeatedly speaks of the use cf oil, especially
old oil, applied externally with friction in fevers.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OIL
2212
ind in many other cam. Pliny says that olive-oil
■ good to warm the body and fortify it against
oold, and alao to cool heat in the head, and for
various other purposes. It was thus used pre-
viously to taking oold baths, and alao mixed with
■rater for bathing the body. Jonphus mentions
that among the remedies employed in the case of
Herod, he was put into a sort of oil bath. Oil
mixed with wine is also mentioned u a remedy
used both inwardly and outwardly in the disease
with which the soldiers of the army of Julius
Gallui were affected, a circumstance which recalls
the use of a similar remedy in the parable of the
good Samaritan. The prophet Isaiah alludes to
the use of oil as ointment in medical treatment;
and it thus furnished a fitting symbol, perhaps
alao an efficient remedy, when used by our Lord's
disciples in the miraculous cures which they were
enabled to perform. With a similar intention, no
doubt, its use was enjoined by St. James, and, as
it appears, practiced by the early Christian Church
in general. An instance of euro through the
medium of oil is mentioned by Tertullian. The
medicinal use of oil is also mentioned in the Hishna,
which thus exhibits the Jewish practice of that day.
See, for the various instances above named, Is i. 6 ;
Hark vi. 13; Luke x. 34; James v. 14; Josephns,
AnL ivii. 6, § A; B. J. i. 33, § 5; Shabb. xiii. 4;
Otho, Lex. Rabb. pp. 11, 626; Mosbeim, KecL
Hi*, ir. 9; Com. a Up. on James v.; Tertull. nd
Soup. «. 4; Celaus, De Mtd. ii. 14, 17; iii. 6, 0,
18, 22, iv. 2; Hor. 2 Ail. I. 7; Pliny, xr. 4, 7,
xxiii. 3, 4; Dio Cass. liii. 2U; IJghtfoot, H. II. ii.
304, 444; S. Hieronym. L c.
5. Oil for light — The oil for " the light " was
expressly ordered to be olive-oil, beaten, i. e. made
from olives bruised in a mortar (Ex. xxv. 6, xxvii.
20, 21, xxxv. 8; Lev. xxiv. 2; 2 Chr. xiii. 11; 1
Sam. iii. 8; Zech. ir. 3, 12; Hishna, Dtmai, i. 3;
Mtnnch. viii. 4). The quantity required for the
longest night is said to have been } log (13-79
cubic in. = -4166 of a pint), Mtnach. ix. 3; Otho,
Lex. Rdib. p. 1S9. [Candlestick.] In the
same manner the great lamps used at the Feast of
Tabernacles were fed (Succah, r. 2). Oil wss used
in general for lamps; it is used in Egypt with
cotton wicks twisted round a piece of straw ; the
receptacle being a glass vessel, into which water ia
first poured (Matt. xxv. 1-8 ; Luke xii- 35 ; Lane,
Hud. Egypt i. 201).
6. Ritual. — (a.) Oil was poured on, or mixed
with the flour or meal used in offerings.
(i.) The consecration offering of priests (Ex. xxix.
t, 23; Lev. vi. 15, 21).
(ii.) The offering of "beaten oil" with flour,
which accompanied the daily sacrifice (Ex. xxix.
40).
(iii.) The leper's purification offering, Lev. xiv.
10-18, 21, 24, 28, where it is to be observed that
the quantity of oil (1 log, = -833 of a pint), was
invariable, whilst the other objects varied in
quantity according to the means of the person
offering. The cleansed leper was also to be touched
with oil on various parts of bis body (l*v. xiv.
15-18).
(iv. ) The Nazarite, on completion of his vow,
•rat to offer unleavened bread anointed with oil,
uid cakes of fine bread mingled with oil (Num.
ri.16).
(v.) After the erection of the Tabernacle, the
offMngs of the " princes " included flour mingled
with oil (Sum vii.„
OIL-TREE
(vi.1 At the consecration of the Levitea, Ana
flour mingled with oil was offered (Num. viii. 8).
(vii.) Meat-offerings in general were mingled or
anointed with oil (Lev. vii. 10, 12).
On the other hand, certain offerings were to be
devoid of oil; the sin-offering (Lev. v. 11), and ths
offering of jealousy (Num. v. 15).
The principle on which both the presence aid
the absence of oil were prescribed is clearly, that is
oil is indicative of gladness, so its absence denoted
sorrow or humiliation (Is. lid. 3; Joel ii. 19; Rev.
vi. 6). It is on this principle that oil is so often
used in Scripture ss symbolical of nourishment and
comfort (Lieut, xxxii. 13, xxxili. 24; Job xxix 6:
Ps. xiv. 7, cix. 18; Is. hi. 3).
(A.) Kings, priests, and prophets, were anointed
with oil or ointment. [Oiktmbnt.]
7. (a.) As so important a necessary of life, the
Jew was required to include oil among his first-
fruit offerings (Ex. xxii. 29, xxiii. 16; Num. xviii.
12; Deut. xviii. 4; 2 Chr. xxxi 5; Trrsm. xi.
3). In the Mishna various limitations are laid
down ; but they are of little importance except as
illustrating the processes to which the olive-berry
was subjected in the production of oil, and the
degrees of eatimstion in which their results were
held.
(o.) Tithes of oil were also required (Deut. xii
17; 2 Chr. xxxi. 5; Neh. x. 37, 39, xiii. 12; I*.
xiv. 14).
8. Shields, if covered with hide, were anointed
with oil or grease previous to use. [Axoikt.]
Shields of metal were perhaps rubbed over in like
manner to polish them. See Tbenius on 2 Sam. i.
21; Virg. /En. vii. 625; Plautus, Mil. I. 1, 2; and
Ges. p. 825.
Oil of inferior quality was used in the composi-
tion of soap.
Of the substances which yield oil, besides the
olive-tree, myrrh is the only one specially men-
tioned in Scripture. Oil of myrrh ia the juice
which exudes from the tree Bnltamodendron
myrrha, but olive oil was an ingredient in many
compounds which passed under the genera] name
of oil (Esth. ii. 12; Cebus, «. s. Iii. 10, 18, 19;
Pliny, xii. 28, xiii. 1, 2, xv. 7; Wilkinson, Anc
J-.gypt. ii. 23; Balfour, Plant* of Bible, p. 52;
Winer, Reahe. a. v. Myrrhe. [Onrrmarr.]
H. W. P.
• OIL-PRESS. [On, 2.]
OIL-TREE 09$ V?, iUthemen: avrsf-
pio-o-o!, ti\a Kvrapio-o-tra: Ugnwn otiva, frondei
ligni pulchei-rimi). The Hebrew words occur in
Neh. viii. 15; 1 K. vi. 28; snd in Is. xii. 19. Ia
this bet passage the A. V. has '•oil-tree;" but in
Kings it has "olive-tree," and in Nehemiah "pine-
branches." From the passage in Nebemiah, where
the tit tkemen is mentioned ss distinct from the
tatth or "olive-tree," writers have sought to
identify it with the Elaagmu angwtifolnu, Linn.,
sometimes called " the wild olive tree," or " nar-
row leaved oleaster," the sndbtmt-tree of the Arabs.
There Is, however, some great mistake in this
matter; for the tridtum-tree cannot be referred to
the elaagmu, the properties and characteristics
of which tree do not accord with what travellers
have related of the famed snobum-tree of Palestine
We are indebted to Dr. Hooker for the correction
of this error. The soctwn is the Balanites
jSgwHaea, a well-known and abundant shrub or
smaD tree hi the plain of Jordan. It is
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OIL-TREE
til the way ftoni the peninsula of India and the
Gauge* to Syria, Abyssinia, and the Niger. The
tackum-oil it held in high repute bj the Arab* for
Its medicinal properties. It i* said to be very
raluabie against wounds and contusions. Comp.
UanndreU (Jcmn. p. 86), Robinson (BibU Set. 1.
MO): at* also Balm. It is quite probable that
OINTMENT
2213
Balanitis JSgyptiaca.
the factum, or Balanites jEgttpiiam, is the lis
themen, or oil-tree of Scripture. Celsius (Hierob.
i. 309) understood by the Hebrew words any "fat
or resinous tree; " but the paaaage in Nehemish
clearly points to some specific tree. W. H.
• That the ]0P V? doe » not W*r to the
znckam seems to be evident, inasmuch as in Neb.
viii. 15 it is spoken of as growing in the mountain,
whereas Balanitn ACyyptvtca is found only in the
plain of Jordau- Then in 1 K. vi. 23 an image
ten cubits high is spoken of as made of this tree.
I an we suppose that the " sbrub or small tree,"
Bnlnnittt JKgypHaea, furnished the wood for this
Cherub? Then again, in la xli. 19, this tree is
spoken of in connection with the cedar, and acacia
(tkiltnh), and myrtle, as growing in the wilderness,
a sign of fertility, and of the blessing of God.
Sorely it is not such a tree as this, confined to i
small district of Palestine, and of limited utility
r beauty, which would hare been chosen as a sigu
if the restored favor of God to Israel.
The conditions to be sought for in the determi-
nation of this tree are: (1.) A tree with wood
jf sufficient solidity and size and beauty to be
« • IT to* olivs be tbs wood Intended at 1 K. ri.
D. it is singular that a wood of such hardness should
■as* bean chosen for a earring, when that earring
vss to b» covered with gold, and thus tbs line grain
tsaU be concealed. O. «. P.
* 1. Skrme*. 8s* On. (2).
X ri|2 V l, nviov, unguentum, from n|TJ, " anoint."
usea h nuking a carved iinaj;e ten cubits high,
to be placed in the Holy of Holies.
(9.) A tree with branches so thick and leaf]
that they would be suitable to be associated with
those of the olive, palm, myrtle, and other thick
tree* in the making of booths.
(3.) A tree fit to be associated with the cedar
the acacia, and the myrtle, a* an emblem of the
favor of God restored to a desolated land.
(4.) An oily, or oil-producing tree, growing la
the mountains.
(6.) Not the olive itself, which would be ex-
olnded by Neh. viii. 15.
These conditions are not fulfilled in any tree so
well as in the genus Pinut, of which there are
several species in Syria. The Pinut pintu is the
most celebrated of these. It is a tall and beau-
tiful tree usually trimmed close to the trunk below,
and allowed to expand in a broad top like a palm
It is one of the most picturesque trees of Syria.
It often attains an immense size. Two or three
specimens of It may be seen near Beirut, towering
above the neighboring groves to a height of over
100 feet The trunks are several feet in thickness.
The wood is highly resinous and "fat,'' and the
branches are commonly used to moke boultit. Tha
wood is the most sought for for roofing purposes,
and is often finely carved. 11 It is of a fine reddish
hue in the older trees, and take* a high polish
owing to the large amount of the resinous con-
stituent contained in it. It is moreover usually
planted, and does not occur in forest* far distant
from the haunts of men. Its abundance marks
seasons of rest from war, and prosperity in the
land. The reverse marks the occurrence of war
and desolation, which always tend to destroy trees.
Among the other species found in the East the
Pinut orientalit is perhaps next in frequency. It
is small, and does not answer the conditions so
well as the first mentioned. (A description of
these two species, with plates, may be found in
Thomson's hind and Book, ii. 265-267.) The
first named species is called by the Arabs Snobar.
The groves outside of BeirQt are so dense in the
shade whirh they afford, that, where they are
planted thickly, scarce n ray of the powerful Syrian
sunshine can penetrate even at noonday. Hon
appropriate that this specie* should have been
chosen for " booths," and bow inappropriate that
the straggling thorny branches of the Bnlnnittt
should have been imagined to meet this require-
ment of the text (Neb. viii. 15). Among the
other specie* of Syria may be noted also Pinut
maritimut and P. haltppennt, both of which an
common.
The "iniri at Is. xli. 19 and lx 13 is pre b-
ally not the pine, but the oak. This probability,
which if established would exclude the men ton
of so common a tree as the pine firm the Scrip-
ture, would of itself lead us to seek ftr an allusion
to the pine under some other name. G. E. I*.
OINTMENT. 4 Beside* the fact that olive-oil
*• nij|7 j^ or HIJIJ'JsJ, ("ipov, min>iun
(Sx. xxx. 25). Oessoirs thinks it mar be tbs mass'.
In wbMi the ointment was compounded (p. 1809).
4. niTtpD, xpiau, jut*)**, ungiuntmr,, sons,
in A. V. « oil."
5. &JM ID : in A. V. « things tor pnrtfrrag '
Digitized by
Google
2214
OINTMENT
h itself * oommon ingredient in ointments, the
purposes to which ointment, u mentioned in
Scripture, u applied agree in so many respects
with those which belong to oil, that we need not
be surprised that the same words, especially 1 and
4, should be applied to bath oil and ointment
lie following list will point out the Scriptural
uses of ointment : —
1. Cotmelic. — The Greek and Roman practice of
anointing the head and clothes on festive occasions
prevailed also among the Egyptians, and appears
to have had place among the Jews (Ruth iii. 3;
Eccl. vii. 1, ix. 8; Prov. xxvii. 9, 16; Cant i. 3, iv.
10; Am. vi. 6; Pi. xlv. 7; Is. lvii. 9; Matt, xxvi 7;
Luke vii. 46; Rev. xviii. 18; Koran, viii 1; Shabb.
ix. 4; Plato, Symp. i. 6, p. 123; see authorities in
Hofmann, Lex. art. •' Ungendi ritus"). Oil of
myrrh, for like purposes, is mentioned Eeth. ii. 12.
Strabo says that the inhabitant* of Mesopotamia
use oil of sesanil, and the Egyptians castor-oil
(kiki), both for burning, and the lower classes for
anointing the body. Chardin and other travellers
confirm this statement as regards the Persians, and
show that they made little use of olive-oil, but
used other oils, and among them oil of sesame' and
castor-oil. Chardin also describes the Indian and
Persian custom of presenting perfumes to guests at
banquets (Strabo, xvt 746, xvii. 824; Chardin,
Voy. iv. 43,84, 86; Marco Polo, Trav. (Early
Trot.) p. 86; Olearius, Trav. p. 305). Egyptian
paintings represent servants anointing guests on
their arrival at their entertainer's house, and ala-
baster vases exist which retain the traces of the oint-
ment which they were used to contain. Athenseus
speaksof the extravagance of Antiochus Epiphanes in
the article of ointmenU for guests, as well as of oint-
ments of various kinds (Wilkinson, Anc. F.gypL i.
78, pi. 89, i. 157; Athenasus, x. 53, xv. 41). [Al-
abaster; Anoint.]
2. Funereal. — Ointments ss well as oil were
used to anoint dead bodies and the clothes in which
they were wrapped. Our Lord thus spake of his
own body being anointed by anticipation (Matt.
xxvi. 12; Mark xiv. 3, 8; Luke xxiii. 56; John xii.
3, 7, xix. 40; see also Plutarch, Omni. p. 611, viii.
413, ed. Reiske). [Burial.]
3. Medicinal. — Ointment formed an important
feature in ancient medical treatment (Cdsus, De
Med. iii. 19, v. 97; Plin. xxiv. 10, xxix. 3, 8, 9).
Die prophet Isaiah alludes to this in a figure of
speech ; and our Lord, in his cure of a blind man,
adopted as the outward sign one which represented
the usual method of cure. The mention of balm
of Gilead and of eye-salve (coUyrium) point to the
tame method (Is. i. 6 ; John ix. 6 ; Jer. viii. 22,
tlvi. 11, li. 8; Rev. iii. 18; Tob. vi. 8, xi. 8, 13;
TartuO. De IdoMatr, 11).
4. Ritual — Besides the oil used in many oere-
-nonial observances , a special ointment was appointed
jo be used in consecration (Ex. xxx. 23, 33, xxix.
7, xxxvii. 29, xl. 9, 16). It was first compounded
by Betaleel, and its ingredients and proportions are
precisely specified ; namely of pure myrrh and cas-
sia 500 shekels (250 ounces) each ; sweet cinnamon
nd sweet calamus 360 shekels (125 ounces) each ;
rjfcth. U. IS); LXX. (nurnutra; by Targum rendered
< parfomsd nbitmsnt," from p"lQ, " rub," " •'nit "
4s*. p. 820).
la K. T. and Apocrypha, " ointment " k the A.
I" ssatarlng tar uvasr, uufmutmm.
OINTMENT
and of olive-oil 1 bin (about 6 quarts, 430-96 <
inches). These were to be compounded according
to the art of the apothecary ■ into an oil of holy
ointment (Ex. xxx. 25). It was to be used rot
anointing — (I) the tabernacle itself; (2) the table
and its vessels; (3) the candlestick and its furniture
(4) the altar of incense; (5) the altar of burnt-
offering and its vessels; (6) the laver and its foot;
(7) Aaron and his sons. Strict prohibition was
issued against using this unguent for any aeculai
purpose, or on the person of a foreigner, and against
imitating it in any way whatsoever (Ex. xxx. 83,
88).
These ingredients, exelusiva of the oil, most
have amounted in weight to about 47 lb*. 8 o*.
Now olive-oil weighs at the rate of 10 lbs. to tat
gallon. The weight therefore of the oil in the mix-
ture would be 12 lbs. 8 ox. English. A quastioc
arises, in what form were the other ingredient*, and
what degree of solidity did the whole attain?
Myrrh, " pure " (o5Jrur),» free-flowing (Ges. p. 355),
would seem to imply the juice which flows from the
tree at the first incision, perhaps the "odoratc
sudantia ligno balsams " (Qeorg. H. 118), whier
Pliny says is called " stacte," and is the best (xii
15 : Uiosoorides, i. 73, 74, quoted by Cehnis, i. 169 ;
and Knobel on Exodus, I. c).
This juice, which at it* first flow is soft and oily,
becomes harder on exposure to the air. According
to Maimonides, Moses (not Bezaleel), having re-
duced the solid ingredients to powder, steeped them
in water till all the aromatic qualities were drawn
forth. He then poured in the oil, and boiled the
whole till the water was evaporated. The residuum
thus obtained was preserved in a vessel for use
(Otho, Lex. Rnbh. "Oleum"). This account is
perhaps favored by the expression " powders of th*
merchant," in reference to myrrh (Cant. iii. 6 ;
Keil, Arch. Hebr. p. 173). Another theory sup-
poses all the ingredients to have been in the form
of oil or ointment, and the measurement by weight
of all, except the oil, seems to imply that they were
in some solid form, but whether in an unctuous
state or in that of powder cannot be ascertained.
A process of making ointment, consisting, in part
at least, in boiling, is slluded to in Job xii. 31.
The ointment with which Aaron was anointed ia
said to have Sowed down over his garments (Ex.
xxix. 21; Pa. cxxxiii. 2: "skirts," in the latter
passage, is literally '• mouth," •'. e. the opening of
the robe at the neck; Ex. xxviii. 32).
The charge of preserving the anointing oU, a*
well as the oil for the light, was given to Elearar
(Num. iv. 16). The quantity of oictment mad*
in the first instance seems to imply that it was in-
tended to last a long time. The Rabbinical writets
say that it lasted 900 year*, i. e. till the CapUvit},
because it was said, " ye shall not make any likt
it" (Ex. xxx. 32); but it seems dear from 1 Chr
ix. 80 that the ointment was renewed from time tc
time (Cheriiik, i. 1).
Kings, and also in some cases prophets, wen.
as well ss priests, anointed with oQ or ointment
but Scripture only mentions the fact as actuall)
taking place in the cases of Saul, David, Solomo*
• T^h,uv^^it,unrmtlanut,rigmeumrim
• nn?, *>Acer4,**]*M
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OliAMUH
lain, and Joaab, The Rabbins a»y that Saul,
Jehu, and Joash were only anointed with common
ill, whilst for David and Solomon the holy oil was
ued (1 Sam. x. 1, xvi. 1, 13; 1 K. i. 3d; 3 K.
■x. 1, 3, 6, xi. 13; Godwyn, Mote* and Aaron,
i. 4; Carpzov, A/jpanUtu, pp. 66, 57; H>fmann,
Ltx. art. "Ungeiidi ritus"; S. Hieron. Com. in
Ott, iii. 134). It ii evident that the sacred oil
wai used in the ease of Solomon, and probably in
the eases of Saul and David. In the ease of Saul
(1 Sam. x. 1) the article is used, " the oil," as it is
tlso in the esse of Jehu (8 K. ix. 1); and it seems
unlikely that the anointing of Jossh, performed by
the high-priest, shoald have been defective in this
OLD TESTAMENT
2215
A person whose business it wss to compound
ointments in general was called an " apothecary "
(N«h. iii. 8 ■; Bed. x. 1 ; Ecdus. xlix. 1). [Apoth-
■caht.] The work was sometimes carried on by
women " confectioneries " (1 Sam. viii. 13).
In the Christian Church the ancient usage of
anointing the bodies of the dead was long retained,
as is noticed by 8. Chrysostom and other writers
footed by Suicer, '• t. (\aior- The ceremony of
chrism or anointing was also added to baptism.
See authorities quoted by Suicer, L c, snd under
Birrurpa and Xplfffia- H. W. P.
OLATtfUS CnAa^<(i: Olmnm). Meshullam
sf the sons of Bani (1 Esdr. ix. 30; comp. Err. x.
»).
• OLD AGE. [Aok, Old.]
OLD TESTAMENT. This article will treat
(A j of the Text and (B) of the Interpretation of
like Old Testament. Some observations will be sub-
found respecting (C) the Quotations from the Old
Testament in the New.
A. — Text or tmk Old TKSTAitmrr.
1. History of tin Text. — A history of the text
rf the 0- T. should properly commence from the
date of the completion of the Canon ; from which
time we must assume that no sdditions to any part
of it conld be legitimately made, the sole object of
those who transmitted and watched over it being
thenceforth to preserve that which was already
written. Of the care, however, with which the
text was transmitted we have to judge, almost en-
tirely, by the phenomena which it and the versions
derived from it now present, rather than by any
recorded beta respecting it. That much scrupu-
lous pains would be bestowed by Ezra, the " ready
■cribe in the law of Moses," and by his companions,
o* the correct transmission of those Scriptures
which passed through their hsnds, is indeed ante-
cedently probable. The best evidence of such paina,
and of the respect with which the text of the sacred
books was consequently regarded, is to be found in
the jealous accuracy with which the discrepancies
of various parallel passages have been preserved,
notwMistanding the temptation which must have
existed to assimilate them to each other. Such is
the case with Psalms xhr. and liii., two recensions
of the same hymn, both proceeding from David,
where the reasons of the several variations may on
lamination be traced. Such also is the ease with
halm xviii. and 3 Sam. xxii. where the variations
the two copies are more than sixty in
r, excluding those which merely consist in
>njJT.
the use or absence of the matrtt Uakmit ; and
where, therefore, even though the design of all the
variations be not perceived, the hypothesis oi their
having originated through accident would imply a
carelessness in transcribing far beyond what even
the rashest critics have in other passages contem-
plated.
As regards the form in which the sacred writings
sere preserved, there can be little doubt that the
text was ordinarily written on skins, rolled up into
volumes, like the modem synagogue-rolls (l*s. xL
7; Jer. xxxvi. 14; Zech. v. 1; Ex. ii. 0). Jose-
ph u» relates that the copy sent (ram Jerusalem as
present to Ptolemy in Egypt, was written with let-
ten of gold on skins of admirable thinness, the
joint of which could not be detected (AaL xii. 3.
§11).
The original character in which the text was ex-
pressed is that still preserved to us, with the ex-
ception of four letters, on the Maccabenn coins, and
having a strong affinity to the Samaritan character,
which seems to have been treated by the later Jews
as identical with it, being styled by them 3D3
'"Q9. At what date this was exchanged for the
present Aramaic or square character, 3H3
rmilPH, or MID 3TD, is still as undeter-
mined as it is at what date the use of the Aramaic
language in Palestine superseded that of the He-
brew. The old Jewish tradition, repeated by Ori-
een and Jerome, ascribed the change to Ezra.
But the Maccabamn coins supply us with a date at
which the older character was still in use; and
even though we should allow that both may have
been simultaneously employed, the one for sacred,
the other for more ordinary purposes, we can hardly
suppose that tbey existed side by side for any
lengthened period. Hsssencamp and Gesenius an
at variance as to whether such errors of the Sep-
tuagint as arose from confusion of letters in the
origins! text, are in favor of the Greek interpreters
having had the older or the more modern charactei
before them. It is sufficiently clear that the use oi
the square writing must have been well established
before the time of those authors who attributed the
introduction of it to Ezra. Nor could the allusion
in Matt. v. 18 to the yod as the smallest letter have
well been made except in reference to the more
modern character. We forbear here all investiga-
tion of the manner in which this character was
formed, or of the precise locality whence it was de
rived. Whatever modification it may have under-
gone hi the hands of the Jewish scribes, it was in
tLe first instance introduced from abroad ; and th's
its name rPT)B7N 3TD, i. e. Assyrian writing,
implies, though it may geographically require to
be interpreted with some latitude. (The suggestion
of Hupfeld thst rTTHDN may be an appellative,
denoting not Auyrian, but Jirm, writing, is im-
probable.) On the whole we may best suppose,
with Ewald, that the adoption of the new charac-
ter was coeval with the rise of the earliest Targums,
which would naturally be written in the Aramaic
style It would thus be shortly anterior to the
Chrisuaii era; and with this date all the evidence
would well accord. It may be right, however, to
mention, that while of late years Keil has striven
anew to throw back tlie introduction of the square
writing tnwarjs the time of Ezra Black, also.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2216
OLD TESTAMENT
though not generally imbued with the conservative
view* of Keil, maintain! not only that the use of
the square writing for the sacred looks owed its
origin to Ezra, but also that the later books of
the 0. T. were never expressed in any other char-
acter.
No vowel points were attached to the text: they
were, through all the early period of its history,
entirely unknown. Convenience had indeed, at the
time when the later books of the 0. T. were writ-
ten, suggested a larger use of the mntrt$ Uctioms :
it is thus that in those books we find them intro-
duced into many words that had been previously
spelt without them: BTTlp takes the place of
QTTp, T'VT of TIT An elaborate endeavor has
been recently made by Dr. Wall to prove that, up
to the early part of the second century of the Chris-
tian era, the Hebrew text was free from vowel let-
ten as well as from vowels. His theory is that
they were then interpolated by the Jews, with a
view of altering rather than of perpetuating the
former pronunciation of the words: their object
being, according to him, to pervert thereby the
sense of the prophecies, as also to throw discredit
on the Septuagint, and thereby weaken or evade
the force of arguments drawn from that version
in support of Christian doctrines. Improbable as
such a theory is, it is yet more astonishing that its
author should never have been deterred from pros-
ecuting it by the palpable objections to it which be
himself discerned. Who can believe, with him,
that the Samaritans, notwithstanding the mutual
hatred existing between them and the Jews, bor-
rowed the interpolation from the Jews, and con-
spired with them to keep it a secret V Or that
among other words to which by this interpolation
the Jews ventured to impart a new sound, were
some of the best known proper names; e. g. Isaiah,
Jeremiah ? Or that it was merely through a blun-
der that in Gen. i. 24, the substantive 7TT1 in
its construct state acquired its final \ when the
some anomaly occurs in no fewer than three pas-
sages of the Psalms ? Such views and arguments
refute themselves ; and while the high position oc-
tupied by its author cemmends the book to notice,
it can only be lamented that industry, learning,
and ingenuity should have been so misspent in the
rain attempt to give substance to a shadow.
There is reason to think that in the text of the
0. T., as originally written, the words were gener-
ally, though not uniformly divided. Of the l'hav
lician inscriptions, though the majority proceed
xintinuously, some have a point after ever]' word,
ixcept when the words are closely connected. The
am point is used in the Samaritan manuscripts ;
and it is observed by Gesenius (a high authority in
respect of the Samaritan Pentateuch) that the Sa-
maritan and Jewish divisions of the words gener-
uy coincide. The discrepancy between the Hebrew
text and the Septuagint in this respect is suffi-
ciently explained by the circumstance that the
'ewish scribes did not separate the words which
cere closely connected : it is in the case of such that
tie discrepancy is almost exclusively found. The
practice of separating words by spaces instead of
points probably came in with the square writing.
En the synagogue-rolls, which are written in con-
feraity with the ancient roles, the words are reg-
xkrty divided from each other; and indeed the
OLD TESTAMENT
Ialmud minutely prescribes the space which shoals'
be left (Gesenius, Oetch. da- Htb. Sprache, J 45).
Of ancient date, probably, are also the separations
between the lesser Parshioth or sections; whether
made, in the case of the more Important divisions,
by the commencement of a new line, or, in the case
of the leas important, by a blank space within the
line [Bible]. The use of the letters S and D,
however, to indicate these divisions is of more recent
origin : they are not employed in the synagogue-
rolls. These lesser and earlier Parshioth, of which
there are in the Pentateuch 689, must not be con-
founded with the greater and later Parshioth, or
Sabbath-lessons, which are first mentioned in the
Maeorah. The name Parshioth is in the Hishna
(ifegill. iv. 4) applied to the divisions in the Pioph
eU as well as to those in the Pentateuch : e. g. to
Isaiah lii. 8-6 (to the greater Parshioth here corre-
spond the Haphtaroth). Even the separate psalms
are in the Gemara called also Parshioth (Berach
Bob. fol. 9, 9; 10, 1 ). Some Indication of the an-
tiquity of the divisions between the Parshioth may
be found in the circumstance that the Gemara holds
them as old as Moses (Bniicli. fol. 18, 2). Of their
real age we know but little. Hupfeld has found
that they do not always coincide with the capitula
of Jerome. That they are nevertheless more ancient
than his time is shown by the mention of them in
the Hishna. In the absence of evidence to the con-
trary, their disaccordance with the Kazin of tbs
Samaritan Pentateuch, which are 966 in number,
seems to indicate that they had a historical origin ;
and it is possible that they also may date from the
period when the 0. T. was first transcribed in the
square character. Our present chapters, It may be
remarked, spring from a Christian source.
Of any logical division, in the written text, of
the prose of the 0. T. into Pesuldm, or verses, we
find in the Talmud no mention ; and even in the
existing synagogue-rolls such division is generally
ignored. While, therefore, we may admit the early
currency of such a logical division, we must assume,
with Hupfeld, that it was merely a traditional ob-
servance. It has indeed, on the other hand, been
argued that such numerations of the verses ss the
Talmud records could not well have been made
unless the written text distinguished them. But
to this we may reply by observing that the verses
of the numbering of which the Talmud speaks,
could not have thoroughly accorded with those of
modem times. Of the former there were in the
Pentateuch 6,888 (or as some read, 8,888); it now
contains but 6,845 : the middle verse was computed
to Ic l-ev. xiii. 33 ;■ with our present verses it is Lev.
viii. 5. Had the verses been distinguished in the
written text at the time that the Talmudic enumer-
ation was made, it is not easily explicable how they
should since hare been so much altered : whereas,
were the logical division merely traditional, tradi-
tion would naturally preserve a more accurate
knowledge of the places of the various logical
breaks than of their relative importance, and thus,
without any disturbance of the syntax, the num-
ber of computed verses would be liable to con
tinual increase or diminution, by separation or
aggregation. An uncertainty in the versual divis-
ion is even now indicated by the donlle accent
uation and consequent vocalization of the Deca-
logue. In the poetical books, the Peaukim men-
tioned in the Talmud correspond to the poetidk
lines, rot to our modern verses; and it is prohabk
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLD TESTAMENT
boOi fruan some expressions of Jerome, and from
the analogous practice of other nations, that the
poetical text was written stichometrically. tt ia
■till so written in onr manuscripts in the poetical
pieces in the Pentateuch and historical books ; and
even, generally, in our oldest manuscripts. Its
partial discontinuance may be due, first to the de-
sire to save space, and secondly to the diminution
cf the necessity for it by the introduction of the
accents.
Of the documents which directly bear upon the
history of the Hebrew text, the two earliest are the
Samaritan copy of the Pentateuch, and the Greek
translation of the I.XX. For the latter we must
refer to the article Skptoaoint: of the former
some account will here be necessary. Mention had
been made of the Samaritan Pentateuch, and, Inci-
dentally, of some of its peculiarities, by several of
the Christian Fathers. Eusebius had taken note of
its primeval chronology: Jerome had recorded its
insertions in Gen. iv. 8; Deut. xxvii. 26: Proco-
pius of Gaza had referred to its containing, at Num.
x. 10 and Ex. xviii. 24, the words afterwards found
in Deut. i. 6, v. 9 : it had also been spoken of by
Cyril of Alexandria, Diodore, and others. When
in the 17th century Samaritan MSS. were im-
ported into Europe by P. della Yalie aud Abp.
Ussher, according with the representations that the
Fathers had given, the very numerous variations
between the Samaritan and the Jewish Pentateuch
could not but excite attention; and it became
thenceforward a matter of controversy among
scholars which copy was entitled to the greater
respect. The coordinate authority of both was
advocated by Kennicott, who, however, in order to
uphold the credit of the former, defended, in the
celebrated passage Deut. xxvii. 4, the Samaritan
reading Gerizim against the Jewish reading Ebal,
charging corruption of the text upon the Jews
rather than the Samaritans. A full examination
of the readings of the Samaritan Pentateuch was
at length made by Gesenius in 1815. His conclu-
sions, lata! to its credit, have obtained general ac-
ceptance: nor have they been substantially shaken
by the attack of a writer in the Journal of Sacred
Lit. for July 1853; whose leading principle, that
transcribers are more liable to omit than to add, is
fundamentally unsound. Gesenius ranges the Sa-
maritan variations from the Jewish Pentateuch
under tbe following heads: grammatical correo-
tions: glosses received into tbe text; conjectural
emendations of difficult passages; corrections de-
rived from parallel passages; larger interpolations
derived from parallel passages; alterations made to
remove what was offensive to Samaritan feelings ;
alterations to suit the Samaritan idiom ; and alter-
ations to suit the Samaritan theology, interpreta-
tion, and worship. It is doubtful whether even the
grains of gold which he thought to find amongst
the rubbish really exist; and the Samaritan read-
ings which he was disposed to prefer in Gen. iv. 18,
xiv. 14. xiii. 13, xlix. 14, will hardly approve them-
selves generally. The really remarkable feature
respecting the Samaritan Pentateuch is its accord-
ance with the Septuagint in more than a thousand
places where it differs from the Jewish; being
neatly those where either » gloss has jeen Intro-
faced into the text, or a difficult reading corrected
•van easier, or the prefix 1 added or removed. On
me other hand, there are about as many places
tbe Septuagint supports the Jewish text
OLD TESTAMENT 2217
against tbe Samaritan; and some in whl)h the
Septuagint stands alone, the Samaritan either
agreeing or disagreeing with the Jewish. Gesenius
and others suppose that the Septuagint and the
Samaritan text were derived from Jewish MSS. of
a different recension to that which afterwards ob-
tained public authority in Palestine, and that the
Samaritan copy was itself subsequently further
altered and interpolated. It is at least equally
probable that both the Greek translators and the
Samaritan copyists made use of MSS. with a large
number of traditional marginal glosses and anno-
tations, which they embodied in their own texts at
discretion. As to the origin of the existence of the
Pentateuch among the Samaritans, it was probably
introduced thither when Manasseh and other Jewish
priests passed over into Samaria, and contempo-
rarily with the building of the temple on Mount
Gerizim. Hengstenberg contends for this on the
ground that tie Samaritans were entirely of heathen
origin, and that their subsequent religion was de-
rived from Judam (Genuintneis of Peai. vol. i.V
the same conclusion is reached also, though on ve )
different grounds, by Gesenius, De Wetta, and
Bleck. To the hypothesis that the Pentateuch was
perpetuated to the Samaritans from the Israelites
of the kingdom of the ten tribes, and still more to
another, that being of IsraeliUsh origin the) first
became acquainted with it under Josiah, there la
the objection, besides what has been urged by Heng-
stenberg, that no trace appears of the reception
among them of the writings of the Israelitish proph-
ets Hoses, Amos, and Jonah, which yet Josiah
would so naturally circulate with the Pentateuch,
in order to bring the remnant of his northern
countrymen to repentance.
VVhile such freedom in dealing with the sacred
text was exercised at Samaria and Alexandria,
there is every reason to believe that in Palestine
the text was both carefully preserved and scrupu-
lously respected. The boast of Josephus (c. Apion t
i. 8), that through all the ages that had passed"
none had ventured to add to or to take away from)
or to transpose aught of tbe sacred writings, may
well represent the spirit in which in his day bis-
own countrymen acted. In the translations- of
Aquila and the other Greek interpreters, the frag-
ments of whose works remain to us in the Hex>
apla, we have evidence of tbe existence of a- text
differing but little from our own : so also in tb»
Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan. A few cen-
turies later we hare, in the Hexapla, additional
evidence to the same effect in Origen's transcrip-
tions of the Hebrew text. And yet more impor-
tant are the proofs of the firm establishment of the
text, and of its substantial identity with our own,
supplied by the translation of Jerome, who was
instructed by the Palestinian Jews, and mainly re-
lied upon their authority for acquaintance aot only
with the text itself, but also with the tradition*
unwritten vocalization of it
This brings us to the middle of tbe Talmudic
period. Tbe learning of the schools which had
been formed in Jerusalem about the time of our
Saviour by Hillel and Shammai was preserved,
after the destruction of the city, in the academies
of Jabneb, Seppboria, Cawarea, and. Tiberias. The
great pillar of the Jewish literature of this period
was R. Judah the Holy, to whom is ascribed the
compilation of the Mishna, the text of tbe Talmud,
and who died about A. D. 220. After his death
there grew into repute the. Jewish academies. o<
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2218
OLD TESTAMEKT
Bon, Nahardea, and Pum-Beditba, on the Euphra-
tes. The twofold Gemara, or commentary, ra now
appended to the Mishna, thus completing the Tal-
mud. The Jerusalem Gemara proceeded from the
Jews of Tiberiaa, probably towards the end of the
tth century: the Babylonian from the academies
on the Euphrates, perhaps by the end of the 6th.
That along with the task of collecting and com-
menting on their various legal traditions, the Jews
of these several academies would occupy themselves
with the text of the sacred writings is in every
way probable; and is indeed shown by various Tal-
mudic notices.
In these the first thing to be remarked is the
entire absence of allusion to any such glosses of
interpretation as those which, from having been
previously noted on the margins of MSS., had
probably l«en loosely incorporated into the Samar-
itan Pentateuch and the Septuagint. Interpreta-
tion, properly so called, had become the province
of the Targumist, not of the transcriber; and the
result of the entire divorce of the task of intepreta-
tion from that of transcription had been to obtain
greater security for the transmission of the text in
its purity. In place, however, of such ijlossra of
interpretation had crept in the more childish prac-
tice of reading some passages differently to the
way in which they were written, iu order to obtain
a play of words, or to fix them artificially In the
memory, llenee the formula ]3 NHpD 7H
?2 S7S, " Read not so, but so." In other cases
it was sought by arbitrary modifications of words
to embody in them some casuistical rule. Hence
the formula rDpfib DM tt7\ EN W
P~)Du?, "There is ground for toe traditional,
there is ground for the textual reading " (Hupfeld,
m Stud, and Kriliten, 1830, p. 55 ff). But
these traditional and confessedly apocryphal read-
ings were not allowed to affect the written text.
The care of the Talmudic doctors for the text is
shown by the pains with which they counted up
the number of verses in the different books, and
computed which were the middle verses, words, and
letters in the Pentateuch and in the Psalms. These
last they distinguished by the employment of a
larger letter, or by raising the letter above the rest
of the text: see Lev. xi. 42; Ps. lxxx. 14 (Kidilu-
sAm, fbl. 30, 1; Buxtorf a Tibttin$, c. viii.). Such
was the origin of these unusual letters: mystical
meanings were, however, a* we learn from the Tal-
nud itself (Baba B'lllmt, fol. 10?, 2), afterwards
attached to them. These may have given rise to
t multiplication of them, and we cannot therefore
le certain that all had in the first instance a crit-
ical significance.
Another Talmudic notice relating to the sacred
text furnishes the four following remarks (Ne-
darim, fol. 37, 3; Buxt. Tib. c. viii.):—
OHBTO N~ipD, "Beading of the scribes;"
referring to the words Y~U>«, CDB7, tP-IS&
D*nSnD ~nta"»37, "Rejection of the scribes;"
Tferring to the omission of a 1 prefix before the
ward TIN In Gen. xviii. 5, xxiv. 55: Num. xxxi.
t, *ntl before certain other words in Ps. lxviii. 26,
xixvi. 6. It is worthy of notice that the two
passage* of Genesis are among those in which the
OLD TESTAMENT
Septuagint and Samaritan agree in suipglug
against the authority of the present Hebrew test
In Num. xxxi. 2, the present Hebrew text, tfcs
Septuagint, and the Samaritan, all have it.
PTO «b"l V"lp, « Read but not written : '
referring to something which ought to be read,
although not in the text, in 2 Sam. viii. 3, xri. 23,
Jer. xxxi. 38, I. 29; Ruth ii. 11, iii. 5, 17. The
omission is still indicated by the Masoretic notes
in every place but Ruth ii. 11; and is supplied
by the Septuagint in every place but 2 Sam. xri.
28.
\*np N 1 ^ pVW, " Written bat not read ; "
referring to something which ought in reading to
be omitted from the text in 2 K. v. 18; Dent. ri.
1; Jer. U. 3; Ex. xlriii. 18; Ruth Hi. 12. The
Masoretic notes direct the omission in every place
but Deut. vi. 1: the Septuagint preserves the word
there, and in 2 K. v. 18, but omits it in the other
three passages. In these last, an addition had
apparently crept into the text from error of tran-
scription. In Jer. Ii. 8, the word "TTT*, hi Ea.
xlriii. 16, the word tD&PI had been accidentally
repeated: in Ruth iii. 12, DM \D had been rr
peated from the preceding D223N ""D.
Of these four remarks, then, the last two. there
seems scarcely room for doubt, point to errors
which the Jews had discovered, or believed to have
discovered, in their copies of the text, but which
they were yet generally unwilling to correct in
their future copies, and which accordingly, although
stigmatized, have descended to us. A like obser-
vation will apply to the Talmudic notices of the
readings still indicated by the Masoretic Keris in
Job xiii. 15; Hag. i. 8 (Sofah, v. 5; Yima, fol.
21, 2). The scrupulousness with which the Tal
mudists thus noted what tbey deemed the tract
readings, and yet abstained from introducing thrm
into the text, indicates at once both the diligence
with which they scrutinized the text, and also the
care with which, even while acknowledging its
occasional imperfections, they guarded it. Critical
procedure is also evinced in a mention of their
rejection of manuscripts which were found not to
agree with others in their readings (7V»im/A
Hierotol. fol. 68, 1); and the rules given with
reference to the transcription and adoption of
manuscripts attest the care bestowed upon them
(Shabbalk, fol. 103, 2: 6i«fo, fol. 45, 2). The
" Rejection of the scribes " mentioned above, may
perhaps relate to certain minute rectifications which
the scribes had ventured, not necessarily without
critical authority, to make in the actual written
text. Wahner, however, who is followed by lln-
remiek and Keil, maintains that it relates to recti
fications of the popular manner in which the text
was read. And for this there is some ground in
the circumstance that the " Reading of the scribes "
bears apparently merely upon the vocalization
probably the pausal vocalization, with which tin
words V'N, etc., were to be pronounced.
The Talmud further makes mention ut r be euphe-
mistic Keris, which are still noted in oar Bibles
t. p. at 2 K. vi. 25 (MtgiUnk, fol. 25, 2). It ahc
reckons six instances of extraordinary points placet
over certain words, e. g. at Gen. xviii. 9 (IV
Sqpktr. vi. 3); and of seme of them it furnssbat
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLD TESTAMENT
uystical explanations (Buxtorf, Tib. c. xvii.). The
Hasorah enumerates fifteen. They ore noticed
ay Jerome, Queau m (Jtn. xviii. 36 [xix. 33].
They seem to have been original!}' designed as
mirks of the supposed spuriousness of certain
words or letters. But in many cases the ancient
versions uphold the genuineness of the words so
stigmatised.
It is after the Talmudie period that Hupfeld
places the introduction into the text of the two
large points (in Hebrew plOS FpD, Saph-pank)
to mark the end of each verse. They are mani-
festly of older date than tlie accents, by which they
are, in effect, supplemented (Slud. und Krit. 1837,
p. 857). Coeval, perhaps, with the use of the
Soph-pamk is that of the Mnkkeph, at hyphen, to
unite words that are so closely conjoined as to have
but one accent between them. It must be older
than the accentual marks, the presence or absence
of which is determined by it. It doubtless indi-
cates the way in which the text was traditionally
read, and therefore embodies traditional authority
for the conjunction or separation of words. Inter-
nal evidence shows this to be the case in such
passages as Ps. xbr. 5, pT3~n Wl. But the
jsr of it cannot be relied on, as it often in the
poetical books conflicts with the rhythm; e. g. in
Ps. xix. 9. 10 (cf. Mason and Bernard's (Jraminar,
li. 187).
Such modifications of the text as these were the
precursors of the new method of dealing with it
which constitutes the work of the Masoretic period.
It is evident from the notices of the Talmud that
a number of oral traditions had been gradually
accumulating respecting both the integrity of par-
ticular passages of the text itself, and also the
manner in which it was to be read. The time at
length arrived when it became desirable to secure
the permanence of all such traditions by commit-
ting them to writing. The very process of collect-
ing them would add greatly to their number; the
traditions of various academies would lie super-
added the one upon the other; and with these
would be gradually incorporated the various critical
observations of the collectors themselves, and the
results of their comparisons of different manu-
scripts. The vast heterogeneous mass of traditions
and criticisms thus compiled and embodied in
writing, forms what is known as the iTTDB,
Manrah, i. e. Tradition. A similar name had
been applied in the Mishna to the oral tradition
before it was committed to writing, where it had
been described as the hedge or fence, S^D, of the
Law (Pirke Aboth, iii. 13).
Buxtorf, in his Tiberiat, which is devoted to an
account of the Masorah, ranges its contents under
the three heads of observations respecting tbe
verses, words, and letters of the sacred text. In
regard of the verses, the Masorets recorded how
many there were in each book, and the middle
verse in each : also how many verses began with
particular letters, or began and ended with the
same word, or contained a particular number of
words and letters, or particular words a certain
number of times, etc. In regard of tbe words,
Jhey recorded the Keris and Chethibs, where differ-
ent words were to be read from those contained in
he text, or where words were to be omitted or
applied. They noted that certain words were to
OLD TESTAMENT 2219
be found so many times in the beginning, middle,
or end of a verse, or with a particular construction
•>r meaning. They noted also of particular wordfc,
and this especially in cases where mistakes ic
transcription were likely to arise, whether they wen
to be written pient or defective, i. e. with or with-
out the matret Uctionit: also their vocalization
and accentuation, and bow many times they oc-
curred so vocalized and accented. In regard of
tbe letters, they computed how often each letter
of tbe alphabet occurred in the 0. T. : they noted
fifteen instances of letters stigmatized with the
extraordinary points: they commented also on all
the unusual letters, namelv, the mnjutcula, which
they variously computed ; the mntucul s, of which
they reckoned thirty-three; the tutpenta, four ia
number; and the inverm, of which, the letter being
in each case 3, there are eight or nine.
The compilation of the Masorah did not meet
with universal approval among the Jews, of <honv
some regretted the consequent cessation of onO
traditions. Others condemned the frivolous chat -
acter of many of its remarks. The formation of
the written Masorah may have extended from the
sixth or seventh to the tenth or eleventh century.
It is essentially an incomplete work; and the
laliors of the Jewish doctors upon the sacred text
might have unendingly furnished materials for the
enlargement of the older traditions, the preserva-
tion of which had been the primary object in view.
Nor must it be implicitly relied on. Its computa-
tions of the number of letters in the Bible are
said to be far from correct; and its observations,
as is remarked by Jacob ben Chaim, do not always
agree with those of the Talmud, nor yet with each
other; though we hare no means of distinguishing
between its earlier and its later portions.
The most valuable feature of the Masorah is
undoubtedly its collection of Keris. The first
rudiments of this collection meet us in the Talmud.
Of those subsequently collected, It is probable that
many were derived from the collation of MSS..
others from the unsupported judgment of the
Masorets themselves. They often rested on plausi-
ble but superficial grounds, originating in the
desire to substitute an easier for a more difficult
reading; and to us it is of little consequence
whether it were a transcriber or a Masoretic doctor
by whom the substitution was first suggested. It
seems clear that the Keris in all cases represent
the readings which the Masorets themselves ap-
proved as correct; but there would be the less
hesitation in sanctioning them when it was assumed
that they would be always preserved in documents
separate from the text, and that the written text
itself would remain intact. In effect, however, our
MSS. often exhibit the text with the Keri readings
incorporated. The number of Keris is, according
to Elias Levita, who spent twenty years in the
study of the Masorah, 848; but the Bom berg
Bible contains 1,171, tbe Plantin Bible 793. Two
lists of the Keris — the one exhibiting the varia-
tions of the printed Bibles with respect to them,
tbe other distributing there into rinses — an
given in the beginning cf Walton's Polyglot,
vol. vi.
The Masorah furnishes also eighteen instances
of wha. t calls D'HDTO ^pH, "Correction of
the scribes The real import of this is doubtful ;
but the recent riew of Week, that it relates tr
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2220
OLD TESTAMENT
•Mentions nude in the text by the scribal, became
of something there offensive to them, end that
therefore the rejected reading U in each case the
true reading, is not borne out by the Septuagint,
which in aU the instances save one (Job vii. 20)
confirms the present Masoretio text.
Furthermore the Hasorah contains certain
]^"T>3D f " Conjectures," which it does not raise
to the dignity of Keris, respecting the true reading
in difficult passages. Thus at Gen. xix. 23, for
MS" 1 was conjectured rtH3\ because the word
W&W is usually feminine.
The Masorah was originally preserved in distinct
books by itself. A plan then arose of transferring
it to the margins of the MSS. of the Bible. For
this purpose large curtailments were necessary;
and various transcribers inserted in their margins
only as much as they had room for, or strove to
give it an ornamental character by reducing it
into fanciful shapes. R. Jacob ben Chaim, editor
of the Bomberg Bible, oomplains much of the
confusion into which it had fallen ; and the service
which be rendered in bringing it into order is
honorably acknowledged by Buxtorf. Further im-
provements in the arrangement of it were made by
Buxtorf himself in his Kabbinical Bible. The
Masorah is now distinguished into the Mantra
mrigna and the Mnmrn parva, the latter being
an abridgment of the former, and including all
the Keris and other compendious observations, and
being usually printed in Hebrew bibles at the foot
of the page. The Matora magna, when accom-
panying the Bible, is disposed partly at the side
of the text, against the passages to which its
several observations refer, partly at the end, where
the observations are ranged in alphabetical order :
it is thus divided into the Matora UxtuaSt and
the Matora finalis.
The Masorah itself was but one of the fruits of
the labors of the Jewish doctors in the Masoretic
period. A far more important work was the
furnishing of the text with rowel-marks, by which
the traditional pronunciation of it was imperishably
recorded. That the insertion of the Hebrew vowel-
points was post-Tslmudic is shown by the absence
from the Talmud of all reference to them. Jerome
also, in recording the true pronunciation of any
word, speaks only of the way in which it was read;
and occasionally mentions the ambiguity arising
from the variety of words represented by the same
letter (Hupfeld, Stud, und Krit. 1830, p. 549 ff.).
The system was gradually elaborated, having been
moulded in the first instance in imitation of the
Arabian, which was itself the daughter of the
Syrian. (So Hupfeld. Ewald maintains the He-
brew system to have been derived immediately
from the Syrian.) The history of the Syrian and
Arabian vocalisation renders it probable that the
elaboration of the system commenced not earlier
than the seventh or eighth century. The vowel-
narks are referred to in the Masorah ; and as they
«re all mentioned by R. Judah Chiug, in the
beginning of the eleventh century, they must have
been perfected before that date. The Spanish
Rabbis of the eleventh and twelfth centuries knew
nought of their recent origin. That the system
rf punctuation with which we are familiar was
* Mason and Bernard's Grammar, H. 285. The
r/stsm of accentuation In these books Is peculiar ; but
M wBl donbtlm repay study no less than that In the
OLD TESTAMENT
fashioned in Palestine is shown by its difhre-iea
from the Assyrian or Persian system displayed it
one of the eastern MSS. collated by Pinner at
Odessa; of which more hereafter.
Contemporaneous with the written vocalisation
was the accentuation of the text. The import of
the accents was, as Hupfeld has shown, essentially
rhythmical (Stud, und KriL 1837): hence they
had from the first both a logical and musical sig-
nificance. In respect of the former they were called
D^DSto, "senses:" In respect of the latter,
ntPaa, "tones." Like the vowel-marks, they are
mentioned in the Masorah, but not in the Talm'id.
The controversies of the sixteenth century re-
specting the late origin of the vowel-marks ai>l
accents are well known. Both are with the Jews
the authoritative exponents of the manner in which
the text is to be read : " Any interpretation," say*
Aben Ezra, " which is not in accordance with the
arrangement of the accents, thou shalt not consent
to it, nor listen to it." If in the books of Job,
Psalms, and Proverbs, the accents are held by some
Jewish scholars to be irregularly placed," the expla-
nation is probably that in those books the rhythm
of the poetry has afforded the means of testing the
value of the accentuation, and has consequently dis-
closed its occasional imperfections. Making allow-
ance for these, we must yet on the whole admire
the marvelous correctness, in the Hebrew Bible, of
both the vocalization and accentuation. The diffi-
culties which both occasionally present, and which
a superficial criticism would, by overriding them,
so easily remove, furnish the best evidence that
both faithfully embody not the private judgments
of the punctuators, but the traditions which had
descended to them from previous generations.
Besides the evidences of various readings con-
tained in the Keris of the Masorah, we have two
lists of different readings purporting or presumed to
be those adopted by the Palestinian and Babylonian
Jews respectively. Both are given in Walton's
Polyglot, vol. vi.
The first of these was printed by R. Jacob ben
Chaim in the Bomberg Bible edited by him, with-
out any mention of the source whence he had de-
rived it The different readings are 216 in number:
all relate to the consonants, except two, which re-
late to the Happik in the * . They are generally
of but little importance: many of the differences
are orthographical, many identical with those indi-
cated by the Keris and Chethibs. The list does
not extend to the Pentateuch. It is supposed to
be ancient, but post-Talmudic.
The other is the result of a collation of MSS.
made in the eleventh century by two Jews, R.
Aaron ben Asher, a Palestinian, and R. Jacob ben
Naphtali, a Babylonian. The differences, 864 in
number, relate to the vowels, the accents, the Mak-
keph, and in one instance (Cant. viii. 6) to the divis-
ion of one word into two. The list helps to fur-
nish evidence of the date by which the punctuation
and accentuation of the text must hare been com-
pleted. The readings of our MSS. commonly ac-
cord with those of Ben Asher.
It is possible that even the separate Jewish scad
emies may in some instances have had their owi
other books. The latest expositions of <* an by Bit
a Jewish scholar, appended to vol. h. of De'l tj e iiM
Cnnm. en Uu Ptalur ; and by A. B. Davidson, ISO.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLD TESTAMENT
OLD TESTAMENT
2221
jietinotive standard texts. Trace* of minor varia- 1 ration : one wrote the consonants ; another supplied
Jons batmen the standard* of the two Babylonian
teademies of Sura and Nahardea are mentioned 07
Oe Rossi, PrvUg. \ 85.
From the end, however, of the Matoretie period
onward, the Masorah became the great authority
by whieb the text given in all the Jewiah HSS.
m settled. It may thui be said that all our HSS.
are Haeoretie: those of older date were either suf-
fered to perish, or, as some think, were intentionally
consigned to destruction as incorrect. Various
standard copies are mentioned by the Jews, by
which, in the subsequent transcriptions, their MSS.
were tested and corrected, but of which none are
now known. Such were the Codex Hillel in Spain ;
the Codex iEgvptius, or Hierosolymitanus, of Ben
Asher ; and the Codex Babylonius of Ben Naphtali.
Of the Pentateuch there were the Codex Sinaiticus,
of which the authority stood high in regard of its
accentuation ; and the Codex Hierichuntinus, which
was valued in regard of its use of the matm ko-
tumis ; also the Codex Ears, or Azarah, at Toledo,
ransomed from the Black Prince for a large sum at
bis capture of the city in 1367, but destroyed in a
subsequent' siege (Scott Porter, Print, of Text.
Crit. p. 74).
3. MamuM riptt. — We must now give an account
of the O. T. MSS. known to us. They fall into
two main classes: Synagogue-rolls and MSS. for
private use. Of tie latter, some are written in the
square, others in the rabbinic or cursive character
The synagogue-rolls contain, separate from each
other, the Pentateuch, the Haphtaroth, or appointed
sections of the Prophets, and the so-called Megil-
loth, namely, Canticles, Kuth, Lamentations, Eccle-
siastea, and Esther. The text of the syuagogue-
rolls is written without rowels, neeants, or soph
pamks: the greater parshloth are not distinguished,
nor yet, strictly, the verses; these last are indeed
often slightly separated, but the practice is against
the ancient tradition. The prescribed rules respect-
ing both the preparation of the skin or parchment
for these rolls, and the ceremonies with which they
are to be written, are exceedingly minute; and,
though superstitious, have probably greatly con-
tributed to the preservation of the text in its integ-
rity. They are given in the Tract Sopberim, a
later appendage to the Babylonian Talmud. The
two modifications of the square character in which
these rolls are written are distinguished by the Jews
as the Tarn and the Welsh, i. e. probably, the
Perfect and the Foreign: the former is the older
angular writing of the German and Polish, the lat-
ter the more modern round writing of the Spanish
MSS. These rolls are not sold ,- snd those in Chris-
tian possession are supposed by some to be mainly
those rejected from synagogue use at vitiated.
Private MSS. in the square character are in the
book-form, either on parchment or on paper, and
of various sizes, from folio to 12mo. Some contain
the Hebrew text alone; others add the Tsrgum, or
sn Arabic or other translation, either interspersed
with the text or in a separate column, occasionally
to the margin. The upper and lower margins are
generally occupied by the Masorah, sometimes by
rabbinical commentaries, etc. ; the outer margin,
when not filled with a commentary, is used for cor-
rections, miscellaneous observations, etc ; the inner
Margin for the Maaora parva. The text marks all
■at distinctions of sections and verses which are
•anting in the synagogue-rolls. These arte* or-
tnttrily passed through several hands in tbetrprepa-
the vowels and accents, which are generally in a
fainter ink; another revised the copy; another
added the Masorah, etc Even when the same per-
son performed more than one of these tasks, the coa-
wnanta and rowels were always written separately.
The date of a MS. is ordinarily given in the sub-
scription ; but ss the subscriptions are often con-
cealed in the Masorah or elsewhere, it is occasion-
ally difficult to find them : occasionally also it is
difficult to decipher them. Even when found and
deciphered, they cannot always be relied on. Sub-
scriptions were liable to be altered or supplied from
the desire to impart to the MS. the value either of
antiquity or of newness. For example, the sub-
scription of the MS. Bible in the University library
at Cambridge (Kenn. No. 88), which greatly puz-
zled Kennieott, has now been shown by Zunz (JoW
GtscA. tmd Lit. p. 814) to assign the MS. to the
year A. T>. 856; yet both Kennieott and Brans
agree that it is not older than the 13th century;
and De Rossi too pronounces, from the form of the
Masorah, against its antiquity. No satisfactory
criteria have been yet established by which the ages
of MSS- are to be determined. Those that bare been
relied on by some are by others deemed of little
value. Few existing MSS. are supposed to be
older than the 13th century. Kennieott and Brans
assigned one of their collation (No. 590) to the
10th century; De Rossi dates it A. D. 1018; on the
other hand, one of his own (No. 634) he adjudge*
to the 8th century.
It is usual to distinguish in these MS. three mod-
ifications of the square character : namely, a Span-
ish writing, upright and regularly formed; a Ger-
man, Inclined and sharp-pointed; and a French and
Italian, intermediate to the two preceding. Yet
the character of the writing is not accounted a de-
cisive criterion of the country to which a MS. be-
longs; nor indeed are the criteria of country much
more definitely settled than those of age. One im-
portant distinction between the Spanish and Ger-
man MSS. consists in the difference of order in
which the books are generally arranged. The for
mer follow the Masorah, placing the Chronicles
liefbre the rest of the H&eiographa; the latter con-
form to the Talmud, placing Jeremiah and Ezvkiel
liefore Isaiah, and Kuth, separate from the other
Meirilloth. before tbe Psalms. The other rbarac
terUtics of Spanish MSS., which are accounted tbe
most valuable, are thus given by Brans : The)
are written with paler ink; their pages are seldon
divided into three columns ; the Psalms are arranged
stichometrically ; the Targum is not interspersed
with the text, but assigned to a separate column ;
words are not dirided between two lines; initial
and unusual letters are eschewed, so also figures,
ornaments, and flourishes: the parshioth are indi-
cated in the margin rather than in the text ; books
are separated by a space of four lines, but do not
end with a pi!"!; the letters are dressed to the
upper guiding-line rather than the lower: Kapheh
is employed frequently, Metheg and Mappik seldom
Private MSS. in the rabbinic character are
mostly 01. paper, and arc of comparatively late date-
They ar> written with many abbreviations, and
have no vowel-points or Masorah, but arc oooatlon-
ally accompanied by an Arabic version.
In computing the number of known MSS. it
mutt oe borne in mind that by far the gr* iter part
contain only uorUons of the BibW. Of lb. Ml
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2222
OLD TESTAMENT
Jewish MSS. collated by Kennieott, not more thin
108 give the 0. T. complete: with those of De
Koasi the case is similar. In Kennicott'a volumes
the MSS. used lor each book are distinctly enumer-
ated at the end of the book. The number collated
by Kennieott and De Rossi together were, for the
book of Genesis 490; for the Hegilloth, collectively,
549 ; for the Psalms, 495: for Ezra, and Nehemiah,
17S; and for the Chronicles, ill. MS. authority
is most plenteous for the book of Esther, least so
for those of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Since the days of Kennieott and De Rossi mod-
ern research has discovered various MSS. beyond
the limits of Europe. Of many of these there seems
no reason to suppose that they will add much to our
knowledge of the Hebrew text. Those found in
China are not esseutiaUy different in character to
the MSS. previously known iu Europe : that brought
by Buchanan from Malabar is now supposed to be
a European roll. It is different with the MSS. ex-
amined by Pinner at Odessa, described by him in
the Protpectiu der Odetsaer GtteliscAafl fur
Cneh. tind Ah. geliBrenden tiUttlm kti. md rabb.
USS. One of these MSS. (A. No. 1), a Pentateuch
roll, unpointed, brought from Dei-bend in Daghes-
tan, appears by the subscription to have been writ-
ten previously to the year ^. ■>. 580; and, if so, is
the oldest known Biblical Hebrew MS. in exist-
ence. It is written in accordance with the rules
of the Masorab, but the forms of the letters are re-
markable. Another MS. (B- No. 3) containing
the Prophets, on parchment, in small folio, although
only dating, according to the inscription, from A.
r>. 916, and furnished with a Masorab, is a yet
greater treasure. Its rowels and accents are wholly
different from those now in use, both in form and
in position, being all above the letters : they have
accordingly been the tbeme of much discussion
among Hebrew scholars. The form of the letters
is here also remarkable. A fac-simile has been
given by Pinner of the book of Habakkuk from this
MS. The same peculiarities are wholly or partially
repeated in some of the other Odessa MSS. Vari-
ous readings from the texts of these MSS. are in-
stanced by Pinner: those of B. No. 3 he has set
forth at some length, and speaks of as of great im-
portance, and as entitled to considerable attention
on account of the correctness of the MS. : little use
has however been made of them.
The Samaritan MSS. collated by Kennieott are
all in the book-form, though the Samaritans, like the
Jews, make use of rolls in their synagogues. They
have no vowel-points or accents, and their diacrit-
ical signs sod marks of division are peculiar to them
selves. The unusual letters of the Jewish MSS.
are also unknown in them. They are written on
vellum or paper, and are not supposed to be of any
great antiquity. This is, however, of little im-
portance, as they sufficiently represent the Samari-
tan text.
3. Printed Ttxt. — The history of the printed
text of the Hebrew Bible commences with the early
Jewish editions of the separate books. First ap-
peared the Psalter, in 1477, probably at Bologna.
in 4to, with Kimehi's commentary interspersed
among the verses. Only the first four psalms had
ha vowel- points, and then but clumsily expressed.
The text was far from correct, and the non-U lec-
tion* were inserted or omitted at pleasure. At
Jologna there subsequently appeared, in 1489, the
Pentateuch, in folio, pointed, with the Targum and
he oommeiitary of Jarcbi , and the fire Megittoth
OLD TESTAMENT ,
(Ruth -Esther), in folio, with the couuaeotarisi
of Jarchi and Aben Ezra. The text of the Penta-
teuch is reputed highly correct. From Sonoma,
near Cremona, issued in 1486 the Prophet* Priores
(Joshua- Kings), folio, unpointed, with Kimehi's
commentary: of this the Prophets! Posteriorea
(Isaiah -Malaohi). also with Kimehi's commen-
tary, was probably the continuation. The Megil-
loth were also printed, along with the prayers of
the Italian Jews, at the same place and date, in
4to. Next year, 1487, the whole Hagiographa,
pointed, but unaccentuated, with rabbinical com-
mentaries, appeared at Naples, in either small foL
or large 4to, 2 vols. Thus every separate portion
of the Bible was in print before any complete edi-
tion of the whole appeared.
The honor of printing the first entire Hebrew
Bible belongs to the above-mentioned town of Son-
cino. The edition is in folio, pointed and accent-
uated. Nine copies only of it are now known, rf
which one belongs to Exeter College, Oxford. Thi"
earlier printed portions were perhaps the basis of
the text. This was followed, in 1494, by the 4to
or 8vo edition printed by Gersom at Brescia, re-
markable as being the edition from which Luther's
German translation was made. It has many pecul-
iar readings, and instead of giving the Keria in
the margin, incorporates them generally in the
text, which is therefore not to be depended upon.
The unusual letters also are not distinguished.
This edition, along with the preceding, formed the
basis of the first edition, with the Masorab, Tar-
gums, and rabbinical comments, printed by Bom-
berg at Venice in 1518, foL, under the editorship
of the converted Jew Felix del Prato; though the
"plurimis ooUatis exemplaribus " of the editor
seems to imply that MSS. were also used in aid.
This edition was the first to contain the Mason
magna, and the various readings of Bee Asher
and Ben Naphtali. On the Brescian text depended
also, in greater or less degree, Bombergs smaller
Bibles, 4to, of 1518, 1521. From the same text, or
from the equivalent text of Romberg's first Rab-
binical Bible, was, at a subsequent period, mainly
derived that of Seb. MUnster, printed by Froben at
Basle, 4to, 1534-35: which is valued, however, as
containing a list of various readings which must
have been collected by a Jewish editor, and, In
part, from MSS.
After the Brescian, the next primary edition was
that contained in the Complutensian Polyglot,
published at Complutum (Alexia) in Spain, at the
expense of Cardinal Ximenes, dated 1514-17, hot
not issued till 1622. The whole work, 6 vols, fob,
is said to have cost 50,000 ducats: its original
price was 61 ducats, its present value about 40».
The Hebrew, Vulgate, and Greek texts of the O. T.
(the latter with a Latin translation) appear in three
parallel columns : the Targum of Onkelos, with a
Latin translation, is in two columns below. The
Hebrew is pointed, but unaccentuated : it was taken
from seven MSS., which sre still preserved in the
University Library at Madrid.
To this succeeded an edition which has had more
influence than any on the text of later times — the
Second Rabbinical Bible, printed by Romberg at
Venice, 4 vols. fol. 1625-66. The editor was the
learned Tunisian Jew, R. Jacob ban Chaim ; a Latin
translation of his preface will be found !- Keoni-
eott'a Second Dissertation, p. 229 ft*. The great
feature of his work lay In the correction of the text
by the praoepts of the Masorah, in whi.-h he was
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLD TESTAMENT
jrofbondly skilled, and on which, a* well as 30 the
wt itself, his labors were employed. Bon.berg's
Thiid Rabbinical Bible, 4 vola. fol. 1547-49, edited
bj Addkind, was in the main a reprint of the pre-
seding. Errors were, however, corrected, and some
af the rabbinical commentaries were replaced by
Mbers. The same text substantially reappeared
is the Rabbinical Bibles of John de tiara, Venice,
t vols. fol. 1568, and of Bragadini, Venice, 4 vols.
U. 1617-18; also in the later 4to Bibles of Bom-
herg himself, 1628, 1533, 1544; and in those of
K. Stephens, Paris, 4to, 1539-44 (so Opitz and
Wees: other* represent this as following the Bres-
nsn text); R. Stephens, Paris, lCmo, 1544-46;
lustiniani. Venice, 4to, 1651, 18uio, 1662, 4to, 1563,
4to, 1573; Pe la Rouvicre, Geneva, various sizes,
1618; I)e Gara, Venice, various sizes, 1566, 15H8.
1582; Bragadini, Venice, various sizes, 1614, 1616,
1119, 1628; Plantin, Antwerp, various sizes, 1566;
Uartiuann, Frankiorton-Oler, various sizes, 1595,
1598; and Crato (Kraft), Witteniberg, 4to, 1586.
The Royal or Antwerp Polyglot, printed by
Mantis. 8 vols. fol. 1569-72, at the expense of
Philip II. of Spain, and edited by Arias Hontanus
wd others, took the Complutensian as the basis
of its Hebrew text, but compared this with one of
' Bamberg's, so as to produce a mixture of the two.
This text was followed both ill the Pari* Polyglot
of Le Jay, 9 vols. fol. 1645, and in Walton's Poly-
glot, London, 6 vols. fol. 1657. The printing of
the text in the Pari* Polyglot is said to be very
incorrect. The same text appeared also in Plan-
tin's later Bibles, with Latin translations, fol.
1571, 1584; and in various other Hebrew-Latin
Bibles: Burgos, foL 1681; Geneva, foL 1609, 1618;
Leyden,8vo, 1613; Fraiikfort-on-Maine (by Knoch),
foL 1681; Vienna, 8vo, 1743; in the quadrUin-
gual Polyglot of Reineccius, Leipsic, 3 vols. fol.
1750-51 ; and also in the same editor's earlier 8vo
Bible, Leipsic, 1726, for which, however, he pro-
fesses to have compared MSS.
A text compounded of several of the preceding
*as issued by the Leipsio professor, Elias Hutter,
it Hamburg, foL 1587 : it was intended for stu-
deuts, the servile letters being distinguished from
tbe radicals by hollow type. This was reprinted
in his uncompleted Polyglot, Nuremberg, fol
1591, and by Nissd, 8vo, 1662. A special men-
uoo is also due to the labors of the elder Buxtorf,
who carefully revised the text after the Mssorah.
publishing it in 8vo at Basle, 1611, and again
after a fresh revision, in his valuable Rabbinical
Bible, Basle, 2 vols. foL 1618-19. This text was
also reprinted at Amsterdam, 8vo, 1639, by R. Ma-
Dasseh ben Israel, who had previously issued, in
1631, 1635. a tat of his own with arbitrary gram-
matical alterations.
Nr .her the text of Hutter nor that of Buxtorf
was without its permanent influence; but the He-
brew Bible which became the standard to subse-
quent generations was that of Joseph Athias, a
learned rabbi and printer at Amsterdam. His text
was based on a comparison of tbe previous editions
with two MSS-; one bearing date 1299; the other
a Spanish M.S., boasting an antiquity of 900 yean.
U appeared at Amsterdam, 2 vols. 8vo, 1661, with
s preface by Leusden, professor at Utrecht; and
•fan, revised afresh, in 1667. These Bibles were
stash prised for their beauty and correctness; and
t sjoid chain and medal were conferred on Athias.
si town of their appreciation of them, by tbe
i Gecerai of Holland. Tbe progeny of the
OLD TESTAMENT
2228
text of Athias was as follows: (a.) Thai of CIo-
diua, Frankfort-on-Maine, 8vo, 1677, reprinted
with alterations, 8vo, 1692, 4to, 1716. (5.) Thai
of Jablonsky, Berlin, large 8vo or 4to, 1699)
reprinted, but leu correctly, 12mo, 1712. Jablon-
sky collated all tbe cardinal editions, together with
several MSS., and bestowed particular care on
tbe vowel-points and accents, (c.) That of Van
der Hooght, Amsterdam and Utrecht, 2 vols. 8vo,
1706. This edition, of good reputation for its
accuracy, but above all for the beauty and distinct-
ness of its type, deserves special attention, as con-
stituting our present ttxtut rtctpttu. The text
was chiefly formed on that of Athias: no DISS,
were used for it, but it has a collection of various
readings from printed editions at the end. The
Masoretic readings are in the margin. (A) That
of Opitz, Kiel, 4to, 1709, very accurate: the text
of Athias was corrected by comparing seventeen
printed editions and some MSS. (e.) That of
J. H. Michaelis, Halle, 8vo and 4to, 1720. It was
baaed on Jablonsky : twenty-four editions and five
Krfurt MSS. were collated for it, but, as has been
found, not thoroughly. Still the edition is much
esteemed, partly for its correctness, and partly fol
its note* and parallel references. Davidson pro-
nounces it superior to Van der Hoogkt's ui every
respect except legibility and beauty of type.
These editions show that on the whole tbe text
was by this time firmly and permanently estab-
lished. We may well regard it as a providential
circumstance that, having been early conformed by
Ben Chaini to the Masorah, the printed text should
in the course of the next two hundred years have
acquired in this its Masoretic form, a sacredness
which the subsequent labors of a more extended
criticism could not venture to contemn. Whatever
errors, and those by no means unimportant, such
wider criticism may lead us to detect in it, the
grounds of the corrections which even tbe most
cautious critics would adopt are often too precarious
to enable us, in departing from the Masoretic, to
obtain any other satisfactory standard; while m
practice the mischief that would have ensued from
the introduction into the text of the emendations
of Houbigant and the critics of his school would
have been the occasion of incalculable and irrep-
arable harm. From all such it baa been happily
preserved free; and while we are far from deeming
its authority absolute, we yet value it, because aU
experience has taught us that, in seeking to re-
model it, we should be Introducing into it worse
imperfections than those which we desire to remove,
while we should lose that which is, after all, no light
advantage, a definite textual standard universally
accepted by Christians and Jews alike. So essen-
tially different is the treatment demanded by the
text of the Old TeaWient and by that of tbe New.
The modem editions of the Hebrew Bible now
in use are all based on Van der Hooght- The
earliest of these was that of Simonis, Halle, 1752,
and more correctly 1767 ; reprinted 1822, 1828. In
England the most popular edition is the sterling
one by Judah D'Allemand, 8vo, of high repute for
correctness: there is alio the pocket edition of
Bagster, on which the same editor was employed.
In Germany there are the 8vo edition of Hahn;
the 12mo edition, based on tbe last, with preface by
RosenmuUer (said by Kejl to contain some conjec-
tural alteration* of the text by Landschrelbei )
and the 8vo edition of Tbeile.
4. Critical Labors ami Apparatm. — The nla-
Digitizedby VjOOQlC
2224
OLD TESTAMENT
OLD TESTAMENT
tory of the criticism of the text has already been I raab. Yet its merits were also considerable: and
brought down to the period of the labors of the I the newness of the path which Houbigant wis
Masorets and their immediate successors. It must
be here resumed. In the early part of the 13th
century, R. Meir Levita, a native of Burgos and
inhabitant of Toledo, known by abbreviation as
Haraniah, by patronymic as Todroshig, wrote a
critical work on the Pentateuch called The Book
oj the Mtttorah the Hedge of the Law, in which be
endeavored, by a collation of MSS., to ascertain the
true reading in various passages. This work was
of high repute among the Jews, though it long
remained in manuscript : it was eventually printed
at Florence in 1750 ; again, incorrectly, at Berlin,
1761. At a later period K. Menahem de Lonzano
collated ten MSS., chiefly Spanish, some of them
five or six centuries old, with Bomberg's 4to Bible
of 1544. The results were given in the work
min TW, " Light of the Law," printed in the
nW VW, Venice, 1618, afterwards by itself,
but less accurately. Amsterdam, 1659. They relate
only to the Pentateuch. A more important work
was that of B. Solomon Norxt of Mantua, in the
17th century, \PS "1113, "Repairer of the
Breach:" a copious critical commentary on the
whole of the 0. T., drawn np with the aid of MSS.
and editions, of the Masorah, Talmud, and all other
Jewish resources within his reach. In the Penta-
teuch he relied much on Todrosius: with K. Me
nahem he had had personal intercourse. His work
was first printed, 116 years after its completion, by
a rich Jewish physician, Raphael Chaim, Mantua,
4 vols. 4to, 1742, under the title "B7 MTDO :
the emendations on Proverbs and Job alone had
appeared in the margin of a Mantuan edition of
those books in 1725. The whole was reprinted in
a Vienna O. T., 4to, 1813-16.
Meanwhile various causes, such as the contro-
versies awakened by the Samaritan text of the
Pentateuch, and the advances which had been
made hi N. T. criticism, had contributed to direct
the attention of Christian scholars to the impor-
tance of a more extended criticism of the Hebrew
text of the O. T. In 1746 the expectations of the
public were raised by the Prolegomena of Houbi-
gant, of the Oratory at Paris; and in 1753 his
edition appeared, splendidly printed, in 4 vols. fol.
The text was that of Van der Hooght, divested of
points, and of every vestige of the Masorah, which
Houbigant, though he used it, rated at a very low
value. In the notes copious emendations were in-
troduced. They were derived — (n) from the
Samaritan Pentateuch, which Houbigant preferred
In many respects to the Jewish; (A) from twelve
Hebrew MSS., which, however, do not appear to
have been regularly collated, their readings being
chiefly given in those passages where they supported
the editor's emendations; (c) from the Septuagint
and other ancient versions; and (d) from an ex-
tensive appliance of critical conjecture. An ac-
companying Latin translation embodied all the
emendations adopted. The notes were reprinted
at Frankfort-on-AIahie, 2 vols. 4to, 1777: they
constitute the cream of the original volumes, the
splendor of which was disproportionate to their
value, as they contained no materials besides those
Hi which the editor directly rested. The whole
essaying may be pleaded in extenuation of iU
faults. It effectually broke the Masoretic eoktot
ice wherewith the Hebrew text had been incrusted ;
but it afforded also a severe warning of the diffi-
culty of finding any sure standing-ground beneath
In the same year, 1753, appeared at Oxford
Kennioott's first Dissertation on the state of the
Printed Text: the second followed in 1769. The
result of these and of the author's subsequent
annual reports was » subscription of nearly .£10,000
to defray the expenses of a collation of Hebrew
MSS. throughout Europe, which was performed
from 1760 to 1769, partly by Kennieott himself,
but chiefly, under his direction, by Professor Bruns
of Helmstadt and others. The collation extended
in all to 681 Jewish and 16 Samaritan MSS., and
40 printed editions, Jewish works, etc. ; of which,
however, only about half were collated throughout,
the rest in select passages. The fruits appeared at
Oxford in 2 voU. fol. 1776-80: the text is Van
der Hooght's, unpointed ; the various readings are
given below; comparisons are ilso made of the
Jewish and Samaritan texts of the Pentiteneh,
and of the parallel passages in Samuel and Chron-
icles, etc. 'ITiey much disappointed the expecta-
tions that had been raised. It was found that a
very large part of the various readings had refer-
ence simply to the omission or insertion of the
matrei Uctumit ; while of the rest many obviously
represented no more than the mistakes of separate
transcribers. Happily for the permanent interests
of criticism this had not been anticipated. Kenni-
cott's own weakness of judgment may also have
made him less aware of the smallness of the imme-
diate results to follow from his persevering toil;
and thus a Herculean task, which in the present
state of critical knowledge could scarcely be under-
taken, was providentially, once for all, performed
with a thoroughness for which, to the end of time,
we may well be thankful.
The labors of Kennieott were supplemented by
those of De Rossi, professor at Parma. His plan
differed materially from Kennioott's: he confined
himself to a specification of the various readings in
select passages; but for these he supplied also the
critical evidence to be obtained from the ancient
versions, and from all the various Jewish authori-
ties. In regard of manuscript resources, he col-
lected iu his own library 1,031 MSS., more than
Kennieott had collated in all Europe; of these he
collated 617, some being those which Kennieott
had collated before: he collated also 134 extraneous
MSS. that had escaped Kennioott's fellow-laborers;
and be recapitulated Kennicott's own varices read-
ings. The readings of the various printed uditiors
were also well examined. Thus, for the passages
on which it treats, the evidence in De Rossi's work
may be regarded as almost complete. It does not
contain the text. It was published at Parma. •!
vols 4to, 1784-88 : an additional volume appeared
In 1798.
A small Bible, with the text of Keineccius, and
a selection of the more important readinm of
Kennieott and De Rossi, was issued by Dwierleia
and Meisner at Leipsic, 8vo, 1793. It Is printed
(except some copies) on bad paper, and is rrputra
very incorrect. A better critical edition is that of
lahn, Vienna, 4 vols. 8vo, 1806. The text Is Vai
i was Indeed too ambitious: its canons of crit- der Hooght's/ corrected in nine or ten places: ixm
lessor were thoroughly unsound, and iu ventures I more important various readings are subjoined.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLD TESTAMENT
aith the authorities, and full information is given.
Bat, with ii\Judicious peculiarity, the books are
imaged in a uew order; those of Chroniolet are
■pot up into fragments, for the purpose of com-
parison with the parallel books; and only the
principal accents are retained.
The first attempt to turn the new critical colla-
tions to public account was made by Boothroyd,
in his unpointed Bible, with various readings and
English notes, Pontefract, sto, 1810-16, at a time
when Houbigant's principles were still in the as-
cendant. This wsa followed in 1831 by Hamil-
ton's Codex Criticus, modeled on the plan of the
X. T. of Griesbach, which is, however, hardly
adapted to the O. T., in the criticism of the text
of which diplomatic evidence is of so muoh less
weight than in the case of the N. T. The most
important contribution towards the formation of a
(trued • rt that has yet appeared is unquestionably
Dr. Ik bison's Hebrew Text vf the 0. 7\, rented
from critic/it SoureeM, 1856. It presents a con-
venient epitome of the more important various
leadings of the MSS. and of the Masorah, with
the authorities fur them ; and in the emendations
of the test which he sanctions, when there is any
Jewish authority for the emendation, he shows on
the whole a fair judgment. But he ventures on
few emendations for which there is no direct
Jewish authority, and seems to have practically
fallen into the error of disparaging the critical aid
to be derived from the ancient versions, as much
as it had by the critics of the hut century been
unduly exalted.
It must be confessed that little has yet been
done for the systematic criticism of the Hebrew
text from the ancient versions, in comparison of
what might be accomplished. We have even yet
to lean, what critical treasures those versions really
contain. They have, of course, at the cost of
much private labor, been freely used by individual
scholar*, but the texts implied in them have never
jet been fairly exhibited or analyzed, so as to
enable the literary world generally to form any just
estimate of their real value. The readings involved
iii their renderings are in Houbigant's volumes
only adduced when they support the emendations
which he desired to advance. By De Rossi they
are tn-ated merely as subsidiary to the MSS., and
are therefore only adduced for the passages to
which his manuscript collations refer. Nor have
rJoothroyd's or Davidson's treatment of them any
intensions whatever to completeness. Should it
» alleged that they have given all the importmU
version-readings, it may be at once replied that
each is not the case, nor indeed does it seem pos-
sible to decide prima fade of any version-reading
ejhether it be important or not: many have doubt-
less been passed over again and again as unim-
portant, which yet either are genuine readings or
contain the elements of them. Were the whole
•*" the Septuagint variations from the Hebrew text
lucidly exhibited in Hebrew, they would in all
probability serve to suggest the true reading in
many passages in which it has not yet been recov-
ered ; and no better sen ice could be rendered to
the cause of textual criticism by any scholar who
would undertake the labor. Skill, scholarship, and
patience would be required in deciphering many
of the Hebrew readings which the Septuagint
•eprewnta, and in cases of uncertainty that uo-
ssrtsinty should be noted, for the .ooks of
Samuel the Use ha* been grappled with, appar-
140
OLD TESTAMENT 2225
ently with care, by Tbenius in the Extgtliiektt
Handbuch ; but the readings are not conveniently
exhibited, being given partly in the body of ins
commentary, partly at the end of the volume. For
the Psalms we have Reinke's Kurze Zutnmmm-
tlelhmg alter Abutichmyen torn heb. Texle in dcr
Pt. Qbertetnmg der LXX. tmd Vulg., etc- ; but the
criticism of the Hebrew text was not the author's
direct object.
It might be well, too, if along with the version-
readings were collected together all, or at least all
the more important, conjectural emendations of the
Hebrew text proposed by various scholars during
the hut hundred years, which at present lie buried
in their several commentaries and other publica-
tions. For of these, also, it is only when they are
so exhibited as to invite an extensive vid simul-
taneous criticism that any true general estimate
will be formed of their worth, or that the pearls
among them, whether few or many, will become
of any general service. That by far the greater
number of them will be found beside tbe mark vie
may at once admit ; but obscurity, or an unpopular
name, or other cause, has probably withheld atten
lion from many suggestions of real value.
6. PrincipUt of Criticism. — The method of
procedure required in the criticism of the 0. T. is
widely different from that practiced in the criticism
of the N. T. Our O. T. textus receptus is a far
more faithful representation of the genuine Scrip-
ture, nor could we on any account afford to part
with it; but, on the other hand, the means of de-
tecting and correcting the errors contained in it are
more precarious, the results are more uncertain,
and the ratio borne by the value of the diplomatic
evidence of HSS. to that of a good critical judg-
ment and sagacity is greatly diminished.
It is indeed to the direct testimony of tbe MSS.
that, in endeavoring to establish the true text, we
must first have recourse. Against the general con-
sent of the MSS. a reading of the textus receptus,
merely as such, can have no weight. Where the
MSS. disagree, it has been laid down as a canon
that jve ought not to let the mere numerical ma-
jority preponderate, but should examine what is
the reading of the earliest and best. This is no
donbt theoretically correct, but it has not been
generally carried out : nor, while so much remains
to be done for the ancient versions, must we clamor
too loudly for the expenditure, in the sifting at
MSS., of the immense labor which the task would
involve; for internal evidence can alone decide
which MSS. are entitled to greatest authority, and
the researches of any single critic into their rela-
tive value could not be relied on till checked by
the corresponding researches of others, and in
such researches few competent persons are likely
to engage. While, however, we content ourselves
with judging of the testimony of the MSS. to any
particular reading by the number sanctioning that
reading, we must remember to estimate not the
absolute number, but the relative number to tbe
whole number of MSS. collated for that passage.
The circumstance that only half of Kennicott's
MSS., and none of De Rossi's, were collated
throughout, as also that the number of MSS
greatly varies for different books of the O. T.,
makes attention to this important. Davidson, in
his Revuion of the Htb. Text, has gone by the
absolute number, which he should only have done
when that number was very small.
The MSS. lead us for the most part only to tat
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2226
OLD TESTAMENT
Brat sure standing-ground, the Masoretic text: in
ttlier words, to the average written teat of a period
later by a thousand or fifteen hundred ream than
the latest book of the 0. T. It is possible, how-
ever, that in particular HSS. pre-Masoretic read-
ings may be incidentally preserved. HeiK-e isolated
MS. readings may servo to confirm those of the
ancient versions.
In ascending upwards from the Masoretic text,
our first critical materials are the Masoretic Keris,
valuable as witnesses to the preservation of many
authentic readings, but on which it is impossible to
place any degree of reliance, because we can- never
be certain, in particular instances, that they repre-
sent more than mere unauthorized conjectures. A
Keri therefore is not to be received in preference to
s Chethib unless confirmed by other sufficient evi-
dence, external or internal ; and in reference to the
Keris let the rule be borne in mind, "I'roelivi
scriptioni pnestnt ardua," many of tbem being but
arbitrary softenings down of difficult readings in
the genuine text. It is furthermore to be ohaerred,
that when the reading of any number »f MSS.
agrees, as is frequently the case, with a Masoretic
Keri, the existence of such a Keri may be a dam-
age rather than otherwise to the weight of the
testimony of those MSS., for it may itself be the
untrustworthy source whence their reading orig-
inated.
The express assertions of the Masorah, as also
of the Targmn, respecting the true reading hi
particular passages, are of course important: they
indicate the views entertained by the Jews at a
period prior to that at wbich our oldest MSS. were
made.
From these we ascend to the version of Jerome,
the most thoroughly trustworthy authority on which
we have to rely in our endeavors to amend the
Masoretic text. Dependent as Jerome was, for his
knowledge of the Hebrew text and everything re-
specting it, on the Palestinian Jews, and accurate
as are his renderings, it is not too much to say
that a Hebrew reading which can tie shown to
have been received by Jerome, should, if sanctioned
or countenanced by the Targum, be so far preferred
to one upheld by the united testimony of all MSS.
whatever. And in general we may definitely make
jut the reading which Jerome followed. There
ire, no doubt, exceptions. Few would think of
•lacing much reliance on any translation as to the
presence or absence of a simple 1 oopular in the
triginal text. Again in Psalm exliv. 2, where
.he authority of Jerome and of other translators
A alleged for the reading D*B9, "peoples," while
the great majority of MSS. giro <I B9, " my pee-
ls," wo cannot be certain that he did not really
ead S D37, regarding it, although wrongly, as an
apocopated plural. Hence the precaution neces-
sary in bringing the evidence of a version to bear
spon the text: when used with such precaution,
the version of Jerome will be found of the very
greatest service.
Of the other versions, although more ancient.
Done can on the whole be reckoned, ui a critical
point of view, so valuable an his. Of the Greek
versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion,
we possess but mere fragments. The Syriac bears
the impress of having been made too much under
Ha Uutuaare of the SeptusginL The Targams are
OLD TESTAMENT
too often paraphrastic For a detailed amount of
them the reader is referral to the various artiessa
[Versions, etc.]. Still they all furnish most im-
portant material for the correction of the Masoretk
text; and their cumulative evidence, when they aO
concur in a reading difierent to that which it eon-
tains, is very strong.
The Septuagint itself, venerable for its antiquity
but on various accounts untrustworthy in the read-
ings which it represents, must be treated for crit-
ical purposes in the tame way as the Masoretic
Keris. It doubtless contains many authentic
readings of the Hebrew text not otherwise preserve'*
to us; but, on the other hand, the presence of ar.r
Hebrew reading in it can pass for little, unless ft
can be independently shown to be probable that
that reading is the true one. It may, however,
suggest the true reading, and it may confirm it
where supported by other considerations. Such,
for example, is the ease with the almost certain
correction of "pHn, " shall keep bolyday to thee,"
for "Onn, " thou shsJt restrain," in Psalm lxxM.
10. Tn the opposite direction of confirming a
Masoretic reading againat ahich later testimonies
militate, the authority of the Septuagint, on ac-
count of its age, necessarily stands high.
Similar remarks would, i priori, seem to apply
to the critical use of the Samaritan Pentateuch : it
is, however, doubtful whether that document be of
any real additional value.
In the case of the 0. T., unlike that of the N. T.,
another source of emendations is generally allowed,
namely, critical conjecture. Had we any reason for
believing that, at the date of the first translation
of the O. T. into Greek, the Hebrew text had been
preserved immaculate, we might well abstain from
venturing on any emendations for which no direct
external warrant conld be found ; but the Septua-
gint version is nearly two centuries younger than
the latest book of the O. T; and as the history of
the Hebrew text seems to show that the care with
which its purity has been .guarded has lieen contin-
ually on the increase, so we must infer that it it
just in the earliest periods that I he few corruptions
which it bss sustained would be most likely to
accrue. Few enough they may l«; but, if analogy
may be trusted, they cannot be altogether imagi-
nary. And thus arises the necessity of admitting,
besides the emendations suggested by the MSS.
end versions, those also which originate in the aim- '
pie skill and honest ingenuity of the critic; of
whom, however, while according him this license,
we demand in return that he shall tear in mind
the sole legitimate object of his investigations, and
that he shall not obtrude upon us any conjectural
reading, the genuineness of which he cannot fairly
establish by circumstantial evidence. What that
circumstantial evidence shall be it is impossible to
define beforehand : it is enough that it be such at
shall, when produced, bring some conviction to •
reasoning mind.
There are cases in which the Septuagint will sup-
ply an indirect warrant for the reception of a
reading which it nevertheless does not directly sanc-
tion : thus in Ec xll. 11, where the present text
has the meaningless word QlpQ, "place," while
the Septusgint inappropriately reads "I1KQ
•' light," there arises a strong presumption that bolt
readings are equally corruptions of ""-IpO, "t*Ba>
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLD TESTAMENT
tain," referring to a water-gallery running along
Jie walls of the Temple exactly in the position de-
Mribed in the Talmud. An indirect teetimonj of
this kind may be even more conslusive than a
direct testimony, inasmuch as no suspicion of
design can attach to it. In Is. ix. 3, where the
text, ss emended by Professor Selwyn in nil
Bum Hebraic*, runs nVnn V^il iT3in
mOWn, " Thou hast multiplied the gladness,
thou hast increased the joy," one confirmation of
the correctness of the proposed reading is well
traced by him in the circumstance of the filial /
of the second and the initial PI. of the third word
furnish the IT?, " to it," implied in the 6 of the
Septuagint, and according with the assumed femi-
nine noun n s 3"in, to sAtfirroK, or with
mnn or jraiO wnieh was substituted for
It (see this fully brought out, Bar. Bet. pp.
Wff.).
It is frequently held that much may be drawn
from parallel passages towards the correction of
portions of the Hebrew text; and it may well be
allowed that in the historical books, and especially
In catalogues, etc., the texts of two parallel passages
throw considerable light the one upon the other.
Kennicott commenced his critical dissertations by
a detailed comparison of the text of 1 Cbr. xi.
with that of 8 Sam. t., xxiii.; and the comparison
brought to light some corruptions which cannot be
gainsaid. Chi the other band, in the poetical and
prophetical books, and to a certain extent in the
whole of the O. T., critical ralianoe on the texts of
parallel passages is attended with much danger. It
was the practice of the Hebrew writers, in revising
former productions, or in borrowing the language
to which others hail given utterance, to make com-
paratively minute alterations, which seem at first
sight to be due to mere carelessness, but which
nevertheless, when exhibited together, cannot well
be attributed to aught but design. We have a
striking instance of this in the two recensions of
the same hymn (both probably Davidio) in Ps.
xvin. and 3 Sam. xxii. Again, Ps. lxxxvi. 14 is
imitated from Ps. liv. S, with the alteration of
3 V 1T, "strangers," Into CTT, "proud." A
headlong critic would naturally assimilate the two
passages, yet the general purport of the two psalms
makes it probable that each word is correct in its
own place. Similarly Jer. xlriii. 46, is derived
from Num. xxi. 28, xxiv. 17; the alterations
throughout are curious, but especially at the end,
whan for nW^aa-ba njnpl, "and destroy
all the children of Sheth," we have "OS Tplpl
IrW, " and the crown of the head of the children
i tumult; " jet no suspicion legitimately attaches
to the text of either passage. From such instances,
the caution needful in making use of parallels will
be at ouce evident.
The comparative purity of the Hebrew text is
srobably different in different parts of the O. T. In
the revision of Dr. Davidson, who has generally re-
stricted himself to the admission of corrections
warranted by MS., Masoretie, or Talmudic author-
ity, those in the book of Genesis do not exceed A ;
t in the Psalms are proportionately three times
OLD TESTAMENT 2227
as numerous: those in the historical books and the
Prophets are proportionately more numerous that
those in the Psslms. When our criticism takes a
wider range, it b especially in the less familiar
parts of Scripture that the indications of corruption
present themselves before us. In some of these
the Septuagint version has been made to render im-
portant service; in the genealogies, the errors which
hare been insisted on are for the most part found in
the Septuagint as well ss in the Hebrew, and are
therefore of older date than the execution of the
Septuagint. It has been maintained by Keil, and
perhaps with truth (ApoL Vertuch user die Biieht-
dtr Chronik, pp. 186, 396), that many of these an
older than the sacred books themselves, and had
crept into the documents which the authors incor-
porated, as they found them, into those books. Thla
remark will not, however, apply to all; nor, as wo
have already observed, is there any ground for sup-
posing that the period immediately succeeding the
production of the last of the canonical writings was
one during which those writings would be preserved
perfectly immaculate. If Lord A. Hervey he right
in his rectification of the genealogy in 1 Chr. iii.
19 ff. (On Me Cental pp. 98-110), the interpo-
lation at the beginning of ver. 92 must be due to
some transcriber of the book of Chronicles; and a
like observation will apply to the present text of
1 Chr. ii. 6, respecting which see Thrupp's fntrod.
to the Ptatms, ii. 98, note.
In all emendations of the text, whether made
with the aid of the critical materials which wo
possess, or by critical conjecture, it is essential that
the proposed reading be one from which the exist-
ing reading may have been derived ; hence the ne-
cessity of attention to the means by which corrup-
tions were introduced into the text. One letter was
accidentally exchanged by a transcriber for another:
thus in Is. xxiv. 16, D^IrO may perhaps be a oar
ruption for D^rO (so Lowth).. In the square
alphabet the letters ^ and "I, 1 and % wen
especially liable to be confused; there were also
similarities between particular letters in the older
alphabet. Words, or parts of words, were repeated
(cf. the Talmudic detections of this, tupra; similar
is the mistake of •' so no now " for " so now " in a
modem English Bible); or they were dropped, and
this especially when they ended like those that pre
ceded, e. g. bw< after SnIBU? (l Chr. vi. 13). A
whole passage seems to have dropped out from the
same cause in 1 Chr. xl. 13 (cf. Kennicott, Din. L
128 ff.). Occasionally a letter may have trav-
elled from one word, or • word from one verse, to
another; hence in Hos. vi. 6, TW "^ M^ ' Q,
hss been supposed by various critics (and so Selwyn,
Bar. Heb. pp. 164 ff.), and that with the sanction
of all the versions except Jerome's, to be a corrup-
tion for TttO "•toBtDQT. This is one of those
cases where it is difficult to decide on the true
reading ; the emendation is highly probable, but at
the same time too obvious not to excite suspicion;
a scrupulous critic, like Maurer, rejects it. Then
can be little doubt that we ought to reject the pro-
posed mnendstions of Ps. xlii. 6, 6, by the trans-
ference of VI /H into ver. 6, or by the supply of it
in that verse, In order to assimilate it to ver. U
and to Pi Uiii. 6. Had the verses in so familiar s
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2228 OLD TESTAMENT
psal m been originally alike, it is almost incredible
that any transcriber ahould have rendered them dif-
ferent. With greater probability iu Gen. xxvii. 83,
Hitzig (Begiiffder Kritik, p. 196) take* the final
rPrP, and, altering it into FTTT*), transfer! it
Into Ter. 84, making the preceding word the infini-
tive. That glosses have occasionally found their way
Into the text we may well believe. The words Kin
DTO In Is. x. 6 have much the appearance of
being a gloss explanatory of 1113115 (Hitzig, Begr.
pp. 157, 158), though the verse can be well con-
strued without their removal; and that Deut. x. 6,
7, have crept into the text by some illegitimate
means, seems, notwithstanding Hengstcnberg's
defense of them (6'cn. of Pent, ii.), all but cer-
tain.
Willful corruption of the text on polemical grounds
has also been occasionally charged upon the Jews ;
but the allegation has not been proved, and thelr
known reverence for the text militates against it.
More trustworthy is the negative bearing of that
hostility of the Jews against the Christians, which,
even in reference to the Scriptures, has certainly
■listed ; and it may be fairly argued that if Aquila,
who was employed by the Jews as a translator on
polemical grounds, bad ever heard of the modern
reading "nfcO, "as a lion," in Ps. xxii. 17 (16),
he would have been too glad to follow it, instead
of translating T"1rO, "they pierced," by foxy
To the criticism of the vowel-marks the same
general principles must be applied, mutatis mutan-
dis, as to that of the consonants. Nothing can be
more remote from the truth than the notion that
we are at liberty to supply vowels to the text at
our unfettered discretion. Even Hitzig, who does
not generally err on the side of caution, holds that
the vowel-marks have in general been rightly fixed
by tradition, and that other than the Masoretic
vowels are seldom required, except when the con-
sonants have been first changed (Btgr. p. 119).
In conclusion, let the reader of this or any article
on tin method of dealing with errors in the text
beware of drawing from it the impression of a
general corruptness of the text which does not really
exist. The works of Biblical scholars have been on
the whole more disfigured than adorned by the
emendations of the Hebrew text which they have
suggested ; and the cautions by which the more
prudent have endeavored to guard against the
abuse of the license of emending, are, even when
critically unsound, so far commendable, that they
show a healthy respect for the Masoretic text which
might with advantage have been more generally
felt. It is difficult to reduce to formal rules the
treatment which the text of the 0. T. should re-
ceive, but the general spirit of it might thus be
riven : Deem the Masoretic text worthy of confi-
dence, but do not refuse any emendations of it
#hich can be fairly established : of such judge
ly the evidence adduced in their support, when
advanced, not ny any supposed previous necessity
for them, respecting which the most erroneous views
have been frequently entertained ; and, lastly, re-
member that the judgment of the many will cor-
rect that of the few, the judgment of future gen-
erations that of the present, and that permanent
•agktet generally awaits emendations which approve
OLD TESTAMENT
themselves by their brilliancy rather than by thai)
soundness. (See generally Walton's ProUgomina
Kennicott's Dissertatio Gtntralit; De Rossi*
Prolegomena ; Bp. Marsh's Lectures ; Davidson
Bib. Ci iticism, vol. i. ; and the Introduction* of
Home and Davidson, of De Wette, Uavenuck,
Keil, and Bleek.)
B. — ISTKBPKET ATIOX OF TBS Ou> TESTAMEMT.
1. History of the Interpretation. — We shall
here endeavor to present a brief bat comprehensive
sketch of the treatment which the Scriptures cf the
0. T. have in different ages received.
At the period of the rise of Christianity two oj-
posite tendencies had manifested themselves in the
interpretation of them among the Jews ; the one to
an extreme literalism, the other to an arbitrary
allegorism. The former of these was mainly -Jove"
oped in Palestine, where the Law of Hoses was,
from the nature of things, most completely ob-
served. The Jewish teachers, acknowledging the
obligation of that law in its minutest precepts, but
overlooking the moral principles on which those
precepts were founded and which they should have
unfolded from them, there endeavored to supply by
other means the imperfections inherent in every
law in its mere literal acceptation. They added to
the number of the existing precepts, they denned
more minutely the method of their observance;
and thus practically further obscured, and in many
instances overthrew the inward spirit of the law
by new outward traditions of their own (Matt, xv.,
xxiii.v On the other hand at Alexandria the alle-
gorizing tendency prevailed. Germs of it bad ap-
peared in the apocryphal writings, as where in the
book of Wisdom (xviii. 24) the priestly vestments
of Aaron had been treated as symbolical of the uni-
verse. It had been fostered by Aristobulna, the
author of the 'Efiryviireij Tijt Vlmbrim yoaf^t,
quoted by Clement and Eusebius: and at length,
two centuries later, it culminated in Phllo, from
whose works we best gather the form which it as-
sumed. For in the general principles of interpre-
tation which Philo adopted, he was but following,
as be himself assures us, in the track which had
been previously marked out by those, probably the
Therapeutts, under whom he bad studied. His
expositions have chiefly reference to the writings
of Moses, whom be regarded as the arch-prophet,
the man initiated above all others into divine mys-
teries; and in the persons and things mentioned in
these writings he traces, without denying the out-
ward reality of the narrative, the mystical designa-
tions of different abstract qualities and aspects of
the invisible. Thus the three angels who came to
Abraham represent with him God in bis essential
being, in his beneficent power, and in his govern-
ing power. Abraham himself, in bis dealings with
Sarah and Hagar, represents the man who has an
admiration for contemplation and knowledge: Sa-
rah, the virtue which is such a man's legitimate
partner: Hagar, the encyclical accomplishments ex
all kinds which serve as the handmaiden of vir-
tue, the prerequisites for the attainment of the
highest wisdom: her Egyptian origin sets furtn
that for the acquisition of this varied elementary
knowledge the external senses of the body, of which
Egypt is the symbol, are necessary. Such are
Philo's interpretations. They are marked through
out by two fundamental defects. First, beautifo'
as are the moral lessons which he often unfolds, hi
yet shows no more appreciation than the Pslsstna
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OLD TESTAMENT
in opponent* of our Saviour of the mora! teaching
iivolved in the simpler acceptation of Scripture.
And, secondly, hie exposition U not the result of a
legitimate drawing forth of the spiritual import
which the Scripture contains, but of an endeavor
to engraft the Gentile philosophy upon it. Of a
Messiah, to whom the 0. T. throughout spiritually
poiuted, Philo recked but little: the wisdom of
Plato he contrives to And in every page. It was
in fact his aim so to find it. The Alexandrian in-
terpreters were striving to vindicate for the He-
brew Scriptures a new dignity in the eyes of the
Gentile world, by showing that Moses had antici-
pated all the doctrines of the philosophers of
Greece. Hence, with Aristobuhtt, Moses was an
earlier Aristotle, with Philo, an earlier Plato. The
Bible was with them a store-house of all the philos-
ophy which they had really derived from other
sources: and, in so treating it, they lost sight of
the inspired theology, the revelation of God to man,
which was its true and peculiar glory.
it must not be supposed that the Palestinian
literalism and the Alexandrian allegorism ever re-
mained entirely distinct. On the one hand we
find the Alexandrian Philo, in his treatise on the
special laws, commending just such an observance
of the letter and an infraction of the spirit of the
prohibition to take God's name in vain, as our
Saviour exposes and condemns in Matt. v. 33-37.
Chi the other hand among the Palestinians, both
the high-priest Eleaxar (ap. Euaeb. Prop. F.v. viii.
tt), and at a later period the historian Josepbus
(Ant jiromm. 4), speak of the allegorical sig-
nificance of the Mosaic writings in terms which
lead us to suspect that their expositions of them,
had they come down to us, would have been found
tn contain much that was arbitrary. And it is
probable that traditional allegorical interpretations
of the sacred writings were current among the Es-
senes. In fact the two extremes of literalism and
arbitrary allegorism, in their neglect of the direct
moral teaching and prophetical import of Scripture,
had too much in common not to mingle readily the
one with the other.
And thus we may trace the development of the
two distinct yet coexistent spheres of Halachah
and Hagadah, in which the Jewish interpretation
of Scripture, as shown by the later Jewish writ-
ings, ranged. The former (fl J?H, " repetition,"
"following" ) embraced the traditional legal deter-
minations for practical observance: the latter
(/ 1 uH, •■ discourse " ) the unrestrained interpre-
tation, of no authentic force or immediate practi-
cal interest. Holding fast to the position for
which, in theory, the Alexandrian allegorists had
so strenuously contended, that all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge, including their own specu-
lations, were virtually contained in the Sacred
>w, the Jewish doctors proceeded to define the
.nethods by which they were to be elicited from it.
The meaning of Scripture was, according to them,
either that openly exp r ess ed in the words (7QH7S,
■ennif irmntut), or else that deduced from them
'BrnD, iTOTT, tenrtts Malm) The former
■as itself either literal, &B7C, or figurative and
aystieal, "TTD. The latter was partly obtained
•v simple logical inference; but partly also by the
srMlrarj detection of recondite meanings symbol
OLD TESTAMENT 2229
leally indicated in the places, gramniatical struc-
ture, or orthography of words taken apart frees
tboir logical context. This last was the cabalistie
interpretation (H /3p, " reception," " received
tradition"). Special mention is made of three,
processes by which it was pursued. By the pro-
cess Gematria (WHOOPS, gtometrui) a symbol-
ical import was attached to the number of times
that a word or letter occurred, or to the number
which one or more letters of any word rep resented.
By the process Notarjekon (^|7^1{33, tuiaricvm)
new significant words were formed out of the ini-
tial or final words of the text, or else the letters of
a word were constituted the initials of a new
significant series of words. And in Temurah
(l \ libH, "change") new significant words
were obtained from the text either by anagram
(e. g. rTtBD, " Messiah " from nOtD" 1 , Pa. xxi.
1), or by the alphabet Atbash, wherein the letters
M, 2, etc., were replaced by t\ W, etc. Of such,
artifices the sacred writers had possibly for spe-
cial purposes made Decisional use; but that they
should have been ever applied by any school to the
general exegesis of the 5. T. shows only into what
trifling even labors on Scripture may occasionally
degenerate.
The earliest Christian non-apostolic treatment
of the 0. T. was necessarily much dependent on
that which it had received from the Jews. Tbr
Alexandrian allegorism reappears the most fully ia
the fanciful epistle of Barnabas ; but it influenced
also the other writings of the sub-apostolic Fathers.
Even the Jewish cabalism passed to some extent
into the Christian Church, aud is said to have
been largely employed by the Gnostics (Iron. i. 3,
8, IS. ii. 24). But this wss not to last. Ireneus,
himself not altogether free from it, raised bis voice
against it; and Tertullian well laid it down as a
canon that the words of Scripture were to be inter-
preted only in their logical connection, and with
reference to the occasion on which they were ut-
tered (Dt Prater. Bar. 9). In another respect all
was changed. The Christian interpreters by their
belief in Christ stood on a vantage-ground for the
comprehension of the whole burden of the 0. T. to
which the Jews had never reached; and thus how
ever they may have erred in the details of their
interpretations, they were generally conducted by
them to the right conclusions in regard of Chris-
tian doctrine. It was through reading the O. T.
prophecies that Justin had been converted to
Christianity (Dial. Tryph. pp. 224, 226). The
view held by the Christian Fathers that the whole
doctrine of the N. T. had been virtually contained
and foreshadowed in the Old, generally induced
the search in the 0. T. for such Christian doctrine
rather than for the old philosophical dogmas.
Thus we find Justin asserting his ability to prove
by a careful enumeration that all the ordinances
of Moses were types, symbols, and disclosures of
those things which were to be realized in the Mes-
siah (DiaL Tryph. p. 261). Their general convic-
tions were doubtless here more correct than the
details which they advanced ; and it would be easy
to multiply from the writings of either Justin, Ter-
tullian, or Ireneus, typical interpretations that
could no longer be defended. Yet even these wen
no unrestrained speculatio-is: they were all da
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2280
OLD TESTAMENT
ngned to Illustrate what waa elsewhere uuoquiv-
seally revealed, and were limited by the necessity
of conforming in their results to the Catholic rule
of faith, the tradition banded down in the Church
from the Apostles (Tert. De Prater. Har. 13, 37;
Iren. iv. 26). It was moreover laid down by Ter-
tulliau, that the language of the Prophets, although
generally allegorical and figurative, was not always
to (De Ret. CVirnu, 19); though we do not find in
the early Fathers any canons of interpretation in
this respect. A curious combination, as it must
seem to us, of literal and spiritual interpretation
meets us in Justin's exposition, in which he is not
alone, of those prophecies which he explains of mil-
lennial blessings ; for while he believes that it is the
literal Jerusalem which will be restored in all her
splendor for God's people to inhabit, he yet con-
tends that it is the spiritual Israel, not the Jews,
that will eventually dwell there ( Dial. Tryph. pp.
306, 352). Both Justin and Irenseus upheld the
historical reality of the events related in the O. T.
narrative. Both also fell into the error of defend-
" ing the less commendable proceedings of the patri-
archs — as the polygamy of Jacob, and the incest
of Lot — on the strength of the typical character
assumedlv attaching to them (Just. Dial. Trypli.
pp. 364 ff.; Iren. v. 32 ff.).
It was at Alexandria, which through her pre-
vious learning had already exerted the deepest in-
fluence on the interpretation of the 0. T., that
definite principles of interpretation were by a new
order of men, the most illustrious and influential
teachers in the Christian .Church, first laid down.
Clement here led the way. lie held that in the
Jewish law a fourfold import was to be traced;
literal, symbolical, moral, prophetical (Strom, i. c.
28). Of these the second, by which the persons
and things mentioned in the law were treated as
symbolical of the material and moral universe, was
manifestly derived from no Christian source, but
was rather the relic of the philosophical element
that others had previously engrafted on the Hebrew
Soriptures. The new gold had not yet shaken off
the old alloy: and in practice it is to the symbol-
ical class that the most objectionable of Clement's
interpretations will be found to belong. Such are
those which he repents from the book of Wisdom
and from Philo of the high-priest's garment, and
of the relation of Sarah to Hagar; or that of the
tranches of the sacred candlestick, which he aup-
loses to denote the sun and planets. Nor can we
commend the proneness to allegorism which Clem-
ent everywhere displays, and which he would have
defended by the mischievous distinction which he
handed down to Origen between witrrts and yy&-
us, and by the doctrine that the literal sense leada
only to a mere carnal faith, while for the higher
Christian life the allegorical is necessary. Yet in
Clement's recognition of a literal, a moral, and a
prophetical impo 1 *, in the Iaw, we have the germs
of the aspects in which the O. T. has been regarded
by all subsequent ages; and his Christian treat-
ment of the sacred oracles is shown by his ac-
knowledging, equally with Tertullian and Irenseus,
the ruin of the tradition of the Lord as the key to
their true interpretation (Strom, vii. e. 17).
Clement was succeeded by his scholar Origen.
With him Biblical interpretation showed itself
-acre decidedly Christian; and while the wisdom
R the Egyptians, moulded anew, became the per-
luuient inheritance of the Church, the distinctive
rrmuoUcal meaning which philosophy bad placed
OLD TESTAMENT
upon the 0. T. disappeared. Origen's pinctples
of interpretation are fully unfolded by him in tba
De Princip. iv. 11 ff. He recognizes in Scripture
as it were, a body, soul, and spirit, answering ts
the body, soul, and spirit of man : the first serves
for tie edification of the simple, the second for that
of the more advanced, the third for that of the per-
fect. The reality and the utility of the first, the
letter of Scripture, he proves by the number of
those whose faith is nurtured by it The second,
which is in fact the moral sense of Scripture, he
illustrates by the interpretation of DeuL xxr. 4 in
1 Cor. ix. 9. The third, however, is that on
which he principally dwells, showing how the Jew-
ish Law, spiritually understood, contained a shadow
of good things to come; and how the N. T. had
recognized such a spiritual meaning not only in
the narrative of Moses, and in his account of the
tabernacle, but also in the historical narrative of
the other books (1 Cor. x. 11; Gal. iv. 21-31;
Heh. riii. 6; Rom. xi. 4, 6). In regard of what
be calls the soul of Scripture, his views are, it
must be owned, somewhat uncertain. His prac-
tice with reference to it seems to have been less
commendable than his principles. It should have
been tho moral teaching of Scripture arising ojt
of the literal sense applied in accordance with the
rules of analogy; but the moral interpretations
actually given by Origen are ordinarily little else
than a series of allegorisras of moral tendency;
and thus he is, unfortunately, more consistent
with his own practice when he assigns to the moral
exposition not the second but tbe third place, ex-
alting it above the mystical or spiritual, and so
removing it further from tbe literal (Horn, in Gen.
ii. 6). Both the spiritual and (to use his own
term) the psychical meaning be held to be always
present in Scripture; tbe bodily not always. Alike
in the history and the law, he found things in-
serted or expressions employed which could not be
literally understood, and which were intended to
direct us to the pursuit of a higher interpretation
than the purely literal. Thus the immoral actions
of the patriarchs were to him stumbling-blocks
which be could only avoid by passing over the lit-
eral sense of the narrative, and tracing in it a spir-
itual sense distinct from the literal ; though even
here he seems to reject the latter not as untrue,
but simply as profitless. For while he held the
body of Scripture to be but the garment of its
spirit, he yet acknowledged the things in Scripture
which were literally true to be far more numer-
ous than those which were not; and occasionally,
where he found the latter tend to edifying, as for
instance in the moral commandments of the Deca-
logue as distinguished from the ceremonial and
therefore typical law, he deemed it needless to seek
any allegorical meaning (Horn, in Num. xi. 1).
Origen's own expositions of Scripture were, no
doulit, less successful than his investigations of the
principles on which it ought to be expounded. Tel
as the appliances which he brought to the study ot
Scripture made bim the father of Biblical criti-
cism, so of all detailed Christian Scriptural com-
mentaries hia were tbe first; a fact not to be for-
gotten by those who would estimate aright then
several merits and defects.
Tbe labors of one genuine scholar became toe
inheritance of the next; and the value of Origen's
researches was best appreciated, a century later, by
Jerome. He adopted and repeated most of Origen's
principles ; but he exhibited more Judgment ha war
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLD TESTAMENT
practical application of them: ha devoted more
•Mention to the literal interpretation, the bade of
'.he rest, and he brought also larger stone of learn-
ing to bear upon it. With Origen he held that
Scripture was to be understood n a threefold man-
ner, literally, tropologically,"" mystically: the first
meaning was the lowest, the last the highest (torn,
v. p. 179, Vail. ). But elsewhere he gave a new three-
fold division of Scriptural interpretation ; identify-
ing the ethical with the literal or first meaning,
making the allegorical or spiritual meaning the
second, and maintaining that, thirdly, Scripture
was to be understood " secundum futurorum beati-
tudinem " (torn vi. p. 270). Interpretation of this
last kind, vague and generally untenable as it is,
was that denominated by succeeding writers the
anagogical ; a term which had been used by Origen
as equivalent to spiritual (cf. De Princip. iv. 9),
though the contrary has been maintained by writers
familiar with the later distinction. Combining
these two classifications given by Jerome of the
various meaning* of Scripture, we obtain the four-
fold division wbijh was current through the Middle
Ages, and which has lieen perpetuated in the Romish
Church down to recent times: —
" Utters gtsau docet : quid credas, Allegorla ;
Horalls quid aga* ; quo tendas, Anagogia " —
and in which, it will be observed, in conformity
with the practice rather than the precept of Origen,
the moral or tropological interpretation is raised
above the allegorical or spiritual.
The principles laid down by master-minds, not-
withstanding the manifold lapses made in the
application of them, necessarily exerted the deepest
influence on all who were actually engaged in the
work of interpretation, 'Die influence of Origen's
writings was supreme in the Greek Church for a
hundred years after his death. Towards the end
of the 4th century Diodore, bishop of Tarsus,
previously a preslyter at Antioch, wrote an expo-
sition of the whole of the 0. T , attending only to
the letter of Scripture, and rejecting the more
spiritual interpretation known as dtwpla, the con-
templation of things represented under an outward
sign. He also wrote a work oil the distinction
between this last anil allegory. Of the disciples
of Diodore, Theodore of Mopsuestia pursued an
exclusively grammatical interpretation into a de-
cided rationalism, rejecting the greater part of the
prophetical reference of the O. T., and maintaining
it to be only applied to our Saviour by way of
accommodation. Chrysostom, another disciple of
Diodore, followed a sounder course, rejecting neither
the literal nor the spiritual interpretation, but
bringing out with much force from Scripture its
moral lessons. He was followed by Theodoret,
who interpreted both literally and historically, and
also dlegrrically and prophetically. His commen-
taries display both diligence and solierness, and are
iniforuily instructive and pleasing : in some respects
■one are more valuable. Vet his mind was not
t the highest order. He kept the historical and
(.rophetical interpretations too widely apart, instead
of making the one lean upon the otbT. Where
historical illustration was abundant, be was con-
tent to rest in that, instead of finding in it larger
kelp for pressing onward to the development of the
OLD TESTAMENT
2281
splritua. stt.se. So again wherever | rophecy was
literally fulfilled, he generally rested too much la
the mere outward verification, not caring to inquire
whether the literal fulfillment was not itself neces-
sarily a type of something beyond. In the Canti-
cles, however, where the language of Scripture is
directly allegorical, he severely reprehends Theodore
of Mopsuestia for imposing a historical interpreta-
tion upon it: even Diodore the literal interpreter,
Theodore's master, had judged, as we learn from
Theodoret, that that book was to be spiritually
understood.
In the Western Church the influence of Origen,
if not so unqualified at the first, was yet perma-
nently greater than in the Eastern. Hilary of
Poictiers is said by Jerome to have drawn largely
from Origen in his Commentary on the Psalms.
But in truth, as a practical interpreter, he greatly
excelled Origen; carefully seeking out not what
meaning the Scripture might bear, but what it
really intended, and drawing forth the evangelical
sense from the literal with cogency, terseness, and
elegance. Here, too, Augustine stood somewhat in
advance of Origen ; carefully preserving in its in-
tegrity the literal sense of the historical narrative
of Scripture as the substructure of the mystical,
lest otherwise the latter should prove to be but a
building in the air (Serm. 2, c 6). It seems,
therefore, to have lieen rather as a traditional
maxim than as the expression of his own convic-
tion, that he allowed that whatever in Scripture
had no proper or literal reference to honesty of
manners, or to the truth of the faith, might by
that be recognized as figurative (De Poctr. Chr.
iii. 10). He fully acknowledges, however, that all.
or nearly all, in tlu> 0. T. is to be taken not only
literally but also figuiatirely (iliiil. 22) ; and bids us
earnestly beware of taking literally that which is
figuratively spoken (M. 5). The fourfold classifica-
tion of the interpretation of the O. T. which had
been handed down to him, literal, etiological,
analogical, allegorical, is neither so definite nor so
logical as Origen's (De Ulil. Ortd. 2, 3; De Otn.
ad Lit lib. imp. 2): on the other hand neither
are the rules of Tichonius, which he rejects, of
mueh value. Still it is not so much by the accu-
racy of his principles of exposition as by what his
expositions contain that he is bad in honor. No
more spiritually-minded interpreter ever lived. The
main source of the blemishes by which his inter-
pretations are disfigured, is his lack of acquaint-
ance with Hebrew ; a lack indeed far mc re painfully
evident in the writings of the Latin Fathers than
in those of the Greek. It was partly, no doubt,
from a consciousness of bis own shortcomings in
this respect that Augustine urged the importorss
of such an acquaintance (De Doctr. Chv. ii. 11 ft".);
rightly judging also that all the external scientific
equipments of the interpreter of Scripture were not
more Important for the discovery of the literal than
for that of the mystical meaning.
But whatever advances had been made in the
treatment of O. T. Scripture by the Latins since
the days of Origen were unhappily not perpetuated
We may see this in the Morals of Gregory on the
Book of Job ; the last great independent work of a
I-atln Father. Three senses of the sacred text are
here recognised and pursued in separate threads;
» That Is, morally. The term rpoiraAiryia, which ! doctrine of manners ; In which i
set a Justin and Orlfen denoted the doctrine of by later Greta writers, as Amine*.
sweet, was perhaps first applied by Jerome to the.
It U i
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2282 OLD TESTAMENT
Dm historical and literal, the allegorical, and the
noral. But the three have hardly any mutual
wnnection : the very idea of such a connection is
ignored. The allegorical interpretation is conse-
quently entirely arbitrary ; and the moral interpre-
tation is, in conformity with the practice, not with
the principles, of Origen, placed after the allegor-
ical, so called, and is itself every whit as allegorical
u the former. They differ only in their aims:
that of the one is to set forth the history of
Christ; that of the other to promote the edifica-
tion of the Church by a reference of the language
to the inward workings of the soul. No effort is
made to apprehend the mutual relation of the
different parts of the book, or the moral lessons
which the course of the argument in that preemi-
nently moral book was intended to bring out.
Such was the general character of the interpreta-
tion which prevailed through the Middle Ages,
during which Gregory's work stood in high repute.
The mystical sense of Scripture was entirely di-
vorced from the literal. Some guidance, however,
in the paths of even the most arbitrary allegorism
was found practically necessary; and this was
obtained in the uniformity of the mystical sense
attached to tbe several Scriptural terms. Hence
the dictionary of the allegorical meanings — partly
genuine, partly conventional — of Scriptural terms
compiled in the Utfa century by Ralnnua Maurus
An exceptional value may attach to some of tbe
mediievul comments on the 0. T-. as those of
Kupert of Ueutz (t 1135); but in general even
those which, like Gregory's Morals, are prized for
their treasures of religious thought, have little
worth as interpretations.
The first impulse to the new investigation of the
literal meaning of tbe text of the 0. T. came from
tbe great Jewish commentators, mostly of Spanish
origin, of the 11th and following centuries; Jarchi
(t 1105), Aben Ezra (t 1167), Kimchi (t 1240),
and others. Following in the wake of these, the
converted Jew Nicolaus of Lyre, near Evreux. in
Normandy (t 1341), produced his PottiUm Ptr-
pthm on the Bible, in which, without denying the
deeper meanings of Scripture, he justly contended
for the literal as that on which they all must rest.
Exception was taken to these a century later by
1'aul of Burgos, also a converted Jew (f 1435),
who upheld, by the side of the literal, the tradi-
tional interpretations, to which he was probably at
'lean exclusively attached. But the very arguments
tiv which he sought to vindicate them showed that
the recosnition of the value of the literal inter-
pretation had taken firm root. The Restoration of
letters helped it forward. The Reformation con-
tributed in many ways to unfold its importance;
and the position of Luther with regard to it is
embodied in his saying " Optimum grammaticum,
euni etiam optimnm theolognm ease." That gram-
matical scholarship is not indeed the only qualifica-
tion of a soum theologian, the German commen-
taries of the but hundred years have abundantly
(down : yet where others have sown, the Church
eventually reaps; and it would be ungrateful to
close any historical sketch of the interpretation of
the O. T. without acknowledging the immense ser-
vice rendered to it by modern Germany, through
the labors and learning alike of the disciples of the
tenlogian school, and of those who have again reared
tloft the banner of tbe faith.
In respect of the O. T. types, an important dif-
) has prevailed among Protestant interpreters
OLD TESTAMES*
between the adherents and opponents of thai jcnoas
which is usually, from one of the most eminent of
its representatives, denominated the Cocceian, and
which practically, though perhaps unconsciously,
trod much in the steps of the earlier Fathers, Jus-
tin, Irensus, and Tertullian. Cocceius, profes-
sor at Leyden (t 1669), justly maintained that a
typical meaning ran throughout the whole of the
Jewish Scriptures; but his principle that Scripture
signifies whatever it can signify (quicquid potest sig-
nificare), as applied by him, opened the door for an
almost boundless license of tbe interpreter's fancy.
ITie arbitrariness of tbe Cocceian interpretations
provoked eventually a no less arbitrary reply; and,
while the authority of the N. T. as to the existence
of Scriptural types could not well be set aside, it
became a common principle with the English the-
ologians of the early part of the present century,
that only those persons or things were to be ad-
mitted as typical which were so expressly inter-
preted in Scripture — or in the N. T. — itself.
With sounder judgment, and not without con-
siderable success, Fairbairn has of late years, in
bis Typology of Scripture, set the example of an
investigation of the fundamental principles which
govern the typical connection of the Old Testament
with the New. See, for further information, J.
G. Rosenmuller's contemptuous fJiitoria fnlrrpre-
tnliiitti» ab Apottolorum jElntt ad JUterarum In-
tttmrat'umem, 5 vols. 1795-1814; Meyer's Gtteh.
tfer SehrifterkUhrmg teit der Wiederherttelhrng
der Wittewchnfttn, 5 vols. 1802-1809; Cony-
beare's Bam/ylon Lecture*, 1824; Olsbausen's little
tract, Aim Wort iber n>/er* SchiJUimt, 1824;
Davidson's Sncred ffermeneutin, 1843, [and Dies-
tel's deck. d. A. T. in d. chtistl. ATti-ese, 1869.]
2. Principle* of Inter/irrtatum. — From the
foregoing sketch it will have appeared that it has
been very generally recognized that the interpreta-
tion of tbe O. T. embraces the discovery of HsUteraL
moral, and spiritual meaning. It bas given occa-
sion to misrepresentation to speak of the existence
in Scripture of more than a single sense : rather,
then, let it be said that there are in it three ele-
ments, coexisting and coalescing with each other,
and generally requiring each other's presence in
order that they may be severally manifested. Cor-
respondingly, too, there are three portions of the
0. T. in which the respective elements, each in its
turn, shine out with peculiar lustre. Tbe literal
(and historical) dement is most obviously displayed
in tbe historical narrative ; the moral is specially
honored in tbe I jiw, and in the hortatory addresses
of the Prophets: tbe predictions of the Prophets
bear emphatic witness to tbe prophetical or spirit-
ual Still, generally, in every portion of the O. T.
the presence of all three elements may by the stu-
dent of Scripture be traced. In perusing the story
of the journey of the Israelites through the wilder-
ness, he has tbe historical element in the actual
occurrence of the facts narrated ; the moral, in the
warnings which God's dealings with the people and
their own several disobediences convey; and the
spiritual in the prefignrsf ion by that journey, in its
several features, of the Christian pilgrimage throngs,
the wilderness of life. In investigating the severs,
ordinances of the Law relating to sacrifice, be has
the historical element in the observances actual!;
enjoined upon the Israelites ; the moral in the per
tonal unworthiness and self-surrender to God * Met
those o b se rva nces were designed to express, and
which are themselves of universal interest; and ths
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OIJ> TESTAMENT
anitual In the prefiguration by those sacrifices of
#■ one true sacrifice of Christ. Iu bending bit
!j« on the propbetical picture of the conqueror
Mining Aon. EcW., with dyed garments from Boz-
nh, he has the historical element in the relations
nbsisting between the historical Edom and Israel,
■applying the language through which the antici-
pations of triumph are expressed ; the moral ele-
BKnt in the assurance to all the persecuted of the
GOonenmaUoo of the unnatural malignity where-
with those nearest of kin to themselves may have
exulted in their calamities; and the spiritual, in
the prophecy of the loneliness of Christ's passion
■ad of the gloriousness of his resurrection, in the
strength of which, and with the signal of victory
before her, the Church should trample down all
ipiritaal foes beneath her feet. Yet again, in the
pester number of the Psalms of David he has the
historical dement in those events of David's life
which the language of the psalm reflects; the
moral, in the moral connection between righteous
kith and eventual deliverance by which it is per-
vaded; and the spiritual, in its tore-embodiment
of the struggles of Christ, in whom it finds its
i— ntisl and perfect fulfillment, and by her union
with whom the Christian Church still claims and
ip|*opriates the psalm as her own. In all these
cases it is requisite to the full interpretation of the
0. I", that the so-called graniuiatico-historical,"
the moral and the spiritual interpretation should
advance hand in hand : the moral interpretation
presupposes the gramniat!oo-historical, the spiritual
rests on the two preceding. If the question be
asked, Are the three several elements in the (). T.
mutually eraxteoeive? we reply, They are certainly
coextensive in the O. T., taken as a whole, and in
toe several portions of it, lanjcly viewed ; yet not
» as that they are all to be traced in each several
section. Toe historical element may occasionally
sust alone; for, however full a history may be of
leeper meanings, there must also needs be found
in it connecting links to hold the significant parts
sf it together: otherwise it sinks from a history
into a mere succession of pictures. Not to cite
ioubtful instances, the genealogies, the details of
the route through the wilderness and of the subse-
quent partition of the land of < 'anaaii, the account
of the war which was to furnish the occasion for
God's providential dealings with Abraham and Lot
(Geo. xiv. 1-12), are obvious and simple instances
sf such links. On the other hand there are passsges
at direct and simple moral exhortation, e. g. a con-
siderable part of the book of Proverbs, into which
the historical element hardly enters: the same is
the ease with Psalm i., which is, as it were, the
ami preface to the psalms which follow, designed
to call attention to the moral element which per-
rades them generally. Ucccasionally also, as in
Psalm ii., which is designed to bear witness of the
prophetical import running through the Psalms,
the prorbetical element, though not altogether
divorced from the historical and moral, yet com-
pletely overshadows them. It is moreover a maxim
which cannot be too strongly enforced, that the
natoriesL moral, or propbetical interest of a section
if Scripture, or even of an entire book, may lia
lather in the general tenor and result of the whole
'Jan it any number of separate passages: e. c. the
OLD TESTAMENT
2288
• Ok fanleoes has tatroduMd, end
■ ass • t this somewhat barbarous word. The
Hasten brim wmlnfed that the tarm trammmiuml
moral teaching of tho book of Job lies pretauV
nently not in the truths which the several speeches
may contain, but in the great moral lesson to the
unfolding of which they are all gradually working.
That we should use the New Testament as the
key to the true meaning of the Old, and should
seek to interpret the latter as it was Interpreted by
our Lord and his Apostles, is in accordance both
with the spirit of what the earlier Fathers asserted
respecting the value of the tradition received from
them, and with the appeals to the N. T. by which
Origen defended and fortified the threefold method
of interpretation. But here it is the analogy of the
N. T. interpretations that we must follow; for it
wen unreasonable to suppose that the whole of the
Old Testament would be found completely inter-
preted in the New. Nor, provided only a spiritual
meaning of the Old Testament be in the New suffl •
ciently recognized, does it seem much more reason
able to expect every separate type to be there indi
eated or explained, or the fulfillment of every
prophecy noted, than it would be to expect that the
N. T. should unfold the historical importance or
the moral lesson of every separate portion of the
O. T. history. Why, indeed, should we assume that
a full interpretation in any single respect of the
older volume would be given in another of less
than a quarter of its bulk, the primary design of
which is not expository at all, and that when the
use actually made of the former in the latter is ia
kiud so manifold ? The Apostles nowhere profess
to give a systematic interpretation of the O. T.
'Che nearest approach to any such is to be found in
the explanation of the spiritual meaning of the
Mosaic ritual in the Epistle to the Hebrews ; and
even here it ia expressly declared that there are
many things " of which we cannot now speak par-
ticularly " (ix. 6). We m \j well allow that the
substance of all the O. T. shadows is in the N. T.
contained, without holding that the several rela-
tions between the substance and the shadows, are
there in each case authoritatively traced.
With these preliminary observations we may
glance at the several branches of the interpreter's
task.
First, then, Scripture hu its outward form or
body, all the several details of which he will hare
to explore and to analyze. He must ascertain the
thing outwardly asserted, commanded, foretold,
prayed for, or the like; and this with reference, so
far as is possible, to the historical occasion and cir-
cumstances, the time, the place, the political and
social position, the manner of life, the surrounding
influences, the distinctive character, and the object
in view, alike of the writers, the persons addressed,
and the persons who appear upon the scene. Taken
in its wide sense, the outward form of Scripture
will itself, no doubt, include much that is figura-
tive. How should it indeed be otherwise, when all
language is in its structure essentially figurative?
Even, however, though we should define the literal
sense of words to be that which they signify in
their usual acceptation, and the figurative that
which they intend in another than their usual ac-
ceptation, under some form or figure of speech, still
when the terms literal and figurative simply belong
(to use the words of Van Mildert) " to the verbal
signification, which with respect to the sense may
Is taw equivalent of Mural ; being derived from ^see
pa, " leSssr," not from ypafuiarunf, "grammar, 'ft
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2284 OLD TESTAMENT
be virtually the tune, whether or not expressed by
trope and figure," and when therefore it it impos-
sible to conceive that by penona of moderate un-
derstanding any other than the figurative, aenae
could ever have been deduced from the worda en-
ployed, we rightfully account the investigation of
inch tenee a necessary part of the most elementary
Interpretation. To the outward form of Scripture
thus belong all metonymies, in which one name it
substituted for another, e. g. the cause for the
effect, the mouth for toe word; and metaphors,
In which a word is transformed from its proper
to a cognate signification, a. a. when hardness is
predicated of the heart, clothing of the soul; so
also all prosopopeias, or personifications; and even
all anthropomorphic and anthropopathic descrip-
tions of God, which oould never have been under-
stood in a purely literal sense, at least by any of
the right-minded among God's people.* Nor would
even the exclusively grammatioo-bistorical inter-
preter deem it no part of bis task to explain such
a continued metaphor as that in Ps. lxxx. 8 ff.
or such a parable as that in Is. v. 1-7, or such a
fable as that in Judg. ix. 8-18. The historical
element in such passages only comes out when
their allegorical character is perceived ; nor can it
be supposed that it was ever unpereeived. Still the
primary allegorical meaning in such passages may
itaelf be an allegory of something beyond, with
which latter the more rudimentary interpretation
is not strictly concerned. An unexpectant Jewish
reader of Is. v. 1-7 might have traced in the vine-
yard an image of the land of his inheritance,
fenced off by its boundary height*, desert*, and
sea from the surrounding territories; might have
discerned in the stones the old heathen tribes that
had been plucked up from off it, and in the choice
vine the Israel that bad been planted in their place;
might have identified the tower with the city of
David, as the symbol of the protecting Davidic sov-
ereignty, and the wine-press with the Temple, where
the blood of the sacrifices was poured forth, as the
symbol of Israel's worship ; and this without in-
quiring into or recking of the higher blessings of
which all these things were but the shadows. Yet
it is not to be denied that it is difficult, perhaps
impossible, to draw the exact line where the prov-
ince of spiritual interpretation begins and that of
historical ends. On the one hand the spiritual
■gnificance of a passage may occasionally, perhaps
5ften, throw light on the historical element involved
n it: on the other hand the very large use of fig-
trative language in the 0. T., and more especially
in the prophecies, prepares us for the recognition
sf the yet more deeply figurative and essentially
allegorical import which runs, as a frroVoia,
through the whole.
Yet no unhallowed or unworthy task can it ever
M to study, even for it* own sake, the historical
ferai in which the O. T. comes to us clothed. It
was probably to most of us one of the earliest
charms of our childhood, developing in us our
sense of brotherhood with all that had gone before
us, leading v« to feel that we were not singular in
that which befell us, and therefore, correspondingly,
that we could not live for ourselves aloue. Even by
■self it proclaims to us the historical workings of
God, and reveals the care wherewith He has ever
watched over the interests of his Church. Above
iU the history of the 0. T. is the indispensable
swhee to the historical advent of the Son of God
■ the Sash. We need hardly labor to prove that
OLD TESTAMENT
the N. T. recognises the general historical c
of what the 0. T. records. It is ev erywh ere as-
sumed. The gospel genealogies testify to it: m toe
our Lord when he spoke sf the desires of the
prophet* and righteous men of old, or of all the
righteous blood shed upon the earth which should
be visited upon his own generation: so too Stephen
and Paul in their speeches L. the council-chamber
and at Antioch; so, too, again, the latter, when he
spoke of the things which " happened " unto the
Israelites for «n samples. The testimonies borne by
our Lord and his Apostles to the outward reality
of particular circumstances could be easily drawn
out in array, were it needful. Of course in refereno*
to that which is not related as plain matter of his-
tory, there will always remain the question bow far
the descriptions are to be viewed as definitely his-
torical, how far as drawn, for a specific purpose,
from the imagination. Such a question presents
itself, for example, in the book of Job. It is one
which must plainly be in each case decided accord-
ing to the particular circumstances. Scenes which
could never have any outward reality may, as in
the Canticles, be made the vehicle of spiritual abs-
gory; and yet even here toe historical element
meets us in the historical parson of the typical
bridegroom, in the various focal allusions which the
allegorist has introduced into his description, and in
the references to the manners and customs of the
age. In examining the extent of the historical
element in the prophecies, both of the prophets and
the psalmists, we must distinguish between those
which we either definitely know or may reasonably
assume to have been fulfilled at a period not en-
tirely distant from that at which they were uttered,
and those which reached far beyond in their pro-
spective reference. The former, once fulfilled, were
thenceforth annexed to the domain of history (Is.
xvii.; Ps. ovii. 33). It must he observed, however,
that the prophet often beheld in a single vision, and
therefore delineated as accomplished all at ones,
what was really, as in the case of the desolatiou of
Babylon, the gradual work of a long period (la.
xiii.); or, as in Ezekiel's prophecy respecting the
humiliation of Egypt, uttered his predictions in
such ideal language as scarcely admitted of a literal
fulfillment (Ez. xxix. 8-12; see Fairbairn is boo).
With the prophecies of more distant scope the
case stood thus. A picture was presented to the
prophet's gaze, embodying an outward re p rese n ts*
tkw of certain future spiritual struggles, judgments,
triumphs, or blessings; a picture suggested in gen-
eral by the historical circumstances of the present.
(Zech. vi. 0-16; Pa. v., lxxii.), or of the past (Es.
xx. 85, 36; Is. xi. 15, xlvili. 21; Ps. xcix. 6 ff. 1,
or of the near future, already anticipated and
viewed as present (Is. xlix 7-26; Ps. lvii. 6-11),
or of all these, variously combined, altered, and
heightened by the imagination. But it does not
follow that that picture was ever outwardly brought
to pass: the local bad been exchanged for the
spiritual, the outward type had merged in the in-
ward reality before the fulfillment of the prophecy
took effect. In some ca ses, more especially those •»
which the prophet had taken his stand upon the
nearer future, there was a preliminary and typical
fulfillment, or, rather, approach to it ; for it seldom,
if ever, corresponded tu the full extent of the proph-
ecy : the far-reaching import of the prophecy would
have been obscured if it had. The measuring-tin*
never outwardly went forth upon Gareb and com
passed about to Goath (Jer. xxxi. 39) till the dsjs
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OLD TESTAMBSr
if Herod Agrippa, after our Saviour'* final doom
upon the literal Jerusalem had been actually pro-
nounced; and neither the temple of Zerubbabel
nor that of Herod corresponded to that which had
hen beheld in vision by Ezekiel (xl. ft). There
are, moreover, as it would seem, exoepUonal cases
is which even the outward form of the prophet's
predictions was divinely drawn from the unknown
future as much as from the historical circumstances
with which he was familiar, and in which, conse-
quently, the details of the imagery by means of
which he concentrated all his conscious conceptions
of the future were literally, or almost literally,
verified in the events by which his prediction was
fulfilled. Such is the case in Is. liii. The Holy
Spirit presented to the prophet the actual death-
soene of our Saviour as the form in which his
prophecy of that event was to be embodied ; and
thus we trace iu it an approach to a literal history
of our Saviour' • endurances before they came to pass.
(Bespecting the rudiments of interpretation, let
the following here suffice: The knowledge of the
meanings of Hebrew words is gathered (a) from
the context, (6) from parallel passages, (c) from the
traditional interpretations preserved in Jewish com-
mentaries and dictionaries, (<i) from the ancient
versions, (e) from the cognate languages, Cheldee,
Syriac, and Arabic The syntax must be almost
wholly gathered from the O. T. itself; and for the
special syntax of the poetical hooka, while the im
pottauce of a study of the Hebrew parallelism is
now generally recognized, more attention needs to
be bestowed than has been bestowed hitherto on
the centralism and inversion by which the poetical
structure and language is often marked. It may
here too be in place to mention, that of the various
systematic treatises which have by different gen-
erations been put forth on the interpretation of
Scripture, the most standard work is the PhVologia
Sacra of Sol. Ulassiua (Prof, at Jena, 1 1656 ), orig-
inally published in 1U23, and often reprinted. A
new edition of it, "accommodated to their times,"
and bearing the impress of the theological views of
the new editors, was brought out by Dathe and
Bauer, 1776-97. It is a vast store-bouse of mate-
rials ; but the need of such treatises has been now
much superseded by the special labors of more re-
sent scholars in particular departments.)
From the outward form of the O. T. we proeeed
to its moral element or souL It wss with reference
to this that St. Paul declared that all Scripture
was given by inspiration of God, and was profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc-
tion in righteousness (8 Tim. iu. 16) ; and it is in
the implicit recognition of the essentially moral
sharacter of the whole, that our Lord and his
Apostles not only appeal to its direct precepts (e. g.
Matt. xv. 4, xix. 17-18), and set forth the fullness
of their bearing (e. g. Matt. ix. 13), but also lay
bare moral lessons in 0. T. passages which lie
rather beneath the surface than upon it (Matt. xix.
6, 6, xxii. 32; John x. 34, 35; Acts vii. 48, 48; 1
Cbr. ix. 8, 10; 3 Cor. \\ii. 18-15). With regard
more particularly to the Law, our Lord shows in
bis Sermon on the Mount how deep k toe moral
leaching implied in its letter; and in his denunci-
ation of the Pharisees upbraids them for their
mission of its weightier matters — judgment,
mercy, and faith. The history, too, of the O T.
Inds frequent reference made n the N. T. to its
■oral teaching (Luke vi. 3; Rom. iv., ix. 17;
t Car. x. 6-11; Heb. Bi. 7-11, xL ; 9 Pet. U. IS-
OLD TB8TAMENT 2288
16; 1 John in. 18). No doubt it was with refer-
ence to the moral instruction to be drawn frees
them that that history had been made to dwell at
greatest length on the events of greatest moral
importance. The same reason explains also whj
it should be to so large an extent biographical.
The interpreter of the O. T. will have, among his
other tasks, to analyze in the lives set before him
the various yet generally mingled workings of the
spirit of holiness, and of the spirit of sin. He
must not fall into the error of supposing that any
of the lives are those of perfect men ; Scripture no-
where asserts or implies it, and the sins of even
the best testify against it. Nor must he expect to
be expressly informed of each recorded action, any
more than of each sentiment delivered by the sev-
eral speakers in the book of Job, whether it were
commendable or the contrary ; nor must we assume,
a* some have done, that Scripture identifies itself
with every action of a saintly man which, without
openly condemning, it records. The moral errors
by which the lives of even the greatest 0. T.
saints were disfigured are related, and that for our
instruction, but not generally criticised : e. g. that
of Abraham when, already once warned in Egypt,
he suffered the king of Gerar to suppose that Sarah
was merely his sister; or that of David, when, by
feigning himself mad, he practiced deceit upon
Achish. The interpreter of Scripture has no war-
rant for shutting his eyes to such errors ; certainly
not the warrant of David, who himself virtually
confessed them in Ps. xxxiv. (see especially ver.
13). He must acknowledge and commend the
holy faith which lay at the root of the earliest re-
corded deeds of Jacob, a faith rewarded by his
besoming the heir of God's promises; but he must
no less acknowledge and condemn Jacob's unbroth-
erly deceit and filial disobedience, offenses punished
by the sorrows that attended him from his flight
into Mesopotamia to the day of his death. And
should be be tempted to desire that in such esses
the O. T. had distinguished more directly and
authoritatively the good from the evil, he will ask,
Would it in that case hare spoken as effectually ?
Are not our thoughts more drawn out, and our
affections more engaged, by studying a man's char-
acter in the records of his life than in a summary
of it ready prepared for us ? Is it in a dried and
labeled collection of specimens, or iu a living garden
where the flowers have all their several imperfections,
that we best learn to appreciate the true beauties
of floral nature? The true glory of the O. T. is
here the choice richness of the garden into which
it conducts us. It sets before us just those lives
— the lives generally of religious men — which will
best repay our study, and will most strongly sug-
gest the moral lessons that God would have us
learn ; and herein it is that, in regard of the morel
aspects of the O. T. history, we may most surely
trace the overruling influence of the Holy Spirit by
which the sacred historians wrote.
Bnt the 0. T. has further its spiritual and there-
fore prophetical element, the result of that organic
unity of sacred history by means of which the same
God who in his wisdom delayed, till the fullness of
time should be come, the advent of his Son into
the world, ordained that all the career and worship
of bis earlier people should outwardly anticipate
the glories of the Redeemer and of his spiritually
nausemed Chureh. Our attention is here first
attracted to the avowedly predictive parts of the O.
T., of tew prospective reference of which, at the
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2236
OLD TESTAMENT
Urns that they were uttered, no question can exist,
and the majority of which (till awaited their fulfill-
ment when the Redeemer of the world wat born.
No new covenant had up to that time been inaugu-
rated (Jer. xxxi. 31-40); no temple built oorre-
■ponding to that which Ezeldel had described (xL
IF.); nor had the new David ere that arisen to be a
prince in Israel {ibid, xxxiv.). With Christ, then,
the new era of the fulfillment of prophecy com-
menced. In Him were to be fulfilled all things
that were written in the Law of Hoses, and in the
Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Him
(Luke xxiv. 44; cf. Matt. xivi. 64, Ac.). A mar-
velous amount there was in his person of the veri-
fication of tbe very letter of prophecy — partly that
It might be seen how definitely all bad pointed to
Him; partly because bis outward mission, up to
the time of his death, was but to tbe lost sheep of
the house of Israel, and the letter had not yet been
finally superseded by the spirit. Yet it would
plainly be impossible to suppose that the signifi-
cance of such prophecies as Zech. ix. 9 was ex
hausted by the mere outward verification ; and with
the delivery of Christ by his own people to the
Gentiles, and the doom on the city of Jerusalem
for rejecting Him, and tbe ratification of the new
covenant by his death, and the subsequent mission
of the Apostles to all nations, all consummated by
the final blow which fell within forty years on tbe
once chosen people of God, the outward blessings
had merged forever in the spiritual, and the typ-
ical Israelitish nation in the Church Universal.
Hence tbe entire absence from the N. T. of any
recognition, by either Christ or his Apostles, of
such prospective outward glories as the prophecies,
literally interpreted, would still have implied. No
hope of outward restoration mingled with the sen-
tence of outward doom which Christ uttered forth
on the nation from which He himself had sprung
(Matt. xxi. 43, xxiii. 38, xxiv. 2) ; no old outward
deliverances with the spiritual salvation which He
and his Apostles declared to be still in store for
those of the race of Israel who should believe on
Him (Matt, xxiii. 39; Acts iii. 19-31; Rom. xi.;
2 Cor. iii. 18). Tbe language of the ancient
prophecies is everywhere applied to the gathering
together, tbe privileges, and the triumphs of the
universal body of Christ (John x. 16, xi. 63; Acts
U. 39, xt. 16-17; Rom. ix. 26, 26, 32, 83, x. 11,
13, xi. 86, 86, 37; 8 Cor. vi. 16-18; Gal. iv. 37;
1 Pet ii. 4-6, 10; Rev. Hi. 7, 8, xx. 8. 9, xxi.,
xxii.); above all, in the crowning passage of the
apostolic interpretation of 0. T. prophecy (Heb.
xii. 22), In which the Christian Church is dis-
tinctly marked out as the Zion of whose glory all
the prophets had spoken. Even apart, however,
bom the authoritative interpretation thus placed
upon them, tbe prophecies contain within them-
selves, in sufficient measure, the evidence of tbdr
spiritual import. It could not be that the literal
Zion should be greatly raised in physical height
(Is. 11. 3), or all the Holy Land leveled to a plain
(Zech. xiv. 10), or portioned out by straight lines
and in rectangles, without regard to its physical
conformation (Es. xlv.); or that the city of Jem
salem should lie to the south of tbe Temple (tWrf. xl.
3), and at a distance of five miles from it (ibid. xlv.
8), and yet that it should occupy its old place (Jer.
ixxi. 38, 39; Zech. xiv. 10,, or that holy waters
should issue from Jerusalem, increasing in depth
as they roll on, not through the ac c e s sion of any
tributary saseams, but simply because their souros
OLD TESTAMENT
is beneath the sanctuary (Es. xlvii.). Nor atoM
it well be that, after a long loss of genealogies and
title-deeds, the Jews should be reorganized in thebj
tribes and families (Zech. xii. 13-14; Mat iii. 8;
Ea. xliv. 18, xlviii.j, and settled after their old
estates (Es. xxxvi. 11). Nor again, that all the
inhabitants of the world should go up to Jerusalem
to worship, not only to the festivals (Zech. xiv. 16),
but even monthly and weekly (Is lxvi. 23), and
yet that while Jerusalem wen thus the seat of
worship for the whole world, there should also be ■
altars everywhere (Is. xix. 19; Zeph. ii. 11; Mai.
11), both being really bat different expressions
of the same spiritual truth — the extension of
God's pure worship to all nations. Nor can we
suppose that Jews will ever again outwardly tri-
umph over heathen nations that have long disap-
peared from tbe stage of history (Am. ix. 11, 18;
Is. xi. 14; Hie. v. 6; Ob. 17-81). Nor will sac-
rifices be renewed (Ea. xliii. Ac.) when Christ has
by one offering perfected for ever them that an
sanctified; nor will a special sanctity yet attach to
Jerusalem, when the hour is come that " neither
in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem " shall mm
worship the Father; nor yet to the natural Israel
(cf. Joel in 4), when In Christ there is neither Jew
nor Greek, all believers being now alike the circum-
cision (Phil. iii. 8) and Abraham's seed (GaL Hi.
29), and the name Israel being frequently used in
tbe N. T. of the wbole Christian Church (Matt
xix. SB; Luke xxii. 80; Bom. xi. 36; GaL vL 16;
cf. Rev. vii. 4, xxi. 12).
The substance, therefore, of these prophecies is
the glory of tbe Redeemer's spiritual kingdom ; it is
but the form that is derived from the outward cir-
cumstances of the career of God's ancient people,
which bad passed, or all but passed away before
the fulfillment of the promised blessings com-
menced. The one kingdom was indeed to merge
into, rather than to be violently replaced by the
other; the holy seed of old was to be the stock of
the new generation; men of all nations wen to
take hold of the skirt of the Jew, and Israelitish
Apostles were to become the patriarchs of the new
Christian community. Nor was even the form in
which the announcement of the new blessings had
been clothed to be rudely east aside: the imagery
of the prophets is on every sccount justly dear to
us, and from love, no less than from habit, we still
speak tbe language of Canaan. But then arises
tbe question, Must not this language have been
divinely designed from the first ss the language of
God's Church? Is it easily to be supposed that
the prophets, whose writings form so large a por-
tion of the Bible, should have so extensively used
the history of the old Israel as the garment wherein
to enwrap their delineations of the blessings of tbe
new, and yet that that history should not be in
itself essentially an anticipation of what tbe prom-
ised Redeemer wss to bring with him ? Besides,
tbe typical import of tbe Israelitish tabernacle ant*
ritual worship is implied in Heb. ix. (>' The Holy
Ghost this signifying "), and is almost universally
allowed; and it is not easy to tear asunder the
events of Israel's history from tbe ceremonies of
Israel's worship ; nor yet, again, the events of the
preceding history of the patriarchs from those of
the history of Israel. The N. T. itself implies tha
typical import of a large part of the O. T. nans
tive. The original dominion conferred upob mas
(1 Cor. xv. 27; Heb. ii. 8), the rest of God on tie
seventh day (Heb. It. 4), tbe institution < f mm-
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLD TESTAMENT
tags (Eph. t. 31), are in it all invested witt a
iesper and prospective meaning. So alao the ofler-
xtg and martyrdom of Abei (Heb. xi. 4, xii. 34);
Ihe preservation of Noah and his family in the ark
;i Pet. iii. 21); the priesthood of Melehisedek
(Heb. vii., following Pa. ex. 4); the mutual rela-
tion of Sarah and Hagar, and of their children
(Gal it. 23 ff.); the offering and rescue of Iaaae
(Bom. viii. 33; Heb. xi. 19); the favor of God to
Jacob rather than Esau (Kom. ix. 10-13, follow-
ing Mai. i. 2, 3); the sojourn of Israel in Egypt
(Matt. ii. 16); the paaaover feast (1 Cor. v. 7, 8);
the ahepherdahip of Moses (Heb. xiii. 20, of. Is.
briii. 11, Sept); his veiling of his face at Sinai
(3 Cor. iii. 13); the ratification of the covenant
by blood (Heb. ix. 18 ft); the priestly character
of the chosen people (1 Pet. ii 9); God's out-
ward presence with them (3 Cor. vi. 16); the va-
rious events in their pilgrimage through the desert
(1 Cor. i.), and specially the eating of manna from
heaven (Matt. iv. 4; John vi. 48-61); the lifting
up of the braaen serpent (John iii. 14); the prom-
ise of the divine presence with brad after the re-
moval of Moses, their shepherd, from them (Heb.
xiii. 6, ef. Deut. xxxi 6) ; the kingdom of David
(Luke i. 32, 33); and the devouring of Jonah
(Matt, xii 40). If some of these instances be
deemed doubtful, let at least the rest be duly-
weighed, sod this not without regard to the cu-
mulative force of the whole. In the O. T. itself
we have, and this even in the latest times, events
and persons expressly treated as typical: e. y. the
nuking the once-rejected stone the headstone of
the comer (probably an historical incident in the
laying of the foundation of the second Temple (Ps.
cxviii. 22) ; the arraying of Joshua the high-priest
with fair garments (Zech. iii. ), and the placing of
crowns on his bead to symbolize the union of roy-
alty and priesthood (Zech. vi. 9 ft). A further
testimony to Ihe typical character of the history of
the Old Testament is furnished by the typical
character of the events related even in the New.
All our Lord's miracles were essentially typical,
ami are almost universally so acknowledged: the
works of mercy which He wrought outwardly on
the body betokening his corresponding operations
within man's soul. So, too, the outward fulfillments
•f prophecy in the Redeemer's life were types of
'he deeper though less immediately striking fulfill-
ment -which it was to continue to receive ideally ;
and if this deeper and more spiritual significance
underlie the literal narrative of the New Testament,
how much more that of the Old, which was so es-
sentially designed as a preparation for the good
things to come! A remarkable and honorable
testimony on this subject was borne in his later
years by De Wette. " Long before Christ ap-
peared," be says, " the world was prepared for bis
appearanoe; the entire 0. T. is a great prophecy, a
gnat type of Him who was to come, and did come.
Who can deny that the holy seers of the 0. T.
■aw, in spirit, the advent of Christ long before-
hand, and in prophetic anticipations of greater or
leas clearness had presages of the new doctrine?
The typological comparison, too, of the Old Testa-
ment with the New was no mere play of fancy ;
tnd it Is scarcely altogether accidental that the
vrengeoc history, In the most important partic-
dars, runs parallel with the Mosaic" \£UA by
rhohtck, The OH Tettament m the lfev\
It is not unlikely that there Is in many quarters
■m snwillingMss to recognize the spiritual element
OLD TESTAMENT
2237
in the historical parts of the 0. T., arising from
the fear that the recognition of it may endanger
that of the historical truth of the events recorded.
Nor is such danger altogether visionary ; for one-
sided and prejudiced contemplation will be ever
so abusing one element of Scripture as thereby to
oast a slight upon the rest. But this does not affect
its existence; and on the other hand there are cer-
tainly cases in which the spiritual element confirms
the outward reality of the historical fact. So is it
with the devouring of Jonah ; which many would
consign to the region of parable or myth, not appar-
ently from any result of criticism, which is indeed
at a loss to find an origin for the story save in fact,
bnt simply from the unwillingness to give credit ta
an event the extraordinary character of which mud
have been patent from the first. But if the divine
purpose were to prefigure in a striking and effecths
manner the passage of our Saviour through tat
darkness of the tomb, how could any ordinary
event, akin to ordinary human experience, ade-
quately represent that of which we have no expe-
rience? The utmost perils of the royal psalmist
required, in Ps. xviii., to be heightened and com-
pacted together by the aid of extraneous imagery
in order that they might typify the horrors of
death. Those same horrors were more definitely
prefigured by the incarceration of Jonah : it was a
marvelous type, but not more marvelous than the
antitype which it foreshadowed; it testified by it*
very wondrousness that there are gloomy terrors
beyond any of which this world supplies the ex-
perience, but over which Christ should triumph, as
Jonah was delivered from the belly of the fish.
Of another danger besetting the path of the spirit-
ual interpreter of tbe 0. T., we have a warning
in the unedifying puerilities into which some have
fallen. Against such he will guard by foregoing
too curious a search for mere external resemblances
I etween tbe Old Testament and the New, though
withal thankfully recognizing them wherever they
present themselves. His true task will be rather to
investigate the inward ideas involved in the 0. T.
narratives, institutions, and prophecies themselves,
by tbe aid of the more perfect manifestation of those
ideas In the transactions and, events of gospel-limes.
The spiritual interpretation must rest upon both
tbe literal and the moral ; and there can be no spirit-
ual analogy between things which have nought
morally in common. One consequence of this prin-
ciple will of course be, that we must never be con-
tent to rest in any mere outward fulfillment of
prophecy. It can never, for example, be admitted
that the ordinance respecting the entireness of the
pusover-lamb had reference merely to thb preserva-
tion of our Saviour's legs unbroken on tbe cross, ot
that the concluding words of Zech. ix 9, pointed
merely to the animal on which our Saviour should
outwardly ride into Jerusalem, or that the sojourn
of Israel in Egypt, in its evangelic reference, had re-
spect merely to the temporary sojourn of our Sav-
iour in the same country. However ramarkalas
the outward fulfillment be, it must always guide ns
to some deeper analogy, in which a moral element
is involved. Another consequence of the foregoing
principle of interpretation will be that that which
was forbidden or sinful can, so far as it was sinful,
not be regarded as typical of that which is free
from sin. We may, for example, reject, as alto-
gether groundless, the view, often propounded, but
never proved, that Solomon's marriage with Pha-
raob'a daughter was a figure of the reception of tin
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2288
OLD TESTAMENT
Gentiles into th« Church ol the Gospel. On the
jthei hand there is no more difficulty in supposing
that that which was sinful may have originated the
Kcasion for the exhibition of some striking type,
than there is in believing that disobedience brought
about the need of redemption. The Israelites
tinned in demanding a king; yet the earthly king-
dom of David was a type of the kingdom of Christ;
and it was in consequence of Jonah's fleeing, like
the first Adam, from the presence of the Lord, that
he became so signal a type of the second Adam in
his three days' removal from the light of heaven.
So again that which was tolerated rather than ap-
proved may contain within itself the type of some-
thing imperfect, in contrast to that which is more
perfect. Thus Hagar, as the concubine of Abra-
ham, represented the covenant at Sinai ; but it is
only the bondage-aspect of that covenant which
here comes directly under consideration, and the
children of the covenant, symbolized by Ishmael,
are those only who cleave to the element of bond-
age in it.
Yet withal, in laying down rules for the interpre-
tation of the O. T., we must abstain from attempt-
ing to define the limits, or to measure the extent
of its fullness. That fullness has certainly not yet
been, nor will by us be exhausted. Search after
truth, and reverence for the native worth of the
written Word, authorize us indeed to reject past
interpretations of it which cannot be shown to rest
on any solid foundation. Still all interpretation is
essentially progressive; and in no part of the O. T.
can we (ell the number of meanings and bearings,
beyond those with which we are ourselves familiar,
which may one day be brought out, and which then
not only may approve themselves by their intrinsic
reasonableness, but even may by their mutual har-
mony and practical interest furnish additional evi-
dence of the divine source of that Scripture which
cannot be broken.
C — Quotations from the Old Testament
in the New Testament.
The New Testament quotations from the Old
form one of the outward bonds of connection be-
tween the two parts of the Bible. They are mani-
oid in kind. Some of the passages quoted contain
prophecies, or involve types of which the N. T.
writers designed to indicate the fulfillment. Oth-
» sre introduced as direct logical supports to the
ioetrines which they were enforcing. In all eases
which can be clearly referred to either of these cat-
egories, we are fairly warranted in deeming the use
which has been made of the older text authoritative;
and from these, and especially from an analysis of
the quotations which at first tight present difficul-
ties, we may study the principles on which the
sacred appreciation and exegesis of the older Scrip-
tures has proceeded. Let it only be borne in mind
that however just the interpretations virtually
placed upon the passages quoted, they do not pro-
fess to he necessarily complete. The contrary is
; w*oed manifest from the two opposite bearings of
Mas same passage, Ps. xxiv. 1, brought out by St
I'aul in the course of a few verses, 1 Cor. x. 98, 88
But in many instances, also, the N. T. writers have
lulled the 0. T. rather by way of illustration, than
with the intention of leaning upon it; variously
spurring and adapting it, and making Its language
the vehicle of their own independent thoughts. It
aoold hardly well be otherwise. The thought* of
til who have beet, deeply educated in the S cr i ptur es
OLD TESTAMENT
naturally move in Scriptural diction : it would baa*
been strange had the writers of the N. T. formed
exceptions to the general rule.
It may not be easy to distribute all the quota-
tions into their distinctive classes. But among
those in which a prophetical or typical force it
ascribed in the N. T. to the passage quoted, nay
fairly be reckoned all that are introduced with an
Intimation that the Scripture was " fulfilled." And
it may be observed that the word " fulfill," at
applied to the accomplishment of what bad been
predicted or foreshadowed, it in the N. T.only ustd
by our Lord himself and his companion-apostles:
not by St. Hark nor St. Luke, except in their re-
ports of our Lord's and Peter's sayings, nor yet by
St. Paul (Hark xv. 88, is not genuine). It had
grown familiar to the original Apostles from the
continual verification of the O. T. which they had
beheld in the events of their Hester's career. These
had testified to the deep connection between the
utterances of the O. T. and the realitiesof the Gos-
pel; and, through the general connection in turn
casting down its radiance on the individual points
of contact, the higher term was occasionally ap-
plied to express a relation for which, viewed merely
in itself, weaker language might have sufficed.
Three " fulfillments " of Scripture are traced by St.
Matthew in the incidents of our Saviour's infancy
(ii. 15, 18, 23). He beheld Him marked out as
the true Israel, the beloved of God with high des-
tiny before Him, by the outward correspondence
between his and Israel's sojourn in Egypt The
sorrowing of the mothers of Bethlehem for their
children was to him a renewal of the grief for the
captives at Kamah, which grief Jeremiah bad de-
scribed in language suggested by the record of the
patriarchal grief for the loss of Joseph : it was thus
a present token (we need account it no more) of the
spiritual captivity which all outward captivities re-
called, and from which, since it bad been declared
that there was hope in the end, Christ wss to prove
the deliverer. And again, Christ's sojourn in
despised Nazareth was an outward token of tbt
lowliness of bis condition; and if the prophets had
rightly spoken, this lowliness was the necessary
prelude, and therefore, in part, the pledge of his
future glory. In the first and last of these eases
the evangelist, in his wonted phrase, expressly de-
clares that the events came to pass that that which
was spoken " might be fulfilled : " language which
must not be arbitrarily softened down. In the
other case the phrase is less definitely strong:
" Then wss fulfilled," etc. The substitution of
this phrase can, however, of itself decide nothing,
for it is used of an acknowledged prophecy in xxvii.
9. And should any be disposed on other grounds
to view the quotation from Jer. xxxi. 15 merely as
an adornment of the narrative, let them first con-
sider whether tbe evangelist, who was occupied with
the history of Christ, would be likely formally to
introduce a passage from the O. T. merely as an
illustration of maternal grief.
In the quotations of all kinds from the Old Tes-
tament in the New, we find a continual variation
from tbe letter of tbe older Scriptures. To this
variation three causes may be specified at having
contributed.
First, all the N. T. writers quoted from tea
Septuagint; correcting it indeed more or less by
the Hebrew, especially when it was neadfcl fa
their purpose: occasionally deserting it altogether
still abiding by it to so large an extent as to show
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLD TESTAMENT
that it was the primary source whence their quota-
tion were drawn. Their use of it may be beat
Hmstrated by the e>rresponding use of our liturgical
renion of the Psalm*; a use founded on love aa
•efl aa on habit, but which nevertheless we forego
when it becomes Important that we should Allow
lbs more accurate rendering. Consequently, when
the errors involved in the Septnagint renion do not
interfere with the purpose which the X. T. writer
had in view, they are frequently allowed to remain
in hie quotation: see Matt. XT. 9 (a record of our
Lord's words); Luke iv. 18; Acts xiii. 41, xt. 17;
Kora. xt. 10; 3 Cor. iT. 13; Heb. rill. 9, x. 5, xi.
41." The current of apostolic thought, too, is fre-
quently dictated by words of the Septnagint, which
dHfer much from the Hebrew: see Rom. ii. 34; 1
Cor. xt. 65; 2 Cor. ix. 7; Heb. xiii. 16. Or era
sb absolute interpolation of the Septnagint is
quoted, Heb. i. 6 (Dent xxxii. 43 J. On the other
hand, in Matt. xxi. 5; 1 Cor. Iii. 19, the Septua-
gjat is corrected by the Hebrew : so too in Matt.
ix. 13; Luke xxil. 37, there is an effort to preserve
in cxp res siv ei jes s of the Hebrew which the Sep-
taagint bad lost; and in Matt. iT. 15, 16; John
xix. 37; 1 Cor. xt. 54, the Septnagint disappears
altogether. In Rom. ix. 33, we have a quotation
from the Septnagint combined with another from
the Hebrew. In Mark xii. 30; Luke x. 27; Rom.
xii. 19, the Septnagint and Hebrew are sujieradded
the one upon the other. In the Epistle to the He-
brews, which in this respect standi alone, the Sep-
tnagint is uniformly followed; except bi the one
remarkable quotation, Heb. x. 30, which, accord-
big neither with the Hebrew nor the Septuagint,
was probably derived from the last-named pas-
sage, Horn. xii. 19, wherewith it exactly coincides.
The quotation in 1 Cor. ii. 9 seems to hare been
derived not directly from the O. T., but rather
tram a Christian liturgy or other document into
which the language of Is. Ixir. 4 had been trans-
ferred.
Secondly, the N. T. writers must hare frequently
quoted from memory. Tbe O. T. had been deeply
instilled into their minds, ready for service, when-
ever needed; and the fulfillment of its predictions
which they witnessed, marie its utterances rise up
ui life before them : cf. John ii. 17, 23. It was of
the very essence of such a living use of 0. T.
Scripture that then - quotations of it should not of
neemity be verbally exact
Thirdly, combined with this there was an altera-
tion of conscious or unconscious design. Some-
times the object of this was to obtain increased
bee: hence the variation from the original in the
farm of the divine oath, Rom. xiv. 11; or the
Jesuit " I quake," substituted for tbe cause, Heb
rii. 21; or the insertion of rhetorical words to
twins; out the emphasis, Heb. xii. 28 ; or the change
of person to show that what men perpetrated had
Ha root in God's determinate counsel, Matt. xxvi.
31. Sometimes an O. T. passage is abridged, and
in the abridgment so adjusted, by a little altera-
'Jon, as to present an aspect of completeness, and
yet omit what is foreign to the immediate purpose,
Acts i. 20: 1 Cor. i. 31. At other times a pas-
age is enlarged bj the incorporation of a passage
rom another source: thus in Luke ir. 18, 19,
tHbongh the contents are professedly those r»ad
by oar Lord from Is- bi., we have the words " to
■et at liberty them that are bruised," introd»oed
bam la Mil. 6 (Sept.): similarly in Rom. xi. 8,
DM xxix. 4 is combined with It. xxix. If In
OLD TE8TAMEXT
2239
some cases still greater liberty of alteration is
assumed. In Rom. x. 11, the word war is intro-
duced into Is. xxriii 16, to show that that k
uttered of Jew and Gentile alike. In Rom. xi. 86,
97, the « to Zion" of Is. llx. 20 (Sept. irva-tr
SiaV) is replaced by "out of 8k>n " (suggested by
Is. ii. 8): *» Zion tbe Redeemer had already come;
from Zion, the Christian Church, his law was to
go forth; or even from the literal Jerusalem, cf.
Luke xxir. 47; Rom. xv. 19, for, till she was
destroyed, the type was still in a measure kept up.
In Matt viii. 17, the words of Is. liii. 4 are
adapted to the divine removal of disease, tbe oat-
ward token and witness of that tin which Christ
was eventually to remove by his death, thereir;
fulfilling the prophecy more completely. For other,
though less striking, instances of variation, see 1
Cor. xir. 21; 1 Pet iii. 15. In some places again,
the actual words of the original are taken up, but
employed with a new meaning : thus tbe ip^ifuvot,
which in Hab. ii. 3 merely qualified the verb, is in
Heb. x. 37 made the subject to it
Almost more remarkable than any alteration in
the quotation itself, is the circumstance that in
Matt, xxrii. 9, Jeremiah should be named as the
author of a prophecy really delivered by Zechariali:
the reason being, as has been well shown by Heng-
stenberg in his Christology, that the prophecy is
based upon that in Jer. xviii., xix., and that with-
out a reference to this original source the most
essential features of the fulfillment of Zechariah's
prophecy would be misunderstood." The case is
indeed not entirely unique; for in the Creek of
Mark i. 2, 3, where Mai. iii. 1 is combined with
Is. xl. 3, the name of Isaiah alone is mentioned ■
it was on his prophecy that that of MalachI partly
depended. On tbe other hand in Matt ii. 23;
John ri. 46, the comprehensive mention of tbe
prophets indicates a reference not only to the pas-
sages more particularly contemplated, Is. xi. 1, liv.
13, but also to the general tenor of what had been
elsewhere prophetically uttered.
The above examples will sufficiently illustrate tbe
freedom with which the Apostles and Evangelists
interwove the older Scriptures into their writings.
It could only result in failure were we to attempt
any merely mechanical account of variations from
the O. T. text which are essentially not mechanical.
That which is still replete with life may not be
dissected by the anatomist There is a spiritual
meaning in their employment of Scripture, even
as there is a spiritual meaning in Scripture itself.
And though it would be as idle to treat of their
quotations without reference to the Septuagint, «J
it would be to treat of the imur meaning of the
Bible without attending first to the literal inter-
pretotion, still it is only when we pay regard tt
the inner purpose for which each separate quota-
tion was made, and the inner significance to the
writer's mind of the passage quoted, that we can
arrive at any true solution of the difficulties which
the phenomena of these quotations frequently pre-
sent (Convenient tables of the quotations, ranged
in the order of the N. T. passages, are given in
the Introductions of Davidson and Home. A
much fuller table, embracing the informal verbal
allusions, and ranged in the contrary order, but
with a reverse index, has been compiled by Gough
and published separately, 1866.) J. F. T.
« • See the remarks on this parafla. vol. I. p. ID*
aod vol. H. p. 1608 a. ■
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2240
OLEANDER
* bee on the mode of citing the Old Testament
Id the New, Tboluek'i Dot A. Ten. im Ntutn
Tat., pp. 1-60 (3» Aufl.), and tranal. by Prof.
C. A. Aiken, BUL Sacra, xi. 568-816; \V. Lind-
say Alexander's Connexion and Harmony of tie
O. ami If. Testament!, lect i. pt ii. (Lond. 1841);
Kairl .aim's Hermentutical Manual, pt. third, pp.
3U3-4M (Amer. repr. 1869); ud Turpies The
Utd TtU. in the New (Lond. 1868). H.
• OLEANDER. [Wn-uowa, Amer. ed.J
OLIVE (HPT: i\ala)- No tree is more
closely associated with the history and civilization
of man. Our concern with it here is in its sacred
relations, and in its connection with Judssa and
the Jewish people.
Many of the Scriptural associations of the olive-
tree are singularly poetical. It has this remarkable
interest, in the first place, that its foliage u the
earliest that is mentioned by name, when the
waters of the flood began to retire. •' Lo ! in the
dove's mouth wns an olive-leaf pluckt off: so Noah
knew that tho waters wen abated from off the
Olive (Caw
earth " (Geo. viil. 11). How far this early inci-
dent may have suggested the later emblematical
meanings of the leaf, it is impossible to say; but
now it is as difficult for us to disconnect the
thought of peace from this scene of primitive
patriarchal history, ss from a multitude of allusions
in the Greek and Roman poets. Next, we find it
the most prominent tree in the earliest allegory.
When the trees invited it to reign over them, its
wgacious answer sets it before us in its character-
istic relations to Divine worship and domestic life.
'■ Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they
bona God and man, and go to be promoted over
the trees? " (Judg. ix. 8, 9). With David it is
•Jie embtau of prosperity and the divine blessing.
OLIVE
He compares himself to " a green olive tree la the
house of God " (Ps. lii. 8): and be compares the
children of a righteous man to the " olive-branches
round about his table " (Ps. exxviii. 3). So with
the later prophets it is the symbol of beauty,
luxuriance, and strength; and hence tbe symbol
of religious privileges: " His branches shall spread,
and his beauty shall be ss tbe olive-tree," are the
words in the concluding promise of Hoses (xiv. 6).
" The Lord called thy name a green olive-tree, fair,
and of goodly fruit," is the expostulation of Jere-
miah when he foretciU retribution for advantages
abused (xi. 16). Here we may compare Ecclns. 1.
10. We must bear in mind, in reading this
imagery, that the olive was among the most abun-
dant and characteristic vegetation of Judasa. Thus
after the Captivity, when the Israelites kept the
least of Taliernaclea, we find them, among other
branches for the booths, bringing "olive-brsnebes"
from the "mount" (Neb. viii. 15). "The mount"
is doubtless tbe famous Olivet, or Mount of Olives,
the "Olivetum " of the Vulgate. [Ouvks, Mormr
or.] Here we cannot forget that the trees of this
sacred bill witnessed not only the humil-
iation and sorrow of David in Absalom's
rebellion (2 Sam. xv. 30), but also some
of the most solemn scenes in the life of
David's Lord and Son; the prophecy
over Jerusalem, tbe agony in the garden
(Gethskmane itself means " a press for
olive-oil "), and the ascension to heaven.
Turning now to the mystic imagery of
Zechariah (iv. 8, 11-14), and of St John
in the Apocalypse (Rev. xi. 3, 4), we find
the olive-tree used, in both cases, in a very
remarkable way. We cannot enter into
any explanation of "the two olive-trees
. . . the two olive-branches . . . the twe
anointed ones that stand by the l/*d of
tbe whole earth " (Zech. ) ; or of " the two
witnesses ... the two olive-trees standing
before the God of the earth " (Rev.): but
we may remark that we have here a very
expressive link lietween the prophecies of
tbe 0. T. and the N. T. Finally, in the
argumentation of St Paul concerning the
relative positions of the Jews and Gentiles
In the counsels of God, this tree supplies
the basis of one of his most forcible alle-
gories (Rom. xi. 16-25). Tbe Gentiles are
the " wild olive " (oVyfueAator ), grafted in
upon tbe " good olive " («raAA«f\aiot), to
which once tbe Jews belonged, and with
which tbey may again be incorporated, (t
must occur to any one that tbe natural
process of grafting is here inverted, the cus-
tom being to engraft a good branch upon a
bad stock. And it has been contended that in the
case of the olive-tree the inverse process is some-
times practiced, a wild twig being engrafted to
strengthen tbe cultivated olive. Thus Mr. Ewbaiik
(Comm. on Romnru, ii. 112) quotes from Palkv
dius: —
" Feeundat steitlls plngues oleaster oUvms.
Bt que non novit monera fcrre doost*'
But whatever the fact may be, it is unnecessary at
hsve recourse to this supposition: and indeed It
confuses the allegory. Nor is it likely that 8t
Paul would bold himself tied by horticultural lain
in using such an image as this. Perhaps the verv
stress of the allegory Is in this, that the graftmt;
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLIVB
« contrary to nature (rapt tfitrm ivHOvrpiaB-nt,
t. 14).
Thi» discussion of the passage n the Romans
leads ut naturally to apeak of the cultivation of the
olive-tree, it* industrial application*, and general
characteristics. It gram freely almost everywhere
on the shores of the Mediterranean; hut, as hat
been said above, it was peculiarly abundant in
Palestine. See Deut vi. 11, vii. 8, xxriii. 40.
Olive-yards are a matter of course in descriptions
of the country, like vineyards and corn-fields (Judg.
xv. 5; 1 Sam. riii. 14). The kings had very
extensi'e ones (1 Chr. xxvii. 28). Kven now the
tree is very abundant in the country. Almost
every village has its olive-grove. Certain districts
may be specified where at various times this tree
has been very luxuriant. Of Asber, on the skirts
of the Lebanon, it was prophesied that he should
"dip his foot in oil " (Deut. xxxiii. 24). The im-
mediate neighborhood of Jerusalem has already
esen mentioned. In the article on Gaza we have
olivk 224]
alluded to its large and productive olive-woods in
the present day: and we may relet to Van da
VeUle's Syria (i. 386) for their extent and beauty
in the vale of Shechem. The cultivation of tb*
olive-tree had the closest connection with the do-
mestic life of the Israelites, their trade, and even
their public ceremonies and religious worship. A
good illustration of the use of olive-oil for food is
furnished by 2 Chr. ii. 10, where we are told that
Solomon provided Hiram's men with "twenty
thousand baths of oil." Compare Ezra iii. 7* Too
much of this product was supplied for home con-
sumption : hence we find the country sending it as
an export to Tyre (Ez. xxvii. 17), and to Egypt
(Hos. xii. 1). This oil was used in coronations,
thus it was an emblem of sovereignty (1 Sam. x
1, xii. 3, S). It was also mixed with the offerings
in sacrifice (Lev. ii. 1, 2, 6, IS). Even in the
wilderness very strict directions were given that,
in the Tabernacle, the Israelites were to have "purs
oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp t»
Old Olive-tress In the Garden of <
burn always " (Ex. xxvii. 20). For the burning
of it in common lamps, see Matt xxv. 3, 4, 8. The
use of it on the hair and skin was customary, and
indicative of cheerfulness (I's. xxiii. 5: Matt. vi.
17 ). It was also employed medicinally in surgical
eaies (Luke x. 34). a See again Mark vi. 13; Jam.
v. 14, for its use in combination with prayer on
brlialf of the sick. [Oil; Anoint.] Nor, in
enumerating the useful applications of the olive-
tree, must we forget the wood, which is hard and
solid, with a fine grain, and a pleasing yellowish
tint. In Solomon's Temple the cherubim were
"of olive-tree" (1 K. vi. 23),* as also the doors
« All these subjects admit of very *»•! Illustration
from Qreek and Soman writers. And It this were not
a tabtteal article, we should dwell upon other classical
ssstdackms of the tree which supplied the victor's
vessth at the Olympic games, and a twig of which Is
BM familiar mark on the coins of Athens Am Judith
-». IS.
141
(w. 31, 32) and the posts (ver. 33). As to tea
berries (Jam. iii. 12; 2 Ksdr. xvi. 29), which
produce the oil, they were sometimes gathered
by shaking the tree (Is. xxiv. 13), sometimes by
beating it (Deut. xxiv. 20). Then followed the
treading of the fruit (Deut xxxiii. 24; Mic. vi.
15). Hence the mention of "oil-fats" (Joel ii.
24). Nor must the flower be passed over without
notice: —
" 81 bene flomarint elm, nltldlsslmns annus."
Ov. Fast. v. 266
The wind was dreaded by the cultivator of the
» • If the olive bs the wood Intended In 1 K. vi.
28, It Is singular that a wood of such hardness should
have been used for a carving, when the carving was
to be covered with gold, and thus the fine grain would
be concealed. Tristram (Nat. Hat. of ilu BMt, ».
871) thinks that the oleaster Is meant here. See Oav
no. A ■. P
Digitized by
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2242
OLIVE
•Urn; for the least raffling of a breeze b' up to i
sense the flowivs to fall : —
" Horabant otan : rend nocnen orotervl."
Or. Fall. v. 821.
Thai we we the force of the words of Kliphaz the
T«manite: •• He shall cut off his flower like the
olive " (Job it. 33). It is needless to add that the
locust was a ."ormidable enemy of the olive (Amos
It. 9). It happened not unfrequeutly thnt hopes
were disappointed, and that " the labor of the olire
failed " (Hab. Hi. 17). As to the growth of the
tree, it thrives best in warm and sunny situations.
It is of a moderate height, with knotty gnarled
trunks, and a smooth ash-colored bark. It grows
slowly, but it lives to an immense age. Its look is
singularly indicative of tenacious vigor: and this
la the force of what is said In Scripture of its
" greenness," as emblematic of strength and pros-
perity. The leaves, too, are not deciduous. Those
who see olives for the first time are occasionally
disappointed by the dusty color of their foliage;
bat th.ise who an familiar with them And an in-
expressible charm I n the rippling changes of these
slender gray-green leaves. Mr. Kuskin's paces in
the SUmet of Venice (iii. 175-177) are not at all
extravagant.
The literature of this subject is very extensive.
All who have written on the trees and plants of
Scripture have devoted some space to the olhe.
One especially deserves to be mentioned, namely,
Thomson, Land and Buuk, pp. 51-57. But, for
Biblical illustration, no later work is so useful as
the Hierobotjmicm. of Celsius, the friend and patron
Of Linns-us. J. S. II.
* The noUe olive-yards of Attica, which I'anl
must have suen whether he went from Athens to
Corinth by the way of Megara or Pineeus (Acts
xviii. 1), still preserve their ancient fame. Allusion
is made above to the olive-press. Dr. W. M. Thom-
son found several such presses still well preserved
from early Hebrew' times, at Um el-Aromnl", not
far from Tyre, a little north of Kdn&h. [Kakah.]
" Two columns, about two feet square and eight
feet high, stand on a stone base, and have a stone
of the same length and size on the top. Some-
times there are two on the top, to make it more
firm. These columns are about two feet apart, and
in the inner sides, facing each other, are grooves
cut from near the top to the bottom, about four
inches deep and six wide, in which the plank which
pressed on the olives moved up and down. . . . The
plank was placed upon them and pressed down
by a long beam acting as a lever, by the aid of
the great stones on the top of the columns. . . .
Close to the press, are two immense stone basins,
in which the olives were ground. I measured one
which had recently been uncovered. It was seven
feet two inches in diameter, a foot deep, with a rim
six inches thick; a huge howl of polished stone,
without a flaw or crack in it " (Bibl. Sacra, xii.
eV<2 (.). The same writer (Land and Book, i. 72-
76) explains in a striking manner the various
° OYyiO lT2yjt5 : irifiamt vi» eAouM-: di-
rat oli'ramm. The names applied to the mount In
ihe Targums an as follows : WVT "flB or N'JTT
H Sam. XT 80, 2 K. xxlli. 18. EsT iY 28, Zceh. xiv.Y)',
HTTt^S 't3 (Cant TiH. 8 ; and Gen. vlH. 11, Pseudo
«sl oW;(. The la t ter Is the nam* employed in the
OLIVES, MOUNT OV
Scripture allusions to (he olive (3 rb xv. 88; Hal.
Hi, 18; Is. xvii. 6; Dei.t. xxiv. 20). " The sites,"
says Mr. Tristram, "of many of the deserted
towns of Judah bear witness to the former abun-
dance of the olive, where it now no longer exists
by the oil-presses, with their gutters, troughs, and
cisterns hewn out of the solid rock. I hsve seen
many of them far south of Hebron, where not
an olhe has existed for centuries, snd also many
among deserted thickets of Cannel " (Nat. Hit).
of the Bible, p. 876). Most of the passages which
refer to the olive might hsve been written in our
own day, so remarkably do the present custom*
accord with those of the oldest known inhabitants
of the land. Leyrer (Herzog's ReoL/intyt. x. S l">
quotes Schulz (LriKmprn dn ffSrhttrn, v. 86) at
saying that the wild olive may he and Is used in
the East for grafting the cultivated olive when tin
latter becomes unfruitful; but it is generally al-
lowed that Paul does not refer in Rom. d. 17 to
any actual process in nature, but assumes the ease
for the sake of illustration. H
• OLIVE -BERRIES (Jam. iii. li»\
[Ouvk.]
OLIVES, MOUNT OF (DVVjn in :
to Spot rmr iXtuiv • Mont Ohnonm). The
exact expression " the Mount of Olives " occurs
in the O. T. in Zeeh. xiv. only; in the other
places of the O. T. In which it is referred to, tbe
form employed is the "ascent of" the oures " (i
Sam. xv. 30; A. V. inaccurately " the ascent of
Mount Olivet"), or simply "the mount" (Neh.
\ iii. 16), " the mount facing Jerusalem " (1 K. xi.
7), or " the mountain which b on the east side of
the citv '" (K*. xi. 28).
In the N. T. three forms of the word occur: (1.)
The usual one, " The Mount of Olives " (to Spot
raw 4\cu&v). (2.) By St. Luke twice (xix. 29,
xxi. 37); "the mount called Haion" (to I. t*
koa. <Acue»v ; Ree. Text, 'EAouwr, which is fol-
lowed by the A. V.), (3.) Also by St. Luke (Acta
i. 12*, the "mount called Olivet" (Jp. to koA.
(AauSros).
It is the well-known eminence on the east of
Jerusalem, intimately and characteristically con-
nected with some of the gravest and most signifi-
cant events in the history of the Old Testament,
the New Testament, and the intervening times, and
one of the firmest links by which the two sre united ;
the scene of tbe flight of David and the triumphal
progress of the Son of David, of the idolatry of
Solomon, and the agony and betrayal of Christ.
If anything were wanting to fix the position of
tbe Mount of Olives, it would be amply settled by
the account of the first of the events just named, aa
related in 2 Sam. xv., with the elucidations of the
LXX. and Josephus (Ant. vii. »). David's object
was to place tbe Jordan between himself and Ab-
salom. He therefore flies by the road called " thai
road of the wilderness " (xv. 23). This leads bins
across the Kidron, past the well-known olive-tree »
which marked the path, up tbe toilscme ascent of
Mtobna (Atrot, c.8). Its meaning Is " Ml " or " oint-
ment." The modern Arable name for the whole ride*
stems to be Jebrl es-ZtMn, i. t. Mount of Otlvea, o
Met Ttr, the mount of tbe mount, meaning, the im-
portant mount.
6 Tbe allusion to this tree, which survives In th*
LXX. of ver. 18, lias vanished from the prese nt T "
text.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLIVES. MOUNT OF
*t Brant — elMwhem exactly described u facing
Iwhn on the east (1 K. xl.7; Ex. zi. 8-1;
Mirk xi9. 3) — to the summit,* where ni a con-
t m t r ed spot at which he wu accustomed to wor-
ship God> At this spot he again performed his
derations — it most hare seamed for the lut time
— and took bit farewell of the city, " with many
lean, at one who had lost hit kingdom." He then
turned the summit, and after passing Bahurim,
probably about where Bethany now stands, eon-
tinned the descent through the " dry and thirsty ■
land " until be arrived " weary " at the bank of
the river (Joseph. AnL vii. 9, §§ 8-6; 3 Stun. xvi.
14, xvii. 31, 38).
This, which is the earliest mention ■ of the
Mount of Olivet, is alto a complete introduction
to it. It stands forth, with every feature complete,
at if in a picture. Its nearness to Jeru-
tbe ravine at Ha foot; the olive-tree at
its base; the steep road through the trees « to the
stmmit; the remarkable view torn thence of Zion
sad the city, spread opposite nd
OLIVES, MOUNT OF 3248
to rise towards the spectator ; the very
and dust"/ of the rugged and sultry descent, —
all are caught, nothing essential Is omitted.
The remaining references to it in the Old Testa-
ment are but slight The " high places " which
Solomon constructed for the gods of his numerous
wives, were in the mount " facing Jerusalem "
(1 K. xi. 7) — an expression which applies to tht
.Mount of Olive* only, as indeed all commentators
apply it. Modtrn tradition (see below) has, after
some hesitation, fixed the site of these sanctuaries
on the most southern of the four summits into
which the whole range of the mount is divided
and therefore far removed from that principal
summit over which David took his way. But
there is nothing in the 0. T. to countenance this,
or to forbid our believing that Solomon adhered to
the spot already consecrated in the time of bit
father. The reverence which in our days attaches
to the spot on the very top of the principal summit,
is probably only changed in its object from what
it was in th* time of the kingdom of Judah.
Daring the next four hundred years we have only
the brief notice of .Ionian's ieonoclasms st this spot.
Ahaz and Manasseh had no doubt maintained and
enlarged the original erections of Solomon. These
Jonah demolished. He " defiled " the hi«h places,
broke to pieces the uncouth and obscene symbols
« The mention of the summit marks the road to
have been that owr the present Mount of the Aseen-
atoev. Tbs southern road keeps below the summit the
whefc way
» tbs expiession of the text denotes that this was
a sa- wn sad frequented spot tor devotion. The Tal-
si-iht- say that it was the place at which the Ark
and Tabernacle were first caught sight of la epprosch-
ag terms kin over the Mount. Spots from which a
aaclaar y Is visible an still considered In the Bast ss
innaselvss sacred. (Bee the citations hi Iightrbot on
bike xsrr. 50 ; and compare Musis, p. 1977 not*-) It
■ worthy of remark that the expression Is " where
■sty worshipped God," not Jehovah ; as If it were one
<f the old sanctuaries of Hohlm, like Bethel or Morsh.
* *s. IxIM. — by Its litis and by constant tradition
which deformed them, cut down the images, or pos-
sibly the actual groves, of AshUroth, and effectually
disqualified them for worship bv filling up the cav-
ities with human bones (3 K. xxiii 13,14V Another
two hundred years and ire find a further mention
of it — this time in a thoroughly different connec-
— Is referred to this day. The word rendered " thirsty *
In ver. 1 Is the same as that rendered '* weary " In S
Sam. xvi. 14 — rJJJ,
rf The author of the Targum Pseudojonathan intro-
duces It still earlier According to him. the olive-lea!
which the dove brought back to Noah was plucked
from It.
• It most be remembered that the mount bad not
yet acquired Its now nunillar name. All that ta said kt
that David " ascended by the ascent of the olives."
/ At Bahurim, while David and his men kept the
road, Shlmel scrambled along the slops of the over-
hanglne; bill above, even with him, and threw stones
at him. and ctvmd Aim urilk ilwu (2 Sum. xvt. IS) fie
the Hebrew dasssal
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2244 OLIVES, MOUNT OF
Hon. It ii now the great repository for the vege-
tation of the district, planted thick with olive, and
the bushy myrtle, and the feathery palm. " Go
sat" of the city "into the mount" — was the
command of Ezra for the celebration of the first
anniversary of the Feast of Tabernacles after the
Return from Babylon — " and fetch olive branches
and ' oil-tree ' branches and myrtle-boughs, and
palm-leaves, and branches of thick trees to make
booths, as it is written " (Neb. viii. 15).
The cultivated and umbrageous character which
is implied in this description, as well as in the name
of the mount, it retained till the N. T. times.
Caphnatha, Bethphage, Bethany, all names of places
on the mount, and all derived from some fruit or
vegetation, are probably of late origin, certainly of
late mention. True, the " palm-branches " borne
by the crowd who flocked out of Jerusalem to wel-
come the " Prophet of Nazareth," were obtained
from the city (John xii. 13) — not impossibly
from the gardens of the Temple (Ps. xcii. 12, 13);
but the boughs which they strewed on the ground
before him, were cut or torn down from the fig or
olive trees which shadowed the road round the hill.
At this point in the history it will be conven-
ient to describe the situation and appearance of the
Mount of Olives. It is not so much a " mount "
aa a ridge, of rather more than a mile in length,
running in general direction north and south ; cov-
ering the whole eauterii side of the city, and screen-
ing it from the bare, waste, uncultivated country —
the " wilderness " — which lies beyond it, and fills
up the space between the Mount of Olives and the
Dead Sea. At its north end the ridge bends round
to the west so as to form an inclosure to the city
on that side also. But there is this difference, that
whereas on the north a space of nearly a mile of
tolerably level surfsce intervenes between the walls
of the city and the rising ground, on the east the
mount is close to the walls," parted only by that
which from the city itself seems no parting at all —
the narrow ravine of the Kidron. You descend
from the Golden Gateway, or the Gate of St. Ste-
phen, by a sudden and steep declivity, and no
sooner is the bed of the valley reached than you
again commence the ascent of Olivet. So great is
the effect of this proximity, that, partly from that,
and partly from the extreme clearness of the air,
a spectator from the western part of Jerusalem im-
agines Olivet to rise immediately from the side of
the Haram area (Porter, flandb. p. 103 a ; also Stan-
ley, S.fP.p. 186).
It is this portion which is the real Mount of
Olives of the history. The northern part — in all
probability Nob,* Mizpeh, and Scopus — is, though
geologically continuous, a distinct mountain ; and
the so-called Mount of Evil Counsel, directly south
sf the Ccenaculum, is too distant and too com-
pletely isolated by the trench of the Kidron to
claim the name. We will therefore confine our-
o • This remark may mislead the reader, from
ome positions the mount ma; appear to he ■ eloss to
chs walls," but Is actually one half or tone fourth
•fa mile distant, even In that part of the valley where
DUvet and Moriah approach nearest to each other.
H.
b 8m Mora, p. 1977.
c The following an the elevations of the neighbor-
Hood (above the Mediterranean), according to Tan da
Talde (Memoir, p. 179) : —
Mount of Olives (Church of Ascension) 2.791 ft.
OLTVTE8, MOUNT OF
selves to this portion. In general height it is not
very much above the city: 300 feet higher than
the Temple mount, c hardly more than 100 abort
the so-called Zion. But this is to soma extent
made up for by the close proximity which exagger-
ates its height, especially on the side next to it.
The word " ridge " has been used above as the
only one available for an eminence of some length
and even height, but that word is hardly accurate.
There is nothing " ridge like " in the appearance
of the Mount of Olives, or of any other of the lime-
stone hills of this district of Palestine; all is
rounded, swelling, and regular in form. At a
distance its outline is slmost horizontal, gradually
sloping away at its southern end ; but when ap-
proached, and especially when seen from below the
eastern wall of Jerusalem, it divides itself into
three, or rather perhaps four, independent summits
or eminences. Proceeding from N. to S. these occur
in the following order: Galilee, or Viri Galiuei;
Mount of the Ascension ; Prophets, subordinate to
the last, and almost a part of it ; Mount of Offense.
1. Of these the central one, distinguished by the
minaret and domes of the Church of the Ascension,
is in every way the most important. The church,
and the tiny hamlet of wretched hovels which sur-
round it, — the Krfr tU Tir, — are planted slightly
on the Jordan side of the actual top, but not so far
as to hinder their being seen from all parts of the
western environs of the mountain, or, in '.heir turn,
commanding the view of the deepest recesses of the
Kidron Valley (Porter, Hnndb. p. 1 03 ). Three paths
lead from the valley to the summit. The first
— a continuation of the path which descends from
the St, Stephen's Gate to the Tomb of the Virgin —
passes under the north wall of the inclosure of
Getbsemsne, and follows the line of the depression
between the centra and the northern hill. The
second parts from the first about 60 yards beyond
Gethsemane, and striking off 1 to the right up the
very breast of the hill, surmounts tue projection on
which is the traditional spot of the lamentation
over Jerusalem, and thence proceeds directly up-
wards to the village. This is rather shorter than
the former; but, on the other hand, it is much
steeper, and the ascent extremely toilsome and
difficult. The third leaves the other two at the
N. E. corner of Gethsemane, and making a con-
siderable detour to the south, visits the so-called
" Tombs of the Prophets," and following a very
slight depression which occurs at that part of the
mount, arrives in its turn at the village.
Of these three paths the first, from the fac* that
it follows the natural shape of the ground, it, un-
questionably, older than the others, which dt riata
in pursuit of certain artificial objects. Every con-
sideration is in favor of its being the road take*
by David in bis flight. It is, with equal probability
that usually taken by our Lord and his disciples it
their morning and evening transit between Jem-
« Bon " (the Oomaculum) .... SJSS7 it
"Moriah" (Haram area). . . . 2.439 ft.
N. W. comer of dty 9,610 ft.
Valley of Kidron (Gethsemane) . . . 9J951 ft.
Valley of Kidron (Or By*). . . . 1,86* ft.
Bethany 1406ft.
Jordan . 1,300 fl.l
!• Compare CasMbU of •laraneaa by Cast, Wueoa,**,
Ii. p. UTS ( Anwr. «d.). B.
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OX IVES, MOUNT OF
laleni and Bethany, and that also by which the
Apostles returned to Jerusalem after the Ascension,
(f the " Tombs of the Prophets " existed before the
destruction of Jerusalem (and if they are the Peri-
■teraou of Josephus ihey did), then the third road
is next in antiquity. The second — having prob-
ably been made for the convenience of reaching a
spot the reputation of which is comparatively mod-
ern — must be the moot recent.
The central hill, which we are now considering,
purports to contain the sites of some of the most
■acred and impressive events of Christian history.
During the Middle Ages most of these were pro-
tected by an edifice of some sort; and to judge from
{he rcpoita of the early travellers, the mount must
at one time have boen thickly covered with churches
and convents. The following is a complete list of
these, as Car as the writer has been able to ascertain
(1.) Commencing at the western foot, and going
gradually up the hill."
> • Tomb of the Virgin : containing also those of
Joseph, Joachim, and Anna.
Gethsemaoe: containing —
Olive garden.
* Cavern of Christ's Prayer and Agony.
(A Church here in the time of Jerome
and Willibald.)
Rock on which the S disciples slept.
* Place of the capture of Christ. (A Church
in the time of Bernard the Wise.)
Spot from which the Virgin witnessed the ston-
ing of St. Stephen.
Do. at which her girdle dropped during her As-
sumption.
Do. of our Lord's Lamentation over Jerusalem,
Luke xix. 41. (A Church here formerly,
called Domimu JUnil; Surius, in Hislin,
U. 476.)
Do. on which He first said the Lord's Prayer, or
wrote it on tbe stone with his finger (Sae-
wulf. Early Trot. p. 42). A splendid Church
here formerly. Maundeville seems to give this
ss the spot where the Beatitudes were pro-
nounced (/■.'. Tr. p. 177).
Do. at which the woman taken in adultery was
brought to Him (Bernard the Wise, E. Tr.
p- 28).
•Tombs of the Prophets (Matt, xxiil. 89): con-
taining, according to the Jews, those of Hag-
gai and Zechariah.
Cave in which the Apostles composed the Creed :
called also Church of St. Mark or of the 12
Apostles.
Spot at which Christ discoursed of the Judgment
to come (Matt. xxiv. 3).
Cave of St Pebgia: according to the Jews, sep-
ulchre of Huldah the Prophetess.
•Place of the Ascension. (Church, with subse-
quently a large Augustine convent at-
tached.)
Spot at which the Virgin was warned of her
death by an angel In the valley between
a The above eetalofM has been compiled from
iuanunlua, Doabdao, and Mtolta. Tti last of than
porks, with greet pratenskra to aorincy Is very ln-
tenmte. Collateral references to ottae. works are oe-
auftcraally given.
» Plenary Indulgence Is accorded by the Church of
bene to these who recite tbe Lord's Prayer and the
•*» Maris «t the spots marked thus (•).
OLIVES, MOUNT OF 2246
the Ascension and Viri Galilei (Maunde-
ville, p. 177, and so Doubdan) ; but MeundraV
(£. Tr. p. 470) places it close to the cave of
Pelagia.
Viri Galiuei. Spot from which the Apostles
watched the Ascension : or at whioh Christ
first appeared to the 3 Maries after his Kes-
urrection (Tobler, p. 76, note).
(2.) On the east side, descending from the
Church of the Ascension to Bethany.
The field in whioh stood the fruitless fig-tree.
Beth phage.
Bethany: House of Laxarus. (A Church there in
Jerome's time; Lib. dt Situ, etc " Betk-
wheti
■")
•Tomb of Lazarus.
•Stone on which Christ was sitting
Martha and Mary came to Him.
The majority of these sacred spots now com-
mand little or no attention; but three still remain,
sufficiently leered — if authentic — to consecrate
anyplace. These are: (1.) Gethsemane, at the foot
of the mount (2.) The place of the Lamentation
of our Saviour over Jerusalem, half-way up; and
(3.) The spot from which He ascended, on the
summit
(1.) Of these, Gethsemane is the only one which
has any claim to be authentic. Its claim*, how-
ever, are considerable; they are spoken of else-
where.
(2.). The first person who attached the Ascension
of Christ to tbe Mount of Olives seem* to have been
the Empress Helena (A. D. 326). Eusebius ( Kit.
Const, iii. § 43) states that she erected as a memo-
rial of that event a sacred bouse « of assembly ea.
the highest part of the mount, where there was a
cave which a sure tradition (Ad-yor aAntft)t) tenti-
fied to be that in which the Saviour had Imparted
mysteries to his disciples. But neither this ac-
count, nor that of the same author (Kuseb. DtmmtL
Evany, vi. 18) when the care is again mentioned,
do more than name tbe Mount of Olives, generally,
as the place from which Christ ascended : they fix
no definite spot thereon. Nor does the Bordeaux
Pilgrim, who arrived shortly after the building of
the church (a. d. 333), know anything of the exaat
spot He names the Mount of Olives as the place
where our Lord used to teach his disciples ; men-
tions that a basilica of Conatantine stood them
. . . be carefully points out the Mount of Trans-
figuration in the neighborhood (!) but is silent on
the Ascension. From this time to that of Arculf
(A. D. 700) we have no information, except the
casual reference of Jerome (a. i>. 390), cited below.
In that immense interval of 370 years, the basilica
of Constantino or Helena had given way to the
round church of Modestus (Tobler, p. 92, note), and
the tradition had become firmly established. Tbe
church was open to tbe sky ■■ because of the passage
of the Lord's body," and on tbe ground in the
centre were the prints of bis feet in the dust
(puleere). The cave or spot hallowed by his preach-
ing to his disciples appears to have been moved off
to the north of Bethany {Early Trav. p. 6).
Since that day many changes In detail have oo>
• l^ir star taAipruu. This ohurcb was sur-
mounted by a conspicuous gilt eras, the gHttsr of
which was visible fer and wide. Jerome refers so ■
as vera) times. See especially Spilapk. Paula, "ems
, rutUans," and his comment on teph. L tt.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2246 OLIVES, MOUNT OF
the "dust" has given way to •tone, in
which the print of first one, then two feet, was
recognized," one of which by a strange fate is said
Bow to rest in the Hosque of the Aksa. 6 The build-
ings too hare gone through alterations, additious.
and finally losses, which has reduced tliem to their
present condition : a mosque with a paved and un-
roofed court of irregular shape adjoining, round
which are ranged the altars of various Christian
ehurches- In the centre is the miraculous stone
surmounted by a cupola and screened by a Moslim
Kibleh or praying-place,' with an altar attached,
on which the Christiana are permitted once a year
to say man (Williams, Holy City, ii. 445). But
through all these changes the locality of the As-
cension has remained constantly the same.
The tradition no doubt arose from the fact of
Helena's having erected her memorial church on
the summit of the hill. It has been pointed out
that she does not appear to have had any intention
of filing on a precise spot; she desired to erect a
memorial of the Ascension, and this she did on the
summit of the Mount of Olives, partly no doubt
because of its conspicuous situation, but mainly
because of the existence there of the sacred cavern
in which our l^ord had taught.'' It took nearly
three centuries to harden and narrow this general
recognition of the connection of the Mount of Olives
with Christ, into a lying invention in contradiction
rf the Gospel narrative of the Ascension. For a
contradiction it undoubtedly is. Two account* of
the Ascension exist, both by the same author —
the one, Luke xiiv. 50, 61, the other, Acts 1. 6-11.
The former only of these names the place at which
our Lord ascended. That place was not the sum-
mit of the mount, but Bethany — u He led them
out as far as to Bethany " — on the eastern slopes
of the mount nearly a mile beyond the traditional
spot.* The narrative of the Acta does not name
the scene of the occurrence, but it states that after
it had taken place the Apostles " returned to Jeru-
salem from the mount called Olivet, which is from
Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey." It was their
natural, their only route: but St. Luke is writing
for Gentiles ignorant of the localities, and there-
fore he not only names Olivet, but adds the general
Information that it — that is, the summit and
main part of the mount — was a Sabbath-day's
journey from Jerusalem. The specification of the
distance no more applies to Bethany on the further
' Bven the toss wars made out by some (Tobler, p.
108, note).
b The "Chapel at the foot of Isa" is at the south
sod of the main aisle of the Aksa, almost under the
dome. At ached to Its northern side is the Pulpit.
At the urn j of All Bey's visit (II. 218, and plate Uxl.)
It was called Sidnn Aita, Lord Jesus ; but he says
nothing of the foot-mark.
e See the plan of the edifice, In lie present con-
dition, on the margin of 8ig. PlerotU's map, 1881.
Other plans are given in Quareamlus, il. 818, and B.
Amleo, No, 84. Arculfs sketch Is In Tobler (Aueo*-
eacfe, etc).
<t Since writing this, the writer has observed that
Mr. Stanley has taken the same view, almost In the
same words. (See S. f P. eh. xlv. p. 464.)
• The Mount of Olives ssems to be used for Bethany
also in Luke xxL 87, compared with Matt. xxl. 17,
xxvi. 8, Mark xlv. 8. The morning walk from Beth-
say did not at any rate terminate with the day after
hw arrival at Jerusalem. (See Mark jd. 30.) One
suds of reconciling the two narratives — which do not j
I— Is to say that tbs district of Bath- !
OLIVES, MOUNT OJT
side of the mount than to Gethawnane on tat
nearer.
And if, leaving the evidence, we consider the rel-
ative fitness of the two spots fur such an event, —
and compare the retired and wooded slopes arounr?
Bethany, so intimately connected with the last
period of bis life and with the friends who relieved
the dreadful pressure of thai period, and to whom
be was attached by such binding ties, with an open
public spot visible from every pert of the city, and
indeed for miles in every direction — we shall have
no difficulty in deciding which is the Bore appro-
priate scene for the last act in the earthly sojourn
of One who always shunned publicity even before
his death, and whose conituunica/ions after hie
resurrection were confined to his disciples, and*
marked by a singular privacy and reserved
(3.) The third of the three traditionary spots
mentioned — that of the I jinientation over Jerusa-
lem (Luke xix. 41-14) — is not more happily chosen
than that of the Ascension. It is on a niarnslon or
protuberance which projects from the slope of the
breast of the hill, about 300 yards above Uethsem-
ane. The sacred narrative requires a spot on toe
road from Bethany, at which the city or temple
should suddenly com* iuto view : but this is one
which can only be reached by * wnilk of several
hundred yards over the breast of the hill, with the
temple rind city full in sit/lit the vhole lime. It
is also pretty evident that the path which now
panes the spot, is subsequent In data to the fixing
of the spot. As already remarked, the natural road
lies up the valley between this hill and that to the
north, and no one, unless with the special object
of a visit to 'this spot, would take this very in-
convenient path. The iuappropriateneas of this
place hss been noticed by many; but Mi. Stanley
was the first who gave it it* death-blow, by point-
ing out the true spot to take its place. In a well-
known passage of Smairmd Palestine (pp. 190-193),
he shows that the road of our I.ord's " Triumphal
entry *' must have been, not the short and steep
path over the summit used by small parties of pe-
destrians, but the longer and easier route round the
southern shoulder of the southern of the three
divisions of the mount, which has the peculiarity of
presenting two successive views of Jerusalem ; the
first its southwest portion — the modern Zion : the
second, after an interval, the buildings on the Tem-
ple mount, answering to the two point* in the liar-
any extended to the summit of the mount. Bni
"Bethany "In the N.T. to not a district but a village,
and It was "as for as " that well-known place that
"H* led them forth."
/ * " Like the first appearance to the shepherds," says
Dr. Howson, "as recorded by 8t Luke, like the first
miracle as described by 8t John, like the whole Wig-
raphy, as given both by them and the other twtj
Kvangellsfs, was the simplicity and seclusion of hat
departure. At do time did toe Kingdom of Bod
1 come with observation.' Jesus never forced himself
upon publio notice. It was not the men high in
station who knew Him best — not the men celebrated
for learning — but the lonely sufferers, the penitent
tbe poor, the degraded, and the despised. The evi-
dence was sufficient, but not Irresistible " (Lcrtmi e*
the Character of St. And, p. 280).
The passage In which this writer ha* grouped to
gather the local tad historical asrodaflbns connected
with the Mount of OUvee, forms one of the most bean
tlful passages to be found In our English bomuetts
literature (Lecinrw, pp. 227-282). B.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLIVES, MOUNT OF
fctite — the Hosanna >f the multitude, the weep-
saj of Christ
2. We bin ipoken of the central aud principal
portion of the mount. Next to it on the southern
ode, separated from it by * slight depression, up
which the path mentioned above at the third taken
it* course, ia a hill which appear* neither to poe-
na*, nor to have possessed, any independent name.
It ia remarkable only for the fact that it contain*
tha" lingular catacomb" known a* the "Tomb*
of the Prophet*,'' probably In allusion to the word*
of Christ (Matt, xxiii. 38). Of the origin, aud
even of the history of this cavern, hardly anything
i* known. It is possible that it is the " rock
calkd PerUtereon," named by Josephu* (B. J. v.
18, § 2) in describing tha course of Titus'* great
wall ■ of circumvaUation, though there ia not much
to be said fur that view (*ee Kob. Ui. 354, note).
To the earlier pilgrims it does nut appear to have
been known; at least their description* hardly
apply to its present size or condition. Mr. Stanley
(3. o* f. p. 463) is inclined to identify it with the
cave mentioned by Eusebius a* that in which our
Lord taught his disciples, and also with that
which is mentioned by Aroulf and Bernard as con-
taining "the four tables " of our Lord (Ear. Tr.
pp. 4, 38). The first is not* improbable, but the
cave of Aroulf and Bernard seem* to have been
down iu the valley not far from the Tomb of the
Virgin, and on the spot of the betrayal (£'. Tr.
p. 28). therefore close to Gethseniane.
3. The most southern portion of the Mount of
Olives is that usually known as the " Mount of
Offense,'' Jfoiu Offrnnouit, though by the Arabs
calkd Arieii iLHmoa, « the bag of the wind." It
rises next to that hut mentioned ; and in the hol-
low between the two, more marked than the de-
pressions between the mora northern portions, runs
the road from Bethauy, which was without doubt
the road of Christ's entry to Jerusalem.
The title Mount of Offense, • or of Scandal, was
bestowed on the supposition that it is the " Mount
of Corruption," ' on which Solomon erected the
high place* for the god* of hi* foreign wive* (3 K.
xxiii. 13; 1 K. xi. 7). This tradition appears to
be of a recent date. It ia not mentioned in the
Jewish travellers, Benjamin, hap-Parchi, or Pete-
chia, and the first appearance of the name or the
tradition a* attached to that locality among Oiris-
.ian writers, appears to be in John of Wirtzburg
(Tobfer, p. 80, awn) and Brocardus (Oescrtpno Ttr.
3. oap. ix.), both of the 13th century. At that
time the northern summit was believed to have
bean the site of the altar of Chemosh (Brocardus)
tha southern one that of Molech only (Thietmar,
Ptngr. xi. 3).
OLIVES, MOUNT OF 224?
The southern summit is considerably lower than
the centre one, and, as already remarked, it k
much more definitely separated bum the surround-
ing portions of the mountain than the other* are.
It is also sterner and more repulsive in it* form.
On the south it is hounded by the Wady en-Mir,
the continuation of the KUdron, curving roun* 1
eastward on its dreary course to S. Saba and tha
Dead Sea. From this barren ravine the Mount of
Oftense rears its rugged sides by acclivities barer
and steeper than any in the northern portion of
the mount, and its top presents a bald and desolate
surface, contrasting greatly with the cultivation of
the other summits, and which not improbably, a*
in the esse of Mount EbnL suggested the name
which It now bears. On the steep ledge* of it*
western faoe clings the ill-favored village of 82-
aria, a few dilapidated tower* rather than bouses,
freir gray bleared walls hardly to be distinguished
from the rock to which they adhere, aud inhabited
by a tribe as mean and repulsive aa their habita-
tion*. [Siloam.]
Crossing to toe back or eastern side of tola
mountain, on a half-isolated promontory or (pur
which overlook* the road of our Lord'* progress
from Bethany, are found tanks and foundation*
and other remains, which are maintained by Dr.
Barclay (City, etc. p. 66) to be those of Bethphaga
(see also Stewart, Tent and Khan, p. 332).
4. The only one of the four summits remaining
to be considered is that on the north of tha
* Mount of Ascension " — the Karon et-Segad,
or Vineyard of the Sportsman; or, as it is called
by the modern Latin and Greek Christians, the
Viri Galikei. This is a hill of exactly the same
character as the Mount of the Ascension, and so
nearly its equal in height that few travellers agree
as to which is tha more lofty. The summits of
the two are about 400 yards apart. It stands di-
rectly opposite the N. E. comer of Jerusalem, and
ia approached by the path between it and the
Mount of Ascension, which strikes at the top into
a cross path leading to et-Jtmciyek and Anata.
The Arabia name well reflects the fruitful charac-
ter of the hill, on which there are several vineyards,
besides much cultivation of other kinds. The
Christian name is due to the singular tradition,
that here tha two angela addressed the Apostles
after our lord's ascension — '< Ye men of Gali-
lee!" This idea, which is so incompatible, on
account of the distance, even with the traditional
spot of tha Ascension, is of late existence and loss -
plicable origin. The first name by which »e en-
counter this hill Is simply " Galilee," jj roAiAaia
(Perdiccas, cir. a. D. 1350, ia Roland, Pal. cap.
Ui). Brooardua (a. d. 1280) describe* tha moon
" the wall isms to bare crossed the Kldron from
soot the present St. Stephen's Gate to the mount oo
ha opposite side. It then " turned south and encom.
passed the mount as nir as tha rock called tha Dove-
rot (ixp* Trft nqKOTtptmmt koAoviiAtji w-rrpof K and
the other hill which lies next It, and In over the Valley
of Siloam." Perlstereon may be used as a synonym
for totumbarimm, \ late Lathi word for an excavated
setnetery ; and there la perhaps some analog) between
t and the Wady Hammam, or Valley of Pigeons, in
toe Beighborhooa of Tiberias, the ml' due* J which
abound In caves and performHons. Ok it may be one
si thee* hair-Habrew, half-Owe*, appellation*, which
Jsere Is r easo n to believe Jossphus bestows on some
1 tha localities of P>tastine, and which havs yet to be
Investigated. Tfaobendorf ( Trawls tn tkt Mast, p. 170)
is wrong In saying that Joeephus " always calls It tha
Dovecot." Ha mentions it oaly this once.
b In German, Berg oVs Aangereissei.
nVTuyiyn in. This seems to be connected
etymologically In some way with the name by which
the mount is occasionally rendered In too Taxgums -
WTsjJ Q "WIS (Jonathan, Cant. viil. 8 ; Pseudojon.
Gen. viil. 11) One is probably a play on the other.
Mr. Stanley (S. f P. p. 188, M,h, argues that tha
Mount of Corruption was the northern hill (Tlrl QasV
Uel), because the three sanctuaries were sr l'Ji sf k\
and therefore on tha other three summits.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2248 OJLIVKS, MOUNT OF
lain a* the »ite of Solomon's altar to Chemosh
[Otter, cap. iz.), but evidently knows of no name
far it and connects it with no Christian event.
This name may, as is conjectured (Quaresmius, ii.
319, and Reland. p. 341), hare originated in its
being the custom of the Apostles, or of the Galilte-
sns generally, when they came up to Jerusalem, to
take up their quarters there; or it may be the echo
or distortion of an ancient name of the rpot, possi-
bly the Ueliloth of Josh, xviii. 17 — one of the
landmarks of the south boundary of lienjaniin,
which has often puzzled the topographer. But,
whatever its origin, it came at last to be considered
as the actual Galilee of northern Palestine, the
place at which our Lord appointed to meet his
disciples after hi* resurrection (Matt xxviii. 10),
the scene of the miracle of Cana (Keland, p. 338).
This transference, at once so extraordinary and so
instructive, arose from the same desire, combined
with the same astounding want of the critical fac-
ulty, which enabled the pilgrims of the Middle Ages
to see without perplexity the scene of the Transfigu
ration (Bordeaux Pilgr.), of the Beatitudes (Maun-
deville, E. Tr. p. 177), and of the Ascension, all
crowded together on the single summit of the cen-
tral hill of Olivet. It testified to the same feeling
which has brought together the scene of Jacob's
vision at Bethel, of the sacrifice of Isaac on Moriah,
and of David's offering in the threshing-floor of
Araunab, on one hill; and which to this day has
crowded within the walls of one church of moder-
ate siie all the events connected with the death
and resurrection of Christ.
In the 8th century the place of the angels was
represented by two columns ■ in the Church of the
Ascension itself (Willibald, E. Tr. p. 19). So it
remained with some trifling difference, at the time
of Sewulfs visit (a. » 1102), but there was then
also a chapel in existence — apparently on the
northern summit — purporting to stand where
Christ made his first appearance after the resur-
rection, and called " Galilee." So it continued at
Maundeville's visit (1323). In 1680 the two pil-
lars were still shown in the Church of the Ascen-
sion (Kadzivil), bat in the 16th century (Toliler,
p. 75) the tradition had relinquished its ancient
and more appropriate seat, and thenceforth became
attached to the northern summit, where Maundrell
(A. D. 1697) encountered it (E. Tr. p. 471), and
where it even now retains some hold, the name
KaKlea being occasionally applied to it by the
\rabs. (See Pococke and Seholz, in Tobler, p.
i.) An ancient tower connected with the tradition
aaa In course of demolition during Maundrell's visit,
< a Turk having bought the field in which it rtood."
The presence of the crowd of churches and other
edifices implied in the foregoing description must
have rendered the Mount of Olives, during the
aarly and middle ages of Christianity, entirely un-
like what it was in the time of the Jewish kingdom,
or of our Lord. Except the high places on the
summit the only buildings then to be seen were
probably tbe walls of the vineyards and gardens,
and the towers and presses which were their inva-
riable accompaniment. But though the churches
we nearly all demolished there must be a consider-
• These columns appear to have bean seen as late
■ !.«. 1680 by Baaztvu (Williams, Holt Oity, 11. OT ,
sets).
• Taara seems to be some doubt whether this was
■a annual lanmony. Jerome (e)>itap*. Aasaa, } 12)
OLIVES, MOUNT OF
able difference between t le aspect of the mountaia
now and in those days a hen it received its nam*
from the abundance of its olive-groves. It does
not now stand so preeminent in this respect among
the bills in the neighborhood of Jerusalem. " It
is only in the deeper and more secluded slope lead-
ing up to the northernmost summit that these ven-
erable trees spread into anything like a forest."
The cedars commemorated by the Talmud (Light-
foot, ii. 306), and the date-palms implied in tbe
name Bethany, have fared still worse : there is not
one of either to be found within many miles. This
change is no doubt due to natural causes, varia-
tions of climate, etc.; but the check was not im-
probably given by the ravages committed by the
army of Titus, who are stated by Josephus to have
stripped the country round Jerusalem for miles air!
miles of every stick or shrub for the bonks con-
structed during tbe siege. No olive or cvdu. how-
ever sacred to Jew or Christian, would at such a
time escape the axes of the Roman sappers, and,
remembering how under similar circumstances
every root and fibre of the smallest shrubs were
dug up for fuel by the camp-followers of our army
at Sebastopol, it would be wrong to deceive our-
selves by the belief that any of the trees now exist-
ing are likely to be tHe same or even descendants
of those which were standing before that time.
Except at such rare occasions as the passage of
the caravan of pilgrims to the Jordan, there must
also be a great contrast between the silence and
loneliness which now pervades the mount, and the
busy scene which it presented in later Jewish times
Bethphage and Bethany are constantly i cfer ie d U
in the Jewish authors ss places of much resort for
business and pleasure. Tbe two large cedars al-
ready mentioned had below them shops for the sale
of pigeons and other necessaries for worshippers in
the Temple, and appear to have driven an enor-
mous trade (see the citations in Lightfoot, ii. J9,
305). Two religious ceremonies performed there
must also hare done much to increase the numbers
who resorted to tbe mount. Tbe appearance of
the new moon was probably watched for, certainly
proclaimed, from the summit — the long torches
waving to and fro in the moonless night till an-
swered from the peak of Awn Surtabeh ; and an
occasion to which tbe .lews attached so much
weight would le sure to attract a concourse. The
second ceremony referred to was burning of the
Red Heifer. 6 This solemn ceremonial was enacted
on the central mount, and in a spot so carefully
specified that it would seem not difficult to fix it.
It was due east of tbe sanctuary, and at such an
elevation on the mount that the officiating priest,
as be slew the animal and sprinkled her blood,
could see the facade of tbe sanctuary through
tbe east gate of the Temple. To this spot
a viaduct was constructed across tbe valley na a
double row of arcbes, so as to raise it far above all
possible proximity with graves or other defilements
(see citations in Lightfoot, ii. 89). lie depth of
tbe valley is such at this place (about 850 feet from
the line of the south wall of the present f!ur«m
area) that this viaduct must have been an impor-
tant and conspicuous work. It waa probably de-
dumnetly says so ; but the Rabbis assist that fas
Moses to the Captivity It waa perioral «d but eaaa
from tbe Captivity to tfce Pt s U u eBon ehjht tam
(Lightfoot, U. 80S).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OLIVBT
(Mushed I; (ha Jewi themselves on the approach
if Titus, or even earlier, when l'oiupey led bii
army by Jericho and over the Mount of Olives.
ThU would account satisfactorily for its not being
illuded to by Josephus. During the siege the 10th
legion had its fortified camp and batteries on the
top of the mount, and the first, and some of ton
Seroest encounters of the siege took place here.
"The lasting glory of the Mount of Olives," it
has ben well said, " belongs not to the Old Dis-
pensation, but to the New. Its very barrenness
of interest in earlier times sets forth the abundance
of those associations which it derives from the
dosing scenes of the sacred history. Nothing, per-
haps, brings before us more strikingly the contrast
of Jewish and Christian feeling, the abrupt and
inharmonious termination of the Jewish dispensa-
tion — if we exclude the culminating point of the
Gospel history — than to contrast the blank which
Olivet presents to the Jewish pilgrims of the Mid-
dle Ages, only dignified by the sacrifice of 'the
red heifer; ' and the vision too great for words,
which it often to the Christian traveller of all times,
as the most detailed and the most authentic abid-
ing place of Jesus Christ. By one of those strange
coincidences, whether accidental or borrowed, which
occasionally appear in the Rabbinical writings, it Is
said in the Midrash, 11 that the Shechmah, or Pres-
ence of (iod, after having finally retired from Jeru-
salem, • dwelt ' three rears and a half on the Mount
of Olives, to see whether the Jewish people would
not repent, calling, ' Return to me, O my sons, and
I will return to you; ' ' Seek ye the Lord while He
may lie found, call upon Him while He is near: '
snd then, when all was in vain, returned to its own
place. W. ether or not this story has a direct al-
lusion to the ministrations of Christ, it is a true
expression of his relation respectively to Jerusalem
and to Olivet. It is useless to seek for traces of
his presence in the streets of the since ten times
captured city. It is impossible not to find them in
the free space of the Mount of Olives " (Stanley,
8. if P. p. 189).
A monograph on the Mount of Olives, exhausting
every source of information, and giving the fullest
references, will he found in Tobler's Silookquelie
md der Ot&erg, St Gallen, 1862. The ecclesias-
tical traditions are in Quareamius, Elucidntio Trrra
Snneta, ii. 377-340, Ac. Doubdan's account (/.<
Voyage de la Terrt Sninle, Paris, 16S7) is excel-
lent, and his plats* very correct. The passages
relating to the mount in Mr. Stanley's Sinni and
P'ltetUne (pp. 186-195, 462-454) are full of in-
Wruetion and beauty, and in fixing the spot of our
Ixrd's lamentation over Jerusalem he has certainly
made one of the most important discoveries ever
n.ad* in relation to this interesting locality. G.
OLIVBT (9 Sam. xv. SO; Acts i. 12), prob-
ably derived from the Vulgate, mont qui roc/far
Ofteerf In its latter of these two passage*. [See
■Jutes, Mouirr of.]
• OLIVE-YAKD. [Ouv*.]
' OLOFB1VNES. [Houwitm.]
OLYSTPAS fOAuuswt: Ot<r>pui$), a Chris-
san at Rome (Rom. xvt. 15), perhaps of the bouse-
OMBI
2249
I Janaa, tn the Midrash TdtiUm. quoted by
Ughtfbot, H. K). Oan this statement have originated
* the mvstsrJous ptusaee, ■». xl. 28, In which the
bold of Philobguo. It is stated by i*seudo- Hlppoly.
tus that he was one of the sevei ty disciples, ana
underwent martyrdom at Rome: and Baronius ven
tuxes to give A. D. 69 as the date of his death.
W. T. B.
OLYMTIUS COKiu-riosi Olympius). On*
uf the chief epithets of the Greek deity Zeus, so
called from Mount Olympus in Thessaly, the abode
of the gads (2 Mace. vi. 2). [See Jupiter, vol U.
p. 1518 ft.]
OMAETtTJS ('Ie-uarjpor ; [Vat. Monpot ;
AM. 'lttpAripoi '■] Abramtu). Amram of the sons
of Bani (1 Esdr. ix. 34; comp. Gar. x. 34). Ths
Syriae stems to have read " Ishmael."
C/MAB ("Hp'W [perh. eloquent, jtae**]:
'Clitif- Alex. Ouor in Gen. xxxvi. 11: Omar).
Son of Eliphax the first-bom of Esau, and "duks "
or phybuvh of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 11. 16{ 1 Chr.
i. 86). The name is supposed to survive in that
of the tribe of Amir Arabs east of the Jordan.
Bunsen asserts that Omar was the ancestor of ths
Site 'Hammer in northern Edom (Btbebntrk,
Gen. xxxvi. 11), but the names are essentially dif
ferert.
OTMEGA (£). The last letter of the Greek
alphabet, as Alpha is the first. It is used meta-
phorically to denote the end of anything : " I am
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending
.... the first and the last " (Rev. i. 8. 11 [Ree.
Text]). The symbol HM, which contains the
first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, is,
according to Buxtorf (Lex. Tnlm. p. 244), " among
the Cabalists often put mystically for the beginning
and end, like A and n in the Apocalypse." Schoett-
gen (Hot. //eft. p. 1086) quotes from the Jalhut
Rubenioa Gen. 1. 1, to the effect that in DM are
comprehended all letters, and that it is the name of
the Shechinah. [Alpha.]
OMBR. [Weights akd Measures.]
OM'BI ("1?7, «'•«. n;"!P?. probably
" aervant of Jehovah " (Ueaenius): "Autyi, [exc.
Mic. vi. 16, ZauPpl; Vat. taiiBpti, exc. 2 K. viii.
26 (V*t>), 2 Cbr. xxii. 2, Au/3f»t; Alex. Za/ifipi,
exc S K. viii. 26, Am/9oi;j 'Auopwoj, Joseph.
AnL viii. 12, § 5: dears'). L Originally >' eartaio
of the host" to Elah, was afterwards hinse*
king of Israel, and founder of the third dynasty
When Elah was murdered by Zimrl at Titxah,
then capital of the northern kingdom, Omri was
engaged in the siege of Gibbethon, situated in the
tribe of Dan, which had been occupied by ths Phi-
listines, who had retained it, in spite of ths efforts
to take it made by Nadab, Jeroboam's ton am)
successor. As soon as the army heard of Ebb's
death, tbey proclaimed Omri king. Thereupon be
broke up the siege of Gibbethon, and attack**)
Tirxah, where Zimri was holding his court as king
of Israel. The city was taken, and Zimri perishW
in the flames of the palace, after a reign of seven
days. [Zimri.] Omri, however, was not allowed
to establish his dynasty without a struggle against
Tlbni, whom '• half the people " (1 K. xvi. 21) de-
sired to raise to the throne, and who was brave*}
glory of Jehovah is said to have left ,
taken Its stand on the Mount of Olives — ths i
tain on the east sMs of the eta ♦
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2250 ombi
asserted by his brother Joram.a The civil w«r
tatted four years (ef. 1 K. zri. 18, with 23). Af-
ter the defeat and death of Tibni and Joram, Omri
reipned for six years in Tirxah, although the palace
luere was destroyed; but at the end of tliat time,
hi spite of the proverbial beauty of the site (Cant,
n. 4), be transferred his residence, probably from
Uw proTed inability of Uriah to stand a siege, to
the mountain Shomron, better known by its Greek
name Samaria, which he bought for two talents of
silver from a rich man, otherwise unknown, called
Shemer.' It is situated about six miles from
Sheehem, the most ancient of Hebrew capitals;
and its position, according to Prof. Stanley (S. <f
P. p. 340), " combined, in a union not elsewhere
found in Palestine, strength, fertility, and beauty."
Bethel, however, remained the religions metropolis
of the kingdom, and the calf worship of Jeroboam
was maintained with increased determination and
disregard of God's law (1 K. xvi. 36). At Samaria
Omri reigned for six years more. He seems to
have been a rigorous and unscrupulous ruler, rnx-
ious to strengthen his dynasty by intercourse and
alliances with foreign state*. Thus be made a
treaty with Benhadad I., king of Damascus, though
on very unfavorable conditions, surrendering to him
some frontier cities (1 K. xx. 34), and among them
probably Ramoth-guead (1 K xxii. 3), and admitting
into Samaria a resident Syrian embassy, which is
detcrilied by the expression ■' he made streets in
Samaria " for Benliadad. (See the phrase more
fully explained under Ah ab. ) As a part of the
same system, he united his son in marriage to the
daughter of a principal Phoenician prince, which
led to the introduction into Israel of Baal worship,
and all its attendant calamities and crimes. This
worldly and irreligious policy is denounced by
Micah (vl. 16) under the name of the " statutes of
Omri," which appear to be contrasted with the
Lord's precepts to his people, " to do justly, and to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."
It achieved, however, a temporary success, for Omri
left his kingdom in peace to his son Ahab; and his
family, unlike the ephemeral dynasties which had
preceded him, gave four kings to Israel, and oc-
cupied the throne for about half a century, till it
was overthrown hy the great reaction against Baal-
worship under Jehu. The probable date of Omri's
accession (i. e. of the deaths of Klah and Zimri)
was B. c. 986: of Tibni's defeat and the beginning
of Omri's sole reign, B. c. 931, and of bis death,
n. c. 919. G. E. L. C.
2. ('Auapirf; [Vat. Anopsia-]) One of the
sans of Recher the son of Benjamin (1 Chr. vii. 8).
3. OAjupf: [V»*- Appei.]) A descendant of
Pharez the son of Judah (1 Chr. ix. 4).
a The LXX. read In 1 K. xvt. 31, «al fcrieWt
CtaftVt km 'I»pAf* A &&> A$&c a&ni iv Ty wupo? itteanp.
aVsld pronounces this sn "ofjlmbar Ichter Ztimts."
» • The founders of cKJoa have usually given to
Hum their own names, but Omri relinquished that
honor and called Samaria after the former owner of
Jib hill. The fact, however, of his having built the
city, which the Biblical name suppresses, has been
tonflnned by an unexpected witness. In the Assyrian
Inscriptions Samaria Is found designated as Beth
Khumn, 1. e. " house " or " palace of Omri." See
Laysrd, Discoveries in she Runs of Nineveh and Bab-
ytirn, p. 613. and Rawllnson's Fire Monarchies, li. 365.
Dean Stanley tnats of the reign of " the house of Omri "
u one of the gnat epochs of Jewish history (Zsefantt
r% Ik* Jewish Chunk, B. 318-878). B
OS
4. i'Anfyl; [Tat. Apto.<;] Al». hfUMe-
Son of Michael, and chief of the tribe of lasarhsf
in the reign of David (1 Chr. xxvii. 18).
ON ft 1 **: AtV; Alex. Awe*: Bon). The son
of Peletb, and one of the chiefs of the tribe of
Reuben who took part with Koran, Dathan, and
Abiram in their revolt against Moses (Num. xvi. 1).
His name does not again appear in the narrative
of the conspiracy, nor is be alluded to when refer-
ence is made to the final catastrophe. Possibly be
repented ; and indeed there is a Rabbinical tradition
to the effect that he was prevailed upon by his wife
to withdraw from his accomplices. Abendana's
note is, " behold On is not mentioned again, for be
was separated from their company after Moses
spake with them. And our Rabbis of blessed
memory said that bis wife saved him." Joeephus
(Ant. iv. St, § 2) omits the name of On, but retains
that of his Either in the form woAaaSr, thus ap-
parently identifying Peletb with Phallu, the son
of Reuben. W. A. W.
ON 0***. IK VH D»» bBlow ] : [J«0'n»,
[Gen.] 'H\u>iwo\is [Alex, Iaiovwo&u]: Heli-
opoUs), a town of lower Egypt, which is mentioned
in the Bible under at least two names, Bkth-
shkmbsh, V"QI$ fVJ (Jer. xllii. 13), corre-
sponding to the ancient Egyptian sacred name
HA-KA, '■ the abode of the sun," and that above,
corresponding to the common name AN, and per-
haps also spoken of as Ir-ha-beres, D^iin TT?,
or DTfin — , the second part being, In this ease,
either the Egyptian sacred name, or else the He-
brew DnP, but we prefer to read " « eity of de-
struction." [Ih-ha-hekes.] The two names were
known to the translator or translators of Exodus in
the LXX. where On is explained to be HeUopolia
( fl» *; itrny 'HXio&roAif, 1. 11); hut in Jeremiah
this version Kerns to treat Betb-shemeeh as the
name of a temple (robs crrvKovs 'HKiovroktms,
robs e> 'fir, xliii. 18, LXX. 1. 13). The Coptic
version gives UJitas the equivalent of the names
in the 1XX., but whether as an Egyptian word or
such a word Hebraicixed can scarcely be deter-
mined."
The ancient Egyptian common name is written
AN, or AN-T, and perhaps ANU: but the essen-
tial part of the word is AN, probably no more was
pronounced. There were two towns called AN,
HeliopoHs, distinguished a* the northern, AN-
MEHF.ET, and Hermonthis, in Upper Egypt, as
the southern, AN-RES (Brugsch, O'engr. /nadir.
c The latter Is perhaps mora probable, as the fcrtta
we r e pr ese n t by A Is not commonly changed Into she
Coptic JJJ,unler» indeed one hieroglyphic form of ens
name should be read ANU. In which can the last
vowel might have bean transposed, aad the first tnenr
pontod with It Brugsoh ( Ot op. hurhr. I. 3641 suj>
poses AN and ON to be the same, "as the %vnsi e » A
often had a sound Intermediate between « and o-*'
But this does not admit of the ohangs of the a vowa
to the long vowel e, from which It was as distract ss
from the other If ng vowel E*, nspwttvaty Use S
and V, 1 an* ">
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OH
. 364, 368, No*. 1317 a, #, 1318, 870, 1395).
|a to the nulling, we can say nothing certain.
Cyril, who, a* bishop of Alexandria, ahoaM be
tsteoed to on such a question, says that On (igni-
ted the ran Cflv U iari (tor airott i fXioj, **
Ok. p. 146), and the Cootie OVOJJJU (H),
OreUI, OTOeiJT (8), »Hght,"hM there-
fore been compered (eee La Croze, Lex. pp.
71, 189), bat the hieroglyphic form U UBEN,
u shining," which has no connection with AN.
Heliopolie was situate on the east side of the
Pdusiac branch of the Nile, just below the point
of the Delta, and about twenty mile* northeast of
Memphis. It was before the Roman time the cap-
ital of the Heliopolite Nome, which was included in
Lower Egypt. Now, its lite is above the point of
the Delta, which la the junction of the Pbstmetic,
or Damietta branch and the Bolbitine, or Rosetta,
and about ten miles to the northeast of Cairo. The
oldest monument of the town is the obelisk, which
OK
2251
•as sit na late in the reign of S e ae rte ss n I., head
of the 13th dynasty, dating a. c. dr. 9050. Ac
cording to Hanetho, the boll Mnevis was first
worshipped here In tile reign of Kaieehos, second
king of the 3d dynasty (n. c. 3480). In tht
earliest times it moat have ben subject to the 1st
dynasty so long as their sole role lasted, which was
perhaps for no more than the reigns of Mens* (B. c
cir. 9717) and Athothis: it doubtless next cams
under the government of the Memphites, of the 3d
(B. c. eir. 3840), 4th, and 8th dynasties: it then
passed into the hands of the Diospolites of the 13th
dynasty, and the Shepherds of the 16th; bo
whether the former or the latter held it Ant, ot
It was contested between them, we cannot as yet
determine. During the long period of anarch;
that followed the rule of the 13th dynasty, when
Lower Egypt was subject to the Shepherd kings
Heliopolls moat hare been under the government
of the strangers. With the ooeesskn of the lSt>
dynasty, it was probably l ee w e d by the Esyp
rata anil Obelisk of HaHoeoBs
liana, during the war which Aahmes, or Amosia,
head of that line, waged with the Shepherds, and
thenceforward held by them, though perhaps more
than once occupied by invaders (comp. Chabaa,
Pap/rut Magiqut Harru), before the Assyrians
conquered Egypt. It* position, near the eastern
frontier, must have made it always a post of special
Importance. [No-Amok.]
The chief object of worship at Heliopolis was
he sun, under the forms RA, the sun simply,
■hones the sacred name of the place, HA-KA,
the annua of the sun," and ATUM, the setting
i m, or sun of the nether world. Probably its chief
templa was dedicated to both. SHU, the son of
Atom, and TAFNKT, his daughter, were also here
worshipped, as well as the bull Mnevis, sacred to
BA, Osiris, Hs, and the Phoenix, BENNU, prob-
ibiy repreaet tad by a living bird if the crane
kind. (On U<e mythology see Brngsch, p. 364 ff.)
The temple oi the sun, described by Strabo (iwiL
tp 8(5,806), is now only represented by the
beautiful obelisk, which is of red granite, 88 feet
2 inches high above the pedestal, and bears a ded-
ication, showing that it was sculptured in or after
his 30tb year (eir. 3060) by Seaertesen I., first
king of the 13th dynasty (b. o. eir. 3080-3046).
There were probably for more than a usual number
of obelisks before the gates of this temple, on the
evidence of ancient writers, and the inscriptions of
some yet remaining elsewhere, and no doubt th
reason was that these monuments ware sacred to
the sun. Heliopolis was anciently nunons for it
learning, and Eudoxus and Plato studied under its
priests; but, from the extent of the mounds, it
seems to have been always a small town.
The first mention of this place In the Bible is
in the history of Joseph, to whom we read Pharaoh
gave " to wife Asenal h the daughter of Poti-pherah,
priest of On " (Gen. xli. 46, comp. ver. 60, and xhri.
30). Joseph was probably governor of Egypt under
a king of the 15th dynasty, of when Memphis was,
at least for a time, th* capital. In thai ease bt
Digitized by
Google
2252
ON
Moid doubtless ban Bred for part of tba year at
Memphis, and therefore near to Heliopolis. The
same of Asenath's father was appropriate to a He-
liopolite, and especially to a priest of that place
(though aosording to aome be ma; have been a
prince), for it meana " Belonging to Ra," or " the
sun." TJ* name of Jcaeph'a maater I'otiphar is
the same, but with a alight difference in the He-
brew orthography. According to the I JCX. ver-
sion, On was one of the cities built for Pharaoh by
the oppressed Israelites, for it mentions three
"strong cities" instead of the two "treasure
oiiies" of the Hob., adding On to Pithom and
EUamses (Kol •1ao6o>a<rai> *&«f ax*?** T V
tip*?, Tv)r rt II«Mi, col T<m«r(ri), Koi'Or, %
itrnr 'HAiovwoAu, Ex. i. 11). If it be intended
that these cities were founded by the labor of the
people, the addition is probably a mistake, although
Heliopolis may have been ruined and rebuilt; but
it is possible that they wire merely fortified, prob-
ably ss places for keeping stores. Heliopolis lay at
no great distance from the land of Goshen and from
Kaamses, and probably Pithom also.
Isaiah has been supposed to speak of On when
be prophecies that one of the five cities in Egypt
that should speak the language of Canaan, should
be called Ir-ha-heres, which may mean the City of
the Sun, whether we take " heres " to be a Hebrew
or an Egyptian word ; but the reading " a city of
destruction " seems preferable, and we bare no evi-
dence that there was any large Jewish settlement at
Heliopolis, although there may hare been at one
time from its nearness to the town of Onias. [Ir-
ha-hkkes; Onias.] Jeremiah speaks of On under
tba name Betli-shetneeh, " the house of the sun,"
where he predicts of Kebuchsdnezxar, " He shall
break also the pillars [? fTQSD, but, perhaps,
■tatues, oomp. idol, ii. 1119] of Beth-shemesh,
that [is] in the land of Egypt; and the houses of
the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire "
(xliii. 13). By the word we have rendered " pil-
lars," obelisks an reasonably supposed to be
meant, for the number of which before the temple
of the sun Heliopolis must have been famous, and
perhaps by " the houses of the gods," tba temples
of this place an intended, as their being burnt
would be a proof of the powerlessness of Ka and
Atum, both forms of the sun, Shu the god of
light, and Tafnet a fire-goddess, to save their dwel-
lings from the very element over which they were
supposed to rule. Perhaps it wss on account of
the many false gods of Heliopolis, that In Ecekiel,
On is written Aven, by a change in the punctua-
tion, if we can here depend on the Masoretie tat,
and so made to signify "vanity," and especially
the vanity of idolatry. The prophet foretells, " The
young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by
toe sword: and these [cities] shall go into captiv-
ity " (xxx. 17). Pi-beseth or Bnbastis is doubtless
spoken of with Heliopolis as In the same part
of Egypt, and so to be involved in a common
oabmity at toe same time when the land should
be invaded.
After the age of the prophets we hear no more
in Scripture of Heliopolis. Local tradition how-
ever, points it out as a place where our I<ord and
toe Virgin came, whan Joseph bro ight them into
v 5ypt, and a very ancient sycamore is shown as a
free beneath which they rested. The Jewish settle-
ments in this part of Egypt, and especially the
■own of Onias. which was probably only ♦welva
0NB8IMTJS
miles distant from Heliopolis In a northerly <
tion, but a little to the eastward (Modern Kgg*
and Thebtt, i. 997, 998), then flourished, and were
nearer to Palestine than the heathen towns has
Alexandria, in which there was sny Urge Jewish
population, so that there is much probability in
this tradition. And, perhaps, Heliopolis itself msy
have had a Jewish quarter, although we do not
know it to ban been the Ir-ha-heres of Isaiah.
R.S.P.
O^ AM (DJ^H [jrroao. eioorom]: 'Oftip.
'Clrir I Alex. Qfuw, flror : Onnm). L One of
the sons of Shobsl the son of Sedr {Gen. xxxt i. 33 :
1 Chr. i. 40). Some Hebrew MSS. read " Onan."
9. {'0(i/i: Alex. Ovyo/ia.) The son of Jersh-
mrd by his wife Atarah (1 Chr. U. 96, 88).
CNAN ($*< [sfrowo, eioonwt]: Atrir •
Onan). The second son of Judab by the Canaan-
ftess, "the daughter of Shua" (Gen.xxxviii. 4; 1
Chr. ii. 8). On the death of Er the firstborn, it
was the duty of Onan, according to the custom
which then existed snd wss afterwards established
by a definite law (Deut- xxr. 6-10), continuing tc
the latest period of Jewish history (Hark xii. 19),
to marry his brother's widow and perpetuate his
race. But he found means to prevent the conse-
quences of marriage, " and what he did was evi,
in toe eyes of Jehovah, and He slew him also," as
He hsd slain his elder brother (Gen. xxxviii. 9).
His death took place before the family of Jacob
went down into Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 12; Mum. xxvi.
19). W. A. W.
ONKS'IMTJ8 {Orfyn/wt [profitabU or «*e-
f«I\: Onesimvi) la the name of the servant or
slave in whose behalf Paul wrote the Epistle to
Philemon. He wss a native, or certainly an inhab-
itant of Coloosss, since Paul in writing to the church
there speaks of him (CoL iv. 9 ) as Si limit 11 i/iir,
" one of you." This expression confirms the pre-
sumption which bis Greek name affords, that be was
a Gentile, and not a Jew, as some hare argued from
w(\i<rra ifiol in Phil. 16. Slaves were numerous
in Phrygia, and the name itself of Phrygian was
almost synonymous with thst of sieve. Hence it
happened that in writing to the Coknriane (iii. 23
-iv. 1) Paul bad occasion to instruct them concern-
ing the duties of masters snd servants to each other.
Onesimus was one of this unfortunate class of per-
sons, ss is evident both from the manifest implica-
tion in ofateVi ii Sav\ov in Phil. 16, and from the
general tenor of the epistle. There appears to have
been no difference of opinion on this point among
the ancient commentators, and there is none of any
critical weight among the modern. The man escaped
from bis master and fled to Rome, where in the
midst of Its vast population he could hope to be
concealed, and to baffle the efforts which were so
often made In such esses for retaking the fugitive.
(Walter, Die GeichichU da Ittm. Recktt, ii. 69 f.)
It must have been to Rome that he directed bis
wsj, and not to Csssarea, as some contend; for the
latter view stands connected with an indefensible
opinion respecting the place whence the lattst
was written (see Neander's PJltmnmg, B. 606).
Whether Onesimus had any other motive for the
flight than the natural lore of liberty we have not
the means of deciding. It has been very geocrally
supposed thst he had committed aome offense, as
theft or emheniement, and feared the pun ishme n t
of his guilt. Rut as the ground of that opinion
Digitized by VjOOQlC
ONBSIMTJS
m nut know the meaning of vjjdojo-e in PbiL |
18, which U uncertain, not to say inoomlttcnt with
any neh ItupaUtion (no notei in the Epitde to
PUItmon, by th* American Bible Union, p. 60).«
Commentators at all events go entirely beyond the
evidence when they avert (w Oonybeare, Life and
Epktiu of Paul, ii. 467) that he belonged to the
drega of society, that he robbed hit master, and
confessed the sin to Paul. Though it may be
doubted whether Onestmus heard the Gospel for the
first time at Rome, it is beyond question that he
wae led to embrace the Gospel there through the
Apostle's instrumentality. The language in ver.
10 of the letter (5s* iyivrniaa iv rots Sto-fiots uoo)
is explicit on this point As there were believers in
Phrygia when the Apostle passed through that
region on his third missionary tour (Acts xviii. 23),
and as Oneshaas belonged to a Christian house-
bold (PhiL 9), it is not improbable that he knew
something of the Christian doctrine before he went
to Koine. How long a time elapsed between his
•scape and conversion, we cannot decide; for rpbt
tpcm in the 15th verse, to which appeal has been
made, is purely a relative expression, and will not
justify any inference as to the interval in question.
After Us conversion, the most happy and friendly
relations sprung up between the teacher and the
disciple. The situation of the Apostle as a captive
and an indefatigable laborer for the promotion of
the Gospel (Acts xxviii. 80, 81) must have made
him keenly alive to the sympathies of Christian
friendship * and dependent upon others for various
sar iu o a of a personal nature, important to his effi-
ciency as a minister of the word. Onesimus ap-
pears to have supplied this twofold want in an
eminent degree. We see from the letter that he
won entirely the Apostle's heart, and made him-
self so useful to him in various private ways, or
evinced such a capacity to be so (for he may have
pine back to Coloase soon after his conversion),
that Paul wished to have him remain constantly
with him. Whether he desired his presence as a
personal attendant or as a minister of the Gospel,
is not certain from Tra Suucorp pot in ver. 13 of
the epistle. He this as it may, Paul's attachment
to him as a disciple, as a personal friend, and as a
helper to him in his bonds, was such that he yielded
him up only in obedience to that spirit of serf-
denial, and that sensitive regard for the feelings or
the rights of others, of which his conduct on this
occasion displayed so noble an example.
There is but little to add to this account, when
we pass beyond the limits of the New Testament.
The traditionary notices which have come down to
M are too few and too late to amount to much as
historical testimony. Some of the later fathers
saw it that Onesimus was set free, and was subse-
quently ordained Bishop of Beraa in Macedonia
(ConttiL AfOtL vii. 46). The person of the same
ON1AB
125*
name mentioned as Bishop of Ephesus in the Are)
epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Hefeie, Palnm
Apo&L Opp., p. 168) was a different person (see
Winer, Btaho. ii. 175). It is related also that
Onesimus finally made his way to Rome again,
and ended his days there as a martyr daring the
persecution under Nero. H. B. H.
ONESIPH'OBUS ('Omo-Iaio/wj {bringir
of profit]) is named twice only in the N. T.,
namely, 9 Tim. i. 16-18, and ir. 19. In the former
passage Paul mentions him in terms of grateful
love, as having a noble courage and generosity In
his behalf, amid his trials as a prisoner at Rome,
when others from whom he expected better things
had deserted him (9 Tim. iv. 16); and in the latter
passage he singles out " the household of Onesiph-
orus " ss worthy of a special greeting. It hat
been made a question whether this friend of the
Apostle was still living when the letter to Timothy
was written, because in both instances Paul speaks
of "the household " (in 8 Tim. i. 16, oV» tx«it
i xepiot to? 'Oyqo-ia)dpov ofiraO, and not separately
of Onesiphorus himself. If we infer that be was
not living, then we have in 9 Tim. i. 18, almost au
instance of the apostolic sanction of the practice
of praying for the dead. But the probability is
that other members of the family were also active
Christians; and as Paul wished to remember them
at the same time, he grouped them together under
the comprehensive ran 'Or. oIkov (9 Tim. ir. 19),
and thus delicately recognized the common merit,
as a sort of family distinction. The mention of
Stephanas in 1 Cor. xvi. 17, shows that we need
not exclude him from the Sre-para ontor in 1 Cor.
i. 16. It is evident from 9 Tim. i. 18 (eVa *»
'EaW<re> StnaoVno-s), that Onesiphorus bad his
home at Ephesus; though if we restrict the salu-
tation near the doee of the epistle (iv. 18) to his
family, ha himself may possibly have been with
Paul at Rome when the latter wrote to Timothy.
Nothing authentic is known of him beyond these
notices. According to a tradition in Fabricius
(Lux Kvang. p. 117). quoted by Winer (Rtnla. ii.
176), be became bishop of Corone in Hessenia.
H. B. ii.
ONI'AKES rondpat [Alex, -nr] ), a name
introduced into the Greek and Syriao texts of 1
Mace. xii. 19 by a very old corruption. The true
reading is preserved in Josephus (Ant. xii. 4, $ 10)
and the Vulgate, ('OWf \puos, Onia Ariut),
and is given in the margin of the A. V.
ONI'AS COrtaf. Oniai), the name of five
high-priests, of whom only two (1 and 3) are raeav
tioned in the A. V., but an account of all is hen
given to prevent confusion. 1. [Vat. 1 Sin. Ioruu.]
The son and successor of Jaddua, who entered on
the office about the time of the death of Alexander
the Great, dr. a. o. 380-309, or, according to Euie.
bins, 300 (Joseph. Ant. xi. 7, J 7). According Is
a • Ibis milder view of the eooduet of Onestmus
has beau generally overlooked or denied by Interpret-
er*. We an (lad to be able to adduce tor It so eminent
s asm* as that of Dr. Bleak In his more recent!; pun-
ished rorbwnf m Ma. dit Bie/t oa did Kolotur, dm
Tkilemtm, etc. (Berl. 1885). His wolds are (p. 186 f. ) :
* The clandestine escape of Oueehnus might Itself be
papjrnad as a wrong- against his master ; and ec also
She loss of Personal service which he bad railed to
Under In Ms absence might be viewed as a debt which
seated haeamd. Whether it wae known to the Apostle
embeeslement or theft, as many writer* assume, we do
not know. From this -passage we by no means dis-
cover this ; and, indeed, it is hardly probable mat, if
the apostle bad known or conjectured any such 'oing,
he would nave expressed himself la so nab-spoidre a
manner as he has done." -H.
6 • This trait of Paul's character, which made the
pexsooal sympathy of others so important to him, Dr.
Howara has Ulnsmtsd with great beauty and eflset Is
nil Ltetmts an Uu Ommam a/ St. Paid (pp. 68-61)
H
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2254 onias
Jossphas he was father of Simon the Just (Joseph.
4n/. xii. 4, 5 4; Ecclus. LI). [EccLttUAaricua,
tol. i. p. 661 o; Simon.]
S. The ton of Simon the Just (Joseph. Ant. xii.
4, % i ). lie wu a minor at the time of hie father's
death (cir. B. c. 290), and the bigli-priesthood was
occupied in succession by his uncles Rleazar and
Manasseh to his exclusion. lie entered on the
office at hut cir. B. c. 240, and his conduct threat-
ened to precipitate the rupture with Egypt, which
afterwards opened the way for Syrian oppression.
Onlas, from avarice, it is said — a vice which was
likely to be increased by his long exclusion from
power — neglected for several years to remit to
Ptol. Euergetes the customary annual tribute of 20
talents. The king claimed the arrears with threats
of violence in case hi* demands were not satisfied.
Onlas still refused to discharge the debt, more, as
it appears, from self-will than with any prospect of
■uccessful resistance. The evil consequences of this
obstinacy were, however, averted by the policy of
his nephew Joseph, the son of Tobias, who visited
Ptolemy, urged the imbecility of Onlas, won the
favor of the king, and entered into a contract for
fanning the tribute, which he carried out with
success. Onias retained the high-priesthood till
his death cir. n. c. 226, when he was succeeded by
lis son Simon II. (Joseph. Ant xii. 4).
3. The son of Simon II., who succeeded his
father in the high-priesthood, cir. n. c. 198. In the
interval which had elapsed since the government
of his grandfather the Jews had transferred their
allegiance to the Syrian monarchy (Dan. xi. 14),
and for a time enjoyed tranquil prosperity. In-
ternal dissensions furnished an occasion for the first
set of oppression. Seleucus Philopstor was in-
formed by Simon, governor of the Temple, of the
riches contained in the sacred treasury, and he
made an attempt to seise them by force. At the
prayer of Onias, according to the tradition (2 Mace.
Mi.), the sacrilege was averted; but the high-priest
was obliged to appeal to the king himself for sup-
port against the machinations of Simon. Not long
afterwards Seleucus died (n. c. 175), and Onias
(bund himself supplanted in the favor of Antlocbus
Rpiphanes by his brother Jason, who received the
high-priesthood from the king. Jason, in turn,
wsa displaced by his youngest brother Menelaus,
who procured the murder of Onias (cir. B. C. 171),
in anger at the reproof which he bad received from
him for his sacrilege (2 Mace. iv. 32-38). But
though his righteous zeal was thus fervent, the
punishment which Antioehus inflicted on his mur-
derer was a tribute to his "sober and modest
behavior" (S Mace. iv. (7) after his deposition
from his office. [Andboxicus, vol. i. p. 94.]
It was probably during the government of Onlas
III. that the communication between the Spartans
and Jews took place (1 Mace. xii. 19-28; Joseph.
Ant. xii. 4, § 10). [Spabtahs-] How powerful an
impression he made upon his contemporaries is seen
from the remarkable account of the dream of Judas
UaccabsBus before bis great victory (2 Mace. xv.
19-16).
4. The youngest brother of Onias III., who bore
the same name, which be afterwards exchanged for
Menelaus (Joseph. Ant. xii. 5, § 1). [Mekhlacb J
6. The son of Onias III., who sought a retuge
.■ Egypt from the sedition and sacrilege which dis-
graced Jerusalem. The Immediate occasion of his
tight was the triumph of " the sons of Tobias,"
pined by the interference of Antioehus Epiphanes.
ONIAS
Onias, to whom the high-priesthood bukssgsd h)
right, appears to have supported throughout the
alliance with Egypt (Joseph. B. J. i. 1, { 1 >, and
receiving the protection of Ptol. PhilomKor, at
endeavored to give a unity to the Hellenistic Jew*
which seemed impossible for the Jews in Palestine
With this object he founded the Temple at Lacn
topolis [Ok], which occupies a position in the his-
tory of the development of Judaism of which the
importance is commonly overlooked : but the dis-
cussion of this attempt to consolidate Hellenism
belongs to another place, though the connection
of the attempt itself with Jewish history oould act
be wholly overlooked (Joseph, jink xiii. 3; B. J.
i. 1, § 1, vii 10, § 2; Ewald, dock. iv. 405 8.;
Henfeid, Gach. B, 460 ft, 667 ft".). B. F. W.
Thb City or Onias, tub Keuiom of Oxias
the city in which stood the temple built by Onias
and the region of the Jewish settlements in Egypt
Ptolemy mentions the city as the capital of the
Heliopolite uome: 'HAjowsAirnr sv/ios, «ol y»«-
rpowoAts 'Ovloi (>v. 5, § 63); where the readf.Mi
'H\lov is not admissible, since Heliopolis is any-r-
wards mentioned, and its different position dis-
tinctly laid down (§ 54) Jowphut sneaks of " thi
region of Onias," 'OWou x«V° i Anl - *>"• 8, } l-
B. J. i. 9, § 4; comp. vii. 10, § 2), and nientK-ni
a place there situate called '-the Camp of th*
Jews," 'lovSaluv arpuriarttop (Ant. xir. 8, § 2,
B. J. 1. c). In tbe spurious letters given by him
in the account of the foundation of tbe temple
of Onias, it is made to have been at Leontopolia
in tbe Heliopolite nome, and called a strong place
of Uubastis (Ant. xiii. 3, §§ 1, 2); and when
speaking of its closing by the Komana, he says that
it was in a region 180 stadia from Memphis, in
tbe Heliopolite nome, where Onias had founded a
castle (lit. watch-post, <ppoiptor, B. J. vii. 10, §§
2, 3, 4). Leontopolis was not In tbe Heliopolite
nome, bnt in Ptolemy's time was the capital of the
Leontopolite (iv. 6, § 51 ), and the mention of it is
altogether a blunder. There is probably also a
confusion u to the city Uubastis; unless, indeed,
the temple which Onias adopted and restored were
one of the Egyptian goddess of that name.
The site of the city of Onias is to be looked for
in some one of those to the northward of Heliopolis
which are called Ttl c<- Valioud, " the Mound of
the Jews," or Ttl e(- i'altuodctytk, "the Jewish
Mound." Sir Gardner Wilkinson thinks that there
is little doubt that it is one which stands in the
cultivated land near Shibbeen, to the northward
of HeliopaUa, in a direction a little to the east, at
a distance of twelve miles. " Its mounds are of
very great height" He remarks that the distance
from Memphis (29 miles) is greater than that given
by Josepbus; but the inaccuracy is not extreme
Another mound of the same name, standing m
the edge of the desert, a short distance to the sot th
of Belbays, and 24 miles from Heliopolis, would,
he thinks, correspond to the Vicus Judaorun of
tbe /n'nerory of Antoninus. (See Mukrn Ayjatf
and Tktba, i. 297-300.)
During the writer's residence in Egypt, 1842-
1849, excavations were made in the mound sup-
posed by Sir Gsrdner Wilkinson to mark the sib)
of the city of Onias. We believe, writing only
from memory, that no result was obtained but
the discovery of portions of pavement very muck
resembling tbe Assyrian pavements now hi lbs
British Museum.
From the account of Jose p h as, and the rasas
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OBIOHS
pwo to one of than, "the Gamp of tho Jews,"
than settlements appear to have bean of a half-
nahatry oatura. Ilia chief of than seems to haw
ban a atroog plaoa; and tha aame i* apparently
tin ease with another, that juat mentioned, from
tha drcamcUBcaa of the history even more than
bom lu name. This name, though recalling the
u Camp " when Pearametichus I. established hii
Greek maroeoariai [Mkuxh.], doe* not prove it
waa • military settlement, aa the " Camp of the
Tyriana " in llemphia (Her. ii. 113) waa perhaps
iu ita name a reminiscence of the Shepherd occu-
pation, for than atood there a temple of "the
Foreign Venus," of which the age aaema to be
shown by a tablet of Amenoph II. (B. c. eir. 1400)
in the quarries opposite the city in which Ash-
loreth U worshipped, or elae it n\ay have been
a merchant-settlement. We may also compare
the Coptic name of El-tiebzeh, oppoaite Cairo,
""fliCpCIOl^wliich •"» ^> tea ingeniously con-
jectured to record the position of a Persian camp.
The easternmost part of Lower Egypt, be It re-
uiembered, n always chosen for great military
settlements, in order to protect the country from
the inecnhKis of her enemies beyond that frontier.
Here the first Shepherd king Salatis placed an
enormous garris'jii in the stronghold Avaris, the
Zoan of the Bible (Manetbo, ap. Jos. c Ap. 1.
14 ). Here foreign mercenaries of the Salte kings
of the 98th dynasty were settled; when also the
greatest body of the Egyptian soldiers had the
lands allotted to them, all being established in the
Delta (Her. ii. 184-166). Probably the Jewish
settlements wen established for the same purpose,
more especially as the hatred of their inhabitants
towards the kings of Syria would promise their
opposing the strongest resistance in case of an
invasion.
The history of the Jewish cities of Egypt Is a
rery obscure portion of that of the Hebrew nation.
We know little mora than the story of the founda-
tion and overthrow of one of them, though we
may infer that they were populous and politically
important. It seems at first sight remarkable that
we have no trace of any literature of these settle-
ments ; but as it would have been preserved to us
by either the Jews of Palestine or those of Alex-
andria, both of whom must have looked upon the
worshippers at the temple of Oniaa as schismatics,
it could scarcely bare been expected to hare come
down to us. R. 8. P.
ONIONS (CbS?, otUdSm: T tt Kfi^wa:
tape). Then is no doubt as to the meaning of
the Hebrew word, which occurs only in Num. xi.
5, as one of the good things of Egypt of which
the Israelites regretted the loss. Onions have been
from time immemorial a favorite article of food
amongst the Egyptians. (See Her. ii. 136; Plin.
xxrvf. 18.) The onions of Egypt are much milder
in flavor and leas pungent than those of this
country. Hasselquist ( Trtw. p. 390) says, " Who-
ever him tasted onions in Egypt must allow that
none can be had better in any other part in the
inheres: here they are sweet; in other eoudtriea
• la Men. vL S the Tat. US., aeeoranaj to Mai,!
jmOHrw^ufirf...
>> Th.»wUttoaof(hsTatou<ti«tsUthatttwaslen
kstset bv .esham, but burnt during 'he war of Gibson
'Jasg. SS. 44J, and that 1 Chr. vtli. 13 desoribas Its
— t otal Ion (See larfom on this latter passage t
ONTCHA
2266
they an n aus eous and strong. .... Titty eat
them roasted, out Into four pieces, with soma bite
of roasted meat which the Turin in Egypt call
kebab; and with this dish they an so delighted
that I hare heard them wish they might enjoy it
in Paradise. They likewise make a soup of them."
W. H.
* The Israelites might hare spared their mis
muring*, in regard to the loss of Egyptian onions,
aa the onion* of Palestine hare the same swee*
and delicious flavor that characterises those of
Egypt- They are still called JuOJ (ousT) by
the Arabs. They enter into almost every process
of cookery in Palestine and Syria. Q. K. P.
ON O ('"0""W, and once Hah [atroao] : in Caw.
[TWr,] Alex, [few] ; elsewhere [Vat, Alas.]
Dm' and Ova): Ono). One of the towns of
Benjamin. It does not appear in the catalogues
of the Book of Joshua, but is tret found in 1 Chr.
viil. 13, where Shamed or Sbamer la said to ban
built Ono and Lod with their "daughter Tillages.''
It was therefore probably annexed by the Benja
mites subsequently to their original settlement,'
like Action, which was allotted to Dan, but is
found afterwards in tha hands of the Benjaniitas
(1 Chr. viii. 13). The men of Lod, Hadid, and
Ono, to the number of 785 (or Neh. 731) re-
turned from the Captivity with Zerubbabel (Ear*,
ii. 83; Neb, rii. 37; aee also 1 Etdr. r. 93).
[Onus.]
A plain waa attached to the town, and bore its
name — BiialA- Ono, "the plain of Ono" (Neh.
vi. 3), perhaps identical with the " valley of crafts-
men" (Neh. xi. 86). By Eusebius and Jerome it
is not named. The Rabbis frequently mention it,
but without any indication of ita position further
than that it was three miles from Lod. (See the
citations from the Talmud in Lightfoot, Char.
Decad on 8. Mark, cb. ix. § 3.) A village called
Ktfr 'Ana is enumerated by Robinson among thi
places in the districts of Rnmltk and Lydd (Bibi.
AVs. 1st ed. App. ISO, 121). This Tillage, almost
due N. of Lydd, is suggested by Tan de Veld*
(Memoir, p. 337) as identical with Ono. Against
the identification however are, the difference in
the names — the modem one containing the Am,
— and the distance from Lydda, which instead of
being 8 mUUaria is fully 6, being more than 4
English miles according to Van de Velde's map.
Winer remarks that Bat Utda is mora suitable
as far as its orthography is ooncerned ; but on the
other hand Beit Unia is much too far distant
from Lidd to meet the requirements of the pas
aages quoted above. 6.
OTSUS COrois •■ om. in Vulg.). The form ia
which the name Ono appears ip 1 Etdr. v. 99.
ONYOHACn^ntft's^cM&M: fo k j: juf,)
according to many of the old versions denotes tha
operculum of tome species of Strombm, a genus of
gasteropodous Molluscs. The Hebrew word, which
appears to be derived from a root which means " to
shell or peel off," occurs only in Ex. xxx. 34, at
one of the ingred'enta of the sacred perfume; in
• 7TTO, aa
probably our wo
root,!.*. JlJC;
Digitized by G00gle |
2266
ONYCHA
Koelus. xxiv. 16, Wisdom is compared to the pies*
sot odor yielded by " galbanum, onyx, sod sweet
storax." There can be little doubt that the JVv{
or Dioscorides (U. 10}, and the onyx of Pliny
(xxxfi.) 10, are identical with the operculum of a
Strombus, perhaps 6. Imtiyinusus. There is fre-
quent mention of the onyx in the writings of Ara-
bian authors, and it would appear from them that
the operculum of several kinds of strombus ware
prised as perfumes. The following is Dioscorides'
description of the tVufi " The onyx is the opercu-
lum of a shell-fish resembling the purpura, which
Is faond in India in the nard-producing lakes ; it is
odorous, because the shell-fish feed on tho nard,
and la collected after the beat has dried up the
marshes: that is the beat kind which comes from
lb* Bed Sea, and is whitish and shining ; the Beb-
yionian kind is dark and smsUer tuau the other;
loth have a sweet odor when burnt, something like
oastoreum." It is not easy to see what Dioscori-
des can mean by "Dart-producing lakes." The
Inif, " nail," or " claw," seems to point to the
operculum of the StrvmbUa, which is of a daw
shape and serrated, whence the Arabs call the mol-
A. I tnm c ms Dsamm
B. Vu Opsnutmm.
tusk "the devil's claw;" the Unguis adorains, or
Blniia tyantina, — for under both these terms ap-
parently the devil daw (TeuftlskUm of the tier-
mans, see Winer, Realm, s. v.) is alluded lo in old
English writers on Materia Medic* — has by some
been supposed no longer to exist. Dr. Lister la-
ments its loss, believing it to have been a good
medicine " from its strong aromatic smell." Dr.
Gray of the British Museum, who has favored us
with some remarks on this subject, says that the
epercula of the different kinds of Sttvmbvkt agree
with the figures of Blatta byzanliiui and Unguis
a Btnee the above was written, we have been fa-
vored with a communication tram Mr. Daniel Han-
bury, on the subject of the Btatta bysantina of old
rbamaeological writers, as well as with specimen! of
nr substance Itself, which it appear*. Is still found In
See ftsessrs of the Bast, though not now In muoh de-
mand. Mr. Haabury procured some specimens In
Damascus In October (1880), snd a Mend of his bought
some In Alexandria a lew months previously. The
arucie appears to be always muted with the openula of
tome cpecUM of Fusus. As regards the perfume as-
cribed to this substance, It does not appear to us, tram
specimen we burnt, to ilseiii is toe character of the
«xseuent odor which has been ascribed to It, though
St Is not without an aromatic scent, sea a figure ot
toe true B. byxant. In Matthiolus' Comnunl. m Di-
■ucor. (II. 8), where then Is a long discussion on the
ewkjssl ; also a figure of Blatta bytantina and the
ostx
odorusus in the old books; with regard to the ewes
he writes, — " The homy operetna when hunt at.
emit an odor which some may call sweet according
to their fancy." Boehart (Hitrtm. ifl. 797) be-
lieves some kind of bdellium to intended; but then
can be no doubt that the JVirf of the LXX. de>
uotea the operculum of some one or mora speciea
of strombus. For further information on this sub-
ject see Kumph (Amboinitche Jinrikften-K m um t i;
can. xvii. p. it, the German ed. Vienna, 17M),
and compare alao Sprengd ( (Xmmtnt ad Dioaeor.
ii. 10); Forakil (Dec. Anim. 148, M, "Oagtue
odoratua"); PHtos Trauma, (xvii. 6411; John-
ston (Introaue. to ConckoL p. 77); and Geaauua
( r*e«. a. v. n^pip). « w. ir.
ONYX {Dili?, Jtikam : t Also, 6 wpeWt »,
auApaytos, aipiias, vixftipoi, (hjpiWwv, cVu£,
Aq. capSimti Symm. and Tbeod. oVv(and Sruf:
vngclimus (lapis), sardonyenus, onyx). The A. V.
uniformly renders the Hebrew sndham by " onyx ; "
the Vulgate too is consistent with itself, the env
dunes (Job xxviil. 16) being merely a variety of
the onyx; but the testimonies of ancient interpret-
ers generally are, aa Utsenius haa remarked, di-
verse and ambiguous. The sUiham stone is men-
tioned (Gen. ii. \i) as a product of the laid of
Havilah. Two of tbesa stones, upon which were
engraven the names of the children of Israel, aix on
either stone, adorned the shoulders of the nigfa-
priest'a epbod (Ex. xxviii. 0-12), snd were to he
worn aa •' atones of memorial " (aee Kaiiash on Kx.
/. c). A skiknm was also the second stone in the
fourth row of the sacerdotal breastplate (Ex. xxriii.
SO). Shihnm stones were collected by David for
adorning the Temple (1 C'hr. xxix. 2). In Job
xxviii. 16, it is said that wisdom " cannot be val-
ued with the gold of Ophir, with the' precious
Mikam or the sapphire." The sidhtmx is nien-
tioned aa one of the treasures of the king of Tyre
(Kz. xxviii. 13). There la nothing in the contexts
of the several passages where the Hebrew term oc-
curs to help us to determine its signification
Hraun (De Vol. sac Btb. p. 787) has endeavored
to show that the sardonyx to the atone indicated,
and his remarks are well worthy of careful perusal.
Joaephua (Ant. ili. 7, 5 6, and B. J. v. 6, } 7) ex-
pressly states that the shoulder-atones of the high-
priest were formed of two large aardonyxes, an
onyx being, in his description, the second stone in
the fourth row of the breastplate. Some writers
believe that the " beryl " is intended, and the au-
thority of the LXX. and other version* has been
adduced in proof of this interpretation ; but a
operculum of Fusus in Pomst's Histoirs dts Dramuts
1694, part 2, p. 07. « Mansfleld Partyne," wntaa Mr
Hanburr, "in his Lift n Abyssinut (txi. L p. 4191..
mentions saaong the exports from Msssowah, a certain
artJele called Docfit, which be atatss la Ibe aponsumt
of a shell, and that it Is used In Nubia aa a perfuaw
being burnt with sandal-wood. Thai bit of luliasis
tion Is quite confirmatory of forskil'i statement cor
osrning the Daft «l ojrtt — (Is not Parkyns's 'Dacta*
meant tor dofi, yJUsi t) — namely, '• Moehha pes
Sues. Arabes eoam snaruat, Higrias tuaaagstoriun
est.'"
» The Bev. 0. W. Xing writes to aa thai «• A large
perfect sardonyx Is still precious. A dealer talis an
he mw this summer (1861) la Paris one vilusd as
11,000, not engraved."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OPHEL
Harms at th« bead of this article will show that the
UX. ii most ineouautent. Hid that nothing can,
:o consequence, lie learnt from it. Of those who
Identify the thdham with the beryl are Uellermaiin
(We Urim tmd Tliummim, p. 64), Wilier {Bib.
HuiUtirt i. 333), and Kosenraiiller ( The Mineral-
toy of Hit Bibb, p. 40, Bib. Cab.). Other inter-
pretations of thidham have bean proposed, but all
are man conjectures. Braun traoM iMkam to the
Arabic eaekina, " blacknen " : " Of such a eolor,"
can be, " are the Arabian aardonyxes, which have
a black ground-color." Thi» agrees esse n tial l y
with Mr. King's remark* {Antique Genu, p. 9)1
' The Arabian species," he says, " were formed of
black or blue strata, covered by one of opaque
flute; over which again was a third of a vermilion
eolor." But Oesenius and Flint refer the Hebrew
word to the Arabic lahnm, "to be pale." The
different kindi of onyx and sardonyx," however, are
so variable in color, that either of these definitions
is suitable. They all form excellent materials for
the engraver's art. The balance of authority is,
we think, in favor of some variety of the onyx.
W« are content to retain the rendering of the A.
V., supported as it is by the Vulgate and the ex-
preis statement of so high an authority aa Jose-
phut,' till better proofs in support of the claims
of some other stone be forthcoming. As to the
•■ Onyx " of Kcclua. xxir. 15, see Ohycha.
W. H.
OPHEL (bpVn, always with the def. arti-
cle [uoeOing, hill] : 'Ori'A.. 6 'XtydA, ['O^Ad"; Vat.
OrXa, ftyoAt O^ooA;] Alex, o Oo)Aa, [OAaA,
2<xpAa'l Ophtl). A part of ancient Jerusalem.
The name is derived by the lexioognphera from a
root of similar sound, which has the force of a
swelling or tumor (Gesenius, That. ; Flint, Httwb.
ii. 1G9 b). It does not come forward till a late
period of Old Teat, history. In 3 Chr. xxvii. 8,
Jutham is said to have built much " on the wall of
Ophel." Hanasseh, amongst his other defensive
works. " compassed about Ophel " {Ibid, xxxiii.
14). From the catalogue of Nehetniah's repairs to
tlie wall of Jerusalem, it appears to have been near
the "Watergate" (Neh. iii. 26) and the "great
tower that lieth out " (ver. 97). Lastly, the for-
mer of these two passages, and Neh. xi. 21, show
that Ophel was the residence of the Levites. It is
not again mentioned, though its omission in the
account of the route round the walla at the aano-
tincation of the second Temple, Neh. xii. 31-40,
is singular.
In the paasagea of his history parallel to those
quoted above, Joaephua either passes it over alto-
gether, or else refers to It in merely general
terms — "very large towers " {Ant. he 11, § 3),
» very high towen " (x. 3, § 3). But in his ac-
OPHEL
2257
a The onyx has two strata, the sardonyx three.
a « Who speaks from actual observation : he ex<
/raasly nodosa Ihs flu* quality of these two pieces of
sardonyx.'*— [0. V7. Knra.]
m • Tb* explorations of Lieut. Warren have demon-
strated the Incorrectness of the theory hara named
respecting the line of the east wall of the Templc-ane,
and confirmed the view given under J&ansALSH (& Iv.
•mar. *d.). 8. W.
d • Later observations nquln us to modify this
Dptrdon. Mr. Grove Inserts ^he following note on p.
10 of Clark's BibU Allot (Lond. 1888) : » Then seems
rasson to suspect that the Hill of ma axia, the H1U
af <s* Tavpl*, and Ophel, wen originally una ssp-
143
count of the last days of Jerusalem he mentions H
four times as Ophla (4 'Q<p\d, accompanying it as
in the Hebrew with the article). The first of then
{B. J. ii. 17, § 9) tells nothing as to its position;
but from the other three we can gather something.
(I.) The old wall of Jerusalem ran above the spring
of Siloaiu and the pool of Solomon, and on reach-
ing the place called Ophla, joined the eastern porch
of the Temple {B. J. r. 4, § 2). (2. ) « John held
the Temple and the places round it, not a little in
extent, — both the Ophla and the valley called Ke-
dron " {Ibid. v. 6, § 1). (3.) After the capture of
the Temple, and before Titus bad taken the upper
city (the modern Zion) from the Jews, his soldiers
burnt the whole of the lower city, lying in the
valley between the two, " and the place called the
Ophla " (/Mel vi. 6, § 3).
From this it appears that Ophel was outside the
eouth wall of the Temple, and that it by between
the central valley of the city, which debouches
above the spring of Siloani, on the one band, and
the east portico of the Temple on the other. Tbo
east portico, it should be remembered, was not on
the line of the east wall of the present An) am, but
330 feet further west, on the line of the solid wall
which forms the termination of the vaults in the
eastern comer.' [See JebuslALKU, vol. ii. 1314;
and the Plan, 1816.] This situation agrees with
the mention of the u water-gate " in Neh. iii. 36,
and the statement of xi. 21, that it was the resi-
dence of the Levitee. Possibly the " great tower
that lieth out," in the former of these, may be the
•' tower of Eder " —mentioned with " Ophel of the
daughter of Zion," by Hicah (iv. 8), or that named
in an obscure passage of Isaiah — " Ophel and watch-
tower" (xxxii. 14; A. V. inaccurately " forts and
towen").
Ophel, then, in accordance with the probable root
of the name, was the swelling declivity by which
the Mount of the Temple slopn off on its southern
side into the Valley of Hinnom — a long, narrowish
rounded spur or promontory, which intervene* be-
tween the mouth of the central valley of Jerusalem
(the TyropoBon) and the Kidron, or Valley of Je-
hoshapbat.*' Half-way down it on ita eastern fan
is the »' Fount of the Virgin," so called ; and at its
foot the lower outlet of the same spring — the Pool
ofSiloam. How much of this declivity was covered
with the houses of the Levitee, or with the suburb
which would naturally gather round them, and
where the "great tower " stood, we have not at
present the means of ascertaining.'
Professor Stanley {Sermon* on the Apostolic Age,
pp. 329, 880) has ingeniously conjectured that the
name Oblias {'QfiMat) — which was one of the
titles by which St. James the Leas was distin-
guished from other Jacobs of the time, and wbijh
is explained by Hegesippos (Euseb. BitL £ccL ii.
ante heights. Lieutenant Warren has d is covered
what he conceive* may have been either a deep dtteh
or a natural valley, now filled op with earth, running
from east to west, just north of tb* platform of tb*
Dots* of the Bock (latter, Nov. 12, 1867, p. 48) ; and
tb* Tyroponn gully probably turned sharply round
to the east, at the southwest corner of tb* Tempi*
substruction, so as to out off tb* Tempi* Mount from
Ophel. (Deo. 12, 1867, p. 62.) " H.
• Hint (HUM*. U. 169) states, without a word that
could load a nadar to suspect that than was any
doubt on tb* point, that Ophel la Identical with Mill*
It may be so, only then la not a percku* ef I
far or against It
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2258 ophib
18) a* meaning "bulwark (.-rtpioxk) <■" "*
people," — wu in it* original form Ophli-am ■
(O^tM). In this oonnection it ii a lingular
coincidence that St Jamet was martyred by living
thrown from the corner of the Temple, at, or cloae
to, the very spot which is named by Joseph us aa the
boundary of OpheL [J auks, vol. ii. 1307; 1£n-
Rck.el, i. 741 A.] Ewald, however (GeschichU,
Ti. 204, note), reatorea the name aa Oyb^jl, aa
If from '9C» * <enoe or oauIldar 7' [Chbiiel.]
Thi* ha* in ita favor the fact that it more closely
agree* in signification with rtfuoxh tnln fpnal
doe*.
The Opbel which appears to hare been the resi-
dence of Eliaha at the time of Naaman'a visit to
him (8 K. v. 24: A. V. "the tower") was of
south a different place from that spoken of above.
n» narrative would seem to imply that it was not
fur from Samaria; but this is not certain. 11m
LXX. and Vulg. must have read ?5H, " dark-
ness," fo* they give to e-rorwroV and vttperi
respectively. G.
O'PHIROT^'H "l^'TM [see below] : oicnlf.
Ophir). 1. The eleventh In order of the sons of
Joktan, coming immediately after Sheha (Uen. x.
IB; 1 Chr. i. 23). So many important names in
the genealogical table in the 10th chapter of
Genesis — such as Sidon, Caoaan, Asshur, Aram
(Syria), Mizraim (the two Egypt*, Cpper and
Lower), Shel*, Caphtorim, and Philiatim (the Phil-
istines) — represent the name of tome city, country,
or people, that it is reasonable to infer that the
same is the case with all the names in the table.
It frequently happens that a father and his sons in
the genealogy represent districts geographically con-
tiguous to each other; yet this is not an invari-
able rule, for in the case of Tanhish the ion of
Jsvan (ver. 10), and of Nimrod the son of Cush,
whose kingdom was Babel or Babylon (ver. 11), a
son was conceived as a distant colony or offshoot.
But there is one marked peculiarity in the sons
of Joktan, which is common to them with the
Canaanites alone, that precise geographical limit*
are assigned to their settlements. Thus it is said
(ver. 19) that the border of the Canaanites was
" from Sidon, aa thou oomest to Gerar, unto Gaaa;
aa thou gout, unto Sodom and Gomorrah, and
Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Laaha: " and m
jke manner (w. 38, *0) that the dwelling of the
son* of Joktan was "from Mesha, as thou goat
anto Sephar a mountain of the east." The pecul-
iar wording of then geographical limits, and the
bet that the well-known towns which define the
border of the Canaanites are mentioned ao nearly
in the same manner, forbid the supposition that
Heaha and Sephar belonged to very distant coun-
tries, or were comparatively unknown: and as
many ol the sons of Joktan — such a* Shebe,
Kazan-jireth, Almodad, and others — are by ootn-
aaon consent admitted to represent settlements in
Arabia, it 1* an obvious inference that nil the set-
tlements corresponding to the names of the other
sons are to be sought for in the same peninsula
* tan* «f the HS8. of Busebha bavs to* nam*
Oalaas* fQfXi**), unserving the termination, though
asr wrapt tbt former part of the word.
OPHIR
Hence, a* Ophir is one of those sans, ii
may be regarded as a filed point in diaooasiooa
concerning the place Ophir mentioned in the book
of Kings, that the author of the 10th chapter of
Genesis regarded Ophir the ion of Joktan as
corresponding to some city, regkn ct tribe ic
Arabia.
Etymology. — There is, Meaningly, za
reason to doubt that the word Ophir is Semitic,
although, as is the ease with numerous proper
names known to be of Hebrew origin, the precis*
word doe* not occur aa a common name in tha
Bible. See the words from "JON and "TB57 la
Geseniu*'* Thaaurut, and compare 'Aipip, tha
metropoli* of the Sabtuis in the Periplua, attrib-
uted to Arrian. Gesei ius suggest* that it meant
a " fruitful region," if it 1* Semitic. Bason von
Wrede, who explored Hadhramaut in Arabia in
1843 {Jourmil of tilt R. Geographical Society,
vol. xiv. p. 110). made a small vocabulary of Him-
yariUc words in the vernacular tongue, and amongst
these he gives ofir as signifying red. He say*
that the Mahra people call themaeivts the tribe*
of the red country (<</&•), and called the Red Sea,
bnhr ofir. If this were so, it might have some
what of the same relation to ojthar, "dust" or
"dry ground" (M and V bring IntsrchangvablQ,
that adorn, "red," has to adamah, " the ground."
Still it is unsafe to accept the use of a word of
this kind on the authority of any one traveller,
however accurate ; and the supposed existenoa
and meaning of a word ofir is recommended rat
special inquiry to any future traveller in the (am*
district.
2. (iovptp, imtptp, [and 'O^elp; Vat. Sovetap,
2utp ftp, icfffipa, Cljpttps Alex. Zovetap, Sata^tso,
O^tttpS; oiptipi Sin. in Job and Is., Xm^fip,
Xonpip, iotKptip] OplMv, 1 K. ix. 38, x. 11; %
Chr. viii. 18, ix. 10: in 1 K. ix. 28 the transla-
tion of the IJtX. is cis I*fifxt [Vat. Zwfipa,
Alex. S»4>apa], though the ending in the original
merely denotes motion towards Ophir, and is no
part of the name.) A seaport or region from
which the Hebrew* in the- time of Solomon ob-
tained gold, in vessels which went thither in eon-
junction with Tyrian ships from Euou-geber, near
Klath, on that branch of the Red Sea which is
now called the Gulf of Akahah. The gold waa
proverbial for it* fineness, so that " gold (if Ophir"
is several times need as an expression for fine gold
(ft, xlv. 0; Job xxvUi. 16; Is. xlii. 18; 1 Chr.
xxix. 4); and in one passage (Job xxii. 34) the
word " Ophir " by itself is used for gold of Ophir,
and for gold generally. In Jer. x. 9 and Dan.
x. 6 it is thought by Gesenius and other* thai
Ophir is intended by the word " Uphas " —
there being a very trifling difference between
the words in Hebrew when written without the
vowel-point*. In addition to gold, the vessels
brought from Ophir ahnug-wood and predous
stone*.
The precise geugraphical situation of Ophir ha*
long been a subject of doulit and discussion. Cal-
met (Dictionary of ti>t Bible, s. r. " Ophir " re-
garded it as in Armenia; Sir Walter Raleigh
(Hittoiy of tike World, book i. ch. 8) thought K
was one of the Molucca Islands : and Aria* Hon-
tanus (Bochart, Phaltg, Pref. and eh. 8), led by
the nmuarity of the ward Parvaim, supp o se d t*
be identical with Ophir (2 Chr. iii. OX found it hi
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OPHJB
"era.* But these oountries, u well u Iberia «nd
Pasyg U, cannot now be viewed m affording matter
kr serious discussion on this point, and the three
Hjlnjni which have found rapportan in our own
lane wan formerly represented, amongit other
writer*, by Huet (Sui- te Commerce et la Naviga-
tion dee Ancient, p. 59), by Bruce ( Travels, book
i- o- ii, and by the historian Robertson (Diequui-
feni respecting Ancient India, sect. 1), woo plaoed
Ophir in Africa; by Vitringt (Geograph. Sacra,
a. 114) and Belaud (2&*erfci/u> de Ophir), who
Biased it in India j and by Hichaelis (Spidiegiwn,
a. 184), Niabuhr, the traveller (Deteription de
I Arabia, p. 263), Grostellin (Rtcherchtt sur la
awi f rwa an <tea daewiw, ii. 99), and Vincent
( fl aw* j o/" Me Commerce and Navigation of the
Aneitnts, ii. 965-370), who placed it in Arabia.
Of other distinguished geographical writers, Bochart
(Pkaiey, ii. 37 ) admitted two Ophirs, one in Arabia
aid one in India, >'. «. at Ceylon; while D'Auville
(DiutrtaUun jar le Pay a? Ophir, Meiuuirit de
Utternaut, xxx. 83), equally admitting two, placed
an* in Arabia and one in Africa. In our own
days the discussion has been continued by Geee-
nius, who in articles on Ophir in his Thetaurm
(p. 141), and in Erseh and Gruber's KncyklopSdit
(*. *.) stated that the question lay between India
and A ra bia, ftitignr* the reasons to be urged in
finer of each of these countries, but declared the
srguments for each to be so equally balanced that
be refrained from expressing suy opinion of his
own on the subject. M. C^uatremere, however, in
s paper on Ophir which was printed in 1843 in
lbs Uimuiree it tln$lilul, again insisted on the
claims of Africa (Academic dee Inscriptions et
Bella Ultra, t. XT. ii. 888); and in his valuable
work on Ceylon (part vfl. chap. 1) Sir J. Emerson
Taaneat adopts the opinion, sanctioned by Joss-
abas, that Malacca was Ophir. Otherwise the two
countries which have divided the opinions of the
leaned have been India and Arabia — Lassen,
Hitter, Bertheau (OcegeL llandbuch, 9 Chr. viii.
18), Thenfas (ExtyeL tlandlmch, 1 K. x. 29), and
Eanld (Geechickle, iii. 347, 2d sd.) being is favor
af India, while Winer (Reaha. s. v.), Fttrst (Uebr.
sad ChaUL Hand*, s. v.), Knobel ( VSlkertnfel dor
Genesis, p. 190), Korster (Geogr. of Arabia, i.
181-187), Crawford {Dttortptive Dictionary of die
Indian /elands, s. v.), and Kahssh ( Commentary
sa Genes is , chap. "Tat Genealogy of Nations")
•re in favor of Arabia. The fullest treatise on the
snestion is that of Hitter, who in his Erdkunde,
vol. xiv., published in 1848, devoted 80 octavo
pages to the discussion (pp. 361-431), and adopted
the opinion of Lassen (Ind. Alt. i. 699) that Ophir
was situated at the mouth of the Indus.
8oma general idea of the arguments which way
w advanced in favor of each of the three countries
■ay be derived from the following statement In
tsvor of Arabia, there are these considerations:
sat. The 10th chapter of Genesis, ver. 99, contains
what is equivalent to an intimation of the author's
opinion, that Ophir was in Arabia. [Ophir 1.}
My. Three places in Arabia may be pointed out,
he names of which agree sufficiently with the
OPHIB
2259
word Ophir: namely, Aphar, called by ltouan)
Sapphara, now Zafar or Saphar, which, according
to the Periplus ascribed to Arriiui, was the me-
tropolis of the Sabeaua, and was distant twelve
days' journey from the emporium Husa on the
Red Sea: Doffir, a city mentioned by Niebuhr the
traveller (Description dt tArabie, p. 219), as a
considerable town of Yemen, and capital of Bellad
Hadaje, situated to the north of Lohiia, and 16
leagues from the sea; and Zafar or Zafori [Ara-
bia, vol. i. p. 137 6] (Sepher, Dhafar),now Dofar
a city on the southern coast of Arabia, visited in
the 14th century by Ibn Batuta, the Arabian
traveller, and stated by aim to be a month's jour-
ney by land from Aden, and a month's voyage,
when the wind was fair, from the Indian shores
(Lee's Translation, p. 57). 3dly. In antiquity
Arabia was represented as a country producing
gold by four writers at least: namely, by the
geographer Agatharchides, who lived in tie 3d
century before Christ (in Photius 250, snd Hud-
son's Geograph. Minora, i. 60); by the geographer
Artemidorus, who lived s little later, and whose
account has been preserved, and, as it were, adopted
by the geographer Strabo (xiv. 18); by Diodorus
Siculus (ii. 50, iii. 44); and by Pliny the Elder
(vL 32). 4thly. Eupolcnius, a Greek historian
who lived before the Christian era, and who,
besides other writings, wrote a work respecting
the kings of Judata, expressly states, as quoted by
Eusebius {Pi-op. Evany, ix. 30), that Ophir was
an island with gold mines in the Erythraean Ses
(Oupa>q, comp. Oinpttp, the LXX. Translation in
Gen. x. 29), and that David sent miners thither
in vessels which be caused to be built at .<Elsna
= Elath. Now it is true that the name of the
Erythraean Sea was deemed to include the Persian
Gulf, as well as the lied Sea, but it was always
regarded as closely connected with the shores of
Arabia, and cannot be shown to have been extended
to India. Sthly. On the supposition that, not-
withstanding all the ancient authorities on t'je
subject, gold really never existed either in Arabia,
or in any island along its coasts, Ophir was an
Arabian emporium, into which gold was brought
as an article of commerce, and was exported into
Judaea. There is not a single passage in the Bible
inconsistent with this supposition; and there is
something like a direct intimation that Ophir was
in Arabia.
While such is a general view of the arguments
for Arabia, the following considerations are urged
in behalf of India. 1st. Sofir is the Coptic word
for India; and Sophir, or Sophira is the word used
for the place Ophir hy the Septuagint translators,
and likewise by Joseph us. And Josephus positively
states that it was a part of India {Ant. riil. 6, f
4), though he places it in the Golden Ohersojese,
which was the Malay peninsula, an. belonged,
geographically, not to India proper, but to India
beyond the Ganges. Moreover, in three passages
of the Bible, where the Septuagint has iwtptpi or
loixplo, 1 K. ix. 28, x. 11; Is. xiil. 19, Arabian
translators have used the word India. 9d!y. AB
the three imports from Ophir, gold, precious stones,
• TWs sennas Idea of one of the most learned
laanMs of hie Has* fb. 1817, A. »., d. 1698) accounts
far the s awi wtna, aaase** to IkMm'i AUumisn
irt»Lle.l:_
°OaaaeoB.alri now roasst tout foot on ihosB
SB Bevo Orbs.— H«rVa tht risk Fan i
And then within, sir, art Um golden minis,
Oraat Salomon's Ophir."
Arias Montanus auKtod that Farvafan
dual number, two Perns ; on* Peru
esnerNewBpato (T» D'T^).
it, in ta>
and tbs
Digitized by VjOOQlC
826C ophib
sad aim ug- wood, are essentially Indian. Gold h
bond in the sources of the Indus and the Cabool
Hlver before their juncture at AUoek; in the
Himalaya mountain*, and in a portion of the
Deooan, especially at Cochin. India has in all
ages been celebrated for its precious (tones of all
kinds. And sandal-wood, which the belt modern
Hebrew scholars regard as the almug-wood of the
Bible, is almost exclusively, or at any rate pre-
eminently, a product of the eoast of Malabar.
Sdly. Assuming that the ivory, peacocks, and apes,
which were brought to Esion-geber once in three
years by the nary of Tharshish in conjunction with
the navy of Hiram (1 K. z. 83), were brought
from Ophir, they also collectively point to India
rather than Arabia. Moreover, etymoiogicaUy, not
one of these words in the Hebrew is of Hebrew or
Semitic origin; one being connected with Sanskrit,
another with the Tamil, and another with the
Malay language. [Tarhhish.] 4thly. Two places
in India may be specified, agreeing to a certain
extent in name with Ophir; one at the mouths
of the Indus, where Indian writers placed a people
named tbe Abhlra, agreeing with the name ja-
Btlpta of the geographer Ptolemy; and tbe other,
the Souxipa of Itolemy, the Otwwapa of Arrian's
Periplua, where the town of Goa is now situated,
on the western coast of India.
Lastly, the following pleas bare been urged in
behalf of Africa, let Of the three countries,
Africa, Arabia, and India, Africa is the only one
which can be seriously regarded as containing dis-
tricts which have supplied gold in any great
quantity. Although, as a statistical fact, gold has
been found in parts of India, the quantity is so
•mall, that India has never supplied gold to the
commerce of the world ; and in modern times no
gold at all, nor any vestiges of exhausted mines
have been found in Arabia. Sdly. On the western
coast of Africa, near Mozambique, there is a port
called by the Arabians Sofala, which, as the liquids
I and r are easily interchanged, was probably tbe
Ophir of the Ancients. When the Portuguese, in
A. d. 1600, first reached it by the Cape of Good
Hope, it was the emporium of the gold district in
the interior; and two Arabian vessi li laden with
gold were actually off Sofala « at the time (see
Cadttmotlo, cap. 68). Sdly. On tbe supposition
that the passage (1 K. r. 22) applies to Ophir,
Sofala has still stronger claims in p re fer ence to
xdia. Peacocks, indeed, would not have been
eought from it; but the peacock is too delicate a
oird for a long voyage in small vessels, and the
word tukidyim probably signified "parrots." At
the same time, ivory and apes might have been
supplied in abundance from the district of which
•Sofala was the emporium. On the other hand, if
Jphir bad been in India, other Indian productions
might have been expected in the list of imports;
such as shawls, silk, rich tissues of cotton, per-
fumes, pepper, and cinnamon. 4thly. On tbe
same supposition respecting 1 K. x. 99, it can,
according to the traveller Bruce, be proved by the
laws of the monsoons in the Indian Ocean, that
Ophir was at Sofala; inasmuch as the voyage to
|omla from Edon-geber would have been performed
• Mr. Breve has pointed out a passage tn Milton's
fmmdiu Lot l, at. 890-401. flvrorlng this SowJa: —
- lfombua. ud Quito*, sod Mollnd,
Jm4 AUi, ueaaM Opktr, to tke nana
W Ooaev •»* Ant* nutae* sea«k"
onus
exactly In three yean; it could not hem bsu
accomplished in leas time and it would not sane
required more (vol. i. p. 440).
From tbe above statement of the different views
which have been held respecting the situation af
Ophir, tbe suspicion will naturally suggest itself
that no positive conclusion can be arrived at on the
subject. And this seems to be true, in this sense
that tbe Bible in all its direct notices of Ophir as a
place does not supply sufficient data for an inde-
pendent opinion on this disputed point. At the
same time, it is an inference in the highest degree
probable, that the author of the 10th chapter of
Genesis regarded Ophir as in Arabia; and, in the
absence of conclusive proof that be was mistaken, H
seems most reasonable to acquiesce in his opinion.
To illustrate this view of tbe question it is de-
sirable to examine closely all the passsges in the
historical books which mention Ophir by name.
These are only fire in number: three in the books
of Kings, and two in the books of Chronicles. The
latter were probably copied from the former; and,
at any rate, do not contain any additional informa-
tion ; so that it is sufficient to give a reference to
them, S Clir. viii. 18, ix. 10. The three pas-
sages in tbe books of Kings, however, being short,
will be set out at length. Tbe first passage is as
follows: it is in the history of the reign of Solomon.
"And king Solomon made a navy of snips at Esion-
geber, which is beside Sloth, on the shore of the
Bed Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in
tbe navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge
of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they
came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four
hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king
Solomon," 1 K. ix. 98-38. Tbe next passage is in
the succeeding chapter, and refers to the same reign.
"And tbe navy also of Hiram that brought gold
from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of
almug-trees and precious stones," 1 K x. 11. The
third passage relates to the reign of Jebosbaphat
king of Judah, and is as follows: " Jehoshaphat
made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold ; but
they went not: for tbe ships were broken at Esion-
geber," 1 K. xxii. 48. In addition to these three
passages, the following verse in the book of Kings
has very frequently been referred to Ophir: " For
the king (». & Solomon) had at sea a navy of
Tbarshlah with the navy of Hiram: ones in three
years eame tbe navy of Tharshish bringing gold and
silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks," IK. x. 99.
But there is not sufficient evidence to show that
the fleet mentioned in this verse was identical with
the fleet mentioned in 1 K. ix. 96-48, and 1 K. x.
11, as bringing gold, almug-trees, and precious
stones from Ophir; and if, notwithstanding, the
identity of tbe two is admitted as a probable con-
jecture, there is not the slightest evidence that the
fleet went oab to Ophir, and that therefore the
silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks must have earn
from Ophir. Indeed, the direct contrary might be
inferred, even on the hypothesis of the identity ar
tbe two fleets, inasmuch as tbe actual mention of
Ophir is distinctly confined to the imports of goal
almug-trees, and precious stones, and tbe eompikw
might seem carefully to have distinguished betwee
Milton tdlowed a passage la Punkas* Mgnmrn, a
10K of the 94 volume. pubHsheA In MB; sat a.
the modern geographical naaaaa in TV. SBT-4U are Is
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OPHIB
aaad the country from which sbrar, ivory, apes, ,
«od peace ha were imported. Hence, without re- :
awrint; {arther to the passage In 1 K. x. 82, we an
thrown back, for the pnrpoee of ascertaining the
situation of Ophir, to the three panagea from the
nook of Kings which were first set forth. And if
those three passages are carefully examined, it will
be teen tint all the information giren respecting
Ophir ia, that it was a place or region, accessible
by ssa from Eekm-geber on the Red Sea, from which
imports of gold, almug-trees, and precious stones
wan brought back by the Tynan and Hebrew
No data whatever are given as to the dis-
of Ophir from Eaon-geber; no information
or indirect, or eren the slightest bint, ia
aabrded for determining whether Ophir was the
name of a town, or the name of a district; whether
it was an emporium only, or the country which
astaafly produced the three articles of traffic. Bear-
ing in mind the possibility of its being an empo-
rium, there is no reason why it may not hare been
other in Arabia, or on the Persian coast, or in
India, or in Africa; but there is not sufficient evi-
dence for deciding in favor of one of then sugges-
tions rather than of the others.
Under these circumstancn it is well to revert to
the 10th chapter of Genesis. It has been ahown
[OrHim 1] to be reasonably certain that the author
of that chapter regarded Ophir as the name of some
city, region, or tribe in Arabia And it is almost
equally certain that the Ophir of Genesis is the
Ophir of the book of Kings. There is no mention,
either in the Bible or elsewhere, of any other Ophir ;
and the idea of there having been too Ophirs, evi-
dently arose from a perception of the obvioua mean-
ing of the 10th chapter of Genesis, on the one hand,
coupled with the erroneoue opinion on the other,
that the Ophir of the book of Kings could not bare
bean in Arabia. Xow, whatever uncertainty may
asset as to the time when the 10th chapter of Gen-
esis was written (Knobel, loVctrt/iftl der (Jenttit,
p. 4, and Hartmann's Fonrhmytn Sbrr die 6
flatter Motet, p. 684), the author of it wrote
whae Hebrew was yet a living language ; there is
no statement in any part of the Bible inconsistent
with his opinion ; and the most ancient writer who
esa be opposed to him as an authority, lived, under
any hypothesis, many centuries after his death.
Hence the own/en of proof lies on any one who
Jenies Ophir to have been in Arabia,
But all that can be advanced against Arabia falls
very ehort of such proof. In weighing the evidence
m this point, the assumption that ivory, peacocks,
and apes were Imported from Ophir must he dis-
cussed from consideration. In one view of the
"eject, and accepting the statement in S Chr. ix.
tl, they might have connection with Tarshish
[Tawmian] ; but they hare a very alight bearing
sa the position of Ophir. Hence it is not hen
accessary to discuss the bw of monsoons in the
Wlan Ocean ; though it may be said in passing
JuU the facts on which the supposed law is founded,
finch aeemed so cogent that they Induced the his-
torian Robertson to place Ophir in Africa (Ditqui-
jjnoa oa India, § 9), ban been pointedly denied
by Mr. Salt in his I'ojnoe to Abyninin (p. 108).
Moreover, the resemblance of names of places in In-
via and Africa to Ophir, cannot reasonably be to-
asted on ; for there hi an equally great resemblance
to the names of some places in Arabia. And in
annate to Africa, especially, the plan then 1m-
anaed to be Ophir, namely, Bofula, has bean
OPHIB
2261
shown to be merely an Arabic word, cMruauoudiag
to the Hebrew Shtfttah, which signifies a plain o.
low country (Jer. xxxii. 44; Josh. xi. 16; the
3««X\o of the Maccabees, 1 Msec. xii. 38; an
Gesenius, Lex. a. v.). Again, the use of Sofir as
the Coptic word for Ophir cannot be regarded as
of much importance, it having been pointed out by
Keiand that there ia no proof of its uae except in
late Coptic, and that thus its adoption may have
been the mere consequence of the erroneous views
which Joeephus represented, instead of being a con-
firmation of them. Similar remarks apply to the
Biblical vereioru by the Arabic translators. The
opinion of Joeephus himself would hare been en
titled to mush consideration in the absence of al
other evidence on the subject ; but he lived about a
thousand years after the only voyages to Ophir of
which any record hss been preserved, and bis
authority cannot be compared to that of the 10th
chapter of Genesis. Again, he seems inconsistent
with himself; for in Ant. ix. 1, § 4, he translates
the Ophir or 1 K. xxii. 48, and the Tarshish of 8
Chr. xx. 86, as Punlut and Thrace. It is likewise
some deduction from the weight of his opinion,
that it is contrary to the opinion of Eupolemus,
who was an earlier writer; though he too lived at
to great a diatance of time from the reign of Solo-
mon that be is by no means a decisive authority.
Moreover, imagination may have acted on Joeephus
to place Opbir in the Golden Chersonese, which to
the ancients was, at it were, the extreme east; as it
acted on Arias Montamu to place it in Peru, in the
far more improbable and diatant west. All the
foregoing objections having been rejected from the
discussion, it remains to notice those which an
based on the assertion that sandal-wood (assumed
to he the same as almug-wood), precious stones,
and gold, are not productions of Arabia. And
the following observations tend to show that such
objections are not conclusive.
1st. in the Periplus attributed to Arrian, sandal-
wood ({ii\o aarrdXtva) is mentioned sa one of the
imports into Omana, an emporium on the Persian
Gulf; and it is thus proved, if any proof is requi-
site, that a sea-port would not necessarily be ia
India, I ecaiise sandal-wood was obtained from it
But independently of this circumstance, the reasons
advanced in favor of almug-wood being the same
as sandal-wood, though admissible as a conjecture,
seem too weak to Justify the founding any argu-
ment on them. In S Chr. ii. 8, Solomon is repre-
sented as writing to Hiram, king of Tyre, in than
words : " Send me also cedar-trees, fir-trees, and
algum-trees, out of Lebanon ; for I know that thy
servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon," a
paasage evidently written under the belief that
almug-treea grew in Lebanon. Tt has been sug-
gested that this was a mistake — but this Us point
which cannot be assumed without distinct evidence)
to render it probable. The LXX. translator of
the book of Kings, 1 K. x. 12, translates almug-
wood by t \o TiXtKtrri, or iwAtienri, whisk
gives no Information as to the nature of the
wood; and the IJCX. translator of the Chron-
icles renders It by (<;Aa wevVnra, which strictly
means fir-wuoi (compare Ennius's transktlon of
Medta, ver. 4), and which, at the utmost, can only
be extended to any wood of resinous trees. Taw
Tukrite traoslation hi "thyiiia," L t wood mads
of thya («do», tvla), a tree which Theopbrastas
mentions as having supplied peculiarly durable
timber fir the roofs of temples; which he an It
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2262
OPHIR
tike the wild cypress; and which Is classed by him
as id ev erg reen with the pine, the fir, the juniper,
the yew-tree, end the cedar (Hutor. Plant, t. 8,
) 7, i. 9, § 8). rt 1* stated both by Boxtorf and
Gesenins («. ».), that the Rabbins understood by
the word, corals — which is certainly a most im-
probable meaning — and that in the 3d century,
almug in the Mishnah (Ktlim 18, 6) was used for
octal in the singular number. In the 13th
oentury, Kinichi, it is said, proposed the meaning
of Brazil wood. And it was not till last century
thai, for the first time, the suggestion was made
that almug-wood was the same as sandal-wood.
This suggestion came from Celsius, the Swedish
botanist, in bis Bitrvbotaniem; who at the same
time recounted thirteen meanings proposed by
Others. Now, as all that has been handed down
of the uses of almug-wood is, that the king made
of it a prop ° or support for the House of the Lord
and the king's house; and harps also and psalteries
for singers (1 K. x. IS), it is hard to conceive how
Vie greatest botanical genius that ever lived can
now do more than make a guess, more or less prob-
able, at the meaning of the word.
Since the time of Celsius, the meaning of '■ san-
dal-wood " has been defended by Sanskrit etymol-
ogies. According to Gesenins (Lexicon, a. v.),
Bohlen proposed, as a derivation for almvygim,
the Arabic article Al and mtcata, from simple
mien, a name for red saudal-wood. Lassen, in
[ndischt Alterthumtkumle (nil. i. pt. 1. p. 538),
adopting the form nlgummlm, says that If the
plural ending is taken from it, there remains rntyu,
as one of the Sanskrit names for sandal-wood,
which in the language of the Deccan is rtilgwn.
Perhaps, however, these etymologies cannot lay
claim to much value until it is made probable,
indeptmlently, that almug-wood is sandal-wood.
It is to be observed that there is a difference of
opinion as to whether " al " in algvmmtm is an
article or part of the noun, and it is not denied by
any one that chmulima is the ordinary Sanskrit
word for sandal-wood. Moreover, Mr. Crawfurd,
who resided officially many years in the East and
is familiar with sandal-wood, says that it is never
— now. st least — used for musical instruments,
and that it is unfit for pillars, or stairs, balustrades
or banisters, or lialconiea. (See also his Drtcri/itite
Dictionary of Iht InrKan Islands, pp. 310-375.) It
■a used for incense or perfume, or as fancy wood.
2. As to piecioua stones, they take up such
little room, and can he so easily concealed, if
necessary, and conveyed from place to place, that
there is no difficulty in supposing they came from
Ophir, simply as from an emporium, even admit-
t'ng that there were no precious stones in Arabia,
tut it has already been observed [Arahia, 1. 137 n]
that the Arabian peninsula produces the emerald
and onyx stone: and it has been well pointed out
by Mr. Crawfurd that It is impossible to identify
precious stones under so general a name with an;
a The fMMBl mowing of "IVpO, a prop or sop-
sort, is certain, though lis special meaning h> 1 It. X.
V —mm tmeoverablv lost. It la translated " pillars "
n the A. ▼., and lnro<rrr,plypaTa hi the LXX. In tb»
s of 2 Chr. Ix. 11, she weed Is
"flvCD, the usual meaning of which Is kigktcays ;
and whVh Is translated In the A. T. temcts, and In
(Be LX2 InMnu, annus, or starrr. Bee Her. I.
(U.
ojphir
particular country. Certainly It cannot be I
that the Jews of Solomon's time included nod m
that name the diamond, for which India Is peetaV
iarly renowned.
8. As to gold, far too great stress seems to ban
been laid on the negative fact that no gold nor
trace of gold-mines has been discovered in Arabia.
Negative evidence of this kind, in which Hitter*
has placed so much reliance (vol. xfv. p. 408), is by
no means conclusive. Sir Roderick Murehiaon and
Sir Charles Lyell concur In stating that, although na
rock Is known to exist in Arabia from which gold
is obtained at the present day, yet the
has not undergone a sufficient geological <
tkwi to warrant the conclusion that gold did Dot
exist there formerly or that H may not yet he dis-
covered there. Under these circumstances them la
no sufficient reason to reject the accounts of tba
ancient writers who have been already adduced an
witnesses for the former existence of gold in Arabia.
It is true that Artemidorus and Diodorns Sieulua
may merely have relied on the authority of Aga-
tharchides, but it is important to remark that Agn-
tharchides lived in Egypt and was guardian to one
of the young 1'tolemies during his minority, so
that he must have been familiar with the general
nature of the commerce between Egypt and Arabia.
Although be may have been inaccurate in detail*,
it is not lightly to lie admitted that he was alt/
gether mistaken in supposing that Arabia produced
any gold at all. And it is in his favor that two of
hit statements have unexpectedly received confirma-
tion in our own time: 1st, respecting gold-mines
in Egypt, the position of which in the BUharee
Desert was ascertained by Mr. Linant and Mr.
Bonomi (Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, ch. ix.);
and 2d, as to the existence of nuggets of pun
gold, some of the size of an olive-stone, some of a
medlar, and some of a chestnut. The latter state-
ment was discredited by Michaelis (BpicHeghtm,
p. 287, " Nee credo uDibi massas auri non expert)
castaness nucis magnitudine reperlri "), but it has
been shown to be not Incredible by the result of the
gold discoveries in California and Australia.
If, however, negative evidence is allowed to out-
weigh on this subject the authority of Agartbar-
chidee, Artemidorus, Diodorns Siciiros, PHny, and,
it may be added, Strabo, all of whom may possibly
hsre been mistaken, there is still nothing to pre-
vent Ophir having been an Arabian emporium for
gold (Wilier, Ueaho. s. r. "Ophir"). The Peri-
plus, attributed to Arrian, gives an account of
several Arabian emporia. In the Red Sea, for ex-
ample, was the Kmporium Musa, only twelve
days distant from Aphar the metropolis of the
Saha-an* and the Homerites. It is expressly stated
that this port had commercial relations with Bary-
gazu, 1. 1. Beroach, on the west coast of India, and
that it was always full of Arabs, either ship-
owners or sailors. Again, where the British town
of Aden is now situated, there was another em-
» Boring this In mind, It h remarkable that Rrttat
should have accepted I*mrns conjecture respecting
tba position of Ophir at the mouths of the Indus
Attork Is distant from the sea 942 miles by the Ino.ua,
and 648 In a straight line ; and the upper part of tba
Indus Is abont 880 miles long above A Mock (Thorn
ton's Gnztttrrr of India). Hence gold would be si
distant from the msntbs of the Indus, that net*
could be obtained thence except from ai
•Moated there.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OPHIB
sortum, with ui excellent barber, called Armbls
Felix (to be carefully distinguished from the die-
Met eo celled), which received it* name of Felix,
according to the author of the 1'erlploi, from its
bring the depot for the merchandite both of the
Indians and Kgyptlaiis at a time when vessel! did
not tail direct from India to Egypt, and when
merchants from Ksrypt did not dare to venture
father eastward towards India. At Zafar or
Zaftri, likewise, already referred to as a town In
Hadramaiit, there was an emporium in the Middle
Ages, and there may have been one in the time of
Solomon. And on the Arabian side of the Persian
Golf was the emporium of Uerrha, mentioned by
Sorabo (xvi. p. 766), which seems to hare had
oo niui ei u lal intercourse with Babylon both by car-
arena and It. - halves. Its exports and imports are
not specified, lrat there is no reason why the arti-
stes of commerce to be obtained there should hare
been very different from those at Omana on the
opposite side of the gulf, the exports from which
were purple cloth, wine, dates, slaves, and yM,
while the imports were brass, sandal-wood, horn,
and ebony. In fact, whatever other difficulties may
exist in relation to Ophir, no difficulty arises from
any absence of emporia along the Arabian coast,
suited to the size of vessels and the state of navi-
gation in early times.
There do not, however, appear to be sufficient
data for determining in favor of any one emporium
or of any one locality rather than another in Arabia
as having been the < >phir of Solomon. Mr. Forster
(Geography of Ambit, i. 167) relies on an Ofbr or
Oftr, in Sale and D'Anville's maps, as the name of
a city and district in the mountains of Oman ; but
ha does not quote any ancient writer or modem
traveller as an authority for the existence of such
an Oftr, though this may perhaps be reasonably
required before importance is attached, in a dis-
puted point of tliis kind, to a name on a map.
Niebnhr the traveller (Detcription it C Ambit, p.
953) says that Ophir was probably the principal
port of the kingdom of the Sabsnuw, that it was
situated between Aden and Dafar (or Zafar), and
that perhaps even it was Cane. Goaselin, on the
other hand, thinks it was Dofflr, the city of Yemen
already adverted to ; and In reference to the obvious
objection (which applies equally to the metropolis
Aphar) that it is nt some distance from the sea, he
lays th.it during the long period whleli has elapsed
since the time of Solomon, sands have encroached
en the coast of lobeia, and that Ophir may hare
been regarded as a port, although vessels did not
vtually reach it (Reckercket turlt GmiyraphU
>t>s Ancient, I. c. ). Dean Vincent agrees with Uos-
selin in confining Ophir to Saluea, partly because
h (Jen. x. Ophir is mentioned in connection with
at.m of Joktan who have their residence in Arabia
FeHx, and partly because, in 1 K. ix., the voyage
to Ophir seems related as if it were in consequence
of the viait of the Queen of Sheba to Jerusalem
{History of tie Commtret ami Navigation of ike
tneientt, 1. c). But the opinion that Jobab and
.larilah represent parts of Arabia Felix would by
so means command universal assent; and although
the book of Bangs certainly suggests the inference
Mat there was some connection between the visit
If the Queen of Sheba and the voyage to Ophir,
this would be consistent with Ophir being either
torttiguous to Sabaea, or situated on any point of
Hat southern or eastern coasts of Arabia; as in
•that of the* oases it would have been politic
OPHKI
2268
In Solomon to conciliate the guJ r.J of th«
Sabajana, who occupied a long tract of the eastern
coast of the Red Sea, and who night possibly hare
commanded the Straits of Babclmandel. On tht
whole, though there is reason to believe that Ophir
was in Arabia, there does not seem to be adequate
information to enable us to point out the precise
locality which once bore that name.
In conclusion it may be observed that objections
against Ophir being in Arabia, grounded on tb»
fact that no gold has been discovered in Arabia in
the present day, seem decisively answered by the
parallel case of Sheba. In the 72d Psalm, v. 15,
" gold of Sheba," translated in the English Psalter
"gold of Arabia," is spoken of just as "gold of
Ophir " is spoken of in other passages of the 0. T.,
and in Ecekiel's account of the trade with Tyie
(xxvii. 23), it is stated," the merchants of Shela
and Roamah, they were thy merchants : they occu-
pied in thy fairs with chief of all spices and with
all prt c'uxu timet, and gold," just as in 1 K. x.,
precious stones and gold are said to have been
brought from Ophir by the nary of Solomon and
of Hiram. (Compare Plin. vi. 98; Horace, Od.
1. 39, 1, ii. 12, 34, Hi. 34, 3; Epitt. 1. 7, 36; and
Judg. viil. 84.) Now, of two things one is true.
Either the gold of Sheba and the precious stones
sold to the Tyrians by the merchants of Sheba
were the natural productions of Sheba, and in this
case — as the Sheba here spoken of was confessedly
in Arabia — the assertion that Arabia did not pro-
duce gold falls to the ground; or the merchants of
Sheba obtained precious stones and gold in such
quantities by trade, that they became noted for
supplying them to the Tyrians and Jews, without
curious inquiry by the Jews as to the preciw lo-
cality whence these commodities were originally
derived. And exactly similar remarks may apply
to Ophir. The resemblance seems complete. In
answer to objections against the obvious meaning
of the tenth chapter of Genesis, the alternatives
may be stated as follows. Either Ophir, although
in Arabia, produced gold and precious stones ; or,
if it shall be hereafter proved in the progress of
geological investigation that this could not have
been the case, Ophir furnished gold and precious
stones nt an emporium, although the Jews were not
careful to ascertain and record the fact. E. T
OPH'NI C99M. with the def. article -
"the OphnUe: , ''"LXX. both MSS. omit; [AM.
'A<pvt; Comp. 'AAWSO Ophni). A town of Ben-
jamin, mentioned in Josh, xrlii. 94 only, apparently
in the northeastern portion of tile tribe. Its name
may perhaps imply that, like others of the towns
of this region, it was originally founded by sonu
non-Israelite tribe — the Ophnitea — wbr in that
ease hare left but this one slight trace of their
existence. [See note * to vol. i. p. 377.] In the
Biblical history of Palestine Ophni plays no part,
but it is doubtless the Gophns of Josephus, a place
which at the time of Vespasian's invasion was ap-
parently so Important as to be second only to Jeru-
salem (B. J. lii. 3, § 6). It was probably the
Oufnith, Gufna, or Heth-gufnin of the Tslinod
(Scbwara, p. 126), which still survives in the mod-
ern Jifna or Jufna, 9} miles northwest o>' Bethel
(Keland, /'oi, p. 816; Rob. B8W.iJrt.il. 984). Tht
change from the Aim, with which Ophni begins,
to O, is common enough in the LXX. (Comp
Gomorrah, Athahah, eta.) <i
• This Ophni, the present Jmfna, though not
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2264 OPHRAH
named in the N. T., U prolably connected with
hicideuU mentioned there. Of the two military
roads which led from Jerusalem to Antipatris, the
more direct cue (traces of the pavement of which
■till remain) waa by the way of Gophna (Kob.
Bi/U. Res. ii. 138); and Paul, when tent thither on
hi* night-journey to Centres (Acta xxiii. 21), may
he presumed to have followed that road. The
escort in that caw would arrive at Ophni or Gophna
about midnight, and at daybreak would reach the
last line of hills which overlook the plain of
Sharon. See Howson'a Life and Letters of Paul.
ii. p. 831 (Amer. ed.). It is very possible also that
when Saul went on his persecuting errand to Da-
mascus he passed through Gophna to Keapolia
(Nabtus), and thence onward to the north. On
the right of the road, just before coming to Jufna
from the south, are some ruins of an ancient Greek
church. The most important relic is a baptistery
carved nut of a single limestone block, in the form
of a cross, two feet nine inches deep, and four feet
four inches in diameter, or according to Dr. Rob-
inson, fire feet inside (BibL Re: iii. 78), which
account appears to have included the width of the
rim. lixcept a slight difference in the dimensions,
this font is a facsimile of one which the writer
saw at Tetu'n, and has described under Tekoa.
The present inhabitants of Jufna, about two hun-
dred, are Christians. The appearance of tlie little
village as approached from the south, surrounded by
luxuriant vines and fruit-bearing trees, is uncom-
monly beautiful. H.
OPHTRAH (TiT^ [female /««.]). The
name of two places in the central part of Palestine
1. (In Josh., 'V.<ppa6i: Alex. A<ppa. in Sam.
rofepi: Ophra, in Sam. Aphrn.) In the tribe
of Benjamin (.Josh, xviii. 23). It is named between
hap-Parah and Chephar ha-Ammonai, but as the
position of neither of these places is known, we do
not thereby obtain any clew to that of Ophrah. It
appears to be mentioned again (1 Sam. xiii. 17) in
describing the routes taken by the spoilers who
issued from the Philistine camp at Michmaah. One
of these bands of ravagera went due west, on the
road to Beth-horon ; one towards the " ravine of
Zebolm," that is in all probability one of the clefts
which lead down to the Jordan Valley, and there-
fore due east; while the third took the road " to
Ophrah and the land of Shual " — doubtless north,
for south they could not go, owing to the position
held by Saul and Jonathan. [Gibeaii, vol. ii. p
915 'i.] In accordance with this is the statement
ot" Jerome ( Onomatticon, " Aphra "), who places
it 5 miles east of Bethel. Dr. Robinson (BibL Re.
I 447) suggests its identity with et-Tatyibeh, a small
village on the crown of a conical and very con-
spicuous bill, 4 miles E. N. E. of Beitbi (Bethel),
on the ground that no other ancient place occurred
to him as suitable, and that the situation accords
frith the notice of Jerome. In the absence of any
similarity in the name, and of any more conclusive
evidence, it is impossible absolutely to sdopt this
identification.
Ophrah is probably the same place with that
which is mentioned under the slightly different
form of Epiihaih (or Epbron) and Ephraim.
'See vol. i. p. 756 a.) It may also have given its
same to toe district or government of Afhkkkxa.
;i Mace. xl. 84.)
st Ctf oa6d\ sad so Alex., excepting [viii. 97
•sat] tx 5 Efpoi/t, [Comp. in Josh. vi. 11, viii
vJRACLE
ST, 32, 'Cf-^3 Ap*m.) More fUlv Opmua
of THK A •»■ zkites, the native place of Gideon
Mudg. vi. 11); the scene of his exploits against
Baal (rer. 24); his residence after his accession to
power (ix. 5), and the place of his burial in the
family sepulchre (viii. 32). In Ophrah also he
deposited the epbod which he made or enriched
with the ornaments taken from the Iahmaelite fol-
lowers of Zebah and Zalrminna (viii. 27), and so
great was the attraction of that object, that the
town must then have been a place of great pil-
grimage and resort The indications in the narra-
tive of the position of Ophrah are but slight. It
was probably in Manasseh (vi. 15), and not for
distant front Shechem (ix. 1, 6). Van de Vesae
( .Memoir) suggests a site called Erfai, a mile south
of Akrabth, about 8 miles from Nablm, and
Scbwarz (p. 158) "the village Erafa, north of
Sanur," by which he pmlnlily Intends Arabeh.
The former of them has the disadvantage of being
altogether out of the territory of Manasseh. Of
the latter, nothing either lor or against can be
mid.
Ophrah possibly derives its name from Epher,
who was one of the heads of the families of Manas-
seh in its Gileadite portion (1 Chr. v. 24), and who
appears to have migrated to the west if Jordan
with Abi-ezer and Shechem (Num. xxvi. 0"; Joan,
xrii. 2). [Abi-rzer; Epheh, vol. i. p. 744 A;
Maxasskb, ii. 1170 A.] G.
OPH'RAH 0"n?J? [female faum] : r««>«pd;
Alex, rcxpopa; [Crimp! T.<ppi:] Ojilira). The son
of Meonothai (1 Chr. iv. 14). By the phrase
"Meonothai begat Ophrah," It is uncertain whether
we are to understand that they were rather and
son, or that Meonothai was the founder of Ophrah.
* OR in the phrase " or ever " represents the
Anglo-Saxon or, and is used in the A. V. in the
sense of "ere," "before;" see Ps. xe. 2; Prov.
viii. 28; Song of Sol. vi. 12; Dan. vi. 24; Acts
xxiii. 16. So "ere ever," Ecclus. xxiii. 20. A.
* ORACLE. This word, in every case but
one In which it occurs in the'O. Testament stands
for the Heb. "i\?"7 (I.XX. Safilp), which is
apparently employed, 1 E. viii. 8 (JTBH "!*??),
as equivalent to D^tP^jWI tt7"jfj (Holy nf /Tones).
The translation "oracle '" (Vulg. oraculum, comp.
Xpituari&riiptor, Aq. and Sym.) assumes the deri-
vation of the Heb. word from "l??, " to speak,"
as if to designate a place chosen for the special
manifestation of the divine will. A more probablt
etymology, and that now generally received, con-
nects it with "13J, taken, like the Arab. IjS,
in the sens* of "to be behind," the name besnf
thus supposed to be given to the most holy place,
as the tinder apartment of the temple proper.
The word is once employed (in the phrase " oraeta
of God," Heb. OTP£n -13}) 2 Sam. xvi/88,
apparently in the general sense of any appointed
means of obtaining a revelation from God.
In the N. T. only the plural form occurs (Adyta),
always as a designation of truths supenaturaD)
revealed, and once (Acts vii. 38) in connection wits
the epithet " lively " (rather " tiring," (mm), SB
preasive of their vital, quickening efficacy. [Lira)
lt, Amer. ed.] D £. f
Digitized by VjOOQlC
ORATOR
O RATO K. 1. The A. V rendering for bidi-
*•*, j whisper, m Incantation, joined with neAi'ti,
drJDftuV 1 b. iii. 3, A. V. "eloquent orator," niarg.
" skillful of speech." The phrase appears to refer
to pretended skill in niagii, comp. Pa. Mil. 8.
[Ditmatioh.]
9. The title* applied to TertuHtu, who appeared
aa the advocate or piti-onm of the Jewish accusers
of St. Paul before Felix, Acta xxiv. 1. The Latin
language was used, and Komau forms observed In
provincial judicial proceedings, as, to cite an ob-
viously parallel ease, Norman-French was for so
many ages the language of English law proceedings.
The trial of St. Paul at Caesarea was distinctly
one of a Roman citizen; and thus the advocate
spoke as a Roman lawyer, and probably in the
Latin language (see Acts xxv. 9, 10 Val. Max. ii.
% 2; CJe. pro Colin, e. 30; Brutus, e. 37, 38, 41,
where the qualifications of an sdweate are de-
saribed: Conybeare and Howson, Lift and Tr.irtl*
of fit Puul, i. 3, U. 348). [Tkktullus.J
H. W. P.
ORCHARD. [Gari>kh, voL 1. p. 868 ".]
/ RRB {3TfS ; in its second occurrence only,
3*3^: 'Apf/fl; [Vat. '•> Jud«- *&■ 2 8, Opnfi;]
Alex. Opn/8: Oret). The "raven" or "crow,"
the companion of Zeeb, the " wolf." One of the
chieftains of the Midianite host wli'eh invaded
Israel, and was defeated and driven back by Gideon.
The title given to them CHtP, A. V. >< princes " )
distinguishes them from Zebah. and Zalmunna,
the other two chieftains, who are called " kings "
03 'OJt and were evidently superior in rank to
Oreb and Zeeb. They were killed, not by Gideon
himself, or the people under his immediate conduct,
put by the men of Ephraim, who rose at his
entreaty and intercepted the flying horde at the
fords of the Jordan. This was the second set of
this great tragedy. It is but slightly touched
upon in the narrative of Judges, but the terms in
which Isaiah refers to it (x. 2fi) are sueh as to
imply that it was a truly awful slaughter. He
places it in the same rank with the two most
tremendous disasters recorded in the whole of the
history of Israel — the detraction of the Egyp-
tians in the Red Ssi, and of the army of Sennach-
erib. Nor is Isaiah alone among the poets of Israel
in his reference to this great event. While it is
the terrific slaughter of the Midiauites which points
his allusion, their discomfiture and flight are prom-
inent in that of the author of Ps. lxxxiii. In
imagery both obvious and vivid to every native
of the gusty hills and plains of Palestine, though
to us comparatively unintelligible, the Psalmist
describes them as driven over the uplands of Uilead
like the clouds of chaff blown from the threshing-
Boors; ehased away like the spherical masses of
dry weeds " which course over the plains of Es-
iraelou and Philistia — flying with the dreadful
* B?!T7 ]""Q3; ovmrec axaearfc; Tulf. sod
Symm. pnufnu ttoquii mystiri ; Aqulla, avvrrbi
tytssxnn? i Theodofc awtrbt hm&j. 8es Oes pp.
•M. 754.
* 'Pv>«p, orator.
c Bet a good passage on this by Thomson (Low/
sart Act, eh. xxrvll), describing the flight Defers the
srtnd of the dry plants of the wtM arttehoke. He
■reef atss s sMklnf Arab hnprseatten in rassrenee to
OREB, THE ROOK 2266
hurry and confusion of the flames, that tush and
leap from tree to tree and hill to hill when ths
wooaed mountains of a tropical country are by
chance ignited (Ps. lxxxiii. 18, 14). The slaughtei
was concentrated round the rock at which Oreb
fell, and which was long known by his name (Judg
vii. 25; Is. x. 26). This spot appears to hart
been on the east of Jordan, from whence the heads
of the two chiefs were brought to Gideon to en-
courage him to further pursuit aftrr the fugitive
Zebah and Zalmnnna.
This is a remarkable instance of (he value of the
incidental notices of the later books of the Bible in
confirming or filling up the rapid and often neces-
sarily slight outlines of the formal history. No
reader of the relation in Judges would suppose (hat
the death of Oreb and Zeeb had been accompanied
by any slaughter of their followers. In the subse-
quent pursuit of Zebah and Zalmunna the " host "
is especially mentioned, but in this case the chiefs
alone are named. This the notices of Ir-iah and
the Psalmist, who evidently referred to foots with
which their hearers were familiar, fortunately enable
us to supply. Similarly in the narrative of the
exodus of Israel from Egypt, as given in the Penta-
teuch, there is no mention whatever of the tempest,
the thunder and lightning, and the earthquake,
which from the incidental allusions of Ps. Ixxvii.
16-18 we know accompanied that event, and which
are also stated fully by Josephus (Ant ii. 16, § 3).
We are thus reminded of a truth perhaps too often
overlooked, that the occurrences preserved in the
Scriptures are not the only ones which happened
in connection with the various events of the sacred
history: a consideration which should dispose us
not to reject too hastily the supplements to the
Uible narrative furnished by Josephus, or by the
additions and corrections of the Septuagint, and
even those facts which are reflected, in a distorted
form it is true, but still often with considerable
remains of their original shape and character, in
the legends of the Jewish, Mohammedan, an 1
Christian East. U.
OTtEB (Oreb), I e. Mount Horeb (2 Eedr. ii.
33). [Hobkb.]
OHEB, THE ROOK GXTVO TW: in
Judges Joiip I'dfriff], Alex. Zovfrny [only]; in
Is. toVoi tAtysou in both MSS.: Pttra Ortb,
and llortb). The "raven's crag," the spot at
which the Midianite chieftain Oreb, with thou-
sands of his countrymen, fell by the hand of the
Ephralmites, and which probably acquired its name
therefrom. It is mentioned in Judg. vii. 25 ; d Is.
It seems plain from the terms rl Judg. vii.
25 and viii. 1 that the ruck Oreb and the wine-
press Zeeb were on the east side' «f Jordan.
Perhaps the place called 'Orbo 03T9), which in
the BtrethUk Rubba (Reland, Pot p. 913) is
stated to have been in the neighborhood of Beth
shean, may have some connection with it. Rabbi
It, which recalls in a remarkable way the words of the
Psalm quoted above : R May you be whirled like the
'aJbvDft before the wind, until you are caught m the
thorns, or plunged Into the sea ! "
* The word " upon " In the Auto, version of thk>
Is •votoomet The preposition k 9 •,"»•'
or "at."
• Suet is ths joaeln
"On*").
of Man! (IW. m. Ml
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2266
OBJBN
Judith (fler. Alton, ibid.) mi of opinion that the
'Oretnm (•> ravens ' ) who ministered to Klljah were
DO ravens, but the people of this Orbo or of the
look Oreb," an idea upon which even St. Jerome
himself does not look with entire disfavor ( Convn.
in la it. 7), and which has met in biter times
with some supporters. The present defective state
of our knowledge of the regions east of the Jordan
renders it impossible to pronounce whether the
name is still surviving. 6.
OTtEN (pfc [pine-tree, Ges.]: 'Apiii: [V«t.
Kuffpaft ;] Alex. Asa*: Aram). One of the sous
at Jei&bmeel the firstborn of Hesron (1 (,'hn. ii.
II'.
OllGAN (2$a, Gen. ir. 31; Job rxi. IS;
2|"0, Job xix. 81 : Pi cL 4). The Hebrew word
'igib oi 'uggab, thus rendered in our version,
probably denotes a pipe or perforated wind-instru-
ment, as the rout of the word indicates-* In Gen.
hr. 81 it appears to be a general term for all wind-
instruments, opposed to c'muor (A. V. "harp"),
which denotes all stringed instrument!, (n Job
xxi. IS ire enumerated the three kinds of musical
instruments which are possible, under the general
terms of the timbrel, harp, and organ. The 'igib
is here distinguished from the timbrel sod harp,
as in Job xxx. 31, compared with Pa. cL 4. Our
translators adopted their rendering, " organ," from
the Vulgate, which has uniformly orgamm, that
is, the double or multiple pipe. The renderings
of the LXX. are various: tuiipa in Gen. It. 81,
ibaApos iu Job, and ipyarorin Ps. cl. 4. The
Chaldee in every case has N^QM, abljiiba, which
signifies " a pipe," and is the rendering of the
Hebrew word so translated in our version of Is.
xxx. 39; Jer. xlviii. 36. Joel Bril, iu bis 3d
preface to the Psalms in Mendelssohn's Bible,
adopts the opinion of those who identify it with
the Pandean pipes, or syrinx, an instrument of
inquestionably ancient origin, and common in the
East It was a favorite with the shepherds In the
time of Homer (/£ xviii. 526), and its invention
was attributed to various deities : to Pallas Athene
by Pindar (f>tf- xii. 13-14), to l'an by Pliny (vii.
57: ef. Virg. Act ii. 38; TibuU. ii. 6, 80); by
others to Marayas or Silenus (Atben. iv. 184). In
the last^ruoted passage it is said that Hermes first
made the syrinx with one reed, while Silenus, or,
according to others, two Medes, Seuthes and Rhon-
skes, invented that with many reeds, and Marayas
fastened them with wax. The reeds were of un-
equal length but equal thickness, generally seven
hi number (Virg. Act ii. 36), but sometimes nine
Thsocr. Id viii.). Those in use among the Turks
sometimes numbered fourteen or fifteen (Calmet,
Dm m Mm. ItuL ffebr., in Ugoliui, Tka. xxxii.
730). Russell describes those he met with in
Aleppo. "The syrinx, or Pan's pipe, is still a
pastoral instrument in Syria; it is known also in
the city, but very few of the performers can sound
It tolerably well. The higher notes are clear and
Bl e s si ng, but the longer reeds are apt, like the
a Msnssssh ban load, Conciliator, on Uv. xL IS.
6 33Pi u b,ow > or hreatiw.
« •« The Arabs,-' says Mr. Porter (Kltto's Bfsfa Uhu-
Hlmi, L 106. Idmb. 1866), " have stUi tha flats, sod
liMsjht In Its musk. They make It tfaemsslves, aa4 kt
OBION
dervis's flute, to make a hissing sound, tbougs
blown by a good player. The number of reeds
of which the syrinx is composed varies ill different
instraawnts, from five to twenty three"* (Aleppo
b. II. c 8, vol. i. p. 166, 3d ed.).
If the root of the word 'igab above given bo
correct a stringed instrument is nut of the ques-
tion, and it is therefore only necessary to mention
the opinion of the author of Strike HaggiUortm
(ITgoL vol xxxii.), that It is the same u the Italian
riofn oVi gamba, which was somewhat similar in
form to Uie modern violin, and was played upon
with a bow of horsehair, the chief difierence being
that it had six strings of gut instead of four.
Michaelis (Sunot ad Lex. Heir., No. 1184) iden-
tifies the 'Updo with the psaltery.
Winer (Realm, art "Musikaasebe Instrumente"')
says that in tha Hebrew version of the hook of
Daniel 'ugab is used as the equivalent of JTjbtpnD,
tiimixmy&h (Gr. crv/iijxtrta), rendered " dulcimer "
in our version. W. A. W.
OKI'ON (b s D?: *£Vnr«pof, Job ix. 9 ;
apiar. Job xxxviii. 81: Oi-im, Arcturut, in Job
ixxriii. 31V That the constellation known to the
Hebrews by the name cetll is the same as that
which the Greeks called Orim, and the Arab* " the
Gisnt," there seems little reason to doubt, though
the ancient versions vary in their renderings. In
Job ix. 9 the order of the words has evidently been
transposed. In the LXX. it appears to have been
thus, — chn&h, cetil, 'deli i the Vulgate retains the
words ss they stand in the Hebrew: while the
Peshito Syriac road ctradA, 'dtk, cetil, rendering
the last-mentioned word l i "> I ^yntoro, "toe
giant," *• m J°b xxxriii. 81. In Am. v. 8 there
is sgain a difficulty in the Syriac version, which
represents cetil by JLQ*^, 'Jftoia, by which*
'd*4 In Job ix. 9, and 'its* in Job xxxviii. 33 (A.
V. "Arcturus"), are translated. Again, in Job
xxxviii. 33, 'oiks is represented by *Eo-n«o> in the
IJCX., which raises a question whether the order
of the words which the translators had lofore them
in Job ix. 9 was not, as in the Syr., ciutib, 'das,
erst/; in which case the last would be represented
by 'Apicrovpos, which was the rendering adopted
by Jerome from his Hebrew teacher ( Costa*, m
Jet. xiii. 10). But no known manuscript authority
supports any such variation from the received He-
brew text
The " giant " of oriental astronomy was Nimrod.
the mighty hunter, who was fabled to have been
bound iu the sky for bis impiety. The two dogs
and the bare, which are among the constellations
in the neighborhood of Orion, made his train com-
plete. There is possibly an allusion to this belief
in "the bands of cttU" (Job xxxviii. 31), with
which Gesenius (Jet. i. 468) compares Prov. vii.
33. Iu the Vhnmiam Patekale (p. 36) Nhnru!
is said to hare been "a giant, the founder of Baby-
lon, who, the Persians say, was deified and placid
among the stars jf heaven, whom they call Orion '■
(comp. Cedrenus, p. 14). The name cetU, literally
b rode sod simple. A common raed Is taken, eut ths
reqnlrad length, hates are burned In It, a mouth-fSset
Is fltsa. on, and the instrument Is complete." Bs
supposes tha Hsbrsw 'ages to have Men a suaUss
Instrument. Dr. Oooant nodan the Uehrnw wort
" pips "la Job xxx. 3L H.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
ORNAMENTS, PERSONAL
■ a Cool," and than " an impious, godless iuu. is
•apposed to bo appropriate to Niiurod, who, accord-
ng to tradition, nil rebel against God in building
Uw tower of Babel, and is called by the Arab his-
torians "the mocker." All this, however, is the
Invention of a later period, and is baaed upon a
Use etymology of Nimrod's name, and an attempt
to adapt the word cttU to a Hebrew derivation.
Some Jewish writers, the Habbia Isaac Israel and
Jonah among them, identified the Hebrew aM
with the Arabia whuiL, by which was understood
either Sirius or Cauopua. The words of R. Jonsh
(Abulwalid), as quoted by Kjmchi (Lex. lleb. a. v.),
■re — "CeaU is the large star called in Arabic So-
k'til, and the stars combined with it are called niter
its name, eaUbn" The name S-Jtuil, " foolish,*'
waa derived from the supposed influence of the star
in "»"«'"g folly in men, and waa probably an addi-
tional reason for identifying it with ceiil. These
conjectures proceed, first, upon the supposition that
the word is Hebrew in its origin, and, secondly, that,
if this be the case, it is connected with the root of
cestf, " a fool; " whereas it is more probably derived
from a root signifying firmness or strength, and
so would denote the " strong one," the giant of the
Syrians and Arabs. A full account of the various
theories which bare been framed on the subject
will be found in Michselis, Suppl ad Ltx. lltbr.,
No. 1U3. W. A. W.
ORNAMENTS, PERSONAL. The num-
ber, variety, and weight of the ornaments ordina-
rily worn upon the person forms one of the charac-
teristic features of oriental costume, both in ancient
and modern times. The monuments of ancient
Egypt exhibit the hands of ladies loaded with riniji,
ear-rings of very great size, anklets, armlets, brace-
lets of the most varied character, and frequently
inlaid with precious stones or enamel, lisndsome
and richly ornamented necklaces, either of gold or
of beads, and chains of various kinds (Wilkinson,
ii. 335-341). The modern Egyptians retain to the
fall the same taste, and vie with their progenitors in
the number and beauty of their ornaments (Lane,
voL ill. Appendix A. ). Nor is the display confined,
as with us, to the upper classes : we are told that
even "most of the women of the lower orders
wear a variety of trumpery ornaments, such as ear-
rings, necklaces, bracelet*, etc., and sometimes a
nose ring " (Lane, i. 78). There is sufficient evi-
dence in the Bible that the inhabitants of Palestine
were equally devoted to finery. In the Old Testa-
ment, Isaiah (iii. 18-23) supplies us with a detailed
description of the articles with which the luxurious
women of his day were decorated, and the picture
is filled up by incidental notices in other
a ATesmt (QTJ) ; A. V. "ear-ring." The term ta
ased both *w "'ear-rot " and " nose-ring." That it
was the rormer la tha present case appears from far. 47 :
I put the noM-ring upon her Jot* " (PTM"7y).
Che term la etvmologloaUy mora appropriate to the
note-jewd than to the ear-ring. [lu-am*; Hosa>
Jswst.]
» TMmur (TT3S), a particular kind of brassies,
w named won a not signifying " to fasten." [Batoay
.• CM (^bj) ! A T. "Jewels." The word ek>
tans gsnsealiy "articles." They may have bean
■that vessels or psrsonal ornaments: we thins, tin
latam Sanaa asore adapted to Ibis passage
ORNAMENTS, PERSONAL 2201
in the New Testament the Apostles lead us to infci
the prevalence of the same habit wbeu they recom-
mend -the women to adorn thenuelvee, "not with
braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but
with good works " (1 Tim. ii. 9, 10), even with
" the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which if
in the sight of God of great price " (1 Prt. iii 4).
Ornaments were most lavishly displayed at festiv-
ities, whether of a public (Hoe. ii. 13) or a private
character, particularly on the occasion of a wedding
(Is. Ixi. 10; Jer. ii. 32). In times of public mourn-
ing they were, on the other hand, laid aside (fix.
xxxlii. 4-6).
With regard to the particular artieles n<Aiu>!
in the Old Testament, it is sometimes difficult au
explain their form or use, as the name is the only
source of information open to us. Much illustra-
tion may, however, be gleaned both from the mon-
uments of Egypt and Assyria, and from the state-
ments of modern travellers; and we are in all re-
spects in a better position to explain the meaning
of the Hebrew terms, than were the learned men
of the Reformation era. We propose, therefore, to
review the passages in which the personal orna-
ments are described, substituting, where necessary,
for the readings of the A. V . the more correct sense
in italics, and referring for more detailed descrip-
tions of the articles to the various heads under
which they may be found. The notices which
occur in the early books of the Bible, imply the
weight and abundanoe of the ornaments worn at
that period. Eliezer decorated Rebekah with " a
golden tu>K-riny « of half a shekel weight, and two
bracelets * for her hands of ten shekels weight of
gold " (Gen. xxiv. 93); and be afterwards added
" trinkttt ° of silver and trinltrU e of gold " (vent
53). Ear-rings <* wen worn by Jacob's wives, ap-
parently as charms, for they are mentioned in con-
nection with idols: "they gave unto Jacob all
the strange gods, which were in their hand, and
their ear-rings which were in their ears" (Gen.
xxxv. 4). The ornaments worn by the patriarch
Judah were a " signet," < which was suspended by
a ttring f round the neck, and a "staff" (Gen.
xxxviii. 18): the staff itself waa probably orna-
mented, and thus the practice of the Israelites
would be exactly similar to that of the Babylo-
nians, who, according to Herodotus (i. 195), " each
carried a seaL and a walking-stick, carved at the
top into the form of an apple, a rose, an eagle, ot
something similar." The first notice of the ring
occurs in reference to Joseph : when he was mad*
ruler of Egypt, Pharaoh " took off his signet-ring s
from bis hand and put it upon Joseph's hand, and
put a gold chain * about his neck " (Gen. xli. 48),
the latter being probably a " simple gold chain iii
<* The word noun at again used, but with the ad
dltion of DrppTN?, " In their sen."
i (Dfjin). Imuu]
/ FBiAU (Vng); AT. "bracelets." The signal
is still worn, suspended by a string, In parts of Aral a>
(Robinson, 1. 86.)
g laMa'oia (1*15213). The signet-ring in tuts,
M In other cases (tith fit. 10, vUl. 3 ; 1 Maeo. ri. 16)
wss not merely an ornament, but the symbol of an
thority-
a KiNU (T2"l). The term Is also applied to
ocam worn by a woman (as. art. 11 J.
j
2268 ORNAMENTS, PERSONAL
natation of string, to which a (tone acarabieus, Mt
hi the same precious metal, was appended " (Wil-
kinson, ii. 339). The number of personal orna-
ments worn by the Egyptians, particularly by the
females, is incidentally noticed in Ex. til. 88 : —
•* Every woman shall ask (A. V. " borrow ") of her
neighbor hinkett ■ of silver and trinkets « of gold
. . . and ye shall spoil the Egyptians: " in Ex.
xL 8 the order is extended to the males, and from
this time we may perhaps date the more frequent
nee of trinkets among men ; for, while it is said in
the former passage : " ye shall put them upon your
sons and upon your daughters," we find subsequent
■ jticn of ear-rings being worn at all errata by
young men (Ex. xxxii. 3), and again of offerings
both from men and women of " note-rings,* and
tar-rings, and rings, and necklncesf all articles of
gold " (Ex. xxxv. 23). The profusion of those or-
naments was such as to supply sufficient gold for
making the sacred utensils for the Tabernacle, while
the Iarer of brass was constructed out of the brazen
mirrvrt* which the women carried about with
them (Ex. xxxviii. 8). The Hidianites appear to
have been as prodigal as the Egyptians in the use
of ornaments: for the Israelites are described as
having captured '■'■trinkets of gold, armlets,' and
bracelets, rings, ear-rings/and necklaces,' the value
of which amounted to 16,760 shekels (Num. xxxi.
SO, 62 ». Equally valuable were the ornaments ob-
tained from the same people after their defeat by
Gideon: "the weight of the golden mse-rmss *
was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold ;
beside collars' and ear-pendants* (Judg. viii. 26).
« CM. Bee noes c, p. 2267.
» CMck (rn)i A. V. "bracelets." Tht mean-
ing of Its term Is rather doubtful, some authorities
pcafcrrbig the sense " buckle." In other passages the
same went signifies the ring 1 placed through the nose
of an animal, such as a boll, to lead him by.
e CfcfNda (TD-13) ; A. V. * tablets." It means
s necklace formed of perforated gold drops strung to-
gether. [Nxnuuxs.]
<* Marttk (fYWTD) i A. V. " looking-glasses.
The uss of polished' minora is alluded to In Job
xxxtU. 18. [Mnuun.]
• £u 'ad&k (n*TS?K) i A T. « chains." Acog-
iate term, used in Is.' 111. 20, means "step-chain ; "
ant the word is used both hen and In 2 Sam. I. 10
without reference to Its etymological sense. [Anna*.)
/ 'JfU (VjS) ; a circular ear-ring, of a solid ehar-
ORNAMENTS, PERSONAL
The poetical portions of the 0. T. contain nu-
merous references to the ornaments worn by the
Israelites in the time of their highest prosperity
The appearance of the bride is thus described in the
book of the Canticles : " Thy cheeks are comely
with bends, 1 thy neck with perforated" (pearb);
we will make thee beads of gold with studs of
silver" (i. 10, 11). Her neck rising tall and stately
" like the tower of David bnilded for an armoury,"
was decorated with various ornaments '""g'rg tike
the " thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men,
on the walls of the armoury " (i v. 4): her hair fall-
ing gracefully over her neck is described figura-
tively as a " chain "» (iv. 0); and "the round-
ings " (not as in the A. V. « the joints ") of her
thighs are HkeDed to the pendant ■ of an ear-ring,
which tapers gradually downwards (vil. 1). So
again we read of the bridegroom : " his eyes are
. . . fitly set," p as though they were gems filling
the sockets of rings (v. 18) : "his hands are at
gold rings i set with the beryl,'* i. e. (as explained
by Geaenius, Thesaur. p. 887) the fingers when
curved are like gold rings, and the nails dyed with
henna resemble gems. Lastly, the yearning after
close affection is expressed thus : " Set me as a seal
upon thine heart, as s seal upon thine arm," whether
that the seal itself was the most valuable personal
ornament worn by a man, as in Jer. xxii. 84 ; Hag.
ii. 23, or whether perchance the close contiguity of
the teal to the wax on which it is impressed may
not rather be intended (Cant viii. 6). We may
further notice the imagery employed in the Prov-
erbs to describe the effects of wisdom iu beauiify-
> Ctmoa,' A. T.« tablets." Ses note c above.
a Nairn ; A. V. " ear-rings." See note a, p. 2267.
TTss (arm Is hen undefined; but, as eaMUgs an
subsequently noticed In the verse, we think It prob-
able that the nose-ring Is intended.
< SakarBnim (D^'intS) ; A. V. « ornaments.''
The word specifies moan*iap4d disks of metal, strung
era a cord, and placed round the necks either of men
rr of camels. Compare ver. 21. [Chaw.]
« NtttphCth (niS'lr?); A. V. "eollan'' or
sweat-Jewels." The etymological sense of the word
B pendants, which wen no doubt attached to aar-
< TM'm (D v 7V ! i); A. V. "rows." The term
leans, according to Oceenius (tha. p. 14W), met of
psarla or beads ; but, as the etymological sense Is eon-
1 wish ..vefe, It may nther mean th» Indrvtdwel
beads, which might be Strang together, and so make
a row, encircling the cheeks. In the next vans the
same word Is rendered In the A. V. " borders." The
seuse must, however, be the same In both verses, sad
the point of contrast may perchance coastst In tha
difference of the material, the beads In ver. 10 being
of some ordinary metal, while those In ver. 11 wan to
be of gold.
m CWostm (O^nr*); A. T. "chains." The
word would apply to any' perforated articles, such as
beads, pearls, coral, ess.
a 'Anak (pjy). In the A. V. It Is supposed to be
literally a chain : and hence soma critics explain the
word attached to it, 7"P3*T?V, as meaning a <• col-
lar,'' Instead of a "neck!" ' The latter, which is ths
correct sense, may be retained by treating 'anak as
metaphorically applied to a pendant lock of hair.
o Ckalaim (CKlbr?)'; A. T. " Jewels. » Oese-
nius understands the term as referring to a nec k lace,
and renders this passage, " the roundings of thy hips
an like the knobs or bosses of a necklace." The two
notions of rmindrd snd polished may be combined in
the word In this ea e. A cognate term is used In Has.
ii. 18, and Is rendered in the A. V. "Jewels."
Ii The wordi In the original literally mean tiumfim
fiiUntu; and the previous reference to "riven or
waters ' would rather lead us to adopt a rendering in
harmony with that Image, as is done in the LXX. and
tha Vulgate, »a*ijiuvsi IrtA vAiyxipara *Mmv, /Saras
Jtuenta pttnisshna.
t The term hen rendered " rings," g«Mwi
(D^Vbj), to nowhere else found In Una ssnss, at
all events' as a personal ornament. Its etymological
sense implies something roundtd, and therefore toe
word admits of being rendered " stafb ; " in which
ease a comparison would he Instituted between the
outstretched fingers and the handsomely dtcorarst)
staff, of which we have already spoken (rTJtstg, i* toe)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
ORNAMENTS, PERSONAL
■g the character; in reference to the term* Died
m need only explain that the " ornament " of the
A. V. in i. 9, iv. 9, is more specifically a rventh "
or garland; the " chains " of 1. 9, the drnps i of
which the necklace was formed , the "jewel of gold
m a swine's snout " of xi. 23, a note-ring ; c the
"jewel " of xx. 16, a trinket, and the " ornament "
ef xxt. 12, an ear-pend<mt.< t
The passage of Isaiah (iii 18-23), to which we
hare already referred, may be rendered as follows:
(18) " In that day the Lord will take away the
brarary of their anklets," and their lace cape/ and
their necklaces;! (19) the ear-pendants,* and the
bracelets,* and the light veils ; * (20) the turbans,'
and the slep-chams,m and the girdles,* and the
scenUxjtties,* and the amulets ;p (21) the rings
and note-rings ; v (22 J the state-dresses r and the
clonks, and the sltaalt, and the pwses;s (23)
the mirrmt,' and the fine linen shirts, and the
turbans,* and the light dresses." •
The) following extracts from the Mishna (Shabb.
cap. ri.) illustrate the subject of this article, it be-
ing premised that the object of the inquiry was to
ascertain what constituted a proper article of dress,
ud what might be regarded by rabbinical refine-
ment as a burden : " A woman must not go out
(on the Sabbath) with linen or woollen laces, nor
with the strap* on her head : nor with a frontlet
and pendants thereto, unless sew.i to her cap: u»r
with a golden tower (t. e. an ornament in the shape
of a tower) : nor with a tight goH chain : nor with
nose-rings: nor with finger-rings on which there is
do seal: nor with a needle without any eye (§ 1):
nor with a needle that has an eye: nor with a
finger-ring that has a seal on it: nor wi".h a dia-
seaa: nor with a smelling-botte or baIm- A %)k (§ a).
n Xieyaa (TT $).
» Bat sate a, p. '2188.
* The word Is van Set nets a, p. 22S7.
<* CMS. 8e»noteo, p. 2268.
« • Jtishn (1TD35) i A. V. ■' tinkling ornaments
stout their ant."' The effect or the anklet Is de-
scribe! in Ter. IS, " making a tinkling with their feet."
[Aaxur.]
/ SUMjhn D'D'Otp); A. V. "cauls'' or "ntt-
The term has 'been otberaisa explained as
[ onmnents shaped like the sun, and worn as a
[rUm.]
t Smharonlm ; A. V. " round tires Ilk* the moon."
■as note V p. 2988.
a NetimkM; A. T. "chains" or "sweet balls."
8m note * p. 2888.
< SMce (HTTB/). The word refers to the eon-
seraetlon of the bracelet by intertwining cords or
SMteltods.
* hVmth (nV?y?); A. ▼. "mutters" or
' spangled ornaments." The word describes the tremu-
w motion of the Tell. [Tsn>l
>■ JVrtus (a^")W?) 5 A. V. " bonnets." The
met stay mean mote 'specifically the decoration In
■wot of the turban. [Hud-buss.]
■ TsSUtlk (nVTyS) ; A. T. « ornaments of the
ess." See note < p. 2288. Tht effect of the step-chain
* as give a " mincing " gait, as described in ver. 18.
* Aueaiarim (UHtfj))', A. T. -eed-baaie."
■I prabaMy mesne a handsomely deco r ated girdle
s.] It formed part ef a bride's atttrs (Jar. II.
ar 1
obpah 2269
A mail is not to go out . . . with an amulet, un-
less it be by a distinguished sage (§ 2) : knee-buckles
are clean and a man may go out with them : step-
chains are liable to become unclean, and a map
must not go out with them " (§ 4). W. L. B.
OR"NAN (1J"|^_ [« trong one, a *em]i
'Opyi": Oman). 'The form in which the name
of the Jebuslte king, who in the older record of the
book of Samuel is called Araunah, Aranyah, Ha-
avuniab, or Haornah, is given in Chronic]** (1 Chr.
xxi. 15, 18, 20-25, 28; 2 Chr. iii '.). Thai ex-
traordinary rariety of form is a strong corroboratkn
to the statement that Oman was a non-IsrseUli
[Araunah; Jebusjtk, vol. ii. p. 1222 a.]
In some of the Greek versions of Origen's Htt-
apla collected by Bahrdt, the threshing-floor of
Oman ('Zpva toS 'Ufiovo-aln) is named for that
of Nachon in 2 Sam. vi. 6. Q.
or-pah (n^ns
[see below] : 'OpQa:
Orphn), [Ruth i. 4, 14.} A Moabite woman, wife
of Chilion son of Naomi, and thereby sister-in-law
to Rtjth. On the death of their husbands Orpah
accompanied her sister-in-law and her mother-in-
law on the road to Bethlehem. Hut here her reso-
lution failed her. The offer which Naomi made
to the two younger women that they should return
" each to their own mother's house," after a slight
hesitation, she embraced. "Orpah kissed her
mother-in-law," and went back " to her people and
to her gods," leaving to the unconscious Kuth tbr
glory, which she might have rivaled, of being ths
mother of the most illustrious house of that or any
nation. 0.
• Simonis (p. 401) makes nB"l.S ■» rH^J
o Boat hannepheth (tf^ftjl VH^) ; A. T. « tab-
lets," or " houses of the toil," the latter being the
literal rendering of the words. The scent-bottle was
either attached to the girdle or suspended from tht
neck.
pLechashim (DNtfrf?); A. ▼. "ear-rings." Tht
meaning of this term Is extremely doubtful : It Is de-
rived from a root signifying " to whisper ; " and hence
Is applied to the mntterings of serpent charmers, and
In a secondary sense to amulets. They may have
been In the form of ear-rings, as already stated. The
etymological meaning, might otherwise make It arpU
cable to describe light, rustling robes (Saalsehuss,
Archaot. I. 80).
9 A. T. " note-jews]*."
r for this and the two following terms set Dastr.
• Okarlltm (DHS'nr]); A. V. "erlsplng-pmt. r
Compare 2 K. v. 28. According to Qeeenlua ( Ta». p
619), the purse Is so named from tta round, eonlssl
form.
t GilyOalm (SO^?); A. T. "glasses." The
term is not the tame as was before need ; nor Is Its
stoat well ascertained. It baa been otherwise under
stood as describing a transparent material like gaum
See Daaas.
a A. ▼. "hoods." [Hau-Dasas.]
• A. T. "Tails." rDaxss.]
w Declined 'Opsf , Opr&V, In the Tat. MS. (Mai) j
bat In the Alex. 118. constantly Opra- In the Tar-
gum on Ohronlclet the name Is given In four different
forms: usually 7Vj"W, but also V^tj. W^ft
Ijnfcl and ]fVK Set tht edition of Bees May
Tinei. ism T T
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2270 ORTH08IAS
rbuv* fth» Idttci* liong tran sp os e d); but Gesenlus
prefers mnnr,fnrrlnck, from H^?» H.
ORTHO'SIAS ('OoftMrufe; Alex. OpoWmi
Onhntim). Tryphon, when besieged by Antiochus
.Sidetes in Dora, tied by ship to Orthosiaa (1 Mace.
jr. 87). Orthosis ii described by Pliny (v. 17) as
north of Tripoli], and south of the river Kleutherua,
near which it was situated (Strobo, xvl. p. 753).
It was the northern boundary of Pbceiiice, and
distant 1130 stadia from the Orontes (id. p. 760).
Shaw (Tiav. pg 270, 271, 2d ed.) identifies the
Hentherus with the modern Nnhr tUBirid on the
north bank of which, corresponding to the descrip-
tion of Strabo (p. 753), he found "ruins of a con-
siderable city, whose adjacent district pays yearly
to the bashaws of Tripoly a tax of fifty dcllara by
the name of Or-luta. In Peutinger's Table, also,
Orthosia is placed thirty miles to the south of An-
taradus, and twelve miles to the north of Tripoly.
The situation of it likewise is further illustrated by
a medal of Antoninus Pius, struck at Orthosia;
upon the reverse of which we hare the goddess
Aatarte treading upon a river. For this city was
built upon a rising ground on the northern hanlu
sf the river, within half a furlong of the sea, and. as
the rugged eminences of Mount Libunus lie at a
small distance in a parallel with the shore, Ortho-
sia must have been a place of the greatest impor-
tance, as it would hare hereby the entire command
of the road (the only one there is) betwixt Phcenice
and the maritime parts of Syria." On the other
hand, Mr. Porter, who identifies the Kleutherua
with the modern Nahr tl-KMi; describes the
ruins of Orthosia as on the south bank of the Nnhr
ti-B&iid, " the cold river " (fJandOk. p. 693), thus
agreeing with the account* of Ptolemy and Pliny.
The statement of Strabo is not sufficiently precise
to allow the inference that he considered Orthosia
north of the Kleutherua. But if the ruins on the
south bank of the N'ikr eLBdriil be really those of
Orthosia, it seems an objection to the identifica-
tion of the Eleutherus with the Nuhr tl-KeUr ; fat
Strabo at one time makes Orthosia (xiv. p. 670),
and at another the neighboring river Kleutherua
(o wAno-ior totouioYj, the boundary of Phoenice on
the north. '1 his could hardly have been the case
If the Kleutherua were 3] hours, or nearly twelve
miles, from Orthosia.
According to Joeepbus (AM. x. 7, § 2), Tryphon
fled to Apamea, while in a fragment of Charax,
quoted by Grimm (Kwzgtf. Ilandb.)ttmn Midler's
Fmy. Grae. IHtt. iii. p. 644, ft. 14, he is said to
save taken refuge at Itolemais. Grimm recon-
ciles these stateii;=nts by supposing that Tryphon
fled fitst to Orthosia, then to Ptoleruais, and lastly
t» Apamea where he was slain. \V. A. W.
OSA1A8 [3 syl.] CfWat; [Vat. omits:]
Ma. iu Vulg.). A corruption of Jksiiaiah (1 Esdr.
riii. 48 ; comp. Ear. viii. 19).
OSE'A (0«ee). Hoshea the son of Elah,
king of Israel (2 Esdr. xiii. 40).
Ob'E'AS ( Out). The prophet Hose a (2 Esdr.
I .)9).
• OSE'E {'tun,tx Thch. Treg. •tUntf: Omt).
Toe prophet Hosea (Rom. ix. 25). A.
OSHB'A Qftfhn,!. e. Hoshea [see below];
damar. StDlJT: AM|: Otte). The orighul
same of Joshua the son of Nun (Num. xiii. 8),
which on some occasion not stated — but which
OSPRAY
we may with reason conjecture to have been bis re-
sistance to the factious conduct of the spies—
received from Moses (vet. 16) the addition of the
great name of Jehovah, so lately revealed to the
nation (Ex. vi. 3), and thus from " Help " became
" Help of Jehovah." The Samaritan Codex has
Jeboshua in both places, and therefore misses the
point of the change.
The original form of the name recurs in Dent
xxxii. 44, though there the A. V. (with more ac-
curacy than here) has Hoshea.
Probably no name in the whole Bible appears in
so many forms as that of this great personage, in
the original fire, and in the A. T. no less than
seven — Oshea, Holhea, Jehoshua, Jeboshuah,
Joshua, Jeshua, Jesus; and if we add Hosea (also
identical with Oshea) and Osea, nine. G.
OSPRAY (n»3*^, otrtgyik : oAiaferoi:
Imlueehu). The Hebrew word occurs only in I*v.
<i 13. and Pent. xiv. 12, as the name of some un-
clean bird which the law of Moses disallowed at
food to the Israelites. The old versions and nuyu;
Aadi'M hatlmetm.
commentators are in favor of this Interpretation ;
but Rochart (f/ierm. ii. 774) has endeavored,
though on no reasonable grounds, to prove that the
bird denoted by the Hebrew term is identical with
the mtUmattut (ucAaxafrroj) of Aristotle, the
Valeria aqmla of Pliny. There is, however, soma
difficulty in identifying the haliattut of Aristotle
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OSSIFRAGE
ttd nit/, oil account of some statements these
writers make with respect to the habits of this
bird. The general description they give would
•nit either the ospray (Pmdbm haHattut) or the
white-tailed eagle (Hnlueetut ntbiciU"). The fol-
lowing pauage, however, cf Pliny (x. 3), poirU to
the oapra}- : •• The hnliixttut poises itself Jolt,
and the moment it catches sight of a fish m the
an below pounces headlong upon it, and clearing
the water with Its breast, carries off its booty."
With this may lie compared the description of a
modern naturalist, Dr. Kichardson: "When look-
ing out for its prey it sails with great ease and
elegance, in undulating lines at a considerable alti-
tude above the water, from whence it precipitates
itself upon its quarry, and bean it off in its claws."
Again, both Aristotle and Pliny speak of the diving
habits of the hiluKlut. The ospray often plunges
entirely under the water in pursuit of fish. The
ospray belongs to the family Falconida, order
Raptatoret. It has a wide geographical range, and
is occasionally seen in Egypt; but as it is rather a
northern bird, the Hebrew word may refer, as Mr.
Tristram suggests to us, either to the Aomin
iiavia, or A. nariulde; or more probably still to
the very abundant (.Hrcaitue gnlliau which feeds
upon reptilia. W. H.
OSSIFRAGE PTS peie» : yety- grype).
There is much to be said in favor of this transla-
tion of the A. V. The word occurs, as the name
of an unclean bird, in \jtt. xi. 13, and in the par-
allel passage of Dent. xiv. 13. (For other render-
ings of pent see Bochart, Hierot. ii. 770.) Th.3
OSTRICH
2271
Qypaeiut barbaitts.
Arabic version has olcab, which Bochart renders
acXaWtrof, "the black eagle." [Owpkat.]
ITiia word, however, is in all probability generic,
ind is used to denote any bird of the eagle kind,
tw in the vernacular Arabic nC Algeria okab is " '.he
generic name used by the Arabs to express any «i
the large *inds of the FulcoiUie." (See Lochs' »
Catalogue det Oieeaux ob$ervet en Algeria p. 37. ;
There is nothing conclusive to be gathered from
the ypfy of the LXX. and the gryp* of the Vul-
gate, which is the name of a fabulous animal
Ktyinologically the word points to some rapacious
)>ird with an eminently "booked beak;" and cer-
tainly the ossifrage has the booked beak character-
istic of the order Rnpt-ttorte in a very marked de
gree. If much weight is to be allowed to etymol-
ogy, the pert* ■ of the Hebrew Scriptures may weD
be represented by the ossifrage, or bone-breaker ;
for pent in Hebrew means " the breaker." Aai
the ossifrage (G'jpnftm bnrbatut) is well deservin|
of his name in a more literal manner, it will ap-
pear, than Col. H. Smith (Kitto's Cyc art. " IV
res") is willing to allow; for not only does he
push kids and lambs, and even men, off the rocks,
but he takes the bones of animals which other
birds of prey have denuded of the flesh high up
into the air, and lets them fall upon a stone in order
to crack them, and render them more digestible
even for his enormous powers of deglutition. (See
Mr. Simpson's very interesting account of the Lnm-
mergeyer in /Ms, ii. 882. ) The lammergeytr, or
bearded vulture, as it is sometimes called, is one of
the largest of the birds of prey. It is not uncom-
mon in the East; and Mr. Tristram several times
observed this bird " sailing over the high moun -
tain-passes west of the Jordan " (/it's, 1. 23). The
English word ossifrage has been applied to some
of the t'alcomda ; but the omfraga of the Latini
evidently points to the Inmmergtyer, one of the
Vulturida. W. H.
OSTRICH. There can be no doubt that the
Hebrew words bntlt liaya'onih, yd'en, and rdndn,
denote this bird of the desert.
1. Bath hmja'anah (flSTJVHTa : o-rpoi/flifj,
arpovilov, otipbr'- ttrvthio) occurs in I-ev. xi. 16,
Deut. xiv. 15, in the list of unclean birds; and ir
other passages of Scripture. The A. V. erroneously
renders the Hebrew expression, which signifies either
" daughter of greediness " or " daughter of shout-
ing," by '• owl," or, as in the margin, by " daughter
of owl." In .lob xxx. 29, Is. xxxiv. 13, and xliii. 20.
the margin of the A. V. correctly reads " ostriches.'
Bochart considers that bath hoya'andh denotes the
female ostrich only, and that tachmai, the follow
ing word in the Hebrew text, is to be restricted U
the male bird. In all probability, however, tliii
latter word is intended to signify a bird of another
genus. [Nioht-iiawk.] There is considerabli
difference of opinion with regard to the etymology
of the Hebrew word ya'onih. Bochart {Hierot
ii. 811 ) derives it from a root 6 meaning " to crj
out " (see also Maurer, Omment in V. T. ad Thrtn
ir. 3): and this is the interpretation of old commen-
tators generally. Oeseuius (Thee, s. v. i~t:T-") re-
fers the word to a root which signifies " t( be greedy
or voracious; " c and demurs to the explanation
given by Michaelis (SuppL ad Lex. fleb. p. 1127),
and by Rosenmiiller (Not. ad Hierot. ii. 829, and
Schnl. ml Lev. xi. 16), who trace the Hebrew word
ya'nnih to one which in Arabia denotes " hard and
sterile land ; " d bath haya'anih accordingly would
1 D35, iron D"V5, "is break," to "crash.'
njy, "toer/out • *jp>.
&Ajfea> terra itara *t
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2272 OSTRICH
mam •• daughter of the dewrt." Without altering
into the merit* of these virions explanations, it
will be enough to mention that any one of them U
well raited to the habite of the ostrich. This bird,
ts is well known, will swallow almost any substance,
pieces of iron, large stones, etc., etc. ; this it does
probably in order to assist the triturating action
of the gizzard : so that the oriental expression of
" daughter of voracity " is eminently characteristic
of the ostrich." With regard to the two other
derivations of the Hebrew word, we may add that
the cry of the ostrich is said sometimes to resemble
the lion, so that the Hottentots of S. Africa are
deceived by it; and mat lis particular haunts are
the parched and desolate tracts of sandy deserts.
The loud crying of the ostrich seems to be re-
ferred to in Hie i. 8: " I will wail and howl ....
1 will nuke a mourning as the ostriches " (see also
Job xxx. 39). The other passages where bath Anyi-
"ondA occurs point to the desolate places which are
the natural habitat of these birds.
9. Td'ln 0?p occurs only in the plural num-
ber C , 35^, ye'Mm (LXX. orpouSi'oK, ttrulhio),
in Lam. iv. 3, where the context shows that the
ostrich is intended : " The daughter of my people
is become true! like the ostriches in the wilderness."
This is important, as showing that tbe other word
(1), which is merely the feminine form of this one,
with the addition of bath, "daughter," clearly
points to the ostrich as its correct translation, even
if all the old versions were not agreed upon the
matter. For remarks on Lam. iv. 3, see below.
3. Rtmtn (]J?). The plural form (C"33-l,
rtn&mm : LXX. rfp*o/«roi : stnrfW.) alone oc-
curs in Job mil. 13; where, however, it is clear
from the whole passage (13-18) that ostriches are
intended by tbe word. The A V. renders reninlm
by " peacocks," a translation which has not found
favor with commentators; as " peacocks," for which
there is a different Hebrew name, 6 were probably
not known to the people of Arabia or Syria before
the time of Solomon. [Peacocks.] Tbe "os-
trich " of the A. V. in Job xxxix. 13 is tbe repre-
sentative of the Hebrew nittth, " feathers." The
Hebrew rrndnfm appears to be derived from tbe
root Kinrmf " to wail," or to " utter a stridulous
sound." in allusion to this bird's nocturnal cries.
Cesenius compares the Arabic zimnr, "a female
ostrich," from tbe root tamar, " to sing."
The following short account of the nidificatiou of
the ostrich (StrvOiio camtltu) will perhaps eluci-
date those passages of Scripture which ascribe
cruelty to this bird in neglecting her eggs or young.
Ostriches are polygamous : the hens lay their eggs
promiscuously in one nest, which is merely a hole
scratched in the sand ; the eggs are then covered
over to the depth of about a foot, and are. in the
case of those birds which are found within the
tropics, generally left for the greater part of tbe
lay to the, heat of the sun, the parent-birds taking
their turns at incubation during the night. But
in those countries which have not a tropical sun
(wtrichc frequently incubate during the day, the
OSTRICH
male taking his turn at night, and watching over
the eggs with great care and affection, as is evi-
denced by tbe bet that jackals and other of the
smaller enrnttora are occasionally found dead near
the nest, having been killed by the ostrich in de-
fense of the eggs or young " As a further proof
of the affection of the ostrich for its young " (we
quote from Shaw's Zotloyy, xi. 436), " it is related
by Thunberg that he once rode past a place where
a female was sitting on her nest, when the bird
sprang up and pursued him, evidently with a view
to prevent his noticing her eggs or young." The
habit of the ostrich leaving its eggs to be matured
by the sun's beat is usually appealed to in order to
confirm the Scriptural account, " the leaveth her
eggs to the earth ; " but, as has been remarked
alwve. this is probably the case only with the trop-
ical birds: tbe ostriches with which tbe Jews were
acquainted were, it is likely, birds of Syria, Egypt,
and North Africa ; but, even if they were acquainted
with tbe habits of the tropical ostriches, how can it
l« said that "she forgetteth that the foot may
crush " tbe eggs, when they are covered a foot
leep or more in sand?"' We believe tbe true
$fr#W&*
Ostrich.
explanation of this passage is to be found in the
fact that the ostrich deposits some of her eggs not
in the nest, but around it: these lie about on the
surface of the sand, to all appearance forsaken;
they are, however, designed for tbe nourishment of
the young birds, according to Leraillant and Bon-
jainville (Cuvier, An. King, by Griffiths and oth-
ers, viii. 483). Are not these tbe eggs " that the
foot may crush," and may not hence be trace*]
the cruelty which Scripture attributes to the os
tricb ? We have had occasion to remark in a forma
article [Ant], that the language of Scripture is
adapted to the opinions commonly held by the
people of the East: for how otherwise can wc ex-
plain, for instance, the passages which ascribe U
a Mr. Tristram, who baa paid considerable attention
to tha habits of the ostrich, baa kindly read over thla
irucle : be says, " The necessity for swallowing stones,
ite., mar be understood from the favorite food of tbe
turn ostriches I have sssn bring the d a ta st one, the
sanlsst of un st a b le substances."
<f See Tristram (J»is,U. 74) ; " Two Arabs begin tr
dig with their rands, and presently brought up tost
Una fresh eggs from the depth of about a t»> l '
the warm rind."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OTHEB
the turn or to the coney the habit of chewing the
cud 7 And this remark will hold good in the
passage of Job which speaks of the ostrich being
without m.deratanding. It is a general belief
amongst the Arabs that the ostrich is a very stupid
bird : indeed the; have a proverb, " Stupid as an
ostrich; " and Bochart (///«/•.*. ii. 860) has given
us five points on which this bird is supposed to de-
serve its character. The; ma; lie brief); stated
thus: (1) Because it will swallow iron, stones,
etc. ; (2) Because when it is hunted it thrusts its
head into a bush and imagines tl.e hunter does not
see it ; ■ (8) Because it allows itself to be deceived
and captured in the manner described b; Strabo
(ni. 773, ed. Kramer J; (4) Because it neglects
its eggs; 6 (5) Because it has a small head and
few brains. Suoh is the opinion the Arabs have
expressed with regard to the ostrich ,- a bird, how-
ever, which b; no means deserves such a character,
as travellers have frequently testified. " So war;
is the bird," says Mr. Tristram (Mm, ii.73), "and
so open are the vast plains over which it roams,
that no ambuscades or artifices can lie employed,
and the vulgar resource of dogged perseverance is
the only mode of pursuit."
Dr. Shaw (Trove/*, ii. 346) relates at an in-
stance of want of sagacity in the ostrich, that he
" saw one swallow several leaden bullets, scorching
hot from the mould." We may add that not un-
frequentl; the stones and other substances which
ostriches swallow prove fatal to them. In this one
respect, perhaps, there is some foundation for the
character of stupidity attributed to them.
The ostrich was forbidden to be used as food hy
the Levities! law, but the African Arabs, says Mr.
Tristram, eat its flesh, which is good and sweet.
Ostrich's brains were among the dainties that were
placed on the supper-tables of the ancient Romans.
The fat of the ostrich is sometimes used in med-
icine for the cure of palsy and rheumatism (Pococke,
Trnvtlt, 1. 909). Burekhardt (Syria, Append, p.
664) says that ostriches breed in the Dhahy. The;
are found, and seem formerly to have been more
abundant than now, in Arabia.
The ostrich is the largest of all known birds, and
perhaps the swiftest of all cursorial animals. The
capture of an ostrich is often made at the sacrifice
of the lives of two horses (/W», ii. 73). Its
strength is enormous. The wings are useless for
flight, but when the bird is pursued they are
extended and act as sails before the wind. The
ostrich's feathers so much prised are the long white
plumes of the wings. The best come to us from
Barbary and the west coast of Africa. The ostrich
belongs to the family Sb-ulhimuJa, order Cunort$.
W. II.
• OTHER, in the A. V. Josh.viii.SS; SChr.
xxzii. 89; Job xxiv. 94; Phil. ii. 3, iv. 3, is used
in the plural, for "others." In Luke xxiil. 32 the
unfortunate rendering of the A. V., "two other
malefactors," has been amended in some modern
editions by inserting a comma after " other." The
Greek is cVcpoi Sio, Ktucovoyoi, " two others, mal-
efactors." A.
OTHTJl 0?n? [«*«*• *"" °f Jtlxtah]:
OeVI; [Vat, raonij Alex. ro««: Othm). Son
OTHNIEL
2278
of Shemaiah, the first-born of Obed-edom, one of
the "able men for strength for the service " of the
Tabernacle in the reign of David (1 Chr. xxvi. 7).
The name is said by Gesenius to be derived from
an obsolete word, 'Othm, "a lion."
OTHTHEL Cv&VTQf, Bon of God, of. Othni,
1 Chr. xxvi. 7: retWirfA: Othoniei, [tfo/Aome/]),
eon of Kenaz, and younger brother of Caleb (Josh.
xv. 17; Judg. i. 18, iii. 9, 11: 1 Chr. ir. 13, xxvii.
16). But these passages all leave it doubtful
whether Kenaz was his father, or, as is more prob-
able, the more remote ancestor and head of the
tribe, whose descendants were called Kenezltes
(Num. xxxii. 18, Ac.), or sons of Kenaz. If
Jephunneh was Caleb's father, then probably be
was father of Othnlel also. [Cai.kb.] The first
mention of Othniel is on occasion of the taking
of Kirjath-Sepher, or Pebir, as it was afterwards
called. Debir was included in the mountainous
territory near Hebron, within the border of Judah,
assigned to Caleb the Kenezite (Josh. xir. 19-15);
and in order to stimulate the valor of the assail-
ants, Caleb promised to give his daughter Achsah
to whosoever should sssault and take the city.
Othniel won the prize, and received with his wife
in addition to her previous dowry the upper and
nether springs in the immediate neighborhood.
These springs are identified by Van de Velde, after
Stewart, with a spring which rises on the summit
of a hill on the north of Wad; Dilbeh (2 hours
S. W. from Hebron ), and is brought down b; sn
aqueduct to the foot of the hill. (For other views
see Dkbir.) The next mention of Othniel is in
Judg. iii. 9, where he appears as the first judge of
Israel after the death of Joshua, and their deliverer
from their first servitude. In consequence of their
intermarriages with the Canaanites, and their fre-
quent idolatries, the Israelites had been given into
the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim, king of Meso-
potamia, for eight years. From this oppressive
servitude the; were delivered b; Othniel. " The-
Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged
Israel, and went out to war: and the I-ord deliv-
ered Chushan-Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia,
into his hand; and his hand prevailed against
Chushan-Rishathaim. And the land had rest forty
years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died."
This with his genealogy (1 Chr. iv. 13, Uj,
which assigns him a son, Hathath, whose posterity,
according to Judith vi. 15, continued till the time
of Holofemes. is all that we know of Othnieh
But two questions of some interest arise concentr-
ing him, the one his exact relationship to Caleb;
the other the time and duration of bis judgeship.
(1.) As regards his relationship to Caleb, the
doubt arises from the uncertainty whether the
words in Judg. iii. 9, " Othniel the son of Kenaz,
Caleb's younger brother," indicate that Othniel
himself, or that Kenaz was the brother of Caleb
The most natural rendering, according to the canon
of R. Moses ben Nachman, on Num. x. 99, that in
constructions of this kind such designations belong
to the principal person in the preceding sentence,
makes Othniel to be Caleb's brother. Arid this is
favored by the probability that Kenaz was not
Othniel's father, but the father and head of the
tribe, as we learn that Kenaz was, from the deslg-
« This !s an old conceit ; see Pliny (x. 1), and the Is Uncovered, frequently forsake the eggs. S>
stark of Diodonu Sleulus (U. 60) thereon. I this is a mark rather of ssaaettv "uin rtupMMv
r Ostrfchw are very shy Mnto, and will, If tintr nasi I
143
Digitized by VjOOQlC
227* OTHNIEL
nation of Caleb as "the Karaite," or "ton of
Kenac." Jerome also so tnnalatei it, "Othniel
Alius Cenex, frater Caleb junior; " and ao did the
LXX. originally, because even in thoae copies which
now have itt\pov, the; still retain rtirtpor in
the ace. ease. Nor is the objection, which influ-
ences most of the Jewish commentators to under-
stand that Kenaz was Caleb's brother, and Othniel
his nephew, of any weight. For the marriage of
an uncle with his niece is not expressly prohibited
by the Levitical law (l.ev. xriii. 13, xx. 19); and
sven if it had been, Caleb and Othniel as men of
foreign extraction would hare been less amenable
to it, and more likely to follow the custom of their
own tribe. On the other hand it must be ac-
knowledged that the canon above quoted does not
bold universally. Even in the very passage (Num.
x. 89) on which the canon is adduced, it is ex-
tremely doubtful whether the designation "the
Midianite, Moses' father-in-law," does not apply
to Reuel, rather than to Hobab, seeing that Keuel,
and not Hobab. was father to Moses' wife (Kx. ii.
18). In Jer. xxxii. 7, in the phrase ■' Hanameel
the son of Shallum thine uncle," the words " thine
uncle" certainly belong to Shallum, not to Ha-
nanieel, as appears from w. 8, 9. And in 2 Chr.
xxxv. 3, 4; Neb. xiii. 28, the designations " King
of Israel," and "high-priest," belong respectively
to David, and to Eliaahib. The chronological
difficulties as to Othniel's judgeship would also be
mitigated considerably if he were nephew and not
brother to Caleb, as in this ease he might well be
25, whereas in the other he could not lie under 40
years of age, at the time of bis marriage with
Achsah. Still the evidence, candidly weighed, pre-
ponderates strongly in favor of the opinion that
Othniel was Caleb's brother.
(2. ) And this leads to the second question sug-
gested above, namely, the time of Othniel's judge-
ship. Supposing Caleb to be about the same age
as Joshua, as Num. xiii. 6, 8; Josh. xiv. 10, sug-
gest, we should have to reckon about 26 years fruui
Othniel's marriage with Achsah till the death of
Joshua at the age of 110 years (85 -f- 25 = 110).
And if we take Afrieanus's allowance of 30 years
for the elders after Joshua, in whose lifetime •' the
people served the I.ord" (Judg. ii. 7), and then
allow 8 years for Cbushan-liishathaim's dominion,
and 40 years of rest under Othniel's judgeship,
and suppose Othniel to have been 40 years old at
his marriaec. we obtain (40-4-25+30-4-8-4-
40 =) 143 years as Othniel's age at his death.
This we are quite sure cannot be right. Nor does
any escape from the difficulty very readily offer
itself. It is in fact a part of that larger chrono-
logical difficulty which affects the whole interval
lietween the exodus and the building of Solomon's
temple, where the dates and formal notes of time
indicate a period more than twice as long as that
derived from the genealogies and other ordinary
calculations from the length of human life, and
general historical probability. In the case before
as one would guess an interval of not more than
26 years between Othniel's marriage and bit victory
over Cbusban-Rishathaim.
In endeavoring to bring these conflicting state-
ments into harmony, the first thing that occurs to
one is, that if Joshua lived to tlie age of 1 10 years,
L e. full 30 years after the entrance into Canaan.
supposing him to have been 40 when he went as a
E, he must have outlived all the elder men of
generation which took possession of Canaan,
OVERPASS
and that 10 or 12 years more moat base seen the
last of the survivors. Then again, it it not neces-
sary to suppose that Othniel lived through the
whole 80 years of rest, nor is it possible to avoid
suspecting that these long periods of 40 and 80
years are due to tome influences which have dis-
turbed the true computation of time. If these
dates are discarded, and we judge only by ordi-
nary probabilities, we shall suppose Othniel to bav«
survived Joshua not more than 20, or at the out-
side, 30 years. Nor, however unsatisfactory this
may be, does it seem possible, with only our piesent
materials, to arrive at any more definite result.
It must suffice to know the difficulties sod wan
patiently for the solution, should it aver l<t vouch-
safed to us. AC. II.
OTHONI/AS COfloWot: Zbchias). A cor-
ruption of the name Mattaxiah in Ext x. 27 (I
Esdr. ix. 28).
• OUCHES (Ex. xxviii. 11, 13, 14, 26, xxxix.
6, 13, 10, 18) denotes the bezels or tockett in which
precious stones are set. In Old English it was
also applied to the jewels themselves. The earlier
form of the word is Mwckes or tuweics, which
occurs in Chaucer. A.
* OUTROAD. To "make outroades" (1
Mace xv. 41, A. V. ed. 1611) it to "make excur-
sions." In some modern editions nonsense is made
of the passage by printing it "make out roads."
A.
OVEN (yiiSF\ : K \t0aros)- Tbt eastern oven
is of two kinds — fixed and portable. The former
is found only in towns, where regular bakers are
employed (Hot. vil. 4). The latter is adapted to
the nomad state, and is the article generally in-
tended by the Hebrew term Intmir. It consists
of a large jar made of clay, about three feet high,
and widening towards the bottom, with a bole kx
the extraction of the ashes (Niebuhr, Dtter. rfe
tArnb. p. 46!. Occasionslly, however, it is not
an actual jar, but an erection of clay in the form
of a jar, built on the floor of the bouse (Wellsted,
TrnttU, i. 350). Each household possessed such
an article (Ex. viii. 3) ; and it was only in times
of extreme dearth that the same oven sufficed for
several families (l^ev. xxvi. 26). It was heated
with dry twigs and grass (Matt. vi. 30): and the
loaves were placed both inside nud outside of it-
It was also used for roasting meat (Mishna, Tnnn.
3, § 8). The heat of the oven furnished Hebrew
writers with an image of rapid and violent de-
struction (l's. xxi. 9; lias, vil. 7; Mai. iv. 1).
w. ua
Xfcypdan Oven.
• OVERPASS (A. V. Jer. v. 28; &«
14) it " to past by," " neglect."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
OVBRRTJN
• OVERRUN (A. V. 8 Sam. xvili. 83) maun
te "outrun." A.
• OVERSEERS, as s ministerial title, Acta
n. 38. [Bishop.] H.
• OWE, In Lev. xlv. 38; Acta xxi. 11 (A. V.
ed. 1611), is toed in the sense of " to own," which
has been substituted for it in modern editions.
A.
OWL, the representative in the A. V. of tin
Hebrew words bath hnya'andh, yanthtiph, ens,
lappfa, and Ultth.
1. Bath haya'anah (TTJJJSTTIJ). [Os-
IflCH.]
i. rnnduiph, or yanthtph Ppttf??, ^fyl ■
10tt, y\ai(: ° «*"). occurs in Lev. ii. 17; Deut.
xiv. 1G, as the name of some unclean bird, and in
Is. xxxiv. 11, in the description of desolate Edom,
" the yanthdph and the raven shall dwell in it."
The A. V. translates yin$h6ph by "owl," or "great
owl." The Chaidee and Syriac are in favor of
some kind of owl; and perhaps the etymology of
the word points to a nocturnal bird. Bochart is
satisfied that an "owl" is meant, and supposes
the bird is so called from the Hebrew for " twiligh t ' '
(ffieroe. iii. 39). For other conjectures see Bochart
(Sierra, iii. 24-29). The 1.XX. and Vulg. read
f/Jit (ibis), i. e. the Jbu rtligiosn, the sacred bird
of Egypt. Col. H. Smith suggests that the night
heron (Ardea nyca'comx, I in ) is perhaps intended
and objects to the ibis on the ground that so rare
a bird, and one totally unknown in Palestine, could
Jbti naEftani.
not be the yamhiph of the Pentateuch ; there is,
however, no occasion to suppose that the ynnthtipli
was ever seen in Palestine: the I-evitical law was
pven soon after the Israelites left Egypt, and it is
>nly natural to suppose that several of the unclean
tnimals were Egyptian; some might never have
Seen seen or heard of in Palestine: the ymuhiph
% mentioned as a bird of Edom (Is. L c.) and the
Ibis might have formerly been seen there; the ok)
Greek and Latin writers are in error when they
state that this bird never leaves Egypt: Cuvier
s»y» it is found throughout the extent of Africa,
• It to Important to observe, In nflanno* to the
UZ. renderings of toe Hebrew names of the different
•nnlian birds, etc. that the venss of Deut xlv. an
owl 2275
and latterly Dr. Hengttn met with it on the coast
of Abyssinia (Lift of Bird* collected tit the Red
Seat " Ibis," i. 347). The Coptic version renders
yamhilpk by " Hippen," from which it is believed
the Greek and Latin word tots is derived (see
Jablonski's Oputc. I. 93, ed. te Water). On the
whole the evidence is inconclusive, though it is in
favor of the Jbu religion, and probably the other
Egyptian species {lbi$ falcmelhu) may be included
under the term. See on the subject of the Ibis
of the ancients, Ravigny's Bittoirt natwelU el
mythologiove de C line (Paris, 18Cr, 8vo); and
Cuvier's Memoh-e tur Plate da Ana jni Egyptian
{Ann. Mm. It. 118).
8. Com (D'lS : ruitTUto'paf ipmttif. Anew,
herodim, nycticorax), the name of an unclean bird
(Lev. xi. 17; Deut. xiv. 16); it occurs again la
Ps. eii. 6. There is good reason for believing that
the A. V. is correct in its rendering of "owl" or
•' little owl." Host of the old versions and para-
phrases are in favor of some species of " owl " as
the proper translation of cit ; Bochart is inclined
to think that we should understand the pelican
(Uierot. iii. 17), the Hebrew ode meaning a "cup,"
or " pouch ; " the pelican being so called from its
membranous bill-pouch. He compares the Ijttin
Into, "a pelican," from trw, "a scoop" or
"ladle." But the ancient versions are agaiiivt
this theory, and there does not seem to be much
doubt that kaath is the Hebrew name for the pel-
ican. The passage in Ps. cii. 6, " I am like a pel-
ican of the wilderness, I am like a cit of ruined
places," points decidedly to some kind of owl. Hi-
chaelis, who hss devoted great attention to the
elucidation of this word, hu aptly compared one
of the Arabic names for the owl, um elcharoi
(" mother of ruins"), in reference to the expression
Otus tuealapkue.
in the psalm Just quoted (comp. SvppL ad Lea.
Bet. p. 1296, and RosenmUUer, Not. ad Bierot,
1. c). Thus the context of the passage in the
Psaira where the Hebrew word occurs, as weD as
the authority of the old versions, goes for to prove
that en owl it intended by it. The yvxrutipai of
some of them evidently transposed (see Mlehaviw
Supp. 1. 1240, and note) : the order as given In Let. at
to. therefore, to be taken as the standard
Digitized by VjOOQlC
8276
OWL
the LXX. it do doubt a general term to denote the
different tpeeiet of homed owl known in Egjpt and
Palestine; for Aristotle (B. An. viii. 14, § «) telle
oi that wKriicipai ie identical with Snot, evi-
dently, from his description, one of the homed
owls, perhaps either the Ottu vulgaris, or the 0.
brachyotot. The owl we figure ie the Olut asatla-
okue, the Egyptian and Asiatic representative of
•or great horned owl (Bubo maximus). Mr. Tris-
tram says it swarms among the ruins of Thebes,
snd that be bss been informed it is also very abun-
dant at Petra and Baalbec ; it is the great owl of
ail eastern ruins, and may well therefore be the
'• eo* of ruined places."
4. Kippit (nS|? : txirof- erieuu) occurs only
in Is. xxxiv. 15 : " There (•'. e. in Edom ) the kip-
pit shall make her nest, and lay and hatch and
gather under her shadow." It is a hopeless affair
to attempt to identify the animal denoted by this
word; the LXX. and Vuig. give "hedgehog,"
reading no doubt kipptd instead of kip/fa, which
variation six Hebrew MSS. exhibit (Michaelis,
Supp. p. 2199). Various conjectures hare been
road's with respect to the bird which ought to rep-
resent the Hebrew word, most of which, however,
may be passed over as unworthy of consideration.
We cannot think with Bochart (Ilitroz. iii. 194,
Ac.) that a darting serpent is intended (the tutor-
riot of Nicander and /Elian, and the jncului of
Lucan), for the whole context (la. xxxiv. 18) arems
to point to some bird, and it is certainly stretching
the words very far to apply them to any kind of
serpent. Bochart's argument rests entirely on the
fact that the cognate Arabic, kipphnz, is used by
Avicenna to denote some dartinK tree-serpent ; but
this theory, although supported by Uesenius, r'tirst,
Rosenmuller, and other high authorities, must be
rejected as entirely at variance with the plain and
literal meaning of the prophet's words; though
incubation by reptiles was denied by Cuvier, and
does not obtain amongst the various orders and
families of this class as a general rule, yet some
few excepted instances are on record, but "the
gathering under the shadow" clearly must be un-
derstood of the act of a bird fostering her young
under her wings; the kippit, moreover, is men-
tioned in the same verse with " vultures " (kites),
so that there can be no doubt that some bud is
intended.
OWL
See on this abject Bochart, Bitrot. lit 1*7; tmi
for the supposed connection of o-«ty with e wdnm s.
see /Elian, If at. Anim. xv. 88; Puny, x. 49; En-
stathins, on Odft. v. 66; and .Jacobs' annotation!
to /Elian, L c. We are content to believe that
kippit may denote some species of owL and to re-
tain the reading of the A. V. till other evidence he
forthcoming. The wood-cut represents the Alitrnt
meridional*, the commonest owl in Palestine.
Mount Olive* is on* of its favorite resorts (/At*, i.
36). Another common species of owl is the Setpt
toroa ; it is often to be seen inhabiting the mosque
of Omar at Jerusalem (see Tristram, in /Ms _
26).
Scops AutrotMM.
Deodatl, according to Bochart, conjectures the
'Stops owl," being fed apparently to this interpre-
JatJoo til •omewhat strained etymological grounds.
Athmu iruriditmttit
5. LUUk (JrV? : towsWiwawij Aq.A«AI»,
Symm. Acutfa: hmta). The A. T. renders this
word by '•'screech-owl " in the text of Is. xxxiv.
14, and by " night-monster" in the margin. The
UBth is mentioned hi connection with the desola-
tion that was to mark Edom. According to the
Rabbins the UlUJt was a nocturnal spectre in the
form of a beautiful woman that carried off children
at night and destroyed them (see Bochart, Bitrot.
iii. 899; Gesenius, Thtt. s. v. rVyv I Boxtorf,
Lex. Ckald. et Tabn. p. 1140). With the Sttlk
may be compared the ghule of the Arabian fables.
Tbe old versions support the opinion of Bochart
that a spectre is intended. As to tin broic4rrav
poi of the LXX., and the lamia of tbe Vulgate
translations of Isaiah, see the Mem. iii. 883, and
Uesenius (Jttaia, I. 915-920). Michaelis (Ssppl
p. 1443) observes on this word, " in the poetical de-
scription of desolation we borrow images even from
fables." If, however, some animal be denoted by
the Hebrew term, the screech-owl (strix Jlammea)
may well be supposed to represent it, for this bird
is found in tbe Bible lands (see /bit, i. 96, 48), and
is, as is well known, a frequent inhabiter of ruined
places. The statement of Irby and Mangles rela-
tive to Petra illustrates the passage in Isaiah under
consideration : " The screaming of eagles, hawks
and owls, which were soaring above our heads ht
considerable numbers, seemingly annoyed at soy
one approaching their lonely habitation, addsi
much to the singularity of the scene." (St* shy
Stephens, Jneid. of Tin. ii. 78.) W. H
Digitized by VjOOQlC
ox
OX Cat- I*"), en mentor of Judith (Jud.
rtU. 1). K V. W.
OX, the representative in the A. V. of several
Hebrew word*, the most Important of which have
ken already notioed. [Bull; Bullock.]
We propose in thU article to giro a general re-
view of what relates to the ox tribe (Auntie., ao
hr a* the subject has a Biblical interest It will be
sonvenient to consider ( 1 ) the ox in an eaonomle
point of view, and (J) Its natural history.
1. There was no animal in the rural economy
af the Israelites, or Indeed iu that of the ancient
Orientals generally, t lat mi held in higher esteem
than the ox ; and des.-rredly so, for the ox was Vie
animal upon whose patient labors depended all the
ordinal; operations of fanning. Ploughing with
horses was a thing never thought of in those days
Antes, indeed, were used lor this purpose [Ana] ;
but it was the ox upon whom devolved for the
most part this important sen lee. 'foe preeminent
value of the ox to •• a nation of husbandmen like
the Israelites," to use an expression of afiebaaus in
his article on thin subject, will be at oaee evident
from the Scriptural account of the various uses to
which it was applied. Oxen were used for plough-
ing (Deut. xxii. 10; 1 Sam. xiv. 14; 1 K. xix. 19;
Job L 14; Am. vi. 13, Ac); for treading out com
(Dent. xxt. 4; Hos. x. 11; Mic iv. 13; 1 Cor.
ix. 9 ; 1 Tim. v. 18) [Agriculture] ; for draught
purposes, when they were generally yoked in pairs
(Num. vli. 8; 1 Sam. vi. 7; S Sam. vt. 6); as
beasts of burden (1 Cbr. xii. 40); their flesh was
eaten (Deut. xiv. 4; 1 K. i. 9, iv. 33 xix. 21; Is.
xxii. 13: Prov. xv. 17; Neb. v. 18); they were
used in the sacrifices [Sachikicks] ; they supplied
milk, butter, etc. (Deut. xxxti. 14; l». vii. 32; 3
Sain. xvii. 9)) [Buttrh; Milk].
Connected with the importance of oxen in the
rural economy of the .lews is the strict code of
taws which was mercifully enacted by GoJ for their
protection and preservation. The ox that thrashed
the corn was by no means to be muxxled ; he was
to enjoy rest on the Sabbath at well as his master
(Ex. xxitt. 13; Deut v. 14); nor was this only, as
aCehaelia has observed, on the people's account,
because beasts can perform no work without man's
assistance, but it was ttr the good of the beasts
" that thine ox and thine ass may rest."
The law which prohibited the slaughter of any
dean animal, excepting as " an offering unto the
Lord before the tabernacle," during the time that
the Israelites abode in the wilderness (Lev. xvii.
1-6), although expressly designed to keep the peo-
ple from idolatry, no doubt contributed to the
preservation of their oxen and sheep, which they
ware not allowed to kill excepting in public. There
can be little doubt that during the forty years'
wanderings oxen and sheep were rarely used as
food, whence it was JUth that they so often lusted
after. (See Michaella, lyuee of Moue, art. 169.)
It is not easy to determine whether the ancient
Hebrews were in the habit of castrating their anl-
■ala or not. The passage in Lev. xi_i. 34 may be
lead two ways, either ae the A. V. renders it, or
thus, " Te shall not offer to the Lord thaf which la
•raised,'' etc., " neither shall ye make it so iu your
and." Le Clerc believed that it rould have been
snpossible to have used an uncastrated ox for agri-
waaral purposes on account of the danger. Mleba-
tia, on the other hand, who cites the express testi-
mony of Joaepbus (Ant. iv. 8, § 40), argue* that
ox 2277
castration was wholly forbidden, and nan to the
authority of Niebuhr (Dtter. dt (Arab., p. 81 ),
who mentions the fact that Europeans use stslltons
for cavalry purposes. In the East, it is well knora
horses are as a rule not castrated. Michaelis ob-
serves (art. 168), with truth, that where people
are accustomed to the management of uncastrated
animab, it is far from being so dangerous as we
from our experience are apt to imagine.
It seems clear from Prov. xv. 17, and 1 K. iv. 83,
that cattle were sometimes stall-fad [Food], though
as a general rule it is probable that they fed hi the
plains or on the hills of Palestine. ThattheKgyp-
tiens stall-fed oxen is evident from the representa-
tiuns on the monuments (see Wilkinson's Arte.
Eygpl. i. 37, li. 48, ed. 1854). The cattle that
gland at large in the open country would no
doubt often become fierce and wild, for it is to be
remembered that in primitive times the lion and
other wild beasts of prey reamed about Palestine.
Hence, no doubt, the laws with regard to "gor*
in;," and the expression of " being wont to push
with h's horns " in time put (Ex. xxL 28, Ac);
hence the force of the Psalmist's complaint of his
enemies, "Many bulb have compassed me, the
mighty ones of Bashan have beast me round "
(Ps. xxii. 13). The habit of surrounding objects
which excite their suspicion is very charaeteriatie
of half-wild cattle. See Hr. Culley's observations
on the Chillingham wild cattle, in Bell's Britten
Quadnipedi (p. 434).
3. The monuments of Egypt exhibit repre-
sentations of a long-horned breed of oxen, a shorV-
horned, a polled, and what appears to be a variety
of the zebu (80s ImHcus, Ma.). Some have iden-
tified this latter with the Sot Dante (the Bo$ eU-
g'tnf el parent Africamu of Belon). The Abys-
sinian breed is depicted on the monuments at
Thebes (see Anc. rJuypt. i. 385), drawing a pfrius-
Irum or car. [Cast.] These cattle are " white
and black in clouds, low in the legs, with the horns
hanging loose, forming small horny hooks nearly
of equal thickness to the point, turning freely either
way, and hanging against the cheeks " (see Hamil-
ton Smith in Griffith's Anin. King. iv. 435). The
drawings on Egyptian monuments shew that the
cattle of ancient Egypt were fine liandsome animals :
doubtless these may be taken at a sample of the
cattle of Palestine in ancient times. " The cattle
of Egypt," says CoL H. Smith (Kitto'e Cye. art.
'• Ox"), a high authority on the Jtuminantia, " con-
tinued to be remarkable for beauty for some ages
after the Moslem conquest, for Abdollatiph the
historian extols their bulk and proportions, and in
particular mentions the Alchisiah breed for the
abundance of the milk it furnished, and for the
beauty of its curved boras." (See figures of Egyp-
tian cattle under Agriculture.) There are now
fine cattle in Egypt; but the Palestine cattle appear
to have deteriorated, in sixe at least, since Biblical
times. " Herds of cattle," says Schubert ( Orien-
tal Christian Sptetntor, April, 1853), " are seldom
to be seen ; the bullock of the neighborhood of Je-
rueaiem is small and insignificant; beef and veal
are but rare dainties. Yet the bullock thrives
better, and is more frequently seen, in the upper
valley of the Jordan, also on Mount Tabor and
near Nazareth, but particularly east of the Jordan
on the read from Jacob's bridge to Damasc us ."
See also Thomson (Land and Book, p. 333), whe
o b se rves (p. 335) that danger from being gored has
not ceased " among the half-wild drores that range
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2278
ox
star the luxuriant pastures in certain port* of the
The buffalo (Bvbahtt tmfaUu) Is not uncom
■Mn in Palestine; the Arabs nil it jibnas. Robin-
ton (Bibl Rti. iii. 806) notion buffaloes " around
the lake ei-fl&leh ai being mingled with the ueat
tattle, and applied in general to the same luce.
They are a ehy, ill-looking, ill tempeied animal."
Theas animals lore to wallow and lie for houra in
water or mud, with barely the noetrilt above the
surface. It ia doubtful whether the domestic buf-
falo was known to the ancient people of Syria,
Egypt, etc. ; the animal under consideration ia the
bkaitua, or tame buffalo of India; and although
now common in the West, L'oL H. Smith is of
opinion that it was not known in the Bible lands
tUl after the Arabian conquest of Persia (a. d.
861). Robinson's remark, therefore, that the buf-
falo doubtless existed anciently In Palestine in a
wild state, must be received with caution. [See
further remarks on this subject under IInicoiui.]
The A. V. gives "wild ox" in Deut. xlv. 6,
and •' wild butt " in Is. li. SO, ss the representatives
of the Hebrew word Udor li-
TeiattS (SrVJ, HVI : t>«t, (WrAfor «i Aq.,
Symm., and Theod., tpv(: oryx). Among the
beasts that were to be eaten mention is made of
the ted (Deut I. c); again, in Isaiah, "they lie at
the head of all the streets like a ft! in the nets."
The most important ancient versions point to the
oryx ( Oryx Uucoryx) as the animal denoted by the
Hebrew words. Were it not for the fact that
another Hebrew name (yaeAmw) seems to stand for
this animal, 6 we should have no hesitation in re-
ferring the tei to the antelope above named. Col.
H. Smith suggests that the antelope he calls the
Nubian Oryx ( Oryx too), may be the animal- in-
tended ; this, however, is probably only a variety of
the other. Oedmann ( Verm. Samtn. p. iv. 23)
thinks the Bubule (Alcephahn bubaHa) may be the
16; this is the Bdcier-ei-muk of N. Africa men-
tioned by Shaw ( Trav. i. 810, 8vo ed.). The point
moat be left undetermined. See Fallow Dkkk.
W.II.
* The grain used for fodder in the East (see
above) is principally barley; only the poorest of the
people eat this grain, and they only when wheat
fails them. Oats are not cultivated in the East for
fodder. There is a wild species of nvetm which
grows extensively at a weed in Syria, and is often
plucked up with the Hordeum bulbotum and other
(Jrnmmea, and fed as green fodder to the cattle,
but it is never sown, and never threshed out. Its
grain Is small and lean, and would not be profitable
at a crop. This species is called by the Arabs
■jtaJtAjfr (thtiphoon). Barley is the universal
fodder of the Orientals. It is given mixed with the
One-cut straw of Its own stalk from the threshing-
floors, also with the straw of wheat. This latter
e
Is called j^waS (tibn). Barley is not used in
das East for distilling purposes, as far as I know.
f never saw native whiskey. The Arabic name for
* As to this word, ass Behteosner, La. m LXX.
•. ».
a raeantftr.ln the vernacular Arable of N. AMsa,
■ one of the names for the oryx.
PAD AX
barley alw (sna'fr) ia from the
the Hebrew, and undoubtedly refers to the long
hair-like beards of the ripe ears. G. E. P.
OX-GOAD. [Goad.]
(yZEM (D^H i. a. Otero [sfrenota, Boater])
The name of two persona of the tribe of Judah.
L(['AraV;Vat.]AkB.Airo/i:^Jaom.) TbeaixU
son of Jeaae, the next eldest above David (1 Chr.
ii. 15). His name is not again mentioned in tot
Bible, nor do the Jewish traditions appear to eon-
tain anything concerning him.
2. ('Aait>; c Alex. A<tom : Atom.) Sob of Ja>
rahmeel, a chief man in the great family of Sena
(1 Chr. ii. 25). G.
OZI'AS (Oftot; [Vat. Sin. Of/eta* and at
Alex. vi. 15, 21, viii. 28, 35, xr. *:] Ossos). JL
The eon of Mieha of the tribe of Simeon, one of
the " governors " of Bethulia, in the history of
Judith (Jud. vi. 15 [16, 21], vii. 83 [W], viii.
10, 28, 85 [xv. 4]). B. F. W.
2. [Vat. Of <uu; Alex. E»W] Dzn, one of
the allocators of Kara (S Esdr. L 2); also caDcd
Savias (1 Esdr. viU. 2).
3. [Ijuhm. Tisch. Trag. 'Ofsisu] Dezxah,
King of Judah (HaU. i. 8, 8).
O'ZIEL CofMA; prat. Sin. Alex. Otero*:]
Owns), an ancestor of Judith (Jud. viii. 1). The
name occurs frequently in 0- T. under the form
Uzziel. B. F. W.
OZ'NI 03Tr| [kadng tun, attennVe] : 'Afsrf-
[Vat. Afcrm;]' Alex. Afojri: Oau). One of the
sons of Gad (Num. xxvi. 16), called Eznoa in
Gen. xlvi. 16, and founder of the family of the
OZTJJTESPJTrJtae above]: «%o, « Af.rl
[Vat. -rsi] ; Alex. 8.' o Afom = fanilia Oautarum ),
Num. xxvi. 16.
OZO'EA VnCfi: [Aid. •<>(•*♦<]). "Theaooe
of Hachnadebai," in Ear. x. 40, it oormptad into
the sons of Oaora " (1 Esdr. is. 84).
P.
PA'ARAI [3 syl.] (""?J?? [perh. Jdmak rt-
milt, Fiirst: Alex.] tasii; [Corop. louat:]
PkaraT). In the Bat of 2 Sam. xxiii. 8ft, « Paaral
the Arbite " ia one of David's mighty men- In I
Chr. xi. 37, he ia called "Naarai the aun of
Ezbai," and this in KenniooU's opinion is the ims
reading (Diss. p. 209-211). The Vat. MS. [Kan.]
omits the first letter of the name, and rendu the
other three with the following word, thus, oeueu-
otpvl [Vat. -v«]- The Peshito-Syriac has » Gari
of Arub," which makes it probable that " Naarai "
is the true reading, and that the Syriac translators
mistook 3 for X
PAT) AN 039 [nert, JkU\: Mee-eworasiie
•rijj Stufas: Mesopotamia). Padan-Aiam (Gen
xlvui. 7).
e The word fcUowinv ibis— 71*17$ — A. V. Ah
>h, Yulg. Adam, is at the Vl£ r isii n l sliaQi
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PADAN-ABAM
PADAN-ATUlM (DTrjrnS {we below] :
) MwarorofJa Ivpias, Gen. xxr. 80, xxrili. 6, 7,
cxxUi. 18| ft. M. Gen. xnrui. 8, 6, xxxi. 18; M. tt}»
Sup. Gen. nn. 9, 96, xlvi. 15; Alex. n M. Gen. xxv.
JO, xxriii. 5, 7, xxxi. 18 ■ n M. Sup. Gen. xniii. 2,
uxiii. 18: Meiapulamii, Gen. xxr. 80, xxxl. 18;
Jf, Syria, Gen. xxriii. 'J, 6, 6, xxxiii. 18, xxxr. 9,
86, xlri. 15; Syria, Gen. xxri. 15). By this name,
more properly Paddan-Aram, which signifies " the
table-bind of Aram " according to Kiirst and Ge-
senias, the Hebrews designated the tract of country
which they otherwise called Aram-naharaiui,
u Aram of the two riven," the Greek Mesopotamia
(Gen. xxir. 10), and •> the field (A. V. ' country ')
of Aram " (Hoe. xii. 18). The term was perhaps
more especially applied to that portion which bor-
dered on the Euphrates, to distinguish it from the
tuountaiiious districts in the N. and N. E of Mes-
opotamia. Kasbi's note on Geu. xxr. 20 is curious:
* Be cau se there were two Arams, Arani-naharaim
•id Aram Zobah, he (the writer) calls it Paddan-
Aram: the eipreasiou 'yoke of oxen' is in the
Targunis y*~\ 1F[ Xp}, paddm liiia ; and some
interpret Paddan-Aram as ' field of Aram,' because
in the language of the I«hnM»lit»« they nil a field
•>*mUo!." (Ai yjfiXi). In Syr. Uf**,
(Moitt, is used for a "plain" or "field; "and both
this and the Arable word are probably from the
root i\i,fadtia, "to plough," which seems akin
to fd- in SdU, from findtre. If this etymology be
true Paainn-Aram is the arable land of Syria.;
" either an upland rale in the hills, or a fertile dis-
trict immediately at their feet " (Stanley, S. <f P.
p. 188, note). Paddan, the ploughed land, would
thus correspond with the Lai. nrwum, and is analo-
gouato Kng.JieJd, the /tiled land, from which the
trees hare been cl e ar ed,
Padan-Aram plan an important part in the
sarly history of the Hebrews. The family of their
founder had settled there, and ■ were long looked
upon as the aristocracy of the race, with whom
alone the legitimate descendants of Abraham might
intermarry, and thus preserve the purity of their
blood. Thither Abraham sent his faithful steward
(Geu. xxiv. 10), after the news had reached him in
his southern home at Beer-aheba that children had
heen born to his brother Nahor. From this family
alone, the offspring of Nahor and Hilcah, Abra-
ham's brother and niece, could a wife be sought for
Isaac, the heir of promise (lien. xxv. 20), and Jacob
tha inheritor of his blessing (Gen. xxriii.).
It is elsewhere called Pai>a.x simply (Gen.
irrHl. 7). W. A. W.
• PADDLE is used in Dect- xxiii. 18 (A T.)
In the sense of a "small spade" or "shovel. 1
The term is still applied in provincial Knzliah to
in instrument of this kind (s«*o called pnddle-
tt"JT)i need by ploughmen for freeing the share from
earth. " Thou shatt have n paddU upon thy
ve-ipm," in the passage above referred to, would
• better translated, "Thou shalt have a tnali
Meet among Ay implement* " (eui BcJi&uJltir. bti
Oertthechafl, Bunsen). A
• the nssmbianoe betvnen Loads* (ilWV,
I Osr. rr. 81), one of the sons of Shaath, and Uuidan
.llj^?), an ancestor ofJa.hu* (1 Ubr. vU. 28), may
PAHATH-MOAB 2279
PATMJN (]Vt$ [rfefweronce]: weaWr'
Phadun). The ancestor of a family of Nethinhn
who returned with Zerubbabel (Ear. ii. 44; Neh
vu. 47). He is called Phalkas in 1 Esdr. v. 88.
PAG'IEL (^^9 {Chd allot,]: *erre4v
Alex. OirvoinX, [and so Vat i. 13, 11. 87:] Pke
gitl). The son of Ocran, and chief of the tribe cf
Asher at the time of the Exodus (Num. i. 13, U
27, rii. 72, 77, x. 26).
PA'HATH-MCKAB (3^123 nilB: *aU
[Vat. also woAnjS, ♦on8, wool (so FA. Neb. iii.
11, where Kom. «Wt)] Mmifi- PhaAati-Unnb,
" governor of Moab ''). Head of one of the chief
bouses of the tribe of Judah. Of the individual
or the occasion of his receiving so singular a name,
nothing is known certainly, either as to the time
when he lived, or the particular family to which bo
belonged. But as we read in 1 Chr. ir. 88, of a
family of Shilonites, of the tribe of Judah, who in
very early times " had dominion in Moab," it may
be conjectured that this was the origin of the name.
It is perhaps a slight corroboration of this conjeo-
ture that as we find in Kir. ii. 6, that the sons of
Pahath-Moab had among their number " children
of Joab," so also In 1 Chr. ir. we find these fami-
lies who had dominion in Moab very much mixed
with the sons of Caleb, among whom, in 1 Chr. ii.
54, ir. 14, we find the house of Joab." It may
further be conjectured that this dominion of the
sons of Sbebtb in Moab, had some connection with
the migration of Elimelech and his sons into the
country of Moab, as mentioned in the book of Ruth ;
nor should the close resemblance of the names
rn?^ (Ophrah), 1 Chr. ir. 14, and n£"TO
(Orpah), Ruth i. 4, be orerlooked. Jerome, in-
deed, following doubtless his Hebrew muter, gins
a mystical interpretation to the names in 1 Chr.
iv. 83, and translates the strangi word Jatkvbi-
lekem, " they returned to Leem " (Bethlehem).
And the author of Quati. Heb. in Lib. Paraleip.
(printed in Jerome's works, follows up this open-
ing, and make* Jokim (qui stare fecit solem) to
mean Euakim, and the men of Chozeba (viri
meodacii), Joaah and Samph (seeams et mcradeniV
to mean Mablon and Chilion, who took wives
(V7Sf) in Moab, and returned (>. e. Ruth and
Naomi did) to the plentiful bread of Bethlehem
(houte of bread); Interpretations which are so far
worth noticing, as they point to ancient traditions
connecting the migration of Elimelech and his sons
with the Jewish dominion in Moab mentioned in
1 Chr. ir. 28.* However, as regards the name
Pahath-Moab, this early and obscure connection
of the families of Sbelah the son of Judah with
Moab seems to supply a not improbable origin for
the name itself, and to throw some glimmering
upon the association of the children of Joshua and
Joab with the sons of Pahath-Moab. That this
family waa of high rank in the tribe of Judah we
learn from their appearing fourth in order in the
two lists, Ear. ii. 6; Neb. vil. 11, and from their
chief having signed second, among the lay princes,
in Neh. x. 14. It was also the most numerous
(2818) of all the families specified, except the
be anted la. eonneeoon with the
nsnttai of Jcsbm
ate. h 6.
» loam
zxU
8, may also
be no lead in this sen
section.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2280
PAI
BenjamiU- house of Senaah (Neh. vii. 88). Hie
-inn* «' the eliief of the home of Pabath-Moab, in
Xehemiau's time, mi Iluhub; and, in exact ae-
tordance with the numbers of hie family, we find
him repairing Uai portions of the wall of Jerusalem
(Neb. Hi. 11, 83). It inay also be noticed as
slightly confirming the view of l'ahath-Moab being
a Shttonite family, that whereas in 1 Chr. ix. 8-7,
Neh. xl. 6-7, we find the Benjamlte families in
dose juxtaposition with the Shilonites, to in the
building of the wall, where each family liuilt the
portion over against their own habitation, we find
Benjamin and Hashubthe Pahath-Moabite coupled
together (Neh. iii. 33). The only other notices of
the family are found in Kir. via. 4, where 200 of
its males are said to bare accompanied Klibocnai,
the son of Zenthiah, when be came up with Ezra
from Babylon ; and in Ear. x. 30, where eight of
the tons of Pahath-Moab are named as having
taken strange wires in the time of Ezra's govern-
A. C. H.
* PAI f*?B : +oy&p: Pkam), 1 Chr. i. SO, a
town of Idumea. [P AU A.
PAINT (as a cosmetic). The use of cosmetic
d)es baa prevailed in all ages in eastern countries.
We have abundant evidence of the practice of paint-
ing the eyes both in ancient Egypt (Wilkinson, ii.
848) and in Assyria (Layard's Niiuvtt, ii. 328) ;
and in modern times no usage is more general. It
does not appear, however, to hare been by any
means universal among the Hebrews. The notices
of it are few; and in each instance it seems to
hare been used as a meretricious art, unworthy of
a woman of high character. Thus Jezebel " put
her eyes in painting " (2 K. Ii. 3(1, margin); Jere-
miah says of the harlot city, " Though tbou rent
est thy eyes with painting" (Jer. iv. 30): and
Kxekiel again makes it a characteristic of a harlot
(Ex. xxiii. 40; comp. Joseph. B. J. Iv. 9, J 10). The
expressions used in these passages are worthy of
observation, as referring to the mode in which the
process was effected. It is thus described by Chan'
dler (Trmtls.U. 140): " A girl, closing one of her
" stye ornamented with Kolil.umpmented lu ancient
palnanga." (Lane, p. 87, new ed.)
syes, took the two lashes between the forefinger
and thnmb of the left hand, pulled them forward,
and then thrusting in at the external comer a
jodkin which had been Immersed in the soot, and
extracting it again, the particles before adhering
3o it remained within, and were presently ranged
round the organ." The eyes were thus literally
'• put in paint," and were •' rent " open in the pro-
<ets. A broad tine was also drawn round the eye,
tt represented in the accompanying cut. The effect
*aa an sppvent enlargement of the eye ; and the
expression in Jer. Iv. 30 has been by some under-
stood In this senso (<>es. 77iet. p. 1239), which
Is without doubt admissible, and would harmonize
• The
■to Spanish
ttot .B.67").
'11*.
version: *• Aleobofaut* toes ojos" (Get.
PALAUB
with the observations of other writers (Jar. ii. M.
obliqua pivducit sen; " Plin. Ep. vi. 8). Ins
term used for the application of the dye was biciiU,"
"to smear;" and Kabbhiical writers described the
paint itself under a cognate term (Mishn. £*«&&.
8, $ 3). These words still surrire in toUfi the
modern oriental name for the powder used. [See
note, vol. ii. p. 1891 (Amer. ed.).] The Bible gives
no indication of the substance out of which the
dye was formed. If any conclusion were dedncible
from the evident affinity between the Hebrew pit,'
the Greek tpvKot, sud the Latin f*cvi, it would
be to the effect that the dye was of a vegetable
kind. Such a dye is at the present day produced
from the henna plant (Lmnumo mtrtw\ and ii
extensively applied to the bands and the hair (Kus-
sell's Aleppo, i. 100, 110). But the old versions
(toe 1.XX., l/baldee, Syrise, etc.) agree in pro-
nouncing the dye to have been produced from anti-
mony, the very name of which (#ri/Ji, tMitm >
probably owed its currency in the ancient world to
this circumstance, the name itself and the applica-
tion of the substance having both emanated from
Egypt.'' Antimony it still used for the purpose in
Arabia (Burckhardt's TrmtU,l. 876), and in Per-
sia (Horier's Statu! J<mrnn/, p. 61), though lead
it also used in the latter country (Mussel], i. 866):
but in Egypt the tvhl is a soot produced by burn-
ing either a kind of frankincense or the shells or
almonds (I-ane, i. 61 ). The dye-stuff wss moist-
ened with oil, and kept in a small Jar, which we
may infer to have been made of horn, from tlie
proper name, Keren-happoch, "horn for paint"
(Job xlii. 14). The probe aith
which it was applied was msde
either of wood, silver, or ivory,
and bad a blunted point. Both
the probe and the jar have
frequently been discovered in
Egyptian tombs (Wilkinson,
ii. 843). In addition to the
ps stages referring to eye-paint
already quoted from the Bible,
we may notice probable sllu-
Taawl and sions to the practice in Prov.
Probe for Kohl. vi. 86, Eeelus. xxvi. 9, and la
iii. 16, the term rendered
wanton " in the last passage bearing the radical
of painted. The contrast between the black
paint and the white of the eye led to the transfer
of the term pit to describe the variegated stones
used in the string courses of a handsome building
(1 (,'hr. xxix.2: A.V. "glistering stones,'* lit.
$hmr$ nf eyt-pnint) : and again the dark cement in
wtTich marble or other bright stones were imbedded
(Is. liv. II; A. V. "I will lay thy stones with
fair colors "). Whether the custom of staining the
hands and feet, particularly the nails, now so prev-
alent in the East, was known to the Hebrews, h
doubtful. The plant, Artmn, which is used for that
purpose, was certainly known (Cant. I. 14; A V.
" camphire "), and the expressions in Cant. ». 14
may possibly refer to the custom. W. I.. B.
PALACE. There are few tasks more uifrknh
or puzzling than the attempt to restore an aaeisot
d This mineral was imported Into %ypt for Uu
purpose. One of the pictures at Bfw fJaasan repre-
sents the arrival of a party of tinders la stibium
The powder made from antimony has keen always rap
posed to have a beneficial effect on the ryetsfnt (Fa*
xxxlli. 84 ; Russell, I. HI ; Lane, L It)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALACE
building of which we possess nothing bat two wr-
bal descriptions, and then difficulties «re rery much
enhanced when oat account is written in » lan-
guage like Hebrew, the scientific terms in which |
ere, from our ignorance, capable of the wideet Ut-
ttode of interpretation; and the other, tboogh !
written in a language of which we hare a more I
PALACB 2281
definite knowledge, wee composed by a person who
never eould haw *een the buildings be was de-
scribing.
Notwithstanding this, the palace which Solomon
occupied himeelf in erecting during the thirteen
years after he had flniahed the Temple ii a build-
ing of each world-wide notoriety, that it cannot
*{«l£ it fti'r
Fig. 1. Diagram Plan of Solomon'* Palaoe.
be without lnterart to the Biblical Undent that
thcae who hare made a special study of the sub-
Jeet, and who an familiar with the arrangement!
of eastern palace*, ibould tnbmit their ideas on
the subject; and it is alio Important that our
knowledge on this, ss on all other matters con-
oseted with the Bible, should be brought down
to the latest data. Almost all the restorations of
Una celebrated edifies which an found in earlier
editions of the Bible are what may be called Vitro.
| vian, namely, based on the principles of classical
architecture which were the only ones known to
tbeir authors. During the earlier part of this cen-
tury attempts wen made to Introduce the princi-
ples of Egyptian design into then restorations, but
with eren Ins success. The Jews hated Egypt and
all that it contained, and ererything they did, or
eren thought, was antagonistic to the arts and
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2282
PALACE
helingi of that land of bondage. On the other
band, the exhumation of the palaoM of Nineveh,
and the more careful examination of thoae at Per-
sepoUs, hare thrown a flood of light on the sub-
|tot. Many expr es si ons which before were entirely
■nintelligible are now dear and easily nndentood,
and, if we cannot yet explain everything, we know
at leatt where to look for analogic*, and what waa
the character, own if we cannot predicate the ex-
act form, of the buildinga in question.
The site of the Palace of Solomon was almost
certainly in the city itself, on the brow opposite to
the Temple, and overlooking it and the whole city
of Darid." It ii impossible, of course, to be at all
certain what was either the form or the exact dis-
position of snch a palace, but, as we hare the di-
mensions of the three principal buildings given in
the book of Kings, and confirmed by Josephus, we
may, by taking these as a scale, ascertain pretty
nearly that the building covered somewhere about
160,000 or 160,000 square feet. l-es» would not
suffice for the accommodation specified, and more
would not be justified, either from the accounta we
bare, or the dimensions of the city in which It was
•Stunted. Whether it was a square of 400 bet each
way, or an oblong of about 650 feet by 300, as
PALACE
re p res en ted in the annexed diagrau, must always
be more or less a matter of conjecture. The form
here adopted seems to suit better not only the exi-
gencies of the site, but the known disposition of the
parte.
The principal building situated within the Pal-
ace was, as in all eastern palaces, the great hall of
state and audience: here called the " House of the
Forest of Lebanon.*' Its dimensions were 100
cubits, or 160 feet long, by half that, or 76 feet, in
width. According to the Bible (1 K. vii. 2) It
had "/our rows of oedar pillars with cedar beams
upon the pillars; " but it is added in the next
verse that "it was covered with cedar above the
beams that lay on 46 pilars, 16 in a row." This
would be easily explicable if the description stopped
there, and so Josephus took It. He evidently con-
sidered the hall, as he afterwards described the
Stoa basilica of the Temple, as consisting of four
rows of columns, three standing free, but the fourth
built into the outer wall (Ant. xt. 6); and his ex-
pression, that the ceiling of the palace ball was in
the Corinthian manner (Ant. vii. 6, § S), does not
mean that it was of that ordtr, which was not then
invented, but after the fashion of what was called
in his day a Corinthian cbcus, namely, a hall with
a olere story. If we, like Josephus, are contented
with these indications, the section of the hall waa
eertalrly a* shown in fig. A. But the Bible goes
en to aay (ver. 4) that " there were windows in
three rows, and light was against light in three
ranks," and in the next verse it repeats, " and
&?ht was against light in three .ranks." Josephus
wcapes the difficulty by saying it was lighted by
' 8vpAiam rfiy\iipon," or by windows in three
Divisions, which might be taken as an extremely
probable description if the Bible were not so very
■purine regarding it; and we must therefore adopt
same such arrangement as that shown in figure b.
Though other arrangements might be suggested,
on the whole it appears probable that this is the
one nearest the truth ; as it admits of a clere-story,
to which Josephus evidently refers, and shows the
three rows of columns which the Bible description
requires. Besides the clere-story there was proba-
bly a range of openings under the cornice of the
walk, and then a range of open doorways, which
would thus make the three openings required by
the Bible description. In a hotter climate the first
arrangement (fig. A) would be the more probable;
but on a site so exposed and occasionally so cold
' This .notion to " the city of David " Is band
s author's peculiar theory, which is set fcrth at
i, and answered, In arttels J nsmsi . Stanley
its, with equal confidence, a dlflmnt locality
at Jerusalem, it is scarcely likely that the gnat
hall of the palace was permanently open even on
one side.
Another difficulty in attempting to restore thii
hall arises from the number of pillars being un-
equal (" 16 in a row "), and if we adopt the last
theory (fig. B), we have a row of columns in the
centre both ways. The probability is that it was
closed, as shown In the plan, by a wall at one end,
which would give 16 spaces to the 15 pillars, and so
provide a central space in the longer dimension
of the hall in which the throne might bnre been
placed. If the first theory be adopted, the throne
may have stood either at the end, or in the centre
of the longer side, but, judging from what w* *uhiw
of the arrangement of eastern palaces, wt may
be almost certain that the lattsr is the c rrert
position.
Next in importance to the building just described
is the hall or porch of judgment (ver. 7), which
Josephus distinctly tells us (Ant. vii 6, § 1) wee
sitt-ated opposite to the centre of the longer side ol
the great ball: an indication which may be ad-
mitted with leas hesitation, as suoh a position is
identical with that of a similar hall at Persepotta
from the above. « The new Paleet must havs
apart from the castle of David, and oosaMsrably
the lent of the Tempte-mount." (Huttrpiftkt
it* Oarts, U. 216) *>• '
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALAOB
Mf with the probable potition of one at Khor-
PALACB
2288
IU dimensions were 60 cubits, or 75 feet square
(Josephus says 80 in one direction at least), and its
disposition can easily be understood by comparing
the descriptions we hare with the remains of the
Assyrian and Persian examples. It must have been
supported by four pillars in the centre, and had
three entrances; the principal opening from the
street and owing the judgment-seat, a second from
the court-yard of the palace, by which the coun-
cillors and officers of state might come in, and a
laird from the palace, reserved for the king and
his household as shown in the plan (fig. 1, N).
The third edifice is merely called " the Porch."
IU dimensions were 60 by 30 cubits, or 76 feet by
46. Josephus does not describe its architecture ;
and we are unable to understand the description
contained in the Bible, owing apparently to our
ignorance of the synonyms of the Hebrew archi-
tectural terms. Its use, however, cannot be con-
sidered as doubtful, as it was an indispensable ad-
junct to an Eastern palace. It was the ordinary
place of business of die palace, and the reception-
room — the Guesten Hall — where the king re-
eernd ordinary visitors, and sat, except on great
state occasions, to transact the business of the
kingdom.
Behind this, we are told, was the inner court,
adorned with gardens and fountains, and sur-
rounded by cloisters for shade; and besides this
were other courts for the residence of the attend-
ants and guards, and in Solomon's case, for the
three hundred women of his harem : all of which
are shown in the plan with more clearness than can
be conveyed by a verbal description.
Apart from this palace, but attached, as Jose-
phus tells us, to the Hall of Judgment, was the
palace of Pharaoh's daughter — too proud and im-
portant a personage to be grouped with the ladies
of the harem, and requiring a residence of her own.
There is -still another building mentioned by
Josephus, as a mot or temple, supported by mas-
sire columns, and situated opposite the Hall of
Judgment. It may thus have been outside, in
(rant of the palace in the city ; but more probably
was, as shown in the plan, in the centre of the
great court. It could not have been a temple in
the ordinary acceptation of the term, as the Jews
had only one temple, and that was situated on the
other side of the valley ; but it may have been an
altar covered by a baldachino. This would equally
meet the exigencies of the description as well as the
prol«bilities of the case; and so it has been repre-
sented in the plan (fig. 1).
If the site and disposition of the palace were as
above indicated, it would require two great portals :
see leading from the city to the great court, shown
it M; the other to the Temple and the king's gar.
den, at N. This last was probably situated where
lha stairs then were which led up to the City of
David, and where the bridge afterwards joined the
Temple to the dty and palace.
The resent discoveries at Nineveh have enabled
it to understand many of the architectural details
if this palace, which before they were made were
•early wholly inexplicable. We are told, for in
stance, that the walla of the halls of the palace
•ere wainscotted with three tiers of stone, appar-
ently versi-oolored marbles, hewn and polished, and
•amounted by a fourth course, elaborately carved
with representations of leafage and flowers. Above
this the walls were plastered and ornamented with
colored arabesques. At Nineveh the walls were
like these, wainscoted to a height of about eight
feet, but with alabaster, a peculiar product of the
country, and these were separated from the painted
space above by an architectural band; the real
difference being that the Assyrians reveled in
sculptural representations of men and animals, as
we now know from the sculptures brought home,
as well as from the passage in Eaekiel (xxiii. 14)
where he describes " men pourtrayed on the wall,
the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with ver-
milion," etc. These modes of decoration were for-
bidden to the Jews by the second commandment,
given to them in consequence of their residence in
Egypt and their consequent tendenoy to that mul-
tiform idolatry. Some difierence may also be due
to the fact that the soft alabaster, though admira-
bly suited to bassi-relievi, was not suited for sharp,
deeply-cut foliage sculpture, like that described by
Josephus ; white, at the same time, the hard mate-
rial used by the Jews might Induce them to limit
their ornamentation to one band only. It is prob-
able, however, that a considerable amount of color
was used in the decoration of these palaces, not
only from the constant reference to gold and gild-
ing in Solomon's buildings, and because that as
a color could hardly be used alone, but also from
such passages as the following : " Build me a
wide house and large " — or through-aired —
"chambers, and cutteth out windows; and it is
ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion "
(Jer. xxii. 14). It may also be added, that in the
East all buildings, with scarcely an exception, are
adorned with color internally, generally the three
primitive colors used in all their intensity, but so
balanced as to produce the most harmonious re-
sults.
Although incidental mention is made of other
palaces at Jerusalem and elsewhere, they are all
of subsequent ages, and built under the influence
of Roman art, and therefore not so interesting to
the Biblical student as this. Besides, none of them
are anywhere so described as to enable their dis-
position or details to be made out with the same
degree of clearness, and no instruction would be
conveyed by merely reiterating the rhetorical flour-
ishes in which Josephus indulges when describing
them ; and no other palace is described in the Bible
itself so as to render its elucidation indispensable
in such an article as the present. J. F.
* Palace in A. V., singular and plural, is the
rendering of several words of diverse meaning
(TV*}, 1 Chr. xxix. 1 oij byri, to. if. 14
aL; VttVJvJ, 2 K. »». 88 «li flB^n, Am. ir.
3; rnnp, ex. m. 4 «t; rvj, a cb- ix. 11
"<•; IT!?*?. Dan- *t *°; I-XX. oUos, &nv xxxtt.
14 «L{ *i\ is , Esth. U. 13 aL; nit, Y%. xlv. 16
aL; $&pn, I Am ii. 5 aL; o£ip<(. fripi, Neh. 1. 1,
vil. 3; UixtKu (pi-), Jer. vi. 5 «£; x&ph Mlc. v.
6 aL; oVrpoy, 1 K. xvi. 18; &\ut, 1 K. xxi. 1;
fa-ovAir, tPs. lxix. 25; *vpy60apn, Pe. exxii. 7;
twaAfis, Cant. viii. 9; y>j, Jer. ix. 81; o>po8a
(pL), Jer. xvii. 37 aL; 'EtpaSurm, Dan. xi. 46,
'Pottiid. Am. iv. 8; frurlA,u,r, Na.il. 6; N. T.,
ab\% Matt. xxrl. 68 aL ; irpcurdptor, PhiL i. 13).«
~* • On R Patae7"~m Phil. i. 18 (A. V.), see Jtm»
ksht-sut [Amur, ed), and Paaroanm at the m4
Digitized by VjOOQIC
2284
PALAL
It often designates the royal residence and usually
suggests a fortress, or battlemented house — the
citadel, as the most secure place, being commoulj
In eastern towns the abode of the ruler. The word
occasionally (as in Esth. ix. 12) includes the whole
city j and again (as in 1 K. xvi. 18) it is restricted
to a part of the royal apartments. It is applied
(at in 1 Cbr. zzix. 1) to the Temple in Jerusalem.
By " the palace which appertained to the house "
(Nan. it 6) is probably meant the tower of Anto-
nia adjaeent to the Temple.
The Palaoe of Solomon, who " was building his
own house thirteen years " (1 K. wii. 1), of which
a conjectural restoration it attempted in the pre-
ceding article, must hare stood on the high eastern
bow of Zion, overlooking the Temple and the
lower city. No site within the walls could have
been more commanding, and the immense edifice,
built of white stone and cedar-wood, must have
been one of the most imposing. The Asmonean
princes, Recording to Josephus, whose descriptions
of the city hare been mainly confirmed, erected a
palace on the same site, adjoining the great bridge
which spanned the Tyropoaon. It was also occu-
pied as a royal residence by the Uerodian family,
and was enlarged by king Agrippa. Magnificent
private residences were probably embraced in the
allusions found in the Psalms and the Prophets to
the palaces of Zion. The massive foundations
which have been uncovered, as the subterranean
parts of the modern city have been explored, con-
vey an impressive idea of the architectural solidity
and grandeur of ancient Jerusalem. 8. \V
PA--LXL(^p [a judge]: *W X ; [Vat.
♦oAoA; FA. OoAok;] Alex. *a\it: Phakl).
The ton of Uzai, who assisted in restoring the walls
of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah (Neh. iii.
»)•
PALESTI/NA and PAI/ESTINE. These
two forms occur in the A. V. but four times in all,
always in poetical passages : the first, in Ex. xv.
14, and Is. xiv. 99, 31; the second, Joel iii. 4. In
each case the Hebrew is nt|r^9, Pelithtlh, a
word found, besides the above, only in Ps. Ix. 8,
Ixxxiii. 7, lxxxvii. 4, and cviii. 9, in all which our
translators have rendered it by " Philistia " or
» Philistines." The LXX. hat in Ex. +v\urrulu,
»ut in Is. and Joel AAAo'AvA.oi ; the Vulg. in Ex.
"hititthiim, in Is. PhiUtthaa, in Joel Palatlhini.
rhe apparent ambiguity in the different renderings
si the A. V. is in reality no ambiguity at all, for
at the date of that translation " Palestine " was
Tnonymous with "Philistia." Thus Milton, with
> Lou was written between 1680 and 1670.
Shakespeare, on the other hand, uses the word In 11a
aodern sense in two passages, Kins; John, act It. scene
I, and OthtUo, act Iv. scene 8 : the date of the former
et then plays is 1896. that of the latter 1602. But
Shakespeare and Milton wrote for different audiences ;
and th» language of the one would be as modern (for
In* tfans) as that of the other was claastatl and an-
ions. That the name was changing Its meaning
Tom the rsstrleted to the general sense just at the
beginning of the 17th century. Is curiously aseertaln-
ibie from two Indexes " of the Hardest Wordee," ap-
pended to successive editions of Sylvester's Du Bartas
^006 and 1608), In one of which It Is explained ss
" Judea, the Holy Land, first sailed Oanaan," and in
the other « the land of the Philistines." Fuller, in
est nara*Hnt*i «/ Poituwu (1650), of course uses It
PALB8TINA
bis usual accuracy in such points, nantkui mt
gon as
"Dreaded through the coast
Of Palestine, in Oath and Aaoalsn,
And Aeoaron and Gasa's frontier bounds " :
(Air. Lot, 1. 464.)
and again as
« That twice-battered god of Palestine'':
(.Hymn on Nat. 199)
— where if any proof be wanted that his m anins
is restricted to Philistia, it will be found in the
fact that he has previously connected other deities
with the other parts of the Holy Land. See also,
still more decisively, Sainton Ag. 144, 1098 " But
even without such evidence, the passages them-
selves show how our translators understood the
word. Thus in Ex. xv. 14, '< Palestine," Edom,
Moab, and Canaan are mentioned at toe nations
alarmed at the approach of Israel. In Is. xiv. 99,
31, the prophet warns " Palestine " not to rejoice
at the death of king Ahaz, who had subdued it.
In Joel iii. 4, Phoenicia and " Palestine " are
upbraided with cruelties practiced on Judah and
Jerusalem.
Palestine, then, in the Authorized Version, really
means nothing but Philistia. The original Hebrew
word Ptl&ihtth, which, at shown above, it die-
where translated Philistia, to the Hebrews signi-
fied merely the long and broad strip of maritime
plain inhabited by their encroaching neighbors.
We shall see that they never applied the name to
the whole country. An inscription of Iva-lush,
king of Assyria (probably the l*ul of Scripture),
as deciphered by Sir H. Rawlinson, names " Palartu
on the Western Sea," and distinguishes it from
Tyre, Damascus, Samaria, and Edom (Rawlinson's
Herod, i. 467). In the tame restricted tense it
was probably employed — if employed at ail — by
the ancient Egyptians, in whose records at Karnak
the Puhuatu has been deciphered in close connec-
tion with that of the BkairuUmn or Skaru, possi-
bly the Sidonians or Syrians (Birsh, doubtfully, in
Layard, tfineveh, ii. 407, note). Nor does it appear
that at first it signified more to the Greeks. As
lying next the sea, and as being also the high-road
from Egypt to Phoenicia and the richer regions
north of it, the Philistine plain became sooner
known to the western world than the country
further inland, and was called by them Syria
Paltestina — 21*0(17 TIaAxuo-Tirn —Philistine Syria.
This name it first found in Herodotus (i. 105; ii.
104; iii. 5; vii. 89); and there can be little doubt
that on each occasion be it speaking of the coast,
and the coast » only. (See also the testimony of
Joseph. Ant. I. 6, $ 8.) From thence it was
In the largest sense ; but it It somewhat remarkable
that he says nothing whatever of the signification ol
the name. In France the original narroT rigninca*
Hon has been retained. Thus eh. xxxl. c Volney's
Trawls treats of " Palestine, i. 1. the plain ihich ter-
minates the country of Syria on the west," and * earn
prehends the whole country between the Medkemv
nean on the west, the mountains on the east, and two
lines, one drawn by Khan Younes, and the other be-
tween Kalaaria and the rivulet of Tank" It la that
used repeatedly by Napoleon I. In his dispatches and
correspondence. See Comxp. do lfap n No*. 4090
4085, ace.
o In the second of these passages, he seems to ex
tend It u far north as Beirtt if the assistant •
the AfoAr ,I.KmU> an the *Ma> of 1
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
giadiiallj extended to the country farther inland,
til in the Roman and liter Greek authors, both
heathen and Christian, it becomes the usual appel-
lation for the whole country of the Jews, both west
and east of Jordan. (See the citations of Reland,
PaL co. rii. viil.) Nor was its use confined to
heathen writers: it even obtained among the Jews
themselves. Josephns generally uses the name for
the country and nation of the Philistines (Ant.
jriii. S, § 10; vi. 1, § 1, See.), but on one or two
occasions he employs it in the wider sense (AnL I.
I, §4; Tili. 10, J 3; e. Ap. i. 22). So does Philo,
/is Abrah. and D» VU>t Motis. It is eren found
in such thoroughly Jewish works as the Talmudic
treatises BerethUh Riibba and Echa Rnbbalki
(Belaud, p. 89); and it is worthy of notice how
much the feeling of the nation must hare degen-
erated before they oould apply to the Promised
Land the name of its bitterest enemies — the
« ondreumcised Philistines."
Jerome (cir. A. D. 400) adheres to the ancient
ff-'-g of Pahestina, which he restricts to Pbilis-
tia (see Ep. ad Dardanum, § 4; Comm. in Etniam
nT. 90 ; in Amo* i. 6)." So also does Procopiua
of Gasa (cir. A. d. 510) In a curious passage on
Gerar, in his comment on 2 Chr. xiv. 13.
The word is now so commonly employed In our
mora familiar language to designate the whole coun-
try of Israel, that, although Biblically a misnomer,
it has been chosen here as the most convenient
heading under which to give a genera! description
of thb Holt Land, embracing those points which
have not been treated under the separate headings
of cities or tribes.
This description will most conveniently divide
teelf into two sections: —
I. The Names applied to the country of Israel
in the Bible and elsewhere.
II. The Land: its situation, aspect, climate,
physical characteristics, in connection
with its history; its structure, botany,
and natural history.*
The history of the country is so fully given
under its various headings throughout the work,
that it is unnecessary to recapitulate it here.
I. Thb Namks.
Palestine, then, Is designated in the Bible by
mm than one name: —
1. During the Patriarchal period, the Conquest,
and the age of the Judges, and also where those
early periods are referred to in the later literature
(as PsI cv. 11; and Joseph. Ant. i. T; 8; 20; v.
1, Ac), it is spoken of as '• Canaan," or more
PALESTINE
2285
• In Us Spit. Paula (8 8) he extends the region of
Hw Philistines as tar north as Dor, doss under Mount
OasmsL We have seen above that Herodotus (stands
Palestine to Btiriu. Caasana was anciently entitled
0. PauestlnsB, to distinguish it from other towns of the
lame name, and it would Mem to be even still called
Kateariyh FtHitin by the Arabs (sea note to Burek-
hardt, Syria, p. 887, July IS ; also Sahultsns, Index
Otcgr. « Cessans "). Bamlrh, 10 miles east of Jaffa,
istsliinit in the time of bap-Paraht the same aflU (ess
tabes's B. of Tndela, 1L 489). He identifies the latter
vtth Oath.
e The leader will observe that the botany and nat-
aral history have been treated by Dr. Hook*r and the
lev. W. Houghton. The paper of the former dlsttn-
inlened botanist derives a peculiar value from the fact
(hat be has visited Palestine.
' e «or Ms. Grove's explanation of Bus apparently
frequently "the Land of Canaan," meaning thereby
the country west of the Jordan, as opposed to " the
Land of Uilead " on toe east" [Cabaan, Laud
of, vol. i. p. 351 f.] Other designations, during
the same early period, are " the land of the He-
brews" (Gen. xL 15 only — a natural phrase in
the mouth of Joseph); the » land of the Hittites "
(Josh. i. 4): a remarkable exp res si on, occurring
here only, in the Bible, though frequently used in
the Egyptian records of Kameaes II., in which
Chela at Chita appears to denote the whole coun-
try of Lower and Middle Syria. (Brugsoh, Cengr.
Intehrift ii. 21, Ac.) The name Ta-turr (i. e.
Holy Land), which is found in the inscriptions of
Rameses II. and Thothmes III., is believed by M.
Brugsoh to refer to Palestine (Ibid. 17). But this
is contested by H. de Rouge 1 (.Beetle Archioloyique,
Sept. 1861, p. 916). The Phoenicians appear to
have applied the title Holy Land to their own
country, and possibly also to Palestine at a very
early date (Brugseh, p. 17). If this can be sub-
stantiated, it opens a new view to the Biblical
student, inasmuch as it would seem to Imply that
the country had • reputation for sanctity before ii»
connection with the Hebrews.
2. During the Monarchy the name usually,
though not frequently, employed, is "Land of
Israel" (* V"l$; 1 Sam. xiii. 19; 2 K. v. 2, 4,
vi. 23; 1 Chr. xxli. 9; 2 Chr. ii. 17). Of count
this must not be confounded with the same appel-
lation as applied to the northern kingdom only
(9 Chr. xxx. 25; Ex. xxvii. 17). It is Esekiel'e
favorite expression, though he commonly alters its
form slightly, substituting iT^Th? for Y"T*j. The
pious and loyal aspirations of Hosea find vent in
the expression "land of Jehovah" (Hoc. ix. 8;
comp. Is. lxii. 4, Ac., and indeed I.*v. xxv 23, Ac.).
In Zechariah it is •' the holy land " (Zeeh. ii. 18);
and in Daniel " the glorious land " (Dan. xi. 41).
In Amos (ii. 10) alone it is "the land of the
Amorite;" perhaps with a glance at Deut. L 7.
Occasionally it appears to be mentioned simply as
"The Land;" as in Ruth i. 1; Jer. xxii. 27; 1
Mace. xiv. 4; Luke ir. 25, and perhaps even xxilL
44. The later Jewish writers are fond of this title,
of which several examples will be found in Reland,
PaL chap. v.
3. Between the Captivity and the time of our
Lord, the name "> Judasa" had extended itself from
the southern portion to the whole of the country,' 1
even that beyond Jordan (Matt. xix. 1; Mark x. 1;
Joseph. Ant. ix. 14, § 1 ; xii. 4, § 11). In the book
of Judith it is applied to the portion between the
Inappropriate name as applied to a land of valleys and
plains llkt* Palestine, see Cakaab, lakd or. The gen-
erally received view, however, Is that the name be-
longed originally to Phoenicia, which lay along ths
coast of the Mediterranean, when the Cauasnttaa make
their first appearance (Qen. x. 16-19). and that subse-
quently as they spread themselves Into the Interior
they carried with them the old name Into the new
settltmants. (See Kurts, Oetch. da Men Bandit, i.
104; Kell, Bibl. Arduulogi; p. 175; Arnold, art.
Poloitina in Hersog's Rtal-Eiuyk. xi. 1 ; and others. I
H.
<t An indication of this Is discovered by Belaud
(Pal. p. 83), as early as the time of Solomon, in the
terms of 2 Ota. ix. 11 ; but then is nothing to imply
that " Jndah " in that passage means more than the
actus' territory of the tribe.
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PALESTINE
■Wo of Eedraelon ud Samaria (zi. 19), u It m b
Luke xxiii. S; though it is tin used in the stricter
•boss of Jiuuea proper (John iv. 3, vii. 1 ), that is,
the most southern of the three main dirisions west
of Jordan. In this narrower sense it is employed
throughout 1 Msec, (see especially iz. 50, z. 30, 38,
xi. 84).
In the Epistle to the Hebrews (xi. 9) we find
Palestine spoken of as "the land of promise;"
and in 8 Esdr. xtr. 31, it is called '• the land of
Hon."
4. The Roman division of the country hardly
ooincliled with the Biblical one, and it does not
appear that the Romans had any distinct name far
(bat which we understand by Palestine. The prov-
iace of Syria, established by Pompey, of which
Se an rns was the first gorernor (quaestor propnstor)
hi 68 B. a, seems to have embraced the whole sea-
board from the Bay of Issus (Itkanaerin) to Egypt,
as far back as it was habitable, that is, up to the
desert which forms the background to the whole
district. " Judes" in their phrase appears to have
signified so much of this country as intervened
between Idumaea on the south, and the territories
of the numerous free cities, on the north and west,
which were established with the establishment of
the province — such as Scythopolis, Sebaste, Joppa,
Azotua, etc. (Diet, of Geogr. ii. 1077). The dis-
trict east of the Jordan, lying between it and the
desert — at least so much of it as was not covered
by the lands of Petla, Gadara, Canatha, PhOadel-
pheia, and other free towns — was called Penes.
6. Soon after the Christian era, we find the name
Pauestina in possession of the country. Ptolemy
(A. D. 161) thus applies it (Geogr. v. 16). "The
arbitrary divisions of Pauestina Prima, Secunda,
and Tertia, settled at the end of the 4th or begin-
ning of the 6th cent, (see the quotations from the
Cod. Thtodot. in Reland, p. 905), are still observed
in the documents of the Eastern Church " (Diet,
of Geogr. ii. 533 a). Pahestina Tertia, of which
Petra was the capital, was however out of the
Biblical limits; and the portions of Penes not
oomprised in PaL Secunda were counted as in
Arabia.
6. Joaephus usually employs the ancient name
" Canaan" in reference to the events of the earlier
history, but when speaking of the country in refer-
ence to bis own time styles it Judaea (Ant. i. 6, §
9, Ac.); though as that was the Roman name for
the southern province, it is sometimes (e. a. B. J.
LI, {1; iii. 3, § 5 b) difficult to ascertain whether
be is using it in its wider or narrower ° sense. In
the narrower sense he certainly does often employ
it (e. g. Ant. r. 1, § 28; B. J. iii. 8, § 4, 6 a).
Nioolaue of Damascus applies the name to the
•hole country (Joseph. Ant. i. 7, § 9).
The Talmudists and other Jewish writers use
the title of the " Land of Israel" As the Greeks
PALESTINE
styled all other nations but their own Baiharian
the Rabbis divide the whole world into twe
parts — the Land of Israel, and the regions out
Wit.*
7. The name most frequently used t hr ou gh o ut
tbn Middle Ages, and down to our own time, is
Tn-raSanctn — tbe Holy Land. In the hog list
of Travels and Treatises given by Bitter (Erdbmdt,
Jfdim, 81-65), Robinson (Bibi. Set. ii. 534-665),
sod Bonar (Lnmi of Promise, pp. 617-585), it
predominates far beyond any other appellation.
Qiiaresmios, in his Ektcidutio Terra Sonefts (L
9, 10), after enumerating the various naaies above
mentioned, concludes by adducing seven reaseisi
why that which he has embodied in the title of
his own work, "though of later date than the net,
yet in excellency and dignity surpasses them all; "
closing with the words of Pops Urban II. addressed
to the Council of Clermont: Qmim ierram meritt
Sanctum amvimtu, in qui non tit eftoas g assail
pedis quern non Mvs/roverit el ttmctffieaeerit eel
corpus vet umbra Sakatorit, vtl gloricea pratentia •
Sancta Dei gemtricu, vel ampteettndut Apotto-
lorvm eommeatut, vet m ot i f/ru m ebib en dui sanguis
tjjvsus.
II. Tub La*]>.
The Holy Land is not in size or physical charac-
teristics proportioned to its moral and historical
position, as the theatre of the most momentous
events in the world's history. It is but a strip of
country, about the size of Wales, less than 140
miles c In length, and barely 40 <*hj average breadth,
on the very frontier of the East, hemmed in between
the Mediterranean Sea on tbe one hand, and the
enormous trench of the Jordan Valley on the other,
by which it is effectually cut off from tbe mainland
of Asia behind it On the north it is shut in by
the high ranges of Lebanon and anti-Lebanon, and
by tbe chasm of the IM&nyf which runs at their
feet and forms the main drain of their southern
slopes. On the south it is no less indostd by the
arid and inhospitable deserts of the upper part of
the peninsula of Sinai, whose undulating wastes
melt imperceptibly into the southern hills of
Judaja.
1. Its position on tbe Map of the World — as
the world was when the Holy Land first made Its
appearance in history — is a remarkable one.
(1.) It is on tbe very outpost — on the extremest
western edge of the East, pushed forward, as it
were, by the huge continent of Asia, which almost
seems to have rejected and cut off from communi-
cation with itself this tiny strip, by the broad and
Impassable desert Interposed between it and the
vast tracts of Mesopotamia and Arabia in its rear.
On the shore of the Mediterranean it stands, as if
it had advanced as far as possible toward tbe West
— toward that New World which in the fullness
a This very ambiguity Is a sign (notwithstanding all
seat Jossphus says of the population and Importance
ef Oaliles) that the southern province was by for the
Skost Important part of the eountry. It conferred its
Bam* on the whole.
» Bee the citations in Otho, Lac. Sabb. « Israalltat
■agio;" and the Itineraries of Benjamin; Parent;
isaae ban Chain, tn Oannoly ; etc.
' The latitude of Banias, the ancient Dan, Is 88° W,
sad mat of Bsar-sheba 81° 18< ; thus the instance be-
*reea these two points - the one at the north, tbe
other at the south— is 8 degrees, 188 gecp. cr
BngUsh miles.
rf The breadth of the eountry at Seen, from
shore of tbe Mediterranean to that of the Dead Be
48 geogr. miles, while at the latitude of tbe
from the coast to tbe Jordan It is SO. The a<
oT the breadths between these two psrallate, taken
each half degree, gives 84 geogr. muse, or Just 40 ■
Ushmues.
• The latitude of the Litany (or a T s j iwi l ecS) eM
but snghtty worn that of Bmnimt. lie mevea Is all
by Tan de Teste (to mti t, f. 6V) at 38° *V.
the
ms
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PALESTINE
if time it m so mightily to aflect; separated
therefrom by that whioh, when the time arrived,
proved to be no battier, but the readiest medium
jf communication — the wide waters of the " Great
Sea." Thai it wai open to all the gradual influ-
ences of the riaiog communities of the West, while
It m tared from the retrograarion aud decrepitude
which have ultimately been the doom of all purely
asttern atates whoae eonneetioni werr limited to
the Eaet « only. And when at but its ruin was
effected, and the nation of Israel driven from its
home, it transferred without obstacle the result of
its long training to those regions of the West with
which by virtue of its position it was in ready cow
munieUion.
(2. ) There was, however, one channel, and but
one, by whieb it could reach and be reached by the
gnat oriental empires. The only road by which
the two great finds of the ancient world could ap-
proach one another — by which alone Egypt could
get to Assyria, and Assyria to Egypt — lay along
toe broad flat strip of coast which formed the mar-
itime portion of the Holy Land, and thence by the
Plain of the Lebanon to the Euphrates. True, this
road did not, as we shall see, lie aotually through
the oountry, but at the foot of the highlands which
virtually composed the Holy Land ; still the prox-
imity was too close not to be full of danger; and
though the catastrophe was postponed for many
centuries, yet, when it actually arrived, it arrived
through this channel.
(3.) After this the Holy Land became (like the
Netherlands in Europe) the convenient arena on
which in successive ages the hostile powers who
contended for the empire of the East, fought their
battles. Here the Seleuoidat routed, or were routed
by, the Ptolemies; here the Romans vanquished
the Parthiaos, the Persians, and the Jews them-
selves; and here the armies of France, England,
and Germany, fought the hosts of Saladin.
2. It is essentially a mountainous country. Not
that it contains independent mountain chains, as in
Greece, for example, dividing one region from an-
other, with extensive valleys or plains between and
among them — but that every part of the highland
is in greater or less undulation. From its station
In the north, the range of Lebanon pushes forth
before it a multitude of hills and eminences, which
crowd one another more or lees thickly * over the
ewe of the country to its extreme south limit But
it is uc* only a mountainous country. It contains
in combination with its mountains a remarkable
arrangement of plains, such sa few other countries
can show, which indeed form its chief peculiarity,
ad have had an equal, if not a more important bear-
ing on its history than the mountains themselves.
The mass of hills which occupies the centre of the
ecuntry is bordered or framed on both sides, east
snd west, by a broad belt of lowland, sunk deep
PALESTINE
2287
a The contrast between But and West, and aba
petition of she Holy land as on the oonnnes of each,
It happily given In a passage In Bathm (eh. 28)
6 Dm district of the Surrey hills about Caterham,
si Its most regular portions, if denuded of most of
Us wood, turf, and soil, would be not unlike many
parts of Palestine. So are (or ware) the hills of Rox-
burghshire on she banks of the Tweed, as the fbllow-
Dg description of them by Washington Irving will
Show: "from a bJU whieb." llkeOeriaba or Olivet
* oasamaaded an extensive praepsct ... I gated
etnas mo for a time with surprise, I may almost saj
with disappointment. I beheld a succession of gray
below its own level. The slopes or olifls which form,
at it were, the retaining walls of this depression,
are furrowed and cleft by the torrent beds which
discharge the waters of the hills, and form the
means of communication between the upper and
lower level. On the west this lowland interposes
between the mountains and the sea, and it the
Plain of Phillstia and of Sharon. On the east it
is the broad bottom of the Jordan Valley deep
down in which rushes the one river of Palestine to
its grave in the Dead Sea.
3. Such is the first general impression of the
physiognomy of the Holy Land. It it a physi-
ognomy compounded of the three main features
already named — the plaint, the highland hills, and
the torrent beds: features which are marked in the
words of its earliest deeerlbers (Num. xiii. 89;
Josh. xi. 18, xii. 8), and whioh must be compre-
hended by every one who wishes to understand
the country, and the intimate connection existing
between its structure and its history. In the ac-
companying sketch-map an attempt has been made
to exhibit these features with greater distinctness
than is usual, or perhaps possible, in mapa con-
taining more detail
On a nearer view we shall discover tome traits
not observed at first, which add sensibly to the
expression of this interesting countenance. About
half-way up the coast the maritime plain it sud-
denly Interrupted by a long ridge thrown out from
the central mats, rising considerably < above the
general level, and terminating in a bold promon-
tory ou the very edge of the Mediterranean. Thia
ridge it Mount Cannel. On its upper side, the
plain, as if to compensate for ita temporary dis-
placement, invades the centre of the country and
forms an undulating hollow right across it from
the Mediterranean to the Jordan Valley. This cen-
tral lowland, which divides with its broad depras-
s on the mountains of Ephraim from the moun-
tains of Galilee, is the plain of Esdraelon or Jet-
reel, the great battle-field of Palestine. North of
Cannel the lowland returnee its position by the sea-
side till it is again interrupted and finally put an
end to by the northern mountains which push
their way out to the sea, ending in the white prom-
ontory of the Rat ffatk&ra. Above thit it the
ancient Phoenicia — a succession of headlands
sweeping down to the ocean, and leaving but lew
intervals of beach. Behind Phoenicia — north of
Esdraelon, and inclosed between it, the Lildny, and
the upper valley of the Jordan — it a continuation
of the mountain district, not differing materially in
structure or character from that to the south, but
rising gradually in occasional elevation until it
reaches the main ranges of Lebanon and anti-Leb-
anon (or Hennon), as from their lofty heights they
overlook the whole land below them, of which thev
are indeed the parents.
waring hills, line beyond Una, as &r as my eye oould
reach, monotonous In their aspect, and entirely desti-
-ate of tress .... The nuvnmed Tweed ap-
peared a naked stream Bowing between bare hills. And
yet " (what la even more applicable to the Holy Land)
" such had been the magle web thrown over the whole,
that it had a greater ebarm than the richest teenerv
in England "
e The main ridge of Oannel is between 1,700 and
1,800 IMt high. The hills of Samaria Immediately ta
the 8. B. of it are only ahous 1,100 test (Tan ds VoUa,
Memeir, 177, 178).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2288
PALBSTINB
Mat Of PAunm, with taction of tb* oooatay from Ja&i to to*
aoantaiM of Jl.»h.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
4. Th* country thiu roughly portrayed, and
which, aa before stated, U lata than 140 milea in
ongth, and not mora than 40 hi avenge breadth,
ia to all intents and purposes the whole Land of
IsraeL" The northern portmais Galilee; the centre,
Samaria; the south, Judaea. Thia U the Land of
Canaan which waa bestowed on Abraham ; the oov-
jnanted home of his deseandante. The two tribes
and • half remained on the uplands beyond Jordan,
instead of advancing to take their portion with the
rest within its circomvallation of defense; but that
act appears to have formed no part of the original
plan. It arose out of an accidental circumstance, —
•be abondanee of cattle whleh they had acquired
daring their star in Kgypt, or during the transit
through the wilderness, — and its result wss, that
the tribes in question soon ceased to hare any close
xamaction with the others, or to form any virtual
part of the nation. But even this definition might
without impropriety be further circumscribed ; for
daring the greater part of the O. T. times the chief
events of the history were confined to the district
south of Ksdraelon, which contained the citie of
Hebron, Jerusalem, Bethel, Shiloh, Shecbem, and
Samaria, the Mount of Olives, and the Mount Car-
mel. The battles of the Conquest an I the early
straggles of the era of the Judges once passed, Gal-
ilee subsided into obscurity and unimportance till
the time of Christ
Ik. Small as the Holy Land is on the map, and
when contrasted either with modern state* or with
the two enormous ancient empires of Kgypt and
Assyria between which it lay, it seems even smaller
to the traveller as he pursues his way through it.
The long solid purple wall of the Moab and Uilead
mountains, which is always in sight, and forms the
background to almost every view to the esatward,
is perpetually reminding him that the confines of
the country in that direction are close at hand.
There are numerous eminences in the highlands
which command the view of both frontiers at the
mine time — the eastern mountains of Gilead with
the Jordan at their feet on the one hand, on the
ether the Western Sea,* with its line of white sand
and its blue expanse. Hermon, the apex of the
country on the north, is said to have been seen from
the southern end of the Dead Sea: it ia certainly
plain enough, from many a point nearer the centre.
It ia startling to And that from the top of the hilb
of JVeoa Samcil, Bethel, Tabor, Gerizim, or Safed,
the eye can embrace at one glauoe, and almost with-
out turning the head, such opposite points as the
Lake of Galilee and the Bay of Akka, the farthea
mountains of the Hauran and the long ridge of
Catmei, the ravine of the Jabbok, or the green
winding* of Jordan, and the sand-hills of Jaffa.
PALESTINE
2289
a • "The whale ana of she land of Palestrae,'
jays Dr. Eoblnwn, " ikns not vary greatly from
12,000 geographical squan miles, — about equal to the
ana of the two States of MaMashosetu and Uooneet-
Icut together. Of this whole ana, non than i
half, or about 7,000 squan miles, being by tar the
nost Important portion, lies on the west of the Jordan
. • . Only from that land has gone forth to other
nations and to modern tunes all the true knowledge
which exists of Qod, of bis revelation of a farm*
■taw, and of man's redemption through Jesus Christ.
Compared with this distinction, the splendor and
learning «nd rune of Igypt, Gnses, and Boms fade
away ; and the traces of their mflemes upoa the
world become as the feotm nls of the tnveller-tpan
The impression thus produced is materially assisted
by the transparent clearness of the sir and the ex-
ceeding brightness of the light, by which objects
that in our duller atmosphere would be invisible
from each other or thrown into dim distance are
made distinctly visible, and thus appear to be much
nearer together than they really are.
6. The highland district, thus surrounded and
intersected by its broad lowland plains, pi os ciie s
from north to south a remarkably even and hori-
■ontal profile. Its average height may be taken aa
1,600 to 1,800 feet above the Mediterranean. It
can hardly be denominated a plateau, yet so tJizJ]
is the general level preserved, and so thickly do the
hills stand behind and between one another, that,
when seen from the coast or the western port of tb*
maritime plain, It has quite the appearance of a
wall, standing in the background of the rich dis-
trict between it and the observer — a district
which from its gentle undulations, and its being
ao nearly on a level with the eye, appears almost
immeasurable in extent. This general monotony
of profile is, however, accentuated at intervals hy
certain centres of elevation. These occur in a line
almost due north and south, but lying somewhat
east of the axis of the country. Beginning from
the south, they are Hebron,' 8,099 feet above the
Mediterranean; Jerusalem, 2,610, and Mount of
Olives, 2,724, with Ntby Snmwil on the north,
9,650: Bethel, 9,400; Sinjil, 2,685; Ebal and
Gerizim, 2,700; " Little Hermon " and Tabor (on
the north side of the Plain or Ksdraelon), 1,900;
Safed, 2,775; Jetel Jurmuk, 4,000. Between these
elevated points runs the watershed d of the c >untry
sending off on either hand — to the Jordan Val-
ley on the east and the Mediterranean on the west,
and be It remembered east and west • only — the
long tortuous arms of it* many torrent beds. But
though keeping north and south as its general
direction, the line of the watershed is, aa might
be expected from the prevalent equality of level of
these highlands, and the absence of anything Ilka
ridge or saddle, very irregular, the heads of the val-
leys on the one side often paaaing and " overlap-
ping " those of the other. Thus in the territory of
the ancient Benjamin, the heads of the great wadiea
Fwear (or SuwtinU) and Mutynh (or Kelt) — the
two main channels by which the torrents of the
winter rains hurry down from the bald hills of thia
district into the valley of the Jordan — are at SircA
and BdUn respectively, while the great Wady Bo-
lot, which enters the Mediterranean at Nnhr Aujeh,
a lew miles above Jafik, stretches its long arms aa
far as, and even farther than, Tmyibeh, nea-'i? four
miles to the east of either Birth or Beittn. Thus
also in the mors northern district of Mount Ephraim
the sands of th. desert." (««> Osojr. tf us «X»
Land, pp. 2, 18.) H.
& The same word Is used In Hebrew for "sea * and
for " west,"
- The altitudes an those riven by Tan ds Telds,
alter much comparison and Investigation, In his Me-
moir (pp. 170-188). [Tor th* Lebanon summits, see
Biol. Sbmi, xxxlx. 562.]
•* for th* watershed ass Hitter, Srdlamde, Jordan,
pp. 474-486. His heights bar* been aomswhat mod-
ified by mom noent observations, for which see Vsa
da V*lde's Memoir. «
• Bxeept In th* Immediate neighborhood of th*
Plain of bdraalon, ami is the extreme north — whan
tb* rtnlneps, mstaad of barns' to the M*eUt*rran**s>
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2290
PAXBSTINB
■sand tfablut, the ramifications of that extensive
sjstem at valleys which combine to form the Wndg
Fcrrnh — one of the main feeders of the central
Jordan — interlace and croet by many mile* thon
of the IVadg Shair, whose principal ami ia the
Valley of ffniltu, and which poors it* waters into
the Mediterranean at Nnhr Falaik.
7. The valleya on the two aidea of the watershed
differ considerably in character. Those on the eaat
— owing to the extraordinary depth of the Jordan
Valley into which they plunge, and alao to the fact
already mentioned, that the waterabed lie* rather
on that aide of the highland*, thua making the fall
mora abrupt — are extremely ateep and rugged.
This ia the case daring the whole length of the
southern and middle portions of the country. The
precipitona descent between Olivet and Jericho,
with which all trarellen in the Holy Land are ac-
quainted, ia a type, and by no meant an unfoir
type, of the eastern paean, from Zuwtirnh and
Aut-jidi on the south to Wady Bidan on the
north. It ia only when the junction between the
Plain of Etdraekn and the Jordan Valley ia reached,
that the elopes become gradual and the ground fit
for the maneuver! of anything but detached bodies
of foot soldiers. ' But, rugged and difficult as they
are, they form the only access to the upper country
from this tide, and every man or body of men
who reached the territory of Jndah, Benjamin, or
Ephraim from the Jordan Valley, must hare climbed
one or other of them.o The Ammonites and Moeb-
itea, wbo at some remote date left such lasting
traces of their presence in the names of Cbephar
ha-Ammonai and Michmash, and the Israelites
Dressing forward to the relief of Gibeon and the
•laughter of Beth-boron, doubtless entered alike
through the great Wady Ftamr already spoken of.
The Moabitea, Edomites, and Mehunim swarmed
up to their attack on Judah through the ci eiices
of Amjidi (2 Chr. xx. 19, 16). The pats of Aduro-
mim was in the days of our Lord — what it still is
— the regular route between Jericho and Jerusalem
By it Pompey advanced with his srmy when he
took the city.
8. The western valleya are more gradual in their
slope. The level of the external plain on this side
is higher, snd therefore the foil less, while at the
same time the distance to be traversed ia much
greater. Thua the length of the WW* Btlit al-
ready mentioned, from its remotest head at Tai-
jnseA to the point at which it emerges on the Putin
rf Sharon, may he taken as SO to 25 miles, with
a total difference of level during that distance of
oerhapa 1,800 feet, while the Wady d-Aaftk,
which falls from the other side of Taiyibtk into
the Jordan, has a distance of barely 10 miles to
leach the Jordan Valley, at the same time foiling
sot less than 3,800 feet.
Here again the valleys an the only means of
PALHftTUTE
communication between the lowland and the Ugh.
land. From Jans and the central part of ti» peats
there are two of these roads " going up to Jera-
suem " : the one to the right by Ramkk and the
Wady Aly; the other to the left by Lydda, and
thence by the Betb-horons, or the Wadg SMman,
and Gibeon. The former of these is modern, but
the latter is the scene of many a famous Incident
in the ancient history. Over its long acclivities the
Canaanites were driven by Joshua to their native
plains; the Philistines ascended to Hichmaah and
Gobs, and fled back past Ajalon; the Syrian force
was stopped and hurled back by Judas; the Roman
legions of Cestius Gallns were chased pell-mell to
their strongholds at Antipatrie.
9. Further south, the communications but ajseji
the mountains of Judah and the lowland of Phi-
listia ass hitherto comparatively unexplored. They
were doubtless the scene of many a foray and re-
pulse during the lifetime of Samson snd the strug-
gles of the Dsnites, but there is no record of theb
having been need for the passage of any important
force either in ancient or modern times. 6
North of Jaffa the passes are few. One of them,
by the Wady Btlit, led from Antipatris to Goph-
na. By this route St Paul was probably conveyed
away from Jerusalem. [Onuri, Amer. ed.] An-
other leads from the ancient sanctuary of Gilgal
near Ktfr Satti, to JVnonu. These western val-
leya, though easier than those on the eastern side,
are of such a nature as to present great difficulties
to the passage of any large force encumbered by
baggage. In foot these mountain passes really
formed the security of Israel, and if aha had beer.
wise enough to settle her own intestinal quanta
without reference to foreigners, the nation might
humanly speaking, have stood to the present hour.
The height, and consequent strength, which was
the frequent boast of the prophets snd psalmists in
regard to Jerusalem, waa-no less true of the whole
country, rising as it does on all sides from plains
so much below it in level. The armies of Kgrpt
and Assyria, as they traced and retraced their path
between Pelusium and Carcbemish, must have
looked st the long wall of heights which dosed in
the broad level roadway they were pursuing, ss be-
longing to a country with which they had no con-
cern. It was to them a natural mountain fastness,
the approach to which was beset with difficulties,
while its bare and soilless hills were hardly worth
the trouble of conquering, in comparison with the
rich green plains of the Euphrates and the Kile,
or even with the boundless cornfield through which
they were marching. Thia may be fairly inferred
from various notices in Scripture snd in contem-
porary history. The Egyptian kings, from Ram-
eses II. snd fbothmes III. to Pharaoh If echo, wen
In the constant habit c of pursuing this route dating
their expeditions against the Chatti, or Hittites, ia
sr to the Jordan, Is to the Utsae, — the statement In
ths teat Is strictly accurate.
• Xothfaig can afford so strong a tosrhnony to the
really nnmllitary genius of the Oanaanltes, and subse-
quently, In their turn, of the Jews also, as ths way in
which they suawrsd their conquerors again and again
to advance through these defiles, where their ileeli iiij-
tton might so easily have been enacted, They always
retired at once, and, shutting, themselves up in their
strongholds, awaited the attack there, from Jerlcl
■ass mi, Jerusalem, to fUlatria, the story Is one and
«Vs sssss,— the dtaHke of Orientals to thjht to the
open fhdd, and their power of determined rasaSaaea
when Intrenched behind ffarttneauons.
a Richard I , when hrtaodrog to attack Jerusalem,
moved tram Apeatoo to Blanche Garde (Seyfr, or IWfn.
esyiaa), on the edge of the mountains of J lala a; and
then. Instead of taking a direct route to the Holy Crry
through the peases of the mountains, tamed north-
weal* over the plain and took the road tram Bamlsk
to BetSenuble (Ivwaa), that Is, the ordinary sew sash
tram Jaaav to Jiiamlmi ; a circuit of at least fbes
days. (lleev1nieBwf,v.48,lnCBniw.e/Ow*ai/rt,p SM.
• afr snsanii, note to limit H. j UT.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALBSTIXB
fee north of Syria; ud the two la st- n a me d mon-
srchs • fought battles at Megiddo, without, as Su-
ss * we know, hiring taken the trouble to penetrate
Into the interior of the country. The Pharaoh who
was Solomon's contemporary came up the Philistine
plain as far as Gezer (probably about HnmUh), and
besieged and destroyed it, without leaving any im-
pression of uneasiness in the annals of Israel,
later in the monarchy, Paammetichus besieged
Aahdod in the Philistine plain for the extraordinary
period of twenty-nliie years (Herod, ii. 167) ;
during a portion of that time an Assyrian army
probably occupied part of the same c district, en-
deavoring to relieve the town. The battles must
ham been frequent; and yet the only reference to
these events in the Bible is the mention of the As-
syrian general by Isaiah (u. 1), in so casual a man-
ner as to lead irresistibly to the conclusion that
neither Egyptians nor Assyrians had come up into
the highland. This is illustrated by Napoleon's
campaign in Palestine. He entered it from Egypt
by u-Arith, and after overrunning the whole of the
lowland, and taking Gaza, Jaffa, Kamleh, and the
other places on the plain, he writes to the sheikhs
of Nnbha and Jerusalem, announcing that he has
no intention of making war against them ( Corrttp.
de Nap., No. 4,030, " 19 Ventose, 1799 "). To use
his own words, the highland country "did not lie
within his base of operations ; " and it would have
been a waste of time, or worse, to ascend thither.
In the later days of the Jewish nation, and during
the Crusades, Jerusalem became the great object of
contest; and then the battle-field of the country,
which bad originally been Esdraelon, was trans-
ferred to the maritime plain at the foot of the
passes communicating most directly with the cap-
ital. Here Judas Maccabeus achieved some ef his
greatest triumphs ; and here some of Herod's most
decisive actions were fought; and Blanchegarde,
Aacalon, Jaffa, and Beitnuba (the Bettenuble of the
Crusading historian), still shine with the brightest
rays of the valor of Richard the First.
10. When the highlands of the country are
more closely examined, a considerable difference
will be found to exist in the natural condition and
appearance of their different portions. The south,
is being nearer the arid desert, and farther removed
from the drainage of the mountains, is drier and
Vss productive than the north. The tract below
lebron, which forms the link between the hills of
Judah and the desert, was known to the ancient
Hebrews by a term originally derived from its dry-
ness ( Ntyeb). This was thb south country. It
lontained the territory which Caleb bestowed on
bis daughter, and which he had afterwards to en-
dow specially with the " upper and lower springs "
ef a less parched locality (Josh. xv. 19). Hen
PALB0TINB
2291
« lor Ttaothmee" eng ag ement at Megiddo, sse De
Rouge's interpretation of his monuments recently dla-
sovarsd at Thebes, In the Sras Arckiologiqur, 1861,
p. 884, ate. lot Pharaoh Nsoho, sse 3 K. xxttl. 39.
• The Identification of Megiddo, octo-ldlng ss it
lues with the statements of the Bible, is tolerably
wrtaln ; bat at pr ese n t ss much can hardly be said of
be other names In these lists. Not only doss tb»
kgnement of the names appear doabtful, but the lists,
ss now deciphered, pr es e nt an amount of contusion —
places In the north being Jumbled up with those In the
south, etc. — which raises a constant suspicion.
e Is. ax. 1, ss explained by OaawiIsM, and by
been (B. 243, not,).
• This Psalm Is also referred to she has and
UrtdNabai, so chary of his "water" (lSam.xxv.
11); and hire may well hare bean the scene of the
composition of the 83d Psalm'' — the "dry and
thirsty land where no water is." As the traraUsr
advances north of this tract there is an improve-
ment; but perhaps no country equally cultivated
is more monotonous, bare, or uninviting in Its
aspect, than a great part of the highlands oi
Judah and Benjamin during the largest portion of
the year. The spring covers even those bald gray
rocks with verdure and color, and fills the ravines
with torrents of rushing water; but in summer
and autumn the look of the country from Hebron
up to Bethel is very dreary and desolate. The)
flowers, which for a few weeks give so brilliant*
and varied a hue to whole districts, wither and
vanish before the first fierce rays of the sun of
summer: they are " to-day in the field — to-
morrow cast into the oven." Rounded/ hills of
moderate height fill up the view on every side,
their coarse gray' stone continually discovering
itself through the thin coating of soil, and hardly
distinguishable from the remains of the ancient
terraces which run round them with the regularity
of contour lines, or from the confused heaps of
ruin which occupy the site of former village or
fortress. On some of the hills the terraces ham
been repaired or reconstructed, and these contain
plantations of olives or figs, sometimes with and
sometimes without vineyards, surrounded by rough
stone walls, and with the watch-towers at the
comers, so familiar to us from the parables of the
Old and New Testaments. Others ham a shaggy
coming of oak bushes in clumps. There are tra-
ditions that in former times the rood between
Bethlehem and Hebron was lined with large tress;
but all that now remains of them are the large
oak-roots which are embedded in the rocky sen,
and are dug up by the peasants for fuel (Miss
Beaufort, ii. 134). The valleys of denudation which
divide these monotonous hills are also planted with
figs or olives, but oftener cultivated with corn or
dourra, the long reed-like stalks of which remain
on the stony ground till the next seed-time, snd
give a singularly dry and slovenly look to the fields.
The general absence of fences in the valleys does
not render them less desolate to an English eye,
snd where a fence is now and then encountered, it
is either a stone wall trodden down and dilapidated,
or a hedge of the prickly-pear cactus, gaunt, irreg-
ular, and ugly, without being picturesque. Often
the track rises and falls for miles together over the
edges of the white strata upturned Into almost a
vertical* position; or over sheets of bare rock
spread out Uke flag-atones,' and marked with fissures
which hare all the regularity of artificial joints;
or along narrow channels, through which the feet
less road of the deep descent to Jericho and the Jor-
dan. See Ourss, Mookt or, p. 3318 a.
e Stanley (5. f P. p. 189) — not prone to
gerate color (comp. 87, " Petra ") — speaks of It ss '
blase or scarlet."
/ "Rounded swelling masses like hogs bobbles,"
says Mr. Seddoo the painter (p. 132). ''Each one
uglier than Its nebrhbor " (Mies Beaufort, fl. 47). See
also the description of Roesagger the geologist, hi
Bitter, Jordan, p. 4S6.
I "Often locking ss if burnt m the bun'
ton, p. ITS).
a As at .Brit-Mr (Beth-boron).
< As tenth of Britin (Bethel), am
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2292 PALESTICTB
sf centuries of travellers have with difficulty re-
tained their hold on the steep declivities; or down
Bighta of irregular steps hewn or worn in the solid
rack of the ravine, and strewed thick with innu-
merable loose « stones. Even the gray villages —
always on the top or near the top of the hills — do
but add to the dreariness of the scene by the forlorn
look which their flat roofs and absence of windows
present to a European eye, and by the poverty and
rain so universal among them. At Jerusalem this
reaches its climax, and in the leaden ashy hue
which overspreads, for the major part of the year,
much of the landscape immediately contiguous to
the city, and which may well be owing to the dg-
srti • of its successive demolitions, there is some-
thing unspeakably affecting. The solitude which
reigns throughout most of these hills and valleys
Is also very striking. " For miles and miles there
ia often no appearance of life except the occasional
goat-herd on the hill-side, or gathering of women
at the wells. "«
To the west and northwest of the highlands,
where the sea-breezes are felt, there is considerably
more vegetation. The Wady a-Sumt derives its
name from the acacias which line ita sides. In
the same neighborhood olives abound, and give the
country "almost a wooded appearance" (Rob. ii.
SI, 82). The dark grateful foliage of the tutm, or
terebinth, is frequent; and one of these trees, per-
haps the largest in Palestine, stands a few minutes'
ride from the ancient Socho [ibid. 222). About
ten miles north of this, near the site of the ancient
Kirjath-jearim, the "city of forests," are some
thickets of pine (tndbtr) and laurel (ktbkib), which
Tohler compares with European woods (3Ue Wan-
dtnmg, p. 178).
11. Hitherto we have spoken of the central and
northern portions of Judas. Ita eastern portion
— a tract some 9 or 10 miles in width by about 35
in length — which intervenes between the centre
and the abrupt descent to the Dead Sea, ia far more
wild and desolate, and that not for a portion of the
year only, but throughout if This must hare
been always what it ia now — an uninhabited desert,
because uninhabitable; "a bare arid wilderness;
an endless succession of shapeless yellow and ash-
colored hills, without grass or shrubs, without
water, and almost* without life," — even without
ruins, with the rare exceptions of Masada, and a
solitary watch-tower or two.
12 No descriptive sketch of this part of the
country can be complete which does not allude to
the caverns, characteristic of all limestone districts,
but here existing in astonishing numbers. Every
bill and ravine is pierced with them, some very
large ani of curious formation — perhaps partly
statural, partly artificial — others mere grottoes.
Wany of them are connected with most important
and interesting events of the ancient history of the
a as in the rfady Aly, 7 miles wast of Jerusalem.
sat Beaumont's description of this route In his Diary
t/a Journey, etc. 1. 192.
> See Jxauaux*., vol. li. p 1280 ». The same rs-
ataxk will be found In Beddon's Afrmotr, p. 198.
c 8tani«y. £ f P. p. 117.
W I-en on the 8th January, Da Saulcy found no
watt:
• van de Velde, Syr. f Pal H. 99; and aw the
ssaaa still mors f-«dbly stated on p. 101; and
papale description t» Miss Beaufort, U. 102, 108, 127,
128. Ths character of the upper part of the district,
ss ska 8. B. of the Mount of Olives, is well wised by
PALESTINE
country. Especially Is this true of the district
now under consideration. Machpelah, M«lrlr«^«h [
Adullam, En-gedi, names inseparably connected
with the lives, adventures, and deaths of Abraham
Joshua, David, and other Old Testament worthies,
are all within the small circle of the territory of
Judaea. Moreover, there ia perhaps hardly one of
these caverns, however small, which has not at
some time or other furnished a hiding-place to
some ancient Hebrew from the sweeping incursions
of Philistine or Amalekite. For the hearing which
the present treatment of many of the caverns has
on the modern religious aspect of Palestine, and
for the remarkable symbol which they furnish of
the life of Israel, the reader must be referred to a
striking passage in Sinai and Palatine (eh. ii. x.
3). [Cave.]
13. The bareness and dryness which prevails
more or less in Judas is owing partly to the
absence of wood (see below), partly to its proximity
to the desert, and partly to a scarcity of water,
arising from its distance from the Lebanon. The
abundant springs which form so delightful s feature
of the country further north, and many of which
continue to flow even after the hottest summers,
are here very rarely met with after the rainy sea-
son is over, and their place is but poorly supplied
by the wells, themselves but few in number, bored
down into the white rock of the universal sub-
stratum, and with mouths so nsrrow and so care-
fully closed that they may be easily passed without
notice by travellers unaccustomed to the country-/
[Wkllb.]
11. But to this discouraging aspect there are
happily some important exceptions. The valley of
Urlds, south of Bethlehem, contains springs which
in abundance and excellence rival even those of
Jfnblus i the huge " Pools of Solomon ' ' are enough
to supply a district for many miles round them;
and the cultivation now going on in that neighbor-
hood shows what might be done with a soil which
requires only irrigation and a moderate amount of
labor to evoke a boundless produce. At Bethlehem
and Jfnr Elyit, too, and in the neighborhood of
the Convent of the Cross, and especially near He-
bron, there are excellent examples of what can be
done with vineyards, and plantations of olives and
fig-trees. And it must not be forgotten that during
the limited time when the plains and bottoms are
covered with waving crops of green or golden com,
and when the naked rocks are shrouded in that
brilliant covering of flowers to which allusion has
already been made, the appearance of things must
be far more inviting than it ia during that greater
portion of the year which elapses after the harvest,
and whieh, as being the more habitual aspect of
the scene, has been dwelt upon above.
15. It is obvious that in the ancient days of the
nation, when Judah and Benjamin possessed the
Mr. Seddon : " A wilderness of mountain-tops, in some
places teased np like waves of mud, In others mini led
over with ravines, like models made of entmpitd brown
paprr, the nearer ones whitish, strewed with recks and
bushes " ( Mrmoir, p. 201).
/ There Is no adequate provision here or elsewhere
Id Palestine (except perhaps in Jerusalem) for cato»
Ing and preserving the water which falls In the heavy
rains of winter and spring — a provision easily m ade
and found to answer admirably In countries •tmuerir
dreumstanced, such ss Malta and Bermuda, where Un-
reins funriab almost ts» whole water swBply.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
*■— iiifl population indicated in Uie Bible, the con-
iition and aipect of the country mutt have been
very different. Of this there are not wanting sure
evidences. There U no country in which the ruined
towns bear so large a proportion to those still ex-
isting. Hardly a hill-top of the many within sight,
that is not covered with vestiges of some fortress or
city.* That this numerous population knew how
most effectually to cultivate their rocky territory,
is shown by the remains of their ancient terraces,
which constantly meet the eye, the only mode of
husbanding so scanty a coating of soil, and pre-
venting its being washed by the torrents into
the valleys These frequent remains enable the
traveller to form an idea of the look of the land-
scape when they were kept up. But, besides this,
forests appear to have stood in many parts of Ju-
dnja 6 until the repeated Invasions and sieges caused
their fall, and the wretched government of the
Turks prevented their reinstatement; and all this
vegetation must hare reacted on the moisture of
the climate, and, by preserving the water in many
a ravine and natural reservoir, where now it is rap-
idly dried by the fierce sun of tbe early summer,
must have influenced materially tbe look and tbe
resources of the country.
16. Advancing northward from Judasa tbe
country becomes gradually more open and pleas-
ant. Plains of good soil occur between the bills,
at first small,' but afterwards comparatively large.
In some cases (such as tbe Afulduw, which stretches
away from the feet of Gerizim for several miles to
the south and east) these would be remarkable any-
where. The hills assume here a more varied as-
pect than in tbe southern districts, springs are
more abundant and more permanent, until at last,
when the district of the Jtbtl Nablia is reached —
tbe ancient Mount Ephraim, — the traveller en-
counters an atmosphere and an amount of vegeta-
tion and water which, if not so transoendrntly
lovely as the representations of enthusiastic trav-
ellers would make it, is yet greatly superior to any-
thing he has met with in Judasa, and even suffi-
cient to recall much of the scenery of the West.
17- Perhaps the Springs are the only oldecta
which In themselves, and apart from their associa-
tions, really strike an English traveller with aston-
ishment and admiration. Such glorious fountains
is those of Ain-Jnludoi the Bin el-Muk&Uti, where
i great body of the dearest water wells silently but
swiftly out from deep blue recesses worn in the foot
of a low cliff of limestone rock, and at once forms
a considerable stream — or as that of Tell tt-Kinfy,
eddying forth from the base of a lovely, wooded
mound into a wide, deep, and limpid pool — or
those of Bamtt and Fijth. where a large river
leaps headlong, foaming and roaring, from its cave
— or even as that otJatn, bubbling upwards from
the level ground — are very rarely to be met with
out of irregular, rocky, mountainous countries, and
being such unusual sights can hardly he looked on
by the traveller without surprise and emotion.
But, added to this their natural impressiveness,
»«ere is the consideration of the prominent part
which so many of these springs have played in tbe
Watery. Even the caverns are not more charac-
PALB8TLNE
2298
teristic of Palestine, or oftener mentioned in the
accounts both of the great national crises and of
more ordinary transactions. It is sufficient here
to name En-hakkore, En-gedi, Gihon, and, in this
particular district, the spring of Harod, the foun-
tain of Jezreel, En-dor, and En-gnnnim, reserving
a fuller treatment of the subject for tbe special head
of Sfkihgs. [See also Fouhtaikb.]
18. The valleys which lead down from the upper
level in this diatriot to the valley of tbe Jordan,
and the mountains through which they descend,
are also a great improvement on those which form
the eastern portion of Judah, and even of Benja-
min. The valleys are (as already remarked) lam
precipitous, because the level from which they start
in their descent is lower, while that of the Jordan
Valley is higher; and they have lost that savage
character which distinguishes the naked clefts of
the wadies Swotbat and Kelt, of the Ain-jvU or
Zmneirah, and have become wider and shallower,
swelling out here and there into basins, and con-
taining much land under cultivation more or less
regular. Fine streams run through many of then
valleys, in which a considerable body of water if
found even after the hottest and longest summers,
their banks hidden by a thick shrubbery of olean-
ders and other flowering trees, — truly a delicious
sight, and one most rarely seen to the south of Je-
rusalem, or within many miles to the north of it.
Tbe mountains, though bare of wood and but par-
tially cultivated, have none of that arid, worn look
which renders those east of Hebron, and even thorn
between Mukhmas and Jericho, so repulsive. la
fact, the eastern district of the Jtbtl NnbUU eon.
tains some of the most fertile and valuable spots
in Palestine. 1 *
19. Hardly less rich is the extensive region
which lies northwest of the city of Nabhu, between
it and Carmel, in which the mountains gradually
break down into the Plain of Sharon. This has
been very imperfectly explored, but it is spoken of
as extremely fertile — huge fields of corn, with
occasional tracts of wood, recalling the county of
Kent' — but mostly a continued expanse of slop-
ing downs.
2U. but with all its richness, and all its advance
on the southern part of the country, there is a
strange dearth of natural wood about this central
district. Olive-trees are indeed to be found every-
where, but they are artificially cultivated for their
fruit, and the olive is not a tree which adds to the
look of a landscape. A few caroba are also met
with in such richer spots as the Valley of Nabltut.
But of all natural non-fruit-bearing trees there is
a singular dearth. It is this which makes the
wooded sides of Carmel and the park-like scenery
of the adjacent slopes and plains so remarkable.
True, when compared with European timber, the
trees are but small, but their abundance is in
strong contrast with the absolute dearth of wood
in the neighboring mountains. Carmel is always
mentioned by the ancient prophets and poets as
remarkable for its luxuriance; and, as there is nc
reason to believe that it has changed its character,
we have, in the expressions referred to, pretty con-
clusive evidence that the look of the adjoining die
a Stanley, S. f P. p. 117, when the lawns to as
n wh e r s d from these ruins of so many a m l — I ts na.
lens and races are admirably drawn out.
» For a list of thaw, ate roam
• That at ths norttwrn toot of Nefty asmwU, out of
which rise tha gentle hills which bear tbe rains e)
Qlbeon, Naballst, eta., Is perhaps the nut of sheas ta
ths advenes from »<A«h to north.
d BoblMon, BM Ru. 111. 801.
< Lord Lindsay (Bonn's sd.), p. »
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2294
PALESTINE
MM of Ephratm ni not very dlflhrent then tram
what it is now.
U. No sooner, however, is the PUn of Erin-
don puaed, than • considerable improvement U
perceptible. The low hill* which spread down
from the mounUlni of Galilee, and form the bar-
rier between the plaini of Akka and Eadraekm, are
oovered with timber, of moderate use, It is true,
but of thick, vigorous growth, and pleasant to the
eye. Eastward of theae hilla rises the round maaa
rf Tabor, dark with it* cop— of oak, and art off
by contrast with the bare slopes of Jtbtl td-Duhy
(the ao-ealled " Little Hermon ") and the white
bilk* of Nazareth. North of Tabor and Nazareth
is the plain of d-Buttauf, an upland tract hitherto
very imperfectly described, bat apparently of a
eimilar nature to Kedradon, though much more
elevated. It runs from east to west, in which di-
rection it is perhaps ten miles long, by two miles
wide at its broadest part. It la described as ex-
tremely fertile, and abounding in vegetation. Be-
yond this the amount of natural growth increases
at every step, until towards the north the country
becomes what even in the West would be considered
as well timbered. The centre part — the watershed
between the upper end of the Jordan Valley on the
one hand, and the Mediterranean on toe other, is
a succession of swelling hills, covered with oak and
terebinth, its occasional ravines thickly clothed in
addition with maple, arbutus, sumach, and other
trees. So abundant is the timber that large quan-
tities of it are regularly carried to the sea-coast at
Tyre, and there shipped as fuel to the towns on
the coast (Rob. ii. 460). The general level of the
country is not quite equal to that of Jodam and
Samaria, but on the other hand there are points
which reach a greater elevation than anything in
the south, such as the prominent group of Jtbtl
Jurmui, and perhaps Tibnbi — and which hare
all the greater effect from the surrounding country
being lower. Titmin lie* about the centre of the
district, and as far north as this the valleys run
east and west of the watershed, but above it they run
northwards into the LilAny, which cleaves the coun-
try from east to west, and forms the northern border
of the district, and indeed of the Holy Land itself.
89. The notices of this romantic district in the
Bible are but scanty; in fact, till the date of the
New Testament, when it had acquired the name of
Galilee, it may be said, for all purpose* of his-
tory, to be hardly mentioned. And even in the
New Testament times the interest is confined to a
very small portion — the south and southwest Gor-
ier, containing Nazareth, Quia, and Nain, on the
jonfinee of Eadraekm, Capernaum, Tiberias, and
jenneaaret, on the margin of the Lake.*
In the great Raman conquest, or rather destruc-
Jon, of Galilee, which preceded the fall of Jerusa-
lem, the contest penetrated but a short distance
Into tbe interior. Jotapata and Giscala — neither
af them more than IS miles from the Lake — are
be farthest point* to which we know of the strug-
(,*) extending in that wooded and Impenetrable
xtatriet. One of the earliest accounts we possess
{escribes it as a land •'quiet and secure" (Judg.
■ The associations of Ht Tabor, dun as the; am,
Wong to the Old Testament : •» there can ba vary
Bttat doubt th\t It was no more tbs seen* of tbe
iraastgunnoc than tb Moun' of OUvss ins. [Baa-
a*a, Aaasr sd. T*eoa.
PALESTINE
xvitt. 97). Thaw is no thoroughfare threaga it,
nor any jnd aw r m er it to make one. May than net
be, retired in the repasses of these woody bias and
intricate valleys, many a village whose inhabitants
have lived on bom age to age, undisturbed by tfat
invasions and depopulations with which Israelite*,
Assyrians, Romans, and Moslems have simuaslrelj
visited the more open and aaaassMs parts of the
country?
38. 'From the present appearance of this district
we may, with some allowance*, perhaps gain an
idea of what the more southern portions of the
central highlands were during tbe earlier period*
in tbe history. There is little material dinhnans
in tbe natural conditions of the two regions. Gal-
ilee is slightly nearer tbe springs and tbe coal
breeze* of tbe snow-covered Lebanon, and farther
distant from the hot siroccos of the southern des-
erts, and the volcanic nature of a portion of it*
soil is more favorable to vegetation than tbe chalk
of Judasa; but these circumstances, though they
would tell to a certain degree, would not produce
any very marked differences in the appearance of
tbe country provided other conditions were alike.
It therefore seems fair to believe that the hills of
Shechem, Bethel, and Hebron, when Abram first
wandered over them, were not very inferior to those
of the Btlad Betkarak or the Btlad ti-ButUmf.
Tbe timber was probably smaller, but the oak-
groves' of March, Mamie, Tabor,* must have con-
sisted of large trees; and the narrative implies that
the "forests" or "woods" of Hareth, Ziph, and
Bethel were more than mere scrub.
84. The cause* of tbe present ba ren es s of tb*
face of the country are two, which indeed can
hardly be separated. The first is tbe destruction
of the timber in that long series of sieges and In-
vasions which began with the invasion of Shishak
(b. c. circa 970) and has not yet come to an end.
This, by depriving the soil and the stream* of shel-
ter from tbe burning ran, at ones made, as it in-
variably does, the climate more arid than before,
and doubtless diminished tbe rainfall. Tbe second
is the decay of the terraces necessary to retain the
■oil on the steep slopes of the round hiDa. This
decay is owing to the general nnsettlement and in-
security which have been the lot of this poor Ktde
country almost ever since the Babylonian conquest
Tbe terraces once gone, there was nothing to pre-
vent the soil which they supported being washed
away by the heavy rains of winter; and it is hops-
leas to look for a renewal of the wood, or for any
real improvement in the general face of the conn-
try, until they have been first reestablished. TbJ*
cannot happen to any extent until a just and firm
government shall give confidence to tbe inhab-
itant*.
85. Few things are a more constant source of
surprise to the stranger in tbe Holy Land than the
manner in which tbe hill-tops are, thronghoot,
selected for habitation. A town in a valley is a
rare exception. On the other hand, scarce a single
eminence of the multitude always in sight but fa)
crowned with it* city or village,' inhabited or la
ruins, often so placed as if not accessibility but Sa-
fe In tbs Authorised Tendon rendered Inaccunussy
« plain. M
e Tabor (1 Bam. x. 8) has no connection with *hs
mount of ths same name.
d The asms thing may be observed, though a*
wish tb* set exclualv* regularity, » Pi« e*as, a
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PAXjKSTUIJS
ueeeetbOity bad been the object of lti builders,*
And Indeed such ni their object. There group*
tf nuked, forlorn structures, piled inegiuariy one
ever the other on the curve of the hill-top, their'
rectangular outline, flat roofs, ana blank walks sug-
gestive to the western mind rather of fastness than
of peaceful habitation, turrounded by filthy heap*
ef the rubbish of oenturies, approached only by the
narrow, winding path, worn white, on the gray or
brown breast of the hill — are the lineal descend-
ants, if indeed they do not eometimee contain the
actual remain*, of the " fenced cities, great and
walled up to heaven," which are ao frequently
mentioned in the record* of the Iaraelite conquest.
They bear witnete now, no lees surely than they
did even in that early age, and a* they hare done
through all the ravage* and eonqueet* of thirty
centuries, to the insecurity of the country — to toe
continual risk of sudden plunder and destruction
Ineurred by those rath enough to take up their
dwelling in the plain. Another and hardly lee*
valid reason for the practice is furnished in the
terms of our Lord's well-known apologue, — namely,
the treacherous nature of the loose alluvial " sand "
of the plain under the sudden rush of the winter
torrents from the neighboring hills, a* compared
with the safety and firm foundation attainable by
building on the naked " reek " of the hills them-
selves (Matt. vil. 24-87).
98. These hill-towns were not what gave the
Israelites their main difficulty in the occupation of
the country. Wherever strength of arm and neat-
ness of foot availed, there those hardy warriors,
fierce a* lions, sudden and swift as eagles, sure-
footed and fleet as the wild deer on the hills (1 Chr.
rii. 8; a Sam. i. 88, ii. 18), easily oonquered. It
was in the plains, where the horses and chariots of
the Canaanites and Philistines had space to ma-
noeuvre, that they failed in dislodging the aborigines.
" Jodah drave out the inhabitants of the mountain,
but could not drive out the inhabitants of the val-
ley, because they had chariots of iron ....
neither could Manasseb drive out the inhabitants
ef Beth-ehean .... nor Megiddo," in the
plain of Esdradon . . . . " nor could Eph-
raim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Geser,"
on the maritime plain near Ramieh ....
" nor could Ather drive out the Inhabitants of Ao-
eho .... and the Amoritea forced the
children of Dan Into the mountain, for they would
not suffer them to come down into the valley "
(Judg. 1. 19-36). Thus in this case the ordinary
condition* of conquest were reversed — the conquer-
ors took the hills, the oonquered kept the plains.
To a people so exclusive ss the Jews there must
have been a oonstant satisfaction in the elevation
and inaccessibility of their highland regions. This
la evident in every psge of their literature, which
B tinged throughout with a highland coloring. The
t mountains " were to " bring peace," the " little
•ilk, justice to the people: " when plenty came,
the earn was to flourish on the " top of the moun-
PAXESTUfE 2295
tains" (Ps. lxxil. 3, 16). In like manner the
mountains were to be joyful before Jehovah whan
He came to judge his people (xeviil. 8). What
gave its keenest sting to the Babylonian eonqueet,
was the consideration that the " mountains of Is-
rael,'' the " ancient high places," were become a
" prey and a derision ; " while, on the ether hand,
one of the must joyful circumstances of the restora-
tion is, that the mountains "shall yield their fruit
as before, and be settled after their old estates "
(E*. xxxvi. 1, 8, 11). But it is needless to multi-
ply instsaoesof this, which pervade* the writings
of the psalmists and prophets in a truly remarkable
manner, and must be familiar to every student of
the Bible. (See the citations in S. f P. ch. ii.
viii.) Nor was it unacknowledged by the sur-
rounding hea th e n. We have their own testimony
that in their estimation Jehovah was the " God of
the mountains " (1 K. xx. 88), and they showed
their appreciation of the fact by fighting (as already
noticed), when possible, in the lowutnds. The
contrast is strongly brought out in the repeated
expression of the psalmists. "Some," like the
Cauaauite* and Philistines of the lowlands, "put
their trust in chariots and some in horses; but we "
— we mountaineers, from our " sanctuary " on the
heights of " Zion " — " will remember the name
of Jehovah our God," " the God of Jacob our
father," the shepherd-warrior, whose only weapons
were sword and bow — the God who is now a high
fortress for us — "at whose commend both chariot
and horse are fallen," " who burnetii the chariots
in the fire " (Ps. xx. 1, 7, xlvi. 7-11, Ixxvi. 8, 6).
97. But the hills were occupied by other edifices
besides the " fenced cities." The tiny white domes
which stand perched here and there on the summits
of the eminences, and mark the holy ground in
which some Mohammedan saint is resting — some-
times standing alone, sometimes near the village
in either case surrounded with a rude inclosure, and
overshadowed with the grateful shade and pleasant
color of terebinth or carob — these are the suc-
cessor* of the " high places " or sanctuaries so
constantly denounced by the prophets, and which
were est up " on every high hill and under every
green tree" (Jar. ii 90; Es. vi. 13).
88. From the mountainous structure of the Holy
Land and the extraordinary variations in the level
of its different district*, arises a further peculiarity
most interesting and most characteristic — namely,
the extensive views of the oountry which can be
obtained from various commanding points. The
number of panoramas which present themselves to
the traveller in Palestine is truly remarkable. To
speak of the west of Jordan only, for east of it all is
st present more or less unknown — the prospects
from the height of Baa nam,' near Hebron,
from the Mount of Olives, from Neby BmmtH,
from Bethel, from Gerisim or EbaL from Jenln,
Oarmel, Tabor, Safod, the Castle of Baniaa, the
Kvbbti en-Narr above Damascus — are known to
many travellers. Their peculiar charm resides in
seuntry which, In Us natural and eraodal features,
enseals many a likeness to Palsstine.
• Hence the Saviour's Illustration tram «a dtf
SM on a hlU » (Matt. v. 14) was perfectly natural,
•tthout Its being suggested by any particular j>j«*
sa sight st the urns. Stanley writes Incorrectly « the
any " («. J P. p. IS, Amer. ed.), and thinks that
Smftd was meant, so oousphmoas from the traditional
aVKUit of the Beatitudes (JCurftn Haiti*). The
i has no arnel*. a.
a Two such may be named as types of the net, —
Kuriyei Jilt (perhaps an ancient Oath or Qltta), parched
an one of the western spurs of the Jtbtl Nahiut, and
jsurlbcd high up badds the mad from Jaffa to MaV
jw ; and Wezr or Jnoxr, on the absolute top of the
lofty peaked h.U, at the foot of which the spring at
Jo/Bo* wells forth.
» BoMnsor., BKW. Us*. L. 490.
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2296
PALESTINE
than- wide extent, the nuaiber of spots historically
remarkable which are risible at once, the limpid
clearness of the sir, which brings the most distant
objects comparatively dose, and the nonsideratiou
that in man; cases the feet must be standing on
the same ground, and the eyes resting on the same
spots which have been stood upon and gazed at by
the most famous patriarchs, prophets, and heroes,
of all the successive ages in the eventful history of
the country. We can stand where Abraham and
l>ot stood looking down from Bethel into the Jor-
dan Valley, when Lot chose to go to Sodom and
the great destiny of the Hebrew people was fixed
forever; or with Abraham on the height near He-
bron gating over the gulf towards Sodom at the
vast column of smoke as it towered aloft tinged
with the rising sun, and wondering whether hit
kinsman had escaped; or with Geal the son of Ebed
on Gerirjm when be watched the armed men steal
along like the shadow of the mountains on the
plain of the Mukhna; or with Deborah and Barak
on Mount Tabor when they saw the hosts of the
Uanaauites marshalling to their doom on the un-
dulations of JKsdraelon; or with Ebeha on Carmel
looking acmes the aame wide space towards Shunem,
and reoogniaing the bereaTSd mother as she urged
her course over the fiat before him ; or, in later
timet, with Mohammed on the heights above
Damascus, when he put by an earthly for a heavenly
paradise; or with Richard Cosur de Lion on JVeojr
Bamtril when he refused to look at the towers of the
Holy City, in the deliverance of which be could
take no part. These we can tee; but the most
Bunous and the most extensive of all we cannot see.
The view of Balaam from Piagah, and the view of
Moses from the same spot, we cannot realise, be-
cause the locality of Piagah is not yet accessible.
[Yet aee Addition to Nebo, Amer. ed.]
These views are a feature in which Palestine k*
perhaps approached by no other country, certainly
by uo country whose history is at all equal in im-
portance to die world. Great as is their charm
when viewed as mere landscapes, their deep and
abiding interest lies in their intimate connection
with the history and the remarkable manner in
which they corroborate its statements. By its
•onatant reference to localities — mountain, rock,
plain, river, tree — the Bible seems to invite exam-
ination ; and, indeed, it is only by such examina-
tion that we can appreciate its minute accuracy and
realize how far its plain matter-of-fact statements
of actual occ ur r en ces, to actual persons, in actual
laces — bow far these raise its records above the
unreal and unconnected rhapsodies, and the vain
r ep etitions, of the sacred books of other religions.*
SO. A few words must be said in general de-
scription of the maritime lowland, which it will be
remembered Intervenes between the sea and the
highlands, and of which detailed accounts will be
found under the beads of its great divisions.
This region, only slightly elevated above the
level of the Mediterranean, extends without inter-
ruption from tt-Arith, eouth of Gaza, to Mount
" Stanley, S. * P pp. SIS, 21*
• Nothing can be mors instructive than to com pare
|tn regard to tab one only of the many points In which
they differ) tbe Bible with the Koran. 80 little as-
lerUluxble connection hat the Koran with the Hie or
■rear of Mohammed, that it seems impossible to
•Range it with any certainty in the order, real or
tsntlbla, of ita competition. With toe Bible, on the
PALESTINE
CanaaL It naturally divides itself into two nor
tiona, each of about half ita length: tbe lower oat
the wider; the upper one tbe narrower. The low*
"half it the Plain of the Philistines — Philietia, or,
at tbe Hebrews called it, tbe SAe/elo* or lowland.
[Sephela.] Tbe upper half is the Sharon or Sa-
ron of the Old and New Testaments, tbe "Forest
country " of Josephoa and the LXX. (Joseph. AM.
xiv. 13, I 3; LXX. Is. ha. 10). [Shakos.}
Viewed from tbe aea this maritime region appears
as a long, low coast of white or ereani-oekred valid,
its slight undulations rising occasionally into
mounds or dint, which in one or two places, sash
as Jaffti and Um-kkalitl, almost aspire to the dig-
nity of headlands. Cher these white nndnlatkas,
in the farthest background, stretches tbe faint bhxt
level line of the highhtndt of Judas and Samaria.
30. Such is its appearance from without. Bat
from within, when traversed, or overlooked froze
some point on those blue hills, such at /teit-sr or
£eit-nettt/, tbe prospect is very different.
The Philistine Plain is on an average fifteen or
sixteen miles in width from the coast to the first
beginning of the belt of hint, which forms the grad-
ual approach to tbe highland of the mountains of
Judah. This district of inferior hills contains
many placet which have been identified with than
named in the lists of tbe Conquest as being in tbe
plain, and it was therefore probably attached origi-
nally to tbe plain, and not to the highland. It is
described by modern travellers as a beautiful open
country, consisting of low calcareous hills rising
from the alluvial soil of broad arable valleye, covered
with inhabited villages and deserted rums, and
clothed with much natural shrubbery and with
large plantations of olives in a high state of culti-
vation; tbe whole gradually broadening down into
the wide expanse of the plain ' Itself. The plain
is in many parts almost a dead level, in others
gently undulating In long waves; here and there
low mounds or hillocks, each crowned with Hz vil-
lage, and more rarely still a hill overtopping tot
rest, like Tell n-Snjth or AjHm, tbe seat of soma
fuiti ea s of Jewish or Crusading timet. The larger
towns, as Gaza and Aahdod, which stand near the
shore, are surrounded with huge groves of olive,
sycamore, end palm, at in tbe days of King David
(1 Cbr. xxvii. 88) — aome of tbem among the
most extensive in the country. The whole pain
appears to consist of a brown loamy soil, light, but
rich, and almost without a atone. This is noted as
its characteristic in a rem arka ble expression of one
of tbe leaden in tbe Maccabsaan wars, a great part
of which were fought in this locality (1 Mace. x.
73). It la to this absence of stone that tbe disap-
pearance of ita ancient towns and villages — at
much more complete than in other parla of the
country — Is to be traced. The common material
is brick, made, after the Egyptian fashion, of the
sandy loam of the plain mixed with stubble, and
this has been washed away in almost all eases be
the rains of successive centuries (Tbotnton, p. AS*).
It is now, as it was when the Philistines
other hand, each book belong! to a certain period. II
deKiibaa tbe peisons of that period ; the paves undtl
the names whleh they then bore, and with many a
note of Identity by which they oan often be sail rea
egnhnd; so that It may be said, ahnest t l msz j
exaggeration, to be the best Handbook to Pake toe.
c Robinson, BM. Rtt 11. 16, 20, £9, 83. 2X*.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
'i, one tool moue cornfield ; an ocean *.' rheat eov-
trs the wide expanse between Uie bills and the mid
duns* of the sea-chore, without interruption of any
kind — no break or hedge, hardly even's single
jHve-tree (Thomson, p. 552; Van de Velde, U. 176).
Its fertility is marvelous; for Uio prodigious crops
which it raises are produced, and probably hare
been produced almost year by year for the last
40 centuries, without any of the appliances which
we find necessary for success — with no manure
beyond that naturally supplied by the washing
down of the hill-torrents — without irrigation,
without succession of crops, and with only the
rudest method of husbandry. No wonder that the
Jews struggled hard to get, and the Philistines to
keep such a prize: noawonder that the hosts of
Egypt and Assyria were content to traverse and
re - l f a i CTse a region where their supplies of corn
were so ■ abundant and so easily obtained.
The southern part of the Philistine Plain, In the
neighborhood of Beit Jiirin, appears to have been
covered, as late as the sixth century, with a forest,
called the Forest of Gerar ; but of this no traces are
known now to exist (Prooopius of Gaza, Sehuliii on
2 Cbr. xiv.).
SI. The Plain of Sharon is much narrower than
Philistia. It is about ten miles wide from the sea
to the foot of the mountains, which una here of a
more abrupt character than those of Philistia, and
without the intermediate hilly region there occur-
ring. At the tame time it is more undulating and
irregular than the former, and crossed by streams
from the central Mils, some of them of cetit'deralde
size, and containing water during the whole year.
Owing to the general level of the surface and to
the accumulation of sand on the ahore, several of
these streams spread out into wide marshes, which
might without difficulty be turned to purposes of
irrigation, but in their present neglected state form
large boggy place*. The nil is extremely rich,
varying from bright red to deep black, and pro-
ducing enormous crops of weeds or grain, as the
ease may he. Here and there, on the margins of
the streams or the borders of the marshes, are large
tract* of rank meadow, where many a nerd of
camels or cattle niay be seen feeding, a* the royal
herds did in toe time of David (1 Chr. xxrii. 8*).
At its northern end Sharon is narrowed by the
low hills whloh gather round the western flanks
of Carmel, and gradually encroach upon it until It
terminates entirely against the shoulder of the
mountain itself, leaving only a narrow beach at the
foot of the promontory by which to communicate
with the plain on the north.
83. The tract of white sand already mentioned
is forming the shore line of the whole coast, is
rradually encroaching on this magnificent region,
lu the south it has buried Askelon, and in the
north between Canarea and Jaffa the dunes are
said to be as much as three miles wide and 800
feet high. The obstruction which is thus caused
to the outflow of the streams has been already
noticed. AU along the edge of Shason there are
pools and marshes due to it. In some places the
*>nd is covered by a stunted growth of maritime
, toes, the descendants of the forests which at the
ilkristian era gave it* name to this portion of the
lain, and which seem to hare existed a* late a*
PALESTINE 2297
i the second Crusade (Vinisauf in Chron. yf On*.).
It is probable, for the reasons already stated, that
the .lews never permanently occupied more than •
small portion of this rich and favored region. It*
principal towns were, it is true, allotted to the
different tribes (Josh. xv. 45-47; xvi. 3, Geaer
xvii. 11, Dor, etc.); but this was in anticipation
of the intended conquest (xiii. 3-6). The five
cities of the Philistines remained in their po sse s
sion (1 Sam. v., xxl. 10, xxvii.); and the district
whs regarded as one independent of and apart from
Israel (xxvii. 2; 1 K. ii. 89; 3 K. viiL 3, 3). In
like manner Dor remained in the bund* of the
Canaanites (Judg. I. 27), and Gezer in the hand*
of the Philistines till taken from them in Solo-
mon's time by bis father-in law (1 K. lx. 18).
We find that towards the end of the monarchy this
tribe of Benjamin was in possession of Lydd,
Jimzn, Ono, and other places in the plain (Neb.
xi. 35; 3 Chr. xxviii. 18); but it was only by a
gradual process of extension from their native bills,
in the rough ground of which they were safe from
the attack of cavalry and chariots. Bur, though
the Jews never had any hold on the region, it had
its own population, and towns probably not inferior
to any in Syria. Both Gaza and Askelon had
regular ports (majwnai) : and there is evidence to
show that they were very important and very large
long before the fall of the Jewish monarchy (Keu-
rick, Pkanicin, pp 27-20). Ashilod, though on
the open plain, resisted for 29 years the attack of
the whole Egyptian force: a similar attack to that
which reduced Jerusalem without a blow (3 Chr.
xii.), and was sufficient on another occasion to
destroy it after a siege of a year and a half, even
when fortified by the works of a score of successive
monarch* (2 K. xxt. 1-3).
88. In the Roman times this region was con-
sidered the pride of the country (B. J. 1. 29, § 9),
and some of toe most important cities of the
provinoe stood in it — Gesaraa, Antipatris, Dios-
polis. The one ancient port of the Jews, the
•'beautiful" city of Joppa, occupied a position
central between the Shefelab and Sharon. Roads
led from these various cities to each other, to Jeru-
salem, Neapoiis, and Sebasto in the interior, and
to Ptokanais and Gaza on the north and south
The commerce of Damascus, and, beyond Damas-
cus, of Persia and India, passed this way to Egypt,
Rome, and the Infant colonies of the west; and that
traffic and the constant movement of troops back-
wards and forwards must have made this plain on*
of the busiest and most populous regions of Syria
at the time of Christ Note, Cessna is a wave-
washed ruin ; Antipatris has vanished both in nam*
and substance; Dtospohs has shaken off the appel-
lation which it bore in the days of its prosperity,
and is a mere village, remarkable only for the ruin
of its fine medieval church, and fur the palm-grove
which shrouds it from view. Joppa alone main-
tain* a dull life, surviving solely localise it I* the
nearest point at which the sea-going travellers from
the west can approach Jerusalem. For a few miles
above Jaffa cultivation is still carried on, but the
*«r of the Bedouin* who roam (as they always
v ive * roamed) over part* of the plain, prcnderlng
all passers-by, and extorting black mail from the
wretched peasants, has desolated a huge district,
• Lt gmitr it la Spu (1 uo de Baguat, feeogv).
t The Bedouins from beyi I'd Jordan, whom Qidson
*9<ilMd, <>Mtroyed the sard " as &r as Oasa ; " •'. «.
they filled t
Sham, an
feeder.
I Plain of Mneton, and u i mM b wu asst
i southwards as Mm rubes* pitas et
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2298
PALESTINE
and effectually prevents it being used any longer
u the route for travellers from south to north;
while in the portions which are free from this
scourge, the teeming soil itself is doomed to un-
productiveness through the folly and iniquity of its
Turkuh rulers, whose exactions have driven, and
are driving, its industrious and patient inhabitants
to remoter parts of the land."
34. The characteristics already described are
hardly peculiar to Palestine. Her hilly surface
and general height, ber rocky ground and thin soil,
her torrent beds wide and dry for the greater part
of the year, even ber licit of maritime lowland —
these she shares with other lands, though it would
perhaps be difficult to find them united elsewhere.
But there la one feature, as yet only alluded to, in
whiuh she stands alone. This feature is toe Jor-
dan — the one River of tbe country.
35. Properly to comprehend this, we must cast
our eyes for a few momenta north and south, out-
side the narrow limits of the Holy Land. From
top to bottom — from north to south — from An-
tioch to Akal a at tbe tip of the eastern born of
Hie Red Sea, Syria in cleft by a deep aud narrow
PALESTINE
trench running parallel with the coast of the hfaaU
terraneao, and dividing, as if by a fosse or (Utah,
the central range of maritime highlands from those
further east 6 At two points only in its length is
the trench interrupted : by tbe range of Lebanon
and Hermon, and by tbe high irround south of
tbe Dead Sea. Of the three compartments thus
formed, the northern is the valley of tbe Orontee;
tbe southern is tbe HWjj tl-Arabnh, while the
central one is the valley of tbe Jordan, the Arabah
of tbe Hebrews, tbe Aulon of tbe Greeks, and
the 6'AoV of the Arabs. Whether this remarkable
fissure in tbe surface of the earth originally ran
without interruption from tbe Mediterranean to the
tied Sea, and was afterwards (though still at a
time long anterior to tbe historic period) broken by
the protrusion or elevation of the two tracts just
naroed^cannot l« ascertained in the present state
of our geological knowledge of this region. The
ee-*ral of its three divisions is the only one with
which we have at present to do; it is also tbe meet
remarkable of the three. Tbe river is elsewhere
described in detail [Jokkan]: but it and tbe val-
ley through which it rushes down ita extraordinary
I'roflle-Socttoa of the Holy Lend from tbe Dead Baa to Mount Hermon, along the Una of the Jordan.
descent — and which seems as it were to inclose
and conceal it during the whole of ita course —
must be here briefly characterized as essential to •
correct comprehension of the country of which they
form the external barrier, dividing Galilee, Kphralm,
and Judah from Baahan, Gilead, and Hoab, re-
spectively.
36. To speak first of the Valley. It begins with
the river at its remotest springs of Hasbeiya on the
N. W. side of Hermon, and accompanies it to the
lower end of the Dead Sea, a length of about 160
miles. During the whole of this distance its course
is straight, and its direction nearly due north and
nuth. The springs of Hasbeiya ate 1,700 feet
above the level of tbe Mediterranean, and tbe
northern end of the Dead Sea is 1,317 feat below
It, so that between these two points the valley falls
with more or less regularity through a height of
more than 8,000 feet. But though tbe river dis-
appears at this point, the mllrg still continues ita
learnt below tbe waters of the Dead Sea till it
reaches a further depth of 1,308 feet. So that the
a This district, called tbe Sakel AMU, between the
asa and the western flanks of Gannel, has ban within
a vary few years mdueed Bran being one of the most
thriving and productive melons of the country, as
•nil a* one of the most profitable to tbe government,
-o desolation and Jewtion, by these nicked exactions.
the taxes are paid In kind j and tbe offlcers wbu gather
bam demand an much grain for their own perquisites
at to leave the peasant barely enough for the next
•owing. In addition to ttJs, as long as any people
leuisla to a district they era liable flar the whole of the
tea at whl.h She district Is rated. Mo
bottom of this extraordinary crevasse is actually
more than 2,800 feet below the surface of the
ocean.* Even that portion which extends down to
tbe brink of tbe lake and is open to observation,
is without a parallel in any other part of the world.
It is obvious that the road by which these deptba
are reached from the Mount of Olives or Hebron
must be very steep and abrupt. But this is not
its real peculiarity. Equally great and sodden
descents may be found in our own or other moun-
tainous countries. That which distinguishes tbia
from all others is the fact that it is made into the
very bowels of the earth. The traveller who stands
on the shore of the Dead Sea has reached a point
nearly as for below tbe surface of the ocean as the
miners in the lowest levels of the deepest mines of
Cornwall.
37. In width tbe valley varies. In its upper and
shallower portion, as between Banias and the lake
of Huleb, it is about five niika across; the ineaoa-
ing mountains of moderate height, though tolerably
vertical in character; the floor almost an absolute
such pressure the inhabitants of the Ctaas!
Atklit have almost all emigrated to Egypt, where the
system is better, and better administered.
e So lonarkablr Is this depreatan, that it U adopted
by the great geographer Hitler as the base of his da-
seriptloD of Syria.
c Deep as it now is, the Dead Sea was once done*
lees far deeper, for tbe sediment brought Into rt DJ
the Jordan must be gradually accumulating. No data
however, exist by which to judge of the rate of thai
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
, with the mysterious river bidden from tight
i impenetrable jungle of raeda aud mush vege-
PALBSTINE
aaw
Between the Huleh and the Sea of Galilee, as
But a* we hare any information, it contracts, and
beoomee more of an ordinary ravine or glen.
It is in ita third and lower portion that the
valley assumes ita more definite and regular char-
acter. During the greater part of this portion, it
ia about seven miles wide from the one wall to
the other. The eastern mountains preserve their
straight line of direction, and their massive hori-
zontal wall-like aspect, during almost the whole ■
distance. Here and there they are cloven by the
vast mysterious rents, through which the Hiero-
max, the Wudy Zurka, and other streams force
their way down to the Jordan. The western moun-
tains are mora irregular in height, their slopes
less vertical, and their general line ia interrupted
by projecting outposts such as Tell Fatail, and
Km Sirtabth. North of Jericho they recede
In a kind of wide amphitheatre, and the valley
becomes twelve miles broad, a breadth which it
thenceforward retains to the southern extremity
of the Dead Sea. What the real bottom of this
cavity may be, or at what depth below the surface,
is not yet known, but that which meets the eye is
t level or gently undulating surface of light sandy
•oil, about Jericho brilliant white, about Beitan
dark and reddish, crossed at intervale by the tor-
rents of the western highlands which have ploughed
their zigzag course deep down into its soft sub-
stance, and even in autumn betray the presence of
moisture by the bright green of the thorn-bushes
which flourish in and around their channels, and
cluster in greater profusion round the spring-heads
at the foot of the mountains. Formerly palms
abounded on both sides b of the Jordan at ita
lower end, hut none now exist there. Passing
through this vegetation, such as it is, the traveller
emerges on a plain of bare sand, furrowed out in
innumerable channels by the rain-streams, all run-
ning eastward towards the river, which lies there
in the distance, though invisible. Gradually these
channels increase in number and depth till they
form steep cones or mounds of sand of brilliant
" North of the Wady Zurka their character alters.
Thej lose the vertical wall-like appearance, so striking
at Jericho, and become mora broken and sloping. The
writer had an excellent view of the mountains behind
Htuvm from the Burj at Zerin In October, 1881. Zerin,
though distant, is sufficiently high to command a
prospect Into the Interior of the mountains. Thus
vUwed, their wall-like character bad entirely vanished.
There appeared, instead, an infinity of separate sum-
mits, fairy as Irregular and multitudinous as any dis-
trict west of Jordan, rising gradually in height as they
r e ceded eastward. Is this the ease wtth this locality
only 7 or would the whole region east of the Jordan
prove equally broken, if viewed sufficiently near?
Prof. Stanley bints that such may be the case (S. f
P. p. 820). Certainlj the bills of Judah and Samaria
appear as ranch a " wall " at those east of Jordan,
when viewed from the s ea co ast
* Jericho was the city of palm-trees (2 Ohr. xxvill.
15); and Josephus mentions toe palms of Abtla, on
the eastern r*S of the river, at the ten* of Hoses'
tart address. "The whole shore of the Dead Sea,"
ttyt Mr. Prole, "is strewed with pawns » (Geo* .
abcMly'j Journal, 1866). Dr. Anderson (p. 182) de-
■nibes a large grove at standing on the lower margin
>f the sea bstwem Watt) Mojeb (Arnon) and Zmket
Mava (OeUlrhoe).
white, 50 to 100 feet high, their lower part toot*
but their upper portion indurated by the action of
the rain! and the trenien.ious heat of the sun.-
Here and there these coma are marshaled in
tolerably regular line, like gigantic tents, and form
the bank of a terrace overlooking a Sat considerably
lower in level than that already traversed. After
crossing this lower flat for tome distance, another
descent, of a few feet only, is made into a thick
growth of dwarf shrubs: and when this has been
pursued until the traveller hat well-nigh lost all
patience, he suddenly arrives on the edge of a
"hole" filled with thick trees and shrubs, whoso
tops rise to a level with his feet Through the)
thicket comes the welcome sound of rushing water*.
Thia ia the Jordan."
38. Buried at it is thus between such lofty
ranges, and shielded from every breeze, the climate
of the Jordan Valley is extremely hot and relaxing.
Ita enervating influence it shown by the inhabitants
of Jericho, who are a small, feeble, exhausted race,
dependent for the cultivation of their lands on the
hardier peasants of the highland villages (Rob. 1.
650), and to this day prone to the vices which an
often developed by tropical climates, and which
brought destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah. But
the circumstances which are unfavorable to morala
are most favorable to fertility. Whether there was
any great amount of cultivation and habitation in
thia region in the times of the Israelites the Bible
does not ' say ; but in post-biblical times there it
no doubt on the point. The palms of Jericho, and
of Abila {opposite Jericho on the other tide of the
river), and the extensive balsam and rose-gardens
of the former place, are spoken of by Josephus, who
calls the whole district a "divine spot" (««7or
raptor, B. J. iv. 8, § 3 ; see vol. ii. 1265)./ Beth-
ahaa was a proverb among the rabbis for its fertil-
ity. Succoth was the site of Jacob's first settlement
west of the Jordan; and therefore was proliably
then, as it still is, an eligible spot. In later timet
indigo and sugar appear to have been grown near
Jericho and elsewhere;' aqueducts are still par-
tially standing, of Christian or Saracenic arches j
and there are remains, all over the plain between
Jericho and the river, of former residences or towns
c The writer Is hers speaking from his own observa-
tion of the lower part. A similar description is girtn
by Lynch of ths upper part (Official Report, April 18;
Tan de Velile, Memoir, p. 125).
d The lines which have given many a yenng mind
its first and most lasting impression of ths Jordan
and Its sarronndtag scenery, are not more aeenratt
than many other versions of Scripture scenes seat
facts: —
» Sweet (aids berond tha awallllif food
Stand dressed In living green i
So to the Jews old Canaa&atond,
While Jordan rolled between."
' Besides Qilgal, the tribe of Benjamii h.ul nut
cltuw or settlements in the neighborhood of Jericho
(Joel xvlii. 21). The rebuilding of the but-named
tows in Ahau's reign probably Indicates an Increase
in the prosperity of the district.
/ This seems to have been the nptx—oov, or " re-
gion round about " Jordan, mentioned In the Gospels,
and possibly answering to the decor of the ancient
Hebrews (See Stanley, S. f P. pp. 284, 488.)
The word nukkar (sugar) is round In the names
of places near Tiberias below Sebbeh (atasada), and
near Grata, at well at at Jericho. All then are In lbs
depressed regions. For the indigo, see Pooh) (trVrerr.
Journal, xxTi. 571
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2800
PALESTINE!
md of systems of irrigation (Hitter, Jordan, pp. 608,
(13) Phasaelis, a few milea further north, ra
built by Herod the Great; and there were other
towns cither in or closely bordering on the plain.
At present this part ia almost entirely desert, and
cultivation ia confined to the upper portion, between
SahU and Btisan. There indeed it ia conducted
on a grand scale ; and the traveller as he journeys
along the road which leads over the foot of the
western mountains, overlooks an immense extent
of the richest land, abundantly watered, and cov-
ered with corn and other grain." Here, too, as at
Jericho, the cultivation is conducted principally by
the inhabitants of the villages on the western
mountains.
3D. All the irrigation necessary for the towns,
or for the cultivation which formerly existed, or still
exists, in the OhSr, is obtained from the torrents
and springs of the western mountains. For all
purposes to which a river is ordinarily applied, the
Jordan is useless. So rapid that its course is one
continued cataract; so crooked, that in the whole
of its lower and main course, it has hardly half a
mile straight; so broken with rapids and other im-
pediments, that no boat can swim for more than
the same distance continuously ; so deep below the
surface of the adjacent country that it is invisible,
and can only with difficulty be approached ; reso-
lutely relming all communication with the ocean,
and, ending in a lake, the peculiar conditions of
which render navigation impossible — with all these
characteristics the Jordan, in any sense which we
attach to the word " river," is no river at all: alike
useless for irrigation and navigation, it ia hi fact,
what its Arabic name signifies, nothing but a
"great watering place " {S/iervU tUKhMr).
40. But though the Jordan Is so unlike a river
in the western sense of the term, it is far less so
than the other streams of the Holy Land It is
at least perennial, while, with few exceptions, they
are more winter torrents, rushing and foaming
during the continuance of the rain, and quickly
drying up after the commencement of summer:
u What time they wax warm they vanish ; when
it is hot they are consumed out of their place
. . . . they go to nothing and perish " (Job
W. 17). For fully half the year, these " rivers " or
•' brooks," as our version of the Bible renders the
special term (twchiU) which designates them in
the original, are often mere dry lanes of hot white
or gray stones; or if their water still continues to
run, it ia a tiny rill, working its way through heaps
of parched boulders in the centre of a broad flat
■net of loose stones, often only traceable by the
thin linn of verdure which springs up along its
course. Thou who have travelled in Provence or
Granada in the summer will have no difficulty in
recognizing this description, and in comprehending
bow the use of such terms as " river " or " brook '
must mislead those who can only read the exact
and vivid narrative of the Bible through the medium
sf the Authorized Version.'
This subject will be more fully described, and a
let of the few perennial streams of the Holy Land
given under River.
■ BoMuson, lit. 81* ; and from the writer's own oh-
scraaou.
^ * To prevent this confusion, some recent aecgra-
eoess («a Dr. Mens*, on his map, Ootha, 1888) very
sroptrly distinguish ths river and Wa&y tram each
titer by dtflsnnt signs. E.
PALESTINE
41. How far the valley of the Jordan was em-
ployed by the ancient inhabitants of the Holy Least
as a medium of communication between the north-
ern and southern parts of the country we can only
conjecture. Though not the shortest route between
Galilee and Jodssa, it would yet, as for as the levels
and form of the ground are concerned, be the most
practicable for luge bodies ; though these advan-
tages would be seriously counterbalanced by the
sultry heat of its climate, as compared with the
fresher air of the more difficult road over the high-
lands.
The ancient notice* of this route are very scanty.
(1.) From S Car. xxviii. 15, we And that the
captives taken from Jodah by the army of the
northern kingdom were sent back from Samaria to
Jerusalem by way of Jericho. The route panned
was probably by Kabha across the AfuUma, and by
Waily Farrah or Fatail into the Jordan Valley.
Why this road was taken is a mystery, sines it h
not stated or implied that the captives were accom-
panied by any heavy baggage which would make
it difficult to travel over the central route- It
would seem, however, to have been the usual road
from the north to Jerusalem (comp. Luke xvH. 11
with xix. 1), as If there were some impediment to
passing through the region immediately north of
the diy.
(2.) Pompey brought his army and siege-train
from Damascus to Jerusalem (B. C. 40), past Sey-
thopolis and Pells, and thence by Koreas (possibly
the present Krrawa at the foot of the Wadf Ftr-
rah) to Jericho (Joseph. AM. xiv. 8, § 4; B. J. i.
«,$»)•
(3. ) Vespasian marched from Kmniaus, on the
edge of the plain of Sharon, not far east of Ram-
Uh, past Neapolis (Nabhu), down the Wadv Fer-
rah or Fntnil to Koreas, and thence to Jericho (A
J. Iv. 8, § 1); tie same route as that of the cap-
tive Judawns in No. 1.
(4.) Antoninus Martyr (cir. A. D. 000), and pos-
sibly Willibald « (A. d. 729) followed this route to
Jerusalem,
(6.) Baldwin I. is said to have journeyed from
Jericho to Tiberias with a caravan of pilgrims.
(6. ) In our own times the whole length of ths
valley has been traversed by De Bertou, snd by
Dr. Anderson, who accompanied the American
Expedition as geologist, but apparently by few if
any other travellers.
42. Monotonous and uninviting as much of the
Holy Land will appear from the above description
to English readers, accustomed to the constant ver-
dure, the succession of flowers, lasting almost
throughout the year, the ample streams and the
varied surface of our own country — we must re-
member that its aspect to the Israelites after that
wear}- march of forty years through the desert, and
even by the side of the brightest reeolleetione of
Egypt that they could conjure up, must hare ben
very different. After the " great and terrible wil-
derness " with its " fiery serpents," its " scorpions,
"drought," and " rocks of flint" ; tie slow snd
sultry march all day in the dust of that enormous
procession ; the eager looking forward to the wel
c WllUbsM omits his routs hstwasn Oamrse (! C
Phlllapi ■= BaxUu) sad the monastery of 8s. John Us
Baptist near Jericho. Be is always ami— si te ha*
mm* down the vauay
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALB8TINK
■t which the encampment m to Ve pitcned; the
■girding, the fighting, the emmor, the bitter dit-
tppointiuent Rmiid the modicam of wmter when at
lilt the desired spot wn reached; the "light
bnad" • to long "loathed"; the rare treat of
animal food when the qnailt descended, or an ap-
proach to the tea permitted the " fish " >> to be
caught; after thia daily stiuggle for a painful ex-
istence, how grateful mutt have been the rest af-
forded by the Land of Promise I — how delicious the
■hade, scanty though it were, of the hills and
ravines, the gushing springs and green plains,
even the mere wells and cisterns, the vineyards
and oliTe- yards and " fruit trees « in abundance,"
the cattle, sheep, and goats, covering the country
with their long black lines, the bees swarming
round their pendant combs <* in rook or wood !
Moreover they entered the country at the time of
the Passover,' when it was arrayed in the full
glory and freshness of its brief spring-tide, before
the scorching sun of summer had had time to
wither its flowers and embrown its verdure. Tak-
ing all these circumstances into account, and allow-
ing; for the bold metaphors/ of oriental speech —
■o different from our cold depreciating expressions,
— it is impossible not to feel that those wayworn
travellers could have chosau no fitter words to ex-
press what their new country was to them than
those which they so often employ in the accounts
of the conquest — " a land flowing with milk and
honey, the glory of all lands,"
43. Again, the variations of the seasons may ap-
pear tons alight, and the atmosphere dry and hot;
hut after the monotonous climate of Kgypt, where
rain is a rare phenomenon, and where the difference
between summer and winter is hardly perceptible,
the " rain of heaven " must have been a most
grateful novelty in its two seasons, the former and
the latter — the occasional snow and ice of the win-
ters of Palestine, and the bnnrt of returning spring,
moat have bad double the effect which they would
produce on those accustomed to such changes.
Sot is the change only a relative one; there is a
real difference — due partly to the higher latitude
of Palestine, partly to its proximity to the sea —
between the sultry atmosphere of the Egyptian
taDey and the invigorating sea-breezes which blow
over the hills of Epbraim and Judab.
44. The contrast with Egypt would tell also in
another way. In place of the huge ever-flowing river
whose only variation was from low to high, and
from high to low again, and whieh lay at the tow-
eat level of that level country, so that all irriga-
tion had to be done by artificial labor — "a land
PALESTINE 2801
when thou sowedat thy seed and watenxlst it with
thy foot like a garden of herbs "si — in place of
this, they were to find themselves in a land of con-
stant and considerable undulation, where the water,
either of gushing spring, or deep well, or flowing
stream, could be procured at the r-.ost varied eleva-
tions, requiring only to be judicioutly husbanded
and skillfully conducted to find its own way through
field or garden, whether terraced on the hill-sides
or extended In the broad bottoms.* But such change
was not compulsory. Those who preferred the
climate and the mode of cultivation of Egypt cculi
resort to the lowland plains of the Jordan Taller,
where the temperature Is more constant and man}
degrees higher than on the more elevated district!
of the country, where the breezes never penetrate,
where the light fertile soil recalls, as it did in tbe
earliest' times, that of Egypt, and where the Jor-
dan in its fewness of level present* at least one
point of resemblance to the Nile.
45. In truth, on closer consideration, it will be
seen that, beneath the apparent monotony, there it
a variety in the Holy Land really remarkable.
There is the variety due to the difference of level
between the different parts of the country. There
is the variety of climate and of natural appearances,
proceeding, partly from those very differences of
level, and partly from tbe proximity of the snow-
capped Henmin and Lebanon on the north and of
the torrid desert ou the south : and which approx-
imate the climate, in many respects, to that of re-
gions much further north. There is also tbe
variety which it inevitably produced by the pret-
ence of the sea — " the eternal freshness and liveli-
ness of ocean."
46. Each of these is cont : nually reflected In tht
Hebrew literature. The contrast between tbe high-
lands and lowlands is more than implied in the
habitual forms of * expression, ''going up" to
Judah, Jerusalem, Hebron; "going down" to
Jericho, Capernaum, Lydda, Caeearea, Gaza, and
Egypt. More than thia, the difference it marked
unmistakably in the topographical terms which
so abound in, and are so peculiar to, this literature.
" The mountain of Judah," " the mountain of I*
reel," " the mountain of Napbtali," are the names
by which the three great divisions of the highlands
are designated. The predominant names for the
towns of the same district — Uibeah, Geba, Gaba,
Giheon (meaning "hill"); Kamah, Rimatliaim
(tbe "brow 'of an eminence); Hizpeb, Zopblin,
Zephnthah (all modifications of a root signifying a
wide prospect) — all reflect the elevation of the re-
gion in which they were situated. On the other
« Norn. xxJ. 6. » Num. xt. 22.
e Neb. lx. 26. d 1 8am. tie. 86.
« Josh. v. 10, 11.
/ 8m some uetml remark* on tbe use of similar
aaguage by the natives of ttas that at the present
lay, to isssisim'iii to spots inadequate to such expre*
iieos,ln TV Jem nt Me Eatt, by Beaton and frankl
flLSSM.
g • For tbe meaning of this expression, am Foot,
Witsbcw wm m (Amer. ed.). H.
a The view taken above, that tbe beauty of tbe
ftuui le ul land was greatly enhanced to 'b i Israelites
<y Ms contrast with the sesnes they ha i previously
aaawd through, is corroborated by tbe Bust that racta
lulu ill eaw cesl uua as " tbe land tlnwing with milk
imt awev," " the glory of all landr • etc.. occur, with
■w ■ m w Uum , In thorn parts of ten Bible only which
IB-ton to have b»ew co m posed Just before tbatr
entrance, and that in tbe lew csms of their employ-
ment by tbe Prophets (Jer. xl. 6, lxxii. 22 ; a*, xx
6, 16) then la always an allusion to " Egypt," " the
iron furnace," the pawing of tbe Bod Sea, or the wil-
derness, to point the contrast.
< Oen. xttt. 10. All Bey (U. 2IX>) says that the
maritime plain, from KAnn Yovnes, t> Jafla, la " of
rich soil, stuiilar to tbe slime of tbe Nile." Other
polnta of rmemblanoe are mentioned by Boblnaon
(JBN. «e». 11. 22, 84. 86, 228), and Thomson (Lous
and Bnok, eh. 88). Tbe plain of Oennesaret toll " re-
calls .x valley of the Nile " (8tanley, S. J P. p. 8741
Tbe papyrus Is said to grow them (Buchanan, cut
Furlough, p. 883).
k The tame expressions am still used by the Arab]
of the Nrfd, with reference to Syria and their ows
country (Walliu, Otogr. Sac. Jeame V , xxtv. 1741
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2802
PALESTINE
mud, the great lowland district! have each their
peculiar name. The southern part of the muitlme
plain b "theShefctah; " the northern, " Sharon ; "
the valley of the Jordan, "ha-Ar&bah; " namea
which are never interchanged, and never confounded
with the terms (such aa tmek, nachal, gai) em-
ployed for the ravinea, torrent-beds, and small val-
leys of the highlands."
47. The differences in climate are no leas often
mentioned. The Psalmists, Prophets, and' his-
torical books, are full of allusions to the fierce heat
of the mid-day sun and the dryness of summer; no
lass than to the various accompaniments of winter
— the rain, snow, frost, Ice, and fogs, which are
experienced at Jerusalem and other places in the
apper country quite sufficiently to make every one
Bunifiar with them. Even the sharp alternations
between the heat of the days and the coldness of
the nights, which strike every traveller in Pales-
tine, are mentioned. 8 The Israelites practiced no
commerce by sea ; and, with the single exception
of Joppa, not only possessed no harbor along the
whole length of their coast, but bad no word by
which to denote one. But that their poets knew
and appreciated the phenomena of the sea is plain
from such expressions aa are constantly recurring
in their works — "the great and wide sea," its
" ships," its " monsters," its roaring and dashing
" waves," its '< depths." its " sand," its mariners,
the perils of Ha navigation.
It is unnecessary here to show how materially
the Bible has gained in its hold on western na-
tions by these vivid reflections of a country so
much more like those of the West than are most
orients] regions : but of the fact there can be no
doubt, and it has been admirably brought out by
Professor Stanley in Sinai and Palatine, chap. ii.
sect. rii.
48. In the preceding description allusion has
been made to many of the characteristic features of
the Holy land. But it is impossible to close this
account without mentioning a defect which is even
more characteristic — its lack of monuments and
personal relics of the nation who possessed it for so
many centuries, and gave it its claim to our venera-
tion and affection. When compared with other
nations of equal antiquity — Egypt, Greece, Assyria,
the contrast is truly remarkable. In Egypt and
Greece, and also in Assyria, as far as our knowl-
edge at present extends, we find a series of build-
ings, reaching down from the most remote and
mysterious antiquity, a chain, of which hardly a
link is wanting, and which records the progress of
the people in civilization, art, and religion, as cer-
tainly aa the buildings of the mediaeval architects
do thst of the various nations of modern Europe.
We possess also a multitude of objects of use and
ornament, belonging to those nations, truly aston-
ishing in number, and pertaining to every station,
efflce, and fact in their official, religious, and do-
mestic life. But in Palestine it is not too much
to say that there does not exist a aingle edifice, or
part of an edifice, of which we can be sure that it
■ It Is Impossible to trace these correspondence*
sad distinctions in the English Bible, our translators
not having always rendered the same Hebrew by the
smut Bngl'ih word. But the corrections will be found
bs tbs Appendix to Professor Stanley's Sinai and
fmUtint.
» rs. xta-.f zxxll.4; Is lv.«,xxv.o, Osn. xvtU.
I; 1 fkssc xt»i Net vu. «.
PALESTINE
is of a date anterior to the Christian era. Baea
vated tombs, cisterns, flights of stairs, which an
encountered everywhere, are of course out of the
question. They may be — some of them, such as
the tombs of Hinnoin and Shiloh, probably are —
of very great age, older than anything else m the
country. But there is no evidence either way, and
as far as the history of art is concerned nothing
would be gained if their age were ascertained. The
only ancient buildings of which we can speak with
certainty are those which were erected by the
Greeks or Romans during their occupation of the
country. Not that these buildings have not a ear-
tain individuality which separates them from any
mere Greek or Roman building in Greece or Rome.
But the fact is certain, that not one of then was
built while the Israelites were masters of the coun-
try, and before the date at which western nations
began to get a footing in Palestine. And aa with
the buildings so with other memorials. With one
exception, the museums of Europe do not possess
a single piece of pottery or metal work, a singls
weapon or household utensil, an ornament or a
piece of armor, of Israelite make, which can give
us the least conception of the manners oi outward
appliances of the nation before the date of the
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. The coins form
the single exception. A few rare specimens still
exist, the oldest of tbem attributed — though even
that is matter of dispute — to the Maccabees, and
their rudeness and insignificance furnish a stronger
evidence than even their absence could imply, of
the total want of art among the Israelites.
It may be said that Palestine is now only in the
same condition with Assyria before the recent re-
searches brought so much to light But the two
cases are not parallel. The soil of Babylonia is a
loose loam or sand, of the description best fitted
for covering up and preserving the relies of former
ages. On the other hand, the greater part of the
Holy Land is hard and rocky, and the soil lies in
the valleys and lowlands, where the cities were only
very rarely built. If any store of Jewish relies
were remaining embedded or bidden in suitable
ground — as for example, in the loose msss of debris
which coats the slopes around Jerusalem — we
should expect occasionally to find articles which
might be recognized aa Jewish. This was the esse
in Assyria. I.ong before the mounds were explored.
Rich brought home many fragments of inscriptions
bricks, and engraved stones, which were picked up
on the surface, and were evidently the productions
of some nation whose art was not then known.
But in Palestine the only objects hitherto discovered
have all belonged to the West — coins or arms of
the Greeks or Romans.
Hie buildings already mentioned as being Jewish
in character, though carried out with foreign de-
tails, are the following : —
The tombs of the Kings and of the Judges : the
buildings known as the tombs of Absalom, Zechs-
riah, St. James, and Jehoshaphat; the monouth
at Siloam, — all in the neighborhood of Jerusalem ,
c Jer. xxxvi. 80. Gen. xxxi. 40 refers — unless the
recent speculations of Mr. Beke should prove true —
to Mesopotamia.
• Mr. Beke supposes a Haraa In Syria near ia»
mascot to be meant In Oen. xxxL 40. lorthefpraomai
of thst opinion and the lnsnnVifcrr of tana, at
addition to fiUaaa. Amer. sd. , n>
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
Bw mined synagogues at Meiron and Ktfr Baim.
But then are two edifice* which aaem to bear a
character of their own, and do not so clearly betray
the style of the West. Theae are, the incloaure
round the sacred cave at Hebron ; and portions of
the western, southern, and eastern walls of the
llaram at Jerusalem, with the vaulted passage
below the Akta. Of the former it is impossible to
speak in the present state of our knowledge. The
latter will be more fully noticed under the bead of
Temple; it is sufficient here to name one or two
considerations which seem to bear against their
being of older date than Herod. (1.) Herod is
distinctly said by Joeephus to have removed the
old foundations, and laid others in their stead, in-
closing double the original area (Ant. xv. 11, § 3:
B. J. i. 91, § 1). (2.) The part of the wall which
aO acknowledge to be the oldest contains the spring-
ing of an arch. This and the vaulted passage can
hardly be assigned to builders earlier than the time
of the Romans. (3.) The masonry of these mag-
nificent shines (absurdly called the "bevel"), ou
which so much stress has been laid, is not ex-
clusively Jewish or even Eastern. It is found at
Fersepolis; it is also found at Cnidua and through-
out Asia Minor,' and at Athens; not on stones of
such enormous size as those at Jerusalem, but
similar in their workmanship "
If. Benan, in his recent report of his proceedings
in Phoenicia, has named two circumstances which
must have had a great effect in suppressing art or
architecture amongst toe ancient Israelites, while
their very existence proves that the people bad no
genius in that direction. These are (1) the pro-
hibition of sculptured representations of living
creatures, and (2) the command not to build a
temple anywhere but at Jerusalem. The hewing
or polishing of building-stones was even forbidden
" What," he ask*, " would Greece have been, if it
had been illegal to build any temples but at Delphi
or Eleuiis? In ten centuries the Jews had only
three temples to build, and of these certainly two
were erected under the guidance of foreigners. The
existence of synagogues dates from the time of the
Maccabees, and the Jews then naturally employed
the Greek style of architecture, which at that time
reigned universally."
FALEST1NB
in fact the Israelites never lost the feeling or tot
traditions of their early pastoral nomad life. Long
after the nation had been settled in the country,
the cry of those earlier days, " To your tents,
Israel ! " was heard in periods of excitement * The
prophets, tick of the luxury of the cities, are con-
stantly recalling ' the " tents " of that simpler, less
artificial life; and the Temple of Solomon, nay even
perhaps of Zerubbabel, was spoken of to the last as
the •' tent '' of the Lord of hosts," the " place where
David had pitched* his tent" It is a remarkable
tact, that eminent as Jews have been in other de-
partments of arts, science/ and affairs, no Jewish
architect, painter, or sculptor has ever achieved any
signal success.
The Geoloot. — Of the geological struct* re
of Palestine it hss been said with truth that c a
information is but imperfect and indistinct, a i
that much time must elapse, and many a cherished
hypothesis be sacrificed, before a satisfactory ex-
planation can be arrived at of its more remarkable
phenomena.
It is not intended to attempt here more than a
very cursory sketch, addressed to the general and
non-scientific reader. The geologist must be re-
ferred to the original works from which these
remarks have been compiled.
1. The main sources of our knowledge are (1)
the observations contained in the Travels of Rus-
segger, an Austrian geologist and mining engineer
who v'.sited this amongst other countries of the
Kast in 1836-38 (Reiten in Griechatland, etc., 1
vols., StuUgard, 1841-49, with Atlas); (2) the
Report of H. J. Anderson, M. D., an American
geologist, formerly Professor in Columbia College,
New York, who accompanied Captain Lynch in his
exploration of the Jordan and the Dead Sea ( Gtol.
Reconniusince, in Lynch's Official Report, 4to,
18S2, pp. 75-207); and (3) the Diary of Mr. H
Poole, who visited Palestine on a mission for the
British government in 1836 (Journal nf Gtoyr.
Society, vol. xxii. pp. 55-70). Neither of these
contains anything approaching a complete investi-
gation, either as to extent or to detail of observa
tions. Russegger travelled from Sinai to Hebron
and Jerusalem. He explored carefully the route be-
tween the latter place and the Dead Sea. He then
a e In the former of the pssssgia here cited (Ant.
XT. 11, } 8) Josephus limits Herod's work of recon-
struction to the JVaos, or body of the temple, and the
adjacent porticoes. He expressly distinguishes be-
tween the foundations of the Temple proper, which
Herod reUld, and the solid walls of the outer lnclorare,
arlrfch were laid by Solomon. These outer walls he
represents ss composed of ntoues so vast and so firmly
Joined by bands of Iron, ss to be Immovable for all
lime — Munrrovc rip vayri xp&*V- Some of the courses
sf the walls which he thus des c ribee, evidently ex-
KrJnft in his dar. am plainly recognisable now In the
'outhem portion of the walla of rf-Mvtun. Including
■ha Immense layers which remain of the arch of the
ancient bridge across the Tyropaeon. His more minute
description of the Temple and Its area In another work
(fl. /. v. 5, 5} 1-6) correspond entirely with this state-
ment. He also mentions (5 8) the addition to this
Inclosnre by Herod of the space occupied by tbe tower
sf Antonla. The original inrlosare of the Temple
snwtsared four soulis In circumference • bu' he tells
us ({ 2) that the ares. "Including tbe tower of An-
ient*,*' measured six stadia.
When, now. In the latter puunge quoted above
& /., I. 21, f 1), he tells us that Herod " Inclosed
enable the original area,'' h» clearly retire to this
of the space of the town of Aatoula ea Use
north. He cannot refer to any dislocation of the
*• Immovable " walls which Solomon had built above
the valleys on the northeast and southwest, or to any
enlargement by Herod of the area In those directions.
*' No mention Is made of his having had anything to
do with the massive walls of the exterior inclosure "
(BoWnson, BU. Ret. 1. 418). The portions of the
walls referred to In the article above sre almost fxtdUsv-
putnbly Jewish. In a previous article. " the masenry
In the western wall near its southern extremity," k
claimed by Mr. Fergusson as in the judgment of ''as-
most all topographers, a proof that tbe wall thtes
formed part of the substructures of tbe Temple "
(vol. II. p. 1814, Amer. ed ).
The recent excavations of Lieut. Warren appear
to have fully convinced Mr. drove that these sub*
structton* are " earlier than the times of tbe Romans,''
and clearly Jewish. S. Vf.
'. 2 Sam xx 1 ; 1 K. xli. 16 (that the words are
not a uiere formula of the historian is proved by then
occurrence In 2 Ctar. x. 16); 2 K. xiv. 12.
c Jot. xxx. 18 ; Zech. xli. 7 ; Ps. lxxrttl. 65, Ite
f <r Ps. Ixxxtv. 1, xllli. 8, IzxtI. 2 ; Judith to. 8.
I • Is. xxlx 1, rvi. 6.
' See tli. well-known
eh. 16.
In Cbmarstv, bk. te
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2804
PALESTINE
[•weeded to Jaffa by the ordinary road ; and from
thence to Beyrttt and the Lebanon by Nazareth,
Tiberias, Cans, Akka, Tyre, and Sidon. Thus he
left the Dead See, in its most interesting portions,
the Jordan Valley, the central highlands, and the
important district of the upper Jordan, untouched.
Ilia work is accompanied by two sections: from
the Mount of Olives to the Jordan, and front Tabor
to the l.ake of Tiberias. His observations, though
clearly and attractively given, and evidently those
of a practiced observer, are too short and cursory
fur the subject. The general notice of his journey
is in vol. iii. pp. 76-157 ; the scientific observations,
tables, etc., are contained between pp. 161 and 291.
Dr. Anderson visited the southwestern portion w
the I^banon between Beyrut and tianias, Galilee,
the Lake of Tiberias, the Jordan ; made the circuit
of the Dead Sea ; and explored the district between
that lake and Jerusalem. His account is evidently
drawn up with great pains, and is far more elabo-
rate than that of Kussegger. He gives full analy-
ses of the different rocks which he examined, and
very good lithographs of fossils; but unfortunately
his work is deformed by a very unreadable style.
Mr. Poole's journey was confined to the western
and southeastern portions of the Dead Sea, the
Jordan, the country between the latter and Jeru-
salem, and the beaten track of the central high-
lands from Hebron to Nablut.
2. From the reports of these observers it appears
that the Holy Land is a much-disturbed moun-
tainous tract of limestone of the secondary period
(Jurassic and cretaceous) ; the southern offshoot of
the chain of Lebanon ; elevated considerably above
the sea level ; with partial interruptions from ter-
tiary and basaltic deposits. It is part of a vast
mass of limestone, stretching in every direction
except west, far beyond the limits of the Holy
Land. The whole of Syria is cleft from north to
sooth by a straight crevasse of moderate width,
but extending in the southern portion of its centre
division to a truly remarkable depth ("2,625 ft.)
below the sea level. This crevasse, which contains
the principal watercourse of the country, is also
the most exceptional feature of its geology. Such
fissures are not uncommon in limestone formations;
but no other is known of such a length and of so
extraordinary a depth, and so open throughout its
greatest extent. It may have been volcanic in its
origin; the result of an upheaval from beneath,
which has tilted the limestone back on each side,
leaving this huge split in the strata; the volcanic
(wee having stopped short at that point in the
operation, without Intruding any volcanic rocks
into the fissure. This idea is supported by the
irater-like form of the basins of the Lake of Tibe-
■ias anH of the Dead Sea (Buss. pp. 206, 207), and
by many other tokens of volcanic action, past and
present, which are encountered in and around those
'akes, and along the whole extent of the valley.
Jr it may have been excavated by the gradual
«tion of the ocean during the immense periods of
geological operation- The latter appears to be the
opinion of Dr. Anderson (pp. 79, 140, 205); but
further examination is necessary before a positive
opinion can be pronounced. The ranges of the
« The surface of the Dead Sea \r 1,817 lest below
fill HeeHterremao, a.ud Its depth 1 406 Int.
* The table of altitudes (vol II. p. 127 s Ainsr. ed.)
satis) *t fifuiw wmrwhat different.
PALESTINE
bills of the surface take the direction nearly dua
north and south, though frequently thrown Irons
their main bearing and much broken up into de-
tached masses. The lesser watercourses run chiefly
east and west of the central highlands.
3. The limestone consists of two strata, or ratbet
groups of strata. The upper one, which usually
meets tbe eye. over the whole country from Hebron
to Hermon, is a tolerably solid stone, varying in
color from white to reddish brown, with very
few fossils, inclining to crystalline structure, and
abounding in caverns. Its general ssjrface has bees
formed into gently rounded hills, crowded more
or less thickly together, separated by narrow valleys
id denudation occasionally spreading into small
plains. Tbe strata are not well denned, and al-
though sometimes level '» (in which case they lend
themselves to the formation of terraces), are mora
often violently disarranged .' Kemarkable instances
of such contortions are to he found on the road
from Jerusalem to Jericho, where the bedr w
seen pressed and twisted into every vark.y of
form.
It is hardly necessary to say that these contor-
tions, as well as the general form of the surface,
are due to forces not now in action, but sre part of
the general configuration of the country, as it was
left after the last of that succession of immersions
below, and upheavals from, the ocean, by which
its present form was given it, long prior to tbe his-
toric period. There is no ground for believing that
the broad geological features of this or any part of
the country are appreciably altered from what they
were at the earliest times of the Ilible history.
The evidences of later action are, however, often
visible, as for instance where the atmosphere and
the rains have furrowed the face of the limestone
cliffs with long and deep vertical channels, often
causing tbe most fantastic forms (And. pp. 89, 111 ;
Poole, p. 66).
i. This limestone is often found crowned with
chalk, rich in flints, the remains of a deposit which
probably once covered a great portion of the coun-
try, but has only partially survived subsequent
immersions. In many districts the coarse flint or
chert which originally belonged to the chalk is
found in great profusion. It is called in the coun-
try chalcedony (Poole, p. 57).
On the heights which border the n eate r n side of
the Dead Sea, this chalk is found in greater abun-
dance and more undisturbed, and contains numer-
ous springs of salt and sulphurous water.
5. Near Jerusalem the mass of the ordinary
limestone is often mingled with large bodies of
dolomite (magnesian limestone), a hardish semi-
crystalline rock, reddish white or brown, with
glistening surface and pearly lustre, often contain-
ing pores and small cellular cavities lined with
oxide of iron or minute crystals of bitter spar
It is not stratified ; but it is a question whether a)
has not been producd among tbe ordinary lime
atone by some subsequent chemical agency. Most
of the caverns near Jerusalem occur in this roei.
though in other parts of the country they are fount*
in the more friable chalky limestone.*' So moo)'
for the upper stratum.
o As at the twin hills of ef-Jt*, the aoctstt Wbs*a>
below May Samwil.
c As on the road between the upper and loans
Btit-nr about five miles from eUis.
J See tbe de s c ription of the caverns of But
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
4. The lower stratum ii in two divisions or
MfiM of beds — the upper, dusky in color, con-
torted and cavernous like that Jtut described, bat
more ferruginous — the lower one dark gray, com-
pact and eolid, and characterized by abundant fos-
«Ua of cklaris, an extinct echinus, the epinee of
which are the well-known "olives" of the con-
note. Thie last-named rock appeari to form the
substratum of the whole oountry, eaet ae well aa
weet of the Jordan.
The ravine by which the traveller deecenda from
the commit of the Mount of Olives (8,700 bet
abcre the Hediterranean) to Jericho (900 below it)
outs through the strata already mentioned, and
aflbtdi an unrivaled opportunity for examining
them. The lower formation differ* entirely in char-
acter from the upper. Instead of amooth, oommon-
place, swelling outlines, everything here is rugged,
pointed, and abrupt. Huge fissures, the work of
the earthquakes of ages, cleave the rook in all
directions — they are to be found as much as 1,000
feet deep by not more than 30 or 40 feet wide, and
with almost vertical* sides. One of them, near
the ruined khan at which travellers usually halt,
presents a moat interesting and characteristic sec-
tion of the strata (Russegger, pp. 347-861, 4c.).
7. After the limestone had received the general
brm which its surface still retains, but at a time
mi anterior to any historic period, it was pierced
tnd broken by large eruptions of lava pushed up
irom beneath, which has broken up and overflowed
the stratified beds, and now appears in the form of
basalt or trap.
8. On the west of Jordan these volcanio rocks
have been hitherto found only north of the moun-
tains of Samaria. They are first encountered on
the southwestern side of the Plain of Eadraelon
(Boat. p. 868): then they are lost sight of till the
opposite side of the plain is reached, being probably
hidden below the deep rich soil, except a few peb-
bles here and there on the surface. Beyond this
they abound over a district which may be said to
be oontained between Dtt&ta on the north, Tiberias
on the east, Tabor on the south, and Tumi on the
west. There seem to have been two centres of
eruption : ana, and that the most ancient (And. pp.
188, 184), at or about the Kurn Hattm (the tra-
ditional Mount of Beatitudes), whence the stream
lowed over the declivities of the limestone towards
■he lake (Buss. pp. 869, 860). Thia mass of basalt
forma the cliffs at the back of Tiberias, and to its
disintegration is due the black soil, so extremely
productive, of the Ard d-fiummn and the Plain
of Gonnesaret, which lie, the one on the south, the
other on the north, of the ridge of Unltin. The
other — the more recent — was more to the north,
in the neighborhood of Sated, where three of the
ancient craters still exist, converted into the reser-
voirs or lakes of ei-Jith, Taiteba, and Dtldta (And.
pp. 188, 139; Caiman, in Kitto'a Pky. (Stag. p.
US).
The basalt of Tiberias is fully deeeribed by Dr.
Anderson. It is dark iron-gray in tint, cellular,
bat firm in texture, atnygdaloidal, the cells filled
with carbonate of lime, olivine and augite, with a
and fliir fl asa aw m Bob. U. 28, 61-68; and van de
veto*, it. 166.
■ ffjndlar rents vasts cleft in the rack of tt-Jitn by
sb* earthquake of 1887 (Calnwu, n Kltto, fk. 0wf .
a. US).
» b. xxtv. 17-80; Amos ix. 6, fee., fee.
146
PALESTINE 2805
specific gravity of 3-6 to 3-9. It is often columns*
in its more developed portions, as, for instance, on
the cliffs behind the town. Here the junctions of
toe two formations may be seen ; the baas of the
dins being limestone, while the crown and brow
are massive basalt (pp. 134, 136, 136).
The lava of DeUta and the northern centre dif-
fers considerably from that of Tiberias, and is pro-
nounced by Dr. Anderson to be of later date. It
is found of various colors, from black-brown to
reddish-gray, very porous in texture, and contains
much pumice arid scoria; polygonal columns are
seen at ti-JM, where the neighboring cretaceous
beds are contorted in an unusual manner (And. pp.
128, 139, 130).
A third variety is found at a spur of the hiDs of
Galilee, projecting into the Ard d-Btith beW
Kedes, and referred to by Dr. Anderson as Ted d-
Bcdytk ) but of this rock he gives no description,
and declines to assign it any chronological position
(p. 134).
9. The volcanic action which in pre-historic tinea
projected this basalt, has left its later traces in the
ancient records of the country, and ia even still
active in the form of earthquakes. Not to apeak
of passages 6 in the poetical books of the Bible,
which can hardly have been suggested except by
such awful catastrophes, there is at least one dis-
tinct allusion to them, namely, that of Zechaiiah
(xir. 6) to an earthquake in the reign of Uzxtah,
which ia corroborated by Josepbus, who sdds that
it injured the Temple, and brought down a large
mass of rock from the Mount of Olives {Ant. ix.
10, { 4).
•< Syria and Palestine," says Sir Charles LyeU
(Principle*, 8th ed. p. 840), "abound in volcanio
appearances; and very extensive areas have been
shaken at different periods, with great destruction
of cities and loss of lives. Continued mentior. is
made in history of the ravages committed by earth-
quakes in Sidon, Tyre, Beyrut, Laodloea, and An-
tioch." The same author (p. 343) mentions the
remarkable fact that "from the 13th to the 17th>
centuries there was an almost entire cessation of
earthquakes in Syria and Judaea; and that, during
the interval of quiescence, the Archipelago, together
with part of Asia Minor, Southern Italy, and Sicily,
suffered greatly from earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions." Since they have again begun to be
active in Syria, the moet remarkable earthquakes
have been those which destroyed Aleppo in 1616
and 1833 (for this see Wolff, Travel*, eh. 9) r
Antioeb in 1737, and Tiberias and Safed in 1887 »
(Thomson, ch. 19). A list of those which are-
known to have affected the Holy Land ia given,
by Dr. Pussy in his Commentary on Amos iv. 11.
See also the Index to Ritter, vol viil. p. 1963.
The rocks between Jerusalem and Jericho show
many an evidence of these convulsions, as we have
already remarked. Two earthquakes only are re-
corded ss having affected Jerusalem itself — that la-
the reign of Uzziah already mentioned, and that at
the time of the crucifixion, when " the recks were
rent and the rocky tombs torn open " (Mats, xxvii.
61). Slight" shocks are still occasionally feR there
c rour4rfths of the population of gsfed, and ons-
fourth of that of Tiberias, ware killed on, this owa-
aton.
rf Bven the tremendous earthquake of May 80, 1888,
only did Jerusalem a vary attfbt damage, (aadnieasK
In Kltto, Jftyi. Oner. p. 1481.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2806
PALESTINE
(a. f. Amis, p. 66 ), bat the general exemption of that
ssty ton an; injury by earthquakes, except in theee
tern eases, is really remarkable. The ancient Jewish
writers were aware of it, and appealed to the tact
at a proof of the favor of Jehovah to hi* chosen
city (Ps.xlvi.l, 8).
10. Bat in addition to earthquakes, the hot salt
and fetid springs which are found at Tiberias, Oal-
Hrhou, and other spots along the valley of the Jor-
dan, and round the basins of its lakes, 11 and the
rock-salt, nitre, and sulphur of the Dead Sea are
all evidences of volcanic or phitonlc action. Von
Bach, in his letter to Robinson (Bibl Ra. i. 636),
goes so for as to cite the bitumen of the Dead S«a
as a further token of it. The hot springs of Tibe-
rias were observed to flow more copiously, and to
increase in temperature, at the time of the earth-
quake of 1887 (Thomson, eh. 19, 96).
11. In the Jordan Valley the basalt is frequently
encountered. Here, as before, it is deposited on the
limestone, which forms the substratum of the whole
country. It is visible from time to time on the
banks and in the bed of the river; but so covered
with deposits of tula, conglomerate, and alluvium,
as not to be traceable without difficulty (And. pp.
186-152). On the western side of the lower Jordan
and Dead Sea no volcanic formations have been
found (And. pp. 81, 188; Runs, pp. 306, 261); nor
do they appear on its eastern shore till the Wady
Zurka Main is approached, and then only in erratic
fragments (And. p. 191). At Wady HemAraJi,
north of the lsatjnentioned stream, the igneous
socks first make their appearance in ntu near the
level of the water (p. 194).
13. It is on the cast of the Jordan that the most
extensive and remarkable developments of igneous
rocks are found. Over a large portion of the sur-
face from Damascus to the latitude of the south
nf the Dead Sea, and even beyond that, they occur
in the greatest abundance all over the surface.
The limestone, however, still underlies the whole.
These extraordinary formations render this region
geologically the most remarkable part of all Syria.
In tome districts, such as the Lejak (the ancient
Argob or Traohonitis), the Sufi and the Harrih,
it presents appearances and characteristics which
are perhaps unique on the earth's surface. These
regions are yet but very imperfectly known, but
travellers are beginning to visit them, and we shall
possibly be in possession ere long of the results of
further investigation. A portion of them has been
recently described in great detail ° by Mr. Wetz-
(tem, Prussian consul at Damascus. They lie,
however, beyond the boundary of the Holy l-and
a It may be convenient to aire a list of the hot or
braeklah springs of Palestine, as far sa they can be
collected. It will be observed that they an all in or
about the Jordan Valley. Beginning at the north : —
Ain JSyM, and ilia TWngka/i, N. B. of Lake of Tibe-
rias ' slightly warm, too brackish to be drinkable.
(Bob. U. 406.)
Ain et-Baridtk, on shore of lake, 8. of Mrjdd: 80°
raar., slightly brackish. (Bob.il.8W.)
Tiberias: 144° Fahr.; salt, bitter, sulphureous.
Amaith, in the Wady Manrihur : very hot, slightly
•atphureoas. (Burekhardt, May 6.)
•Tatty Jxaoa (Salt Valley), In the Gnor near Saint :
89° fear ; very Hit, Mid. (Bob. IB. 808.)
Below Ain-FahkaK : MM and brackish. (Lynch,
aer, 18.)
Owe day N. ofdt»J**».- 60° Vet*.; salt. (Faust,
a.6f.|
PALESTINE
proper, and the reader moat therefore be refcnoi
for these disco v er i es to the head of Tbachomttib.
18. The tertiary and alluvial beds remain to be
noticed. These are chiefly remarkable in the neigh-
borhood of the Jordan, as forming the floor of the
valley, and as existing along the course, and accu-
mulated at the mouths, of the torrents which de-
liver their tributary streams into the river, and
into the still deeper cauldron of the Dead Sea. They
appear to br all of later date than the igneous
rocks described, though even this cannot be eon-
sidered as certain.
14. The floor of the Jordan Valey is deeeribri
by Dr. Anderson (p. 140) as exhibiting throughout
more or less distinctly the traces of two indepen-
dent r terraces. The upper one it much the
broader of the two. It extends back to the foes
of the limestone mountains which form toe walls
of the valley on east and west. He regards this as
older than the river, though of course formed after
the removal of the material from between the walla.
Its upper and accessible portions consist of a mass
of detritus brought down by the ravines of the
walls, always chalky, sometimes » an actual chalk ; "
usually ban of vegetation (And. p. 148), though
not uniformly so (Rob. iii. 816).
Below this, varying in depth from 60 to 160 fret,
is the second terrace, which reaches to the channel
of the Jordan, and, in Dr. Anderson's opinion, has
been excavated by the river itself before it had
shrunk to its presen t limits, when it fitted the
whole space between the tantum and western frees
of the upper terrace. The inner side of both upper
and lower terraces is farrowed out Into conical
knolls, by the torrents of the rains defending to
the lower level. These cones often attain the mag-
nitude of hills, and are ranged along the edge of
the terraces with curious regularity. They display
convenient sections, which show sometimes a ter-
tiary limestone or marl, sometimes quatenary de-
posits of sands, gravels, variegated days, or un-
stratified detritus. The lower terrace bears a good
deal of vegetation, oleander, agnus castas, etc.
The alluvial deposits have in some places been
swept entirely away, for Dr. Anderson speaks of
crossing the upturned edges of nearly vertical
strata of limestone, with neighboring beds con-
torted in a very violent manner (p. 148). This
was a few miles N. of Jericho
All along the channel of the river are found
mounds and low cliffs of conglomerates, and brec-
cias of various ages, and more various composition
Rolled boulders and pebbles of flinty sandstone at
chert, which have descended from the upper hills
Between Wady JnoAnu and IT. KkutMl A, S if Aim
Jidy : brackish. (Anderson, p. 177.)
Wady JtfuAarlyai, 46/ B. of Oidnm : silt, nar/als
Ing small fish. (Bitter, Jordan, p. 786; Peek p. 61 .
Wady it-Ahsy, 8. B. end of Dead 8se : hot. (Bunk
hardt, Aug. 7.)
Wady Btni-Ountd, near Babba, B. sals of Bead
8aa. (Bitter, Syritn, p. 1X18.)
Wady Zerka Morn (OallixhoiS), B. ride of Bead Set •
very hot, very slightly snlphureous. (Sestxta, Jan.
18; Irby, June 8.) [See, respecting these springs.
Robinson's toys. Otogr. of Palatine, pp xfiO-SM
-HI
t> ReiubrrUHt Ubtr Hainan and die IVesacwsn, 1866
with map and woodcuts.
e Compare BoMnsoB/S diary of Ida j
the Jordan near Saint 1B.8U>.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
ere found in the cross ravines i and tufas, both cal-
caneal and siliceous, abound on the terraces (And.
p. 147).
15. Sound the margin of the Dead Sea the ter-
tiary bade amine larger and more important pro-
portion! than by the ooorae of the river. The
marie, gypsites, and conglomerate! continue along
the ban of the western cliff as far as the Wady
Sttbth, where they attain their g rea t est develop-
ment. South of thia they form a aterile waste of
brilliant white marl and bitter salt flakes, ploughed
by the rain-torrents from the heights into pinna-
mat and obelisks (p. 180).
At the southeastern corner of the sea, sand-
stones begin to display themselves in great profu-
sion, and extend northward beyond IfWy Zurbi
Ant* (p. 189). Their fuO development takes place
at the month of the Wndy Mojeb, where the beds are
ft am 100 to MO feet in height. They are deposited
en the limestone, and have been themselves grad-
ually worn through by the waters of the ravine.
Then an many varieties, differing in oolor, com-
position, and date. Dr. A. enumerates several of
these (pp. 190, 196), and states instances of the red
sandstone having been filled up, after excavation,
by non-conforming beds of yellow sandstone of a
much later date, which in its turn bas been hol-
lowed out, the hollows being now occupied by de-
tritus of a stream long since extinct.
Kuaargger mentions having found a tertiary
breoeia overlying the chalk on the south of Carmel,
composed of fragments of chalk and flint, cemented
by lime (p. 887).
18. The rich alluvial soil of the wide plains
which form the maritime portion of the Holy Land,
ind also that of Esdraelon, Genuesaret, and other
dmilar plains, will complete our sketch of the
geology. The former of these districts is a region
of from eight to twelve miles in width, intervening
-etween the central highlands and the sea. It is
formed of washings from those highlands, brought
lown by the heavy rains which fall in the winter
jwnths, and which, though they rarely remain as
permanent streams, yet hist long enough to spread
this fertilising manure over the face of the country.
The soil is a light loamy sand, red in some places,
and deep black in others. The substratum is rarely
seen, but it appears to be the same limestone which
composes the central mountains. The actual coast
is formed of a very racent sandstone full of marine
shells, often those of existing species (Kuss. pp.
986, 857), whieh is disintegrated by the waves and
thrown on the snore as sand." where it forms a
tract of considerable width and height. Thia sand
in many plasm stops the outflow of the streams,
and sends them back on to the plain, where they
overflow and form marshes, which with proper
Inatment might a/ford most important assistance
to the fertility of this already fertile district.
17. The Plain of Genneaaret is under similar
aondHions, except that its outer edge is bounded by
Km lake instead of the ocean. Its superiority in
fertility to the maritime land is probably due to
the abundance of running water which it contains
■11 the year round, and to the rich soil produced
from the decay of the volcanic rocks on the steep
•eights which immediately inclose it
PAUSSTIIFB
2807
« The statement In me text Is from Thomson (Land
4 Book, eh. 98). Bnt the writer has learned that In
loflatea of Oept MansslL, B. If. (than whom m one
■ had mora opfwrtanlty of Jndftnf*, the sand o the
18. The Plata of Eedraeloo lies b e tw e en tare
ranges of highland, with a third (the Mils sep-
arating it from the Plain of Akka) at its north-
west end. It is watered by some of the finest
springs of Palestine, the streams from which trav-
erse it both east and west of the central water-
shed, and contain water or mud, moisture and
marsh, even during the hottest months of the year.
The soil of this plain is also volcanic, though not
so purely so as that of Genneaaret.
19. Bitumen or aspbaltnm, called by the Arabs
el kummar (the "shine" of Gen. xi. 3), is only met
with in the Valley of Jordan. At Btubriyn, the
moat remote of the sources of the river, it is ob-
tained from pits or wells which an sunk through
a mass of bituminous earth to a depth of about 180
feet (And. pp. 115, 116). It is also found in small
fragments on the shore of the Dead Sea, and occa-
sionally, though rarsly, very large masses of it an
discovered Boating in the water (Rob. i. 618).
This appears to have been more frequently the ease
in ancient times (Joseph. B. J. iv. 8, J 4; Diod.
Sic. il. 48). [Sums.] The Arabs report that it
proceeds from a source in one of the precipices on
the eastern shore of the Dead Sea (Rob. 1. 617)
opposite Ain-Jidy (Ruts. p. 963) ; but this is not
corroborated by the observations of Lynch's party,
of Mr. Poole, or of Dr. Robinson, who examined
the eastern shore from the western side with special
reference thereto. It is more probable that the
bituminous limestone in the neighborhood of iVeee/
Mum exists in strata of great thickness, and
that the bitumen escapes from its lower beds into
the Dead Sea, and there accumulates until by
some accident it is detached, and rises to the sur-
face.
20 Sulphur is found on the W. and S. and S. E.
portions of the shore of the Dead Sea (Rob. i. 519j
In many spots the air smells strongly of sulphuroub
acid and sulphuretted hydrogen gas (And. p. 176 ;
Poole, p. 66 ; Beaufort, ii. 1 13 ), a sulphurous crust is
spread over the surface of the beach, and lumps of
snlphur are found in the sea (Rob. i. 619). Poole
(p. 63) speaks of " sulphur hills " on the peninsula
at the S. E. end of the sea (see And. p. 187).
Nitre is rare. Mr. Poole did not discover any,
though be made special search for it- Irby and
Mangles, Seetzen and Robinson, however, mention
having seen it (Rob.i. 613).
Rock-salt abounds in large memos. The salt
mound of Knikm Utdum at the southern end of
the Dead Sea is an enormous pile, 5 miles long by
2.J broad, and some hundred feet in height (And.
p. 181). Its inferior portion consists entirely of
rock-salt, and the upper part of sulphate of lima
and salt, often with a large admixture of alumina.
G.
The Botakt. —The Botany of Syria and Pal-
estine differs but little from that of Asia Minor,
which is one of the most rich and var'*d on the
globe. What diffe r ences it presents are aue to a
slight admixture of Persian forms on the eastern
frontier, of Arabian and Egyptian on the southern,
and of Arabian and Indian tropical plants in the
low torrid depression of the Jordan and Dead Sea.
These latter, whieh number perhaps a hundred
different kinds, are anomalous features in the other-
whole coast of Syria has been brought up from Bgypt
by the 8. 8. V7. wind. This Is also statsi ry Josaseuat
(jtel.xv.9Li;).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
8808
PALESTINE
■fat Levantine landscape of Syria. On the other
hand, Palatine forma the aoathern end eastern Umit
rf the Asia-Minor flora, and contain* a mnltitude
of trees, shrubs, and herb* that adranoe no further
■oath and east. Of tbeea the pine, oak, elder,
bramble, dog-rose, and hawthorn are conspicuous
em tuple*; their southern migration being cheeked
by the drought and heat of the regions beyond
the hill; country of Judasa. Owing, however, to
the geographical poaition and the mountainous char-
acter of Asia Minor and Syria, the main features of
their flora are essentially Mediterranean-European,
and not Asiatic. A vast proportion of the com-
moner arboreous and fruteseent plant* are identical
with those of Spain, Algeria, Italy, and Greece; and
as they belong to the same genera as do British,
Germanic, and Scandinavian plants, there are ample
means of Instituting such a comparison between
the Syrian flora and that familiar to us as any in-
telligent non-botanical observer can follow and un-
derstand.
As elsewhere throughout the Mediterranean
regions, Syria and Palestine were evidently once
thickly covered with forests, which on the lower
hills and plains have been either entirely removed,
or else reduced to the condition of brushwood and
eopse ; but which still abound on the mountains,
and along certain parts of the sea-coast. The low
grounds, plains, and rocky hills are carpeted with
herbaceous plants, that appear in rapid succession
from before Christmas till June, when they disap-
pear; and the brown alluvial or white calcareous
soil, being then exposed to the scorching rays of
the sun, gives an aspect of forbidding sterility to
the most productive regions. lastly, the lofty
regions of the mountains are stony, dry, swardlees,
and swamplass, with few alpine or arctic plants,
mosses, lichens, or ferns; thus presenting a most
unfavorable contrast to the Swiss, Scandinavian,
and British mountain floras at analogous eleva-
tions.
To a traveller from England, it is difficult to say
whether the familiar or the foreign forms predom-
inate. Of trees be recognizes the oak, pine, wal-
nut, maple, juniper, alder, poplar, willow, ash,
dwarf elder, plane, ivy, arbutus, rhamnus, almond,
plum, pear, and hawthorn, all elements of his own
forest scenery and plantations; bnt misses the
beech, chestnut, lime, holly, birch, larch, and spruce;
while he sees for the first time such southern forms
la Pride of India (Mttia), earob, sycamore, fig,
jujube, pistachio, styraz, olive, phyllynea, vitex,
abeagnus, otitis, many new kinds of oak, the pa-
errus, castor oil, and various tall tropical grasses.
Of cultivated English fruits be sees the vine,
apple, pear, apricot, quince, plum, mulberry, and
fig ; but misses the gooseberry, raspberry, straw-
berry, currant, cherry, and other northern kinds,
which are as it were replaosd by such southern and
sub-tropical fruits as the date, pomegranate, cordia
myxa (ttbattan of the Arabs), orange, shaddock,
tme, banana, almond, priokly pear, and plstarhio-
mt.
Amongst cereals and vegetables the English trav-
eller finds wheat, barley, peas, potatoes, many
varieties of cabbage, carrots, lettuces, endive, and
mustard ; and misses oats, rye, and the extensive
■elds of turnip, beet, msngold-wunel, and fodder
Trasses, with whioh he is familiar in England. On
the other hand, he sees for the first time the cotton,
sillet, riee, sorghum, sesamum, sugar-cane, maize,
(BC-appla, okra, or Ifteanrveftas aadentm. Cor-
PALESTDTK
eaofwofitor***, various bean* and lentils, as LMai
vulgnrit, Phateoba aivaoos, and Citer ar ittimm ,
melons, gourds, pumpkins, cumin, coriander, fen-
nel, anise, sweet potato, tobacco, yam, eolorasia,
and other sub-tropical and tropical field and garden
crops.
The flora of Syria, so far as it is known, may
be roughly classed under three principal Botanical
regions, corresponding with the physical characters
of the country. These are (I.), the western cr
seaboard half of Syria and Palestine, inchtdinr
the lower valleys of the I/ebanon and Anti-Leb-
anon, the plain of Oslo-Syria, Galilee, Samaria,
and Judne. (9.) The desert or eastern half, which
includes the east flanks of the Anti-Lebanon,
the plain of Damascus, the Jordan and Dead Sea
Valley. (8.) The middle and upper mountain re-
gions of Mount Castas, and of Lebanon above
3,400 feet, and of the Anti-Lebanon above 4,000
feet. Nothing whatever la known hotanieally of
the regions to the eastward, namely, the Hauran,
Lrjah, Gilead, Amnion, and Moab; countries ex-
tending eastward into Mesopotamia the flora ef
which is Persian, and south to Iduz. «, where the
purely Arabian flora begins.
These Botanical regions present no definite
boundary line. A vast number of plant*, and
especially of herbs, are common to al, except th*
loftiest parts of Lebanon and the driest spots of th»
eastern district, and in no latitude is there a sharp
line of demarcation between them. But though
the change is gradual from the dry and semi-
tropical eastern flora to the molster and cooler
western, or from the latter to the cold temperate
one of the febanon, there is a great and decided
difference between the floras of three such local-
ities as the Lebanon at 5,000 feet, Jerusalem,
and Jericho; or between the top* of Lelauon, of
Cermet, and of any of th* hills bounding the
Jordan; for in the first locality we are moat
strongly reminded of northern Europe, in the
second of Spain, and in the third of Western India
or Persia.
I. Western Syr-M and Palatine. — The flora
throughout this district Is made up of such • mul-
titude of different families and genera of plants,
that it is not easy to characterise it by the mention
of a few. Amongst trees, oaks are by far the most
prevalent, and are the only ones that form contin-
uous woods, except the Pima mnri/ima and P. Ha-
Itptntii (Aleppo Pine); the former of which extends
in forests here and there along the shore, and the
latter crests the spurs of the Lebanon, Carnwi, and
a few other ranges as for south as Hebron. The
most prevalent oak is the C^rci«»*wiaV>-cocejfer*,
a plant scarcely different from the oomman Q. too-
ttfera of the western Mediterranean, and whioh it
strongly resembles in form, habit, and e vergr e en
foliage. It la called holly by many traveller*, and
Querent ilex by others, both very different trees,
Q. pteudo-meu/era is perhaps the conunoneat
plant in all Syria and Palestine, covering a* a Ion
dense bush many square miles of hilly country
everywhere, but rarely or never growing in the
plains. It seldom becomes a large tree, except in
the valleys of the Lebanon, or where, a* in the
ease of the famous oak of Mamre, it is allowed t*
attain its fall sise. It ascands about 6,000 feet or.
the mountains, but does not descend into th* mid.
die and lower valley of the Jordan; nor Is it sees
on the east slopes of the Anti-Lebanon, and seanaty
to the eastward of Jerusalem; it may indeed lane
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
•MB removed by man from then regions, when the
Am of tbi removal would bo to dry the sol and
■stoats, and pmat iU leeatabliahment Even
•round Jerusalem It ii rare, though it* root* are
mM to exist In abuadaooe in the soil. The only
other oaki that are common are the Q- mfeetoria
(a gall oak), and Q. agiiopt. The Q. mftetorin
is % email deciduous-leaved tree, found hare and
there In Galilee, Samaria, and on the Lebanon ; it
ii vary ooospieuous from the number* of blight
eheatnut-eokired shining risaid galls which it bean,
and whiah are sranotimea exported to England, but
which are a poor substitute for the true Aleppo
gala. Q. agiiopt again is theTalonia oak; a low,
nry etcinVorunked sturdy tree, common in Galilee,
and especially on Tabor and Camiei, where it grow*
in scattered group*, giving a park- like appearance
to the landscape. It bear* aeorn* of a very large
abas, whose cup*, which are covered with long re-
curred spines, are exported to Europe a* Valonia,
and an used, like the gulls of Q. mfeetoria, in the
operation of dyeing. This, I am inclined to be-
lieve, i* the oak of Baaban, both on account of its
■tardy habit and thick trunk, and aha because a
fine piece of the wood of tbi* tree was sent from
Isilhan to the Kew Museum by Mr. Cyril Graham.
The other oaks of Syria are chiefly confined to the
mountains, and will be noticed in their proper
place.
The trees of the genus Putndn rank next in
abundance to the oak, — and of these there are
three species in Syria, two wild and most abundant,
but the third, P. vera, which yields the well-known
pistaehio-uut, very ran, and ohlefly seen in cultiva-
tion about Aleppo, but also in Beyrftt and near
Jerusalem. The wild species an the P. Untitcue
and P. Urtbin&ut, both Tory common: the P.
leitiitem rarely exceeds the size of a low bush,
which is conspicuous for its dark eve r gr een leaves
snd numberless small red berries; tbe other grows
larger, but seldom forms a tur-sj»ed tree.
The Csrob or Locust-tree, Cerntoma liUqua,
ranks perhaps next In abundance to the foregoing
tress. It never grows in clumps or forms woods,
but appears «s sn Isolated, rounded or oblong, very
denee-folisged tree, branching from near the base,
of a bright lucid green hue, affording the best
shade. Its singular flowers are produced from it*
thick branehee in autumn, and are sueoeoded by
the large pendulous pods, called St John's Bread,
and extensively exported from the Levant to Eng-
land for feeding cattle. [Husks.]
The oriental Plane is for from uncommon, and
though generally cultivated, it is to all appearance
wild in the valleys of the Lebanon and Anti-Leb-
anon. The great plane of Damascus is a well-
kaowB object to traveller*; the girth of it* trunk
was nearly 40 feet, but it is now a men wreck.
The Sycamore-fig is common in the neighbor-
eood of towns, snd attains a large sisa; its wood is
ssuoh used, especially in Egypt, where tbe mununy-
ssses wen formerly made of it Poelars, especially
ma aspen snd whit* poplar, an extremely common
oy streams; the latter la generally trimmed for
Vswood, so as to resemble the Lonibardy poplar.
The Walnut la men common in Syria than in Pal-
estine, and in both countries is generally confined
to gardens and orchards. Of large native shrubs
r small trees almost universally spread over this
Hstriot are, Arenas* Andradne, which is common
o the hilly country from Hebron northward; Cra-
ayas Anmia, which grows equally In dry rocky
PALESTINE
2809
exposures, as on the Mount of OUves, snd in coal
mountain valley*; it yield* a large yellow or red
haw that ia abundantly sold in the markets. Cy-
presses an common about villages, and especially
near all religious establishments, often attaining a
considerable sins, but I am not aware of their being
indigenous to Syria. Zagphue Spina- CJiristt,
Christ's Thorn— often called jujube — the Nubk
of the Arabs, is most common on dry open plains,
as that of Jericho, wbera it is either a scrambling
briar, a standard shrub, or rarely even a middling-
sised tree with pendulous branches: it is familiar
to tbe traveller from its sharp hooks, white under-
tides to the three-nerved leaves, snd globular yellow
sweetish fruit with a large woody atone. The Pan*
mi a cut e nhit , also called Christ'* Thorn, resem-
ble* it a good deal, but is much has common ; it
abounds in the Anti-Lebanon, when it ia used for
hedges, snd may be recognized by its curved priokles
and curious dry fruit, with a broad flat wing at the
top. Btyrax officinalis, which used to yield the
famous storax, abounds in all parts of the country
when hilly; sometimes, as on tbe east end of Car-
mei and on Tabor, becoming a ver» large bush
branching from the ground, but ne.o. assuming
the form of a tree; it may be known by its small
downy leaves, white flower* like orange blossoms,
and round yellow fruit, pendulous torn slender
stalks, like cherries. The flesh of the berry, whiuh
is quite uneatable, is of a semi-transparent hue,
and contains one or mora large, onestuut-eoicnd
seed*. Tamariek is common, but seldom attains
a large size, and has nothing to recommend it to
notice. Oleander claims a separate notice, from
its great beauty and abundance; lining the banks
of the streams and lake* in gravelly places, and
bearing a profusion of blossoms. Other still smaller
but familiar shrubs an Phgllyraa, Jthamnue ala.
tenuis, and others of that genus. Jthtu eoriaria,
several leguminous shrubs, as Anaggrit fatida,
Calycotome and Genista; Cottmtaster, the com-
mon bramble, dog-rose, and hawthorn, Elamgnus,
wild olive, Lgcium Europamm, VUex agnus-eastus,
■west-bay (Launu nobilu), Ephedra, Clematis,
Gnm-Cuitus, and the caper-plant: then nearly
complete the list of the commoner ahmbs and trees
of the western district, whioh attain a height of
four feet or more, and an almost universally met
with, especially in tbe hilly country.
Of planted trees and large shrubs, the first in
importance is the Vine, which is most abundantly
cultivated all over the country, and produces, u in
the time of the Canaanites, enormous bunches «f
grapes. This is especially the case in the southern
districts; those of Eshcol being still particularly
famous. Stephen Sohults states that at a village
near Ptolemaia (Acre) he supped under a large
vine, the stem of which measured a foot and a half
in diameter, its height being 30 feet; and that tbe
whole plant, supported on a trellis, oovered an ana
60 feet either way. The bunches of grapes weighed
10-19 lbs., and the berries wen like small plums.
Mariti relates that no vines can vie for produce
with those of Judaea, of whioh a bunch cannot be
carried for without destroying tbe fruit; and we
have ourselves heard that the bunches produced
near Hebron are sometimes so long that, when at-
tached to a stick which is supported on the •boul-
ders of two met., the tip of the bunch trails on
the ground.
Next to the vine, or even in some respects ik
superior in importance, ranks the Olive, which a*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
25*10
FAXifSSTINE
where grows in greater luxuriance and abundance
than m Palestine, when the olive orabardi form s
prominent feature throughout the landscape, and
nan dona so from time immemorial, lite oHw-
tne hi in no reapecta a handsome or picturesque
object; ita bark la gray and rugged; its foliage is
In color an ashy, or at beat a dusky green, and
affords little shade; its wood is useless as timber,
its flowers are inconspicuous, and ita fruit unin-
viting to the eye or palate; so that, even when
most abundant and productive, the olire scaraely
relieves the aspect of the dry soil, and deceives the
superficial observer as to the fertility of Palestine.
Indeed it is mainly owing to these peculiarities of
the olive-tree, and to the deciduous oharacter of
the foliage of the fig and vine, that the impression
is so prevalent amongst northern travellers, that
the Holy Land is in point of productiveness not
what it was in former times; for to the native
of northern Europe especially, the idea of fertility
is inseparable from that of verdure. The article
Ouvs must be referred to for details of this tree,
which h) perhaps moat skillfully and carefully culti-
vated in the neighborhood of Hebron, when for
many miles the roads run between atone watte
inclosing magnificent olive orchards, apparently
tended with as much neatness, care, and skill aa
the best fruit gardens in England. The terraced
olive-yards around Sebastian must also strike the
most casual observer, aa admirable specimens of
careful cultivation.
The Fig forms another most important crop in
Syria and Palestine, and one which is apparently
greatly increasing in extent. Aa with the olive and
mulberry, the fig-trees, whan beat cultivated, are
symmetrically planted in fields, whose soil is freed
from stones, and kept as scrupulously clean of
weeds aa it can he in a semi-tropical climate. Aa
is well known, the fig bears two or three oropa in
the year: Josephus aaya that it bean for ten months
out of the twelve. The early figs, which ripen
about June, an reckoned especially good. The
summer figs again ripen in August, and a third
crop appears still later when the leaves are abed ;
these are occasionally gathered as late as January.
The figs are dried by the natives, and are chiefly
purchased by the Arabs of the eastern deserts.
The ayeamore-fig, previously noticed, has much
smaller and very inferior fruit.
The quince, apple," almond, walnut, peach, and
apricot, are all most abundant field or orchard
crops, often planted in lines, rows, or quincunx
order, with tile olive, mulberry, or fig; but they
are by no means so abundant aa these latter. The
pomegranate grows everywhere aa a bush ; but, like
the orange, Elangmu, and other less common
plant*, is more often seen in gardens than in fields.
The fruit ripens in August, and is kept throughout
the winter. Three kinds are cultivated — the acid,
sweet, and insipid — and all are need in preparing
sherbets: while the bark and fruit rind of all are
used for dyeing and aa medicine, owing to their
astringent properties.
The Banana is only bond near the Mediterra-
nean; it ripens ita fruit as far north as Beyrut,
and occasionally even at Tripoli, but more con-
stantly at Sidon and Jans; only one kind is eoni-
nunly cultivated, but it is excellent. Dates an
eat frequent: they an most common at Oalflh and
• • See Amu (Amur, ad i, which aeeordtaf as the
teat teaaajony fa not abundant. H.
PALjttmxs
Jaffa, whan the fruit ripens, but then an near aa
groves of this tree anywhere but in Qiiiilhani
Palestine, such aa once existed in the valley of the
Jordan, near the assnmwd site of Jericho. Of that
well-known grove no tree is standing; one log of
date-palm, now lying in a stream near the locality
is perhaps the last remains of that ancient nee,
though that they were once abundant in the tones
diate neighborhood of the Dead Sea is obvious
from the remark of Mr. Poole, that acme part of
the shore of that aea is strewn with their trunks.
[See p. 38(19, note ».] Wild dwarf dates, rarely
producing fruit, grow by the shores of tie Lake
of Tiberias and near Caifik; but whether they an
truly indigenous dale-palms, or crab-dot*! pro-
duced from send lings of the cultivated farm, is net
known.
The OpmUitt, or Prickly Pear, is most abundant
throughout Syria, and though a natire of the Near
World, has here, aa elsewhere throughout the dry,
hot regions of the eastern hemisphere, established
its claim to be regarded as a permanent and rapidly
increasing denizen. It is in general use for hedg-
ing, and ita well-known fruit is extensively testa
by all classes. I am not aware that the cochineal
insect has ever been introduced into Syria, when
there can, however, be little doubt but that it might
be successfully cultivated.
Of dye^tufb the Cartkamm (Sefflower) and
Indigo are both cultivated; and of textiles, Flax,
Hemp, and Cotton.
The Carob, or St. John's Bread (CeraUma mi-
Uqrni), baa already been mentioned amongst the
conspicuous tress: the sweetish pulp of the pods it
used for sherbets, and abundantly eaten; the pods
are used for cattle feeding, and the leaves and bark
for tanning.
The Cistus or Book-rase, two or three species of
which are abundant throughout the hilly districts
of Palestine, is the shrub from which in former
times gum-labdannm was collected in the islands
of Candia and Cyprus.
With regard to the rich and varied herbsceeas
vegetation of West Syria and Palestine, it is dim-
cult to afford any idea of its nature to the English
non-botanical reader, except by comparing it wish
the British; which I shall first do, and then detail
its moat prominent botanical features.
The plants contained in this botanical region
probably number not less than 8,000 or 8,600, of
which perhaps 600 an British wild flowers; amongst
the moat conspicuous of these British ones are the
RiimmaUut nqiwtUU, arxentit, and T^ioarwi,- the
yellow water-lily, Pnpavtr Shorn and ifbridam,
and several Fumitories; fully 90 orudferout pknte,
including Drabn reran, wa t e r a w es, Tvrritit jia-
bra, Sttgm hrmm trio, CnpttUa burtn^nttorim,
Cutile maritima, Lrpidmm drnoo, charlock, n;ua-
tard (often growing 8 to 9 feet high), two mig-
nonnettes (Rueda alba and fates), Betas na/nta,
various species of Ceraanam, Spergnla, SnUaria,
and Artnaria, mallows. Geranium molk, rotaeoV
folium, heUhm, dm t thim , and ka b m t in — m , En-
dktm moaotatem, and cicut ar imm. Also many
species of JUqwmiwta, especially of J/eovaooa,
Trifoknm, MtUottu, Lola*, Ononis, Brvmrn, ftoia,
and Lnthyrm. Of Rowctm the common braashh
and dog-rose. Ls tar ai Solioonn, EpikMmm *ar-
saaan, Bryonia awita, rJoasj/rooa l i'ss V iafofc t ss
Csiaa senna, Mmbia osreorna, Atptruia ear
ate. Various UmMtifara and C om p om t m, inched
log the daisy, wormwood, groundsel, da n de n o a
Digitized by VjOOQlC
WLLBSTINE
■Ueory, sowthiatle, and many otbevs. Blue »nd
■bite pimpernel, Cyclamen Europamm, Samoms
Valerandi, Erica wagons, borage, Veronica ana-
aaUis, Btccabunga, agresus, triphyllm, and Cha-
Btmdryn, Latkrau sauamaria, vervain, Lanu'um
am p U xicaule, mint, horehound, Pitaulla, Static*
ti m mtium , many Chsnopodi a cta, Polygonum, and
/me»T, Pellitory, MercuriaHs, Eupsorbiat, net-
tles, box, elm, several willows and poplars, oom-
mon duck-weed and pond weed, Orchis morio,
Great aureus, butchers-broom, biaok bryony,
•quill, and many rushes, sedges, and
PALESTINE
2811
The moat abundant natural families of plant* in
West Syria and Palestine an: (1) Leguminous,
(«) Oompositm, (8) Istbiata, (4) Crudferm; after
which oome (6) UmbtUtferm, (6) CmyopbyUea,
(T) Boratpmta, (8) Bcrvp/iularintm, (9) (irami-
ntm, and (lO) Liiiacta.
(1.) Ltgmnmota abound in all situations, es-
peeiaily the genera TrifuHum, Trigmtlta, Medi-
cafo, Lotus, rlda, and Orotms, in the richer soils,
and Astragalus in enormoui proAuion in the drier
and more barren districts. The latter genua la
indeed the largest in the whole country, upwards
of fifty species belonging to it being enumerated,
either aa confined to Syria, or common to it and
the neighboring countries. Amongst them are the
gum-bearing Astragali, which are, however, almost
confined to the upper mountain regions. Of the
shrubby Leguminosm there are a few species of
Genista, Cya'tm, Ononis, Rttama, Aungyrit, Cuiy-
jotomt, CoronUla, and Acacia. One species, the
Ceratoma, is arboreous.
(8.) ComposUa. — No family of plants more
strikes the observer than the Compooila, from the
vast abundance of thistles and centauries, and other
spring-pUnta of the bum tribe, which awarm alike
Tver the richest plains and most atony hills, often
towering high above all other herbaceous vegetation.
By the unobservant traveller these are often sup-
posed to Indicate sterility of soil, instead of the
contrary, which they for the most part really do,
for they an nowben so tall, rank, or luxuriant as
on the moat productive soils. It ia beyond the
limit* of this article to detail the botanical pecul-
iarities of this vegetation, and we can only men-
tion the genera Ceniaurea, Echinnps, Onopordum,
CtrtiutH, Cywira, and C'nrduut, aa being emi-
nently conspicuous for their numbers or size. The
tribe Ciclvirta are scarcely less numerous, whilst
these of GnnpkaHa, AUtroiilta, and Sentdonidea,
to common in more northern latitudes, are here
mtnparatively tare.
(8.) Lnoiata form a prominent feature every-
where, and one all the more obtrusive from the
fragrance of many of the genera. Thus the lovely
hills of Galilee and Samaria are inseparably linked
In the memory with the odoriferous herbage of
marjoram, thymes, lavenders, calaminths, sages,
«nd teucriuma; of all which there are many species,
is alao there are of Stderilis, PhUmit, Siaehys,
Bnllota, Ntptta, and Mentha.
(4.) Of Crudferm there ia little to remark: its
species are generally weed-like, and present no
-aarked feature in the landscape. Among the most
noticeable are the gigantic mustard, previously
Motioned, which does not difler from the common
Dastard, Bhtapis nigra, save in size, and the /4a. w-
ztsica Hitrochunuca, at rose of Jericho, an Egyp-
tian and Arabian paint, which is said to grow it,
em Jordan •*/■ Dead Sea vaBsvs.
(6.) VmbtUtfera present little to remark aa
save the abundance of fennels sod BupUvrumH
the order it exceedingly numerous both in species
and individuals, which often form a large propor-
tion of the tall rank herbage at the edges of copse-
wood and in damp hollows. The gray and spiny
A'rjmoinm, to abundant on all the arid hills, ba-
kings to this order.
(6.) CaryophyUeai also are not a very conspicuous
order, though so numerous that the abundance of
pinks, Sifene and Saponaria, is a marked feature
to the eye of the botanist
(7.) The Boraginea are for the most part
annual weeds, but some notable exceptions are
found in the Echiumt, Anchtuat, and Onosmas,
which are among the most beautiful plants of the
country.
(8.) Of Scropkularinem the principal genera are
Scropnularta, Veronica, Linaria, and Verbaseum
(Mulleins): the latter is by far the most abundant,
and many of the species are quite gigantic.
(9.) Grasses, though very numerous in species,
seldom afford a sward as in moister and colder
regions; the pasture of England having for its
oriental equivalent the herbs and herbaceous tips
of the low shrubby plants which cover »he coun-
try, and on which all herbivorous aninuus love to
browse. The Arundo Donna, Socchanm ^gy}<-
tiactun, and Erianthut Raeewnm, are all conspicuous
for their gigantic sin and silky plumes of flowers
of singular grace and beauty.
(10. ) Liliacem. — The variety and beauty of tbil
order, in Syria is perhaps nowhere exceeded, and
especially of the bulb-bearing genera, aa tulips,
fritillaries, squills, gageas, etc The Urginea sown
(medicinal squill), abounds everywhere, throwing up
a tall stalk beset with white flowers at its upper
half; and the little purple autumnal squill is one
of the commonest plants in the country, springing
up in October and November in the most aric
situations imaginable.
Of other natural orders worthy of notice, for one
reason or another, are Vtolaoea, for the paucity of
its species; Geraniacem, which are very numerous
and beautiful; Butacta, which are common, and
very strong-scented when bruised. Botaceat are
not so abundant as in more northern climates, but
are represented by one remarkable plant, Poterium
tpmotum, which covers whole tracts of arid, hilly
country, much aa the ling does in Britain. Crat-
sulacea and Baxifragea are alao not so plentiful
as in cooler regions. Dipsacta are very abundant,
especially the genera A' anuria, Saibuta, Cepham-
i-tfl, and Pterocrphauu. Campnmlncea are com-
mon, and Lobtliacta rare. Primulacea and Eri-
cea are both rare, though one or two species are
not uncommon. There are very few Gentianta,
but many ConvohmU. Of Solanea, Mandragora,
Solanum, and Hgoscyamus are very common, alao
PhysaHs, Capsicum, and Lyeopersicum, all prob-
ably escapee from cultivation. Plumoaginea eon-
tain a good many Statices, and the blue-flowered
Plumbago Emvpaa is snrjooaaaon ■weed. Chsno-
podiaeeat an very numerous, especially the weedy
AtripSets and Chenopodia and some shrubby SaL
solas. Polygons an very common indeed, es-
pecially the smaller species of Polygonum itself.
Arismoehiea present several species. Euphor-
biaeem. The herbaceous genus Euphorbia is vastly
abundant, especiall; in fields: upwards of fifty
Syrian species are known. Crosophora, AfJraakns,
and Rictnut, all ar uthem types, an also o na uu ou.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2812
PALE8TINE
Urticea present the common European nettle*,
Mtrcuriaus, and Pellitory. Morea, the common
and ajeamore Sga, and the black and white mul-
berries. Aroidea are very common, and man;
of them are handsome, having deep-purple lurid
spathes, which rise out of the ground before the
leaves.
Of Balanophora, the curious Cynomorium coc-
chteum, or " Fungus Melitensis," used as a styptic
during the Crusades by the knights of Malta, is
found in the valleys of Lebanon near the sea.
Naiadea, as in other dry countries, are scarce.
Orchidea contain about thirty to forty kinds,
ehhAy South European species of Orchil, Ophrys,
Spiranthes, and Serapias.
AmarylHdea present Pancratium, Sternbergin,
fxiolinon, and Narcissus. Iridea has many sps-
jles of IrU and Crocus, besides tforaa. Gladiolus,
Trichonema, and Romulea. Dioscorea, Tamut
communis. Smilaceos, several Asparagi, Smilitx,
and Ruscus acukatus. MeUmthacta contain many
Colchicums, besides Merendera and Erytlirostictus.
Jmcut contain none but the commoner British
rushes snd luzulas. Cyperacem are remarkably
Cin species ; the genus Carcx, so abundant in
pa, is especially rare, not half a dozen species
being enumerated.
Ferns are extremely scarce, owing to the dryness
of the climate, and most of the species belong to
the Lebanon Aon. The common lowland ones are
Adiantum capilhu-vtneris, Cheilnnthet fragrant,
Gymnogrammi leptophylla, Ctttrach officinarum,
Pleris lanccolata, und As/tlenium Adiantum-ni-
grum. Selnginella denticulata Is also found.
One of the most memorable plants of this region,
and indeed in the whole world, is the celebrated
Papyrus of the ancients {Papyrus antiqunrum),
which is said once to hare grown on the banks of
the lower Nile, but which is nowhere found now in
Africa north of the tropics. The only other known
habitat beside Syria snd tropical Africa is one spot
in the island of Sicily. The papyrus is a noble
plant, forming tufts of tall stout 3-angled green
smooth stems, 6 to 10 feet high, each surmounted
by a mop of pendulous threads : it abounds in some
marshes by the I-ake of Tiberias, and is also said
to grow near Caina and elsewhere in Syria. It is
certainly the most remarkable plant in the country.
Of other cryptogamic plants little is known.
Mosses, lichens, and Hepatica are not generally
common, though doubtless many species are to be
found in the winter and spring months. The marine
Alga are supposed to be the same as in the rest of
the Mediterranean, and of Fungi we have no
knowledge at all.
Cueurbitacea, though not Included under any
uf the above heads, are a very frequent order in
Syria. Besides the immense crops of melons,
gourds, and pumpkins, the eolocynth apple, which
yields the famous drug, is common in some parts,
while even more so is the squirting cucumber
(EcbaUum ttaterium).
Of plants that contribute largely to that showy
character for which the herbage of Palestine is
famous, may be mentioned Adonis, Ranunculus
Asiaticus, and others ; Anrmont coramirin, poppies,
Glaudum, Mntthiuia, Malcolmin, Alyssum, Bi-
tcuteUa, Htlianthemum, Cistus, the caper plant,
many pinks, Siltnt, Saponaria, and Gypsaphiln;
I Phloxes, mallows, Lavatcra, Hypericum ;
ny geraniums, Erodiums, and Leguminnsa, and
far too numerous to individualize; Sca-
PALE8TINE
biota, Cepkalaria, chrysanthemums, Pyretkrtmn,
lnulas, AchiUeas, Calendulas, Centaurtas, Trago-
pogons, Bcvrtoneras, and Crtpis; many nobh
Campanulas, cyclamens, ContohmK, Anekusas,
Onosmas, and Echisms, Acanthus, Verbasaans
(most conspicuously), Veronicas, Celsias, Oyoscy
amus ; many Arums in autumn, orchis and Opkryt
in spring; Narcissus, Tatetta, irises, Ptmcra-
tivms, Hternber gia, Gladiolus ; many beautiful cro-
cuses and colchicums, squills, Tuhpa ocuhis-scis,
Gageas, fritillaries, Alliums, Star of Bethlebum,
Muscaris, white lily, Hytcinthus orientatis, Belle-
valias, and Asphodtli.
With such gay and delicate flowers as these, u.
numberless combinations, the ground is ahrwjsl
carpeted during spring and early summer; and a;
in similar hot and dry, but still temperate climates
as the Cape of Good Hope and Australia, they after
color the whole landscape, from their lavish abnn
dance.
II. Botany of Eastern Syria and Palestine. —
little or nothing being known of the flora of the
range of mountains east of the Jordan and Syrian
desert, we must confine our notice to the valley of
the Jordan, that of the Dead Sea, and the country
about Damascus.
Nowhere can a better locality be found for show-
ing the contrast between the vegetation of the
eastern and western districts of Syria than in the
neighborhood of Jerusalem. To the west and
south of that city the valleys are full of the dwarf
oak, two kinds of Pistaci'i, besides Smilax, Arbutus,
rose, Aleppo Pine, Rhamnus, Phyllyrna, bramble,
and Cratagus Aronia. Of these the last alone is
found on the Mount of Olives, beyond which, east-
ward to the Dead Sea, not one of these plants ap-
pears, nor are they replaced by any analogous ones.
For the first few miles the olive groves continue,
and here and there a carob and lentisk or sycamore
recurs, but beyond Bethany these are scarcely seen.
Naked rocks, or white chalky rounded bills, with
bare open valleys, succeed, wholly destitute of copse,
and sprinkled with sterile-looking shrubs of Salsotas,
Capparidea, Zygophytium, rues, Fagonia, Poly-
gonum, Zkyphus, tamarisks, alhagi, and Artemisia.
Herbaceous plants are still abundant, but do not
form the continuous sward that they do in Judssa.
Amongst these, Boraginea, Alsinea, Fagonia, Pol-
ygonum, Crozophora, Euphorbias, and Legwmmosa
are the most frequent.
On descending 1,000 feet below the level of the
sea to the valley of the Jordan, the sub-tropical and
desert vegetation of Arabia and West Asia is en-
countered in full force. Many plants wholly foreign
to the western district suddenly appear, and the
flora is that of the whole dry country as far east as
the Panjab. The commonest plant is the Zitypkut
Spina- Ckristi, at nubk of the Arabs, forming bushes -
or small trees. Scarcely less abundant, and at
large, is the Balanites JEgypaaca, whose frnrt
yields the oil called tuk by the Arabs, which is re-
puted to possess healing properties, and which may
possibly be alluded to as Balm of Gilead. Tama-
risks are most abundant, together with Rhus (Syr-
iaca f), conspicuous for the bright green of its few
■mall leaves, and its exact resemblance in foliage
bark, and habit to the true Balm of Gilead, the
Amyris Gileadensis of Arabia. Other most absn.
dant shrubs are Ochradenus bnccatus, s tall, 'rsnek-
ing, almost leafless plant, with small white oerrlas
and the twiggy, leafless broom called Retamn
Acacia Famesiana is very abundant, and i
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PAIiBSTINE
a* the delicious fragrance af its yellow fknran. It
U chiefly upon it thai the superb mistletoe, Lo-
ranlnm Aeaeim, grows, wfaon scarlet flowers are
brilliant ornaments to the desert during winter,
giving the appearance of flame to the bushes. Cap-
parit tpinota, the common caper-plant, flouriahai
ev e rywh ere in the Jordan Valley, forming dumps in
the very arid rook; bottoms, which are conspicuous
for their pale-bine hue, when seen from a diatanoe.
Alnagi Marnvr mn is extremely common ; as is the
prickly Solomon Sodomamm, with purple flowers
and globular yellow Anita, commonly known as the
Dead Sea apple.
On the banks of the Jordan itself the arboreous
and shrubby vegetation chiefly consists of Pupvbu
Euphratica (a plant found all over Central Asia,
but not known west of the Jordan), tamarisk,
Qtyrit alba, Peripioca, Acacia vera, Protopit
Stepnanuma, Artmdo Donax, Lucium, and Cap-
font tptnoei. As the ground becomes saline, Atri-
p/ex Boliomt and large Slaiuxi (sea-pinks) appear
in vast abundance, with very many succulent
shrubby Saltoltu, SiUconuTt, Suadnt, and other
allied plants to the number of at least a dozen,
many of which are typical of the salt depr es si o ns
of the Caspian and Central Asia.
Other very tropical plants of this region are
ZfoopiyUnm ooccMCum, Boerhavia, Indigo/era ;
several AttragaH, Cattiat, Gynmocarpum, and
iVUraria. At the same time thoroughly European
forms are common, especially in wet places ; as dock,
mint, Vtroniea amgoMit, and Slum. One remote
and little-visited spot in this region is particularly
celebrated for the tropical character of its vegeta-
tion. This is the small valley of En-gedi (Am-Jidy),
which is on the west shore of the Dead Sea, and
where alone, it is said, the following tropical plants
stow: Sidi muUca and Atiatioci, Calotropit pro-
cent (whose bladdery fruits, full of the silky coma
of the seeds, hare even been assumed to be the
Apple of Sodom), Amberboa, Batata* UUoralU,
Aerta Jmanica, Pluchta Dutcoridit.
It is here that the Salvadora Pernca, supposed
by some to be the mustard-tree of Scripture, grows :
it is a small tree, found as far south as Abyssinia or
Aden, and eastward to the peninsula of India, but
is unknown west or north of the Dead Sea. The
late Dr. Boyle — unaware, nc doubt, how scarce and
local it was, and arguing from the pungent taste of
its bark, which is used ss horse-radish In India —
supposed that this tree was that alluded to in the
parable of the mnstard-tres; but not only is the
pungent nature of the bark not generally known
to the natives of Syria, but the plant itself is so
scarce, local, and little known, that Jesus Christ
couU never hare made It the subject of a parable
that would reach the understanding of his hearers.
The shores immediately around the Dead Sea
present abundance of vegetation, though almost
wholly of a saline character, ./uncus maritimut is
very common in large dumps, and a yellow-flowered
rroundjel-like plant, fmda crithmada (also eom-
sjod on the rocky stores of Tyre, Sidon, etc.).
Vptrgulmia marilimn, Atripttx Halimut, Bala-
ulct sEyyptiaca, several shrubby Suadnt and Sal-
Yonuas, Tamarix, and a prickly-feared grass
\FettHcn), all grow joore or less dose to the edge
•T the water; while of non-saline plants the So-
PALBSTINB
2818
■ Arsons
tftkt
■ottoss of me oaks of Syria, sse Tram-
Socutf, uiii. 881, and plates 86-
lanwn Sodomamm, Tamarix, Cenlaurta, and im-
mense brakes of Armtdo Donax may be seen al
around.
The most singular effect is, however, experienced
in the re-ascent from the Dead Sea to the hills on
its N. W. shore, which presents firsts sudden steep
rise, and then a series of vast water-worn terraces
at the same lerd as the Mediterranean. During
this saoent such familiar plants of the latter region
are successively met with as PoUrium tpma tm n,
Anc ki tta, pink, Hypericum, Inula vitcota, etc; but
no trees are seen till the longitude of Jerusalem is
approached.
III. Flora of At Middle and Upper Mountain
Rtgiont of Syria. — The oak forma the prevalent
arboreous vegetation of this region below 5,000 feet.
The Querent pseudo*x>ccifera and mfcdoriu is not
seen much above 8,000 feet, nor the Valonia oak
at so great an elevation ; but above these heights
some magnificent speciee occur, including the Quer-
ctu Cerrit of the South of Europe, the Q. Ehren-
bergU, or ca ttan mf olia, Q. Torn, Q. Litem, and
Q. Manmf era, Lindl., which is perhaps not dis-
tinct from some of the forms of U. Hoimr, or ees-
suVjtorn.*
At the same elevations junipers become oommor.
but the species have not been satisfactorily nude
out. The Juniperut communis is found, but is
not so common as the tall, straight, black kind
(J. exctlta, or fmtidiirima). On Mount Casius the
J. drupacea grows, remarkable for its large plum-
like fruit; mid J. Sabitta, phamida, and oxycedrvt,
are all said to inhabit Syria. But the most remark-
able plant of the upper regiou is certainly the cedar;
for which we must refer the reader to the article
CKDAJb*
Lastly, the flora of the upper temperate and
alpine Syrian mountains demands some notice. As
before remarked, no part of the Lebanon present*
a vegetation at all similar, or even analogous, to
that of the Alps of Europe, India, or North Amer-
ica. This is partly owing to the heat and extreme
dryness of the climate during a considerable part
of the year, to the sudden desiccating influence of
the desert winds, and to the sterile nature of the
dry limestone soil on the highest summits of l*b-
anon, Hermon, and the Anti-Lebanon ; but perhaps
still more to a warm period having succeeded 1 to that
cold one during which the glaciers wese formed
(whose former presence is attested by the ausaines
in the cedar valley and elsewhere), and which may
have obliterated almost every trace of the glacial
flora. Hence it happens that far more bossal plants
may be gathered on the Himalaya at 10-15,000 ft
elevation, than at the analogous heights en Leb-
anon of 8-10,000 ft; and that whilst fully 800
plants belonging to tin Arctic circle inhabit the
ranges of North India, not half that number are
found on the Lebanon, though those mountains are
in a far higher latitude.
At the elevation of 4,000 feet on the Lebanon
many plants of the middle and northern latitudes
of Europe commence, amongst which the most con-
spicuous are hawthorn, dwarf elder, dog-rose, ivy,
butcher's broom, a variety of the berberry, honey
suckle, maple, and jasmine. A little higher, at
5-7000 ft., occur CoUmtntter, Rhododendron ponti-
crnn, primrose, Daphne oleoidet, several other roses,
* Ses also Dr. Hooker's paper « On the Cedars ix
Lebanon," etc., in the Nat. But. Btvitw, No. b : "•»
Si
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2814 PALESTINE
Potorium, Juniperus communis, fatidtitima (or
txcelsa), and cedar. Still higher, at 7-10,000 ft.,
there is no shrubby vegetation, properly so called.
What shrubs there are form small, rounded, harsh,
prickly bushes, and belong to genera, or forms of
genera, that are almost peculiar to the dry moun-
tain regions of the Levant and Persia, and West
Asia generally. Of these Astragali are by far the
mrst numerous, Including the A. Tragacantka,
which yields the famous gum in the greatest abun-
dance; and next to them a curious tribe of SlaUces
called Acatuholimon, whose rigid, pungent leaves
spread like stars over the whole surface of the
plant; and, lastly, a small white chenopodiaceous
plant called Noam. These are the prevalent forms
up to the very summit of Lebanon, growing in
globular masses on the rounded flank of Dhar d-
Khodxi itself, 10,900 feet above the sea.
At the elevation of 8-9,000 feet the beautiful
silvery Vieia cantscens forms Urge tufts of pale
blue, where scarcely anything else will grow.
The herbaceous plants of 7-10,000 feet altitude
are still chiefly Levantine forms of Campanula,
Ranunculus, Corydalis, Draba, Silent, Armaria,
Saponaria, Geranium, Erodium, several Umbel-
lifers, Galium, Erigeron, Scoitonera, Taraxa-
cum, Androsact, Scrophularia, Ntpeta, Sidtrilis,
AtphodtUne, Crocus, Ornithogalum ; and a few
grasses and sedges. No gentians, heaths, Primu-
las, saxifrages, anemones, or other alpine favorites,
are found.
The most boreal forms, which are confined to
the clefts of rocks, or the vicinity of patches of
snow above 9,000 feet, are Drabas, Armaria, one
small PotenHUa, a Ftstuca, an Aral/is like al/nna,
and the Oxyria reniformii, the only decidedly
Arctic type in the whole country, and probably the
only characteristic plant remaining of the flora
which inhabited the Lebanon during the glacial
period. It is, however, extremely rare, and only
found nestling under stones, and in deep clefts of
rocks, on the very summit, and near the patches
of snow on Dhar el-Khodib.
No doubt Crjptogamic plants are sufficiently
numerous in this region, but none have been col-
lected, except ferns, amongst which are Cysiopteris
frayths, Polypodium vulgart, Nephrodium palli-
dum, and Pulyttichum angulare. J. D. H.
Zoology. — Much information is still needed
on this subject before we can possibly determine
with any degree of certainty the fauna of Pales-
tine; indeed, the complaint of Linnteus in 1747,
that " we are less acquainted with the Natural
History of Palestine than with that of the re-
motest parts of India," is almost as just now as
it was when the remark was made. "There Is
perhaps," writes a recent visitor to the Holy Land,
" no country frequented by travellers whose fauna
is so little known as that of Palestine" {Ibis, i.
39); indeed, the complaint is general amongst
aoulogists.
It will be sufficient in this article to give a
general survey of tie fauna of Palestine, as the
read* will find mote particular information in the
> — —
a Tbare Is some little doubt whether the brown bear
( L\ arctot) may not occasionally be found in Palestine.
4to* Schubert (Rrise in das Morgenland*.
» Col. B. Smith, in KittoH tye. art. ''Badger,"
alssuaf that the badger occurs In Palestine, and says
'I- has not yet been found out of Europe. This ani-
Jbll. iiu we w . Is certainly an Inhabitant of certain
PALESTINE
several articles which treat of the vatious anhnah
under their respective names.
Mammalia. — The Cheiroptera (bats) an prob-
ably represented in Palestine by the species which
are known to occur in Egypt and Syria, but wc
want precise information on this point. [Bat.]
Of the InsecHvora we find hedgehogs (Erinactus
Kuropaus) and moles ( Tabpa vulgaris, T. cesea ( ?))
which are recorded to occur in great numbers and
to commit much damage (Hasaelquist, Trav. p.
120): doubtless the family of Soriadm (shrews) is
also represented, but we lack information. Of
the Carnimra are still seen, in the Lebanon, the
Syrian bear (Vrsus Syriacus),' and the panther
(Leopardus varius), which occupies the central
mountains of the land. Jackals and foxes are
common; the hyena and wolf are also occasionally
observed ; . the badger (Miles iaxus) is also said
to occur in Palestine; * the lion is no longer a res
ident in Palestine or Syria, though in Biblical
times this animal must have been by no means
uncommon, being frequently mentioned in Scrip-
ture. [Lion.] The late Dr. Roth informed Mr.
Tristram that bones of the lion had recently
been found among the gravel on the banks of tl>e
Jordan not far south of toe Sea of Galilee. A
species of squirrel (Sciurus Byriacus), which the
Arabs term OrUdnun, " the leaper," has been no-
ticed by Hemprich and Ehrenberg on the lower and
middle parts of Lebanon ; two kinds of hare, Lepus
Syrians, and L. jKgyptius ; rats and mice, which
are said to abound, but to be partly kept down by
the tame Persian cats ; the jerboa (IHpus ASgyp-
tius); the porcupine (Hystrix cristala); the short-
tailed field-mouse (Articola agresHs), a most in-
jurious animal to the husbandman, and donbtlesa
other species of Castorida, may be considered as
the representatives of the Rodentia. Of the Pachg-
dermatn, the wild boar (Bus scrofa), which is
frequently met with on Tabor and Little Hermon,
appears to be the only living wild example. The
Syrian hyrax appears to be now but rarely seen.
[Cohbt.]
There does not appear to be at present any wild
ox in Palestine, though it is very probable that in
Biblical times some kind of urns or bison roamed
about the hills of Bashan and Lebanon. [Ubi-
corn.] Dr. Thomson states that wild goats
(Ibex?) are still (see 1 Sam. xxiv. 2) frequently
seen in the rocks of En-gedi. Mr. Tristram pos-
sesses a specimen of Copra agagrus, the Persian
ibex, obtained by him a little to the south of
Helron. The gazelle (GaxtUn dorcas) occurs not
unfrequently in the Holy Land, and is the antelope
of the country. We want information as to other
species of antelopes found in Palestine: probably
the variety named, by Hemprich and Ehrenberg,
Analope Arabiea, and perhaps the Gatelta Isabel
Una, belong to the fauna. The Arabs hunt tbt
gazelles with greyhound and falcon; the fallow-
deer (Dama vulgaris j is said to be not unfrequently
observed.
Of domestic animals we need only mention the
Arabian or one-humped camel, eases, 1 and mules,
parts of Asia; and It is mentioned, together wltk
wolves, Jackals, porcupines, etc., by Mr. H. Poole, as
abounding at Hebron (see Oeograpk. Journal for 1866
p. 68).
e * It may ba well to add here that four or the tm
mimes for this animal used In tbt Hebrew O uluHin s
an used by the Arabs of the present day in Syria
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
and bones, all which are in general me. The
buffalo (Bubalue buffalo) U common, and U on
account of its strength much used for ploughing
and draught purposes. The ox of the country is
small and unsightly in the neighborhood of Jeru-
salem, but in the richer pastures of the upper part
of the country, the cattle, though small, are not
unsightly, the head being very like that of an
Aldemey; the common sheep of Palestine is the
broad-tail (Oris laticaudatut), with its varieties
[Sheep]; goats are extremely common every-
where.
Avet. — Palestine abounds in numerous kinds
of birds. Vultures, eagles, falcons, kites, owls of
different kinds, represent the Raptorial order. Of
tb.3 smaller birds maybe mentioned, amongst others,
the Mtropt Persian, the Upupa Epopt, the Sitta
Byriaca rr Dalmatian nuthatch, several kinds of
Silviada, the fiwyrii otea, or Palestine sunbird,
the Ixoi xantLjpyj/oe, Palestine nightingale — the
finest songster in the oountry, which long before
sunrise pours forth its sweet notes from the thick
jungle which fringes the Jordan; the Amydrut
Trutramii, or glossy starling, discovered by Mr.
Tristram in the gorge of the Kedron not far from
the Dead Sea, "the roll of whose music, some-
thing like that of the organ-bird of Australia,
makes the rocks resound " — this is a bird of much
interest, inasmuch as it belongs to a purely African
group not before met with in Asia; the sly and
wary Crateroput chalybeut, in the open wooded
district near Jericho; the jay of Palestine (Gar-
rului melanoeephalui); kingfishers (Ctryle rudit,
and perhaps Alcedo itpida) abound about the Lake
of Tiberias and in the streams above the Huleh ;
the raven, and carrion crow; the Pattor rottut,
or locust-bird [see Locust] ; the common cuckoo ;
several kinds of doves; sandgrouse (Pterocltt),
partridges, francolins, quails, the great bustard,
storks, both the black and white kinds, seen often
in flocks of some hundreds; herons, curlews, peli-
cans, sea-swallows (*«™i), gulls, eta., eto. For the
ornithology of the Holy Land the reader is referred
to Hemprich and Ehrenberg'a Symbola Phynoas
(Berlin, 1830-85), and to Mr. Tristram's paper in
the Ibit, i. 23.
Rcptilia. — Several kinds of lizards (Saura)
cjcur. The Lactrta ttellio, Lin., which the Arabs
■all ffardun, and the Turks kill, as they think it
"limics them saying their prayers, is very common
..i ruined walls. The Waran el hard {Psammo-
$amrtu scinctu) is very oomroon in the deserts.
The common Greek tortoise ( Tetiudo Graca) Dr.
Wilson observed at the sources of the Jordan;
fresh-water tortoises (probably Emm Catpica)
are found abundantly in the upper part of the
eountry in the streams of Esdraelon and of the
higher Jordan Valley, and in the lakes. The cha-
neleon ( Chamdto vulgaris) la common ; the croco-
dile does not occur in Palestine; the Monitor
PALESTINE
2815
(l.j ,1 |~- » "TiDn, which to the generic name for
sees. <?.) ^jbl - Vvnq, which Is the
same of to* s h e ess (8.) yAJt — "Ty, a name
*a*d to the wild ass, Indlstlngnlshahls from («.)
»I«J - WJf , wMeh Is without doubt ttw 44m*
Vwaiippa* or Amtun tmmpr.
Nilotiau has doubtless been confounded with h»
In the south of Palestine especially reptiles of vari-
ous kinds abound ; besides those already mentioned,
a large Acanthodactylvt frequents old buildings; a
large species of Uromattix, at least two species of
Gecko ( Tarentola), a Gongyha (octUatus 1 ), several
other Acanthodactyli and Scot tridactylut have
been observed. Of Ophidian*, there is more than
one species of Echidna ; a Naia, several Trcpido-
noli, a Coronelia, a Coluber (trivirgattu t) occur;
and on the southern frontier of the land the desert
form Ceraela Hattetquistii has been observed.
Of the Batrachia we have little information be-
yond that supplied by Kitto, namely, that frogs
(Rana ticulaUa) abound in the marshy pools of
Palestine; that they are of a large size, but an
not eaten by the inhabitants. The tree-frog (IlyU),
and toad (Bufo) are also very common.
Pitcct. — Fish were supplied to the inhabitants
of Palestine both from the Mediterranean and from
the inland lakes, especially from the Lake of Tibe-
rias. The men of Tyre brought fish and sold on
the Sabbath to the people of Jerusalem (Neh. xiii.
16). The principal kinds which are caught off
the shores of the Mediterranean are supplied by the
families Sparidat, Ptrdda, Scombtrtda, Raiadm,
and Pleuronectiam. The sea of Galilee has bees
always celebrated for its fish. Burckhardt (Syria,
p. 332) says the most common species axe the
binny (Cyprinue Itpidotut), frequent in all the
fresh waters of Palestine and Syria, and a fish
called Metht, which he describes as being a foot
long and five inches broad, with a flat body like
the sole. The Binny is a species of barbel; it is
the Barbae Binni of Cuv. and Valenc, and is said
by Bruce to attain sometimes to a weight of 70
lbs.; it is common in the Nile, and is said to
occur in all the fresh waters of Syria ; the Metht
is undoubtedly a species of Chromiut, one of the
L/tbrida, and is perhaps identical with the C.
Nilotiau, which is frequently represented on Egyp-
tian monuments. The fish of this lake are, accord-
ing to old tradition, nearly identical with the fish of
the Nile; but we sadly want accurate information on
this point. As to the fishes of Egypt and Syria, see.
Riippell, E., Neue Fitche due Hilt, in VtrhandL
Sencktnberg. GutUtch. Frankf., and Heckel, J.,
Die Fitche Syrient, in Kussegger, Rtite nock
Kyypten unrf Klein- Alien, There does not appeal
to be any separate work published on the fishes of
the Holy Land. [Capkrnaum, i. 382.]
Concerning the other divisions of the animal
kingdom we have little information. MoUmc* are
numerous; indeed in few areas of similar extent
could so large a number of land molluscs be found;
Mr. Tristram collected casually, and without search,
upwards of 100 species in a few weeks. The land
shells may be classified in four groups. In the
north of the country the prevailing type is that of
the Greek and Turkish mountain region, numer-
ous species of the genus Claiuilia, and of opaque
BuUmi and Pupa predominating. On the coast
The sis is capable of bearing greater burdens rela-
tively to its sise than any other draught animal. Its
load of wheat or flour is mora than half that of a fuli-
grown mule, and a third of the load of a carnal. It
Is common in the Bast to see loads of brushwood, as
broad as the streets will allow, aud eight feet high,
born* by a little donkey which if juita concealed nneV
his monstrous burden. GBP
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2816
PALESTINE
rod in the plains the common shells of the East
Mediterranean basin abound, e. g. fltlix Pitana,
B. Syriaca, etc. In the south, in the hill country
of Judaea, occurs a very interesting group, chiefly
confined to the genus Helix, three subdivisions of
which may be typified by H. Boittieri, B. Seet-
tena, B. tubercuhna, recalling by their thick, cal-
careous, lustreless coating, the prevaiei.t types of
Egyp'i Arabia, and Sahara. In the valley of the
Jordan the prevailing group is a subdivision of the
genus Bulimut, rounded, semi-pellucid, and lus-
trous, very numerous in species, which are for the
most part peculiar to this district. The reader
will find a list of MoUutca (bund in the neighbor
hood of Jerusalem, in the An. and Mag. of If at.
But. vi. No. 34, p. 312. The following remark
of a resident in Jerusalem may be mentioned.
" No shells are found in the Dead Sea or on its
margin except the bleached specimens of Melanop-
tu, Jferitina, and various Unionida, which have
been washed down by the Jordan, and afterwards
drifted on shore. In {act, so intense is the bitter-
saline quality of its waters that no idoIIum (nor,
so far as I know, any other living creature) can
exist in it." These may be typified by B. Jordani
and B. Aleppemu. Of the Crustacea we know
scarcely anything. Lord Lindsay observed large
numbers of a small crab in the sands near Akaba.
Hasselquist (Tvav. p. 238) speaks of a " running
crab" seen by him on the coasts of Syria and
Egypt. Dr. Baird has recently (An. and Mag.
N. H. viii. No. 46, p. 209) described an interesting
form of Entomostracous Crustacean, which be terms
Branchipue cximitu, reared from mud sent him
from a pool near Jerusalem. Five other species
of this group are described by Dr. Baird in the
An. and Mag. N. H. for Oct. 1859. With regard
to the insects, a number of beetles may be seen
figured in the Symbola Phyeica.
The Lepidoptera of Palestine are as numerous
and varied as might have been expected in a land
of flowers. All the common butterflies of southern
Europe, or nearly allied congeners, are plentiful in
the cultivated plains and on the hill-sides. Nu-
merous species of PolyommaUu and Lycana, The-
cln HicU and acacia ; many kinds of Pontxa ; the
lovely Anlhocarit eupheno abounds on the lower
hills in spring, as does Pamauiut ApolHnut ; more
than one species of Thnit occurs; the genera Ar-
ggnnit and Melilaa are abundantly represented,
not so Hipparchia, owing probably to the compar-
stive dryness of the soil. JJbythta (Celtitt) is
found, and the gorgeous genus Vaneua is very
common in all suitable localities; the almost cos-
mopolitan Cynthia Caixiui and Vaneua Atalanla,
V. L. album, and V. Antiopa, may be mentioned ;
PapUio Alexanor and some others of the same spe-
cies flit over the plains of Sharon, and the caterpillar
a This statement with regard to the total absence
of organic lite In the Dead Sea Is confirmed by almost
svery traveller, and there can be no doubt as to Its
g e n e r al smuraey. It Is, however, but right to state
that sir. Pools discovered some small fish in a brine-
spring, about 100 yards distant from, and 80 feet above
she level of the Dead Sea, which he was inclined to
trunk had been produced from fish in the sea (see
Oeograpk. Journal tor 1866). These fish have been
identified by Sir J. Rlchsrdran with Ogprinodon Ham-
nonit, Onv. et Tal. xvii. 169 ; see Proceed, of ZoStog.
Ak. tor 1866, p. 871. sir. Tristram observes that's*
tend to tne Sahara O/prinodon ditpar In hot salt-
tprtngs when the water was shallow, but that these
PALESTINE
of the magnificent Sphinx JVern feeds In tninrnu
on the oleanders by the banks of the Jordan- Bet*
are common. [Bee.] At least three species of
scorpions have been distinguished. Spiders an
common. The Abu Bnnakem, noticed as occur-
ring at Sinai by Burckhardt, which appears to be
some species of Galeodu, one of the Solpugidss,
probably may be found in Palestine. Locusts oc-
casionally visit Palestine and do infinite damage.
Ants are numerous ; some species are described in
the Journal of the IAnneiin Society, vi. Mo. 21,
which were collected by Mr. Hanbury in tire au-
tumn of 1860. Of the Annelida we have no in-
formation; while of the whole sub-kingdoms of
Caltnterata and Protozoa we are completely igoo
rant
it has been remarked that in its physical char-
acter Palestine presents on a small scale an epitome
of the natural features of all regions, mountainous
and desert, northern and tropical, maritime and in-
land, pastoral, arable, and volcanic. This fact,
which has rendered the allusions in the Scriptures
so varied as to afford familiar illustrations to the
people of every climate, has had its natural effect
on the zoology of the country. In no other dis-
trict, not even on the southern slopes of the Hima-
layan, are the typical fauna of so many distinct re-
gions and zones brought into such close juxtaposi-
tion. The bear of the snowy heights of Lebanon
and the gazelle of the desert may be hunted with-
in two days' journey of each other ; sometimes even
the ostrich approaches the southern borders of the
land; the wolf of the north and the leopard of
the tropics howl within hearing of the same biv-
ouac; while the falcons, the linnets and buntings,
recall the familiar inhabitants of our English fields,
the sparkling little sun-bird (Oinnyrti osen), and
the grackle of the glen (Amydrut Triitranm) in-
troduce us at once to the most brilliant types of the
bird-life of Asia and S. Africa.
Within a walk of Bethlehem, the common frog
of England, the chameleon, and the gecko of Afri-
ca, may be found almost in company; and descend-
ing to the lower forms of animal lire, while the
northern valleys are prolific in ClautUia and other
genera of molluscs common to Europe, the valley
of the Jordan presents types of its own, and the
hill country of Judaea produces the tame type of
Helices as is found in Egypt and the African Sa-
hara. So in insects, while the familiar forms of
the butterflies of Southern Europe are represented
on the plain of Sharon, the Apollo butterfly of the
Alps is recalled on Mount Olivet by the exquisite
Parnatmu ApoOinut hovering over the same plants
as the sparkling Thau mtdicaUe and the Ij&ythea
(Celtitl), northern representatives of sub-tropical
lepidoptera.
If the many travellers who year by year visit the
fish an never found In deep pools or Una. Br. Pools
observed also a number of aquatic birds diving fre-
quently In the Dead Sea, and thenee concluded, Justly,
Sir J. BIchardson thinks, " that they most have found
something edible then." It would, moreover, be an
interesting question to determine whether same species
or Anemia (brine-shrimp) may not exist in the shallow
pools at the s x t i ssas south end of the Bait take. la
the open tanks st Lymlngton myriads of these trans,
parent little bria»4hrl»ps (they are about half as
Inch In length) are seen swimming actively about a
wsAerevta7t^terwnlsh«oslttlsaisBVsskihaeatjwa>
tar of a pound of salt I
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
doly Land sould pay some attention to it* zoology,
•y bringing home collection* and by investigation!
m the country, we should soon hope to have a fair
knowledge of the fauna of a land which in this
respect has been so much neglected, sod should
doubtless gain much towards the elucidation of
ztany passages of Holy Scripture.
W. H. and H. B. Tmotram.
* Our most convenient manual on the Natural
Hxetory of the Bible at present is that of Mr. Tris-
tram, published by the Society for Promoting Chris-
tian Knowledge. (London, 1887.) The contri-
butions of Dr. G. E. Post, in this edition of the
Dictionary, will be found to be important to this
branch of science. H.
Thb Climate. — No materials exist for an ac-
curate account of the climate of the very different
regions of Palestine. Besides the casual notices
of travellers (often unscientific persons), the follow-
ing observations are all that we possess: —
(1.) Average monthly temperatures at Jerusalem,
taken between June 1861, and Jan. 1855, inclusive,
by Dr. R. 0. Barclay, of Beyrut and Jerusalem,
and published by him in a paper " On the State of
Medical Science in Syria," in the N. American
Medico- C/tirurgical Review (Philadelphia), vol. i.
705-718."
(3.) A set of observations of temperature, 206
in all, extending from Nov. 19, 1838, to Jan. 16,
1839, taken at Jerusalem, Jaffa, Nazareth, and
Beyrut, by Russegger, and given in his work
{Heieen, iii. 170-185).
(8.) The writer is indebted to his friend Mr.
James Glaisher, F. R. S., for a table snowing the
mean temperature of the air at Jerusalem fjoft- each
month, from May, 1843, to May, 1844 ;& and at
Beyrut, from April, 1842, to May, 1845.
(4.) Register of the fall of rain at Jerusalem
from 1846 to 1849, and 1850 to 1854, by Dr. R.
G. Barclay (as above).
1. Temperature. — The results of these observa-
PAXESTINE
2817
a Than observations an Inserted In Dr. Barclay's
work (Cfty of the Great King, p. 428). and are aocom-
paoisd by bis comment*, the result of a residence of
several years In Jerusalem (we also pp. 48-66).
& Than Is consfderabLo variation in the above three
lets of observations, aa will be seen from the following
somparatlve table of the mean temperatures of Jeru-
Month.
(!•>
<«•)
(8.)
Jan.
■s*.
March
April
May
Jane
July
At*
Sept.
Oei.
Nor
Dee.
494
64.4
66.7
61.4
78.8
76-3
79.1
794
77-
744
68-8
64.6
one. ftom
Nov. 1* to
62.
47.7
68.7
60.
64,7
66-8
71.7
774
724
72.2
684
68-9
«74
Mnktl
•*»rw.|
68.6
6*6
tions at Jerusalem may be stated generally as fol-
low!. January Is the coldest month, and July and
August the hottest, though June and September
are nearly as warm. In the first-named month the
average temperature is 49.1° Fahr., and greatest
cold 28° ; in July and August the average is 78.40 ;
with greatest heat 92° in the shade and 143° in the
sun. The extreme range in a single year was 52° ;
the mean annual temperature 65.6°. Though
varying so much during the different seasons, the
climate is on the whole pretty uniform from year
to year. Thus the thermometrio variation in the
same latitude on the west coast of North America
is nearly twice as great The isothermal line of
mean annual temperature of Jerusalem passes
through California and Florida (to the north of
Mobile), and Dr. Barclay remarks that in tempera-
ture and the periodicity of the seasons there is a
close analogy between Palestine and the former
state. The isothermal line also passes through
Gibraltar, and near Madeira and the Bermudas.
The heat, though extreme during the four mid-
summer months, is much alleviated by a sea-breeze
from the N.W., which bbws with great regularity
from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m. ' and from this and other
unexplained causes the heat is rarely oppressive,
except during the occasional presence of the Kh» a
sin or sirocco, and is said to be much more bear-
able than even in many parts of tiki western world «
which are deemed tropical. The Khamsin blows
during February, March, and April (Wildeubruch)
It is most oppressive when it comes from the east,
bearing the heat and sand of the desert with it,
and during its continuance darkening the air and
filling everything with fine dust (Miss Beaufort, ii.
223).
During January and February snow often falls
to the depth of a foot or more, though it may not
make its appearance for several years together. In
1854-55 it remained on the ground for a fortnight. 1 '
Nor is this of late occurrence only, but is reported
by Shaw in 1722. In 1818 it was between two
and three bet deep.* In 1754 a heavy fall took
place, and twenty-five persons are said to have
been frozen to death at Nazareth./ Snow is re-
peatedly mentioned in the poetical books of the Bi-
ble, and must therefore have been known at that
time (Pa. lxviii. 14, cxlvii. 16; Is. lv. 10, Ac).
But in the narrative it only appears twice (1 Maco-
ziii. 22; 2 Sam. xxiii. 20).
Thin ice is occasionally found on pools or sheets
of water; and pieces of ground out of the reach
of the sun's rays remain sometimes slightly frozen
for several days. But this is a rare occurrence, and
no injury is done to the vegetation by frost, nor do
plants require shelter during winter (Barclay).
Observations made at Jerusalem are not appli-
cable to the whole of the highland, as is obvious
from Russesger's at Nazareth. These show us the
result of fifty-five observations, extending from
It to understood that a regular aeries of obsarva
clous, with standard barometer, thermometer, ant
rain-gauge, was made for 10 years by the sua Dr.
M'Gowsn of the Hospital, Jerusalem, but the record
ek Jbem has unfortunately beau mislaid.
« Barclay, p. 48; Bob. BM. Ru. L 480 ; alao Behwan,
p. 827.
d Jewuk liUtUicmctr, 1868, p. 187, note.
' "1 Bm Aoea," Bnhola, quoted by Ton fiaumar,
► To.
/ 8. Bchub, quoted by Ton Bausser Sohwats, t>
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2818
PALESTINE
Dm. 16 to 20: highest temp. 68.6°, lowed 46°,
mean 53°, ill considerably lower than thon taken
it Jenualem a fortnight before.
2. Jlam. — The reeult of Dr. Barclay's observa-
tions U to show that the greatest fidl of rain at
Jerusalem in a single year was 8ft inches," and the
smallest 44, the mean being 61.6 inches. The
greatest fidl in any one month (Dec. 1860) was
33.8, and the greatest in three months (Dec. I860,
Jan. and Feb. 1861) 72.4. These figures will be
best appreciated by recollecting that the average
rein -fall of London during the whole year is only
26 inches, and that in the wettest parts of the
country, such as Cumberland and Devon, it rarely
■meeds 60 inches.
As in the time of our Saviour (Luke zii. 64),
the rains com* chiefly from the S. or S. W. They
commence at the end of October or beginning of
November, and continue with greater or less con-
stancy till the end of February or middle of March,
and occasionally, though rarely, till the end of
April. It is not a heavy, continuous rain, so much
as a succession of severe showers or storms with
intervening periods of fine bright weather, permit-
ting the grain crops to grow and ripen. And al-
though the season is not divided by any entire
cessation of rain for a lengthened interval, as some
represent, yet there appears to be a diminution in
the fall for a few weeks in December and January,
after which it begins again, and continues during
February and till the conclusion of the season.
On the uplands the barley-harvest (which precedes
the wheat) should begin about the last week of
Hay, so that it is preceded by five or six weeks of
summer weather. Any falling-off in the rain dur-
ing the winter or spring is very prejudicial to the
harvest; and, as in the days of the prophet Amos,
nothing could so surely occasion the greatest dis-
tress or be so fearful a threat as a drought three
months before harvest (Amos iv. 7).
There is much difference of opinion as to whether
the former and the latter rain of Scripture are rep-
resented by the beginning and end of the present
lainy season, separated by the slight interval men-
tioned above (e- g. Kenrick, Phanida, p. 33), or
whether, as Dr. Barclay ( City, Ac. p. 64 ) and others
affirm, the latter rain took place after the harvest,
about midsummer, and has been withheld as a pun-
ishment for the sins of the nation. This wilt be
lest discussed under Rain.
Between April and November there is, with the
.west exceptions, an uninterrupted succession of
tne weather, and skies without a cloud. Thus the
year divides itself into two, and only two, seasons
— as indeed we see it constantly divided in the
Bible — " winter and summer," " cold and heat,"
u seed-time and harvest."
■ Hers again that* Is a considerable discrepancy,
•bass Mr. Pools ( Giogr. Journal, xxvi. 67) states that
Dr. M'Ocwan had registered the greatest quantity in
one year at 108 Inches.
o At 6 r. H. on the 26th Nov. Busseggar's thermom-
eter at Jerusalem showed a temp, of 62.8° ; but when
ke arrived at Jericho at 6.80 r. M. an the 27th it had
risen S0 124°. At 7-80 the following morning it was
BJj°, against 58 3 at Jerusalem on the 26th ; and at
oooo, at the Jordan, It had rlam to 81°. AtHaraaba,
«t 11 a. u. of the 29th, it was 66° ; and on returning
3o Jerusalem on the 1st Dec. it again Ml to an average
af 61°. An observation recorded by Dr. BoUnson (IB.
SO) at Saint (gnoeoth), in the central part of she
tardan Valley, on Hay 14, 1862, In the shade, and close
PALESTINE
During the summer the dews an very heavy,
and often saturate the traveller's tent as if a showet
had passed over it The nights, especially towards
sunrise, are very cold, and thick fogs or mists an
common all over the country. Thunder-storms of
great violence are frequent during the winter
months.
8. So much for the climate of Jerusalem and
the highland generally. In the lowland districts,
on the other hand, the heat is much greater and
more oppressive,' owing to the quantity of vapor
in the atmosphere, the absence of any breeze, the
sandy nature of (he soil, and the manner in which
the heat is confined and reflected by the inclosing
heights; perhaps also to the internal heat of the
earth, due to the depth below the sea level of the
greater part of the Jordan Valley, and the remains
of volcanic agency, which we have already shown
to be still in existence in this very depressed re-
gion [p. 2305 »]. No indication of theet condi-
tions is discoverable in the Bible, but Josephus was
aware of them (B. J. iv. 8, § 8), and states that
the neighborhood of Jericho was so much warmer
than the upper country that linen clothing was
worn there even when Judsea was covered with
snow. This is not quite confirmed by the experi-
ence of modern travellers, but it appears that when
the winter is at its severest on the highlands, and
both eastern and western mountains are white with
snow, no frost visits the depths of the Jordan Val-
ley, and the greatest cold experienced is produced
by the driving rain of tempests (Seetien, Jan. 9,
ii. 800). The vegetation already mentioned as
formerly or at present existing in the district —
palms, indigo, sugar — testifies to its tropical beat.
The harvest in the Ghor is fully a month in ad-
vance of that on the highlands, and the fields of
wheat are still green on the latter when the grain is
being threshed in the former (Rob. BibL Ru. 1. 481,
661, iii. 814). Thus Burckhardt on Hay 6 found
the barley of the district between Tiberias and Bei-
sao nearly all harvested, while on the upland plains
of the Hauran, from which he had Just descended,
the harvest was not to commence for fifteen days.
In this fervid and moist atmosphere irrigation alone
is necessary to insure abundant crops of the finest
grain (Rob. i. 680).
4. The climate of the maritime lowland exhibits
many of the characteristics of that of the Jordan
Valley, 1 but, being much more elevated, and ex-
posed on its western side to the sea-breeeea, is not
so oppressively not. Russegger's observations at
Jaffa (Dec. 7 to 12) indicate only a slight advance
in temperature on that of Jerusalem. But Mr.
Glaisher's observations at Beyrut (mentioned
above) show on the other hand that the tempera-
ture there is considerably higher, the Jan. being
to a spring, gives 92°, which Is the very highest reading
reeorded at Jerusalem In July : later on the same day
it was 98°, in a strong N. W. wind (p. 814). On stay 18,
1888, at Jericho, It was 81° in the shads and the
brew. Dr. Anderson (p. 184) found It 108° lahr.
"through the first half of the night "at the 8. B. cor-
ner of the Dead Sea. In a paper on the " Climate of
Palestine," etc., In the Edinburgh Nnr Mites. Jomrnal
lor April, 1862, published while this sheet was paasuf
through the press, the mean annual temperature t*
Jericho Is stated as 72 s lahr., hut without giving any
authority.
c Boblnson (11.228), on June 8, 1888, found the ther
mometsr 88° lahr. before sunrise, at Act fkttif, m
the lower hills overlooking the Plain of Him IBs
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALESTINE
A", July 88°, and the mem for the jear 69 3°.
Tea situation of Beyrut (which indeed U out of
the nonnnes of the Holy Lend) ii eueh a* to ren-
der it* climate very niltry. Thia diatrict retaiua
much tropical veget ttion; all along the ooaat from
Gen to Beyrut, Mid inland aa far u Ramleh and
Lydd, the date-palm flourishes and fruit* abun-
dantly, and the orange, sycamore-fig, pomegran-
ate, and banana grow luxuriantly at Jaffa and
other place*. Here alto the harvest i* in advance
of that of the mountainous districts (Thomson,
Land and Book, p. 643). In the lower portions of
thia extensive plain frost and snow are as little
known as thej are in the Uhor. But the heights,
even in summer, are often very chilly," and the
sunrise is frequently obscured by a dense low fog
(Thomson, pp. 190, 642; Rob. ii. 19). North of
Cermel slight frost* are occasionally experienced.
In the winter mouths, however, the climate of
these regioti* j very similar to that of the south
of Franc* or tLe maritime district* of the north of
Italy. Napoleon, writing from Gaia on the " 6th
Ventnee (36 Feb.), 1799," says, '• Nous sommes id
dan* l'eao et la boue jusqu'aux gunoux. II fait
Led le meuie froid et le msme tempt qu'a Paris
dans eette saison" (Corr. de tfapoUo*, No. 3,993).
Berthier to Marmont, from the same place (29
Deo. 1796), says, "Nous trouvon* ici un pays
qui ressemble k la Provence et le cliinat a celui
d'Europe " {Mem. du Due de Haguse, ii. 56).
A register of the weather and vegetation of the
twelve months in Palestine, referring especially to
the coast region, is given by Colonel von Wilden-
brueh in tieogr. Society's Journal, xx. 333. A
good deal of similar information will be found in
a tabular form on Petermann's Physical Map of
Palestine in th* Biblical Atlas of the Tract So-
ciety.
The permanence of the climate of Palestine, on
the ground that the same vegetation which ancient-
ly nourished there still exists, is ingeniously main-
tained in a paper on The Climate of Palatine in
Modern compared to Ancient Time* in the Edin-
burgh New Philoeophical Journal for April, 1863.
Reference is therein made to a paper on the same
subject by Schouw in vol. viii. of the same period-
ical, p. 311.
LrrKBATDKB. — The list of works on the Holy
Land is of prodigious extent. Dr. Robinson, in
the Appendix to his Biblical Researches, enumer-
ate* no leas than 183; to which Bonar (Land of
Promite) adds a large number; and even then the
list is far from complete.
* A unique work on this branch of bibliography
is Dr. Tobler's Bibtiotheca Qcographica Faustina,
pp. 8«6 (Leipxig, 1867). Beginning with A. D.
•143, and coming down to 1866, he enumerates (if
we have counted right) 1,066 writers in this field
of exploration and study. They repr esent all the
principal nationalities and languages. In most
ustanw he characterizes the works mentioned
with reference to their object and critical value.
H.
Of course every traveller sees some things which
none of his predecessors saw, and therefore none
should be neglected by the student anxious thor-
oughly to investigate the nature and oustoms of
PALESTINE
2819
• Chilly nights, succssdmg searching days, have
■Mail a chanocarlstki of the last ever sine* the days
af Je«*(Q*n. zxxt 40 ; Jer. xxxvi. 80). [St* Haek-
. of Scripture, pp. 144-46.]
the Holy Land; but the following works will be
found to contain nearly all necessary informa-
tion:'' —
1. Josephus. — Invaluable, both for it* own sake,
and as an accompaniment and elucidation of the
Bible narrative. Josephus had a very intimate
knowledge of the country. He possessed both the
Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint, and knew them
well; and there are many places in hit works which
show that he knew how to compare the various
books together, and combine their scattered notices
in one narrative, in a manner more like the pro-
cesses of modern criticism than of ancient record.
He possessed also the works of several ancient his-
torians, who survive only through the fragments ha
bat preserved. And it is evident that be bad in
addition other nameless sources of information,
now lost to us, whioh often supplement the Scrip
ture history in a very important manner. These
and other things in the writings of Josephus have
yet to be investigated. Two tracts by Tuch ( Quem-
tioitee de F. Jaeephi libris, etc., Leipzig, 1869), on
geographical points, are worth attention.
3. The OnomaetiaM (usually so called) of Eu-
sebius and Jerome. A tract of Eusebius (t840),
"concerning the names of places in the Sacrrr*
Scriptures;" translated, freely and with many
additions, by Jerome (t420), and included in his
works a* Liber dt Situ et Nominibut Locornm
Hebraicorum. The original arrangement is ac-
cording to the Books of Scripture, but it wa*
thrown into one general alphabetical order by Bon-
frere (1631. Ac); and finally edited by J. Clericui.
Amst. 1707, Ac. [The best edition is that of Lar-
sow and Parthey, Berlin, 1862. — A.] This tract
contains notices (often very valuable, often abso-
lutely sbsurd) of the situation of many salient
placet of Palestine, at far at they were known to
the two men who in their day were probably beat
srrniaintcd with the subject In connection v"ith it,
see Jerome's F.p. ad Eustochium ; EpiL Paula —
an itinerary through a large part of the Holy
Land. Others of Jerome's Epistles, and hi* Com-
mentaries, are full of information on the country.
3. The most important of the early travellers —
from Arculf (a. d. 700) to Maundrell (1697) — are
oontained in Early Travels in Palestine, a volume
published by Bohn. The shape is convenient, but
the translation is not always to be implicitly relied
on.
4. Reland.— B. Relandi PalcesHna a Monu-
matfit Veleribue itlustrata, 1714. A treatise on
the Holy Land in three books: 1. The country;
3. The distances; 8. The places; with maps (ex-
cellent for their date), prints of coins and inscrip-
tions. Reland exhausts all the information ob-
tainable on his subject down to his own date (ha
often quotes Maundrell, 1703). His learning is
immense, he is extremely accurate, always ingen-
ious, and not wanting in humor. But honesty and
strong sound sense are his characteristics. A sen-
tence of his own might be his motto : '• Conjectures,
quibua non delectamur " (p. 189), or " Ego nil
muto" (p. 671).
6. Benjamin of TudeU. — Travels of Rabbi
Benjamin (in Europe, Asia, and Africa) from 1160
73. The best edition is that of A Ather, 3 vols.
• A Hat of all the work* on Palatum which have
any prttsnstont to Importance, with fall erlnsel at
marks, Is given by Blttar at th* sonuMnesmsot of Cat
3d division of his •tenth volant {Jeraanl
Digitized by G00gle ^1
2820
PALESTINE
184C-41. the part relating to Palatine ia con-
tained in pp. 61-87. The editor's notes contain
tome curious information ; but their most valuable
put (ii. 897-446) is a translation of extracts from
Jbe work of Esthori B. Hose hap-Parchi on Pales-
tine (A. D. 1314-33). These passages — notices
of places and identifications — are very valuable,
mora so than those of Benjamin. The original
work, Caftor ra-Pkeraeh, « knop and flower," has
been reprinted, in Hebrew, by Edelmann, Berlin,
1863. Other Itineraries of Jews have been trans-
lated and published by Carmoly (Brux. 1847), but
they are of less value than the two already named.
6. Abolfeda. — The chief Moslem accounts of
the Holy Land are those of Edrisi (oir. 1150), and
Abulfeda (dr. 1300), translated under the titles of
Tabula Syria, and Deter. Arabia. Extracts
from these and from the great work of Yakoot are
given by Schultens in an Index Geoijraphicm ap-
pended to hie edition uf Bohaeddin's Life of SaU
adm, folio, 1755. Takoot has yet to be explored,
and no doubt be contains a mass of valuable in-
formation.
7. Quaresmius. — Terra Saneta Klneidatie,
•to. Ant 1639, 3 vols, folio. The work of a Latin
monk who lived in the Holy Land for more than
twelve years, and rose to be Principal and Com-
missary Apostolic of the country. It is divided
into eight books : the first three, general disserta-
tions; the remainder "peregrinations" through
the Holy Land, with historical accounts, and iden-
tifications (often incorrect), and elaborate accounts
of the Latin traditions attaching to each spot, and
of the ecclesiastical establishments, military orders,
etc. of the time. It has a copious index. Simi-
lar information is given by the AbM Mislin (Lei
Saintn Lieux, Paris, 1858, 3 vols. 8vo); but with
less elaboration than Quaresmius, and in too hos-
tile & vein towards Lamartlne and other travellers.
8. The great burst of modern travel in the Holy
Land began with Seetzen and Burckhardt Sect-
ion resided in Palestine from 1805 to 1807, during
which time be travelled on both E. and W. of Jor-
dan. He was the first to visit the Hauran, the
Ghor, and the mountains of Ajlun: he travelled
completely round the Dead Sea, besides exploring
the east side a second time. As an experienced
man of science, Seetzen was charged with collect-
ing antiquities and natural objects for the Oriental
Museum at Gotha; and his diaries contain inscrip-
tions, and notices of flora and fauna, etc. They
have been published in 3 vols., with a 4th vol. of
notes (but without an index), by Kruse (Berlin,
1864-59). The Palestine journeys are contained
In vols. 1 and 3. His Letters, founded on these
diaries, and giving their results, are in Zach's
Monatl. Corre$p. vols. 17, 18, 36, 87.
9. Burckhardt — TrartU in Syria and the Holy
Land, 4to, 1883. With the exception of an excur-
«km of twelve days to Safed and Nazareth, Burok-
bardt's journeys S. of Damascus were confined to
the east of the Jordan. These regions be explored
uid described more completely than Seetzen, or
«ny later traveller till Wetzstein (1801 ), and even
bis researches do not extend over so wide an area.
Burckhardt made two tours in the Hauran, in one
sf which he penetrated — first of Europeans — into
the mysterious I^eja. The southern portions of the
Transjordanic country he traversed in his journey
freen Damascus to Petra and Sinai. The fullness
tf the notes which be contrived to keep under the
vary difficult circumstances in which he travelled is
PALESTINE
astonishing. They contain a multitude of instrlp
tiona, long catalogues of names, plans of sites, ete.
The strength of his memory is shown not only by
these notes but b) bis constant refer e n ces to books,
from which he was completely out off. His diarist
are interspersed with lengthened accounts of she
various districts, and the manners and customs,
oommeree, etc, of their inhabitants. Burckhardt' t
accuracy is universally praised. No doubt justly.
But it should be remembered that on the E. of
Jordan no means of testing him ss yet exist;
while in other placer his descriptions have bees
found imperfect or at variance ■ with nut*. The vol-
ume contains an excellent preface by Colonel "..eaij,
but is very defective from the want of an index. This
is partially supplied in the German tranaattkm
(Weimar. 1833-84, 3 vols. 8vo), which has tht ad-
vantage of having been edited and annotated by
Gesenius.
10. Irby and Mangles. — Trmnk in Egypt and
Nubia, Syria and the Holy Land (in 1817-18).
Hardly worth special notice except for the portions
which relate their route on the east of Jordan,
especially about Kerek and the country of Moab
and Ammon, which are very well told, and with an
air of simple ttuthfumeas. These portions are con-
tained in chapters vi. and viii. The work is pub-
lished in the Home and Col. Library, 1847.
11. Robinson. — (1.) Biblical Reiarcket !m
Palatine, etc., m 1838: 1st ed. 1841, 3 vols. SVo;
3d ed. 1856, 3 vols. 8vo. (3.) Later Bib. Bet. m
1858, 8vo, 1856. Dr. Robinson's is the most
important work on the Holy Land since Rehmd.
His knowledge of the subject and its literature is
very great, his common sense excellent, his qual-
ifications as an investigator and a describsr re-
markable. He had the rare advantage of being
accompanied on both occasions by Dr. Eli Smith,
long resident in Syria, and perfectly versed In both
classical and vernacular Arabic. Thus he was en-
abled to identify a host of ancient sites, which are
mostly discussed at great length, and with full
references to the authorities. The drawbacks to
his work are a want of knowledge of architectural
art, and a certain dogmatism, which occasionally
passes into contempt for those who diner with him.
He too uniformly disregards tradition, an extreme
fully as bad as its opposite in a country like tht
East.
The first edition has a most valuable Appendix,
containing lists of the Arabic names of modern
places in the country, which in the second edition
are omitted. Both series are furnished with in-
dexes, but those of Geography and Antiquities might
be extended with advantage.
* Phytical Geography of the Holy Land, by
Edward Robinson (Boston, 1865, pp. xvi., 894).
This is a posthumous work, but eminently worthy
of the author's reputation. At the outset be points
out our best sources of a knowledge of sacred geog
raphy. The book seems not to have obtaimd tht
general recognition which it deserves. H.
IS. Wilson. — The Lands of the Bible vuiied,
etc, 1847, 3 vok. 8vo. Dr. Wilson traversed tat
Holy Land twice, but without going out of the
uraaf routes. He paid much attention to the to-
pography, and keeps a constant eye on the repsrtt
of his prede ces sor Dr. Robinson. His book cannot
be neglected with safety by any student of the eounv
■ Vtr examples of this ass BoMnsoa, BM. Bee. n\
818,405,478, 494. Stanley, An if Pal. pp. at, M
Digitized by VjOOQlC
VA1.BSTINB
By; bat it is chiefly valuable for it* careful and
entailed aeeounta of the religion* bodies of the
East, especially the Jewi and Samaritans. Ilia
Indian laboia baring accustomed him to Arabic,
he wae able to convene freely with all the people be
net, end hia inquiriee were generally made in the
direction jutt named. Hia notioe of the Samaritane
ie unusually full and accurate, and illustrated by
copies and translations of documents and informa-
tion not elsewhere given.
* Bonar and MeCheyne's Narratioeofa Mittom
u ike Jam in Palatine (Edinb. 1853), often re-
t irinted, oontinues to be one of the beet aourcet of
information on this subject. H.
18. Sehwars. — A DttcripUve Geography, tie.,
o/Paleetine, Pbilad. 1850, 8vo. A translation of
, a work originally published in Hebrew (Sepher Te-
huatk, Jerusalem, 5605, a. o. 1845) by Rabbi Joseph
Sehware. Taking as hia basis the catalogues of
Joanna, Chronicles, etc, and the numerous topo-
graphies] notices of the Kabbinical books, be pro-
ceeds systematically through the country, suggest-
ing identification*, and often giving curious and
valuable inforrration. The American translation is
almost useJee. for want of au index. This is in
some measure supplied in the German version, D <t
heilige Land, etc., Frankfurt a. M. 1858.
14. De Senlcy. — Vvyaye autour de la Iter
Morte, etc, 1863, 9 vols. 8vo, with Allot of Maps
and Mates, Usta of Plants and Insects. Interest-
ing rather from the unusual routs taken by the
author, the boldness of bis theories, and the atlas
of admirably engraved maps and plates which ac-
companies the text, than for its own merits. I ike
many French works, it has no index. Translated :
Narrative of a Journey, etc., 9 vols. 8vo, 1854.
See The Dead Sea, by Rev. A. A. lassos, 1867.
Also a valuable Letter by " A Pilgrim," in the
*thenemm, Sept. 9, 1854.
* lie Sauley has also published: voyage at
Terr* Striate, a vols., Paris, 1866, 8vo, with
maps and wood-cuts. Let dernurt jonrt de Je-
rmalem, Paris, 1866, 8vo, with views, plans, snd
a map of the Holy City. These works are re-
garded as more valuable than his earlier volumes.
A.
15. Lynch. — Official Report of the United
Sto'tt Expedition to explore the Dead Sea and the
Ji tan, 4to, Baltimore, 1853. Contains the daily
Rn ord of the Expedition, and separate Reports on
tht Ornithology, Botany, and Geology. The last
of ■ base Reports is men particularly described at
pp. 3303, 2404.
* L. Tignes. — Eztrati det Note* inn Voyage
({'exploration a la Mtr Morte, dam le Wady Ara-
bah, ate. (Paris, 1866). H.
16. Stanley. — Sinai ami Palestine, 1863 [6th
ed. 1866], 8vo. Professor Stanley's work differ.
from those of his predecessors. Like them he
made a lengthened journey in the country, ie
intimately acquainted with all the authorities, an-
cient and modern, and has himself made some of
the most brilliant identifications of the historical
sites. But his great object seems to have been not
so much to make fresh discoveries, ss to apply those
already made, the structure of the country and the
peculiarities of the scenery, to the elucidation of the
history. This he has done with a power and a
detieacy truly remarkable. To the sentiment and
eloquence of Lamartine, the genial freshness of Miss
MarUneau, and the sound Judgment of Robinson,
he adds a reverent appreciation of the subject, icA
IV
PALESTINE
2821
a care for the smallest details of the picture, watch
no one else has yet displayed, and which render his
descriptions a most valuable commentary on the
Bible narrative. The work contains sn Appendix
on the Topographical Terms of the Bible, of impor-
tance to students of the English version of the
Scriptures.
See also a paper on " Sacred Geography " by
Professor Stanley in the Quarterly Review, No.
clxxxviii.
* For valuable monographic sketches, see Koran's
art. Due Thai u. die Umgegend Hebront, la
ZeUeeh. derD.lt. Cetellechaft, xii. 477-518, and
Pastor Vaisntiner'a Beitrag or Topographie dm
Stummee Benjamin, ibid. xii. 161 f£
The Bibhotkeca Sacra (vols, i.-xxvi., 1844-1869)
Is particularly rich in articles on Biblical geography
from Dr. Robinson and various American mission-
aries in Palestine and other pans of the East. The
Jury number for 1869 (pp. 541-71) contains •
valuable paper on Mount Lebanon by Dr. Laurie,
founded in part on his own personal observations.
H.
17. Tohkr. — Bethlehem, 1849: Topographie
ton Jerusalem u. mine Umgebungen, 1854. loess
works are models of patient industry and research.
They contain everything that has been said by
everybody on the subject, and are truly valuable
storehouses for those who are unable to refer to tht
originals. His Dritte Wondermg, 8vo, 1858, de-
scribes a district but little known, namely, part of
Philistiaand the country between Hebron and Ram-
leh, and thus possesses, in sddition to the merits
above named, that of novelty. It contains a sketch-
map of the latter district, which corrects former
maps in some important points.
* Dr. Tobkr made a fourth journey to Palestine
in 1865. His main object was to revisit Nazareth
and collect materials for a special history of that
place. But owing to cholera there, he was com-
pelled to give up that purpose, and after a harried
visit to Jerusalem, returned to Europe. For the
results of this journey see bis Nazareth in Palem-
tina (Berlin, 1806), described in note e, p. 9073
(Auier. ed.). H.
18. Van de Velde.— Syria and Palettine, 9
vols. 8vo, 1854. Contains the narrative of the au-
thor' » journeys while engaged in preparing his large
Map of the Holy Land (1858), the best map yet
published [Deutsche Ausgabe. naoh d. 3« Aufl. d.
•'Map of the Holy Land," Gotha, 1868, consider-
ably improved]. A condensed edition of this work,
omitting the purely personal details too frequently
introduced, would be useful. Van de Telde's Me-
moir, 8vo, 1868, gives elevations, latitudes and
longitudes, routes, and much very excellent infor-
mation. His Payt d'ltrarl [Paris, 1867-68], IOC
colored lithographs from original sketches, an aero-
rate and admirably executed, and many of the)
views are unique.
19. Ritter. — Die Vergleichende Erdkumde, etc
The six volumes of Ritter's great geographioal
work which relate to the peninsula of Sinai, the
Holy Land, and Syria, and form together Band
vili. They may be conveniently des ig nated by tht
following names, which the writer has adopted in
his other articles: 1. Sinai. 9. Jordan. 3. Syria
(Index). 4. Palestine. 5. Lebanon. 6. Damas-
cus (Index).
* The parts of this great work relating to the
Sinaitie Peninsula and Palestine proper have baas
oc^iienssd and translated, with brief additions, a*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2822
PALESTIKB
WUUam L. Gage, * vole. 8to (London and New
York, 1866). H.
90. Of mora recent works the following may be
noticed: Porter, Five fears th Damascus, the
Hawan, etc., 2 vols. 8vo, 1865; Handbook for
Syria and Palestine, 1868 [new ed., 3 voU., 1868].
Bonar, The Land of Promise, 1868. Thomson,
The Land and the Book, 1869. The fruit of
twenty-five years' residence in the Holy Land, by
a shrewd and intelligent observer. Wetzstein,
Reisebericht flier Hawan unit die btidtn Tracho-
mm, 1860, with wood-cuts, a plate of inscriptions,
and a map of the district by Kiepert. The first
attempt at a real exploration of those extraordinary
legions east of the Jordan, which wen partially
riaited by Burckhardt, and recently by Cyril Gra-
ham (Cambridge Essays, 1868; Trans. R. S. Lit.
I860, etc.). [Mr. Porter has given the results of hit
exploration of this region, in his Giant Cities of
Bnshm (1866). — H.] Drew, Scripture Lands in
Connection with thtir History, 1860.
Two works by ladies claim especial notice.
Egyptian Sepulchrts ami Syrian Shrines, by Miss
E. A. Beaufort. 2 vols. 1861. The 2d vol. contains
the record of six months' travel and residence in
the Holy Land, and is full of keen and delicate
observation, caught with the eye of an artist, and
characteristically recorded. Domestic Life in Pal-
estine, by Miss Rogers (1862), is, what its name
purports, an account of a visit of several years to
the Holy Land, during which, owing to her broth-
er's position, the author had opportunities of seeing
at leisure the interiors of many unsophisticated
Arab and Jewish households, in places out of the
ordinary track, such as few English women ever be-
fore enjoyed, and certainly none have recorded.
These she has described with great skill and fidel-
ity, and with an abstinence from descriptions of
matters out of her proper path or at second-hand
which is truly admirable-
It still remains, however, for some one to do for
Syria what Mr. Lane has so faultlessly accom-
plished for Egypt, the more to be desired because
the time is last passing, and Syria is becoming every
day more leavened by the West.
* Other recent works : — C. Furrer, U'andenm-
am durch Paldstina, Zurich, 1863. (•< Much that
la new and fresh." — Tobler.) H. B. Tristram,
The Land of Israel; a Journal of Travels in
Palestine, undertaken with special reference to its
Physical Character, Lond. 1866; 2d ed. 1866.
(Valuable.) E. Arnaud, La Palestine ancienne
st undent, ou geographic hist et physique de la
Terre Sainte. Avec 3 cart. chromo-Uthogr. Paris
et Strasb. 1868. C. P. Caspari, Chronol-geogr.
Emteitung w das Ltben Jem Christi. Nebst tier
Karten u. Planen, Hamb. 1869. N. C. Burt, The
land and Us Story ; or the Sacred Historical Ge-
tgr. of Palestine, N. Y. 1869. In the two follow- !
tig Important works by learned Jews, a compara-
tively untrodden field is explored: J. Derenbourg,
Etsai sur thist. et la geug. de la Palestine, dapres
Iss Thalmuds et Us autres sources raboiniques,
I* partie, Paris, 1867; and A. Neubauer, La
otographie du Talmud; memoire couronne par
fAcad. des Inser. et BeUes-Lettres, Paris, 1868.
A.
Views. — Two extensive collections of Views of
the Holy Land exist — those of Bartlett and of
Roberts. Pictorially beautiful as these plates are,
they are not so useful to the student as the very
■Mint* views of William Tipping, Esq. (published
PALKSTrNB
in Traill's Jotephus), some of whicl. nave been in-
serted in the article Jerusalem. Then are scent
instructive views taken from photographs, in the
last edition of Keith's Land of Israel Photo-
graphs have been published by Frith, Robertson,
Rev. G. W. Bridget, and others. Photographs
have abo been taken by Salzmann, whose plates
are accompanied by a treatise, Jerusalem, And*,
etc (Paris, 1856).
• Those of Mr. Frith (see •hove) are sixty in
number, and are superbly executed (on cards of
19 inches by 15). They embrace views of places
and antiquities in Egypt and Idtmuea, as well at
in Palestine. A large and splendid collection of
photographs accompanies the Ordnance Surrey of
Jerusalem. They furnish a panoramic view cf the
city and itt environs (Olivet, Gethtemana, Valley
of Jeboshaphat, etc.), a view of important sections
of the city walls, and the walls of the Mosque of
Omar, of the principal modem edifices, of numerous
ancient monuments, etc. etc. The Palestine Ex-
ploration Fund hat published numerous photo-
graphs of placet, ruins, and scenery in the Holy
Land (numbering 843). H.
Maps. — Mr. Van de Velde's map, already men-
tioned, has superseded all its predecessors; but
much still remains to be done in districts out of
the track usually punned by travellers. On the
east of Jordan, Kiepert' t map (in Wetsttein s
Hauran) is as yet the only trustworthy document.
The new Admiralty surveys of the coast an under-
stood to be rapidly approaching completion, and
will leave nothing to be desired.
• The best collection of maps for the geography
of Palestine, both ancient and modern, is no doubt
the Bible Alias of Maps and Plans, by Samuel
Clark, M. A- (Loud. 18.18), published by the So-
ciety for Promoting Christian Knowledge. It con-
tains an Index compiled by Mr. Grove, represent-
ing all the instances of the occurrence u of any geo-
graphical name in the English version of the 0.
and N. Testaments and the Apocrypha, with its
original in Hebrew or Greek, and the modern name
of its site, whether known or only conjectured. In
all eases, what may be regarded as certain is dis-
tinguished from what is uncertain." It contains
also important dissertations and notes on questions
relating to the identification of places and points
of archasology, history, and exegesis.
Dr. Theodor Menke, Bibd-Atlis in 8 Blauen
(Goths, 1868). Similar to the preceding, but leal
complete. In addition to other points, it illustrates
especially the topography of Jerusalem in the light
of recent discoveries. l*roniinenoe is given to the
ethnography of the ante- Hebrew nations or races.
It is a great convenience that the author distin-
guishes riven and WatUce from each other by difltr-
ent signs on the map.
The large wall Map of Palestine and other
/nits of Syria, by H. S. Osborn, LL. D. and Ly-
man Coleman, D. 1)., Philad. [1868?], 6 ft. by 9,
is well adapted to itt purpose. There it • good
relief map of Palestine by H. W. Altmiillar, Das
fleilige Land u. der Libinon in plastieher Dor-
tteUttny nich den neuesten Forsehungen, Cental,
I860. A Relief plan von Jerusalem was tin
published by AltmuUer in 1869; "improved and
corrected by Conrad Schick," Cased, 1865. H.
Of works on Jerusalem the following may b»
Williams. — The Holy City: 9d ed,9 vols, ova
1849. Contains a detailed bistort of Ja
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALLTJ
at (Mount of the modem town, and an essay on
the srehitectural history of the Church of the Sep-
nlchre by Profceeor Willie. Mr. WiUiama in moat
If not all eases supports tradition.
Barclay. — The CUyoftht Great Kmgi Philad.
1858. An account of Jerusalem aa it was, is, and
will be. Dr. B. had some peculiar opportunities of
investigating the subterranean passages of the city
and the Haram area, and his book contains many
valuable notices. His large map of Jerusalem and
Environs, though badly engraved, is accurate and
useful, giving the form of the ground very well
Fergusson. — The Ancient Topography of Je-
rusalem, etc., 1847, with 7 plates. Treats of the
Temple and the walla of ancient Jerusalem, and
the site of the Holy Sepulchre, and is full of the
most original and Ingenious views, expressed in the
boldest language. From architectural arguments
the author maintains the so-called Mosque of Omar
to be the real Holy Sepulchre. He also shows that
the Temple, instead of occupying the whole of the
Haram area, was confined to its southwestern
corner. His sxguments have never been answered
or even fairly discussed. The remarks of some of
bis critics are, however, dealt with by Mr. F. in a
pamphlet, Notu on the Site of the Holy Sepulchre,
1861. See also voL ii. of this Dictionary, pp. 1311-
1380.
• See especially Dr. Wolcott's elaborate exami-
nation of Mr. Fergusson's theory, under the head
"Topography of the City," voL U., pp. 1880-
1887, Amer. ed. H.
Thnipp. — Ancient Jerusalem, a new Imcttga-
ttm, etc., 1865.
• We should recall the reader's attention hen
to the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem (Land.
1865), and Lieut. Warren's Reports, etc., in the
service of the Exploration Fund, detailing his
labors and discoveries in sod around the Holy
cy- ... £'..
A good resume of the controversy on the Holy
Sepulchre is given in the Museum of Classical
Antiquities, No. viii., and Suppl.
• The Holy Sepulchre, and the Royal Tempi* at
Jerusalem, two lectures before the Royal Institu-
tion, 1862 and 1865, by James Fergusson. He
maintains here, of course, his peculiar views on
the points in question. H.
Maps. — Besides Dr. Barclay's, already men-
tioned, Mr. Van de Velde has published a very
dear and correct map (1858). So also bss Signor
Pierotti (1861). The latter contains a great deal
sf information, and shows plans of the churches,
tie., in the neighborhood of the eity. 6.
PAI/LTJ (Nffrg [distinguished, eminent] :
•uAXovt; [In Num., ♦oAAotf :] PhaBu). The
second son of Reuben, fiOher of Eliab and. founder
:! the fcmily of the Palluttbs (Ex. vi. 14; Num.
txvi. 5, 8; 1 Chr. v. 8). In the A. V. of Gen.
ilvi. 9, he is called Phalld, and Joeephus appears
' ) Identify him with Peleth in Num. xvi. 1, whom
he oaUs ♦oAAoBj. [See On.]
PALTiUITES, THE OHffcgn [patr. see
ibove]: i ♦aAAowl; Ft**-) Alex, o *oA-
HmsI: Phattuilm). The descendants of Pallu the
ion of Reuben (Num. xxvt 6).
• PALM. [Hard; ?alm-tb**-]
• PALMCRIST (in the margin of Jon. It. 6,
a, ▼.). [Goran.]
PALM-TREE
2828
PALMER-WORM (DTJ, gazam: titan; i
eruea) occurs Joel i. 4, ii. 25 ; Am. iv. 9. Boohart
(Hierot. iii. 253) has endeavored to show that
gazam denotes some species of locust; it has al-
ready been shown that the ten Hebrew names to
which Bochart assigns the meaning of different
kinds of locusts cannot possibly apply to so many,
as not more than two or three destructive species
of locust are known in the Bible Lands. [LocDR;
Caterpillar.] The derivation of the Hebrew
word from a root which means " to cut off," la as
applicable to several kinds of insects, whether in
their perfect or larva condition, as it is to a locust;
accordingly we prefer to follow the LXX. and
Vulg., which are consistent with each other in the
rendering of the Hebrew word in the three pas-
sages where it is found. The xiurn of Aristotle
(Amm. Hist. ii. 17, 4, 5, 6) evidently denotes a cat-
erpillar, so called from its "bending itself" up
(ko>t«) to more, as the caterpillars called geo-
metric, or else from the habit some caterpillars
have of "coiling" themselves up when handled
The Eruea of the Vulg. is the jcdVnj of the
Greeks, aa is evident from the express assertion of
Columella {De Re Rust. xi. 3, 68, Scrgrf. A «. ed.
Schneider). The Chaldee and Sjriao understand
some locust larva by the Hebrew word. Oedmann
( Verm. Samm. fasc ii. 0. vi. p. 116) is of the
same opinion. Tychsen ( Comment, de locustis, etc,
p. 88) identifies the g&sam with the Gryllut eri$-
tatus, Lin., a South African species. Miohaelil
(Supp. p. 220) follows the LXX. and Vulg. We
cannot agree with Mr. Denham (Kitto'e Cycl art.
" Locust") that the depredations ascribed to the
gazam in Amos better agree with the character-
istics of the locust than of a caterpillar, of which
various kinds are occasionally the cause of much
damage to fruit-trees, the fig and the olive, eta.
[Jobl.] w - H -
PALM-TREE {"ttffl : eWri{ )• Under this
generic term many species are botanically included;
but we have here only to do with the Date-palm,
the Phamix dactytifera of Linnasus. It grew
very abundantly (more abundantly than now) in
many parts of the Levant On this subject gen-
erally it is enough to refer to Ritter's monograph
(« Ueber die geographische Verbreitung der Dattei-
palme") in his Krdkunde, and also published
separately.
While this tree was abundant generally in the
Levant, it was regarded by the ancients ss pecul-
iarly characteristic of Palestine and the neighboring
regions. {Ivpla, Jwov eWmmt ei Kaprupipm,
Xen. Cyrop. vi. 2, § 22. Judasa inclyta est palmis
Plin. H. N. xiii. 4. PalmetU [Judaiia] piwrita.
et deoor, Tao. Hist v. 6. Compare Straho xvil
pp. 800, 818; Tbeophrast. Hist. Plant ii.8; Pans.
ix. 19, § 6). The following places may be enu-
merated from the Bible as having some conneotloa
with the palm-tree, either in the derivation of toe
name, or in the mention of the tree as growing on
the spot.
(1.) At Eliu, one of the stations of the Israel-
ites between Egypt snd Sinai, it is expressly stated
that there were " twelve wella (fountains) of water,
and threescore and ten palm-trees" (Ex. xv. 97;
Num. xxxiiL 9). The word "fountains" of the
latter passage b more correct than the " wells " of
the former: U is more in harmony, too, with the
bVjttsofthetree; for, aa Theonhnstus says {L a ),
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2824 PALM-TBMB
the palm txifyrii finWor to yafiaTuuoy Simp.
There are still palm-trees and fountains in Waay
Gktrindel, which u generally identified with FJim
(Bob. BibL Ret. i. 69).
(9.) Next, it should be observed that Elath
(Diut. ii. 8; 1 K. ix. 28; 9 K. xiv. 88, xvi. 6; 8
Chr. viii. 17, zzvi. 3) U another plural form of the
tame word, and may likewise mean " the palm-
trees." See Prof. Stanley'* remark* (5. aj P.
pp. 80, 84, 519), and compare Reland (PalaiL p.
980). Thia place wai in Edom (probably Ahaba) ;
and we are reminded here of the " Idunuee
nahna" of Virgil (Georg. Hi. 18) and Martial
(x. 60)
(3.) No place in Scripture ii no closely asso-
ciated with the subject before us as Jericho. Its
rich palm-groves are connected with two very dif-
ferent periods — with that of Moses and Joshua
on the one hand, and that of the Evangelists on
the other. As to the former, the mention of "Jer-
icho, the city of palm-trees" (Dent, xxxiv. 3),
gives a peculiar vividness to the Lawgiver's last
view from Pisgah : and even after the narrative of
the conquest, we have the children of the Kenite,
Hoses' father-in-law, again associated with "the
city of palm-trees" (Judg. i. 16). So Jericho is
described in the account of the Moabito invasion
after the death of Othniel (Judg. iii. 13); and,
long after, we find the same phrase applied to it in
>he reign of Ahax (3 Chr. xxviii. 15). What the
extent of these palm-groves may have been in the
desolate period of Jericho we cannot tell ; but they
were renowned in the time of the Gospels and
Josephs*. The Jewish historian mentions the
luxuriance of these trees again and again ; not only
In allusion to the time of Moses (.Ant. iv. 6, $ 1),
but in the account of the Roman campaign under
Pompey (Ant. liv. 4, § 1; B. J. i. 6, § 6), the
proceedings of Antony and Cleopatra (Ant. xv. 4,
fj 8), and the war of Vespasian (B. J. iv. 8, §§ 2,
3). Herod the Great did much for Jericho, and
took great interest in its palm-groves. Hence
Horace's " Herodis palmeta pinguia " (Ep. ii. 2,
184), which seems almost to hare been a proverbial
expression. Nor Is this the only heathen testi-
mony to the same fact. Strabo describes this
immediate neighborhood as irKtoi>i(ov ry (fwixi/ci,
M prJKOs orooW (KoroV (xvi. 783), and Pliny
says, " Hiericuntem palmetis consitam " (//. N. v.
14), and adds elsewhere that, while palm-trees
grow well in other parts in Judsa, "Hiericunte
maxime " (xiii. 4). See also Galen, De Aliment,
fncull. ii., and Justin, xxxvi. 8. Shaw ( Trav. p.
171, folio) speaks of several of these trees still
emaining at Jericho in his time.
(4.) The name of Hazezon-Tamar, " the fell-
ng of the palm-tree," is clear in Us derivation,
rhis place is mentioned in the history both of
Abraham (Gen. xiv. 7) and of Jehoshaphat (3 Chr.
tz. 9). In the second of these passages it is ex-
pressly identified with En-gedi, which was on the
western edge of the Dead Sea; and here we can
tddiee, as a valuable illustration of what is before
us, the language of the Apocrypha, " I was exalted
like a palm-tree in En-gaddi " (Ecckis. xxiv. 14).
Hen again, too, we can quote alike Josepbus
rycwarai it airB $otvi( 6 K&KXurrot, Ant. ix.
1. § 9) and Pliny (Engadda oppidum secundum ah
Hieroaolymls, fertilitate palmetorumque nemoribus,
B. If. t. 17).
(6.) Another place having the same element In
tonus**, and doubtless the asm* characteristic in
r/JM-TKBB
Its scenery, was BaAi^Tamak (Jndg. xx. 38), ttt
hrfiia/tip of Eusebi' s. IU position was neat
Gibeah of Benjamin: and it could not be far from
Deborah's famous palm-tree (Judg. iv. 5); If In-
deed it was not identical with it, as is suggested
by Stanley (S. <f P. p. 146).
(6.) We must next mention the Taxab, "tht
palm," which is set before us in the vision of
Etekiel (xlviL 19, xlviii. 28) sa a point from which
the southern border of the land is to be measured
eastwards and westwards. Kobinaon identifies it
with the Oaitapi of Ptolemy (v. 16), and think* its
site may be at tl-Jlilh, between Hebron and Vady
Jftto (Bibl Set. ii. 198, 303). It seems from Je-
rome to have been in his day a Roman fortress.
(7.) There I* little doubt that Solomon'* Tab-
hob, afterwards the famous Palmyra, on another
desert frontier far to the N. E. of Tamar, is pri-
marily the same word; and that, as Gibbon says,
(Decline and Fail, ii. 38), "the name, by it*
signification in the Syriac as well as in the Latin
language, denoted the multitude of palm-tree*
which afforded shade and verdure to that temperate
region." In fact, while the undoubted reading is
8 Chr. viii. 4 is "TUTtf!, the best text in 1 K.
ix. 18 is ~H^=). See Joseph, AnL via. 6, § 1.
The springs which be mentions there make the
palm-trees almost a matter of course.
(8.) Nor again are the places of the N. T. wish-
out their associations with this characteristic tree
of Palestine. Bkthaky means "the house of
dates; " and thus we are reminded that the pafan
grew in the neighborhood of the Mount of Olives.
This helps our realization of our Saviour's entry
into Jerusalem, when the people " took branchm
of pabn-trui and went forth tp meet Him " (John
xii. 13). This again carries our thoughts back-
wards to the time when the Feast of Tabernacles
was first kept after the Captivity, when the procla-
mation was given that they should " go forth unto
the mount and fetch pabn-branchet" (Neh. viii.
15) — the only branches, it may be observed (those
of the willow excepted), which are specified by
name in the original institution of the festival
(Lev. xxiii. 40). From this Gospel incident comes
Palm Sunday (Dominica in Ramis Palmarum),
which is observed with much ceremony in some
countries where true palms can be had. Even in
northern latitudes (in Yorkshire, for instance) the
country people use a substitute which conies into
flower just before Easter: —
K And willow branches hallow,
That they palmea do oat te call."
(9.) The word Phoenicia («W«ir>, winch ooonrs
twice in the N. T. (Acta xl. 19, xr. 3), i* in all
probability derived from the Greek word (*>olri{)
for a palm. Sidonius mentions palms as a product
of Phomicia (Pcmtg. Majorian. p. 44). See also
Plin. B. N. xiii. 4; Atheo, i. 31. Thus we may
imagine the same natural objects in connection
with St. Paul's journeys along the coast to tb»
north of Palestine, as with the wandering* it tht
Israelite* through the desert on the south.
(10.) Lastly, Phowix in the island of Crete, the
harbor which St Paul was prevented by the atom
from reaching (Acts xxvii 19), has doubtless tht
same derivation. Both Theophrastus and Pliny say
that palm-trees are indigenous in this island. Sss
Hotek's Xreta, L 36, 388. [Pranox.]
From the passages where there is a Utersl safsff
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PALM-TBEE
■wa to the palm-tree, we ma; pan to the emblem-
atical usee of it in Scriptuss. Under this head
ma; bo elated the following: —
(1.) The striking appearance of the tree its
uprightness and beaut;, would natural); suggest
the giving of its name occasionally to women.
As we find in the Odyuey (vi. 163) Nauslcaa, the
daughter of Alcinoua, compared to a pslm, so in
Cant. rii. 7 we hare the same comparison : " Th;
stature ia like to a palm-tree." In the 0. T. three
women named Tamar are mentioned : Judah's
daughter-in-law (Gen. xxxriii. 6), Absalom's sister
{9 Sam. xiii. 1), and Absalom's daughter (S Sam.
sir. 97). Th* heant; of the two last is expressly
aentioned.
(8.) Wt have notices of the employment of this
farm in decorative art, both in the real Temple of
Solomon and in the visionary temple of Eiekiel.
In the former case we are told (9 Chr. iii. 5) of
this decoration 'n general terms, and elsewhere
more specifically that it was applied to the walls
(1 K. vi. 99), to the doors (vi. 39, 85), and to the
" (rii. 36) So in the prophet*! vision we
Pahn-Trss. (Momiz daOyH/era.)
and palm-tree* on the posts of the gates (Ei. xl.
16, 99, 96, 31, 34, 37), and also on the walls and
the doors (zli. 18-90, 86, 96). This work seems
to have been in relief. We do not stay to inquire
whether it had an; symbolical meanings. It was
a natural and doubtless customary kind of orna-
mentation in eastern architecture. Thus we are
told b; Herodotus (ii, 169) of tie hall of a temple
a* Sab in Egypt, which was ^o-kwusstj ori\oun
ptirutas r« tintfta lupupmUrouri: and we are
■miliar now with the same sort of deooration in
Assyrian buildings (Layard'a Ninnei and its Se-
wihu. ii. 187, 396, 401). The imsge of such
.*brH and motionless forms may possibly hare been
before the mind of Jeremiah when be said it
the idols of the heathen (x. 4, 6), •< The; fasten
t with naus and with hammers, that it more not:
shay an upright as the palm-tree, but speak not"
It.) With a tree so abundant in J tidies, and so
PALM-TBEE 2826
marked in its growth and appearance, as the palm,
it seems rather remarkable that it does ut appear
more frequentl; In the imagery of the 0. T.
There is, however, In the Psalms (xcii. 19) the
familiar comparison, " The righteous shall Sourish
like the palm-tree," which suggests a world of
illustration, whether respect be had to the orderly
and regular aspect of the tree, its fruitfulness, the
perpetual greenness of its foliage, or the height at
which the foliage grows, as far as possible from
earth and as near as possible to heave> Perhaps
no point is more worthy of mention, if we wish
to pursue the comparison, than the elasticity of
the fibre of the pslm, and its determined growth
upwards, even when loaded with weights (" nitittaT
in pondua palma"). Such particulars of resem-
blance to the righteous man were variously dwell
on b; the earl; Christian writers. Some l r-T > " 1 *tf
are given b; Celsius in his llitnbotamcoa (Upsal
1747), ii. 622-647. One, which be does not give,
is worth; of quotation: •< Well is the life of the
righteous likened to a pslm, in that the palm
below is rough to the touch, and in a manner
enveloped in dry bark, but above it is adorned with
fruit, lair even to the eye; below, it is compressed
by the enfolding! of its bark; above, it is spread
out in amplitude of beautiful greenness. For so
is the life of the elect, despised below, beautiful
above. Down below it is, as it were, enfolded in
man; barks, in that it is straitened by innumerable
afflictions; but on high it is expanded into a
foliage, as it were, of beautiful greenness b; the
amplitude of the rewarding" (St. Gregory, Afor.
on Job six. 49).
(4.) The passage in Rev. vii. 0, where the glori-
fied of all nations are described as " clothed with
white robes and palms in their bands," might seem
to us a purely classical image, drawn (like man;
of St. Paul's images) from the Greek games, the
victors in which carried palms in their hands.
But we seem to trace here a Jewish element also,
when we consider three passages in the Apocrypha.
In 1 Msec. xiii. 61, Simon Maccabeus, after the
surrender of the tower at Jerusalem, is described
as entering it with music and thanksgiving «' and
branches of palm-trees." In 9 Mace x. 7, it is said
that when Judas Maccabeus had recovered the
Temple and the city "they bare branches and
palma, and sang psalms also unto Him that bad
given them good success." In 9 Mace. xiv. 4,
Demetrius is presented " with a crown of gold and
a palm." Here we see the palm-branches used
by Jews in token of victory and peace. (Such
indeed is the case in the Gospel narrative, Join
xii. 13.)
There is a fourth passage in the Apocrypha, as
commonly published in English, which approx-
imates closely to the imagery of the Apocalypse
" I asked the angel. What are these ? He an-
swered and said unto me, These be they which
hare put off the mortal clothing, and now the; are
crowned and receive palma. Then said I unto ths
angel, What young person is it that crowneth
them and givetb. them palms in their hands? So
be answered and said unto me. It is the Son of
God, whom they have co nfe ssed In the world " (9
Eedr. ii. 44-47). This is clearly the approxima-
tion not of anticipation, but of an imitator. What-
ever may be determined concerning the date of the
rest of the book, this portion of it b chart; sab-
sequent to the Christian era. [EsDsua. nil
Sboojo) Book op.]
Digitized by VjOOQIC
2826
PALM-TREE
As t.i the industrial and domestic am of the
palm, it U well known that they are very numer-
ous : but there is no clear allusion to them in the
Bible. That the ancient Orientals, however, made
use of wine and honey obtained from the palm-tree
is evident from Herodotus (i. 193, ii. 86), Strabo
(xvi. ch. 14, ed. Kram.), and Pliny (H. JV. xiii. •).
It is indeed possible that the honey mentioned in
some places may be palm-sugar. (In S Chr. xxxi.
6 the margin has "dates.") There may also in
Cant vii. 2, " I will go up to the palm-tree, I will
take hold of the boughs thereof," be a reference to
climbing for the fruit. The LXX. hare kraff-fr
ro/uu eV ry tpotrini, Kpa-Hicrm riv tyim ainou.
So in ii. 3 and elsewhere (s. g. Ps. i. 8) the fruit
ef the palm may be intended : but this cannot be
proved. [Sugar; Wise.]
Group of
It b curious that this tree, once so abundant in
Judtea, is now comparatively rare, except in the
Philistine plain, and in the old Phoenicia about
Beynmt. A few years ago there was just one
palm-tree at Jericho: but that is now gone.' Old
ranks are washed up in the Dead Sea, It would
almost seem as though we might take the history
jf this tree in Palestine as emblematical of that
of the people whose borne was once in that land.
The well-known coin of Vespasian representing the
oahn-tree with the legend " Judea capta," is fig-
ured in toL ii. p. 1308. J. 8. H.
a The palm-tree being dioecious — that la to say,
ne^tamens and pistils (male and female parts) being
so different trees — it is evident that no edible fruit
fan be produced unless fertilisation is effected either
ly Insects or by some artificial mean*. That the mode
jf impregnating the female plant with the pollen of
She male (iAvrfofnr re* £oiVum) was known to the
ancients, to evident from Theophrastus (H. P. U. 8),
and Herodotus, who statee that the Babylonians
Idopbd a similar plan. The modern Arabs of Bar-
Jerr, Persia, ete., take care to hang clusters of male
■ewers on female trees. The ancient Bgypuans prob-
telr did the same. A take of preserved dates was
PAMPHYLIA
PALSY. [MsDicmc, p. 1886 *.]
PALTI C?^9 {dMetnmet of Jtktmk
Ges.]: ♦oAt! [Vat. -r«]: PhalU). The son «f
Kaphu; a Benjamito who was one of the twehs
spies (Num. xiii. 9).
PALTIEL (Sf?^|) ftUlhtrmet of God]
♦bAt^X [Vat -r.i-]: Phaliiel). The son of
Azzan and prince of the tribe of Issachar (Nam
xxxiv. 26). He was one of the twelve appointed
to divide the land of Canaan among the tribes west
of Jordan.
PALTITE, THE 0?^§n [pair, from
Palii] : i Kf\*$l [Vat. -0«] ; Alex, o aVJUerw:
de Phnlti). Hekz "the Paltite" is named in I
Sam. xxiii. 26 among David's mighty men In
1 Chr. xi. 27, he is called " the Pelonite," and
such seems to have been the reading followed by the
Alex. MS. in 2 Sam. The Peshito-Syriac, bow-
ever, supports the Hebrew, "Cholots of PeUt"
But in 1 Chr. xxvii. 10, " Heles the Pelonite" of
the tribe of Ephraim is again mentioned as cap
tain of 24,000 men of David's army for the seventh
month, and the balance of evidence therefore in-
clines to " Pelonite " as the true reading. The
variation arose from a confusion between the letters
31 and 19. In the Syriac of 1 Chr. both read-
ings are combined, and Helez is described as "of
Palton."
PAMPHTLIA (TlafupvKla), one of the coast-
regions in the south of Asia Minor, having Ciucia
on the east, and Lycia oii the west. It seems in
early times to have been leas considerable than
either of these contiguous districts; for in the
Persian war, while Cilicia contributed a hundred
ships and Lycia fifty, Pamphylia sent only thirty
(Herod, vii. 91, 92). The name probably then
embraced little more than the crescent of com-
paratively level ground between Taurus and the
sea. To the north, along the heights of Taurus
itself, was the region of Pisidia. The Roman
organization of the country, however, gave a wider
range to the term Pamphylia, In St. Paul's time
it was not only a regular province, but the Emperor
Claudius had united Lycia with it (Dio Cass. ht.
17), and probably also a good part of Pisidia.
However, in the N. T., the three terms are used
as distinct. It was in Pamphylia that St Paul
first entered Asia Minor, after preaching the Gospel
in Cyprus. He and Barnabas sailed up the river
Oestrus to Pkboa (Acts xiii. 18). Here they wen
abandoned by their subordinate companion John-
Mark; a circumstance which is alluded to again
with much feeling, and with a pointed mention of
the place where the separation occurred (Acts xr.
38).° It might be the pain of this separ at ion
which induced Paul and Barnabas to leave Psrga
round by far Q. Wilkinson at Thebes (U. 181, ed. 1854).
It Is certainly curious there Is no distinct mention of
dates in the Bible, though we cannot doubt that the
ancient Hebrews used the fruit, and wen probably
acquainted with the art of fertilising the flowers of
the female plant
6 * Mr. Tristram now Informs us that this to not
strictly the case. " We discovered one wild palm of
considerable else, with a dump of young one* reveal
it, on the edge of the stream, a little below the modern
village " (Nat. But. oftkt Hftb, p. 882). H.
e • The Greek (aWrom aV ovrar), ae De Week)
remarks on Acts xv. 88, Implies that Mark was calf*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PAN
arithout delay. They did however premch the Gos-
pel there on their return from the interior (Acta
sir. 84, 28). We ma; eonohide, from Acta ii. 1C,
that there were many Jem in the province; and
possibly Perga had a synagogue. The two mis-
sionaries finally left Pamphylia by it* chief sea-
port, Attaua. We do not know that St. Paul
wa> erer in this district again: bnt many yean
• afterwards he sailed near its coast, passing through
" the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia " on his way to
a town of Lycia (Acta xxvii. 6). We notice here
the accurate order of these geographical terms, as
In the above-mentioned land journey we observe
bow Piaidia and Pamphylia occur in their true
relations, both in going and returning (tlj Tlipynr
rqi Ila^upu\la$ • • . Aire rqf tl4fryt)i tit
'Arrioxt'ev r/jt TluriSiut, xiii. 18, 14; <i<a0oVt<t
tV nuriSttw i\8or sir XlafupvKlar, xiv. 94).
J. S. H.
PAN. Of the six words' so rendered in A.
V., two, machbaih and mnirtlh, seem to imply a
shallow pan or plate, sueh as is need by Bedouins
and Syrians for baking or dressing rapidly their
cakes of meal, such as were need in legal oblation) :
the others, especially air, a deeper vessel or cauldron
for boiling meat, placed during the process on three
stones (Burckhardt, Nutu on Btd. t. 68; Niebuhr,
Doer, dt tAmb. p. 46; Lane, Mod. Rnypt. i.
181). [Caldroh ] H. W. P.
PANN AG 03S), an article of commerce ex-
ported from Palestine to Tyre (Ex. xxvii. 17), the
nature of which is a pure matter of conjecture, as
the term occurs nowhere else. In comparing the
passage in Ezekiei with Gen. xliii. 11, where the
most valued productions of Palestine are enumer-
ated, the omission of tragacanth and ladanum (A.
T. "spices and myrrh") in the former is very
o b s erva ble, and leads to the supposition that pan-
nag represents some of the spices grown in that
country. The I.XX., in rendering it nuri'a, favors
this opinion, though it is evident that cassia cannot
be the particular spice intended (see ver. 19).
Hibrig observes that a similar term occurs in
Sanskrit (p-tnnaga) for an aromatio plant. The
Syriae version, on the other hand, understands by
it "millet" (panicvm miHaerum); and this view
is favored by the expression in the book of Sobar,
quoted by Uesenius (a. v.), which speaks of " bread
of pannag: " though this again is not decisive, for
the pannag may equally well have been some Savor-
ing substance, aa seems to be implied in the
doubtful equivalent' given in the Targum.
W. L.B.
PAPER [WRiroto.]
• PAPER -REEDS. " The pnptr-rtedi by
PARABLE
2827
bat fat thus leaving Us associate*. Tet it is pleasing
to know that the estrangement was only temporary ;
tor Mark became subsequently Paul's Mlow-traveller
(Col. It. 10), and Is commended by him aa eminently
aaafal la the ministry (2 Tim. lv. 11). H.
•1. iV?, or "1»3 } Mftv e film, later (1 Bam.
J. 14); elsewhere "lever" and "hearth," is.abraiier
sr pan Jbr Ore (Zeeh. xh. 6).
& n3CJ9, from nyi, "bake" (dee p. 444);
ajyaver ; aartogo (Lev. Tl 6), where It follows
n^TJT9, fex*>*> enatfeafa, " trying-pan," and to
-' 'dtothwt from to.
the broott" (Is. xix. 7, A. T.) is probably a mis-
translation for " the mtadem by the riser "(<■«.
the Kile). So, substantially, Uesenius, Fiint, Dl
Wette, Knobd, Ewald. [Rbbd, 3.] A.
PATHOS (nd<po»), a town at the west end
of Cyprus, connected by a road with Salamh
at the east end. Paul and Barnabas travelled, on
their first missionary expedition, " through the isle,"
from the latter place to the former (Acta xlil. 6).
What took place at Papboe was briefly ss fol-
lows. The two missionaries found Skruiu* Pao-
UJS, the proconsul of the island, residing here, and
were enabled to produce a considerable effect on
his intelligent and candid mind. This influence
wss resisted by Eltmas (or Bar-Jesus), one of
those oriental " sorcerers," whose mischievous power
was so great at this period, even among the edu-
cated classes. Miraculous sanction was given to
the Apostles, and Elymas was struck with blind-
ness. The proconsul's faith having been thus eon-
firmed, and doubtless a Christian Church having
been founded in Paphoa, Barnabas and Saul crossed
over to the continent and landed in Pamphtua
(ver. 13). It is observable that it is at this point
tnat the latter becomes the more prominent of the
two, and that his name henceforward is Paul, and
not Saul (SavAof, t col TlavXar, ver. 9). How
for this was connected with the proconsul's rame,
must be discussed elsewhere.
The great characteristic of Paphoa was the wor-
ship of Aphrodite or Venus, who was here tabled
to have risen from the sea (Horn. Od. viii. 362).
Her temple, however, was at " Old Paphoa," now
called Kuttia. The harbor and the chief town
were at •• New Paphos," at some little distance.
The place is still called Baffa. The road between
the two was often filled with gay and profligate
processions (Strabo, xiv. p. 683); strangers came
constantly to visit the shrine (Athen. xv. 18);
and the hold which these local superstitions had
upon the higher minds at this very period is well
exemplified by the pilgrimage of Titus (Tec. /Hat.
ii. 2, 3) shortly before the Jewish war.
For notices of such scanty remains as are found
at Paphos we must refer to Pococke (Dae. of the
£<ut, ii. 325-328), and especially Ross (fletsen
nncA Kot, HaBcartmuot, Rkodot u. Cyprus, pp.
180-192). Extracts also are given in Lift and Epp.
of SL Paid (2d ed. 1. 190, 191), from the Ma
notes of Captain Graves, K. N., who recently sur-
veyed the island of Cyprus. For all that idttee
to the harbor the Admiralty Chart should be con-
sulted. ,'. S. H.
PAPYRUS. [Reed.]
PARABLE (btjflp, mdaMZ: wapago^i t pa
8. rPtp5 i nfyaxer; "a baking-pan" (2 8am
xlil. 9), dee. p. 1848.
4. "Vt? ; JUPnt; eO»; from "VD, "boa," Jsiaei
(2 E. It. 88) with gtdtlih, "gnat," «, «. the great
sa tis or cauldron.
I "WI^S x»rpoi «*»•
6. rnnb?, alar. ■ A0«rtt; »«• (I Oar raw.
18) InProv xta. 94 •dtob."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
J
2828
PARABLE
rtMa). The distinction between the Parable and
me cognate form of teaching hu been discussed
under Fable. Something remaim to be aaid (I)
M to the word, (9) at to the Parables of the Gos-
pels, (3) as to the lam of their interpretation.
I. The word Trapafio\4\ does not of itself imply
a narrative. The juxtaposition of two thing*,
diflering in moat point*, bat agreeing in gome, h
sulHeient to bring the comparison thai produced
within the etymology of the word. The iraaa/SoA4
of Greek rhetoric need not be mora than toe siin-
plat argument from analogy. " You would not
ehoon pilot* or athlete* by lot; why then should
you choose ■tatesmen?" (Ariatot. Shtt. ii. 90).
In Hellenistic Greek, however, it acquired a wider
Keening, coextensive with that of the Hebrew
MiaioV, for which the LXX. writers, with hardly
an exception, make it the equivalent.' That word
(■>*mi£twi>), as waa natural in the language of
a people who had never reduced rhetoric to an art,
had a large range of application, and waa applied
sometime* to the shortest proverb* (1 Sam. x. 12,
xxiv. 13; 9 Chr. vii. 80), sometimes to dark pro-
phetic utterances (Num. xxiii. 7, 18, xxiv. 3; Ex.
xx. 49), sometimes to enigmatic maxims (Ps. lxxriii.
2; Prov. i. 6), or metaphors expanded into a nar-
rative (Ea. xii. 99). In Ecclesiasticus the word
occurs with a striking frequency, and, at will be
seen hereafter, it* use by the son of Sirsch throws
light on the position occupied by parable* in Our
Urd's teaching. In the N. T. itself the word is
used with a like latitude. While attached most
frequently to the illustrations which have given it
a special meaning, it is also applied to a short lay-
ing like, " Physician, heal thyself " (Luke iv. 83),
to a mere comparison without a narrative (Matt.
xxiv. 32), to the figurative character of the Levit-
ies! ordinances (Heb. ix. 9), or of tingle facts in
patriarchal history (Heb. xi. 19).* The later his-
tory of the word is not without interest. Natu-
ralired in I a tin, chiefly through the Vulgate or
earlier versions, it loses gradually the original idea
of figurative speech, and is used for speech of any
kind. Mediaeval Latin gives us the strange form
of pnrabotare, and the descendants of the techni-
cal Greek word in the Romance languages are pir-
btr, parole, paroia, palabrat (Dies, Soman. WSr-
lerb.$.v. "Parnla").
II. A* a form of teaching, the Parable, a* hat
been shown, diners from the Fable, (1 ) in exclud-
ing brute or inanimate creatures passing out of the
laws of their nature, and speaking or acting like
men, (2) in its higher ethical significance. It dif-
fers, it may be added, from the Mythus, in being
the result of a conscious deliberate choice, not the
growth of an unconscious realism, personifying at-
tributes, appearing, no one knows how, in popular
belief. It diners from the Allegory, in that the
latter, with its direct personification of ideas or at-
tributes, and the names which designate them, In-
volves really no comparison. The virtues snd vices
of mankind appear, as in a drama, in their own
" The word rasoisUa Is used by the LXX. In Prov.
L 1, xxv. 1, xxvi. T ; Keelns. vi. 86. to., and tn acme
ether passages by Sysmnachus. The asms word, it
will bs remembered. Is used throughout by St. John,
■stead of nfafoMj.
» It should bs mentioned that another m ss nm g has
Man given by sons interpreters to «sa0*fc(j tn thts
tssmge, but, It Is believed, on InsnOeient grounds.
' In Interesting examples of these msy bs sen
PARABLE
character and costume. The allegory k atlHaaa*
prating. The parable demands attention, inatght
sometimes an actual explanation. It illWt* statl)
from the Proverb, in that it must include a amuaV
tode of some kind, while the proverb may assert,
without a similitude, some wide i,nii i sliislhm of
experience. So tar as proverbs go beyond ttts,*ad
state what tbey affirm in a figurative form, they
may be described ss condensed parables, and mrv
shies as expanded p roverbs (comp. Trench en rV
ablet, eh. 1. ; and Grotto* on Matt. rul.).
To understand the relation of tberjerabkaof the
Gos pels to our Lord'* teaching, we must go back
to the use made of them by previous or eootenmo-
rary teachers. We have sufficient evidence that
tbey were frequently employed by them. They
appear frequently in the Gemara and Midrsah
(oomp. Ughtfbot, Hot. Heb. m Matt. xiii. 8; Jest,
Jtasstit/iiuH, il. 216), and are ascribed to HUM,
Shammai, and other great Rabbis of the ten pre-
ceding centuries.' The panegyric passed upon the
great Rabbi Heir, that after his death men ceased
to speak parables, implies that, up to that time,
there had been a anon—Inn of teachers more or
lea distinguished for them (Soto, fbl. 49, in Jest,
JmhiUhum, it 87 ; Lightfoot, I c). Later Jewish
writers have teen in this employment of parables a
condescension to the ignorance of the great mass
of mankind, who cannot be taught otherwise. For
them, as for women or children, parables an the
natural and fit method of instruction (Mairnonides,
Porta Mans, p. 84, In Wetetein, on Matt, xfii.),
and the same view is taken by Jerome ss account-
ing for the common nee of parables in Syria and
Palestine (Hteron. in Matt, xviii. 23). It may bs
questioned, however, whether this represents th*
use made of them by the Rabbit of our Lord's
time. The language of the Son of Sirsch co n fines
them to the scribe who devotes himself to (tody.
Tbey are at once his glory and his reward (Eecras.
xxxix 9, 8). Of all who eat bread by the sweat
of their brow, of the great mam of men in cities
and country, it is written that " they shall not be
found where parable* are spoken " (/ML xxxriii.
83). For them therefore H is probable that the
scribes snd teachers of the law bsd simply rules
snd precepts, often perhaps burdensome snd oppres-
sive (Matt, xxiii. 3, 4), formulas of prayer (Lake
xi. 1), appointed times of fasting and hours of de-
votion (Msrk ii. 18). Tbey, with whom tbey
would not even eat (oomp. Wetstein snd Lamps en
John vii. 49), cared little to give even as nraeh ss
this to the "people of the eerth," whom they
scorned as " knowing not the law," a brnto herd
for whom they could have no sympathy. For their
own scholar* they had, according to their individ-
ual character and power of thought, the casuistry
with which the Hisbna is for the most part filled,
or the parables which here and there give token*
of some deeper insight. The parable waa made
the instrument for teaching the young disciple t:
discern the treasures of wisdom of which the <• so-
ts Treooh'i Parablts, eh. Iv. Others, |
striking superficial rawmblsnrea to those of the Paar
of Oreat Pries, the laborers, the Lost Piece of xt mey
the Wise snd Foolish Virgins, may be seen In V7s»
stern*! nates to those parables- The conclusion ftosj
them la, that there wss at least a generic ressBManat
bs t see u th* outward form of our Lord's tssehass; scl
that of me sMsMs of Jerusalem.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PARABLE
Hand " multitude were ignonuit. The teaching
•f our Lord at the commencement of hit minis-
try was, in every way, the opposite of this. The
Sermon on the Mount may be taken as the type of
the "word* of Grace" which he spake, "not ss
the scribes." Beatitude*, lam, promises were ut-
tered disUiictly, not indeed without similitudes, but
with similitudes that explained themselves. 80 for
some months He taught in the synagogues and on
the sea-shore of Galilee, as He had before taught
m Jerusalem, and as yet without a parable. But
than there comes a change. The direct teaching
was met with scorn, unbelief, hardness, and He
seems for a time to abandon it for that which took
the form of parables. The question of the disci-
ples (Matt xiii. 10) implies that they were aston-
ished. Their Matter was no longer proclaiming
the Gospel of the kingdom at before. He was fall-
ing back into one at least of the forms of Rab-
binic teaching (oomp. Schoettgen's Bar. Htb. ii.,
Ceristvf Rabbbiortm Bmnmm). He was speaking
to the multitude in the parables and dark sayings
which the Rabbis reserved for their chosen disci-
ples. Hen for tbam were two grounds of wonder.
Hers, for us, is the key to the explanation which
be gave, that He had chosen this form of teaching
because the people were spiritually blind and deaf
(Matt. ziii. 18), and in order that they might re-
main so (Mark. lv. IS). Two interpretations have
been given of these words. (1.) Spiritual truths,
it has been said, are in themselves hard and unin-
viting. Men needed to be won to them by that
which was more attractive. The parable was an
Instrument of education for those who were chil-
dren in age or character. For this reason it was
chosen by the Divine teacher as fables and stories,
"adminicula imbecillitatia " (Seneca, Eput. 69),
have been chosen by human teachers (Cbrysost.
Bom. in Johtum. 84). (3.) Others again have
seen in this use of parables something of a penal
character. Men have set themselves against the
truth, and therefore it is hid from their eyes, pre-
sented to them in forms in which it is not easy for
them to recognise it. To the inner circle of the
chosen it is given to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of Goil. To those who are without, all
these things are done in parables. Neither view
is wholly satisfactory. Each contains a partial
truth. All experience shows (1) that parables do
attract, and, when once understood, are sure to be
■amembered; (2) that men may listen to them and
•«o that they have a meaning, and yet never care
U ask what that meaning is. Their worth, at in-
struments of teaching, lies in their being at once
a lest of character, and in their presenting each
•to of character with that which, as a penalty or
bleating, is adapted to it They withdraw the
light from these who love darkness. They protect
the truth which tbey enshrine from the mockery
of the sooner. They leave something even with
the careless which may be interpreted and under-
stood afterwards. They reveal, on the other hand,
the seekers after truth. These ask the meaning of
the parable, will not rest till the teacher has ex-
plained it, are led step by step to the lam of inter-
pretation, so that they can " understand all par-
ables," and then pass on into the higher region in
which parables are no longer necessary, but all
« The number of ■arables In the Deepak will of
•neat di pvnd on the range givan to the application
«" she lame. Thus Mr. Onswell reckons twantr-
PABABLE 2829
things are spoken plainly. In this way the par-
able did its work, found out the fit hearers and
led them on. And it is to be remembered also
that even after this self-Imposed law of reserve and
reticence, the teaching of Christ presented a mar-
velous contrast to the narrow exolusiveness of the
scribes. The mode of education was changed,
but the work of teaching or educating was not for
a moment given up, and the apteat scholars wen
found in those whom the received system would
have altogether shut out.
From the time indicated by Matt, xiii., accord-
ingly, parables enter largely into our Lord's re-
corded teaching. Each parable of those which we
read in the Gospels may have been repeated mora
than once with greater or lest variation (as e. g.
those of the Pounds and the Talents, Matt in.
14; Luke xix. 13; of the Supper, in Matt xrii.
3, and Luke xiv. lt». Everything leads us to be-
lieve that there were many others of whii we have
no record (Matt xiii. 84; Mark iv. 38). In those
which remain it is possible to trace something like
an order.*
(A.) Then b the group with which the new
mode of teaching is ushered in, and whkh have fur
their subject the laws of the Divine Ki gdoni, it,
its growth, its nature, its consummation. Under
this head we have —
1. The Sower (Matt xiil.; Mark lv.; Luke vlil.).
2. The Wheat and the Tares (Matt. xiii.).
3. The Mustard-Seed (Matt xiii.; Mark iv.).
4. The Seed cast into the Ground (Mark iv.).
5. The Leaven (Matt xiii.).
6. The Hid Treasure (Matt. xiii.).
7. The Pearl of Great Price (Matt rill.).
8. The Net cast into the Sea (Matt xiii.).
(B.) After this there is an interval of tome
months of which we know comparatively little.
Either then was a return to the more direct teach-
ing, or das these were repeated, or others like them
spoken. When the next parables meet us they an
of a different type and occupy a different position.
They occur chiefly in the interval between the mis-
sion of the seventy and the last approach to Jeru-
salem. They an drawn from the life of men
r.ither than from the world of nature. Often they
occur, not, as in Matt xiii., in discourses to the
multitude, but in answers to the questions of the
disciples or other inquirers. They an such as
these: —
9. The Two Debtors (Luke vil.).
10. The Merciless Servant (Matt xviil.).
11. The Good Samaritan (Luke x.).
12. The Friend at Midnight (Luke ri.).
18. The Rich Fool (Luke xii.).
14. The Wedding-Feast (Luke xii.).
15. The Fig-Tree (Luke xiii.).
16. The Great Supper (Luke xiv.).
17. The Lost Sheep (Matt xviii; Luke wr.k. .
18. The Lost Piece of Money (I uke XT.)
19. The Prodigal Son (Luke xv ).
20. The Unjust Steward (Luke ivi.).
21. The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke xvt.)
22. The Unjust Judge (Luke xviu.).
9-1. The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke xvfli y
24. rhe Laborer! in the Vineyard (Matt. is.).
(C. i Towards the close of oar Lord's ministry
Dean Trench, thirty,
been extended to tftr.
By others, the auntes
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2380
PARABLE
Immediately before and altar the entry into Jeru-
salem, the parables assume a Dew character. They
are again theocratic, but the pbaee of the Divine
Kingdom, on which the; chiefly dwell, ii that of
It* final coonimmation. They are prophetic, in
part, of the rejection of Israel, in part of the great
retribution of the oomiuic of the Lord. They an
to the earlier parables what the prophesy of Matt.
xxiv. if to the Sermon on the Mount. To thia
abas we may refer —
86. The Pound* (Luke lis.).
M. The Two Son* (Matt, xxi.).
87. The Vineyard let out to Huabandmen
(Matt. xxi.; Markxii.; Lukexx.).
88 The Marriage-Feast (Matt. zxii.).
SS The Wiaa and Fooliah Virgin* (Matt. xxv.).
M. The Talent* (Matt ut.).
SI lue Sheep and the Goat* (Matt, ut.)-
It i* oharaeteriatio of the aeveral Gospel* that
the greater part of the parable* of the ftrat and
third group* belong to St. Matthew, emphatically
the Evangelist of the kingdom. Those of the sec-
ond are found for the moat part in St. Luke. Tbey
are aueh a* we might expect to meet with in the
Goapel which dwell* moat on the tympany of
Christ Ibr all men. St Mark, a* giving vivid ree-
oliection* of the act* rather than the teaching of
Christ, is the scantiest of the three synoptic Gos-
pel*. It is not less characteristic that there are
no parables properly to called in St. John. It i*
as if be, sooner than any other, had passed into
the higher stage of knowledge in which parables
were no longer necessary, and therefore dwelt less
on them. That which his spirit appropriated most
readily were the words of eternal life, figurative it
might be in form, abounding in bold analogies, but
not in any single instance taking the form of a nar-
rative."
Lastly it is to be noticed, partly as a witness to
the truth of the four Gospels, partly as a line of
demarcation between them and all counterfeits,
that the apocryphal Gospels contain no parables.
Human invention could imagine miracles (though
these too in the spurious Gospels are stripped of all
that gives them majesty and significance), but the
parables of the Gospels were inimitable and unap-
proachable by any writers of that or the succeed-
ing sge. They possess a life and power which
stamp tbem as with the " image and superscrip-
tion " of the Son of Man. Even the total absence
of any allusion to them in the written or spoken
teaching of the Apostles shows how little their
minds set afterwards in that direction, how little
likely they were to do more than testify what they
bad actually beard.'
III. lastly, there b the law of interpretation.
It hat been urged by tome writers, by none' with
mater force or clearness than by Chrysostom
Horn, m Matt. 64), that there is a scope or pur-
ine for each parable, and that our aim must be
to discern this, not to find a special significance
in eaeb eh eumstanee or incident The rest, it is
said, may l« dealt with as the drapery which the
o See an ingenious classification of the parables of
sash Uosptl, according to their subject-matter, In
VTnteott, Introduction to tit Study oflht Ootpelt, eh
VS., Mtd Appendix V.
* The uistenos of Rabbinic parables, pi ese utln g a
ansenVlai isaaniblancie to those of the tiospel, la no
reel easrpckm to this statement Whether wa better*
tat It have had an independent origin, and at to be
PAKART.K
parable needs for its gran and nompawenna, bed
whioh la not tttenttal It may be |iiil1isuil.
however, whether thia canon of intarpreUtiau it
likely to lead ut to the full meaning of toil pectus
of our Lord's teaching. True at it linnhtlntj is,
that there was m nek parable a leading thought
to be learnt partly tram the parable itattf, partly
from the oooasion of its utterance, and that ail eln
gather* round that thought as a centre, it wart be
remembered that in the great patterns of '"'"f"
tation whioh He himself hat given us, there is mots
thanthis. Not only the tower and the teed and the
aeveral soil* have their counterpart* in the epirltml
life, but the birds of the air, the thorns, the
tonmhing heat, have each of them a rlgmfitans*
The explanation of the wheat and the tana, given
with leas fullness, an outline at it wen, which the
advancing scholar* would be aUe to fill up, la
equally specific It may be inferred from then two
instances that we are, at least, justified in looking
for a meaning even in the teeming accessories of a
parable. If the opposite mode of interpreting
should teem likely to lead us, a* it hat led many, to
strange and forced analogies, and an arbitrary dog-
matism, the safeguard may be found in our recol-
lecting that in assigning such meanings we an but
at scholar* guesting at the mind of a teach er whose
wordt an higher than our thoughts, recognising
the analogies whioh may have been, but which
were not necessarily those which he recognised.
No such interpretation can claim anything like
authority. The very form of the teaching makes
it probable that then may be, in any can, men
than one legitimate explanation. The outward feet
in nature, or in social life, may correspond to spir-
itual facta at once in God's government of the
world, and in the history of the individual souL
A parable may be at once ethical, and in the high-
ett sense of the term prophetic. There it thus a
wide field open to the discernment of the inter-
preter. There an also restraint* upon the men
fertility of hit imagination. (1.) The analogies
must be real, not arbitrary. (8.) The parabln an
to be considered an parts of a whole, and the inter-
pretation of one it not to override or encroach upon
the lessons taught by other*. (8.) The direct
teaching of Christ presents the standard to which
all oar interpretation* are to I* referred, and by
which they an to be measured. (Cooip. Dean
Trench On Ike Parable*, Introductory Remarks; to
which one who has ooos read it cannot but be men
indebted than any men references can indicate:
Stier, Word* of the Lord Jan*, en Matt. riii. 11.)
E. 11. P.
• Literature. The following list embraces only
s few of the more noticeable works on this sub-
ject For fuller references tee Han't Ltbtm Jan,
6' Aufl. (1886), J to, and Darling's Cyclop. Bibli-
ooropkiea (Subjects), eoL 1878, ft*. — Charles Bulk-
ley, Ditoomrtt* on Ike Parable* of our Saviour, and
on Ike Miracle*, 4 vole. Loud. 1771. Andrew Gray,
A Dtl'meatkm of Ike Parable* of our Saviour
with a Diet, on Parable* and Allegorical rYrilmt
lair specimens of the rnn of this form of ttechng
among the Jews, or to have been (as chronologically
they might have been) borrowed, consdoatly or ■»
oonsdoaslT, tram those of Christ, there to sttU In tat
latter a dMnetlv* power, and parity, which plan tat
other* almost beyond the range of oemparkua, aetfi
a* to outward tbm.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PAKADI8K
as amend, Land. 1TTT, Id ed. 1814, German
IBM. 1788. Stan, Do Parti). Ckrieti, Tub. 1779,
uovatw m Us Chssso. Aoad i. 80-148, Bag, tm»
■ jiasaat and Jin, m AaM. Lit, K. Y. 1889, toL
L, and fa PkUoL Trout (wi. ix. of the Edinb.
AW. CoMset). F. A. bnmete, flier dan
Otmt *. d. Form d. eoomo. Oeeekiekte, Idpa. 1806,
K W-ttft. J. F. 8. Eylert, Homitim tb. die
flare*. Jem, BaUe, 1808, 9» AufL 1MB, wHh a
arsana, essay Veoerdat Ckrrekttriotiecked. Pan*.
Jem. i. J. Kronun, Ais sdatmd. Aaroo. Jew,
ntsretfif, rr Um ltr t, a. prakt^komilei. bearboUet,
1mm, 188*. W. Sehoiton, Aioartfe de Pars*,
/en* Okridi, Deh*. Bat. 1887. F. W. Rettberg,
At floras, J. C., Gotting. 1897, 4to (prist eaj).
A. H. A. Sebnltse, As .Para*. /. C. Mdoie poeHea,
O at tlug . 189T, 4to (prist assay). A. F. Unger,
Ai Pamk Jem ffamra, Interpretation*, Urn,
Upc 1888. (Highly oomwended.) a Bailey,
£apse </ tie Parobiee, tcitk a Prekm. Diee. on
lt« Parable, Load. 1888. F. 6. Liseo, Die Par-
■Mb Jem, eaaeet-Aoaiilst bearbeUet, Bert. 1889,
f* As*. 1881, Bag. trans, by P. Fairbaba, Kdln.
1840 (ASK 0«6.). B. Onawall, £xps>. of tie
flaraolet and other Perm of Ike Gotpel, 6 Tola, in
«, Oxfc 1884. R. a Trench, Jvettt m tfte A<ww-
aies, Loud. 1841, 9th ed. 18(4, Amer. npr., 19th
ei, N. Y. 1867, Svo; ooarfcnssd, N. T. 1881, 19iuo.
(The beet work on the subject.) Fiiedr. Arodt,
Die GUicimu-Redm Jem Ckrieti. [111] Be-
r«*JnrM, 8 This. Head. 1849-47, 9* Aufl. 1846
-«0. Noander, Lebem Jem, 4* Aufi. (1847), pp.
181-189, Anter. trana. p. 107 ft*, (separately trana.
by Prof. Hackett from an earlier ed., Ckrietiem Re-
view, 1843, rH. 199 ft*., 688 ft*.). Lord Stanley
(new Earl of Derby), Cmvereatame on m* Para-
afcs, new ed., Lond. 1848, Moo. E. N. Kirk,
Leeawte en Ik* Perabtet, N. T. 1866. J. P.
Lasge, art. Gkieknim in Herxog's AaoAA'iiovii vol.
v. Oxanden, PmitUtt of our Lord, Lond. 1866.
On the later Jevrieh panblee, see Trench's JVofet
at Me Parobiee, Introd. Bern. oh. tr.; UnrwiU'i
Bekrew Tola, Lond. 1896, Amer. npr. N. Y.
1947; 6. Levi, ParaMe, leg genie e pemieri, rae-
osbs dm Ubri InhianVri, Flrense, 1861. A.
PARADISE (OTTJ, Pardee: vaoiotiirof.
Paraditut). Questions at to the nature and locality
of Paradise at identical with the garden of Gen. ii.
and iii. hare been already discussed under Edkh.
It remains to trace the history of the word and the
lasociations connected with it, as it appears in the
later books of the 0. T. and in the language of
Christ and His Apostles.
The word itself, though it appears in the shore
form in Cant. It. 13, EccL ii. 6, Neb. ii. 8, may be
bawd, with harder a doubt, a* of Aryan rather
tan of Semitic origin. It first appears in Greek
u coming straight from Persia (Xen. at inf.).
Greek lexicographers classify it ss a Persian word
(Julius Pollux, Onomatt. ix. 3). Modern philologists
teetpt the same conclusion with hardly a dissentient
■oioe (Kenan, Lamgiut Semitiouet, ii. 1, p. 163).
Ueteniut («. v.) traces it a stop further, and con-
nects it with the Sanskrit para-dtfa = high, well-
tUtd land, and applied to an ornamental garden
sUached to a house. Other Sanskrit scholars,
however, assert that the o.eaning of para-deea in
PAIUJDMK
2381
Honler Tfiniams allows the writer to
aqr ate* n* It of thai opinion Ocmp. also Busob-
daanVal SantkrU is "fbtaiga. oonntry," and aV
though they admit that it may also mean "the
bast or moat excellent country," they look on this
at an *rtTnmrt of casual oofacsdenae rather than
deriration-o Other etymologies, more faaeiful and
nuvsVtehed, hare been suggested — (1) from wapd
and Stow, ghring as a meaning, the " well-watered
groond " (Snidat, s. *.); (9) from «amt and Jean,
a barbarous word, supposed to Jgmfy • plant, «t
oolleotion of plant* (Joans- Dcuosso. in Snldat, I
ft); (8) from WI TTTO, to bring forth herbat
(4) D1TI mO, to bring forth myrrh (Ludw%,
de rapm Pan* in Parad. in atentben't Tketimr.
Tkeolog. p. 1709).
On the assumption that tb* Song of Sokanou
and Eo cl es is s tei were written in the time of Sal-
omon, the occ ur re n ce of the foreign word may be
accounted for either (1) on the hypothesis of later
forms baring crept into the text in the process of
a s c r ipt ion, or (9) on that of the word having
found its way into the language of Israel at the
time whan its dTilisation took a new flight under
th* Son of David, and the king borrowed from the
•oeas of central Asia that which made the royal
park or garden part of the glory of the kingdom.
In Neb. ii. 8, as might b* expected, the word is
used in a connection which point* it out at dis-
tinctly Persian. Tb* account given of the hanging
gardens of Babylon, in like manner, indicates Media
as the original seat both of the word and of the
thing. Nebuehadnexxar constructed them, terras*
upon terrace, that be might reproduce in the plaint
of Mesopotamia the soeoery with which the Median
princess be bad married had bean familiar in bar
native country; and this was the origin of th*
aptsuurrbf rapdtturot (Beraens, in Joseph, o. Ap.
i. 19). In Xenophon the word occurs frequently,
snd we gat rind pictures of the scene which it im-
plied. A wida open park, inclosed against Injury,
yet with it* natural beauty unspoiled, with stately
forest trees, many of them bearing fruit, watered
by dear streams, on whose banks roved huge nerds
of antelopes or sheep — this was the scenery which
oonneeted itself in th* mind of the Greek traveller
with the word wapdoWoi, and for which his own
language supplied no precise equivalent. (Comp.
iiaoa. i. 9, } 7, 4, f 9; ii. 4, § 14; HtUen. iv. 1,
S M| Cyrop. I. 3, J 14; (Kctmonu 4, { 18.)
Through the writings of Xenophon, and through
the general admixture of orientalisms in the later
Greek after the conquests of Alexander, the word
gained a recognised place, and th* I-XX. writer*
chose It for a new use which gave it a higher worth
and secured for it a more perennial life. The gar
den of Kden became 4 maUrtoot r*)f reve)?:
(Gen. U. It, iii. 98; Joel U. 8). Tbey used tht
same word whenever there was sny allusion, how-
ever remote, to th* fair region which bad beau the
first blissful home of man. The valley of the
Jordan, in their version, is the paradise of God
(Gen. xiil. 10). There is no tree In the psrsdis*
of God equal to that which in the pmphet's vision
symbolises the glory of Assyria (Ks. xxxi. 1-0).
The imagery of this chapter famishes a more vivid
picture of the scenery of a Tapdatoot than w*
find elsewhere. Tb* prophet to whom » the worn
of th* Lord cam*" by the river of Cbebar may
maun, In Humboldt's Cbsaus, U. note 880, and
a. Oraber, s wq a tsp . * v.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2882
PARADISE
mil have nen whit ha describee so dearly. Else-
where, however, as in the translation of the three
passage* in which parries oeem-i in the Hebrew, it
U need in a mora general sense. (Comp. la i. 30;
Nam. xxtv. 6; Jer. nix. S; Sacenn. Tar. 4.)
It waa natural, howerer, that tine higher mean-
ing ahould become the exclaim one, and be asso-
ciated with new thoughta. Paradise, with no other
word to qualify it, waa the bright region which
man had kat, which waa guarded by the flaming
(word. Soon a new hope aprang up. Over and
above all queationa aa to where the primeval garden
had been, there came the belief that it did not
belong entire!; to the past. There waa a pamdiee
atill into which man might hope to enter. It ia a
■natter of aome interact to ascertain with what aaso-
ciaiiona the word waa connected in the niinda of
the Jews of Palestine and other eountriea at the
time-of our Lord'e teaching, what aenae therefore
we ma; attach to it in the writinga of the N. T.
In this aa in other inataneea we ma; diatinguiah
three model of thought, each with marked char-
asteriatica, jet often blended together in different
proportions, and melting one into the other by
hardly perceptible degrees. Each haa ita counter-
part in the teaching of Chriatian theologians.
The language of the N. T. atanda apart from and
above alL (1.) To the Idealist echoed of Alexan-
dria, of which Philo ia the representative, paradiae
waa nothing more than a aymbol and an allegory.
Traces of this way of looking at it had appeared
previously in the teaching of the Son of Sirach.
The four riven of Eden are figures of the wide
atresias of Wisdom, and aha ia aa the brook which
become) a river and waters the Paradiae of God
(Eeclus. xxlv. 25-30). This, however, waa com-
patible with the recognition of Gen. ii. aa speaking
jf a fact. To Philo the thought of the fact was
unendurable. The primeval history spoke of no
garden such aa men plant and water. Spiritual
perfection (iptrh) waa the only paradiae. The
erase that grew in it were the thoughta of the
spiritual man. The fruits which they bore were
ufe and knowledge and immortality. The four
livers flowing from one source are the four virtues
jf the later Platoniata, each derived from the same
source of goodness (Philo, dt AlUg. i.). It ia ob-
vious that a system of interpretation such as this
waa not likely to become popular. It was confined
to a single school, possibly to a single teacher. It
has little or nothing corresponding to it ia the S. T.
(2.) The Rabbinic schools of Palestine present-
ed a phase of thought the very opposite of that of
the Alexandrian writer. They had their descrip-
tions, definite and detailed, a complete topography
of the unseen world. Paradiae, the garden of
Eden, existed still, and they discussed the question
H its locality. The anawera were not always eon-
detent with each other. It was far off in the dis-
tant Fast, further than the foot of man had trod.
A was a region of the world of the dead, of Sbeot,
j the heart of the earth. Gehenna waa on one
ride, with ita flames and torments. Paradiae on
the rtl-er, the intermediate borne of the blessed.
(Comp. Wetatein, Grotiua, and Sehoetigen on hue.
ixiii.) The patriarchs were there, Abraham, and
jaae, and Jacob, ready to receive their faithful
leacendania into their bosoms (Joseph, dt Mace
e- 13). The highest place of honor at the beat
rf the Ueaaed souls was Abraham's bosom (Luke
irL S3), on which the new heir of immortality re-
■ the favored and honored guest. Or,
PABADISB
again, paradiae waa neither on the earth, no* with
in it, but above it, In the third heaven, or in ease
higher orb. [Hkavek.] Or there were two par-
adises, the upper and the lower — one in heaven
for those who had attained the beigbta of boUness
one in earth, for those who had lived but de»
oentty (Sehoettgsn, Bar. Bab. ia Apoc ti. 7), ana
the heavenly paradiae was sixty times aa large aa
the whole lower earth (Kieco monger, AMdecfe. J*,
dank. Ii. p. 897). Each had seven palaces, and ha
each palace were ita appropriate dwellers (Had. p.
303). As the righteous dead entered paradiae,
angels stripped them of their grave-clothes, arrayed
them in new robes of glory, and placed on their
beads diadems of gold and pearls {ibid. p. 310).
There was no night there. Ita pavement waa of
precious atones. Plants of healing power and
wondrous fragrance grew on the banks of Ha
streams (total p. 313). From thii lower paradiae
the souls of the dead rose on sabbaths and on
fasat-daya to the higher (Hid. p. 818), where every
day there waa the presence of Jehovah bokftag
council with Hie saints (Hid. p. 390). (Comp. also
Sohoettgen, flbr. Bab. ia hue xxiii)
(8.) Out of the dlseossiona and theories of the
Rabbis, there grew a broad popular belief, fixed in
the hearts of men, accepted without discussion,
blending with their beat hopes. Their prayer for
the dying or the dead waa that hia soul might rest
in paradiae, in the garden of Eden (Haimooidea,
Porta Moat, quoted by Wetatein m hue. xxiiL ;
Taylor, Funeral Sermon on Sir (J. DaUUm). The
belief of the Essenes, aa reported by Joaephus (B.
J. ii. 8, § 11), may be accepted aa a fair reprasen-
tation of the thoughts of those who, like them,
were not trained in the Rabbinical schools, Bring
in a simple and mora childlike faith. To tbem
accordingly paradiae waa a far-off hud, a region
where there waa no scorching heat, no consuming
cold, where the soft west-wind from the ocean tlaw
forevermore. The visions of the id book of Es-
dras, though not without an admixture of Chriatian
thoughts and phrases, may be looked upon as rep-
resenting this phase of feeling. There also we
have the picture of a fair garden, atreama of milk
and honey, twelve trees laden with divers fruits,
mighty mountains whereon grow lilies and rosea
(ii. 19) — a place into which the wicked shall not
enter.
It ia with thia popular belief, rather than with
that of either school of Jewish thought, that the
language of the N. T. connect* Itself. In thia, la
in other inataneea, it ia made the starting-point
for an education which leads men to riae from it to
higher thoughta. Toe old word ia kept, and ia
raised to a new dignity or power. It ia significant,
indeed, that the word "paradiae" nowhere ocean
in the public teaching of our Lord, or ir his In-
tercourse with his own disciples. Connected aa K
bad been with the thoughta of a sensuous happi-
ness, it waa not the fittest or the best word tar
those whom He was training to riae out of sensuous
thoughta to the higher regions of the spiritual Ufa.
For them, accordingly, the kingdom of Heaven,
the kingdom of God, are the words moat dwelt v.
The blessedness of the pure in heart is that they
God. If language borrowed from theft
speech ia used at other times, if they heat
of the marriage-supper and the new wine, it ia not
till they have been taught to understand parablai
and to separate the figure from the reality. Will
the thief dying on the cross *he case waa different
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PABADISB
Wa tea ■—mini nothing in to* roboer-outlaw, but
Ik* toast rudimentary forme of popular belief. We
Bay wall believe that tot word used here, and here
sal/, in the whole eoune of the Gospel history,
had a spralnl fitness for him. His reverence, eym-
eaehy, repentance, hope, uttered theoualves in the
prayer, " Lord, remember me whan thon comeat
into thy kingdom!'' What were the thought* of
the sufferer aa to that Mngvi««i we do not know.
Uneas they were auparnaturally railed above the
level which the dieniplea had reaebed by alow and
painful steps, they mutt have been mingled with
vieiooa of an earthly glory, of pomp, and viotory,
and triumph. The anewer to hi* prayer gave him
what be needed moat, the assurance of immediate
ratt and peace. The word paradiie spoke to him,
aa to other Jews, of repose, abelter, Joy — the
gr e atest eootraat possible to the thirst, and agony,
and ahame of the houra upon the cross. Bndi-
nantary aa hk previous thought* of it might be,
this was the word fittest for the eduoation of bis
spirit.
There is a like significance in the general ab-
smee of the word from the language of the Epis-
tles. Here also it is found nowhere in the direct
teaching. It oecors only in passages that are
apocalyptic, and therefore almost of n ec e ssity sym-
bolic. Si. Paul speaks of one, apparently of him-
self, as having ben " caught up into paradise," sa
baring there heard things that might not be ut-
tered (2 Cor. xii. 4).« In the message to the first
of the Seven Churches of Asia, " the tree of life
which is in the midst of the paradise of God," ap-
pears as the reward of him that overeometh, the
•ymbol of an eternal blessedness. (Comp. Dean
rrsneh, Comim. on tkt EpiMiti to At Seven
Ckarchu, in loc.) The thing, though not the
ward, appears in the dosing visions of Rev. xxii.
(4.) The eager curiosity which prompts men to
press on into the things behind the veil, has led
them to oonstruct hypotheses more or less definite
as to the intermediate state, and these have affect-
ed the thoughts which Christian writers have con-
nected with the word paradise. Patristic and later
interpreters follow, aa has been noticed, in the foot-
steps of the Jewish schools. To Origan and others
sf a like spiritual insight, paradise U but a syno-
nym for a region of life and immortality — one
tad the same with the third heaven (Jerome, if.
so* Jeh. Him*, in Wordsworth on 3 Cor. xii.).
So for as it is a place, it is as a school in which the
ends of men are trained and learn to judge rightly
of the things they have done and seen on earth
(Origan, dt Princ. ii. 12). The sermon of Basil,
dt Paradito, gives an eloquent representation of
Jss common belief of Christians who were neither
nyatieal nor speculative. Hinds at once logical
ind sensuous ask questions as to the locality, and
he answers are wildly conjectural. It is not in
I (1) whether the nuts of St.
*aal was corpore al or Ineorporoal, (8) whether the
Unt beano Is to be Identlfled rritb or distinguished
ton paradise, (8) whether this was the upper or the
ewer ptradlss of the Jewish schools, comp. Mayer,
Vortxrortta, Aland, i» lee ,- August dt Ova, ad till.
a. I Loawtg, Dm. a* taste fault, in Manthen's
■ T ewiir ej . Iossrsreted by the current Jewish belief
(the period, wo may raft* the "tawa Aes eve " We
rUea of the IMvfaM eiory ; "paraete," toavwem of
*• Mlowshlp of the rejhlsoBs deed, waning In aataa-
PARABISK 2882
Hades, and la therefore different from Abraham's
bosom (TertulL dt IduL o. 13). It is above and
beyond the world, separated from it by a wall of
fire (TertulL ApoL c.47). It is the " refrigerium "
for all faithful souls, when they have the vision of
saints, and angels, and of Christ himself (Just. M.
Hupont. ad Orthado*. 76 and 86), or for those
only who are entitled, as martyrs, fresh from the
baptism of blood, to a special reward above their
follows (Tertull. dt Anim. c 66)." It is in the
fourth heaven (Clem. Ala. Pragm. §61). It ie
in some unknown region of the earth, where the
seas and skies meet, higher than any earthly moan-
tain (Joann. Damaao. dt OrOtod. Fid. ii. 11), east
had thus eseapsd the waters of the Flood (P. Loat
bard, Seafeaf. ii. 17, £.). It has been ioaatuM
with the <pv\<ucfi of 1 Pes. iii. 19, and the spirits
in it are those of the antediluvian races who re-
pented before the great destruction overtook them
(Bishop Horsley, Strmont, xx.). (Comp. an elab-
orate note in Thilo, (Judex Apocryph. N. T. p.
764.) The word enters largely, as might be ex-
pected, into the apocryphal literature of the early
Church. Where the true Gospels are most reti-
cent, the mythical-are most exuberant The Gos-
pel of Nicodemus, in narrating Christ's victory
over Hades (the " harrowing of bell " of our early
English mysteries), tells how, till then, Enoch and
Ekjah had been its sole inhabitants « — how the
penitent robber wss there with his cross on the
night of the crucifixion — how the souls of the
patriarchs were led thither by Christ, and were re-
ceived by the archangel Michael, aa he kept watch
with the naming swords at the gate. In the apoc-
ryphal Acta PhiUppi (Tischendorf, Act. ApotU p.
89), the Apostle is sentenced to remain for forty
days outside the circle of paradise, because he had
given way to anger and cursed the people of Hie-
rapolis for their unbelief.
(6.) The later history of the word presents soma
facta of Interest. Aooepting in this, as in other
instances, the mythical elements of eastern Chris-
tianity, the creed of Islam presented to its followers
the hope of a sensuous paradise, and the Persian
word was transplanted through it into the lan-
guages spoken by them.'' In the West it passes
through some strange transformations, sod de-
scends to baser uses. The thought that men on
entering the Church of Christ returned to the
blessedness which Adam had forfeited, was sym-
bolized in the cburoh architecture of the fourth
century. The narthex, or atrium, in which wen
assembled those who, not being Jideles in full com-
munion, wen not admitted into the interior of the
building, was known as the "Paradise" of tht
church (Alt, CWnis, p. 691). Athanssius, it has
been said, speaks scornfully of Arisnism at eteep-
ing into this paradise,* implying that it nriitrssscd
itself to the ignorant and untaught In the Wet*
a A special treetb* by TertalUan, as PatmHtn, is
unfortunately lost
e One trace of this belief Is found in the Vulg. of
BVclos. xliv. 16, " tranaUtua est m paradisian," in the
absence of any eorraapondlng word in the Oraak
text
d Thus it ocean in the Koran hi the form jMsat;
aad lbs name of the Persian post tardus! is probably
derived from H (Humboldt's Cetera, Ii. note 980).
a The peaaare quoted by Alt la nam Oat. t. Jrit*.
II. (vol. i. p. 807, Ooloa.' 16S8): Sal fhApwat wdfcs
ilevXw «k rev — e aliie w rtt eseAactat. It s al s as
Digitized by VjOOQlC
8884
PABAH
we trace a change of torn, and one singular change
of supKoatkm. Paradno beoomct in some Italian
dialects Paravieo, and tola paaata into the French
pnrvU," denoting the weatern porch of a church,
or the open apaee in front of it (Dueange, t. ».
»rarviaus"; Diet, Etymtiog. Wtrttrb. p. 70*).
In the eburch thie apaee was occupied, as we have
seen, by the lower nlassrs of the people. The word
area transferred from the place of worship to the
place of amusement, and, though the position was
entirely diflerent, was applied to the highest and
cheapest gallery of a French theatre (Alt, CWfee,
LaV By some, however, this nee of the word is
aonnected only with the extreme height of the gal-
)ary,jaatae u ebeminde Pandit" it a proverbial
phrase for any specially arthwna undertaking (Be-
aeharelle, DUtinmmrt Francmi). R. H. P.
• On this subject see W. A. Alger's Critical
Hilary of Me Doctrine of a FtHmr* Life, 4th
cd. N. Y. 1866, ud for the literature, the biblio-
grapbical Appendix to that work (eomp. refer e nc es
In the Index of Sobjeeta). A.
PATtAH (rn^n, with the def. article [Me
heifer]: wood; Alex. Afap: Apliphara), one of
the cities in tbe territory allotted to Benjamin,
named only in the lists of the conquest (Josh, xviii.
28). It occurs in the first of the two groups into
which the towns of Benjamin are divided, which
seems to contain those of the northern and eastern
portions of the tribe, between Jericho, Bethel, and
tieba; the towns of the south, from Gibeon to Je-
rusalem, being enumerated in the second group.
In the Onomattiem (" Aphra ") it is specified
by Jerome only — the text of Eusebius being
wanting, — as five miles east of Bethel. No traces
of the name have yet been found in that position ;
but the name F&rah exists further to the S. E.
attached to the Wndy F&rah, one of the southern
branches of the great Wady Stuetmit, and to a
site of ruins at the junction of the same with the
main valley.
This identification, first suggested by Dr. Robin-
son (i. 439), is supported by Van de Velde (Memoir,
p. 339) and Schwara (p. 126). The drawback men-
tioned by Dr. It., namely, that the Arabia word
(«-- " mouse ") differs in signification from the He-
brew (" the cow ") is not of much forar, since it is
the habit of modern names to cling to similarity
of sound with the ancient names, rather than of
signification. (Compare Beit-w; elAai,etc.)
A view of Wndy F&rah h given by Barclay
(City, etc p. 668), who proposes it for J&sox. G.
• PARALYTIC, HEALING OF THB.
[Hows, vol. 11. p. 1104.]
PA-KAN, BL-PA'BAN (\^% *?%
I"?*? 1 *ofi», LXX. "id Joseph.; [1 Sam. xxv.
1, Rom. MoaV, Vat Moor: Pharcm]).
1 It it shown under Kadbsh that tbe name
I'aran corresponds probably in general outline with
tie desert tt- Tth. The Sinaitic desert, including tbe
w xlge of metamorphie rooks, granite, syenite, and
•a Mr conjecture la, It may be Questioned whether the
taraaam which he fuMs in the words is not the erea-
tkm of his own Imagination. Than seams no ground
for i s fcn i u g thu word aafadata to any ssetton of she
Ohnrch, but nther to the Chareh as a whole (camp,
august •«< Gm. ad Hot all.). The Arams were to It
what aha serpent bad bean to tba earner pandh*.
PABAN, jUr-PARAK
porphyry, set, as h were, fa a sup er nasa l m ar g in ol
old red eaadato n a, forma nearly a 1
with its apex southwards, and having its I
upper edge not a straight, bat concave eraseent Ism
— the ridge, in abort, of the at- 71a range of moun-
tali*, extending about MO miles front east to went,
with a alight dip, the eurve of the aforeatM eraeeent
southwards. Speaking generally, tbe wilderness
of Sinai (Num. x. IS, xU. 16), In which tbe mareb-
stations of Taberah and Haseroth, if the latta
[HAcnum] be identical with BUhtri, are prob-
ably included towards its N. E. Unit, may be said
to Be S. of the ot-Tth range, tba wilderness of
Paran N. of it, and tbe one- to end where the other
begins. That of Paran is a stretch of chalky
formation, the chalk Mng covered with eoarse
gravel, mixed with black flint and drifting sand.
The surface of this extensive desert tract is • akpe
ascending towards the north, and in it appear to
riae (by Ruesegger'a map, from which moat of the
previous deserlptiuu it taken) three chalky ridges,
as it were, terraces of mountainous formation, all
to the W. of a Hue drawn from Rnt M oh a m m ed
to Kilnt tt-Aritk en the Mediterranean. The
caravan-route from Cairo to Ahabn creases the es-
7U desert in a line from W. to E., a little 8. In
this wide tract, which extends northwards to join
the "wilderness of Bter-eheba'' (Gen. xxi. 81, cf.
14), and eastward probably to the wilderness of Zin
[Kadksh] on the Edomititb border, Ishmad dwelt,
and there probably his posterity originally multi-
plied. Ascending northwards from it on a meridian
to tbe K. of fteer-eheba, we should reach Maon and
Osnnel, or that southern portion of tbe territory
of Judafa, W. of the Dead Sea, known at "the
South," where the waste changes gradually into
an uninhabited pasture-land, at least in spring and
autumn, and in which, under the name of " Paran,"
Nabal fed his flocks (1 Sam. xxv. 1). Between tbe
wiktemem of Paran and that of Zin no strict de-
marcation exists in the narrative, nor do the natural
features of the region, so far aa yet ascertained,
yield a well-defined boundary. The name of Paran
seems, aa in the story of IshmaiJ, to have pre-
dominated towards the western extremity of the
northern desert frontier of et-TU>, and in Num.
xxxiv. 4 the wild ern es s of Zin, not Paran, ie spoken
of as the southern border of tbe land or of the
tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 3). If by tbe Paran
region we understand "that great and terrible
wilderness " so emphatically described as the haunt
of noxious creatures and the terror of the way-
farer (Deo*, i. 19, riii. 16), then we might see bow
the adjacent tracts, which still must be called
" wild ern ess," might, either as having leas repul-
sive features, or because they lay near to some
settled country, have a special nomenclature of their
own. For the latter reason the wildernesses of
Zin, eastward towards Edom and Mount Seer, and
of Shur, westward towards Egypt, might be thus
distinguished; for the former reason that of Sin
and Sinai. It would not be inconsistent with the
rules of Scriptural nomenclature, if we suppose
these a cc e s s ory wilds to be sometimes included
• This word will bs ramMsr to many m ean t from
the "Basponstonas In rwreiw " of tbe Oxford sywaw
of examination, however BtHs ussy may pnvkmsiv
have eo n us c ted that place with tewJr thoughts of par-
adise. By others, however, rurvteaaa (or-ews) n de
rived "a perrls "reels M aaneak" (Jsaasg., Ore/."*
Is Inrar Jfrawf. a. T. « Perrls "V
Digitized by VjOOQlC
FA&A9
■to the mmenl mm of « wilderness rf Pun s "
sad. It tbt* extent we ma; perhaps modify the
feilisas general statement that 8. rf the etTa*
■p m the wilderness of Sinai, and N. rf it that
sT fun. Still, con otr osd strictly, the wiMer-
«mh rf reran and Zm would Mtm to lie M
sbeasy approxiinatejy laid down. [Kadksh.] If,
l i e— i u, as previously hinted, they may in another
•lew be regarded as overlapping, we oan.more easily
onderstand how Chedorlaoiuer, when he " smote "
the peoplss a rf the Dead Sea, returned round its
awthaasnau curve to the el-l'sran, or «• terebinth-
tsas rf Faran," viewed as indicating a locality in
ssaaastinn with the wilderness rf Patau, and yet
(lose, apparently, to that Dead Sea border (Gen.
sir. 6).
Was there, then, a Paran proper, or definite spot
to which the name was applied ? From Dent. 1. 1
it should seem then must hare bean. This is eon-
PARAST
2886
firmed by 1 K. xi. 18, from which we (farther lean
the met rf its being an inhabited region ; and the
position required by the context bare is one between
Midkn and Egypt If we are to reconcile these
passages by the aid rf the personal history rf
Moses, it seems certain that the local Midbui rf
the Siniatie peninsula must have lain near the
Mount Horeb Hastf (Ex. iii. 1, xviii. 1-8). The
site of the « Paran " of Haded the Edomite must
then have Iain to the N. W. or Egyptian side rf
Horeb. This brings us. if we assume any prin-
cipal mountain, accept StrtU," rf the whole Sine-
itie group, to be "Ikt Mount rf God," so doss to
the Wady Faran that the similarity rf nana,*
supported by the recently expressed opinion sf
eminent geographers, may be taken as establishing
substantial identity. Ritter (vol. xiv. p. 740, 741
and Stanley (pp. 39-41) both consider that ICenb-
iaua is to be found fa Wadf Fmran, and ■
I of JMrIii la ■/■*> Mraa.
stber plsee in the whole peninsula seems, from Its
local advantages, to have been so likely to form an
entrepot in Solomon's time between Edom and
Egypt. Burckhardt (Syria, etc p. 60S) describes
this wady as narrowing in one spot to 100 paces,
sad adds that the high mountains adjacent, and
the thick woods which clothe it, contribute with
the bad water to make it unhealthy, but that It is,
for productiveness, the finest valley « in the whole
peninsula, containing four miles rf gardens and
date-groves. Tet he thinks it was not the Paran
If Scripture. Professor Stanley, on the contrary,
<esms to speak on this point with greater confi-
enee in the affirmative than perhaps on any other
«. Nation connected with the Exodus. See esps-
nauy bis remarks (89-41) regarding the local term
'hill" of Ex. xviL 9, 10, which he considers to
a for sae reasons way Bntal should not as a*.
yVn), says to. wuaertuM se called,
■ end isjysi, bears Uu> aaase at the
He amps new tn nsa atv» aay
at «•» ancient nam* than Wkirmn.
be ssHsflad by an eminence adjacent to the 1V<ii/j
Faran. The vegetable manna << of the tamarisk
grows wild there (Seetxen, Rata, iii. 76), as
does the colocynth, etc. (Robinson, 1. 121-124).
What could have led Winer («. e. '< Paran ") to
place el-Paran near Elath, it la not easy to say, m
pecially as be gives no authority.
3. "Mount" Paran occurs only in two poetic
passages (Deut. xxxiii. 9; Hab. iii. 8), in one of
which Sinai and Seir appear as local acmsanrien, la
the other Teman and (ver. 7) Cushan and Midiin.
We need hardly pause to Inquire in what sense
Seir can be brought into one local view with Sinai.
It is clear from a third poatio passage, in which
Paran does not appear (Judg. v. 4, 6), but which
contains " Seir," more literally determined by
» Edom," still in the same local connection with
c OoBipam, however, the same traveller's statement
of the clalau of a esast wady at lar, on the Golf of
Bass (Borekharot, Ank. H. SB ; eomp. Wallstaa, H.
9), " receiving all the waters which flow down ftcsn the
higher rang* of Steal to the sea " (Stanley, r 19).
d The Tkmanz Qntiien mann^/en of ■hrenbsrg,
■a Iws/w of the Arabs (Jntaasea, I. UB.
Digitized by
Google
2S36 PARBAR
•• Sinai," that the Hebrew found no difficulty in
dewing the greater scene* of God's manifestation
tn the Exodus as historically and morally,* if not
locally connected. At any rale Mount Paran hen
may with as good a right be claimed for the
Sinaitlc as for the Edomitiah side of the difficulty.
And the distance, after all, from Horeb to Mount
Seir was probably one of ten days or lees (Deut. 1.
8). It is not unlikely that if the Wady Feiran be
the Paran proper, the name "Mount" Paran may
turn been either assigned to the special member
(the northwestern] of the Sinaitlc mountain-group
which lies adjacent to that wady,* or to the whole
Sinaitic clnster. That special member is the five-
peaked ridge of StrbiL If this view for the site
of Paran is correct, the Israelites must have pro-
ceeded from their encampment by the sea (Num.
xxxiii. 10), probably Tayibtk [Wilderxesr or
thb Wahdekino], by the " middle " route of the
three indicated by Stanley (pp. 88, 89).
H. H.
PARTJAB C"ty"5§J3, with the definite arti-
cle [see below]: e Iiao>xop«Vovf : cdhda). A
word occurring in Hebrew and A. V. only in 1
Chr. xxvi. 18, but there found twice: "At the
Parbar westward four (Levi tee) at the causeway
two at the Parbar." From this passage, and also
from the context, it would seem that Parbar was
some place on the west side of the Temple indo-
sure, the same aide with the causeway and the gate
Snallecheth. The latter was close to the cause-
way — perhaps on it as the Bab SiUilu now is —
and we know from its remains that the causeway
was at the extreme north of the western walL
Parbar therefore must hare been south of Shal-
lecheth.
As to the meaning of the name, the Rabbis
generally, agree <* in translating it "the outside
place; " while modern authorities take it as equiv-
alent to the pnrvtrim' in Si K. xxiii. 11 (A. V.
" suburbs "), a word almost identical with parbar,
and used by the early Jewish interpreters as the
equivalent of migrathim, the precincts (A. T.
"suburbs") of the Levities! cities. Accepting
this interpretation, there is no difficulty in identi-
fying the Parbar with the suburb (to vooturrf u>r)
mentioned by Joaephus in describing Herod's Tem-
ple (Ant. xv. 11, } 6), as lying In the deep valley
which separated the west wall of the Temple from
the city opposite it; in other words, the southern
end of the Tyropoon, which intervenes between
the Wailing Place and the (so-called) Zkm. The
two gates in the original wall were in Herod's
Temple increased to four.
■ The language In the thres passages (Deut xxxili.
1; IUb. Ul. ; Jndg. t. 4, 6) Is as strikingly similar as
Is theporport and spirit of sU the three. All describe
a spiritual pre t enc e manifested by natural convulsions
attendant; and all are confirmed by Ps. lxviH. 7, 8,
In which Sinai alone Is named. We may almost
regard this lofty rhapsody as a commonplace of the
Inspired song of triumph, in which the tear seems to
Wave earth 10 far beneath him that the preclseneas of
geographic detail Is hat to his view.
» Out of the wady Anon, tn an easterly dirertion,
runs the Wady Aria*, which conducts the traveller
Unetty to the "modern Horeb." Bee Kiepert's map.
• What Hebrew worn Ins III read here is not
lieu.
* e^lheTargnmofthepsesige; also Bnxterf, Ux.
PARMJSKAS
It does not follow (as tome have assure sd| thai
Parbar was identical with the " suburbs" of 9 K.
xxiii. 11, though the words denoting each may
have the asms signification. For it eeeme neat
consonant with probability to suppose that the
" horses of the Sun " would be kept on the lasliiu
side of the temple mount, in full view of the
rising rays of the god as they shot over the Mount
of Olives, and not in a deep valley on Its western
side.
Parbar la possibly an ancient Jebuette tame,
which perpetuated iteeb after the Israelite ocoqaest
of the city, at many a Danish and Saxon name
has been perp e tuated, and still exists, only slightly
disguised, in the city of London. ©.
• PARCHED CORN. [Roth, Book or,
Amer. ed.]
• PARCHED GROUND. The Hebrew
term G-^Y' thir&b) so rendered in Is. xxxv. 7
(A. V.) — "the parched ground shall become a
pool " — is understood by the best scholars to de-
note the mirat/e, the Arabic name for which is
srrdo. So Geeenius, Flint, De Wette, HitsJg,
KnobeL EwaM, etc.; comp. Winer, BiiL Real-
vtrterb. art. « Sandmeer," and Thomson's Land
and Book, ii. 887, 888. The phenomenon referred
to is too well known to need description here. A.
PARCHMENT. [Writoto.]
PARLOR/ A word in English usage mean-
ing the common room of the family, and hence
probably in A. V. denoting the king's andience-
chamber, so used in reference to Eglon (Judg. UL
80-85: Rioliardton, Eng. Diet.). [Howie, voL Ii.
p. 1188.] H. W. P.
PARMASHTA QN^fcTfi [sapeHor,
Sanakr., Ges.] : Mapuatripd'; Alex. Map/taffifam;
[FA. Moffuurifi-] Phermetta). One of the text
sons of Haman slain by the Jews in Shushaa (Esth.
ix.9).
PAR'MENAS (nao/usrat [prob. r contrac-
tion of Parmenides, slena/Visf]). One c! the seven
deacons, ■' men of honest report, full of the Holy
Ghost and wisdom," selected by the whole body of
the disciples to superintend the ministration of
their alma to the widows and necessitous poor.
Parmenas is placed sixth on the list of those who
were ordained by the laying on of the hands of
the Apostles to this special function (Acts vi. 5).
His name occurs but this once in Scripture; and
ecclesiastical history records nothing of him save
the tradition that he suffered martyrdom at Philippl
in the reign of Trajan (Baron, ii. 65). In the
IWM. s. T. 3*10; and the references In Ughtfeot,
Prospect of TnnfU, eh. T.
« Oessnius, I*». p. 1188 « ; FOrst, Jan***, ft. 836 »,
ate. Oessnius oonnects pmrttt rim with a ahnDar Par*
elan word, meaning a building open on all sMes setae
sun and air.
/ 1. *1*JHl ewstfes; aMeuhtm; once only "par-
lor " In 1 Ohr. zxvtll. 11 ; elsewhere anally «
ber," a withdrawn* room (Oes. p. MS).
8. TVtVlh; cara*s|M
riK^i
bar"
has "parlor i"
with art. In each taetanes where A. T
sartor';" t» leis f i r j
"chamber." It I"
xTltt. 88, 8 K. xxB. 18.
aencees an upper chamber la 1 1
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PABNAOH
of the Bysantine Church he and Pro-
eherus are commemorated on July 38th.
E.H-*
PAaVNAOH OTpQ [«•"/» or deUeate, Gas.] :
*aprix '• Pharnaek). Father or ancestor of Eliza-
phan prince of the tribe of Zebulun (Num. xxxIt.
PAT108H (B?»19 l/Ua}: +^4,, Alex,
goosi in Ear. ii. S; elsewhere *><fpot: Phartt).
The descendants of Paroah, in number 9,173, re-
timed from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ear. ii. S;
Neb. Tii. 8). Another detaehmant of ISO male*,
with Zaehariah at their head, asoompanied Eara
(Ear. viii. • [where A. V. reads Pharobh]).
Sawn of the family had married foreign wine
(Ear. x. 35). They assisted in the building of
the waO of Jerusalem (Neh. iii. SS), and signed
the eoTenant with Nehemiah (Neh. x. 14). In the
last-quoted passage the name Parosb is clearly that
of a family, and not of an individual.
PARBHANDATHA (M^^pS^S [an be-
low]: +apcarvii\ Alex, ^abowsorw; [Gomp.
*afnrartaSi :] Phar$andatha). The eldest of
Hainan's ten sons who were slain by the Jews in
Shuaban (Esth. ix. 7). Fiirst (flimcneo.) renders
it into old Persian frathnadata, "given by prayer,"
and compares the proper name Tlaptr&rtrit, which
oeenn in Diod. ii. 88.
PARTHIANS (Tlifim- Parthi) occurs only
in Acta ii. 9, where it designates Jews settled in
Parthia. Parthia Proper was the region stretching
along the southern flank of the mountains which
separate the great Persian desert from the desert of
Kharesm. It lay south of Hyrcania, east of Media,
and north of Sagartia. The country waa pleasant,
and fairly fertile, watered by a number of small
streams flowing from the mountains, and absorbed
after a longer or a shorter oourse by the sands. It
is now known as the Atak or " skirt," and is still
a Taluable part of Persia, though supporting only
a scanty population. In ancient times it seems to
have been densely peopled ; and the ruins of many
large and apparently handsome cities attest its
former prosperity. (See Fraser's Kkorauan, p.
246.)
The ancient Parthiant are called a " Soythle "
race (Strab. xl. 9, { 3; Justin, xli. 1-4; Arrlan,
Fr. p. I); and probably belonged to the great
Turafiiun fiunily. Various stories are told of their
origin. Hoses of Chorene calls them the descend-
ants of Abraham by Keturah (HitL Amen. U.
86); while John of Malala relates that they were
Scythians whom the Egyptian king Sesostris
broug ht with him on his return from Scythia, and
settled in a region of Persia (Hi$L Univ. p. 96;
compare Arrian, L$.c). Really, nothing is known
of them till about the time of Darius Hystaspis,
when they are found in the district which so long
retained their name, and appear as faithful sub-
jects of the Persian monarch*. We may fairly
us at ai me that they were added to the empire by
~!yrm, about b. c. 580; for that monarch stems
to hare been the conqueror of all the northeastern
provinces. Herodotus speaks of them as contained
in the 16th satrapy of Darius, where tney were
■oined with the Chorasmians, the SogiLuM, and
the Arams, or people of Herat /Herod, iii. 88). He
also mentions that they served in the army which
Xerxes led Into Green, under the same leader as
the Choraamiana (vit. 66). They carried bows and
147
PARTHIANS 2887
arrows, and short spears; but were not at this time
held in much repute as soldiers. In the final
struggle between the Greeks and Persians they
remained faithful to the latter, serving at Arbeit
(Ait. Exp. Alex. iii. 8), but offering only a weak
resistance to Alexander when, on his way to Bactria,
he entered their country (ibid. 35). In the division
of Alexander's dominions they fell to the share of
Eumeoes, and Parthia for some while was counted
among the territories of the Seleucidaj. About
B. c. 256, however, they ventured upon a revolt,
and under Araacea (whom Strabo calls " a king of
the Dahas," but who was mora probably a native
leader) they succeeded in establishing their inde-
pendence. This was the beginning of the great
Parthian empire, which may be regarded as rising
out of the ruins of the Persian, and as taking its
place during the centuries when the Roman power
vras st its height
Parthia, in the mind of the writer of the Acta,
would designate this empire, which extended from
India to the Tigris, and from the Chorarmian desert
to the shores of the Southern Ocean. Hence the
prominent position of the name Parthians in the
list of thorn present at Pentecost. PartKa was a
power almost rivaling Home— the only existing
power which bad tried its strength agaiut Rome
and not been worsted in the encounter. By the
defeat and destruction of Crassus near Canine (the
Scriptural Harran) tiu Parthians acquired that
character for military prowess which attaohm to
them in the best writers of the Roman elnasieal
period. (See Hor. Od. it. 13; Sat. ii. 1, 16; Virg.
Quorg. iii. 81; Or. Art. Am. i. 309, Ac.) Their
armies were composed of clouds of horsemen, who
were all riders of extraordinary expettness; their
chief weapon was the bow. They shot their arrows
with wonderful precision while their horses were
in full career, and were proverbially remarkable for
the injury they inflicted with then weapons on
an enemy who attempted to follow them in their
flight From the time of Crassus to that of
Trajan they were an enemy whom Rome especially
dreaded, and whose ravages she was content to
repel without revenging. The warlike successor
of Nerva had the boldness to attack them; and his
expedition, which was well conceived and vigorously
conducted, deprived them of a considerable portion
of their territories. In the next reign, that of
Hadrian, the Parthians roeovered then losses; but
their military strength was now upon the decline,
and in A. D. 336, the last of the Arsaddas was
forced to yield hia kingdom to the revolted Per-
sians, who, under Artaxerxes, son of Susan, suc-
ceeded In reestablishing their empire. The Par-
thian dominion thus lasted for nearly fire notaries,
commencing in the third eentury before, and termi-
nating in the third century after, our era.
It baa already been stated that the Parthians
were a Turanian race. Their success is to be re-
garded as the subversion of a tolerably advanced
civilization by a comparative barbarism — the sub-
stitution of Tatar coarseness for Aryan polish and
refinement They aimed indeed at adopting the
art and civilisation of those whom they conquered ;
but their imitation was a poor travntie, and there
is something ludicrously grotesque in most of their
more ambitious efforts. At the same time, they
oc c as i o n all y exhibit a certain amount of skill and
taste, more especially where they followed Greek
mode*. Their architecture waa better than thaii
sculpture. The famous ruins of Cteatnbon has* a
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2888 PARTITION
grandeur of eflect which strikes every traveller;
and the Parthian constructions st Akkerkuf, El
Ham mam, etc., an among the moat remarkable of
oriental remain*. Nor wae grandeur of general
nfor* of Fame, surmounting; the Arch at 75ie*«-«-BM-
tan. (Sir B. K. Porter's Travels, rol. II. fbl. 62.)
effect the only merit of their buildings. There ia
aometimce a beauty and delicacy in their ornamen-
tation which ia almoat worthy the Greek*. (For
Ornamentation of Arch at Tacfct-i-Sottm.
specimens of Parthian sculpture and architecture,
ate the Travel* of Sir R. K. Porter, toL i. plates
19-34; vol. ii. plates (52-66 and 82, Ac. For the
general history of the nation, see Heeren's Manual
of Ancient History, pp. 229-305, Eng. TV.; and
the article Pabthia in Diet, of Gr. and Am.
Geography.) [See also Rawlinson's Ancient Mon-
archic!, iii. 42, and iv. 19] 6. R.
• PARTITION, MIDDLE WALL OF,
Eph. ii. 14. The Greek Is to /uiroVoiyor rod
+paynov, and in the figure the " middle wall "
formed the ■' partition," or mora strictly " fence "
(f pay/its), which before the coming of Christ
separated Jews and Gentiles from each other, but
which his death abolished, so as to bring all nations
together on the same common ground aa regards
their participation in the blessings of the Gospel.
Many interpreters find here an allusion to the row
of marble pillars or screen which in Herod's Tem-
ple fenced off the court of the Gentiles from that
of the Jews, on which, aa Philo and Josephus state,
was written in Latin and Greek: " No foreigner may
go further on penalty of death " (see KuinoeL Acta
Apntt. p. 706: and Keil, Biol ArckAologie, i. 142).
EUioott would admit a reference in this passage
both to this middle wall and to the rending of the
■ " Piirdlx ankn nomen suum hebralrum N"lp
habet a votande, qua aadmodum eadem aria Oermanla
sTUtnr Rtpkuhn a rtyxit, 1. • ruftn, rocare" (Roeen-
mull Sekol. m Jtr. rrii. 11). Mr. Tristram says that
tan would be aa admirable Imitation of the call-note
ef Chevssii asmctlu.
PARTRIDGE
rail at the moment when Christ died (Matt, anil
SI; Epb. ii. 14). "The Temple was, as it were.
a material embodiment of the law, and in its very
outward structure was a symbol of «j jritual dis-
tinctions." Yet we cannot insist on this view as
certain, by any means, for the language may well
be figurative without ita hating any such local
origin. Some commentators (see Wordsworth ad
be.) regard the metaphor as that of a vineyard,
In which the people of God were fenced off from
other nations.
It was Paul's introducing Trophlmna (as the Jews
falsely alleged) into the part of the Temple (tit ve
Itp&r) beyond the middle wall, between the omits
of the Jews and of the Gentiles, which led to the
tumult in which the Apostle came so near Icing
killed by the mob (Acts zxL 27-30). II.
PARTRIDGE (Nnp, Uri: wipt^, ►,„,-
tipat: perdix) occurs only 1 Sam. uri. 20, when
David compares himself to a hunted Uri upon
the mountains, and in Jer. rrii. 11, where it is
said, "As a Uri sitteth on eggs, and hateheth
them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by
right, shall leave them in the midst of his days,
and at his end shall be a fool." The translation
of Mr» by " partridge " is supported by many of
the old versions, the Hebrew name, as is generally
supposed, having reference to the " call " of the
cock bird; compare the German Hebhuhn from
ruftn, " to call." " Bochart (Ilierot. ii. 632) has
attempted to show that tori denotes some species
of " snipe," or " woodcock " (rutticola f ) ; he i
jttnfnoperthx JaBJIHa
the Hebrew word to the Arable karia, which U
believes, but upon very insufficient ground, to ht
the name of some one of these birds. Oedmaaa
( Vtrm. Samm ii. 57) identifies the karia of Arabia
writers with the Meropt npiatter (the Bee-eater);
this explanation baa deservedly found favor will
no commentators. What the karia of the Arabs
may be we have been unable to determine ; but the)
k&ri there can be no doubt denotes a pa rtr i dg e.
The " hunting this bird upon the mountains " * (1
Sam. xrvi. 30) entirely agrees with the habils of
two well-known species of partridge, namely, Cue*
ft " The partridge of the mountains I suspect to be
Ammaptrdix Htyii, nunlllar aa It must have been ta
David when ha camped by the cave of iduuam — a
bird more diffleult by atr to be Indoord as take wis*}
than CtaxmliUt" (H. B. Tristram!
Digitized by
Google
PAKTKIDGB
eabu i<i*.«iBs (the Greek partridge) and Ammo-
pertHx Heyii. The specific name of the former
la partly indicatire of the localities it frequent!,
namely, rocky and hilly ground covered with brush-
wood.
It will be aeeu by the marginal reading that the
passage in Jeremiah may bear the following inter-
pretation : As the Ure " gatliereth young which
■he hath not brought forth." This rendering is
supported by the LXX. and Vulg., and is that
which Maurer (Comment, in Jer. 1. a), Rosenmuller
(&*. in Jer. 1. e.), Gesenius (Thtt. s. v.), Wilier
(Sealwb. "Rebhuhn"), and scholars generally,
adopt. In order to meet the requirements of this
latter interpretation, it has been asserted that the
partridge is in the habit of stealing the eggs from
the nests of its congeners and of sitting upon
them, and that when the young are hatched they
forsake their false parent; hence, it is said, the
meaning of the simile: the man who has become
rich by dishonest means loses his riches, as the
fictitious partridge her stolen brood (see Jerome
in Jtrtm. 1. c). It is perhaps almost needless to
remark that this is a mere fable, in which, how-
ever, the ancient Orientals may hare believed.
PAS-DAMMIM
2889
CaceabU taxatUit.
There is a passage in the Arabian naturalist Damir,
quoted by Bochart (U'urot. ii. 638), which shows
that in his time this opinion was held with regard
to some kind of partridge.' 1 • The explanation of
the rendering of the text of the A. V. is obviously
as fallows. Partridges were often " hunted " in
ancient times as they are al present, either by
hawking or by being driven from place to place till
they become fatigued, when they are knocked down
by the clubs or tenoaltt/t of the Arabs (see Shaw's
Trail, i. 425, 8vo.y Thus, nests were no doubt
constantly disturbed, and many destroyed: as,
therefore, is a partridge which is driven from her
eggs, so is be that enricheth himself by unjust
means — " he shall leave them in the midst of his
fays." » The expression in Ecclus. xi. 80, " like
at a partridge taken (and kept) in a cage," clearly
refers, as Shaw (Trav. 1. o.) has observed, to "a
t*coy partridge," and the Greek WoJtJ Biiptvrtis
« Partridges, like gallinaceous birds generally, may
lOeastonallj lay their eggs in the nests of other birds
at the same species : It is hardly likely, however, that
Ibis last should have attracted the attention of the
indents ; neither can it alone be sufficient to eipjin
b • Tromson (Land and Book, I. 809 f.) describes
fee saoas of hunting partridges by the Syrians at the
should have been so translated, as Is evident both
from the context and the Greek words ; • compare
Aristot. Hist. Avim. ix. 9, § 8 and 4. Besides the
two species of partridge named above, the CaccabU
chuknr — the red-leg of India and Persia, which
Mr. Tristram regards as distinct from the Greek
partridge — is found about the Jordan. Our com-
mon partridge (Ptrdix cinerea), as well as the
Barbery (C pttrota) and red-leg (C. rufa), do not
occur in Palestine. There are three or four species
of the genus Pterodet (Sand-grouse) and Franco-
aires found in the Bible lands, but they do not ap-
pear to be noticed by any distinct term. [Quail]
W. H.
• FARTS, UPPER. [Uppbb Coasm,
Amer. ed.]
PARU'AH (TF"IB [blouoming, Ges.; m-
crcate, Fiirst]: ♦owktoJo'; Alex. Qappovi [Corap
♦apou*":] Phorue ). The father of Jehoehaphat,
Solomon's commissariat officer in Issachar (1 K.
iv. 17).
PARVAaM (D?J"}B [see below]: ♦apo«i>;
[Tat. Alex. 4>apovaiu: (em-urn) probntiuimmn] ),
the naqw of a place or country whence the gold
was procured for the decoration of Solomon's Tem-
ple (2 Chr. iii. 6). The name occurs but once in
the Bible, and there without any particulars that
assist to its identification. We may notice the
conjectures of Hitzig (on Dan. x. 5), that the name
is derived from the Sanskrit parti, " hill," and be-
tokens the tlivfia ton in Arabia, mentioned by
Ptolemy (ri. T, § 11); of Knobel ( VSlktrt. p. 191),
that it is an abbreviated form of Sepharvaim,
which stands in the Syriac version and the Targura
of Jonathan for the Sephar of Gen. x. 30; and of
Wilford (quoted by Gesenius, Thtt. ii. 1125), that
it is derived from the Sanskrit piita, " eastern,"
and is a general term for the East. Bochart's
identification of it with Taprob.ine is etymologic
ally incorrect. W. L. B.
PA'SACH (TJD^ [ettf, incision, Ges.] : *aW«;
[Vat. j9<wnrxi;] A!sx. <>«r»xi: Phoseeh). Son
of Japhlet of the tribe of Asher (1 Chr. vii. 33),
and one of the chiefs of his tribe.
PAS-DAM'MIM QTQ1 DSH [the border
of blood]: [Rom. ♦ao-oSa/it*; Vat.] 4>ao-o8opi|;
Alex. 4>ao"oSo/uy: Phetdomim). The form under
which in 1 Chr. xi. 13 the name appears, which in
1 Sam. xvii. 1 is given more at length as Kphes-
dammim. The lexicographers do not decide which
is the earlier or correcter of the two. Gesenius
( Thtt. p. 139 ) takes them to be identical in meaning.
It will be observed that in the original of Pas-dam
mim, the definite article has taken the place of the
first letter of the other form. In the parallel nar
ratire of 2 Sam. xxiii., the name appears to be cor-
rupted d to charpham (D^"jn), in the A. V. ran
dered "there." The present text of Josephus
(Ant. vii. 12, § 4) gives it as Arasamos ('ApdVa-
M»f).
pres e nt time. See also Wood's Bible Jnhnnli (Und
1889), p. 427 f. H.
e Mr. Tristram tells us the Oueaoit taxatitit maker
an admirable decoy, becoming very tame and clever
He brought one home with htm from Cyprus.
d This Is carefully examined by Kannliott (Dittm
tafion, p. IV (fce.).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
8840
PASEAH
The jhief interest attaching to the appearance
ef the name in thia passage of Chronicle* is the
evidence it affords that the place was the scene of
repeated encounters between Israel and the Philis-
tines, unless indeed we treat 1 Chr. zi. 18 (and the
parallel passage, 9 Sam. xxiii. 9) as an independent
account of the occurrence related in 1 Sam. xvii.
— which hardly seems possible. [Elah, V alley
OF.]
A ruined site bearing the name of Dnm6n or
ChirbetDamoun lies near the road from Jerusalem
to Sett Jtorin (Van de Velde, Syr. d- Pal li. 193 ;
Tobler, itte Wand. 201), about three miles E. of
Shvutikth (Socho). This Van de Velde proposes
to identify with Pas-dammim. G.
PASE'AH (DOS [fame]: Bttroyj; Alex.
♦woi) : Phette). 1. Son of Esbton, in an obscure
fragment of the genealogies of Judah (1 Chr. ir.
IS). He and his brethren are described as " the
men of Rechah," which in the Targum of R. Jo-
seph is rendered " the men of the great Sanhedrin."
2. (*oor/, Est. [Tat «)«ror]; *atrix, Neh.:
Phatea.) The " sons of Paseah " were among the
Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezr. ii.
49). In the A. V. of Neh. vii. 51, the name is
written Phasbah. Jehoiada, a member of the
family, assisted in rebuilding the old gate of the city
under Nehemiah (Neh. iii. 6).
PA'SHUR ("fflnt$| [/reeaom, redemption,
Flint: in Jer. and 1 Chr.,] Uaoyip; [1 Chr. iz.
19, Rom. Alex. ♦<urx<4p; Ezr. ii. 38, *aoooip,
Alex, tcurovp; x. 82, Neh. x. 8, +atroip; Neh.
rii. 41. *aotoip, Vat. 4oo~«8ovp; xi. 12, icuraoip,
Alex. FA. feureovo:] Phauar [Phesur, Phatur]),
of uncertain etymology, although Jer. xx. 3 seems
to allude to the meaning of it: comp. Ruth i. SO;
and see Gesen. ». r.
1. Name of one of the families of priests of the
chief house of Malchgah (Jer. xxi. 1, xxxviii. 1 ;
1 Chr. ix. 13, xxir. 9; Neh. xi. 12). In the time
of Nehemiah this family appears to have become a
chief bouse, and its head the head of a course
(Ezr. ii. 88; Neh. rii. 41, x. 8); and, if the text
can be relied upon, a comparison of Neh. x. 8 with
iii. 2 would indicate that the time of their return
from Babylon was subsequent to the days of Zerub-
babel and Jeshua. The individual from whom the
family was named was probably Pashur the son of
Malchiah, who in the reign of Zedekiah was one
i>f the chief princes of the court (Jer. xxxviii. 1).
He was sent, with others, by Zedekiah to Jeremiah
at the time when Nebuchadnezzar was preparing
his attack upon Jerusalem, to inquire what would
« 1. "155i rb rip** Trjt tcAtavrn.
1 "13£Q; tuifiwn i vadium (Gen. xxxfl. 22) ;
also a gorge (1 Sam. xill. 28).
8. rnsy(5; 4*pay{; trantcentut (&. x. 2B).
«Afbrd" T (Is.'xvi. 2).
» This is evidently the word NfTPB, the Aia-
tuean tbrm of nW}, put into Greek letters. Some
have taken the meaning of CITO, the root of ITO^,
k> be that of « teasing through," and have referred
*» application here to the passage of the Bed Sea.
Hence the Vulgate has rendered n§S by transitu*,
rtdJo(D« fit. Mont, lib. IB. o. St) by suBarfeta, and
angary of Haattnsos by tUfiamt . Augutun* takes
PASSOVER
be the Issue, and received a reply full of fetched
ings of disaster (Jer. xxi.). Again son; (what later,
when the temporary raising of the siege of Jeru-
salem by the advance of Pharaoh Hophra's army
from Egypt had inspired hopes in king and peo-
ple that Jeremiah's predictions would be falsined,
Pashur joined with several other chief men in p»
titioning the king that Jeremiah might be put to
death as a traitor, who weakened the luuids of the
patriotic party by bit exhortations to surrender,
and his prophecies of defeat, and he proceeded,
with the other princes, actually to cut the prophet
into the dry well where he nearly perished (Jer.
xxxviii.). Nothing more is known of Pashm-.
His descendant Adaiah seems to have returned
with Zerubbabel (1 Chr. ix. IS), or whenever the
census there quoted was taken.
2. Another person of this name, also a priest,
and " chief governor of the house of the Lord," is
mentioned in Jer. xx. 1. He is described as " the
son of Immer," who was the head of the 16th
course of priests (1 Chr. xxiv. 14), and probably
the same as Amariab, Neh. x. 3, xii. 2. ie. In
the reign of Jehoiakim he showed himsell as hos-
tile to Jeremiah as his namesake the son of Mal-
chiah did afterwards, and put him in the stocks by
the gate of Benjamin, for prophesying evil against
Jerusalem, and left him there all night. For this
indignity to God's prophet, Pashur was told by
Jeremiah that his name was changed to Magor-
miasabib ( Terror on every tide), and that he and
all his house should be carried captives to Babylon
and there die (Jer. xx. 1-6). From the expression
in v. 6. It should seem that Pashur the son of Im-
mer acted the part of a prophet as well aa that of
priest.
3. Father of Gedaliah (Jer. xxxviii. 1).
A.C.H.
PASSAGE." Used in plur. (Jer. xxii. 90),
probably to denote the mountain region of Abarim,
on the east side of Jordan [Abarim J (Raumer,
Pal p. 62; Gee. p. 987; Stanley, S. d- P. p.
204, and App. p. 503). It also denotes a river-
ford or a mountain gorge or pass. [Hichmash.]
H. W. P.
• PASSION is used in Acts I. 8 in its etymo-
logical sense of "suffering," with reference to the
death of our Lord. <• To whom be showed him-
self alive after his passion " (lit. " after he suf-
fered," fitrh to waBttr aoroV). A
passovkr (ripe, rtQ%n arj: r » *•>
Xo: * phate, id est transitu*: also, mjflgn, SJ
the same view of the word ; as do also Von :
and a few other modern erltiee. Jerome applies un a-
ntiuboth to the pawns- orar of the de st ro ye r and the
pairing through the Bed Baa (In Matt xxrl.). Bat
the true Sanaa of the Hebrew substantive is plainly
Indicated In Kz. xU. 27 ; and the beat antnorleet an
agreed that P^B never expresses « passing through,"
but that its primary meaning la « leaping over." Hence
the verb is regularly used with the preposition 7J,
But since, when we Jump or step over anything, wa
do not tread upon It, the word lias a awondary mean-
ing, « to spare," or " to show many " (samp, b. xxn
6, with Bx. xii 27). The LXX. have therefore saat
nnrii;«r in Ex. xi). 18; and Onkeka has s aws '
mpg-naj, "the sacrifice of the raseorer," If
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PASSOVEB
"ft&pn : rk t&itai In N. T. i, ioprr, rw df»-
wm, fiiUpui riv iCi/it*: ruyma, festum aigmo-
nm), the firrt of the three great annual Festivals
of the Israelites, oelebrated in the month Nisan,
bom the 14th to the Slat.
The following are the principal passages in the
Pentateuch relating to the Passover: Ex. xii. 1-61,
In which there is a full account of its original in-
stitution and first observance in Egypt; Ex. xiii.
8-10, in which the unleavened bread is spoken of
in connection with the sanctification of the first-
horn, but there is no rotation of the paschal lamb ;<■
Is, xxiii. 14 19, where, under the name of the feast
•f unleavened bread, it is first connected with the
ether two great annual festivals, and also with the
sabbath, and in which the paschal iamb is styled
"My sacrifice"; Ex. xxxiv. 18-36, in which the
festival is brought into the same connection, with
immediate reference to the redemption of the first-
born, and in which the words of Ex. xxiil. 18, re-
garding the paschal lamb, are repeated; Lev. xxiil.
4-14, where it is mentioned in the same connection,
the days of holy convocation are especially noticed,
and the enactment is prospectively given respecting
the offering of the first sheaf of harvest, with the
offerings which were to accompany it, when the
Israelites poss e ss e d the promised land; Num. ix.
1-14, in which the Divine word repeats the com-
mand for the observance of the Passover at the
commencement of the second year after the Exodus,
snd in which the observance of the Passover in the
second month, for those who could not participate
in it at the regular time, is instituted; Num.
V.riil 16-35, where directions are given for the
brings which were to be made on each of the
even days of the festival; DeuU xvi. 1-8, where
the command is prospectively given that the Pass-
over, and the other great festivals, should be ob-
served in the place which the Lord might choose
in the laud of promise, and where there appears to
be an allusion to the Chagigah, or voluntary peaoe-
ofierings (see p. 3346 a).
PASSOVBB
2341
DVI n?^, "the sacrifice of mercy." Josephns
rightly explains wiv\ a by innpfiaeria. In to* same
purport, sgroe Aquila, Theodotjon, Bynunachus, sev-
eral of the Fathers, and the best modern critics. Our
own translators, by using the word " Passover," bars
Hade clear Ex. xll. 13, 28, and other pssssges, which
are not intelligible In the LXX. nor In several other
verHMS. (Bee BKhr, 8i/mbolik, U. 627 ; Kwald, Attsr-
Mkmr, p. 880 ; Oeeenlus, Tkts. s. v. ; Suker, sub
■saya ; Droslns. Nous tdajoru, in Bx. ill. 27 ; Carpaov,
App f*il. p. 894.1
The explanation of vdVx* which hinges on the
notion that It Is derived from wd&\m needs no refata-
Hon, but Is not without Interest, as It appears to have
given rise to the very common use of the word passion,
as denoting the death of our Lord. It was held by
Irenasus, TertulUan, and a lew others. Cbrysostom
appears to avail himself of It for a paronomasia {Horn.
T. ad 1 21m.), as In another place he formally states
the true m oa ni ng ; brtpfrurit in us* «#*»«» v»
eeWxw. Gregory of Narianxus sums to do the eame
(Oof. xlH.), sines he elsewhere (as is stated above)
explains »*>x« ee — ttipaow. Bee Strieer, sub twee,
Augustine, who took this latter view, has a passage
which Is worth quoting : " Pasoha, fratras, non sicul
luldam eilstunant, Gneeum nonien est, sed Hebranun :
stportunlasime tamen cccnrrit In hoc nomine qoxdam
songruenua utrarumqne lingoarum. Quia enltn pair
tosses wi^xtiv dicitur, Ideo Pasoha passio putata est,
eslu. hoe nomen a passions sit appeUatum ; In sua
I. Ixanmmoir amd first Cklebbatiois of
thb Passover.
Wheu the chosen people were about to be brought
out of Egypt, the word of the Lord came to Moses
and Aaron, commanding them to instruct all the
congregation of Israel to prepare for their departure
by a solemn religious ordinance. On the tenth day
of the month Abib, which had then commenced,
the head of each family was to select from the nock
either a lamb or a kid, a male of the first year,
without blemish. If his family was too small to
eat the whole of the lamb, he was permitted to in-
vite his nearest neighbor to join the party. On
the fourteenth day of the month, he 6 was to kill
his lamb while the tun was setting. e He was then
to take the blood in a basin, and with a sprig of
hyssop to sprinkle It on the two side-posts and the
lintel of the door of the house. The lamb was then
thoroughly roasted, whole. It was expressly for-
bidden that it should be boiled, or that a bone of
it should be broken. Unleavened bread and bitter
herbs were to be eaten with the flesh. No male
who was uncircumcised was to Join the company.
Each one was to have his loins girt, to hold a stall
in his hand, and to have shoes on his feet He
was to eat in haste, and it would seem that he was
to stand during the meal. The number of the
party was to be calculated as nearly as possible, so
that all the flesh of the lamb might be eaten ; but
if any portion of it happened to remain, it was to
be burned in the morning. No morsel of it was k
be carried out of the house.
The legislator was further directed to inform the
people of God's purpose to smite the first-born of the
Egyptians, to declare that the Passover waa to be to
them an ordinanoe forever, to give them directions
respecting the order and duration of the festival in
future times, and to enjoin upon them to teach their
children its meaning, from generation to generation.
When the message was delivered to the people,
they bowed their heads in worship. The lambs
were selected, on the fourteenth they were slain and
the blood sprinkled, and In the following evening,
after the fifteenth day of the month had com-
menced, the first paschal meal was eaten. At
midnight the first-bom of the Egyptians were smit-
ten, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his
throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in
vera lingua, hoo est In Hebrssa, Pasoha fratuftui
dicitur: propterea tune prlmum Pasoha celebravtt
populus Dal, quando ex JKgypto lugisntes, rnbrum
man transiernnt. Nunc ergo figure Ula prophetlca in
verltate complete est, cum clout ovls ad inunolandma
dueltur Chrlstus, cnjos sanguine illlas posticus nos*
tris, Id est, oujus signo crocls signatis fronttbus nostris,
a perditions hujus secnli taoquam a capdvltate vel
lnteremptlone JBgyptla libemmur ; at aglmus seluber-
rhnum transitum, eum a diabolo transunus ad Chris-
tum, et ab Isto instabill soculo ad ejus randatissimum
regnum, Col. 1. 18 " (is Joan. Tnrt. lv.).
« Than ars five distinct statutes on the Passover la
the 13th and 18th chapters of Exodus (xll. 2-4, 6-20,
21-28, 42-61 ; xUI. 1-10).
* The words translated in A. V. « the whole assem-
bly of the congregation " (Ex. xit 6), evidently mean
tosry man of tks congrtgation. They an well rendered
by Titrlnga (Oawrtnt. Sac. U. 8, }•), " universe Israel.
ltaruta multitude nemlne exeepto." The word /TIP
though it primarily denotes an assembly, must bate
signify no more than a complete number of ]
not neces s ar ily ass em bled together,
c Bee note s, p. 3842.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2342
PASeJOVBB
the dungeon, and all the findings of the cattle. °
Ihe king and hh people were now urgent that the
Israelites should start immediately, and readily be-
stowed on them supplies for the journey. In such
haste did the Israelites depart, on that very day
(Num. xxxiii. 3 1, that they packed up their ksead-
lng-tn>ughs containing the dough prepared for the
morrow's provision, which was not yet leavened.
Such were the occurrences connected with the
Institution of the Passover, as they are related in
Ex. zii. It would seem that the law for the conse-
cration of the first-bom was passed in immediate
connection with them (Ex. xiii. 1, 13, 15, 16).
IL Obskbvaxce of the Passover in latex
TIMES.
1. In the twelfth and thirteenth chapters of Ex-
odus, there are not only distinct references to the
observance of the festival in future ages (e. g. xtt.
2, 14, 17, 24-27, 42, xiii. 2, 5, 8-10); but there
are several injunctions which were evidently not in-
tended for the first passover, and which indeed
could not possibly hare been observed. The Israel-
ites, for example, could not have kept the next day,
the 15th of Nisan, on which they commenced their
march (Ex. xii. 51; Num. xxxiii. 3), as a day of
holy convocation according to Ex. xii. 16. [Fes-
tivals, vol. i. p. 818.]
In the Inter notices of the festival in the books
of the law, there are particulars added which appear
as modifications of the original institution. Of
this kind are the directions for offering the Omer,
or first sheaf of harvest (Lev. xxiii. 10-14), the in-
structions respecting the special sacrifices which
were to be offered each day of the festival week
(Num. xxviii. 16-25), and the command that the
paschal lambs should be slain at the national sanc-
tuary, and that the blood should be sprinkled on
a ktichaalis and Kurtz consider that this visitation
was directed against the sacred animals, " the gods of
■gypt," mentioned In Ex. ill. 12.
» Quoted by Carptov, App. Oil. p. 406. for other
Jewish authorities, see Otho's Lexicon, s. v. " Paechs."
e Another Jewish authority (Totipkta in PaacJnm,
quoted by Otho) adds that the rule that do one who
partook of the lamb should go out of the house until
the morning (Bx. xll. 22) was observed only on this one
occasion ; a point of Interest, as bearing on the ques-
tion relating to our Lord's last supper. Bee p. 2847 6.
d This offering was common to all the feasts. Ac-
cording to the Mlahna (Ckagigak, 1. 2), part of it was
appropriated for burnt-offerings and the rest for the
Chaglgah.
• " Between the two evenings," DJ5"iyn ^c?
(Ex. xii. 6 ; Lev. xxiii. 5 ; Num. lx. 8, 6). Th» phrase
also occurs In reference to the time of offering the even-
ing sacrlflea (Ex. xxix. 88, 41; Num. xxviii. 4), and in
ether connections (Bx. xvi. 12, xxx. 8). Its precise
nsanlng is doubtful. The Karaites and Samaritans,
'fitb whom Aben Kara (on Ex. xll. 6) agrees, consider
H as the Interval between sunset and dark. This ap-
peals to be In accordance with Dent. xvi. 6, where the
paschal lamb is commanded to be slain " at the going
down of the sun." But the Pharisees and RabUnlsts
held that the first evening commenced when the sun
began to decline (ttOai sputa), and that the second
evening began with the setting sun (jti'Ai) tyi'a). Jo-
sephue says that the lambs were slain from the ninth
boar tUI the eleventh, i. s. between three and five
e>elosk (B. J. vi. 8, } 8) ; the Mlshna seems to counts-
jaaos tlds (Petachim, v. 3) ; and Malmonidee, who
says they were killed immediately after the evening
[The Mlshna says, Poach, v. 1, De Sola
PASSOVER
the altar, instead of the lintels and ioor-poets of
the houses (Deut. xvi. 1-6).
Hence it is not without reason that the Jewish
writers have laid great stress on the distinction
between the " Egyptian Passover " and " the per-
petual Passover." The distinction is noticed in
the Mishna (Petachim, ix. 6). The peculiarities
of the Egyptian passover which are there pointed
out are, the selection of the lamb on the 10th day
of the month, the sprinkling of the blood on the
lintels and door-posts, the use of hyssop in sprink-
ling, the haste in which the meal was to be eaten.
and the restriction of the abstinence from unleav
ened bread to a single day. Elias of Byzantium *
adds, that there was no command to burn the fat
on the altar, that the pure and impure all partook
of the paschal meal contrary to the law afterwards
giveu (Num. xviii. 11), that both men and women
were then required to partake, but subsequently
the command was given only to men (Ex. xxiii.
17; Deut xvi. 16), that neither the Hallel nor
any other hymn was sung, as was required in later
times in accordance with la. xxx. 29, that there
were no days of holy convocation, and that the
lambs were not slain in the consecrated place."
2. The following was the general order of the
observances of the Passover in later times according
to the direct evidence of Scripture : On the 14th
of Nisan, every trace of leaven was put away from
the houses, and on the same day every male Israel-
ite not laboring under any bodily infirmity or cere-
monial impurity, was commanded to appear before
the Lord at the national sanctuary with an offering
of money in proportion to his meant (Ex. xxiii. 15;
Deut. xvi. 16, 17)."* Devout women sometimes
attended, as is proved by the instances of Hannah
and Mary (1 Sam. i. 7 ; Luke ii. 41, 42). As the
sun was setting, • the lambs were slain, and the fat
and Baphall's translation : " The dally offering was
slaughtered half an hour after ths eighth hour («. r.
at 2.80 r. u.\ and sacrificed half an hour after the
ninth hour ; but on the day before Passover ... It
was slaughtered half an hour after the seventh hour,
and sacrificed half an hour after the eighth hour.
When the day before Passover happened on Friday, It
was slaughtered half an hour after the sixth hour,
sacrificed half an hour after the seventh hour, end the
Passover sacrifice after it." Under certain circum-
stances the paschal lamb might ba killed before the
evening secrlfios ; but not before noon (ibid. §8). — A.
A third notion has been held by Jarchl and Kimcht,
that the two evenings are the tune immediately before
and Immediately after sunset, so that the point of tuns
at which the sun sets divides them. OesenTus, Bahr
Winer, and moat other critics, hold the first opinion,
and regard the phrase ss equivalent with S'TOS
(Deut. xvi. 6). Bee Qeaenius, This. p. 1065 ; Bflir,
SgmoolU, II. 614 ; HupfeM, Dt Ftitu Htbrmonm, p
15 ; B~.nmmw m SaxL xii. 6 ; Csxpeov, App. Ott.
p. 68.
• This account of the opinion of Jarchl (t. «. Ream
or Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac) and Kimehl has bass
shown by Ginsburg (art. "Passover "In the Med. of
Kltto's Oydop. of AM. Lit. Ul. 428) to be entirely er
roneoue. They agree with the opinion of the Phaiswas
and Rabblnlsts as stated above.
The Interpretation of " the two evenings " gives
by the Pharisees and Rabblnlsts is supported also by
Philo (De Stptenario, c. 18, Opp. U. 292, sd Mangeyj
who saya that the paschal lamb Is killed " from mil
day till the evening " (h f [fcprjTJ Mown waiPajisi
aptifUKt eavd juespSpie* «K sVrtfpat, or srtr use
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PASSOVER
n>d blood given to the priests (3 Chr. xxxr. 5, 6;
»mp. Joseph. B. J. vi. 9, $ 3). In accordance
irith the original institution in Egypt, the lamb
m then roasted whole, and eaten with unleavened
bread and bitter herbs ; no portion of it was to be
left until the morning. The same night, after the
16th of Nisan had commenced, the fat waa burned
by the print and the blood sprinkled on the altar
(3 Chr. xxx. 16, xxxr. l'l). On the 15th, the
night being passed, there was a hoi; convocation,
aud during that day no work might be done, ex-
cept the preparation of necessary food (Ex. xii. 16).
On this and the six following days an offering in
addition to the daily sacrifice was made of two
young bullocks, a ram, and seven lambs of the first
year, with meat-offerings, for a burnt-offering, and
• goat for a sin-offering (Num. xiviii. 18-23). On
the 16th of the month, " the morrow after the sab-
bath " (i. t. after the day of holy convocation), the
first sheaf of harvest was offered and waved by the
priest before the Lord, and a mole lamb waa offered
as a burnt sacrifice with s> meat and drink-offering.
Nothing necessarily distinguished the four follow-
ing days of the festival, except the additional burnt
and sin-offerings, and the restraint from some kinds
of labor. [Festivals.] On the seventh day, the
31st of Nisan, there was a holy convocation, and
the day appears to have been one of peculiar solem-
nity ° As at all the festivals, cheerfulness waa to
prevail during the whole week, and all care was to
be laid aside (Dent xxvii. 7; comp. Joseph. Ant.
si 6; Michaelis, Lam of Motet, Art. 197). [Psu-
tkoobt.]
3. (a.) The Pruchal Lamb.— After the first
Passover in Egypt there is no trace of the lamb
having bean selected before it was wanted. In
later times, we are certain that it was sometimes
not provided before the 14th of the month (Luke
xxii. 7-9; Mark xiv. 19-16). The law formally
allowed the alternative of a kid (Ex. xii. 6), but a
lamb was preferred,* and was probably nearly
always chosen. It was to be faultless and a male,
in accordance with the established estimate of aui-
PASSOVBB
2848
(xptfcrr., Tiaehend. PUlonta (Ups. 1868), p. 46). In
the Book of JubiUtt (supposed to belong to the 1st
century) it la said that « the Passover Is to be kept
on the 14th of the 1st month ; it is to be killed before
It is evening, and eaten at night, on the evening of
the 16th, after sanest." Again, " The ohjldren of
Israel shall keep the Passover on the 14th of the 1st
month between the evenings, in the third part of the
day till the third part of the night " (». «. from about
noon of the 14th of Nisan to the midnight following).
" What remains of all Its flesh after the third part of
the night they shall bnm with Are." (Cap. 49 or
DUlmann'i translation, in Enid's JaM. d. Bibt. ait-
smuA. HI. 68, 69.) A.
a The seventh day of the Passover, and the eighth
lay of the Feast of Tabernacles (see John vil. 87), had
a ehsraeter of their own, distinguishing them from the
lift days of the leasts and from all other days of holy
envocaoon, with the exception of the day of Pente-
ost [PnmoosT.] This Is indicated In regard to the
■now In Dent. xvi. 8. "Six days thou shalt eat
ealseveosd bread ; and on the saventt day shall be a
wlsmn assembly (H~lf?2?) to the Lord.'* See also
tx xUL 8: " Seven days 'thou shalt eat unleavened
weed, and In the seventh day shall be a test to the
sort." The word JTIJB Is used In like manner
sar the last day of the least of Tabernacles (Lev. xxliL
»wl^ It is associated with H^JfrpnflB, "endy
mat perfection (see Hal. i. 14). Either the head
of the family, or any other person who was not
ceremonially unclean (3 Chr. xxx. 17), took it lute
the court of the Temple on his shoulders. Accord-
ing to some authorities, the lamb might, if circum-
stances should render it desirable, be slain at any
time in the afternoon, even before the evening sac-
rifice, if the blood was kept stirred, so as to prevent
it from coagulating, until the time came for sprink-
ling it (Petachim, v. 3).
The Mishna gives a particular account of the
arrangement whioh was made in the court of the
Temple (Petachim, v. 6-8). Those who were to
kill the lamb entered successively in three divisions.
When the first division had entered, the gates were
closed and the trumpets were sounded three times.
The priests stood in two rows, each row extending
from the altar to the place where the people were
assembled. The priests of one row held basins of
silver, and those of the other basins of gold. Each
Israelite' then slew bis lamb in order, and the
priest who was nearest to him received the blood in
his basin, which be handed to the next priest, who
gave his empty basin in return. A euooessiou of
full basins was thus passed towards the altar, and a
succession of empty ones towards the people. The
priest who stood next the altar threw the blood out
towards the base in a single jet. When the first
division had performed their work, the second came
in, and then the third. The lambs were skinned,
and the viscera taken out with the internal fat.
The fat was carefully separated and collected in the
large dish, and the viscera were washed and replaced
in the body of the lamb, like those of the burnt
sacrifices (Lev. i. 9, ill. 3-6 ; comp. Panchim, vi.
1). Maimonides says that the tail was put with the
fat (Not. in Pet. v. 10). While this was going on
the Uallel was sung, and repeated a second, or even
a third time, if the process was not finished. As
it grew dark, the people went home to roast their
lambs. The fat was burned on the altar, with in-
cense, that same evening.' When the 14th of
Nisan fell on the Sabbath, all these things were
convocation ; " Nam. xxlx. 85 ; 3 Ohr. vU. 9 ; Nek.
viil. 18). Our translators have in each case rendered
it « solemn aasnnbly," bat have explained it In the
margin by "restraint" The LXX. have i(6ttm.
Michae l is and Iken Imagined the primary idea of the
word to be restraint from labor. O ese n las shows that
this Is a mistake, and proves the word to mean asssav
ate or congrtgation. Its root Is undoubtedly "TJ5»
to shut up, or constrain. Hence Bahr (tymiolut, ft.
619) reasonably argues, from the occurrence of the
word In the passages above referred to, that its strict
meaning la that of Uu doting ajsrmoly ; whioh Is of
course quite consistent with its being sometimes used
for a solemn assembly In a more general sense, and
with Its application to the day of Pentecost
o The Chaldea Interpreters render TTW, whioh
means one of ttu frock, whether sheep or goat, by
"T^H, n Iambi and Theodoret no donbt represents
the Jewish traditional usage when he says, Jya b *>*>
wp6fiaTor 3xu¥ Ofon tovto* b bl crwayi^mr wpofinroo
tot Ipupor (on Xx. xii.).
e Undoubtedly the usual practice was for the head
of the nunily to slay his own lamb ; but on particular
occasions (as in the great observances of the Pas s eves
by Hesaklah, Joetah, ani Bna) the slaughter of the
lambs was committed to the Lsvltet gee p. 2847.
rf The remarkable passage In * hlch this Is conv
whteh occurs Ex xxUl 17. 18, 19. and ■
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2844
PASSOVER
tuna in die same manner; but the court of the
Temple, instead of being carefully cleansed u on
jther occasion*, ra merely flooded by opening a
A (pit made of the wood of the pomegranate
«u thrust length witc through the lamb (Paachim,
Til. 1). According to Justin Martyr, a ascend
■pit, or skewer, was put transversely through the
shoulders, so as to form the figure of a cross.' The
oven was of earthenware, and appears to have been
in shape something like a bee-hire with an opening
in the side to admit fuel. The lamb was carefully
so placed as not to touch the side of the oven, lest
the cooking should be effected in part by hot earth-
enware, and not entirely by fire, according to Ex.
ill. 9 i 2 Chr. xzzt. 13. If any one concerned in
the process broke a bone of the lanib so as to infringe
the command in Ex. xii. 46, he was subject to the
punishment of forty stripes. The flesh was to be
roasted thoroughly » (Ex. xii. 9). No portion of it
was allowed to be carried out of the house, and if
any of it was not eaten at the meal, it was burned,
along with the bones and tendons, In the morning
of the 16th of Nisan ; or, if that day happened to
be the Sabbath, on the 17th.
As the paschal lamb could be legally slain, and
the blood and fat offered, only in the national sanc-
tuary (Deut. xvi. 2), it of course ceased to be
repeated Ex. xxxtr. 25, 28. appears to be a sort of
proverbial caution respecting the three gnat feasts.
" Tuna times in the year all thy males shall appear
before the Lord God. Thou ahalt not offer the blood
of my sacrifice with leavened bread ; neither shall the
fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. The
tint of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring
Into the house of the lord thy God. Thou shalt not
seethe a kid In his mother's milk." The references to
the Passover and Pentecost are plain enough. That
which Is suppoeed to refer to Tabernacles (which is
also found Deut, xtv. 21), « Thou shalt not seethe a
kid in his mother's milk," Is explained by Abarbanel,
and in a Karaite MS. spoken of by Cudworth, as bear-
ing on a custom of boiling a kid in the milk of Its dam
as a oharm, and sprinkling fields and orchards with
the milk to render them fertile (Cndworth, Time No-
tion of Ike Lord's Bmpprr. pp. 88, 87 ; Spencer, Leg.
Heb. II. 8. For other interpretations of the passage,
see Boaanmuller, in Scod. xxiil. 19). [Isourar ; vol.
U. p. 1129 a.
a The statement is in the Dialogue with Trypho, c.
40 : Kol to tttkewrOt* wpoAaToy ieeleo owtov oAor yi-
mmoVu, rov e-adovt tov oravpov, 6V oft waa\ei» cpf AAcr
i Xptarof , o-vp/foAor 9p. to y&p owtw^fvov wpo'jSaroif
TXtyiATiGoptvoy Ojioudf iy oxwutTi rov oravpov oirrarat.
tic ydp 00610c ofUXiewK Suurapoyarai awb rwv KaTwrarw
wrpmr lUx/n rf/t eedwA^f , ut fit wHur *otA to (««■«'-
♦s t e w , if rpocraorwvTai jroi ai x«ip*l tov e-potldrov.
As Justin was a native of Flavla Neapolle, It Is a
striking tact that the modern Samaritans roast their
paschal lambs In nearly the seme manner at this day.
Mr. George Grove, who visited Nabloue In 1861, In a
fetter to the writer of this article, says, "The lambs
(they require six for the community now) are roasted
all together by stuffing them vertically, head down-
wards, Into an oven which is like a small well, about
three feet diameter, and four or five feet deep, rough-
y steaoed, In which a fire has been kept up for
several hours. After the lambs are thrust in, the top
of the hole Is covered with bushes and earth, to con-
tae the heat till they are done. Bach lamb has a
'take or spit run through him to draw him up by;
tod, to prevent the spit from tearing away through
He meet meat with the weight, a cross piece is pat I
tireifh the lower end of it." A similar account is i
PASSOVKxt
offered by the Jews after the destruction of Ten
salem. The spring festival of the modern Jews
strictly consists only of the feast of unlearned
bread.'
(o.) The UnUmaud Bread. — There 1* no rea-
son to doubt that the unleavened bread eaten ia
the Passover and that used on other religions occa-
sions were of the tame nature. It might be made
of wheat, spelt, barley, oats, or rye, but not of rice
or millet (Paachim, li. 5). It appears to have been
usually made of the finest wheat flour*' (Best.
Syn. JwL c xviii. p. 397). The greatest care was
taken that It should be made In perfectly cleat
vessels and with all possible expedition, lest the
process of fermentation should he allowed to cob>-
mence in the slightest degree (Puackim, ill. 8-5;
It was probably formed into dry, thin biscuits, not
unlike those used by the modern Jews.
The command to eat unleavened bread during
the seven days of the festival, under the penalty of
being cut off from the people, is given with marked
emphasis, as well as that to put away all leaven from
the house during the festival (Ex. xii. 15, 19, 20,
xiii. 7). But the Rabbiuists say that the house was
carefully cleansed and every corner searched for any
fragment of leavened bread in the evening before
the 14Ji of Nisan, though leavened bread might be
eaten till the sixth hour of that day, when au that
given in Miss Bogers's Domtmit Utfe at jfelawias. Vi-
tringa, Boehart, and Hottlnger have taken the state-
ment of Justin as representing the ancient Jewish
usage ; and, with him, regard the cro s sed spits as a
propheuo type of the cross of our Lord. But it would
seem more probable that the transverse spit was a
mere matter of convenience, and was perhaps never la
use among the Jews. The rabbinical traditions relate
that the lamb was called Oaleatus, n qui quum totea
assabatur, cum capita, eruribus, at Intestlnie, pedes
eutem et Intestine ad latere Ugabantor inter assan limn,
agnus Ita quasi armatum repnesentaverit, qui galea in
capita et enaa in latere est monitos " (Otho, Lex. Km*.
p. 508). [On the Samaritan Passover, see the -ftlUfn
to this article, p. 2867.]
6 The word NJ, in A. V. "raw," Is rendered
« alive " by Onkelos and Jonathan. In 1 Seat. 1L 15,
It plainly means rate. But Jarehi, Aben Bsra, and
other Jewish authorities, understand it as aaj/etressai
(Boeenmttlfer, m toe.).
c There are many curious partleulars in Che mode
In which the modern Jews observe this festival, to be
found In Buxt. Syn. Jut/., c. xviii. six.; Pieart, AM-
moats* Rttiginua, vol. i. ; Mill, The BrUUk Jan (Lon-
don, 1868k Stauben, Scute dt la vie Juice em Jones
(Paris, 1860); [Isaacs, Cremoitiet, et-.., of the Jem,
p. 104 ff. ; Allen's Modem JwJaim, 2d ed., p. 884 ft]
The following appear to be the most interesting . A
shoulder or lamb, thoroughly roasted. Is placed on the
table to take the place of the paschal lamb, with a
hard-boiled egg as a symbol of wholeness. Besides ths
sweet sauce, to remind them of the sort of work car-
ried on by their fathers In Egypt (see above, r), then Is
sometimes a vessel of salt and water, to rep re s en t ths
Bed Sea, into whrh they dip the Utter herbs. Bat
the most remarkable usages are those oonneotad with
the expectation of the coming of Bujah. A cup of
wine is poured out for him, and stands all night upon
the table. Just before the filling of the cups of the
guests the fourth time, there Is an Interval of deal
silence, and the door of the room is opened far easae
minutes to admit the prophet. [Buiab, i. 709, noes r
d Bwald {AlUrtkUmer, p. 8811 and Hallmana (q
by Winer) conjecture the original unleavened I
the Passover to have been of barley, la oeam
with the ofsnmennement of barley lisussl
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PASSOVER
I im to be burned (Petachim, t 1, 4; "
end citation in Lightfbot, Temple Sen., xii. $ 1).
(c.) The Bitter Herb* and the Sauce. — Accord-
ing to Petachim (U. 8) the bitter herbs (O v "l , ")P;
suesio'ei; laetuca agrettet, Ex. xii. 8), might be
sndlve, chicory, wild lettuce, or nettles. These
phots ware important articles of (bod to the ancient
Egyptians (as is noticed by Pliny), and they are
■aid to eonstitnte nearly half that of the modern
Egyptian*. According to Niebuhr they are still
eiian at the Passover by the Jews in the East.
They were used in former times either fresh or
dried and a portion of them is said to hare been
sales before the unleavened bread (Petach. x. 3).
Tbs sauce into which the herbs, the bread, and
the Meat were dipped as they were eaten (John
(Hi. 96; Matt. xxvi. 23) is not mentioned in the
Pentateuch. It is called in the Mishna TOlirj.
According to Bartenora it consisted of only vinegar
and water; but others describe it as a mixture of
vinegar, figs, dates, almonds, and spice. The same
sauce was used on ordinary occasions thickened
with a little flour; but the rabbinists forbade this
it the Passover, lest the flour should occasion a
ilight degree of fermentation. Some say that it
was beaten up to the consistence of mortar or clay,
in order to commemorate the toils of the Israelites
in Egypt in laying bricks (Buxtorf, Lex. TaL coL
831; Petnchm, ii. 8, x. 3, with the notes of Bar-
tenora, Maimonides, and Surenhusius).
(a.) The Four Cups of Wine. — There is no
mention of wine in connection with the Passover
in the Pentateuch ; but the Mishna ttricth viyoins
that there should never be less than four cups of
it provided at the paschal meal even of the poorest
Israelite (Pet. x. 1). The wine was usually red,
sod it was mixed with water as it was drunk (Pes.
vii. 13, with Bartenora's note; and Otho's Lex.
a. 607). The cups were handed round in succes-
sion at specified intervals in the meal (see below,y ).
Two of them appear to be distinctly mentioned
Luke xxii. 17, 20. " The cup of blessing " (1 Cor.
c 16) was probably the latter one of these, and
is generally considered to have been the third of
the aeries, after which a grace was said ; though a
comparison of Luke xxii. 20 (where it is called
- the cup after supper") with Pet. x. 7, and the
assignation /vil D°13, " cup of the Hallel,"
might rather suggest that it was the fourth and
hat cup. Sehoettgen, however, is inclined to
soabt whether there ia any reference, in either of
the passages of the V. T., to the formal ordering
rf the eupa of the Passover, and proves that the
name " cup of blessing " (Hp^l? tX^ D13)
was applied in a general way to any cup which was
trunk with thanksgiving, and that the expression
was often used metaphorically, e. y. Ps. cxvi. 13
(Act. Heb. in 1 Cor. x. 16. See also Carpaov,
ifp. Crit. p. 880).
The wine drunk at the meal was not restricted
• the four cups, but none could be taken during
he interval between the third and fourth eups
Pes. x. 7).
PASSOVER
2846
• Other psrooulars of toe precautions which were
aasat ate given In ftsocAim, and also by Maimonides,
a Ms treatise Be ttrmntato X Azigmo. a compendium
■f wUeh is given by Oarpsov, App. Oil. p. 404.
♦ Osmln pas<eanens to avoid pollution w*
(«.) The ffaUel. — The service of praise sung at
the Passover is not mentioned in the Law. The
name ia contracted from nj^l?7H (Hallelujah)
It consisted of the series of Psalms from cxiii. to
cxviii. The first portion, comprising Ps. cxiii. and
cxiv , was sung in the early part of the meal, and
the second part after the fourth eup of wine. This
is supposed to have been the " hymn " sung by our
Lord and his Apostles (Matt. xxvL 30; Mark xiv.
26 ; Buxtorf, Lex. TaL a. v. V?J"t, and Syn. Jud.
p. 48; Otho, Lex. p. 871; Carpaov, App. CrU.
p. 374).
(/.) Mode and Order of the Patchal Meal. —
Adopting as much from Jewish tradition as is not
inconsistent or improbable, the following appears
to have been the usual custom. All work, except
that belonging to a few trades connected with daily
life, was suspended for some hours before the even-
ing of the 14th of Nisan. There was, however,
a difference in this respect. The Galileans desisted
from work the whole day; the Jews of the south
only after the middle of the tenth hour, that is,
half-past three o'clock. It was not lawful to eat
any ordinary food after midday. The reason as-
signed for this was, that the paschal supper might
be eaten with the enjoyment furnished by a good
appetite. (Pet. iv. 1-3, x. 1, with Maimonides'
note.) But it is also stated that this preliminary
fasting was especially incumbent on the eldest son,
and that it was intended to commemorate the de-
liverance of the first-bom in Egypt. This was
probably only a fancy of later times (BuxU Syn-
Jud. xviii. p. 401).
No male was admitted to the table unless he was
circumcised, even if he was of the seed of Israel
(Ex. xii. 48). Neither, according to the letter of
the law, was any one of either sex admitted who
was ceremonially unclean * (Num. ix. 6 ; Joseph.
B. J. vi. 9, § 3). But this rule was on special
occasions liberally applied. In the case of Hexe-
kiah'a Passover (2 Chr. xxx.) we find that a greater
degree of legal purity was required to slaughter the
lambs than to eat them, and that numbers partook
"otherwise than it was written," who were not
" cleansed according to the purification of the sanc-
tuary." The Rabbinists expressly state that women
were permitted, though not commanded, to partake
(Pet. viii. 1 ; Chngigah, i. 1 ; comp. Joseph. B. J.
vi. 9, § 3), in accordance with tie instances in
Scripture which hare been mentioned of Hannah
and Mary vp. 2342 o). But the Karaites, in more
recent times, excluded all but full-grown men. It
was customary for the number of a party to be
not ass than ten (Joseph. B. J. vi. 9, J 8). It was
perhaps generally under twenty, but it might be as
many is a hundred, if each one could have a piece
of the «mb as large as an olive (Pet. viii. 7).
Wht i the meal was prepared, the family was
placed round the table, the paterfamilias taking a
place of honor, probably somewhat raised above
the rest. There is no reason to doubt that the
ancient Hebrews sat, at they were accustomed to
do at their ordinary meals (see Otho, Lex. p. 7).
But when the custom of reclining at table had be-
a month before the Passover. Amongst these was the
annual whitewashing of the sepulchres (et Matt
xxttl. 27) (Belaud, AM. Iv. 2, 6). In John si. 66, we
And some Jews coming vo to Jerusslsir to purMv
In—lives e week before the least,
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2346
PASSOVER
eome general, that posture appear* to have been
enjoined, on the ground of ita supposed signifi-
eanoa. The Miahua says that the meanest Israel-
ite should recline at the Passorer " like a king,
with the ease becoming a free man " (Pa. x. 1,
with Maimonidet' note}. He was to keep In mind
that when his ancestors stood at the feast in Egypt
thejr took the posture of slaves (K. Levi, quoted
by Otho, p. 504). Our Ix>rd and his Apostles con-
formed to the usual custom of their time, and re-
clined (Luke rxii. 14, Ac.). [Meals, p. 1843 f.]
When the party was arranged, the first cup of
wine was filled, and a blessing was asked by the
head of the family on the feast, as well as a special
one on the cup. The bitter herbs were then placed
on the table, and a portion of them eaten, either
with or without the sauce. The unleavened bread
a'ja handed round next, and afterwards the Iamb
was placed on the table in front of the head of the
family (Pis. x. 3). Before the lamb was eaten,
the second cup of wine was filled, and the son, in
accordance with Ex. iii. 26, asked his lather the
meaning of the feast. In reply, an account was
given of the sufferings of the Israelites in Egypt,
and of their deliverance, with a particular explana-
tion of Deut. xxvi. 5, and the first part of the
Hallel (Pa cxiii., cxiv.) was sung. This being gone
through, the lamb was carved and eaten. The
third cup of wine was poured out and drunk, and
soon afterwards the fourth. The second part of the
Hallel (Ps. cxv. to cxviii.) was then sung (Pes. x.
2-5). A fifth wine-cup appears to have been occa-
sionally produced, but perhaps only in later times.
What was termed the greater Hallel (Ps. oxx. to
exxxriii.) was sung on such occasions (Buxt Syn-
Jud. c. xviii.j. The meal being ended, it was un-
lawful for anything to be introduced in the way of
dessert.
The Israelites who lived in the country appear
to hate been accommodated at the feast by the in-
habitants of Jerusalem in their houses, so far as
there was room for them (Luke xxii. 10-12; Matt,
xxvi. 18). It is said that the guests left in return
for their entertainment the skin of the lamb, the
oven, and other vessels which they had used. Those
vho could not be received into the city encamped
without the walls in tents, as the pilgrims now do
at Mecca. The number of these must have been
very great, if we may trust the computation of
loeephus that they who partook of the Passover
amounted, iu the reign of Nero, to above 2,700,000
(B. J. vi. 9, § 3 <•). It ft not wonderful that sedi-
tions were apt to break out in such a vast multi-
tude so brought together (Jos. Ant. xvii. 9, J 2;
B. J. I. 3, Ac.; comp. Matt. xxvi. 5; Luke xiii. 1).
After the paschal meal, such of the Israelites
from the country as were so disposed left Jerusalem,
and observed the remainder of the festival at their
respective homes (Dent xvi. 7). But see light-
foot, on Luke ii. 48.
(g.) The first Sheaf of Banal. — The offering
of the Onier, or sheaf f^Q* ! to Spiyncerai
numpuhu spioarum) is mentioned nowhere in the
Law exoept Lev. xxiii. 10-14. It is there com-
manded that when the Israelites might reach the
stnd of promise, they should bring, on the 16th of
a He states that the number of lambs slain in a
stogie PssMvar was 266^00. It is dlfocult to imagine
hew they could all have baan slain, and their blood
ItrlaUsd; as described in tha Wanna. 8m p. 2848.
PASSOVER
the month, " the morrow after the sabbath " (i. a
the day of holy convocation [Pentecost, § 1, note] )
the first sheaf of the harvest to the priest, to bt
waved by him before the Lord. A lamb, with a
meat-offering and a drink-offering, was to be offered
at the same time. Until this ceremony was per-
formed, no bread, parched corn, or green ears, were
to be eaten of the new crop (see Josh. v. 11, 12).'
It was from the day of this offering that the fifty
days began to be counted to the day of Pentecost
(Lev. xxiii. 15). The sheaf was of barley, as being
the grain which was first ripe (2 Bangs iv. 42).
Josephus relates (Ant. iii. 10, $ 5) that the barley
was ground, and that ten handful* of the meal wen
brought to the altar, one handful being cast into
the Are and the remainder given to the priests.
The Mishna adds several particulars, and, amongst
others, that men were formally sent by the San-
hedrim to cut the barley in some field near Jeru-
salem; and that, after the meal had been sifted
thirteen times, it was mingled with oil and incense*
(Mmackoth, x. 2-6).
(A.) The Chngigah, — The daily sacrifices are
enumerated in the Pentateuch only in Num. xxriii.
19-23, but reference is made to them Lev. xxiii. 8.
Besides these public offerings (which are men-
tioned, p. 2343 4), there was another sort of sacri-
fice connected with the Passover, as well as with
the other great festivals, called in the Talmud
n^arj (Chngigah, i. e. " festivity "). It was a
voluntary peace-offering made by private individ-
uals. The victim might be taken either from the
flock or the herd. It might be either male or
female, but it must be without blemish. The
offerer laid his hand upon bis head and slew it at
the door of the sanctuary. The blood was sprin-
kled on the altar, and the fat of the inside, with
the kidneys, was burned by the priest The breast
was given to the priest as a wave-offering, and the
right shoulder as a heave-offering (l.ev. iii. 1-5,
vii. 29-34). What remained of the victim might
be eaten by the offerer and hi* guests on the day
on which it was slain, and on the day following ,
but if any portion was left till the third day, it was
burned (1-ev. vii. 16-18; Ptsich. vi. 4). The
connection of these free-will peare-offerings with
the festivals appears to be indicated Num. x. 10;
Deut. xiv. 26 ; 2 Chr. xxxi. 22. and they are in-
cluded under the term Passover in Deut xvi. 2 —
" Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the paasover unto
the l-ord thy God, of the flock and of the herd."
Oukeloa here understands the command to sacrifice
from the flock, to refer to the paschal lamb; and
that to sacrifice from the herd, to the Clmifigah.
But it seems more probable that l»th the flock arid
the herd refer to the Chagigah, as there is • ipeeble
command respecting the paschal lamb In w. 6-7.
(See IH Muis' note in the Crit Sue. ; and light-
foot, Hot. ffeb. on John xvili. 28.) There are evi-
dently similar references, 2 Chr. xxx. 22-24, and
2 Chr. xxxv. 7. Hezekiah and his princes gave
away, at the great Passover which he celebrated,
two thousand bullocks and seventeen thousand
sheep; and Josiah, on a similar occasion, is said to
have supplied the people at his own cost with
lambs " for the Passover offerings," besides three
thousand oxen. From these passages and others,
it may be seen that the eating of the Chagigas
6 On this text, sat Puraoos*.
e There is no mention of the Omar la fVescMsa.
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PASSOVER
sis an oxusion of social festivity, connected with
Bw festivals, and especially with the Passover. The
principal day for sacrificing the Passover Chagigah
was the loth of Nisan, the first day of hoiy con-
vocation, unless it happened to oe the weekly Sab-
bath. The paschal lamb might be slain on the
Sabbath, but not the Chagigah. With this excep-
tion, the Chagigah might be offered on any day of
the festival, and on some occasions a Chagigah vic-
tim was slain on the 14th, especially when the pas-
chal lamb was likely to prove too small to serve as
meat for the party (Punch, iv. i, x. 3 ; Ligbtfoot,
Temple Service, c zii. ; Reland, Ant. iv. c. ii. § 2).
That the Chagigah might be boiled, as well as
roasted, is proved by 3 Chr. zxxr. 13, " And they
routed the passover with fire according to the ordi-
nance: but the other holy offerings sod they in
pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided
them speedily among the people."
(•'.) Relenee of Pt-umers. — It is a question
whether the release of a prisoner at the Passover
(Matt, xxvii. 15; Hark xv. 6; Luke xxiii. 17;
John xviii. 39) was a custom of Roman origin re-
sembling what took place at the lectisternium
(Liv. r. 18) ; and, in later times, on the birthday
of an emperor; or whether it was an old Hebrew
usage belonging to the festival, which Pilate al-
lowed the Jews to retain. Grotius argues in favor
sf the former notion (On Malt, xxvii. 15). But
others (Hottinger, Sehoettgen, Winer) consider
that the words of St. John — fori g< o~u»-fj0cia
ipiiv — render it most probable that the custom
was essentially Hebrew. Sehoettgen thinks that
there is an allusion to it in Ptmchim (viil. 6),
where it is permitted that a lamb should lie slain
an the 14th of Nlsan for the special use of one in
prison to whom a release had been promised. The
subject is discussed at length by Hottinger, in his
tract Dt Situ dimiltendi Rtum in Ftslo PiiachntU,
in the Thoaurut Nona Theologico-PliUologicui.
(k.) The Second, or Little Pnuoeer. — When
the Passover was celebrated the second year, in the
wilderness, certain men were prevented from keep-
ing it, owing to their being denied by contact with
a dead body. Being thus prevented from obeying
the Divine command, they came anxiously to Moses
to inquire what they should do. He was accord-
ingly instructed to institute a second Passover, to
be observed on the 14th of the following month,
for the benefit of any who had been hindered from
keeping the regular one in Nisan (Num. ix. 11).
The Talmudieti called this the Little Passover
(}bjj nD5l). It was distinguished, according
to them, from the Greater Passover by the rites
lasting only one day, instead of seven days, by it
not being required that the Hallel should be sung
during the meal, but only when the lamb was
slaughtered, and by it not being necessary for
leaven to be pot out of the houses (Pttack. ix. 3;
Buxi. Lex. TaL ooL 1766).
(A) Obeervancee of ike Paitorer recorded in
Scripture — Of these seven are of chief historical
jppo r tauce.
1. The first Passover in Egypt (Ex. xii.).
PASSOVER
2341
2. The first kept in the desert (Num. ix.).
There is no notice of the observance of any other
Passover in the desert; and Hupfeld, KeU, and
others have concluded that none took place between
this one and that at GIlgaL The neglect of cir-
cumcision may render this probable. But Calvin
imagines that a special commission was given to
the people to continue the ordinance of the Pass-
over. (See Keil on Joshua r. 10.)
3. That celebrated by Joshua at Oilgal imme-
diately after the circcmcision rf the people, when
the manna ceased (Josh. v.).
4. That which Hezekiah observed on the occa-
sion of his restoring the national worship (2 Chr.
xxx.). Owing to the impurity of a considerable
proportion of the priests in the month Nisan, this
Passover was not held till the second month, the
proper time for the Little Passover. The postpone-
ment was determined by a decree of the congrega-
tion. By the same authority, the festival was re
peated through a second seven days to serve the
need of the vast multitude who wished to attend
it. To meet the case of the probable impurity of
a great number of the people, the Levites were
commanded to slaughter the lambs, and the king
prayed that the Lord would pardon every one who'
was penitent, though his legal pollution might be
upon him.
5. The Passover of Josiah in the eighteenth
year of his reign (2 Chr. xxx v.). On this occasion,
as in the Passover of Hezekiah, the Levites appear
to have slain the lambs (ver. 6 ), and it is expressly
stated that they flayed them.
6. That celebrated by Ezra after the return from
Babylon (Ezr. vi.). On this occasion, also, the
Levites slew the lambs, and for the same reason as
they did in Hezekiah's Passover.
7. The last Passover of our Lord's life.
III. Thb Last Scjppek.
1. Whether or not the meal at which our Lord
instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist was the
paschal supper according to the Law, is a question
of great difficulty. No point in the Gospel history
has been more disputed. If we had nothing to
guide us but the three first Gospels, no doubt of the
kind could well be raised, though the narratives
may not he free from difficulties in themselves.
We find them speaking, in accordance with Jewish
usage, of the day of the supper as that on which
" the Passover must be killed," and as " the first
day of unleavened bread »' ■ (Matt. xxvi. 17; Mark
xir. 12; Luke xxii. 7). Each relates that the use
of the guest-chamber was secured in the manner
usual with those who came from a distance to keep
the festival. Each states that " they made ready
the Passover," and that, when the evening was
come, our Lord, taking the place at the head of the
family, aat down with the twelve. He himself
distinctly calls the meal •' this Passover" (Luke
xxii 15, 16). After a thanksgiving, he passes
round the first cup of wine (Luke xxii. 17), and,
when the supper is ended, the usual •■ cup of bless-
ing " (comp. Luke xxii. 20; 1 Cor. x. 16, xi. 25).
A hymn is then sung (Matt. xxvi. 30; Mark xir.
• Josspnns In like manner calls the 14th of Nlsan
. e first day of unleavened breaa (B. /. v. 8, J 1) :
Had he speaks of the festival of the Passover as lasting
sight days {Ant. H. 16, } 1). But he alsewhere calls
t*s 15th of Nliea « the ooeameneement of the <e«« of
•oleaviasd bread." (Ant. HJ. 10, $ 6.) Btbermodsof
speaking was evidently allowable : In one ease regard-
ing it as a matter of tut that the eating of unleavened
bread began on the 14th ; and in the other, distin-
gulahlsg the Bast of unleavened bread, lasting from
the first day of holy convocation to the eonelaalag
ma, from the paschal meaL
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2848 PASSOVBK
16), which it is reasonable to suppose n tha last
part of the HalleL
If it be granted that the topper was eaten on the
evening of the 14th of Nisaii, the apprehension,
trial, and crucifixion of oar Lord mast hare oc-
curred on Friday the 15th, the da; of holy convo-
cation, which was the first of the seven days of the
I'assover week. The weekly Sabbath on which He
lay in the tomb was the 16th, and the Sunday of
the resurrection was the 17th.
But, on the other hand, if we had no information
bat that which is to be gathered from St. John's
Gospel, we could not hesitate to infer that the even-
Lig of the supper was that of the 13th of Nisan,
the day preceding that of the paschal meaL It
appears to be spoken of as occurring before the feast
of the Passover (xiii. 1, 8). Some of the disciples
suppose that Christ told Judas, while they were at
■upper, to buy what they " had need of against the
feast " (xiii. 99). In the night which follows the sup-
per, the Jews will not enter the pnetorium lest
they should be defiled and so not able to "est the
Passover " (xvili. 28). When our Lord is before
Pilate, about to be led out to crucifixion, we are
told that it was " the preparation of the Passorer "
(xix. 14). After the crucifixion, the Jewa are so-
licitous, " because it was the preparation, that the
bodies should not remain upon the cross on the
Sabbath-day, for that Sabbath-day was a high day "
(xix.il).
If we admit, in accordance with the first riew of
these passages, that the Last Supper was on the 13th
of Niaan, our Lord must have been crucified on the
14th, the day on which the paschal lamb was slain
and eaten, He lay in the grave on the 15th (which
was a " high day " or double Sabbath, because the
weekly Sabbath coincided with the day of holy con-
vocation), and the Sunday of the resurrection was
the 16th.
It is alleged that this view of the case is strength-
ened by certain tacts in the narratives of the synop-
tical Gospels, as well as that of St. John, compared
with tha Law and with what we know of Jewish cus-
toms in later times. If the meal was the paschal
■upper, the law of Ex. xii. 22, that none " shall go
out of the door of his house until the morning,"
must have been broken, not only by Judas (John
xiii. 80), but by our Lord and the other disciples
(Luke xxii. 39)." In like manner it is said that
the law for the observance of the 15th, the day of
holy convocation with which the paschal week com-
menced (Ex. xii. 16; Lev. xxiii. 85, Ac), and some
express enactments in the Talmud regarding legal
proceedings and particular details, such aa the carry-
ing of spices, must have been infringed by the Jew-
ish rulers in the apprehending of Christ, in his
trials before the high-priest and the Sanhedrim,
and in his crucifixion; and also by Simon of Cy-
rano, who waa coming out of the country (Mark xv.
II; Luke xxiii. 86), by Joseph who bought fine
Jnen (Mark xv. 46), by the women who bought
spices (Mark xvi 1; Luke xxiii. 56), and by Nioo-
demus who brought to the tomb a hundred pounds
weight of a mixture of myrrh and aloes (John xix.
PASSOVER
39). The same objection is considered to lie i
the supposition that the diaciplea coukl have imag-
ined, on the evening of the Passover, that our Lord
was giving directions to Judaa respecting toe par.
chase of anything or the giving of alma to the poor.
The latter act (except under very special condition*/
would have been as much opposed to rebbiniea.
iti«Tjm» aa the former.*
It is further urged that the expressions of car
Lord, " My time is at hand " (Matt. xxvi. 18),
and '• this Passover " (Luke xxii. 15), aa well as
St. Paul's designating it as " the same night that
He was betrayed," instead of Ike might of lit Pom.
over (1 Cor. xi. 88), and his identifying Christ as
our slain paschal lamb (1 Cor. v. 7), seem to point
to the time of the supper as being peculiar, and to
the time of the crucifixion aa being the same aa that
of the killing of the lamb (Neander and Lticke).
It is not surprising that some modern critics
should have given up aa hopeless the task of recon-
ciling this difficulty. Several have rejected the
narrative of St John (Bretschneider, Wedsse), hot
a greater number (especially De Wetts, Usteri,
EwakL Meyer, and Theile) have taken an opposite
course, and have been content with the notion that
the three first Evangelists made a mistake and con-
founded the meal with the Passover.
9. The reconciliations which hare been ■
fall under three principal heads: —
i. Those which regard the topper at which our
Lord washed the feet of his disciples (John xiii.),
as having Leon a distinct meal eaten one or man
days before the regular Passover, of which our Lord
partook in due course according to the syiw ptieal
narratives.
ii. Those in which it is endeavored to establish
that the meal was eaten on the 13th, and that our
Lord was crucified on the evening of the urn*
paschal supper.
iii. Those in which the most obvious view of the
first three narratives is defended, and in which it it
attempted to explain the apparent contradictions in
St. John, and the difficulties in reference to the
law.
(i.) The first method has the advantage of fur-
nishing the moat ready way of accounting for St.
John's silence on the institution of the Holy Com-
munion. It has been adopted by Maldonat , c Light-
foot, and BengeL and more recently by Kaiarr. d
Lightfbot identified the supper of John xiii. with
the one in the house of Simon the leper at Bethany
two days before the Passover, when Mary pouted
the ointment on the head of our Saviour (Matt,
xxvi. 6; Mark xiv. 8); and quaintly remaiks,
>• While they are grumbling at the anointing of hit
bead, He does not scruple to wash their feet" •
Bengel supposes that it was eaten only the evenirg
before the Passover./
But any explanation founded on the supposition
of two meals, appears to be rendered untenable by
the context The fact that all four Evangelists
introduce in the same connection the foretelling of
the treachery of Judas with the dipping of the sop,
and of the denials of St Peter and the going out tt
■ It has been stated (p. 2842, note that according to
Jewish authorities, this law was disused in later tanas.
But wen If this wen not the case, it doss not sasm
fast there can be much duncultr in adopting the ar>
avajsuMut of Oremll's Harmony, that the partj did
•at leave the house to go over the brook till alter
at
* lightfbot, /for. Hto. on Matt xxvn. 1.
e On John xUk 1.
d Ormwtogit und Harmon* star ri> f*. Nam
gonad by Tisoh«nd'«£ Synop. Boamf. p. xlv.
t .fir. &»., on John xjli. 2, aad Matt xxvt •
Also, "(Usanlnfs Dent Xxodaa," No. XIX.
/On Matt xxvi. 17, and John xvJU, 28.
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PASSOVER
lb* Mount of Olives, am hud]]' leave a doubt that
they an •peaking of the same meal. Beaidea this,
the explanation does not touch the greatest diffi-
suhies, which an those connected with " the daj
of preparation."
(II.) Hie current of opinion • in modern times
has set in favor of taking the more obvious inter-
pretation of the passages in St. John, that the
sapper was eaten on the 18th, and that our Lord
was crucified on the 14th. It must, however, be
admitted that meat of those who advocate this view
in some degree ignore the difficulties which it raises
in any respectful interpretation of the synoptical
narratives. Tittmann (Afeltttmata, p. 478) simply
remarks that t/ nfxbrq tAv ifviuw (Matt. uvi.
17; Mark liv. 19) should be explained as wporipa
ri» i(vpwv- Dean Alfbrd, while he believes that
the narrative of St John " absolutely excludes such
a supposition as that our Lord and bis disciples ate
the usual Passover," acknowledges the difficulty
and dismisses it (on Matt xxvi. 17).
Those who thus hold that the supper was eaten
co the 13th day of the month have devised various
ways of accounting for the circumstanoe, of which
the following are the most important It will be
observed that in the first three the supper is re-
garded as a true paschal supper, eaten a day before
the usual time; and in the other two, as a meal of
a peculiar kind.
(a.) It is assumed that a party of the Jews, prob-
ably the Saddueees and those who inclined towards
them, used to eat the Passover one day before the
rest, and that our Lord approved of their practice.
But there is not a shadow of historical evidence of
the existence of any party which might have held
such a notion until the controversy between the
Rabbinista and the Karaites arose, which was not
much before the eighth century. »
(0.) It has been oonjectured that the great body
y the Jews had gone wrong in calculating the true
Passover-day, placing it a day too late, and that
eur Lord ate the Passover on what was really the
14th, but what commonly passed as the 13th.
This was the opinion of Baza, Buoer, Calovius, and
Sealiger. It is favored by Stier. But it is utterly
unsupported by historical testimony.
(c) Calvin supposed that on this occasion, though
our Lord thought it right to adhere to the true
legal time, the Jews ate the Passover on the 15th
Instead of the 14th, In order to escape from the
burden of two days of strict observance (the day of
holy convocation and the weekly Sabbath) coming
PASSOVER
2349
■ Lucks, Ideler, Tittmann, Blrek, Ds Wette. Naandsr,
flsehendoif, Winer [Merer. Bruckner, Bwald, Holts-
maun, Oodet, Caspar), Baur. ffllgenfeld, Scholteu).
Bbrard [formerly], AVbrd, KUlcott ; of earlier critics,
Brasmai, Grottos, Smear, Oarpaov.
often (DiuutatuHus. vol. II. dies. 10 and 13), for-
ratting the late date of the Karaite contr o ver sy , sap-
posed that our Lord might have followed them In
teklng the day which, according; to their custom, was
laksoJated from the first appearance of the moon,
leraov tApp. Oil. p. 430) advocates the same notion,
tltnoat naming the Karaites. Bbrard conjectures
*at asms of the poorer Qelilaraas may have submit-
tal to eat toe Passover a day too early to suit the
xemnieBee of the priests, who were overtone with
■a labor of sprinkling the blood and (as be strangely
■eaglnn) of alaoghterlng the lambs. [Bbrard has
*nee given up this hypothesis. — A.]
e Mm. in Matt. xxvi. 17. II. 806, edit Tholuck.
* SomthUMua' Matma, lv. 300.
together. « But that no practice of this kind eoult
have existed so early as our Lord's time is satis-
factorily proved in CocoeW note to Sanhedrim
L§9.«
(d.) Grotius • thought that the meal was a *&crx»
\un\)iav*vriKi» (like the paschal feast of the modern
Jews, and such as might have been observed during
the Babylonian captivity), not a yriaya t&fipoi*
But there is no reason to believe that such a mere
commemorative rite was ever observed till after the
destruction of the Temple.
(e.) A view which has been received with fkicr
far more generally than either of the preceding is,
that the Last Supper was instituted by Christ for
the occasion, in order that He might himself suffer
on the proper evening on which the paschal Iamb
was slain. Neander says, "He foresaw that He
would have to leave his disciples before the Jewish
Passover, and determined to give a peculiar mean-
ing to his last meal with them, and to place it in a
peculiar relation to the Passover of the Old Cove-
nant, the place of which was to be taken by tho
meal of the New Covenant ' ' ( Lift of Chr it, § 885 )J
This view is substantially the same as that held
by Clement, Origen, Erasmus, Calmet, KuinuJ,
Winer, Alfbrd^
Erasmus (Paraphrase on John xiii. 1, zriiL 38,
Luke xxii. 7) and others have called it an " antici-
patory Passover," with the intention, no doubt, to
help on a reconciliation between St John and the
other Evangelists. But if this view is to stand, it
seems better, in a formal treatment of the subject,
not to call it a Passover at all. The difference be-
tween it and the Hebrew rite must hare been
essential. Even if a lamb was eaten in the supper,
it can hardly be imagined that the priests would
hare performed the essential acts of sprinkling the
blood and offering the fat on any day besides the
legal one (see Maimonides quoted by Otho, Lex.
p. 501 ). It could not therefore have been a true
paschal sacrifice.
(Hi.) They who take the facts ss they appear to
he on the surface of the synoptical narratives * start
from a simpler point They have nothing unex-
pected in the occurrences to account for, but they
hare to show that the passages in St. John may bs
fairly interpreted in such a manner as not to inter-
fere with their own conclusion, and to meet the
objections suggested by the laws relating to the
observance of the festival We shall give in suc-
cession, as briefly as we can, what appear to be
their best explanations of the psssages iu question.
e On Matt zcvL IB, and John xlil. 1.
/ Assuming this view to be correct, may not the
change In too day made by our Lord have some anal-
ogy to the Changs of the weekly day of rest bom the
seventh to the Urst day ?
I Dean BUIcott regards the meal as " a paschal sup-
per " eaten twenty-four boars before that of the other
Jews, n within what wen popularly considered the
limits of the festival, 1 ' and would understand the ex-
pression In Ex. xU. 6, " between the two evenings,"
ss denoting the time between the evenings of the 13th
and 14th of the month. But lee note *, p. 2813. A
somewhat similar explanation Is given [by the Rev.
Henry Constable] in the Journal of Saered litraluri
for Oct. 1861.
» Ughtfoot, Bochart, Belaud, Sohoettgen, Tbolusk
Olshaussn, Slier, Langs, Hengstenberg, BoMnson,
Davidson [formerly], lairbalrn, [Norton, Andrews
Wlaseler, Luthardt, Bsumleln, Bbrard stow 1883
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8350
PASSOVEB
(a.) John xiii. 1, 9. Don irpe t$s lojmji limit
the time only of the proposition in the first verse,
or is the limitation to be carried on to verae 3, to
as to refer to the nipper? In the latter case, for
which De Wette and others say there it " a logical
necessity," <{; ri\ot liyimivy ainoit must refer
more directly to the manifestation of hit lore which
He was about to give to his disciples in washing
their feet; and the natural conclusion is, that the
meal was one eaten before the paschal supper.
Bochart, however, contends that wpb rijj ioprrts a
equivalent to tV re? wooeoprlot, " quod ita prse-
eedit featuni, ut tamen sit pars festi." Stier
■grass with him. Others take wdVxa to mean the
■even days of unleavened bread as not including
(die eating of the lamb, and justify this limitation
by St. Luke xxii. 1 (jj ioprl) tow ifv/UM' ii Aryo-
pitrri wttVx«). See note c, p. 2362. But not a
few of those who take this side of the main ques-
tion (Olshauten, Wieseler, Tholuck, and others)
regard the first verse aa complete in itself; under-
standing its purport to be that " Before the Pass-
over, in the prospect of his departure, the Saviour's
love was actively called forth towards his followers,
and He gave proof of his love to the last." Tho-
luck remarks that the expression Stixrov ytro/tcVov
(Teschendorf reads yiroueVov), " whur nipper was
going on " (not as in the A. V., " supper being
ended ") is very abrupt if we refer it to anything
except the Passover. [See also Norton's note. — A.]
The Evangelist would then rather hare used tome
such expression as, xal rWqow ovrs? Snirrovi
and he considers that this view is confirmed by
John xxi. 20, where this supper is spoken of as if
it was something familiarly known and not peculiar
in Us character — f>j col oWweo-cv <V t$ Ul*np-
On the whole, Xeander himself admits that nothing
can be safely inferred from John xiii. 1, 2, in favor
of the supper having taken place on the 13th.
(6.) John xiii. 29. It is urged that the things
of which they had " need against the feast," might
have been the provisions for the Chagigah, perhaps
with what else was required for the seven days of
unleavened bread. The usual day for sacrificing
the Chagigah was the 15th, which was then com-
mencing (see p. 2317 a). But there is another diffi-
culty, in the disciples thinking it likely either that
purchases could be made, or that alms could be
given to the poor, on a day of holy convocation.
This is of course a difficulty of the same kind
is that which meets us in the purchase* actually
made by the women, by Joseph, and Nicodemus.
Now, it must be admitted, that we have no proof
that the strict rabbinical maxims which have been
appealed to on this point existed in the time of our
Saviour, and that it is highly probable that the
latter of the law in regard to trading was habitu-
ally relaxed In the ease of what was required for
'digious rites, or for burials. There was plainly a
a, Iv. 6. The special application of the
Is rather obscun. Bee Barteoora's note.
Oomp. also Poach, vi. 2.
ft This word may mean an outer garment of any
arm. But It Is mora frequently used to denote the
tinged scarf worn by every Jew In the servtee of the
ynagogue (Buxt. La. Tahn. eoL 877).
e Bt Augustine says, «0 Impia eoecltas! Hahl-
laonlo videlicet contamlnaremur alleno, et non con-
lemuarentar seelere proprio ? AUenigeus JodJda
pmt ul lo oontamlnart tiuwtmot, et fratrls lnnoeentis
■SBgottM non ttmebant. Dhs enlm agar* eosperant
PASSOVEB
distinction recognized between a Vv of hrjt esa>
vocation and the Sabbath in the M«.»k Law Utetf
in respect to the otlaining and p.-ei.va ion ot food
under which bead the Chagigah uii^Lt coir* (Ex.
xii. 16) ; and in the Mishna the same diUli-ction it
clearly maintained ( Yarn Tob, v. 2, and MtgiUa,
L 6). It also appears that the School of KUM
allowed more tilcrty in certain particulars on fee-
tivals and fasts in the night than in the day-time. »
And it is expressly stated in the Hishua, that 3>
the Sabbath itself, wine, oil, and bread would bt
obtained by leaving a cloak (fVvlg)* as a pledge,
and when th» 11th of Nisan fell on a Sabbuth the
paschal lamb could be obtained in like man at
(Skabbatl), xxiii. 1). Alms also could be give . ta
the poor under certain conditions {Shabbali, i. 1).
(c.) John xviii. 28. The Jews refused to enter
the pnetorium, lest they should be defiled and so
disqualified from eating the Passover. Neandar
and others deny that this passage can possibly refer
to anything but the paschal sapper. But it is
alleged that the words Tm <pdya<n to weWxa,
may either be taken in a general sense as meaning
"that they might go on keeping the passover," "
or that re wdVx« may be understood specifically
to denote the Chagigah. That it might be so used
is rendered probable by Luke xxii. 1; and the
Hebrew word which it represents (hf 5) evidently
refers equally to the victims for the Chagigah and
the paschal lamb (Deut. xvi. 2), where It b com-
manded that the Passover should be sacrificed » of
the flock and the herd." « In the plural it is used
in the same manner (2 Chr. xxxr. 7, 9). It is
moreover to be kept in view that the Passover
might be eaten by those who had incurred a degree
of legal imparity, and that this was not the case in
respect to the Chagigah.* Joseph appears not U
have participated in the scruple of the other rulers,
aa he entered the pnetorium to beg the body of
Jesus (Hark xv. 48). Lightfoot {Ex. Ueb. in foe.)
goes so far aa to draw an argument in favor of the
14th being the day of the supper from the very
text in question. He says that the alight defile-
ment incurred by entering a Gentile house, bad
the Jews merely intended to eat the supper in the
evening, might have been done away in good time
by mere ablution; but that as the festival had
actually commenced, and they were probably just
about to eat the Chagigah, they could not resort
even to such a simple mode of purification./
(</.) John xix. 14. " The preparation of the
Passover" at first sight would seem as if it moat
be the prtpnralumfir the Pauottr on the 14th, a
time set apart for making ready for the paschal
week and for the paschal supper in particular. It
is naturally so understood by those who advooto
the notion that the Last Supper was eaten on the
13th. But they who take the opposite view affirm
aavmorum : qidbus dlebus contaminatio lllta erat In
alienigeoa) habiteoulum lntram" (Tract, extr. ■*
Joan, rrlil. 2).
4 See p. 2848 ft, and 8ohoattgen on John xviB. 28.
• Bee 2 Chr. xxx. 17 ; also Paackim, vit 4, wttk
Ualmonides' note.
/ Dr. Iktrbairn takes the expression, " that they
might eat the Passover," In Its limited sense, and snt>
poses that thee* Jews, in their determined hatred
were willing to put off the meal to the verge a*. •
even beyond, the legal time (Him. Manual, p. 8tU
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PASSOVER
inat, thjugb there mi a regular " (.reparation "
for the Sabbath, there is no mention of 1117 " prep-
aration " for the festivals (Bochart, Roland, Tho-
Inok, Hengstenberg). The word wapacxevT) u
expressly explained by wpoad0PaTo» (Hark xv.
48: Laehmann reads wpbs cdftSai-oy). It seems
to be essentially connected with the Sabbath itself
(John xix. 81).° There is no mention whatever
of the preparation for the Sabbath in the Old
Testament, bat it is mentioned by Joeephus ( Ant.
xvl. 6, § 8), and it would seem from him that the
time of preparation formally commenced at the
ninth hour of the sixth day of the week. The
rpordfifiaror a named in Judith viii. 6 as one of
the times on which devout Jews impended their
hit*. It was called by the Rabbis HtyfCVg*
omo at n^B? 3"1^ (Buxt Lex. Tab*, col.
1669). The phrase in John xix. 14 may thus be
understood as the preparation of the Sabbath
which fell in the Passover week. This mode of
taking the expression seems to be justified by Igna-
tius, who calls the Sabbath which occurred in the
festival vifi$amr tow woVx" (*/>• ad phiL 13 'i
and by Soorates, who calk it aififaro* Tqt toarqr
(Hut- Eecl. v. 32). If these arguments are ad-
mitted, the day of the preparation mentioned in
the Gospels might have fallen ou the day of holy
convocation, the 15th of Niaan.
(e.) John xix. 31. " That Sabbath-day was a
high day " — V<pa M*7&"- AnT Sabbath oc-
curring in the Passover week might have been
considered " a high day," as deriving an accession
of dignity from the festival. But it is assumed by
those who fix the supper on the 13th that the term
was applied, owing to the 15th being " a double
Sabbath," from the coincidence of the day of holy
convocation with the weekly festival. Those, on
the other hand, who identify the supper with the
paschal meal, contend that the special dignity of
the day resulted from its being that on which the
Omer was offered, and from which were reckoned
the fifty days to Pentecost. One explanation of
the term seems to be as good as the other.
(/.) The difficulty of supposing that our Lord's
apprehension, trial, and crucifixion took place 011
the day of holy convocation has been strongly
urged.' If many of the rabbinical maxima for
the observance of such days which have been
handed down to us were then in force, these occur-
rences certainly could not have taken place. But
the statements which refer to Jewish usage in
regard to legal proceedings on sacred days are very
inconsistent with each other. Some of them make
(be difficulty equally great whether we suppose the
trial to have taken place on the 14th or the 15th.
In others, there are exceptions permitted which
mm to go far to meet the case before us. For
a It cannot, however, be denied that the days of
Holy convocation are sometimes designated in the 0.
r. simply sa Sabbaths (lev. xvl. 81, xxUl. 11, 32). It
fat therefore not quite Impossible that the language of
the Gospels considered by Itself, might refer to them.
a*B(ffBOO0F # 1
» Especially by OrssweU (Divert. HL 166).
. See the notes of Cooselus In Surenhuslus, It. 236.
<• Bab. Gem. SaxJudrim, quoted by IJghtfoot on
■att. xxvH. 1. The application of this to the point
• hand v21, however, binge on the way In which we
w ea r s * i n d It not to ban been lawful tor the Jews to
sat say man b. teeth (John xvUI. 81), and thorafcn
PASSOVER 2851
example, the Mlshna forbids that a capital offender
should be examined in the night, or on the day
before the Sabbath or a feast-day (Snnliedrim, It
1). This law is modified by the glosses of the
Geniara.' But if it had been recognized in its
obvious meaning by the Jewish rulers, they would
have outraged it in as great a degree on the pre-
ceding day (1. e. the 14th) as on the day of holy
convocation before the Sabbath. It was also for-
bidden to administer justice on a high feast-day,
or to carry arms ( Yom Toi, t. 8}. But these pro-
hibitions are expressly distinguished from uncon-
ditional precepts, and are reckoned amongst those
which may be set aside by circumstances. The
members of the Sanhedrim were forbidden to eat
any food on the same day after condemning a
criminal.' Yet we find them intending to u eat
the Passover" (John xviii. 28) after pronouncing
the sentence (Matt xxvi. 85, 66).
It was, however, expressly permitted that the
Sanhedrim might assemble on the Sabbath as well
as on feast-days, not indeed in their usual chamber,
but in a place near the court of the women.* And
there is a remarkable passage in mo Mishna in
which it is commanded that an elder not submit-
ting to the voice of the Sanhedrim should be kept
at Jerusalem till one of the three great festivals,
and then executed, in accordance with Dent- xvii.
12, 13 (Sanhedrim, x. 4). Nothing is said to lead
us to infer that the execution could not take place
on one of the days of holy convocation. It is,
however, hardly necessary to refer to this, or any
similar authority, in respect to the crucifixion,
which was carried out in conformity with the sen-
tence of the Roman procurator, not that of the
Sanhedrim.
But we have better proof than either the Mishna
or the Gemara can afford that the Jews did not
hesitate, in the time of the Roman domination, to
carry arms and to apprehend a prisoner on a sol-
emn feast-day. We find them at the feast of
Tabernacles, on the "great day of the feast," send-
ing out officers to take our Lord, and rebuking
them for not bringing Him (John vii. 32-45).
St. Peter also was seised during the Passover (Acts
xii. 3, 4). And, again, the reason alleged by the
rulers for not apprehending Jesus was, not the
sanctity of the festival, but the fear of an uproar
among the multitude which was assembled (Matt.
xxvi. 5).
On the whole, notwithstanding the express dec-
laration of the Law and of the Mishna that the
days of holy convocation were to be observed pre-
cisely as the Sabbath, except in the preparation of
food, it is highly probable that considerable license
was allowed in regard to them, as we have already
observed. It is very evident that the festival timet
were characterized by a free and jubilant diameter
to pronounce ssntenoe in the legal sense. If we sup-
pose that ths Soman government had not deprived
them of the power of life and death, It may have been
to avoid breaking their law, as expressed In StmJte-
tfrim. It. 1, that they wished to throw the matter on
the procurator. Bee Btecos, Luturte en las Acte, p.
166 ; Scallger's note In the CHtiei Sam on John xtHL
81 ; IJghtfoot, St. Htb. Matt. xxri. 8, -nd John xrttL
81, where the evidence Is given which Is In favor of
the Jews having resigned the right of capital punish-
ment forty yean before the destroction of Jsc
• Gem. Saahadrim.
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2352
PASSOVER
irbich did not belong, in the same degree, to the
Sabbath, and which was plainly not restricted to
we days which fell between the days of holy con-
vocation (Lev. xxiii. 40; Deut xii. 7, xiv. 26: see
p. 8343). It should also be observed that while
the law of the Sabbath was enforced on strangers
dwelling amongst the Israelites, such was not the
ease with the law of the Festivals. A greater
freedom of action in cases of urgent need would
naturally follow, and it is not difficult to suppose
that the women who " rested on the Sabbath-day
according to the commandment" had prepared the
spices and linen for the Intombment on the day of
holy convocation. To say nothing of the way in
which the question might be effected by the much
greater license permitted by the school of HiOel
than by the school of Shammai, in all matters of
this kind, it is remarkable that we find, on the
Sabbath-day itself, not only Joseph (Mark zv. 43),
but the chief priests and Pharisees coming to
Pilate, and, as it would seem, entering the pr»B-
torium (Matt, xxvii. 62).
3. There is a strange story pre se r v e d In the
Gemara (Sanhedrim, vi. 2) that our Lord having
vainly endeavored during forty days to find an ad-
vocate, was sentenced, and, on the 14th of Nisan,
stoned, and afterwards hanged. As we know that
the difficulty of the Gospel narratives had been
perceived long before this statement could have
been written, and as the two opposite opinions on
the chief question were both current, the writer
might easily have taken up one or the other. The
statement cannot be regarded as worth anything
in the way of evidence."
Not much use can be made in the controversy of
the testimonies of the Fathers. But few of them
attempted to consider the question critically. Eu-
sebius (Hist. £cc v. 28, 24) has recorded the tra-
ditions which were in favor of St. John having kept
Easter on the 14th of the month. It has been
hought that those traditions rather help the con-
clusion that the supper was on the 14th. But the
question on which Eusebius brings them to bear is
simply whether the Christian festival should be ob-
served on the 14th, the day ir f eltir to wpo'fla-
toy 'lovSofois wpoTfydptvro, on whatever <Iay of
the week it might fall, or on the Sunday of the
lesorreetion. It seems that nothing whatever can
jc safely inferred from them respecting the day of
a Other Rabbinical authorities countenance the
statement that Christ was executed on the 14th of
the month (see Joet, Judtnlh. i. 404). But this seems
to be a cue In which, for the reason stated above,
numbers do not add to the weight of the testimony.
o Numerous Patristic authorities an stated by Mal-
donat on Matt. xxvi.
e Hupfeld has dsvised an arrangement of the pas-
sages in the Pentateuch bearing on the Passover so ss
to show, according to this theory, their relative antlq
ilty. The order Is ss follows : — (1) Kx. zxili. 14-17 ;
(3) Kx. xxxiv. 18-26; (8) Ex. xili. 8-10; (4) Ex. xii.
16-20 ; (6) Ex. xii. 1-14 ; (6) Kx. xii. 48-60 ; (7) Num.
IX. 10-14.
The view of Baur, that the Passover was an astro
noraical festival and the lamb a symbol of the sign
Aries, and that of Ton Bohlen, that it resembled the
sun-bast of the Peruvians, are well exposed by Bohr
(Symbotik). Our own Spencer has endeavored in his
usual manner to show that many details of the festi-
val were derived from heathen sources, though he
admits the originality of the whole.
It may seem at first sight ss If some eountenanoe
*sr* given to the notion that the hast of unleavened
PASSOVEE
the month of the supper or the crucifixion. Cleat
ent of Alexandria and Origen appeal to the Gospel
of St John as deciding in favor of the 13th. Chry-
sostom expresses himself doubtfully between the
two. St Augustine was in favor of the 14th.'
4. It must be admitted that the narrative of St
John, as far as the mere succession of events is con-
cerned, bears consistent testimony in favor of the
I.4st Supper having been eaten on the evening before
the Passover. That testimony, however, does not
appear to be so distinct, and so incapable of a sec-
ond interpretation, as that of the synoptical Gospels,
in favor of the meal having been the paschal supper
itself; at the legal time (see especially Matt, xxvi
17; Hark xiv. 1, 12; Luke xxii. 7). Whether the
explanations of the passages in St. John, and of
the difficulties resulting from the nature of the or
currences related, compared with the enactment*
of the Jewish law, be considered satisfactory or nut
due weight should be given to the antecedent prob-
ability that the meal was no other than the regu-
lar Passover, and that the reasonableness of the
contrary view cannot be maintained without some
artificial theory, having no proper foundation
either in Scripture or ancient testimony of any
kind.
IV. MSAMltO OF TUX PaSSOVKK.
1. Each of the three great festivals contained a
reference to the annual course of nature. Two, at
least, of them — the first and the last — also com-
memorated events in the history of the chosen peo-
ple. The coincidence of the times of their obser-
vance with the most marked periods in the process
of gathering in the fruits of the earth, has not un-
naturally suggested the notion that their agricul-
tural significance is the more ancient; that in fact
they were originally harvest feasts observed by the
patriarchs, and that their historical meaning was
superadded in later times (Ewald, Hupfeld c ).
It must be admitted that the relation to the nat-
ural year expressed in the Passover wss loss marked
than that in Pentecost or Tabernacles, while its
historical import was deeper and more pointed. It
seems hardly possible to study the history of the
Passover with candor and attention, as it stands
in the Scriptures, without being driven to the con-
clusion that it was, at the very first, essentially the
commemoration of a great historical fact That
bread was originally a distinct festival from the Pass-
over, by such passsgss ss Lev. xxiil. 6, 6: "In the
fourteenth day of the first month at even Is the Lord's
Passover ; and on the fifteenth day of the same month
la the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord : seven
days ye must sat unleavened bread " (see also Nasa.
xxviU. 16, 17). Josephns in like manner speaks cf
the feast of unleavened bread ss " following the Paaa-
over " (.*»«. ill. 10, J 6). But such langusge may
mean no more than the disttnetio.i between the pas-
chal supper and the seven days of unleavened bread,
which is so obviously Implied in the fact that the eat-
ing of unleavened bread was observed by the country
Jews who were at home, though they could not par-
take of the paschal lamb without going to Jerusalem.
Every membor of the household bad to abstain from
leavened bread, but some only went up to the patch* 1
meal. (See Hsimon. De Fermenlata et Azymo, vi. i-
It Is evident that the common usage, lu later times a,
least, was to employ, as equivalent terms, UufiaM of
the naxsotur, and the feast of unleavened bread (Matt
xxvi. 17 ; Mark xiv. 12; Luke xxii. 1 ; Joseph. Am
xlv. 2, S 1 ; B. J. li. 1, J 8). See note o, p. 2847.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PASSOVER
salt A it* arretuoiiies which has a direct agricul-
tural reference — the offering of the Omer — hold*
a wry subordinate place.
But as regard* the whole of the feast*. It is not
1*97 easy to imagine tha. the rite* which belonged
to them connected with the harvest, were of patri-
archal origin. Such rite* were adapted for the
religion of an agricultural people, not for that of
shepherds like the patriarch*. It would *eem,
therefore, that we gain but little by (peculating on
the simple impression contained in the Pentateuch,
that the feast* were ordained by Hoses in their in.
tegrity, and that they were arranged with a view
to the religious wants of the people when they were
to be settled in the Land of Promise.
2. The deliverance from Egypt wa* regarded as
the starting-point of the Hebrew nation. The Isra-
elites were then raised from the condition of bond-
men under a foreign tyrant to that of a free people
•wing allegiance to no one but Jehovah. " Te
have seen," said the Lord, "what I did unto the
Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagle*' wing*
and brought you onto myself" (Ex. xix. 4).
The prophet in a later age spoke of the event a*
a crtatiun and a redemption of the nation. God
declares himself to be " the creator of Israel," in
immediate connection with evident allusion* to hi*
having brought them out of Egypt; such as hi*
having made " a way in the sea, and a path in the
mighty water*," and hi* having overthrown " the
chariot and hone, the army and the power " (I*,
xlfii. 1, 15-17). The Exodus was thus looked upon
as the birth of the nation ; the Passover was it*
annual birthday feast. Nearly all the rites of the
festival, if explained in the most natural manner,
appear to point to this as it* primary meaning. It
was the yearly memorial of the dedication of the
people to Him who had saved their first-born from
the destroyer, in order that they might be made
holy to Himself. This was the lesson which they
were to teach to their children throughout all gen-
erationa. When the young Hebrew asked his father
regarding the paschal lamb, " What is this? " the
answer prescribed was, " By strength of hand the
Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house
of bondage: and it came to pass when Pharaoh
would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the
fnt-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born
of man and the first-bom of beast; therefore I sac-
rifice to the Lord all that openeth the womb, being
male*; but all the first-born of my children I re-
deem " (Ex. xiii. 14, 16). Hence, in the periods
of great national restoration in the times of Joshua,
Hezekiah, Josiah, and Ezra, the Passover was ob-
served in a special manner, to remind the people of
their true position, and to mark their renewal of
the covenant which their fathers had made.
S. (a.) The paschal lamb must of course be re-
garded a* the leading feature in the ceremonial of
die festival. Some Protestant divines during the
tut two centuries (Calov, Carpzov), laying great
stress on the fact that nothing is said in the Law
■•speeting either the imposition of the hands of the
PASSOVER
8353
priest on the head of the lamb, or the bestowing of
any portion of the flesh on the priest, have denied
that it was a sacrifice in the proper sense of the
word. They appear to have been tempted to take
thi* view, in order to deprive the RoniadUts of an
analogical argument bearing on the Romish doc-
trine of the Lord's Supper. They affirmed that
the lamb was tacramenium, not iacr(/fc>u»i. But
meet of their contemporaries (Cudworth, Bocbart,
Vitriuga), and nearly all modern critics, have held
that it was in the strictest sense a sacrifice. The
chief characteristics of a sacrifice are all distinctly
ascribed to it. It was offered in the holy place
(Deut. xv). 5, 6); the blood was sprinkled on the
altar, and the fit was burned (2 Chr. xxx. 16,
xxxv. 11). Philo and Josephus commonly call it
Su/ia or 6Wfa. The language of Ex. xii. 97, xxiii.
18, lima. ix. 7, Deut. xvi. 2, 5, together with 1
Cor. T. 7, would seem to decide the question be-
yond the reach of doubt.
A* the original institution of the Passover in
Egypt preceded the establishment of the priesthood
and the regulation of the service of the tabernacle,
it necessarily fell short in several particulars of the
observance of the festival according to the fully de-
veloped ceremonial law (see II. 1). The head of
the family slew the lamb in bis own house, not in
the holy place: the blood was sprinkled on the door-
way, not on the altar. But when the law was per-
fected, certain particulars were altered in order to
assimilate the Passover to the accustomed order of
religious service. It has been conjectured that the
imposition of the hands of the priest was one of
these particulars, though it is not recorded (Kurti).
But whether this was the case or not, the other
changes which have been stated seem to be abun-
dantly sufficient for the argument. It can hardly
be doubted that the paschal lamb was regarded as
the great annual peace- offering of the family, a
thank-offering for the existence and preservation of
the nation (Ex. xiii. 14-16), the typical sacrifice of
the elected and reconciled children of the promise.
It wa* peculiarly the Lord's own sacrifice (Ex. xxiii.
18, xxxiv. 25). It was more ancient than the writ-
ten Law, and called to mind that covenant on which
tha Law was based. It retained in a special man-
ner the expression of the aaeredness of the whole
people, and of the divine mission of the head of
every family," according to the spirit of the old
patriarchal priesthood. No part of the victim was
given to the priest as in other peace-offerings, be-
cause the father was the priest himself. The cus-
tom, handed on from age to age, thus guarded
from superstition the idea of a priesthood placed
in the members of a single tribe, while it visibly
set forth the promise which was connected with
the deliverance of the people from Egypt • Ye
shall be unto me a kingdom of priest* and a holy
nation " (Ex. xix. 6).* In this way it became a
testimony in favor of domestic worship. In the his-
torical fact that the blood, in later times sprinkled
on the altar, had at first had its divinely appointed
place on the Hatch) and door-ports," it was de-
■ The feet widen ha* been noticed, II. 8, (/), is
remarkable in this connection, that those who bad
sot Incurred a degree of Impurity sufficient to disqual-
ify fleam from eating; the paschal lamb, were yet not
yeas enough to take the priestly part in slaying It.
b Philo, speaking of the Passover, says, at/un* t*
**» « i#pir*». TWV ica-rd lUpot htaam VSC drip avrov
tswfas ii< | i»m tv» tax xw pe e w Y te v ' "U *0«lvo*V
148
iAJUx i*« Aeiff *yvY>f*M ml 6<uSp*t 4*, JnWro
repiforrov Upovvvtf Twrifii|ff*ai. — Dt Til. MotU, 111. 29,
vol. It. p. 260, ed. Teach.
< As regards the mere place of sprinkling In the
first Passover, on the reason of which then has bean
some specif tJon, BShr reasonably supposes (hat the
Hntals and door-post* were selected a* parts of the
most obvious to passers-by, and to which hi
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2854
PASSOVER
dared that the national altar itself represented the
sanctity which belonged to the house of ever; Isra-
elite, not that only which belonged to the nation
as a whole.
A question, perhaps not a wise one, has been
raised regarding the purpose of the sprinkling of
the blood on the lintels and door-posts. Some
have considered that it was meant as a mark to
guide the destroying angel. Others suppose that
it was merely a sign to confirm the faith of the
Israelites in their safety and deliverance." Surely
neither of these news can stand alone. The
sprinkling must have been an act of fiiith and
obedience which God accepted with favor.
" Through faith (we are told) Hoses kept the
Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that
destroyed the first-born should touch them "
(Heb. zi. 28). Whatever else it may have been,
it was certainly an essential part of a sacrament,
of an " effectual sign of grace and of God's good
will," expressing the mutual relation into which
the covenant had brought the Creator and the
creature. That it also denoted the purification of
the children of Israel from the abominations ol
the Egyptians, and so had the accustomed signifi-
cance of the sprinkling of blood under the Law
(Heb. ix. 22), is evidently in entire! consistency
with this view.
No satisfactory reason has been assigned for the
command to choose the lamb four days before the
paschal supper. Kurtz (following Hofmanu) fan-
cies that the four days signified the four centuries
of Egyptian bondage. As in later times, the rule
appears not to have been observed (see p. 2342) ;
the reason of it was probably of a temporary
nature.
That the Iamb was to be roasted and not boiled,
has been supposed to commemorate the haste of
the departure of the Israelites.* Spencer observes,
on the other hand, that, as they hail their cooking
vessels with them, one mode would have been as
expeditious as the other. Some think that, like
the dress and the posture in which the first Pass-
over was to lie eaten, it was intended to remind
the people that they were now no longer to regard
themselves as settled down in a home, but as a
host upon the march, roasting being the proper
military mode of dressing meat. Kurtz conjec-
tures that the lamb was to be roasted with fire, the
purifying element, because the meat was thus left
pore, without the mixture even of the water, which
would have entered into it in boiling. The meat
in its purity would thus correspond in signification
with the unleavened bread (see II. 3, (*.)).
It is not difficult to determine the reason of the
eommand, "not a bone of him shall be broken."
The lamb was to be a symbol of unity; the unity
of the family, the unity of the nation, the uuity
of God with his people whom He had taken into
covenant with Himself. While the flesh was di-
vided into portions, so that each member of the
family could partake, the skeleton was left one and
entire to remind them of the bonds which united
PASSOVER
them, rhus the words of the La« are applied It
the body of our Saviour, as the type of that stA
higher unity of which He was himself to be the
author and centre (John xix. 36).
The same significance may evidently be attached
to the prohibition that no part of the meat sbotld
be kept for another meal, or carried to another
house. The paschal meal in each house was to be
one, whole and entire.
(o.) The unleavened bread ranks next in impor-
tance to the paschal lamb. The notion has been
very generally held, or taken for granted, both by
Christian and Jewish writers of all ages, that it
was intended to remind the Israelites of the un-
leavened cakes which they were obliged to eat in
their hasty flight (Ex. xii. 34, 39). But there is
not the least intimation to this effect in the sacred
narrative. On the contrary, the command was given
to Hoses and Aaron that unleavened bread should
be eaten with the lamb before the circumstance
occurred upon which this explanation is based.
Comp. Ex. xii. 8 with xii. 38.
It has been considered by some (Ewald, Winer,
and the modern Jews) that the unleavened bread
aud the bitter herbs alike owe their meaning to
their being regarded as unpalatable food. Th»
expression " bread of affliction," ^S Olj? (Daut
xvi. 8), is regarded as equivakut to fniiivy-brtad,
and on this ground Ewald aicribes something of
the character of a fast to the I'assover. But this
seems to he wholly inconsistent with the pervading
joyous nature of the festival. The bread of nfflie
turn may mean bread which, in present gladness,
commemorated, either in itself, or in common with
the other elements of the feast, the past affliction
of the people (Bahr, Kurtz, Hofmann). It should
not be forgotten that unleavened bread was not
peculiar to the Passover. The ordinary "meat-
offering " was unleavened (Lev. ii. 4, 6, vil. 12, x.
12, Sea), and so was the sbewbread (Lev. xxir. 5-9).
The use of unleavened bread iu the consecration
of the priests (Ex. xxix. 23), and in the offering
of the Nazarite (Num. vi. 19). is interesting in
relation to the Passover, as being apparently con-
nected with the consecration of the person. On
the whole, we are warranted in concluding that
unleavened bread had a peculiar sacrificial char-
acter, according to the Law, and it can hardly be
supposed that a particular kind of food should have
been offered to the Lord because it was insipid or
unpalatable.'
It seems more reasonalle to accept St. Paul's
reference to the subject (1 Cor. v. 6-8 > as furnish-
ing the true meaning of the fynibol. Fermenta-
tion is decomposition, a dissolution cf unity. This
must be more obvious to ordinary eyes where the
leaven in common use is n piece of sour dough,
instead of the expedients at present empl jyed in
this country to make bread light. Hie pure dry
biscuit, as distinguished from bread thus leavened,
would be an apt emblem of unchanged duration,
and, in Its freedom from foreign mixture, of purity
also.' If this was the accepted meaning among
eerlptiona of different kinds were often attached.
Oomp. Dent. vi. 0.
a Especially Boebart and Bahr. The former says,
« Hoe slguum Deo non datum sod Hebrads nt eo eon-
Irmatl de liberations card dnt."
• So Bahr and most of the Jewish authorities.
r Hnpsald Imagines that bread without leaven, being
ahs stsepanw remit of coked (rain, characterised the
old agricultural festival which existed before the secrt-
flos of the lamb was Instituted.
d The root \f5B signifies" to make dry." Karat
thinks that e>y«<u rather than uoetttuu Is the Idas
in D^Sp. But need In this ecnMcttoo has ttas
sense of tut tnmpUd, or iiuomotfieki, snl banes a)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PASSOVER
the Jam, " the unleavened treed of sincerity and
troth " must have been a clear and familiar expres-
lion to St. Paul's Jewish readers. Bahr conceives
that as the blood of the lamb figured Che act of
purifying, the getting rid of the corruption! of
Egypt, the unleavened bread signified the abiding
■tate of consecrated holiness.
(e.) The bitter herbs are generally understood bj
the Jewish writers to signify the bitter sufferings
which the Israelites bad endured (Ex. i. 14).
But it has been remarked by Aben Esra that these
herbs are a good and wholesome accompaniment
for meat, and are now, and appear to have been in
ancient times, commonly so eaten (see p. 2345).
(d.) The offering of the Omer, though it is ob-
viously that part of the festival which is imme-
diately connected with the course of the seasons,
bore a distinct analogy to its historical significance.
It may have denoted a deliverancs from winter, as
the lamb signified deliverance from the bondage of
Egypt, which might well be considered as a winter
in the history of the nation. 6 Again, the conse-
cration of the first-fruits, the first-born of the soil,
is an easy type of the consecration of the first-born
of the Israelites. This seems to be countenanced
by Ex. xiii. 3-4, where the sanctification of the
first-born, and the unleavened bread which figured
it, seem to be emphatically connected with the time
of year, Abib, Ute month of green enrt.*
4. No other shadow of good things to come
contained in the Law can vie with the festival of
the Passover in expressiveness and completeness.
Hence we are so often reminded of it, more or less
distinctly, in the ritual and language of the Church.
Its outline, considered in reference to the great de-
liverance of the Israelites which it commemorated,
and many of its minute details, have been appro-
priated as current expressions of the truths which
•sally connected with dryness. Parhaps our Author-
ised Version has lost something In expressiveness by
substituting the lens "unleavened bread" for the
« sweet bread " of the older versions, which still holds
It* place in 1 bar. 1. 19.
• "yVTjp totud eomedimus quia amarirudrne affcee-
runt Jigyp&H vitara pan-am nostroram In Jigypto —
Malmon. in Ptaath&n, vill. 4.
This application of the rite perhaps derives some
support from the form in which the ordinary first-fruit
offering was p r ese n ted In the Temple. [TiBST-PBcrrs.]
The call of Jacob C'» 8yrlan ready to parish"), and
the deliverance of his children from Egypt, with their
^ttlement In the land that flowed with milk and
hooey, were then related (Dent. xxvl. 6-10). It Is
worthy of notice that, according to Puackim, an ex-
position of this passage was an Important part of the
reply which the father gave to his son's Inquiry during
the pasohal supper.
The account of the procession In offering the first-
fruits In the Mlshna (A'ceMrm), with the probable
rofltrsnee to the subject In Is. xxx. 29, can hardly have
anything to do with the Passover. The connection
•f pears to have been suggested by the tradition men-
tioned by Aben bra, that the army of Secnacherlb was
smitten on the night of the Passover. Regarding this
tradition, Yltringa says, "Non redplo, nee sperno"
[In Uaiam xxx. 29).
' See Gmtuus, IV*. In the hXX. It is called nv
>v rimr, m. npiw. If Niton Is a Semitic word,
lesenlus thinks that it means <A» month of flown, in
tgreement with a passage In Macarlus (Bom. xvil.) In
■Men U Is sailed sIpwMw. But be seams in-
jflned to fhvor an explanation of the word suggested
ty a Zend root, according to which It would signify
W meat* of Ntw fear's Day.
PASSOVEB 286fl
God has revealed to us in the fullness of tunes to
sending his Son upon earth.
It is not surprising that ecclesiastical writers
should have pushed the conpariaon oo far, and
exercised their fancy in the application of trifling
or accidental particulars either to the facts of our
Lord's life or to truths connected with it.' But,
keeping within the limits of sober interpretation
indicated by Scripture itself, the application is
singularly full and edifying. The deliverance of
Israel according to the flesh from the bondage of
Egypt was always so regarded and described by the
prophets as to render it a most apt type of the
deliverance of the spiritual Israel from the bondage
of sin into the glorious liberty with which Christ
has made us free (see IV. 3). The blood of the
first paschal lambs sprinkled on the door-ways of
the houses has ever been regarded as the best
defined foreshadowing of that blood which has
redeemed, saved, and sanctified us (Heb. xi. 38).
The lamb itself, sacrificed by the worshipper with-
out the intervention of a priest, and its flesh being
eaten without reserve as a meal, exhibits the most
perfect of peace-ofierings, the closest type of the
atoning Sacrifice who died for us and has made
our peace with God (Is. liii. 7; John i. 29; of. the
expression - my sacrifice," Ex. xxxir. 36, also Ex.
xii. 27; Acts viii. 32; 1 Cor. v. 7; 1 Pet I. 18,
19). The ceremonial law, and the functions of
the priest in later times, were indeed recognized in
the sacrificial rite of the Passover; but the pre-
vious existence of the rite showed that they were
not essential for the personal approach of the wor-
shipper to God (see IV. 3 (a.); Is. Ixi. 6; 1 Pet.
ii. 5, 9). The unleavened bread is recognized ss
the figure of the state of sanctification which is
the true element of the believer in Christ • (1 Cor.
v. 8). The haste with which the meal was eaten,
<< The crossed spits on which Justin Martyr laM
stress are noticed, II. 8 (a). The subject Is expanded
by Tltrlnga, Oosrrvat. Sae. II. 10. The time of the
new moon, at whlci the festival was held, has been
taken as a type of the brightness nf the appearing of
the Messiah; the lengthening of the days at that
season of the year as figuring the ever-increasing light
and warmth of the Redeemer's kingdom ; the advanced
hour of the day at which the supper was eaten, as a
representation of the fullness of times ; the roasting
of the lamb, as the effect of God's wrath against sin ;
tho thorough cooking of the lamb, as a lesson that
Christian doctrine should be wall arranged and di-
gested ; the prohibition that any part of the flesh
should remain till the morning, as a foreshowing of the
haste in which the body of Christ was removed from
the cross; the nnfermented bread, as the emblem of a
humble spirit, while fermented bread was the figure
of a heart puffed up with pride and vanity. (See
Suioer, sub rao-go.) In the like spirit, Justin Martyr
and Infantilis take up the charge against the Jews
of corrupting the 0. T-, with a view to deprive the
Passover of Its clearness ss a witness for Christ. They
specifically allege that the following passage hss been
omitted In the copies of the book of bra : « St dixit
Esdras ad populum : Hoe pasoha salvator noster est,
et refuglum nostrum. Cogitate et ascendat In ear
veetrum, quonlam habemus humillare eum in slgno :
w post hsM spsrabhnns In eum, ne deseratur bio locus
In seternum tempos." (Just. Mart. Dialog, aim
Trypk.; Lest but. lv. 18.) It has been conjeetored
that the words may have been Inserted between vr.
30 and 21 In br. vl. But they have been all (at
untversall- regarded as spurious.
• The use which the lathers made of this nay be
seen in Suirsr, t. v. {jspec.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
J
2356
PASSOVBB
and tb« girt-up loins, the staves and the
are fit emblemi of the Hie of the Christian pilgrim,
trer hastening away from the world towards hia
heavenly destination • (Luke xii. 85; 1 Pet i. 18,
U. 11; Eph. r. 16; Heb. xl. 18).
It has been well observed by Kurtz (on Ex. xil.
88), that, at the very crisis when the distinction
between Israel and the nations of the world was
most clearly brought oat (Ex. xi. 7), a <■ mixed
multitude " went out from Egypt with them (Ex.
xii. 38), and that provision was then made lor all
who were willing to join the chosen seed and par-
ticipate with them in their spiritual advantages
(Ex. xii. 44). Thus, at the very starting-point of
national separation, was foreshadowed the calling in
of the Gentiles to that covenant in which all
nations of the earth were to be blessed.
The offering of the Omer, in Its higher signifi-
cation as a symbol of the first-born, has been
already noticed (IV. 3 (d)). But its meaning
found full expression only in that First-born of all
areation, who, having died and risen again, became
"the first-fruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. xv.
SO). As the first of the first-fruits, DO other offer-
ing of tbe sort seems so likely as the Omer to
have immediately suggested the expressions used
(Rom. viii. 23, xi. 18; Jam. i. 18; Rev. xiv. 4).
The crowning application of the paschal rites to
the truths of which they were the shadowy prom-
ises appears to be that which is afforded by tbe
fact that our Lord's death occurred during the
festival. According to the Divine purpose, the true
Lamb of God was slain at nearly the same time as
" the Lord's Passover," in obedience to the letter
nf the Law. It does not seem needful that, in
order to give point to this coincidence, we should
(as some have done) draw from it an a priori argu-
ment in favor of our Lord's crucifixion having
taken place on tbe 14th of Nisau (see III. S, ii.).
It is enough to know that our own Holy Week and
Easter stand as the anniversary of tbe same great
facta as were foreshown in those events of which
the yearly Passover was a commemoration.
As compared with tbe other festivals, the Pass-
over was remarkably distinguished by a single vic-
tim essentially its own, sacrificed in a very peculiar
manner. > In this respect, as well as in the place
it held in the ecclesiastical year, it had a formal
dignity and character of its own. It waa the rep-
resentative festival of tbe year, and in this unique
position it stood in a eertain relation to circum-
skion as tbe second sacrament of the Hebrew
Church (Ex. xii. 44). We may see this In what
recurred at Gilgal, when Joshua, in renewing tbe
Divine covenant, celebrated the Passover imme-
diately after the circumcision of the people. But
the nature of the relation in which these two rites
stood to each other did not become fully developed
until its types were fulfilled, and the Lord's Supper
took its place aa the sacramental feast of the elect
I of God.« Hupfekt well observes: >■ En pul-
« 8s* Theodoret, lnlrrrog. XXIV. in Ezod. Then
Is an eloquent postage on the same subject In Orag.
Vas. Oral. XLJ1.
• The only parallel ease to this, In the whole range
W" the public religious observances of the Law, seems
lo b* that of the scapegoat of the Day of Atonement
e It Is worthy of remark that the modern Jews dla-
ttLzoleh Aheee two rltee above all others, as being lm-
Mdiately «rm«tH with the grand fulfillment of the
mtAt to their fatten. Though may rate
PASSOVBB
cbotilma mystcrionuu nostrormn exenplai \
eisio quldem baptlsmatis, scilicet lignum
divine et ftsderia cum Deo pacti, quo ad
totem populi saeri voeamur; Paaohalia van agnus
et ritus, oontinuatss quippe gratia divinss et ear-
vati foederis cum Deo signum et pignus, quo sacra
et cum Deo et cum ecsteris populi saeri membris
eommunio usque renovator et alitor, eotnsa Chriati
sacro typua aptisaimus! "
Literature. — Mishna, Petachim, with the
notes in Surenhusius [vol. Ii.]j Bahr, SgmboUk, b.
iv. c. 8; Hupfeld, De FuL Bebr.; Bochtrt, Dt
Agno Patchali (vol. I. of the ZKerosotcon) ; Ugo-
UnL Dt Ritibut in Cam. Dom. ex Patch. ilkutr.
(voL xvii. of the Thuaurut); MsJmonidee, £*
Fermentato et Atymo; Basenmiiller, Scholia in
Ex. xii., etc ; Otho, Lex. Rob. s. Patcha ; Carp-
tor, App. Crii. ; Lightfoot, Temple Service, and
Hot. Htbr. on Matt, xxvi., John xiii., etc; Vitrin-
ga, 06s. Sac. lib. ii. 8, 10; Reland, Antiq. iv. 8;
Spencer, De Leg. Bebr. ii. 4; Kurti, Butoruof
the Old Covenant, ii. 288 ft*. (Clark'a edit); Hot-
tinger, De Rita dimitttndi Roan in FeiL Patch.
{Tltct. Not. Tkealogico-Pkilolog. voL ii.); Buxtorf,
Sytuig. Jvd. xviii. ; Cudworth, True Notion of the
Lord't Supper.
More especially on the question respecting the
Lord's Supper, Robinson, Barmony of the Got-
pelt, and Bibtiotheca Sacra tor Aug. 1846; Tho-
luck, on John xiii. [in 7th ed. of his Comas.
(1867), Einl. pp. 88-63]; Stier, on John xii.;
KuiuoeL on Matt. xxvi. ; Neander, L\fe of Chrid,
§ 265; GreswcIL Barm. Evang. and Dinerta-
Bona ; Wieseler, Chronol. Sgnopt. der vier Evang.;
Tiachendorf, Syn. Evang. p. xlv. ; Bleek, DitterL
ueber den Sfonathstag del Todet Chritti {Beitrige
stir Evangtlien-Kriiik, 1846); Frischmuth, Dit-
tertatio, etc. (The*. TheoLPhilolog.); Harenberg,
Demons/ratio, etc. ( Thet. Nome TktoL Phil vol
ii.). Tboluck praises Eude, Dcmontlratio quod
Ckr. m Com. araaomrlum agnum patchaUm sua
amederit. Lips. 1742. FJUoott, Lecture! on the
Life of our Lord, p. 820; Fan-bairn, Hermmm-
tical Manual, ii. 9; Davidson, Introduction to JV.
T. [1848] i. 102. S. C.
* Additional Literature. The art Pauoocr by
a D. Ginsbmrg in tbe 3d edition of Kitto's Cy-
clop, of BibL Lit. deserves notice for its thorough-
ness, and for the minuteness of it* account of the
later Jewish usages. Winer's art Patcha in hia
BibL Reahebrterbuch Is carefully elaborated. The
subject is treated in Herzog's Reat-Encykl. by
Vaihinger; the art on Easter (Patcha, chritt-
ticket) and tbe early paschal controversies is, how-
ever, by Stoitz.
On the question respecting the Last Supper as*
the references to the literature under Jobs, Gob-
pel op, vol. ii. pp. 1437, 1438. Among the mora
recent writers on this sul jest the following are also
worthy of notice: S. J. Andrews, Lift of our
Lord (N. T. 1862), pp. 425-460. T. Lewin,
to tha coming of Elijah In their ordinary gnaw at
meals, it Is only on these occasions that their ani e n s*
tlon of the harbinger of the Messtsj Is sinusal il by
i formal observances. When a child Is i luiiinirl— «1.
an empty chair Is placed at band for the prophet as
ocenpy. At th* paschal meal, a cap of win* Is asana s]
out Mr him ; and at an ap point e d m omen t th* dear *f
th* room Is solemnly set open far ham to aster. (Bat
noes t, p. MM.)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
TASSOVBB
Fain Sacri (Land. 1865), p. xxxi. ff. I rot Win.
Itilligan, arte, in the Contemporary Review for
Aug. and Nov. 1868. Holtzmann, in Bunsen's
Bibelwerk, viii. 806-323 (1868). Ebrard, Win-
ouch. Krit. d. evang. Guchichte, 3' Aufl. (1868),
pp. 615-640. C. E. Caspari, ChronoL-geogr. EM.
in doe Leben Jem Chriiti (Hamb. 1869), pp. 164-
186. Wieseler, BetirSge tur ricktigen Wurdigung
dtr EvungeUen u. d. evang. Geichichte (Gotha,
1869), pp. 230-283. Of these writers, Andrews
maintains that there is do real discrepancy be-
tween the Synoptists and John, — that they all
place the crucifixion on the 15th of Nisan. Prof.
Milligan holds the same opinion, contending that
the paschal lamb might be eaten on any pari of
the day extending from the evening following the
14th of Nisan to the evening of the 15th, and
thus finding no difficulty in John xviii. 28. But
this view seems opposed to all our information
respecting Jewish usage; see p. 2342, note t, and
eomp. Wieseler, Beitrage, p. 246, note. Holtz-
mann reviews the literature of the question, and
finds the difference between the Synoptists and
John irreconcilable. Ebrard, who in the 2d edition
of his Wisitntek. Kritik d. tv. Guchichte (1850)
had been convinced by the arguments of Bleek
that John places the crucifixion on the 14th of Ni-
san, has, in the 3d edition of this work, after a care-
ful reexamination of the subject, reversed his con-
clusion. Maintaining that John wrote for those
who were acquainted with the Synoptic Gospels,
he discusses the supposition that it was his inten-
tion to correct the chronology of the first three
Evangelists in respect to the last day of our Sav-
iour's life, and endeavors to show that it is quite
untenable. But supposing John to assume on the
part of his readers a knowledge of the facta re-
corded by the Synoptists, the controverted passages
in his Gospel present, as Ebrard thinks, little diffi-
culty. According to Caspari, the Synoptists place
the death rf Jesus, in agreement with John, on
the 14th of Nisan. By the " eating the Passover "
of which they speak, he understands not the eat-
ing of the paschal lamb, but of the unleavened
bread, on the evening with which the 14th of Ni-
san began, i. e. after the sunset of the 13th. In
most respects his view agrees with that of West-
cott, Inlrod. to Vie Study of the GotpeU, pp. 335-
341, Amer. ed. But the difficulties, both archae-
ological and exegetical, which beset this theory,
appear overwhelming. The first day of unleav-
ened bread could not have been regarded as begin-
ning with the evening which followed the 13th of
Nisan, when we learn from the Minima (Petach. 1,
\ 4), that leaven might be eaten on the 14th till
11 o'clock A. M. according to Rabbi Meir, or till 10
•'clock, according to Rabbi Jehudah, and it was
rot necessary to destroy it before 11 o'clock on
that day. Wieseler defends with much learning
and ability the view formerly presented by him in
his ChronoL Synopte der vier Evangelien (1843),
rith which that of Robinson, Norton, Andrews, and
Lewin essentially agree. See also his art. Zeitrech-
awio, neutettamenSiche, in Herzog's Renl-EncyH.
ori. 550 if. Bleak's Beitrage tur Evanaelien-
Kritik (Berl. 1846) is still, perhaps, the ablest
waentation of the opposite view; aee also Meyer's
tonra., dot Evang. die Joharmet, 5* Aufl. (ladS).
A.
* The Samaritans still observe the Passover on
■lerisim, their sacred mount (John iv. 20), and
■ith some customs, especially the offering of sao-
PA8SOVEK
2867
rinses, which the Jews have discontinued since the
destmction of the Temple at Jerusalem. Some ac-
count of the oeremony cannot fail to interest thi
reader. Various travellers who have been present
on the occasion have described the scene. We ab-
breviate for our purpose Dean Stanley's narrative
of the commemoration, as witnessed by him in
company with the Prince of Wales and others, on
the 13th of April, 1862. In that instance, for
some reason, the Samaritans anticipated the 14th
of Nisan by two days.
On coming to the top of Gerizim the party
found the little community of about 152 persona
encamped near the summit of the mount. The
women were shut up in tents; and the men wen>
assembled on the rocky terrace. Most of the men
were in ordinary dress ; only about fifteen of the
elders and six youths having any distinguishing
sacred costume. About half an hour before sunset
the men all gathered about a long trough dug out
for the occasion, and, assuming the oriental attitude
of devotion, commenced (led by the priest) reciting
in a loud chant prayers, chiefly devoted to praises of
the patriarchs. In a short time the six young men
before mentioned suddenly appeared driving along
six sheep into the midst of the assembly. Mean-
while the sun had nearly set ; the recitation became
mora vehement; and the entire history of the ex»
odus was chanted with furious rapidity. As soon
as the sun had touched the western horizon, the
youths, pausing a moment to brandish their bright
knives, suddenly threw the sheep on their backs
and drew the knives across their throats. They
then dipped their fingers in the blood of the vic-
tims, and stained slightly the noses and foreheads
of the children The animals were then flee ce d
and washed, two holes having been dug in the
mountain side for that purpose.
After kindling a fire in one of the holes nearest
to the place of enerifiee, and while two cauldrons of
water hung over it were boiling, the recitation con-
tinued, and bitter herbs wrapped in a strip of un-
leavened bread were passed among the assembly.
After a short prayer, the youths again appeared,
poured the boiling water over the sheep, and fleeced
them. The right fore-legs and entrails of the an-
imals were burnt, the liver carefully put back, and
the victims were then spitted on two transvene
stakes suggesting slightly the crucial form. They
were then carried to the other oven-like hole, in
which a fire had been kindled. Into this they
were thrust, and a hurdle covered with wet earth
placed over the mouth to seal up the oven.
The sacrifice and preparations thus completed,
the community retired. After about five hours,
shortly after midnight, the feast began, to which
the visitors found themselves admitted with reuw-
tance- The hole being suddenly opened, a cloud ot
smoke and steam issued from it, and from the pit
were dragged successively the blackened sheep, the
outlines of their heads, ears, and legs yet visible.
The bodies were then thrown upon mats, and
wrapped in them were hurried to the first trench,
already mentioned, and laid upon them be t ween
two lines of Samaritans. Those before distin-
guished by their sacred costume were now in ad-
dition to that garb provided with shoes and staffs
and girded with ropes. The recitation of prayers
was recommenced, and oontinued till they suddenly
seated themselves, after the Arab fashion, and
oolnmenosd sating. The flesh was torn awaj
piecemeal with their Angsts, and rapidly and si
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2358
FATABA
*ntly consumed. In ten minutes most of it m
<one, separate morsels baring been carried to the
priest and to the women, and the remnant* were
gathered into the mate and burnt Careful learch
was then made for the particles, which were thrown
upon the tire. This finished the ceremony, and
eai iy the next morning the community returned
to their habitations in the town.
In this ceremony the time, with a slight Tariation
oe tliia special occasion (Exod. xii. 63) ; the place
ehoaeu, outside their gates and on their ancient
mountain sanctuary (Deut xri. 1); the exclusion
of the women (Deut. xri. 16); the time of day
(Deut. xri. 6); the recital of the circumstances
attending the first inauguration of the Pass-
orer (Exod. xii. 86, 37); the bitter herbs and
unleavened bread with which it was eaten (Exod.
xii. 8); the mode ot cooking it (Exod. xii. 8, 9);
the careful exclusion of foreigners (Exod. xii. 43) ;
the hasty manner in which the meal was eaten
(Exod. xii. 11); the care taken to consume the
remnants (Exod. xii. 10); and the return by early
morning to their dwellings (Deut. xri. 7), corre-
spond exactly to the ancient Jewish law of the
Passover.
The staining of the children's foreheads (9 Chr.
xxx. 16); the fleecing of the animals (2 Chr. xxxr.
11); and the girding as if for a Journey of only
a few of the men (Ex. xii. 11), represent, without
exactly imitating, the corresponding portions of the
ancient Jewish ritual. (See Stanley's Jewish
Church, 1. 6*9-567, and his Sermons m the East,
etc., pp. 175-181.)
The ceremony among the Samaritans is said to
be gradually assuming this merely representative
character. The number of this singular people is
rapidly diminishing, and probably ere long the ob-
servance of the Passover will be associated with
Gerizim only as a tradition. H.
PATARA (naVape.: [Patara (sing.)] the
noun is plural), a Lycian city of some considerable
note. One of its characteristics in the heathen
wor'd was that it was devoted to the worship of
Apollo, and was the seat of a famous oracle (Hor.
Od. iii. 4, 64). Fellows says that the coins of all
the district around show the ascendency of this
divinity. Patara was situated on the southwestern
shore of Lycia, not far from the left bank of the
river Xanthus. The coast here is very mountain-
ous and bold. Immediately opposite is the island
of Rhodes. Patara was practically the seaport
of the city of Xanthus, which was ten miles dis-
tant (Appian, B. C. iv. 81). These notices of its
position and maritime importance introduce us to
the single mention of the place in the Bible (Acts
xxi. 1, 2). St. Paul was on his way to Jerusalem
at the close of his third missionary journey. He
had just come from Rhodes (r. 1); and at Patara
ne found a ship, which was on the point of going to
Phoenicia (v. 2), and in which he completed his
voyage (v. 8). This illustrates the mercantile con-
"ection of Patara with both the eastern and west-
ern parts of the Levant. A good parallel to the
Apostle's voyage is to be found in Lir. xxxrii. 16.
There was no time for him to preach the gospel
Vre, but still Patara has a place in ecclesiastical
hMoi 7, baring been the seat of a bishop ( BierncL
p. 684). The old name remains on the spot, and
there ate still considerable ruins, especially a the-
ttie, some baths, and a triple arch which was one
«j the gates of the city, liut sand-hills are grad-
PATHBOS
ually concealing these ruins, and hare blocked ns
the harbor. For fuller details we must refer to
Beaufort's Karamania, the Ionian Antiqvitit*
published by the Dilettanti Society, Fellows' Lgda
and Aria Minor, and the Traveli in Aria Minor
by Spratt and Forbes. [Ltcia; Mtka.]
J.8.B.
PATHETJ8 [properly PATH-st'os] (noeVubs:
Alex. *o0aioi: Faeteat). The same as Pkthabi-
ah the Lerit* (1 Esdr. ix. 23; comp. Est. x. 83).
PATH'ROS (DVV}B [>ee below]: UaeVnr
pjjj [or m], [in Ezek.,* Bom. Tat.] woeWoqs \
[in Is. n. 11, BajSvAwfo :] Phelrot, Phatnrtt,
Phathura), gent noun Pathrusim (CDTTJS '
narpocuvulu : Phttrurim), a part of Egypt, 'and
a Mizraite tribe. That Pathros was in Egypt ad-
mits of no question : we have to attempt to decide
its position more nearly. In the list of the Mis-
raites, the Pathrusim occur after the Kaphtuhim
and before the Caalubim ; the latter being followed
by the notice of the Philistines, and by the Oapb-
torini (Gen. x. 13, 14; 1 Chr. i. 19). Isaiah proph-
esies the return of the Jews ■' from Hizraim, and
from Pathros, and from Cush " (xi. 11). Jeremiah
predicts their ruin to " all the Jews which dwell
in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and
at Tahpanbes, and at Noph, and in the country of
Pathros " (xliv. 1), and their reply is given, after
this introduction, " Then all the men which knew
that their wives had burned incense onto other
gods, and all the women that stood by, a great
multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the
land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah "
(16). Ezekiel speau of the return of the captive
Egyptians to " the laud of Pathros, into the land
of their birth " (xxix. 14), and mentions it with
Egyptian cities, Noph preceding it, and Zoan, No,
Sin, Noph again, Avon (On), Pi-beeeth, and Te-
hapliuehes following it (xxx. 18-18). From the
place of the Pathrusim in the list of the Miara-
ites, they might be supposed to hare settled in
Lower Egypt, or the more northern part of Upper
Egypt Four only of the Mizraite tribes or peo-
ple* can be probably assigned to Egypt, the last
four, the Philistines being considered not to be one
of these, but merely a colony: these are the Naph-
tubim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim. The
first were either settled in Lower Egypt, or just
beyond its western border; and the last in Upper
Egypt, about Coptos. It seems, if the order be
geographical, as there is reason to suppose, that it
is to be inferred that the Pathrusim were seated in
Lower Egypt or not much above it, unless there
be any transposition; but that some change ha*
been made is probable from the parenthetic notice
of the Philistines following the Casluhim, whereas
it appears from other passages that it should rather
follow the Caphtorim. If the original order were
Pathrusim, Caphtorim, Casluhim, then the first
might have settled in the highest part of Upper
Egypt and the other two below them. The men-
tion in Isaiah would lead us to suppose that Path-
ros was Upper Egypt, if there were any sound
reason for the idea that Mizraim or Maeor is ever
used for Lower Egypt, which we think there is not
Riidiger's conjecture that Pathros included part of
Nubia is too daring to be followed (tlmyckp
Germ. sect. iii. torn, xiii, p. 319), although there is
some slender support for it The occurrence* it
Jeremiah seem to favor the idea that Pathros was
part of Lower Egypt, or the whole of that regkc
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PATHBUSIM
for although It is mentioned In the propbecv
against the Jem as a region where the/ dwelt
after Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Noph, as though to [
the south, ret we are told that the prophet was
answered by the Jews " that dwelt in the land of I
Egypt, in Pathros," as though Pathroa were the
region in which theae cities were. We have, more- !
over, no distinct evidence that Jeremiah ever went
into Upper Egypt On the other hand, it may be
replied that the cities mentioned are so far apart,
that either the prophet must bare preached to the
Jewa in them in succession, or else hare addressed
letters or messages to them (comp. xxix.). The
notice by Ezekiel of Pathros as the land of the
birth of the Egyptians seems to favor the idea that
it waa part of or all Upper Egypt, as the Thebais
was probably inhabited before the rest of the coun-
try (oomp. Hdl. ii. 16); an opinion supported by
the tradition that the people of Egypt came from
Ethiopia, and by the 1st dynasty's being of Thinite
king*.
Pathros has been connected with the Pathyrite
nome, the Phaturite of Pliny (B. N. T. », § 47),
PATMOS
2359
in whicn Thebes was situate. The first form
occurs in a Greek papyrus written in Egypt (no-
Bvpl-nit tt)» trnlaftos, P«pyr. Anaat vid. Hea-
vens, Lettrti i M. Lctromt, 3 let p. 4, 30, ap.
Parthey, Voeab. a. v.). This identification may be
as old as the LXX. ; and the Coptic version, which
readsn^nioorpHc, n«uiiTorpHC,
does not contradict it The discovery of the Egyp-
tian name of the town after which the nome was
called puts the inquiry on a safer baaia. It is writ-
ten HA-HAT-HER, " The Abode of Hat-her,"
the Egyptian Venus. It may perhaps have some-
times been written P-HA-HAT-HER, in which
case the P-H and T-H would have coalesced in
the Hebrew form, as did T-H in Caphtor. [Caph-
tok.] Such etymologies for the word Pathros as
11-eT-pHC, "that which is southern," and
for the form hi the LXX., HA.TOTpHC,
"the southern (region)" (Geeen. Tha. s. v.),
must be abandoned.
On the evidence hare brought forward, it i
ratmos, Harbor, •*>
reasonable to consider Pathros to be part of
Upper Egypt, and to trace its name in that of the
Pathyrite nome. But this is only a very conjec-
tural identification, which future discoveries may
overthrow. It is spoken of with cities in such a
manner that we may suppose it waa but a small
district, and (if we have rightly identified it) that
when it occurs Thehes is specially intended. This
would account for its distinctive mention.
R S P
PATHKU'SIM. [Pathros.]
PATTH08 (niriust [Pntnwt]), Rev. i. 9.
Two recent and copious accounts, one by a German,
the other by a French traveller, furnish us with
very full information regarding this island. Ross
tiaited it in 1841, and describes It at .ength (liei-
tn auf den grieckuchtn Itutln dee dg&itchen
Metre*, ii. 123-139). Goenn, some years later,
•pent a month there, and enters into more detail,
a * Dean Stanley visited Pauses m returning from
ale Meond vWt to Palestine (1882) See his account
•f tha visit, Strmotu m He Ban, etc., pp. 296-281.
especially as regards ecclesiastical antiquities and
traditions (Drteriptum dttlkde Patmot ti dt tilt
de Snmot, Paris, 1856, pp. 1-120). Among tha
older travellers who have visited Patmos we may
especially mention Tournefort and Pococke. See
al<o Walpole's Turkey, ii. 43.°
The aspect of the island is peculiarly rugged
and bare. And such a scene of banishment for St
John in the reign of Domitian is quite in harmony
with what we read of the custom of the period. It
was the common practice u> send exiles to the most
rocky and desolate islands ("in asperrimaa Insu
larum"). See Suet. Tit. 8; Juv. Sal. i. 78
Such a scene too waa suitable (if wr may presume
to say so) to the sublime and awful revelation
which the Apostle receive* there. It is possible
indeH that there was more greenness in Patmoa
formerly than now. Its name in the Middle Ages
was Palmau. But this has now almost entirely
The points on which be tonebes an the tradMans af
Patmos, and Its connection with the Apomlypss.
Digitized by
Google
2860
PATRIARCHS
given place to the old classical name; and there U
just one palm-tree in the island, in a valley which
hi called " the Saint'i Garden " (i irijros rav
'Oo-(ou). Here and there are a few poor olives,
about a score of cypresses, sod other trees in the
same scanty proportion.
Patnios is divided into two nearly equal parts,
a northern and a southern, by a very narrow Isth-
mus, where, on the east side, are die harbor and
the town. On the hill to the south, crowning a
commanding height, is the celebrated monastery,
which bears the name of "John the Divine."
Half-way up the ascent is the caw or grotto where
tradition s»ya that St. John received the Revela-
tion, and which is still called to oTrfjAcuoK t?)»
'AwoKoAi^ttn. A view of it (said by Ross to be
not very accurate) will be found in Choiseul-Gouf-
fier, i. pi. 67. Both Ross and Guerln give a very
full, and a very melancholy account of the library
of the monastery. There were in it formerly 600
MSS. There are now 340, of which Guerin gives
a catalogue. Two ought to be mentioned here,
which profess to furnish, under the title of a)
npiotoi rod 6(o\6yov, an account of St. John
after the ascension of our Lord. One of them is
attributed to Prochorus, an alleged disciple of St
John ; the other is an abridgment of the same by
Kicetas, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Various
places in the island are incorporated In the legend,
and this is one of its chief points of interest.
There is a published Latin translation in the Bib-
tiothtca Maxima Patnm (1677, torn. ii. ), but with
carious modifications, one great object of which is
to disengage St. John's martyrdom from Ephesus
(where the legend places it), and to fix it in Rome.
We have only to add that Patmos is one of the
Ijporadm, and is in that part of the ifigean which
Is oalled the Icarian Sea, It must have been con-
spicuous on the right when St. Paul was sailing
(Acts xx. 15, xxi. 1) from Sahos to Cos.
J. S. H.
PATRIARCHS. The name TtrrptipxTI' »
Applied in the N. T. to Abraham (Heb. tU. 4), to
.he sons of Jacob (Acts vii. 8, 9), and to David
(Ads ii. 39); and is apparently intended to be
equivalent to the phrase /T!2^ /TJl BJVO, the
•- bead " or " prinoe of a tribe," so often found in
the 0. T. It is used in this sense by the LXX.
in 1 Chr. xxiv. 81, xxvii. 22; 8 Chr. xxiii. 20,
xxvi. 12. In common usage the title of patriarch
is assigned especially to those whose lives are re-
corded in Scripture previous to the time of Moses.
By the " patriarchal system " is meant that state
of society which developed itself naturally out of
family relations, before the formation of nations
nroperly to called, and the establishment of regular
government; and by the "patriarchal dispensa-
tion " the communion into which God was pleased
to enter with the families of Seth, Noah, and Abra-
ham, before the call of the chosen people.
The patriarchal times are naturally divided into
the ante-diluviun and post-diluvian periods.
1. In tie former the Scripture record contains
little except the list of the line from Seth, through
• The Hebrew text is ben taken throughout : for
4ie variations In the LXX. and the Samaritan Psnta-
Nuch, see Obxohouot.
s It a likely enough that the year (as In so many
aaeisnt calenders) may be a lunar year of 8M or 855
teya,et even a year of 10 months; but this makes a*
PATRIARCHS
Enos, Cainan, MahalaleeL Jared, Enoch, Hatha- •
selah, and Lantech, to Noah ; with the ages of each
at their periods of generation and at their deaths.
[Chbosolooy.] To some extent parallel to this,
is given the line of Cain; Enoch, Irad, MebujaeL
Methusael, Lantech, and the sons of Lamech, Ja-
baL JubaL and Tubal-Cain. To the latter line are
attributed the first signs of material civilisation,
the building of cities, the division of classes, and
the knowledge of mechanical arts; while the only
moral record of their history obscurely speaks of
violence and bloodshed. [Lamech.] In the ter-
mer line the one distinction is their knowledge of
the true God (with the constant recollection of the
promised " seed of the woman ") which is seen in
its fullest perfection in Enoch and Noah ; and the
only allusion to their occupation (Gen. v. 39) seems
to show that they continued a pastoral and agri-
cultural race. The entire corruption, even of the
chosen family of Seth, is traced (in Gen. vi. 1-4)
to the union between " the sons of God " and "tha
daughters of men" (Heb. "of Adam"). This
union is generally explained by the ancient com-
mentators of a contact with supernatural powers of
evil in the persons of (alien angels; most modem
interpretation refers it to intermarriage between
the lines of Seth and Cain. The latter is intended
to avoid the difficulties attaching to the compre-
hension of the former view, which nevertheless ia
undoubtedly far more accordant with the usage of
the phrase " sons of God " in the O. T. (oontp. Job
i. 6, xxxvill. 7), and with the language of tha
passage in Genesis Itself. (See Maitland'a Ermin,
Essay vi.)
One of the main questions raised as to the ante-
diluvian period turns on the longevity assigned tc
the patriarchs. With the single exception of Enoch
(whose departure from the earth at 365 yean of
age Is exceptional in every sense), their ages vary
from 777 (Lantech) to 969 (Methuselah). It is to
be observed that this longevity disappears gradu-
ally after the Flood. To Shem are assigned 600
years ; and thence the ages diminish down to Te-
nth (205 years), Abraham (176), Isaac (180), Jacob
(147), and Joseph (110)."
This statement of ages is dear and definite. To
suppose, with some, that the name of each patri-
arch denotes a clan or family, and his age its dura-
tion, or, with others, that the word n}D7 (because
it properly signifies " iteration ") may, in spite of
Its known and invariable usage for " year," denote)
a lunar revolution instead of a solar one (»'. e. a
month Instead of a year) in this passage, appct
to be a mere evasion of the difficulty. 6 It must
either be accepted, as a plain statement of fact, or
regarded as purely fabulous, like the legendary as-
signment of immense ages to the eirly Indian or
Babylonian or Egyptian kings.
The 'tatter alternative is adopted without scruple
by many of the German commentators, some of
whom attempt to find such significance in the pa-
triarchal names as to make them personify natural
powers or human qualities, like the gods and demi-
gods of mythology. It belongs of course to tha
real dmerenee. It Is poaslhls tnat than may bs sosse
corruption in the text, which may affect the numbers
glvan ; but the longevity of the patriarchs ts aestost
and commented upon, at % weil-kaown taet, by J ts»
phut {Ant. I. 8, J 9).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PATRIARCHS
uythlcal view of {Scripture, destroying Hi claim,
m any sense, to authority and special inspiration.
In the acceptance of the literal meaning, it ia not
easy to soy how much difficulty is involved. With
our aeanty knowledge of what is really meant by
" dying of old age," with the certainty that very
great effects ana produced on the duration of life,
both of men and animals, by even slight changes
of habits and circumstances, it is impossible to say
what might be a priori probable in this respect hi
the antediluvian period, or to determine under
what conditions the process of continual decay and
reconstruction, which sustains animal life, might
be indefinitely prolonged. The constant attribu-
tion in all legends of great age to primeval men is
at least as likely to be a distortion of fact, as a
mere invention of fancy. But even if the difficulty
were greater than it is, it seems impossible to con-
ceive that a book, given by inspiration of God to
be a treasure for all ages, could be permitted to
contain a statement of plain facts, given undoubt-
ingly, and with an elaborate show of accuracy, and
yet purely and gratuitously fabulous, in no sense
beariug on its great religious subject. If the Di-
vine origin of Scripture be believed, its authority
must be accepted in this, as in other cases ; and
the list of the ages of the patriarchs be held to be
(wliat it certainly claims to be) a statement of real
tact*.
2. It is in the post-diluvian periods that more
is gathered as to the nature of the patriarchal his-
tory.
It is at first general in its scope. The " Cove-
nant" given to Noah ia one free from all condi-
tion, and fraught with natural blessing*, extending
to all alike ; the one great command (against blood-
shed) which marks it, is based on a deep and uni-
versal ground ; the fulfillment of the blessing, " tie
fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth," is
expressly connected, first with an attempt to set up
an universal kingdom round a local centre, and
then (in Gen. x.) with the formation of the various
nations by conquest or settlement, and with the
peopling of all the world. But the history soon
narrows itself to that of a single tribe or family,
and afterwards touches the general history of the
ancient world and its empires, only so far as it
bears upon this.
It is in this last stage that the principle of the
patriarchal dispensation is most clearly seen. It is
based on the sacredness of family ties and paternal
authority. This authority, as the only one which
b natural and original, is inevitably the foundation
if the earliest fonn of society, and is probably seen
most perfectly in wandering tribes, where it is not
affected by local attachments and by the acquisi-
tion of wealth. It is one, from the nature of the
ease, limited in its scope, depending more on its
sacredness than its power, and giving room for
much exercise of freedom ; and, as it extends from
the family to the tribe, it must become less strin-
gent and less concentrated, iu proportion to its
t/ider diffusion. In Scripture this authority is con-
secrated by an ultimate reference to God, as the
God of the patriarch, the Father (that is) both of
lim and his children. Not, of course, that the
dea of God's Fatherhood carried with it the knowl-
edge of man's personal communion with his nature
Vhfch is revealed by the Incarnation); it rather
upUed faith in his protection, and a free and lov-
ing obedience to his authority, with the hope (more
«r Seas assured) of some greater blessing from Him
PATRIARCHS 2861
in the earning of the promised seed. At the same
time, this faith was not allowed to degenerate, as
it was prone to do, Into an appropriation of God,
as the mere tutelary God of the tribe. The Lore,
it is trne, suffers Himself to be called >< the God of
Shem, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; " but
He also reveals Himself (and that emphatically, as
though it were his peculiar title) as the " God Al-
mighty" (Gen. xvii. 1, xxviil. 8, xxxv. U); Halt
addressed as the >' Judge of all the earth " (xviii.
25), and as such is known to have intercourse with
Pharaoh and Abimelech (xii. 17, xx. 8-8), to hal-
low the priesthood of Melchizedek (xiv. 18-20), and
to execute wrath on Sodom and Gomorrah. All
this would confirm what the generality of the cove-
nant with Noah, and of the promise of blessing to
•• all nations " in Abraham's seed must have dis-
tinctly taught, that the chosen family were, not
substitutes, but representatives, of all mankind, and
that God's relation to them was only a clearer and
more perfect type of that in which He stood to all.
Still the distinction and preservation of the
chosen family, and the maintenance of the paternal
authority, are the special purposes, which give a
key to the meaning of the history, and of the Ui-
stitutions recorded. For this the birthright (prob-
ably carrying with it the priesthood) was reserved
to the first-bom, belonging to him by inheritance,
jet not assured to him till he received bis father's
blessing; for this the sanctity of marriage was
jealously and even cruelly guarded, as in Gen.
xxxiv. 7, 13, 31 (Dinah), and in xxxviii. 24 (TV
mar), from the license of the world without; and
all intermarriage with idolaters was considered as
treason to the family and the God of Abraham
(Gen. ixvi. 34, 35, xxvii. 40, xxviii. 1, 6-9). Nat-
ural obedience and affection are the earthly virtues
especially brought out in the history, and the aim
dwelt upon (from the irreverence of Ham to the
selling of Joseph) are all such as offend against
these.
The type of character formed under it, is on*
imperfect in intellectual and spiritual growth, be-
cause not yet tried by the subtler temptations, or
forced to contemplate the deeper questions of life;
but it is one remarkably simple, affectionate, and
free, such as would grow up under a natural au-
thority, derived from God and centering in Him,
yet allowing, under its unquestioned sacredness, ■
familiarity and freedom of intercourse with Him,
which is strongly contrasted with the stern and
awful character of the Mosaic dispensation. To
contemplate it from a Christian point of view is
like looking back on the unconscious freedom and
innocence of childhood, with that deeper insight
and strength of character which are gained by Us*
experience of manhood. We see in it the gams
of the future, of the future revelation of God, and
the future trials and development of man.
It is on this fact that the typical interpretation
of its history depends, an interpretation sanctioned
directly by the example of St. Paul (GaL iv. 21-
81; Heb. vil. 1-17), indirectly supported by other
passages of Scripture (Matt. xxiv. 87-89; Luke
xvii. 28-33; Rom. ix. 10-13, etc.), and instinct-
ively adopted by all who have studied the history
itself.
Even in the brief outline of the antediluvian
period, we may recognize the main features of the
history of the world, the division of mankind into
the two great classes, the struggle between the
power of evil and good, the apparent triumph oi
Digitized by G00gle
2862
PATROBAS
the evil, and it* destruction in the fi.ial judgment.
In the postdiluvian history of the chosen family,
U teen the distinction of the true believers, pos-
it Mors of a special covenant, special revelation, and
special privileges, from the world without. In it
is therefore shadowed out the history of the Jewish
n ition and Christian Church, as regards the free-
dun of their covenant, the gradual unfolding of
their revelation, and the peculiar blessings and
temptations which belong to their distinctive po-
sition.
It if but natural that the unfolding of the char-
acters of the patriarchs under this dispensation
should have a typical interest. Abraham, as the
type of a faith, both brave and patient, gradually
and continuously growing under the education of
various trials, stands contrasted with the lower
character of Jacob, in whom the same faith is seen,
tainted with deceit and selfishness, and needing
tbeiefore to be purged by disappointment and suf-
fering. Isaac in the passive gentleness and sub-
missiveness, which characterizes his whole life, and
is seen especially in his willingness to be sacrificed
by the hand of his father, and Joseph, in the more
active spirit of love, in which be rejoiced to save
his family and to forgive those who had persecuted
and sold bim, set forth the perfect spirit of son-
ship, and are seen to be types especially of Him,
in whom alone that spirit dwelt in all fullness.
This typical character in the bands of the myth-
ical school is, of course, made an argument against
the historical reality of the whole ; those who reo-
ognize a unity of principle in God's dispensations
at all times, will be prepared to find, even in their
earliest and simplest form, the same features which
are more fully developed in their later periods.
A. B.
* With reference to the individual patriarchs, the
reader will consult the articles which treat of them
under their respective names in the Dictionary.
See also Hess, Gttch. dtr Patriaichm, 2 vols.
(1785); the art Patriarchm da A. Ttst., by J.
P. Lange, in Heraog's Rcat-EncykL xi. 192-200 ;
Kurtz, Utechichte da A. Bundtt, i. 139-344
(186?); Ewald, Gach.da Valka ltratl, 3« Ausg.,
L 412-619, or pp. 300-362, English translation;
Stanley, The Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph), in his Jaaith Church, i. 3-108 (I.ectt.
L-iv.); and Milman's Hist, of the Jncs, i. 47-92
(N. Y. 1864). The interesting articles on Heroes
of Htbrea History by the Bishop of Oxford (Sam-
uel Wilberforee), in Good Word* for 1869, include
the patriarchs. H.
PATTROBAS (noT/wjSai : Patrobas). A
Christian at Roue to whom St Paul sends his
salutation (Rom. xvi. 14). According to late and
ineertain tradition, be was one of the 70 disciples,
oeeame bishop of Puteoli (Pseudo-Hippolytus, De
LXX. ApcttoUs), and suffered martyrdom together
with Philologus on Nor. 4th (Eetius). Like many
jtber names mentioned in Rom. xvi., this was borne
jy at least one member of the emperor's household
(Suet Oalba, 20; Martial, Kp. ii. 82, 8). Prob-
ably the name is a contraction, like others of the
■sine termination, and stands for Tlorgifiiot (■
Wolf, Our. Philolog.). W. T. B.
PATTtOOLTJS or PATRO'CLUS tmt-
ipmkos'- Pairocbit), the father of Nicanor, the
kmous adversary of Judas Haccabssus (2 Mace,
rul 9).
• PATTERNS, as employed in Heb. Ix. 28,
FAUX
confuses the sense of the passage. The Greek lens
is vwottiy/ia and may signify, indeed, pattern, «
example (sea John xiii. IB; Heb. iv. 11), but de-
notes also figure, outline, copy. The latter must
be meant in the above passage; for the sacred writ
er there represents the " heavenly things " spoken
of, which require no purification, as themselves
" the patterns " or archetypes, of which the earthly
tabernacle and its appurtenances were the copies
and not the reverse of this, as in the A. V., i. e.
the earthly things, as " the patterns," at least, ac-
cording to the present use of this expression.
[Tabkrsacle.] The older versions (Tyndale,
Cranmer, the Genevan) have more correctly "si-
militudes." In Heb. viii. 6, "pattern" answers
to roVor, and occurs in its proper sense. H.
PA'tf (TO?, but in 1 Chr. L 60, Pa'i, ^
though boo.* copies agree with the reading in Gen.:
*ayap: Phau), the capital of Hadar, king of Edosa
(Gen. xxxvi. 89). Its position is unknown. The
only name that bears any resemblance to it it
Phauara, a ruined place in Idunuea mentioned by
Seetsen. W. L. B.
PAUL (IloSAot: i°««6u), the Apostle of
Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.
Original AutlwrUia. — Nearly all the original
materials for the Life of St Paul are contained in
the Acts of the Apostles, and in the Pauline Epis-
tles. Out of a comparison of these authorities the
biographer of St Paul has to construct his account
of the really important period of the Apostle's life.
The early traditions of the Church appear to have
left almost untouched the space of time for which
we possess thoee sacred and abundant sources of
knowledge; and they aim only at supplying a few
particulars in the biography beyond the points si
which the narrative of the Acta begins and termi-
nates.
The history and the epistles lie side by side, and
are to all appearance quite independent of one an-
other. It was not the purpose of the historian to
write a life of St Paul, even as much ss the re-
ceived name of his book would seem to imply.
The book called the Acta of the Apostles is an
account of the beginnings of the kingdom of Christ
on the earth. The large spaco which St Paul
occupies in it is due to the important part which
he bore in spreading that kingdom As to the
epistles, nothing can be plainer than that they
were written without reference to the history ; and
there is no attempt in the Canon to combine them
with it so as to form what we should call in modern
phrase the Apostle's " Life and Letters." What
amount of agreement, and what amount of discrep-
ancy, may be observed between these independent
authorities, is a question of the greatest interest
and importance, and one upon which various opin-
ions are entertained. The most adverse and extreme
criticism is ably represented by Dr. Baur of Tubin-
gen," who finds so much opposition between what
he holds to be the few authentic Pauline epistles
and the Act* of the Apostles, that be pronounces
the history to be an interested fiction. But his
criticism is the very caricature of captiousness.
We have but to imagine it applied to any history
and letters of acknowledged authenticity, and we
feel irresistibly bow arbitrary and unhistorical b
is. Putting aside this extreme view, it is not ts
a In bis Pmlutdrr JpoilelJau Cwulj, Stotfejen
1846 p> Aon., 1886-67].
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PAUL
It denied thai difficulties are to be met with in i
•eoouciling completely the Acta and the received
tpistles of St. Paul. What the solutions of such
difficulties may be, whether there are any direct
contradictions, how far the apparent differeinnfs may
be dne to the purpose of the respective writers, by
what arrangement all the facta presented to us may
beat be dove-tailed together, — these are the various
questions which have given so much occupation to
the critics and expositors of St. Paul, and upon
some of which it seems to be yet impossible to
wive at a decisive conclusion.
We shall assume the Acts of the Apostles to be
a genuine and authentic work of St. Luke, the com-
panion of St. PauL and shall speak of the epistles
at the places which we believe them to occupy in
the history.
/'continent Points m the Za/e. — It may be well
to state beforehand a few of the principal occur-
rences upon which the great work dime by St. Paul
in the world is seen to depend, and which therefore
serve as landmarks in his life. Foremost of all is
his Convtrtion. This was the maiu root of his
whole life, outward and inward. Next after this,
we may specify his Labors at Antioch. From
these we pass to the First Missionary Journey, in
the eastern part of Asia Minor, in which St Paul
first assumed the character of the Apostle of Jesus
Christ 'to the Gentiles. The Visit to Jerusalem,
for the sake of settling the question of the relation
of Guitile converts to the Jewish law, waa a critical
point, both in the history of the Church and of the
Apostle. The introduction of the Gospel into
Europe,' with the memorable visits to Philippi,
Athens, and Corinth, was the boldest step in the
carrying out of St. Paul's mission. A third great
missionary Journey, chiefly characterized by a long
slay at Ephesm, is further interesting from its con-
nection with four leading epistles. This was imme-
diately followed by the apprehension of Si. Paul
al Jerusalem, and his imprisonment at Casarea.
And the last event of which we have a full narra-
tive is the Voyage to Home.
The relation of these events to external chronol-
ogy will be considered at the end of the article.
Saul of Tarsus, before his Conversion. — Up to
the time of his going forth as an avowed preacher
of Christ to the Gentiles, the Apostle waa known
by the name of Saul. This was the Jewish name
which he received from his Jewish parents. But
though a Hebrew of the Hebrews, he waa born in
• Gentile city. Of his parents we know nothing, 6
except that his father was of the tribe of Benjamin
(Phil. in. A), and a Pharisee (Arts xxiii. 6), that
he had acquired by some means the Roman fran-
JPAT7L
2868
a • It la by no means certain (If that be meant In
the text above) that Paul first Introduced the Oospel
to to Europe. Writers on the book of Acta often make
this statement (we Baumgaiten's Apoudgaduchlt, t
186). Philippi was the fin* city in Europe when Paul
himself preached ; but in all probability Rome, at bast,
had received the Oospel at an earlier period. This re-
sult was the more Inevitable, because in addition to the
feneral intercourse between that capital of the world
tod the Bast, " strangers of Borne " (Acts II. 10), t. e.
Jews and Jewish proselytes, were present at Jerusalem
*n the 'lay of Pentecost and heard the preaching; of
*et«r. The Cretans too, who were present on this
>— 1" ( may have carried with them the seed of the
svjrd to Crete, from whieh sprung the ohurehve of that
■sand, of whose origin we have otherwlee no laJbtma-
Una. H.
ehiae ("I was free born," Acts xxii. S8„ and that
he was settled in Tarsus. " I am a Jew of Tarsus,
a city in CUicia, a citizen of no mean city " (Acts
xxi. 39). Our attention seems to be specially
called to this birthplace and early home of Saul by
the repeated mention of it in connection with hie
name. Here he must have learnt to use the
Greek language with freedom and mastery in both
speaking and writing; and the general tone and
atmosphere of a cultivated community cannot have
been without their effect upon his highly suscep-
tible nature. At Tarsus also he learnt that trad*
of o-KWKnroidt (Acta xviii 3), at which he after-
wards occasionally wrought with his own hank.
There was a goat'a-hau- cloth called Cilichtm,
manufactured in Cilicia, and largely used for tents.
Saul's trade was probably that of making tents of
this hair cloth. [Tbotkakeb, Amer. ed.] It does
not follow that the family were in the necessitous
condition which such manual labor commonly las-
plies; for it was a wholesome custom amongst the
jews, to teach every child some trade, though there
might be little prospect of his depending upon it
for his living.
When St. Paul makes his defense before his
countrymen at Jerusalem (Acts xxii. ), he tails them
that though bora in Tarsus, he had been " brought
up" (Ara-MeptuvieVor) in Jerusalem. He must,
therefore, have been yet a boy, when he was re-
moved, in all probability for the sake of his educa-
tion, to the Holy City of bis fathers. We may
imagine him arriving there perhaps at some age*
between 10 and 16, already a Hellenist, speaking
Greek and familiar with the Greek version of the
Scriptures, possessing, besides the knowledge of his
trade, the elements of Gentile learning, — to be
taught at Jerusalem ■' according to the perfect
manner of the law of the fathers." He learnt, he
,ys, " at the feet of Gamaliel." He who was to
resist so stoutly the usurpations of the Law, had for
his teacher one of the most eminent of all the
doctors of the law. [Gamaliel.] It is singular,
that on the occasion of his well-known intervention
in the Apostolical history, the master's counsels ol
toleration are in marked contrast to the persecut-
ing zeal so soon displayed by the pupil. The tem-
per of Gamaliel himself was moderate and candid,
and he waa personally free from bigotry ; but his
teaching was that of the strictest of the Pharisees,
and bore its natural fruit when lodged in the ardent
and thorough-going nature of Saul. Other fruits,
besides that of a zeal which persecuted the Church,
may no doubt be referred to the time when Saul
sat at the feet of Gamaliel. A thorough training
in the Scriptures and in the traditions of the ■Jders
» The story mentioned by Jerome (Scrip. Bed. Out.
« Panlus ") that St. Paul's parents lived at Giaehala »
Galilee, and that, having been bora there, the instnt
Saul emigrated with his parents to Tarsus upon the
taking of that city by the Banana, Is Inconsistent with
the tact that Giaehala was not taken until a much
later time, and with the Apostle's own statement that
he was born at Tarsus (Acts xxii. 8).
c HJs Tordt in the speech before Agrlppa (Acta xxvL
4, 6), according to the received text, refer exclusively
to his Ufa at Jerusalem. But if we read, with the bet-
ter authorities, {■> n "Up. for tr Itp. he may be speak
log of the Ut> he led "aaasngst hie own people" at
Tarsus or elsswnare. as wen at of hie reattkaeee at
Jet
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2864
PAUL
ander en aeute and accomplished master, mat
bate dona muel, to exercise the mind of Seal, end
to make him feel at home in she subject* in which
be vat afteraardi to be as intensely intonated.
And we ate not at all bound to nippoee that, be-
cause hit seal lor the Law wai atnmg enough to aet
him upon persecuting the believers in Jesus, he had
therefore experienced none of the doubta and ttrug-
glea which, according to his inbaeqnent testimony,
it waa the nature of the Law to produce. On the
contrary, we oaa scarcely imagine these as absent
from the spiritual life of Saul as he passed from
boyhood to manhood. Earnest persecutors are,
eltener than not, men who bare been tormented by
inward struggles and perplexities. The pupil of
Gamaliel may have been crushing a multitude of
conflicts in his own mind when he threw himself
Into the holy work of extirpating the new heresy.
Saul was yet " a young man " (utarias, Acta
HL 68), when the Church experienced that sudden
expansion which was connected with the ordaining
of the Seven appobited to serve tables, and with
the special power and inspiration of Stephen.
Amongst those who disputed with 8tephen were
some "of them of Olicia." We naturally think
of Saul as baring been one of these, when we find
him afterwards keeping the clothes of those sub-
orned witnesses who, according to the Law (Deut-
xftt. 7), were the first to cast stones at Stephen.
" Saul," says the sacred writer, significantly, " was
consenting unto his death." The angelic glory
that shone from Stephen's bee, and the Divine
truth of his words, failing to subdue the spirit of
religious hatred now burning in Saul's breast, must
have embittered and aggravated its rage. Saul
was passing through a terrible crisis for a man of
his nature. But be was not one to be moved from
Us stern purpose by the native refinement and ten-
derness which he must have been stifling within
■ha. He waa the most unwearied and unrelenting
if persecutors. " As for Saul, be made havoc of the
Church, entering into every bouse," and haling men
and women, committed tbem to prison" (Acta
riii. 8).
Bout t Conversion — The persecutor was to be
eonrerted. What the nature of that conversion
was, we are now to observe. — Having undertaken
to follow up the believers "unto strange cities,"
Saul naturally turned his thoughts to Damascus,
expecting to find, amongst the numerous Jewish
residents of that populous city, some adherents of
' the way " (ttji iSov), and trusting, we must pre-
sume, to be allowed by the connivance of the gov-
ernor to apprehend tbem. Wbat befell him as he
journeyed thither is related in detail three times
in the Acta, first by the historian in his own person,
then in the two addresses made by St. Paul at
Jerusalem and before Agrippa. These three nar-
ratives are not repetitions of one another: there
are dinerenees between them which some critics
choose to consider irreconcilable. Considering
that the same author is responsible for all the ac-
counts, we gain nothing, of course, for the autben-
tfitty of their statements by bringing them into
agreement; but it seems pretty clear that the
author himself could not have been conscious of
a-y contradictions in the narratives. He can
•sanely have had any motive for placing side by
a • Mot " every house," but strictly, tuts lav tun
jttmk rssi outovt ), one after another, in which battav-
H.
PAUL
side Inconsistent reports of 8k Paul's
and that be should have admitted ipconsWtanak*
on such a matter through mere carelessness, is hardly
credible. Of the three narratives, that of the his-
torian himself must dalm to be the moat purely
historical: St. Paul's su b se qu e nt accounts wen
likely to be effected by the purpose for which he
introduced them. St. Luke's statement is to be
read In Acta lx. J-19, where, however, the words
"It is bard for thee to kick against the pricks," in-
cluded in the Vulgate and English version, ought
to be omitted. The sudden light from heaven ; the
voice of Jesus speaking with authority to his perse-
cutor; Saul struck to the ground, blinded, over
come; the three days' suspense; the coming of
Ananias as a m e ss enger of the Lord; and Saul's
baptism; — these were the leading features, in the
eyes of the historian, of the great event, and in
these we must look for the chief significance of the
conversion.
Let us now compare the historical relation with
those which we have in St. Paul's speeches (Acts
xxii. and xxvi.). The reader will do well to con-
sider each in Its place. But we have here to deal
with the hare mete of agreement or diflbrenec.
With regard to the light, the speeches add to what
St. Luke tetts us that the phenomenon occurred at
mid-day, and that the light shone round, and was
visible to Saul's companions as well as himself.
The 2d speech says, that at the shining of this
light, the whole company (« we all ") fell to the
ground. This is not contradicted by what is said,
ix. 7, " the men which Journeyed with him stood
speechless,' for there is no emphasis on " stood,"
nor is the Handing antithetical to Satal's falling
down. We have but to suppose the others rising
before Saul, or standing still afterwards in greater
perplexity through not seeing or bearing what
Saul saw and heard, to reconcile the narratives
without forcing either. After the question, " Why
persecutest thon me? " the 8d speech adds, " It
is hard for thee to kick against the goads." Then
both the speeches supply a question and answer —
« I answered, who art thou, Lord? And be said, I
am Jesus (of Nazareth), whom thou persecutest."
In the direction to go into Damascus and await
orders there, the 1st speech agrees with Acts is.
But whereas according to that chapter the men
with Saul " beard the voice," in the 1st speech H
Is said " they heard not the voice of him that spake
to me." It seems reasonable to conclude from the
two passages, that the men actually heard sounds,
but not, like Saul, an articulate voice. With regard
to the visit of Ananias, there is no collision between
the 9th chapter and the 1st speech, the latter only
attributing additional words to Ananias. The 9d
speech ceases to give details of the conversion after
the words, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest
But rise and stand on thy feet." St. Paul adds,
from the mouth of Jesus, an exposition of the pur»
pose for which He had appeared to him. It is easy
to say that in ascribing these words to Jesus, St.
Paul or his professed reporter is violating the order
and sequence of the earlier account*. But, if we
bear in mind the nature and purpose of St. PacTi
address before Agrippa, we shall surely not suppose
that he is violating the strict truth, when he adds
to the words which Jesus spoke to him at the mo-
ment of the light and the boo JL, without interpos-
ing any reference to a later occasion, that Mat
exposition of the meaning of the crisis t hiu w gs
which he waa pasting, which ha was not to ree s rw
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PAUL
JU afterwards. What Seal actually beaid bom
Jena on the war at he journeyed, wai afterwards
mterpreted, to the miml of Saul, into those definite
■xpreseions.
For we muat not forget that, winterer we bold
u to the external nature of the phenomena we are
considering, the whole transaction wai essentially,
in any can, a apirUual communication. That the
lord Jeeut manifested Himself as a Living Person
to the man Saul, and spoke to him so that his
very words could be understood, is the substantial
fact declared to us. The purport of the three nar-
ratives i( that an actual conversation took place
between Saul and the Lord Jesus. It is remarka-
ble that in none of them Is Saul said to have seen
Jesus. The grounds for believing that he did are
the two expressions of Ananias (Acts ix. 17),
" The Lord Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the
way," and (Acts xxil. 14), " That thou shouldest
see the Just One." and the statement of St. Paul
(1 Cor. xv. 8), " Last of all He was seen of me
also." Comparing these passages with the narra-
tives, we conclude, either that Saul had an instan-
taneous vision of Jesus as the flash of light blinded
him, or that the " seeing " was that apprehension
of his presence which would go with a real con-
versation. Bow it was that Saul "saw" and
" beard " we are quite unable to determine. That
the light, and the sound or voice, were both dif-
ferent from any ordinary phenomena with which
Saul and his companions were familiar is unques-
tionably implied in the narrative. It ia «bo im-
plied that tliey were specially significant to Saul,
and not to those with him. We gather therefore
that there were real outward phenomena, through
which Saul was made inwardly sensible of a Pres-
snee revealed to him alone.
Externally there was a flash of light Spirit-
ually " the light of the gospel of the glory of the
Christ, who is the image of God," shone upon
Saul, and convicted toe darkness of the heart
which had shut out Love and knew not the glory
ef the Cross. Externally Saul fell to the ground.
Spiritually be was prostrated by shame, when he
knew whom be had been persecuting. Externally
sounds issued out of heaven. Spiritually the Cru-
cified said to Saul, with tender remonstrance, " I
am Jesus, why persecutest thou me? " Whether
audibly to his companions, or audibly to the Lord
Jesus only, Saul confessed himself in the spirit the
servant of Him whose name he had hated. He
gave himself up, without being able to see his way,
to the disposal of him whom he now knew to
have vindicated hie claim over him by the very
sacrifice which formerly be had despised. The
Pharisee was converted, once for all, into a disciple
of Jesus the Crucified.
The only mention in the epistles of St Paul of
toe outward phenomena attending his conversion
is that in 1 Cor. xv. 8, " Last of all He was seen
ef me also." But there is one important passage
la which he speaks distinctly of his conversion
itself. l)r. Baur (Pavhu, p. 64), with his readi-
ness to find out discrepancies, insists that this pas-
sage r e pres e nts quite a different process from that
Msorded in the Acts. It is manifestly not a repe-
■ • It «*ml Improbable that this Judas was at that
taw a disciple. None of gaol's company were Obits-
Sana, aor did they know that he had benons a
aslsrsr. Neither they, nor he, would probably know
•7 a Christian family In which they could conduct
PAUL 286b
titlon of what wa have been reading and c ensi der-
ing, but it is in the most perfect harmony with it
In the Epistle to the Galatians (L 16, 16) St Paul
has these words: "When it pleased God, whe
separated me from my mother's womb, and called
me by His grace, to rectal Hit Son m me, that I
might preach Him among the heathen . . ."
(dir«aAi5+a» rer vRw airroi «V iuoVh What
words could express more exactly than these the
spiritual experience which occurred to Saul on the
way to Damascus? The manifrstatijn of Jesus
as the Son of God is clearly the main point in the
narrative. This manifestation was brought about
through a removal of the veils of prejudioe and
ignorance which blinded the eyes of Saul to »
Crucified Deliverer, conquering through senrinca.
And, whatever part the senses may have played ia
the transaction, the essenoo of it in any case must
have been Saul's inward vision of a spiritual Lord
close to his spirit, from whom he could not escape,
whose every command he was henceforth to obey
in the Spirit
It would be groundless to assume that the new
convictions of that mid-day immediately cleared
and settled themselves in Saul's mind. It to suffi-
cient to say that be was then oumtrttd, or turned
round. For a while, no doubt, bis inward state
was one of awe and expectation. He was being
" led by the hand " spiritually by his Master, as
well ss bodily by his companions Thus altering
Damascus as a servant of the Lord Jesus, be
sought the bouse of one whom he had, perhaps,
intended to persecute. Judas may have been
known to his guest as a disciple of the Lord.'
Certainly the fame of Saul's coming had preceded
him ; and Ananias, " a devout man according to
the law," but a believer in Jesus, when directed by
the Lord to visit him, wonders at what he to told
concerning the notorious persecutor. He obeys,
however; and going to Saul in the name of " the
Lord Jesus, who had appeared to him in the way,"
he puts his hands on him that he may receive his
sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost There-
upon Saul's eyes are im m ediately purged and his
sight to restored. "The same hour," says St
Paul (Acts xxii. 18), " I looked up upon him.
And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen
thee, that thou shouldest know His will, and see
the Just One, and shouldest hear the voioe of His
mouth. For thou ahalt be His witness unto all
men of what thou hast seen and heard." Every
word in this address strikes some chord which wa
hear sounded again and again in St Paul's epis-
tles. The new convert is not, as it is so common
to say, converted from Judaism to Christianity -
Ikt God of At Jetriih fnthert choottt him. He It
chosen to hunt God's toilL That will to nunlfrwtri
ia tht Righttout Ont. Him Saul tea and aeon,
In order that he may be a wilntu of Him to afl
men. The eternal will of the God of Abraham,
that will revealed in a Righteous Son of God; the
testimony concerning Him, a Gospel to mankind:
— these are the essentially Pauline principles which
are declared in all the teaching of the Apostle, and
illustrated In all his actions.
After the recovery of his sight, Saul received the
him, nor would snob a one have readily received htm.
He want, apparently, to his Intended pleas of stop
pine possibly, a pahUe house. It Is Kobable that
the host and the guest new bash sseaonaU) snaiejaw
to aim. aw
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J
PAUL
washing amy of his una in baptism. He than
ranks his three days' Cut, and wa> strengthened :
an image, again, of the ttrengthening of hii faint
and hungering spirit through a participation in the
Divine life of the Church of Damascus. He was
it once received into the fellowship of the disci-
ples, and began without delay the work to which
Ananiaa had designated him ; and to the astonish-
ment of all his bearers he proclaimed Jesus in the
synagogues, declaring him to be the Son of God.
This was the actual sequel to his conversion : he
was to proclaim Jesus the Crucified, first to the
Jews as their own Christ, afterwards to the world
as the Bon of the Living God.
The narrative in the Acts tells us simply that he
was occupied in this work, with Increasing vigor,
" for many days," up to the time when Imminent
danger drove him from Damascus. From the
Epistle to the Galatiana (i. 17, 18) we learn that
the many days were at least a good part of " three
years," and that Saul, not thinking it necessary to
procure authority to preach from the Apostles that
were before him, went after his conversion into
Arabia, and returned from thence to Damascus.
We know nothing whatever of this visit to Arabia:
to what district Saul went, how long he stayed, or
for what purpose he went there.' From the anti-
thetical way in which it is opposed to a visit to the
Apostles at Jerusalem, we infer that it took place
before he deliberately committed himself to the
task of proclaiming Jesus as the Christ; and also,
with some probability, that be was seeking seclu-
sion, in order that, by conferring " not with flesh
and blood," but with the Lord in the Spirit, he
might receive more dreply into bis mind the com-
mission given him at his conversion. That Saul
did not spend the greater portion of the " three
years " at Damascus seems probable, for these two
reasons: (1) that the anger of the Jews was not
likely to have borne with two or three years of
such a life as Saul's now was without growing to a
height; and (2) that the disciples at Jerusalem
would not have been likely to mistrust Saul as
they did, if they had heard of him as preaching
Jesus at Damascus for the same considerable
period. But it does not follow that Saul was in
Arabia all the time he was not disputing at Da-
mascus. For all that we know to the contrary he
may have gone to Antioch or Tarsus or anywhere
else, or he may have remained silent at Damascus
for some time after returning from Arabia.
Now that we hare arrived at Saul's departure
from Damascus, we are again upon historical
ground, and have the double evidence of St. Luke
in the Acta, and of the Apostle in his 2d Epistle
to the Corinthians. According to the former, the
Jem lay in wait for Saul, intending to kill him,
and watched the gates of the city that he might
not escape from them. Knowing this, the disci-
ples took him by night and let him down in a
PAUL
basket from the walL According to St Paul (I
Cor. zi. 88) it was the ethnarch under Aretes the
king who watched for him, desiring to apprebens*
him. There is no difficulty in reconciling the two
statements. We might similarly say that our
Lord was put to death either by the Jews or by
the Roman governor. There is more difficulty in
ascertaining bow an officer of king Aretas should
be governing in Damascus, and why he ihould
lend himself to the designs of the Jews. But we
learn from secular history that the attain of Da-
mascus were, at the time, in such an unsettled
state as to make the narrative not improbable.
[Akbtas.] Having escaped from Damascus, Saul
betook himself to Jerusalem, and there " assayed
to join himself to the disciples ; but they were all
afraid of him, and believed not that he was a dis-
ciple." In this natural but trying difficulty Sard
was befriended by one whose name was henceforth
closely associated with his. Bnrnobai became hii
sponsor to the Apostles and Church at Jerusalem,
assuring them — from some personal knowledge,
we must presume — of the facts of Saul's conver-
sion and subsequent behavior at Damascus. It
is noticeable that the teeing and hearing are still
the leading features in the conversion, and the
name of Jesus in the preaching. Barnabas de-
clared how " Saul had seen the Lord in the way,
and that he had spoken to him, and how that he
had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of
Jesus." Barnabas' introduction removed the tears
of the Apostles, and Paul " was with them coming
in and going out at Jerusalem." His Heuenisti-
cal education made him, like Stephen, a successful
disputant against the " Grecians ; " and it is not
strange that the former persecutor was singled out
from the other believers as the object of a murder-
ous hostility. He was therefore again urged to
flee; and by way of Canarea betook himself to
his native city Tarsus.
In the Epistle to the Galatians St Paul adds
certain particulars, in which only a perverse and
captious criticism could see anything contradictory
to the tacts just related. He tens us that his
motive for going up to Jerusalem rather than any-
where else was that he might see Peter ; that he
abode with him fifteen days ; that the only Apostles
he saw were Peter and James the Lord's brother;
and that afterwards he came into the regions of
Syria and Cilicia,* remaining unknown by race,
though well-known for his conversion, to the
churches in Judaea which were in Christ St
Paul's object in referring to this connection of his
with those who were Apostles before him, was to
show that he had never accepted his apoetieahip aa
a commission from them. On this point the nar-
rative in the Acts entirely agrees with St. Paul's
own earnest asseverations in his epistles. He re-
ceived his commission from the Lord Jesus, and
also mediately through Ananias. This commission
o • Paul Informs ns, Oal. Iv. 26, that one of the
semes of Sinai In Arabia was Hagar. Mo other
TTitii mentions such a name, and the Apostle may be
supposed to have learned the tact during his visit to
mat country (Oal. L 17). This contact between the
t«o passages is certainly remarkable. « It is difficult
to resist the thought," says Stanley (fin. f Pal. p.
K, Amer. ed.), " that Paul may have stood upon the
Mcks of Mnal, and heard from Arab lips the oft re-
•Mted ' eTagar,' — ' rock,' suggesting the double msan-
sig " to which be alludes In the epistle. (See Haosb,
ret U. p. 978, .truer, ed.) H
6 • From Acts lx. 80 Paul appears to ban gone
by sea from Cessans to Terras ; nor does the order
" Syria and OUida" In Oal. I. 81 necessarily contrktf
with this. It appeals to have been usual to anodsts
the provmoos In that order (see Acts it. 28, 41), because
that was the order of the land-routs from Jerusalem te
Cllicla, the one usually taken. Hence Paul, In the
■pUtle to the Galatians, as above, may have adheres;
to U from the force of assootaoon, though he went xa
■let first to Cilicia, and then mails nusslwery easn
skns into Syria. ■
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PAUIi
Inahitled it special designation to preach Christ to
the ijentiles. Upon the latter designation he did
Dot act, until circumstances opened the way for It
But he at onoa began to proclaim Jeaua at the
Christ to hit own countrymen. Barnabaa intro-
duoed him to the Apoatlea, not aa aeaking their
auction, but aa haying teen and heard the Lord
Jesus, and aa having boldly spoken already in hia
name. Probably at first, Saul's independence aa
an Apoatle of Christ was not distinctly thought
of, either by himself or by the older Apoatlea. It
waa not till afterwards that it became ao impor-
tant; and then the reality of It appeared plainly
from a referenoe to the beginning of hia Apostolio
work.
SL Paul at Antioch. — While Saul was at
Tarsus, a movement was going on at Antioch,
which raised that city to an importance second
only to that of Jerusalem itself in the early history
of the Church. In the life of the Apostle of the
Gentiles Antioch claims a most conspicuous place.
It waa there that the preaching of the Gospel to
the Gentiles first took root, and from thence that
It was afterwards propagated. Its geographical
position, its political and commercial importance,
and the presence of a large and powerful Jewish
element in its population, were the more obvious
characteristics which adapted it for auch a use.
Here came to Antioch, when the persecution which
arose about Stephen scattered upon their different
routes the disciples who had been assembled at
Jerusalem, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, eager to
tell all who would hear them the good news con-
cerning the Lord Jesus. Until Antioch was reached,
the word was spoken " to none but unto Jews only "
Acta xi. 19). But here the Gentiles also (oZ
EAAi)« j) — not, aa in the A. V., " the Grecians,' '
— wen amongst the hearers of the word. [See
tote A, vol. ii. p. 967.] A great number believed ;
and when this was reported at Jerusalem, Barnabaa
•as sent on a special mission to Antioch.
As the work grew under his hands, and " much
people waa added unto the Lord," Barnabas felt
the need of help, and went himself to Tarsus to
seek Saul, l'osaibly at Damascus, certainly at
Jerusalem, he had been a witness of Saul's energy
and devotedness, and skill in disputation. He had
been drawn to him by the bond of a most broth-
erly affection. He therefore longed for him aa a
helper, and succeeded in bringing him to Antioch.
There they labored together unremittingly for " a
whole year," mixing with the constant assemblies
of the believers, and " teaching much people." All
this time, as St. Luke would give us to understand,
Saul was subordinate to Barnabas. Until "Saul"
became " Paul," we read of « Barnabaa and Saul "
(Acts xi. 80, xii. 26, xlii. 2, 7). Afterwards the
order changes to " Paul and Barnabas." It seems
reasonable to conclude that there was no marked
peculiarity in the teaching of Saul during the An-
tioch period. He held and taught, in common
with the other Jewish believers, the simple faith in
Jesus the Christ, crucified and raised from the
dead. Nor did he ever afterwards depart from the
simplicity of this faith. But new circumstances
stirred up new questions ; and then It waa to Saul
if Tarsus that it was given to see, more clearly
than any others saw, those new applications of the
aid truth, those deep and world-wide relations of
It, with which his work was to be permanently
associated. In the mean time, according to the
easel method »f tie Divine government, facts wi
PAUL 2867
silently growing, which were to suggest and occa-
sion the future developments of faith and practice,
and of these facta the moat conspicuous waa the
unprecedented accession of Gentile proselytes at
Antioch.
An opportunity soon occurred, of whit h Barnabaa
and Saul joyfully availed themselves, for proving
the affection of these new disciples towards their
brethren at Jerusalem, and for knitting the two
communities together in the bonds of practical
fellowship. A manifest impulse from the Hoi}
Spirit began this work. There came " prophets "
from Jerusalem to Antioch : " and there stood ap
one of them, named Agabua, and signified ly the
Spirit that there should be great dearth through-
out all the world." The "prophets" who now
arrived may have been the Simeon and Lucius and
Hansen, mentioned in xlii. 1, besides Agabus and
others. The prediction of the dearth need not
have been purposeless; it would naturally have a
direct reference to the needs of the poorer brethren
and the duty of the richer. It is obvious that ths
fulfillment followed closely upon the intimation of
the coming famine. For the disciples at Antioch
determined to and contributions immediately to
Jerusalem; and the gift waa conveyed to the elders
of that church [at Jerusalem and perhaps of the
churches In Judasa, Acta xi. 29] by the hands of
Barnabas and Saul. The time of this dearth is
vaguely designated in the Acta as the reign of
Claudius. It is ascertained from Josephus's his-
tory, that a severe famine did actually prevail Is
Judas, and especially at Jerusalem, at the very
time fixed by the event recorded in Acts xii., the
death of Herod Agrippa. This was in A. D. 44.
[AOASDa.]
It could not have been necessary for the mere
safe conduct of the contribution that Barnabas and
Saul should go in person to Jerusalem. We are
bound to see in the relations between tbe Mother-
Church and that of Antioch, of which this visit is
illustrative, examples of the deep feeling of the
necessity of union which dwelt in the heart of the
early Church. The Apostles did not go forth to
teach a system, but to enlarge a body. The Spirit
which directed and furthered their labors was es-
sentially the Spirit of fellowship. By this Spirit
Saul of Tarsus wsa being practically trained in
strict cooperation with his elders in the Church.
The habits which he learnt now were to aid in
guarding him at a later time from supposing that
the independence which he was bound to claim,
should involve the slightest breach or loosening of
the bonds of the universal brotherhood.
Having discharged their errand, Barnabas and
Saul returned to Antioch, bringing with them
another helper, John surnamed Mark, sister's son
to Barnabas. [Sistxb's Son, Amer. ed.] IT*
work of prophesying and teaching was resumed.
Several of the oldest and most honored of tlie
believers in Jesus were expounding the way of God
and organizing the Church in that busy metrop-
olis. Travellers were Incessantly passing to and
fro. Antioch was in constant communication with
Cflieia, with Cyprus, with all the neighboring coun-
tries. The question must have forced itself upon
hundreds of the " Christiana " at Antioch, •• What
is the meaning of this faith of ours, of this bap-
tism, of this incorporation, of this kingdom of the
Son of God, for tht worldt The Gospel is not
for Judaa alone: here are we called by it at An-
tioch. Is it meant to stop here? " The Church
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2868
PAUL
mm pregnant with a great movement, and the time
of her delivery was at band. We forget the whole
method of the Divine work in the nurture of the
Church, if we ascribe to the impulse* of the Holy
Ghoat any theatrical suddenness, and disconnect
them from the thoughts which were brooding in
the minds of the disciples. At every point we find
both circumstances and inward reasonings prepar-
ing the crisis. Something of direct expectation
seems to be implied in what is said of the leaders
of the Church at Antioch, that they were " min-
istering to the Lord, and fasting," when the Holy
Ghost spoke to them. Without doubt they knew
It for a seal set upon previous surmises, when the
voice came clearly to the general mind, '• Separate
me Barnabas and Saul for the work wbereunto I
have called them." That " work " was partially
known already to the Christians of Antioch: who
could be so fit for it as the two brothers in the
faith and in mutual affection, the son of exhorta-
tion, and the highly accomplished and undaunted
convert who had from the first been called "a
chosen vessel, to bear the name of the Lord be-
fore the Gentiles, and kings, and the people of
Israel"?
When we look back, from the higher ground of
St Paul's apostolic activity, to the years that passed
between his conversion and the first missionary
Journey, we cannot observe without reverence the
patient humility with which Saul waited for his
Muster's time. He did not say for once only,
'■ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " Obe-
dience to Christ was thenceforth bis ruling prin-
ciple. Submitting, as he believed, to his Lord's
direction, be was content to work for a long time
aa the subordinate colleague of his seniors hi the
faith. He was thus the better prepared, when the
call came, to act with the authority which that call
conferred upon him. He left Antioch, however,
still the second to Barnabas. Everything was done
with orderly gravity in the sending forth of the
two missionaries. Their brethren, after fasting and
prayer, laid their hands on them, and so they de-
puted.
The Jtnt Mittionnry Journey. — Much must
have been hid from Barnabas and Saul as to the
issues of the journey on which they embarked.
But one thing was dear to them, that they mrt
sent forth to tptak the word of God. They did
not go in their own name or for their own pur-
poses : they were instruments for uttering what the
Eternal God Himself was saying to men. We
shall find in the history a perfectly definite repre-
sentation of what St Paul announced and taught
at he journeyed from city to city. But the first
characteristic feature of his teaching was the abso-
lute conviction that be was only the bearer of a
heavenly message. It is idle to discuss St Paul's
character or views without recognising this fact
We are compelled to think of him as of a man
who was capable of cherishing such a conviction
with perfect assurance. We are bound to bear In
mind the unspeakable influence which that convic-
tion must have exerted upon his nature. The
writer of the Acta proceeds upon the same assump-
thxi. He tells us that as soon aa Barnabas and
Saul reached Cyprus, they began to ••announce
the word of God."
The second fact to be observed is, that for the
present they delivered their message in the syna-
gogue] of the Jews only. [Stmagoouks, Amer.
ar? They trod the old oath till they should be
PAUL,
drawn out of it But when tbey had gone through
the island, from Salamis to Papbos, they were called
upon to explain their doctrine to an eminent Gen-
tile, Sergius Paulua, the proconsul. This fiomac
officer, like so many of his countrymen, had already
come under the influence of Jewish teaching; but
it was in the corrupt form of magical pretensions,
which throve so luxuriantly upon the godless cre-
dulity of that age. A Jew, named Barjesus, or
Elymas, a magui and false prophet, had attached
himself to the governor, and had no doubt inter-
ested his mind, for ha was an intelligent man, with
what he had told him of the history and hopes of
the Jews. [Elymas.] Accordingly, when Sergius
Paulus heard of the strange teachers who were
announcing to the Jews the advent of their true
Messiah, he wished to see them, and tent for them.
The impostor, instinctively hating the Apostles,
and seeing his influence over the proconsul in
danger of perishing, did what he could to with-
stand them. Then Saul, "who is also called Paul,"
denouncing Elymas in remarkable terms, declared
against him God's sentence of temporary blind-
n. The blindness immediately falls upon him;
and the proconsul, moved by the scene and per-
suaded by the teaching of the Apostle, becomes •
believer.
There is a singular parallelism in several points
between the history of St Paul and that of St
Peter in the Acts. Baur presents it in a highly
effective form (PatUut, p. 91, Ac), to support his
theory of the composition of this book; and this is
one of the services which he has incidentally ren-
dered to the full understanding of the early history
of the Church. Thus St Paul's discomfiture of
Elymas reminds us of St Peter's denunciation of
Simon Magus. The two incidents bring strongly
before us one of the great adverse elements with
which the Gospel had to contend in that age-
Everywhere there were counterfeits of the spiritual
powers which the Apostles claimed and put forth.
It was nec essa ry for the preachers of Christ, not
so much to prove themselves stronger than the
magicians and soothsayers, as to guard against
being confounded with them. One distinguishing
mark of the true servants of the Spirit would be
that of not trading upon their spiritual powers
(Acta vlii. SO). Another would be that of shun-
ning every sort of concealment and artifice, and
courting the daylight of open truth. St Paul's
language to Elymas is studiously directed to the
reproof of the tricks of the religious impostor.
The Apostle, full of the true Holy Ghost, looked
steadily on the deceiver, spoke in the name of a
God of light and righteousness and straightforward
ways, and put forth the power of that God for the
vindication of truth against delusion. The pun-
ishment of Elymas was itself symbolical, and con-
veyed " teaching of the Lord." % He had chosen
to create a spiritual darkness around him; and
now there fell upon him a mist and a darkness,
and he went about, seeking some one to lead him
by the hand. If on reading this account we refer
to St Peter's reproof of Simon Magna, we shall
be struck by the differences as well as the resemb-
lance which we shall observe. But we shall un-
doubtedly gain a stronger impression of this part
of the Apostolic work, namely, the conflict to be
waged between the Spirit of Christ and of the
Church, and the evil spirits of a dark supentiUoa
to which men were surrendering themselves as
slaves. We shall feel the worth and power of that
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PAUL
Madid and open temper in which alone St. Paul
would o om ma ud hit cause; and in the conversion
of Sergius Praia* ws shall see an exemplary type
of many victoria to be won by the truth orer
falsehood.
This point it made a apeeial crisis in the history
of the Apostle by the writer of the Acts. Haul
now becomes Paul, and begins to take precedence
of Barnabas. Nothing is said to explain the
change of name. No reader could resist the temp-
tation of supposing that there must be some con-
nection between Saul's new name and that of his
distinguished Roman convert. Hut on reflection it
does not seem prohaltle that St. Paul would either
have wished, or have consented to change his own
name for that of a distinguished convert. If we
pat Sergius Paulas aside, we know that it was ex-
ceedingly common for Jews to bear, besides their
own Jewish name, another borrowed from the coun-
try with which they had become connected. (See
Conybeare and Howson, i. 188, for full illustra-
tions.) Thus we have Simeon also named Niger,
Barnabas also named Justus, John also named Mar-
cus. There is no reason therefore why Saul should
not have home from infancy the other name of
Paul. In that ease he would be Saul amongst his
own countrymen, Paulus amongst the Gentiles.
And we must understand St Luke as wishing to
mark strongly the transition point between Saul's
activity amongst his own countrymen, and his new
labors as the Apostle of the Gentiles, by calling
him Saul only, during the first, and Paul only
afterwards."
The conversion of Sergius Paulus may be said,
perhaps, to mark the beginning of the work
amongst the Gentiles; otherwise, it was not in
Cyprus that any change took place in the method
hitherto followed by Barnabas and Saul in preach-
ing the Gospel Their public addresses were as
yet confined to the synagogues; but it was soon to
be otherwise. From Paphos, " Paul and his com-
pany " set sail for the mainland, and arrived at
Perga in Pamphylia, where the heart of their com-
panion John failed him, and he returned to Jeru-
salem. [Pkkoa.] From Perga they travelled on to
a place, obscure in secular history, but most memo-
rable in the history of the kingdom of Christ, —
Antioeh in Pisidia. [AanocH in Pistdia.] Here
" they went into the synagogue on the sabbath day,
and sat down." Small as the place was, it con-
tained its colony of Jews, and with them proselytes
who worshipped the God of the Jews. The degree
to which the Jews had spread and settled themselves
over the world, and the influence they had gained
over the more respectable of their Gentile neigh-
bors, and especially over the women of the better
diss, are facta difficult to appreciate Justly, but
proved by undoubted evidence, and very important
for us to bear in mind. This 1'Uidian Antioeh
•ay have been more Jewish than most similar
towns, bat it was not more so than many of much
PAUL
2869
« • A little mors prominence should probably be
xlvan ban to the ooeurreDos with which tbls change
of name Is usoclaM, aid to the communication of
■ptritual power which teems to have marked the
transfer of precedence in the Joint miasion The
smiting of Bymas with blindness was the Bret ir'raele
which the Apostle wrought; and miracles wee* the
ao as jeeto dj w d cran s ntta l e or "signs of an apostle " (2
Oor xH. 13). At this juncture he appears to have re-
sareef • special anutcrmtien to the apocaaMp tc
148
greater size and importance. What took plans
here in the synagogue and in the city it in t e r est
ing to us not only en account of its bearing on tas
history, but also because it r ep res en ts more or lets
exactly what afterwards occurred in many other
puces.
It cannot be without design that we hare single
bat detailed examples given us in the Acts, of the
various kinds of addresses which St. Paul used to
deliver in appealing to his different audience*. Ha
had to address himself, in the course of hit mis-
sionary labors, to Jews, knowing and receiving the
Scriptures; to ignorant barbarians: to cultivated
Greeks; to mobs enraged against himself person-
ally; to magistrates aod kings. It it an inesti-
mable help in studying the Apostle and his work,
that we have speoimens of the tone and the srgn-
ments be was accustomed to use in all these situa-
tions. These will be noticed in their places. In
what he said at the synagogue in Antioeh, we
recognize the type of toe addresses in which he
would introduce his message to his Jewish fellow-
countrymen.
The Apostles* of Christ sat still with the rest of
the assembly, whilst the Law and the Prophets
were read. They and their audience were united
in reverence for the sacred books. Then the rulers
of the synagogue sent to invite them, as strangers
but brethren, to speak any word of exhortation
which might be in them to the people. Paul stood
up, and beckoning with his hand, be spoke. — The
speech is given in Acts xiii. 16-41. The charac-
teristics we observe in it are these. The speaker
begins by acknowledging " the God of this people
Israel." He ascribes to him the calling out of the
nation and the conduct of its subsequent history.
He touches on the chief points of that history np
to the reign of David, whom he brings out into
prominence. He then names Jesus as the prom-
ised Son of David. To convey some knowledge of
Jesus to the minds of his hearers, he recounts the
chief facts of the gospel history; the preparatory
preaching and baptism of John (of which the ru-
mor had spread perhaps to Antioeh) ; the condem-
nation of Jesus by the rulers '< who knew neither
him nor the prophets," and his resurrection. That
resurrection is declared to he the fulfillment of all
God's promises of life, given to the fathers.
Through Jesus, therefore, is now proclaimed by
God Himself the forgiveness of tint and full justi-
fication. The Apostle concludes by drawing from
the prophets a warning against unbelief. If this
is an authentic example of Paul's preaching, it was
impossible for Peter or John to start more exclu-
sively from the Jewish covenant end promises than
did the Apostle of the Gentiles. How entirely this
discourse resembles those of St. Peter and of Ste-
phen in the earlier chapters of the Acts ! There it
only one specially Pauline touch in the wools, —
the words in ver. 39, " By Him all that believe an
justified from all things, from which ye could not
which be had been called, "being flUod with the
Holy Ghost," not for the first time, but In a apeeial
sense. With the divioe afflatus upon him, he ad-
dressed the sorcerer with the authority of an apostls
of the Lord, and with a aupernatural effect. This at-
testation of his apostolic commission would naturally
be decisive with Barnabas, and may account for the
qmet assumption, with the new name, by his esses*
ate, of the leadership from this point. S. W
» • See Aroma on the use of thai tttas. »
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I
2870
PAUL
ba justified by the law of Moses." " Evidently
bitted in," says Bear (p. 103), who thinks we an
dealing with a mere fiction, " to prevent the speech
from appearing too Petrine, and to give it a slightly
Pauline air." Certainly, it sounds like an echo of
the epistles to the Romans and Galatians- Bat
is there therefore the slightest incongruity tetween
this and the other parts of the address? Does
not that " forgiveness of sins " which St Peter and
St. Paul proclaimed with the most perfect a g ree
ment, connect itself naturally, in the thoughts of
oue exercised by the law as Saul of Tarsus had
been, with justification not by the law but by
grace ? If we suppose that Saul had accepted just
the faith which the older Apostles held in Jesus of
Nazareth, the Messiah of tile Jews, crucified and
raised from the dead according to the teaching of
the prophets, and in the remission of sins through
him confirmed by the gift of the Holy Ghost; and
that he had nlto had those experiences, not known
to the older Apostles, of which we see the working
In the epistles to the Romans and the Galatians;
this speech, in all its parte, is precisely what we
might expect; this is the very teaching which the
Apostle of the Gentiles must hare everywhere and
always set forth, when he was speaking " God's
word " for the first time to an assembly of his fel-
low-countrymen.
The discourse thus epitomized produced a strong
Impression ; and the hearers (not " the Gentiles " ) °
requested the Apostles to repeat their message on
the next Sabbath. During the week so much inter-
est was excited by the teaching of the Apostles,
that on the Sabbath day " almost the whole city
same together, to hear the word of God." It was
this concern of the Gentiles which appears to have
first alienated the minds of the Jews from what
they had heard. They were filled with envy. They
probably felt that there was a difference between
those efforts to gain Gentile proselytes in which
they bad themselves been so successful, and this
niiv preaching of a Messiah in whom a justification
which the Law could not gire was offered to men.
The eagerness of the Gentiles to hear may have
confirmed their instinctive apprehensions. The
Jewish envy once roused became a power of deadly
hostility to the Gospel; and these Jews at Antioch
set themselves to oppose bitterly the words which
Paul spoke. We have here, therefore, a new phase
in the history of the Gospel. In these foreign
countries it is not the Cross or Nazareth which is
most immediately repulsive to the Jews in the pro-
claiming of Jesus. It is the wound given to Jewish
importance in the association of Gentiles with Jews
as the recovers of the good tidings. If the Gentiles
had been asked to become Jews, no offense would
have been taken. But the proclamation of the
Christ could not be thus governed and restrained.
It overleaped, by its own force, these narrowing
methods. It was felt to be addressed not to one
nation only, but to mankind.
The new opposition brought out new action on
the part of the Apostles. Rejected by the Jews,
they became bold and outspoken, and turned from
tbem to the Gentiles. They remembered and de-
clared what the prophets had foretold of the en-
lightening and deliverance of the whole world.
a * The best copies omit t« Mini after irapticaAow.
H.
• • These women of the higher class wars dentils
lesaan who had embraced Judaism, and could ba
PAUL
In speaking to the Gentiles, tlwefore, they were
simply fulfilling the promise of the Covenant. The
gift, we observe, of which the Jews west depriving
themselves, and which the Gentiles woo bettered
were accepting, is described as " eternal Ufa " ( '
ofaVior far/)). It was the life of which the riser
Jesus was the fountain, which Peter and John had
declared at Jerusalem, and of which ail acts oi
healing were set forth as signs. This was now
poured out largely upon the Gentiles. The word
of the Lord was published widely, and had much
fruit. Henceforth, Paul and Barnabas knew it to
be their commission, — not the less to p r es e nt their
message to Jews first; but in the absence of aa
adequate Jewish medium to deal directly with the
Gentiles. But this expansion of the Gospel wjrk
brought with it new difficulties ami dangers. At
Antioch now, aa in every city afterwards, the un-
believing Jews used their influence with their own
adherents among the Gentiles, and especially the
women of the higher class* to persuade the author-
ities or the populace to persecute the Apostles, and
to drive them from the place.
With their own spirits raised, and amidst nineb
enthusiasm of their disciples, Paul and Bamabar
now travelled on to [conium, where the occurrences
at Antioch were repeated, and from thence to tin
Lycaonian country which contained the cities Lys-
tr» and Derbe. Here they had to deal with unciv-
ilized heathens. At Lystra the healing of a cripple
took place, the narrative of which runs very paral-
lel to the account of the similar act done by Petet
and John at the gate of the Temple. The agree-
ment becomes closer, if we insert here, with Laeh-
mann, before "Stand upright on thy feet," the
words " I say unto thee in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ." The parallel leads us to observe
more distinctly that every messenger of Jesus
Christ was a herald of life. The spiritual Hie —
the far)) aiaVior — which was of faith, is illustrated
and expounded by the invigoration of impotent
limbs. The same truth was to be conveyed to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the heathens of Ly-
caonla. The act was received naturally by these
pagans. They took the Apostles for g«ls, calling
Barnabas, who was of the more imposing presence,
Zeus (Jupiter), and Paul, who was the chief
speaker, Hermes (Mercurius). This mistake, fol-
lowed up by the attempt to offer sacrifices to them,
gives occasion to the recording of an address, in
which we see a type of what the Apostles would
say to an ignorant pagan audience. [I.ystha,
Amer. ed.J Appeals to the Scriptures, references
to the God of Abraham and laaac and Jacob, would
have been out of place. The Apostles name the
Living God, who made heaven and earth ard the
sea and all things therein, the God of the whole
world and all the nations in it- They declare
themselves to be his messengers. They rxpatiUl
upon the tokens of Himself which the Fatter of
men hsd not withheld, in that He did them good,
sending rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, the
supporters of life and joy. They protest that in re-
storing the cripple they had only acted aa instru-
ments of the living God. They themselves wen
not gods but human beings of like passions with
the Lycaonian*. The Living God was now mani-
easlly excited against a sect who were leat ss tP tt d w
them by the eiafty Jews as hostile to thahr Mat
(8ss Acts xnl. 60, and xvn. t.) H.
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PAUL
j Himself more clearly to men, dewing that
henceforth the nation* should not walk in their own
ways, but hie. They therefore call upon the peo-
ple to give np the vanities of idol worship, end to
torn to the tiring God (comp. 1 These, i. 9, 10).
In this address, the name of Jesus does not occur.
It is easy to understand that the Apostles preached
Him as the Son of that Living God to whom they
bore witness, telling the people of his death and
resurrection, and announcing his coming again.
Although the people of Lystxa had been so ready
to worship Paul and Barnabas, the repulse of their
idolatrous instincts appears to have provoked them,
sad they allowed themselves to be persuaded into
hostility by Jews who came Iron) Antioch and Ico-
niasn, so that they attacked Paul with atones, and
thought they had killed him. lie recovered, bow-
aver, as the disciples were standing round him, and
went again into the city. The next day be left it
with Barnabas, and went to Derbe, and thence
tbey returned once more to Lretra, and so to loo-
nium and Antiocb, renewing their exhortations to
the disciples, bidding them not to think their trials
strange, but to recognize them as the appointed
door through which the kingdom of Heaven, into
which they were called, was to be entered. Iu
order to establish the churches after their depart-
ure, they solemnly appointed "elders" in every
city. Then tbey came down to the coast, and from
Attalia they sailed home to Antioch in Syria,
where they related the successes which had been
granted to them, and especially the " opening of
the door of faith to the Gentiles." And so the
First Missionary Journey ended.
The Council at Jerusalem. (Acts xr. Gala-
tians ii.) — Upon that missionary journey follows
most naturally the next important scene which the
historian sets before us, — the council held at Jeru-
salem to determine the relations of Gentile believers
to the Law of Moses. In following this portion of
the history, we encounter two of the greater ques-
tions which the biographer of St. Paul has to con-
sider. One of these is historical, What were the
relations between the Apostle Paul and the Twelve ?
The other Is critical, How is Galatians ii. to be
connected with the narrative of the Acts ?
The relations of St Paul and the Twelve will
best be set forth in the narrative. Bnt we must
explain here why we accept St. Paul's statements
in the Galatian epistle as additional to the history
in Acts. xv. The first impression of any reader
would be a supposition that the two writers might
be referring to the same event. The one would at
least bring ths other to bis mind. In both be reads
tf Paul and Barnabas going up to Jerusalem, re-
porting the Gospel preached to the uncircumcised,
and discussing with the older Apostles the terms to
be imposed upon Gentile believers. . In both the
eonelttsion is announced, that these believers should
be entirely free from the necessity of circumcision.
rheas are main points which the narratives have
,a common. On looking more closely into both,
the second Impression upon the reader's mind may
possibly be that of a certain incompatibility between
the two. Many Joints and members of the trans-
action as given by St Luke, do not appear n St
Paul Others in one or two cases are substituted.
PAUL 2871
Further, the visit to Jerusalem is the Jd mentions* 1
in the Acts, after Saul's conversion; in Galatians,
it is apparently mentioned as the 3d. Supposing
this sense of incompatibility to remain, the reada
will go on to inquire whether the visit to Jeru-
salem mentioned in Galatians coincides Better with
any other mentioned in the Acta, — as the 3d
(xi. 30) or the 4th (xviii. 38). He will, in all
probability, conclude without hesitation that it
does not. Another view will remain, that St. Pau:
refers to a visit not recorded in the Acts at all.
This is a perfectly legitimate hypothesis; and it is
recommended by the vigorous sense of Paiey. But
where are we to place the visit ? The only possible
place for it is some short time before the visit of
oh. xv. But it can scarcely be denied, that the
language of ch. xv. decidedly implies that the
visit there recorded was the first paid by Paul and
Barnabas to Jerusalem, after their great success
in preaching the Gospel amongst the Gentiles.
We suppose the reader, therefore, to recur to his
first impression. He will then have to ask himself.
" Granting the considerable differences, are then
after all any plain contradictions between the two
narratives, taken to refer to the same occurrences ? '•
The answer must be, " There are no plain contra-
dictions." And this, he will perceive, is a very
weighty fact. When it is recognized, the resem-
blances first observed will return with renewed
force to the mind.
We proceed then to combine the two narratives.
Whilst Paul and Barnabas were staying at Antioch,
" certain men from Judaw " came there and taught
the brethren that it was necessary for the Gentile
converts to be circumcised. This doctrine was
vigorously opposed by the two Apostles, and it was
determined that the question should be referred
to the Apostles and elders at Jerusalem. Paul and
Barnabas themselves, and certain others, were se-
lected for this mission. In Gal. ii. 2, St. Paul
says that he went up " by revelation " (kot' 4»o-
K<bud>ur), so that we are to understand him as
receiving a private intimation from the Divine
Spirit, as well as a public commission from the-
Church at Antioch." On their way to Jerusalem,
they announced to the brethren in Phoenicia and
Samaria the conversion of the Gentiles ; and the
news was received with great joy. " When they
were come to Jerusalem, they were received by the
Church, and by the Apostles and elders, and they
declared all things that God had done with them "
(Acts xv. ♦). St Paul adds that he communi-
cated his views •' privately to them which wen of
reputation,'' through anxiety as to the success of
bis work (Gal. ii. 2). The Apostles and the Church
in general, it appears, would have raised no diffi-
culties; but certain believers who had been Phar-
isees thought fit to maintain the same doctrine
which had caused the disturbance at Antioch. In
either place, St. Paul would not give way to such
teaching for a single hour (Gal. ii. 5). It became
necessary, therefore, that a formal decision should
be come to upon the question. The Apostles and
elders came together, and there was much dis-
puting. Arguments would be used on both sides;
but when the persons of highest authority spoke,
they appealed to what was stronger than arga-
« • Has passages la Acts (xr. 2) and in Qalattans
%. S) ass alDts eou sU l su t whether wssupvoas that ths
s u ss atluu was first and the action of ths ihxaoh sub-
' ths revsiss. Paul may have been In-
structed to propose the ssndinz of delegates to Jsra-
sum ; or the ebnrcb may have proposed ths msassn
sad Paul have bean directed to iippmve it, sad gc sr
ens of ths nsassngem. It
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2372
PAUL
K, — tha oonree of fact*, through which the
■rill of God had been manifestly shown. St Peter,
reminding his hearers that he himself had been
first employed to open the door of faith to Gentiles,
points out that God had himself bestowed on the
ancircumdnd that which was the seal of »he high-
est calling and fellowship in Christ, lh' ~ift of the
Holy Ghost. » Why do you not acquiesce in this
token of God's will ? Why impose upon Gentile
believers ordinances which we oursehres have found
a heavy burden ? Han not we Jews left off trust-
ing in our Law, to depend only on the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ?" — Then, carrying out
the same appeal to the will of God as shown in
nuts, Barnabas and Paul relate to the silent mul-
titude the wonders with which God had accom-
panied their preaching amongst the Gentiles. After
they had done, St. James, with incomparable sim-
plicity and wisdom, binds up the testimony of re-
cent facts with the testimony of ancient prophecy,
and gives a practical judgment upon the question.
The judgment was a decisive one. The injunc-
tion that the Gentiles should abstain from pollu-
tions of idols and from fornication explained itself.
The abstinence from things strangled and from
blood is desired ss a concession to the customs of
the Jews, who were to be found in every city, and
far whom it was still right, when they had believed
in Jesus Christ, to observe the Law. St Paul had
completely gained his point The older Apostles,
James, Cephas, and John, perceiving the grace
which had been given him (his effectual Apostle-
ship), gave to him and Barnabas the right hand
of fellowship. At this point it is very important
to observe precisely what was the matter at stake
between the contending parties (compare Prof. Jow-
ett on " St. Paul and the Twelve," in St. Pautt
EpMe$, i. 417). St Peter speaks of a heavy
yoke; St James of troubling the Gentile converts.
But we are not to suppose that they mean merely
the outward trouble of conforming to the Law of
Hoses. That was not what St Paul was protesting
against. The case stood thus: Circumcision and
the ordinances of the Law were witnesses of a
separation of the chosen race from other nations.
The Jews were proud of that separation. But the
Gospel of the Son of Han proclaimed that the
time had come in which the separation was to be
done away, and God's good-will manifested to all
nations alike. It spoke of a union with God,
through trust, which gave hope of a righteousness
that the Law had been powerless to produce.
Therefore to insist upon Gentiles being circum-
cised would have been to deny the Gospel of Christ
If there was to be simply an enlarging of the sen-
anted nation by the receiving of individuals into
t, then the other nations of the world remained
m much on the outside of God's covenant as
ever. Then there was no Gospel to mankind ; no
Justification given to men. The loss, in such a
rase, would have been as much to the Jew as to
the Gentile. St Paul felt this the most strongly;
but St. Peter also saw that if the Jewish believers
were thrown back on the Jewish law, and gave up
the free and absolute grace of God, the Law be-
rime a mere burden, just as heavy to the Jew as
\ would be to the Gentile. The only hope for the
• The presence of St Peter, and the growth of
Jewish prejudioe, an more easily aoeountad for If we
St Paul to have left Antioch lor a long
PAUL
Jew was in a Saviour who meet i* the Bsvtoaw el
mankind.
It Implied therefore no difference of belief who
it was agreed that Paul and Barnabas should gs
to the heathen, while James and Cephas and John
undertook to be the Aposties of the Circumcision
St Paul, wherever he went, was to preach " to the
Jew first; " St Peter was to preach to the Jews
as free a Gospel, was to teach the H-veriTi of the
Gentiles without circumcision as distinctly as St
Paul himself. The unity of the Church was to be
preserved unbroken ; and in order to nourish this
unity the Gentiles were requested to remember
their poorer brethren in Palestine (Gel ii. 10>
How cealously St Paul cherished this beautifaj
witness of the common brotherhood we have saaa
in part already (Acts xi. 39, 80), but it is yet a*
appear more strikingly.
The judgment of the Church was immediately
recorded in a letter addressed to the Gentile breth-
ren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. That this
letter might carry greater authority it was intrusted
to " chosen men of the Jerusalem Church, Judas
surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among
the brethren." The tetter speaks affectionately of
Barnabas and Paul (with the elder Church Bar-
nabas still retained the precedence, xv. 12, 36) as
" men who have hazarded their Urea for the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ" So Judas and Suns
oome down with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch,
and comfort the Church there with their message,
and when Judas returned "it pleased Silas to
abide there still."
It is usual to connect with this period of the
history that rebuke of St Peter which St Paul
records in Gal. ii. 11-14. Tha connection of sub-
ject makes it convenient to record the incident in
this place, although it is possible that it took
place before the meeting at Jerusalem, and perhaps
most probable « that it did not oseur till later, when
St Paul returned from his long tour in Gre e c e to
Antioch (Acts xvili. S3, 83). St Peter was at
Antioch, and had shown no scruple about " eating
with the Gentiles," until "certain came from
James." These Jerusalem Christians brought their
Jewish excluaiveness with them, and St Peter's
weaker and more timid mood came upon him, and
through fear of his stricter friends he too began to
withdraw himself from his former free association
with the Gentiles. Such an example had a dan-
gerous weight, and Barnabas and the other Jean
at Antioch were being seduced by it It was an
occasion for the intrepid faithfulness of St Paul.
He did not conceal his anger at such weak dissem-
bling, and he publicly remonstrated with his older
fellow-Apostle. " If thou, being a Jew, livest aftat
the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews,
why oompellest thou the Gentiles to live as do tha
Jews? " (Gal. ii. 14). St Peter had abandoned
the Jewish exclusiveneas, and deliberately rlaimad
common ground with the Gentile: why should he,
by separating himself from the uncireuroeised,
require the Gentiles to qualify themselves for mil
communion by accepting circumcision? This
" withstanding " of St Peter was no opposition
of Pauline to Petrlne views; it was a faithful re-
buke of blamable moral weakness.'
» • An interval of a year or a year and a half only
mold have e l apsed between Paul'e return to AnHooa
from the council at Jerusalem, and Ida departure aa
his second missionary tour, aa the beat iliiiiiiiihajawj
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PAUL
Btamd Miukmary Journey. — Tba moat raeo-
ute courage, indeed, m required for the work to
which St Paul na now publiclj pledged. He
would Dot aasoeiato with himself in that work one
who had already shown a want of constancy. Thu
wai the occasion of what must have been a moat
painful difference between him and hia comrade in
the faith and in past perils, Barnabas. After re-
maining awhile at Aiitioch, Paul proposed to Bar-
nabas to revisit the brethren in the countries of
their tatter journey. Hereupon Barnabas desired
that his Lephew John Mark should go with them.
But John had deserted them in Paniphylia, and
St. Paul would not try him again. u And the con-
tention was to sharp between them that they de-
parted asunder one from the other; and so Barna-
baa took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; and Paul
chose Silas, and departed." Silas, or Silvanus,
becomes now a chief companion of the Apostle.
The two went together through Syria and Cilieia,
visiting the churches, and so came to Derbe and
Lystra. Here they find Timotheus, who had be-
come a disciple on the former visit of the Apostle,
and who so attracted the esteem and love of St.
Paul, that " he would have him go forth with him."
Him St. Paul took and circumcised. If this fact
had been omitted here and stated in another nar-
rative, how utterly irreconcilable it would have
bean, in the eyes of some critics, with the history
iu the Acts ! Paul and Silas were actually deliv-
ering the Jerusalem decree to all the churches they
visited. They were no doubt triumphing in the
freedom secured to the Gentiles. Yet at this very
time our Apostle had the wisdom and largeness of
heart to consult the feelings of the Jews by cir-
cumcising Timothy. There were many Jews - in
those parts, who knew that Timothy's lather was a
Greek, bis mother a Jewess. That St Paul should
have had, as a chief companion, one who was nn-
orcumeised, would of itself have been a hindrance
to him in preaching to Jews ; but it would have
been a still greater stumbling block if that com-
panion wen hah* a Jew by birth, and had pro-
leased the Jewish faith. Therefore in this esse St.
Paul •• became unto the Jews at a Jew that he
might gain the Jews."
St. Luke now steps rapidly over a considerable
spaee of the Apostle's lift and labors. "They
went throughout Phrygia and the region of Gala-
tia " (xvL 6). At this time St Paul was founding
"the churches of Galatia" (Gal. i. 2). He him-
self gives us hints of the circumstances of bis
pleaching in that region, of the reception he met
with, and of the ardent, though unstable, oharacter
of the people, in the following words: " Ye know
how through infirmity of the flesh (tri 4V ao-94-
eviar Tvjt 0*00*01) I preached the Gospel unto you
at the first (to vpoVsow), and my temptation
which was in my flesh ye despised not nor rejected,
bat received me ss an angel of God, even as Christ
Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of
(o u<M«u>Mrp6r a ift&y)? for I bear yon record that,
f it had been possible, ye would have plucked out
,inwr own eyes, and have given them to me " (iv.
18). It is not easy to decide as to the meaning
PAUL
2378
testae ; and the statement In Acts xv. 81 certainly un-
ities that the JoaalaOo question in* sssanually lalL *t
rest for a ssas o n Snoh a reaction therefore In tavor of
Judaism as the conduct of Petvr at Aouoch Mm). U 11
J.! shows to have taken place, must have aitau. !»•«,
tod belongs m all probability to Acts zvtti. 28. a.
of the wo ds 4Y iurfimav riji oiooKot. Un-
doubtedly their grammatical sense implies thai
"weakness of the flesh" — an illness — wss tht
occatknt of St Paul's preaching in Galatia; ant
De Wette and AUbrd adhere to this interpretation,
understanding St Paul to have been detained by
illness, when otherwise he would have gone rapidly
through the country. On the other hand, tot
form and order of the words are not what we
should have expected if the Apostle meant to say
this; and Professor Jowett prefers to assume so
Inaccuracy of grammar, and to understand St
Paul as saying that it was in weakness of the flesh
that he preached to the Galatians. In either case
St Paul must be referring to a more than ordinary
pressure of that bodily infirmity which he speaks
of elsewhere as detracting from the influence of his
personal address. It is hopeless to attempt to
determine positively what this infirmity was. Bet
we may observe here — (1) that St Paul's sensi-
tiveness may have led him to exaggerate this per-
sonal disadvantage; and (2) that, whatever it was,
it allowed him to go through sufferings snd hard-
ships such as few ordinary men could bear. And
it certainly did not repel the Galatians; it appears
rather to have excited their sympathy and warmed
their affection towards the Apostle.
St Paul at this time bad not indulged the am-
bition of preaching his Gospel in Europe. Hie
views were limited to the peninsula of Asia Minor,
Having gone through Phrygia and Galatia he in-
tended to visit the western ooast [Asia]; but
" they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach
the word " there. Then, being on the borders of
Myaia, they thought of going back to the north-
east into Bithynia; but again "the Spirit of J out
suffered them not." • So they passed by Myaia,
and came down to Trees. Here the Spirit of Jesus,
having checked them on other sides, revealed to
them in what direction they were to got St Paul
saw in a vision a man of Macedonia, who besought
him, saying, " Come over into Macedonia and help
us." The vision wss at once accepted as a heav-
enly intimation; the help wanted by the Mace-
donians was believed to be the preaching of the
Gospel. It is at this point that the historian,
speaking of St. Paul's company, substitutes " we "
for "they." He says nothing of himself; we can
only infer that St Luke, to whatever country he
belonged, became a companion of St Paul at
Troas. It Is perhaps not too arbitrary a conjecture,
that the Apostle, having recently suffered in health,
derived benefit from the medical skill and attend-
ance of " tbe beloved physician." The party, thus
reinforced, immediately set sail from Troas, touched
at Samothrace, then landed on the continent at
Neapolis, and from thence journeyed to Philippi
Tbey hastened to carry the " help " that had been
asked to the first considerable city in Macedonia.
Philippi was no inapt representative of the western
world. A Greek city, it had received a body of
Roman settlers, and was politically a Colonia. Wi
must not assume that to Saul of Tarsus, the Ro-
man citizen, there was anything very novel a
strange in the world to which be bad now coma,
a May not this mean " your calling nu blis m l "
making me as one of the iiiupn *W.
>> • « The spirit of Jesus " Is the reuamg of an at
oast MSS. and critical editions (Orissb., lachra., Tbeh
TressUss, Altord) in Acts xvL T a
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2874
PAUL
But the name of Greece mui.t have rejjeeented
wry imposing ideas to the Oriental and the Jew;
and we may 'silently imagine what it mutt hare
beer to St. Paul to know that he was called to be
the herald of hu Master, the Crucified Jesus, in
the centre of the world's highest culture, and that
he was now to begin his task. He began, bow-
ever, with no flourish of trumpets, but as quietly
u ever, and in the old way. There were a few
Jews, if not many, at Philippi; and when the
Sabbath came round, the Apostolic company joined
their countrymen at the place by the river-side
where prayer was wont to be made. The narra-
tive in this part is very graphic: " We sat down,"
says the writer (zri. 13). " and spoke to the women
who had come together." Amongst these women
was a proselyte from Tbyatira (<rt&ofi4rri rbv
Stir), named Lydia, a dealer in purple. As she
listened "the Lord opened her heart" to attend
to what Paul was saying. The first convert in
Macedonia was but an Asiatic woman who already
worshipped the God of the Jews; but she was a
very earnest believer, and besought the Apostle
and his friends to honor her by staying in her
bouse. They could not resist her urgency, and
during their stay at Philippi they were the guests
of Lydia (ver. 40).
But a proof was given before long that the
preachers of Christ were come to grapple with the
powers in the spiritual world to which heathenism
was then doing homage. A female slave, who
brought gain to her masters by her powers of pre-
diction when she was in the possessed state, beset
Paul and his company, following them as they
want to the plane of prayer, and crying out,
" These men are servants of the Host High God,
who publish to you (or to us) the way of salva-
tion." Paul was vexed by her cries, and address-
ing the spirit in the girl, he said, " I command
thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of
her." Comparing the confession of this "spirit
of divination " with the analogous confessions made
by evil spirits to our Lord, we see the same singular
character of a true acknowledgment extorted as if
by force, and rendered with a certain insolence
which implied that the spirits, though subject,
were not willingly subject. The cries of the slave-
girl may have sounded like sneers, mimicking what
she bad heard from the Apostles themselves, until
St. Paul's exorcism, "in the name of Jesus Christ,"
was seen to be effectual. Then be might be recog-
nized as in truth a servant of the Host High
Qod, giving an example of the salvation which he
brought, in the deliverance of this poor girl herself
from the spirit which degraded her.
But the girl's masters saw that now the hope of
their gains was gone. Here at Philippi, as after-
wards at Kphesns, the local trade in religion began
to suffer from the manifestation of the Spirit of
Christ, and an interested appeal was made to local
and national feelings against the dangerous innova-
tions of the Jewish strangers. Paul and Silas were
Iragged before the magistrates, the multitude olam-
rlntf loudly against them, upon the vague charge
of "uoubling the city," and introducing obser-
vance* which were unlawful for Romans. If the
nagtstrates had desired to act justly they might
That is, If there were slaves In the family who
Luke's account limits the baptism to those
a* Jailer's household who, like the Jailer, heard
word of toe lord spoken by Paul and BUas
PAUL
hate Joubtsd how they ought to deal with taw
charge. On the one hand Paul and Silas had ab-
stained carefully, as the preachers of Christ always
did, from disturbing public order, and had as yet
violated no express law of the state. Bnt on the
other hand, the preaching of Jesus as King and
Lord was unquestionably revolutionary, and aggres
sive upon the public religion, in its efieota; and the
Roman law was decided, In general terms, against
such innovations (see raff, in Conyb. and Hows. L
324). But the praters or duumviri of FhSpfi
were very unworthy representatives of the Roman
magistracy. They yielded without inquiry to the
clamor of the inhabitants, caused the clothes of Paul
and Silas to be torn from them, aid themselves to
be beaten, and then committed them to prison.
The jailer, having received their commands, u throe*
them into the inner prison, and made their feet
fast in the stocks." This cruel wrong was to be
the occasion of a signal appearance of the God of
righteousness and deliverance. It was to be seen
which were the true servants of such a God, the
magistrates or these strangers. In the night Paul
and Silas, sore and sleepless, but putting their trust
in God, prayed and sang praises so loudly that the
other prisoners could hear them. Then suddenly
the ground beneath them was shaken, the doors
were opened, and every prisoner's bands were struck
off (compare the similar openings of prison-doors
in xii. 6-10, and v. 19). The jailer awoke and
sprang up, saw with consternation that the prison-
doors were open, and, concluding that the p r i so n ers
were all fled, drew his sword to kill himself. Bat
Paul called to him loudly, '• Do thyself no harm;
we are all here." The jailer's fears were then
changed to an overwhelming awe. What could
this be? He called for lights, sprang in and Ml
trembling before the feet of Paul and Silas. Bring-
ing them out from the inner dungeon, be exclaimed,
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (t(u» 8>i
roifiv Tea <ru9&;)- They answered, "Believe in
the I-ord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
and thy house " And they went on to speak to
him and to all in his house " the word of the
Lord." The kindness he now showed them re-
minds us of their miseries. He washed their
wounds, took them into his own house, and spread
a table before them. The same night he re c eived
baptism, "he and all his " (including slaves'"), and
rejoiced in his new-found faith in God.
In the morning the magistrates, either having
heard of what had happened, or having repented of
their Injustice, or having done all they meant to do
by way of pacifying the multitude, sent word to
the prison that the men might be let go. But
legal justice was to be more clearly vindicated in
the persons of these men, who bad been charged
with subverting public order. St Paul denounced
plainly the unlawful acts of the magistrates, in-
forming them moreover that those whom tbey had
beaten and imprisoned without trial were Roman
citizens. "And now do they thrust us out prWry?
Nay, verily, but let them come themselves and
fetch us out." The magistrates, In great alarm,
saw the necessity of humbling themselves (" Feci-
nus est vineiri civem Romauum, scelus verbersii,
Cicero, in Verrem, v. 68). They came and begged
(jAjfAifow afay . . trin/ w£ai rote h> rjj ouc£s avrev)
and like him received It and rejoiced in It (jvaUUa-
awrg mtutl). Ses espsotallv Meyer and Lechk* is
toe. *.
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PAUL
bam to leave the city. Paul and SUat consented
to do so, and, after paying a viait to "the brethren "
in the bouse of Lydia, they departed.
The Church thus (bonded at Philippi, aa the
Srst-fruita of the Gospel in Europe, was called, aa
we hare seen, in the name of a spiritual deliverer,
of a God of justice, and of an equal Lord of free-
can and slaves. That a warm and generous feel-
lag distinguished it from the first, we learn from a
testimony of St. Paul in the epistle written long
after to this Church. " In the beginning of the
Gospel," aa soon aa he left them, they began to
•and him gifts, some of which reached Uni at
Tna—s Inniea, others afterwards (Phil. iv. 16, 16).
Their partnership in the Gospel (Kotvwrla tit to
tewyy&ioi') had gladdened the Apostle from the
first day (Phil. i. 6).
Leaving St. Luke, and perhaps Timothy for a
short time, at Pbilippi, Paul and Silas travelled
through Amphipolis and Apolloiiia, and stopped
again at Thessalonica. At thia important city
there was a synagogue of the Jewa. True to his
custom, SU Paul went in to them, and for three
Sabbath-days proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ,
as he would have done in a city of Judaaa. As
usual, the proselytes were those who heard him
most gladly, and among them were many women
of station. Again, as in Pisidiau Antioch, the
envy of the Jews was excited. They contrived to
stir up the lower class of the city to tumultuary
violence by representing the preachers jf Christ as
revolutionary disturbers, who had come to pro-
claim one Jesus as king instead of Cesar. The
mob assaulted the house of Jason, with whom Paul
and Silas were staying as guests, and, not finding
them, dragged Jason himself and some other
brethren before the magistrates. In this case the
magistrates, we are told, and the people generally,
were " troubled " by the rumors and accusations
which they beard. But they seem to have acted
wisely and justly, in taking security of Jason and
the rest, and letting them go. After these signs
of danger the brethren immediately sent away Paul
and Silas by night.
The epistles to the Thessalonians were written
very soon after the Apostle's visit, and contain
more particulars of his work in founding that
Church than we find in any other epistle. The
whole of these letters ought to be read for the
information they thus supply. St. Paul speaks to
the Th catatonia!) Christians aa being mostly Gen-
tiles. He reminds them that they had turned
from idols to serve the living and true God, and
to wait for his Son from heaven, whom He rained
(row the dead, " Jesus who delivers us from the
joining wrath" (1 These, i. 9, 10). The Apostle
had evidently spoken much of the coming and
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of that
■rath which was already descending upon the
Jews (ii. 16, 19, Ac). His message had had a
wonderful power amongst them, because they had
known it to be really the word of a God who also
wrought in them, baring had helps towards this
conviction in the zeal and disinterestedness and
sflectioo with which St. Paul (notwithstanding his
resent shameful treatment at Philippi) proclaimed
lis Gospel amongst them (ii. 2, 8-13). He had
purposely wrought with his own hands, even night
pod day, that his disinterestedness might he more
tpparent (1 These, ii. 9; 9 These, ill. 8). He
knotted them not to be drawn away from patient
wfustry by the hopes of the kingdom into which
PAUL
2876
the} were called, but to work quietly, anj to eulU-
vate purity and brotherly love (1 These, iv. 8, 8,
11). Connecting these allusions with the preach-
ing in the synagogue (Acta xvii. 3), we see dearly
bow the teaching of St Paul turned upon the
person of Jesus Christ aa the Son of the living
God, prophesied of in the Scriptures, suffering and
dying, raised up and exalted to a kingdom, and
about to appear as the Giver of light and life, to
the destruction of his enemies and the earing of
those who trusted in him.
When Paul and Silas left Thessalonica they cams
to Beroea. Here they found the Je-n mute nolie
(<&yu>*W«0ei) — more disposed to receive the news
of a rejected and crucified Messiah, and to examine
the Scriptures with candor — than those si Thes-
salonica had been. Accordingly they gained many
converts, both Jewa and Greeks; but the Jewa of
Thessalonica, hearing of it, sent emissaries to stir
up the people, and it was thought best that Si. Paul
should himself leave the city, whilst Silas and Tim-
othy remained behind. Some of " the brethren "
went with St. Paul as far as Athena, where they
left him, carrying back a request to Silas and
Timothy that they would speedily join him. He
apparently did not like to preach alone, and in-
tended to rest from bis apostolic labor until thny
should come up to him ; but how could he retrain
himself, with all that was going on at Athens
round him ? There be witnessed the most profuse
idolatry side by side with the most pretentious
philosophy. Either of these would have been
enough to stimulate his spirit. To idolaters and
philosophers he felt equally urged to proclaim hie
Master and the living God. So be went to hit
own countrymen and the proselytes in the syna-
gogue and declared to them that the Messiah had
come; but he also spoke, like another Socrates,
with people in the market, and with the followers
of the two great schools of philosophy, Epicureans
and Stoics, naming to all Jesus and the Iiesurreo-
tioo. The philosophers encountered him with a
mixture of curiosity and contempt. The Epicu-
rean, teaching himself to seek for tranquil enjoy-
ment as the chief object of life, heard of One claim-
ing to be the Lord of men, who had shown them
the glory of dying to self, and had promised to
those who fought the good fight bravely a nobler
bliss than the comforts of life could yield. The
Stoic, cultivating a stem and isolated moral inde-
pendence, heard of One whose own righteousness
was proved by submission to the Father in heaven,
and who had promised to give his righteousness to
those who trusted not in themselves but in Him.
To all, the announcement of a Person was much
stranger than the publishing of any theories would
have been. So far as they thought the preacher
anything but a silly trifler, he seemed to them, not
a philosopher, but " a setter forth of strange gods "
((eVery Sat/ioWw Jcarcry-ycAei/f). But any one with
a novelty was welcome to those who " spent their
time in nothing else but either to bear or to tell
some new thing." They brought him therefore to
the Areopagus, that be might make a formal expo-
sition ■>{ his doctrine to an assembled audience.
We are net to think here of the Council or
Court, renowned in the oldest Athenian history,
which took its name from Mars' Hill, but only of
the elevated spot where the council met, not covered
in, but arranged with benches and steps of atone,
so aa to form a convenient place for a pubHe ad-
dress. Here the Apostle delivered that w uu derfk.
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PAUL
ilseourse, reported in Acta xvii. 28-31, which
seems u fresh and instructive fur the intellect of
the 19th century as it was for the intellect of the
Srst. In this we have the Pauline Gospel as it
addressed itself to the speculative mind of the
cultivated Greeks. How the "report" was ob-
tained by the writer of the history we have no
means of knowing. Possibly we have in it notes
written down before or after the delivery of this
address by St Paul himself. Short as it is, the
form is as perfect as the matter is rich. The
loftiness and breadth of the theology, the dignity
and delicacy of the argument, Hie absence of self,
the straightforward and reverent nature of the
testimony delivered — all the characteristics so
strikingly displayed in this speech, — help us to
understand what kind of a teacher had now ap-
peared in the Grecian world. St. Paul, it is well
understood, did not begin with calling; the Athe-
nians " too superstitious." " I perceive you," he
said, " to be eminently religious." « He had ob-
served an altar inscribed 'Ayriitrry Btf, "To the
unknown God." * It meant, no doubt, " To some
unknown God." " I come," he said " as the mes-
senger of (hat unknown God." And then he pro-
ceeds to speak of God in terms which were not
altogether new to Grecian ears. They had heard
of a God who had made the world and all things
therein, and even of One who gave to all life, and
breath, and all things. But they had never learnt
the next lesson which was now taught them. It
was a special truth of the new dispei sation, that
" God had made of one blood all nations of men,
for to dwell on all the face of the earth, having de-
termined the times assigned to them, and the
bounds of their habitation, that they should seek
the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and
find him." [Mass' Hill, Amer. ed.]
Comparing it with the teaching given to other
audiences, we perceive that it laid hold of the
deepest convictions which had ever been given to
Greek}, whilst at the same time it encountered the
strongest prejudices of Greeks. We see, as at Lys-
tra, that an apostle of Christ had no need to refer
to the Jewish Scriptures, when he spoke to those
who had not received them. He could speak to
men as God's children, and subjects of God's edu-
cating discipline, and was only bringing them fur-
ther tidings of Him whom they had been always
feeling after. He presented to them the Son of
Wan as acting in the power of Him who had made
Jl nations, and who was not far from any single
man. lie began to speak of Him as risen from the
dead, and of the power of a new life which was in
Him for men ; but his audience would not hear of
Jim who thus claimed their personal allegiance.
Some mocked, others more courteously, talked of
hearing him again another time. The Apostle
gained but few converts at Athens, and he soon
.ook his departure and came to Corinth.
Athens still retained its old intellectual predom-
inance; but Corinth was the political and commer-
cial capital of Greece. It was in places of living
activity that St Paul labored longest and most
« gas, In confirmation, passages quoted Irom ancient
jthofs In Conybeare and Howsoo, i. 889, fee.
b • No doubt eV», as of the nature of a proper name,
assy be deftntt* wltnout the article ; but it li more
aatnrallT Indefinite hen, the conception being that of
Seel oVsoly revealed to their conedousnaas, hi ed-
PAUL
sacoesamlly, as formerly at Antioeh, now at Cortnts
and afterwards at Epbesus. The rapid spread of
the Gospel was obviously promoted by the preach-
ing of it in cities where men were continually
coming and going; but besides this consideration
we may be sura that the Apostle escaped gladly
from dull ignorance on the one side, and from phi-
losophical dilettantism on the other, to places it
which the real business of the world was being
done. The Gospel, tbongh unworldly, was yet a
message to practical and inquiring men and it had
more affinity to work of any kind than to torpor as
to intellectual frivolity. One proof of the whole-
some agreement between the following of Christ
and ordinary labor was given by St. Paul hiusrtf
during his stay at Corinth. Here, as at Threes
Ionics, he chose to earn his own subsistence by
working at his trade of tent-making. This trade
brought him into close connection with two persona
who became distinguished ss believers in Christ,
Aquila and I'riscilla. They were Jews, and bad
lately left Koine, in consequence of an edict of Clau-
dius [see Claudius] ; and as they also were tert-
niakers, St. Paul - abode with them and wrought"
Laboring thus on the six days, the Apostle went
to the synagogue on the Sabbath, and there by ex-
pounding the Scriptures sought to win both Jews
and proselytes to the belief that Jesus was the
Christ
He was testifying with unusual effort and anxiety
(ffuxefx«To T»> A«74>)> wnfn Silas and Timothy
came from Macedonia, and joined him. We are
left iu some uncertainty as to what the movements
of Silas and Timothy had been, since they were
with Paul at Beroea. From the statements in the
Acts (xvii. IS, 16) that Paul, when he reached
Athens, desired Silas and Timotheus to come to hin:
mth all fpeed, and waited for them there, com-
pared with those in 1 Tbess. (iii. 1, S), " When we
could no longer forbear, we thought it good to bf
left at Athens alone, and cent Timotheus, our bro-
ther, and minister of God, and our fellow-laborer in
the Gospel of Christ to establish you and to com-
fort you concerning your faith," — Paley(J5fo»teP(iii-
lina, 1 These. No. iv.) reasonably argues that Silas
and Timothy had come to Athens, but had soon
been dispatched thence, Timothy to Tbessakaniea,
and Silas to Philippi, or elsewhere. From Macedo-
nia they came together, or about the same time, to
Corinth ; and their arrival was the occasion of the
writing of the First Epistle to the Thessaloniacs.
This is the first « extant example of that work
by which the Apostle Paul has served the Church
of all ages in as eminent a degree as he labored at
the founding of it in his lifetime. All commen-
tators upon the New Testament have been accus-
tomed to notice the points of coincidence between
the history in the Acts, and these Letters. Palsy's
Hvra Ptmiam is famous as a special work upon
this subject But more recently, important attempts
have been made to estimate the Epistles of St Paul
more broadly, by considering them in their mutual
order and relations, and in their bearing upon the
question of the development of the writer's I
ditkm to all the gods, so cafoa, acknowle dg ed bj
them. H.
c Ewald believes, rather eapnVaously, that the Set
ond Bp. to the These, was written >ras, and was seat
from Beroea (Die Sertttdmitm del JjeeHai "aassa
»• W, M).
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sag. Sash attempts' 1 moat lead to a tetter under-
■tanding of the epiitles themselves, and to a finer
appreciation of the Apostle's nature and work. It
if notorious that the order of the epistle* in the
book of the N. T. is not their real, or chronological
order. The mere placing of them in their true
sequence throws considerable light upon the his-
tory; and happily the time of composition of the
more important epistles can be stated with suffi-
cient certainty. The two epistles to the 'I'beanlo-
niana belong — and these alone — to the present
Missionary Journey. The epistles to the Gala-
tians, Romans, and Corinthians, were written during
the next Journey. Those to Philemon, the Colos-
sians, the Ephesians, and the Philippiana, belong to
the captivity at Korce. With regard to the Pastoral
Epistle*, there are considerable difficulties, which
require to be discussed separately.
Two general remarks relating to St Paul's let-
ters may find a place bare. (1.) There is no reason
to assume that the extant letters are all that the
Apostle wrote. On the contrary, there is a strong
presumption, and some slight positive evidence,
that he wrote many which have not been preserved
(Jowett, 1. p. 195-201, Sded.). (8.) We must be on
our guard against concluding too much from the
contents and style of any epistle, as to the fixed
bent of the Apostle's whole mind at the time when
it was written. We must remember that the
epistles to the Theaaaloniana wen written whilst
St Paul was deeply absorbed in the peculiar cir-
cumstances of the Corinthian Church; and that
the epistles to the Corinthians were written bttween
those to the Galatians and the Romans. These
(act* are sufficient to remind us of the vertntility
of the Apostle's mind ; — to show us bow thoroughly
the feelings and ideas suggested to him by the cir-
cumstances upon which he was dwelling had the
power to mould his utteranees.
The Firtt Epistle to the Thessalonians was prob-
ably written soon after his arrival at Corinth, and
before he turned from the Jews to the Gentiles. It
was drawn from St Paul by the arrival of Silas
and Timothy. [Thessalonians, First Epistle
ro the.] The largest portion of it consists of an
impassioned recalling of the facts and feelings of
the time when the Apostle was personally with them.
But we perceive gradually that those expectations
which he had taught them to entertain of the ap-
pearing and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ had
undergone some corruption. There were symptoms
in the Theaaalonian church of a restlessness which
speculated on the times and seasons of the future,
and found present duties flat and unimportant
This evil tendency St Paul seeks to correct, by
reviving the first spirit of faith and hope and mu-
tual fellowship, and by setting forth the appearing
of Jesus Christ — not indeed as distant, but as the
full shining of a day of which all believers in Christ
were already children. The ethical characteristics
•pparent in this letter, the degree in which St
Paul identified himself with his friends, the entire
HUTfder of his existence to his calling as a preacher
rf Christ his anxiety for the good fame and well-
lieing of bis converts, are the same which will re-
appear continually. What interval of time sepa-
-ated the Second Letter to the Theaaaloniana from
die First we have no means of judging, except
bat the later one was certainly written before St
• einmst these, to* works of Prof. Jowett {Epit-
««s U Ea* Vuu., Oat., and Horn.), of Kwald (£>«
PAUL
2877
Paul's departure from Corinth. [Thessalo-
nians, Second Epistle to the.] The Thessa-
lonians had been disturbed by announcements that
those convulsions of the world which all Christiana
were taught to associate with the coming of Christ
were immediately impending. To meet the*)
assertions, St Paul delivers express predictions il
a manner not usual with him elsewhere; and whilst
reaffirming all he had ever taught the Thessalo-
nians to believe respecting the early coming of the
Saviour and the blessedness of waiting patiently for
it, he informs them that certain events, of which ht
had spoken to them, must run their course before
the full manifestation of Jesus Christ oould come to
pass. At the end of this epistle St Paul guards
the Thessalonians against pretended letters from
him, by telling them that every genuine letter, even
if not written by his hand throughout, would bars
at least an autograph salutation at the close of it
We return now to the Apostle's preaching at
Corinth. When Silas and Tiniotheus came, be
was testifying to the Jews with great earnestness,
but with little success. So '• when they opposed
themselves and blasphemed, he shook out his rai-
ment" and said to them, in words of warning
taken from their own prophets (Es. xxxiii. 4):
" Your blood be upon your own heads ; I am clean,
and henceforth will go to the Gentiles." The ex-
perience of Pixidian Antioch was repeating itself.
The Apostle went, aa he threatened, to the Gen-
tiles, and began to preach in the house of a pros-
elyte named Justus. Already one distinguished
Jew bad become a believer, Crispus, the ruler of
the synagogue, mentioned (1 Cor. i. 14) as baptised
by the Apostle himself; and many of the Gentile
inhabitants were receiving the Gospel and being
baptized. The envy and rage of the Jews, there-
fore, were excited in an unusual degree, and seem
to have pressed upon the spirit of St Paul. Ho
was therefore encouraged by a vision of the Lord;
who appeared to him by night, and said, " Be not
afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace; for I
am with thee, and no man shall set on thee, to
hurt thee; for I have much people in this city."
Corinth was to be an important seat of the Church
of Christ, distinguished, not only by the numbes
of believers, but also by the variety and the fruit-
fulness of the teaching to be given there. At this
time St Paul himself stayed there for a year and
six months, " teaching the word of God amongst
them."
Corinth was the chief city of the provin» of
Achaia, and the residence of the proconsul. Dur-
ing St Paul's stay, we find the proconsular. offia*
held by Gallio, a brother of the philosopher Seneca.
[Gallio.] Before him the Apostle was summoned
by bis Jewish enemies, who hoped to bring the
Roman authority to bear upon him as an Innovator
in religion. But Gallio perceived at once, before
Paul could "open his mouth" to defend himself,
that the movement was due to Jewish prejudice,
and refused to go into the question. " If it be a
question of words and names and of your, law," ht
said to the Jews, speaking wfth the tolerance of a
Roman magistrate, "look ye to it; for I will be nc
judge of such matters." Then a singular scent
occurred. The Corinthian spectators either favor-
ing St Paul, or actuated only by anger against the
Jewa, seized on the principal peraoc of those who
oMjoanfAasets.), and of Dr. W wttass ll t IsVifii
of St. Putin, mar bs i
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PAUL
had brought the charge, and beat him before the
judgment-seat. (See on the other hand Ewald,
Getchichte, vi. 483-466.) Gallio left these relig-
ions quarrels to settle themselves. The Apostle
therefore was not allowed to be "hurt," and re-
mained some time longer at Corinth unmolested.
We do not gather from the subsequent epistles
to the Corinthians many details of the founding of
the Church at Corinth. The main body of the
believers consisted of Gentiles, — (" Ye know that
ye were Gentiles," 1 Cor. xii. 2). But, partly from
the number who had been proselytes, partlv from
the mixture of Jews, it had so far a Jewish char-
acter, that St. Paul could speak of " our fathers "
as having been under the cloud (1 Cor. x. 1).
The tendency to intellectual display, and the traffic
of sophists in philosophical theories, which pre-
vailed at Corinth, made the Apostle more than
usually anxious to be independent in his life and
simple in bearing his witness. He wrought for bis
living that be might not appear to be taking fees
of his pupils (1 Cor. ix. 18) ; and be put the Per-
son of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, in the
place of all doctrines (1 Cor. ii. 1-5, xv. 8, 4).
What gave infinite significance to his simple state-
ments, was the nature of the Christ who had been
crucified, and his relation to men. Concerning
these mysteries St. Paul had uttered a wisdom, not
of the world, but of God, which had commended
itself chiefly to the humble and simple. Of these
God had chosen and called not a few " into the fel
lowship of His Son Jesus Christ the Lord of men "
(1 Cor. ii. 6, 7, i. 27, 9).
Having been the instrument of accomplishing
this work, St. Paul took his departure for Jerusa-
lem, wishing to attend a festival there. Before
leaving Greece , he cut off hie hair a at Cenchrece, in
fulfillment of a vow. We are not told where or
why he had made th'j vow; and there is considera-
ble difficulty in reconciling this act with the re-
ceived customs of the Jews. [Vows.] A pas-
sage in Josephns, if rightly understood (B. J. ii.
16, § 1), mentions a vow which included, besides a
sacrifice, the cutting of the hair and the beginning
of an abstinence from wine 80 days before the
sacrifice. If St. Paul's was such a vow, he was
gjing to offer up a sacrifice in the Temple at Jeru-
salem, and the " shearing of his bead " was a pre-
liminary to the sacrifice. The principle of the
vow, whatever it was, must have been the same as
that of the Nazarite vow, which St. Paul after-
wards countenanced at Jerusalem. [Nazamtk,
p. 2075 n.] There is therefore no difficulty in
supposing him to have followed in this instance, for
tome reason not explained to us, a custom of his
countrymen. — When he sailed from the Isthmus,
Aquila and Priscilla went with him as far as
Ephesus. Paul paid a visit to the synagogue at
Ephesus, but would not stay. He was anxious to
be at Jerusalem fur the approaching feast, but he
promised, God willing, to return to them again,
leaving Ephesus, be sailed to Ctesarea, and from
thence went up to Jerusalem, and "saluted the
Church." It is argued (Wieseler, pp. 48-50),
torn considerations founded on the suspension of
navigation during the winter months, that the fes-
tival wis probably the Pentecost. From Jerusalem,
ihnost immediately, the Apostle went down to An-
• 'Acts xvib. 18. The act nay be that of Aquila,
•art-taw historian certainly seams to be speaking not
< tam. out <* B* Paul.
PAUL
tlooh, thus returning to the tame place from which
he had started with Silas.
Third AJunoairy Journey, inc/wdmg the afal)
at Ephetut (Acta xviil 23-xxi. 17). — Without
inventing facts or discussions for which we hare re
authority, we may connect with this short visit n.
St. Paul to Jerusalem a very serious raising uf the
whole question, What was to be the relation of
the new kingdom of Christ to the law and eovc-
nant of the Jews? Such a Church as that at
Corinth, with its affiliated communities, oomposed
chiefly of Gentile members, appeared likely to ora-
shadow by its importance the Mother Church in
Judaea. The jealousy of the more Judaieal be-
lievers, not extinguished by the decision of the
council at Jerusalem, began now to show Itself
everywhere in the form of an active and intrigu-
ing party- spirit. This disastrous moveuwnt could
not indeed alienate the heart of St Paul from the
Law or the calling or the people of tns fathers —
his antagonism is never directed against these,
but it drew him into the great conflict of the next
period of his life, and must have been a sore trial
to the intense loyalty of bis nature. To vindicate
the freedom, as regarded the Jewish Law, of be-
lievers in Christ; but to do this, for the very sake
of maintaining (Ac unity of tht Church ; — was to
be the earnest labor of the Apostle for some years.
In thus laboring he was carrying out completely
the principles laid down by the elder Apostles at
Jerusalem ; and may we not believe that, in deep
sorrow at appearing, even, to disparage the Law and
the covenant, he was the more anxious to prove
his fellowship in spirit with the Church in Judca,
by " remembering the poor," as " James, Cephas,
and John " had desired that he would? (GaL ii.
10). The prominence given, during the journeys
upon which we are now entering, to the collection
to be made amongst his churches for the benefit oi
the poor st Jerusalem, seems to indicate such an
anxiety. The great epistles which Iwlong to thh
period, those to the Galstians, Corinthians, and
Romans, show how the " Judaizing " question ex-
ercised at this time the Apostle's mind.
St. Paul " spent some time " at Antioch, and
during this stay, as we are inclined to belie\«, his
collision with St Peter (Gal. ii. 11-14), of which
we have spoken above, took place. [See note b,
vol Hi. p. 2878.] When he left Antioch, he
"went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia
in order, strengthening all the disciples," and giv-
ing orders concerning the collection for the saints
(1 Cor. xvi. 1). It is probable that the Eputle H
the Galntimi was written soon after this visit.
[Galatiaks, Ei-istlk to the.] When he waa
with them he had found the Christian communi-
ties infested by Judaizing teachers. He had " told
them the truth " (Gal. iv. 16), be had warned them
against the deadly tendencies of Jewish exclusive-
ness and had re-affirmed the simple Gtapel, con-
cerning Jesus Christ the Son of God, which ho bad
preached to them on his first visit (to rpirtcw,
Gal. iv. 13). Hut after he left them the Judaia-
ing doctrine raised its head again.' The only
course left to its advocates was to assail openly the
authority of St. Paul; and this they did. They
represented him as having derived his commission
from the older Apostles, and as therefore acting
disloyally if he opposed the views ascribed to Petes
and James. The fickle minds of the Galatia*
Christians were influenced by these hardy ajaer
tions; and the Apostle heard when he had eon*
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PAUIi
fawn to Ephesus, that Ms work in Ga*tia ni
Ming undone, and his concerts were being seduced
Som the true faith in Christ. He therefore writes
the epistle to remonstrate with them — an epistle
fuH of indignation, of warning, of direct and im-
passioned teaching. He recalls to their minds the
Gospel which he had preached amongst them, and
asserts in solemn and even awful language its abso-
Inte truth (i. 8, 9). He declares that he had re-
ceived it directly from Jena Chritt the Lord, and
that his position towards the other Apostles had
always lieen that, not of a pupil, but of an inde-
pendent fellow-laborer. He sets before them Jesus
the Crucified, the Son of God, as the fulfillment of
the promise made to the fathers, and as the pledge
and giver of freedom to men. He declares that in
Him, and by the power of the Spirit of sonship
sent down through Him, men have inherited the
rights of adult sons of God ; that the condition
represented by the Law was the inferior and prepir-
etory stage of boyhood. He then, most earnestly
and tenderly, impresses upon the Galatians the
re sp ons i bilities of tbeir fellowship with Christ the
Crucified, urging them to frultfulness in all the
graces of their spiritual calling, and especially to
brotherly consideration and unity.
This letter was, in all probability, sent from
Ephesus. This was the goal of the Apostle's jour-
neying* through Asia Minor. He came down upon
Ephesus from the upper districts (tA oWrtputa
ptpn) of Phrygia. What Antioch was for " the
region of Syria and Cilicia,"' what Corinth was for
Greece, what Rome was — we may add — for
Italy and the West, that Ephemu was for the im-
portant province called Asia. Indeed, with refer-
ence to the spread of the Church Catholic, Kphe-
sua occupied the central position of all. This was
the meeting place of Jew, of Greek, of Roman,
and of Oriental. Accordingly, the Apostle of the
Gentiles was to stay a long time here, that he
might found a strong Church, which should be a
kind of mother-church to Christian communities
in the neighboring cities of Asia.
A new element in the preparation of the world
for the kingdom of Christ presents itself at the
beginning of the Apostle's work at Ephesus. He
finds there certain disciples (rival paOrrrds) —
about twelve in number, — of whom he is led to
inquire, " Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye
jelieved? They answered, No, we did not even
bear of there being a Holy Ghost. Unto what
then, asked Paul, were ye baptised? And tbey
■aid, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John
baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying
to the people that they should believe on him who
was crming after him, that is, on Jesus. Hearing
this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord
Jesus, and when Paul had laid his hands upon
Idem, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they
began to speak with tongues and to prophesy "
(Acts, six. 1-7). — It is obvious to compare this
Incident with the Apostolic act of Peter and John
n Samaria, and to see in it an assertion of the full
ipostoUo dignity of Psul. But besides this bear-
»g of it, we see in it Indications which suggest
uore than they distinctly express, as to the spirit-
ual movements of that age. These twelve d'sci-
PAUL
2879
a * It was important, nvi Ne inder. that the DivlD*
Sutter which accompanied the Oovpel should, tn socus
•trfldnf manner, exhibit its lopenorii; to the msec
•rajah prevails* so ulsnslvely at JSphesus, anil which,
pies are mentioned immediately aftet Apullss, who
also had been at Ephesus just before St Paul's
arrival, and who had taught diligently concerning
Jesus (to w«p! voS 'Inwov), knowing only thi
baptism of John. But A polios was of Alexandria,
trained in the intelligent and inquiring study of
the Hebrew Scriptures, whioh had been fostered bj
the Greek culture of that capttaL We are led ts
suppose, therefore, that a knowledge of the baptian
of John and of the ministry of Jesus had spreat
widely, and had been received with favor by some
of those who knew the Scriptures most thoroughly,
before the message concerning the exaltation of
Jesus and the descent of the Holy Ghost had beta
received. What the exact belief of ApoUot and
these twelve " disciples " was concerning the char
meter and work of Jesus, we have no means of
knowing. But we gather that It was wanting in a
recognition of the full lordship of Jesus and ■* tin
gift of the Holy Ghost. The Pentecostal faitL was
communicated to Apollos by Aquila and PrbxiDa,
to the other disciples of the Baptist by St. Paul.
The Apostle now entered upon his usual work.
He went into the synagogue, and for three months
he spoke openly, disputing and persuading concern-
ing "the kingdom of God." At the end of this
time the obstinacy and opposition of some of the
Jews led him to give up frequenting the synagogue,
and be established the believers as a separate
society, meeting "in the school of Tyrannus."
This continued (though we may probably allow
for an occasional absence of St. Paul) for two
years. During this time many things occurred, of
which the historian of the Acts chooses two ex-
amples, the triumph over magical arts, and the
great disturbance raised by the silversmiths who
made shrines for Artemis : and amongst which wo
are to note further the writing of the First Epistle
to the Corinthians.
"God wrought special miracles," we are toU
(Svyifttts oi t*» tuxooVcu), " by the hands of
Paul." " It is evident that the arts of sorcery and
magic — all those arts which betoken the belief in
the presence of a spirit, but not of a Holy Spirit —
were flourishing here in great luxuriance Every-
thing in the history of the Old or New Testament
would suggest the thought that the exhibitions of
Divine power took a more startling form where
superstitions grounded mainly on the reverence for
diabolical power were prevalent : that they were the
proclamations of a beneficent and orderly govern-
ment, which had been manifested to counteract and
overcome one that was irregular and malevolent "
(Maurice, Unity of the Arte Testament, p. 615).
The powers of the new kingdom took a form more
nearly resembling the wonders of the kingdom of
darkness than was usually adopted, when hand-
kerchiefs and aprons from the body of Paul (like
the shadow of Peter, r. IS) were allowed to be used
for the healing of the sick and the casting out of
devils. But it was to be clearly seen that all was
done by the healing power of the Lord Jesus Him-
self." Certain Jews, and among them the seven
sons of one Sceva (not unlike Simon Magus in
Samaria), fancied that the effect was due to •
magic formula, an tVaiM). They therefore at-
tempted to exorcise, by saying, " We adjure you
by Its apparency great enacts, deceived and captivated
so many. It would bare a tendency In nsewe man
from such arts of imposture, and preps e them fejf
the reception of the truth ■
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2880
PAUL
»y Jesus whom Panl preaciieth." But the evil
spirit, having a voice given to it, cried oat, •' Jems
I know, and Paul I know, bat who are ye ? " And
the man who waa possessed fell furioualy upon the
exorcists and drove them forth. The result of thia
testimony was that fear nil npon all the inhabitant*
of Ephesus, and the name of the Lord Jeaus waa
magnified. And the impreaaion produced bore
striking practical fruits. The city waa well known
far its 'E<pfoia yp&n/uera, forms of incantation,
which were sold at a high price. Many of those
who had these, books brought them together and
burned them before all men, and when the cost of
them was computed it was found to be 60,000
drachma) = £1770. " So mightily grew the word
of the Lord, and prevailed."
Whilst St. Paul waa at Ephesus his communi-
sations with the Church in Achaia were not alto-
gether suspended. There is strong reason to believe
th»t a personal visit to Corinth waa made by him,
and a letter sent, neither of which is mentioned in
the Acts. The visit is inferred from several allu-
sions in the 2d Epistle to the Corinthians. "Be-
hold, the third time I am ready to come to you "
(8 Cor. xii. 14). " This is the third time I am
coming to you " (2 Cor. xiii. 1). The visit he is
contemplating is plainly that mentioned in Acts xx.
2, which took place when be finally left Ephesus.
If that was the third, he must have paid a second
during the time of his residence at Ephesus. It
seems far-fetched, with Paley (Hora PauUna, 2
Cor. No. xi.), to conclude that St. Paul is only
affirming a third intention, and that the second
intention had not been carried out. The context,
in both cases, seems to refer plainly to risitt, and
not to intentions. Again, " I determined this with
myself, that I would not come again to you in
ktatineu" (rd\iv tv Aowq): 2 Cor. ii. 1. Here
St Paul is apparently speaking of a previous visit
which he had paid in sorrow of heart. He expresses
an apprehension (2 Cor. xii. 21) lest •'again when
I come, my God should humble me among you "
(/ih wdAu» i\66vrot fum ttanwiati \u — the
vtUir appearing certainly to refer to mwtir&ati
as much as to IaOoVtos). The words in 2 Cor.
riii. 2, rpotlfrqKa jcal wpoXiya, is wapim to
Htvrtpor ical ifaiv riv, may be translated, either
" as if present the second time," or " as when pres-
ent the second time." In the latter case we have
bare a distinct confirmation of the supposed visit.
The former rendering seems at first sight to exclude
it: but if we remember that the thought of his
special admonition is occupying the Apostle's mind,
we should naturally understand it, " I forewarn you
now in my absence, as if I were present a second
time to do it in person;" so that he would be
speaking of the supposed visit as a first, with ref-
erence to the purpose which he has in his mind.
The primA fncie sense of these passages implies
a short visit, which we should place in the first half
if the stay at Ephesus. And there are no strong
.'easons why we should not accept that primi facie
sense. St. Pan!, we may Imagine, heard of disor-
ders which prevailed in the Corinthian Church.
Apolloc had returned to Epheaua some time before
the 1st Epistle was written (1 Cor. xvi. 12), and it
nay have been from him that St. Paul learnt the
tidings which distressed him. He waa moved to go
Umself to see them. He stayed but a short time,
PAUL
but warned them solemnly against the Beentioaa.
neat which he perceived to be creeping is amongst
them. If he went directly by sea to Corhrth am
back, thia journ*y would not occupy much time
It waa very natural, again, that this viah should
be followed up by * letter. Either the Apostle's
own reflections after Ufa return, or some subsequent
tidings which reached him, drew from him, it ap-
pears, a written communication in which be gave
them some practical advice. '* I wrote unto you in
the Kpistie not to keep company with fornicators "
(*7paif« iutr «Vrf iwmroAf: 1 Cor. v. 8). Then,
at some point not denned in the coarse of tho stay
at Ephesus, St. Paul announced to bis friends •
plan of going through Macedonia and Achaia, and
afterwards visiting Jerusalem ; adding, " After I
have been there, I must also see Rome." But ha
put off for a while his own departure, and sent
before him Timothy and Erastus to the churches
in Macedonia and Achaia, "to bring them into
remembrance of his ways which were in Christ "
(1 Cor. iv. 17).
Whether the First Epistle to the Corinthians
was written before or after the tumult excited by
Demetrius cannot be positively asserted. He makes
an allusion, in that epistle, to a " battle with wild
beasts " fought at Ephesus ({enpioudYnwu *V
'EoWo-«>: 1 Cor. xv. 88), which it is usual to un-
derstand figuratively, and which Is by many con-
nected with that tumult. But this connection is
arbitrary, and without much reason.' And as it
would seem from Aots xx. 1 that St. Paul departed
immediately after the tumult, it is probable that
the epistle was written before, though not long
before, the raising of this disturbance. Here then,
while the Apostle is so earnestly occupied with the
teaching of believers and inquirers at Ephesus and
from the neighboring parts of "Asia," we And
him throwing all his heart and soul into the con-
cerns of the church at Corinth. [OoimmaAin,
First Epistli to the.]
There were two external inducements for writing
this epistle. (1.) St Paul had received informa-
tion from members of Chloe's household (loVkeVrq
not faro T»r XAoV, L 11) concerning the state
of the church at Corinth. (3.) That church had
written him a letter, of which the bearers were
Stephanas and Fortumvtus and Achalena, to ask
his judgment npon various points which were sub-
mitted to him (wil. 1, xvi. 17). He had karnt
that there were divisions in the church ; that
parties had been formed which took the names of
Paul, of ApoUos, of Cephas, and of Christ (I- Hi
12); and also that moral and social irregularities
had begun to prevail, of which the moat con-
spicuous and scandalous example was that a be-
liever had taken his father's wile, without being
publicly condemned by the church (v. 1, vi. 7, xi.
17-22, xlv. 88-40). To these evils we must add
one doctrinal error, of those who said " that then
was no resurrection of the dead " (xv. 19). It la
probable that the teaching of ApoUos the Alexan-
drian, which had been characteristic and highly
successful (Acta xviii. 27, 28), had been the first
occasion of the " divisions " in the church. Ws
may take it for granted that his adherents did not
form themselves into a party until he had left
Corinth, and therefore that he had been some time
with St Paul at Ephesus But after he waa gone,
a Tha manner of the allusion, •! Mnptopaxera b>
SsVev, may imply, as Kwald (Stndscknibrn, p. 914)
suggests, that he had mentioned: this aonttos ss I
Corinthians In tha previous non-extant tetter.
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the special Alexandrian features of hit teaening
M remembered bj thoR who bad delighted to
hew him. Their Grecian intellect mi captivated
by hie broader and more spiritual interpretation of
the Jewish Scripture*. The connection which he
taught them to perceive between the revelation
made to Hebrew rulers and prophet* and the wis-
dom by which other nation*, and especially their
own, had been enlightened, dwelt in their minds.
Thai which especially occupied the Apollo* school
moat hare been a philvtupliy of the Scriptures.
It was the tendenoy of this party which seemed to
the Apostle particularly dangerous amongst the
Greeks. He hardly seems to refer specially in his
letter to the other parties, but we can scarcely
doubt that hi what he says about "the wisdom
which the Greeks sought " (i. 23), he is referring
not only to the general tendency of the Greek
mind, but to that tendency as it had been caught
and influenced by the teaching of Apolloe. It
gives him an occasion of delivering his most char-
acteristic testimony. He recognizes wisdom, but
it is the wisdom of God ; and that wisdom was not
ofdy a Xxp(* or a \4yoi through which God had
always spoken to all men; it had been perfectly
manifested in Jesus the crucified. Christ crucified
was both the Power of God and the Wisdom of
God. To receive Him required a spiritual discern-
ment unlike the wisdom of the great men of the
world; a discernment given by the Holy Spirit of
God, and manifesting itself in sympathy with
nomination and in lore.
For a detailed description of the epistles the
reader is referr e d to the special articles upon each.
But it belongs to the history of St Paul to notice
the personal characteristics which appear in them.
We must not omit to observe therefore, in this
spittle, how loyally the Apostle represents Jesus
Christ the Crucified as toe Lord of men, the Head
of the body with many members, the Centre of
Unity, the Bond of men to the Father. We should
mark at the same time how invariably be connects
the Power of the Spirit with the Name of the Lord
Jesus. He meets all the evils of the Corinthian
Church, the intellectual pride, the party spirit, the
loose morality, the disregard of decency and order,
the Mae belief about the Resurrection, by recalling
their thoughts to the Person of Christ and to the
Spirit of God as the breath of a common life to the
whole body.
We observe also here, mora than elsewhere, the
(act, universally recognized and admired, with
which the Apostle discusses the practical problems
Drought before him. The various questions re-
lating to marriage (ch. vii.), the difficulty about
meats offered to idols (ee. viii., x.), the behaviour
proper for women (cc xi., sir.), the use of the
gifts of prophesying and speaking with tongues
(eh. ziv.), are made examples of a treatment which
nay be applied to all such questions. We see
them all discussed with reference to first princi-
ples; the object, in every practical conclusion,
being to guard and assert some permanent prin-
ciple- We see St. Paul no less a lover of order
md subordination than of freedom. We see him
J.hntng for himself, and presenting to others,
{real variety of conduct in varying tfrcunistanoes,
XU under the strict obligation of being always
toe to Christ, and always seeking tbt highest gotd
if men. Such a character, so steadfast in motive
md aim, so versatile in action, it would be difficult
■deed to nod elsewhere in history.
PAUL 2881
What St. Paul here tells us of his ov. * dosnm
and movements refers chiefly to the nature of hit
preaching at Corinth (cc. i., ii.); to the hardships
and dangers of the apostolic life (iv. 9-13); to
bis cherished custom of working for his own living
(eh. ix.); to the direct revelations he had received
(xi. 33, xv. 8) ; and to his present plans (ch. xvi. V
He bids the Corinthians to raise a collection for the
church at Jerusalem by layiug by something on
the first day of the week, as he had directed the
churches in Galatia to do. He says that he shall
tarry at Ephesus till Pentecost, and then set out
on a journey towards Corinth through Macedonia,
so as perhaps to spend the winter with them. Hi
expresses Irs joy at the coming of Stephanas and
his companions, and commends them to the respect
of the church.
Having despatched this epistle he stayed on at
Ephesus, where "a great door and effectual was
opened to him, and there were many adversaries."
The affairs of the church of Corinth continued to
be an object of the gravest anxiety to him, and to
give him occupation at Ephesus: but it may be
most convenient to pot off the further notice of
these till we come to the time when the 3d Epistle
was written. We hare now uo information as
to the work of St. Paul at Ephesus, until that
tumult occurred which is described in Acts xix
24-41. The whole narrative may be read there.
We learn that « this Paul " had been so successful,
not only in Ephesus, but " almost throughout aL
Asia," ill turning people from the worship of gods
made with hands, that the craft of silversmiths,
who made little shrines for Artemis, were alarmed
for their manufacture. They raised a great tumult,
and not being able, apparently, to find Paul, laid
hands on two of his companions and dragged them
into the theatre. Paul himself, not willing that
bis friends should suffer in his place, wished to go
in amongst the people: but the disciples, sup-
ported by the urgent request of certain magistrate*
called Asiarchs, dissuaded him from his purpose.
The account of the proceedings of the mob i*
highly graphic, and the address with which the
town-clerk finally quiets the people is worthy of a
discreet and experienced magistrate. His state-
ment that " these men are neither robbers of
churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess," is
an Incidental testimony to the temperance of the
Apostle and his friends in their attacks on the
popular idolatry. But St. Paul is only personally
concerned in this tumult in so far as it proves
the deep impression which his teaching had made
at Ephesus, and the daily danger in which hi
lived.
He had been anxious to depart from Ephesus,
and this interruption of the work which had kept
him there determined him to stay no longer. He
set out therefore for Macedonia, and proceeded first
to Troas (2 Cor. ii. 12), where he might have
preached the Gospel with good hope of success.
But a restless anxiety to obtain tidings concerning
the church at Corinth urged him on, and h» ad-
vanced into Macedonia, where he met Titus, who
brought him the news for which he was thirsting.
Tne receipt of this intelligence drew from him t
letter which reveals to us what manner of man Si.
Paul was when the fountains of hi* heart wen
stirred to their inmost depths. [CoKDmnAn,
Second Epibtle to the.] How the agitation
which expresses itself In arery sentence of this
i letter was exoitea, i* one of the mast interesting
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PAUL
snestions we haw to consider. Every reader may
perceive that, on paining from the First Epistle to
the Second, the scene is almost entirely changed.
In the First, the faults and difficulties of the
Corinthian Church are before us. The Apostle
writes of these, with spirit indeed and emotion, m
he always does, but without passion or disturb-
ance. He calmly asserts his own authority over
the church, and threatens to deal severely with
offenders. In the Second, he writes as one whose
Cnal relations with those whom he addresses
undergone a most painful shock. The scute
pain given by former tidings, the comfort yielded
by the account which Titus brought, the vexation
of a sensitive mind at the necessity of self-asser-
tion, contend together for utterance. What had
occasioned this excitement ?
We have seen that Timothy had been sent from
Ephesus to Macedonia and Corinth. He bad re-
joined St. Paul when he wrote this Second Epistle,
for he is associated with him in the salutation (2
Cor. i. 1). We have no account, either in the
Acts or in the epistles, of this journey of Timothy,
and some have thought it probable that he never
reached Corinth. Let us suppose, however, that
oe arrived there soon after the First Epistle, con-
veyed by Stephanas and others, had been received
by the Corinthian Church. He found that a
movement had arisen in the heart of that Church
which threw (let us suppose) the case of the in-
cestuous person (1 Cor. v. 1-6) into the shade.
This was a deliberate and sustained attack upon
the Apostolic authority and personal integrity of
the Apostie of the Gentiles. The party-spirit
which, before the writing of the First Epistle, had
been content with underrating the powers of Paul
compared with those of Apollos, and with protest-
ing against the laxity of his doctrine of freedom,
had been fanned into a flame by the arrival of some
person or persons who came from the Judratn
Church, armed with letters of commendation, and
who openly questioned the commission of him
whom they proclaimed to be a self-constituted
Apostle (2 Cor. iii. 1, xi. 4, 12-15). As the spirit
of opposition and detraction grew strong, the tongue
of some member of the church (more probably a
Corinthian than the stranger himself) was loosed.
He scoffed at St. Paul's courage and constancy,
pointing to his delay in coming to Corinth, and
making light of his threats (i. 17, 23). He de-
manded proofs of his Apostleship (xii. 11, 12).
He derided the weakness of his personal presence,
and the simplicity of his speech (x. 10). He even
threw out insinuations touching the personal hon-
esty and self-devotion of St Paul (i. 12, xii. 17,
18). When some such attack was made openly
upon the Apostle, the church had not immediately
sailed the offender to account; the better spirit of
the believers being cowed, apparently, by the eon-
Idence and assumed authority of the assailants
»f St. Paul. A report of this melancholy state
sf thugs was brought to the Apostle by Timothy
•r by others; and we can imagine how it must
lave wounded his sensitive and most affectionate
.lature, and also how critical the juncture must
bare seemed to him for the whole Western Church.
i»r immediately sent off Titos to Corinth, with a
etter containing the sharpest rebukes, using the
authority which had been denied, and threatening
k> enfbree it speedily by liu personal presence (ii.
I, i, vii. 8). As soon as the letter was gone —
how natural a trait! — he began to repent of
PAUL
having written it. He must nave bated the
pearance of claiming homage to himself; his 1
must have been sore at the requital of his love,
he must have felt the deepest anxiety as to tlu
issue of the struggle. We can well believe him
therefore when he speaks of what he had suffered
u Out of much affliction and *"g"">' of heart I
wrote to you with many tears " (ii. «); "I had as
rest in my spirit (ii. 13); "Our flesh bad do
rest, but we were troubled on every side; without
were fightings, within were fears" (vii. 6> It
appears that he could not bring himself to hi»*ec-
to Corinth so rapidly as he had intended (i. 18,
16) : he would wait till he heard news which might
make his visit a happy instead of a painful one
(ii. 1). When he had reached Macedonia, Titos,
as we hare seen, met him with such reassuring
tidings. The offender had been rebuked by the
church, and had made submission (ii. 6, 7); the
old spirit of love and reverence towards St Paul
had been awakened, and had poured itself forth In
warm expressions of shame and grief and penitence.
The cloud was now dispelled ; fear and pain gave
place to hope and tenderness and thanUulneai
But even uow the Apostle would not start at once
for Corinth. He may hare had important work to
do in Macedonia. But another letter would smooth
the way still more effectually for his personal visit;
and he accordingly wrote the Second Epistle, sod
tent it by the bands of Titus and two other brethren
to Corinth.
When the epistle is read in the light of the
circumstances we have supposed, the symptoms it
displays of a highly wrought personal sensitiveness,
and of a kind of ebb and flow of emotion, an as
intelligible as they are noble and beautiful. Noth-
ing but a temporary interruption of mutual regard
could have made the joy of sympathy so deep and
fresh. If he bad been the object of a personal
attack, how natural for the Apostle to write as he
does in ii 6-10. In vii. 12, "he that sufiered
wrong" is Paul himself. All bis protestations
relating to his Apostolic work, and bis solemn
appeals to God and Christ, are in place; and we
enter into his feelings as be asserts his own sin-
cerity and the openness of the truth which he
taught in the Gospel (oc. iii., iv.). We see what
sustained him In his self-assertion: be knew that
ha did not preach himself, but Christ Jesus the
Lord. His own weakness became an argument to
him, which he can use to others also, of the power
of God working in him. Knowing his own fel-
lowship with Christ, and that this fellowship was
the right of other men too, be would be persuasive
or severe, as the cause of Christ and the good of
men might require (oc iv., v.). If he was appear-
ing to set himself up against the churches in
Judca, he was the more anxious that the collection
which he was making for the benefit of those
churches should prove his sympathy with them by
its largeness. Again he would recur to the main-
tenance of his own authority as an Apostle of
Christ, against those who impeached it. He would
make it understood that spiritual views, spiritual
powers, were rent; that if he knew no man after
the flesh, and did not war after the flesh, be was
not the lees able for the building up of the chureb
(eh. x.). He would ask them to excuse his anx-
ious jealousy, his folly and excitement, whilst he
gloried in the practical proofs of bis Apostofi*
commission, and in the infirmities which made the
power of God more manifest; and be would psast
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PAUL
•Mb them earnestly that they would givo bigg no
nonMJnn to Ind fault or to oorreot theni (eo. xi.,
tii., xiii.).
The hypothesis upon which we have interpreted
this epistle is not that which is most commonly
reeriTed. According to the more common view,
the offender ia the incestuous person of 1 Cor. t.,
and the letter which proved so sharp but wholesome
t medicine, the First Epistle. But this view does
not account so satisfactorily for the whole tone of
the epistle, and for the particular expressions re-
lating to the offender; nor does it find places so
eociistenrly for the missions of Timothy and Titus.
It does not seem likely that St. Paul would have
treated the sin of the man who took his father's
wist as in offense against himself, nor that he
would have spoken of it by preference as a wrong
(AJutfa) don* to imuthtr (supposed to be the
Dither). The view we have adopted is said, in
De Wette's Extgttitckt* Hiirulbuclt, to have been
held, in whole or in part, by Bleek, Credner, Ols-
hausen, and Neander. More recently it has been
advocated with great force by Ewald, in bis Stnd-
Kkrtibm da A. P. pp. 328-233. The ordinary
eeaount is retained by Stanley, Alibrd, and David-
son, and with some hesitation by Conybeare and
Howsoo.
The particular nature of this epistle, at an
appeal to {acts In favor of bis own Apostolus au-
thority, leads to the mention of many interesting
features of St. Paul's life. His summary, in xi.
33-88, of the hardships and dangers through which
he had gone, proves to us bow little the history in
the Acts is to be regarded at a complete acoount
of what be did and suffered. Of the particular
facta stated in the following words, "Of the Jews
five times received I forty stripes save one; thrice
was 1 beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I
suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been
in the deep," — we know only of me, the beating
by the magistrates at Phitippi, from the Acts.
The daily burden of "the care of all the churches"
seems to imply a wide and constant range of oom-
monieation, by visits, messengers, and letters, of
which we have found it reasonable to assume ex-
amples in his intercourse with the Church of
Corinth. The mention of " visions and revelations
of the Lord," and of the " thorn (or rather tbikt)
in the flesh," side by side, ia peculiarly character-
istic both of the mind and of the experiences of
St. PauL As an instance of the visions, be alludes
to a trance which had befallen him fourteen years
before, in which he had been caught up into para-
dise, and had beard unspeakable words. Whether
this vision may be identified with any that is re-
corded in the Acta must depend on chronologieal
eonsideratious : but the very expressions of St. Paul
in tins place would rather lead us not to think of
an occasion in which words tMat could be reported
•ere spoken. We observe that he speaks with the
eescst reverence of the privilege thus granted to
him; but he distinctly declines to ground anything
upon it as regards other men. Let them judge
him, he says, not by any such pretensions, out by
facta which were cognizable to them (xii 1-6).
ind he would not, even inwardly with himself,
glory in visions and revelations without remem-
bering how the Lord had guarded him from being
putted op by them. A stake in the flesh (tmi\o^
rf ciumsO wa* given him, a messenger of Satan to
tatvthim, lest he should be exalted above measure.
tin different interpretations which have prevailed
PAUL
2881
of this oWAod> have a certain historical
canoe. (1.) Roman Catholic divines have incli
to understand by it strong $en$ual Umptaliom
(3.) Luther and his followers take it to mean
temptations to unbtHef. But neither of these
would be " infirmities " in which St Paul could
" glory." (3. ) It is almost the unanimous opinion
of modern divines — and the authority of the an-
cient fathers on the whole is in favor of it — that
the ok6\o^i represents some vexatious bodily w-
firmily (see especially Stanley in loco). It it
plainly what St Paul refers to in Gal. iv. 11:
" My temptation in my flesh ye despised not not
rejected." This infirmity distressed him to mush
that he besought the Lord thrice that it might
depart from him. But the Lord answered, "My
grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength U
made perfect in weakness." We are to understand
therefore the affliction as remaining; but Paul is
more than resigned under it, be even glories in it
as a means of displaying more purely the power
of Christ in him. That wc are to understand the
Apostle, in accordance with this passage, as labor-
ing under some degree of ill-health, is clear enough.
But we must remember that bis constitution was
at least strong enough, as a matter of fact, to
carry him through the hardships and anxieties and
toils which he himself describes to us, and to sus-
tain the pressure of the long imprisonment at
Casarea and in Rome.
After writing this epistle, St. Paul travelled
through Macedonia, perhaps to the borders of
Iiayricum (Rom. xv. 19), and then carried out
the intention of which he had spoken so often, and
arrived himself at Corinth. The narrative in the
Acts tells us that " when be had gone over those
parts (Macedonia), and had given them much ex-
hortation, he came into Greece, and there abode
three months " (xr. 3, 3). There is only one inci-
dent which wa can connect with this visit to
Greece, but that is a very important one — the
writing of another great epistle, .addressed to the
Church at Rome. [Romaics, Epistlr to the.]
That this was written at this time from Corinth
appears from passages in the epistle itself, and hat
■ever been doubted.
It would be unreasonable to suppose that St
Paul was insensible to the mighty associations
which connected themselves with the name of
Rome. The seat of the imperial government to
which Jerusalem itself, with the rest of the world,
was then subject, must hare been a grand object to
the thoughts of the Apostle from his infancy up
wards. He was himself a citizen of Rome; he
had come repeatedly under the jurisdiction of
Roman magistrates; he had enjoyed the benefits
of the equity of the Roman law, and the justioe of
Roman administration. And, besides its universal
supremacy, Rome was the natural head of the Gen-
tile world, as Jerusalem was the head of the Jew.
iah world. In this august city Paul had many
friends and brethren. Romans who had travelled
into Greeot and Asia, strangers from Greece and
Asia who had gone to settle at Rome, had heard of
Jesus Christ and the kingdom of Heaven from
Paul himself or from other preachers of Christ,
and had formed themselves into a community, of
which a good report had gone forth throughout
the Christian world. We are not surprised there-
fore to hear that the Apostle was very anxious to
visit Rome. It was his fixed intention to go to
Rome, and from Rome to extend his journey as fat
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PAUL
u Spain (Rom. xv. 24, 28). He wonld tiros bear
bit witnen, both in the capital and to the extremi-
ties of the Western or Gentile world. For the
present ha eoold not go on from Corinth to Rome,
because ho was drawn by a special errand to Jeru-
salem — where Indeed be was likely enough to
meet with dangers and delays (xv. 35-32). But
from Jerusalem he proposed to turn Romewards
In the mean while he would write them a letter
from Corinth.
The letter is a substitute for the personal visit
which he had longed " for many years " to pay ;
and, as he would have made the visit, so now he
writes the letter, became he it tie Apostle if the
Gtniilet. Of this office, to speak in common lan-
guage, St. Paul was proud. All the labors and
dangers of it be would willingly encounter; and
he would also jealously maintain its dignity and its
powers. He held it of Christ, and Christ's com-
mission should not be dishonored. He represents
himself grandly as a priest, appointed to offer up
the frith of tbe Gentile world as a sacrifice to God
(xv. 16). And he then proceeds to speak with
pride of the extent and independence of his Apos-
tolic labors. It is in harmony with this language
that he should address the Roman Church as con-
sisting mainly of Gentiles; but we find that he
speaks to them as to persons deeply interested in
Jewish questions (see Prof. Jowett's and Up. Col-
enso's Jntroductiont to the Epistle).
To the church thus composed, the Apostle of
tbe Gentiles writes to declare and commend the
Gospel which he everywhere preaches. That Gos-
pel was invariably tbe announcement of Jesus
Christ the Son of God, the Lord of men, who was
made man, died, and was raised again, and whom
his heralds present to the faith and obedience of
mankind. Such a ictpvypa might be variously
commended to different hearers. In speaking to
the Roman Church, St. Paul represents the chief
value of it as consisting in tbe fret that, through
it, the righteousness of God, as a righteousness not
for God only, but also for men, was revealed. It
is natural to ask what led him to choose and dwell
upon this aspect of his proclamation of Jesus
Christ. The following answers suggest them-
selves: — (1.) As he looked upon the condition
of the Gentile world, with that coup ct ail which
the writing of a letter to the Roman Church was
likely to suggest, he was struck by the awful wick-
edness, the utter dissolution of moral ties, which
3as made that age infamous. His own terrible
summary (1. 21-32) is well known to be confirmed
by other contemporary evidence. The profligacy
which we shudder to read of was constantly under
St. Paul's eye. Along with the evil he saw also
the beginnings of God's judgment upon it. He
saw the miseries and disasters, begun and impend-
ing, which proved that God in heaven would not
valerate the unrighteousness of men. (2.) As he
moiced upon the condition of the Jewish people, he
saw them claiming an exclusive righteousness,
which, however, had manifestly no power to pre-
serve them from being really unrighteous- (8.)
(fight not the thought also occur to him, aa a
Roman citizen, that the empire which was now
falling to pieces through unrighteousness had been
built up by righteousness, by that love of order
and that acknowledgment of rights which were the
(rest endowment of the Roman people? Whether
we lay any stress upon this or not, it seems clear
that to one contemplating the world from St.
PAUL
Paul's point of view, no thought wonld ha aa
naturally suggested as that of the need of the tnm
Righteousness for the two divisions of ih«ji>*mI
How he expounds that God's own righteousness
was shown, in Jesus Christ, to be a righ te o u s-
neat which men might trust in — sinners though
they were, — and by trusting in it submit to it,
and so receive It aa to show forth the fruits of
it in their own lives; bow he declares the union
of men with Christ aa subsisting in the Divine
idea and as realized by the power of the Spirit, —
may be seen in the epistle itself. The remarkable
exposition contained in eh. ix., I., xi., illustrates
the personal character of St. Paul, by showing tbe
intense love for his nation which ha retained
through all his struggles with unbulieving Jews
and Judaizing Christians, and by what hopes he
reconciled himself to the thought of their unbelief
and their punishment. Having spoken of this
subject, he goes on to exhibit in practical nniiiieals
the same love of Christian unity, moderation, and
gentleness, the same respect for social order, the
same tenderness for weak consciences, and the
same expectation of the Lord's coming and confi-
dence in the future, which appear more or leas
strongly in all bis letters.
Before his departure from Corinth, St Paul was
joined again by St Luke, -as we infer from the
change in the narrative from the third to the first
person. We have seen already that he was bent
on making a journey to Jerusalem, for a special
purpose and within a limited time. With this
view be was intending to go by sea to Syria. But
be was made aware of some plot of the Jews far
his destruction, to be carried out through this
voyage; and he determined to evade their malice
by changing his route. Several brethren ware
associated with him in this expedition, the bearers,
no doubt, of the collections made in all the
churches for the poor at Jerusalem. These were
aent on by aea, and probably the money with them,
to Troas, where they were to await St PauL He,
accompanied by St. Luke, went northwards through
Macedonia. The style of an eye-witneas again
becomes manifest ■< From Philippl," says the
writer, " we sailed away after the days of unleav-
ened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five
days, where we abode seven days." The marks of
time throughout this journey have given occasion
to much chronological and geographical discuss*: n,
which brings before the reader's mind the difficul-
ties and uncertainties of travel in that age, sad
leaves the precise determination of the dates of
this history a matter for reasonable conjecture
rather than for positive statement. But no ques-
tion is raised by the times mentioned whieh need
detain us in the course of the narrative. During
the stay at Troas there was a meeting on the first
day of tbe week '* to break bread," and Paul was
discoursing earnestly and at length with the breth-
ren. He was to depart the next morning, and
midnight found them listening to his earnest
speech, with many lights burning In the upper
chamber in which they had met, and making sna
atmosphere oppressive. A youth named Eutycbus
was sitting in tbe window, and was gradually over-
powered by sleep, so that at last he fell into the
street or court from the third story, and was taker,
up dead. The meeting was interrupted by this
accident, and Paul went down and till upon bin.
and embraced him, saying, " Be not disturbed, his
life is in him." [hVrrowoa, Amer. «d.] Eat
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x-AUL
Blend* then appear to hare taken charge of him,
whilst Paul went up again, first presided at the
breaking of bread, afterwards took a meal, and
continued converging until day-break, and bo de-
parted.
Whilst the resael which conveyed the rest of the
party sailed from Troas to Aasos, Paul gained some
time by making the journey by land. At Asaos
he went on board again.' Coasting along by Mity-
lene, Chios, Samoa, and Trogyllmm, they arrived
at Miletus. The Apostle was thus passing by the
chief church in Asia; but if he had gone to Ephe-
sus he might have arrived at Jerusalem too late for
the Pentecost, at which festival be had set his
heart upon being present. At Miletus, however,
there was time to send to Ephesus; and the elders
ax* the Church were invited to come down to him
then. This meeting is made the occasion for
recording another characteristic and rtprttenlatat
address of St. Paul (Acts xx. 18-35).' This spoken
address to the elders of the Ephesian Church may
be ranked with the epistles, and throws the same
kind of light upon St. Paul's Apostolical relations
to the churches. Like several of the epistles, it
is in great part an appeal to their memories of him
and of his work. He refers to his labors in "serv-
ing the Lord " amongst them, and to the dangers
he incumd from the plots of the Jews, and asserts
emphatically the tint-nerve with which be had
taught them. Ue then mentions a fact which will
come before us again presently, that he was receiv-
ing inspired warnings, as be advanced from city
to city, of the bonds and afflictions awaiting him
at Jerusalem. It is interesting to observe that the
Apostle felt it to be his duty to press on in spite of
these warnings. Having formed his plan on good
grounds and in the sight of God, he did not see, in
dangers which might even touch his life, however
clearly set before him, reasons for changing it.
Other arguments might move him from a fixed
purpose — not dangers. His one guiding principle
was, to discharge the ministry which he had re-
ceived of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of
the grace of God. Speaking to his present audi-
ence as to those whom be was seeing for the last
time, he proceeds to exhort them with unusual
earnestness and tenderness, and expresses in con-
clusion that anxiety as to practical industry and
liberality which has been increasingly occupying his
Blind. In terms strongly resembling the language
PAUL
2386
« * Asms, connected with Trow by a paved road, was
about twenty miles distant. A Ctreek friend mentioned
to me that he had travelled oo foot between the places
a fire hours. The motive for Paul's foot-Journey oas
only be ooojeocured He may nave wished to have the
com p a n y of friends from Troas whom the crowded vas-
sal could not accommodate, or to visit friends on the
may, or (Uowson) after the exciting scenes at Troas to
gratify his desire for polltude and retirement H.
s * The memorable address at Miletus brings before
us a characteristic of Paul, which enters essentially
into a Just conception of his personality, and Is in-
troduced In such a manner as to authenticate the
speech. It will be noticed how strongly the ApostU
assarts In this discourse bis nlf-consclousnesf of entire
rectitude in the eyes of men, and of his claim to be
Tcognixed as a true pattern of Christian fidelity
•It appears," says Dr. Tholuck (fisttoi da AposteU
faahu .- Siudien u. Kritiken for 1880, p. 806 If.) »D
belong to the peculiarities of this Apostle that he In
particular appeals so often to his blameless minner
of life. The occasion for this lies sometimes in the
■Unmake of his enemies, as whan he says In 2 Cor.
ISO
I of the epistles to the Thasaalonians and Corin-
thians, he pleads his own example, and entreats
I them to follow it, in " laboring for the support of
. the weak." " And when he had thus spoken he
kneeled down and prayed with them all: and they
all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed
him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he
spake, that they should see his lace no more. And
they accompanied him to the ship." .... This
is the kind of narrative in which some learned men
think they can detect the signs of a moderately
clever fiction.
The course of the voyage from Miletus was by
Coos and Rhodes to Patara, and from Patera in
another vessel past Cyprus to Tyre. Here Paul
and his company spent seven days ; and there were
disciples "who said to Paul through the Spirit,
that he should not go up to Jerusalem." Again
there was a sorrowful parting: " They all brought
us on our way, with wives and children, till we
were out of the city; and we kneeled down on the
abore and prayed." From Tyre they sailed to
Ptolemais, where they spent one day, and from
Ptolemais proceeded, apparently by laud, to Case
area. In this place was settled Philip the i'ivan-
gelist, one of the seven, and he became the host of
Paul and his friends. Philip had four unmarried
daughters, who " prophesied," and who repeated,
no doubt, the warnings already heard. Cassarea
was within an easy Journey of Jerusalem, and Paul
may have thought it prudent not to be too long in
Jerusalem before the festival; otherwise it might
seem strange that, after the former haste, they now
" tarried many days " at Cassarea. During this
interval the prophet Agabua (Acts xi. 28) came
down from Jerusalem, and crowned the previous
intimations of danger with a prediction expressively
delivered. It would seem as if the approaching im-
prisoumeut were intended to be conspicuous in the
eyes of the Church, as an agency for the accom
plishuient of God's designs. At this stage a final
effort was made to dissuade Paul from going up to
Jerusalem, by the Christians of Caasarea, and by
his travelling companions. But " Paul answered,
What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart ?
for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to
die at Jerusalem for the name of the Ixrd Jesus.
And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased,
saying, The will of the Lord be done." So, after
a while, they went up to Jerusalem, and wen
L 12: ' For our boasting (jadxvm) is this, the testi-
mony of our oonsoWnoe, that In simplicity and godly
sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of
God, we have had our conversation In the world, and
more especially among yon.' Ch. xi. shows what ad-
versaries he had In view in this self-Justifies tlon. But
often these appeals spring only from that Just confi-
dence with which he can call upon others to Imitate
him, as be himself Imitates the Saviour. Thus in 1
Cor. xi. 1, be cries : 'Be ye followers of ma, even as
I also am of Christ; ' and In PhU. 111. 17: < Brethren,
be followers together of me, and mark them who walk
so as ye have us for an ansampla.' Such personal tes-
timonies are not found m the other epistles of the N
T., nor are they frequent in the writings of other
ptoos men ; and on that account we are authorised to
consider their occurrence to this discourse (tt. 18-211
as a mark of its historical character." Ibr examples
of the linguistic affinity between this discourse and
Paul's Rplstles, see Lekcbusoh, Competition dor Aposlel-
guMckti, p. 889. Dean Howsons remarks on this ad-
dress (Otomeur of A. Paul, p. 208 f.) are sprrielrj
instructive. H
Digitized by VjOOQlC
J
2386
PAUL
gladly received bj the brethren. This U St. PanPe
fifth and bat visit to Jerusalem.
St. Pauti Impritonment: Jeruwltm imd Cat-
area — He who was thus conducted into Jerusa-
lem by a company of anxious friends had become
by toil time a man of considerable fame amongst
his countrymen. He was widely known as one
who bad taught with preeminent boldness that a
way into God's favor was opened to the Gentiles,
and that this «ay did not lie through the door
of the Jewish Law. He bad moreover actually
bunded numerous and important communities,
composed of Jews and Gentiles together, which
stood simply on the name of Jesus Christ, apart
from circumcision and the observance of the 1-aw.
He had thus roused against himself the bitter
enmity of that unfathomable Jewish pride which
was almost as strong in some of those who had
professed the faith of Jesus, as in their uncon-
-erted brethren. This enmity had for years been
vexing both the body and the spirit of the Apos-
tle. He had no rest from his persecutions; and
his joy in proclaiming the free grace of God to the
world was mixed with a constant sorrow that in
so doing he was held to be disloyal to the calling
of bis fathers. He was now approaching a crisis
in the long struggle, and the shadow of it had been
made to rest upon his mind throughout his journey
to Jerusalem. He came " ready to die for the
name of the Lord Jesus," but he came expressly
to prove himself a faithful Jew and this purpose
emerges at every point of the ' .story.
St. Luke does not mention the contributions
brought by Paul and his companions for the poor
at Jerusalem. But it is to be assumed that their
first act was to deliver these funds into the proper
hands. This might be done at the interview which
took place on the following day with " James and
all the elders." As on former occasions, the be-
lievers at Jerusalem could not but glorify God for
what they beard ; but they had been alarmed by
the prevalent feeling concerning St. Paul. They
said to him, " Thou seest, brother, bow many
thousands of Jews there are which believe; and
they are all zealous of the Law; and they are in-
formed of thee that thou teacbest all tbe Jews
which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses,
saying that they ought not to circumcise their chil-
dren, neither to walk after tbe customs." This
•port, as James and the elders assume, was not a
.rue one; it was a perversion of Paul's real teach-
ing, which did not, in fact, differ from theirs. In
order to dispel such rumors they ask him to do
publicly an act of homage to the Law and its ob-
servances. They had four men who were under
the Nazarite vow. The completion of this vow in-
volved (Num. vL 18-21) a considerable expense for
the offerings to be presented in the Temple; and it
Ha* a meritorious act to provide these offerings for
the poorer Nazaritos. St. Paul was requested to
out himself under the vow with those other four,
kid to supply the cost of their offerings. He at
una* accepted the proposal, and on the next day,
a • Tms remark Is not oomet, If understood to mean
that Luka Is altogether sUant as to the alms which
fan! had collected abroad, and had brought with him
a> Jerusalem. Luke represents the Apostle as saying
to Ma spseth before Felix (Acta xxiv. 17) that he waa
at Jccnsslsm on this business when be waa eppra-
1 by the Jews This iactaental notice, however.
lAUIi
having performed soma oeremon) ahich uuaaaa
the adoption of the vow, be went into the Temple,
announcing that the due offerings for each Naaarite
were about to be presented and the period of the
vow terminated. It appears that the whole pro-
cess undertaken by St. Paul required seven days to
complete it Towards the end of this time certain
Jews from "Asia," who had come up for the Pen-
tecostal feast, and who had a personal knowledge
both of Paul himself and of his companion Tropbi-
nius, a Gentile from Epbesus, saw Paul in the
Temple. They immediately set upon him, and
stirred up the people against him, crying out,
" Men of Israel, help : this is the man that teach-
eth all men everywhere against the people, and the
Law, and this place; and further brought Greeks
also into the Temple, and hath polluted this holy
place." Tbe latter charge had no more troth in it
than the first: it waa only suggested by their hav-
ing seen 'lYophimus with him, not in the Temple,
but in the city. They raised, however, a great
commotion : Paul was dragged out of tbe Temple,
of which tbe doors were immediately shut, and the
people, having him in their hands, were proposing
to kill him. But tidings were soon carried to the
commander of the force which was serving as a
garrison in Jerusalem, that " all Jerusalem was in
an uproar; " and he, taking with him soldiers and
centurions, hastened to the scene of the tumult.
Paul was rescued from the violence of the multi-
tude by the Roman officer, who made him hu uwc
prisoner, causing him to be chained to two soldiers,
and then proceeded to inquire who he was and
what he had done. The inquiry only elicited eon-
fused outcries, and the " chief captain " seems to
have imagined that the Apostle might perhaps be
a certain Egyptian pretender who had recently
stirred up a considerable rising of tbe people. The
account in the Acts (xxi. 34-40) tells us with
graphic touches how St. Paul obtained leave and
opportunity to address the people in a discourse
which is related at length.
This discourse was spoken in Hebrew; that is,
in the native dialect of the country, and was on
that account listened to with the more attention.
It is described by St. Paul himself, in his opening
words, as his "defence," addressed to his brethren
and fathers. It is in this light that it ou*M to be
regarded. As we have ami, the desire which occu-
pied the Apostle's mind at this time, was that of
vindicating his message and work as tnose of a
faithful Jew. The discourse spoken to the angry
people at Jerusalem is his own justification of him-
self. He adopts the historical method, after which
all the recorded appeals to Jewish audiences are
framed. He is a servant of facta. He had been
frost the first a zealous Israelite like hie beam*.
He had changed his course because the God of hi*
fathers had turned him from one path Into another.
It is thus that he is led into a narrative of his Cob.
version. We have already noticed the differences,
in the statement of bare facte, between this narrative
and that of tbe 9th chapter. The business of thi
is, in fict, the only reftrenoe in the book of tea
Acts to thro contributions which Paul had bean tak-
ing up m> «t*n«ively In the Gentile churches. (Ses
Rom. »v. 3S, 36; 1 Cor. xvl. 1-4; SCor. vth\ 1-4.
The manner in which tbe epistles supply this omfsslas
of Luke's history, as Paley so justly argues, furnish*
a oonclustv* proof of the emHbiltty of these writings
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PAUL
i in this place, is to see how far the purpose
sf the Apostle will aeoount for whatever is special
to this address. That purpose explains the detailed
referenee to his rigorously Jewish education, and to
his history before his conversion. It gives point to
the announcement that it was by a direct operation
from without upon his spirit, and not by the grad-
ual influence of other minds upon his, that his
Bourse was ohaiupd. Incidentally, we may see a rea-
>ou for the admission that bis companions " heard
not the voice of him that spake to me " in the fact
that some of them, not believing in Jesus with their
former leader, may have been living at Jerusalem,
and possibly present amongst the audience. In
this speech, the Apostle is glad to mention, what
we were not told before, that the Ananias who in-
terpreted the wiU of the Lord to him more fully at
Damascus, was " a devout man according to the
law, having a good report of all the Jews which
dwelt there," and that be made his communication
in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying,
" Toe God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that
thou shouldest know his will, and see the Righteous
One, and hear a voice out of hie mouth ; for thou
sbalt be a witness for him unto all men of what
thou hast seen and heard." Having thus claimed,
according to his wont, the character of a simple in-
strument and witness, St. Paul goes on to describe
another revelation of which we read nothing else-
where. He had been accused of being an enemy to
the Temple. He relates that after the visit to Da-
mascus be went up again to Jerusalem, and was
praying once in the Temple itself, till he fell into a
trance. Then he saw the Lord, and whs bidden to
leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people there
would not receive his testimony concerning Jesus.
His own impulse was to stay at Jerusalem, and he
pleaded with the Lord that there it was well known
how he had persecuted those of whom he was now
one,— implying, it would appear, that at Jerusalem
his testimony was likely to be more impressive and
irresistible than elsewhere; but the Lord answered
with a simple command, " Depart: for I will send
thee far hence unto the Gentiles."
Until this hated word, of a mission to the Gen-
tiles, had been spoken, the Jews had listened to the
speaker. They could bear the name of the Naza-
rene, though they despised it; but the thought of
that free declaration of God's grace to the Gentiles,
of which Paul was known to be the herald, stung
them to fury. Jewish pride was in that generation
becoming hardened and embittered to the utmost;
and this was the enemy which St. Paul had come
to encounter in its stronghold. "Away with such
follow from the earth," the multitude now ahout-
4- "it is not fit that he should live."" The Ro-
uan oonurander, seeing the tumult that arose,
might well oonclude that St. Paul bad committed
some heinous oflense ; and carrying him off, he gave
orders that be should be forced by scourging to
goatees his crime. Again the Apostle took advan-
tage of his Roman citizenship to protect himself
Bum raea an outrage. To the rights of that eitt-
conship, he, a free-born Roman, had a better title
than the chief captain himself; and if be had chosen
to assert it before, he might have saved himsee
from the indignity of being manacled.
The Roman officer was bound to protect a ciu-
PATJL
2387
sen, and to suppress tumult; but it was also a part
of his policy to treat with deference the religion and
the customs of the country. St. Paul's present
history is the resultant of these two principles
The chief captain set him free from bonds, but ol
the next day called together the chief priests and
the Sanhedrim, and brought Paul as a prisoner be
fore them. We need not suppose that this was a
regular legal proceeding : it was probably an experi-
ment of policy and courtesy. If, on the one hand,
the commandant of the garrison had no power to
convoke the Sanhedrim; on the other hand he
would not give up a Roman citizen to their judg-
ment. As it was, the afiair ended in confusion,
and with no semblance of a judicial termination.
The incidents selected by St. Luke from the his-
tory of this meeting form striking points In the
biography of St Paul, but they are not easy to un-
derstand. The difficulties arising here, not out of s
comparison of two independent narratives, but out
of a single narrative which must at least have ap-
peared consistent and intelligible to the writer him-
self, are a warning to the student not to draw
unfavorable inferences from all apparent discrepan-
cies. St. Paul appears to have been put upon his
defense, and with the peculiar habit, mentioned
elsewhere also (Acta xiii. 9), of looking steadily
when about to speak (irtrioas), he began to say,
" Men and brethren, I have lived in all good con-
science (or, to give the force of ntTokhtv/uu, I
have lived a conscientiously loyal life) unto God,
until this day." Here the high-priest Ananias
commanded them that stood by him to smite him
on the mouth. With a fearless indignation, Paul
exclaimed: "God shall smite thee, thou whited
wall ; for sittest thou to judge me after the law,
and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the
law? " The bystanders said, " Revilest thou God's
high-priest?" Paul answered, " I knew not,
brethren, that be was the high-priest; for it is
written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of
thy people." The evidence furnished by this apol-
ogy, of St. Paul's respect both for the Law and for
the high-priesthood, was probably the reason for
relating the outburst which it followed. Whether
the writer thought that outburst culpable or not,
does not appear. St Jerome {contra Pthg. iii.,
quoted by Baur) draws an unfavorable contrast be-
tween the vehemence of the Apostle and the meek-
ness of his master; and he is followed by many
critics, as amongst others De Wette and Alford.
But it is to be remembered that He who was led
as a lamb to the slaughter, was the same who spoke
of " whited sepulchres," and exclaimed, " Ye ser-
pent*, ye generation of ripen, how shall ye escape
the damnation of hell? " It is by no means cer
tain, therefore, that St Paul would have been a
truer follower of Jesus if be had held his tongue
under Anauias's lawless outrage. But what does
his answer mean ? How was it possible for him not
to know that be who spoke was the high-priest?
Why should be have been less willing to rebuke an
iniquitous high-priest than any other member of
the Sanhedrim, " sitting to judge him after the
Law? " These are difficult questions to answer-
It is not likely that Ananiar was personally un-
known to St. Paul; still less so, that the high-
priest was not distinguished by dress or place from
a • The Press Is more energetio than toll : " It was Owe*, p. 388, tie Ann.) ; or, as Meyer prefers (into*.),
•St It (Impart toBym) that be should live," I. • should have been left to its Initial of being irenei
to die long agJ (Lechler, Da Apatrl I as be was (Aets xxL. SU ■•
Digitized by VjOOQlC
i
2388
PAUL
uW other members of the Sanhedrim. The least
ebjeetionoble solutions seem to be thai for some
reason or other — either because his sight was not
good, or because he was looking another way, — he
did not know whose voice it was that ordered him
to be smitten ; and that be wished to correct the
impression which he saw was made upon some of
the audience by his threatening protest, and there-
fore took advantage of the fact that lie really did
not know the speaker to be the high-priest, to ex-
plain the deference he felt to be due to the person
holding that office." The next incident which St.
Luke records seems to some, who cannot think of
the Apostle as remaining still a Jew, to cast a shad-
ow upon his rectitude. He perceived, we are told,
that the council was divided into two parties, the
Sadducees and Pharisees, and therefore he cried out,
" Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a
Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of
the dead I am called in question." This declara-
tion, whether so intended or not, had the effect of
stirring up the party spirit of the assembly to such
a degree that a fierce dissension arose, and some of
the Pharisees actually took Paul's side, saying,
" We find no evil in this man ; suppose a spirit or
an angel has spoken to him?" — Those who im-
pugn the authenticity of the Acta point trium-
phantly to this scene as an utterly impossible one ;
others consider that the Apostle is to be blamed for
using a disingenuous artifice. But it is not so
dear that St. Paul was using an artifice at all, at
least for his own interest, in identifying himself as
he did with the professions of the Pharisees. He
had not come to Jerusalem to escape out of the
way of danger, nor was the course he took on this
occasion the safest he could have chosen. Two ob-
jects, we must remember, were dearer to him than
his life: (1) to testify of him whom God had raised
from the dead, and (2 J to prove that in so doing
he wsa a faithful Israelite. He may well have
thought that both these objects might be promoted
by an appeal to the nobler professions of the Phari-
sees. The creed of the Pharisee, as distinguished
from that of the Sadducee, was unquestionably the
creed of St. Paul. His belief in Jeans seemed to
him to supply the ground and fulfillment of that
creed. He wished to lead his brother Pharisees
into a deeper and more living apprehension of their
jwn faith.
Whether such a result was In any degree st-
ained, we do not know: the immediate conse-
quence of the dissension which occurred in the as-
sembly was that Paul was like to be torn in pieces,
%nd was carried off by the Roman soldiers. In the
night he had a vision, as at Corinth (xviii. 9, 10)
and on the voyage to Rome (xxvii. 83, 34), of the
Lord standing by him, and encouraging him. " Be
sf good cheer, Paul," said his Master; "for as thou
a * It Is a decisive objection to this construction,
that he addresses his rebuke to the person who gave
the order, whcm he reoognlaes as a presiding Judge,
rbe interpretations of this difficult passage are various
— some writers understanding it literally; others,
Ironically ; others, as a grave denial that Ananias m
In the true meaning of the ofles, high-priest, and
others, as an acknowledgment that he spoke Impul-
sively, not considering that he was addressing the
tugh-piiasu " Paul admits that he had been thrown
eg bis guard; the Insult had touched htm to the
Sjanek, sod he bad spoken nuhly. But what can sur-
pass ska grace with which he recovere d bis self-poe-
« salmi, the traakneas with which he acluwwledasd his
PAUL
hast testified of me in Jerusasusi, so must thou bast
witness also at Rome." It was not safety that tht
Apostle longed for, but opportunity to beat witness
of Christ
Probably the factious support which Paul bad
gained by his manner of bearing witness in the
council died away as soon as the meeting was dis-
solved. On the next day a conspiracy was formed,
which the historian relates with a «ingnl»r fullness
of details. More than forty of the Jews bound
themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to
drink till tbey had killed PauL Their plan was,
to persuade the Roman commandant to send down
Paul once more to the council, and then to set upon
him by the way and kill him. This conspiracy
became known in some way to a nephew of St.
Paul's, his sister's son, who was allowed to see his
uncle, and inform him of it, and by his desire was
taken to the captain, who was thus put on his
guard against the plot. This discovery baffled the
conspirators ; and it is to be feared that they ob-
tained some dispensation from their vow. The
consequence to St. Paul was that he was hurried
away from Jerusalem. The chief captain, Claudius
LyaUs, determined to send him to Cessans, hi
Felix the governor, or procurator, of Judasa. He
therefore put him in charge of a strong guard ef
soldiers, who took him by night as far as Antipa-
tris. From thence a smaller detachment con-
veyed him to Caaaarea, where they delivered up
their prisoner into the hands of the governor, to-
gether with a letter, in which Claudius Lysias had
explained to Felix his reason for sending Paul, and
had announced that hia aucus e ts would follow.
Felix, St. Luke tells us with that particularity
which marks this portion of his narrative, asked
of what province the prisoner was: and being
told that be was of CUicia, he promised to give
him a hearing when his accusers should come. In
the mean-time be ordered him to be guarded,
chained, probably, to a soldier, — in the govern-
ment bouse [or Pnetorium], which iad been the
palace of Herod the Great.
Jmpruonment ai Ccaarta. — St. Paul was hence-
forth, to the end of the period embraced in the
Acta, if not to the end of his life, in Roman
custody. This custody was in feci a protection
to him, without which be would have fallen a «Je-
tim to the animosity of the Jews. He seems to
have been treated throughout with humanity and
consideration. Ilia own attitude towards Roman
magistrates was invariably that of a respectful but
independent citizen; and whilst his franchise se-
cured him from open injustice, his character and
conduct could not fail to win him the good-will of
those into whose bands he came. The governor
before whom he was now to be tried, according to
Tacitus and Josephus, was a mean and dlssohrta
error? If bis conduct in yielding to the momentary
impulse was not that of Christ himself radar a atadkw
provocation (John xvtU. 22, 38), certainly the manner
in which be atoned for his nvult was Canaut**."
(Uackett's Comwunlarf <m lAt lea, 3d ad. p. TO.)
This view, which Is held by several eminent writers
(Howaon, Wordsworth, Lachkw), as stated above, ant
which is really honorable to the Apostle, Is crillilml
by Alexander as " the fashionable sentimental view.
It hi not wholly satisfactory, because the Apostle as>
pears to have spoken In a attain of prophetic daoam
station ; but It strikes us as the least dnavalt am
improbable of the several solutions proposal.
aw
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PAUL
.Trent. [Faxix.] " Par omnem sasvitiam m libid-
hem jua regium serrili ingenio exercuit " (Tacitus.
Hilt. v. 9). But these characteristics, except per-
haps the fertile ingtmvm, do not appear in our
history. The orator or conned retained by the Jews
and brought down by Ananiaa and the elders, when
they arrived in the course of five days at Casarea,
begin* the proceedings of the trial professionally by
complimenting the governor. The charge he goes
an to set forth against PanI shows precisely the
light hi which be was regarded by tie fanatical
Jews. He ia a pestilent fellow (Koi/Ui): he stirs
op diriaiona amongst the Jears throughout the
world ; be ia a ringleader of the sect (alp4trtms) of
the Naiarenes. His last offense had been an at-
tempt to profane the Temple. [Tektuij.us.] St.
Paul met the charge in his usual manner. He
was glad that his judge had been for some years
governor of a Jewish province; >' because it ia in
thy power to ascertain that, not more than twelve
days since, I came up to Jerusalem to worship."
The emphasis is upon hia coming up to worship.
He denied positively the charges of stirring up
serifs and of profaning the Temple. But he ad-
mitted that " after the way (tV MoV) » nicB "*>!
sail a sect, or a heresy," — so he worshipped tbe
God of bis fathers, believing all things written in
the Law and in the Prophets. Again he gave
prominence to the hope of a resurrection, which he
held, as he said, in common with his accusers.
His loyalty to the faith of his fathers he had shown
by coming up to Jerusalem exprea«ly to bring alms
for hia nation and offerings, and by undertaking
the ceremonies of purification in the Temple.
What fault then could any Jew possibly find in
him ? — Tbe Apostle's answer was straightforward
snd complete. He had oof violated the law of his
fathers; he was still a true and loyal Israelite.
Felix, it appears, knew a good deal about " the
wa 7 " Orflt 0J0S), as well as about the customs of
the Jews, and was probably satisfied that St. Paul's
secount was a true one. He made an excuse for
putting off the matter, and gave orders that the
prisoner should be treated with indulgence, and
that his friends should be allowed free access to
him. After a while, Felix heard him again. His
wife Drusilla was a Jewess, and they were both
curious to hear the eminent preacher of the new
tilth in Christ. But St. Paul was not a man to
mtertain an idle curiosity. He began to reason
concerning righteousness, temperance," and the
coming judgment, in a manner which alarmed Fe-
lix and caused him to put an end to tbe confer-
ence. He frequently saw him afterwards, however,
snd allowed him to understand that a bribe would
procure his release. But St. Paul would not resort
to this method of escape, and he remained in cus-
tody until Felix left the province. The unprinci-
pled governor had good reason to seek to ingratiate
himself with tbe Jews; and to pleaae them, he
'landed over Paul, as an untried prisoner, to his
accessor Festus.
At this point, as we shall see hereafter, the his-
tory of St- Paul cornea into its closest ■ontact with
txternal chronology. Festus, like Felix, has a place
ai secular history, and he bean a much better char-
PAUL
2889
« * Strictly "self-control" (fyepanta), especially
thasUtr, so grossly violated By those to whom Paul
Saa speaking. We have here a striking example of
fee Apostle's courage and fidelity. At the side of Felix
eras sitting a victim of bis Uberotuam, an adnlts i sss,
acta. Upon hia arrival !n the province, he writ
up without delay from Cieaarea to Jerusalem, and
the leading Jews seized the opportunity of asking
that Paul might be brought up there for trial, in-
tending to assassinate him by the way. But Fes-
tus would not comply with their request. He in
vited them to follow him on his speedy return tc
Canarea, and a trial took place there, closely re-
sembling that before Felix. Festus saw clearly
enough that Paul had committed no offense against
the law, but he was anxious at tbe same time, if he
could, to pleaae the Jews. "They had certain
questions against him," Festus says to Agrippa,
of their own superstition (or religion), and of oni
Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be
alive. And being puzxled for my part aa to snob,
inquiries, I asked him whether he would go to Je-
rusalem to be tried there." This proposal, not a
very likely one to be accepted, was tbe occasion of
St. Paul's appeal to Csssar. In dignified and
independent language be claimed his rights as a
Roman citizen. We can scarcely doubt that the
prospect of being forwarded by this means to Rome,
the goal of all his desires, presented itself to him
and drew him onwards, as he virtually protested
against the indecision and impotence of the provin-
cial governor, and exclaimed, " I appeal unto Cas-
aar." Having heard thia appeal, Festus consulted
with hia assessors, found that there was no impedi-
ment in the way of its prosecution, and then re-
plied, " Hast thou appealed to Caesar? To Osar
thou shalt go."
Properly speaking, an appeal was made from toe
ten/enee of an inferior court to the jurisdiction of
a higher. But in St. Paul's case no sentence had
been pronounced. We must understand, therefore,
by his appeal, a demand to be tried by tbe imperial
court, and we must suppose that a Roman citizen
had the right of electing whether he would be tried
in the province or at Rome. [Appeal.]
The appeal having been allowed, Festus reflected
that he must send with the prisoner a report of
"the crimes laid against him." And he found that
it was no easy matter to put the complaints of the
Jews in a form which would be intelligible at Rome.
He therefore took advantage of an opportunity
which offered itself in a few days to seek some help
in the matter. The Jewish prince Agrippa arrived
with his sister Bernice on a visit to the new got
emor. To him Festus communicated his perplex-
ity, together with an account of what bad occurred
before him in the case. Agrippa, who must have
known something of the sect of the Naiarenes, and
had probably beard of Paul himself, expressed a de-
sire to bear him apeak. The Apostle therefore was
now called upon to hear the name of his Master
before Gentiles, and kings." The audience which
assembled to hear him was the most dignified which
he had yet addressed, and the state and ceremony
of the scene proved that he was regarded as no vul-
gar criminal. Festus, when Paul had been brought
into tbe council-chamber, explained to Agrippa and
the rest of the company the difficulty in which be
found himself, and then expressly referred tbe mat-
ter to the better knowledge of the Jewish lung
Paul therefore was to give an account of himself
as Paul discoursed of immorality and a lodgment te
» Tbe woman's resentment was to be stand aa
well as that of the man. It was the Implacable Hs>
mHas *od not Herod, who demanded the head of Joint
the Banco*. U.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
3890
PAITL
10 Agrippa; and when be had received from him
a courteous permission to begin, be stretched forth
hit hand and made hi* defense.
In this discourse (Aets uvi.), we hate the see-
end explanation from St Panl himself of the man-
ner in which he had been led, through his conver-
sion, to serve the Lord Jesus instead of persecuting
his disciples; and the third narrative of the con-
version itself. Speaking to Agrippa as to one
thoroughly versed in the customs and questions
prevailing amongst the Jews, Paul appeals to the
well-known Jewish and even Pharisaical strictness
of his youth and early manhood. He reminds the
king of the great hope which sustained continually
the worship of the Jewish nation, — the bops of a
deliverer, promised by God Himself, who should
be a conqueror of death. He had been lad to ate
that this promise was fulfilled in Jesus of Naza-
reth; be proclaimed his resurrection to be the
pledge of a new and immortal life. What was
there in this of disloyalty to the traditions of his
Cithers? Did his countrymen disbelieve in this
Jesus as the Messiah ? So had he once disbelieved
in Him; and bad thought it his duty to be earnest
in hostility against his name. But his eyes had
been opened : he would tell how and when. The
story of the conversion is modified in this address
as we might fairly expect it to be. We have seen
that there is no absolute contradiction between the
statements of this and the other narratives. The
main points, — the light, the prostration, the voice
from heaven, the instructions from Jesus, — are
found in aD three. But in this account, the words,
" I am Jesus whom thou persecutest," are followed
by a fuller explanation, as if then spoken by the
Lord, of what the work of the Apostle was to be.
The other accounts defer this explanation to a sub-
sequent occasion. But when we consider how
fully the mysterious communication made at the
moment of the conversion included what was after-
wards conveyed, through Ananias and in other
ways, to the mind of Paul; and h>r needless it
was for Paul, in his present address before Agrippa,
to mark the stages by which the whole lesson was
taught, it seems merely captious to base upon the
method «f this account a charge of disagreement
between the different parts of this history. They
bear, on the contrary, a striking mark of genuine-
ness in the degree in which they approach contra-
diction without reaching it. It is most natural
that a story told on different occasions should be
told differently ; and if in snob a ease we find no
contradiction as to the facts, we gain all the firmer
impression of the substantial truth of the story.
The particulars added to the former accounts by the
present narrative are, that the words of Jesus were
spoken in Hebrew, and that the first question to
Saul was followed by the saying, " it is hard for
thee to kick against the goads." (This saying is
omitted by the best authorities In chapter ix.)
The language of the commission which St. Paul
says he received from Jesus deserves close study,
and will be found to bear a striking r e s em blance to
a paasage in Colossians (i. 18-14). The ideas of
light, redemption, fo rgi venes s , inheritance, and
htta in Christ, belong characteristically to the
<■ " Then never was any that understood the Old
1> ssi ill silt s» well as 8c. Paul, except John the Bap-
sfct, and John the Dtvhw. .... 0, he dearly loved
Hosts end Isaiah. Itar they, together with kins »"td,
•*» the chief rrarihsts. Tin wov'v sad things of 8L
PAUL
Gospel which Panl preached amongst the Gesasas
Not has striking is it to observe the older tone*
in which he describes to Agrippa his obedience fa
the heavenly vision. He had made it his busi-
ness, he says, to proclaim to all men " that they
should repent and turn to God, and do works meet
for repentance." Words such as John the Baptist
uttered, but not less truly Pauline. And be finally
reiterates that the testimony on account of which
the Jews sought to kill him was in exact agree-
ment with Hoses and the prophets. They had
taught men to expect that the Christ should suffer,
and that He should be the first that should rise
from the dead, and should show light unto lbs
people and to the Gentiles. Of such a kfsawah
Saul was the servant and preacher."
At tins point Festus began to apprehend what
seemed to him a manifest absurdity. He inter-
rupted the Apostle discourteously, but with a com-
pliment contained in his loud remonstrance. " Tboa
art mad, Paul; thy much learning is turning that
mad." The phrase to woAAd ypdfifiara may pos-
sibly have been euggetUd by the allusion to Moses
and the prophets ; but it probably refert to the
books with which St. Paul had been supplied, and
which be was known to study, during his imprison-
ment. As a biographical hint, this phrase is not
to be overlooked. " I am not mad," replied Paul
" moat noble Festus: they are words of truth and
so berne ss which I am uttering.'' Then, with Sl-
apped of mingled dignity and solicitude, be tur-.s
to the king. He was sure the king understood bias.
King Agrippa, believeat thou the prophets ? — I
know that thou believeat." The answer of Agrippa
can hardly have been the serious and encouraging
remark of our Fjigliah version. Literally rendered,
it appears to be, Ton are briefly persuading me to
become a Christian ; and it is generally supposed to
have been spoken ironically. " I would to God,"
is Paul's earnest answer, " that whether by a brief
process or by a long one, not only thou but all who
bear me to -day might become such as I am, with
the exception of these bonds." He was wearing a
chain upon the band be held up in addressing them.
With this prayer, it appears, the conference ended.
Festus and the king, and their companions, con-
sulted together and came to the conclusion that the
accused was guilty of nothing that deserved death
or imprisonment. And Agrippa's final answer to
the inquiry of Festus was, " This man might have
been set at liberty, If be had not appealed unto
Caesar."
The Voyage to Rome. — No formal trial of St.
Paul had yet taken place. It appears from Aets
xxviii. 18, that he knew bow favorable the Judg-
ment of the provincial governor was likely to be.
But the vehement opposition of the Jews, together
with his desire to be conveyed to Rome, might well
induce him to claim a trial before the imperial
court. After a while arrangements were made to
carry " Paul and certain other prisoners," in the
custody of a centurion named Julius, into Italy;
and amongst the company, whether by favor or
from any other reason, we find the historian of the
Acts. The narrative of this voyage is accordingly
minute and circumstantial in a degree which has
Paul an taken out of Hoses and the prophets " (Us
tber's luaU Talk, oeeexxvUl., Sogl. Trans.). Anothst
striking remark of Luther's may be added base
" Whoso reads Paul may, with a seat I
as his words " (lata) IWs, sxflLI.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
.PAUL
n:itad much attention. Tba nautical and geo-
graphical details of St. Luke'* aeoomit have been
submitted to an apparently thorough investigation
by errand competent critics, especially by Mr. Smith
of JordanbiU, in an important treatise devoted to
this robject, and by Mr. Howson. The result of
this investigation has been, that several errors in
the received version have been corrected, that the
eonm of the voyage has been laid down to a very
minute degree with great certainty, and that the
account in the Acts is shown to be written by an
accurate eye-witness, not himself a professional sea-
man bnt well acquainted with nautical matters.
We shall hasten lightly over this voyage, referring
the reader to the works above mentioned, and to
the articles in this Dictionary on the names of
phuas and the nautical terms which occur in the
narrative.
The centurion and his prisoners, unongst whom
Aristarcbus (Col. iv. 10) is named, embarked at
Ctesarea on board a ship of Adramyttium, and set
sail for the coast of Asia. On the next day they
touched at Sidon, and Julius began a course of
kindly and respectful treatment by allowing Paul
to go on shore to visit his friends. The westerly
winds still usual at the time of year (late in the
rammer) compelled the vessel to run northwards
under the lee of Cyprus. Off the coast of t'ilida
and Pamphylia they would And northerly winds,
which enabled them to reach Myra in Lycia. Here
the voyagers were put on board another ship, which
was come from Alexandria and was bound for Italy.
In this vessel they worked slowly to windward,
keeping near the coast of Asia Minor, till they came
over against Cnidus. The wind being still con-
trary, the only course was now to run southwards,
under the lee of Crete, passing the headland of
Salmons. They then gained the advantage of a
weather shore, and worked along the coast of Crete
is fir as Cape Matala, near which they took refuge
in a harbor called Fair Havens, identified with one
bearing the same name to this day.
It became now a serious question what course
should be taken. It was late in the year for the
navigation of those days. The last of the day of
expiation (I>ev. xxiii. 27-29), answering to the
autumnal equinox, was past, and St. Paul gave it as
his advice that they should winter where they were.
But the master and the owner of the ship were
trilling to run the risk of seeking a more com
Uodions harbor, and the centurion followed their
judgment. It was resolved, with the concurrence
if the majority, to make for a harbor called Phoenix,
sheltered front the S. W. winds, as well as from
the N. W. (The phrase P\4rorra iiri Ai'Ba
is rendered either "looking dorm the S. W."
[Smith and Alford], or " looking tmonrdt the
8. W." when observed from the $en and towards
the land induing it [Howson].) [Phkxice.] A
change of wind occurred which favored the plan,
and by the aid of a light breeze from the south
they were sailing towards Phoenix (now I.utro),
when a violent N. E. wind [Eot«oci.tdoh] came
PAUL
2891
• On the aoMtlon of the nftnoee c? atrip, see
I to Oam (Amcr. «L). Ws Uink the pronoun
aftnrs to the vessel and not to the Island. H.
ft * The objections to supposing th» chip's provisions
jo be meant here an that " whesr ' (o-iror) has not
Bus spscMe sense elsswhue In the N. T. ; that the
i still lsft, after so long a voyage, would bare
down from the land (kot' aArtjj, soil k«4rnr),*
caught the vessel, and compelled the a to let bet
drive before the wind. In this couth they arrived
under the lee of a small island called Cbtuda, about
20 miles from Crete, where they look advantagt
of comparatively smooth water to get the boat or
board, and to undergird, or frap, the ship. Then
was a fear lest they should be driven upon the
Syrtis on the coast of Africa, and they therefore
" lowered the gear," or sent down upon deck the
gear connected with the fair-weather sails, and
stood out to sea " with storm-sails eel and on the
starboard tack " (Smith). The bad weather con-
tinued, and the ship wss lightened on the next day
of her cargo, on the third of her loose furniture and
tackling. For many days neither sun nor stars
were visible to steer by, the storm was violent, and
all began to despair of safety. The general dis-
couragement was aggravated by the abstinence
caused by the difficulty of preparing food, and the
spoiling of it; and in order to raise the spirits of
the whole company Paul stood forth one morning
to relate a vision which had occurred to him in the
night. An angel of the God " whose he was and
whom he served " had appeared to him and said,
"Fear not, Paul: thon must be brought before
Ciesar; and behold, God bath given thee all them
that sail with thee." At the same time he pre-
dicted that the vessel would be cast upon an uuand
and be lost.
This shipwreck was to happen speedily. On fhe
fourteenth night, as they were drifting through he
sea [Adkia], abont midnight, the sailors perceived
indications, probably the roar of breakers, that land
was near. Their suspicion was confirmed by sound-
ings. They therefore cast four anchors out of ths
stem, and waited anxiously for daylight. After a
while the sailors lowered the boat with the pro-
fessed purpose of laying out anchors from the bow,
but intending to desert the ship, which wss in im-
minent danger of being dashed to pieces. St. Paul,
aware of their intention, informed the centurion
and the soldiers of it, who took care, by cutting the
ropes of the boat, to prevent its being carried out
He then addressed himself to the task of encourag
ing the whole company, assuring them that their
lives would be preserved, and exhorting them to
refresh themselves quietly after their long abstinence
with a good meal. He set the example himself,
taking bread, giving thanks to God, and beginning
to eat in presence of them ail. After a general
meal, in which there were 276 persons to partake,
they further lightened the ship by casting out what
remained of the provisions on board (roy o-iroy is
commonly understood to be tbe " 'jrbeat " whlcL
formed the cargo, but tbe other internreMlou
seems more probable). 6 When the light of ths
dawn revealed the land, they did not recognise it,
but they discovered a ureek with a smooth bench,
and determined to nin tbe ship aground in it. So
they cut away the anchors, unloosed the nidder-
paddles, raised the foresail to the wind, and made
for the beach. When they came close to it they
frovMons still lsft, after so long a voyage, would have 88). See on this point Leohlsr'
it*- -v no eflbet on ths ship's draft; and that the in Unga's Bitxlmrk, p. 408 (I
ship's cargo was undoubtedly wheat, since the vessel
was a marchant.vessel bound from Alaxandrla to Italy.
Prof. Blunt (Coincidences, p. 828 t, Amer. sd.) has
drawn oat a very striking confirmation of St Luke's
accuracy from the detached notices which reveal to us
ths nature of tbe ship's lading (comp. Acts xxvti. 8, Is,
88). See on this point Lschlert Dtr ApoXH giissttllK
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2892 paul
found a larrnw channel between the land on one
ride, which proved to be an Ulet, and the shore;
and at this point, where the " two seas met," they
•uoeeeded in driving the fore part of the venal fait
Into the clayey beach. The stern began at once to
go to pieces under the action of the breakers; but
escape was now within reach. The soldiers sug-
gested to their commander that the prisoners should
be effectually prevented from gaining their liberty
by lieing killed ; but the centurion, desiring to save
Paul, stopped this proposition, and gave orders that
those who could swim should cast themselves first
into the sea and get to land, and that the rest
should follow with the aid of such spars as might
be available. By this creditable combination of
humanity and discipline the deliverance was made
as complete as St. Paul's assurances had predicted
it would be.
The land on which they had been cast was found
to belong to Malta. [Mkuta.] The very point
of the stranding is made out with great probability
by Mr. Smith. The inhabitants of the island re-
ceived the wet and exhausted voyagers with no
ordinary kindness, and immediately lighted a fire
to warm them. This particular kindness is re-
corded on account of a curious incident connected
with it- The Apostle was helping to make the
fire, and had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid
them on the fire, when a viper came out of the
heat, and fastened on his hand. When the natives
saw the creature hanging from his hand they be-
lieved him to be poisoned by the bite, and said
amongst themselves, " No doubt this man is a
murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the
sea, yet Vengeance suffers not to live." But when
tfcey saw no harm came of it they changed their
minds and said that he was a god. This circum-
stance, as well as the henor in which he was held
by Julius, would account for St. Paul being invited
with some others to stay at the house of the chief
man of the island, whose name was Publius. By
him they were courteously entertained for three
days. The father of Publius happened to be ill of
fever and dysentery, and was healed by St Paul;
and when this was known many other sick persons
were brought to hin. vid were healed. So there
was a pleasant interchange of kindness and benefits.
The people of the island showed the Apostle and
his company much honor, and when they were
about to leave loaded them with such things as
they would want The Roman soldiers would carry
with them to Rome a deepened impression of the
character and the powers of the kingdom of which
Paul was the herald.
After a three months' stay in Malta the soldiers
ind their prisoners left in an Alexandrian ship for
Italy. They touched at Syracuse, where they stayed
three days, and at Rhegium, from which place they
were carried with a fair wind to Puteoli, where
they left their ship and the sea. At Puteoli they
found •' brethren," for it was an important place,
and especially a chief port for the traffic between
Alexandria and Rome; and by these brethren they
were exhorted to stay awhile with them. Permis-
sion seems to have been granted by the centurion :
and whilst they were spending seven days at Puteoli
news of the Apostle's arrival was sent on to Rome.
a • This was the usual course when prisoners wen
ssut from the provlnoes to Borne, sod may be sup-
posed to hava bean tsksn in the case of Paul. The
however in the common text, Acts xxviti. 1G.
PAUL
The Christians at Rome, on tbtlr part, sent tuft
some of their number, who met St Paul at Aapl
Forum and Tree Tabernas ; and on this first intro-
duction to the Church at Rome the Apostle fell
that his long desire was fulfilled at last — "Us
thanked God and took courage."
St. Pmtl nt Some. — On their arrival at Rome
the centurion delivered up his prisoners into the
proper custody, that of the praetorian prefect." Paul
was at once treated with special consideration, and
was allowed to dwell by himself with the soldier
who guarded him. He was not released from this
galling annoyance of being constantly chained to a
keeper; but every indulgence compatible with this
necessary restraint was readily allowed him. Ha
was now therefore free " to preach the Gospel to
them that were at Rome also ; " and proceeded
without delay to act upon bis rule — "to the Jew
first" He invited the chief persons amongst the
Jews to come to him, and explained to them that
though he was brought to Rome to answer charges
made against him by the Jews in Palestine, he had
really done nothing disloyal to his nation or the
I -aw, nor desired to be considered as hostile to his
fellow-countrymen. On the contrary, he was in
custody for maintaining that " the hope of Israel"
had been fulfilled. The Roman Jews replied that
they had received no tidings to his prejudice. The
sect of which he had implied he was a member
they knew to be everywhere spoken against; but
they were willing to hear what he had to say. It
has been thought strange that such an attitude
should be taken towards the faith of Christ by the
Jews at Rome, where a flourishing branch of the
Church had existed for some years ; and an argu-
ment has been drawn from this representation
against the authenticity of the Acts. But it may
be accounted for without violence from what we
know and may proHbly conjecture. (1.) Tba
Church at Home consisted mainly of Gentiles,
though it must be supposed that they had been
previously for the most part Jewish proselytes.
(2.) The real Jews at Rome had been persecuted
and sometimes entirely banished, and their unset-
tled state may have checked the contact and col-
lision which would have been otherwise likely. (3.)
St Paul was possibly known by name to the Roman
Jews, and curiosity may have persuaded them to
listen to him. Even if he were not known to them,
here, as in other places, his courteous Ixaring and
strong expressions of adhesion to the faith of his
fathers would win a bearing from them. A day
was therefore appointed, on which a large number
came expressly to hear him expound hia.belief; and
from morning till evening he bore witness of the
kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus,
both out of the 1-aw of Moses and out of the
prophets. So the Apostle of the Gentiles bad not
yet unlearnt the original Apostolic method. The
hope of Israel was still his subject. But, as of old,
the reception of hit message by the Jews was not
favorable. They were slow of heart to believe, at
Rome as at Piaidian Antioch. The judgment pro-
nounced by Isaiah was come, Paul testified, upon
the people. Tbey bad made themselves blind and
deaf and gross of heart. The •jospel must be pro-
claimed to the Gentiles, amongst whom it would
which states that this was dona, eaamt be
as certainly genuine. Sse noes «, rot i fv
(Amer. sd.). 1
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PAUL
ted a better welcome. He tamed therefore again
lo the Gentiles, and for two years he dwelt in his
»wn hired house, and received all who came to him,
proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching con-
cerning the IiOrd Jesus Christ, with all confidence,
■>: man forbidding him.
These are the last words of the Acts. This his-
tory of the planting of the kingdom of Christ in
the world brings us down to the time when the
Gospel was openly proclaimed by the great Apostle
in the Gentile capital, and stops short of the mighty
convulsion which was shortly to pronounce that
kingdom established as the Divine commonwealth
for all men. The work of St. Paul belonged to
the preparatory period. He was not to live through
the time when the Son of Man came in the destruc-
tion of the Holy City and Temple, and in the
throes of the New Age. The most significant nart
of his work was accomplished when in the Imperial
City he had declared his Gospel << to the Jew first,
and also to the Gentile." But his career is not
abruptly closed. Before he himself fades out of our
sight in the twilight of ecclesiastical tradition, we
hare letters written by himself, which contribute
some particulars to his external biography, and
give us a for more precious insight into his convic-
tions and sympathies.
Period of the Later Eputla. — We might natu-
rally expect that St. Paul, tied down to one spot at
Rome, and yet free to speak and write to whom he
pleased, would pour out in letters his love and
anxiety for distant churches. It seems entirely
I asonable to suppose that the author of the extant
epistles wrote very many which are not extant.
To suppose this, aids us perhaps a little in the dif-
ficult endeavor to contemplate St. Paul's epistles
as living letters. It is difficult enough to connect
in our minds the writing of these epistles with the
external conditions of a human life; to think of
Paul, with his incessant chain and soldier, sitting
down to write or dictate, and producing for the
world an inspired epistle. But it is almost more
difficult to Imagine the Christian communities of
those days, samples of the population of Macedonia
or Asia Minor, receiving and reading such letters.
But the letters were actually written; and they
must of necessity be accepted as representing the
kind of communications wh>ch marked the inter-
course of the Apostle and his fellow-Christians.
When he wrote he wrote out of the fullness of his
heart ; and the ideas on which he dwelt were those
of his daily and hourly thoughts. To that impris-
onment to which St. I.uke has introduced us, —
the imprisonment which lasted for such a tedious
time, though tempered by much indulgence, — be-
longs the noble group of letters to Philemon, to the
Cokesuuu, to the Ephesians, and to the Philip-
pians. The three former of these were written at
one time and sent by the same messengers. Wheth-
er that to the Philippians was written before or
sAer these, we cannot determine; but the tone of it
seems to imply that a crisis was approaching, and
therefore It is commonly regarded as the latest of
.be four.
St Paul had not himself founded the Church at
CoIossbs. But during his imprisonment at Rome
■e had for an associate — be calls him a " fellow-
prisoner " (Philemon ill) — a chief teacher of -Iw
Colossian church named Epaphras. He had thus
Meome deeply interested in the condition of that
**<«rch. It happened that at the same timo a slave
annul Onesimus came within the reach of St.
289»
PAUL
Paul's teaching, and was converted into a :
and useful Christian. This Onesimus bad run
away from his master; and his master was a Chris-
tian of Colossss. St. Paul determined to sent
back Onesimus to his master; sod with him Ik
determined also to send his old companion Tychi-
cus (Acts xx. 4) as a messenger to the church at
Colossn, and to neighboring churches. This wis
the occasion of the letter to Philemon, which com-
mended Onesimus, in language of singular tender-
ness and delicacy, as a faithful and beloved brother,
to his injured master; and also of the two tetters
to the Colossians and Ephesians. [Philexoh,
Epistle to.] That to the Colossians, being drawn
forth by the most special circumstances, may b*
reasonably supposed to have been written first. It
was intended to guard the church at Colossss from
false teaching, which the Apostle knew to be infest-
ing it For the characteristics of this epistle, we
must refer to the special article. [Colossians,
Epistle to thk.] The end of it (iv. 7-18) names
several friends who were with St Paul at Rome, as
Aristarchus, Marcus (St. Mark), Epaphras, Luke,
and Demas. For the writing of the Epistle to the
Ephesiaus, there seems to hare been no more special
occasio-i, than that Tyehicns was passing through
Ephesus. [Ephesians, Epistle to the.] The
highest characteristic which these two epistles, to
the Colossians and Ephesians, have in common, is
that of a presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
fuller and clearer than we find in previous writings,
as the Head of creation and of mankind. AU
things created through Christ, all things coherent
in Him, all things reconciled to the Father by Him,
the eternal purpose to restore and complete all
things in Him, — such are the Ideas which grew
richer and more distinct in the mind of the Apostle
as he meditated on the Gospel which he had been
preaching, and the truths implied in it In the
Epistle to the Colossians this divine headship of
Christ is maintained as the safeguard against the
fancies which filled the heavens with secondary
divinities, and which laid down rules for an arti-
ficial sanctity of men upon the earth. In the
Epistle to the Ephesians the eternity and univer
sality of God's redeeming purpose in Christ, and
the gathering of men unto Him as his members,
are set forth as gloriously revealed in the Gospel.
In both, the application of the truth concerning
Christ as the image of God and the Head of men
to the common relations of human life Is dwelt
upon in detail.
The Epistle to the Philippians resembles ths
Second to the Corinthians in the effusion of per-
sonal feeling, but differs from it in the absence of
all soreness- The Christians at Philippi had re-
garded the Apostle with love and reverence from the
beginning, and had given him nnny proofs of
their affection. They had now sent him a oontri
bution towards his maintenance at Rome, such s»
we most suppose him to hare received from time
to time for the expenses of ■' his own hired house."
The bearer of this contribution wss Epaphroditus,
an ardent friend and fellow- laborer of St. Paul,
who had Mien sick on the journey, or at Rome
(Phil. il. 87). The epistle was written to be con-
veyed by Epaphroditus on his return, and to ex-
press the joy with which St Paul had received ths
kindness of the Philippians. He dwells, therefore,
upon their fellowship m the work of spreading ths
Gospel, a work in which he was even now hboVa*
and scarcely with the less effect on account of ha
Digitized by VjOOQlC
J
2894
PAUL
bond*. HU imprisonment had made him known,
Kid had given bin) fruitful opportunities of declar-
ing nil Gospel amongst the Imperial guard (L 13),
and even in the household of the Cesar (iv. 82).
lie pmfiraes his undiminished sense of the. glory
of following Christ, and his expectation of an ap-
proaching time in which the Lord Jesus should be
revealed from- heaven as a deliverer. There is a
(/i-'iciuiu tone running through this epistle, ex-
pressive of humility, devotion, kindness, delight in
ill things fair and good, to which the favorable eir-
sunistanees under which it was written gave a
natural <: cession, and which helps us to understand
the kind if ripening which had taken place in the
spirit of • ie writer. [Philippians, Epistle to
tut.]
Io this spistls St. Paul twice expresses a confi-
dent bop that before long he may be able to visit
the Philippians In person (i. 28, oTSa k. t. A- ii.
24, wrroiflo K. r. A.). Whether this hope was
fjJfiUed or not, belongs to a question which now
presents itself to us, and which has been the occa-
sion of much controversy. According to the gen-
eral opinion, the Apostle was liberated from his
imprisonment and left Home soon after the writing
of the letter to the Philippians, spent some time in
visits to Greece, Asia Minor, and Spain, returned
again as a prisoner to Rome, and was put to death
there. In opposition to this view it is maintained
by Lome, that he was never liberated, but was put
t j death at Rome at an earlier period than is com-
monly supposed. The arguments adduced in favor
of the common view are, (I) the hopes expressed
'>y St. Paul of visiting Philippi (already named)
and Cokwse (Philemon 22); (2) a nuuil*r of al-
lusions in the Pastoral Epistles, and their general
character; and (3) the testimony of ecclesiastical
tradition. The arguments in favor of the single
imprisonment appear to be wholly negative, and to
aim simply at showing that there fa) no proof of a
liberation, or departure from Rome. It is con-
tended that St. Paul's expectations were not always
realised, and thai the passages from Philemon and
Philippians are enectually neutralized by Acta xx.
26, " I know that ye all (at Ephesus) shall see my
face no more; '" inasmuch as the supporters of the
ordinary view hold that St. Paul went again to
Kphesua. This is a fair answer. The argument
jom the Pastoral Epistles is met most simply by a
denial of their genuineness. The tradition of
ecclesiastical antiquity is affirmed to have no real
weight.
The decision must torn mainly upon the view
taken of the Pastoral Epistles. It is true that
there are many critics, including Wieseler and Dr.
)avidson, who admit the genuineness of these
spittles, and yet by referring 1 Timothy and Titus
*/) an earlier period, and by strained explanations
.rf the allusions in 2 Timothy, get rid of the evi-
sice they are generally understood to give in
sivor of a second imprisonment. The voyages re-
quired by the two former epistles, and the writing
of them, are placed within the three years spent
thiefly at Ephesus (Acts xx. 31). But the hypoth-
esis of voyages during that period not recorded
by St. Luke is just as arbitrary as that of a release
from Borne, which is objected to expressly because
It is arbitrary; and such a distribution of the Pss-
• * lbs "esse,'' as some think, in which the books
St fsrehmsnts were carried, since a^AaVat (2 Tim. iv.
U maj signify "case" as well ss "cloak" (A. V.).
PAUL
torsi Epistles is shown by overwhebniig nMssm
to be untenable. The whole question is discussed
in a masterly and decisive manner by AHbrd in his
Prolegomena to the Pastoral Epistles. If, bow
ever, these epistles are not accepted as genuine,
the main ground for the belief in a second impris-
onment is cut away. For a special consideration
of the epistles, let the reader refer to the articles
on Timotht and Titos.
The difficulties which have induced such critics
as De Wette and Ewald to reject these epistles,
are not inconsiderable, and will force themselves
upon the attention of the careful student of St
Paul. But they are overpowered by the much
greater difficulties attending any hypothesis which
assumes these epistles to be spurious. We are
obliged, therefore, to recognise the modifications of
St Paul's style, the developments in the history of
the church, aud the movements of various persons,
which have appeared suspicious in the epistles to
Timothy and Titus, as nevertheless historically
true. And then without encroaching on the do-
main of conjecture, we draw the following conclu-
sions: (1.) St Paul must have left Rome, and
visited Asia Minor and Greece; for he says to
Timothy (1 Tim. i. 3.), " I besought thee to abide
still at Ephesus, when I was setting out for Mace-
donia." After being onoe at Ephesus, he wss
purposing to go there again (1 Tun. iv. 13), snd he
spent a considerable time at Ephesus (2 Tim. L
18). (2.) He paid a visit to Crete, and left Titus
to organize churches there (Titus L 6). He wss
intending to spend a winter at one of the places
named Nioopous (Tit iiL 12). (3.) He travelled
by Miletus (2 Tim. iv. 20), Troas (2 Tim. iv. 13),
where ho left a cloak or case, <* and some books,
and Corinth (2 Tim. iv. 20). (4.) He is a prisoner
at Rome, " suffering unto bonds ss an evil-doer "
(2 Tim. ii. 9), and expecting to be soon condemned
to death (2 Tim. iv. 6). At this time be felt de-
serted and solitary, having only Luke, of bis old
associates, to keep him company ; ar.d he was very
anxious that Timothy should come to him without
delay from Ephesus, and bring Mark with him (2
Tun. i. 15, iv. 16, 9-12.).
These facts may be amplified by probable addi-
tions from conjecture and tradition. There are
strong reasons for placing the three epistles at ss
advanced a date as possible, and not far from one
another. The peculiarities of style and diction by
which these are distinguished from all his former
epistles, the affectionate anxieties of an old man,
and the glances frequently thrown back on earlier
times and scenes, the disposition to be hortato-
ry rather than speculative, the references to a
more complete and settled organisation of the
Church, the signs of a condition tending to moral
corruption, and resembling that described in the
apocalyptic letters to the Seven Churches — would
incline us to sdopt the latest date which has bete
suggested for the death of St Paul, so ss to inter-
pose as much time ss possible between the Pastoial
Epistles and the former group. Now the earlue*
authorities for the date of St Paul's death are l<e>
sebius and Jerome, who place it, the one (Carouse
Am. 2083) in the 18th, the other (Cot Script lea.
"Paulus") in the 14th year of Nero. These dates
would allow some four or five years betweet tht
There Is no conclusive reason for
mors than the other.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
FAUIi
Irst tamriauument and the mood During then
years, according to the general belief of the early
anarch, St. Paul accomplished hie old design (Bom.
it. 88) and visited Spain. EwaM, who denies toe
genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles, and with it
the journeyings in Greece and Asia Minor, believe*
that St Paul wai liberated and paid this visit to
Spain (Gcsduchte, vi. pp. 631, 631, 633); yielding
upon this point to the testimony of tradition. The
first writer quoted in support of the journey to
Spain is one whose evidence would indeed be irre-
sistible if the language in which it is expressed
were less obscure. Clement of Borne, in a horta-
tory and rather rhetorical passage (Ep. 1 ad Cor.
e. 5) refers to St. Paul as an example of patience,
and mentions that he preached Ir rt rfi ianroXf
■ml tr rp Jwr«, and that before his martyrdom
be went M to rippM tt/j tiaem. It is probable,
but can hardly be said to be certain, that by this
expression, "the goal of the west," Clement was
{escribing Spain, or some country yet more to the
west. The next testimony labors under a some-
what similar difficulty from the Imperfection of the
text, but it at least names unambiguously a " pro-
feotionem Pauli ab urbead Spaniam proficiscentis."
This is from Huratori's Fragment on the Canon
(Booth, RtU Sac. h. p. 1-13). (See the passage
quoted and discussed in Wieaeler, Chron. Apott.
ZtiL p. 536, Ac , or Alford, ili. p. 93.) Afterwards
Chrysoeiom says simply, Mrra to -y«W9ai cV
f"p£, wi\tr fl> riiy Iraviav awrj\0iv {on 3 Tim.
iv. 30) ; and Jerome speaks of St. Paul as set free
by Nero, that he might preach the Gospel of Christ
"in Occidents quoque partibua" (Cat, Script.
EceL M Paulus " ). Against these assertions nothing
ia produced, except the absence of allusions to a
journey to Spain in passages from some of the
Esthers where such allusions might more or lees be
expected. Dr. Davidson (Introd. Nod Tett. ill.
15, 84) gives a long list of critics who believe in
St. Paul's release from the first imprisonment.
Wieaeler (p. 631) mentions some of these, with
references, and adds some of the more eminent
German critics who believe with him in but one
imprisonment. These include Schrader, Hansen,
Winer, and Baur. The only English name of any
weight to be added to this list is that of Dr. Da-
vidson.
We conclude then, that after a wearing impris-
onment of two years or more at Borne, St. Paul
was set free, and spent some years in various jour-
neyings eastward* and westwards Towards the
close of this time he pours out the warnings of his
leas vigorous but still brave and faithful spirit in
the letters to Timothy and Titus. The first to
Timothy and that to Titus were evidently written
at very nearly the same time. After these were
written, he was apprehended again and sent to
Borne. Aa an eminent Christian teacher St. Paul
was now in a far more dangerous position than
when he was first brought to Borne. The Chris-
liana had been exposed to popular odium by the
Use charge of being concerned in the great Neron-
jjuj conflagration of the city, and nd been sub-
jected to a moat cruel persecution The Apostle
appeals now to have been treated, not as an hon-
orable state-prisoner, but as a felon (3 Tim. ii. 8).
Bat he was at least allowed to write this Second
PAUL
2896
* lor Ths Brians to ths Hssasws, m ttw article
attar that head. The close observation of the lMs of
ft. Paul would lead, we think, to the eoaelaaVn, that
Letter to his « dearly beloved son " Timothy : satt
though he expiessia a confident expectation of nil
speedy death, ha yet thought it sufficiently probe
ble that it might be delayed for some time, to war-
rant him in urging Timothy to come to him from
Epheaus. Meanwhile, though he felt bis isolation,
he was not in the least daunted by his danger.
He was more than ready to die (ir. 6), and had a
sustaining experience of not being deserted by his
Lord. Once already, in this second Imprisonment,
he had appeared before the authorities; and " tbx
Lord then stood by him and strengthened him,''
and gave him a favorable opportunity for the one
thing always nearest to hi* heart, the oublio decla-
ration of his GospeL
This epistle, 8 surely no unworthy utttrano* ct
such an age and in such an hour even of a St
Paul, brings us, it may well be presumed, close hi
the end of his life. For what remains, we have
the concurrent testimony of ecclesiastical antiquity,
that he was beheaded at Borne, about the same
time that St. Peter was crucified there. The ear-
liest allusion to the death of St. Paul ia in that
sentence from Clemens Bomanus, already quoted,
M to rifpa rf/> Soccwt 4\9iir Hal iiaprvp4<rat
Mrin rryovfi4rav, oSros awr/AAcrrn tov nifffiou,
which just fails of giving us any particulars upon
which we can conclusively rely. The next authori-
ties are those quoted by Eusebius in his H. £. ii.
36. Dionysius, bishop of Corinth (a. d. 170),
says that Peter and Paul went to Italy and taught
there together, and suffered martyrdom about the
same time. This, like most of the statements re-
lating to the death of St. Paul, is mixed up with
the tradition, with which we are not here immedi-
ately concerned, of the work of St. Peter at Rome.
Caiua of Borne, supposed to be writing within the
3d century, names the grave of St Peter on the
Vatican, and that of St. Paul on the Ostian way.
Eusebius himself entirely adopts the tradition that
St Paul was beheaded under Nero at Home.
Amongst other early testimonies, we have that of
TertuUian, who says (Da Prater. Haret. 30)
that at Borne " Petrus passioni Dominica! adaqua-
tur, Paulua Johannia [the Baptist] exitu corona-
tar; " and that of Jerome ( Cat. So. Pauhu), " Hie
ergo H«o Neronis anno (eodem die qno Petrus)
Bonus pro Christo capita truncatua sepultuaque
est, in via Ostiensi." It would be useless to enu-
merate further testimonies of what ia undisputed.
It would also be beyond the scope of this article
to attempt to exhibit the traces of St Paul's Apos-
tolic work in the history of the Church. But there
i* one indication, an exceptional as to deserve spe-
cial mention, which shows that the difficulty of
understanding the Gospel of St Paul and of reooa
tiling it with a true Judaism was very early fall
This is in the Apocryphal work called the Clemen
tines (ra KArjfisVria), supposed to be written before
the end of the 3d century. Them curious composi-
tions contain direct assaults (for though the nam*
is not given, the references are plain and undis-
guised ) upon the authority and the character of St
Paul. St Peter is represented as the true Apostle,
of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews, and St Paul
as o txtyo* arSpuwos, who opposes St Peter and
St James. The portions of the Clementines which
illustrate the writer's view of St Paul will b*
thj thought* and battels of that epistle, to whoaasa*
ever the composition of it b* attributed, an by at
means alien to the Ajoa thV s habits of mind.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2896
PAUL
found in Stanley's CorinMant (Iatrod. to a Uv.)i
and wi acoount of the whole work, with rosvtcaOBa
to toe treatises of SchUemann and Baor, in Oiaso
ler, EecL Out. i. § 68.
Chronology of St. Pouts Life. — It ia usual to
distinguish between the internal or absolute, and
the external or relative, chronology of St. Paul's
life. The former ia that which we have hitherto
followed. It remains to mention the points at
which the N. T. history of the Apostle comes into
contest with the outer history of the world. There
are two principal events which serve as fixed dates
for deiierniining the Pauline chronology — the death
of Herod Agrippa, and the accession of Featus;
inJ cf then the latter is by Car the more impor-
tant. The time of this being ascertained, the par-
ticulars given in the Acta enable us to date a con-
siderable portion of St. Paul's life. Mow it has
been proved almost to certainty that Felix was re-
called from Judas and succeeded by Festns in the
year 00 (Wieseler, pp. 68, Ac; Conybeare and
ilowson, ii. note C). In the autumn, then, of A.
D. 60 St- Haul left Cajaarea. In the spring of 61
he arrived at Rome. There he lived two years, that
is, till the spring of 63, with much freedom in his
own hired house. After this we depend upon con-
jecture; but the Pastoral Epistles give us reasons,
as we have seen, for deferring the Apostle's death
until 67, with Euaebius, or 68, with Jerome. Sim-
ilarly we can go badaoardt from A. P. 60. St.
Paul was two years at Cajtarea (Acts xxiv. 27);
therefore he arrived at Jerusalem on his last visit
by the Pentecost of 68. Before this he bad win-
tered at Corinth (Acts xx. 8, 3), having gone from
Ephesus to Greece. He left Ephesus, than, in the
latter part of 67, and as he stayed 3 years at
Ephesus (Acts xx. 31), he must have come thither
in 64. Previously to this journey he had spent
"some time" at Antioch (Acts xviii. 23), and cur
chronology becomes indeterminate. We can only
add together the time of a hasty visit to Jerusalem,
the travels of the great second missionary journey,
which included 1} year at Corinth, another inde-
terminate stay at Antioch, the important third visit
to Jerusalem, another ■» long " residence at Antioch
(Acts xiv. 28), the first missionary journey, again
an indeterminate stay at Antioch (Acta xii. 26) —
until we come to the second visit to Jerusalem,
which nearly synchronised with the death of Herod
Agrippa. in A. D. 44 (Wieseler, p. 130). Within
Jiis interval of some 10 years the most important
iate to Ax is that of the third visit to Jerusalem ;
and there is a great concurrence of the best authori-
ties in placing this visit in either 60 or 61. St.
>eul himself (Gal. ii. 1) places this visit " 14
years after " either his conversion or the first visit.
In the former case we have 37 or 38 for the date
sf the conversion. The conversion was followed
by 3 years (Gal. i. 18) spent in Arabia and Da-
najrua, and ending with the first visit to Jerusa-
«m; and the space between the first visit (40 or
»1) and the second (44 or 46) is filled up by an
indeterminate time, presumably 2 or 8 years, at
Tarsus (Acts ix. 30), and 1 year at Antioch (Acta
si. 26). The date of the martyrdom of Stephen
•an only be conjectured, and is very variously
placed between a. D. 30 and the year of St. Paul's
conversion. In the account of the death of Stephen
fit. Paul is called '• a young man " (Acta vB. 68).
t la not improbable therefore that be was born
jotwean A. D. and A. D. 6, so that be might be
tast 60 years of age when he calls himself " Paul
PAUL
the aged " in Philemon 8.
tuns will h* found in almost every writer on St
Paul. Comparative chronological tables (showing
the opinions of 80 and 34 critics) are given by
Wieseler and Davidson; tables of eveuta only, by
Conybeare and Howaon, Alford, Jowett, and many
others.
Pettcmal Appearanot and Character of St Paul
— We have no very trustworthy sources of infor-
mation as to the personal appearance of St. Pawl.
Those which we have are referred to and quoted
in Conybeare and Howaon (i. eh. 7, end). The*
are the early pictures and mosaics described by
Mrs. Jameson, and pscssgf from Malalas, Nieepa-
orus, and the apocryphal Acta Pindi et Tktekt
(concerning which see also Conybeare and Howaon,
i. 197). They all agree in ascribing to the Apostle
a short stature, a long face with high forehead, aa
aquiline nose, close and prominent eyebrows. Other
characteristics mentioned are baldness, gray eyas,
a dear complexion, and a winning expression. Of
hie temperament and character St. Paul is himself
the best painter. His speeches and l et t e rs convey
to us, as we read them, the truest impressions of
those qualities which helped to make him The
great Apostle. We perceive the warmth and
ardor of his nature, his deeply affectionate dis-
position, the tenderness of his sense of honor, the
courtesy and personal dignity of his bearing, Ms
perfect fearlessness, bis heroic endurance; we per-
ceive the rare combination of subtlety, tenacity,
and versatility in bis intellect; we perceive also a
practical wisdom which we should have assocrstad
with a cooler temperament, and a tolerance which
is seldom united with such impetuous convictions.
And the principle which harmonised all these en-
dowmente and directed them to a practical end
was, beyond dispute, u knowledge of Jesus Christ
in the Divine Spirit. Personal allegiance to Christ
as to a living Master, with a growing insight into
the relation of Christ to each man and to the
world, carried the Apostle forwards on a straight
course through every vicissitude of personal for-
tunes and amidst the various habits of thought
which he bad to encounter. The conviction that
he had been entrusted with a Gospel concerning a
Lord and Deliverer of men was what sustained
and purified bis love for his own people, whilst it
created in him such a love for mankind that he
only knew himself as the servant of others for
Christ's sake.
A remarkable attempt has recently been made by
Professor Jowett, in his Commentary on some of
the epistles, to qualify what he considers to be the
blind and undiscriiuinatiug admiration of St Paul,
by representing him as having been, with ell his
excellences, a man " whose appearance and dis-
course made an impression of feebleness," " out cf
harmony with life and nature," a confused thinkaa,
uttering himself " in broken words and hesitating
forms of speech, with no beauty or comeliness of
style," and so undecided in his Christian belie?
that be was preaching, in the 14th year after his
conversion, a Gospel concerning Christ which at
himself, in four years more, confessed to have been
carnal. In these paradoxical views, however, Pro-
fessor Jowett stands almost alone: the result of the
freest, ss of the most reverent, of the numerous
recent studies of St. Ptul and his works (amongst
which Professor Jowett's own Commentary is one
of the most interesting) having been only to add
"it tribute to the ancient sdmtratiai
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PATTL
sf Christendom. Those who judge St. Paul at
titty would judge any other remarkable man con-
fess him unanimously to hare been "one of the
greatest spirits of all time; " whilst those who
believe him to have been appointed by the Lord of
mankind, and inspired by the Holy Ghost, to do a
work in the world of almost unequalled importance,
are lost in wonder a* they study the gifts with
which he was endowed for that work, and the sus-
tained devotion with which be gave himself to it.
Modem Authorities. — It has not been thought
necessary to load the pages of this article with ref-
erences to the authors about to be mentioned, be-
cause in each of them it is easy for the student to
turn at once to any part of St. Paul's life or writ-
ings with regard to which he may desire to consult
them. A very long catalogue might be made of
authors who have written on St. Paul; amongst
whom the following may be recommended, as of
■one independent value. In English, the work of
Messrs. Conybeare and Howson, on the Lift and
Epistles of St. Paul, is at once the most compre-
hensive and the most popular. Amongst Commen-
taries, those of Professor Jowett on the Epistles to
the Thessalonians, Galatians, and Romans, and of
Professor Stanley on the Epistles to the Corinthi-
ans, are expressly designed to throw light on the
Apostle's character and work. The general Com-
mentaries of Dean Alford and Dr. Wordsworth in-
clude abundant matter upon everything relating to
St. Paul. So does Dr. Davidson's Introduction to
tit New Tettnment, which gives also in great pro-
maion the opinions of all former critics, English
and foreign, l'sley's well-known Horn Paulina ;
Mr. Smith's work on the Voyage and Shipwreck
of St. Paul [3d ed. 1866]; Mr. Tate's Continuous
History of St. Paul; and Mr. Lewin's St. Paul,
are exclusively devoted to Pauline subjects. Of the
older works by commentators and others, which
are thoroughly sifted by more recent writers, it
may be sufficient to mention a book which had a
great reputation in the last century, that of Lord
Lyttelton on the Conversion of St. Pnul Amongst
German critics and historians the following may be
named: Ewald, in his Gttehiclitt da Volka Is-
rael, vol. vi. and his Sendsehreioen da Apottels
Pauhu; Wieseler, Chronologic da Apostoiuchrn
Zeuauers, which is universally aocepted ss the best
work on tie chronology of St. Paul's life and times;
De Wette, in his Einleitung and bis Exegetisches
Bandbuch ; Meander, PJIantung utui Leitung der
Ckrittl Kirche; works on Paulut, by Baur,
Hansen, Schroder, Schneckenburger; and the
Commentaries of Olshausen, Meyer, etc. In
ireneh, the work of Salvador on Jam Christ et ta
Doctrine, in the chapter " St. Paul et l'Egtise,"
jives the view of a modern Jew; and the Lns-
cuarsei on St. Paul, by M. de Pressrnsg, are able
and eloquent. J. IX D.
* The literature under Acts (an especially
Amer. ed.) pertains largely to the history of Paul.
I dike's narrative iu the Act* may be read with new
•nterest in the later and more accurate translations
(Bible Union, Noyes, Alford). Stier's Reden dtr
Apottel is now translated by G. H. Venables, The
Words of the Apostla, etc. (Edinb. 1869), one sf
the series of Clark's Foreign TheoL Library For
extended sketches of the life and teachings of Paul
'he reader may aee Dr. SchalTs Hitlory of the
Apostolic Church, ch. iii. pp. 886-348, Preasense's
Hunoir* del troit premiers Swobs, i. 436 ft*, and H
WMM, and Di. William Smith's Nue TuL Bit
289T
PATJL
lory, pp. 840-586, Amer. ed. Among the i
treatises or works may be mentioned Paulut dtr
Apottel, by J. P. Lange, in Herzog's Rut-En-
cgld. xi. £38-848; Paulut, by H. Besser, author
of fHt Bibelstuaden, in Zeller's Bibl. Worterb. ii
234-242; Irwin's Fatti Sacri (Land. 1865), im
portant for the chronology; Ch. J. Trip, Pauhu
nock dtr Apottelgetch. (Leiden, 1866), a prize es-
say; J. R. Oertel, Paulut in dtr Apottelgetch. etc.
(Halle a. S. 1868), showing the historical eharae-
ter of the Pauline portions; Howson, Bulseau
Lecture for 1862 an The Character of BL Paul
(2d ed. Lond. 1864); Scenafrom the Lift of St.
Paul (Boat 1867); Tht Metaphors of St. Paul
(Lond. 1868), reprinted in the Theological Edectit
vols. ir. A v. ; Die Apostelgtsckicklt in Bibelstundm
(i.-Ixxxiii.) amgelegt von Karl Gerok, 2 vole.
(1868); Th. Binney, Lectures on St. Pauls kU
Life and Ministry (Lond. 1866), popular and prac-
tical; A. Hausrath, Der Apottel Pauhu (Heidelb.
1865); F. Bungener, Saint Paul, ta vie, so* amen
et ta epltres (Paris, 186S); Kenan, Sa»4 Paul
(Paris, 1869); Paulus Caasel, Die Inschift dm
Altars su Aiken (Berlin, 1867), able, but ?noor-
rectly assumes Pauls-object to be anti-pantheistle
not anti-polytheistic.
On the doctrine of St. Paul, aee L. Usteri, EnU
idckekmg d. poulin. Lehrbegrijf't (Zurich, 1824,
6« Aufl. 1851); A. F. Dahnn, EntmckL dpauHn.
Lehrbtgrifft (Halle, 1835); J. F. Rabiger, Dt
Christologia Paulina, contra Baurium (Vratisl
1862); R. A. Lipsius, Die pauiinitche, Rechtferti-
gungslehrt (Leipz. 1853); Abp. Whatoly, Essays
on some of tht Difficultia in the Writings cf St.
Paul, from tht 9th London ed., Andover, 1866;
and the biblioo-theological works of Neandsr, Reuse,
Lutterbeck, Baur, Messner, Lechler, C. F. Sehmid,
and Beysehlag, referred to under JoRM, Uoapn
OF, vol. ii. p. 1439 a For copious references to
the literature relating to the Apostle, see particu-
larly Reuss's Gttch. der Heiligen Schriften If. T.
4« Aufl. § 58 ff. H.
* Pouts peculiar Mission as an Apostle. —
Saint Paul is generally regarded as one of the
apostolic college, perhaps, indeed, as primus inter
para, yet as distinguished from the others only by
his late and abnormal admission into their ranks, —
a distinction which in some quarters essentially
impaired his authority and influence. In our ap-
prehension, be was specifically and officially sepa-
rated from the twelve, and was intrusted with a
mission, to which no one of them was equally ade-
quate, and for which his nativity, culture, and
antecedent life had trained and qualified him.
The seeds of Christianity were planted at the
outset in the decaying trunk of Judaism, as those
of the mistletoe are lodged in the ancient oak
The earliest Christians not only were regarded, bat
regarded themselves, as a reformed sect of Jews,
The original disciples were punctilious Hebrews,
and held Christianity as a code supplementary to
that of Moses. They were scandalised and horror-
stricken at the thought of abjuring the ceremonial
law. When, after the divine monition in the case
of Cornelius, they reluctantly began to admit Gen-
tile converts, they stretched the yoke of Judaism
before the gate of the church, and sought to oora-
pel their proselytes to stoop under it, as the essen-
tial, >r at least the most hopeful condition of
Christian citizenship. This iisimmuaa of vision
was the necessary result of their humble origin,
obscure eondltjon, scanty culture, and y ro tfa nsa
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PAUL
associations, nod It waa among their upeeial fit
far the apostleehip. Had they been more catholio
in their tolerance, and broader in their sympathies,
they would hare hopelessly alienated their fellow-
sountrymen, and would thus hare been left without
any point of aupport for propaganditm among the
Gentiles. It waa their continued devotion to the
law and ritual of their fathers, that won for them
a not impatient hearing, even from the very Phari-
sees, that enabled them to preach Chriat in the
synagogues, and that obtained for the new religion
in Gentile cities tbo liberty of profession, which,
restricted as it waa and nowhere inviolable, had
sost Judaism several generations of untempered
contumely and persecution. Thus was it ordained
that the heavenly exotic should gain richness and
strength, should reach forth boughs of ample shade
and sufficing fruitfulness, before it should be sev-
ered from the parent trunk, and left without sup-
port-to the winds and storms of a hostile world.
But the hour had arrived when the more vig-
orous vitality of the younger plant could no longer
find nourishment in its parasitic condition; and
Paul was the appointed agent for the essential and
pre-determined separation. In bis mind, and under
bis administration, Christianity waa first required
and treated as independent and sovereign. Under
him grew up the organization, by which it waa
thenceforth to assume its unshared place, to dis-
charge its undivided office, and to overshadow and
supplant the growths of uncounted ages. This
bold and delicate mission demanded not alone devo-
tion and zeaL not alone intimate conversance with
the mind of Christ. He to whom it was intrusted
needed a profound acquaintance with Judaism as
it then was, its traditions and its philosophy, in
order that the separation might be effected, on the
one hand, without leaving the least radicle or fibre
of- the transplanted scion in the ancient stock, and
en the other, without marring the venerable, though
effete majesty of the tree which God had in the
earlier ages planted for the healing of the nations,
and whose " branches be had made strong for him-
self." Kor this work there was also requisite a
thorough knowledge of those extra-Judaic religions
and philosophies, which were to vanish with the
growth of Christianity, but each of which, by the
germs of truth which it embodied, might offer
special vantage-ground for the tilth of the spiritual
husbandman. It waa fitting, too, that the chief
agent in this divine enterprise should have become
familiar with the customs, prejudices, needs, and
susceptibilities of the so many and diverse nations
that were to be sheltered and fed by the same
■'tree of life." Above all, there were required
for this movement a weight of character and a
cogency of influence which could command respect
aud constrain attention, a sanctity of life beyond
the shadow of reproach, and dialectic and rhetor-
ical faculties which needer 1 not to shrink from the
encounter with the subtilty of the schools or the
eloquence of the popular aasembly.
If, then, Paul has had no superior, hardly an
equal among men, he waa no more than level with
bis work. We cannot but regard him as the first
man of his age, and we can name no man of
■ny age who seems to us greater than he. bl-
eed, apart from the intrinsic character of Chris-
tianity and the internal evidence of its records,
there seems to us no stronger proof of the authen-
ticity of those records and the divine origin of their
sananta, than the simple feet that Paul— who
PAUL
lived so near the birth-time of the religkn, ajasa
imposture could have been laid bare and (Wnistoc
rent away, and who of all men was the least likely
to have been deceived by mite shows or borne head-
long by basel e ss enthusiasm — was a Christian.
Bit training for kit Work. — Let us past ir
review his providential training for his great life-
work ; for God always " makes up hit Jewels," and
those that are to glow with the purest lustre in
his coronet are always ground, polished, sod tat
by the special agencies of nature, experience, and
association best adapted to develop in each tba
peculiar traits of the divine beauty and glory
which it is designed to mirror to the world. At
the Christian era there was not a spot on earth so
well fitted as Tarsus, for the nurture of him to
whom that once world-renowned city now owes the
surrivance of its very name in the popular mem-
ory. Its site and surroundings must have taken
an early and strong hold on a mind like his, and
have helped to generate the fervor, the glow, tot
torrent-like rush of thought, the vivid imagina-
tion, the overcharged intensity of emotion mani-
fested in bis writings. The city lay on a richly
variegated plain of unsurpassed fertility. In its
rear rose the lofty, bold, snow-crowned dins of
Mount Taurus, piled against the northern sky,
summit against summit, crag upon crag, rolling
up their mist-wreaths to meet the ascending saa,
and arresting midway hit declining path. From
these clifls, clear as crystal, made deathly cold even
in midsummer by the melting snow, tumbled rather
than flowed the Cydnus, over perpetual rapids, and
frequent waterfalls of unsurpassed beauty and of
grandeur hardly paralleled on the Eastern Conti-
nent, till only as it approached the city it became
tractable to the oar, and navigable thence to the
great tea. In full sight of the city lay the vast
Mediterranean, the ocean of the Old World, whi-
tened with the sails of a multitudinous commerce,
now serene as a land-locked lake, and then lashed
into commotion wild and grand as that with which
the Atlantic breaks upon its shores. This disci-
pline of valley, mountain, river, and sea, was well
adapted to make the perceptive powers keen and
vivid, to inspire gorgeous fancies, to stretch to their
utmost capacity the extensor muscles of the inner
man, to form habits of rapid thought and sightlikt
intuition.
Then, at regarded Paul's training for the cos-
mopolitan life for which he was destined, Tarsus
wss the metropolis of eastern travel and commerce.
Nowhere else except in Rome was there so free a
commingling of people from every quarter of the
civilized world, or so favorable a position for ac-
quiring an intimacy with a broad diversity of Ian
guages, habits, customs, and opinions. The city
was a microcosm in its population. The native
barbarian stock was depressed, yet little changed
by immigration. The descendants of an early
Greek colony held the foremost places of wealth
and social influence, rivalled by a horde of officials
and mercantile residents from Borne; while, sep-
arated from both by faith and ancestral customs,
but mingling with them in all the departments of
active life, were large numbers of the Hebrew rase,
whose migratory instincts were already fulfilling
the ancient prophecy of their 'll^persion among all
nations. Tarsus was also celebrated as a seat ce
learning, taking precedence, at that epoch, of
Athens which wss then losing and of Alexandria
which had not yet attained the tnnrtmaajr hi
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PAUL
snwilal culture. [Tabbus.] That Paul had en-
Joyed a liberal cultun under Grecian auspices if
trident from tbs freedom and fluency of bis style,
from hie repeated dssslnal allusions and quota-
tions, and from hie dialectic acumen and skill.
From Tanue Paul wat probably removed at an
earl; age to Jerusalem ; and that on the Jewish
tide his education was thorough and perfect, his
teacher's name alone is ample warrant. Gamaliel
was the moat learned Jew of his age, and was
reckoned among the seven in the long leriet of
Rabbis, who were honored with the title of Bobbm,
equivalent to " Moit Excellent Mmttr." It is a
saying of the Talmud, that " the glory of the Law
ceased " at his death. He was, of course, a Phari-
see, and as such, not only held in reverence the
entire canon of the Old Testament, but attached
even greater importance to oral tradition, and to
the (so-called) religious writings in the then ver-
nacular dialect; so that through him Paul gained
aeeeas to the distinctive opinions and mental habits
of the sect with which he was afterwards brought
into so frequent collision, and from whose members
he knew how to gain a favorable hearing. Un-
doubtedly Paul tuay have learnt from Gamaliel the
lessons that made bim a persecutor of the infant
church. The Kabbi's prudent counsel in the case
of Peter does not show that be was tolerant of re-
puted error. That counsel savored as much of the
fox as of the dove, and, taken by itself, it only in-
dicates a deep insight into the springs of human
action, and a shrewd perception of what would
have been the surest way of exterminating Chris-
tianity, had it been indeed, as he supposed it, a
base-bom superstition. There is extant a prayer
of Gamaliel against misbelievers, which shows that
he relied implicitly on the divine vengeance for the
work of destruction from which he dissuaded his
fellow-countrymen. We attach no little impor
tanoe to Paul's education and experience as a
persecutor. It mnst have taught him tolerance,
generosity, magnanimity toward his opponents.
We accordingly And him using the language, not
of harsh condemnation, but of conciliation, tender-
ness, pity toward the unconverted Jews, evidently
maintaining a strong fellow-feeling with them, never
forgetting that he had been honestly and fervently
what they still ware. Under the same influence
we see him more than just towards rival Christian
teachers, rejoicing in whatever good work they
wrought for the common cause, and acknowledging
the loyalty to their master, and the successful pro-
pagaiidism of those who " added affliction to his
bauds " (Philip, i. 16).
Bit toeiai Putidon There is reason to believe
that St. Paul's social position in early life was
above mediocrity. He inherited from bis father
the citizenship of Rome. A Jew, or a native of
Tarsus, could have obtained this only by purchase,
or in reward of distinguished services. If in the
former way, the oost was larger than a poor man
could nave paid, or one in an obscure position
would have eared to offer; if in the latter, the
implication of a prominent and influential social
standing is still more direct and certain. A sim-
ilar inference might be drawn from the high,
Ihoagh cruel official eminence and trust confided
|o him by bis feuow-eountrymen before his con-
version. It is worthy of remark, also, that alike
It Judaea, before Kestus, Felix, and A grippe, on
•js vojage to Rome, and while permitted to live in
sis owa hind house during his detention in Rome,
PAUL
2309
he was uniformly treated ss a prisoner if distinc-
tion. Nor is our conclusion from these facts in-
validated by his trade as a tent-maker; for it was
customary for Jewish youth, of whatever condition
in life, to learn some form of handicraft. We dn
not allude to this point because the mere accident
of birth attaches to him the slightest preeminence
above his colleagues from the fishing-boats on the
Galilean Lake. But he lived at a period when the
lines of social distinction were sharply drawn, ind
had not begun to be blended by the Gospel of
human brotherhood, and whatever advantage of
position be possessed must have opened to hiss
avenues of influence which were dosed against the
original Apostles, and must have won for hita
larger freedom of access to the persons of exalted
station, and even royal dignity, before whom ha
was often permitted to plead the cause of Christ.
Then too, the higher his position, the larger was
his sacrifice in joining the company of unlettered
rustics and fisbernen, and bearing with them the
reproach of the despised Nazarene. Yet more,
the farther he was removed from the condition of
those who bad little to lose by becoming Christians,
the more improbable is his conversion on any
theory of naturalism; the stronger the certainty
that he had a vision of the Saviour on the way to
Damascus, and was miraculously called to the
apostleship.
However this may be, we cannot be mistaken in
assigning a prominent place among his qualifica-
tions to his high-bred courtesy, — to his possession
in an eminent degree of the traits belonging to
that much abused, yet choice designation, a gtntlo-
man, — " the highest style of man ; " for even the
Christian is but half-regenerated, when the grace
of G-jd has not its outblooming in gentleness,
courtesy, and kindness in the whole intercourse of
life. These traits are everywhere manifest in him.
His style of address before high official personages
is free equally from sycophancy and from rudeness,
betraying alike the tact of a highly accomplished
man, and the dignity of a Christian. In his epistles
there is a pervading grace of manner, indicating
at once the politeness of a loving heart, and famil-
iarity with the moat becoming modes of expressing
that politeness. His very rebukes are conciliatory.
He prepares the way for needed censure by merited
praise. He conveys unpalatable truth at once with
considerate gentleness and with unmistakable ex-
plicitness. He shows equal delicacy in the reluctant
aaking and the grateful acknowledgment of favors.
His numerous salutations are gracefully diversified
in form, and sometimes strikingly beautiful His
epistle to Philemon grows upon our admiration,
when we compare it with the most courtly models
of epistolary composition, ancient and modem. II
was by this perfect urbanity that be became «U
things to all men, studying the mollia Urn/wra
fandi, tile fit opportunities and methods of access,
and presenting the great truths of religion bi the
form best suited to disarm opposition and con-
ciliate respect.
Paul at <m Orator. — Let us now consider some
of St. Paul's qualities as an orator and a writer.
In estimating his genius as an orator, we cannot
forget wnat he tells us of the impediments in the
way of bis success. He dies those who speak of
his bodily presence as mean and his voice as con-
temptible; and then an traditions, undoubtedly
autnentic, of his having been a little, bald-headed
man, with nothing in hie outward aspect to a*
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PAUL
mire especial regard. This may have bean the
Mte, and his oratory have had for this only the
more winning and commanding efficacy. 11m lack
it physical gift* U often a source of added power
to a aoul full of great, burning, energizing thought*.
We hare seen a deformed dwarf rise before a vast
audience, in which at the outset the prestige of a
distinguished reputation could not suppress the
blended feeling of pity and aversion, and in a few
moments he has obtained a purchase upon that
audience which would have been denied to manly
strength or beauty ; for to their apprehension that
curved spine has become a huge mass of brain, and
of brain on fire, and that puny body seems a human
frame no longer, but a conductor of successive
thunder-strokes of fervid emotion from soul to soul.
So too, have we heard a slender, harsh, shrill, or
unmanageable voice, when the vehicle of brilliant
thought or profound feeling, rise into an eloquence
as far above all rhetorical rules as it was wide of
them, so that we have almost forgotten that there
were uttered words, and have felt as If it were that
silent infusion of sentiment which we can imagine
as superseding the need and use of language be-
tween unembodied spirits. We can conceive of
Paul's person as paltry and unattractive, yet as
Irradiated in countenance, mien, and gesture, trans-
figured, glorified by the vividness of his conceptions,
the intensity of his zeal, the ecstasy of his devotion.
His voice, too, may have been such as no artificial
training could have made melodious or effective;
yet it must have surged and swelled, grown majestic
in intonation and rhythm, trembled with deep
emotion, risen into grandeur, as he spoke of Christ
and of heaven,- and have struck the sweetest chords
under the inspiration of the cross. A soul like his
could have assimilated the meanest apparatus of
bodily organs to its own intense and noble vitality,
could have become. transparent through the most
opaque medium, and have made itself profoundly
felt even with a stammering tongue or in a bar-
barons dialect.
The prime element of an orator's efficiency is his
character. His own soul is his chief instrument.
What he can accomplish can never transcend the
measure of what he is. His words and gestures
are but small multiplicands, of which his mass of
mibd and heart is the multiplier. Paul was the
greatest and most efficient orator of his age, be-
cause he was the greatest and best man of bis age,
— because the question that mounted to his Ups
when he rose from the lightning-flash that dosed
his outward vision to open the inward eye to the
realm of spiritual truth, " Lord, what wilt thou
hare rue to do? " was thenceforward the question
of his life, — because from that moment he " con-
ferred not with flesh and blood," but only with the
spirit of the living God, — because bis whole vast
nature was consecrated by an ineffaceable Corban
to the service of Christ and toe salvation of man.
Next to the power of personal character, the
orator needs complete mastery of his subject and
his position. We need not say how thoroughly
Paul was master of his subject, — how bis treasures
heaped up from schools of philosophy, from travels
in many lands, from vast and varied experience,
were all so transmuted into spiritual truth, that,
hough one of the most learned men upon earth,
be literally " knew nothing but Jesus Christ, and
Him crucified." At the same time, no man can
-vsr (we been more entirely the master of his
ausibvr. He analnw in assembly at first sight,
PAUL
discerns at once where and how to strike, whej
there is in the condition of his hearers that may be
made subservient to hie purpose, how favor ma}
be conciliated without a sacrifice of integrity, how
the false believer or the sinner may be refuted or
condemned on his own ground. He understands
the rare art of so dividing an indifferent or un-
friendly audience, as to draw over to his own aid*
those who have any points of affinity with himself;
however remote. Thus, in a mixed assembly hi
Jerusalem, he wins a patient hearing from the
Pharisees, by putting foremost in his speech what
always held the first place in his heart, the resur-
rection of the dead (Acts xxiii. 8 ff.). The most
noteworthy instance of his skill in the management
of a specific audience is to be found in his discourse
at Athens. We need not enlarge on this topic here.
It may suffice to refer the reader to Luke's report
of the speech itself (Acts xvii. 22-31), and to the
account of the circumstances of its delivery and
of its wise adaptation to the Apostle's object, which
has been given in a previous article (Mass' Hill,
Amer. ed.).
Pmd n$ a Writer. — We pass to notice some of
this Apostle's characteristics as a writer. Among
these we would name as most prominent the sin-
gular union, throughout the greater part of his
epistles, of strong reasoning and vivid emotion.
He is severely logical, and at the same time full
of intense feeling, lire keenest shafts of his logic
are forged in the red heat of fervent devotion ; his
most glowing utterances of piety are often argu-
mentative in their form ; and some of those rap-
turous doxotogies that break the continuity of hie
discourse occur in the midst of polemic discussions
on mooted and abstruse points of Christian doctrine
and duty.
St. Paul is often charged with obscurity. Much
of this alleged obscurity results from the indiffer-
ence of readers to the occasion on which each sep-
arate epistle was written, and the purpose which
the writer had in view. Any letters, read as his
generally are, would be obscure; for epistles an
always to be interpreted in great part by the cir-
cumstances to which they owe their origin. In the
case of Paul's writings, these circumstances are in
every instance to be determined, or conjectured
with the strongest show of probability, from the
comparison of their text with the parallel history of
the Acts of the Apostles and with other sources
of information concerning the communities and
persons to whom the epistles were severally ad-
Auother source of obscurity in these writings,
obviated, however, by careful study, consists in St.
Paul's use of Greek particles. No author makes
more profuse and at the same time more diseriminsw-
ing use of particles than be; and whether a reader
shall trace the continuity of his discourse, or shall
see only abrupt transitions and trackless involu-
tions of thought, depends very much on the degree
of his conversance with the Pauline use of illative*,
connectives, and that whole delicately orjranised
network of conjunctions, prepositions, sod adverbs
which confuses and bewilders where H dees not
guide. Moreover, the mere ciassieal scholar is at
fault as to these epistles ; for Paul often uses parti-
cles (as wall as other words) in accordance, not
with Greek, bat with Hebrew idioms, — In the ac-
ceptation in which they are employed by the wit-
ters of the Septuagint.
There is, however, a sense in which St. Pant
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PAUL
writings are involved and desultory. Hii sentences
an absolutely loaded down with meaning. He
condenses in a single period exception!, qualifica-
tions, subsidiary thoughts, cognate ideas, which an
ordinary writer would spin out into a long para-
graph. His digressions are, indeed, frequent; but
they are always forays into a rich country which
he lays under a heavy tribute; and he uniformly
leturua to his starting point, resumes the thread of
his discourse, and never drops a discussion till be
has brought it to a satisfactory close. He always
has a definite purpose in view, and advances steadi-
ly in its pursuit, with a vast profusion of argument
and illustration indeed, but all of it pertinent, all
of it tending to raise the reader to his own lofty
point of vision, and to inspire him with his own
profound feeling of the infinite truths and immor-
tal hopes which are the life-tide of his being.
St. Paul's rhetoric is as perfect as bis logic He
never forgets the proportion which style should
bear to the subject of discourse. He fills out more
completely than any other writer extant Cicero's
definition 6f the eloquent man, — it, qui patent
parva tumaswae, noriica temperate, magna gravi-
ter, dictre. How many are the passages in his
writings, which in their blended beauty and majes-
ty transcend the power of imitation, and distance
all efforts of human genius hardly more in the di-
vine inspiration that flooded bis soul than in the
mere instrumentalities of phrase and diction, — in
the burning words that clothe the God-breathed,
thoughts! Was there ever a moral portraiture
that could be compared with his delineation of
charity? As trait after trait drops from his pen,
the grace of love grows and spreads till it takes
into its substance the whole of life, the whole of
cnaracter, all relations, all obligations, — till, like
the child in the apocalyptic vision, the earth-born
virtue is " caught up unto God and to his throne,' '
and we feel that it must indeed outlast faith and
hope, constituting the very essence of the heavenly
life, — superseding the doubtful reasonings and lame
philosophy of this world, so that knowledge in its
wonted processes shall cease, — becoming its own
interpreter from spirit to spirit, so that tongues
shall fail, and ransomed man shall be love as God is
love. Or we might refer to that sublime chapter
on the resurrection, in which the Apostle takes his
stand by the broken sepulchre of the Redeemer, at
the foot of the rock which the angel rolled away
plants the ladder reaching from earth to heaven,
and on rungs that are massive day-beams of the
resurrection-morning, leads up his tried and per-
secuted converts to those celestial heights where the
corruptible is clothed in inoorruption, — where goes
forth forever the shout of triumph, " death, where
is thy sting?' O grave, where is thy victory? "
Value of PauCt Epitties. — It remains for us
la speak of the importance of the epistles of St.
Paul ss a portion of the Christian canon. But in
entering on this subject we cannot deny that they
hare been a most copious fountain of false doctrine-
There has never been a heresy so absurd, or
a vagary so wild, as not to resort for its proof-
texts, chiefly, to this portion of the sacred volume.
This, however, has been due to tw fundamental
errors as to the interpretation 0/ the Pauline
ephnas. The first is a misapprehension of their
nature and uses. They have been regarded as
primary and independent tr eatis es on Christian
theology, rather than as writings of specific pur-
nose and limited application. The phraseology by
161
PAUL 2401
which St Paul characterized and refuted epheme-
ral crudities and follies, and which is closely cir-
cumscribed in meaning by the history of the times
has been generalized into universal propositions.
His contemptuous estimate of the heartless routine
of an effete ritual has been extended to the funda-
mental laws of personal and social duty, and Antir
nomians of the foulest type have justified their
abominations by the very terms in which he incul-
cated a faith which makes men virtuous, in oppo-
sition to a ceremonial law which left them to
unrebuked iniquity. In fine, his epistles have
been treated, not as the commentaries of a divinely
inspired man on the original and complete revela-
tion through Christ, but ss a supplementary reve-
lation of paramount magnitude and moment. Thus,
instead of tracing principles in their authoritative
applications, men have transmuted the applications
into principles. Even where no grave falsity or
error has resulted from this source, it has tended
to render the terminology of religion harmfully
technical and complex, and to obscure the simple
beauty of the truth as it fell from the Saviour's
lips, by incorporating with it words and phrases
which derived their origin and their sole fitness
froni conditions of the Jewish and Pagan mind
that have long since passed into oblivion.
Another source of error from these epistles has
been the habit of aphoristical interpretation, — the
treatment of separate sentences, and fragments of
sentences, as if they were complete in themselves,
without needing to be modified by the context.
No writings extant are so little adapted as St.
Paul's to this mode of interpretation. They con-
tain comparatively few independent sentences, iso-
lated sentiments, statements not contingent for a
portion of their meaning on what precedes or fol-
lows them. A sentence taken by itself is more-
likely to denote the opposite of what the writer
meant by it, than it is to present his meaning with,
any good degree of definitenees and accuracy. He.
often traces out his adversary's line of argument^
or assumes his postulates, in order to demonstrate*
the falsity of his inferences from them. He some-
times holds an imaginary colloquy with an objector
and states the fallacy which he is aiming to expose?
without indicating to the careless reader that he is
not giving utterance to his own thoughts; and in
some instances he regards the statement of a falsity
as its sufficient refutation,— as virtually a reductio
ad abiurdum.
In treating of the uses of St Paul's epistles, we
would first refer to the essential place they hoU
among the evidences of Christianity. They at
once establish their own genuineness, and furaiab
ample confirmation of the authenticity of the. his-
torical books of the New Testament. They beaf
unmistakable tokens of their having been written.
by the very Paul who appears as the chief historical
personage in the Acts of the Apostles ; and our con-
clusion in favor of their genuineness is constantly
confirmed by the disinterring of minute, latest,
manifestly undesigned coincidences in the. epistles
with statements in the Acts, and with the results
of historical aud arehasological research. Indeed,
the Pauline origin of the greater part of these epis-
tles is generally acknowledged even by the most
skeptical of critics, and, when called in question, is
disputed on grounds unappreciable to a mind of
ordinary perspicacity. Now, these epistles imply,
at the time when they were written, the existence
of precisely the condition of things that must haw
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2402
PAUL
existed. If Jem Christ Bred and taught, died and
rose from the dead, when, where, and as he is said
to have done In the Gospels. They discuss just
such questions ss most needs have arisen in the
course of Christian experience, — cues of casuistry,
scruples of the morbidly conscientious, terms of
toleration and fellowship, tests of religious charac-
ter add progress, — in fine, questions parallel with
those which converts from heathenism might, and
no doubt do, ask at the present day. They are,
for the most part, questions wbieh could have been
asked only by mere novices. Such discussions we
do not find in the Gospels, which contain simply
the form in which Christian truth is said to have
fallen from the Master's lips, not the record of its
workings on men's anterior beliefs and habits.
This could have been the case only if the Gospels
are genuine and authentic. If they were written
by other than apostolic men, and at a later than
the apostolic age, it is impossible that they should
not have borne numerous marks of the then con-
dition of Christian experience, — that they should
not have adapted the Saviour's words to the then
existing exigencies of the Church. That they con-
tain only the rudiments, not the diversified appli-
cations, of Christian doctrine, can be accounted for
only by the theory that they are literal history,
written by men who had direct access to the his-
torical fountains.
Not only do these epistles attest the primeval
antiquity of our Gospels, but even were that de-
nied, they are themselves a luculent record of the
very historical Christianity whieh is maintained by
critics of the various skeptical schools to have been
wholly post-apostolic and of very gradual growth.
St. Paul's epistles were, all of them, written (we
have positive proof that most of them were) before
the dose of the first century of the Christian era.
They recognize a Christianity founded on the ex-
pressly divine sonship and mission, the sacrificial
death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As to
the latter event, St Paul evidently had been at
pains carefully to investigate the evidence. He
states his belief of it, not on a priori or transcen-
dental grounds, but on the testimony of numerous
eye-witnesses, some of whose names he specifies,
while we infer that he knew the names of many
more, as he says that most of them were still
living, though some had died ; and he makes this
salient fact in the Christian narrative the basis of
all satisfying (kith and efficient propagandism. In
tae, historical Christianity had as clear and defi-
nite and undisputed a place in the faith of Paul
and his contemporary Christiana in the very gen-
eration that had seen the face and heard the voice
of Jesus Christ, as it has in the belief of the most
rigid adherent to the letter of Scripture in our own
day. These epistles are thns fatal to the " develop-
ment theory," according to which Christianity
could not have attained its definite shape and con-
sistency, or the person of Christ from that of a
wis.! and virtuous Jewish peasant have towered by
mythical accretions into the figure of the world's
Redeemer and the heaven-bom Son of God, until
his contemporaries had all passed away and yielded
place to a new generation.
PEACOCKS
Finally, these epistles are iiraduaUe *» as, i
to Christians of every age, as embodying I
guided by the inspiration of God, on mome n tous
questions of Christian ethics, and thus as a collat-
eral interpretation of the mind of Christ — con-
veyed to us in the Gospels. They bear toward the
Gospels very much the same relation that is borne
to the Constitution of the United States by the
recorded decisions of those judges who were inti-
mately conversant with the views, aims, and pur-
poses of its founders. To the Christian Church
Jesus gave its constitution in his teachings and bis
life. But from the very nature of the ease then
were few or no decisions of mooted points under
that constitution prior to his ascension; for the
Churoh cannot be said to have existed before the
day of Pentecost. In Paul we have a judge on
whom the spirit of the Master rested, and whs
held for many years the foremost place in the
ecclesiastical administration. To him were brought
for adjudication numerous subjects of doubt and
controversy, and his decisions remain on record in
his epistles. The questions of those earlier ages
have indeed long since pawed away; but strictly
analogous questions, depending on the very same
principles for their solution, are constantly recur-
ring. The heart's inmost experiences, needs, and
cravings are the same in America in the nineteenth
century that they were in Europe and Asia in the
first; and in Paul's epistles we have an inexhausti-
ble repertory of instruction, admonition, edification,
and comfort for our several conditions and emer-
gencies as the called of Christ and the heirs of
heaven. A. P. P.
PAVEMENT. [Gabbatba.]
PAVILION. 1. &Sey» properly an Inclosed
place, also rendered "tabernacle," "covert," and
'< den," once only " pavilion " (Ps. xxrii. 5).
9. SucdA* usually « tabernacle" and "booth,"
[Soccoth.J
8. Shapkrtr,' and Shaphrlr, a word used ones
only In Jer. xlili. 10, to signify glory or splendor,
and hence probably to be understood of the splen-
did covering of the royal throne, ft is explained
by Jarchl and others " a tent." [Test.]
H. W. P.
* PEACE. [Salutation.]
PEACOCKS (D^S^I and D^XW. tuectf-
j/tm: marts'- pari). Amongst the natural prod,
ucta of the land of Tarshish whieh Solomon's fleet
brought home to Jerusalem mention is made of
"peacocks: " for there can, we think, be no doubt
at all that the A. V. is correct in thus rendering
ncefvyCm, whieh word occurs only in 1 K. i. U,
and 2 Chr. ix. SI ; most of the oM versions, with
several of the Jewish Kabbis being in favor of this
translation. Some writers have, however, been
dissatisfied with the rendering of " peacocks," and
have proposed " parrots," as Huet (Diu. dt Hem.
Sol. 7, § 6) and one or two others. Kefl (Diu. dt
Ophir, p. 104, and Comment, on 1 K. x. 91), wHk
a view to support his theory that Tarshish is the
old Phoenician Tartessus in Spain derives the He-
brew name from Tueca, a town of Mauritania ani
e ?lb, Iran TfJ^, " enclose " (Oss. 862) ; »*>•,;
iNnMCHiewn •
• n JID, tram sans root ; eeani ; utmttmmm. ;
also 8 asm. xxJL It, sa i l s hi m . In 1 K.
SaajpSf, rnibnutUmn.
• T'??' and Karl -mtjtri (Oss.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PEARL
i and eonctudea that the " Ave» Numidi-
•»" ((Ma Fowls) an meant: which birds, bow-
Mt, m spite of their name, never existed in
Naoudia, nor within a thousand mile* of that
wUf l
Then aan be no doubt that the Hebrew word is
•f foreign origin. Geeenius (The*, p. 1608) cites
nan; authorities to prove that the (Heel is to be
traced to the Tamul or Malabarie togei, "pea-
eoek; " whisk opinion has recently been confirmed
by Sir E. Tennent (Ceylon, it 109, and I. p. xx.
Id ad.), who says, « It is very remarkable that
lbs terms by which these articles (irory, apes, and
paaooeks) am designated in the Hebrew Scriptures
are Identical with the Tamil names, by which some
at* (ham are called in Ceylon to the present day, —
tukeyi m may be recognized in fata', the modem
■ante far these birds." Thus Keil's objection,
u that this supposed too-ef is not yet itself suffi-
ciently ascertained " (Comment, on 1 K. x. 32), is
satisfiwtorily met."
Feaooeks are called » Persian birds " by Aris-
tophanes, ^Ites, 484; see also Acharn. 63; Diod.
Sic. H. 68.
Peacocks were doubtless introduced into Persia
from India or Ceylon ; perhaps their first introduc-
tion dates from the time of Solomon; and they
gradually extended into Greece, Rome, and Europe
generally. The ascription of the quality of vanity
to the peacock is as old as the time of Aristotle,
who says (Hilt. An. i. 1, § 15), " Some animals
are Jealous and Tain like the peacock." The A.
V. in Job mil. IS speaks of " the goodly wings
of the peacocks;" but this is a different He-
brew word and has undoubted reference to the
"estrieh." W. H.
x-iSABL (H^3J, gitUk: yfil,: emktenHa).
The Heb. word occurs, in this form, only in Job
xxriii. 18, when the price of wisdom is contrasted
with that of rtmMh (« coral ") and gdbtth , and
toe suns word, with the addition of the syllable
tl CM), is found in Ex. xi'ii. 11, 13, xxxvili. 22,
with'ooW, « stones," i. e. " stones of ice." The
ancient Torsions contribute nothing by way of ex-
planation. Schultens (Comment in Job, 1. c.)
leaves toe word untranslated: he giTes the signifi-
cation of " pearls " to the Hebrew term peninbn
(A. V. '• rubies ") which occurs in the same Terse.
Gesenius, Fiirst, Reeenmuller, Haurer, and com-
mentators generally, understand " crystal " by the
term, on account of its resemblance to ice. Lee
( Comment, on Job, L c.) translates r&meth vegiUth
>• things high and massive." Carey renders y&bUh
by " mother-of-pearl," though he is by no means
content with this explanation. On the whole the
balance of probability is in favor of '■ crystal," since
jdUth denotes >• Ice " (not '• hailstones," as Carey
supposes, without the addition of abne, " stones")
b> the passages of Exekiel where the word occurs.
There i» nothing to which ice can be so well cora-
sared aa to crystal The objection to this inter-
pretation is that crystal is not an article of much
value; but perhaps reference may here be made to
the beauty and pure lustre of rock crystal, or this
lubstance may by the ancient Orientals have been
add in high esteem.
PEDAIAH U403
Pearls (uapyapirat), however, are freqoentrf
mentioned in the NT.: conip. Matt. xiii. 46, 48,
where the kingdom of heaven is likened unto " a
merchant-man seeking goodly pearls." Pearl*
formed part of women's attire (1 11m. 11. •; Re*,
xvii. 4). "The twelve gates'' of the heavenly
Jerusalem were twelve pearls (Rer. xxl. 21); par-
hips » mother-of-pearl'' is here mora espeofaBy tav
tended.
i The Esbrsw names far aces and Ivory an clearly
aahkr as Gee Sanskrit ; but though lofitl doss not
ear sa BaaskrW, it has own derived from taa Bans-
Pearl Oyster.
Pearls are found inside the shells of various spe-
cies of Afollutca. They are formed by the deposit
of the nacreous substance around some foreign body
as a nucleus. The Vnio mnrgaritifenu, Mydlut
edulii, Oitrea edulis, of our own country, occasion-
ally furnish pearls; but "the pearl of great price"
is doubtless a fine specimen yielded by the pearl
oyster (Avicula margaritifera) still found in abun-
dance in the Persian Gulf, which has long been
celebrated for its pearl fisheries. In Matt. vii. 6
pearls an used metaphorically for anything of
value; or perhaps more especially for " wise say-
ings," which in Arabic, according to Schultens
(Hariri Conteu. i. 12, 11. 102), an called pearls.
(See Parkhurst, Gr. Ltx. a. v. Mapyapir-ns. As to
tarjMD, see Rubies.) W. H.
PBIKAHEL (bmB [triom Coo' detirtn):
+aoaf)\: Pkedail). The' son of Ammihud, and
prince of the tribe of Naphtali (Num. xxxiv. 28);
one of the twelve appointed to divide the land west
of Jordan among the nine and a half tribes.
PBDAH'ZUB ("Wtrn? [Me root, 1. e.
God deliver*] : iaocurooip; [tat. in i. 10, vaoa-
coup, and so Alex, in vii. 64:] Phndnuur).
Father of Gamaliel, the chief of the tribe of Manas-
seh at the time of the Exodus (Num. i. 10, 11. 20,
vii. 64, 69, x. 33).
PEDAIAH [3 eyL] (H^J . {whom Jeho-
vah deUttn]: *nSai\; [Vat EJmiA;] Alex.
EwMiAa; [Camp. ♦aSata:] Phadaia). 1. The
father of Zebudah, mother of king Jehoiakim (3
K. xxiii. 36). He is described as " of Rumah,"
which has not with certainty been identified.
2. (waJotas ; [Vat. woAsoiu; in rer. 19, Vat
Alex. SoAoSitjA.] ) The brother of Salathiel, or
Sbealtid, and father of Zerubbabal, who is usually
called the "son of ShealtieL" being, aa Lord A.
Hervey (Genealogies, p. 100) conjectures, hi real
ity, his uncle's successor and heir, in <
krlt word s-Oaia, maaninc faanlaaH wtth a i
(Max HuUer Una of lanfnaf, p. 1801
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2404
PEEP
rf the failure of lane in the direct fine (1 Chr. iii.
17-19).
3. (♦oSafo.) Son of Pevash, that is, one of
the family of that name, who assisted Xebemiah
in repairing the walli of Jernaalem (Neh. iii. 28).
*• (waSisfat.) Apparently a prieit; one of
thoae who stood on the left hand of Ezra, when he
read the Law to the people (Neh. viii. 4). In 1
Eedr. ix. 44, he U called Phaldaiob.
B. (*o8ata; [Vat.] FA. OoAoia.) A Benja-
mite, aneeetor of Sallu (Neb. zi. T).
6. votdta; [Vat- vaAaia.] A Levite in the
time of Nehemiah, appointed by him one of the
" treuurera over the treuury," whoae office it waa
'to diatribate unto their brethren" (Neh. xiii.
13).
7. (VTJTp: *atala [Vat #0X010]; Alex.
voASm.) The father of Joel, prince of the half
tribe of Manaaaeh in the reign of David (1 Chr.
xxvii. 20).
• PEEP in Is. viii. 19, x. 14 (A. V ), is need
in the sense of to chirp, or to utter a feeble, shrill
aound, like that made by young birds on breaking
from the shell (Lat. pipio. Germ, pipen). The
wizards or necromancers that pretended to evoke
the shades of the departed spoke in the low shrill
tones which, according to the popular superstition,
belonged to the inhabitants of the underworld ; see
Gesenius or RoaenmLUer on la. viii. 19, and comp.
la. xxix. 4, where the word translated " whisper "
(marg. "peep, or chirp") is the same which is
rendered " peep " in the two passages referred to
shore. A.
PE'KAH ^rT|7? [opens'iioorqpe«-*jred,Gea.;
acernght, Fiirst] : •one'; tWos, Joseph. : Pha-
eee), son of Rennllah, originally a captain of Pe-
kahiah king of Israel, murdered his master, seized
the throne, and became the 18th sovereign (and
last but one) of the northern kingdom. His native
country waa probably Gilead, aa fifty Gileadites
■oined him in the conspiracy against Pekahiah;
and if so, he furnishes an instance of the same un-
daunted energy which distinguished, for good or
evil, so many of the Israelites who sprang from
that country, of which Jephthah and Elijah were
the moat famous examples (Stanley, 8. <* P. 327).
[Elijah.] Under his predecessors Israel had been
much weakened through the payment of enormous
tribute to the Assyrians (see especially S K. xr.
20), and by internal wars and conspiracies. Pe-
kab seems steadily to have applied himself to the
restoration of its power. For thia purpose he
•ought for the support of a foreign alliance, and
fixed his mind on the plunder of the sister king-
lorn of Judah. He must have made the treaty by
which he proposed to share its spoil with Resin
king of Damascus, when Jotham was still on the
throne of Jerusalem (2 K. xv. 37); but its execu-
tion was long delayed, probably in consequence of
Jut prince's righteous and vigorous administration
(2 Chr. xxvii.). When, however, his weak son
Abas aicceeded to the crown of David, the allies
no 1 mger hesitated, and formed the siege of Jeru-
salem. The history of the war, which is sketched
under An ae, is found in 2 K. rri. and 2 Chr.
txriil.; and in the latter (ver. 6) we read that
Pekah >' slew in Judah one hundred and twenty
thousand in one day, which were all valiant men,"
a statement which, even if we should be obliged to
iuuuiiah toe numliei now read in toe text, from
PEKAHIAH
the uncertainty aa to numbers alfaohlna. to saw
present MS8. of the books of Chronicles (Abuar,
Chbohicles; Kennieott, Hebrew Ttwt «/ ass
Old Tutament Conridered, p. 632), proves that
the character of his warfare waa in full anmikuius
with Gileadite precedents (Jndg. xL 33, xil. 6).
The war is famous aa the occasion of the great
prophecies in Isaiah vii.-ix- Its chief result was
the capture of the Jewish port of Idath on the Red
Sea; but the unnatural alliance of Damasen*
and Samaria was punished through the final over-
throw of the ferocious confederates by Tigiath-pUe-
eer, king of Assyria, whom Ahas called to bis as-
sistance, and who seized the ct portunity of adding
to his own dominions sod crushing a union which
might have been dangerous. The kingdom of Da-
mascus was finally suppressed, and Resin put to
death, while Pekah waa deprived of at least half of
bis kingdom, including all the northern portico,
and the whole district to the east of Jordan. For
though the writer in 2 K. xv. 29 teOs us that
Tiglath-pUeser "took Ijon, and Abel-heth-maaehah,
and Janoah, and Kedeah, and Hasor, and Gilead,
and Galilee, all the land of Kaphtali," yet from
comparing 1 Chr. r. 26, we find that Gilead must
include •' the Reubenites, and the Gaditee, and half
the tribe of Manaaseh." The inhabitants were
carried off, according to the usual practice, and
settled in remote districts of Assyria. Pekah him-
self, now fallen into the position of- an Assyrian
vassal, was of course compelled to abstain from
further attacks on Judah. Whether his continued
tyranny exhausted the patience of his subjects, or
whether his weakness emboldened them to attack
him, we do not know; but, from one or the other
cause, Hoshea toe son of FJah conspired against
him and put him to death. Josephus says that
Hoshea was his .friend ((fcfxov rtrhs tri0ev\tio-
orrot a*r«7, Ant. ix. 18, $ 1). Comp. Is. vii. 16,
which prophecy Hoshea was instrumental in ful-
filling. [H08HKA.] Pekah ascended the throne
b. c. 787. He must have begun to war against
Judah B. c. 740, and was killed B. o. 737. The
order of events above given ia according to the
scheme of Ewald'a Gttchickfe da Votkes /sraei,
vol. iii. p. 602. Mr. Rawlinaon (Bampkm Ledum
far 1869, Lect iv.) seems wrong in assuming two
invasions of Israel by the Assyrians in Pekah'a
time, the one corresponding to 2 K. xv. 29, the
other to 2 K. xvi. 7-9. Both these narratives re-
fer to the aame event, which in the first place is
mentioned briefly in the short sketch of Pekah'a
reign, while, in the second passage, additional de-
tails are given in the longer biography of Ahas.
It would have been scarcely possible for Pekah,
when deprived of half his kingdom, to make an al-
liance with Rpzin, and to attack Abas. We lean
further from Mr. Rawlinaon that the conquests of
Tiglath-pileser are mentioned in an Assyrian frag-
ment, though there is a difficulty, from the occur-
rence of the name Menahem in the inscription,
which may have proceeded from a mistake of the
engraver. Comp. the title, ton of Kkumri (Omri)
assigned to Jehu in another inscription ; sod set
Rawlinaon, note 86 on Lect. iv. As may be in-
ferred from Pekah'a alliance with Resin, his gov
ernment waa no improvement, morally and relig-
iously, on that of his predecessors. G. E. L. C
PEKAHI'AH (rPqO? [Jejuna 1
Flint: or, opens Aw eyes, Gas.]: fuwlst; Alas
♦omios: Phaeeja), son and s u ccesso r of "
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBKOD
Mm, wu the 17th king of the separate kingdom
if Israel. After a brief reign of scarcely two
fan, a conspiracy wu organized against him by
" one of his captains ' ' (probably of his body guard ),
Pekah, son of Kemaliab, and who, at the head of
fifty Gileadites, attacked him in his palace, mur-
dered him and his friends Argob and Arioh, and
■sized the throne. The date of his accession is
B. c. 769, of his death 757. This reign was no
oettsr than those which bad gone before; and the
sslf-wonbip was retained (2 K. xv. 22-36).
G. E. L. C.
PE'KOD (Tip?), [see below] an appellative
applied to the Chaldwans. It occurs only twice,
uainaly, in Jer. 1. 21, and Ez. zxiii. 23, in the lat-
ter of which it is connected with Shoe and Koa, as
though these three were in some way subdivisions
of u the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans." Au-
thorities are undecided as to the meaning of the
term. It is apparently connected with the root
vdkad, u to visit," and in its secondary senses " to
punish," and "to appoint a ruler: " hence Pekod
may be applied to Babylon in Jer. L as significant
of its impending punishment, as in the margin of
the A. V. " visitation." But this sense will not suit
the other passage, and hence Uesenius here assigns
to it the meaning of "prefect " (Thee, p. 1121, as
though it were but another form otpakul). It cer-
tainly is unlikely that the same word would be
applied to the same object in two totally different
senses. Hitzlg seeks for the origin of the word in
the Sanskrit Mania, "noble" — Shoa and Koa
being respectively " prince '" and " lord; " and he
explains its use in Jer. 1. as a part for the whole.
The LXX. treats it as the name of a district
(*okovk; Alex. vouS) in Ezekiel, and as a verb
UKtlKTiaoy) in Jeremiah. W. L. B.
PKLA'IAH [8 ayL] (PPSb? [ichom Jehovah
dUUnffuithu}). L ([♦oJaio; Vat. «opa; Alex.
taAaia: Pheleia]). A son of Elioenai, one of the
last members of the royal line of Judah (1 Chr.
iii 21).
2. (LXX. om. in Neh. viil.; +«Afa; [Vat FA.i
omit;] Alex. [FA.*] +t\,ia: Phalata.) One of
the Invites who assisted Kara in expounding the
law (Neh. viii. 7). He afterwards sealed the cove-
nant with Nehemlah (Neh. x. 10). He b called
But as in 1 Eadr. ix. 48.
PELALI'AH (n^b? [Jehovah j«dgti] :
►oAoAfa; [Vat. FA.1 omit :]'PheleUa). The son
>f Amzi, and ancestor of Adaiah a priest at Jeru-
jalem after the return from Babylon (Neh. xi. 12).
PBLATI'AH (n^b? [Jehovah deliven]:
Mlerrfa; [Vat. ♦oAAeri'; Aha. ♦aAArria:]
PhaUiat). L Son of Hananiah the son of Zerub-
baUl (1 Chr. Bi. 31). In the LXX. and Vulg. he
Is farther dessribed as the father of Jesaiah.
2. (*a\arrrla [Vat. -r««-] ; Alex. voArrria).
One of the captains of the marauding band of five
inndred Simeonites, who in the reign of Hezekiah
Bade an expedition to Mount Seir and smote the
fugitive Amalekitee (1 Chr. ir. 42).
'• OaAria; [EA.t *a\Seia, corr. *aAr«a:^
"heitia) One of the heads of the people, and
robably the name of a family, who sealed the
ovenant with Nehemiah (Neh. x. 29).
4. OlTPipbp : woAtuu; [Vat.l In ver. 1, *ar-
rw»i] Phfltuu). The son of Benaiah, and one of
ato prinoes of the people against whom Ezekiel
PELETHITBS
240£
was directed to utter the words of doom recorded
in Ez. xi. 6-12. The prophet in spirit saw bin
stand at the east gate of the Temple, and, as ha
spoke, the same vision showed him Peiatiah's sud-
den death (Ez. xi. 1, 13).
PE'LEG Obg [dream, tlivuion]: «Wft
[Alex.] »oA«c; '[in 1 Chr. 1. 26, Vat. *aAt X :]
Phaley), a son of Eber, and brother of Joktan
(Gen. x. 26, xi. 16). The only incident connected
with his history is the statement that *> in his days
was the earth divided " — an event which was
embodied in his name, Feleg meaning " division."
This notice refers, not to the general dispersion oi
the human family subsequently to the Deluge, but
to a division of the family of Eber himself, the
younger branch of whom (the Joktanids) migrated
into southern Arabia, while the elder remained in
Mesopotamia. The occurrence of the name Phaliga
for a town at the junction of the Chaboras with
the Euphrates is observable in consequence of the
remark of Winer (Seahci.) that there is no geo-
graphical name corresponding to Peleg. At the
same time the late date of the author who men-
tions the name (Isidorus of Charax) prevents any
great stress being laid upon it. The separation
of the Joktanids from the stock whence the He-
brews sprang, finds a place in the Mosaic table,
as marking an epoch in the age immediately sue
ceeding the Deluge. W. L. B.
PEXET (tab? [deliverance]: «W«; Alex.
woA<t: Phnlet). ' i. A son of Jahdai in an ob-
scure genealogy (1 Chr. ii. 47).
2. ('l«poA*>; Alex. OoAAirr: PhaOet). The
son of Azmaveth, that is, either a native of the
place of that name, or the son of one of David's
heroes. He was among the Benjamites who Joined
David in ZigJag (1 Chr. xii. 3).
PETjETH (nb§ [suaybMss]: ♦aAe'S; Pht-
lelh). 1. The father of On the Reubenite, who
joined Dathan and Abirsm in their rebellion
(Num.xvi. 1). Joaephut (Ant. iv. 2, § 2), omit-
ting all mention of On, ealla Pekth voAaovr , ap-
parently identifying him with Phalli; the son of
Reuben. In the LXX. Peleth is made the son of
Reuben, as in the Sam. text and version, and ons
Heb. MS. supports this rendering.
2. ([Vat «oX«»0 PhaUth). Son of Jonathan
and a descendant of Jerahmeel through Onam, his
son by Atarah (1 Chr. ii. 83).
PEI/ETHITES Crib?: [waAerf,] ♦« X sW,
[Vat vfXrrrfi, v(A<0«<i, *oAt«io; Alex. #«A-
«M«, 0*«A«9»ei, *oAA<ffi; FA. in 1 Chr., *oA-
tioO Pkelethi), mentioned only in the phrase
Tlbsni TPSn, rendered in the A. V. « the
Cherethites and the Pelethites." These two col-
lectives designate a force that was evidently David 't
body-guard. Their names have been supposed
either to indicate their duties, or to be gentile
nouns. Uesenius renders them " executioners and
runners," comparing the D^SHI"!} " , "]3n, "exe-
eutioners and runners " of a later time (2 K. xL
4, 18); and the unused roots /"P| and nbg, as
to both of which we shall speak later, admit this
sense. In favor of this view, the supposed parallel
phrase, and the duties in which these guards wen
employed, may be cited. On the other hand, the
LXX and Vulg. retain their names untranslated ,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2406
PBLETHITB8
and the Syriac ud Tug. Jon. translate them dif-
ferently from the rendering above and from each
other. In on* place, moreover, the Gittitee are
mentioned with the Cberethites and Pelethites
among David's troopa (2 Sam. xv. 18); and etae-
where we read of the Cherethim, who bear the
■ante name in the prarsl, either as a Philistine
tribe or as Philistines themselves (1 Ham. xxx. 14;
E*. xxv. 16; Zeph. ii. 6). Oeseniue objects that
David's bodyguard would soarcely have been chosen
from a nation so hateful to the Israelites as the
Philistines. But it must be remembered that David
in his later years may bare mistrusted bis Israelite
soldiers, and relied on the Philistine troops, some of
whom, with lttai the Oittite, wbo was evidently a
Philistine, and not an Israelite from Gath [Ittai],
were faithful to him at the time of Absalom's re-
bellion. He aao argues that it is improbable that
two synonymous appellations should be thus used
together; but tins is on the assumption that both
namn signify Philistines, whereas they may desig-
nate Philistine tribes. (See The*, pp. 719, HOT.)
The Egyptian monuments throw a fresh light
upon this subject. From them we find that kings
of the XlXth and XXth dynasties had in their
service mercenaries of a nation called SHAYRE-
TANA, which Rameset HI. conquered, under the
name " 8HAYRETANA of the Sea." This king
fought a naval battle with the SHAYRETANA
of the Sea, in alliance with the TOKKAKEE,
who were evidently, bom their physical character-
isties, a kindred people to them, and to the PE-
LESATU, or Philistines, also conquered by him.
The TOKKAKEE and the PELESATU both
wear a peculiar dress. We thus lenra that there
were two peoples of the Mediterranean kindred to
the Philistines, one of which tupplied mercenaries
to the Egyptian kings of the XlXth and XXth
dynasties. The name SHAYRETANA, of which
the first letter was also pronounced KH, is almost
letter for letter the same as the Hebrew Chere-
thim; and since the SHAYRETANA were evi-
dently cognate to the Philistines, their identity
with the Cherethim caunot be doubted. But if
the Cherethim supplied mercenaries to the Egyp-
tian kings in the thirteenth century B. c, ac-
cording to our reckoning, it cannot be doubted
that the same name in the designation of David's
body-guard denotes the same people or tribe. The
Egyptian SHAYRETANA of the tea are prob-
ably the Cretans. TTie Pelethites, who, as already
remarked, are not mentioned except with the Cbe-
rethites, have not yet been atmUarly traced in
Egyptian geography, and it is rash to suppose then-
name to be the same as that of the Philistines,
VV?9, far VNjfT?; for, as Gesenms remarks,
this contraction la' not possible in the Semitic lan-
guages. The similarity, however, of the two names
would favor the idea which is suggested by the
mention together of the Cherethites and Pelethites,
[hat the latter were of the Philistine stock as well
u the former. As to the etymology of the names,
joth may be connected with the migration of the
Philistines. As already noticed, the former has
FBLIOAK
been derived from the root rPJi " b* cut, sot of,
destroyed," in Niphal " he was cut off from Us
country, driven into exile, or expelled," so that w»
might as well read "exiles"" as "executioners.'
The latter, from /"lbs, an •ouesd not, lbs Arab
"he escaped, fled," both being cognate
to tib^, "be was smooth," thence "be slipped
away, escaped, and caused to escape," where the
rendering "the fugitives " is at least as admissible,
as " the runners." If we compare those two nines
so rendered with the gentile name of the FhiluwJM
nation itself, VNp 1 ??, "a wanderer, stranger,"
from the unused root H?7p, "he wandered oc
emigrated," these previous inferences seem to be-
come irresistible. The appropriateness of the names
of these tribes to the duties of David's body-
guard would then be accidental, though it does
not seem unlikely that they should have given
riae to the adoption in later times of other appel-
lations for the royal body-guard, definitely signi-
fying " executioners and runners." If, however,
TV?*?! ^f?!?"? *«**& nothing but execu-
tioners and runners, It is difficult to explain the
change to D^TT) *n|!3. B. S. P.
PKLI'AS (rifMax; Alex. norituu : PeSos).
A corruption of Bsdeuh (1 Esdr. ix. 84; comp.
Ear. X. 16). Our translators followed the Vul-
gate.
PELICAN (nHjJ Hail,: w.xwrdV, *>«r,
XcuMuAtsw, caTu^urrni: onocrotoia, pelican).
Amongst the unclean birds mention is made of the
katth (Lev. xi. 18; Dent. xiv. 17). The suppliant
psalmist compares his condition to "a i&ath in the
wilderness " (Ps. cii. 8). As a mark of the deso-
lation that was to eome upon Edtom, it is said that
"the tdnth and the bittern should possess it" (Is.
xxxiv. 11 ). The same words are spoken of Nine-
veh (Zeph. il. 14). In these two last places the
A. V. has " cormorant " in the text, and " pelican "
in the margin. The best authorities are in favor
of the pelican being the bird denoted by kaath.
The etymology of the name, from a word meaning
" to vomit," leads also to the same conclusion, for
it doubtless has reference to the habit which this
bud has of pressing its under mandible against its
breast, in order to assist it to disgorge the contents
of its capacious pouch for its young. This is
with good reason, supposed to be the origin of the
fable about the pelican feeding its young with its
own blood, the red nail on the upper mandible serv-
ing to complete the delusion..'
The expression "pelican of the wilderness " has,
with no good reason, been supposed by some to
prove that the kAtith cannot be denoted by this bird.
Shaw (Trm. 11. 803, 8vo ed.) says "the pelican
most of necessity starve in the desert," as it is
essentially a water bird. In answer to this objec-
tion, it will be enough to observe that the term
i VTPJJ, dktos east ceniet,
aspect ir a w iifv. nut. Niph. no. 8) nt idem valsat quod
tM lh to (1U». p. 719).
* The reader is referred to a curious work by a
testes sreine, Arehtbald Simeon by name, enUUea
" ntorogijphlo* AnimaHum, TejcssUUttm et MetaB*
rum, qua) in Seripturis Moris repuiuntar," mtesb
1832, 4to. In this work an some wild nuxlH akosi
ths patten, whkth ssrva to snow the stals of aeosegy
•So., at as parted hi whkh we author lived.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PELONITE
nr ("wilderness") Is by no means restricted
k> barren sandy spot* destitute of water " The
Jin," says Prof. Stanley, « ii that of a wide open
■puce, with or without actual pasture; the country
of the nomads, as distinguished from that of the
agricultural and settled people" (S. o» P. p 486,
5th ed.).« Pelicans (Piltcamu onoci-otolui) are
often seen asso ci ated in large flocks; at other times
single individuals may be observed sitting in lonely
and pensive silence on the ledge of some rock a few
fast akovs the surfitoe of the water. (See Kitto,
Pid. Bib. on Ps. cii. Ii.) It is not quite clear what
b the particular point in the nature or eharaoter
of the pelican with which the psalmist compares
hit pitiable condition. Some hare supposed that
It consists in tbe loud cry of the bird: compare
"the Toiee of my sighing" (ver. 5). We are in-
clined to believe that reference is made to its gen-
eral aspect as it sits in apparent n* lancholy mood,
with its bill resting on itx breast. There Is, we
think, little doubt hut that the pelican is the kAndi
nf the Hebrew Scriptures. Oedmann's opinion
that the Pelteamu grncuhu, the shag cormorant
(Verm. Samm. ili. 67), and Bochart's, that the
" bitaro " Is intended, are unsupported by any
good evidence. The P. onocretahu (common pai-
PtUcamu onoaotalyu.
mm) and the P. crisp*, are often observed in
Paleatme, Egypt, etc Of the latter Mr. Tristram
tbssrved an hnmense flock swimming out to sea
fitkin sight of Monnt Carmel (/Ms, I. 87)>
W. H.
PEL'ONITE, THE OaVj^n [a* below]:
t *f\«W [Vat -rsi], Alex, o ♦oXxa.w, 1 Chr. xi.
IT: o «iAXwf, [Vat. FA. o •slstwt,] 1 Chr. si.
36; i sit OaAAoOt, [Comp. i *>oAAa.W,] 1 Chr.
Hvii. 10: Phalonile; Pkdonita, Phallonilu).
two of David's mighty men, Heles and Ahyah,
u* called Pelonites (1 Chr. xi. 27, 36). From 1
Ir. xxvil. 10, it appears that the former was of
fee tribe of Ephraim, and •> Pelonite " would there-
a As a autttr of Act, however, the pelican, after
saving filled Its pouch with Hah aod moUuaka, ofteo
leas l*tt» miles inland away from water, to some spot
I w •oosuums the oonlents of its pouch.
PENNY 2407
fore be an appellation derived froa his plaoe of
birth or residence. But in the Targum of It
Joseph it is evidently regarded as a patronymic!
and is rendered in the last mentioned passage " of
the seed of Pelan." In the list of 8 Sam. xxiii.
Heles is called (ver. 26) " the Paltite," that is, ss
Bertheau (on 1 Chr. xi.) conjectures, of Beth-Palet,
or Beth-Phelet, in the south of Judafa. But It
seems probable that " Pelonite " is tbe correct
reading. [See Paltite.] '• Ahyah the Pelonite "
appears in 2 Sam. xxiii. 34 as " FJiam the son of
Ahithophel the Gilonlte," of which the former Is a
corruption; " Ahyah" forming tbe first part of
••Ahithophel," and ••Pelonite" and "Glkmlte"
differing only by S and 3. If we follow the LXX
of 1 Chr. xxvii. the place from which Heles took his
name would be of the form Phailu, but then la no
trace of it elsewhere, and the LXX. must have had
a differently pointed text. In Heb. pdML corre-
sponds to the Greek 6 Sura, "such a one: " it still
exists in Arabic and in the Spanish Don Fulamo,
"Mr. So-and-so." W. A. W.
PEN. [W«nmro.]
PEN'IEL (by??; Samar. b« 130 [an
below] : tttot 0seS: Phamtel, aod so also Peshito).
Tbe name which Jacob gave to the place in which
be had wrestled with God: "He called tbe name
of the place ' Face of EL' for I have seen Elohim
face to lace " (Gen. mil. 80). With that sin-
gular correspondence between the two parts of this
narrative which has been already noticed under
Makanaim, then is apparently an allusion to the
bestowal of the name in xxxiii. 10, when Jacob
says to Esau, " 1 have teen thy face as one sees the
face of Elohim." In xxxii. 31, aod the other pas-
sages in which the name occurs, its form is changed
to Pksucl. On this change the lexioographers
throw no light. It it perhaps not impossible that
Penuel was the original form of the name, and
that tbe alight change to Peniel was made by
Jacob or by the historian to suit his allusion to
the circumstance under which the patriarch first
aaw it. The Samaritan Pentateuch has Penu-el
in alL The promontory of the Rat a-Shukah, on
the coast of Syria above Beirit, was formerly
called ThtoHprotApon, probably a translation of
Peniel, or its Phomician equivalent. G.
PENINTtfAH (rt|3? [coral] : +,y,4rm:
Phenenna), one of the two wives of Elkanah, the
other being Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1
Sam. i. 2).
• PENKNIFE (Jer.xxxvi. 23). [Kmrc]
PENNY, PENNYWORTH. In the A.
V., in several passages of the N. T., " penny,"
either alone or in the compound "pennyworth,"
occurs aa the rendering of the Greek ii)riptor,
the name of the Koraan denarius (Matt. xx. 2,
xxii. 18; Mark vi. 37, xii. 16; Luke xx. 24; John
vi. 7; Rev. vi. 6). The denarius was the chief
Roman silver coin, from tbe beginning of the coin-
age of the city to the early part of the third century
lis name continued to be applied to a silver pise*
aa late as tbe time of the earlier Byzantines. The
states that arose from the ruins at the Rosnaa
» ' P. crianu bleeds In vast numbers In the fiat
plain of tbe Hoa ru aaa h a (to ■uropsan Turkey); Ms
habit* then bear out your remark of the pruno n>
tiring inland to digest Its food." — H. B. Tttanva
Digitized by
Google
2408 PENTATEUCH, THE
unpire Imitated the coinage of the Imperial mints,
and in general called their principal silver coin the
denarius, whence the French name denier and the
■talian denaro. The chief Anglo-Saxon coin, and
lor a long period the only one, corresponded to the
denarius of the Continent. It continued to be
uurent under the Normans, Plantageneta, and
Tudors, though latterly little used. It is called
penny, denarius, or denier, which explains the
employment of the first word in the A. V. [In
Ddal'B version of the Paraphrase of Erasmus (1649)
the word is Anglicized by "denarie."] K. S. P.
PENTATEUCH, THE. The Greek name
given to the five books commonly called the Five
Book* of Moses (jj Ttyrirtvxos «c. jS/jSAov; Pen-
tateuchns sc. Uber; the fivefold book ; from rt Sx«r,
which meaning originally " vessel instrument," etc ,
came in Alexandrine Greek to mean " book " ). In
the time of Ezra and Nebemiah it was called " the
Law of Hoses " (Err. vii. 8 ) ; or '• the book of the
Law of Hoses " (Neh. viii 1 ) ; or simply " the
Book of Hoses" (Ezr. vi. 18; Neh.xiii. 1; 8 Chr.
xzv. 4, xxxt. 12). This was beyond all reasonable
doubt our existing Pentateuch. The book which
was discovered in the Temple in the reign of
Josiah, and which is entitled (2 Chr. xxxiv. 14)
"the book of the Law of Jehovah by the hand of
Mosea," was substantially, it would seem, the same
volume, though it may have undergone some re-
vision by Ezra. In 2 Chr. xxxiv. 30, it is styled
11 the book of the Covenant," and so also in 2 K.
xxiii. 2. 21, whilst in 2 K. xxii. 8 Hilkiah says, I
have found " the book of the Law." Still earlier
n the reign of Jehoshapbat we find a " book of
the Law of Jehovah " in use (2 Chr. xvii. 9).
And this was probably the earliest designation, for
a "book of the Law" is mentioned in Deuter-
onomy (xxxi. 26), though it is questionable whether
the name as there used refers to the whole Penta-
teuch, or only to Deuteronomy; probably, as we
shall see, it applies only to the latter. The present
Jews usually call the whole by the name of Torak,
i. e. •' the law," or Torath Moikth, " the Law
of Moses." The Rabbinical title la HlTlpq
rn'lriPI HrpTT, " the five-fifths of the Law."
In the preface to the Wisdom of Jesus the son of
Sirach, it is called "the Law," which is abo a
usual name for it in the New Testament (Matt,
xii. 5, xxii. 36, 40; Luke x. 26; John viii. 6, 17).
Sometimes the name of Mosea stands briefly for
the whole work ascribed to him (Luke xxiv. 27).
Finally, the whole Old Testament is sometimes
called a potior! parte, "the Law" (Matt. v. 18;
Luke xvi. 17; John vii. 49, x. 34, xii. 84). In
John xt. 28 ; Rom. 111. 19, words from the Psalms,
ind in 1 Cor. xiv. 21 from Isaiah, are quoted as
vords of ths Law.
The division of the whole work into five parts
has by some writers been supposed to be original.
Others (as Leusden, Haveniick, and Lengerke),
with more probability, think that the division was
made by the Greek translators. For the titles of
the several books are not of Hebrew but of Greek
irigin. The Hebrew names are merely taken from
the first words of each book, and in the first in-
stance only designated particular aecnons and not
♦hole books. The MSS. of the Pentateuch form
» single roll or volume, and are divided not into
Dooks, but into the larger and smaller sections called
It-satjort and Sedarim Besides this, the Jews
PENTATEUCH, THE
distribute all the laws in the Pentateuch under t»«
two heads of affirmative and negative p rece pts . Of
the former they reckon 248; because, according tc
the anatomy of the Rabbins, so many are the parti
of the human body : of the latter they make 865,
which is the number of days in the year, and also
the number of veins in the human body. Accord-
ingly the Jews are bound to the observance of 613
precepts: and in order that these precepts may be
perpetually kept in mind, they are wont to carry a
piece of cloth foursquare, at the four corners of
which they have fringes consisting of 8 threads
a-piece, fastened in 6 knots. These fringes art
called /VS N S, a word which in number* denotes
600: add to this the 8 threads and the 6 knots,
and we get the 613 precepts. The five knot* de-
note the five books of Moses. (See Bab. Talmud,
Miccoih, sect 3 ; Maimon. Prtf. to Jad Ma-
ckatnkai; Leusden, PhihL p. 38.) Both PhBo
(de Abraham., ad itiit.) and Joaephus (c Apia*, i.
8) recognize the division now current. Aa no rea-
son for this division can satisfactorily be found in
the structure ->f the work itself, Vaihinger sap-
poses that th» symbolical meaning of the number
five led to its adoption. For ten is the symbol of
completion or perfection, as we see in the ten
commandments [and so in Genesis we have ten
"generations"], and therefore five is a uuniber
which as it were confesses imperfection and proph-
esies completion. The Law is not perfect without
the Prophets, for the Prophets are in a special
sense the bearers of the Promise; and it is the
Promise which completes the Law. This is ques-
tionable. There can be no doubt, however, that
this division of the Pentateuch influenced the
arrangement of the Psalter in five books. The
srme may be said of the five Megilloth of the
Hagiographa (Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ee-
clesiastes, and Esther), which in many Hebrew
Bibles are placed immediately after the Penta-
teuch.
For the several names and contents of the Five
Books we refer to the articles on each Book, where
questions affecting their integrity and genuineness
are also discussed. In the article on Genesis the
scope and design of the whole work is pointed out.
We need only briefly observe here that this work,
beginning with the record of Creation and the his-
tory of the primitive world, passes on to deal more
especially with the early history of the Jewish
family. It gives at length the personal history of
the three great Fathers of the family: it then de-
scribes how the family grew into a nation in Egypt,
tela us of its oppression and deliverance, of its forty
years' wandering in the wilderness, of the giving
of the Law, with all it* enactment* both civil ana
religious, of the construction of the Tabernacle, of
the numbering of the people, of the rights and
duties of the priesthood, ss well as of many im-
portant events which befell them before their en-
trance into the land of Canaan, and finally con-
cludes with Moses' last discourses and his death.
The unity of the work in its existing form is now
generally recognized. It is not a mere collection
of loose fragments carelessly put together at dif-
ferent times, but bears evident traces of design and
purpose in its composition. Even those who dis-
cover different authors in the earlier books, arrf
who deny that Deuteronomy was written by Moses
are still of opinion that the work in its present
form is a connect* 1 whole, and was af laisrt a>
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENTATEUCH. THE
Ibsd to It* (moot shape by a tingle reviser or
alitor"
The question has also been raised, whether the
Book of Joshua doee not, properly ■peeking, con-
stitute an integral portion of this work. To thia
question Ewald (Gtteh. 1. 175), Knobel (6'rartu,
Vorbtm. § 1, 3), Lengerke (Aeniwn, lxxxiii.), and
Stahdin (Kril. Unttn. p. 91) give a reply In the
affirmative. They aeem to have been led to do ao,
partly beeanae they imagine that the two docu-
ments, the Ebhistic and Jebovistic, which char-
scteriaa the earlier hooka of the Pentateuch, may
■till be traced, like two streams, the waters of
which never wholly mingle though they flow in the
same channel, running on through the book of
Joshua; and partly because the same work which
contains the promise of the land (Gen. xv.) must
contain abo — so they argue — the fulfillment of the
promise, but such grounds are far too arbitrary
and uncertain to support the hypothesis which rests
upon them. All that teems probable is, that the
bosk of Joshua received a final revision at the
hands of Ezra, or some earlier prophet, at the same
time with the books of the I .aw.
The ftvrt that the Samaritans, who it is well
known did not possess the other books of Scripture,
hare besides the Pentateuch a book of Joshua (see
Ckromcon SnmariUmum, etc., ed. Juyiiboll, Lugd.
Bat. 1848). indicates no doubt an early association
of the one with the other; but is no proof that
they originally constituted one work, but rather the
contrary. Otherwise the Samaritans would nat-
urally have adopted the canonical recension of
Joshua. Wa may therefore regard the Five Books
of Moms aa one separate and complete work. For
a detailed view of the several books we must refer,
as we have said, to the Articles where they are
severally discussed. The questions which we have
left for thia article are those connected with the
authorship and date of the Pentateuch aa a whole.
It is necessary here at the outset to state the
exact nature of the Investigation which lies before
us. Many English readers are alarmed when they
srr told, for the first time, that critical investigation
renders it doubtful whether the whole Pentateuch
in its present form was the work of Moses. On
this subject there is a strange confusion in many
minds. They suppose that to surrender the rec-
ognized authorship of a sacred book is to surrender
the truth or the book itself. Yet a little reflection
should suffice to correct such an error. For who
can say now who wrote the books of Samuel, or
Kuth, or Job, or to what authorship many of the
Paalma are to be ascribed? We are quite sure
that these books were not written by the persons
whose names they bear. We are scarcely less aura
that many of the Psalms ascribed to David were
aot written by him, and our own translators have
ignified toe doubtfulness of the inscriptions by
eparating them from the Psalms, of which in the
Hebrew teat tbey were made to form a constituent
• Sea Kwald, OacMtk't. I. 176 ; and StaheUn,
Krititeh. Vnun. p. 1.
* It Is Strang* to at* how widely the misconception
wWrh we an anxloua to obviate extendi. A learned
■vHsr. in a recent publication, says, In reference to
aa* allseed a ■ tetania of different documents In tb*
■antassueh : " This exclusive net of to* on* Drvro*
fluues fee some porttone, and of th* other In other
tornona, It is said, characterises two different authors
Ma*) at dufcrent tuna* ; and eouaaquauUr Genesis la
PENTATEUCH, THE 2409
part. These books of Scripture, however, ami then
divine poems, lose not a whit of their value or of
their authority because the names of their authors
have perished. Truth is not a thing dependent
on names. So likewise, if it should turn out th*
portions of the Pentateuch were not written by
Moses, neither their inspiration nor their trust-
worthiness is thereby diminished. All will admit
that one portion at least of the Pentateuch — the
34th chapter of Deuteronomy, which gives the
account of Moses' death — was not written by him.
But in making this admission the principle for
which we contend is conceded. Common sense
compels us to regard this chapter as a later ad-
dition. Why then may not other later addition*
have been made to the work ? If common sens*
leads us to such a conclusion in one instance, erit-
icsl examination may do so on sufficient ground*
in another.*
At different times suspicions have been enter-
tained that the Pentateuch as we now have it la
not the Pentateuch of the earliest age, and that
the work must have undergone various modifica-
tions and additions before it assumed its present
So early as the second century we find the author
of the Clementine Homilies calling in question the
authenticity of the Mosaic writings. According to
him the Law was only given orally by Moses to
the seventy elders, and not consigned to writing till
after his death; it subsequently underwent many
changes, was corrupted more and more by means
of the false prophets, and was especially filled with
erroneous anthropomorphic conceptions of God, and
unworthy representations of the characters of tb*
Patriarchs (Horn. ii. 38, 43, iii. 4, 47; Neander
Gnott. Syttme, 380). A statement of this kind,
unsupported, and coming from an heretical, and.'
therefore suspicious source, may aeem of little,
moment: it is however remarkable, so far as iti
indicates an early tendency to cast off the received
traditions respecting the books of Scripture; whilst.'
at the same time it is evident that this was done,
cautiously, because such an opinion respecting th*
Pentateuch was said to be for the advanced Chris-
tian only, and not for the simple and unlearned.
Jeaome, there can be little doubt, had seen thai
difficulty of supposing the Pentateuch to be alto*
gether, in its present form, the work of Moses; for
he observes (contra Beitid.): " Sive Mosen dioer*
volueri* auctorem Pentateuchi aire Earam ejuadem
instauratoran operis," with reference apparently. to
the Jewish tradition on the subject. Aben Ezra.
(11167), in bis Comm. on Deut. L 1, threw «utt
some doubts ss to the Mosaic authorship of certain
passages, such as Gen. xii. 6, Deut. iii. 10, 11,.
xxxi. 9, which he either explained as later inter-
polations, or left as mysteries which it wss beyond I
his power to unravel. For centuries, however, thai
Pentateuch was generally received in the .Churchi
without question ss written by Moses. The ago
composed of two difiereot documents, th* ooaBoblatle^
the other Jebovlstie, whtob moreover dines, in. state-
ment ; and consequently this book was not. written byt
Hose*, and b neither Inspired nor trustworthy- " {Aid*
to Faith, p. 190). Bow It follows that a book Is ualluew
inspired nor trustworthy bsoaus* Its authovaaJp *mub-
known we are at a loss to conceive. A leans-pare 0»
tha canon must b* aacrinsad, If ws are eoly to raaato*
boos* whose authorship Is wtls*ctoru>. as
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2410 PENTATEUCH, THE
if criticism had not yet come. The first signs of
ill approach were seen in the 17th century. In the
year 1651 we find Hobbes writing: " Videtnr Pen-
tateuchua potius de Moae quam n Morn scriptus"
(Leviathan c. 38). Spinoza (Tract. Theol.-Pulit.
e. 8, 9, published in 1679) Kt himself boldly to
controvert the received authorship of the Penta-
teuch. He alleged against it (1) later names of
places, as Gen. xlv. 14 comp. with Judg. xviii. 89 ;
(2) the continuation of the history beyond the days
of Moses, Ex. xvi. 35 comp. with Josh. v. 12;
(3) the statement in Gen. xxxvi. 31, " before there
reigned any king over the children of Israel."
Spinoza maintained that Moses issued his com-
mands to the elders, that by them they were written
down and communicated to the people, and that
later they were collected and assigned to suitable
passages in Moses' life. He considered that the
Pentateuch was indebted to Ezra for the form in
which it now appears. Other writers began to
suspect that the book of Genesis was composed of
written documents earlier than the time of Moses.
SoVitringa (Obterv. finer, i. 8); i-e Clerc (de
Script. Penlateuchi, § 11), and R. Simon (Hut.
Critique du V. T. lib. i. c 7, Rotterdam, 1685).
According to the last of them writers, Genesis was
composed of earlier documents, the I-aws of the
Pentateuch were the work of Moses, and the greater
portion of the history was written by the public
scribe who is mentioned in the book. Le Here
supposed that the priest who, according to 2 K.
xvii. 27, was sent to instruct the Samaritan colon-
ists, was the author of the Pentateuch.
But it was not till the middle of the last century
that the question as to the authorship of the Pen-
tateuch was handled with anything like a discern-
ing criticism. The first attempt was made by a
layman, whose studies we might have supposed
would scarcely have led Mm to such an investiga-
tion. In the year 1753, there appeared at Brussels
a work, entitled : " Conjectures sur les Mlmoires
originaux, dont il paroit que Moyse s'est servi pour
composer le Line de Genese." it was written in
his 69th year by Astruc, Doctor and Professor of
Medicine in the Royal College at Paris, and Court
Physician to Louis XIV. His critical eye had
jbserved that throughout the book of Genesis^ and
as far as the 6th chapter of Exodus, traces were to
be found of two original documents, each charac-
terized by a distinct use of the names of God ; the
one by the name Elohini, and the other by the
name Jehovah. Besides these two principal docu-
. menta, he supposed Moses to have made use of ten
others in the composition of the earlier part of his
,• work. Astruc was followed by several German
.. writers on the path which he had traced ; by Jeru-
salem in his Letters on the Motaic fVritingt and
Philatophy ; by Scbultens, in his Dittertntio qui
> -duqtdritur, unde Motet ret m libi-o Geneteot de-
, tcriptat didicerit; and with considerable learning
and critical acumen by Hgen ( Vrhmden der Jern-
talemitchen Temptlarchiet, 1« TheiL Halle, 1798),
and Eichhom (Emleituny in d. A. T.).
But this " documentary hypothesis," as it is
.sailed, was too conservative and too rational for
iioiue critics. Vater, in his Commeniar Ub. den
i Pentateuch, 1815, and A. T. Hartmann, in his
I linguut. tint, in d. Stud, der Backer det A. TttL
-4818, maintained that the Pentateuch consisted
.saws' , of a number of fragments loosely strung
. L ua,tther without order or design. The former sup-
-fomi a collection of laws, made is the times of
PENTATEUCH. THE
David and Solomon, to have been the fciipriattei
of the whole : that this was the book discovered in
the reign of Josiah, and that its fragments wen
afterwards incorporated in Deuteronomy. AD the
rest, consisting of fragments of history and of laws
written at different periods up to this time, were
according to him, collected and shaped into their
present form between the times of Josiah and the
Babylonish Exile. Hartmann also brings down the
date of the existing Pentateuch as late as the Exile.
This has been called the " Fragmentary hypothesis."
Both of these have now been superseded by the
" Supplementary hypothesis," which has been
adopted with various modifications by De Wette,
Klerk, Stahelin, Tnch, Lengerke, Hupfidd, Kuobel,
Bunsen, Kurtz, Delitzsch, Schultz, Vaihinger, and
others. They all alike recognize two documents
in the Pentateuch. They suppose the narrative of
the FJohist, the more ancient writer, to have been
the foundation of the work, and that the Jeboviat
or later writer making use of this document, added
to and commented upon it, sometimes transcribing
portions of it intact, and sometimes incorporating
the substance of it into his own work.
But though thus agreeing in the main, they
difier widely to the application of the theory. Tims,
for instance, De Wette distinguishes between the
FJohist and the Jehovist in the first four Books,
and attributes Deuteronomy to a different writer
altogether (Am/, ins A. T. $ 150 ff.). So also
Lengerke, though with some differences of detail
in the portions he assigns to the two editors. The
last places the FJohist in the time of Solomon, and
the Jehovistic editor in that of Hezekiah ; whereas
Tuch puts the first under Saul, and the second
under Solomon. Stahelin, on the other hand, de-
clares for the identity of the Deuteronomist and
the Jehovist; and supposes the last to have written
in the reign of Saul, and the Klohiat in the time
of the Judges. HtipfeM (die Qutlltn drr Htnent)
finds, in Genesis at least, traces of three authors, an
earlier and a later FJohist, as well as the Jehovist.
He is peculiar in regarding the Jehovistic portion
as an altogether original document, written in
entire independence, and without the knowledge
even of the FJohistic record. A later editor or
compiler, he thinks, found the two books, and
threw them into one. Vaihinger (in Hereog's
Kncyklopadie) is also of opinion that portions of
three original documents are to be found in the
first four books, to which he adds some fragment*
of the 32d and 34th chapters of Deuteronomy.
The Fifth Book, according to him, is by a different
and much later writer. The Pre-elohist be sup
poses to have flourished about 1200 B. C, the
FJohist some 200 years later, the Jehovist in the
first half of the 8th century B. c, and the Deuter-
onomist in the reign of Hezekiah.
Delitzsch agrees with the writers above men-
tioned in recogniiing two distinct documents a*
the basis of the Pentateuch, especially in its earlier
portions; but be entirely severs himself from them
in maintaining that Deuteronomy is the work of
Moses. His theory is this: the kernel ir first
foundation of the Pentateuch is to be found in the
Book of the Covenant (Ex. xix.-xxiv.), which was
written by Moses himself, and afterwards incorpo-
rated into the body of the Pentateuch, where it at
present stands. Toe rest of the Laws given in the
wilderness, till the people reached the plains of
Moab, were communicated orally by Moses sad
taken down by the priests, whose business it wis
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENTATEUCH, THE
hot to provide for their preservation (Deut- xvil.
11, eomp. xxiv. 8, xixiii. 10; Lev. x. 11, eomp.
iv. 31). Inasmuch as Deuteronomy don uot pre-
uippose the existence in writing of the entire ear-
lier legislation, but on the contrary recapitulates it
Kith the greatest freedom, we are not obliged to as-
sume that the proper codification of the Law took
place during the forty yean" wandering in the des-
ert This was done, however, shortly after the oc-
cupation of the land of Canaan. On that sacred
sail was the first definite portion of the history of
Israel written ; and the writing of the history it-
self necessitated a full and complete account of the
Mosaic legislation. A man, suth u EJeaxar the
nn of Aarcn, the priest (see Num. xxvi. 1, xxxi.
21), wrote the great work beginning with the first
wunls of Genesis, including in it the Book of the
Covenant, and perhaps gave only a short notice of
the last discourses of Moses, It-cause Moaea had
written tiwiu down with Lis own hand. A second
— who may have been Joshua (see especial]}' lout,
xxxii. 44 i Josh. xxiv. 26, and comp. on the other
hand 1 Sam. x. 25), who was a prophet, and spake
as a prophet, or one of the elders »•■ whom Modes'
spirit rested (Num. xi. 25), and many of whom
survived Joshua (Josh. xxiv. 31) — completed the
work, taking Deuteronomy, which MosfS had writ-
ten, for his model, and incorporating it into his
own book. Somewhat in this manner arose the
Torak (or Pentateuch), each narrator further
availing himself when he thought proper of other
written documents.
Such is the theory of Deiitzsch, which ia in many
respects worthy of consideration, and which has
been adopted in the main by Kurtz (Gttch. d. A.
B. i. § 20, and ii. § 99, 6), who formerly waa op-
posed to the theory of different documents, and
tided rather with Hengstenberg and the critics of
the extreme conservative school, There is this dif-
ference, however, that Kurtz objects to the view
that Deuteronomy existed before the other books,
and believes that the rest of the Pentateuch was
committed to writing before, not after, the occupa-
tion of the Holy Land. Finally, Sohultz, in his
recent work on Deuteronomy, recognizes two orig-
inal documents in the Pentateuch, the Elohistic
being the base and groundwork of the whole, but
contends that the Jehovistic portions of the first
four books, as well as Deuteronomy, except the
concluding portion, were written by Moses. Thus
he agrees with Delitzsch and Kurtz in admitting
two documents and the Mosaic authorship of Deu-
eronomy, and with Stabelin in identifying the
Iteuteronomist with the Jebovist. That these three
ariters more nearly approach the truth than any
others who have attempted to account for the phe-
nomena of the existing Pentateuch, we are con-
vinced. Which of the three hypotheses is best
supported by facts and by a careful examination of
he recoid, we shall see hereafter.
One other theory has, however, to be stated be-
fore we pass on.
The author of it stands quite alone, and it ia
»ot likely that be will ever find any disciple bold
enough to adopt his theory : even bis great admirer
Bunaen forsakes him here. But it is due to
Ewald's great and deserved reputation as a
scholar, and to his uncommon critical sagacity,
Miefly to state what that theory is. He distin-
guishes, then, seven different authors in the great
Book of Origines or Primitive lliatun (comprising
h» Pas eteuch and Joshua '. The oldest hiator-
PENTATEUCH, THE 2411
leal work, of which but a very few fragments re-
main, is the Book of the Wars of Jehovah. Thai
follows a biography of Moses, of which also but
small portions have been preserved. The third
and fourth documents are much more perfect'
these consist of the Book of the Covenant, whicl
was written in the time of Samson, and the Bool
of Origines, which was written by a priest in the
time of Solomon. Then comes, ia the fifth place,
the third historian of the primitive times, or the
first prophetic narrator, a subject of the northtrr
kingdom in the days of Elijah or Joel. The sixth
document is the work of the fourth historian of
primitive times, or the second prophetic narrator,
who lived between 800 and 750. Lastly comes tht
fifth historian, or third prophetic narrator, who
nourished not long after Joel, and who collected
and reduced into one corpus the various works of
his predecessors. The real purposes of the history,
both iu its prophetical and its legal aspects, began
now to Le discerned. Some steps were taken in
this direction by an unknown writer at Ibe begin-
ning of the 7th century, b. c. ; and then in a far
more comprehensive manner by the Deuteronomisi.
who flourished in the time of Manasseh, and lives',
in Egypt. In the time of Jeremiah appeared the
poet who wrote the Blessing of Moses, as it is given
in Deuteronomy. A somewhat later editor incor-
porated the originally independent work of the Deu-
teronomist, and the lesser additions of his two col-
leagues, with the history as left by the fifth narra-
tor, and thus the whole was finally completed.
" Such," says Ewald (and his words, seriously
meant, read like delicate irony), •• were the strange
fortunes which this great work underwent before it
reached its present form."
Such is a brief summary of the views which have
been entertained by a large number of critics, many
of them men of undoubted piety as well as learn-
ing, who have found themselves compelled, after
careful investigation, to abandon the older doctrine
of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, and to
adopt, in some form or other, the theory of a com-
pilation from earlier documents.
On the other side, however, stands an array of
names scarcely less distinguished for learning, who
maintain not only that there is a imity of design
in the Pentateuch — which is granted by many of
those before mentioned — but who contend that
this unity of design can only be explained on the
supposition of a single author, and that this author
could have been none other than Motes. This is
the ground taken by Hengstenberg, Harerniek.
Drechsler, Kanke, Welte, and Keil. The first men-
tioned of these writers has no doubt done admira-
ble service in reconciling and removing very many
of the alleged discrepancies and contradictions in
the Pentateuch: but hit zeal carries him in some
instances to attempt a defense the very ingenuity
of which betrays how unsatisfactory it is ; and his
attempt to explain the use of the Divine Names,
by showing that the writer had a special design in
the use of the one or the other, is often in the last
degree arbitrary. Drechsler, in his work oil the
Unity and Uermituntu of O'enetU (1838), fares no
better, though his remarks are the more valuable
because in many cases they coincide, quite inde-
pendently, with those of Hengstenberg. Later,
bjwever, Drechsler modified bis view, and supposed
that too several uses of. the Divine Names were ow-
ing to a didactic purpose on the port of the wi Iter
I according as his object was to show i narticuhv r»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2412 PENTATEUCH, THE
svtion of God to the world, whether u Elohim or
M Jehovah. Hence he argued that, whilst difier-
SBt streams novmd through the Pentateuch, they
were uot from two different fountain-heads, but
raried according to the motive which influenced
the writer, and according to the fundamental
thought in particular sections; and on thia
ground, too, he explained the characteristic phrase-
ology which distinguishes such sections. Kanke's
work ( Untertuehungen Ober den Pentateuch) is a
valuable contribution to the exegesis of the Penta-
teuch. He is especially successful in establishing
the inward unity of the work, and in showing how
inseparably the several portions, legal, genealogical,
and historical, are interwoven together. Kurtz (in
hi* Einheit der Genttii, 1846, and in the first edi-
tion of his first volume of the Gachichte da Allen
Bundet) followed on the same side; but he has
since abandoned the attempt to explain the uee of
the Divine Names on the principle of the difierent
meanings which they bear, and has espoused the
theory of two distinct documents. Keil, also,
though he does not despair of the solution of the
problem, confesses (Luther. Zeittchr. 1861-68, p.
836) that "all attempts as yet made, notwithstand-
ing the acumen which has been brought to bear to
explain the interchange of the Divine Names in
Genesis on the ground of the difierent meanings
which they poss e s s , must be pronounced a failure."
Ebrard (Vat Alia- da Jehom-Namttit) and Tide
(Stud, md KriL 1858) make nearly the same
admission. Thia manifest doubtfulness in some
cases, and desertion in others from the ranks of
the more conservative school, is significant. And
it is certainly unfair to claim consistency and una-
nimity of opinion for one side to the prejudice of the
ather. The truth is, that diversities of opinion are
to be found among those who are opposed to the
theory of difierent documents, as well as amongst
those who advocate it. Nor can a theory which has
been adopted by Delitzsch, and to which Kurtz has
become a convert, be considered as either irrational
or irreligious. It may not be established beyond
doubt, but the presumptions in its favor are strong ;
nor, when properly stated, will it be found open to
any serious objection.
II. We ask in the next place what is the testi-
mony of the Pentateuch itself with regard to its
authorship?
1. We find on reference to Ex. xxW. 8, 4, that
>' Hoses came and told the people all the words of
Jehovah and all the judgments," and that he sub-
sequently " wrote down all the words of Jehovah."
These were written on a roll called " the book of
the covenant " (ver. 7), and " read in the audience
of the people." These "words" and "judgments"
were no doubt the Sinaitic legislation so far as it
bad as yet been given, and which constituted in
(act the covenant between Jehovah and the people.
Upon the renewal of this covenant after the idolatry
sf the Israelites, Moses was again commanded by
Jehovah to « write these words" (xxxlv. 87).
■ DeUtzwh, howevar, will not allow that IgD?
■sans in the already existing book, but in one which
was to be taken lor the occasion ; and he rafcrs . to
Com. v. 88, 1 8am. x. 86, 3 Bam. xl. 16, for a similar
aa> of the article. "IgD he takes hen, ss in Is.
XD. a, to msan a asperate leaf or plats on which the
SS M 'd was to be mads. But the three rn-rrr- to
•Men ht rafjn do not hela him. In Vie first two
PENTATEUCH, THE
"And," it is added, " be wrote npon the tanks the
words of the covenant, the ten commandments."
Leaving Deuteronomy aside for the present, there
are only two other passages m which mention is
made of the writing of any part of the Law, and
tnose are Ex wii. 14, where Moses la commanded
to write the defeat of Amaiek in a book (or rather
in the book, one already In me for the purpose );
and Num. xxxiii. 2, where we an informed that
Moses wrote the journeying* of the children of Is-
rael in the desert and the various stations at which
they encamped. It obviously does not follow from
these statements that Moses wrote all the rest of
the first four books which bear his name. Nor on
the other hand does this specific testimony with
regard to certain portions justify us in coming to
an opposite conclusion. So for nothing can be de-
termined positively one way or the other. But it
may be said that we have an express testimony to
the Mosaic authorship of the Law in Dent. xixi.
9-18, when we an told that " Moses wrote this
Law" (fTri»n JTTfain), and delivered it to
the custody of the priests with a command that it
should be read before all the people at the end of
every seven years, on the Feast of Tabernacles. In
ver. 84 it is further said, that when he " had made
an end of writing the words of thia Law in a book
till they were finished," he delivered it to the Le-
vites to be placed in the side of the ark of the cove-
nant of Jehovah, that it might be preserved as a
witness against the people. Such a statement is
no doubt decisive, but the question U, How for don
it extend? Do the words "this Law " comprise
all the Mosaic legislation as contained in the last
four books of the Pentateuch, or must they be con-
fined only to Deuteronomy V The last is appar-
ently the only tenable view. In Dent. xvii. 18,
the direction is given that the king on his acces-
sion " shall write him a copy of this Law in a book
out of that which is before the priests the Levi tee."
The words " copy of this Lew," are literally " rep-
etition of this Law" (xti 'nn nanfe), which
is another name for the book of Deuteronomy, and
hence the LXX. render here to BtvrepowAtuow
roCro, and Philo rkr twiro/itta, and although it
is true that Onkeloa uses njtTD (Misbneh) in
the sense of "copy," and the Talmud in the sense
of "duplicate" (Carpzov on Schiekard's Jm reg.
Hebrew, pp. 88-84), yet as regards the passage
already referred to in xxxi. 9, Ac, it was in tin
time of the second Temple rece i ved as an unques-
tionable tradition that Deuteronomy only, and uot
the whole Law was read at the end of every seven
years, in the year of release. The words arts
D"naTn nbn raisin nbnnn, -ttnths
beginning of Deuteronomy " {Sola, c. 7; M'Hf^i
Jad hachatakah in Hilchoth Chagiga, c 8; Ea>
hud, AfUiq. Sac p. iv. { 11).'
Besides, it is on the face of it very improbable
a partteular book kept for the purpose is probably In-
tended ; and In 8 8am. xt. 16, Uu book or leaf la
meant which had already been mentioned Id Mm pre-
vious vera. Hence the article la InilrpsneaMe.
6 " The passage or the Sifii," says DaUtaseh an Gen-
esis, p. 68, " one of the oldest Midraahlia of the school
of lab (t247'„ on Dent. xvU. 18, to which Bashl n>
(arson Bote 41*, Is as dear as it Is Important: 'let
him (the king) copy Vl 'm mtfO TO «
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENTATEUCH THE
oat tiw whole Pentateuch should have been need
at a national feast, whereas that Deuteronomy,
jamming up, spiritualising, and at the same time
tnforeing the Law should' so have been read, ii in
the highest degree probable and naturaL It is in
confirmation of this new that all the later litera-
ture, and especially the writings of the prophet*,
are full of references to Deuteronomy as the book
with which the; might expect the most intimate
acquaintance on the put of their hearers. So in
other passages in which a written law ii spoken of
we are driven to conclude that only some part and
not the whole of the Pentateuch is meant Thus
in chap, xxvii. 3, 8, Moses commands the people to
write "all the words of this Law very plainly " on
the stones set up ou Mount EbaL Some have sup-
posed that only the Decalogue, others, that the
blessings and curses which immediately follow,
were so to be inscribed. Others again (as Schula,
ZkuUrun. p. 87) think that some summary of the
Law may hare been intended ; but it is at any rate
quite clear that the expression •' all the words of
this Law " does not refer to the whole Pentateuch.
This is confirmed by Josh. viii. 39. There the
history tells us that Joshua wrote upon the stones
of the altar which he had built on Mount Ebal
" a copy of the Law of Muses {mithnth torath iio-
thtk — the same expression which we bare in Deut.
xvii. 18), which he wrote in the presence of the
children of Israel. . . . And afterward he read all
the words of the Law, the blessings and cursings,
according to all that is written in the book of the
Law." On this we observe, first, that " the bless-
ings and the cursings " here specified as having
been engraven on the plaster with which the stones
were covered, are those recorded in Deut. xxvii.,
xxviii , and, next, that the language of the writer
renders it probable that other portions of the Law
were added. If any reliance is to be placed on
what is apparently the oldest Jewish tradition (see
p. 3419, note 0), and If the words rendered in our
version " oopy of the Law " mean " repetition of
the Law," ». e. the book of Deuteronomy, then it
was this which was engraven upon the stones and
read in the hearing of Israel. It seems clear that
Use whole of the existing Pentateuch cannot be
meant, but either the book of Deuteronomy only,
or some summary of the Mosaic legislation. In
any ease nothing can be argued from any of the
paseages to which we have referred as to the author-
ship of the first four books. Sohulte, indeed, con-
tends that with chap. xxx. the discourses of Moses
sod, and that therefore whilst the phrase " this
aw,'' whenever it occurs in chape, L-xxx., means
anly Deuteronomy, yet in chap, xxxi., where the
narrative is resumed and the history of Moses
brought to a conclusion, " tins law " would natur
suy refer to the whole previous legislation. Chap-
ter xxxi. brings, as be says, to a termination, not
Deuteronomy only, but the previous books as well ;
be without it they would be incomplete. In a sec-
ion, therefore, which concludes the whole, It is
reasonable to suppose that the words " this law "
irfTigfifiTt the whole, lie appeals, moreover (against
Delitzacb), to the Jewish tradition, and to the words
of Josephut, i hp x nf>tiit M /jsjsnres <tyrr/Aot
PENTATEUCH, THE 2418
oToffii .... eWyuwcKtrai root rd/iev
wfivi, and also to the absence of the article in xxxi
34, where Moses is said to have made an end of
writing the I aw in a Book (~>93 '?)i whereas
when different portions are spoken of, they are said
to have been written in Me Book already existing
(Ex. xvii. 14; 1 Sam. x. 95; Josh. xxiv. 36). It
is scarcely conceivable, he says, that Moses should
have provided so carefully for the safe custody and
transmission of his own sermons on thu Law, and
have made no like provision for the Law itaelf,
though given by the mouth of Jehovah. Even
therefore if " this Law " in xxxi. 9, 34, applies k
the first inatanoe to Deuteronomy, it must indirect
ly include, if not the whole Pentateuch, at anj
rate the whole Mosaic legislation. Deuteronomy
everywhere supposes the existence of the earlier
books, and it is not credible that at the end of his
life the great legislator should have been utterly
regardless of the Law which was the text, and
solicitous only about the discourses which were the
comment. The one would hare been unintelligible
apart from the other. There is, no doubt, some
force in these arguments; but as yet they only ren-
der it probable that If Moses were the author of
Deuteronomy, he was the author of a great part at
least of the three previous books.
So far, then, the direct evidence from the Penta-
teuch itaelf is not sufficient to establish the Mosaic
authorship of every portion of the Five Books.
Certain parts of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers,
and the whole of Deuteronomy to the end of chap,
xxx., is all that is expressly said to have been writ-
ten by Moses.
Two questions are yet to be answered. Is there
evidence that parte of the work were not written by
Moses? Is there evidence that parte of the work
are later than hi* time ?
2. The next question we ask la this: Is then
any evidence to show that he did not write portions
of the work which goes by his name? We have
already referred to the last chapter of Deuteronomy
which gires an account of his death. Is it proba-
ble that Moses wrote the words in Ex. xi. 8,
" Moreover the man Moses was very great in the
land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh s servant*,
and in the sight of the people;" — or those in
Num. xii. 3, " Now the man Moses was very meek
above aM the men which were upon the face of the
earth ? " On the other hand, are not such words
of praise just what we might expect from the friend
and disciple — for such perhaps he was — who pro-
nounced his eulogium after his death — "And
there arose not a prophet sinoe in Israel like onto
Moses, whom Jehovah knew faoe to face " (Deut.
xxxir. 10)?
3. But there is other evidence, to a critical eye
not • whit lees convincing, which points in the
same direction. If, without any theory easting its
shadow upon us, and without any fear of conse-
quences before our eyes, we read thoughtfully only
the Book of Genesis, we can hardly escape the con-
viction that it partakes of the nature of a compila-
tion, it has, indeed, a unity of plan, a coherence
of parte, a shapeliness and an order, which satisfy
Soak tar himself In pal Dealer, and 1st him not be
MfeaVd with on* that h* has Inherited tram hi* an-
TTV1 (BsutaranatBjj.
nothing «lw bat TOVQ
Not this exelusrrely, how-
ever, bseanss in rer. 19 Is said, to observe otf tea
words of this Law. If so, then why is Deateronoasi
only mentioned f H iss n ss on the day of sjss.nbl'
Dentsranamy anly was read.' "
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2414 PENTATEUCH, THE
a* tint u it stands it is tbe creation of a tingle
mind. But it bears, also, manifest traces of baring
been based upon an earlier work ; and that earlier
work itself seems to have bad imbedded in it frag-
ments of still more ancient documents. Before
proceeding to prove this, it maj not be unnecessary
to state, in order to avoid misconstruction, that
such a theory does not in the least militate against
the divine authority of tbe book. The history conr
'ained in Genesis could not have been narrated by
Moses from personal knowledge; but whether he
was taught it by immediate divine suggestion, or
was directed by the Holy Spirit to the use of earlier
documents, is immaterial in reference to the inspi-
ration of the work. The question may therefore
be safely discussed on critical grounds alone.
We begin, then, by pointing out some of the
phenomena which the book of Genesis presents.
At the very opening of tbe book, peculiarities of
style and manner are discernible, which can scarce-
ly escape the notice of a careful reader even of a
translation, which certainly are no sooner pointed
out than we are compelled to admit their exist-
ence.
The language of chapter i. Ml. 3 (where tbe
first chapter ought to have been made to end} is
totally unlike that of the section which follows, ii.
*-iii. 23. This last is not only distinguished by
a peculiar use of the divine names — for here, and
nowhere else in the whole l'entateuch, except Ex.
ix. 31), have we the combination of the two, Jeho-
vah Elohim— -but also by a mode of expression
peculiar to itself. It is also remarkable for pre-
serving an account of the creation distinct from
that contained in the first chapter. It may be
said, indeed, that this account does not contradict
the former, and might therefore have proceeded
from the same pen. But, fully admitting that there
is no contradiction, the representation is so differ-
ent that it is far more natural to conclude that it
was derived from some other, though not antago-
nistic, source. It may be argued that here we have,
not as in the first instance the Divine idea and
method of creation, but the actual relation of man
to tbe world around Mm, and especially to the
vegetable and animal kingdoms ; that this is there-
fore only a resumption and explanation of some
things which had been mentioned more broadly
and generally before. Still in any case it cannot
be denied that this second account has the 'charac-
ter of a supplement; that it is designed, if not to
correct, at least to explain the other. And this
fact, taken in connection with the peculiarities of
the phraseology and the use of the divine names in
the same section, is quite sufficient to justify the
■apposition that we have here an instance, not of
independent narrative, but of compilation from dif-
ferent sources.
To take another instance. Chapter xhr. is be-
yond all doubt an ancient monument — papyrus-
Mil It may have been, or inscription on stone,
which has been copied and transplanted in its
original form into our present book of Genesis.
Archaic it is in its whole character; distinct, too,
again, from the rest of the book in its use of the
name of God. Here we have El 'Elyon, " the
Host High God," used by Melohixedec first, and
■hen by Abraham, who adopts it and applies it to
Jehovah, as if to show that it was one God whom
he worshipped and whom Hekthizedeo acknowU
■dged, though they knew Him under different ap-
PENTATETJOH, THE
We believe, then, that at least these two par.
tions of Genesis — chap. ii. 4-iii. 24, and chap,
xiv. — are original documents, preserved, it niaj
have been, like the genealogies, which are also a
very prominent feature of the book, in the tents of
the patriarchs, and made use of either by the Ho-
hist or the Jehovist for his history. Indeed, Eich-
honi seems to be not far from the truth when he
observes, " The early portion of the history was
composed merely of separate small notices ; whilst
the family history of the Hebrews, on the contrary,
runs on in two continuous narratives : then, Nnr-
ever, again have not only here and there some pas-
sages inserted from other sources, as chap, xiv.,
xxxiii. 18-xxxlv. 31, xxxvi. 1-43, xlix. 1-27, but,
even where the authors wrote more independently,
they often bring together traditions which in the
course of time had taken a different form, and
merely give them as they had received them, with-
out intimating which is to be preferred " (Hint, ns
A. T. ill. 91, § 412).
We come now to a more ample examination of
the question as to the distinctive use of the divine
names. Is it the fact, as Astruc was the first to
surmise, that this early portion of the Pentateuch,
extending from Gen. i. to Ex. vi., does contain two
original documents characterized by their separate
use of the divine names and by other peculiarities
of style? Of this there can be no reasonable doubt.
We do find, not only scattered verses, but whole
sections thus characterized. Throughout this por-
tion of the Pentateuch the name ni!T (Jehovah)
prevails in some sections, and OVtTH (Elohim)
in others. There are a few sections where both,
are employed indifferently; and there are, finally,
sections of some length in which neither tbe one
nor the other occurs. A list of these has been
given in another article. [Gknksis.] And we
find, moreover, that in connection with this use of
the divine names there is also a distinctive and
characteristic phraseology. The style and idiom
of the Jehovah sections is not the same as the style)
and idiom of the Elohim sections. After Ex. vi.
2-vii. 7, the name Elohim almost ceases to be cha-
racteristic of whole sections; the only exceptions to
this rule being Ex. xiii. 17-19 and chap, xviii.
Such a phenomenon as this cannot be without sig-
nificance. If, as Hengstenberg and those who
agree with him would persuade us, tbe use of the
divine names is to be accounted for throughout by
a reference to their etymology — if the author uses
the one when his design is to speak of God as tbe
Creator and the Judge, and the other when his
object is to set forth God as the Redeemer — then
it still cannot but appear remarkable that only up
to a particular point do these names stamp separate
sections of tbe narrative, whereas afterwards ail such
distinctive criterion fails. How is this fact to be
accounted for? Why is it that up to Ex. vi. each
name has its own province in the narrative, broad
and clearly defined, whereas in the subsequent por-
tions the name Jehovah prevails, and Elohim is only
interchanged with it here and there? But the al-
leged design in the use of the divine names will not
bear a close examination. It is no doubt true that
throughout the story of creation in i. 1— ii. 3 we
have Elohim — and this squares with tbe hypoth-
esis. There is some plausibility also in the attempt
to explain the compound use of the divine names
in tbe next section, by tbe fact that here we have
the transition from tbe History of Creation to the
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENTATEUCH. THE
History of Redemption ; that here consequently we
mould expect to find God exhibited in both ehar
aetert, m the God who nude aud the God who
redeemi the world. That after the Fall it should
lie .Jehovah who speaks in the history of Cain and
Abel is on the same principle intelligible, namely,
that this name harmonises best with the features of
the narrative. Bat when we come to the history
of Noah the criterion nils us. Why, for instance,
should it be said that " Noah found grace in the
eras of Jehovah " (vi. 8), and that " Noah walked
with Elohim " (vi. ti)'t Surely on the hypothesis
it should hate been, " Noah walked with Jehovah,"
for Jehovah, not Elohim, is His Name as the God
<{ covenant, and grace, and self-revelation. Heng-
utenberg's attempt to explain this phrase by an
apposition between " walking with God " aud
" walking with the world " is remarkable only for
its ingenuity. Why should it be more natural or
more forcible even then to imply an opposition be-
tween toe world and its Creator, than between the
world and its Redeemer ? The reverse is what we
should expect. To walk with the world does not
mean with the created things of the world, but
with the ipirit of the world; and the emphatic op-
position to that spirit is to be found in the spirit
which confesses its need and lays hold of the prom-
ise of Redemption. Hence to walk with Jthovah
(not Elohim) would be the natural antithesis to
walking with the world. So, again, how on the
hypothesis of Hengstenberg, cuu we satisfactorily
account for its being uid in vi. 22, " Thus did
Noah; according to all that God (Elohim) com-
manded him, to did he; " and in vii. 6, " Aud
Noah did according unto all that Jthovah com-
manded him; " while again in vii. 9 Elohim occurs
in the same phrase ? The elaborate ingenuity by
means of which Hengstenberg, Drrchaler, and others
attempt to account for the specific use of the sev-
eral names in these instances is in fact its own
refutation. The stern constraint of a theory could
alone have suggested it.
The nut to which we have referred that there is
this distinct use of the names Jehovah and Elohim
in the earlier portion of tbe Pentateuch, is uo
doubt to be explained by what we are told in Kx.
vi. 2, " And Elohim spake unto Moses, and said
unto him, I am Jehovah: and I appeared unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob as El-
Sbaddai, hut by my name Jehovah was I not known
to them." Does this mean that the name Jehovah
was literally unknown to the Patriareha? that the
first revelation of it was that made to Hoses in
oh. lit 13, 14 7 where we read: "And Moses said
unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children
of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of
your fathers hath sent me unto you: and they
shall say to me, What is His Name? what shall I
say unto them? And God said unto Motes, I AM
THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say
mto the children of Israel, I AM hath tent me
tntoyon."
This it undoubtedly the first explanation of the
lame. It is now, and now first, that Israel la to
He made to understand the full import of that
Name. This they are to learn by the redemption
out of Egypt. By meant of the deliverance they
are to recognise the character of their deliverer.
The God of their fathers is not a God of power
Jaly, but s God of Mthfulness and of love, the
(tad who has maaa a covenant with his chosen,
tad who therefore will not forsake then. This
PENTATEUCH, THE 2415
seems to be the meaning of the "I AM TTIAT
1 AM" (JTHrJ -HjjB rrrftj), orulti-y
perhaps be better rendered, "{am He whom i
prove myself to be." The abstract idea of self-
existence can hardly be conveyed by this name ; but
rather the idea that God is what He is in relation
to hit people. Now, in this sense it is clear God
had not fully made Himself known before.
The name Jehovah may have existed, though we
have only two instances of this in the history, —
the one in the name Moriah (Gen. xxii. 2), and the
other in the name of the mother of Moses (Ex. vi
20), who was called Joehebed ; both names fanned
by composition from the divine name Jehovah. It
is certainly remarkable that during tbe patriarchal
times we find no other Instance of a proper name
so compounded. Names of persons compounded
with El and Shaddai we do find, but not with
Jehovah. This fact abundantly shows that the
name Jehovah was, if not altogether unknown, at
any rate not understood. And thus we have " an
undesigned coincidence" in support of tbe ac-
curacy of the narrative. God says in Exodus, He
was not known by that name to the patriarchs.
The Jehovistic writer of the patriarchal history,
whether Moses or one of his friends, uses the name
freely as one with which he himself was familiar,
but it never appears m the hittoif and life of the
Patriarchs as one which was familiar to them.
On the other hand, passages like Gen. iv. 16, tod
ix. 26, teem to snow that the name was not alto-
gether unknown. Hence Astruc remarks: " Le
passage de l'Exode Men entendu ne prouve point
que le noni de Jehova fut un nom de Dieu inconnn
aux Patriarches et reveM a Moyse le premier, mail
prouve teulement que Dieu n' avoit pas fait oon-
noltre aux Patriarches toute l'ltendue de la signifi-
cation de ce nom, au lieu qu'il l'a manltMeiif A
Moyse." The expression in Ex. vi. 3, " I was not
known, or did not make myself known," Is in hot
to be understood with tbe same limitation as when
(John i. 17) it is said, that "Grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ" as in opposition to the
Law of Moses, which does not mean that there
was no Grace or Truth in the Old Covenant; or
as when (John vii. 89) it is said, •< Tbe Holy Ghost
was not yet, because Jesus was not vet glorified,"
which does not of course exclude all operation of
the Spirit before. [Jehovah, Amer. ed.]
Still this phenomenon of the distinot use of the
divine names would scarcely of itself prove the
point, that there are two documents which form
the groundwork of the existing Pentateuch. But
there is other evidence pointing the same way.
We find, for instance, the same story told by the
two writers, and their two accounts manifestly in-
terwoven; and we find also certain favorite words
and phrases which distinguish tbe one writer from
the other.
(1.) In proof of the first, it is sufficient to read
the history of Noah.
In order to make this mora clear, we will sepa-
rate the two documents, and arrange them In
parallel columns : —
JsaoviM. Kumm.
Sen. vL 6. And Je-
hovah saw that the wick-
edness of man was gnat
in we eartt, and that for all t
svenr Imagination of the hie way upon tbe earth
thoughts of his heart was
Oen.
vt.
12.
And Ma.
him as
w
the
earth, and
behold
it
was corns*;
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2416 MWTATBTJCH, THE
aahr «tO eontmueUy.
And K repented Jehovah,
7. And Jehovah Mid, 18. And Bohhu laid to
I will blot out nan whom Noah, The and of all Mb
i have us e l e d ftom off Is codm beftjn me, for the
earth to Oiled with Tio-
knee bar o n es of
and behold I will destroy
them with the earth.
Tl. 9. Noah a righteous
man waa perfect in hit
Thee have I sera righteous gene r ation. WUhBohim
before ma In thai genera- did Noah walk.
dm mot of the ground.
vft. L And Jehovah
mid to Noah ....
FBNTATKUCH, IBS
"Aim Naliaraim," or simply O^t^i "Atamj*
i^yjl^T?* M beftmtfnlandmiihipr/;"C*|jn
rV 1 "!?, "establish a i
TiL 2. Of all cattle
which to clou thon ahalt
lake to thee by sevens,
male and hh female, and
of all cattle which to not
dean, two, male and hit
8. Aba of fowl of the
air by sevens, male and
female, to pi am i re aeed
alin no the bee of all
the earth.
vii. 4. For In yet
esven days I will send
rain npon the earth forty
days and forty nights,
and I will blot ont ail the
substance which I hare
made from off the face of
the ground.
Til. 6. And Noah did
according to all that Je-
vi. 19. And of
Urine »™e" °f sll neeh,
two of all shalt thon bring
into the ark to w ee n ie
alive with thee : male and
female (hall they be.
20. Of fowl after their
kind, and of cattle after
their kind, of every thing
that ereepeth on the
ground after his kind,
two of all shall come onto
thee: that thon maycet
p r o wi vc (them) alive.
vi. 17. And I, behold I
do bring the flood, waters
npon the earth, to destroy
all flesh wherein to the
breath of lue, from under
heaven, all that to In the
earth shall perish.
vi. B. And Noah did
according to all that So-
lum commanded him; so
did he.
Without carrying this parallelism further at
length, we will merely indicate by references the
tmoes of the two documents in the rest of the nar-
rative of the Flood : rii. 1, 6, on the Jehovah side,
answer to vi. 18, vii. 11, on the Hohiiu side; vii.
7, 8, 9, 17, 23, to vii. 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 81, 82;
till. 21, 22, to ix. 8, 9, 10, 11.
It is quite true that we find both in earlier and
later writers repetitions, which may arise either
from accident or from want of skill on the part of
the author or compiler; but neither the one nor
the other would account for the constant repetition
which here runs through all parts of the narra-
(2.) But again we find that these duplicate
narratives are characterized by peculiar modes of
siisiasimi, and that, generally, the Eiohistic and
Jekovistie sections have their own distinct and iu-
iividual coloring.
We find certain favorite phrases peculiar to
••he Eiohistic passages. Such, for instance, are
njfTB, "possession;" \T~K0fi V^B> "l»»<>
of sojourning!;" D^TTn^, or DJTnVT^,
"after your, or their, generation*;" '"WO?, or
-njIS 1 ?, "after his, or ber, kind;" H?*??
n$n DVn, "on the edf-san-e day;" 7^3
CT**. "Padan Aram" — for which in the Je-
hovacii portion, we always find DfTTJ B*?$
phrase being fTHJl iTJ3, "to make (Et- 'cut*
a covenant" So again we find iTH? DHM
"sign of the covenant;" XlffXS iTI.5, "«*et
lasting covenant; " il^JEfi "I^J, " male and fe-
male " (instead of the Jehonatie 'Vi*7M*| C"**)
" swarming or creeping thing; r and \f - j£-
and the common superscription of the jeaes"
portions, ri"VVT\F\ TTN, "these are tbej
tkms of," etc., are, if not exclusively, yet almost
exclusively, characteristic of those sections in which
the name Qohim occurs.
There is therefore, it seems, good ground for
concluding that, besides some smaller independent
documents, traces may be discovered of two orig-
inal historical works, which form the basis of the
present book of Generis and of the earlier chapters
of Exodus.
Of these there can be no donbt that the ElohistJe
is the earlier. The passage in Ex. vi. establishes
this, as well as the matter and style of the docu-
ment itself. Whether Moses himself was the
author of either of these works is a different ques-
tion. Both are probably in the main as old as bis
.time; the Eiohistic certainly is, and perhaps older.
But other questions must be considered before we
can pronounce with certainty on this head.
4. But we may now advance a step further.
There are certain references of time and place which
prove clearly that the work, tn its pnxnt farm, far
later than the time of Hoses. Notices there an
scattered here and there which can only be ac-
counted for fairly on one of two suppositions,
namely, either a later composition of the whole, or
the revision of an editor who found it necessary to
introduce occasionally a few words by way of ex-
planation or correction. When, for instance, it it
said ((Jen. xii. 6, comp. xiii. 7), " And the Ca-
naanite was then (TN) in the land," the obvious
meaning of such a remark seams to be that the
state of things was different in the time of the
writer; that now the Canaanite was then no longer;
and the conclusion is that the watts must nave
been written after the occupation of the land by
the Israelites. In any other book, as Vaittngsr
jnatly remarks, we should certainly draw this in-
The principal notices of time and pbee wUah
have been alleged as bespeaking for the Pentateneh
a later date an the following: —
(a.) Re fe re n ces of time. Ex. vi. 36, 87, need
not be regarded as a later addition, for it obvioasly
sums up the genealogical register given just before,
and refers back to ver. 13. But ft is more nat-
urally reconcilable with some other authorship than
that of Hoses. Again, Ex. xvL 83-36, though it
must have been Introduced after the rest of the
book was written, may have been added by Moses
bimself, supposing him to have com p o atd the rest
of the book. Hoses there directs Aaron to by up
the manna lefore Jehovah, and then we read: "As
Jehovah commanded Hoses, so Aaron laid it up
before the Testimony (». «. the Ark) to be kept
Digitized by VjOOQlC
l»ENTATBUCH, THE
And the children of fanel did eat manna forty
years, until they came to a land inhabited ; they
did eat manna until they came unto the border! of
the land of Canaan." Then follow* the remark,
•< Mew an omer ii the tenth part of an ephah."
It is clear then that this passage was written not
only after the ark was made, but after the Israel-
ite! had entered the Promised Land. The pkdn
and obvious intention of the writer is to tell us
when the manna ctattd, not, as Hengstenberg
sontends, merely how long it eontisutd. So it is
said (Josh. v. 12), "And the manna ceased on the
morrow after ther had eaten of the old corn of
the land," etc The observation, too, about the
omer could only have been made when the omer
as a measure had (alien into disuse, which it is
hardly supposeble eould have taken place in the
lifetime of Hoses. Still these passages are not
absolutely irreconcilable with the Mosaic author-
ship of the book. Vane 86 may be a later gloss
only, as Le Gere and Rosenmiiller believed.
The difficulty is greater with a passage in .the
book of Genesis. The genealogical table of Esau's
family (ch. xxxvi.) can scarcely be regarded as a
later interpolation. It does not interrupt the order
and connection of the book ; on the contrary, it is
a moat essential part of its structure; it is one of
the ten "generations" or genealogical registers
which form, so to speak, the backbone of the whole.
Here we find the remark (ver. 81), « And these are
the kings that reiitned in the land of Edom, before
there reigned any king over the children of Israel "
Le Clerc supposed this to be a later addition, aud
Hengstenberg confesses the difficulty of the passage
(Autk. d. Ptntnt. ii. 302). Bnt the difficulty is
not set sside by Hengstenberg's remark that the
reference is to the prophecy already delivered in
xzxv. 11, " Kings shall come out of thy loins."
No unprejudiced person can read the words, " be-
fore there reigned any king over the children of
Israel," without feeling that, when they were writ-
ten, kings had already begun to reign over Israel.
It is a simple historical fact that for centuries after
the death of Moses no attempt wss made to estab-
lish a monarchy amongst the Jews. Gideon indeed
(Judg. viii. 22, 23) might have become king, or
perhaps rather military dictator, but was wise
enough to decline with firmness the dangerous
honor. His son Abimelech, less scrupulous sad
more ambitious, prevailed upon the Shechemites to
make him king, and was acknowledged, it would
nam, by other cities, but he perished after a tur-
bulent reign of three years, without being able to
perpetuate his dynasty. Such facts are not indica-
tive of any desire on the part of the Israelites at
that time to be ruled by kings. There was no
deep-rooted national tendency to monarchy which
eould account for the observation In Gen. xxxvi. on
the part of a writer who lived centuries before a
monarchy was established. It is impossible not to
feel in the words, as Ewald observes, that the nar-
rator almost envies Edom because she had enjoyed
the blessings of a regular well-ordered kingdom so
long before Israel. An historical remark of this
kind, it must be remembered, is widely different
from the provision made in Deuteronomy for the
possible can that at some later time a monarchy
PENTATEUCH. THE 24 LI
would be established. It is one thing i. r a writer
framing laws, which are to be the heritage of his
people and the basis of their constitution for all
time, to prescribe what shall be done when they
shall elect a king to reign orer them. It is another
thing for a writer comparing the condition ot an-
other country with his own to say that the one had
a monarchical form of government long before the
other. The one might be the dictate of a wise sa-
gacity forecasting the future; the other could only
be said at a time when both nations alike were gov-
erned by kings. In the former can we might even
recognize a spirit of prophecy : in the latter this is
out of the question. Either then we must admit
that the book of Genesis did not exist as a whole
till the times of David and Solomon, or we must
regard this particular verse as the interpolation of
a later editor. And this last is not so improbable
a supposition as Vaihinger would represent it.
Perfectly true it is that the whole genealogical ta-
ble could have been no later addition : it U mani-
festly an integral part of the book. But the words
in question, ver. 31, may have been inserted later
from the genealogical table in 1 Chr. i. 43 ; and if
so, it may have been introduced by Ezra in bis re-
vision of the Law."
Similar remarks may perhaps apply to Lev. xviii.
28; "That the land spue not you out also when
ye defile it, u it s/wed out tkt notion that tens be-
fore you." This undoubtedly assumes the occupa-
tion of the Land of Canaan by the Israelites. The
great difficulty connected with this passage, how-
ever, is that it is not a supplementary remark of
the writer's, but that the words are the words o(
God directing Moses what he is to say to the chil-
dren of Israel (ver. 1). And this is not set aside
even if we suppose the book to have been written,
not by Moses, but by one of the elders after the
entrance into Canaan.
(0.) In several instances older namet of placet
give place to those which came later into use in
Canaan. In Gen. xir. 14, and in Deut. xxxiv. 1,
occurs the name of the well-known city of Dan.
But in Josh. xix. 47 we are distinctly told that
this name was given to what was originally called
I-eshem (or Laish) by the children of Dan after
they had wrested it from the Canaanites. The
same account is repeated still more circumstantially
in Judg. xviii. 27-29, where it is positively asserted
that " the name of the city was Laish at the first."
It is natural that the city should be called Dan in
Deut. xxxiv., as that is a passage written beyond
all doubt after the occupation of the Land of Ca-
naan by the Israelites. But In Genesis we can only
fairly account for its appearance by supposing that
the old name Laish originally stood in the MS.,
and that Dan was substituted for it on some later
revision. [Dak.]
In Josh. xiv. 16 (comp. xv. 13, 54) and Judg. i
10 we are told that the original name of Hebron
before the conquest of Canaan was Kiijath-Arba.
In Gen. xxiil. 2 the older name occurs, and the
explanation Is added (evidently by some one who
wrote later than the occupation of Canaan), "the
same is Hebron." In Gen. xiii. 18 we find the
name of Hebron standing alone and without any
"ion. Hence Keil supposes that this was
• Psalm zrr. tarnishes a cartons Instance of the
way la which a passage may be introduced Into an ear-
Mr book. St. Paul, quoting this psalm In Bom. Ul.
10, subjoins other passages of scripture te Us quote-
US
• LXX. have transferred then fas
sages from the «pl»tl» Into the Psalm, and have base
Miowes by the Tug. and Arab.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2418 PENTATEUCH, THE
the original name, that the place came to be called
Kirjath-Arha in the interval between Abraham and
Mioses, and that in the time of Jaahua it wai cus-
tomary to apeak of it bj iU ancient instead of its
more modern name. This i» not an impossible
supposition ; but it is more obvious to explain the
apparent anachronism as the correction of a later
editor, especially as the correction is actually given
in so many words iii the other passage (xxiii. 8).
Another instance of a similar kind is the occur-
rence of Hormah in Num. xiv. 46, xxi. 1-3, com-
pared with Judg. i. 17. It may be accounted for,
however, thus: In Num. xxi. 8 we have the ori-
gin of the name explained. The book of Numbers
was written later than this, and consequently, even
in speaking of an earlier event which took place at
the same spot, the writer might apply the name,
though at that point of the history it had not been
given. Then in Judg. 1. 17 we have the Canaanite
name Zephath (for the Canaanites naturally would
not have adopted the Hebrew name given in token
of their victory), and are reminded at the same
time of the original Hebrew designation given in
the Wilderness.
So Ear, then, judging the work simply by what
we find in it, there is abundant evidence to show
that, though the main bulk of it is Mosaic, certain
detached portions of it are of later growth We
are not obliged, because of the late date of these
portions, to bring down the rest of the book to
later times. This it contrary to the express claim
advanced by large portions at least to be from Mo-
ses, and to other evidence, both literary and his-
torical, in favor of a Mosaic origin. On the other
hand, when we remember how entirely during some
periods of Jewish history the Law seems to have
been forgotten, and again how necessary it would
be after the seventy years of exile to explain some
of its archaisms and to add here and there short
notes to make it more intelligible to the people,
nothing can be more natural than to suppose that
such later additions were made by Ezra and Nebe-
miah.
III. We are now to consider the evidence lying
outside of the Pentateuch itself, which bears upon
its authorship and the probable date of its compo-
sition. This evidence is of three kinds : first, direct
mention of the work as already existing in the later
books of the Bible ; secondly, the existence of a book
substa n t ia l l y the same as the present Pentateuch
amongst the Samaritans; and, lastly, allusions lest
direct, such as historical references, quotations, and
the like, which presuppose its existeuoe.
1. We have direct evidence for the authorship
of the Law in Josh. i. 7, 8, " according to all the
Law which Moses my servant commanded thee,"
— "this book of the Law shall not depart out of
thy mouth,"— and viii. 31, 34, xxiii. 6 (in xxiv.
36, "the book of the Law of God "), in all which
places Moses is said to have written it. This agrees
with what we have already seen respecting Deuter-
onomy and certain other portions of the Pentateuch
which are ascribed in the Pentateuch itself to Mo-
rn They cannot, however, be cited at proving
hat the Pentateuch in its present form and in all
its parts is Mosaic.
The book of Judges does not speak of the book
of the Law. A reason may be alleged for this
difference between the books of Joshua and Judges.
In the eyas of Joshua, the friend and immediate
t u sessta r of Motes, the Law would possess un
It was to be his guide at the
FHHTATBUOH, THE
Captain of the people, and on the basil if the Uut
was to rest all the life of the people both civil sal
religious, in the land of Canaan. He bad received,
moreover, from God Himself, an express charge st
observe and do according to all that was written hi
the Law. Hence we are not surprised at the prom-
inent position which it occupies in the book which
tells us of the exploit* of Joshua. In the book of
Judges on the other hand, where we see the nation
departing widely from the Mosaic institutions, laps-
ing into idolatry, and falling under the power of
foreign oppressors, the absence of all mention of ties
Book of the Law it easily to be accounted for.
It is a little remarkable, however, that no duttot
mention of it occurs in the books of l-ami eL Con-
sidering the express provision made fa* a monarchy
in Deuteronomy, we should have expected that on
the first appointment of a king some reference
would have been made to the requirements of the
I-aw. A prophet like Samuel, we might have
thought, could not mil to direct the attention of
the newly made king to the Book in accordance
with which he was to goven. But it k*. did this,
the history does not tell us so; though there are,
it U true, allusions which can only be interpreted
on the supposition that the I-aw was known. The
first mention of the Law of Moses after the estab-
lishment of the monarchy is in David's charge to
his son Solomon, on hit death-bed (1 K. U. 3).
From that passsge there can be no doubt that Da-
vid had himself framed his rule in accordance with
it, and was desirous that his son should do the
tame. The words " as it is written in the Law ot
Moses," show that some portion, at any rate, of
our present Pentateuch is referred to, and that the
Law was received at the Law of Moses. The alln-
aion, too, seems to be to parts of Deuteronomy, and
therefore favors the Mosaic authorship of that book.
In viii. 9, we are told that " there was nothing in
toe ark save the two tables of stone which Motes
put there at Horeb." In viii. 63, Solomon uses
the words, " At thou spakest by the hand of Moses
thy servant:" but the reference is too general to
prove anything as to the authorship of the Penta-
teuch. The reference may be either to Ex. xix. 6,
6, or to Dent. xiv. 3.
In 8 K. xl. IS, " the testimony " is put into tat
hinds of Joash at his coronation. This must
have been a book containing either the whole of the
Mosaic Law, or at least the Book of Deuteronomy,
a copy of which, as we have seen, the king waa ex-
pected to make with hit own band st the time of
his accession.
In the Books of Chronicles far more frequent
mention is made of "the Law of Jehovah," or
" the book of the Law of Moses: " — a fact which
may be accounted for partly by the priestly char-
acter of those books. Thus we find David's prep-
aration for the worship of God is "according to the
las of Jehovah " (1 Cbr. xvi. 40). In his charge
to Solomon occur tin words " the Law of Jehovah
thy God, the statutes and the judgments which Je-
hovah charged Moses with concerning Israel" (xxii.
18, 18). In 3 Cbr. xii. It it said that Kehoboam
" forsook the Law of Jehovah: " in xiv. 4, that
Asa commanded Judah •■ to seek Jehovah the God
of their fathers, and to do the Law and Ibe com-
mandment." In xv. 3, the prophet Aztriah re
minds Asa that " now for a long season Israel hash
been without the true God, and without a ttnctV
ing priest, and without Late;" and in xviL 8, we
And Jshoshsphat appointing certain ymmrn s»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENTATEUCH, THE
with priests and Levitts, to toich: " they
taught in Judah, and bad the book of the Law of
Jehovah with them." In xxv. 4, Amaxiah ii nid
to have acted in a particular instance " at it it
written in the Law in the book of Motet." In
cm. 3, 4, SI, Hexekiah'a regulations are expressly
said to hare been in accordance with " the Law of
Jehovah." In zxziii. 8, the writer it quoting the
word of God in reference to the Temple — "to
that they will take heed to do all that I hare com.
mended them, according to the whole Law and the
ttatntet, and the ordinances by the hand of Motet."
In xrxiv. 14, occult the memorable passage in
which Hilldah the priest it mid to bare " found a
book of the Law of Jehovah (given) by Moan."
Hot happened in the eighteenth year of the reign
of Joaiah. And accordingly we are told in xxzv.
18, that Josiah't life had been regulated in accord.
enoe with that which wat •' written hi the Law of
Jehovah."
In fctra and Nehemiah we hare mention several
timet made of the Law of Motet, and here there can
be no doubt that our present Pentateuch it meant;
for we have no reason to suppose that any utter
revision of it took place. At tins time, then, the
existing Pentateuch wat regarded at the work of
Motes. Ears iii. 8, "as it it written in the Law of
Motes the man of God ; " vi. 18, " at it h written in
the book of Motet;" vii. 6, Kurt, it is said, " was
a ready scribe in the Law of Motet." In Neh.
L 7, Ac., " the commandments, judgments, etc,
which Thou commandedst Thy servant Moses," viii.
1, Ac., we have the remarkable account of the read-
ing of " the book of the Law of Moses." See also
is. 8, 14, xtti. 1-3.
The book* of Chronicles, though undoubtedly
bated upon ancient records, are probably in their
present form at late as the time of Ezra. Hence it
might be supposed that if the reference is to the
present Pentateuch in Ezra, the present Pentateuch
mutt also be referred to in Chronicles. But this
does not follow. The book of Ezra speaks of
the Law as it existed hi the time of the writer:
the books of Chronicles speak of it at it existed
long before. Hence the author of the latter (who
may have been Kara) In making mention of the Law
of Moses refers of course to that recension of it
which existed at the particular periods over which
hit history travels. SubtlantiaUy, no donbt, it wat
the tame book; and there wat no special reason
why the Chronicler should tell ut of any corrections
and additions which in the course of time had been
introduced Into it.
In Dan. ix. 11, 13, the Law of Moses it men-
tioned, and here again, a book differing in nothing
from our present Pentateuch It probably meant.
Three are all the passages of the Old Testament
Canon in which " the Law of Motet," " the book
uf the I.aw," or such like expressions occur, de-
noting the existence of a particular book, the au-
thorship of which wit ascribed to Moses. In the
Prophets and in the Psalms, though there are many
illusions to the Law, evidently as a written docu-
ment, there are none at to its authorship. Rut
the evidence hitherto adduced from the historical
books it Unquestionably strong; first in favor of an
a It it a cuiioos and Interesting nut, for the ksowl-
tlft of which we are Indebted to Sir B Bawllntoa,
feat Snrgon p sn etratsd fur Into the Interior of Arakla,
sat earrylmj off several Arabian tribes, settled omu
■» aasMtav This atnttms how Oesham the Arabian
PENTATEUCH, THE 2419
early existence of the main body of the Pentateuch
— more particularly of Genesis and the legal pot
tions of the remaining books ; and next, as showing
a universal belief amongst the Jews that the work
was written by Motet.
3. Conclusive proof of the early composition ol
the Pentateuch, it hat been argued, exists in tba
fact that the Samaritans had their own copies of it,
not differing very materially from those possessed
by the Jews, except in a few passages which had
probably been puiposely tampered with and altered ;
inch for instance as Ex. xii. 40; Dent, xxvii. 4.
The Samaritans, it is said, must have derived their
Book of the Law from the Ten Tribes, whose land
they occupied; on the other hand, it it out of tba
question to suppose that the Ten Tribes would be
willing to accept religious books from the Two
Hence the conclusion seems to be irresistible that
the Pentateuch must have existed in its present
form before the separation of Israel from Judah;
the only part of the O. T. which was the common
heritage of both.
If this point could be satisfactorily established,
we should have a limit of time in one direction for
the composition of the Pentateuch. It could not
have been later than the times of the earliest kings,
It must have been earlier than the reign of Solomon,
and indeed than that of Saul. The history becomes
at this point to full, that it is scarcely credible that
a measure to important at the codification of the
Law, if it had taken place, could have been pitted
over in silence. Let ut, then, examine the evidence.
What proof it there that the Samaritans received
the Pentateuch from the Ten Tribes? According
to 3 K. xvii. 24-41, the Samaritans were originally
heathen colonists belonging to different Assyrian aiW
Arabian " Bribe*, who were transplanted by Shalme-
neser to occupy the room of the Israelites whom he
had carried away captive. It is evident, however,
that a considerable portion of the original Israelitish
population must still have remained in the cities of
Samaria. For we find (S Chr. xxx. 1-20) that
Hezekiah invited the remnant of the Ten Tribes
who were in the land of Israel to come to the great
Passover which he celebrated, and the different
tribes are mentioned (w. 10, 11) who did, or did
not respond to the invitation. Later, Esarhaddon
adopted the policy of Shalmaneser and a still further
deportation took place (Ear. iv. 2). But even after
this, though the heathen element in all probability
preponderated, the land wat not swept clean of its
original inhabitants. Joniah, it is true, did nut,
like Hezekiah, invite the Samaritans to take part ia
the worship at Jerusalem. But finding himself
strong enough to disregard the power of Assyria
now on the decline, he virtually claimed the land of
Israel as the rightful apanage of David's throne,
adopted energetic measures for the suppression of
idolatry, and even exterminated the Samaritan
priests. But what ia of more importance as show-
ing that tome portion of the Ten Tribes wat still
left in the land, it the fact, that when the collection
wat made for the repairs of the Temple, we are
told that the Levitts gathered the money "of the
hand of Manauth and Ephrnim, and ofatttkt rem-
nant oflmrael," as well ss "of Judah and Benjamin "
came to os associated with Stnballat in the goveromaa
of Judtsa, as wall as the mention of Arabians In the
army of Samaria f TJltstrattooi of BrrpHan Hlstxr,'
etc., In the IVaaj. of Kay. Set. Lit., 1880, part i. ff
148, 149).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2420 PENTATEUCH, THE
(9 Chr. xxxhr. 9). And w also, after the discov-
sryof the Book of the Lew, Jonah bound not only
" all who were present in Judah and Benjamin " to
ttand to the covenant oontained in it, but he " took
away all the abominations out of all the countries
that pertained to the children of In-aei, and made
all that were present mi /trad to serve, even to
serve Jehovah their God. And all his days they
departed not from serving Jehovah the God of their
fathers " (2 Chr. xxxiv. 32, 83).
Later yet, during the vice-royalty of Gedaliah,
we And still the same feeling manifested on the part
of the Ten Tribes which had shown itself under Hea-
skiah and Josiah. Eighty devotees from Shecbem,
from Shiloh, and from Samaria, came with all the
signs of mourning, aud bearing offerings in their
hand, to the Temple at Jerusalem. They thus tes-
tified both their sorrow for the desolation that had
some upon it, and their readiness to take a part in
the worship there, now that order was restored.
And this, it may be reasonably presumed, was only
ooe party out of many who came on a like errand.
All these facts prove that, so far was the intercourse
setween Judah and the remnant of Israel from being
embittered by religious animosities, that it was the
religious bond that bound them together. Hence
it would have been quite possible during any por-
tion of this period for the mixed Samaritan popu-
lation to liave received the Law from the Jews.
This is far more probable than that copies of the
Pentateuch should have been preserved amongst
those families of the Ten Tribes who had either
•scaped when the land was shaven by the razor
el* the king of Assyria, or who had straggled back
thither from their exile. If even in Jerusalem
itself the Book of the law was so scarce, and had
been so forgotten, that the pious Icing Josiah knew
nothing of its contents till it was accidentally dis-
covered; still less probable is it that in Israel,
given up to idolatry and wasted by invasions any
copies of it should have survived.
On the whole, we should be led to infer that
there had been a gradual fusion of the heathen
settlers with the original inhabitants. At first the
former, who regarded Jehovah as only a local and
national deity like one of their own false gods,
endeavored to appease Him by adopting hi part
the religious worship of the nation whose land they
occupied. They did this in the first instance, not
by mixing with the resident population, but by
sending to the king of Assyria for one of the Is-
raelitish priests who had been carried captive. But
>n process of time, the amalgamation of races be-
came complete, and the worship of Jehovah super-
seded the worship of idols, as is evident both from
the wish of the Samaritans to join in the Temple
vorship after the Captivity, and from the absence
.«* all idolatrous symbols on Gerizim. So far, then,
the history leaves us altogether in doubt as to the
ime at which the Pentateuch was received by the
Samaritans. Copies of it might have been left in
the northern kingdom after Shalmaneser's invasion,
though this is hardly probable; or they might have
keen introduced thither during the religious reforms
of Hesekiah or Josiah.
But the actual condition of the Samaritan Pen-
tateuch is against any such supposition. It agrees
>o remarkably with the existing Hebrew Pentateuch,
sod that, too, in those passages which are mani-
festly interpolations and corrections ss late as the
of Esra, that we must look for some other
1 to which to refer the «doptkn of the Books
PENTATEUCH, THE
of Hoses by the Samaritans. This we find aftsa
the Babylonish exile, at the time of the instil otiat,
of the rival worship on Gerhrim. Till the retnta
from Babylon there is no evidence that the Samar-
itans regarded the Jews with any extraordinary
dislike or hostility. But the manifest distrust and
suspicion with which Nebemiah met their advances
when he was rebuilding the walla of Jerusalem pro-
voked their wrath, from this time forward, they
were declared and open enemies. The quarrel be-
tween the two nations was further aggravated by
the determination of Nebemiah to break off all mar-
riages which had been contracted between Jews an i
Samaritans. Manaseeh the brother of the bgh-
priest (so Josephus calk him, AnU a. 7, § 2i, and
himself acting high-priest, wss cne of the ofien en
He refused to divorce his wife, and took refuge with
his father-in-law Sanballat, who consoled him for the
loss of his priestly privilege in Jerusalem by making
him high-priest of the ntw Samaritan temple on
Gerhum. With Manassrh many other a p ostate Jews
who refused to divorce their wives, fled to Samaria,
It seems highly probable that these men took the
Pentateuch with them, and adopted it as the basis
of the new religious system which they inaugurated.
A full discussion of this question would be out of
place here. It is sufficient merely to show bow for
the existence of a Samaritan Pentateuch, not mate-
rially differing from the Hebrew Pentateuch, bears
upon the question of the antiquity of the latter.
And we incline to the view of Prideaux ( Connect.
book vi. chap, iii.), that the Samaritan Pentateuch
was in fact a transcript of Ezra's revised copy. The
same view is virtually adopted by Ossein ins (JM
Peru. Sam. pp. 8, 9).
8. We are now to consider evidence of a more
indirect kind, which bears not so much on the
Mosaic authorship ss on the early existence of the
work as a whole. This last circumstance, how-
ever, if satisfactorily made ont, is, indirectly at
least, an argument that Hoses wrote the Pen t ate uch .
Heugstenberg has tried to show that all the later
books, by their allusions and quotations, presuppose
the existence of the Books of the Law. He traces,
moreover, the influence of the Law upon the whole
life, civil and religious, of the nation after their
settlement in the land of Canaan. He sees its
spirit transfused into all the national literature,
historical, poetic, and prophetical: he argues that
except on the basis of the Pentateuch as already
existing before the entrance of the Israelites into
Canaan, the whole of their history after the occu-
pation of the land becomes an inexplicable enigma.
It is impossible not to feel that this line of proof
is, if established, peculiarly convincing, just in pro-
portion as it is indirect and informal, and beyond
the reach of the ordinary weapons of criticism.
Mow, beyond all doubt, (here are numerous most
striking references both in the Prophets and in ths
books of Kings to psssages which are found in our
present Pentateuch. One thing at least is certain,
that the theory of men like Von Bohlen, Vatke, and
others, who suppose the Pentateuch to have been
written in the times of the latest kings, is utterly
absurd. It is established in the most convincing
manner that the legal portions of the Pentateuch
already existed in writing before the separation of
the two kingdoms. Even as regards the historical
portions, there are often in the later books almost
verbal coincidences of expression, which render it
more than probable that these also existed in writing
All thai has been argued with much leaning, ths
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENTATEUCH. THE
am* indefatigable rwrah, and in some Instances
with gnat mceen by Hen g s te nbcrg in hit Authmtit
#J* PrmialencJi: We will satisfy ourselves with
pointing oat some of the most striking passages in
which the coincidences between the later books and
the Pentateuch (omitting Deuteronomy for the
present) appear.
In Joel, who prophesied only in the kingdom of
Judah; in Amos, who prophesied in both king-
dome; and in Hose*, whose ministry was confined
to Israel, we find references which imply the exist-
ence of a written code of laws. The following com-
parison of passages may satisfy as on this point:
Joel U. 3 with Ex. x. 14; U. 3 with Gen. ii. 8, 9
(•nop. xiii. 10); U. 17 with Nam. xlr. 18; il. 90
with Ex. x. 19; Ui. 1 pi 28, E. V.] with Gen. vi.
19; IL 13 with Ex. xxxir. 6; It. [Hi.] 18 with
Nam.xxv. 1. — Again, Amos ii. 2 with Num. xxi.
28; ii. 7 with Ex. xxiii. 6, Lot. xx. 8; ii. 8 with
Ex. xxii. 95, Ac; ii. 9 with Norn. xiii. 82, Ac;
Hi. 7 with Gen. xrlii. 17; ir. 4 with Lot. xxiv. 3,
and Deut xir. 28, xxtL 19; t. 12 with Num.
xxxv. 81 (eomp. Ex. xxiii. 6 and Am. ii. 7); r. 17
with Ex. xil. 12; t. 21, Ac. with Nam. xxix. 35,
Lot. xxiii. 36; ri. 1 with Num. i. 17; vi. 6 with
Gen. xxxvii. 95 (this is probably the reference:
Hengstenberg's is wrong); ri. 8 with Lev. xxvi.
19; ri. 14 with Num. xxxiv. 8; rili. 6 with Ex.
xxi. 9, Lev. xxr. 39; ix. 13 with Iot. xxvi. 3-5
(eomp. Ex. Hi. 8). — Again, Hosea i. 2 with I-ev.
xx. 5-7; ii. 1 [L 10] with Gen. xxii. 17, xxxli. 12;
ii. 9 p. 11] with Ex. i. 10; Ui. 2 with Ex. xxi. 82;
ir. 8 with Lot. ri. 17, Ac, and rii. 1, Ac.; ir. 10
with Lev. xxvi. 96; ir. 17 with Ex. xxxii. 9, 10;
r. 6 with Ex. x. 9; ri. 3 with Gen. xvii. 18; rii. 8
with Ex. xxxir. 19-16; sli. 6 [A. V. 6] with Ex.
iU. 15; xii. 10 [9] with Lot. xxiii. 43; xii. 16 [14]
with Gen. ix. 6.
In the books of Kings we hare also re fe rence s as
follows: 1 K. xx. 42 to Lot. xxrii. 99; xxi. 3 to
Lot. xxr. 28, Num. xxxvi 8: xxi. 10 to Nam.
xxxv. 80, eomp. Deut. xvii. 6, 7, xix. 15: xxii 17
to Num. xxrU. 16, 17. — 2 K. Ui. 20 to Ex. xxix.
38, Ac; ir. 1 to Lot. xxr. 39, Ac; v. 97 to Ex.
ir. 6, Num. xii. 10; ri. 18 to Gen. xix. 11; ri. 98
to Lot. xxri. 99; rii. 2, 19 to Gen. riL 11; rii. 8
to Lot. xiii. 46 (eomp. Nam. r. 3).
Bat now if, as appears from tin examination of
all the extant Jewish literature, the Pentateuch
existed as a canonical book ; if, moreover, it was a
book so weU known that its words had become
household words among the people; and if the
prophets could appeal to it as a recognized and
well-known document, — how conies it to pass that
in the reign of Josiab, one of the latest kings, its
aistence as a canonical book seems to hare been
ilmost forgotten ? Yet such wss evidently the fact
rhs circumstances, as narrated in 2 Chr. xxxir.
14, Ae., were these: In the eighteenth year of
xb reign, the king, who had already taken active
•Maanres for the suppression of idolatry, determined
to execute the necessity repairs of the Temple,
vhieh had become seriously dilapitated, and to re-
store the worship of Jehovah in its purity. He
accordingly directed HUkiah the high priest to take
marge of the moneys that were contributed for the
• Bet Mr. flrerVs rery Inttrtating paper on Nablus
at thsBamaritana la Vacation Tnm'tu, 1861. Spssk-
haj ef the service of the j/om Upptv in the Samaritan
, be says thai the recitation of the Ptnta-
through the night, "without
PENTATEUCH, THE 2421
purpose. Daring the progress of the work, HU
kiah, who was busy in the Temple, came upon
copy of the Book of the Law — which must ban
long lain neglected and forgotten — and told She-
phan the scribe of his discovery. The effect pro
duced by this was very remarkable. The king, U
whom Shaphan read the words of the book, was
filled with consternation when he learnt for the
first time how far the nation had departed from
the Law of Jehovah. He sent Hilkiah and i then
to consult the prophetess Huldah, who only con-
firmed his fears. The consequence was that he
held a solemn assembly in the houss of the Lord,
and " read in their ears all the words of tbe book
of tbe covenant that was found in the house of the
Lord."
How are we to explain this surprise and alarm
in the mind of Josiah, betraying as it does sueh
utter ignorance of the Book of the Law, and of
the severity of its threatenings — except on tbe sup-
position that as a written document it had well-
nigh perished ? This must hare been the ense, and
it is not so extraordinary a fact perhaps au it ap-
pears at first sight. It is quite true that in the
reign of Jehoahaphat pains had been, taken to make)
the nation at large acquainted with tbe Law. That
monarch not only instituted ■'teaching priests,"
but we are told that as they went about the coun-
try they had the Book of tbe Law with them.
But that was 300 years before, a period equal to
that between the days of Luther and our own;
and in such an interval great changes must ban
taken place. It is true that in tbe reign of Anas
the prophet Isaiah directed the people, who in their
hopeless infatuation were seeking counsel of ventril-
oquists and necromancers, to turn " to the Law
and to the Testimony; " and Hezekiah, who suc-
ceeded Ahaz, had no doubt reigned in the spirit of
the prophet's advice. But the next monarch wes
guilty of outrageous wickedness, and filled Jerusa-
lem with idols. How great a desolation might one
wicked prince effect, especially during a lengthened
reign ! To this we must add, that at no time, in
all probability, were there many copies of the Law
existing in writing. It was probably then tbe cus-
tom, as it still is in the East, to trust largely to
the memory for its transmission. Just as at this
day in Egypt, persona are to be found, even illiter-
ate in other respects, who can repeat the whole
Kuran by heart, and as some modem Jews ore able
to recite the whole of the Fire Books of Moses," so
it probably was then : the Law, for the great bulk
of the nation, was orally preserved and inculcated.
The ritual would easily be perpetuated by the mere
force of observance, though much of it doubtlew
became perverted, and some part of it perhaps ob-
solete, through the neglect of the priests. Still it
is against the perfunctory and lifeless manner ot
their worship, not sgainst their total neglect, that
tbe burning words of tbe prophets are directed
The command of Hoses, which laid upon the king
the obligation of making a copy of tbe Law for
himself, had of course long been disregarded. Here
and there perhaps only some prophet or righteous
man possessed a copy of tbe sacred book. The bulk
of the nation were without it Nor was there any
even to* titbit lamp which on every other night at
the rear hut this burns la front of the holy books.
The two priests and a few of the ptosis knew thi
whole of the Tors* by heart" (p. 846).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2422 PENTATEUCH, THE
ream why copies abould be brought under the
notice of the king. We may understand thii by a
parallel case. How euy it would hare been in our
own country, before the intention of printing, for a
similar circumstance to have happened. How many
copies, do »e auppoae, of the Scripture* were made ?
Such an did exist would be in the hands of a few
learned n,en, or more probably in the libraries of
monasteries. Even after a translation, like Wye-
line's, had been made, the people as a whole would
know nothing whatever of the Bible; and yet they
were a Christian people, and were in some measure
at least instructed out of the Scriptures, though
ths volume Itself could scarcely ever have been
seen. Even the monarch, unless he happened to
be a man of learning or piety, would remain in the
same ignorance as his subjects. Whatever knowl-
edge there was of the Bible and of religion would
be kept alive chiefly by means of the Liturgies used
In. public worship. So it was in Judah. The oral
transmission of the Iaw and the living witness of
the prophets had superseded the written document,
till at last it had become so eearee at to be almost
unknown. But the hand of God so ordered it
that when king and people were both zealous for
reformation, and ripest for the reception of the
truth, the written document itself was brought to
light
On carefully weighing all the evidence hitherto
adduced, we can hardly question, without a literary
skepticism which would be most unreasonable, that
the Pentateuch is to a very considerable extent as
early as the time of Moses, though it may bare
undergone many later revisions and corrections, the
hut of these being certainly as late as the time of
Ezra. But as regards any direct and unimpeach-
able testimony to the composition of the whole
work by Hoses we have it not. Only one book out
of the five — that of Deuteronomy — claims iu ex-
press terms to be from his hand. And jet, strange
to say, this is the very book in which modern criti-
cism refuses most peremptorily to admit the claim.
It it of importance therefore to consider this ques-
tion separately.
All allow that the Book of the Covenant in Ex
adus, perhaps a great part of Leviticus, and some
part of Numbers, were written by Israel's greatest
leader and prophet. But Deuteronomy, it is al-
leged, la in style and purpose so utterly unlike
the genuine writings of Hoses that it is quite Im-
possible to believe that he is the author. But how
then set aside the express testimony of the liook
.taelf ? How explain the fact that Hoses is there
■aid to have written all the words of this Iaw, to
have consigned it to the custody of the priests, and
to have charged the Levites sedulously to preserve
It by the ride of the ark ? Only by the bold asser-
tion that the fiction was invented by a later writer,
who chose to personate the great Lawgiver in order
to give the more color of consistency to his work !
The author first feigns the name of Moses that he
may gain the greater consideration under the
shadow of his name, and then proceeds to reenact,
out in a broader and more spiritual manner, and
with true prophetic inspiration, the chief portions
*? the earlier legislation.
a That even In monasteries the Bible was a nef
leetaa and almost unknown book, la clear from the
story of Luther's conversion.
llim signlneant tact that EweM, who will have
• that Deuteronomy was written In the reign of Ma-
PENTATEUCH, THE
But such an hypothesis is devoid of all proleMt-
ity. For what writer in later times would ever has*
presumed, unless be were equal to Hoses, to correal
or supplement the Law of Hoses ? And if he wen
equal to Moses, why borrow his name (aa Ewald
supposes the DeuteroDomlst to have done) in order
to lend greater weight and sanction to his book/
The truth is, those who make such a supposition
import modem ideas into ancient writings. They
forget that what might be allowable in a modern
writer of fiction would not have been tolerated in
one who claimed to have a Divine Commission, who
came forward as a prophet to rebuke and to reform
the people. Which would be more weighty to win
their obedience, "Thus saith Jehovah," or 'Moats
wrote all these words"?
It hat been argued indeed that in thus at ta ini ng
a feigned character the writer does no more than
it done by the author of Ecoltaiaatei. He in like
maniier takes the name of Solomon that be may
gain a better bearing for his words of wisdom. But
the cases are not parallel. The Preacher only pre-
tends to give an old man's view of life, at seen by
one who had had a large experience and no common
reputation for wisdom. Deuteronomy claims to be
a Law imposed on the highest authority, and de-
manding implicit obedience. The first is a record
of the struggles, disappointments, and victory of a
human heart. The last is an absolute rule of life,
to which nothing may be added, and from which
nothing may be taken (ir. 8, xxxi. 1).
But, besides the fact that Deuteronomy claims
to have been written by Hoses, there it other
evidence which establishes the great antiquity of
the book.
1. It It remarkable for its allusioin to Egypt,*
which are just what would be expected supposing
Motes to hare been the author. Without inaiating
upon it that in suoh pa s s a ge s it Iv. 16-18, or vi. 8,
xi. 18-90 (comp. Ex. rJii. 16), where the command
it given to wear the Law after the fashion of an
amulet, or xxvil. 1-8, where writing on stone* cov-
ered with platter i* mentioned, are probable refer-
ences to Egyptian customs, we may point to mere
certain examples. In xx. 5 there is an allusion to
Egyptian regulations in time of war; in xxr. 8 to
the Egyptian bastinado; in xJ. 10 to the Egyptian
mode of irrigation. The reference* which Ddittscb
sees in xxii. 6 to the custom of the Egyptian
priests to hold solemn p roce ssio ns in the masks of
different deities, and in viii. 9 to Egyptian mining
operations, are by no means so certain. Again,
among the curse* threatened are the sicknesses of
Egypt, xxviii. 60 (comp. vil. 15). According to
xxviii. 68, Egypt it the type of all the oppressors
of Israel: " Kemember that thou wast a slave in
the land of Egypt," 1* an expression which is Mr-
em! timet made use of aa a motive in enforcing the
obligations of the book (v. IS, xxiv. 18, 22; see the
same appeal in Lev. xix. 84, a passage occurring
in the remarkable section Lev. xvii.-xx., which hat
to much affinity with Deuteronomy). Lastly, ref-
erences to the sojourning in Egypt are numerous :
"We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt," etc
(vi. 81-88; see alto vil. 8, 18, xi. 8); and then
occur even in the laws, aa In the law of the king
naetth, la obliged to make hia supposed author Uv» fat
Jhjrpt, In order to account planatbly mr the sequent
aae* wMh akjypuan eastern* which is
she book.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENTATEUCH, THE
(nR. 16), whieh would be wj extraordinary
If tb* book bad only been written in the time of
The phrueologj of the book, and the archaisms
baud in it, stamp it aa of the same age with the
Met of the Pentateuch. The form HIH, inatead
of M^n, for the feminine of the pronoun (which
ocean in all IBS times in the Pentateuch), is found
M timee in Deuteronomy. Nowhere do we meet
with KTI in thia book, though in the net of the
Pentateuch it occur* 11 times. In the aame way,
Ik* the other hooka, Deuteronomy hai "ly? of a
maiden, inatead of the feminine rnyj), which ii
only uaed once (xxii. 19). It has also the third
pen. prat Tl, which in prose occurs only in the
Pentateuch (Ewald, Lthriuck, J MS 4). The dem-
onstrative pronoun vSTT, which (according to
Ewald, § 183 n, is characteristic of the Pentateuch)
occurs in Deut iv. 42, vii. 22, xix. 11, and nowhere
else oat of the books of Moses, except in the lute
book, 1 Chr. xx. 8, and the Aramaic Esra, v. IS.
The use of the H locnlt, which is comparatlTely
rue in later writings, is common to Deuteronomy
with the other books of the Pentateuch ; and so is
the old and rare form of writing T?N§t?tf , and
the termination of the future in fT . The last, ac-
cording to Konig (A. T. Stud. 2 Heft), is mure
common in the Pentateuch than in any other book :
it occurs 58 times in Deuteronomy. Twice even
in the preterite, viii. 3, 16, a like termination pre-
sents itself; on the peculiarity of which Ewald
(§ 190 b, note) remarks, as being the original and
fuller form. Other archaisms which are common
to the whole five books are: the shortening of the
Hrphfl, nrt") 1 ?, i. 88; "W^b, xxvi. 12, Ac ; the
■at of Hnp=mp, "to meet;" the construction
of the passiTe with Hfi of the object (for instance,
a. 8); the interchange of the older 2$?3 (xix. 4)
with the more usual 873$ '. the use of 'TOT (in-
stead of "I J*), xvi. 16, xx. 18, a form which dis-
appears altogether after -the Pentateuch ; many an-
dent words, such as 3^^ »P\ "Q«\ ("W<
Ex. xiH. 12). Amongst these are some which occur
besides only in the book of Joshua, or else in very
rate writers, like Eeekiel, who, as is always the case
in the decay of a language, studiously imitated the
ddest form*; some which are found afterwards
•oly in poetry, as L*?^ (vii. 13, xxviii. 4, Ac.),
and OYltJ, so common in Deuteronomy. Again,
this book has a number of words which hare an
rchaie character. Such are, EOnjl (for the
3), Hg£ (instead of ^D) ; the old Ca-
■}V«ri nrU-HtfS, "onepring of the
locks;" THjjfy which as a name of Israe 1 . is
Is. iHt. 8; VHH, I. 41, » to act
^O),
PENTATEUCH, THE 2428
14, <<tog!ve,''nt.utoputiueaooUar.mtbeiaek;''
"HP JHTj " to play the lord ; " nVTD, " sickness.' -
2. A fondness for the use of figures is another
peculiarity of Deuteronomy. See xxix. 17, 18,
xxviii. 18, 44; L 31, 44; viii. 5; xxviii. 29, 49. Of
similar comparisons there are but few (Dditrach says
but three) in the other books. The results are most
surprising when we compare Deuteronomy with in*
Book of the Covenant (Ex. xlx.-xxiv.) on the on*
hand, and with Ps. xe. (which is said to be Mosaic)
on the other.. To eite but one example: thehxiges
of devouring fire and of the bearing on eagles' tings
occur only in the Book of the Covenant and in
Deuteronomy. Comp. Ex. xxiv. 17, with Dent. it.
24, ix. 8; and Ex. xix. 4, with Deut xxxii. 11.
So again, not to mention numberless undesigned
coincidences between Ps. xe. and the book of Deuter-
onomy, especially chap, xxxii., we need only here cite
the phrase D?T T ^312 (Ps. xc. 17), " work of
the bands," aa descriptive of human action generally,
which runs through the whole of Deut. ii- 7, xiv.
29, xvi. 16, xxiv. 19, xxviii. 12, xxx. 9. The tarn*
close affinity, both aa to matter and style, exists be-
tween the section to which we have already referred
in Leviticus (ch. xvii.-xx., so manifestly different
from the rest of that book), the Book of the Cove
naut (Ex. xix.-xxiv.),and Deuteronomy.
In addition to all this, and very much more
might be said — for a whole harvest has leen gl wood
on this field by Schultz in the Introduction to his
work on Deuteronomy — in addition to all these
peculiarities which are arguments for the Mosaic
authorship of the book, we have here, too, the evi-
dence strong and clear of poet-Mosaic times and
writings. The attempt by a wrong interpretation
of 2 K. xxii. and 2 Chr. xxxiv. to bring down
Deuteronomy as low as the time of Manasseh rails
utterly. A century earlier the Jewish prophets
borrow their words and their thoughts from Deu-
teronomy. Amos shows how intimate his acquain-
tance was with Deuteronomy by such passages aa
ii. 9, iv. 11, ix. 7, whose matter and form are both
colored by those of that book. Hosea, who is
richer than Amos in these references to the past,
whilst, aa we have seen, full of allusions to the
whole Law (vi. 7, xii. 4, Ac., xiil. 9, 10), in one
passage, viii. 12, using the remarkable expression, " I
have written to Urn the ten thousand things of my
Law,'" manifestly includes Deuteronomy (comp. xi.
8 with Deut xxix. 22), and in many places shows
that that hook was in his mind. Comp. iv. 18 with
Deut xii. 2; viii. 13 with Deut xxviii. 68; xi. 3
with Deut i. 31; zfif. <i with Deut riii. 11-14.
Isaiah begins his prophcj) with the wrtds, " Hear,
heavens, and give ear, O earth," taken from Jis
mouth of Moses in Deut xxxii. 1. In fact echoes
of the tones of Deuteronomy are heard throughout
the solemn and majestic discourse with which his
prophecy opens. (See Caspar!, Btitrigc stir Kiid.
in </. Buck /twin, p. 208-310.) The came may
be said of Micah. In his protest against the
apostasy of the nation from the Covenant with
Jehovah, he appeals to the mountains aa the aura
foundations of the earth, in like manner as Moses,
Deut xxxii. 1, to the heavens and the earth. The
controversy of Jehovah with his people (Mie. vl.
3-5) is a compendium, aa it were, of the history of
the Pentateuch from Exodus onwards, whilst the
expr ession a , T}3? H^J, « Slave-house " of ISgypt
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2424 PENTATEUCH, THE
M taken from Dent. vii. 8, xiii. 5. Id ri. 8, then
a, no doubt, an allusion to Dent. x. IS, and the
threatening* of vi. 18-16 remind us of Dent xxviii.
aa well aa of Lot. xxvi.
Since, then, not only Jeremiah and Eaekiel, bat
Amos and Hoses, Isaiah and Hieah, apeak in the
words of Deuteronomy, aa well aa in words bor-
rowed from other portions of the Pentateuch, we
see at once bow untenable ia the. theory of those
who, like Ewald, maintain that Deuteronomy waa
composed during the reign of Msnasseh, or, as Vai-
hinger does, during that of Heaekiah.
But, In troth, the book speaks for itself. No
imitator could bare written in such a strain. We
scarcely need the express testimony of the work to
its own authorship. But, having it, we find all the
internal evidence conspiring to show that it came
from Moses. Those magnificent discourses, the
grand roll of which can be heard and felt even in a
translation, came warm from the heart snd fresh from
the lips of Israel's Lawgiver. They are the out-
pourings of a solicitude which is nothing less than
parental. It ia the father uttering his dying advice
to his children, no less thsn the prophet counseling
and admonishing his people. What book can vie
with It either in majesty or in tenderness? What
worda ever bore more anrdy the stamp of genuine-
ness ? If Deuteronomy be only the production of
some timorous reformer, who, conscious of his own
weakness, tried to borrow dignity and weight from
the name of Hoses, then sssuredly all arguments
drawn from internal evidence for the composition
of any work are utterly useless. We can never teU
whether an author ia wearing the mask of another,
or whether it is he himself who speaks to us.
In spite, therefore, of the dogmatism of modern
critics, we declare unhesitatingly for the Mosaic
authorship of Deuteronomy.
Briefly, then, to sum up the results of our in-
quiry.
I. The book of Genesis rests chiefly on docu-
ments mojh earlier than the time of Moses, though
it wss probably brought to very nearly its present
shape either by Moses himself, or by one of the
eiders who acted under him.
8. The books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers,
are to a great extent Mosaic Besides those por-
tions which sre expressly declared to hare been
written by him (aee above), other portions, and
especially the legal sections, were, if not actually
written, in all probability dictated by him.
8. Deuteronomy, excepting the concluding part,
ia entirely the work of Moses, ss it professes to be.
4. It is not probable that this wss written before
the three preceding books, because the legislation
i Exodus and Leviticus aa being the more formal
A manifestly the earlier, whilst Deuteronomy is
she spiritual Interpretation and application of the
Law. Bat the letter ia always before the spirit:
the thing before its interpretation.
5. The first ampoutum of the Pentateuch aa a
whole could not hare taken place till sfler the
Israelites entered Canaan. It la probable that
Joshua, and the elders who were associated with
aim, would provide for its formal arrangement, cus-
■ody. and transmission.
8. The whole work did not finally assume its
■resent shape till its revision waa undertaken by
Ears after the return from the Babylonish Captivity.
IV. Literature.
1. Amongst the earlier t*stru*ie expositors may
PENTATEUCH. THE
Augustine, Dt Genet* contra Matook.f At
Geneti ad titttran; LocuHcma (Gen Jmd.)
and QiMntJ<mu a* Beptateudnm.
Jerome, Liter flim»M'nassa fle e t ui e u sasa te
Generim.
Chrysostom, In Generim, ffomiaa et tfnsswaa
(Opp. Montfauoon, vol. vi. With these wU also to
found those of Severian of Gabala.)
Theodores, Quattima ta Gem., Ex~, Im.
Numer., DeuL, etc.
Ephraem Syrus, Kxphmat. in Gtnemm.
Cyril of Alexandria, Glapkgra m Soros JfojsjL
8. In the Middle Ages we have the Jewish eon*.
mentators — Isaakior Kasbi (an abbreviation of his
name Rabbi Solomon Isaaki. sometimes wrongly
called Jarchl) of Troyee, in the 11th century;
Aben-Esra of Toledo in the 12th; David KimeU
of Nsrbonne in the 18th.
8. Of the Reformation period: —
The commentary of Calvin on the Five Books is
a masterpiece of exposition.
Luther wrote, both in German and in Latin,
commentaries on Genesis, the last being *»M<««<
but a abort time before bis death.
4. Later we have the commentaries of Calovhss
in bis BMia llhutrata, snd Mercerus, m Grmain;
Riretos, Exerdtatkmet m Genem, and timmen-
tiirii in Exodum, in his Opp. Theolog. vol. i Rotor.
1865; Grottos, Annul, ad Tel Tttt. In Opp. n.1 i. ;
Le Clere (Clerfeus), irons Propieta LA. V.; in
the 1st vol. of his work on the Old Testament
AmsL 1710, with a specisl dissertation, Dt Strip-
tort Pentateuchi Matt; Spencer, Dt L'qibut He-
6. The number of books written on this sbVJeet
in Germany alone during the last century, Is very
considerable. Reference may be made to the General
Introductions of Micbadis, Eichhorn (5 vols. 1898),
Jahn (1814), De Wette (7tb ed. 1858), KeU (1st
ed. 1858), Harernick (1856), Bleek (1861), 8tt-
helin (1862). Further, on the one hand, to Hang-
stenberg's Autientie da Pentateuchi (1886, 1888);
Ranke's Unteitachmorn (1884); Drechsler, Em-
hcit, tie., der Genem (1838); Kcinig, Alt. Stud.
(2 Heft, 1839); Kurtz, GescA. da Ahem Bmndtt
(2d ed. 1858); snd on the other to Ewald, Gss-
ckiehte da Volket ItraeU; Von l^igerke, Ke-
nam (1844); Stabdin, KriU Untermckungen
(1843): Bertbesu, Die Steften Grvppen, etc.
As Commentaries on the whole or parts of the
Pentateuch may be consulted —
(1) Critical: — Rosenmiiller, Scholia, vol. i 3d
ed. (1821); Knobei (on sll the hooks), In the
Kurtgef. Exeget. Bandbuch ; Tnch, Die Genem
(1888); Schumann, Generie (1829); Bunsen, Bi-
behoerk.
(2) Exegetieal: — Bsumgsrten, 7»roi Comment.
(1843); 8ehr6der, Dnt Ertte Bw* Meet (1846);
Dehtssch, Generis (3d ed. 1861); Schulta, Dcn-
tertmomitm (1859). Much will he found bearing
on toe general question of the authorship snd data
of the Pentateuch in the Introductions to the hat
two of these works.
In England may be mentioned Graves's Leetmra
on tie Sitt four Bout* of the Pentatemek, who
argues strenuously for the Mosaic authorship. Be
also do Rawlinson on Tie Pentateuch, to AUm ft
Faith, 1869; and M'Caulon the Momc Co omeotmm,
in the same volume; though the former admits thai
Moses made fret use of ancient documer Is in ease-
piling Genesis.
Davidson, on the other hand, ir Hone's t
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENTATKUUH, THB
toL ii. (10th ed. 1866,, argues for two
nts, and supposes the Jehovist to have writ-
ten in the time of the Judges, end the ElohUt in
that of Joshua, and the two to hare ben incor-
porated in one work in the reign of Saul or David.
He maintains, however, the Mosaic anthorthip of
Deuteronomy. [In hi* Introd. to Ike Old TeeL,
rcl. i. (Lond. 1863), Davidaon hai abandoned thia
view of Deuteronomy. — A.]
•foa ohlef American writera who have treated of
the Pentateuch are Stuart, CriL But. and Defence
of Ike 0. T. Canon ; and Bush, Commentaries on
the Foe Book*. J. J. S. P.
* The foregoing able diaouaalon certainly nuke*
all needful concessions to the modern critic* of the
Pentateuch, and it* concluding proposition* might
be etill more conservatively stated. It is, perhaps,
enough to say that Genesis apparently rests to a
considerable extent (rather than "chiefly") on
earner documents. The second, third, and fourth
of the closing propositions may be quite firmly
held. It is too much to concede (Sthly) that the
eomposition of the Pentateuch as a whole " could
not have taken plnce till after the Israelites entered
Canaan." For, the revision admitted in the sixth
proposition needed to be but slight, in order to
produoe all the present marks of later date. After
half • century of debate, we are in a position to
see that, notwithstanding all the scholarship and
sentences that hare been brought to attack the
authorship and authenticity of the Pentateuch, few
movements in the history of criticism hate com-
prised a greater amount of arbitrary and extrava-
gant assertion, irrelevant reasoning, mutual con-
tradiction, and unwarranted conclusion Mean-
while the style and structure of these books has
undergone a searching investigation, many inter-
esting features have been brought to light, several
untenable positions abandoned, and some important
concessions made. The most unsparing criticism
is now oompelled to admit: (1.) The essential and
systematic unity of the present Pentateuch (Ewald,
Geiekiekle, i. 92 ; Tuch, (senate, Vorr. xxi. ; Kno-
bel, Genetie, § 16; Hupfeld, Die Quetten, p. 196).
(8. ) The general historic truthfulness of the nar-
rative, from the dispersion of the nations onward,
excepting its miraculous portions (Knobel, Geneeit,
p. S3; Exodue, p. 23; Tuch, Geneeit, p. 11, Ac.).
(8.) Hie extraordinary character, career, and in-
fluence of Hoses; even Ewald recognizing that
age (Geeckichte, ii. 239, Ac.) as "a wonderfully
elevated period, a focus of most surprising power,
resolution, and activity ; " the deliverance of the
nation as an event of "unparalleled importance; "
the victory at the Red Sea as a far brighter day
than Marathon or Salamis; and Moses himself as
» the mighty originator and leader of this entire
ew national movement," its " law-giver and
.rophet" So also Knobel to the same effect (£x.
t . 22), and Bunsen (Bibthxrk, Die Momiecke
Guekickte). (4.) The important fact that por-
Dona of the Mosaic narrative certainly are as ok)
is tile time of Moses, and even older. Thus De
Wette declares of the odes in Num. xxi. 17, 18,
17-30, that they may with certainty be referred to
he time of Hoses (EinleU. § 149); Knobel, that
I f ri ses published his laws in writing, '• though it
« uncertain to what extent" (Komm. Numb. p.
IN). Davidson, following Bleek chiefly, specifies
man than twenty chapters which must have come
horn Hoses with very slight change (Introd. i.
Mf»), among which the passage Ex. xxv.-xxxl.
x»BNTATEUOH, THE 242£
was " probably written down by him in its pres-
ent state." Ewald pronounces Lamech's sung V
be very ancient, belonging to a time anterior tc
Hoses (i. 75, note) ; the fourteenth of Genesis of the
highest antiquity, also coming down from " before
the age of Hoses" (I. 80, 146). He admits ths
preservation of actual laws, sayings, and songs
of Hoses and his contemporaries (ii. 29-83),
among which are the Decalogue, and Num. vi.
24-26, x. 86, 86, xxi. 17, 18, 27-80; Ex. iii. 16,
xvii. 16, xv. 1-21. Such admissions, however
grudging and scanty, from the ablest, wildest,
and most captious of scholarly critics, show the
necessities of the case; and they carry with them
oousequences which are more easily blinked thin
faced. It remained for one whose scholarship Has
extemporized like that of the Bishop of Natal, to
deem it "quite possible, and indeed as far as our
present inquiries have gone, highly probable, that
Hoses may be an historical character," although,
"this is merely conjectural" (Colenso, Pent.
ii. 70).
The most objectionable features of the modern
German criticism of the Pentateuch have been its
constant dogmatism, its frequent extravagance, ths
steady rationalistic bias under which it has been
conducted, and, quite commonly, the hiatus be-
tween its premises and its conclusions. The fol-
lowing observations may cast further light on the
subject.
(i.) It is proper to admit that tbe question of the
authorship of tbe Pentateuch has been so presented
as to affect its historic value and its authority.
Ewald and others ask us to accept it as containing
traditions originating at a period remote from toe
events, vouched for by no responsible authority,
and, though containing a basis of truth, yet un-
certain and unsatisfactory in detail, and of course
destitute of proper value even as history. Whereas,
if it comes from Moses, it carries not only the
historic weight of a narrative by an actor in the
events, but the extraordinary weight of Moses's
character and circumstances. The attempt at die
integration has been made also an attempt .tt
invalidation. Dr. Colenso openly avows this issue
{Pent. ii. 62). Anonymous books of the Canoe
are indeed received with entire confidence and
reverence. But an important difference is, that in
the present instance there are claims of authorship
positively put forth by the writer, and as positively
denied by the critics. Not only do Kurtz and
DelitZBoh, but De Wette, Knobel, and Davidson,
affirm that the book of Deuteronomy (as a whole)
claims to have been written by Moses. Davidson
coolly remarks, that " this was a bold step fcr the
unknown author " (Introd. i. 376), and De Wette,
that " the obscurity and unfitness of these claims
deprive them of all value as proofs " (Introd. §
162). Consequently when these writers openly
deny the fact, they impeach the veracity of the
book. This aspeot of the ease it is not necessary
nor wise to overlook.
(ii.) At the same time the extravagances and
the mutual divergences and conflicts of the critics
sre a legitimate subject of consideration, in esti-
mating the force of their conclusions. Many able
scholars seem to have lost sobriety and fairness on
this subject. They adduce arguments which would
have no weight in any other discussion,- which
they are themselves obliged to admit are nit eun-
Ausive. What is more preposterous than ths
theory </ ^ater and Hartmann, that the Puntstonak
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2426 PENTATEUCH, THE
mmlnta only of a series of fragments Strang to-
gether without ardor or design? Whit wildei
thin the duo of the learned EwaH to a critical
sagacity which can detect some seven principal
documents and writers, followed by the Deuter-
onomist (also drawing largely on "many docu-
ments"), and several other editors? Meanwhile
the advocates of the " supplement " theory are by
no means agreed in any one aspect of the case —
whether it be the number, the dates, or the re-
spective portions of the writers. It is hardly an
adequate statement to say of De Wette, Bteek,
Stahelin, Tuch, lingeries, Hupfeld, Knobel, Bon-
sen, Kurtz, Delittach, Schulte, Vaihiuger, that
' they all alike rooogoise two documents." They
bald this, and more also. Tuch, indeed, recog-
nizes in the first four books but two main docu-
ments, together with various sections from inde-
pendent sources; and De Wette, after two or three
changes, adopted the same opinion. He however
makes the Deuteronoiuut to be a third distinct
writer; while Stahelin identifies the Deuteronomitt
with the Jehovist. Vaihiuger finds in Genesis
alone three writers, a pre Klohlst, an Elohist, and
a Jehovist; also a separate writer for Deuteronomy.
Hupfeld finds four persons concerned in the com-
position of Genesis: two Elohista, a Jehovist, and
a compiler. He diners also from most of his
compeers in supposing that the Jehovist knew
nothing of the Elohistic work; while be holds to a
separate Deuteronomist. Knobel finds four writers
besides the Deuteronomist: a ground-work, a law-
book, a war-book, and a Jehovist Bleek thinks
that an Elohistic document, whose limits he wisely
declines to specify, lay at the foundation of the
earlier parts of the Pentateuch, but that the sup-
pkmenter or Jehovist of David's time bad before
him various other documents, longer or shorter,
including a second account of creation, the song
of Lantech, the narrative of Abram's expedition
(Gen. xiv.), the sketch of Nimrod (Gen. x. 8-18),
the section concerning the Sons of God (vi. 1-4),
Jacob's blessing (xlix. 1-27), and other passages;
together with whole chapters and smaller fragments
in the central books from the hand of Hoses, e. g.
Lev. i.-vii., xi.-xvi., xvii., xxv.; Num. i.,ii.,iv.,
1. 1-3, vi. 22-27, x. 1-8, lis., xxi. 14, 15, 17, 18,
17-80; Ex. xx. 2-14, xxv.-xxxi. 17. Deuter-
soomy be refers to a later writer in the time of
Hotakiah or Josiah. Bunsen, in hia BUttaerk, is
also very indefinite. He, indeed, holds that the
first four books were put into their present shape
by a narrator of Hezekiah 'a time; but simply says
that this writer had before him " writings from the
hand of Hoses, and other ancient documents which
had survived the desolations of the Judges' times,
and of which he found collections already made,
oonaiating of prose-epic narratives, poetic utter-
ances, and songs (Bd. t. Abth. ii. pp. 108, 268,
881). He, however, expressly declares that the
name Jehovah was a name of patriarchal times,
which had gone into disuse and lost its significance
till renewed under Hoses; and he asserts that the
■lehovistie narrative of Gen. ii. 5 f, is " neither
an appendage nor supplement, much leas a repeti-
tion of the previous narrative." Yet these writers,
thus widely differing, agree on one point, — the
lata origin of the Pentateuch. But here Kurtz,
DeUtesch, and Schulta part company with them.
WUle they recognize two distinct sources in the
sistni ipai parts of the Pentateuch, they agree in
to Hoses himself the book of Deutsr-
PBHTATBUOH, THE
onomy as a whole, and the » book of the Cove
nant " together with various smaller sections, and
in referring the whole Pentateuch to Hoses or tc
persons appointed and instructed by blui. It wit
be seen that the unity of view among these writers
is therefore somewhat nominal. And when wl
examine their analysis of particular passages we
meet with great diversities. The two names of
God, indeed, furnish a general ground of agree-
ment until Ex. vi. 8. But even prior to that point
no little diversity is found (e. y. Gen. vii.), and
often very direct collisions. Gen. xx. contains the
name Elohim five times and Jehovah but twice;
yet Knobel makes the entire passage Jebovistic,
against Tuch and Delitzsch, the former of whom
pronounces the whole tone of the language and
mode of view Elohistic. Again, the connected
narrative (Gen. xxviii. 10-xxxiii.) contains both
the divine names quite abundantly, Elohim largely
preponderating, with certain characteristics of style,
which, as Tuch maintains, mark the Elohist. To
this writer accordingly he refers it, after deducting
some troublesome portions. But KjioM assigns
only eleven and a half verses in detached sections
to the Elohist, and thirty-four verses in six frag-
ments to the Jehovist, twelve detached passsges to
a " law-book," and thirteen other sections, verses,
and half verses, to a " war-look" used by the
Jehovist. Such instances, which might be multi-
plied indefinitely, show alike the unlimited license
which these theorists assume, and the general un-
certainty and confusion that spreads through their
speculations. The chief point of agreement is the
easy proposition that these were documents used
in the composition.
(iii.). Our attention is naturally arrested by the
great liberties which these theorists take with the
narrative. There is neither law nor limit to the
disintegration. Each writer is for the most part a
law unto himself, and the limits of tlie dismember-
ment are the exigencies of bis theory. Knobel
dissect* the forty-first chapter of Genesis into some
twenty fragments, from three different writers:
and Davidson (following Boehmer) into forty ;
while Tuch refers the whole chapter, and Hupfeld,
Stahelin, and Delitzsch none of it, to the Elohist,
or groundwork. Gen. xxxv. is divided by Knobel
into ten distinct sections, by Davidson into fifteen.
Davidson dissects Gen. xxi. into twelve fragments
from four writers, and ch. xxxi. into thirty-five
fractions from the same writers; Knobel into nine
and six fragments, respectively. The other analyst*
widely diner from them here and elsewhere. Again,
the excision of verses, clauses, and even single
words is resorted to without the slightest hesita-
tion, when the theory requires. Thus in Gen. v.
the single verse 29, and in ch. vii. the last clause
of ver. 16 la by all these critics remanded from
the midst of Elohistic passages to the Jehovist.
Hupfeld removes an intermediate half-verse in Gen.
xii. 4, xxxv. 16, 91 ; Tuch drops out Gen. xil. 7 ;
Knobel, xvi. 8, xxv. 91-23, xxix. 3, vii. 5, and parts
of x. 26, xii. B, xiii. 10, 18, xxxix. 8. Toco,
Knobel, and Delitzsch, leave to the Elohist only
ver. 89 of ch. xix. In ch. xxi. Kuobsl cuts off
from the Elohist the first clause of ver 1, and tb*
word "Jehovah " of the last clause; and of ch.
xvii. he remarks that the whole chapter, 'except
' Jehovah ' of the first verse, is an unchanged
portion of the groundwritug.'' Similar methods
are abundantly employed to sustain the allege'soa
of a difftrenoe of phraseology in the
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHXTATBUOH, THDB
Knobel declares that **> p rttpj Mem
ml; In the Jehovist; and having found two easel
(Gen. xxvii. 38, xiix. 11), he simply forces the
third by cutting away the last half of jud. 16, and
referring It also to the Jehovist. In ver. 14 of
the same chapter he also removes the single phrase
" putting on his shoulder," to sustain his theory
that the Jehorlst is more minute in description
than the Elohist. Davidson declares that the
expression "angel of God," or "angel of Jeho-
vah," never occurs in the Elohist; and, to escape
the force of Gen. xxi. 17, and zxxi. 11, he ascribes
the first, notwithstanding the invariable Qoliitn
before and after, to the redactor, and the second,
similarly situated and twice containing Elohim, to
a ucond Elohist. He finally surrenders his posi-
tion on this subject of diverse phraseology, by
declaring that his " argument is based on the pre-
vailing, not the exclusive usage in each " (Introd.
IB the 0. T. p. 30). For other specimens of this
arbitrary and inconsistent method, see Exodus.
Surely It is a cheap process to build theories of
snch materials.
(iv.) It is instructive to observe the somewhat
steady retrogression of these theories in the land
of their birth. The "fragment hypothesis" of
Vater and Hartmann was long ago exploded by
the doctrine of an elaborate editorship. The
" supplement hypothesis " that followed was una-
ble to sustain itself in any one form ; but relief
was sought by various enlargements of the number
of documents. Thus Dr. Davidson in 1863, after
accepting a theory of four principal writers in
Genesis, still finds it necessary to add, that " prob-
ably the Elohist used several brief documents be-
sides oral tradition. So, too, the Jehovist may
have done." Bunsen and Meek, who are among
the latest of these speculators, are extremely vague
and cautious in details. And in regard to the
supposed date of the Elohist and the Jehovist, we
have the following remarkable scale of approach to
the time of Moses, not quite in chronological
order: Lengerke (1844) refers the Elohist to the
time of Solomon, and the supplamenter to that of
Hezekiah; Tuch (1838) to the times of Saul and
Solomou ; Bleek to the times of Saul or the Judges
and of David; Stahelin, of the Judges and of
Saul; Delitzsch (1852), of Hoses and of Joshua,
or one of the elders who survived him; Kurtz
(1853, 2d ed.) supposes Deuteronomy and sections
]f the other books written by Moses in the Desert,
and the Pentateuch completed, perhaps by one of
Aaron's sons, immediately after the occupation of
the promised land ; and Schultz (1859 ) makes the
later writer or Jehovist to be also the author of
Deuteronomy, and none other than Moses himself.
ITus movement is both hopeful and significant,
aotwithstaoding that the later dates still find
abundant advocates.
(v.) It is well to mark the obvious inconclusive-
nets of much of the reasoning of these hypotheses.
The most elaborate showing of documents does not,
w seams often to be assumed, disprove Mosaic
authorship. Moses may have used them — unless
they can be positively shown to be of later date.
Be may be, as Schultz holds, the very Jehovist.
4k modern historian, like Bancroft, incorporates
turecUy into his narrative large quotations from
ither accounts. He is glad to avail himself of the
Nrr words of actors and eye-witnesses. But be is
at leaf the author of the history, when he employs,
PBHTATEUOH, THB 2427
and as it wen vouches for, these original accounts
Accordingly, we may freely recognize the nee at
older document* and firmly hold Moses 1c be the
historian, — as do RosenmuUer, Jahn, Bush, Stuart,
Lewis, Rawlinson, Murphy, and even Keil. Why
should not the account of Creation. Paradise, and
the Fall have been handed down ? And of so stu-
pendous an event as the Flood, that has in-printed
itself on the memory of almost all nations, even the
most degraded, why should not the careful narra-
tive, reading in the original like the minute recorsl
of an eye-witness, have descended down the chosen
line of Shem from the scene itself? Why reject
the striking indications that Gen. xiv. is a narra-
tive older than the time of Moses, slightly modern-
ized? On the other hand, a few external marks
of a later period — a name or two, here and there
an explanatory remark or interpolated comment,
such as the lapse of several hundred years might
naturally occasion, and which a modern editor
would attach in the form of foot-notes, — by no
means prove the later composition of the book,
more especially if there are valid reasons -m other
grounds to believe the oontrary. Still more hol-
low is the attempt to argue a later date by accumu-
lated references to paassges which cannot themselves
be shown to have had a later origin, e. g. Gen.
xiii. 18 (Hebron), xL 16 (the Hebrews), Deut-xvtt.
14-20 (the future monarchy). Dr. Davidson, who
has gathered up a large array of reasons for believ-
ing the later date of Deuteronomy, is obliged
repeatedly to admit the inoonclusiveneas of several
portions of his argument. He devotes ten page*
to a showing of toe differences between its legislation
and that of the ether books; and yet concedes that
the changes and modifications "are not radical
ones," and are " only a development of the first " ;
and that it is "possible indeed to conoeive of
Moses " making these very modifications ( Introd. i.
353, 363). Again after presenting a catalogue of
historic deviations from tile other books, be closes
by granting that " there is no positive contradic-
tion between them" (p. 367). And yet these utterly
inconclusive considerations are steadily paraded
as proofs. In order to snow a difference in the
tone of thought, Davidson is not ashamed to cite
the injunction, "circumcise the foreskin of your
heart," in evidence that " the ceremonial law was
less valued " then (p. 369). The scholarly Knobel
does not hesitate to swell his catalogue of divert!
ties of style by instancing long lists of words lim-
ited in their use by the very nature of the subject,
such as the technical words concerning the sacri-
fices. Nor should we overlook the cool assumption
which has prevailed from De Wette to Davidson,
and which begs the whole question of a revelation,
by taking for granted that a narrative of miracles
disproves a contemporaneous origin ; or the equally
vicious assumption which invalidates much of
Bleak's arguing, that not only any prophetic utter-
ance or allusion, but anything which can be con-
strued at an antieipative transaction, must have
been written after the event so anticipated. It it
in such mod** that no little of this reasoning is
carried on.
(vi.) We cannot fail to observe bow very few are
the clear mark* of a later hand, whether anaebro
niams or seeming mterpolatioiuk Considering lac
laNv expended, the undoubted result* are small. The
fact uf glosses or interpolation* upon the original
narrative ha* long been admitted. The Babbie*
noticed tightest, passages of this kind, net al
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2428 PENTATEUCH, THE
■anally dew. Sixty years ago Jahn specified nine
n ten ifaort passages (Ex. vi. 11-38, vii. 7, xL 3;
Dent. ii. 10-12, 20-34, Hi. 9-11, 13, 14, x. 6-9;
Kum. xxxii. 41 j, as undoubtedly not belonging to
the text, and Num. xii. 3 aa donbtful. Modem
writen have cited others, often on unsatisfactory
grounds. Of clear anachronisms, the number ia
exceedingly alight. Of comae the account of
Moses's death was by a later hand; and a sufficient
Intimation ia given in the book itaelf, in the declara-
tion (Deut xxxi. 24 ff.) that when Moses finished
the Book of the Law, be handed it over to the Le-
vitea to keep. In modern booka the account of the
author usually precedea the work, though in some
easea it ia otherwise, aa in Sleidan'a work on the
reign of Charles V., of which all the complete edi-
tioaa proceed without a break, to give an account
of the death and burial of the author. The word
" Dan " (Gen. xiv. 14) we incline to regard aa
later, though reasona can be given to the contrary;
"Hebron" and "Hormah" we do not [Dan,
Hrbhos, Hormah.] The Gilgal of Deut xi. 30
ia clearly a different place from that which waa
first named in Josh. v. 9. Sea Kail on Joshua.
" The Canaanite waa then hi the land " (Gen. xii.
6, xiii. 7 ), admits of three explanations, maintained
respectively by KnobeL. Delitssch, and Kalisch, either
of which removes all Implication of a later date;
u already in the land," says Kalisch, " for they were
never entirely extirpated." " Before there reigned
any king over Israel " (Gen. xxxvi. 31), might
spring from the time of the kings; or (Delitssch)
It might be written from the stand-point of the
previous promise, v. 11. " I waa stolen from the
lend of the Hebrews " (Gen. xl. 1, 6), is a natural
expression to the Egyptians, who had known
" Abram the Hebrew," and who knew the people
of that laud aa Hebrews (Gen. xxxix. 14, xii. 12).
11 As the land spued out the nations before you "
(LevH. xviii. 28) ceases to carry any weight when
we translate, as the Hebrew equally admits, and aa
ver. 20 implies, " will have spued out." The
phrase "unto this day," sometimes cited, ia so
indefinite, in one instance denoting merely a part
»f Jacob's lifetime (Gen. xlviii. 15) and in another
(Josh. vi. 25) a part of Rahab's life, that even
)avidaon does not insist on it. " Seaward,"
neaning westward (Gen. xii. 8, Ac.), and " beyond
'ordan " (Gen. 1. 11), meaning eaat of Jordan, are
Mted as indications of a Palestinian writer. But
if Gesenius is right in declaring the Hebrew to
have had its early home in Palestine, both phrases
would be simply old and settled terms of the lan-
guage, with a fixed geographical meaning. Ex.
xvi. 35, 36 certainly has the aspect of a later ori-
gin, notwithstanding the defense of Hengstenberg,
KeU, Havemlck, and Murphy. These are the
itntigest cases of supposed anachronisms ; of which
hut one is absolutely certain, and only two or three
athtrs present any considerable claims; while all
together, if admitted, would make but a small show.
Other cases are instanced, but with leas platui-
■■Uity. For we cannot for a moment admit the
jrindple by which Bleek cites prospective laws, like
«ut. xviL 14-20, xix. 14, xx. 6, 6, as proofs of
oter composition.
The attempt of Colenso and others to show that
be use of tbe word Jehovah Itaelf indicates a late
arigin, and to sustain this position by reference to
the Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms is destitute of
any solid basis. Too many questions concerning
tie data, authorship, sod arrangement of the
PENTATEUCH, THE
Psalms are unsettled, to make the argument jf any
amount But (1) in order to make a great con-
trast between the earlier and later psalms in the
use of the word Jehovah, Colenso parts company
with the men of his school, and accepts the historic
assertions of early date in the titles — when it wfli
serve his turn ; and be rejects them, when they wifl
not answer his purpose, as in Ps. xxxiv. and cxliL
the former of which is exclusively Jehovistic, —
rejects them for the circular reason that these
psalms do " contain the name of Jehovah so often."
(2.) Of the six psalms accepted by him as early
psalms, one half contain the name Jehovah. (3.) It
is questionable whether the Davidic psalms of the
three later books are by David or his royal succes-
sors. [Psalms]. (4.) Some have held that tbe
arrangement of the Psalms wss governed by the
preponderant use of the Divine names. (6.) Tie
attempt is futile in the face of the historic state-
ment in Ex. vi. 3, that God had made Himself em-
phatically known to Moses as Jehovah, while the
earlier names Jochebed and probably Moriah, are
proofs that this was not the first disclosure of the
name itself; a met which further appears in a large
number of other names found in 1 Chron. ii. 8, 26,
32, iv. 2, vii. 2, 3, 8, xxiii. 8, 17, 19, 20 — although
Colenso remarks that the chronicler " simply in-
vented the names," and Davidson observes that
"little weight attaches to these, because the
Hebrews often altered older names for later
ones! "
The apparent number of explanatory glosses is
greater than that of the seeming anachronisms;
but the clear eases are not numerous. Here opin-
ions will differ. Some passages so clearly break
the connection aa to be commonly admitted. It is
perhaps conceded by sober critics that Deut. x. 8,
7 (probably 6-9) is an interpolation (or, certainly a
misplacement) ; also most or all of in. 9-14 and ii.
10-12, 20-23. (Roaenmuller, however, ascribes tbe
last mentioned to Moses at the end of his life, and
Hengstenberg and Keil refer all three to him.)
Jahn would add Num. xxxii. 41, and, with no very
obvious necessity, such historic supplements as the
titles Deut i. 1-4, iv. 44-49, and others not speci-
fied. Many would include (Rosenmiiller, Eiehhom,
Jahn) the assertion of Moses' meekness (Num. xii.
3), and (with Jahn) other remarks concerning him,
Ex. vi 26, 27, vii. 7, xi. 8; while some writers still
maintain that these remarks are demanded by the
connection and occasion, and that Moses could be
divinely guided thus to speak the truth concerning
himself. These are tbe strongest cases that are
adduced. Others are cited, of which the most that
can be said is that they might be interpolations;
and also that they might not. It is of no avail for
Bleek to allege Num. xv. 32, >• while the children
of Israel were in the wilderness " ; for they had left
the wilderness before the death of Moses. On the
whole there is almost reason for surprise that so
very few passsges can be found in tbe Pentateuch
which could not have come from tbe hand of Moses
himself. In a composition so ancient we should
naturally look for more, rather than fewer mark*
of editorial revision.
(vii.) We can now look at tbe strength of the
evidence that Moses wss the author of the book at
a whole. Hardly any thing ia lacking to the com-
pleteness of the concurrent testimony. We ess
merely call attention to it in the most meagre of
outlines. 1. Tbe supposition is re n dered enUrei)
admissible by all the dreamctaooM of the eata
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENTATEUCH, THE
Ja ) The vt of writing was in abundant use, and
the Israelites in Egypt had lived in the midst of it.
(A.) The requisite impulse for a written composi-
tion had irriTed, in the completion of • great
national and religious epoch, and the permanent
establishment of laws and institutions founded on
a great deliveranoe. (e.) The occasion had oome
for such a book aa the Pentateuch, incorporating
the institutions with the history, (i) The requi-
site person had appeared in Hoses, — the man
whom even Ewald names " the mighty originator
and leader of this entire new national movement,"
a '< master-mind " " patting forth the highest ener-
gies and sublimest efforts of the spirit " with " clear
insight and self-possession," "the greatest and
most original of prophets," with endowments so
remarkable that the same spirit " has in no other
prophet produced results so important in the history
of the world as in Hoses." Such a work became
such a man ; and such a man might be supposed to
poss e ss the requisite '■ insight " for such a work.
9. The fact of his authorship is sustained by posi-
tive and concurrent evidence, in great variety and
abundance. It is easier for objectors to overlook
than to meet it (a.) The Pentateuch itself de-
clares of Hoses, and of him only, that he was con-
eerned in its composition. Nearly the whole of Deut-
eronomy, as even De Wette, Knobel, and David-
son concede, claims to have been written by him.
Statements are explicitly made concerning portions
of Exodus and Numbers to the same effect: Ex.
xxiv. 7, xxxiv. 27, 28, xvii. 14; Num. xxxiii. 1-3.
In one of these passages (Ex. xvii. 14) the direc-
tion is given to write " it in the book " (not a
book, as E. V.). Similar allusions to such a book,
and to the Law aa a written law, are found in Deut
xvii. 18, 19, xxxi. 9-11, 24, xxviii. 58. 61, xxix.
80, 21, 27, xxx. 10. Meanwhile we find God giv-
ing explicit directions (Ex. xxv. 16-21, 22) to
deposit his communications to Hoses in the ark;
corresponding to this direction is the claim, re-
peated over and over, that such utterances are the
precise utterances of Jehovah, «. g. Lev. xxvii. 34 ;
Num. xxxvi. 13 ; while the expressions, " the Lord
spake unto Hoses, saying," and " the Lord said
unto Hoses," oocur in connection with various
groups of commandments in Exodus, Leviticus, and
Numbers more than 100 times — besides other
similar forms; and some fifty times in announcing
the performance of many of these commandments,
we are told that it took place " as the Lord com-
manded Hoses," or, "according to the command-
ment of the Lord by the hand of Hoses." These
constant claims to be exact statements of God's
commandments by Hoses, placed beside the direc-
tion to deposit in the ark, constitute the clearest
tnd moat pervading assertion of the Mosaic author-
ship of the main portion of the three central books.
(A.) Deuteronomy, confessedly asserting its own
Mosaic origin, everywhere presupposes the earlier
books; and it re-asserts and vouches for all the
main portions of their history from the dispersion
of the race to the death of Aaron and the arrange-
ments for Hoses' successor, while its comments
nclude directly and implicitly all the leading fea-
tures of their legislation. As Schultx remarks, it
Is Incredible that at the end of bis life the great
legislator should have been regardless of the text
of his law, and solicitous only about the discourses
which were the comment, (e.) The subsequent
looks of the 0. T. abundantly presuppose the
"autaiisjuh. and in every matanot in which the/
PENTATEUCH, THE 242?
allude to the authorship, they refer it to Moses.
This topio has been sufficiently developed in the
original article, (d.) It was the undisputed testi-
mony of the Jewish nation at and before the time
of Christ that Hoses wrote the Pentateuch. Such
is the testimony of Philo from Alexandria, and of
Josephus from Jerusalem. (Philo, Mangey, II,
141, 149, Josephus, Bekker, III. ii. 5, xii. ate.)
So also the Talmud from Babylon, in a paasags
apparently of great antiquity. Their statements
are supported by the occasional references of the
N. T., which at the lowest estimate show the ear-
rent view by referring a passage from Exodus,
Leviticus, or Deuteronomy alike to " Hoses," and
by recognizing the whole O. T. as consisting, ac-
cording to the then prevailing classification, of
"the law of Hoses, the prophets and the I'salma,"
or hagiographa (Luke xxiv. 44). (e.) The Lord
Jesus Christ and the writers of the N. T. sdd their
testimony. The Law is the law of Moses (John vii.
28; Acts xv. 6; Heb. x. 28), or simply Moses (Acts
xxi. 21). Moses gave the Law (John i. 17, vii. 19).
Statements found In the several books are state-
ments of Moses (Luke xx. 37, Horn. x. 5, Acts 'S.
22; Matt, xix.8). The entire utterances of the
Pentateuch concerning the priesthood are what
" Moses spake concerning the priesthood " (Heb.
vii. 14). The Saviour directly declares (John
vi. 46, 47), that Hoses "wrote of me," and that
he left " writings " then in the hands of the Jews.
See also Luke xxiv. 27, 44, Acts xxvi. 22, xxviii.
23, xv. 21 1 2 Cor. Ui. 15, Luke xvi. 29, 31. Those
only who hold the views of Colenso and Davidson
will deem it sufficient to say that the Saviour only
shared the ignorance of his age. Nor will it satisfy
the conditions of the case to say that He simply
accommodated himself to the prevalent view by the
argumentum ad hominem ; for Christ's declaration
in John v. 46, 47, is too direct and self-originated
to be easily disposed of otherwise than (in Alford's
words) as " a testimony to the fact of Moses hav-
ing written those books which were then and are
still known by his name." (/*.) The force of all
these testimonies is increased by the fact that they
are absolutely uncontradicted. While the Penta-
teuch itself, the subsequent books of the O. T.,
the Jewish nation, the Saviour and the Apostles,
point to Moses with such entire unanimity that the
echo comes back from foreign nations, in Manetho,
HecataMis, Strabo, Tacitus, referring the Jewish
laws and institutions to Moses alone, not one hint
is to be found in the whole range of history or
literature that any person later or other than Moses
composed either the volume or any integral portion
of it. Never was testimony more unbroken.
3. The direct testimony is confirmed by vari-
ous collateral indications, which we can only
suggest (a.) Traces of the Pentateuch in the
other books of the O. T. extending almost up to
the time of Moses, — except aa the authenticity uni
early date of those books also are denied, (6.)
Various archaisms characteristic of the five books,
and of those almost or quite alone: t. g. WH
as a feminine 195 times (36 in Deuteronomy), and
in no certain instance elsewhere; 153 as a femi-
nine; the demonstrative HT}, found but twice
elsewhere; the Kal future ending J for TO ; the
for greater predominance of the full future 7 s ! I (sat
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2480 PEKTATBVOH, THE
abundant w of H local; 3^ for 67^5
bat* only, Mean time*) "WSJ for "l^T ;
a>a^ wpj, ro$ -q#, Vj\a, aajj, npj,
~PBt^, and othen, only here. The word OVIJp
diaappaui afterwards, except in poetry; ^D
occurs 29 times, afterwarda but once; HSiJ? SI
times, and but onoe afterwarda. There ia a preva-
lence of rough eonaonanta; thua pTT^, It tlmee
In the Fentateuoh, and twiee only elsewhere, while
the eoftar form phtp, ia found 88 time* in the
later booka (c) Egyptian worda and traoea of
Egyptian residence. Among the Hebrew worda
corresponding to Egyptian one*, aa given by Ge-
aenma, Bunaen, and Seyflarth, are p^H, JVJ,
nan, n»H, d-td, an, -i^itf, Hoi,
n^t ngp, and many other*. The word
fn, occurring twenty-one time* In the Penta-
teuch, afterwarda disappears, except twice In Eze-
kiel. The word "Hjh, which had Ethiopio and
apparently Egyptian' affinities, went gradually into
diause, and waa replaced, except in poetry, by u),
(4) Marks of the wilderneea. Constant reference
to tente and campa (Ex. xix. 17, Ac.); regulation*
for marching and halting (Num. ii. etc.); and the
absence of allusions to permanent dwelling! except
prospectively. The minute and elaborate direc-
tions for constructing and transporting the taber-
nacle for the ark, would never have been committed
to writing except at the time. The wood of the
Tabernacle and its furniture (ahlttim) was the prod-
uct of the desert; while the cypress of Palestine
never appears in the Pentateuch. The cedar,
which is the growth of Palestine and Syria, ia men-
tioned, but in a very remarkable manner, — never
as a building-material, but in slight quantities, on
two occasions, in cleansing from the leprosy (Lev.
tiv. ), and in forming water of purification for the un-
desn (Num. xix. 6). Now we learn elsewhere that
cedar was imported from Syria into Egypt for fur-
niture, small boxes, coffins, and varioua object*
connected with the dead, and was also used in
ointments for elephantiasis, ulcers, and some other
complaints. The uses designated thus remind us
9f Egypt, the quantities employed conform to the
circumstances of a journey which restricted it to
small amounts. Yet the later books of the Bible
abound in allusions to the cedar as the noblest of
reea and building materials. Certain regulations
■era made for the wilderness and afterwarda re-
laxed, 14V. xvii. 34; Deut. xii. 15, 20, 21. The
law for leprosy contemplates both the condition of
the people in the wilderness and in their future
tome. Some regulations concerning uncleanneaa
rappose all the people in the vicinity of the Taber-
ucle. Some instances of supplementary legislation
ire founded on occurrences or lawa of the wtlder-
mss; thus in regard to the Passover, the regula-
tion, Nam. ix. 3-11, growa out of Num. v. S.
Lawa In regard to Sabbath-breaking and blasphemy,
Levis, xxiv., Num. xv. 38-36, originated in like
■jam. Stanley shows (Jew's* Casrca, L 189)
last the regulations concerning clean and unclean
animals, in several of their epecMcatiena, include
PBNTATJBUOH, TUB
what was peculiarly "the game of the wiMsrnes*.'
The consecration of the whoa tribe of Levi, as aha
same writer remark* (1. 188), is a dear DManarss.
of that early period, sbiee at no later thssa waa
there furnished any saah occasion; and the provis-
ion of cities of range (i. 191) potato back to •
nomsdie lift and the moral* of the desert. («.:
Delitsaeb shows that there waa no sabasqoent period
of the nation from which the Law a* a whole coaJd
have sprung: neither the barbarous times of tar
Judges, nor the Insignificant time of Saul; whereas
the reigns of David and Solomon, rich as thor
an m historic materials, give no indication what
ever that the Law then first assumed written form
It did not originate after the drrxaon of the king-
doms, for Israel and Judah alike acknowledged its
away. Nor in the exile; for the people in return-
ing from the exile return also to the stoma as tea
original divine basis of their long shattered eeca-
monweahb. And aa to Kara, both history sad
tradition disclose him only as a restorer and neves
ss an originator. (/.) Finally, those whodeny the
authorship by Moses, cannot suggest, much lea*
agree upon any plausible substitute.
(vili.) Let us now summarily notice the invalid-
ity of all the objections raised, aa against this evi-
dence. The " higher criticism " has failed to shake
the testimony. Von Bohlen's attempt to show
errors in the allusions to Egyptian customs nota-
bly recoiled. The arithmetical objretiona mar-
shaled by Colenao have been superabundantly
demolished. The alleged errors and false implica-
tions concerning the wilderness hare been largely
addressed to our ignorance; and many of the ob-
jections have been shown also to have sprang from
ignorance; whereas every new research brings to
light new correspondences between the narrative
and the circumstances. The cited anachronisms
shrink into the smallest compass: and, so far as
they exist, can be legitimately accounted for as re-
visions. The apparent interpolations are them-
selves Indications of the antiquity of the text, IT*
assertion, that " the mythological, traditional, and
exaggerated element " (Davidson ) — that is, the
miraculous — shows that Moses could not have been
the author, is a mere begging of the whole ques-
tion of the supernatural. The argument that there
la not difference enough between the language uf
the Pentateuch and of the later books, breaks down
in several ways: It is conceded by the objectors
(e. g. Davidson, i. 104) that there are di f fere n ce s ,
but they are alleged to be insufficient, — a matter
of degree and a question of opinion. That the di-
versities should not be great is explicable from the
isolation, the consolidation, and complete inter-
communication of the nation, a* well as from the
uniformity of their mode of life, and the fixedness
of their institutions and their civilization. It is
paralleled by the fact that the Syriac of the Peshtto
in the second century is substantially the same as
that of Syriac writers of the 13th century. And
furthermore, it is admitted on all hands, hv D*
Wette, Knobel, Bkek, Ewald, that portions of tne
Peutateuch are actually aa old as Hoses; and Kno-
bel even admits the difficulty of deciding what b
Mosaic and what is not; while the difference be-
tween the admitted psalms of David and the lan-
guage of Ezra's time — though a period far mar*
eventful in historic changes — an not such a* to
hare made the Psalms difficult of appnhaaaion al
the latter period. Again, « repetitions, dtnrttea*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
rJUTXATBUCH, THE
mi divatss narratives " — if ill the cited instances
MM Mel — do not bear upon this qmation. No
mi does the alleged composite eharaoter of the
beak; for, to whatever extent a oompUatien, unless
there be positive proof of later date, nothing pro-
rants Moses Aram having been the "redactor " or
the « Jehovist." Without here going farther into
that question, we will only say that while Heng-
■wiusrg haa too Tehemen tly repelled the idea of a
composite eharaoter, and haa gone to extremes in
the endeavor to find always a special reason for the
uet of F.lohim and Jehovah respectively, on the
other hand, the opposite school have gone to a still
greater extreme in the attempt to diss ect and pre-
cisely to determine the sources of each part of the
com p os it ion. It is a weU-eonsidered remark of
Kuril at the close of his History of the Old C«c-
tmaii: "We venture to express it se our eonft-
deat percussion that the question as to the origin
■ad composition of the Pentateucn is for from hav-
ing been settled, either by Hawrniek, Hengsteu-
berg, or Kail, on the one hand, or by Tueh, Sta-
hahii, and Delitssch on the other, and still less by
Ewald or Hnpfeld."
There is nothing then to invalidate the dear
evidence that Moses was the author, unless, it be
the few detached words and passages seemingly of
later growth. Bat it has been well said by the
writer of the preceding article, " we are not obliged
because of the later date of these portions to bring
down the rest of the book to later times." Indeed
no procedure is, under the circumstances, more
unreasonable, provided they can bs satisfactorily ex-
plained othcrwiie. But they can be thus explained.
The suceassion of prophets continued till lira and
Nehemiah, more than a thousand years after Moses.
In view of the lapse of time and of the effects of the
exile, (1) it is a perfectly natural supposition that
explanatory additions should have been made by
some of these later prophets. (9.) The Scriptures
render the supposition probable by their notices of
Em, He is not only in general "the scribe"
(Neb. vlli. 4), but he is "a ready scribe iu the
Law of Moses " (he. vii. 6), "a scribe of the words
of the commandments of the Lord and of his stat-
utes to Israel" (vii 11), who "had prepared his
heart to seek the Law of the Lord and to do it,
tad to teach in Israel statutes and judgments "
(ver. 10). He is also declared not only to have
brought the Law of Moses before the people, and
to have rend it publicly in their hearing through a
succession of days (Ex. viii. 1-6, 18), but he and his
coadjutors " read in the Law of God distinctly, and
gave the sense, and caused them to understand the
reading " (viii. 8). Now let Exra but have done
for the Scriptures permanently and in view of the
termanent necessity, that which be did orally and
transiently on this occasion, and we have the phe-
aomena fully explained. (3.) Accordingly there
ire traditional indications that this kind of supple-
mentary work wis actually performed. The Baby-
lonian Talmud, in a well-known passage appar-
ently of great antiquity (see Westcott, The Bible
as the Chunk, pp. 85-37), ascribes eight verses of
the Pentateuch [the last eight] to Joshua; and the
same passage declares that several of the books of
the O. T. were " written " (or reduced to their
PENTECOST
2431
present form) by others thin their proper authors.
among them "the men of the Great Synagogue " ,
while Kara and Nehemiah end the list with writing
their own books and completing the books of
Chronicles. Concurrent with this is the tradition
of a Esdrae (xiv. 30-40), handed down also by the
early fathers, fabulously embellished indeed, and as-
cribing to Exra the reproduction of the lost Scrip-
tures by immediate inspiration. But, as Dr. Da-
vidson well said in his Biblical Criticism (i. 103),
" the historic basis of the view that Exra bjre a
leading part in collecting and revising the sacred
books is not shaken by the fabulous ciroumstauces
in the writings of the early fathers, in paassges ' I
the Talmud, and in later Jewish authors." Wa
may well accept this method of explaining the phe-
nomenon.
We accordingly reach the conchudou that nnth
Ing adduced by recent discussions need shake out
belief that Moses wss the author of the Pentateuch.
We may accept the traces of earlier narratives, sa
having been employed and authenticated by him ;
and we may admit the marks of later date as indi-
cations of a surface revision by authorized persons
not later than Ebb and Nehemiah.
Among the later publications are Murphy on
Genesis (1864) and Exodus (1866); Kalisch on
Veneris, Exodus, and Leviticus (1868-186T 1 -
Lange on Genesis; Jacobus on Genesis; Maedo
nald's Introduction to the Pentateuch (1861); Da-
vidson's Introduction to the Old Testament (188*-
63); and The Book of Genetu ; the Common Ver-
sion revised for the Amei: Bible Union, with Ex-
planatory Notes, by T. J. Couant (N. T. 1868).
See also a discussion of the historic character and
authorship of the Pentateuch, in the Bibl. Stern
tot April and July, 1863, and July and October,
1864, by the present writer. S. C. B.
pentecost (TvP3?9 Tfo* -vs^n an.
(Ex. xxiii. 16) : sostt) ttptauou wptoroyrvn-
udrau* : solemnitas messis prunitivorum ; " the
feast of harvest, the first fruits of thy labors; "
rft^F 2n (Ex. xxxjv. 22; Deut. xvi. 10): 4ootJ)
<79SopeicW : solemnitas hebdomadnrum " the feast
of weeks." D v T*D2n OV (Num. xxviii. 86, d.
Lev. xxiii. 17): iutipa rmr vtmr'-dUspiimUieorum;
" the day of first fruits"). In later times it appears
to have been called D'ttftSn. D*V (see Joseph. B.
J. ii. 3, § 1); and hence, iuiipa ttji ntmutooTT/s
(Tub. ii. 1; S Mace xii. 89; Acta U. 1, xx. 16;
1 Cor. xvi. 8). But the more oommen Jewish nam. 1
wm 173%$" (» Chaldee, rV-HSJj; 'Ao-orfd, U
Joseph. Ant. iii. 10, § 6). The second of the gnat
festivals of the Hebrews. It fell in due ronrse M
the sixth day of Sivan, and its rites, accirding M
the Law, were restricted to a single day. The m. et
important passages relating to it are, Ex. xxiii. 16,
Lev. xxiii. 15-29, Num. xxviii. 26-31, Deut. xvi
0-19.
I. The tune of the festival was calculated from
the second day of the Passover, the 16th of Nisan.
The Law prescribes that a reckoning should bs kepi
from "the morrow after the Sabbath" • fLev.
■ Thai word in the 0. T. is appllsd to the seventh
r of the Pasaovar and the eighth day of laberaasea,
I ant to the day of Psnuwost. (Pusovsa, nets a, p.
II.] On Ms appttoanon to P sntseost, whlah Is fcand
in the BBsnne (Boas hash. L 2, and Caarwa*. n. 4
fcc), In ths TJsrgum (Num. xxviii. 28), in Jo.
and elsewhere, see J 6.
o Than has been tram early thaws las
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2482
PENTECOST
xxiii. 11, 15) [Passover, II. 3] to the morrow
after the completion of the seventh week, which
would of coune be the fiftieth day (Lev. xxiii. IS,
18; Deut. xri. 9). The fifty days formally included
the period of grain-harvest, commencing with the
offering of the first sheaf of the barley-harvest in
the Passover, and ending with that of the two first
loaves which were made from the wheat-harvest, at
this festival.
It was the offering of these two loaves which
was the distinguishing rite of the day of Pentecost.
They were to be leavened. Each loaf was to con-
tain the tenth of an ephah " (i. e. about 8, quarts)
of the finest wheat flour of the new crop (Lev.
Kxiii. 17). The flour was to be the produce of the
land.' The loaves, along with a peace-offering of
two Iambs of the first year, were to be waved before
the Lord and given to the priests. At the same
time a special sacrifice was to be made of seven
lambs of the first year, one young bullock and two
rams, as a burnt-offering (accompanied by the proper
meat and drink offerings), and a kid for a sin-offering
(Lev. xxiil. 18, 19). Besides these offerings, if we
adopt the interpretation of the Rabbinical writers,
it appears that an addition was made to the daily
sacrifice of two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs,
as a burnt-offering (Num. xxviii. 87 ).« At this, as
well as the other festivals, a free-will offering was
of opinion as to the meaning of the words fTTTTB
nSlJpn. It has however been generally held, by
both Jewish and Christian writers of all ages, that the
sabbath here spoken of Is the first day of holy convo-
cation of the Passover, the 16th of Misan, mentioned
Lev. Kill. 7. In like manner the word H5U? Is
evidently used as a designation of the day of atone-
ment (Lev. xxiil. 82); and j'inilBJ (jotoali abterva-
lio) Is applied to the first and eighth days of Taberna-
cles and to the least of Trumpets. That the LXX.
so understood the passage In question can hardly be
doubted from tbelr calling It " the morrow after the
Hist day " (i. e. of the festival) : A, eraiiatov rips s-acersc.
The word In w. 16 and W has also been understood
ss " week, >s need in tbe came manner as oififiecn. in
the N. T. (Matt. xxvlil. 1 ; Luke xvlll. 12; John xx. 1,
4c.). But some have Insisted on taking the Sabbath
U> mean nothing but the ssventh day of the week, or
< the sabbath of creation, " as the Jewish writers have
called It ; and they see a difficulty in understanding
the same word lu the general sense of week ss a period
of seven dsys, contending that It can only mean a
regular week, beginning with the first day, and ending
with the Sabbath. Hence the Balthusian (or Baddn-
ceait) party, and In later tunes the Karaites, supposed
that the omer was offered on the day following the
weeklv Sabbath which might happen to fell within the
seven nays of the Passover. The day of Pentecost
would thus always fall on the first day of the week.
Hltstg (Ostrm and Pflnguen, Heidelberg, 18*7) has
put forth the notion that tbe Hebrews regularly began
a new week at the commencement of the year, so that
the 7th, 14th, and 21st of Nlsan were always Sabbath
days. He Imagines that " the morrow after the Sab-
bath " from which Pentecost was reckoned, was tbe
22d day of the month, the day after the proper termi-
nation of the Passover. Ha is well answered by Bghr
(cyirtOMiA, li. 820), who refers especially to Josh. v.
11, as proving, In connection with tbe law In Lev. xxiil.
14^ that the onior was offered on the letb of the month.
It should be observed that the words in that passage,
WTMn "^OSi mean merely corn of the land, not
abValv « the old oom of the land." "Themorrow
PENTECOST
to be made by each person who came to the sane-
tuary, according to hie circumstances (Dent, gfi.
10). [Passover, p. 8349, note <L] It would seem
that its festive character partook of a more free and
hospitable liberality than that of the Passover, which
was rather of the kind which belongs to the mare
family gathering. In this respect it resembled the
Feast of Tabernacles. The Invite, the stranger, the
fatherless, and tbe widow, were to be brought within
its influence (Dent. xri. 11, 14). The mention of
tbe gleanings to be left in the fields at harvest for
■the poor and the etrauges, ' in oonnectiou with
Pentecost, may perhaps have a bearing on the lib-
erality which belonged to tbe festival (Lev. xxiii.
88). At Pentecost (as at the Passover) the people
were to be reminded of their bondage in Egypt, and
they were especially admonished of their ohligaifca
to keep the Divine law (Drat, xri. 18).
II. Of the information to be gathered frau Jew-
ish writers respecting the observance of Pentecost,
the following particulars appear to be the beat wor-
thy of notice. Tbe flour for the loaves was sifted
with peculiar care twelve times over. They wen
made either the day before, or, in the event of a
Sabbath preceding the day of Pentecost, two days
l>eforetheoocaak»(if'eiiar*orn,rL7, xi. 9). Tbiy
are said to have been made in a particular form.
They were seven palms in length and four in breadth
a The
after the Passover " (110911 rniTlJ), might at
first sight seem to express the 16th ofNIasn ; bnt the
expression may, on the whole, with mora probability,
be taken aa equivalent with " the morrow after the
Sabbath," that is, the 16th day. Bee Kelt on Joata. v.
11 ; Meatus and Dnisiun, on the bum text, In tbe Crt'i
Sac.; Banr, a>m». II. 621 ; Seidell, De Anno Cteili, eh.
7 ; Bartenora, In Chagigah, 11. 4 ; Buxt 5y». Jut. zx. ;
Fagius, tn Lev. xxiii. 15 ; Orustun, Noim Uajora as
Lev. xxllt. 16. It Is worthy of remark that the LXX.
omit rjj cWtSptov tov eve-xa, according to the texts of
Tischendorf and Thelle.
fTtoy, or tint* (In A Y " tenth deal "),
> explained in Num. v. 16, it^tfn IVT'Wg,
" the tenth part of an ephah." It Is sometimes' eailsat
"15^, omer, literally, a handful (Ex. xvt. 80), the
same word which is applied to the first sheaf of the
Psssover. (See Joseph. Ant. vlll. 2, { B.) [Wxrasne
AKD MXASOUS]
* This is what is meant by the words in Lev. xxiil.
17, which stand In the A. T. « out of your habita-
tions," and in the Vulgate, "ex omnibus babttaeu^s
veatris." The Hebrew word ta not «T5, a hotter, at
the home 0/ a family, but ZJtTID, u place of abode,
at the territory of a nation. The LXX. has, aro Tift
caretnac vpm> ; Jonathan, " e loco haUtationum we
trum." See Drustus, in Oil. Sic.
c The differing statements respecting the proper
sacrifices for the day in Lev. xxiil. 18, and Num.
xxrlfl. 87, are tons reconciled by tbe Jewish writers
(Mishna, Menachoih, tv. 2, with the notes of Bartenora
and Malmooides). Joaephus appears to add the two
statements together, not quite accurately, and doss
not treat them ar relating to two distinct eaermoes
{Anl. 111. 10, | 6). He enumerates, aa the whole of
the offerings for the day, a *ingle loaf, two lanibe foe
a peace-ofiering, three bullocks, two nuns and four*
teen lambs for a burmVoBering. and two kids for a
sin-offering. Bahr, Winer, and other modern erfttos
rage ill the statements ss discordant, aud prefer thai
of Num. xxviil. as being most In harmony with the
sacrifices which belong to the other festhnua.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBNTB0O8T
{ M m a * M , tt 4, with Malmonldco' note). The two
hmU to a peace-offering wen to be wm«d by the
priest, before the; were slaughtered, along with the
loaves, end afterwards the loan* were waved a
second time along with the shoulder* of the laiuba.
One loaf wai given to the high-priest and the other
to the ordinary priests who officiated * (Maimon. in
Tonud. c 8, quoted bjOtho). The bread was eaten
that same night in the Temple, and no fragment of
it was suffered to remain till the morning (Joseph.
B. J. vi. 5, J 8; Ant. iii 10, J 8).
Although, according to the Law, the obserranoa of
Pentecost lasted but a tingle day, the Jews in foreign
countries, since the Captivity, have prolonged it to
two days. They have treated the Feast of Trum-
pets in the same way. The alteration appears to
have been nude to meet the possibility of an error
in calculating the true day. 6 It is said by Barte-
nore and Maimonides that, while the Temple was
standing, though the religious rites were confined
to the day, the festivities, and the bringing in of
gifts, continued through seven days (Notes to Cho-
figah, II. 4). The Hallel is said to have been sung
at Pentecost as well as at the Passover (Lightfbot,
Temple Service, } 8). The concourse of Jews who
attended Pentecost in later times appears to have
been very great (Acta ii.; Joseph. Ant xiv. 13,
i 14, rvil. 10, { i; B. J. ii. 8, i I).
No occasional offering of first-fruits could be
made in the Temple before Pentecost (Biccurim,
i- 3,6). Hence probably the two loaves were desig-
nated " the first of the first-fruita " (El. zziii. 10)
[Passover, p. 2348, noted], although the offering
of the omer had preceded them. The proper time
for offering first-fruits was the interval betwee n
Pentecost and Tabernacles (Bice. i. 6, 10; conip.
Ex. xxiil. 18). [r'liurr-Fitun*.]
The connection between the omer and the two
loaves of Pentecost appears never to have been lost
sight of. The former wse called by Philo, root-
iprit erspar ioprrjt pefferor * (Dt Sept. f 31,
v. 98; comp. lit Decern Orac. iv. SOS, ed. Tauch.).
The interval between the Passover and Pentecost
was evidently regarded at a religious season.* The
custom has probably been handed down from ancient
times, which is observed by the modern Jews, of
keeping a regular computation of the fifty days by
a formal observance, beginning with a short prayer
xi the evening of the day of the omer, and con-
tinued on each succeeding day by a solemn declara-
tion of its number in the succession, at evening
PENTBOOST
24S8
• In like manner, the leavened bread which was
And with the ordinary peace offering wse waved
and given to the priest who sprinkled the blood (Lev.
vtt- 18, 14).
• Ltgbtfbot, Sareil Btb. Acts fl. 1; Belsnd, Am.
Iv. 4, S ; SaMen, Dr Ann. Q'e. o. vll.
e He elMwhen mentions the festival of Pentecost
with the ■erne marked respect. He speaks of a pecul-
iar feast kept by the Therapsuta) as rpoeopru* prvur-
ree eoprrp «. rfrmpcoerqt (Dt Vit. Contemp. v. 884).
• According to the most generally received Inter-
pretation of the word tevrtptorpmrot (Lnke vt 1), the
(Mlod was marked by a regularly designated succes-
sion of Sabbaths, similar to the several successions of
Sundays In our own calendar. It is assumed that the
day of the omer ws« oalled Itrhtpa (In th. LXX., Lev
xxiil. 11, 4. Iwaipiur riri wp-nit). Th » S»jbeth which
came next after It was termed Uvrtporamym; the sec-
ond, lempetrtnaar; the third, tnnpirpmn and so
onwards, till Pentecost This explanation was flrst
proposed by Scallger (Dt Emtnd. Tmp. lib. vl. p.
W), and has been adopted by trlaohmuth, Petsrlas,
163
prayer, while the members of the Busily are stand-
ing with respectful attention ' (Buxt 8yn. Jud. «.
440).
III. Doubts have been east on the common inter-
pretation of Acts ii. 1, aooording to which the Holy
(Jboet was given to the Apostles ou the day of
Pentecost. Ligbtfoot contends that the passage, tr
re/ ovfarKvpovcStu rk» iifiJearrfis Xltyn)Koary)t,
means alien Ike day of Pentteoet had patted, and
considers that this rendering is countenanced by the
words of the Vulgate, "cum eomplerentur diet
Pentecostes." He supposes that Penteoost fell that
year on the Sabbath, and that it was on the ensu-
ing Lord's Day that 1,0a* Sworret ipoOtipatbw
M re ulrri (Exercit. in Act. ii. 1). Hitxig, on
the other hand ( Otters %md Pfingtten, Heidelberg,
1837), would render the words, " As the day of
Penteoost was approaching its fulfillment" Nesnder
has replied to the latter, and has maintained the
common interpretation (Planting of the ChrimHam
Chunk, i. 6, Bonn's ed.).
The question on what day of the week this
Penteoost fell must of course be determined by the
mode in which the doubt is solved regarding the
day on which the Last Supper was eaten. [Pass-
over, III] If it was the legal paschal supper, on
the 14th of Niean, and the Sabbath during which
our Lord lay in the grave was the day of the omer,
Pentecost must have followed on the Sabbath . But
if the Supper was eaten on the 13th, and He was
crucified on the 14th, the Sunday of the Resurrection
must have been the day of the omer, and Penteoost
must have occurred on the first day of the week.
IV. There is no clear notice in the Scriptures of
any historical significance belonging to Pentecost.
But most of the Jews of later times hare regarded
the day as the commemoration of the giving of the
Law on Mount Sinai. It is made out from Ex. xlx.
that the Law was delivered on the fiftieth day after:
the deliverance from Egypt (Selden, De Jur. Hat.
el Gent. Ui. 11). It baa been conjectured that a
connection between the event and the festival may
possibly be hinted at in the reference to the ob-
servance of the Law in Deut xvi. 12. But neither
Philo/ nor Josephus has a word on tbe subject.
Then is, however, a tradition of a custom which
Schx.ttgen supposes to be at least as ancient as th
Apostolic times, that the night before Pentecost was
a time especially appropriated for thanking God for
tbe gift of the Law.» Several of tbe Fathers noticed
Gasaubon, Ughcfbot, Qodwyn, Carpeov, and mass;
others.
• Tbe lets educated of the modern Jews regard the
fifty days with strange superstition, and. It would
seem, are always Impatient for them to come to an
end. During their continuance, they have a draaj
of sudden death, of the efleel of malaria, and of the
Influence of evil spirits over children. They relate
with gross exaggeration the ease of a gnat mortality
which, during the first twenty-three days of the^erlod,
befell the pupils of Aklba, the gnat Mlthnlcal doator
of the ssoond century, at Jana. They do not ride, or
drive, or go on the water, unless they are Impelled by
absolute necessity. They an careful not to whistle In
the evening, lest It should bring 111 luck. They
scrupulously put off marriages till Pentecost. (Stau-
ben, Lm Vi, JWee m Ahau (Paris, 1880), p. 134;
Hills, a-tfas Jew, p. 807.)
/ Philo expressly stales that It was »t the least cf
Trumpets that the giving of the I»w was — — — e>
rated (Dt Stpt. e. 21). [TananTS, Faur or.]
* Her. law. In Ant fl 1. Behottgen <orrise*ans
Digitized by VjOOQlC
£484 PENTECOST
the coincidence of the day of the giving of the Law
whh that of tho festival, and made uie of it. Thai
Jerome says, " Supputeniu* numerum, et inve-
niemus quinqnagesimo die egreesionis Israel ex
-lEgypto in vertice inontia Sinai legem datam.
Undo et Penteoostea eelebratur soJemnitas, et postaa
Evangelii saerameiitum Spiritua Sancti deaeenaione
eompletur" (t-pitt. ad Fabudam, Mamio XII.).
St. Augustin speaks in a «imilar manner : " Pente-
eoaten etiam, id eat, a paaaione et resurreetione
Domini, quiuquagesimum diem celebramua, quo
nobia Sanctum Spiritum Paracletum quern pro-
miaerat miait: quod futurnm etiam per Judssorum
pateha aignificatum eat, cum quinquageaimo die
poat oelebrationem oris oceiaae, Moysas digito Dei
scriptam legem aocepit in monte "' ( Contra /'outturn,
lib. xxxii. c. IS). The later Rabbis spoke with con-
fidence of the commemoration of the Law as a prime
object in the institution of the feast. Maimonides
says, " Feetum aeptimanarum est dies tile, quo lex
data fuit. Ad hujus diei honorem pertinet quod
die* a pracedeuti solenni festo (Pascba) ad ilium
usque diem numerantur" (Mare Ntrochitn, Hi.
•1). Abarbanel recognizes the feet, but denies that
•t bad anything to do with the institution of the
feast, observing, " lex divina non opus babet sanc-
tificatione diei, quo ejus memoria recolatur." He
adds, " causa festi aeptimanarum est initium messis
tritici " (in Lty. 362). But in general the Jewish
writers of modern times have expressed themselves
on the subject without hesitation, and, in the rites
of the day, as it is now observed, tbe gift of the
Law is kept prominently in view."
V. If the feast of Pentecost stood without an
organic connection with any other rites, we should
have no certain warrant in the Old Testament for
regarding it as more than the divinely appointed
solemn thanksgiving for the yearly supply of the
moat useful sort of food. Every reference to its
meaning seems to bear immediately upon the com-
pletion of the grain-harvest. It might have been a
Gentile festival, having no proper reference to the
election of the chosen race. It might have taken a
place in the religion of any people who merely felt
that it is God who gives rain from heaven and
fruitful seasons, and who fills our hearts with food
and gladness (Acta xiv. 17). But it waa, as we
have seen, essentially linked on to the Passover, that
festival, which, above all others, expressed the fact
tf a race chosen and separated from other nations.
It was not an insulated day. It stood as the cul-
minating point of the Pentecostal season. If tbe
offering of the omer was a supplication for the
Divine blessing on the harvest which was just com-
mencing, and the offering of the two loaves was a
thanksgiving for its completion, each rite waa
brought into a higher significance in consequence
of the omer forming an integral part of the Pass-
over. It was thus set forth that He who bad
delivered his people from Egypt, who bad raised
that the Apostles on the occasion then spoken of were
tasamblsd together for this purpose, in tceordanee with
Jewish custom.
a gome of the Jews adorn their houses with flowers,
and wear wreaths on their heads, with the declared
purpose of testifying their Joy in the possession of the
law. They also eat such food as Is prepared with milk,
tttaatt the purity of the divine law Is likened to milk.
(Ooaapare the expression, » the sincere milk of the
word," 1 Pet. II. 2.)
It la a feit of some interest, though In newts* eon-
ajajM «Hh the present argument, that, in the eervirs
PEN 1 BOOST
them from the condition of slave* to that of (res
men in immediate covenant with Himself, wa* the
same that was sustaining them with bread from year
to year. The inspired teacher declared to God'
chosen one, " He maketh peace hi thy borders, Hs
filleth thee with the 1 finest of the wheat " (Pa
cxlvii. 14). If we thus regard the day of Pente-
cost as the solemn termination of the consecrated
period, intended, aa the seasons came round, to
teach this lesson to tbe people, we may sea the
fitness of the name by which the Jewa have aroatly
called it, fTlSBi the concluding autmblyfi [Past-
OVKK, p. 2343, note a.]
As the two loaves were leavened, they coall onf
be offered on the altar, like the unleavened sacrificial
bread. [Pasbovkb, IV. 3 (6).] Abarbanel (w
Let. xxiii.) has proposed a reason for tteir not
being leavened which seems hardly to admit of a
doubt. He thinks that they were intended to rep-
resent the beat produce of the earth in tbe actual
condition in which it ministers to the support of
human life. Thus they express, in the most sig-
nificant manner, what is evidently the idea of this
festival.
We need not suppose that the grain-harvest in
the Holy Land was in all years precisely completed
between the Passover and Pentecost. The period of
seven weeks was evidently appointed in conformity
with the Sabbatical number, which so frequently
recurs in the arrangements of the Mosaic law
[Feast*; Jdbilek.] Hence, probably, tbe prevail-
ing use of the name, " Toe feast of Weeks," which
might always have suggested the close religions con-
nection in which the festival stood to tbe Passover.
It is not surprising that, without any direct au-
thority in the 0. T., the coincidence of the day on
which the festival was observed with that on which
the Law appears to hare been given to Moses, should
have strongly impressed the minds of Christians in
tbe early age* of the Church. Tbe Divine Provi-
dence had ordained that the Holy Spirit should come
down in a special manner, to give spiritual life sud
unity to the Church, on that very same day in the
year on which tbe l.aw had leeu lestowed on the
children of Israel which gave to them national life
and unity. They must have seen that, as the pos-
session of the Law had completed tbe deliverance of
the Hebrew race wrought by the band of Moses, so
tbe gift of the Spirit perfected the work of Chi ist
in the establishment of bis kingdom upon earth
It may have been on this account that Pentecost
was the last Jewish festival (as far as we know)
which St. Paul was anxious to observe (Act* xx. It,
1 Cor. xvi. 8>. and that Whitsuntide came to be
the first annual festival instituted in the Christian
Church (Hessey's Bnmpton Leeturei, pp. 88, 96).
It was rightly regarded aa the Church's birthday,
and the Pentecostal season, the period between it
and Kaster, bearing as it does such a clear analogy
or the synagogue, the book of Ituth Is read through al
Pentecost, from the connection of its subjeot with fc».
vest (Bunt. Syn. Jud. xx. ; [Stauben,] la 17c Aim
i* Abort, pp. 128, 112.)
» So fiodwyn, Ugutfbot, Belaud, Bsar. fh* foB
name appears to have been nOg btT n~V}?, «*»
amdxding rustmatjr of tat /Waster. The ilislgiiarlns
of the offering of tb* omer nam by Phllo, *yof*>n*»
Mpn feprfc lucent, strikingly ends ft* tb* new
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PENUBL
o the My d»y» of the old Law, thus became tha
rdlnary time for the baptism of convert* (Tertul-
tan, Dt BapL c. 19: Jerome, As Zteh. xiv. 8).
(Carpsov, .dflp. frit. Ui. ft; Reland, .dtK. it. 4;
Ligbtfoot, Ttm/tt Service, § 8; ilwrctfc m Jet
li. 1; Bahr, fysteogc, iv. 3; Spencer, Dt Leg. Beb.
I. ix. 3, in. riii. 8; Meyer, Dt Fat Heb. li. 13;
Hupfeu, Dt Ft*. Beb. U. ; Ikon, Dt Dudnu Ptum-
but PenUcoU. Bran. 1789; Mishna, Menackotk
and Biecurim, with the Motel in Surenhusius;
Drusius, iVofcs Majora m Lee. xxiii. IS, 31 ( Crit.
Sac); (Mho, La. Sab. a. /Vsto ,- Buxtorf, Syi».
Jud. o. n.) 8. C.
PKNU"HL 0*«3^ [/aee o/ Cod] : in Gen.
■Hoi »«oS, elsewhere vokov^A: -PAomie/). The
nans], and possibly the original, form of the name
of • place which flrit appears under the slightly
different form of Pkjukl (Gen. xxxii. 30. 31).
From this narrative it ia evident thai it lay some-
where between the torrent Jabbok and Sucooth
(oomp. itxii. 29 with zzxiii. 17). This ia in exact
agreement with the terms of its next occurrence, when
Gideon, pursuing the hosts of the Midianites across
the Jordan into the uplands of Gilead, arrives first at
Sucooth, and from thence mounts to Penuel (Judg.
viii. 6, 8). It had then a tower, which Gideon de-
stroyed on his return, at the same time slaying the
men of the place because they had refused him help
before (ver. 17). Penuel was rebuilt or fortified by
Jeroboam at the commencement of his reigu (1 K.
xiL 8ft), no doubt on account of its commanding the
fords of Sucooth and the road from the cast of Jor-
dan to Ma capital city of Sbechem, and also per.
haps as being an ancient oanctuary. Succoth has
been identified with tolerable certainty at Sakit,
but no trace baa yet been found of Penuel. G.
PERAZIM, MOUNT
2486
•PBNTJ'EMTrja^, see above: Oorov^:
Phamttl).
1. A descendant of Judsh the "father" or
founder of Gedor (1 Chr. Iv. 4).
3. A son of Shaahak, and one of the chiefs of
the tribe of Benjamin. He dwelt at Jerusalem (1
Chr. viii. 2ft, 88). A.
PB'OR ("n»9r7, « the Poor," with the def.
article [openmg, cfyi] : rev " +oydu> : men* Pkohor
[Phogvr] ). A mountain in Moan, from whence,
after having without effect ascended the lower or
est sacred summits of Bamoth-Baal and Piagah,
the prophet Balaam was conducted by Balak for his
Inal conjurations (Num. xxiii. 28 only).
Poor — or more accurately " the Peor " — was
"facing Jeshimon." The same thing is said of
Piagah. But unfortunately we are as yet ignorant
of the position of all three, so that nothing can be
liiferred from this specification. [Nkho.J
In the Onomeaticon (" Kogor; " " Bethphogor; "
"Danaha") it is stated to be above the town of
Ubiaa (the ancient Beth-aram), and opposite Jeri-
cho. The towns of Beth peor and IHnhaba were on
she mountain, six miles from I.iblas, and seven from
Heshbon, respectively. A place named Fihhnrnh is
petitioned in the list of towns south of Kt-Snlt "
(he appendix to the 1st edit, of I)r. Robinson's
Bibt. Ret. (ili. App. 169), and this is placed by
Van de Velde at the head of th* HWj Ethtth,
miles N. K. of Httbin. But in our present igno-
rance of these regions all this must be mere oonjeav
tore.
Geaeniua (Tha. 1119 a) gives it ss his opinio*)
that Baal-Peor derived his name from the mounters),
not the mountain from him.
A Peor, under its Greek garb of Phsgor, appears
among the eleven names added by the LXX. [Josh
xv. 69] to the hit of the allotment of Judah, be-
tween Bethlehem and Aitan (Etham). It was known
to Euaebiua and Jerome, and is mentioned by the
latter in his translation of the Onomattiam as Pha»
ora. It probably still exists under the name of
Beit F&yk&r or Kirbtt Faghto; ft miles S. W. of
Bethlehem, barely a mile to the left of the road from
Hebron (Tobler, 3le Wandtrmg). It ia some-
what singular that both Peor and Piagah, name*
so prominently connected with the East of Jordan,
should be found also on the West.
The LXX. also read the name, which in the He-
brew text is Pau and Paj, as Peor; since in both
esses they have Phogtr.
8. ("TO?, without the article: *oytip: idokm
Phehor [Phogor], 1'hohor [PAooor], Bed Pht-
gor.) In four passages (Num. xxv. 18, twice; xxxi.
16; Josh. xxii. 17) Peor occurs as a contraction for
Baal-peor; always in reference to the licentious rites
of Shittini which brought such destruction on Israel.
In the three first cases the expression is, the " mat-
ter," or •< for the sake " (literally •• word " in each)
'•of Peor;" in the fourth, " iniquity,or crime, of
Peor." G.
PER'AZIM, MOUNT (D ,, ?';?"">n [momu
of breaches] : (pot lureB&y'". mmt dititionm).
A name which occurs in Is. xxviii. 21 only, — unless
the place which it designates be identical with the
Baal-Pehazim mentioned as the scene of one of
David's victories over the Philistines. Isaiah, as
his manner was (comp. x. 26), is referring to soma
ancient triumphs of the arms of Israel as symbolical
of an event shortly to happen —
Jehovah shall rire upas at Mount Peradm,
Ha shall be wroth as In tha valley of Gibson.
The commentators almost, unanimously take his
reference to be to David's victories, above alluded to,
at Baal Peraxim, and Gibeon (Gesenius; Straehey),
or to the former of these on the one hand, and
Joshua's slaughter of the Canaanites at Gibeon and
Beth-boron on the other (Eichhorn; KosenmiUler;
Michaehs). Ewald alone — perhaps with greater
critical sagacity than the rest — doubts that David's
victory is intended, " because the prophets of this
period are not in the habit of choosing such exam-
ples from his history " (Pi-opheten, i. 261).
If David's victory is alluded to in this passage of
the prophet, it furnishes an example, similar to that
noticed under Okkb, of the slight and casual man-
ner in which events of the gravest importance sre
sometimes passed over in the Bible narrative. But
for this later reference no one would infer that the
events reported in 9 Sam. v. 18-25, and 1 Chr. xiv.
8-17, had been important enough to serve as a
parallel to one of Jehovah's most tremendous judg-
ments. In the account of Josephus (Ant. vii. 4,
J 1), David's victory assumes much larger propor-
tions than in Samuel and Chronicles. The attack
is made not by the Philistines only, but by " all
> lbs LXX. have bars re pre s en ted the Hebrew let-
Am by g, ss they have also In Hague!, Oomnvsah,
etc.
» Perhaps considering the word as derived ft*
7tgh, which the LXX. usually render by testis,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
I486
PERE8H
Syria u>i Phoenicia, with man; other warlike na-'
Hon besides." This ii a good instance of the
Banner in which Josepbua, apparently bom record*
aow lost to us, supplements and eompletei the
•canty narratives of the Bible, in agreement with
the casual references of the Prophets or Psalmists.
He places the scene of the encounter in the " groves
of weeping," as if alluding to the Baca of Ps. bixxiv.
The title Mount Peraxim, when taken in con-
nection with the Baal Perarim of 9 Sam. v., seems
to Imply that it was an eminence with a heathen
sanctuary of Baal upon it [Baal, vol. i. p.
909 n.] O.
PE'RESH (BTig [excrement, aung]: *o f .«t;
[Vat omiU:] Pha'ra). The son of Maehir by
his wife Maachah (1 Chr. rii. 16).
PEHEZ (VT!9 l« breach, rtnl]: *ap«s;
[Vat. Neh. xl. 6, Intt:] Pharu). The "chil-
dren of Perez," or Pharos, the son of Judah, ap-
pear to have been a family of importance for many
centuries. In the reign of David one of them was
chief of all the captains of the host for the first
month (1 Chr. uvii. 3); and of those who re-
turned from Babylon, to the number of 468, some
occupied a prominent position in the tribe of
Judah, and are mentioned by name as living in
Jerusalem (Neh. xi. 4, 6). [Phabjcz.]
PEREZ- TJZ'ZA (Kfy V?? : AMUtoir*.
Q(&: divisio Om), 1 Chr. liii. 11; and
PETIEZ-UZ'ZAH (Tlf$ 'B [breach of
Utzah]: [Ai<wot% Ofl*:] ptrcuuio Ota), 9 Sam.
vi. 8. The title which David conferred on the
threshing-floor of Nachon, or Cidon, in com-
PERFUMES
metuoratlon of the sudden death <A Usxaa : '« Ant
David was wroth because Jehovah had broken this)
breach on Uzzah, and he" called the place ' Czzah'i
breaking ' unto this day." The word pertt was a
favorite with David on such occasions. He em-
ploys it to commemorate his having " broken up '
the Philistine force in the valley of Rephaim (2
Sam. v. 90). [Baal Pkraztm.] He also uses it
in a subsequent reference to Uriah's destruction in
1 Chr. xv. 18.
It is remarkable that the statement of the odd
United existence of the name should be found not
only in Samuel and Chronicles, but also in Joso-
phus, who says (Ant. vii. 4, § 9), as if from hit
own observation, " the place where be died is tven
now (sVi rvv) called ' the clearing of Ota.' "
The situation of the spot is not known. [Na-
chon.] If this statement of Josephua may be
taken literally, it would however be worth while to
make some search for traces of the name between
Jerusalem and Kirjath-jearim. G-
PERFUMES (rnhfi). The free nan of per-
fumes was peculiarly grateful to the Orientala (Pror
xxvii. 9), whose olfactory nerves are more than
usually sensitive to the offensive smells engendered
by the heat of their climate (Burckhardt's Travel*
ii. 85). The Hebrews manufactured their per
fumes chiefly from spices imported from Arabia,
though to a certain extent also from aromatic plant*
growing in their own country. [Spicks.] Tht
modes in which they applied them were various
occasionally a bunch of the plant itself was worn
about the person as a nosegay, or inclosed in a bag
(Cant. i. 18) ; or the plant was reduced to a powder
and used in the way of fumigation (Cant. iii. 0);
oi again, the aromatic qualities were extracted by
soi.ie process of boiling, and were then mixed with
oil, so as to be applied to the person in the way of
ointment (John rii. 3); or, lastly, the scent was
curried about in smelling-bottles » suspended from
the girdle (Is. iii. 20). Perfumes entered largely
into the Temple service, in the two forms of incense
sad ointment (Ex. xxx. 22-38). Nor were they
has used in private life: not only were they applied
to the Demon, but to garments 'Ps. xlv. 8; Cant
a Or, with equal accuracy, and perhaps more i
valance, "one called It,' that Is, "it was called
■ Ills, xvttl. 4. [NaaosHTAS]
» tt?p|n *Ity; Ut. "bouses of the seal."
it- 11), and to articles of furniture, such as beds
(Prov. vii. 17). On the arrival of a guest the
same compliments were probably paid in ancient at
in modern times ; the rooms ware fumigated ; the
person of the guest was sprinkled with rose-water;
and then the incense was applied to his face and
beard (Dan. ii. 46: I-ane's Mod. Egypt, ii. H).
When a royal personage went abroad in his litter,
attendants threw up " pillars of smoke " * about
his path (Cant. iii. 6). Nor is it improbable that
» A similar usage Is recorded of the Indian prinoss
R Qumn rax semet In publico conspld patltur, navib-
nla argantae mlnlstrl fcrunt, totumqu* Iter par aw*4
tjrrl dasUnavlt odorlbus oomplent " (Carshas, tas. a
J 28).
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PERGA
stfcer practices, such h waiting the breath by
•hewing frankincense (Lane, i. 846), and the akin
tj maning in rose-water (Burekhardt's Arab. i.
58), and fumigating drinkable* (Lane, i. 188 ; Burck-
hardt, 1. 62), were alao adopted in earl; times.
The use of perfumes was omitted in timet uf
mourning, whence the allusion in Is. iii. 24, " in-
stead of sweet smell there shall be stink." The
preparation of perfumes in the form either of oint-
ment or incense was a recognized profession a
among the Jews (Ex. xxx. 26, 36; Ecel. x. 1).
[Ixcxnse; Ointmkmt.] W. L. B.
PER'GA (nipyif- [Perge]), *c ancient and
hnrrrtant city of Pamphylia, situated on the river
Casllus, at a distance of 80 stadia irom its mouth,
and celebrated in antiquity for the worship of Arte-
mis (Diana), whose tempts stood on a hill outside
she town (Strab. xiv. p. 667 ; Cic Kerr. I. 20; Pint.
r. 26; Mela, i. 14; Ptol. t. 6, $ 7). The goddess
and the Temple are represented in the coins of
Perga. The Ceitius was navigable to Perga; and
St. Paul landed here on his voyage from Papbos
(Acts xiii. 18). He visited the city a second time
on his return from the interior of Pamphylia, and
preaebed the Gospel there (Acta xtr. 96). For
further detail* see Pamphtua. There are still
extensive remains of Perga at a spot called by the
Turks Etki-KAUri (Leake, Aria Minor, p. 182;
Fellows, Aria Minor, p. 190).
PRR'GAMOS 6 (4 Zlipyafut, or rb Mpy*
r). A city of Mysia, about three miles to the
of the river Bnkyr-tchui, the Caicus of an-
tiquity, and twenty miles from its present mouth.
The name was originally given to a remarkable
biD, presenting a conical appearance when viewed
from the plain. The local legends attached a
•acred character to this place. Upon it the
Cabiri were said to have been witnesses of the
birth of Zeus, and the whole of the land belong-
ing to the city of the same name which afterwards
grew up around the orignal Pergamos, to have
belonged to these. The sacred character of the
locality, combined with its natural strength, seems
to have made it, like soma others of the ancient
temples, a bank for chiefs who desired to accumu-
late a large amount of specie; and Lysimachus,
one of Alexander's successors, deposited there an
enormous sum — no leas than 8,000 talents — in
the care of an Asiatic eunuch named Philetasrus.
In the troublous times which followed the break
up of the Macedonian conquests, this officer be-
trayed his trust, and by sucoesaful temporizing,
and perhaps judicious employment of the funds at
his command, succeeded in retaining the treasure
and transmitting it at the end of twenty years to
Us nephew Eumenes, a petty dynast in the neigh-
borhood. Eumenes was succeeded by bis oousin
Attains, the founder of the Attalio dynasty of
Pergamene kings, who by allying himself with the
rising Roman power laid the foundation of the
future greatness of his house. His successor, Eu-
menes II., was rewarded for his fidelity to the
[tomans in their wan with Antiochus and Perseus
by a gift of all the territory which the former had
eossesssd to the north of the Taurus range. The
jreat wealth which accrued to him from this source
a* employed in laying out a magnificent residential
• Iii'" 1 '< •*- T - " apothecary."
6 • The name should have besn written
• tttyamam m the A T. K
PERU AMOS
city, sad adorning it with templet and other j
buildings. His passion, and that of his sum
for literature and the fine arts, led them to form a
library which rivaled that of Alexandria; and the
impulse given to the art of preparing sheepskins
for the purpose of transcription, to gratify the taste
of the royal dilettanti, has left its record in the
name parchment (chart* pergamena). Eumenes's
successor, Attalus n., is said to have bid 600,000
sesterces for a picture by the painter Aristides, at
the sale of the plunder of Corinth ; and by so doing
to have attracted the attention of the Roman gen-
eral Mummhu to it, who sent It off at once U
Rome, where no foreign artist's work had ther
been seen. For another picture by the same artist
he paid 100 talenta. But the great glory of the
city was the so-called Nicephorium, a grove of
extreme beauty, hud out as a thank-offering for a
victory over Antiochus, in which was an assemblage
of temples, probably of all the deities, Zeus
Athene, Apollo, jEeculaptiis, Dionytus, and Aphro-
dite. The Temple of the last was of a most elab-
orate character. Its facade was perhaps inlaid
after the manner of pittra dura work; for Philip
V. of Macedonia, who was repulsed in an attempt
to surprise Pergamos during the reign of Attains
II., vented his spite in cutting down the trees of
the grove, and not only destroying the Aphro-
disium, but injuring the stones in such a way as
to prevent their being used again. At the oondu
aion of peace it was made a special stipulation that
this damage should be made good.
Tne Attalic dynasty terminated B. c. 133, when
Attalus III., dying at an early age, made the Ro-
mans his beirs. His dominions formed the prov-
ince of Aria propria, and the immense wealth
which was directly or indirectly derived from this
legacy, contributed perhaps even more than the
spoils of Carthage and Corinth to the demoraliza-
tion of Roman statesmen.
The sumptuousness of the Attalic princes had
raised Pergamos to the rank of the first city in
Asia as regards splendor, end Pliny tpeaks of it aa
without a rival in the province. Its prominence,
however, was not that of a commercial town, like
Ephesus or Corinth, but arose from its peculiar
feature*. It was a sort of union of a pagan
cathedral city, an university town, and a royal
residence, embellished during a succession of yean
by kings who all had a passion for expenditure
and ample means of gratifying it. Two smaller
streams, which flowed from the north, embracing
the town between them, and then fell into the
Caicus, afforded ample means of storing water,
without which, in those latitudes, ornamental cul-
tivation (or indeed cultivation of any kind) is out
of the question. The larger of those streams —
the Bergama-tckai, or Cetius of antiquity — has
a fall of more than 160 feet between the bills to
the north of Pergamos and its junction with the
Caicus, and it brings down a very considered*
body of water. Both the Nioepborium, which has
been spoken of above, and the Grove of iBscnhv
pint, which became yet more celebrated in the time
of the Roman empire, doubtless owed their exist-
ence to the means of irrigation thus available; and
furnlaud the appliances for those licentious rituals
adopted the Latin termination of the lames of seek
places. A similar exception to the rule ocean In tas
aw of Assre for Asms (Aits xx. 18,14). (Be* Trsoeki
Autkaru*. Vmion, etc p. 78, 2d so.) ■
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£488 PERGAMOS
antiquity which flourished wherever there
grores and hill-altars. Under the AtteJie
kings, Pergamos became a city of temples, devoted
to a sensuous worship; and being in its origin,
according to pagan notions, a sacred place, might
not unnaturally be viewed by Jews and Jewish
Christians, as one " where was the throne of Satan "
(SVov 6 tp&vos tov Sarara, Rev. ii. 13).
After the extinction of its independence, the
■acred character of Pergamos seems to hare been
put even more prominently forward. Coins and
inscriptions constantly describe the Pergamenes as
rtt»K&poi or Dtttxipoi wpsVroi ryjs 'Aaiat. This
title always indicates the duty of maintaining a
religious worship of some kind (which indeed nat-
urally goes together with the usufruct of religious
property). What the deities were to which this
title has reference especially, it is difficult to say.
In the time of Martial, however, .lEscuiapiua had
acquired so much prominence that he is called
Pergameut ileut. His grove was recognized by
the Roman senate in the reign of Tiberius as pos-
sessing the rights of sanctuary. Pausanias, too,
in the oourse of his work, refers more than once to
the JSsculapian ritual at Pergamus as a sort of
standard. From the circumstance of this noto-
riety of the Pergamene iEsculapius, from the title
Svrtfp being given to him, from the urpent (which
Judaical Christians would regard as a symbol of
evil) being bis characteristic emblem, and from
the fact that the medical practice of antiquity in-
cluded charms and incantations among its agencies,
it has been supposed that the expressions i Bpivos
tou ZarwS and Sxov i lararai xarouiti have
an especial reference to this one pagan deity, and
not to the whole city as a sort of focus of idola-
trous worship. But although undoubtedly the
iEsculapius worship of Pergamos was the most
famous, and in later times became continually more
predominant from the fact of its being combined
with an excellent medical school (which among
others produced the celebrated Galen), yet an
inscription of the time of Marcus Antoninus dis-
tinctly puts Zeus, Athene, Dionysus, and Asclepius
In a coi'rdinate rank, as all being special tutelary
deities of Pergamos. It seems unlikely, therefore,
that the expressions above quoted should be so in-
terpreted as to isolate one of them from the rest
It may be added, that the charge against a
portion of the Pergamene Church that some among
them were of the school of Balaam, whose policy
was <• to put a stumbling-block before the children
rf Israel, by inducing them <payt7y <ita\6$vra
«al wapve vaat " (Rev. ii. 14), is in both its par-
ticulars very inappropriate to the jEsculapian ritual.
It points rather to the Dionysus and Aphrodite
worship ; and the sin of the Nieolaitans, which is
condemned, seems to have consisted in a partici-
pation in this, arising out of a social amalgamation
of themselves with the native population. Now,
from the time of the war with Antiochus at least,
it is certain that there was a considerable Jewish
population in Pergamene territory. The decree of
the Pergamenes quoted by Josephus (Ant. xiv. 10,
| 29) serai to indicate that the Jews had farmed
"he tolls in some of the harbors of their territory,
and likewise were holders of land. They are — in
•eeordance with the ex pre s sed desire of the Roman
senate — allowed u> levy port-dues upon all vessels
except those belonging to king Ptolemy. The
powth of a large and wealthy class naturally leads
to its obtaining a share in political rights, and the
PEKIZZITE
only bar to the admission of Jews to privileges af
citizenship in Pergamos would be their unwusaag-
ness to take any part in the religious ceremonies,
which were an essential part of every relation of
life in pagan times. The more lax, however, might
regard such a proceeding as a purely formal act
of civil obedience, and reconcile themselves to it as
Naaman did to " bowing himself in the house of
Rimmon " when in attendance upon his sovereign.
It is perhaps worth noticing, with reference to this
point, that a Pergamene inscription published by
Boeckh, mentions by two names ( Vicusfrnhu, who
is also called Trypho) an individual who served tin
office of gymnasiarch. Of these two names the
latter, a foreign one, is likely to have been borne by
him among some special body to which he be-
longed, and the former to have been adopted when,
by accepting the position of an official, he merged
himself in the general Greek population.
(Strab. xiii. 4 ; Joseph. Ant. xiv. ; Martial, Ix. 17 ;
Plin. B. N. xxxv. 4, 10; Lir. xxxii. 83, 4; Polyb.
xvi. 1, xxxii. 23; Boeckh, ImcrtpC Nos. 8638,
3560, 3663; Philostratus, Dt Pit Soph. p. 46, 106;
Tchihatcheff, Ant Mmeure, p. 230; Arundell, Dis-
coveries in Ana Minor, ii. 804.) J. W. B.
PERTDA (HT-15 \kemd\: +*pM\ [Vat.
FA. ♦>«p«i8oi] Alex. iapttSa: Pkarida). The
children of Perida returned from Babylon with
Zerubbabel (Neh. rii. 67). In Ear. ii. 66 the nam*
appears as Pekuda, and in 1 Esdr. v. 38 as Pha-
kira. One of Kennicott's MSS. has " Pemda "
in Nebemiah.
PEF/IZZITE, THE, and PER1ZZITES
(Mn$n, in all eases in the Heb. singular [see
below]: oi Ofpcfcuoi; in Est. only 6 GtpttrStt
[Vat; Rom. Alex. A*tpi(l]: Phtrtxam). One
of the nations inhabiting the I-and of Promise be-
fore and at the time of its conquest by Israel.
They are not named in the catalogue of Gen. x. ;
■o that their origin, like that of other small tribes,
such as the Avites, and the similarly named Geriz-
rites, is left in obscurity. They are continually
mentioned in the formula so frequently occurring
to express the Promised Land (Gen. xv. 20 ; Ex.
Hi. 8, 17, xxiii. 23, xxxiii. 2, xxxir. 11; Deut rii.
1, xx. 17; Josh. iU. 10, ix. 1, xxiv. 11; Judg. Hi.
5; Kit. ix. 1 ; Neh. ix. 8). They appear, however,
with somewhat greater distinctness on several occa-
sions. On Abram's first entrance into the laud it
is said to have been occupied by " the Canaanite
and the Perizzite " (Gen. xiii. 7). Jacob also,
after the massacre of the Shecbeinites, uses the
same expression, complaining that his eons bad
" made him to stink among the inhabitants of the
land, among the Canaanite and the Perizzite"
(xxxiv. 30). So also in the detailed records of the
conquest given in the opening of the book of
Judges (evidently from a distinct source to those
in Joshua), Judah and Simeon are said to hare
found their territory occupied by " the Canaanite
and the Perizzite " (Judg. i. 4, 6), with Bezek
(a place not yet discovered) as their stronghold
and Adonl-bezek their mi*t noted chief. And
thus too a late tradition, preserved iu 2 Ksdr. i. 21
mentions only " the Canaanites, the Pberesites, an.
the Philistines," ss the original tenants of the
country. The notice just cited from the book at
Judges locates them in the southern part of the
Holy land. Another independent and equally re-
markable fragment of the history of the <
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PEBIZZITB
moat to speak of them as occupying, with the Re-
phslm or giants, the ■' forest country " on the
—tola flanks of Mount" Camiel (Joeh. irii. 15-
18) Here again the Canaanites only an named
irith than. Ae a tribe of mountaineers, the}' are
annaierated in company with Amorite, Hittite, and
Jsbusite in Joah. xi. 3, xii. 8; and they are cata-
logued among the remnant* of the old population
whom Solomon reduced to bondage, both in 1 K.
Ix. SO, and 3 t'hr. riii. 7. By Joeephua the Perix-
nU* do not appear to be mentioned.
The signification of the name ii not by any
mean* clear. It prmibly meant rustic*, dweller* iu
open, unaalled villages, which are denoted by a sim-
ilar word." Kwald ( (Utdiichte, i. 317} incline* to be-
Here that they were the same people with the Hit-
lite*. But against this there is the fact that lioth
they and the Hittites appear iu the «uue lists: ami
that not only in mere general formula*, but iu the
record* of the conquest a* above. Kedslob ha* ex-
amined the whole of these name* with tome care
(in his AUltttm. Xatiun drr ItratUltuttiuitt,
1846), awl hi* conclusion (p. 103) is that, while
PBRSEPOLIS
2489
the Chtmolk were Tillage* of tribe* engaged in the
care of cattle, the Perdxolk were inhabited by pass-
ant* engaged in agriculture, like the t'dlak* at the
Arabs. U-
PERSEP'OLIS (nepctweXu: Ptrtpdu) i*
mentioned only in 2 Mace. ix. 8, when we hear of
Antiochu* Epiphane* attempting to burn its tem-
ple*, but provoking a resistance which forced him
to fly ignominiously from the place. It was the
capital of Persia Proper, and the occasions) resi
deuce of the Persian court from the time of Darius
Hystaapia, who seems to have been it* founder, to
the invasion of Alexander. Its wanton destruction
by that conqueror is well known. According to
Q. Curtius the destruction was complete, ss the
chief building material employed was cedar-wood,
which caused the conflagration to be rapid and
general (Dt Rtbut AUx. Mug*, v. 7). Perhaps
the temples, which were of stone, escaped. At any
rate, if ruined, tbey must have been shortly after-
ward* restored, since they were still the deposito-
ries of treasure in the time of Epiphane*.
Peraepolia baa been regarded by many as ideo-
ParsepoUa.
Heal with Pasargadie, the famous capital of Cyrus
(aee Kiebuhr'* far/urn on Ancimi Hittory, i. 115;
Ouseley, TrnttU, ii. 310-318). But the position*
are carefully distinguished by a number of ancient
writer. (Strab. xv. 3, § 6, 7; Plin. //. N. vi. 26;
Arrian, Exp. AUx. rii. 1; Ptolem. vi. 4); and the
ruins, which are identified beyond any reasonable
doubt, show that the two places were more than
40 mile* apart. Pasargadie was at Murginb,
where the tomb of Cyrus may still be seen ; Persep-
oli* was 43 mile* to the south of this, near Ista-
kher, on the site now called the Chtlil- Minor, or
forty Pillar*. Here, on a platform hewn out of
the >olid rock, the aides of which face the four car-
dinal points, are the remains of two great palaces,
built respectively by Darius Hystaapia aad his son
Xerxes, beside* a number of other edifices, chiefly
'emples. These ruins have been so frequently de-
scribed that it is unnecessary to do more than refer
• 8e* aUHSsaa, vol. II. p. 1770 »
t Caphir hap-pfrmzi. K. V. " country Tillages " (1
saw. Ti 18) : Arti aap-peraxr, K unwaUsd jOwds "
. I). In both these saasaass the LXX. Ba-
the reader to the best account* which have been
given of them (Niebuhr, Arise, ii. 131 ; Chardin,
Voyigti, ii. 345; Ker Porter, TravtU, i. 576;
Heeren, Asiatic Niitioat, i. 143-11)6; Rich, -Resv
ilence in Kmrditton, vol. ii. pp. 218-332 ; Fergus-
son, Palncu uf Ninnth awl PtrttpuUt Rulortd,
pp. 89-124, Ac.). They are of great extent and
magnificence, covering an area of many acres. At
the foot of the rock on which they are placed, in
the plain now called MtrtLttht, stood probably the
ancient town, built chiefly of wood, and now alto-
gether effaced.
Persepoli* msy be regarded as having taken the
place of Pasargadie, the more ancient capital of
Persia Proper, from the time of Darius Hystaapia.
No exact reason can be given for this change, which
perhaps arose from mere royal caprice, Darin* hav-
ing taken a fancy to the locality, near which ha
erected his tomb. According to Athenatns the
derstaad the Parlsxttss to bs allodsd to, aad lisaslsll
acoordingi) In Josh. xvi. 10 they add to* tmUmUm
to th* Caoaaaltss a* Inhabitants of Qeaar.
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2440 PEBSETJS
start raided at Persepolis daring three months of
each year (Deijmosnph. xii. 618, p), bat the con-
flicting statement* of other writers (Xen. Cyrop.
▼lil. 6, § 33, Plut de Kail. 11. 604; Zonar. iii. 96,
Ac.) make this uncertain. We cannot doubt, how-
ever, tint it wu one of the royal residenoM; tod
we may well believe the statement of Strata, that,
in the later timet of the empire, it was, next to
Sua, the richest of all the Persian dties (G'eo-
graph. it. 8, $ 6). It does not seem to have long
•arrived the blow inflicted upon it by Alexander;
far after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes it disap-
pears altogether from history as an inhabited place.
[For fuller information see Rawlinsou's Ancient
Monarchies, iv. 11, 837-867.— H.] G. R.
PER'SEUS [2syl.] (lltpatis: Perses), the
eldest (illegitimate or supposititious?) son of Philip
V. and last king of Macedonia. After his father's
death (u. c. 179) he continued the preparations for
the renewal of the war with Home, which was seen
to be inevitable. The war, which broke out in H.
PERSIANS
Merdtuht, and by the rubra of Penepoas, is tfcsa
separated into numerous channels for the purse**
of irrigation, and. after fertilizing a huge tract «i
country (the district of Kurjan), ends its conns
in the salt lake of Bakdymu Vines, oranges, sad
lemons, are produced abundantly in this region •
and the wine of Bhrat is celebrated tbrongboat
Asia. Further north an arid country again suc-
ceeds, the outskirts of the Great Desert, which ex-
tends from Herman to Hasenderan, and from Ke-
shan to Lake Zerrah.
Ptolemy (Utograpk. vi 4) divides Persia into •
number of provinces, among which the most impor-
tant are Parsetaceni? on the north, which was some-
times reckoned to Media (Herod, i. 101; Steph. Byz.
ad vuc (napeuViuta), and Mardyene' on the south
coast, the country of the Mardi. The chief towns
were Pasargadn, the ancient, and Persepolis, the
later capital, l'asargadse was situated near ths
modem village of Murynub, 43 miles nearly due
north of Persepolis, and appears to have been ths
Perseus, King of Macedonia,
letndiashm of Perseus (Attic talent). Obv. Head of King, r.
bound with fillet Eev. BA1IAEOI IIEP2E02, Bagle on
thunderbolt ; all within wreath.
o. 171, was at first ably sustained by Perseus; but capital till the time of Darius, who chose the Ba-
in 168 he was defeated by l» iEmilius Paullus at more beautiful site in the valley of the Bendamir,
Pydna, and shortly afterwards surrendered with j where the Chthl Minar or " Forty Pillars" still
stand. [See PrJKstroua.] Among
other cities of lees importance were Pa-
netaca and Gabas in the uiountain coun-
try, and Taoce upon the coas. (Sea
Btrali. xv. 8, § 1-8; Plin. //. If. n. 25,
96; Ptolem. (J toy. vi. 4; Kiuneir's
Parnan Kmpirt, pp. 54-80; Malcolm,
History of Ptrtii, i. 2; Ker Porter,
Travels, i. 458, Ac; Bich, Journey
from Buskire lu Persrpolis, etc.)
While the district of F<m is the true
original Persia, the name is more com-
monly applied, both in Scripture and
by profane authors, to the entire tract
which came by degrees to be included
within the limits of the Persian Empire.
This empire extended at one time from
i India on the east to Egypt and Thrace upon the
west, and included, besides portions of Europe and
Africa, the whole of Western Asia between ths
Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, and the Jax-
artes, upon the north, the Arabian desert, the Per-
sian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean upon the south-
According to Herodotus (iii. 89), it was divided
into twenty governments, or satrapies; but fronr
the inscriptions it would rather appear that tht>
number varied at different times, and, when the
empire was moat flourishing, considerably exceeded
twenty. In the inscription upon hie tomb at
Nakhsh-i-Rustum Darius mentions no fewer than
thirty countries as subject to him besides Persia
Proper. These are Media, Suaians, Parthia, Aria,
Bactria, Sogdiana, Choraanua, Zarangia, Araehosis,
Sattagydia, Gandaria, India, Scythia, Babylonia,
Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadocia, Sa-
parda, Ionia, (European) Scythia the iala_ds (of
the i£gean), the country of ths Scoine, (Euiopean)
Ionia, the lands of the Tacabri, tie Budians, the
Cushites or Ethiopians, the Mardlans. and the Col-
his family to bis conqueror*. He graced the tri-
umph of Paullus, and died in honorable retirement
at Alba. The defeat of Perseus put an end to the
independence of Macedonia, and extended even to
Syria the terror of the Roman name (1 Mace viii.
6). b. F. w.
PER'SIA (D^e, i. t. Pai-as: n«pW«: Pe-
ris) was strictly the name of a tract of no very
large dimensions on the Persian Gulf, which is still
known as Fan or Fnrsisttm, a corruption of the
ancient appellation. This tract was bounded on
the west by Susiana or FJam, on the north by Me-
dia, on the south by the Persian Gulf, and on the
east by Carmania, the modem Kermtm. It was,
speaking generally, an arid and unproductive region
(Herod, ix. 122; Arr. Exp. Alex, v. 4; Plat. Leg.
lit. 695, A ) ; but contained some district* of con-
siderable fertility. The worst part of the country
Was that towards the south, on the borders of the
Julf, which has a climate and soil like Arabia, be-
ing sandy and almost without streams, subject to
pestilential winds, and in many places covered with
particles of salt. Alwve this miserable region is a
tract very far superior to it, consisting of rocky
mountains — the continuation of Zagros, among
which are found a good many fertile valleys and
thins, especially towards the north, In the vicinity
«f Sanrst. Here is an important stream, the Ben-
, which Sowing through the beautiful valley of
The only p as sa ge in Scripture where Persia des-
ignates the tract which has bean catted abova
•< Persia Proper " U Es. xxxviii. ft. Flee what
the Empire is Intended. G. B.
PEB/SIANS Op-JB: nspo-oi: Ptrmm)
The nam* of ths people who inhabited ths ecunsrj
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBRSIAN8
I abort << Penis Proper," and who thsnce eon-
1 ii mighty empire. There is reason to believe
that the Persians were of the aame race u the Medea,
beth being branches nf the great Aryan stock, which
aoder Tarioua names established their sway over the
wheh tract between Mesopotamia and Burmah." The
native form of the name it Parti, which the He-
brew ^P^S fairly represents, and which remains
bat little changed in the modem " Parses." tt is
nmjeotured tc signify " the Tigers."
1. Character of tie Nation. — The Persians were
a people of lively and impressible minds, brave and
impetuous in war, witty, passionate, for Orientals
truthful, not without some spirit of generosity, and
rf more intellectual capacity than the generality of
Asiatics, ITieir faults were vanity, impulsiveness,
a want of perseverance and solidity, and an almost
slavish spirit of sycophancy and servility towards
their lords. In the times anterior to Cyrus they
were noted for the simplicity of their habita, which
offered a strong contrast to the luxuriousness
of the Medea; but from the date of the Me-
dian overthrow, this simplicity began to de-
cline ; and it was not very long before their
manners became as soft and effeminate as
those of any of the conquered peoples. They
adopted the flowing Median robe (Fig. 1)
which was probably of silk, in lieu of the
old national costume (Fig. 2) — a close-fit-
ting tunic and trousers of leather (Herod, i.
71; compare i. 136); beginning at the
same time the practice of wearing on their
persona chains, bracelets, and collars of gold,
with which precious metal they also adorned
their hones. Polygamy was commonly
practiced among them ; and besides legiti-
mate wives a Persian was allowed any num-
ber of concubines. They were fond of the
pleasures of the table, indulging in a great
variety of food, and spending a long time
over their meals, at which they were accus-
tomed to swallow large quantities of wine.
In war they fought bravely, but without dis-
cipline, generally gaining their victories by
the vigor of their first attack; if they wars
strenuously resisted, f hey soon flagged ; and
if they suffered a repulse, all order was at
once lost, and the retreat speedily became
a rout.
3 RtUgion. — The religion which the
Persians brought with them into Persia Proper
to have been of a very simple character, differing from
natural religion in little, except that it was deeply
tainted with Dualism. Like the other Aryans, the
Persians worshipped one Supreme God, whom they
called Aurn-mivla [or Ahura-nuusda] (Oromasdes)
— a term signifying (as is believed) "the Great
Uhrer of life." From Oromasdes came all bless-
ings — *' he gave the earth, he gave the heavens, he
gave mankind, he gave life to mankind " (Inscrip-
tions, p-mim) — he settled the Persian kings upon
heir thrones, strengthened them, established them,
and granted them victory over all their enemies.
Ibe royal inscriptions rarely mention any other
jod. Occasionally, however, they indicate a slight
sod modified polytheism. Oromasdes is " the chief
if the gods " sc that there are other gods oesidss
PERSIANS 244.
Mm; and the highest of these U evidently Mi&rm,
who is sometimes invoked to protect the monarch,
and is beyond a doubt identical with " the sun,"
To the worship of the sun as Mitbra was probably
attached, as in India, the worship of the moon,
under the name of Horns, as the third greatest
god. Entirely separata from these — their active
resistor and antagonist — was Ahriman (Arimanias)
"the Death-dealing" — the powerful, and (prob-
ably) self-existing Evil Spirit, from whom war, dis-
ease, frost, hail, poverty, sin, death, and all other
evils had their origin. Airiman was Satan, car-
ried to an extreme — believed to have an existence
of his own, and a real power of resist ing and defying
God. Ahriman could create spirits, and as the
beneficent Auramatdi had surrounded himself
with good angels, who were the ministers of his
mercies towards mankind, so Ahriman had sur-
rounded himself with evil spirits, to carry out his
malevolent purposes. Worship was confined to Au-
flf..
• * for a fuller account of the origin of the Persians
jrf of other topics discussed in the article, ast Bawlin-
saa'a Jaeimt MmskUo, Iv. M8 B. H
Flg.a. Old Persian anas.
ramaxda, and his good spirits; Ahriman and Use'
moos were not worshipped, but only hated and f
The character of the original Persian worship was
simple. They were not destitute of temples, as
Herodotus asserts (Herod, i. 131; compare Brh
Inter, col. i. par. 14, § 5) ; but they had probably
no altars, and certainly no images. Neither da they
appear to have had any priests. Processions wen
formed, and religious chants were sung in the tem-
ples, consisting of prayer and praise intermixed,
whereby the favor of Auramazila and his good
spirits was supposed to be secured to the worship-
pers- Beyond this it does not appear that they bad
:uiy religious ceremonies. Sacrifices, apparently
were unknown; 6 though thank-offerings may have
been made in the temples.
* • In his AntUnt WnumUa, Iv. 884* Best «ns-
Itnaon admits that the Perslsns sacrificed ■ eaMSSa ass-
mala, and may have sacrificed human vleUmssssatsssas
mm. In soma periods of their historv. 3
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2442
PEESIAKjS
From the first entrance of the Peruana, as immi-
grants, into their new territory, the; were probably
brought into contact with a form of religion very
different from their own. Magianism, the religion
af the Scythic or Turanian population of Western
Asia, had long been dominant over the greater por-
tion of the region lying between Mesopotamia and
India. The essence of this religion was worship of
the elements — more especially, of the subtlest of
all, fire. It was an ancient and imposing system,
guarded by the venerable hierarchy of the Magi,
boasting its fire-altars where from time immemorial
the sacred flame had burnt without intermission,
and claiming to some extent mysterious and mirac-
ttlous powers. The simplicity of tbe Aryan re-
Rgion was speedily corrupted by its contact with
this powerful rival, which presented special attrac
Bona to a rude and credulous people. There was
a short struggle for preeminence, after which the
rival systems came to terms. Dualism was re-
tained, together with the names of Aursmazda and
Ahriman, and the special worship of the sun and
moon under the appellations of Mithra and Homa:
but to this was superadded tbe worship of the ele-
ments and the whole ceremonial of Magianism, in-
cluding the divination to which the Magian priest-
hood made pretense. The worship of other deities,
as TanaU or Anaitis, was a still later addition to
Persian Warriors. (From Futspoha.)
lb* religion, which grew more complicated as time
went on. but which always maintained as its lead-
ing and most essential element that Dualistic prin-
ciple whereon it was originally based. •
8. Lmgwgr. — The language of the ancient
Persians was closely akin to the Sanskrit, or an-
ient language of India. We find it in its earliest
jtage in the Zendaventa [more properly called
' Avesta," simply] — the sacred book of the whole
Aryan race, where, however, it is corrupted by a
large admixture of later forms. The inscriptions
of the Acheroenian kings give us the language in
Ha second stage, and, being free from these later
addition*, are of the greatest importance towards
determining what was primitive, and what more re-
cent in this type of speech. Modern Persian is its
degenerate representative, being, as it is. a motley
idiom, largely impregnated with Arabic; still, how-
ever, both in its grammar and its vocabulary, it is
mainly Aryan : and historically, it must be regarded
as the continuation of the ancient tongue, just as
Kalian is of l-atin, and modern of ancient Greek.
■i IHriiunn into Tribt$, rte. — Herodotus tells us
that the Persians were divided into ten tribes, of
winch three were noble, three aericnltural, and four
MRtadie. The noble tribes were the Pasargade,
who- dwelt, probably, in the capital and its inime-
taste neighborhood; the Maraphiana, who are per-
PEB8IANS
haps represented by the modern Sfaftt, a
tribe which prides itself on its antiquity; and tat
Maspiana, of whom nothing more ia known. The
three tribes engaged in agriculture were called the
Panthiaueans, the Derusiasans, and the (iermanians
or (according to the true orthography) the Carma-
nlans. These last were either the actual inhabitants
of Kermatij or settlers of the same race, who re-
mained in Persia while their fellow-tribesmen occu-
pied the adjoining region. The nomadic tribes are
said to have been the Dahi, who appear in Scripture
as the " Dehavites " (Ear. iv. 9), the Mardi, moun-
taineers famous for their thievish habits (Steph.
Byz ), together with the Sagartians and the Der-
bices or Dropici, colonists from the regions east of
the Caspian. The royal race of the Achsmenidw
was a phratry or clan of the Pasargade (Herod, i.
196); to which it is probable that most of the noble
bouses likewise belonged. Little is heard of the
Marapl'ians, and nothing of the Maspiana, in his-
tory; it is therefore evident that their nobility was
very inferior to that of the leading tribe.
5. //(story. — In remote antiquity it would appear
that the Persians dwelt in the region east of tbe
Caspian, or possibly in a tract still nearer India.
The first Fargard of the Yendidad seems to describe
their wanderings in these countries, and shows tbe
general line of their progress to have been from east
to west, down the course of the Oxus, and
then, along the southern shores of tbe Cas-
pian Sea, to linages, and Media. It is
impossible to determine tbe period of these
movements; but there can be no doubt
that they were anterior to b. c. 880, at
which time the Assyrian kings seem for
the first time to have come in contact with
Aryan tribes east of Mount Zagros. Prob-
ably the Persians accompanied the Medea
in their migration from Kliorassan, and,
after the Utter people took possession of tbe
tract extending from tbe river Kur to Ispa-
han, proceeded still further south, and oc-
cupied the region between Media and the
Persian Gulf. It is uncertain whether
they are to be identified with the Bm In or Ptirttu
of the Assyrian monuments. If so, we may amy
that from the middle of the 9th to the middle of
the 8th century B. c. they occupied southeastern
Armenia, but by the end of the 8th century had
removed into the country which thenceforth went
by their name. The leader of this last migration
would seem to have been a certain Achcmenea,
who was recognized as king of tbe newly-occn-
pied territory, and founded the famous dynasty of
the Achemeuids, about B. c. 700. Very little
is known of the history of Persia between this, date
and the accession of Cyrus the Great, near a cen -
tury and a half later. The crown appears to have
descended in a right line through four princes —
Telspes, Camhysea I., Cyrus I., and Cambyses IX,
who was the father of Cyrus the Conqueror. Tela-
pes must have been a prince of seme repute, for his
daughter, Atossa, married Pharoaees, king of the
distant Cappadociani (I Mod. Sic. ap. Phot. JlMio-
Ihtc. p. 1158). l.ater, however, the Persians (bund
themselves unable to resist tbe growing strength of
Media, and became tributary to that power about
B. C. 630, or a little earlier. Tbe line of native
kings was continued on the throne, and thr inter-
nal administration was probably untouched, bid
external independence was altogether lost until Hat
revolt under Cyrus.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PERSIANS
Of the circumstances under which this revolt
took place we have no certain knowledge. The sto-
ries told by Herodotus (i. 108-139) and Nicolas of
Damascus (Ft. 68) an internally Improbable; and
they are also at variance with the monuments,
which prove Cyrus to have been the son of a Per-
liau /fcmy. [See Cyrus.] We must therefore dis-
card them, and be content to know that after
about seventy or eighty years of subjection, the
Persians revolted from the Medea, engaged in a
bloody struggle with them, and finally succeeded,
not only in establishing their independence, but in
gJMUgmg places with their masters, and becoming
the ruling people. The probable date of the
revolt is B. c. 558. Its success, by transferring
to Persia the dominion previously in the posses-
lion of the Hedes, placed her at the head of an
empire, the bounds of which were the Halys upon
the west, the Euxine upon the north, Babylonia
upon the south, and upon the east the salt desert
of Iran. As usual In the East, this success led
an to others. Croesus the Lydian monarch, who
had united most of Asia Minor under his sway,
venturing to attack the newly-risen power, in
the hope that it was not yet firmly established,
was first repulsed, and afterwards defeated and
made prisoner by Cyrus, who took his capital, and
added the Lydian empire to his dominions. This
conquest was followed closely by the submission of
the Greek settlements on the Asiatic coast, and by
the reduction of Caria, Caunua, and Lycia. The
empire was soon afterwards extended greatly to-
wards the northeast and east. Cyrus rapidly over-
ran the flat countries beyond the Caspian, planting
a city, which he called after himself (Ait. J-Jcp.
Alex. iv. 3), on the Jazartes (JyAwn); after which
he seems to have pushed his conquests still further
to the east, adding to his dominions the districts of
Herat, Cabal, Candahar, Seistan, and Bekochistan,
which were thenceforth included in the empire.
(See Ctes. Pert. Exc. § 5, et teg. ; and compare
PHn. H. N. vi. 23.) In B. c. 589 or 538, Babylon
was attacked, and after a stout defense fell before
his irresistible bands. [Babylon ] This victory
first brought the Persians into contact with the
Jews. The conquerors fonna; in Babylon an op-
pressed race, — like themselves abhorrers of idols, —
snd professors of a religion in which to a great
extent they could sympathize. This race, which
the Babylonian monarch* had torn violently from
their native land and settled in the vicinity of Bab-
ylon, Cyrus determined to restore to their own
country ; which he did by the remarkable edict re-
corded in the first chapter of Ezra (Kt. i. 3-4).
Thus commenced that friendly connection between
the Jews and Persians, which prophecy had already
foreshadowed (Is. xliv. 38, xlv. 1-4), and which
forms so remarkable a feature in the Jewish his-
tory. After the conquest of Babylon, and the con-
sequent extension of his empire to the borders of
Egypt, Cyrus might have been expected to carry
rat the design, which he is said to have enter-
tained (Herod. 1. 153), of an expedition against
Egypt. Some danger, however, seems to have
threatened the northeastern provinces, in conse-
snence of which his purpose was changed; and
ae proceeded against the MassajeU- or the Der-
Mees, engaged them, but was defeated and shun.
He reigned, according to Herudotus, twenty-nine
fsars.
Under his son and successor, f.'aiubyses III., the
jooquest of Egypt took place (b. c. 525), and the
PERSIANS
2448
Persian dominions were extended southward ts
Elephantine* and westward to Euesperidss on the
North-African coast. This prince appears to ho
the Abasnerus c Ezra (iv. 6), who was asked to
alter Cyrus's policy towards the Jews, but (appar-
ently) declined all interference. We have in Her-
odotus (book iii.) a very complete account of his
warlike expeditions, which at first resulted in the
successes above mentioned, but were afterwards un-
successful, and even disastrous. One army perished
in an attempt to reach the temple of Amnion, while
another was reduced to the last straits in an expe-
dition against Ethiopia. Perhaps it was in conse-
quence of these misfortunes that, in the absence
of Cambyses with the army, a conspiracy was
formed against him at court, and a Magian priest,
Gomatea (Gaumnta) by name, professing to be
Smerdis (Bardiya), the son of Cyrus, whom his
brother, Cambyses, had put to death secretly, ob-
tained quiet possession of the throne. Cambyses
was in Syria when news reached him of this bold
attempt; and there is reason to believe that, seized
with a sudden disgust, and despairing of the recov-
ery of his crown, he fled to the last resort of the
unfortunate, and ended his life by suicide {Brhittvu
Jntcriptkm, col. i. par. 11, § 10). His reign had
lasted seven years and five months.
Gomates the Magian found himself thus, with-
out a struggle, master of Persia (B. c. 683). His
situation, however, was one of great danger and
delicacy. There is reason to believe that he owed
his elevation to his fellow-religionists, whose object
in placing him upon the throne was to secure the
triumph of Magianism over the Dualism of the
Persians. It was necessary for him therefore to
accomplish a religious revolution, which was sun
to be distasteful to the Persians, while at the same
time he had to keep up the deception on which hie
claim to the crown was professedly based, and to
prevent any suspicion arising that lie was not
Smerdis, the son of Cyrus. To combine these two
aims was difficult; and it would seem that Gomatea
soon discarded the latter, and entered on a course
which must have soon caused his subjects to fed
that their ruler was not only no Acha menian, but
no Persian. He destroyed the national temples,
substituting for them the fire-altars, and abolished
the religious chants and other sacred ceremonies of
the Oromasdiana. He reversed the policy of Cyras
with respect to the Jews, and forbade by an edict
the further building of the Temple (Et. iv. 17-23).
[Aktaxekxks.] He courted the favor of the sub-
ject-nations generally by a remission of tribute Cos
three years, and an exemption during the same
space from forced military service (Herod, iii. 67).
Towards the Persians he was haughty and distant,
keeping them as much as possible aloof from his
person, and seldom showing himself beyond the
walls of his palace. Such conduct made him very
unpopular with the proud people which held the
first place among his subjects, and, the suspicion
that he was a mere pretender having after some
months ripened into certainty, a revolt broke out,
headed by Darius, the son of Hystaspes, a prince
of the blood-royaL which in a short time was
crowned with complete success. Gomates quitted
his capital, and, having thrown himself into a fort
in Media, was pursued, attacked and slain. Da-
ri-i, then, as the chief of the conspiracy, and after
his father the next heir to the throne, was at once
acknowledged king. The reign of Gomatea lasted
seven months.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2444
PERSIANS
The first efforts of Darius were directed (v the
saSstablishnient of the Oromssdian religion in all
lt> purity. He " rehuilt the temples which Goma-
tes the Magian had destroyed, and restored to the
people the religious chants and the worship of
which Gomntes the Magian had deprived them "
(Beh. Inter, col. i. par. 14). Appealed to, in bis
second year, by the Jews, who wished to resume
the construction of their Temple, he not only al-
lowed them, confirming the decree of Cyrus, but
sssisted the work by grants from his own revenues,
whereby the Jews were able to complete the Tem-
ple as early as his suth year (Ec. vi. 1-15). Dur-
ing the first part of the reign of Darius, the tran-
quillity of the empire was disturbed by numerous
revolts. The provinces regretted the loss of those
sumptions which they had obtained from the weak-
ness of the pseudo-Smerdis, and hoped to shake off
the yoke of the new prince before he could grasp
Irmly the reins of government. The first revolt
was that of Babylon, where a native, claiming to be
Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonadius, was made
king; but Darius speedily crushed this revolt and
snouted the pretender. Shortly afterwards a far
more extensive rebellion broke out. A Mede,
named Phraortes, came forward and, announcing
himself to I« " Xathrltes, of the race of Cyaxares,"
assumed the royal title. Media, Armenia, and As-
syria immediately acknowledged him ; the Median
soldiers at the Persian court revolted to him ; Psr-
tfaia and Hyrcania after a little while declared in
his favor; while in Sagartia another pretender,
making a similar claim of descent from Cyaxares,
Induced the Sagartians to revolt; and in Margi-
ns, Arschotia, and even Persia Proper, there were
insurrections against the authority of the new king.
His courage and activity, however, seconded by the
valor of his Persian troops and the fidelity of some
satraps, carried him successfully through these and
other similar difficulties; and the result wss, that,
after five or six years of struggle, he became as
firmly seated on his throne as any previous mon-
arch. His talents ss an administrator were, upon
this, brought into play. He divided the whole
empire into satrapies, and organized that somewhat
complicated system of government on which they
were henceforth administered (Rawlinson's Herod-
emt, ii. 656-668). He built himself a magnificent
palace at Persepolis, and another at Suaa [Pebsef-
olis, Shusiian]. He also applied himself, like his
predecessors, to the extension of the empire; con-
ducted an expedition into European Scythia, from
which he returned without disgrace; conquered
Thrace, Paxmia, and Macedonia towards the west,
and a large portion of India on the east, besides
(apparently) bringing Into subjection a number of
petty nations (see the Nakhih-i-Riutam Inscrip-
tion). On the whole he must be pronounced, next
to Cyrus, the greatest of the Persian monarch*.
The latter part of bis reign was, however, clouded
by reverses. The disaster of Msrdonius at Mount
\thos was followed shortly by the defeat of Datis st
Marathon ; and, before any attempt could be made
to avenge that blow, Egypt rose in revolt (b. c. 486),
sasseacred its Persian garrison, and declared itself
Independent. In the palace at the same time there
vet dissension ; and when, after a reign of thirty-
■x yean, the fourth Persian monarch died (B. c.
186), leaving his throne to a young prince of strong
sod ungoverned passions, it was evident that the
ampin had reached ta highest point of greatness,
snr was already verging towards its decline.
PERSIANS
Xerxes, the eldest sou of Darius by Atoms
daughter of I .tus, and the first son bom to Da-
rius after he mounted the throne, seems to have
obtained the crown, in part by the favor of his
father, over whom Atossa exercised a strong influ-
ence, in part by right, as the eldest male descend-
ant of Cyrus, the founder of the empire. His first
act was to reduce Egypt to subjection (a. c. 484),
after which he began at once to make preparations
for his invasion of Greece. It is probable that he
was the Ahasuerus of Kettier. [Ahasuekus.] The
great feast held hi Shushan the palace in the third
year of his reign, and the repudiation of Vashti,
fall into the period preceding the Grecian expedi-
tion, while it is probable that he kept open bouse
for the " princes of the provinces," who would from
time to time visit the court, in order to report the
state of their preparations for the war. The mar-
riage with Esther, in the seventh year of his reign,
falls into the year immediately following his Sight
from Greece, when he undoubtedly returned to
Suss, relinquishing warlike enterprises, and hence-
forth devoting himself to the pleasures of the se-
raglio. It is unnecessary to give sn account of the
well-known expedition against Greece, which ended
so disastrously for the invaders. Persia was taught
by the defeats of Salamis snd Platan the danger of
encountering the Greeks on their side of the
JEgem, while she learned at MycaK the retaliation
which she had to expect on her own shores at the
hands of her infuriated enemies. For a while some
vague idea of another invasion seems to have been
entertained by the court ; ° but discreeter counsels
prevailed, and relinquishing all aggressive designs,
Persia from this point in her history stood npon
the defensive, and only sought to maintain her own
territories intact, without anywhere trenching upon
her neighbors. During the rest of the reign oJ
Xerxes, and during part of that of his son snd suc-
cessor, Artaxerxes, she continued at war with tin
Greeks, who destroyed her fleets, plundered her
coasts, and stirred up revolt in her provinces; but
at last, in B. c. 449, a peace wss concluded between
the two powers, who then continued on terms of
amity for half a century.
A conspiracy in {he seraglio baring carried off
Xerxes (b. c. 466), Artaxerxes his son, called by tht
Greeks MaKpixt'p, or " the Long-Handed," suc-
ceeded him, after an interval of seven months,
during which the conspirator Artabanus occupied
the throne. This Artaxerxes, who reigned forty
years, is beyond a doubt the king of that name
who stood in such a friendly relation towards Ears
(Est. vii. 11-28) and Nebemiah (Neb. ii. 1-9, 4*.).
[Artaxerxes.] His character, as drawn by
Ctesias, is mild but weak; and under his rule the
disorders of the empire seem to have increased
rapidly. An insurrection in Bactria, headed by hit
brother Hystaspes, wss with difficulty put down in
the first year of his reign (B. c. 404), alter whioh a
revolt broke out in Egypt, headed by Inarus the
Libyan and Amyrtaeus the Egyptisn, who, receiving
the support of an Athenian fleet, maintained them-
selves for six years (B. c. 460-456) against the
whole power of Persia, but were at last overcome
by Megsbyius, satrap of Syria, this powerful
and haughty noble soon afterwards (b. c. 447), oa
a The fores collected In PamphyUa. which
debated and dispersed (a. o. 466), teams to here
Intended for aggraaslvr purposes.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBBSIA
nesmon of a difference with the court, himself
became a rebel, and entered into a contest with hi*
sovereign, which at once betrayed and inereawd the
weakness of the empire. Artaxerxe* is the last of
the Persian kings who had any special connection
with the -lews, and the last but one mentioned in
Scripture. His successors were Xerxes II., Sog-
dtanus, Darius Nothus, Artaxeraes Mneraon, Ar-
taxerxes Oeb.ua, and Darius Codomanns, who is
probably the "Darius the Persian " of Nehemiah
(xtt. 89). These monarch* reigued from B. c. 424
to B. c. 840. None were of much capacity; and
during their reigns the decline of the empire was
scarcely arrested for a day, unless it were by Ochus,
who reconquered Egypt, and gave some other signs
of Tigor. Had the younger Cyrus succeeded in his
attempt, the regeneration of Persia was, perhaps,
patvble. After his failure the seraglio grew at once
men powerful and more cruel. Eunuchs and wo-
men governed the kings, and dispensed the favors
of the crown, or wielded its terrors, as their interests
or passions moved them. Patriotism and loyalty
were alike dead, and the empire must have fallen
many years before it did, had not the Persians early
learnt to turn the swords of the Greeks against one
another, and at the same time raised the character
of their own armies by the employment, on a large
scale, of Greek mercenaries. The collapse of the
empire under the attack of Alexander is well known,
and requires no description here. On the division
of Alexander's dominions among his generals Persia
Ml to the Seleucida, under whom it continued till
after the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, when the
conquering Parthians advanced their frontier to the
Euphrates, and the Persians came to be included
among their subject-tribes (b. c. 164). Still their
nationality was not obliterated. In A. D. 238, three
hundred and ninety years after their subjection to
the Parthians, and live hundred and fifty-six years
sfter the loss of their independence, the Persians
shook off the yoke of their oppressors, and onee
■ore became a nation. The kingdom of the Sas-
sanifle, though not so brilliant as that of Cyrus,
still hsd its glories; but its history belongs to a
time which scarcely come* within the scope of the
present work.
(See, for the history of Persia, besides Herodo-
tus, Ctestas, Excerpta Persica ; Plutarch, Pit Ar-
taxerx.; Xenophon, Anabasis; Heeren, Asiatic
Nations, vol. 1. ; Malcolm, History of Persia from
the earliest Ages to the Present Times, 2 vols., 4to ,
London, 1818 ; and Sir H. Rawlinson's Memoir on
Ike Cuneiform Inscriptions of Ancient Persia, pub-
lished m the Journal of the Asiatic Society, vols. x.
and xt For the religion see Hyde, De Religione
Vtterwn Persarum ; Brockhaus, VemSdnd-Sadi ;
Bunsen, KgypCs Place in Universal History, iii.
4T9-606; and Rawlinson's Herodotus, i. 428-431.
Per the system of government, see Rawlinson's
Herodotus, ii. 556-461.) G. R.
* Among the more recent works on the religion
a/ the ancient Persians, the following deserve notice:
»- Avista, die keiUgen Schrifttn der Parsen, am
k«s Orundtexte Sbersetst von F. Spiegel, 8 Bde.
Lsipa. 1868-68; Avista: the Religious Books
tftke Parsees, from Spiegel's German Transla.
Hem, by A. n. Bleeck, 8 vols, in one, Hertford, 1864;
F. Spiegel, Commentnr Ob. das Avesta, 2 Bde.,
•^ipa. 1866-69; W. D. Whitney, On the Atesta,
B the Journ. of the Amer. Orient. St., 1856, v.
387-888; Dun Buitdehesh, am ersttn Male
Wemsgegeben, OberseUt, etc son Ftrd. Justt,
PETER
2445
Leipi. 1868 ; Spiegel, art Parsismus in Heraog'e
ReuLEncykl xi. 115-128 (1859); id. Die track,
tioneUe Ltteratur der Parsen, Wien, 1860; id.
Evan, Bed. 1868; M. Haug, Essays on the Sacred
Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsees,
Botnoay, 1862 (a new edition is promised), oomp
Amer. Presb. and Theol. Rev. for April, 1863; F.
Windisohmann, Zoroastrische Studien, Bert. 1868;
Miss F. P. Cobbe, The Snared Books of the Zoro-
astrinns, in her Studies New and Obi, etc. (Loud.
1866), pp. 89-143; A. Kobut, Utber die jud.
Angelologie u. Daemonologie in ihrer Abhangiykek
mm Parsismus, Laps. 1866 (Abhandll. a. Deut-
sche* Morgenl. Gisellschaft, Bd. iv. No. 8); si.
Was hat die talmudische Eschatobgie aus dent
Parsismus aufgenommen f in the Zeitschr. d. D.
M. Gtseilschnft, 1867, xx. 662-591: A. Rapp, Dit
Religion u. SUte der Perser . . . nach d. griech,
u. rSmischen Quellen, in the Zeitschr. d. D. M.
Gtstllsduift, 1866 and 1867, xix. 1-89, xx. 49-140;
M. Duncker, Gesch. der Arier in der Allen Zat,
pp. 893-582 (Bd. ii. of his Gesch. des Alterthumt)
3« Aufl. (much enlarged) Leipz. 1867; Max MUller,
arts. No. 3, 5, 6, 7, in his Chips from a German
Workshop, voL i. (Amer. ed., N. Y., 1869); O.
Pflelderer, Die Religion (Leips. 1869), ii. 246-267;
and J. F. Clarke, Zoroaster and the Zend-Avesta,
in the Attmtic Montlily for Aug. 1869. For the
earlier literature relating to this interesting subject,
see the bibliographical Appendix to Alger's History
of the Doctrine of a Future Life (N. Y., 1864),
Nos. 1366-1404. See also in that work the essay
on the '• Persian Doctrine of a Future Life," pp
127-144. a:
PER'SIS (lUpo-fe, [" a Persian woman : "
Persis]). A Christian woman at Rome (lion,
xvi. 12 J whom St. Paul salutes, and commends with
special affection on account of some work which sb*
bad performed with singular diligence (see Origin
w» faoo). W. T. B.
PEEU'DA (KTH? [kernel, Ge».):*a8ovpi;
[Comp. Qapovti :] Pharuda). The same as Pa>
hida (Ear. ii. 65). The LXX. reading is sup-
ported by one of Kennicott'a MSS.
PESTILENCE. [Plaouk.]
PETER (neroor, the Greek for HB*3: Knetft,
Cephas, i. e. " a stone " or " rock," on which nam*
see note at the end of this article: [Petrus]). Hit
original name was Simon, ^ WQB7, i. e. " hearer."
The two names are commonly combined, 8imos
Peter, but in the early part of his history, and in
the interval between our Lord's death and resurrec-
tion, he is more frequently named Simon; after that
event he bear* almost exclusively the more honor-
able designation Peter, or, as St. Paul sometimes
writes, Cephas. The notion of this Apostle's early
life are few, but not unimportant, and enable ua to
form some estimate of the circumstances unde- which
his character was formed, and prepared for his great
work. He was the son of a man named Jonas (Matt.
xvi. 17: John i. 49, xxi. 18), and was brought up
in his father's occupation, a fisherman on the sea of
Tiberias." The occupation was of course a humble
one, but not, a* is often assumed, mean or senile,
or incompatible with some degree of mental outturn.
a There is a tradition that his mother's nam was
Johanna (OotaUer, Prnns Jpest. B. SSV
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2446 PETKK
Hl» family wen probably in easy circumstances.
Be and his brother Andrew were partners of John
and James, the eons of Zebedee, who had hired ser-
TanU; and from various indications in the sacred
narrative we are led to the conclusion that their
social position brought them into contact with men
of education. In fact the trade of fishermen, sup-
plying some of the important cities on the coasts
of that inland lake, may have been tolerably remu-
nerative, while all the necessaries of life were cheap
and abundant in the singularly rich and fertile dis-
trict where the Apostle resided. He did not live,
as a mere laboring man, hi a hut by the sea-side,
but first at Bethsaida, arid afterwards in a house at
Capernaum, belonging to himself or his mother-in-
law, which must hare been rather a large one, since
he received in it not only our Lord and his fellow-
disciples, but multitudes who were attracted by the
miracles and preaching of Jesus. It is certain that
when he left all to follow Christ, be made what he
regarded, and what seems to have been admitted by
his Master, to have been a considerable sacrifice.
The habits of such a life were by no means un-
favorable to the development of a vigorous, earnest,
and practical character, such as he displayed in
after years. The labors, the privations, and the
perils of an existence passed in great part upon the
waters of that beautiful but stormy lake, the long
and anxious watching through the nights, were cal-
culated to test and increase his natural powers, his
fortitude, energy, and perseverance. In the city be
must have been brought into contact with men en-
gaged in traffic, with soldiers, and foreigners, and
may hare thus acquired somewhat of the flexibility
and geniality of temperament all but indispensable
to the attainment of such personal influence as he
exercised in after-life. It is not probable that he
and bis brother were wholly uneducated. The Jews
regarded instruction as a necessity, and legal enact-
ments enforced the attendance of youths in schools
maintained by the community.' The statement in
Acts iv. 13, that " the council perceived they (t. e.
Peter and John ) were unlearned and ignorant men,"
is not incompatible with this assumption. The
translation of the passage in the A. V. is rather
exaggerated, the word rendered " unlearned " (ttisr
rcu) being nearly equivalent to ■' laymen," i. t. men
A ordinary education, as contrasted with those who
were specially trained in the schools of the Rabbis.
A man might be thoroughly conversant with the
Scriptures, and yet be considered ignorant and un-
earned by the KabbU. among whom the opinion
ms already prevalent that " the letter of Scripture
was the mere shell, an earthen vessel containing
leavenly treasures, which could only be discovered
.7 those who had been taught to search for the
ridden cabalistic meaning." Peter and his kins-
men were probably taught to read the Scriptures in
ahudhood. The history of their country, especially
of the great events of early days, must have been
familiar to them as attendants at the synagogue,
• A law to this affect was enacted by Simon ban-
Btaalaoh, one of the gnat leaden of the Pharisaic party
andsr the Asmonean princes. 8ss Jost, Qttduekit da
.Htmthum;,\. 246.
» 8ae B. Banan, JSstsv* da Itmgtm Stmitiquts, p.
SM. The only extant spsetmsn of that patois Is the
Book of Adorn or " Oodax Nastnsus," edited by Norberg,
load. Goth. 1815-16. [Sea especially Lunulas or mi
M. Tan-, Amsr. ad.]
• 8s* Buxtrwf, «. r. HVbl
PJBTJEH
and their attention was there directed to those at*
tions of Holy Writ from which the Jews iluiied
their anticipations of the Messiah.
The language of the Apostles was of course she
form of Aramaic spoken in northern Palestine, a
sort of patoit, partly Hebrew, but more nearly allied
to the Syriac.* Hebrew, even in its debased form,
was then spoken only by men of learning, the lead-
ers of the pharisees and scribes.* The men of Gali-
lee were, however, noted for rough and inaccurate
language, and especially for vulgarities of pronun
ciation. d It is doubtful whether our Apostle was
acquainted with Greek in early life. It is certain
that there was more intercourse with foreigners in
Galilee than in any district of Palestine, and Greek
appears to have been a common, if not the princi-
pal, medium of communication. Within a few years
after his call St. Peter seems to have conversed
fluently in Greek with Cornelius, at least there it
no intimation that an interpreter was employed,
while it is highly improbable that Cornelius, a
Roman soldier, should have used the language of
Palestine. The style of both of St. Peter's epistles
indicates a considerable knowledge of Greek — it is
pure and accurate, and in grammatical structure
equal to that of St. Paul That may, however, be
accounted for by the feet, for which there is very
ancient authority, that St Peter employed an in-
terpreter in the composition of his epistles, if not
in his ordinary intercourse with foreigners.* Than
are no traces of acquaintance with Greek anthers,
or of the influence of Greek literature upon Vm
mind, such as we find in St. PauL nor could we
expect it in a person of his station even had Greek
been his mother-tongue. It is on the whole prob-
able that he had some rudiments] knowledge of
Greek in early life,/ which may have been after-
wards extended when the need was felt, but not
more than would enable him to discourse intelligibly
on practical and devotional subjects. That he was
an affectionate husband, married in early life to a
wife who accompanied him in his apostolic journeys,
are facts inferred from Scripture, while very ancient
traditions, recorded by Clement of Alexandria
(whose connection with the church founded by St.
Mark gives a peculiar value to bis testimony), and
by other early but less trustworthy writers, inform
us that her name was Perpetua, that she bora a
daughter, or perhaps other children, and suffered
martyrdom. It is uncertain at what age be was
called by our Lord. The general impression of the
Fathers is that he was an old man at the date of
his death, a. d. 84, but this need not imply that he
was much older than our Lord. He was probably
between thirty and forty years of age. at the date of
bis call.
That call was preceded by a special preparation.
He and his brother Andrew, together with their
partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee, wen
disciples of John the Baptist (John 1. 35). They
were in attendance upon him when they were first
d 8s* Brass, QaMdUt da H. S. f 41.
• Beuas (I. c. § 49) rejects this as a mere hypothesis
but fives no reason. The tradition resti on the •*>
tbority of Clement of Alexandria, Irenaras, sndTareal-
Uan. 8*e the notes on Suseb. H. B. 111. 89, v. 8, an*
vi. 86.
/ Urea highly educated Jews, like Josephta, spaas
Omsk imperfectly (ss* Ant. XX. 11, $ 8). On the sav
tagonlsm to Greek InOuenos, ssa Jost, 1. 1. 1. 198, assl
at. Nicolas, La Iharimu nhftaua la Jutft, L *. 8.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PETER
— "-* to the service of Christ From the cireum-
lliiiini of that sail, which in recorded with graphic
ninateneai by St. John, we lesru some important
holt touching their itate of mind and the personal
character of our Apostle. Two disciples, one named
by the Evangelist St. Andrew, the other in all prob-
ability St John himself, were standing with the
Baptist at Bethany on the Jordan, when he pointed
oat Jesus as He walked, and said, Behold the Lamb
of God ! That is, the antitype of the victims whose
blood (as all true Israelites, and they more distinctly
under the teaching of .John* believed ) prefigured the
atonemei.t for sin. The two at once followed Jesus,
and upon his invitation abode with Him that day.
Andrew then went to bis brother Simon, and saith
unto him, We have found the Messias, the anointed
One, of whom they had read in the prophets. Si-
mon went at once, and when Jesus looked on him
He said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonaj thou
•halt be called Cephas. The change of name is of
course deeply significant. As son of Jona (a name
of doubtful meaning, according to Lamps equiva-
lent to Johanan or John, >'. t. grace of the Lord ;
according to Lange, who has some striking but
fanciful observations, signifying dove) he bore as a
disciple the name Simon, i. e. bearer, but as an
Apostle, one of the twelve on whom the Church was
to be erected, he was hereafter («As^t)*-»J to be
called Bock or Stone. It seems a natural impres-
sion that the words refer primarily to the original
character of Simon: that our Lord saw in him a
man firm, steadfast, not to be overthrown, though
severely tried; and such was generally the view
taken by the Fathers : but it is perhaps a deeper
and truer inference that Jesus thus describes Simon,
not as what be was, but as what he would become
under his influence — a man with predispositions
and capabilities not unfitted for the office he was to
hold, but one whose permanence and stability would
depend upon union with the living Rock. Thus we
may expect to find Simon, as the natural man, at
once rough, stubborn, and mutable, whereas l'eter,
identified with the Kock, will remain firm and un-
movable unto the end.*
This first call led to no immediate change in St.
Peter's external position. He and his fellow dis-
ciples looked henceforth upon our Lord as their
teacher, but were not commanded to follow him as
regular disciples. There were several grades of
disciples among the Jews, from the occasional
hearer, to the follower who gave up all other pur-
suits in order to serve a master. At the time a
recognition of his Person and office sufficed. They
returned to Capernaum, where they pursued their
isual business, waiting for a further intimation of
niswOL
The second call is recorded by the other three
Evangelists; the narrative of St. Lake being ap-
parently supplementary « to the brief, and so to
speak, official accounts given by Matthew and Mark
took place on the sea of Galilee near Capernaum
PETER
2447
— where the four disciples, Peter and Andre*
James and John, were fishing. Peter and Andrew
were first called. Our Lord then entered Simon
Peter's boat, and addressed the multitude on the
shore; after the conclusion of the discourse He
wrought the miracle by which He foreshadowed the
success of the Apostles in the new, but analogous,
occupation which was to be theirs, that of fishers
of men. The call of James and John followed,
from that time the four were certainly enrolled
formally among his disciples, and although as yet
invested with no official character, accompanied
Him in his journeys, those especially in the north
of Palestine.
Immediately after that call our Lord went to
the house of Peter, where He wrought the miracle
of healing on Peter's wife's mother, a miracle sao-
ceeded by other manifestations of divine power
which produced a deep impression upon the people.
Some time was passed afterwards in attendance
upon our Lord's public ministrations in Galilee,
Decapolis, Persia, and Judaea: though at intervals
the disciples returned to their own city, and were
witnesses of many miracles, of the call of Levi, and
of their Master's reception of outcasts, whom they
in common with their zealous but prejudiced coun-
trymen had despised and shunned. It was a period
of training, of mental and spiritual discipline pre-
paratory to their admission to the higher office to
which they were destined. Even then Peter re-
ceived some marks of distinction. He was selected,
together with the two sons of Zebedee, to witness
the raising of Jairus' daughter.
The special designation of Peter and his eleven
fellow disciples took place some time afterwards,
when they were set apart as our Lord's immediate
attendant*, and as his delegates to go forth where-
ever He might send them, as apostles, announcers
of his kingdom, gifted with supernatural powers as
credentials of their supernatural mission (see Matt,
x. 2-4; Hark iii. 13-19, the most detailed account
— Luke vi. 13). They appear then first to bare
received formally the name of Apostles, and from
that time Simon bore publicly, and as it would
seem all but exclusively, the name Peter, which
had hitherto been used rather as a characteristic
appellation than as a proper name.
From this time there can be no doubt that St
Peter held the first place among the Apostles, to
whatever cause his precedence is to be attributed.
There was eertainly much in his character which
marked bim as a representative man ; both in his
strength and in his weakness, in his excellences and
his defects he exemplifies the changes which the
natural man undergoes in the gradual transforma-
tion into the spiritual man under the personal in-
fluence of the Saviour. The precedence did not
depend upon priority of call, or it would have-sss-
volved upon his brother Andrew, or that other dis-
ciple who first followed Jesus. It seems scarcely
probable that it depended upon seniority, even snn-
« Be* Locke, Tholuok, and Langs, on the Gospel of
■s. John.
* Looks describes this character well, a* that Arm-
as** or rather hardness of power, which, if not pmlfl tl
sadly become* violence. Th* deepest and most bsau-
W observations are those of Origan on John, torn. U.
sfo.
< This Is a point of great dtosralty, and hotly eoo-
tsstsd. Man? writers of great weight hold th* noenr-
sjsstsc to b* altogsthar distinct ; but th* generality of
commentators. Including some of the most earnest and
davout in Germany and Xngiaud, appear now to ooo-
enr in to* view which I bar* here taken. The*
Trench 0» Uu Parablas, Naander, Look*, Lang*, and
Kbrard. Th* otusot of Strauss, who dents* the Msst-
aty, Is to max* out that St. Lulu's account I* a mere
myth. Th* most satisfactory attempt to seeosmt fee
the variations Is that of Spaohaim, Dubia Bu n n gtkn t,
U. Ml.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2448 PETER
poring, which is a men conjecture,* that he wag
Met than hU fellow disciples. The special desjg-
tation by Christ, alone account* in a satisfactory
way for the facta that he is named first in every
list of the Apostles, Is generally addressed by our
Lord at their representative, and on the most sol-
rain occasions speaks in their name. Thus when
the list great secession took place in consequence
of the offense given by our Lord's mystic discourse
at Capernaum (aee John vi. 86-69), "Jesus said
onto the twehre, Will ye also go away? Then Si-
mon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we
go? Thou hast the words of eternal life: and we
believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the
Son of the living God." Thus again at Csesarea
Philrppi, soon after the return of the twelve from
their first missionary tour, St Peter (speaking as
before In the name of the twelve, though, at ap-
pears from our Lord's words, with a peculiar dis-
tinctness of persona) conviction) repeated that dec-
laration, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the liv-
ing God." The confirmation of our Apostle in bis
special position in the Church, his identification
with the rock on which that Church is founded,
the ratification of the powers and duties attached
to the apostolic office,' and the promise of perma-
nence to the Church, followed as a reward of that
confession. The early Church regarded St. Peter
generally, and moat especially on this occasion, as
the representative of the apostolic body, a very dis-
tinct theory from that which makes him their
head, or governor in Christ's stead. Even in the
tune of Cyprian, when communion with the Bishop
of Rome as St Peter's successor for the first time
was held to be indispensable, no powers of jurisdic-
tion, or supremacy, were supposed to be attached
a * This conjecture la chiefly founded on bis being
the only one of the apostles who b mentioned as mar-
ried (Matt vlU. 14 ; Mark 1. 30 ; Luke lv. 88, and
eomp. 1 Cor. ix. 6). The representation of Peter with
a bald heed by artists hap an doubt the same origin,
though said also to follow a distinct tradition. B.
e The accounts which have bean given of the pre-
cise Import of this declaration may be summed up
under these h ead s : 1. That our Lord spoke of Him-
self, and not of 8t Peter, as the rock on which the
Church was to be founded. This interpretation ex-
presses a great truth, but It is Irreooncilable with the
eontext, and could scarcely have occurred to an unbi-
ueed reader, and certainly does not give the primary
and literal meaning of our Lord's words. It has been
amended, however, by candid and learned critics, as
Slam and Dathe. 2. That our Lord addresses Peter
as the type or representative of the Church, in his ca-
pacity of chief disciple. This is Augustine's view, and
It was widely adopted iu the early Church. It Is hardly
home out by the context, and •earns to Involve a raise
metaphor. The Church would In that ease be founded
en itself in Its tjpe. 8 That the rock was not the per-
eooof Peter, but lri* confession of kith. This nets on
asaeh better authority, and is supported by stronger
a>£umente. The authorities for It are given by Bul-
eer, v. IUrpet, J 1, note 8. Yet It sums to have been
jrtgbuUly raggreted as an explanation, rather than an
taterpretttion, which It certainly to not to a literal
sense. 4. That 8t Peter himself was the nek on
which the Church would be ballt. as the repreoenta-
srve of the Apootlee, as proteasing In their name the
true tilth, and as entrusted specially with the duty of
•reaching H, and thereby laying the foundation of the
3ranh. Many learned and candid Protestant divines
save aeqtdeseed In this view («. g. Pearson, Hammond,
•angel, ItoeenmuHer, Schleuaner, Kulnoel, Bloomneld,
ate.). It is borne out by the recta that 8t Peter on
PETER
to the admitted precedency of rank.' Prmm
inter para, Peter held no distinct office, and cer-
tainly never claimed any powers which did not be-
long equally to all his fellow Apostles.
This great triumph of Peter, however, brought
other point* of his character into strong relief
The distinction which he then received, and it may
be his consciousness of ability, energy, nal and
absolute devotion to Christ's person, eebiu tc ban
developed a natural tendency to rashness and for-
wardness bordering upon presumption. On this oc-
casion the exhibition of such feelings brought upon
him the strongest reproof ever addressed to a dis-
ciple by our Lord. In his affection and self-confi-
dence Peter ventured to reject as impossible the
announcement of the sufferings end humiliation
which Jesus predicted, and heard the sharp words,
" Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense
unto me; for thou sarourest not the things that be
of God, bnt those that lie of men." That was
Peter's first fall; a very ominous one: not a rock,
but a stumbling stone,'' not a defender, but an an-
tagonist and deadly eneniy of the faith, when the
spiritual should give place to the lower nature in
dealing with the things of God. It is remsrkable
that on other occasions when St Peter signalized
his faith and devotion, be displayed at the time, or
immediately afterwards, a' more than usual defi-
ciency in spiritual discernment and consistency.
Thus a few days after that fall he was selected to-
gether with John and James to witness the trans-
figuration of Christ, but the words which be then
uttered prove that he was completely bewildered,
and unable at the time to comprehend the meaning
of the transaction." Thus again, when his seal
the day of Pentecost, sod during the whole period of
the establishment of the Church, waa the chief agent
In all the work of the minlatry, in preaching, to ad-
mitting both Jews and Gentiles, and laying down the
terms of communion. This view Is wholly incompat-
ible with the Soman theory, which makes him the
representative of Christ, not personally, but in virtue
of en office essential to the permanent existence and
authority of the Church, raassglla, the latest end
ablest controversialist takes man peine to re f ut e this
than any other view ; but wholly without swreesa : it
being clear that 8t Peter did not retain, even admit-
ting that he did at first hold, any primacy of rank
after completing his own special work ; that he never
exercised any authority over or independently of the
other Apostles; that he certainly did not transmit
whatever position be ever held to any of his colleagues
after his decease. At Jerusalem, even during ble res-
idence then, the chief authority rested with St. Jesses ;
nor la there any trace of a central power or juriedtetion
for centuries after the foundation of the Church. Toe
same •dgumenm, mutatii sratawaVa, apply to the keys
The pronust was literally fulfilled when St. Petes
preached at Pentecost admitted the first conn rts tc
baptism, confirmed the Samaritans, and received Cor-
nelius, the representative of the Gentile*, Into the
Church. Whatever privileges may have belonged to
him personally, died with him. The authority re-
quired for the permanent government of the Church
waa believed by the Fathers to be deposited hi the
episcopate, as rapreeentiiar the spcstolic body, earn
cceedrog to its claims.
c See an admirable dfemaeaon of rids qwestlon ss
Bothe's ifn/fcage o'er OkrutoVsm Ktrtkt.
d Ughtfoot suggests that such may hare been am
real meaning of the term "rock." An amusing mv
etanee of the blindness of party swung. Be* "
Hie on John, vol. zH p. 387.
« As usual, the least avroreble view of 8t
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PETKK
and courage prompted biiu to leave the ship and
walk on- the water to go to Jesus (Matt. xiv. 99), a
sudden failure of faith withdrew the sustaining
power; he was about to sink when he was at once
reproved and saved by his Master. Such traits,
which occur not unfrequently, prepare us for his
hut great fall, as well as for his conduct after the
Resurrection, when his natural gifts were perfected
and his deficiencies supplied by " the power from
ou High." We find a mixture of seal and weak-
ness in his conduct when called upon to pay trib-
ute-money for himself and his Lord, but faith had
the upper hand, and was rewarded by a significant
miracle (Matt. zvii. 24-27). 'I"he question which
about the same time Peter asked our Lord as to
the extent to which forgiveness of sins should be
carried, indicated a great advance in spirituality
from the Jewish standing-point, while it showed
bow far as yet he and his fellow disciples were from
understanding the true principle of Christian love
(Matt xviii. 91). We find a similar blending of
rait* qualities in the declaration recorded by
synoptical evangelists (Matt. xix. 27 ; Mark x.
98; Luke xviii. 28), " Lo, we have left all and fol-
lowed Thee." It certainly bespeaks a conscious-
ness of sincerity, a spirit of self-devotion and self-
sacrifice, though it conveys an impression of
something like ambition; but in that instance the
good undoubtedly predominated, as is shown by
our lord's answer. He does not reprove Peter,
who spoke, as usual, in the name of the twelve, but
takes that opportunity of uttering the strongest
prediction touching the future dignity and para-
mount authority of the Apostles, a prediction re-
sorded by St. Matthew only.
Towards the close of our Lord's ministry St.
Peter's characteristics become especially prominent.
Together with his brother, and the two sons of
Eebedee, he listened to the but awful predictions
and warnings delivered to the disciples in reference
lo the second advent (Matt. xxiv. 3 ; Mark xiii. 3,
who alone mentions these names; Luke xxi. 7).
At the last supper Peter seems to have been par-
ticularly earnest in the request that the traitor
might be pointed out, expressing of course a gen-
eral feeling, to which some inward consciousness of
infirmity may have added force. After the supper
his words drew out the meaning of the significant,
almost sacramental act ol our Lord in washing his
disciples' feet, an occasion on which we find the
tame mixture of goodness and frailty, humility and
deep affection, with a certain taint of self-will,
which was at onoe hushed into submissive reverence
by the voice of Jesus. Then, too, it was that be
made those repeated protestations of unalterable
fidelity, so soon to be falsified by his miserable fall.
That event is, however, of sueh critical import in
Ha bearings upon the character and position of the
Apostle, that it cannot be dismissed without a care-
mi, if not an exhaustive discussion.
Judsa had left the guest-chamber when St Peter
ant the question, Lord, whither goest Thou ? words
PETBK
2449
sonduet and feelings b given by St. Mark. i. t. by
a • The leader of the band would naturally be the
cbiUareh mentioned by John (mil. 13) ; and at all
events a slave (eovAov) would not b» likely to be placed
ever the " servants " or apparitors (Amolnu) of the
Jewish council. Tbe man whom Peter struck may
havs bear specially omofcms lo lavmg host of Jesus
■
154
which modern theologians generally represent si
savoring of idle curiosity, or presumption, but in
which the early fathers (ss Chrysostom and Augus-
tine) recognized the utterance of love and devotion.
Tbe answer was a promise that Peter should follow
his Master, but accompanied with an intimation of
present unfitness in the disciple. Then came the
first protestation, which elicited the sharp and stern
rebuke, and distinct prediction of Peter's denial
(John xiii. 86-38). from comparing this account
with those of the other evangelists (Matt. xxvi.
88-85; Mark xiv. 29-81; Luke xxii. 33, 34), it
seems evident that with some diversity of circum-
stances both the protestation and warning were
thrice repeated. The tempter was to sift all the
disciples, our Apostle's faith wss to be preserved
from failing by tbe special intercession of Christ,
he being thus singled out either as the representa-
tive of the whole body, or as seems more probable,
because his character was one which had special
need of supernatural aid. St Mark, as usual,
records two points which enhance the force of the
warning and tbe guilt of Peter, namely, that tbe
cock would crow twice, and that after such warning
he repeated his protestation with greater vehe-
meiide. Chrysostom, who judges the Apostle with
fairness and candor, attributes this vehemence to his
great love, and more particularly to the delight
which he felt when assured that he wan not the
traitor, yet not without a certain admixture of for-
wardness and ambition, such as had previously been
shown in the dispute for preeminence. The fiery
trial soon came. After the agony of Gethsemane,
when the three, Peter. James, and John were, as
on former occasions, selected to be with our Lord,
the ouly witnesses of his passion, where also all
three had alike failed to prepare themselves by
prayer and watching, the arrest of Jesus took place.
Peter did not shrink from the danger. In the
same spirit which had dictated his promise he drew
his sword, alone against the ertned throng, and
wounded the servant (top tov\ov, not a servant)
of the high-priest, probably the leader of tbe band."
When this bold but unauthorized attempt at rescue
was reproved, be did not yet forsake his Master,
but followed Him with St John into the focus of
danger, the house of the high-priest. 11 There he
sat in the outer hall. He must have been in a
state of utter confusion : his faith, which from first
to last was bound up with hope, his special charac-
teristic, was for the time powerless against tempta-
tion. The danger found him unarmed. Thrice,
each time with greater vehemence, the last time
with blasphemous asseveration, he denied his Mas-
ter. The triumph of Satan seemed complete. Yet
it is evident that it was an obscuration of faith,
not an extinction. It needed but a glance of his
Lord's eye to bring him to himself. His repent-
ance was instantaneous, and effectual The light
in which he himself regarded his conduct, is clearly
shown by the terms in which it is related by St
Mirk. Tbe inferences are weighty as regards his
» • The Saviour foretold that all the disciples would
(bisake him (Matt. xxvl. 81 ; Mark xiv. 2?l ; and this
took place, according to every Intimation, at the tune
of the apprehension to the garden, and hence before
the entrance Into the hall. Peter and John, however,
were no doubt the first of the dbdplas to recover fna
this panto. ■
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2450 PETEE
personal character, which represent* more com-
pletely perhaps than any in the New Testament,
the weakness of the natural and the strength of
the spiritual man still more weight; as bearing
npon his relations to the apostolic body, and the
claims resting upon the assumption that he stood
to them in the place of Christ.
On the morning of the resurrection we have
proof that St Peter, though humbled, was not
crushed by his fall. He and St. John were the
first to visit the sepulchre; be was the first who
entered it- We are told by Luke (in words still
used by the Eastern Church as the first sanitation
on Easter Sunday) and by St Paul," that Christ
appeared to him first among the Apostles — he
who most needed the comfort was the first who
received it and with it, as may be assumed, an
assurance of forgiveness. It is observable, how-
aver, that on that occasion he is called by his
original name, Simon, not Peter; the higher desig-
nation was not restored until he had been publicly
reiustituted, so to speak, by his Master. That
reinstitution took place at the sea of Galilee (John
xxi.), an event of the very highest import We
have there indications of his best natural qualities,
practical good sense, promptness and energy : slower
than St John to recognize their Lord, Peter was
the first to reach Him ; be brought the net to land,
rhe thrice repeated question of Christ, referring
doubtless to the three protestations and denials,
were thrice met by answers full of love and faith,
and utterly devoid of his hitherto characteristic
failing, presumption, of which not a trace is to be
discerned in his later history. He then received
the formal commission to feed Christ's sheep ; not
eertainly as one endued with exclusive or para-
mount authority, or as distinguished from his
fcllow-disciples, whose fall had been marked by &r
less aggravating circumstances ; rather as one who
had forfeited his place, and oould not resume it
without such an authorization. Then followed the
prediction of his martyrdom, in which he was to
find the fulfillment of his request to be permitted to
follow the Ixird. 6
With this event closes the first part of St Peter's
history. It has been a period of transition, during
which the fisherman of Cialike bad been trained
first by the Baptist, then by our Lord, for the great
work of his life. He had learned to know the
Parson and appreciate the offices of Christ: while
his own character had been chastened and elevated
by special privileges and humiliations, both reach-
ing their climax in the last recorded transactions.
Henceforth, he with his colleagues were to establish
and govern the Church founded by their Lord, with-
out'the support of his presence.
The first part of the Acts of the Apostles is
occupied by the record of transactions, in nearly
all of which Peter stands forth aa the recognized
leader of the Apostles; it being, however, equally
PETEK
dear that he neither exercises not claims say m
thority apart from them, much less over them, la
the first chapter it is Peter who points out to the
disciples (as in all his discourses and writings draw-
ing his arguments from prophecy) the neces si ty of
supplying the place of Judas. He states the quali-
fications of an Apostle, but takes no special part
in the election. The candidates are selected by the
disciples, while the decision is left to the searcher
of heart*. The extent and limits of Peter's pri-
macy might be inferred with tolerable accuracy
from this transaction alone. To have one spokes-
man, or foreman, seems to acord with the spirit
of order and humility which ruled the Church,
while the assumption of power or supremacy would
be incompatible with the express command of
Christ (see Matt xxlii. 10). In the 2d chapter
again, St Peter is the most prominent person in
the greatest event after the resurrection, when en
the day of Pentecost the Church was first invested
with the plenitude of gifts and powers. Then
Peter, not speaking in his own name, but with the
eleven (see ver. 11), explained the meaning of the
miraculous gifts, and showed the fulfillment of
prophecies (accepted at that time by all Hebrews
as Messianic), loth in the outpouring of the Holy
Ghost and in the resurrection and d-atb of our
Lord. This discourse, which bears all the marks
of Peter's individuality, both of character and doc-
trinal views, c ends with an appeal of remarkable
boldness.
It is the model upon which the apologetic dis-
courses of the primitive Christians were generally
constructed. Tie conversion and baptism of three
thousand persons, who continued steadfastly in
the Apostle's doctrine and fellowship, attested the
power of the Spirit which spake by Peter on that
occasion.
The first miracle after Pentecost was wrought
by St Peter (Acts iii.); and St John was joined
with him in that, as in most important act* of his
ministry : but it was Peter who took the cripple
by the hand, and bade him " in the name of Jesus
of Nazareth rise up and walk," and when the
people ran together to Solomon's porch, where the
Apostles, following their Master's example, wen
wont to teach, Peter was the speaker; he convinces
the people of their sin, warns them of their danger,
points out the fulfillment of prophecy, and the
special objects for which God sent his Son first to
the children of the old covenant 1 '
The boldness of the two Apostles, of I'eter more
especially as the spokesman, when, '* filled with the
Holy Ghost," he confronted the full assembly,
headed by Annas and Caiaphas, produced a deep
impression upon those cruel and unscrupulous
hypocrites; an impression enhanced by the fact
that the words came from ignorant and unlearned
men. The words spoken by both Apostbe, when
commanded not to speak at all nor teach in the
■ a Art very perplexing to ths Tubingen school,
Mag utterly Irreconcilable with their theory of an-
SSfonisr i between the Apostles at first.
b • Pater's Inquiry, on this occasion, respecting the
hue of John after his own martyrdom had been fore-
told (John xxl. 18-22), seems to have arisen from a
■jattng of jealousy towards John. The severity of
3hrart's answer to his question <" If I will that he tarry
ail I come, what Is that to thee? "), and the evange-
list's recital of the special marks of fcvor which the
fisTkrar had conferred on himself (ver. SO), admit
> of no essy explanation. (For a toiler ex-
position of this view see " Biblical Notes,'' BUI. *ow
far 1868, xzv. 788.) V
e See Schmid, BibUxlu Thiciogit. h. 1(8; ana
Weiss, Der p4lrmitcht LeMxgriff; p. U.
<t This speech is at once strikingly ehaimcterlette of
St Peter, and a proof of the fundamental harmony
between his teaching and the more developed and sys-
tematic doctrines of St. Paul : differing In form, to aa
extant utterly incompatible with the tbecry of tear
and Schwegler touching the object of the writer of the
Acta; Idenueal in spirit, ss Issuing frost the sasss
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PETER
aaaae cf Jesus, nave ever since been the waton-
■ords of martyrs (if. 19, SO).
Tliii first miracle of heeling wee loon followed
by the first mirjcie of judgment. The first open
tnd deliberate »in against the Holy Ghost, a sin
sombiuing ambition, fraud, hypocrisy, and blas-
phemy, was risited by death, sudden and awful as
under the old dispensation. St. Peter was the
minister in that transaction. As he had first
opened the gate to penitents (Acts ii. 37, 38), be
now closed it to hypocrites. The act stands alone,
without a precedent or parallel in the Gospel; but
Peter acted simply as an instrument, not pro-
nouncing the sentence, but denouncing the sin,
sad that in the name of his fellow Apostles and of
the Holy Ghost Penalties similar in kind, though
far different in degree, were inflicted, or commanded
oo various occasions by St. Paul. St Peter ap-
pears, perhaps in consequence of that act, to have
become the object of a reverence bordering, as it
would seem, on superstition (Acts v. 16), while the
numerous miracles of healing wrought about the
same time, showing the true character of the power
dwelling in the Apostles, gave occasion to the
second persecution. Peter then came into contact
with the noblest and most interesting character
among the Jews, the learned and liberal tutor of
St. Paul, Gamaliel, whose caution, gentleness, and
dispassionate candor, stand out in strong relief
contrasted with his colleagues, but make a feint
impression compared with the steadfast and un-
compromising principles of the Apostles, who after
undergoing an illegal scourging, went forth rejoic-
ing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame
for the name of Jesus. Peter ii not specially
named in connection with the appointment of
deacons, an important step in the organisation of
the church ; but when the Gospel was first preached
beyond the precincts of Judiea, he and St John
were at once sent by the Apostles to confirm the
converts at Samaria, a very important statement
at this critical point, proving clearly his subordi-
nation to the whole body, of which he was the
most active and able member.
Up to that time it may be said that the Apostles
had one great work, namely, to convince the Jews
that Jesus was the Messiah; in that work St.
Peter was the master builder, the whole structure
rested upon the doctrines of which he was the
principal teacher: hitherto no words but his an
specially recorded by the writer of the Acts.
Henceforth he remains prominent, but not exclu-
sively prominent among the propagators of the
Gospel. At Samaria he and John established the
precedent for the most important rite not expressly
enjoined in Holy Writ, namely, confirmation, which
the Western Church ■ has always held to belong
txehoively to the functions of bishops as successors
to the ordinary powers of the Apostolate. Then
also St Peter was confronted with Simon Magus,
the first teacher of heresy. [Simoh Magus.] As
in the case of Ananias he had denounced the first
sin against holiness, so in this case he first declared
the penalty due to the sin called after Simon's
name. About three years later (compare Acts ix
98, and Gal. i. 17, 18) we have two accounts of
the first meeting of St Peter and St. Paul In
« Not so the ■astern, which eambhus the set with
vaosm, sod leaves It to the omeUtbuT priest. It la
saw o? the points upon which Photms and othar east-
en c o n troversia lists lay special stress.
PETER 2451
the Act* it is stated generally that Saul was a*
first distrusted by the disciples, and received by
the Apostles upon the recommendation of Barna-
bas. From the Galatians we learn that St. Pan'
went to Jerusalem specially to see Peter; that be
abode with him fifteen days, and that James was
the only other Apostle present at the time. It is
important to note that this account — which, while
it establishes the independence of St. l'sul, marks
the position of St. Peter as the most eminent of
the Apostles — rests not on the authority of the
writer of the Acts, but on that of St Paul; as
though it were intended to obviate all possible
misconceptions touching the mutual relations of
the Apostles of the Hebrews and the Gentiles.
This interview was followed by other events mark'
ing Peter's position — a general apostolical tour
of visitation to the churehee hitherto established
(tupx^™"" '•* wdWoy, Acts ix. 82), in the
course of which two great miracles were wrought
on /Eneas and Tabitha, and in connection with
which the most signal transaction after the day of
Pentecost is recorded, the baptism of Cornelius.
That was the crown and consummation of Peter's
ministry. Peter who had Erst preached the resur-
rection to the Jews, baptised the first converts,
confirmed the first Samaritans, now, without the
advioe or cooperation of any of his colleagues,
under direct communication from heaven, first
threw down the barrier which separated proselytes
of the gate 6 from Israelites, first establishing prin-
ciples which in their gradual application and full
development issued in the complete fusion of the
Gentile and Hebrew elements in the Church. The
narrative of this event, which stands alone ■
minute circumstantiality of incidents, and accumu-
lation of supernatural agency, is twice recorded by
St Luke. The chief points to be noted are, first,
the peculiar fitness of Cornelius, both as a repre-
sentative of Roman force and nationality, and as a
devout and liberal worshipper, to be a recipient
of such privileges ; and secondly, the state of the
Apostle's own mind. Whatever may have been
his hopes or fears touching the heathen, the idea
had certainly not yet crossed him that they oouM
become Christians without first becoming Jews.
As a loyal and believing Hebrew he could not con-
template the removal of Gentile disqualifications,
without a distinct assurance that the enactments
of the law which concerned them were abrogated
by the divine legislator. The vision could not
therefore have been the product of a subjective
impression. It was, strictly speaking, objective,
presented to his mind by an external influence.
Yet the will of the Apostle was not controlled, it
was simply enlightened. The intimation in the
state of trance did not at once overcome his reluo-
tanoe. It was not until his consciousness was
fully restored, and he had well considered the
meaning of the vision, that be learned that the
distinction of cleanness and uncleanness iu outward
things belonged to a temporary dispensation. It
was no mere acquiescence in a positive command,
tx.t the development of a spirit full of generous
in, pulses, which found utterance In the words spoken
bj Peter on that occasion, — both in the prcenoe
of Cornelius, and afterwards at Jerusalem. His eon-
duct gave great offense to ill his countrymen (Acts
xi. i), and it needed all his authority, corroborated
ft i term to which objection las
shows >— Jast to bs strictly softest
Digitized by VjOOQlC
J
£452 PBTBE
•jr a special manifestation of the Holj Ghost, to
keduce his fellow-Apostles to recognise) the pro-
priety of this great act, in which both ha and they
law an earnest of the admission of Gentilea into
the Church on the tingle condition of spiritual
repentance. The establishment of a church in
great part of Gentile origin at Antioeh, and the
mission of Barnabas, between whose family and
Peter there were the bonds of near intimacy, set
the teal upon the work thus inaugurated by St.
Peter.
This transaction was soon fohowed by the im-
prisonment of our Apostle. Herod Agrippa having
mrst tested the state of feeling at Jerusalem by the
execution of James, one'of the most eminent Apos-
tles, arrested Peter. The hatred, which at that
time first showed itself as a popular feeling, may
most probably be attributed chiefly to the offense
given by Peter's conduct towards Cornelius. His
miraculous deliverance marks the close of this sec-
ond great period of hit ministry. The special work
assigned to him was completed. He had founded
the Church, opened its gates to Jews and Gentiles,
and distinctly laid down the conditions of admission.
From that time we have no continuous history of
Peter. It is quite clear that be retained hit rank
at the chief Apostle, equally to, that he neither ex-
ercised nor churned any right to control their pro-
ceedings At Jerusalem the government of the
Church devolved upon James the brother of our
Lord. In other places Peter seems to have con-
lined his ministrations to hit countrymen — as
Apostle of the circumcision. He left Jerusalem,
bat it is not said where he went. Certainly not to
wome, where there are no traces of his presence
before the last years of his life; be probably re-
mained in Judex, visiting and confirming the
abnrchea; tome old but not trustworthy tradi-
tions represent bim as preaching in Csesarea and
other cities on the western coast of Palestine: six
years later we find him once more at Jerusalem,
when the Apostles and elders came together to
consider the question whether converts should be
circumcised. Peter took the lead in that discus-
sion, and urged with remarkable cogency the prin-
ciples settled in the case of Cornelius. Purifying
faith and saving grace (xv. 9 and 11; remove all
distinctions between believers. His arguments,
adopted and enforced by James, decided that ques-
tion at once and forever. It is, however, to be re-
marked, that on that occasion he exercised no one
sower which Romanists hold to be inalienably at-
tached to the chair of Peter. He did not preside
at the meeting; be neither summoned nor dis-
missed it; he neither collected the suffrages nor
pronounced the decision.*
It is a disputed point whether the meeting be-
tween St. Paul and St Peter, of which we have an
a la accordance with this represe n tation, Bt Paul
sunn Jsmss before Cephas and John (Oat. II. 9).
» laoge (An AposaotucJu Zcitalter, U. 878) fixes the
tats about three years after the Council. Wlessler
has a Unix excursus to show that It must have oc-
wnrred after St. Paul's second apostolic Journey, lie
sine soma weighty reasons, but wholly fails In the at-
tempt to acrount for the presence of Barnabas, a fatal
objection to his theory Bee Der Brvf <m dit Qala-
Ojr, Szcurtus, p. 679. On the other side are Theodo-
re*, Pearson, Blehhom, Olahaussn, slayer, Meander,
■ov-'io, Behalf, etc. (See note 6, p. 2873. The hav
aavjr ef Barnabas la too Imperfectly known to
i above ef any decisive weight. — H.]
PBTKB
account in the Galatians (& 1-10), tone plate a.
this time. The great majority of critics believe
that it did, and this hypothesis, though not with-
out difficulties, seems more probable than any other
which has been suggested.' The only point of real
importance was certainly determined before the
Apostles separated, the work of converting the Gen-
tiles being henceforth specially intrusted to Pan]
and Barnabas, while the charge of preaching to the
circumcision was assigned to the elder Apostles,
and more particularly to Peter (Gal. ii. 7-9). This
arrangement cannot, however, have been an exclu-
sive one. St, Paul always addressed himself first
to the Jew! in every city: Peter and bit old col-
leagues undoubtedly admitted and sought to make
converts among the Gentiles It may have) been
in full force only when the old and new Apostles
resided hi the same city. Such at least was the
ease at Antioeh, where St. Peter went soon after-
wards. There the painful collision took place be-
tween the two Apostles; the most remarkable, and,
in Its bearings upon controversies at critical periods,
one of the most important events in the history of
the Church. St. Peter at first applied the princi-
ples which he had lately defended, carrying with
him the whole Apostolic body, and on his arrival
at Antioeh ate with the Gentiles, thus showing
that he believed all ceremonial distinctions to be
abolished by the Gospel : in that he went tar be-
yond the strict letter of the injunctions issued by
the Council.* That step waa marked and con-
demned by certain members of the Church of Jeru-
salem sent by James, It appeared to them one
thing to recognise Gentilea at fellow-Christians,
another to admit them to social intercourse,
whereby ceremonial defilement would be contracted
under the law to which all the Apostles, Barnabas
and Paul included, acknowledged allegiance.* Pe-
ter, at the Apostle of the circumcision, fearing to
give offense to those who were his special charge,
at once gave up the point, suppressed or disguised
his feelings,' and separated himself not from com-
munion, but from social intercourse with the Gen-
tilea. St. Paul, as the Apostle of the Gentiles, saw
clearly the consequences likely to ensue, and could
ill brook the misapplication of a rule often laid
down in his own writings concerning compliance
with the prejudices of weak brethren. He held
that Peter was infringing a great principle, with-
stood him to the face, and using the same argu-
ments which Peter had urged at the Council, pro-
nounced his conduct to be indefensible. The state-
ment that Peter compelled the Gentiles to Judaixe,
probably means, not that he enjoined circumcision,
but that his conduct, if persevered in, would have
that effect, since they would naturally take any
steps which might remove the barriers to familiar
intercourse with the first Apostles of Christ. Pe>
c This decisively overthrows the whole eystsm et
■but, whkth rests upon a supposed antagonism be-
tween St. Paul and the elder Apostles, especially Bt
Peter. 8b Paul grounds his reproof upon the Incon-
sistency of Peter, not upon his Judaltlng tandendas.
d Bee acts zvU. 18-81, xx. 16, xxl. 18-91, passages
borne out by numerous statements In St, Pears
epistles.
• "YWotvAAjv, cwwrf«pi*qo-a». fo&cptaw , must is
understood In this sense. It was not hypcerlay ta the
sense cT an affectation of holiness, but in that of ae
outward o njw s ejs s to prejudicee which r~*-ftnfr sew
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBXBB
Mr in wrong, but it m an error of judgment;
■u act contrary to hit own feeling! and wishes, in
deference to those whom he looked upon as repre-
senting the mind of the Church ; that he was actu-
ated bj selfishness, national pride, or anj remains
ef superstition, ii neither asserted nor implied in
the strong censure of St Paul : nor, much at we
mutt admire the earneatueu and wisdom of St.
Paul, whose clear and vigorous intellect was in this
oaae stimulated by anxiety for his own special
•barge, the Gentile Church, should we overlook
Peter's singular humility in submitting to public
reproof from one so much his junior, or his mag-
nanimity both in adopting St. Paul's conclusions
(as we must infer that be did from the absence of
aH trace of continued resistance), and in remaining
on terms of brotherly communion (as is testified by
hie own written words), to the end of his life (1
Pet v. 10; 3 Pet iu. IS, 16).
From this time until the date of his epistles,
we have no distinct notices in Scripture of Peter's
abode or work. The silence may be accounted for
by the fact that from that time the great work of
propagating the Gospel was committed to the mar-
velous energies of St Paul. Peter was probably
employed for the most part in building up and
completing the organization of Christian communi-
ties in Palestine and the adjoining districts. There
is, however, strong reason to believe that he visited
Corinth at an early period ; this seems to be im-
plied in several passages of St. Paul's first epistle
to that church,*' and it is a natural inference from
the statements of Clement of Home (1 KpUtle to
the Cor'mlhiant, c. 4). The fact is positively as-
serted by Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth (a. D. 180
at the latest), a man of exoellent judgment, who
was not likely to be misinformed, nor to make such
an assertion lightly in an epistle addressed to tbe
Bishop and Church of Rome-* The reference to
•ollision between parties who claimed Peter, A pol-
os, Paul, and even Christ for their chiefs, involves
no opposition between the Apostles themselves,
such as tbe fabulous Clementines and modem infi-
delity assume. The name of Peter as founder, or
joint founder, is not associated with any focal
church save those of Corinth, Antiuch,' or Rome,
by early ecclesiastical tradition. That of Alexan-
dria may have been established by St. Hark after
Peter's death. That Peter preached the Gospel
in the countries of Asia, mentioned in his first
epistle, appears from Origan's own words <* (maf
•iMtsW touts?) to be a mere conjecture, not in it-
self improbable, but of little weight in the absence
ef all positive evidence, and of all personal reminis-
in the epistle itself. From that epistle,
PETER
246f
• See Booth, R*ti. Some, 1. 179.
» The attempt to set aside the evidence of Dionys-
les, on the ground that be makes an evident mistake
Si attributing the foundation of the Corinthian Church
to Peter and Paul, Is futile. If Peter took any part
m organising the Church, he would he spoken of as a
Mat founder. Sohaff supposes that Peter may have
erst visited Corinth on his way to Borne towards the
end of his life.
e It Is to be observed that even St. Leo represents
lew relation of St Peter to Anooeh as precisely the
as» with that In which he stands Is Rome (Bp. 93).
e* Origan, ap. Buseb. ill. 1, adoptea by Bp'^hasdus
him. xxril.) and Jerome (Dalai, e. 1).
« On the other band, the all but unanimous opln-
ten of ancient oommeutetors that Home is designated
see keen adopted, aad maintained with great Ingenu-
however, it Is to be inferred that towards the end
of his life, St Peter either visited, or resided for
some time at Babylon, which at that time, and for
some hundreds of years afterwurds, was a chief seat
of Jewish culture. This of oourse depends upon
the assumption, which on the whole seems • most
probable, that the word Babylon is not used as a
mystic designation of Rome, but as a proper name,
and that not of an obscure city in Egypt, but or
the ancient capital of the East There were many
inducements for such a choice of abode. The Jew-
ish families formed there a separate community/
they were rich, prosperous, and had established set-
tlements in many districts of Asia Minor. Their
language, probably a mixture of Hebrew and Na-
batean, must have borne a near affinity to the Gal>
ilean dialect They were on far more familiar term*
than in other countries with their heathen neigh*
bors, while their intercourse with Judca was car-
ried on without intermission. Christianity car
tainly made considerable progress at an early time
in that and the adjoining districts, the great Chris-
tian schools at Edeasa and Nuibis probably owed
their origin to the influence of Peter, the general
tone of the writers of that school is what is now
commonly designated as Petrine. It is no unrea-
sonable supposition that tbe estalilishment of Chris-
tiauity in those districts may ave been specially
connected with the residence >.! Peter at Babylon.
At that time there must hare been some commu-
nications between the two great Apostles, Peter and
Paul, thus stationed at the two extremities of the)
Christian world. St Mark, who was certainly em-
ployed about that time by St Paul, was with St
Peter when he wrote tbe epistle. Silt-anus, StPaal'f
chosen companion, was the bearer, probably the am-
annensis of St Peter's epistle: not improbably sent
to Peter from Rome, and charged by him to deliver
that epistle, written to support Paul's authority, to
the churches founded by that Apostle on his return.
More important in its bearings upon later con-
troversies is the question of St. Peter's connection
with Rome.
It may be considered as a settled point that bo
did not visit Rome before the last rear of his lift
Too much stress may perhaps be laid on the fact
that there is no notice of St. Peter's labors or
presence in that city in the Epistle to the Romans;
but that negative evidenoe is not counterbalanced
by any statement of undoubted antiquity. The
date given by Eusebius » rests upon a miscalcula-
tion, and is irreconcilable with the notices of St
Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. Protestant
critics, with scarcely one exception.* are unanimous
upon this point, and Roman controversialists an
ity and some very strong arguments, by 8ebafr(0a»-
ckithu dtr Ovuflfcam Kirdu, p. 800), Nander, Stitcar,
De Watte, and Wlcei l s r . Among ourselves, Pe*»»c
takes the name Babylon literally, though with com
difference as to the place so named.
/ For many Interesting and valuable notices set
Joot, Qackuliu da Judtntkumt, I. 887, II. 127.
I II* gives l. b. 42 In the Ovtmicon (i. e. In the Ar
menlan text), and says that Peter remained at Bonis
twenty years. In this he If followed by Jerome, Oatai.
e. 1 (who gives twenty-five years), and by mont Bomaw
Catholic writers.
» Thiersch Is the only exception. He belongs Is
the L-rtDglte sect, which can scarcely be called Prut s *
ant See Vmuat, p. 104. His ingenious arguments
are answered by bang*, Dot apouotudu
p. 8S1, and by P «aK, Kkcmtrngudmchlr. p. SOU
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2454
PBTBB
hr from teing agreed in their attempts « to
an difficulty.
The bet, however, of St. Peter's martyrdom at
name rests npon very different ground*. The evi-
dence for it is complete, while there ia a total
absence of an. ■ contrary statement in the writings
of the early Fathers. We have in the first place
the certainty of bis martyrdom, in our Lord's own
prediction (John xzi. 18, 19). Clement of Kome,
writing before the end of the first century, speaks
af it,' but does not mention the place, that being
of course well known to his readers. Ignatius, in
the undoubtedly genuine Epistle to the Komans
(eh. hr.), speaks of St. Peter in terms which imply
a special connection with their church. Other
early notices of less weight coincide with this, as
that of Papias (Euseb. ii. 15), and the apocryphal
Pratticatio Petri, quoted by Cyprian. In the
second century, Dion) aim of Corinth, in the Epistle
to Soter, Bishop of Kome (ap. Euseb. H. E. ii. 25),
states, as a feet universally known, and accounting
lor the intimate relations between Corinth sod
Rome, that Peter and Paul both taught iu Italy,
and suffered martyrdom about the same time. c
Ireuteus, who was connected with St John, being
a disciple of Polycarp, a hearer of that Apostle,
and thoroughly conversant with Roman matters,
bears distinct witness to St. Peter's presence at
Rome (Adv. liar. iii. 1 and 3). It ia incredible
that he should have been misinformed. In the
next century there is the testimony of Cuius, the
liberal and learned Roman presbyter (who speaks
of St. Peter's tomb in tbe Vatican ), that of Origen,
Tertullian, and of the ante and post-Nicene Fathers,
without a single exception. In short, the churches
most nearly connected with Kome, and those least
affected by its influence, which was as yet but in-
considerable iu the East, concur in the statement
that Peter was a joint founder of that church, and
suffered death hi that city. What the early Fathers
Ho not assert, and indeed Implicitly deny, is that
Peter was the sole founder or resident bead of that
Church, or that the See of Rome derived from him
any claim to supremacy: at the utmost they place
hiss on a footing of equality with St. Paul.'' 'lint
bet is sufficient for all purposes of fair controversy.
The denial of the statements resting on such evidence
seems almost to indicate an uneasy consciousness,
truly remarkable in those who believe that they
have, and who in feet really have, irrefragable
grounds for rejecting the pretensions of tbe Papacy.
The time and manner of the Apostle's martyr-
dom are less certain. The early writers imply, or
distinctly state, that he suffered at, or about the
« The most Ingenious attempt la that of Wlndlsch-
maa*, Tindicut Petrina, p. 112 f. He assumes that
Peter went to Boms Immediately after his deliverance
from prison (Acts all.), i. t. A. ». 44, and left In ooose-
qasnoe of the Claudian persecution between a. ». 49
and 61.
* YapTvpfr-se fcrapsiffl? tUrbvb4*iXin*vwr6wwnjl
U*)C (l Cor v.). The fir** word might simply mean
« bare public witness ; " hat the last an conclusive.
e One of the most striking instances of tbe hyper-
sriocal skepticism of the Tubingen school Is Baur's
etaarpt to prove that this distinct and posltivs state-
uent was a mere inference from the epistle of Olement.
file Intercourse between the two churches was un-
s suh a u r.eni the Apostles' times.
«* Ootelier has collected a large number of passages
frees the early fathers, In which the name of Paul
■ W i li s that of Peter (Alt. Apott. I. 414: see also
FJaTJUt
same time (Dionysius, axrrt v-lr alnlr
with St. Peal, and in the Neronian
All agree that he was crucified, a point sufficiently
determined by our Lord's prophecy. Origen (ap.
Eus. iii. 1 ), who oould easily ascertain the feet, and
though fanciful in speculation, is not inaccurate ia
historical matters, says that at his own request be
was crucified with his head downwards. Thia state-
ment was generally received by Christian antiquity:
nor does it seem inconsistent with the fervent teaa-
perament and deep humility of the Apostle to have
chosen such a death : one, moreover, not aJihaery
to have been inflicted in mockery by tbe maara-
ments of Nero's wanton and ingenious cruelty.
The legend found in St. Ambrose is interesting,
and may have some foundation in fact. When the
persecution began, the Christians at Rome, anxious
to preserve their great teacher, persuaded him to
flee, a course which they had Scriptural w aiient
to recommend, and be to follow; but at the gate
he met our Lord. " Lord, whither goeat thou? "
asked the Apostle. "I go to Rome," was the answer,
"there once more to be crucified." St. Peter well
understood the meaning of those words, returned at
ones and was crucified. 1
Thus closes the Apostle's life. Some additional
facts, not perhaps unimportant, may be accepted
on early testimony. From St. Paul's words it may
be inferred with certainty that he did not give up
the ties of family life when be forsook his temporal
calling. His wife accompanied him in his wander-
ings. Clement of Alexandria, a writer well in-
formed in matters of ecclesiastical interest, and
thoroughly trustworthy, says (Strom, iii. p. 448)
that " Peter and Philip had children, and that both
took about their wires, who acted as their coadju-
tors in ministering to women at their own homes;
by their means the doctrine of tbe Lord penetrated
without scandal into the privacy of women'a apart-
ments." Peter's wife is believed, on tbe same
authority, to have suffered martyrdom, and to have
been supported in tbe hour of trial by her husband's
exhortation. Some critics believe that aba is re-
ferred to in the salutation at tbe end of the First
Epistle of St. Peter. The Apostle is said to ham
employed interpreters. Basilides, an early Gnostic,
professed to derive his system from Glauchu, one
of these interpreters. This shows at least the im-
pression, that the Apostle did not understand
Greek, or did not speak it with fluency. Of far
more importance ia the statement that St. Hark
wrote his Gospel under the teaching of Peter, or
that he embodied in that Gospel tbe substance of
our Apostle's oral instructions. This st a t ement
Valerius, Bos. H. B. HI. 21). labrlclus <
this Is the general usage of theOraekFatban. It is aha)
to be remarked that when the fathers of the 4th aad
6th centuries — for instance, Chrysosteaa and Angus
tine— me the words 4 'Aw&rroAoc, or AposteimM,'J>m
mean Paul, not Peter. A vary weighty fact.
« Bee TWemont. Mfm. I. p. 187, and 666. Be shows
that the account of Ambrose (which Is not hi be Sand
in the Bened. edit! Is contrary to the apocryphal
legend. Later writers rather value It as reflecting
upon St. Peters want of courage or constancy. That
St. Peter, Ilka all good men, valued his life, aad suf-
fered reluctantly, may be inferred from our Lead's
words (John xii. j , but his flight Is man In harmony
with tbe principles of a Christian than willful expssan
to persecution. Origen refen to the words than asat
to have been spoken by our Lord, but quotas aa ease
ryphal work (On As. Joan, toss a.).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBTBK (FIRST EPISTLE)
wta open inch an amount of external evidence,*
and is corroborated by so many internal indications,
that they wonld scarcely be questioned in toe ab-
sence of a strong theological bias. The nut it
doubly important in its bearings upon the Gos-
pel, and upon the character of our Apostle. Chry-
sostom, who is followed by the most judicious
commentators, seems first to hare drawn attention
to the fact, that in St Mark's Gospel every defect
in Peter's character and conduct is brought out
dearly, without the slightest extenuation, while
many noble acts and peculiar marks of favor are
either omitted, or stated with far leas force than by
any other Evangelist Indications of St. Peter's
influence, even in St Mark's style, much less pure
than that of St Luke, are traced by modem crit-
Tbe only written documents which St. Peter has
left, are the First Epistle, about which no doubt
has ever been entertained in the Church ; and the
Second, which has both in early times, and in our
jwn, been a subject of earnest controversy.
FmsT Epistle. — The external evidence of
authenticity is of the strongest kind. Referred to
in the Second Epistle (iii. 1); known to Polycarp,
and frequently alluded to in his Epistle to the Philip-
pians; recognized by Papias (ap. Euseb. H. h'. iii.
39) ; repeatedly quoted by Irenaras, Clemens of Alex-
andria, Tertullian, and Crimen; it was accepted
without hesitation by the universal Church.* The
internal evidence is equally strong. Schwegler the
most reckless, and De Wette the most vacillating
of modern critics, stand almost alone in their denial
of its authenticity.
It was addressed to the churches of Asia Minor,
which had for the most part been founded by St.
Paul and his companions. Supposing it to have
bean written at Babylon (see above), it is a prob-
able oonjecture that Silvanus, by whom it was
transmitted to those churches, had joined St.
Peter after a tour of visitation, either in pursuance
of instructions from St Paul, then a prisoner at
Rome, or in the capacity of a minister of high
authority in the Church, and that his account of
taw condition of the Christians in those districts
determined the Apostle to write the epistle. From
the absence of personal salutations, and other indi-
cations, it may perhaps be inferred that St. Peter
had not hitherto visited the churches; but it is
certain that he was thoroughly acquainted both
with their external circumstances and spiritual
■tote? It is clear that Silvanus is not regarded by
St. Peter as one of his own coadjutors, but as one
whose personal character he had sufficient oppor-
tunity of appreciating (v. 12). Such a testimonial
PETER (FIRST EPISTLE) 2455
• Papias and Clem. Alex., referred to by EuMbltu,
JR. X. U. 16 j Tertullian, c. Marc. Iv. o. 6 ; Irenieus,
V. 1, and Iv. 0. Fetavius (on Eplphanius, p. 428)
ebaervea that Papias derived bis Information from
John the Presbyter, for other passages see Fabricius
[JBiU. Or. torn. 10. 182). Tbs slight discrepancy be-
tween Suseblus and Papias indicates independent
lources of information.
s Glassier, quoted by Davidson.
* No Importance can be attached to the omission
n the mutilated .fragment on the Canon, published by
eturatorl. See Routh, RclL Sac. i. 8P8, and the note
af Frelndaller, which Routh quotes, p. 424 Theodoras
if Mopsuestla, a shrewd but rash critic, Is said Co
lavs rejected all, or tome, of the Catholic epistles ; but
lbs statement Is ambiguous. See Davidson (Int. 111.
SI), whMS translation is incorrect.
as the Apostle gives to the soundness of Ills
would of course have the greatest weight with th
Hebrew Christians, to whom the epistle appears to
have been specially, though not exclusively ad-
dressed.'* The assumption that SUvsscs was em-
ployed in the composition of the epistle is not borne
out by the expression, " by Silvanus, I hare written
unto you," such words according to ancient usage
applying rather to the bearer than to the writer or
amanuensis. Still it is highly probable that Silvanus,
considering his rank, character, and special connec-
tion with those churches, snd with their great Apos-
tle and founder, would be consulted by St Peter
throughout, and that they would together read the
epistles of St Paul, especially those addressed to
the churches in those districts : thus, partly with
direct intention, partly it may be unconsciously, a
Pauline coloring, amounting in passages to some-
thing like a studied imitation of St. Paul's repre-
sentations of Christian truth, may have been
introduced into the epistle. It has been observed
above that there is good reason to suppose that St
Peter was in the habit of employing an interpreter;
nor is there anything inconsistent with his position
or character in the supposition that Silvanus, per-
haps also St. Mark, may have assisted him in
giving expression to tbe thoughts suggested to him
by the Holy Spirit We have thus at any rate, a
not unsatisfactory solution of the difficulty arising
from correspondences both of style and modes of
thought in the writings of two Apostles who dif-
fered so widely in gifts and aoqu'rements.*
Tbe objects of tbe epistle, as deduced from its
contents, coincide with these assumptions. They
were : 1. To comfort and strengthen the Christians
in a season of severe trial. 3. To enforce the prac-
tical and spiritual duties involved in their calling.
3. To warn them against special temptations at-
tached to their position. 4. To remove all doubt
as to tbe soundness and completeness of the religious
system which they had already received. Such an
attestation was especially needed by tbe Hebrew
Christians, who were wont to appeal from St. Psul's
authority to that of the elder Apostles, and above
all to that of Peter. The last, which is perhaps tbs
very principal object, is kept in view throughout
the epistle, and is distinctly stated, ch. v. ver. IS.
These objects may come out more clearly in a
brief analysis.
Tbe epistle begins with salutations and general
description of Christians (i. 1, 2), followed by a
statement of their present privileges and future in-
heritance (3-5); the bearings of that statement
upon their conduct under persecution (6-9);
reference, according to the Apostle's wont, to proph
<l This is the general opinion of tbs ablest i
tators. The ancients were nearly unanimous m holdlag
that It was written for Hebrew converts. But several
passages are evidently meant for Gentiles : e.g. i. U.
18 ; li. 9, 10 ; iii. 6 ; iv. 8. Reoss, an original and able
writer, is almost alone in the opinion that It was sd
dressed chiefly to Gentile converts (p. 183 1. He takes ra-
pourot and nfoOnu, as = 0*13, Israelites by faith,
not by ceremonial observance (nie ht naek aVflt fW'tfj)
See sleo Weiss, Dnpttrmitdu Lthrbrpiff. p. 28, n. 1
*■ The question has been thoroughly discussed by
Hoy Ewald, Bertholdt. Weiss, and other critics. The
most striking resemblances are pnrhaps 1 Pet. L 3,
with Bph. I. J H. 18, with Kph. vi. 6 ; ill. 1, with
Eph. v. 22 ; ani v. 5, with v. 21 : but allutexa
nearly as distinct are found to the Romsne, flee
tnthlsas. Ootoaalans, Thsssahsnans, ani Pol ansa
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2456 PETEK (FIRST EPISTLE)
mm concerning both the sufferings of Christ and
the salvation of hia people (10-12); exhortation!
baaed upon thoae promises to earnestness, aobriety,
hope, obedience, and holiness, as reaulta of knowl-
edge of redemption, of atonement by the blood of
Jeaun. and of the resurrection, and aa proofi of
spiritual regeneration by the word of God. Pecul-
iar stress Is laid upon the cardinal graces of faith,
liojie, and brotherly lore, each connected with and
resting upon the fundamental doctrines of the Gos-
pel (13-2$). Abstinence from the spiritual sins
moat directly opposed to thoae graces is then en-
forced (ii. 1): spiritual growth is represented aa
dependent upon the nourishment supplied by the
same Word which was the instrument of regenera-
tion (2, 3); and then, by a change of metaphor.
Christians are represented as a spiritual bouse, col-
'ectively and individually at living stones, and royal
priest* elect, and brought out of darkness into
light (4-10). This portion of the epistle is singu-
larly rich in thought and expression, and bears the
peculiar impress of the Apostle's mind, in which
Judaism is spiritualised, and finds its full develop-
ment in Christ. From this condition of Christians,
and more directly from the fact that they are thus
separated from the world, pilgrims and sojourners,
St. Peter deduces an entire system of practical and
relative duties, self-control, care of reputation, es-
pecially for the sake of Gentiles; submission to all
constituted authorities; obligations of slaves, urged
with remarkable earnestness, and founded upon the
example of Christ and hia atoning death (11-26);
and duties of wives and husbands (iii. 1-7). Then
generally all Christian grace* are commended, those
which pertain to Christian brotherhood, and thoae
which are especially needed in times of persecution,
gentleness, forbearance, and submission to injury
(9-17): all the precepts being based on imitation of
Christ, with warnings from the history of the deluge,
and with special reference to the baptismal covenant.
In the following chapter (iv. 1, 2) the analogy
between the death of Christ and spiritual mortifi-
aation. a topic much dwelt on by St. Paul, ia urged
with special reference to the sins committed by
Christians lefore conversion, and habitual to the
Gentiles. The doctrine of a future judgment is
inculcated, both with reference to their heathen
persecutors as a motive for endurance, and to their
own conduct a* an incentive to aobriety, watchful-
ness, fervent charity, liberality in all external acts
of kindness, and diligent discharge of all spiritual
duties, with a view to the glory of God through
Jesus Christ (3-11).
This epistle appears at the first draught to have
terminated here with the doxology, but the thought
of the fiery trial to which the Christiana were ex-
posed stirs the Apostle's heart, and suggests ad-
ditional exhortations. Christians are taught to
rejoice in partaking of Christ's sufferings, being
thereby assured of sharing his glory, which even
in this life rest* upon them, and is especially mani-
fested in their innocence and endurance of persecu-
tion: judgment must come first to cleanse the
house of God, then to reach the disobedient: suffer-
ing according to the will of God, they may com-
mit their soul* to Him in well doing as unto a
Mthfnl Creator. Faith and hope are equally
aonspicuous in these exhortations. The Apostle
hen (v. 1-4) addresses the presbyters of the
* Ike issdrof <rrijr« Is In all points preferable to
Wat of the uxnu reseats*, i *> r i « « r «.
PETER (FIBST EPISTLE)
churches, warning thein as one of their owt body
as a witness (piprvs) of Christ's sufferings, ami
partaker of future glory, against negligence, t otes-
outness, and love of power: the younger members
he exhorts to submission and humility, and eon
dudes this part with a warning against their spirit-
ual enemy, and a solemn and most beautiful prayer,
to the God of all grace. I**tly, he mentions SQ-
vanus with special commendation, and states very
distinctly what we have seen reason to believe was
a principal object of the epistle, namely, that thtj
principles inculcated by their former teachers wen
sound, the true grace) of God, to which they ara
exhorted to adhere." A salutation from the
church in Babylon and from St Hark, with a
parting benediction, closes the epistle.
The harmony of such teaching with that of St.
Paul I* sufficiently obvious, nor is the general ar-
rangement or mode of discussing the topics unlike
that of the Apostle of the Gentiles; still the indi-
cations of originality and independence of thought
are at least equally conspicuous, and the epistle ia
full of what the Gospel narrative and the discourse*
in the Act* prove to have been characteristic pecu-
liarities of St. Peter. He dwells more frequently
than St. Psnl upon the future manifestation of
Christ, upon which he bases nearly all his exhorta-
tions to patience, self-control, and the discharge of
all Christian duties. There is not a shadow of
opposition here, the topic is not neglected by St.
Pud, nor does St. Peter omit the Pauline argu-
ment from Christ's sufferings; still what the Ger-
mans call the eschatological element predominate*
over all others. The Apostle's mind is full of on*
thought, toe realization of Messianic hopes. While
St. Paul dwells with most earnestness upon justi-
fication by our Lord's deatli and merits, and con-
centrates his energies upon the Christian's [it went
struggles, St. Peter fixes his eyes constantly upon
the future coming of Christ, the fulfillment of proph-
esy, the manifestation of the promised kingdom.
In this he is the true representative of Israel,
moved by those feelings which were best calculated
to enable him to do hia work a* the Apostle of the
circumcision. Uf the three Christian graces bops
is bis special theme. He dwells much on good
works, but not so much because he sees in them
necessary result* of faith, or the complement of
faith, or outward manifestations of the spirit of
love, aspect* most prominent in St. Paul, St. James,
and St. John, as because he holds them to be tests
of the soundness and stability of a faith which rests
on the fact of the resurrection, and is directed to
the future in the developed form of hope
But while St. Peter thus ahows himself a genuine
Israelite, his teaching is directly opposed to Juds-
izing tendencies. He belongs to the school, or, to
speak more correctly, is the leader of the school,
which at once vindicates the unity of the taw and
the Gospel, and puts the superiority of the latter
on its true basis, that of spiritual development.
All his practical injunctions ara drawn from Chris-
tian, not Jewish principles, from the precepts, ex-
ample, life, death, resurrection, and future coming
of Christ. The Apostle of the Circumcision says
not a word in this epistle of the perpetual obliga-
tion, the dignity, or even the bearings of tha
Mosaic U«. He is full of the Old Testament; hh
style and thought* are charged with it* imagery, hot
he contemplates and applies its teaching in the light
of the Gospel; he regards the privileges and glory 0)
the ancient people of God entirely in their splritua
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PETER (SECOND EPISTLE)
iesetopmeat in the Church of Christ. Onlj one
■ho had bceu brought up u a Jew could hare had
sis apirit to impregnated with these thought*;
only one who had been thoroughly emancipated by
the Spirit of Obriat could have ran ao completely
above the prejudices of hia age and country. This
la a point of great importance, showing how utterly
opposed the teaching of the original Apostles,
whom St. Peter certainly represents, was to that
Judaistic narrowness which speculative rationalism
has imputed to all the early followers of Christ,
with the exception of St Haul. There are in fact
more traces of what are called Judaizlng views,
more of sympathy with national hopes, not to say
prejudice*, in the epistles to the Romans and tial-
atians, than In this work. In this we see the Jew
who has bean born again, and exchanged what St
Peter himself calls the unbearable yoke of the Law
for the liberty which is in Christ. At the same
time it must be admitted that our Apostle is far
htm tracing his principles to their origin, and from
drawing out their consequences with the vigor,
spiritual discernment, internal sequence of reason-
ing, and systematic completeness which sre charac-
teristic of St l'auL« A few great feet*, broad
solid principles on which faith and hope may rest
securely, with a spirit of patience, confidence, and
love, suffice for his unspeculative mind. To him
objective truth was the main thing; subjective
struggles between the intellect and spiritual con-
sciousness, such as we find in St Paul, and the
intuitions of a spirit absorbed in contemplation like
that of St John, though not by any means alien
to St Peter, were in him wholly subordinated to
the practical tendencies of a simple and energetic
character. It has been observed with truth, that
both In tone and in form the teaching of St. Peter
bears a peculiarly strong resemblance to that of our
Lord, in discourses bearing directly upon practical
duties. The great value of the epistle to believers
consists in this resemblance; they feel themselves
in the hands of a safe guide, of one who
will help them to trace the hand of their Muter in
both dispensations, and to confirm and expand
their faith.
Second Epum.it. — The Second Epistle of St.
Peter present* questions of far greater difficulty
than the former. There can be no doubt that,
whether we consider the external or the internal
evidence, it is by no means eas} to demonstrate its
genuineness. We have few references, and none of
a very positive character, in the writings of the
ssrly Fathers; the style differs materially from that
bf the First Epistle, and tbe resemblance, amount-
ing to a studied imitation, between this epistle
sad that of St Jude, seems scarcely reconcilable
with tbe position of St. Peter. Doubts as to its
genuineness were entertained by the greatest critics
of the early Church; in the time of Euseblus it
was reckoned among the disputed books, and was
not formally admitted into the Canon until the
year 893, at the Council of Hippo. The opinion of
arities of what b called the liberal school, including
ill shades from Lttcke to bHur, has been decidedly
a Thus Reuse, Kara «'o «u <U ftttmt. 8s* also
Meaner and Wetas, pp. 14, 17.
* Bltaehl's observations on the ■plstie of St Janvw
an at least eqnallj applicable to this. It would be,
Mssaatatrraly speaking, little known to Gentile con-
latSs, while the Jewish party gradually died out, and
«as as* at any tune mixed op with the general son-
PETER (SECOND EPI8TLE) 2467
unfavorable, and that opinion has been adopted by
some able writers in England. There are, howeier,
very strong reasons why this verdict should be re-
considered. No one ground on which it rests is un-
assailable. The rejection of this book affects the au-
thority of the whole Canon, which, in the opinion ot
one of the keenest and least scrupulous critics (Reuse ;
of modern Germany, is free from any other error.
It is not a question as to the possible authorship of
a work like that of the Hebrews, which does not
bear the writer's name: this epistle must eithet be
dismissed as a deliberate forgery, or accepted as the
last production of tbe first among the Apostles of
Christ The Church, which for more than four-
teen centuries haa received it, has either been
imposed upon by what must in that case be re-
garded as a Satanic device, or derived from it
spiritual instruction of tbe highest importance. If
received, it bears attestation to some of the most
important, facts in our Lord's history, casts light
upon the feelings of the Apostolic body in relation
to the elder church and to each other, and, while
it confirms many doctrines generally inculcated, is
the chief, if not the only, voucher for eachatologioal
views touching the destruction of the framework of
creation, which from an early period have been
prevalent in the Church.
The contents of the epistle seem quite in accord-
ance with its asserted origin.
The customary opening salutation is followed by
an enumeration of Christian blessings and exhorta-
tion to Christian duties, with special reference to
the maintenance of the truth which had been
already communicated to the Church (i. 1-18).
Referring then to his approaching death, the Apos-
tle assigns as grounds of assurance for believers hi*
own personal testimony as eye-witness of the trans-
figuration, and the sure word of prophecy, that la
the testimony of the Holy Ghost (14-81). The
danger of tieing misled by false prophet* is dwelt
upon with great earnestness throughout the second
chapter, their covetousness and gross sensuality
combined with pretences to spiritualism, in short
all the permanent and fundamental characteristics
of Antinoniianism, are described, while the over
throw of all opponents of Christian truth is pre
dieted (ii. 1-29) in connection with prophecies
touching the second advent of Christ, the destruc-
tion of the world by fire, and the promise of new
heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth right-
eousness. After an exhortation to attend to St
Paul's teaching, in accordance with the leas explicit
admonition in the previous epistle and an emphatic
warning, the epistle doses with the customary ascrip-
tion of glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
We may now state briefly the answers to the
objections above stated.
1. With regard to its recognition by the early
church, we observe that it was not likely to be
quoted frequently; it was addressed to a portion of
the church not at that time much in intercoms*
with the rest of Christendom : * the documents of
the primitive church are far too scanty to give
weight to the argument (generally a questionable
meat of th* church. The only literary documents of
the Hebrew Christians wars written by Xblooltss, Is
whom this epistle would be most distasteful. Had
the book not been supported by itronq external ess*
Qc n tta l s, its general reception or ohralattni saas* Bar
aeeonntabk.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2458 PBTEB (SECOND EPISTLE)
aa) from omission. Although it cannot be proved
to have been referred to by any author earlier than
Origen, yet passage* from Clement of Rome, Her-
mes, Justin Martyr, Theophilua of Antioch, and
Irenssus, suggest au acquaintance with this epis-
tle:* to these may be added a probable reference
In the Martyrdom of Ignatius, quoted by Westcott
i On tit Canon, p. 87), and another in the Apology
•f Melito, published in Syriac by Dr. Cureton.
It is also distinctly stated by Eusebius, M K. vi.
14, and by Photius, cod. 109, that Clement of
Alexandria wrote a commentary on all the dis-
puted epistles, in which this was oertainly included.
It is quoted twioe by Origen, but unfortunately in
the translation of Ruffinus, which cannot be relied
upon. Didymus refers to it very frequently in his
great work on the Trinity. It was certainly in-
eluded in the collection of Catholic Epistles known
to Eusebius and Origen, a very important point
made out by Olshausen (Oputeuia Thai. p. 29).
It was probably known in the third century in dif-
ferent parts of the Christian world : in Cappadocia
to Finnilian, in Africa to Cyprian, in Italy to
Hippolytus, in Phoenicia to Methodius. A large
number of passages has been collected by Dietlein,
which, though quite insufficient to prove its recep-
tion, add somewhat to the probability that it waa
read by most of tbe early Fathers. The historical
evidence is certainly inconclusive, but not such aa
to require or to warrant the rejection of the epistle.
The silence of the Fathers is accounted for more
easily than its admission into the Canon after the
question as to its genuineness had been raised. It
is not conceivable that it should have been received
without positive attestation from the churches to
which it was first addressed. We know that the
autographs of Apostolic writings were preserved
with care. It must also be observed that all mo-
tive for forgery is absent. This epistle does not
support any hierarchical pretensions, nor does it
bear upon any controversies of a later age.
9. The difference of style may be admitted.
The only question is, whether it is greater than can
be satisfactorily accounted for, supposing that the
tpostle employed a different person as his aman-
.lensis. That the two epistles could not have been
composed and written by the same person is a
point scarcely open to doubt. Olshausen, one of
the fairest and least prejudiced of critics, points
out eight discrepancies of style, some perhaps un-
important, but others almost conclusive, the most
Important being the appellations given to our
Saviour, and the comparative absence of references
to the Old Testament in this epistle. If, however,
we admit that some time intervened between the
imposition of the two works, that in writing tbe
first tho Apostle was aided by Silvanus, and in
the second by another, perhaps St Mark, that the
circumstances of the churches addressed by him
wen considerably changed, and that the second waa
written in greater haste, not to speak of a possible
PBTEB (SHOOED EP181XE)
<■ The p assa ge s are quoted by Gueriks, Einttitunz,
p. 462.
& See Dr. Wordsworth's Commentary on 2 Peter.
His chief around fc that St. Peter predict! a state of
affairs which St Jude describes as actually existing.
A my strong ground, admitting the authenticity of
both epistles.
« E. g. Bunseou tJllmann, and Langs.
• This account Is not secants. Bunssn regard* as
aeaazns only 2 Pet. I. 1-11, with the doxologr at the
•ad of the epistle. He supposss this very short letter
decay of faculties, the di n to euo es may be i
as lnanfneJeot to Justify mora than hesita t i o n is>
admitting its genuineness. The resembbnoe to
the Epistle of St. Jude may be admitted without
affecting our judgment unfavorably. Supposing,
as some eminent critics have believed, that thai /
epistle was copied by St. Jude, we should have tha
strongest possible testimony to its authenticity;*
but if, on tbe other hand, we accept the mora
general opinion of modem critics, that tbe writer
of this epistle copied St. Jude, tbe following con-
siderations hare great weight. It seems quite in-
credible that a forger, personating the chief among
the Apostles, should select the least important of
all the Apostolical writings for imitation; whereas
it is probable that St- Peter might choose to give)
the stamp of his personal authority to a document
bearing so powerfully upon practical and doctrinal
errors in the churches which he addressed. Con-
sidering, too, the characteristics of our Apostle,
his humility, his impressionable mind, so open to
personal influences, and bis utter forgetfulnees of
self when doing his Master's work, we should
hardly be surprised to find that part of the epistle
which treats of the same subjects colored by St.
•lode's style. Thus to the First Epistle we Sad
everywhere, especially in dealing with kindred topics,
distinct traces of St. Paul's influence. This hy-
pothesis has moreover the advantage of accounting
for the most striking, if not all tbe discrepancies of
style between the two epistles.
8. The doubts as to its genuineness appear to
have originated with tbe critics of Alexandria,
where, however, the epistle itself was formally
recognized at a very early period. Those doubts,
however, were not quite so strong as they are no*
generally represented. The three greatest names
of that school may be quoted on either side. On
the one hand there were evidently external cre-
dentials, without which it could never have ob
tained circulation ; on the other, strong subjective
impressions, to which these critics attached scarcely
less weight than some modern inquirers. They
rested entirely, so far as can be ascertained, on the
difference of style. The opinions of modern earn
mentators may be summed up under three heads
Many, at we have seen, reject the epistle altogether
as spurious, supposing it to have been directed
against forms of Gnosticism prevalent in the early
part of the second century. A few' consider that
the first and last chapters were written by St.
Peter or under his dictation, but that the second
chapter was interpolated. So far, however, is either
of these views from representing the general results
of the latest investigations, that a majority of
names,'' including nearly all the writers of Germany
opposed to Rationalism, who In point of learning
and ability are at least upon a par with their
opponents, may be quoted in support of the gen-
uineness and authenticity of this epistle. Tha
statement that all critics of eminence and irapar-
to be really the fint Kptetla of Peter, and to be re
sirred to in 1 Pet v 19 (A'Mim**, vlil. 661-68*,
Hippolytvt and kit Agt, 2d <-d., i. 24 f.). Dlhnann
considers only the first chapter genuine (Da- 9> Ait/
Puri sn'lMca vnUrmdu, Batdelb. 1821). tangs rap-
poses the Interpolation to extend from 2 Pet 1. 20 «•
ill. 3, inclusive (ait. Amu, dtr 4*e*M, to Barscfi
Btai-EncyU. xt. 487). A.
d Mtssche, Ilatt, Dahlmao (Haul?], Wu>dkw*>
aann, Ueyomreteh, Gueriks, Pott, Angus*, Makes
sen, Thlerssh, Soar, ana. Dietlein.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBTKR (APOOBYPHAL
Meaty concur in rejecting it is simply untrue,
■aim it be admitted that a belief in the reality of
objective revelation U incompatible with critical
impartiality, that belief being the only common
point between the numerous defenders of the eao-
onioity of this document. If it were a question
now to be decided for the first time upon the ex-
ternal or internal evidences still accessible, it may
be admitted that it would be far more difficult
to maintain this than any other document in the
New Testament; but the judgment of the early
church is not to be reversed without far stronger
arguments than have been adduced, more especially
as the epistle is entirely free from objections which
might be brought, with more show of reason,
against others now all but universally received:
inculcating no new doctrine, bearing on no con-
troversies of post-apos tolic al origin, supporting no
hierarchical innovations, bat simple, earnest, devout,
and eminently practical, fall of the characteristic
graces of the Apostle, who, as we believe, bequeathed
this last proof of faith and hope to the "huroh.
Some Apocryphal writings of very early date
obtained currency in the Chureh as containing the
substance of the Apostle's teaching. The frag-
ments which remain are not of much importance,
nor eould they be conveniently discussed in this
notice. The preaching bchpuyfta) or doctrine
(jtitayf)) of Peter," probably identical with a work
called the Preaching of Paul, or of Paul and Peter,
quoted by Ijtctautiua, may have contained some
traces of the Apostle's teaching, if, as Grebe,
Zieglrr, and others supposed, it was published soon
after his death. The passages, however, quoted
by Clement of Alexandria are for the most part
wholly unlike St Peter's mode of treating doc-
trinal or practical subjects.* Another work, called
the Revelation of Peter (earosdAvifir TlsVpov), was
held In much esteem for centuries. It was eoni-
inented on by Clement of Alexandria, quoted by
Theodotus in the Echgat, named together with
the Revelation of St. John in the Fragment on
the Canon published by Huratori (but with the
remark, " quam quidam ex nostris legi in Eoclesia
nolunt"), and according to Socomen (£. R. vii.
18) was read once a year in some churches of
Palestine. It is said, but not on good authority,
to have been preserved among the Coptic Chris-
tiana. Eusebius looked on it ss spurious, but not
of heretic origin. From the fragments and notices
it appears to have consisted chiefly of denuncia-
tions against the Jews, and predictions of the fall
of Jerusalem, and to have been of a wild fanatical
character. The most complete amount of this
surious work is given by LUeke in his general in-
troduction to the Revelation of St. John, p. 47.
The legends of the Clementines are wholly devoid
of historical worth; but from those fictions orig-
jiating with an obscure and heretical sect, have
Men derived some of the most mischievous spsou-
Mtions of modern rationalists, especially as regards
' The two names an bausved by critics — I. 1. Care,
Braba, Itttaj, Mill, etc. — to belong to the same work.
£8ae SahUamana, Die CUmmthun, p. St.'
» Bamnas sad Jerome allude to a work wtueh the?
•wU "Judicium Petri ;"(br which Care [Grabs] ae-
ejanfci by a happy eoqjeeton, adopted by Nlanehe,
Naysrhofl; Heme, and SehHemann , that Banana found
ease for mfpvpta, and read meJtia.
e Hll aa mMd supposes that the book iidarisil to by
i as "Dual Tus vol Judicium PMrT'is Iden-
PBTER (LITEBATTJRB) 2459
the atsnmed antagonism between St Paul and the
earlier Apostles. It is important to observe, how-
ever, that in none of these spurious documents,
which belong undoubtedly to the two Gist centu-
ries, are then any indications that our Apostle was
regarded as in any peculiar sense connected with
the church or see of Rome, or that he exercised ot
claimed any authority over the apontolio body, of
which he was the recognized leader or representa-
tive. F. C. C.
[Cephas (KaaWit) occurs in the following pas-
sages: John i. 43; 1 Cor. L 12, Hi. 28, ix. fi, x».
6; GaL ii. 9, i. 18, ii. 11, 14 (the lest three u«*d-
ing to the text of Laehmann and llachebiorf).
Cephas is the Chaldee word Ctpka, N5 , 3, Itself m
corruption of, or derivation from, the Hebrew Ctpk,
^2, "a rook," a rare word, found only in Job xxx.
8, and Jer. iv. 89. It must have been the word
actually pronounced by our Lord in Matt. xvi. 18,
and on subsequent occasions when the Apostle was
addressed by Him or other Hebrews by his near
name. By it he was known to the Corinthian
Christians. In the ancient Syriac version of the
N. T. (Peshjto), it is uniformly found where the
Greek has Pttroe. When we consider that our
Lord and the Apostles spoke Chaldee, and that
therefore (as already remarked) the Apostle must
have been always addressed as Cephas, it is cer-
tainly remarkable that throughout the Gospels, no
less than 97 times, with one exception only, the
name should be given in the Greek form, which
was of later introduction, and unintelligible to
Hebrews, though intelligible to the far wider Gen-
tile world among which the Gospel was about to
begin its course. Even in St Hark, where mora
Chaldee words and phrases are retained than in all
the other Gospels put together, this it the case.
It is as if in our English Bibles the name were
uniformly given, not Peter, but Kock; and it
suggests that the meaning contained in the appel-
lation is of mora vital importance, and intended to
be more carefully seized at each recurrence, than
we are apt to recollect The commencement of
the change from the Chaldee name to its Greek
synonym is well marked in the interchange of the
two in Gal. ii. 7, 8, 9 (Stanley, Apotlolic Age, pp
116, 117).]
* Literature. — On the much debated question
of St Peter's residence in Rome, it may be suftV
eient to name the work of EUendorf, Jet Peine m
Horn u. Bieckofd. r&m. Kirche geveten t Darm-
stadt, 1841, trans, in the Bibl Sacra for July,
1858, jmd Jan. 1869; and, on the other side, Due
atie Gapenet . neu aufgefuhri run J.
EUendorf . . . betehtcoren dureh einen rV
mitchen Ezorcieten [A. J. Binterim], Diisseldoif,
1849. On this question, and on the life of Peter
in general, one may also consult SchafTs But of
the Apotlolic Chweh (N. Y. 1854), pp. 348-374.
tleal with ons which has beao repeatedly published
(«. f. by Bickell in his Otseh. lira Kirdvmrechlt
Oleum, 1848) aa Ai ewrayal at KAi||ott*c eat eortm
ieekipwnm Tmr trfimr wroar&mr, and has edMsd
it as such in his Nov. Tut. extra Ounonnn nctrtum,
Ian. Iv. (lite. 1836), pp. 98-106. This doeumani baa
muoh In common with Book vtt. oo. 1-30 of the
Apostohoal Oo u sl tt uuuus and the last 4 uhsptses af
the spistls aseribsd to Barnabas. A
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2460 PETER (LITERATURE)
For the literature of the subject, aee Gieeeier's
EeeL Hut vol. i. § 27, and Wtaer'i Reakotrterb.
mH. Petrut.
On the critical questions concerning the epistles
of Peter, the following worka may be mentioned,
In addition to the varioui Introductions to the New
Test (De Wette, Oedner, Reuse, Bleek, Davidson,
Guericke, etc), works on the history of the Apos-
tolic and post-Apostolic Church (Neander, Baur,
Schwegler, Thiersch, Lange, Schaff, etc.), and the
Commentaries: E. T. Mayerhoff, Bin. criL Ein-
latttny in die ptlrinitcken Schriften, Hamb. 1835
F. Windiaehmaun (Cath.), VmdSda Petrina, Ra-
tiab. 1886. Arte, in the TkeoL Stud. u. KriL by
Seyler (188'J, pp. 44-70) and Bleek (1836, pp.
1091-1072). Baur, Der ettte petrinitche Brirf, in
the Theol. Jahrb. 1866, pp. 193-240. " J. Q."
On the Epittlet of Peter, two elaborate arte, in
Kitto's Journal of Sacred Literature for Jan. and
July, 1861, the latter relating to the 2d Epistle,
and the apocryphal writings ascribed to Peter.
B. Weiss, Dit petrimtcht Frayt, in the Theol.
Stud. u. Ki-iL for 1865, pp. 619-657 (1st Epist),
and 1866, pp. 255-308 (2d Epist)- E. E. Kauch,
Rettung der OiiyinaliUU da ertten Briefet del
Ap. Petrut, in Winer's Neuet hit. Journ. d.
theoL Lit. (1828), viiL 885-449. E. Lecoultre,
Bur laprem. ep. de Pierre, Gen. 1839.
On the Second Epistle of Peter in particular,
see F. A. L. Nietzsche, Ep. Petri posterior Auctori
tuo vindicata. Lips. 1786. C. C. Flatt, Uetudna
lecunda Ep. Petri origo denuo defenditur, Tub.
1806. J. C. W. Dahl, De ov6«Tia Ep. Petr.
pvteriurU atque Judo, Rost 1807, ito. (Pro.)
E. A. Richter, Dt Origin! potter. Ep. Petri ex
Ep. Juda repetenda, Vit. 1810, 4to. Dllmson, see
note 6, p. 2469. H. Oishausen, De Inttg. el Au~
tktuL potteriorii Petri EpuL, Regiom. 1822-23,
4to, reprinted in his Optuc. Acad., and translated,
with an introduction, by B. B. Edwards in the
BibL Repository for July aud Oct 1836 (voL riii.).
E. Houtier, La 2« ep. de P. el celle de Jude tout
authentiquet, Strasb. 1829. P. E. Picot, Recher-
cket tar la 2« ep. de Pierre, Gen. 1829. (Pro.)
J. A. Delille, Authentic tie la 2« ep. de Pierre,
Strasb. 1836. (Pro.) H. Magnus, Exam, de Cau-
tktnt. de la 2« ep. de Pierre, Strasb. 1835. (Con.)
A. L. C. Heydenreich, Ein Wort sur Vcrtheidiyung
•i Aechtheit dee 2«» Br. Petri, Herborn, 1837.
L. Aodemars, fyafrep.de Pierre, Gen. 1838.
(Con.) A. L. Daumss, Inti-od. criL a la 2" ep.de
P. Strasb. 1845. (Con.)
For references to the more important general
commentaries which include the Epistles of Peter,
see the article Juhm, Fihst Epistle op, vol. ii. p.
1441 a. Among the special commentaries, passing
by earlijr works, we may notice those of Sender,
^araphrane, etc. in Ep. I. Petri, HaL 1783; in
Ep. 11. Petri el Ep. Judae, ibid. 1784. Moras,
PratectL in Joe. et Petri Epp., Lips. 1794. C.
3. Hensler, Dtr 1« Br. Petri Bbert., mil tinea
Kommentar, Sulzb. 1813. J. J. Hottinger, Epp.
lacobi et Petri I. earn Vert. Germ, et Comm.
Lot, Lips. 1816. W. Steiger, Der ertte Brief
Petri . . . aiuuclegt, BerL 1832, trans, by P. Fair-
Mini, 2 tola. Edinb. 1836 (BibL Cab. vols, xiii.,
idr.). Wiesinger, Der I* Br. d. Ap. Petrut er-
Vik, Kiinigsb. 1856, and Der 2* Br. d. Petrut u.
i. Br. d. Judat, ibid. 1862 (Bd. vi. Abtb. 2 and 3
if Okhausen's BibL Comm.). T. Schott, Der
l« Brief Petri erklart, Eriang. 1881, and Der
m> Br. P. u. d. Br Jrnid erklart, ibid. 1863. De
PETHAHLiH
Wette, Kmte ErkL der Brief e del Petrut, Jut*
u. Jacobm, 8* Autg. bearb. son B. Briemm
Laps. 1886 (Bd. lit. Abth. 1. of his Eaeg. Bond.
buck). J. E. Hutasr, KriL exec. Hondo, ub. d
1. Brief del Petrut, den Br. d. Judat, u. d. %
Br. A. Petrut, 8d ed. Gotting. 1867 (Abth. xii. of
Meyer's Kommentar). FronmUller, Die Brief*
Petri u. d. Br. JudO, theoL-homUet. bearbtitU,
2. Aufl. Bielefeld, 1861 (Theil xir. of Lugo's Bi-
bekoerk); translated, with additions, by J. I.
Mombert, N. Y. 1867, as part of toL ht.of Lange's
Commentaru, edited by Dr. Sehaff. W. O. Diet-
lein, Dtr 9« Br. Petri, Bed. 1851. (Uncritical.)
F. Steinfius, Der Sf Br. d. Ap. Petrut, Rost.
1868. In English, we also ban Abp. Lsighton's
Practical Commentary on the Pint Ep. of Peter,
in numerous editions (highly e st eemed); Bsmes's
ffotet (Epittlet ofjamet, Peter, John, aud Jude,
N. T. 1847); John Brown, fijws. Diecounet on
the Pint Epittk of SU Peter, 3d ed. 9 vols.
Edinb. 1849, 8ro (reprinted in 1 toL, N. T.); J.
F. Demsrert, Tram, and Expoti&m of the Ptrtt
Ep. of Peter, N. T. 1881; Comm. on the Second
Ep. of Peter, N. T. 1866; and Dr. John LUBe,
Ledura on Me Fint and Second Epittlet of Pe-
ter, N. T. 1869, embracing a new translation of
the epistles, and a commentary both critical and
practical. Of the commentaries named abore the
most raluable are those of De Wette, rluther,
and Wiesinger. See further the literature l ufcsiui
to under Jude, Epistle op.
On the doctrine of the epistles of Peter, in addi-
tion to the works on Biblical theology by Neander
Reuse, Lutterbeck, Messner, Schmid, Lechler, and
Baur, referred to under Johxt, Gospel op, toL iL
p. 1489 a, tee B. Weiss, Dtr pelrinuche Lthr-
begriff, Berl. 1855, 8*0, and the review by Baur in
the TkeoL Jahrb. 1856; also G. F. Simon, Etude
dugm. tur S. Pierre, Strasb. 1868.
On the apocryphal writings ascribed to Peter
one may consult Kabricius, Cod. apocr. Novi Tet-
tamenli (ed. 2da, 1719); Grebe's Spioikgmm, ml.
i. (ed. alt 1714); Tlschendorf's Acta ApottotoruM
Apocrypha (1851); and HilgenfeUTs Novum TetL
extra Canonem receptum, Fasc ir. (1866). Cred-
ner's speculations about the Gospel of Peter in his
Beitrdgt tur EM. in dit bibL Schriften, Bd. i.
(18321, are completely demolished by Mr. Norton,
in a Note to vol. i. of his Crenw'nenets of the Gem-
pelt, 1st ed. (Bost 1887), pp. cexxxil.-eclv. (not
reprinted in the 2d ed. of that work). A.
PETHAHI'AH (rTJTjn? : *mOmi Ata.
**9«Iu: Phetela). 1. A priest, o\tr the 19th course
in the reign of David (1 Chr. xxiv. 16).
3. (*«0<fa; [Vat OoSoia; Alex. * ( 0«ia; FA.
vaaia:] Phatata, Phathahia.) A Levite in the
time of Esra, who had married a foreign wife (Ear.
x. 28). He is probably the same who,' with otben
of his tribe, conducted the solemn service on tin.
occasion of the fast, when " the seed of Israel sep-
arated themselves from all strangers" (Neh. Ix. 6),
though his name does not appear among those who
sealed the covenant (Neh. x.).
3. (*aBaia; [Vat naBaia ; FA. HaStta.) Fm-
thahia.) The son of Meshesabeel and descendani
of Zerah the son of Judah (Neh. xi. 24), who was
« at the king's hand in all matter* wncerning the
people." The " king " here is e xp lained by BssM
to be Darius: " he was an assoeista in the eoons*
of the king Darius for all matters arfeeting Mas paa>
pie, to speak to the king conosming them."
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PETHOB
PKTHOE C"*n?: ♦aflaupii [Aim. B«-
•evpsj'. ariviwn; in Deut, LXX. and Vulg. om.]) t
i town of Mesopotamia where Balaam resided (Num.
nil. 5; Deut xxiii. 4). Ita poaition U wholly un-
known. W. L. B.
PETHU'EL (bKPing : Ba$ooi,\: PA<nW).
The lather of the prophet' Joel (Joel i. 1).
* The prophet' i name waa not uncommon (Joel),
and the addition of the father'* name distinguished
him from other* who bore it. The name ia prob-
aUj =» brJiriQ. «"» of God (Filrst, Gea. ). H.
PEUL'THAI [8eyl.J (VlVl?? {wage* of
Jehovah]: ♦eXofli; Alex. woAAaflt : PhoUathi).
Properly "PeuUethai;" the eighth aon of Obed-
edom (1 Chr. xxvi. 6).
PUA'ATH MO'AB ([Vat.] *«***■ Mexulew;
[Rom.] Alex. *aa0 M«a0: Phveno), 1 Kadr. t.
11=Pahath Moab. lu thi* passage the number
(2812) agreea with that in Ezra and diaagraea with
Kenemiah.
PHACAHETH (fexaptt; Alex - ♦a*a»«« !
SncharetJi ) = PocHKKrm of Zebalm (1 Esdr. v.
84).
PHAI'STJR [2 syL] (+mvo6p; Alex. *<u<rov:
Fottrt). Pashob, the prieetly fiunily (1 Eadr.
Ix. 28).
PHALDATUS [8 ayl.] (♦oXBmo,; [Vat.
toAaSaios Faldeut)=YxDXUM 4 (1 Eadr ix.
44).
PHALE'AS [properly Phai^s/a*] (+aXxuof-
HtU») = Padoh (1 Eadr. T. 89).
PHA'LEO (OdAw [or ♦aA«, Eh., Tiach.] :
Phaleg). Pelko the aon of Eber (Luke Hi- 38).
PHALXU (r*l^§ [dittinguuhed]: ♦aAAo'j;
Alex. voAAovS: PkaUu). Pallu the aon of Keuben
la ao called in the A. V. of Gen. xlvi. 8.
PHALTI CtS^S [deUvtranet of Jehovah] :
»oat(; [Vat. «eArn:] PAa/tf). The aon of
Laiah of Uallira, to whom Saul gave Mlehal in mar-
riage after hi* mad jealouay had driven David forth
aa an outlaw (1 Sam. xxv.44). In 2 Sam. ili. 15
he ia called Phaltiel. Ewald (Getch. iii. 129)
ruggnta that thia forced marriage waa a piece of
policy on the part of Saul to attach Phalli to hia
houae. With the exception of thia brief mention
of hi* name, and the touching little epiaode in
8 Sam. iii. 16, nothing more ia heard of Phalti.
Michel ia there restored to David. u Her buaband
went with her along weeping behind her to Bahu-
rim," and there, in obedience to Abner's abrupt
command, " Go, return," he turn* and disappear*
from the acene.
PHALTIEL (^^©-[(Wieerance of Je-
hovah] : ♦oAti^A. ; Phatiiet). The aune aa Phalti
(8 Sam. iii. 15).
PHANTT'EL (Oarov**: Phmutel). The
"ather of Anna, the prophet*** of the tribe of Aaer
■" ' 1 11. 36).
PHARAOH
2461
PHAR'ACIM («>(ua««>; Alex. *apmiii:
Fanoa). The "aon* of Pharaein were among
Iks ssrvanta of the Temple who retro tsd with Ze-
■ubbabeL according to the list in 1 Eadr. v. 81.
fo eomaponding name ia found in the parallel
aa nsti ie* of Sara and Nehemiah.
PHA'RAOH [pron. ftfro] (r1»"J9 : **-
mi: Pharao), the common title of the native
king* of Egypt in the Bible, corresponding to
P-KA or PH-RA, "the Sun," of the hieroglyph-
ic*. Thi* identification, respecting wh'ch there
can be no doubt, ia due to the Duke of Northum-
berland and General Felix (Kawlinson'a Herod, li.
293). It baa been supposed that the original wa*
the same a* the Coptic OTpO " the king," with
the article, HIOVpO, <£oT pO "» but Ui*
word appear* not to have been written, judgirg
from the evidence of the Egyptian inscription* at d
writing*, in the time* to which the Scripture* i*>
for. The conjecture arose from the idea that Pha
raoh mu*t signify, inatead of merely implying,
" king," a mistake occasioned by a too implicit
confidence in the exactness of ancient writer* (Jo-
seph. Ant. viii. 6, § 2; Eu*eb. ed. Seal p. 80,
v.l).
By the ancient Egyptian* the king waa called
"the Sun," aa the representative on earth of the
god RA, or " the Sun." It was probably on thia
account that more than one of the Pharaohs bear
in the nomen, in the second royal ring, the title
« ruler of Heliopolis," the city of Ra, H AK-AN,
aa in the case of Rameaes III., a distinction (bared,
though in an inferior degree, if we may judge from
the frequency of the corresponding title, by Thebes,
but by scarcely any other city." Oue of the moat
common regal titles, that which almost always pro-
cedes the nomen, is " Son of the Sun," SA-RA
The prenomen, in the first royal ring, regularly
commences with s disc, the character which repre-
sents the sun, and this name which the king took
on hi* accession, thus comprises the title Pharaoh :
for instance, the prenomen of Psammitichus II., the
successor of Necho, is RA-NUFR-HAT, "Pha-
raoh " or " Ra of the good heart." In the period
before the Vlth dynasty, when there was but a
single ring, the use of the word RA was not inva-
riable, many names not commencing with it, as
SHUFU or KHUFTJ, the king of the I Vth dy-
nasty who built the Great Pyramid. It is difficult
to determine, in rendering these name*, whether
the king or the divinity be meant : perhaps in royal
name* no distinction ia intended, both Pbaiaoh
and Ra being meant
The word Pharaoh occur* generally in the Bible
and always in the Pentateuch, with no addition,
for the king of Egypt. Sometime* the title " king
of Egypt " follow* it, and in the case* of the last
two native king* mentioned, the proper name ia
added, Pharaoh-Necho, Pbaraoh-Hophra, with
sometimes the further addition " king (or the king)
of Egypt." It is remarkable that Shiahak and
Zerah (if, as we believe, the second were a king of
Egypt), and the Ethiopian* So and Tirhaknh, art
never distinctly called Pharaoh (the mention of a
Pharaoh during the time of the Ethiopians prob-
ably referring to the Egyptian Sethoa), and that
the latter were foreigners and the former of foreign
extraction.
As several kings are only mentioned by the title
" Pharaoh " in the Bible, it ia important to en-
deavor to discriminate them. We shall therefor*
here stats what is known respecting them ia order,
a Ths king* who bear the former title ars ehlaflv of
the name Baassas, " Bora of Ba," the god of Batten
oils, which render* ths tttla aspeclaU* appr spr ssts
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2462
PHARAOH
adding bii account of the two Pharaohs whoM
proper names follow the title.
1. The Pkaruoh of Abraham. — The Scripture
narrative doea not afford ui an; clear Indications
for the identification of the Pharaoh of Abraham.
At the time at which the patriarch went into
Egypt, according to Hales'a at well aa Usher's
chronology, it ia generally held that the country,
or at least Lower Egypt, was ruled by the Shepherd
kings, of whom the first and most powerful line was
the XVth dynasty, the undoubted territories of
which would be first entered by one coming from
the east Hanetho relates that Salatis, the head
of this line, established at Avaria, the Zoan of the
Bible, on the eastern frontier, what appears to bare
been a great permanent camp, at which be resided
for part of each year. [Zoan.] It is noticeable
that Sarah seems to hare been taken to Pharaoh's
house immediately after the coming of Abraham ;
and if this were not so. yet, on account of his flocks
and herds, the patriarch could scarcely have gone
beyond the part of the country which was always
more or less occupied by nomad tribes. It is also
probable that Pharaoh gave Abraham camels, for
we read, that Pharaoh " entreated Abram well for
Sarah's sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he
asses, and oienserrants, and maidservants, and she
sases, and camels " (Gen. xii. 16), where it appears
that this property was the gift of Pharaoh, and the
circumstance that the patriarch afterwards held an
Egyptian bondwoman, Hagsr, confirms the infer-
ence. If so, the present of camels would argue
that this Pharaoh was a Shepherd king, for no
evidence has been found in the sculptures, paint-
ings, and inscriptions of Egypt, that in the Pha-
raonic ages the camel was used, or even known
there," and this omission can be best explained by
the supposition that the animal was hateful to the
Egyptians aa of great value to their enemies the
Shepherds.
The date at which Abraham visited Egypt (ac-
cording to the chronology we hold moat probable),
was about a. c. 8081, which would accord with the
time of Salatis, the head of the XVth dynasty, ac-
cording to our reckoning.
2. Tin Phirmih of Jottph. —The history of
Joseph contains many particulars as to the Pha-
raoh whose minister he became. We first bear of
him as the arbitrary master who imprisoned his
two servants, and then, on his birthday-feast, rein-
stated the one and hanged the other. We next
read of his dreams, how he consulted the magicians
aud wise men of Kgypt, and on their tailing to in-
terpret them, by the advice of the chief of the cup-
bearers, sent for Joseph from the prison, and after
he had heard his interpretation and counsel, chose
him aa governor of the country, taking, as it
seems, the advice of his servants. The sudden ad-
vancement of a despised stranger to the highest
place under the king is important as showing his
absolute power and manner of governing. From
this time we read more of Joseph than of Pharaoh.
A'e me told, however, that Pharaoh liberally re-
xeired Joseph's kindred, allowing them to dwell in
the land of Goshen, where be had cattle. The last
mention tn'a Pharaoh in Joseph's history is in the
account of the death and burial of Jacob. It has
been supposed from the following passage that the
■ ft has been erroneously asserted that a biero-
ftvserie representing the head and neck of the camel
Ion the aTaypHsn monuments.
PHARAOH
position of Joseph had then become changed. ■'Jo-
seph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, H
now I have found grace in your eyes, apeak, I pray
you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saving. My father made
me swear, saying, Lo, 1 die : in my grave which I
have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there
ahalt thou bury me- Mow therefore let me go up,
I pray thee, snd bury nij father, and I will come
again. And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury thy
father, according as he made thee swear " (Gen. L
4-6). The account of the embalming of Jacob, in
which we are told that " Joseph commanded hia
servants the physicians to embalm his cither" (ver
2), shows the position of Joseph, which is more dis-
tinctly proved by the narrative of the subsequent
journey into Palestine. " And Joseph went up to
bury his father: and with him went up all the ser-
vants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, snd all
the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the bouse of
Joseph, and hia brethren, and his father's house:
only their little ones, and their flocks, and their
herds, they left in the land of Goshen. And then
went up with him both chariots and horsemen : and
it was a very great company " (7-9). To make
such an expedition as this, with perhaps risk of a
hostile encounter, would no doubt require special
permission, and from Joseph's whole history we can
understand that he would have hesitated to ask a
favor for himself, while it ia moat natural that he
should hare explained that he had no further mo-
tive in the journey. The fear of hia brethren that
after their father's death he would take vengeance
on them for their former cruelty, and his declara-
tion that he would nourish them and their little
ones, prove he still held a high position. His dying
charge does not indicate that the persecution had
then commenced, and that it had not seems quite
clear from the narrative at the beginning of Ex-
odus. It thus appears that Joseph retained hia
position until Jacob's death; and it is therefore
probable, nothing being stated to the contrary,
that the Pharaoh who made Joseph governor was
on the throne during the time that he seems to
have beld office, twenty-six years. We may sup-
pose that the "new king" "which knew not Jo-
seph " (Ex. i. 8) was head of a new dynasty. It
is very unlikely that he was the immediate succes-
sor of this Pharaoh, as the interval from the ap-
pointment of the governor to the beginning of the
oppression was not less than eighty years, and prob-
ably much more.
llie chief points for the identification of the line
to which this Pharaoh belonged, are that he was a
despotic monarch, ruling all Egypt, who followed
Egyptian customs, but did not hesitate to set them
aside when he thought fit; that he seems to have
desired to gain complete power over the Egyptians;
and that he favored strangers. These particulars
certainly appear to lend support to the idea that
he was an Egyptianized foreigner rather than an
Egyptian ; and If. Hsriette'a recent discoveries at
Zoan, or Avaris, have positively settled what was
the great difficulty to moat scholars in the way of
this view, for it has been ascertained that the Shep-
herds, of at least one dynasty, were s > thoroughly
Egyptianized that they executed monuments of at
Egyptian character, differing alone in a peculiarity
of style. Before, however, we state the main beads
of argument in favor of the idea that the Pharaoh
of Joseph was a Shepherd, it will be well to nsav
tion the grounds of the theories that make him m
Egyptian. Baron Bunsen supposed that ha waw
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PHARAOH
flwrtlmnn 1., the head of the Xllth dynasty, on
■eeount of the mention in a hieroglyphic ineeription
of a famine in that king's reign. This identifica-
tion, although receiving some support bom the
statement of Herodotus, that Sesostris, a name rea-
sonably traceable to Sesertesen, divided the land
and raised his chief revenue from the rent paid by
the holders, must be abandoned, since the calamity
recorded does not approach Joseph's famine in char-
acter, and as the age is almost certainly too remote.
According to our reckoning this king began to reign
about B. c. 2080, and Baron Bunsen places him
much earlier, so that this idea is not tenable, unless
we take the long chronology of the Judges, and
hold the sojourn in Kgypt to have lasted 490 years.
If we take the Rabbinical date of the Exodus, Jo-
seph's Pharaoh would hare been a king of the
XVIIIth dynasty, unless, with Bunsen, we
lengthen the Hebrew chronology before the Ex-
odus as arbitrarily as, in adopting that date, we
shorten it after the Exodus. To the idea that this
king was of the XVIIIth dynasty there is this ob-
jection, which we hold to be fatal, that the monu-
ments of that line, often recording the events of
almost every jear. present no trace of the remark-
able circumstances of Joseph's rule. Whether we
take Ussher's or Hales s date of the Exodus, Jo-
seph's government would fall before the XVIIIth
dynasty, and during the Shepherd period. (By
the Shepherd period Is generally understood the
period after the Xllth dynasty and before the
XVIIIth, during which the foreigners were domi-
nant over Egypt, although it Is possible that they
already held part of the country at an earlier time.)
If, discarding the idea that Joseph's Pharaoh was
an Egyptian, we turn to the old view that be was
one of the Shepherd kings, a view almost Inevitable
If we infer that he ruled during the Shepherd pe-
riod, we are struck with the fitness of all the circum-
stances of the Biblical narrative. These foreign
rulers, or at least some of them, were Egyptiaiiised,
yet the account of Manetho, if we somewhat lessen
the coloring that we may suppose national hatred
gave it, is now shown to I* correct in making them
disregard the laws and religion of the country they
had subdued. They were evidently powerful mili-
tary despots. As foreigners ruling what was
treated as a conquered country, if not actually won
by force of anus, they would have encouraged for-
eign settlers, particularly in their own especial re-
gion in the east of Lower Egypt, where the Pha-
raoh of Joseph seems to have had cattle (Gen. xlvii.
5, 8). It is very unlikely, unless we suppose a
special Interposition of Providence, that an Egyp-
tian Pharaoh, with the acquiescence of his counsel-
ors, should have chosen a Hebrew slave as his chief
officer of state. It is stated by Eusebius that the
Pharaoh to whom Jacob came was the Shepherd
Apophia ; and although it may be replied that this
Identification was simply a result of the adjustment
jf the dynasties to his view of Hebrew chonology,
it should be observed that he seems to have altered
the very dynasty of Apopbis, both in its number
(making it the XVIIth instead of the XVth), and
fa its duration, as though he were convinced that
this king was really the Pharaoh of Joseph, and
uust therefore be brought to his time. Apophia
belonged t« the XVth dynasty, which was certainly
ef Shepherds, and the most powerful foreign line,
far it seems dear that there was at least one if not
two more. This dynasty, acoording to our view of
Igrntian chronology, ruled for either 384 years
2468
PHARAOH
(Afticanus), or 289 years 10 months (Josephos),
from about B. c 2080. If Hales s chronology,
which we would slightly modify, be correct, the
government of Joseph fell under this dynasty, [and, J
commencing about a. c. 1876, which would be dur-
ing the reign of the last but one or perhaps the last
king of the dynasty, was possibly in the time of
Apophia, who ended the line according to Afriea-
nus. It is to be remarked that this dynasty is said
to have been of Phoenicians, and if so was probably
of a stock predominantly Shemite, a circumstause
in perfect accordance with what we know of the
government and character of Joseph's Pharaoh,
whose act in ""^"g Joseph bis chief minister finds
its parallels in Shemite history, and in that of n»-
tions which derived their customs from Shemitea
An Egyptian king would scarcely give so high a
place to any but a native, and that of the military
or priestly class; but, as already remarked, this
any hare been due to divine interposition.
This king appears, as has been already shown,
to have reigned from Joseph's appointment (or,
perhaps, somewhat earlier, since he was already
on the throne when he imprisoned his servants),
until Jacob's death, a period of at least twenty-
six years, from B. o. sir. 1876 to 1850, and to
have been the fifth or sixth king of the XVth dy-
nasty.
8. The PhariwH of Ike Oppnuion. — The first
persecutor of the Israelites may be distinguished as
the Pharaoh of the Oppression, from the second,
the Pharaoh of the Exodus, especially m he com-
menced, and probably long carried on, the persecu-
tion. Here, as in the case of Joseph's Pharaoh,
there has been difference of opinion as to the line
to which the oppressor belonged. The general
view is that he was an Egyptian, and this at first
sight is a probable inference from the narrative, if
the line under which the Israelites were protected
be supposed to have been one of Shepherds. The
Biblical history here seems to justify clearer deduc-
tions than before. We read that Joseph and his
brethren and that generation died, and that the
Israelites multiplied and became very mighty and
filled the land. Of the events of the interval be-
tween Jacob's death and the oppression we know
almost nothing; but the calamity to Kphraim'a
house, in the slaughter of his sore by the men of
Gath, bom as it seems in Egypt [BkkiahJ, ren-
ders it probable that the Israelites had become a
tributary tribe, settled in Goshen, and beginning
to show that warlike vigor that is so strong a f»
tore in the character of Abraham, that is not want-
ing in Jacob's, and that fitted their posterity fci
the conquest of Canaan. The beginning of the op-
pression is thus narrated : " Now there arose a new
king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph " (Ex. i. 8)
The expression, " a new king " (couip. "awl on
king," Acta vii. 18), does not necessitate the idea
of a change of dynasty, but favors it The next
two verses are extremely important: " And be sal)
unto his people, Behold, the people of the children
of Israel [are] more and mightier than we: come
on, let us deal wisely with them ; lest they multi-
ply, and it come to pass that, when there falleth
out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and
fight against us, and [so] get them up out of the
land" (9,10). Here it is stated that Pharaoh ruled
a people of smaller numbers and less strength thai
the Israelites, whom he feared lest they should join
with soma enemies in a possible war in Egypt, and
so leave the country. In order to weaken the b
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2404
PHARAOH
raelites he adopted a subtle policy which is next
related. '• Therefore thej did set over Umjii task-
masters to afflict them with their burdens. And
the; built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and
Raamats " (11). The name of the second of these
cities has been considered a most important point
of evidence. They multiplied Dotwithstanding, and
the persecution apparently increased. They wen
employed in liriclcniaking and other labor connected
with building, and perhaps also in making pottery
(Pa. bum. 6). This bondage producing no effect,
Pharaoh commanded the two Hebrew midwives to
kill every male child as it was born ; but they de-
ceived him, and the people continued to increase.
He then made a fresh attempt to enfeeble them.
"And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying,
Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river,
and every daughter ye shell save alive " (22). How
long this last infamous command was in force we
do not know, probably but for a abort time, unless
it was constantly evaded, otherwise the number of
the Israelites would have been checked. It may be
remarked that Aaron was three years older than
Hoses, so that we might suppose that the command
was issued after bis birth: but it must also be ob-
served that the fear of the mother of Hoses, at his
birth, may have been because she lived new a royal
residence, as appears from the finding of the child
by Pharaoh's daughter. The story of his exposure
and rescue shows that even the oppressor's daugh-
ter could feel pity, and disobey her father's com-
mand ; while in her saving Hoses, who was to ruin
her bouse, is seen the retributive justice that so
often makes the tyrant pass by and even protect,
as Pharaoh must have done, the instrument of his
future punishment The etymology of the name of
Hoses does not aid us : if Egyptian, it may have
been given by a foreigner; if foreign, it may have
been given by an Egyptian to a foreign child. It
is important that Pharaoh's daughter adopted Ho-
ses as her son, and that he was taught in all the
wisdom of Egypt The persecution continued,
" And it came to pass in those days, when Hoses
was grown, that be went out unto his brethren, and
looked on their burdens : and he spied an Egyptian
smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he
looked this way and that way, and when he aaw
that [there was] no man, he slew the Egyptian,
and hid him in the sand" (ii. 11, 12). When
Pharaoh attempted to slay Hoses, he fled into the
land of Midian. From the statement in Hebrews
that he •■ refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter ; choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of
tin for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" (xi.
34-26), it is evident that the adoption was do mere
form, and this is a point of evidence not to be
(lighted. While Hoses was in Hidian Pharaoh
died, and the narrative implies that this was shortly
before the events preceding the Exodus.
This Pharaoh has been generally supposed to
have been a king of the XVllIth or XlXth dy-
nasty; we believe that he was of a line earlier than
either. The chief points in the evidence In favor
of the former opinion are the name of toe eity Ba-
amses, whence it has been argued that one of the
app r ess ors was a king Barneses, and the probable
• When Hoses went to see his people and slew the
%ypelan, ha doss not seem to have made any Journey,
sad she burying in sand shows that the place was la
PHARAOH
change of line The first king of this name known
was bead of the XlXth dynasty, or last king of the
XTIIIth. According to Hanetho's story of the
Exodus, a story so contradictory to historical truth
as scarcely to be worthy of mention, the Israelites
left Egypt in the reign of Henptah, who was great
grandson of the first Ramesea, and son and succes-
sor of the second. This king is held by some
Egyptologists to have reigned about the time ot the
Rabbinical date of the Exodus, which is virtually
the same as that which has been supposed to be
obtainable from the genealogies. There is however
good reason to place these kings much later; in
which caas Ranieeet I. would be the oppressor;
but then the building of Raamset could not be
placed in his reign without a disregard of Hebrew
chronology. But the argument that then is no
earlier known king Ramesea loses much of its
weight when we bear in mind that one of the tons
of Akhmes, bead of the XVIIIth dynasty, woo
reigned about two hundred years before Kameset
I., bore the same name, besides that very many
names of kings of the Shepherd period, perhaps o>
two whole dynasties, are unknown. Against this
one fact, which is certainly not to be disregarded,
we must weigh the general evidence of the history,
which shows us a king apparently governing a part
°f Kgjpti "•"> subjects inferior to the Israelites,
and fearing a war in the country. Like the Pha-
raoh of the Exodus, he seems to have dwelt in
Lower Egypt, probably at Avaris." Compare this
condition with the power of the kings of the later
part of the XVIIIth aud of the XlXth dynasties;
rulers of an empire, governing a united country
from which the head of their line had driven the
Shepherds. The new that this Pharaoh was of the
beginning or middle of the XVIIIth dynasty seems
at first sight extremely probable, especially if It be
supposed that the Pharaoh of Joseph was a Shep-
herd king. The expulsion of tbe Shepherds at the
commencement of this dynasty would have natu-
rally caused an immediate or gradual oppression of .
the Israelites. But it must be remembered that
what we have Just said of tbe power of some king*
of this dynasty is almost as true of their predeces-
sor*. The silence of the historical monuments is
also to be weighed, when we bear in mind bow nu-
merous they are, and that we might expect many
of tbe events of tbe oppression to be recorded if the
Exodus were not noticed. If we assign this Pha-
raoh - to the age before the XVIIIth dynasty, which
our view of Hebrew chronology would probably
oblige us to do, we bare still to determine whether
he were a Shepherd or an Egyptian. If a Shep-
herd, he mutt have been of the XVIth or the
XVIIth dynasty; and that he wat Egyptianized
does not afford any argument againtt this supposi-
tion, since it appears that foreign kings, who can
only be assigned to one of these two lines, had
Egyptian names. In corroboration of this view
we quote a remarkable passage that does not seem
otherwise explicable: "Hy people went down
aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the
Assyrian oppressed them without cause " (Is. lit
i): which may be compared with the allusions to
the Exodus In a prediction of the same prophet
respecting Assyria (x. 24, 28). Our inference is
strengthened by the discovery that kings bearing
a part of ngrpt like <
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PHARAOH
a name almost certainly an Egyptian tabulation
of an Assyrian or Babylonian regal title, are among
those appareutlj of the Shepherd age in the Turin
Papyrus (Lepaius, Kimyebuch. taf. xviii. xix. 275,
2851.
The reign of this king probably commenced a
little before the birth of Moses, which we place
h. c. 1732, and seems to hare luted upwards of
forty years, perhaps much more.
4. The Pharaoh of the Exotku.— What is
known of the Pharaoh of the Exodus is rather bio-
graphical than historical. It does not add much to
our means of identifying the line of the oppressors
excepting by the indications of race his character
affords. His life is spoken of in other articles.
[Plaques, etc.] His acts show us a man at once
impious and superstitious, alternately rebelling and
submitting. At first be seems to hare thought
that his magicians could work the some wonders
as Moses aud Aaron, yet even then he begged that
the frogs might be taken away, and to the end he
prayed that a plague might be removed, promising
a concession to the Israelites, sod as soon as be was
respited failed to keep his word. This is not strange
in a character principally influenced by fear, and
history abounds in parallels to Pharaoh. His
vacillation only ended when he lost his army in the
Ked Sea, and the Israelites were finally delivered
out of his hand. Whether he himself wss drowned
lias been considered matter of uncertainty, as it
is not so stated in the account of the Exodus.
Another passage, however, appears to affirm it (Ps.
exxxvi. 15). It seems to be too great a latitude
of criticism either to argue that the expression in
this passage indicates the overthrow but not the
death of the king, especially as the Hebrew expres-
sion "snaked off" or "threw in" is very literal,
or that it is only a strong Semitic expression.
Besides, throughout the preceding history his end
is foreshadowed, and is, perhaps, positively foretold
in Ex. ix. 15; though this passage may be rendered
* For now I might have stretched out my hand,
and might have smitten thee and thy people with
pestilence; and than wouldest have been cut off
from the earth," as by Kaliseb ( Commentary in
loc- ), instead of as in the A. V.
Although we have already stated our reasons for
abandoning the theory that places the Exodus under
the XlXth dynasty, it may be well to notice an
additional and conclusive argument for rejecting as
unliistoriral the tale preserved by Manetho, which
makes Henptah, the son of Kameses II., the Pha-
raoh in whose reign the Israelites left Egypt. This
tale was commonly current in Egypt, but it must
be remarked that the historian gives it only on the
authority of tradition. M. Marietta's recent dis-
coveries have added to the evidence we already had
an the subject. In this story the secret of the
success of the rebels was that they had allotted to
them by Amenophis, or Menptah, the city of Avaris
formerly held by the Shepherds, but then in ruins.
That the people to whom this place was given wen
working in the quarries east of the Nile is enough
of itself to throw a doubt on the narrative, for
there appear to have been no quarries north of
those opposite Memphis, from which Avaris was
distant nearly the whole length of thr Delta; but
when it it found that this very king ss well as his
father, adorned the great temple ui Avaris, the
story is seen to be essentially false. v er it is not
improbable that some calamity occurred about this
tins, with which the Egyptians willfully or igno-
154
PHARAOH
246fi
rantly confounded the Exodus: if they did so
ignorantly, there would be an argument that this
event took place during the Shepherd period, which
was probably in after times an obscure part of the
annals of Egypt.
The character of this Pharaoh finds its parallel
among the Assyrians rather than the Egyptians
The impiety of the oppressor and that of Sennach-
erib are remarkably similar, though Sennacherib
seems to have been more resolute in bis resistance
than Pharaoh. This resemblance is not to be
overlooked, especially as it seems t> indicate an
idiosyncrasy of the Assyrians and ki idled nations,
for national character was more marked in an-
tiquity than it is now in most peoples, doubtless
because isolation was then general and is now
special. Thus, the Egyptian monuments show us
a people highly reverencing their gods and even
those of other nations, the most powerful kings
appearing as suppliants in the representations of
the temples and tombs; in the Assyrian sculptures,
on the contrary, the kings are seen rather as pro-
tected by the gods than as worshipping them, so
that we understand how in such a country the
famous decree of Darius, which Daniel disobeyed,
could be enacted. Again the Egyptians do not
seem to have supposed that their enemies were sup-
ported by gods hostile to those of Egypt, whereas
the Assyrians considered their gods as more pow-
erful than those of the nations they subdued. This
is ipiportant in connection with the idea that at
least one of the Pharaohs of the oppression wss an
Assyrian.
Haspecting the time of this king we can only say
that he was reigning for about a year or more befbr*
the Exodus, which we place b. c. 1652.
Before speaking of the later Pharaohs we may
mention a point of weight in reference to the iden-
tification of these earlier ones. The account* of
the campaigns of the Pharaohs of the XVlIIth,
XlXth, and XXth dynasties have not been found
to contain any reference to the Israelites. Hens*
it might be supposed that in their days, or at leas*
during the greater part of their time, the IsrasEtss
were not yet in the Promised Land. There is,
however, an almost equal silence as to the Ca-
naanite nations. The land itself, KANAKA or
KANAAN, is indeed mentioned as invaded, at
well as those of KHETA and AMAR, referring to
the Hittites and Amorites; but the latter two
must hare been branches of those nations seated
in the valley of the Orontes. A recently discov-
ered record of Thothmes III. published by M. da
Kougtf, in the .Rente AreJieohgique (Nov. 1861,
pp. 344 ff.), contains many names ef Canaanite
towns conquered by that king, but not one recog-
nised as Israelite. These Canaanite names are,
moreover, on the Israelite borders, not in the heart
of the country. It is interesting that a great
battle is shown to have been won by this king
at Megiddo. It seems probable that the Egyp-
tians either abstained from attacking the Israelites
from a recollection of the calamities of the Exo-
dus, or that they were on friendly terms. It is
very remarkable that the Egyptians wave granted
privileges in the Ij»w (Dent, xxiii. I), and that
Shiahak, the first king of Egypt after toe Exodus
whom we know to have invaded the Hebrew terri-
tories, was of foreign extraction, if net actually a
foreigner.
5. Pharaoh, father-in-law of tiered. — In ths
genealogies of the tribe of Judah, mention it made
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8466
PHARAOH
ef the daugl ter of Pharaoh, married to an Itrael-
M; "BUhiali the daughter of a Pharaoh, which
Mend took " (1 Chr. it. 18). That the name
Pharaoh here probably designates an Egyptian
king we hare already shown, and observed that the
data of Mered is doubtful, although it is likely
(hat he lived before, or not much after, the Exo-
dus. [Bitriaii.] It may be added that the
name Miriam, of one of the fiuuily of Mered (17),
apparently his sister, or perhaps a daughter by
Bithiah, suggests that this part of the genealogies
may refer to about the time of the Exodus. This
marriage may tend to aid us in determining the
age of the sojourn in Egypt. It is perhaps less
probable that an Egyptian Pharaoh would have
giren his daughter in marriage to an Israelite, than
that a Shepherd king would hare done so, before
the oppression. But Bithiah may have been taken
in war after the Exodus, by the surprise of a cara-
van, or in a foray.
6. Pharaok,fnther*n-iaw of Hadad the Edom-
ite. — Among the enemies who were raised up
against Solomon was Hadad, an Edomite of the
blood royal, who had escaped as a child from the
slaughter of his nation by Joab. We read of him
and his servant*, " And they arose out of Midian,
and came to Paran : and they took men with them
out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pha-
raoh king of Egypt; who gave him an house, and
appointed him victuals, and gave him land. And
Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh,
so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own
wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. And the
.lister of Tahpenes liare him Uenubath his son,
whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's bouse: and
Genuhath was in Pharaoh's household among the
sons of Pharaoh " (1 K. xi. 18-20). When, how-
ever, Hadad heard that David and Joab were both
dead, he asked Pharaoh to let him return to his
country, and was unwillingly allowed to go (21,
22). Probably the fugitives took refuge in an
Egyptian mining-station in the peninsula of Sinai,
and so obtained guides to conduct them into
Egypt. There they were received in accordance
with the Egyptian policy, but with the especial
favor that seems to have been shown about this
time towards the eastern neighbors of the Pha-
raohs, which may reasonably be supposed to have
led to the establishment of the XX I Id dynasty of
foreign extraction. For the identification of this
Pharaoh we have chronological indications, and
the name of his wife. Unfortunately, however,
the history of Egypt at this time is extremely
obscure, neither the monuments nor Manetho giv-
ing us clear information as to the kings. It
appears that towards the latter part of the XXth
dynasty the high-priests of Amen, the god of
Thebes, gained great power, and at last supplanted
the Rameses family, at least in Upper Egypt. At
the same time a line of Tanite kings, Manetho's
XXIst dynasty, seems to have ruled in Lower
Egypt. From the latest part of the XXth dynasty
three bouses appear to have reigned at the same
time. The feeble XXth dynasty was probably
soon extinguished, but the priest rulers and the
lanites appear to have reigned contemporaneously,
nntil they were both succeeded by the Bubastitea
•f the XXIId dynasty, of whom Sheshonk I., the
Shishak of the Bible, was the Hist. The monu-
ments have preserret the names of several of the
Mgb-priest*, perhaps all, and probably of some of
■a Tanitea; but it is a question whether Mane-
PHARAOH
tho's Tanite line does not include some of the
former, and we hare no means of testing the aeon-
racy of its numbers. It may be reasonably sap-
posed that the Pharaoh or Pharaohs spoken of in
the Bible as ruling in the time of David and Solo-
mon were Tanites, as Tanis was nearest Lj the
Israelite territory. We hare therefore to compare
the chronological indications of Scripture with the
list of this dynasty. Shishak, as we have shown
elsewhere, must have begun to reign in about the
24th or 25th year of Solomon (b. a dr. 990-989).
[Chromologt.] The conquest of Edom prob-
ably took place some 50 years earlier. It may
therefore be inferred that Hadad fled to a king of
Egypt who may have ruled at least 25 yean.
probably ceasing to govern before Solomon manied
the daughter of a Pharaoh early in his reign; for
it seems unlikely that the protector of David's
enemy would have given his daughter to Sriomon,
unless he were a powerless king, which apptars waa
not the case with Solomon's father-in-law. This
would give a reign of 25 years, or 25 -f- x separ-
ated from the close of the dynasty by a period of
24 or 25 years. According to Afrieanua, the list
of the XX 1st dynasty is ss follows: Smendea, 26
years; Psuaennes, 46 ; Nephelcberes,4; Amenothis,
9: Osochor, 6; Psinaches, 9; Psusennes, 14; but
Eusebius gives the second king 41, and the hut,
35 years, and his numbers make up the sum of
130 years, which Afrieanua and he agree in assign-
ing to the dynasty. If we take the numbers of
Eusebius, Osochor would probably be the Pharaoh
to whom Hadad fled, and Psusennes II. the father-
in-law of Solomon ; but the numbers of Afrieanua
would substitute Psusennes I., and probably Psina-
ches. We cannot, however, he sure that the reigns
did not overlap, or were not separated by inter-
vals, and the numbers are not to be considered
reliable until tasted by the monuments. The royal
names of the period hare been searched in vain
for any one resembling Tahpenes. If the Egyp-
tian equivalent to the similar geographical name
Tahpanhea, etc., were known, we might have
some dew to that of this queen. [Tarpkkes;
Tahpashes.]
7. Pharaoh, fntttrr-m-Utw of Solomon. — In the
narrative of the beginning of Solomon's reign, after
the account of the deaths of Adon\Jah, Joab, and
Shimei, and the deprivation of Ahiathar, we read:
" And the kingdom was established in the band of
Solomon. And Solomon made affinity with Pha-
raoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter,
and brought her into the dty of David, until he
had made an end of building bis own house, and
the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem
round about" (1 K. it 46, iii. 1). The events
mentioned before the marriage belong altogether
to the very commencement of Solomon's reign,
excepting the matter of Shimei, which extending
through three years is carried on to its completion.
The mention that the queen was brought into the
dty of David, while Solomon's house, and the
Temple, and the city-wall, were building, shows
that the marriage took place not later than the
eleventh year of the king, when the Temple was
finished, having been commenced in the fourth
year (vi. 1, 37, 38). It is also evident thai this
alliance was before Solomon's falling away into
idolatry (iil. 3), of which the Egyptian queen does
not seem to have been one of the causes. Frees
this chronological Indication it appears that the
marriage must have taken place between about 9%
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PHARAOH
tad 11 years before Shlshak's accession. It
M recollected that it seems certain that Solomon '•
Mber-in-law was not the Pharaoh who wai reign-
ing when Hadad left Egypt. Both Pharaohs, as
steady shown, cannot yet be identified in Mane-
tho'a list [Pharaoh's Dacghtkr.]
This Pharaoh led an expedition into Palestine,
which is thus irriden tally mentioned, where the
building of Gecer by Solomon is recorded: " Pha-
raoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Geser,
and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites
that dwelt in the ctty, and given it [for] a present
auto his daughter, Solomon's wife " (ix. 16). This
ie a very curious historical circumstance, for it
■hows that In the reign of David or Solomon, more
probably the latter, an Egyptian king, apparently
on terms of friendship with the Israelite monarch,
conducted an expedition into Palestine, and be-
sieged and captured a Canaanite city. This occur-
rence warns us against the supposition that similar
expeditions could not have occurred in earlier times
without a war with the Israelites. Its incidental
mention also shows the danger of inferring, from
the silence of Scripture as to any such earlier expe-
dition, that nothing of the kind took place. [Pal-
■arure, p. 2391, «.]
This Egyptian alliance is the first indication,
after the days of Moses, of that leaning to Egypt
which was distinctly forbidden in the Law, and
produced the most disastrous consequences in later
times. The native kings of Egypt and the Ethio-
pians readily supported the Hebrews, and were un-
willing to make war upon them, but they rendered
them mere tributaries, and exposed them to the
enmity of the kings of Assyria. If the Hebrews
did not incur a direct punishment for their leaning
to Egypt, it must have weakened their trust in the
Divine favor, and paralysed their efforts to defend
the country against the Assyrians and their party.
'Die next kings of Egypt mentioned in the Bible
are Shishak, probably Zerah, and So. The first
and second of these were of the XXI Id dynasty, if
the identification of Zerah with Userken be ac-
cepted, and the third was doubtless one of the two
Shebeks of the XX Vth dynasty, which was of Ethio-
pians. The XXIId dynasty was a line of kings of
foreign origin, who retained foreign names, and it
is noticeable that Zerah is called a Cushite in the
Bible (2 Chr- xiv. 9; cornp. xvi. 8). Sbebek was
probably also a foreign name. The title " Pha-
raoh " is probably not once given to these kings in
the Bible, because they were not Egyptians, and
lid not bear Egyptian names. The Shepherd
Kings, it must be remarked, adopted Egyptian
lames, and therefore some of the earlier sovereigns
•Had Pharaohs in the Bible may be conjectured to
have been Shepherds notwithstanding that they
bear this title. [Ssiishak; Zerah; So.]
8. Pharaoh, the Opponent of Smnachmh. —
In the narrative of Sennacherib's war with Ilere-
sjah, mention is made not only of " Tirhakah king
•f Cush," but also of " Pharaoh king of Hisraim."
Rabshakeh thus taunted the king of Judah for
having sought the aid of Pharaoh : " Lo, thou
irustest In the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt;
PHARAOH
2467
a According to this historian, he <u the son of
rsammetlchus I. : this the monuments do not cor-
loborrte. Dr. Brugsch says that ha married OTtsTT-
tXKRT, Nltocrii, daughter of Psanmettohos I. and
saasn 8H8PUN-TBPIT, whoappsan, Ilka hat nothw,
• ham teen ska hat a* of an Bgrpdan royal liar,
whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and
pierce it: so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that
trust in him " (Is- zxxvi. 6). The oomparison of
Pharaoh to a broken reed is remarkable, aa the
common hieroglyphics for "king," restricted \r
Egyptian sovereigns, SU-TEN, strictly a title of
the ruler of Upper Egypt, commence with a berJ
reed, which is an ideographic symbolical sign proper
to this word, and is sometimes used alone without
any phonetic complement. This Pharaoh can only
be the Sethos whom Herodotus mentions as the
opponent of Sennacherib, and who may be reason-
ably supposed to be the Zet of Manetho, the last
king of his XXI I Id dynasty. Tirhakah, aa an Ethio-
pian, whether then ruling in Egypt or not, is,
like So, apparently not called Pharaoh. [Tirha-
kah.]
9. Pharaoh Neeho. — The first mention in the
Bible of a proper name with the title Pharaoh is in
the case of Pharaoh Necho, who is also called Neeho
simply. His name is written Necho, 'OJ, and
Nechoh, i"Q3, and in hieroglyphics NEKU. This
king was of the Salte XXVIth dynasty, of which
Manetho makes him either the fifth ruler ( Africanus)
or the sixth (Eusebius). Herodotus calls him Nekos,
and assigns to him a reign of sixteen yean, which is
confirmed by the monuments ° He seems to have
been an enterprising king, as he is related to have
attempted to complete the cannl connecting the Red
Sea with the Nile, and to have sent an expedition
of Phoenicians to circumnavigate Africa, which was
successfully accomplished. At the commencement
of his reign (b. c. 610) he made war against the
king of Assyria, and, being encountered on his
way by Josiah, defeated and slew the king of Judah
ax Megiddo. The empire of Assyria was then
drawing to a close, and it is not unlikely that
Necho'a expedition tended to hasten its fall. He
was marching against Carcheinish on the Euphra-
tes, a place already of importance in the annals of
the "eyptian wars of the XlXth dynasty (Set Pup.
Saltier, i). As he passed along the coast of Pal-
estine, Josiah disputed his passage, probably in
consequence of a treaty with Assyria. The king of
Egypt remonstrated, sending ambassadors to assure
him that he did not make war upon him, and that
God was on his side. " Nevertheless Josiah would
not turn bis face from him, but disguised himself,
that he might fight with him, and hearkened not
unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God,
and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo." Hera
he was wounded by the archers of the king of
Egypt, and died (comp. 2 Chr. xxxr. 20-24; 2 K.
xxiii. 29, 30). Necho's assertion, that he was
obeying God's command in warring with the As-
syrians, seems here to be confirmed. Yet it can
scarcely lie understood aa more than a conviction
that the war was predestined, for it ended in the
destruction of Necho's army and the curtailment
of his empire. Josiah seems from the narrative to
have known he was wrong in opposing the king of
Egypt; otherwise an act so contrary to the Egyp-
tian ixing policy of his bouse would scarcely have
jed to his destruction and be condemned in the
and supposes that he was the son of Psammetlchns by
another with (see Hiiiorn if tcW, P 262 ; comp
218). If he married Nltocrk, he may ban bars
sailed by Herodotus by martaks the son rf Psasasaf
leans.
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2468
PHARAOH
Metory. Herodotus mentions this battle, relating
thtt Necho mada war againat the Syrians, and
Hfcitwl tbcm at Magdolus, after which he took
Oadytia, " a large city of Syria" (ii. 159). There
ean be do reasonable doubt that Hagdohia is Me-
giddo, and not the Egyptian town of that name
[Hiodol], bnt the identification of Cadytia is
difficult. It hat been conjectured to be Jerusalem,
and its name haa been suppoaed to correspond to
the ancient title " the Holy," niDVTpn.but it is
elsewhere mentioned by Herodotus as a great coast-
town of Palestine near Egypt (iii. 5), and it has
therefore been supposed to be Gaza. The difficulty
that Gaza is not beyond Megiddo would perhaps be
removed if Herodotus be thought to have confounded
Megiddo with the Egyptian Hagdolus, but this is
not certain. (See Sir Gardner Wilkinson's note
to Her. ii. 169, ed. Rawlinson.) It seems possible
that Kadjtia is the Hittite city KETESH, on the
Orontet, which was the chief stronghold in Syria
of those captured by the kings of the XVIIIth and
XlXth dynasties. The Greek historian adds that
Necho dedicated the dress he wore on these occa-
sions to Apollo at the temple of Branchidae (I. c).
On Joaiah's death his son Jehoahaz was set up by
the people, but dethroned three montha afterwards
by Pharaoh, who imposed on the land the moderate
tribute of a hundred talents of ailrer and a talent
of gold, and put in his place another son of Josiah.
Eliakim, whose name he changed to Jihoiakim,
conveying Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died (2 K.
xxiii. 30-34; 2 Chr. xxzri. 1-4). Jeboiakim ap-
pears to have been the elder son, so that the de-
posing of hit brother may not have been merely
because he was made king without the permission
of the conqueror. Necho seems to have soon re-
turned to Egypt: perhaps he was on his way
thither when he deposed Jehoahaz. The army was
probably posted at Carchemiah, and was there de-
feated by Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year of
Necho (B. c. 607), that king not being, aa it seems,
then at its head (Jer. xlvi. 1, 2, 6, 10). This
battle led to the loss of all the Asiatic dominions of
Egypt ; and it is related, after the mention of the
death of Jehoiakim, that " the king of Egypt came
not again any more out of his land : for the king
of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto
the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king
of Egypt " (2 K. xxiv. 7). Jeremiah's prophecy
of this great defeat by Euphrates is followed by
another, of its consequence, the invasion of Egypt
.tself j but the latter calamity did not occur in the
reign of Necho, nor in that of his immediate suc-
cessor, Psammetichus II., but in that of Hophra,
and it was yet future in the last king's reign when
Jeremiah had been carried into Egypt after the de-
struction of Jerusalem.
10. Pharaoh Hophra. — The next king of Egypt
mentioned in the Bible is Pharaoh Hophra, the
second successor of Necho, from whom he was sep-
arated by the six years' reign of Psammetichus II.
Ine name Hophra is in hieroglyphics WAH-
{PJKAHAT, and the last syllable is equally omit-
ted by Herodotus, who writes Apnea, sod by
Uanetho, who writes Uaphris. He came to the
Atone about b. c. 68, and ruled nineteen years.
Herodotus makes him son of Psammetichus II.,
whom be calls Psammis, and great-grandson of
Psammetichus I. The historian relates his great
prosperity, how he attacked Sidon, and fought a
tattle at sea with the king of Tyre, until at length
PHARAOH
an army which he had dispatched to oonqner Cyreos
was rooted, and the Egyptians, thinking he had
purposely caused its overthrow to gain entire power
no doubt by substituting mercenaries for native
troops, revolted, and act np Amaais aa king.
Apries, only supported by the Carian and loniar
mercenaries, was routed in a pitched battle. He-
rodotus remarks in narrating this, " It is said that
Apries believed thst there was not a god who
could cast him down from his eminence so firmly
did be think that he had established himself in his
kingdom." He was taken prisoner, and Amaais
for awhile treated bim with kindness, but when
the Egyptians blamed him, " he gave Apries ova
into the bands of his former subjects, to deal with
as they chose. Then the Egyptians took him and
strangled him " (ii. 161-169). In the Bible it is
related that Zedckiab, the last king of Judah, was
aided by a Pharaoh against Nebuchadnezzar, in
fulfillment of a treaty, and that an army came out
of Egypt, so that the Chaldeaana were obliged to
raise the siege of Jerusalem. The city was first
besieged in the ninth year of Zedekiah, B. o. 590,
and was captured in his eleventh year, B. c. 688.
It was evidently continuously invested for a length
of time before it was taken, so that it is moat prob-
able that Pharaoh'a expedition look place during
690 or 689. There may, therefore, be some doubt
whether Psammetichus II. be not the king here
spoken of; but it most be remembered that the
siege may be supposed to have lasted some time
before the Egyptians could have heard of it and
marched to relieve the city, and also that Hophra
may have come to the throne as early as B. c.
690. The Egyptian army returned without effect-
ing its purpose (Jer. xxxvii. 6-8; Ea. xvii. 11-18;
conip. 2 K. xxv. 1-4). Afterwards a remnant of
the Jews fled to Egypt, and seem to have been
kindly received. From the prophecies against
Egypt and againat these fugitives we learn more
of the history of Hophra; and here the narrative of
Herodotus, of which we have given the chief heads,
is a valuable commentary. Ezekiel speaks of the
arrogance of this king in words which strikingly
recall those of the Greek historian. The prophet
describee him as a great crocodile lying in his
rivers, and Baying " My river [is] mine own, and 1
have made [it] for myself " (xxix. 3). Pharaoh
waa to be overthrown and his country ' invaded by
Nebuchadnezzar (xxix , xxx., xxxi., xxxii.). This
prophecy was yet unfulfilled in B. c. 572 (xxix. 17-
20). Jeremiah, in Egypt, yet more distinctly
prophesied the end of Pharaoh, warning the Jews,
— " Thus aaith the Lord ; Behold, I will give
Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of
hia enemies, and into the hand of them that seek
his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the
hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, hia
enemy, and that sought his life " (xlir. 30). la
another place, when foretelling the defeat of Neebo'e
army, the tame prophet says, — " Behold, I will
punish Amon in No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt,
with their mda, and their kings; even Pharaoh,
and [all] them that trust in him; and I wfll deliver
them into the band of those that seek their lives,
and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Bab-
ylon, and into the hand of hia servants " (xhi. 96,
96). These passages, which entirely agree with
the account Herodotus gives of the death of Apries
make it not improbable that the invasion of Nebs>
chadnezsar was the cause of that disaffection of hit
subjects which ended in the overthrow and death t
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHARAOHS DAUGHTER
L 'i Pharaoh. The invasion ii not spoken of by any
^liable pro£uM historian, excepting Berown (Cory,
Anc Frag. 2d ed. pp. 37, 88), but the silence of
llerodotui and others can no longer be a matter of
•urpriae, aa we now know from the Assyrian records
in cuneiform of conquests of Egypt either unre-
corded elsewhere or only mentioned by secoud-rata
annalists. No subsequent Pharaoh is mentioned
in Scripture, but there are predictions doubtless
referring to the misfortunes of later princes until
the second Persian eonquest, when the proph-
ecy, •' there shall be no more a prinae of the land
* EgJPt " (&< ***■ 13), was fulfilled. K. S. P.
PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER; PHA-
RAOH, THE DAUGHTER OF. Three
Egyptian princesses, daughters of Pharaohs, are
snentioned in the Bible.
1. The preserver of Hoses, daughter of the Pha-
raoh who first oppressed the Israelites. She ap-
pears from her conduct towards Hoses to have been
heiress to the throne, something more than ordi-
dinary adoption seeming to be indicated in the
passage in Hebrews respecting the faith of Hoees
\x\. 33-26), and the designation " Pharaoh's
daughter," perhaps here indicating that she was
the only daughter. She probably lived for at least
forty years after she saved Hoses, for it seems to
be implied in Hebrews (£ c) that she was living
when he fled to Hidian. Artapanua, or Artabanns,
a historian of uncertain date, who appears to have
preserved traditions current among the Egyptian
Jaws, calls this princess Herrhis, and her lather,
the oppressor, Paimanothes, and relates that she
was married to Cbenephres, who ruled m the
country above Memphis, for that at that time there
were many Icings of Egypt, but that this one, as it
seems, became sovereign of the whole country
{Frag. Hi*. Orms. iii. pp. 990 £). Paimanothes
may be supposed to be a oorrcptlon of Ainenophia,
the equivalent of Amen-bept the Egyptian name
of four kings of the XVHIth dynasty, and alio, but
incorrectly, applied to one of the XiXth, whoee
Egyptian name, Henptah, is wholly diflerent from
that of the others. No one of these however bad,
as for aa we know, a daughter with a name resem-
bling Herrhis, nor is there any king with a name
like Chenephres of this time. These kings Anien-
sphis, moreover, do not belong to the period of
contemporary dynasties. The tradition is appar-
ently of little value excepting as showing that
one quite difiertnt from that given by Hanetho
and others was anciently current, [See Pha-
*AOH,8.]
3. Bithiah, wife of Hered an Israelite, daughter
i ' a Pharaoh of an uncertain age, probably of about
i» time of the Exodus. [See BrruiAH; Pba-
t AOH, ft.]
3. A wife of Solomon, most probably daughter
-f a king of the XXIst dynasty. She was married
*» Solomon early in his reign, and apparently
• re s t e d with distinction. It has been supposed
.has the Song of Solomon was written on the
a c aas i on of this marriage; but the idea is, we think,
repugnant to sound criticism. She was at first
trough* into the city of David (1 K. iii. 1), and
PHARBZ
2469
a Whence our tranelatofs borrowed lbs Anal i of
oils name doss not appear : then Is DotbJnf in either
if the originals to innnt it. The Geneva Tars, baa
* too. [The rssiMiuni given above snffldentlr account
tor the farm of the word In the common English var
■Son. Mr. Orove does not seem to be aware that the
afterwards a house was built for her (vii. 8, ix. 94),
because Solomon would not have bet dwell in the
house of David, which had been rendered holy by
the ark having been there (3 Chr. vUi. 11). [Sea
Phahaoh, 7.J B. S. P.
PHATIAOH, THE WIFE OF. The wife
of one Pharaoh, the king who received Hadad the
Edomite, is mentioned in Scripture. She is called
" queen," and her name, Tahpenes, is given. Her
husband was most probably of the XXIst dynasty
[Taiipekis; Pharaoh, 6.] R. 8. P.
PHARATHO'NI" ([Rom. AH. Comp
tapaBwyt; Alex.] wopasW; [Sin. 1 omits;} Joseph.
*apcM: Peshito, Phtmlh : Vulg. Pkara). One
of the cities of Judaa fortified by Baochides during
his contests with Jonathan Maccabeus (1 Haoc
ix. 60). In both HSS. [see note below] of the
LXX. the name is joined to the preceding —
Thamnatha-Pharathon ; but in Josephus, the
Syriae, and Vulgate, the two are separated.
Ewald (Otschichtt, iv. 373) adheres to the former.
Pharathon doubtless represents an ancient Pirathon,
though hardly that of the Judges, since that was
in Ht. Ephraini, probably at Ftrata, a few miles
west of S(Mut, too far north to be included ir
Judaaa properly so called. G.
PHA'RES (eW»: Pknra) Pharez or
Perez, the eon of Judah (Matt. i. 3; Luke ill
33).
PHA'REZ. 1. (Pkmcc, 1 Chr. xxvii. 8;
Phaubs, Hatt. i. 8, Luke iii. 33, 1 Eedr. T. ©),
(\H5?: *ap4s-Pkarts," a breach," Gen. xxxvili.
29), twin son, with Zarah, or Zerah, of Judah and
lamar his daughter-in-law. The circumstances
of his birth are detailed in Gen. xxxviii. Pharex
seems to have kept the right of primogeniture
over his brother, aa, in the genealogical lists, his
name comes first. The house also which he
founded was far more numerous and illustrious
than that of the Zarhites. Its remarkable fer-
tility is alluded to in Kuth iv. 19, " Let thy house
be like the house of Pharex, whom Taniar bare
unto Judah." 6 Of Pharez's personal history or
character nothing is known. We can only speak
of him therefore as a deuiareh, and exhibit his
genealogical relations. At the time of the sojourn
in the wilderness the families of the tribe of Judah
of Shelah, the family of the Sbelanites, or
ShUonites; of Pharex, the family of the Pharxites;
of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites. And the eons
of Pharex were, of Hexron the family of the Hes-
roniles, of Hamul the family of the Hamulitea
(Num. xxvi. 30, 91). After the death, therefore,
of Er and Onan without children, Pharex occupied
the rank of Judah's second son, and moreover,
from two of his sons sprang two new chief bouses,
those of the Hesronites and Hamulitea. From
tlezron'a second sou Ham, or Aram, sprang David
and the kings of Judah, and eventually Jesus
Christ. [Usmeaxoot or Jksd* CHHiar.] 11m
house of Caleb was also incorporated into the house
of Hexron [Caleb], and so were reckoned among
the descendants of Pharex. Another line of P).a-
Vattean manuscript (B) doss not contain the Bouas of
Maccabees.— A.]
• • Pharsa Is named there and In ver. 18 for the ad-
ditional reason that ha wan the progenitor of Hoes acl
perhaps or the Bethlehemlle* as a disnnrt clan. H
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2470
rauuoB
Digitized by
Google
PHAREZ
ret's descendants vera reckoned u eons of Han-
asseh by the second marriage of Hezron with the
daughter of Machir (t Chr. it. 31-33). In the
tenant of the house of Judah contained in 1 Chr.
iv., drawn up apparently in the reign of Hezekiah
(iv. 41), the houaea enumerated in ver. 1 are Pha-
rez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. Of theae
all but Carmi (who was a Zarhite, .loah. vii. 1)
were descendants of Pharez. Hence it U not un-
likely that,as is suggested in the margin of A. V.,
Cnrmi is an error for Cheludni. Some of the sons
of Shelah are mentioned separately at w. 21, 22.
[Paiiath-Moab.] In the reign of David the
house of I'harez seems to have been eminently dis-
tinguished. The chief of all the captains of the
host tor the first month, Jashobeara, the sou of
Zabdiel (1 Cbr. xxvii. 2, 3), so famous for his
prowess (1 Chr. xi. 11), and called "the chief
among the captains " (to. and 2 Sam. xxiii. 8), was
of to* sons of Perez, or Pharez. A considerable
nvmber of the other mighty men seem also, from
their patronymic or gentile names, to have been of
the same house, those namely who are called Beth-
lehemites. Paltites (1 Cbr. ii. 33-47), Tekoites,
Netophathites," and Ithrites (1 Chr. ii. 53, iv. 7).
Zabad the son of Ahlai, and Joab, and his broth-
ers, Abishai and Asabel, we know were Pharzites
(1 Chr. ii. 31, 36, 54, xi. 41). And the royal
bouse itself was the head of the family. We have
no means of assigning to their respective famines
those members of the tribe of Judah who are inci-
dentally mentioned after David's reign, as Adnata,
the chief captain of Judah in Jehosh&phat's reign,
and Jehohauan and Amasiah, his companions (2
Chr. xvii. 14-16); but that the family of Pharez
continued to thrive and multiply, we may conclude
from the numliers who returned from captivity.
At Jerusalem alone 468 of the sons of Perez, with
Athaiah, or Uthai, at their head, were dwelling in
the days of Zerubbabel (1 Chr. ix. 4; Neh. xi.
4-6), Zerubbabel himself of course being of the
family (1 Esdr. v. 6). Of the lists of returned
captives in Ezr. ii., Neh. vii., in Nehemiah's time,
the following seem to have been of the sons of
Pharez, judging as before from the names of their
ancestors, or the towns to which they belonged :
the children of Bani (Ear. ii. 10; comp. 1 Chr. ix.
I); of Bigvai (ii. 14; comp. Ezr. viii. 14); of Ater
(ii. 16; comp. 1 Chr. ii. 26, 54); of Jorah, or Har-
.ph (il. 18: Neh. vii. 24; comp. 1 Chr. ii. 51); of
Beth-lehem and Netophah (ii. 21, 23; comp. 1 Chr.
ii. 54) ; of Kirjath-arim (ii. 35 ; comp. 1 Cbr. ii.
60, 63); of Harim (ii. 32: comp. 1 Chr. iv. 8); and,
judging from their position, many of the interme-
diate ones also (comp. also the lists in Ezr. x. 25-
43; Neh. x. 14-37). Of the builders of the wall
named in Neh. iii. the following were of the house
of Pharez : Zaccur the son of Imri (v. 2, by com-
parison with 1 Chr. Ix. 4. and Ezr. viii. 14, where
we ought, with many MSS., to read Zaccur for
Zabbud) ; Zadok the son of Baana (v. 4, by com-
jarison wiU 9 Sam. xxiii. 29, where we find that
Baanah was a Netophathite, which agrees with
Zadok's place here next to the Tekoites, sines
Seth-lehem, Netophah. and Tekoa, are often in close
uxtaposition, comp. 1 Chr. ii. 54, iv. 4, 5, Ezr. ii.
11, 23, Neh. vii. 36, and the situation of the Ne-
tonhathites close to Jerusalem, among the B-nja-
* Zataaral the Netophathite was however a Zarhite
3 Chr. xxvtt. 14), while Beldal, or Heled, the detcend-
krt of Ottuuel, was a PharaHa (1 Cor. xxrii. 14).
PHARISEES
2471
mites, Neh. xii. 28, 39, compared with the mixtan
of Benjamites with Pharzites and Zarhites in Neb.
iii. 2-7) ; the Tekoites (vv. 5 and 27, compaied with
1 Chr. ii. 24, iv. 5); Jehoiada, the son of Paseah
(v. 6, compared with 1 Chr. iv. 12, where Paseah,
a Chelubite, is apparently descended from Ashur,
the father of Tekoa); Uephaiah, the sou of Hur (v.
9, compared with 1 Chr. ii. 20, 50, iv. 4, 12, Beth-
Kaphsh); Hanun (v. 13 and 30), with the inhabi-
tants of Zanoah (compared with 1 Chr. iv. 18);
perhaps Malchiab the son of Kechab (v. 14, com-
pared with 1 Chr. ii. 55); Neheiniah, son of Azbuk,
ruler of Beth zur (v. 16, compared with 1 Chr. ii.
45); and perhaps Baruch, son of Zabba, or Zaccai
(v. 20), if for Zaccai we read Zaccur as the men-
tion of " the other, or second, piece " makes piob-
able, as well as his proximity to Meremoth in this
record piece, as Zaccur was to Meremoth in their
first pieces (vv. 2, 4).
The table on the opposite page displays the chief
descents of the house of Pharez, and shows its
relative greatness, as compared with the other
houses of the tribe of Judah. It will be observed
that many of the details are more topographical
than genealogical, and that several towns in Dan,
Simeon, and Benjamin, as Esbtaol, Zorah, Etam,
and Gibes, seem to have been peopled with Pharez's
descendants. The confusion between the elder and
younger Caleb is inextricable, aud suggests the
suspicion that the elder Caleb or Chelubai may
have had no real, but only a genealogical exist*
ence, intended to embrace all those families who
on the settlement in Canaan were reckoned to
the house of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the
Kenezite
2. (*6pos\ [Vat. vapft.] Pkare$) = Pabosh
(1 Esdr. viii. 30; comp. Ezr. viii. 3).
A. C. H.
PHARITtA (*aW; [Vat iapttta;] Alex.
♦api5a. Phanda) = Pekida or Peuuda (1 Esdr.
v. 33).
PHARISEES (vosutomm: Pharitai), a relig-
ious party or school amongst the Jews at the time
of Christ, so called from PtrUMn, the Aramais
form of the Hebrew word Per&thim, " separated."
The name does not occur either in the Old Testa-
ment or in the Apocrypha; but it is usually con-
sidered that the Pharisees were essentially the same
with the Assidcans (i. e. chaMm = godly men,
saints) mentioned in the 1st Book of Maccabees ii.
43, vii. 13-17, and in the 2d Book xiv. 6. And
those who admit the existence of Maecabean Psalms
find allusions to the Assideans in Psalms lxxix. 3,
xevii. 10, cixxii. 9, 16, cxlix. 9, where cluuUAm is
translated •< saints " in the A. V. (See FUrst's
Handaorterbuch, i. 420 0.) In the 3d Book of
Maccabees, supposed by Geiger to have been writ-
ten by a Pharisee ( Urtchriji und Uebtnttamyen
der Bibel, p. 326), there are two passages which
tend to illustrate the meaning of the word "sep-
arated;" one in xiv. 3, where Alcimus, who had
been high-priest, is described aa having defiled
himself willfully '• in the times of the mingling "
— ip rots rijt 4 w i fit fias xpoVoif , ""*" * na '
another in xiv. 38, where the zealous Razis it said
to have been accused of Judaism, "in the former
times when there was no mingling," iv roll
lpwpo<r9t» xpoVou rfis 4 u i { I a s. In both eases
the expression " mingling " refers to the time when
Antiochus Epiphanes had partially succeeded in
breaking down the barrier which divided the Jews
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2472
PHARISEES
from his other subject* ; and if ni in tto
d-tertuii ati.m to nsi«t tht adoption of Grecian
riMuniH, mill tue slightest departure from the re-
quirements of their own Law, that the " Separated "
toot their rise aa a party. Compare 1 Mace. i.
13-ib, 41-49, 62, 63. Subsequently, however
(and perhaps not wholly at first), tliia by no
mea.'i> exhausted the meaning of the word " Phar-
A knowledge of the opinions and practices of
this party at the time of Christ is of great im-
portant* for entering deeply into the genius of the
Christian religion. A cursory perusal of the Gos-
pels is sufficient to show that Christ's teaching was
in some respects thoroughly antagonistic to theirs.
He denounced them in the bitterest language; and
in the sweeping charges of hypocrisy which He
made against them aa a class, He might even, at
fast sight, seem to ban departed from that spirit
of meekness, of gentleness in judging others, and
of abstinence from the imputation of improper
motives, which is one of the most characteristic
and original charms of his own precepts. See
Matt. xv. 7, 8. xxiii. 6, 13, 14, IB, 23; Mark vii.
(; Luke xi. 42-44, and compare Matt vii. 1-6, xi.
29, xii. 18, 20, Luke vi. 28, 37-42. Indeed it is
difficult to avoid the conclusion that bis repeated
denunciations ot the I'hariaeea mainly exasperated
them into taking measures for causing his death ;
so that in one sense He may be said to have shed
his blood, and to hare laid down his life in pro-
testing against their practice and spirit. (See
especially verses 53, 64 in the 11th chapter of
Luke, which follow immediately upon the narra-
tion of what be said while dining with a Pharisee.)
Hence to understand the Pharisees is. by contrast,
an aid towards understanding the spirit of uncor-
rupted Christianity.
Authorities. — The sources of information re-
specting the Pharisees are mainly threefold. 1st.
The writings of Josephus, who was himself a Phar-
isee ( ViL p. 2,.. and wh } in each of his great works
professes to give a direct account of their opinions
(B. J. ii. 8. $ 2-14; Am xviii. 1, \ 2, and com-
pare xiii. 10. % 6-6, xvii 2. J 4, xiil. 16, \ 2, and
ViL p. 38). The value A Joaephus'i accounts
■ This is thus n< tleed by Milton, from the point of
rlsw of his own peculiar eccie*iai«r4cal opinions : " Toe
invincible warrior Z*ai, shaking liceely the alack reins,
drives over the bead* of scarlet prelates, and such aa
are insolent to maintain traditions, bruising their stiff
necks under his flaming wbeeln Thus did the true
prophets of old combat with the false. Taut Ckrist
Himself, lee fountain of mr'kness. found acrimony
meter*, to be still gatting and vtxing the pnkuicat
Fharimtes." — Apology toi Smeetymnuus.
• There are two Oemaras : one of Jerusalem, in
whleh there is said to be no passage which can be
roved to be later than tht first balf of the 4th em-
ory ; and the other of Babylon, completed about 600
s. n. The latter Is the most Important, and by tax
tne longest. It was estimated by Chiarlni to be fifteen
timer as long as the Misbna. The whole ot the Gemaraa
has naver been translated ; though a proposal to aseke
sufth a translation was brought before tbe pubtte by
Chiarlni ( Tkiorie du Judaisme apptiqvee a ta Refmme
its Israelites, a, D. I860). But Chiarlni died In 1882.
fifteen U ea nin e of the Jerusalem Qemara, and two of
lie Babylonian, are given, accompanied b» a Latin
wanalatlcn, in Ugolino's Thttaurut, vol* x«U. -xx.
lome Interpret Qemara to be identical lo m*\m •f with
Talmud, signifying " doctrine '
• TJgo'lni's Tlutaimu eontalni /smsx* twai n m of
FHAKISEES
email be much greater, if he had not aeeomsao
dated them, more or less, to Great ideas, to thai
in order to arrive at the exact truth, not on))
much must be added, but likewise much of what
he baa written must be retranslated, aa it were
into Hebrew conceptions. 2dly. Tbe New Testa
ment, including St. Paul's epistles, in addition to
the Gospels and the Acta of the Apostles. St.
Paul had been instructed by an illustrious Rabbi
(Acts xxii. 3); he had been a rigid Pharisee (xxiii
6, xxvi. 5), and the remembrance of the galling
bondage from which he bad escaped (Gal ir. 9, 10,
v. 1) waa probably a human element in that deep
spirituality, and that uncompromising opposition
to Jewish ceremonial observances, by which he
preeminently contributed to make Christianity the
religion of the civilized world. 3dly. The first
portion of the Talmud, called tbe Mishna, or
" second law." This is by far tbe most Important
source of information respecting the Pharisees,
and it may safely bt asserted that it is nearly im-
possible to have adequate conceptions respecting
them, without consulting that work. It Is a digest
of the Jewish traditions, and a compendium of the
whole ritual 'aw, reduced to writing in ita present
form by Kabbi Jehudah tbe Holy, a Jew of great
wealth and influence, who flourished in tbe 2d
century. He succeeded his father Simeon as patri-
arch of Tiberisx, and held that office at least thirty
years. The precise date of his death is disputed ;
some placing it in a jear somewhat antecedent to
194, A. I>. (see Greets. Gischkhle dtr Jtulen, ir.
251), while others place it aa late aa 220 A. p.,
when be would have been about 81 yetrs old (Jont's
Oe$chichte dts Judenthvmt und seiner Sekten, ii.
118). The Mishna is very concisely written, and
requires notes. This circumstance led to the Com-
mentaries called Gemara * (•'. e. Supplement, Com-
pletion, according to Buxtorf), which form the
second part of the Talmud, and which are very
commonly meant when the word " Talmud " is
used by itself. The language of the Misbna is
that of the later Hebrew, purely written on the
whole, though with a few grammatical Aramaisme,
and interspersed with Greek, Latin, and Aramaic
words which had become naturalized. The work
the Jerusalem Qemara with a Latin translation, and
three of the Babylonian ; ase, In addition to the vole
referred to above, vols. xxv. and xxx. Cbiarinl (I«
Talmud dr BabyUmt trad, en tongue francai.v. vols. 1 ,
11., Leipa. 1881) has translated both tbe Mifhna an*
Qemara of tbe first treatise lo the Talmud (Brraceia,
"Blessings"), and prefixed to It a full account of the
Talmud by way of Introduction. The treatise Ita.
cot* has also been published In tbe original with a
German translation, notes, etc., by K. el. Planar,
Berlin, 1842, fol., who baa likewise prefixed to It aa
Introduction to the Talmud. For an account of the
various books of tbe Talmud In English one navy are
tbe art. Talmud by 8. Davidson In Kitto's Cy-lopa.Ha
of Biol. Lit., 3d ed. (1866). ill 988-916; tbe appendix
to Bobt. Young's translation of The Btkiu of the
Fathers (Pirke Aboth), Sdlnb. 1882; or Dr. I. Nor*
beune-'a at Jcle, The Talmud and He Robbies, ta the
Amer Bib Repository for Oct 1889. for toiler ka-
tbrmatloa about the Talmud, see Wolf, BM. Bsbrmm,
B. 667-988, and PresseTs art. Thalmud in Hssaof'a
Real-Sucykl. xv. 616-886 ; also the nunons ait. on the
Talmud by B. Dautsch In the Quarterly Review lee
Oct. 1867, and an art. by M. Qrunbamn in the Worts
Amer. Review lor April, 1889. There Is a brief popu-
lar account of the Talmud, by Dr. C. B. Stowa, a the
Atlantu. Mouth** tor June. 1868. A
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PHARISEES
■ distributed into six gnat divisions or orders.
The first (Zeroim) relates to "seeds," or produc-
tions of the bind, end It embraces ail matters con-
nected with the cultivation of the soil, and the
disposal of its produce hi offerings or tithes, tt is
preceded by a treatise on " Blessings " (Berncolh).
The 3d (.hW) relates to festivals and their ob-
servances. The 3d (ffathtm) to women, and in-
cludes regulations respecting betrothals, marriages,
sod divorces. The 4th (ffezUdn) relates to dam-
ages sustained by means of man, beasts, or things ;
with decisions on points at issue between man and
man in commercial dealings and compacts. The
5th (JCoditAtm) treats of holy things, of offerings,
and of the temple-service. The 6U1 (ToharHh)
treats of what is clean and unclean. These 6
Orden are subdivided into 61 Treatises, as reck-
oned by Maiinonides ; but want of space precludes
describing their contents; and the mention of the
titles would give little information without such
description. For obtaining accurate knowledge on
these points, the reader is referred to Surenhusius's
admirable edition of the Mithtui in 6 vols, folio,
Amsterdam, 1698-1703, which contains not only
a Latin translation of the text, but likewise ample
prefaces and explanatory notes, including those of
the celebrated Maimonides. Others may prefer
the German translation of Joat, in an edition of
the MUhna wherein the Hebrew text is pointed ; but
the German is in Hebrew letters, 8 vols. 4to, Berlin.
[1833-34. There is also a German translation, with
notes, by J. J. Rabe, in 6 vols. 4to, Onolzb. 1760-
83, a copy of which Is in the library of Vale
College. — A.] And an English reader may ob-
tain an excellent idea of the whole work from an
English translation of 18 of its Treatises by De
Sola and Raphall, London, 1843. There is no
reasonable doubt, that although it may Include a
few passages of a later date, the Mishna was com-
posed, as a whole, in the 3d century, and represents
the traditions which were current amongst the
Pharisees at the time of Christ. This may be
shown in the following way. 1st. Josephua, whose
autobiography was apparently not written later
•ban A. D. 100, the third year of the reign of
Trajan, is an authority to show that up to that
period no important change had been introduced
since Christ's death; and the general facts of
lewish history render it morally impossible that
there should have been any essential alteration
either in the reign of Trajan, the epoch of the
great Jewish revolt* in Egypt, Cyrene, and Cyprus ;
or in the reign of Hadrian, during which there
was the disastrous second rebellion in Judsea. And
It was at the time of the suppression of this rebel-
lion that Rabbi Jehudah was born ; the tradition
being that his birth was on the very same day that
Rabbi Akiba was flayed alive and put to death,
v D. 136-187. Sdly. There is frequent reference
ji the Mishna to the sayings and decisions of
HUM and Shammai, the celebrated leaders of two
lehools among the Pharisees, differing from each
jther on what would seem to Christians to be oom-
■aratively unimportant points. But Hillel and
PHARISEES
Ulh
• A psssste In Deuteronomy (rvtl. 8-11) has been
e-ttrpreted so as to serve as a basis for an oral law.
<tat that passage sums manly to prescribe obedience
he priests, the Levitss, and to the Judges in dvll
Mad criminal matters of -ontroveny between man and
asa A fanciful application of the words *$~b7
Shammai flourished somewhat before the birth of
Christ; and, except on the incredible supposition
of forgeries or mistakes on a very large scale, their
decisions conclusively furnish particulars of the
general system In force among the l'harisees during
the period of Christ's teaching. There is likewise
occasional reference to the opinion of Rabbi Gama-
liel, the grandson of Hillel, and the teacher of St
Paul. Sdly. The Mishna contains numerous cere-
monial regulations, especially in the 5th Order,
which presuppose that the Temple-eervice is still
subsisting, and it cannot be supposed that these
were invented after the destruction of the Temple
by Titus. But these breathe the same general
spirit as the other traditions, and there is no suffi-
cient reason for assuming any difference of data
between the one kind and the other. Hence for
fncU concerning the system of the Pharisees, as
distinguished from an appreciation of its merits or
defects, the value of the Mishna as an authority is
greater than that of all other sources of informa-
tion put together.
Referring to the Mishna for details, it is proposed
in this article to give a general view of the pecul-
iarities of the Pharisees; afterwards to notice their
opinions on a future life and on free-will ; and finally,
to make some remarks on the proselytizing spirit
attributed to them at the time of Christ. Points
noticed elsewhere in this Dictionary will be as far
as possible avoided. Hence information respecting
Corban and Phylacteries, which in the New Testa-
ment are peculiarly associated with the Pharisees,
must be sought for under the appropriate titles, i
See Corban and Frontlets. •*— 1
[. The fundamental principle of the Pharisees'
common to them with all orthodox modern Jews la,
that by the side of the written Law regarded as a
summary of the principles and general laws of the
Hebrew people, there was an oral law to complete
and to explain the written Law. It was an article
of faith that in the Pentateuch there was no precept,
and no regulation, ceremonial, doctrinal, or legal,
of which God had not given to Moses all explana-
tions necessary for their application, with the order
to transmit them by word of mouth (Klein's Viiiti
$ur It Talmud, p. 0). The classical passage in the
Mishna on this subject is the following: "Moses
received the (oral) law from Sinai, and delivered It to
Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the
prophets, and the prophets to the men of the Great
Synagogue " (Pirkt Abdth, i.). This remarkable
statement is so destitute of what would at the pres-
ent day be deemed historical evidence, and would,
it might be supposed, have been rendered so incred-
ible to a Jew by the absence of any distinct allu-
sion « to the fact in the Old Testament, that it is
interesting to consider by what process of argument
the principle could ever have won acceptance. It
may be conceivedln the following way. The Penta-
teuch, according to the Rabbins, contains 618 laws,
including 348 commands, and 365 prohibitions ; but
whatever may be the number of the laws, however
minutely they may be anatomized, or into what-
ever form they may be thrown, there is nowhere an
in ver. 11 has favored the rabbinical Int er p reta tion
In the « festival Prayers " of the English Jews, p. 88,
for P*nteoost,U Is stated, of God, in a prayer, "Be
explained It (the Law) to bis people yaw ufitu, sat a*
every point are ■unety-elfht explanations."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2474
PHARISEES
i to the duty of prayer, or to the doctrine of
a future life. The absence of the doctrine of a
future life has been made familiar to English theo-
logians by the author of " The Divine Legation of
Moses; " and the {act is so undeniable, that it is
needless to dwell upon it farther. The absence of
an; injunction to pray has not attracted equal atten-
tion, but seems to be almost equally certain. The
only passage which by any ingenuity has erer been
Interpreted to enjoin prayer is in Ex. xxiii. 25,
wheie the words are used, " And ye shall sera
Jehovah your God." But as the Pentateuch
abounds with specific injunctions as to the mode of
■erring Jehovah; by sacrifices, by meat-offerings,
by drink-offerings, by the rite of circumcision, by
observing festivals, such as the Sabbath, tbe Pass-
over, the feast of weeks, and the feast of taber-
nacles, by obeying all his ceremonial and moral
commands, and by loving him, it is contrary to
sound rules of construction to import into tbe
general word " serve " Jehovah the specific mean-
ing <> pray to " Jehovah, when that particular
mode of service is nowhere distinctly commanded
in the Law. There being then thus no mention
either of a future life, or of prayer as a duty,*
it would be easy for the Pharisees at a time when
prayer was universally practiced, and a future life
was generally believed in or desired, to argue from
tbe supposed inconceivability of a true revelation
not commanding prayer, or not asserting a future
life, to the necessity of Moses having treated of
both orally. And when the principle of an oral
tradition in two such important points was once
admitted, it was easy for a skillful controversialist to
carry the application of the principle much farther
by insisting that there was precisely the same evi-
dence for numerous other traditions having corns
from Moses sa for those two; and that it was illog-
ical, as well as presumptuous, to admit the two only,
and to exercise the right of selection and private
*udgment respecting the rest-
It is not to be supposed that all the traditions
which bound the Pharisees were believed to be
direct revelations to Moses on Mount Sinai. In
addition to such revelations, which were not dis-
puted, although there was no proof from the written
I aw to support them, and in addition to interpreta-
tions received from Moses, which were either implied
in the written Law or to be elicited from them by
reasoning, there were three other classes of tradi-
'tions. 1st Opinions on disputed points, which
were the result of a majority of rotes. To this
class belonged the secondary questions on which
there was a difference between the schools of Hillel
and Shammai. 2dly. Decrees made by prophets
and wise men In different ages, in conformity with
• saying attributed to the men of the Great Syna-
gogue, " Be deliberate in judgment; train up many
disciples; and matt a f mix for the Law." These
sarried prohibitions farther than the written Law or
oral law of Moses, in order to protect tbe Jewish
.people from temptations to sin or pollution. For
•example, the injunction, " Thou shall not seethe a
- • Mohammed wu preceded both by Christianity sod
» • the latest developments of Judaism from both of
jrhteta he borrowed much. Bee, aa to Judaism, Qeigar's
4Say, Was hat Mohammed aut rlem Jtultntkim auf-
nmommen f Still, one of the most marked chaneter-
sstu of the Koran If u.« unwearied reiteration or the
tatf of prayer, and or the certainty of a future state
w-iesrttatlon.
PHARISEES
kid in his jothjr*s milk," » Ex. xxiii. 19, xxiiv 96
DeuL xiv. 91; was interpreted by the oral law tc
mean that the flesh of quadrupeds might not be
cooked, or in any way mixed with milk for food :
so that even now amongst the orthodox Jeai milk
may not be eaten for some hours after meat. But
this was extended by tbe wise men to the flesh of
birds ; and now, owing to this " fence to the Law,"
tbe admixture of poultry with any milk, or its prep-
arations, Is rigorously forbidden. When once a
decree of this kind has been passed, it could not be
reversed ; and it was subsequently said that not
even Elijah himself could take away anything from
tbe 18 points which had been determined on by
the school of Shammai and the school of HilleL
3dly. I.egal decisions of proper ecclesiastical author-
ities on disputed questions. Some of these were
attributed to Moses, some to Joshua, and some to
Ezra. Some likewise to Rabbis of later date, such
as Hillel and Gamaliel. However, although in these
several ways, nil the traditions of the Pharisees were
not deemed direct revelations, from Jehovah, there
is no doubt that all became invested, more or lew,
with a peculiar sanctity ; so that, regarded collec-
tively, the study of them and the observance of
them became as imperative as the study and obser-
vance of the precepts in tbe Bible.
Viewed as a whole, they treated men like chil-
dren, formalizing and defining the minutest par-
ticulars of ritual observances. The expressions of
11 bondage," of "weak and beggarly elements." and
of " burdens too heavy for men to bear," faithfully
represent the impression produced by their multi-
plicity. An elaborate argument might 1* advanced
for many of them individually, but the sting of
them consisted in their aggregate number, which
would have a tendency to quench the fervor and
the freshness of a spiritual religion. They varied
in character, and the following instances may be
given of three different classes: 1st, of those which,
admitting certain principles, were points reasonable
to define ; 2dly, of points defined which were
superfluously particularized; and 3dly, of points
defined where the discussion of them at all was
superstitious and puerile. IH~ the first class tbe
very first decision in the Mishna is a specimen-
It defines the period up to which a Jew is bound,
as his evening aerviee, to repeat the Sbenta. The
Shema is the celebrated passage in Deut. vi 4-0,
commencing, " Hear, O Israel : tbe Lord our God
is one I-ord, and thou shalt love the I ord thy God
with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy might." It is a tradition that every
Israelite is hound to recite this passage twice in the
twenty -four hours, morning and evening — for which
authority is supposed to be found in verse T, when
it is said of these words, '• Thou shalt talk or them
.... when thou liest down and when thou rises!
up." The compulsory recitation of even these words
twice a day might be objected to as leading lo
formalism ; but accepting the recitation ai a relig-
ious duty, it might not be unreasonable that the
range of time permitted for the recitation shtiuld l«
» Although this prohibition occurs three times, m
light Is thrown upon Its meaning by the contest T a
moat probable eonjerture Is that given under the hen,
of Incurer (II 1129 a), that It was armed againM
some practice of Moisten. Mr. Larng gives a similar
explanation of the Christian prorlbition In SesadhssTh
against eating horse-fle>h..
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PHARISEES
ieftued. The following is the decision on this point
n the Mishna, Beracoth i. : " From what time do
hey recite the Shema in the evening? From the
jnie that the priests are admitted to eat their obla-
Uons till the end of the first watch. The words of
Rabbi Eliezer : but the wise men say, up to mid-
night. Rabban Gamaliel says, until the column of
dawn has arisen. Case: His sons returning from
a house of entertainment said, We hare not yet
recited the Shema; to whom he said, If the column
of dawn has not yet arisen, you are bound to recite
It. But not this alone; but wherever the wise men
hare said ' to midnight,' their injunction is in force
until the column of dawn baa arisen If so,
why did the wise men say till midnight? In order
to keep men far from transgression." The following
is an instance of the second class. It relates to the
lighting candles on the ere of the Sabbath, which
is the duty of every Jew: it is found in the Mishna,
in the treatise Shabbath, o. ii., and is printed in
the Hebrew and English Prajer-Book, according
to the form of the German and Polish Jews, p. 66,
from which to avoid objections, this translation,
and others, where it is possible, are taken. '• With
what sort of wick and oil are the candles of tbe
Sabbath to be lighted, and with what are they not
to be lighted ? They are n t to be lighted with
the woolly substance that grows upon cedars, nor
with undressed flax, nor with silk, nor with rushes,
nor with leaves out of the wilderness, nor with
moss that grows on the surface of water, nor with
pitch, nor with wax, nor with oil made of cotton-
teed, nor with tbe fat of the tail or the entrails of
beasts. Nathan Hamody saith it may he lighted
with boiled suet; but the wise men say, be it boiled
or not boiled, it may not be lighted with it It
may not be lighted with burnt oil on festival-days.
Rabbi Iahmael says it may not be lighted with
train-oil because of honor to the Sabbath ; but the
wise men allow of all sorts of oil: with mixed oil,
with oil of nuts, oil of radish-seed, oil of fish, oil
if gourd-aeed, of resin and gum. Rabbi Tarphun
saith they are not to be lighted but with oil of
olives. Nothing that grows out of the woods is
used for lighting but flux, and nothing that grows
ant of woods doth not pollute by the pollution of a
tent but flax: the wick of cloth that is doubled,
and has not been singed. Rabbi Eleazar saith it
Is unclean, and may not be lighted withal ; Rabbi
Akibah saith it is clean, and may be lighted withal.
A man may not split a shell of an egg and fill it
with oil and put it in the socket of a candlestick,
because it shall blaze, though the candlestick be
of earthenware; but Rabbi Jehudah permits it:
If the potter made it with a hole through at first,
it is allowed, because it is the same vessel. No
man shall fill a platter with oil, and give it place
next to the lamp, and put the head of tbe wick in
a platter to make it drop the oil; but Rabbi
Jehudah permits it." Now in regard to details
of this kind, admitting it was not unreasonable to
nuke tome regulations concerning lighting candles,
v. certainly seems that the above particulars are
.00 minute, and that all which was really essential
tould have been brought within a much smaller
sompass. 3dly. A specimen of the 3d class msy
M pointed out in the beginning of the treatise on
festivals (ifoed), entitled Beitznh, an Kgg, from
Jbe following case of the egg being the first point
llieussed in it. We are gravely informed that
'an egg laid or. a festival may be etfeu, accord-
tit; to the school U Sluunmsi; but tli» «c jool of
PHARISEES 2475
Hillel says It mnst not be eaten." In order la
understand this important controversy, which to
minds us of the two parties in a well-known work
who took their names from tbe end on which each
held that an egg ought to be broken, it must be
observed that, for a reason into which it is unne-
cessary to enter at present, it was admitted on all
hands, both by the school of Hillel and the school
of Shammai, that if a bird which was neither to be
eaten nor killed laid an egg on a festival, the egg
was not to be eaten. The only point of controversy
was respecting an egg laid by a ben that would be
afterwards eaten. Now the school of Hillel inter-
dicted the eating of such an egg, on account of a
passage in the 5th verse of the 16th chapter of
Exodus, wherein Jehovah said to Moses respecting
the people who gathered manna, " on the sixth day
they shall prepare that which they bring in." For
It was inferred from these words that on a common
day of the week a man might " prepare" for the
Sahbath, or prepare for a feast-day, but that he
might not prepare for the Sabbath on a feast-day,
nor for a feast-day on the Sabbath. Now, as an
egg laid on any particular day was deemed to have
been " prepared " the day before, an egg laid on a
feast-day following a Sabbath might not be eaten,
because it was prrpartd on the Sabbath, and the
eating of it would involve a breach of the Sabbath.
And although all feast-days did not fall on a day
following the Sabbath, yet as many did, it was
deemed better, ex majori cauteli, " as a fence to
the Law," to interdict the eating of an egg which
had been laid on any feast-day, whether such day
was or was not the day after the Sabbath (see
Surenhusius's Miihna, ii. 282). In a world wherein
the objects of human interest and wonder are nearly
endless, it certainly does seem a degradation of
human intelligence to exercise it on matters so
trifling and petty.
In order, however, to observe regulations on
points of this kind, mixed with others less objec-
tionable, and with some which, regarded from a
certain point of view, were in themselves individu-
ally not unreasonable, the Pharisees formed a kind
of society. A member was called a chiber (I^H),
and those among the middle and lower classes who
were not members were called " the people of the
land," or the vulgar. Each member undertook, in
the presence of three other members, that he would
remain true to the laws of the association. The
conditions were various. One of transcendent im-
portance was that a member should refrain from
everything that was not tithed (comp. Matt, xxiii.
23, and Luke xviii. 12). The Mishna says, " He
who undertakes to be trustworthy (a word with a
technical Pharisaical meaning) tithes whatever he
cuts, and whatever he sells, and whatever he buya
and doe* not eat and drink with Me people of tht
Itind." This was a point of peculiar delicacy, for
the portion of produce reserved as tithes for the
priests and Levites was Aofy, and the enjoyment ol
what was holy was a deadly sin. Hence a Phari-
see was round, not only to ascertain as a buyer
whether the articles which he purchased had been
duly tithed, but to hare the same certainty in re-
gard to what he eatj in his own bouse and when
taking his meals with others. And thus Christ,
in eating with publicans and sinners, ran counter
to the first principles, and shocked the most deep-
ly-rooted prejudices, of Pharisaism ; for, ii-depewl
ently of other obvious considerations, He ate aua
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2478
PHARISEES
bank with "the people of the land," and it would
have been assumed as undoubted that He partook
on such occasions of food which had not been duly
tithed.
Perhaps some of the most characteristic laws of
the Pharisees related to what was clean (fiMf) and
unclean (tdmi). Among all oriental nations there
has been a certain tendency to symbolism in relig-
ion; and if any symbolism is admitted on such a
subject, nothing is more natural than to symbolize
purity and cleanliness of thought by cleanliness of
person, dress, and actions. Again, in all climates,
but especially in warm climates, the sanitary ad-
Tantages of such cleanliness would tend to confirm
and perpetuate this kind of symbolism ; and when
once the principle was conceded, superstition would
be certain to attach an intrinsic moral value to the
rigid observance of the symbol. In addition to
what might be explained in this manner, there arose
among the Jews — partly from opposition to idola-
trous practices, or to what savored of idolatry,
partly from causes which it is difficult at the pres-
ent day even to conjecture, possibly from mere
prejudice, individual antipathy, or strained fanciful
analogies — peculiar ideas concerning what was
dean and unclean, which at first sight might ap-
pear purely conventional. But, whether their ori-
gin was symbolical, sanitary, religious, fanciful, or
conventional, it was a matter of vital importance to
a Pharisee that he should be well acquainted with
the Pharisaical regulations concerning what was
clean and what was unclean; for, as among the
modem Hindoos (some of whose customs are very
similar to those of the Pharisees), every one tech-
nically unclean is cut off from almost every relig-
ious ceremony, so, according to the Levitical Law,
every unclean person was cut off from all religious
privileges, and was regarded as defiling the sanctu-
ary of Jehovah (Num. xix. 20; compare Ward's
Hindoo History, Literature, and Religion, ii. 147).
On principles precisely similar to those of the
Levitical laws (Lev. xx. 26, xxii. 4-7), it was pos-
sible to incur these awful religious penalties either
by eating or by touching what was unclean in the
Pharisaical sense. In reference to eating, independ-
ently of the slaughtering of holy sacrifices, which is
the subject of two other treatises, the Mishna con-
tains one treatise called Cholin, which la specially
devoted to the slaughtering of fowls and cattle for
domestic use (see Surenhusius, v. 114; and DeSola
and Raphall, p. 828). One point in its very first
lection is by itself vitally distinctive; and if the
treatise had contained no other regulation, it would
still have raised an insuperable barrier between the
free social interc ou rse of Jews and other nations.
This point is, "that any thing slaughtered by a
heathen should be deemed unfit to be eaten, like the
* At the present day a strict orthodox Jew may not
sat UMat of any animal, unless it has been killed by a
Jewish butcher. According to Mr. I. Disraeli ( Thi
Ofniiu of Judaism, p. 164), the butcher searches the
snlmal for any blemish, and, on his approval, causes
» leaden seal, stamped with the Hebrew word tatkar
(lawful), to be attached to the meat, attesting its
■ cleanness." Mr. Disraeli likewise points out that In
evetvdotue (11. 88) s <eal Is recorded to have been used
tor a similar purpose by Egyptian priests, to attest
that a bull about to be sacrificed was n clean," koBv
■tff . The Greek and Hebrew words are perhaps akin
A origin, i and <* bring frequently Interchanged In
fcnguage.
* The Egyptians appsar to have bad Mess of" «n-
PHARISEEB
carcase of an animal that had died of itself, and Bks
such carcase should pollute the person who carried
it." ■ On the reasonable assumption that under
such circumstances animals used for food would bo
killed by Jewish slaughterers, regulations the most
minute are laid down for their guidance. In ref-
erence likewise to touching what is unclean, the
Mishna abounds with prohibitions and distinctions
no less minute; and by far the greatest portion of
the 6th and last "Order" relates to impurities con-
tracted in this manner. Referring to that "Order"
for details, it may be observed that to any one fresh
from the perusal of them, and of others already ad
verted to, the words " Touch not, taste not, handle
not," seem a correct but almost a pale summary of
their drift and purpose (Col. ii. 91); and the stern
antagonism becomes vividly visible between them
and Him who proclaimed boldly that a man was
defiled not by anything he ate, but by the bad
thoughts of the heart alone (Matt. xv. 11 ) ; and who,
even when the guest of a Pharisee, pointedly ab-
stained from washing his hands before a meal, in
order to rebuke the superstition which attached a
moral value to such a ceremonial act. (See Luke
xi. 37-40; and compare the Mishna vi. 480, where
there is a distinct treatise, Yaduim, on the wash-
ing of hands.) 6
It is proper to add that it would be a great mis-
take to suppose that the Pharisees were wealthy
and luxurious, much more that tbey had degener-
ated into the vices which were imputed to some of
the Roman popes and cardinals during the 20t
years preceding the Reformation. Josephus com-
pared the Pharisees to the sect of the Stoics. Ha
says that they lived frugally, in no respect giv-
ing in to luxury, but that they followed the leader-
ship of reason in what it had selected and trans-
mitted as a good (Ant. xviii. 1, § 3). With this)
agrees what he states in another passage, that the
Pharisees had so much weight with the multitude,
that if they said anything against a king or a high-
priest tbey were at once believed (xiii. 10, § 6); for
this kind of influence is mora likely to be obtained
by a religious body over the people, through aus-
terity and self-denial, than through wealth, luxury,
and self-indulgence. Although there would be
hypocrites among them, It would be unreasonable
to charge all the Pharisees as a body with hypoc-
risy, in the sense wherein we at the present day
use the word. A learned Jew, now living, charges
against them rather the holiness of works than hyp-
ocritical holiness — WerkhciBgkeit, nicht Schein-
heiUgkeit (Herzfeld, Geschiclite, del Volktt JisraeL,
iii. 369). At any rate they must be regarded aa
having been some of the most intense formaHsU
whom the world has ever seen ; and looking at thai
average standard of excellence among mankind, it
cleanness " through tasting, touching, and handling,
precisely analogous to those of the Levitical Iaw and
of the Pharisees. The priests would not endure even
to look at beans, deeming them not clean, mtttgosm
ev jcaAapoV sur «bai dVupcer (ko$ apoV Is the Greek
word in the UCX. for CAMr). "Mo Bgjpttan," says
Herodotus, " would saints a Greek with a kiss, not
use a Greek kntft, or spits, or cauldron ; or taste the
meat of an ox which had been cut by a Greek knife
They drank out of bronae vessels, rmsrnf <***■ l>enws
valty. And if any one accidentally touched a pig, ns
would plunge into the Nile, without stopping to ua
dress '' (Htntfol. U. 87, 41, 47). Just as the Jews re-
garded all other nations, the Egyptians regarded al
other nfiems, Including the Jews : namely, i» Inn
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHARTHHH8
a dearly certain that men whoM lives were spent
k> the ceremonial ofaservanoe* of the Miahna, would
:beriah feelings of self-complacency and spiritual
pride not justified by intrinsic moral excellence.
The supercilious contempt towards the poor publi-
can, and towards the tender penitent love that
bathed Christ's feet with tears, would be the natu-
ral result of such a system of lib.
It was alleged against them, on the highest spir-
itual authority, that they " made the word of God
of none effect by their traditions." This would be
true in the largest sense, from the purest form of
religion in the Old Testament being almost incom-
patible with such endless forms (Mic. vi. 8); but it
was true in another sense, from some of the tradi-
tions being decidedly at variance with genuine re-
ligion. The evasions connected with (Jordan are
well known. To this may be added the following
instances: It is a plain precept of morality and
religion that a man shall pay his debts (Pa. xxxvii.
31); but, according to the treatise of the Mishna
called Avudak a-icos, L 1, a Jew was prohibited
from paying money to a heathen three days before
any heathen festival, just as if a debtor had any
business to meddle with the question of how his
creditor might spend his own money. In this
way, Cato or Cicero might have been kept for a
while out of his legal rights by an ignoble Jewish
money-dealer in the Transtiberine district In
some instances, such a delay in the payment of
debt* might have- ruined a heathen merchant
Again, it was sn injunction of the Pentateuch that
an Israelite should "love his neighbor as himself"
(Lev. xix. 18); and although in this particular
passage it might be argued that by " neighbor "
was meant a brother Israelite, it is evident that
the spirit of the precept went much farther (Luke
x. 27-20, Ac). In plain violation of it, however,
a Jewish midwife is forbidden, in the Aeodah zu-
nih, ii. 1, to assist a heathen mother in the labors
of childbirth, so that through this prohibition a
heathen mother and child might have been left to
perish for want of a Pharisee's professional assist-
ance. A great Konian satirist, in holding up to
view the unsocial customs of the Roman Jews, spe-
cifies as two of their traditions that they were not
to show the way, or point ont springs of water to
any but the circumcised.
n TradMU arrano quodcunque voltunine Moats,
Non monftrars vlas esdem nisi sacra colenti,
Qusssltuui ad fontam solos deduoera verpos."
Jovxnal, xiv. 102-1.
Mow the truth of this statement has in our times
been formally denied, and it seems certain that
neither of these particular prohibitions is found in
the Miahna; but the regulation respecting the
Jewish midwives was more unsocial and cruel than
the two practices referred to in the satirist's lines ;
and individual Pharisees, while the spirit of antag-
onism to the Romans was at its height, may have
supplied instances of the imputed churlishness, al-
PHARIeJBBS
2471
a At least flvs dlftereat explanations have been sug-
gested of the passage John lx. 2. 1st That It alludes
lo a Jewish doctrine of the transmigration of souls.
Idlr That it refers to an alexandrine doctrine of the
esseajstenee of souls, but not to their transmigration.
ally. That the words mean, " Did this nan sin, at (At
Urtttu tap, or did his parents sua. a) sm say, that he
M born blind?" sthly. That It Involves the Bab-
Maiusl Idea of the |osslbUlty of au ImVnt's sinning In
ate mothers womb, fithly. That it Is founded on the
though not justified by the letter of their traditions,
In fact, Juvenal did really somewhat understate
what was true in principle, not of the Jews uni
versally, but of the most important religious party
among the Jews, at the time when he wrote.
An analogy has been pointed out by Geiger (p.
104) between the Pharisees and our own Puritans;
and in some points there are undoubted features of
similarity, beginning even with their names. Both
were innovators : the one against the legal ortho-
doxy of the JSadducees, the others against Episco-
pacy. Both of them had republican tendencies:
the Pharisees glorifying the office of rabbi, which
depended on Irani ing and personal merit, rather
than that of priest, which, being hereditary, de-
pended on the accident of birth j while the Puri-
tans in England abolished monarchy and the right
of hereditary legislation. Even in their zeal fox
religious education there was some resemblance:
the Pharisees exerting themselves to instruct dis-
ciples in their schools with an earnestness never
equaled in Rome or Greece; while in Scotland the
Puritans set the most brilliant example to modern
Europe of parochial schools for the common peo-
ple. But here comparison ceases. In the most
essential points of religion they were not only not
alike, bnt they were directly antagonistic. The
Pharisees were under the bondage of forms in the
manner already described; while, except in the
strict observance of the Sabbath, the religion of
the Puritans was in theory purely spiritual, and
they assailed even the ordinary forms of Popery and
Prelacy with a bitterness of language copied from
the denunciations of Christ against the Pharisees.
II. In regard to a future state, Joseplius pre-
sents the ideas of the Pharisees in such a light to
his Greek readers, that whatever interpretation his
ambiguous language might possibly admit, he ob-
viously would have produced the impression on
Greeks that the Pharisees believed in the transmi-
gration of souls. Thus his statement respecting
them is, " They say that every soul is imperishable,
but that the soul of good men only passes over (or
transmigrates) into another body — furafialrtir
•It rripor irvua — while the soul of bad men is
chastised by eternal punishment" (B. J. ii. 8, J
H: compare iii. 8, § 5, and Ant xviii. 1, § 3, and
Boettcher, De /nferis, pp. 519, 562). And there
are two passages in the Gospels which might coun-
tenance this idea: one in Matt. xiv. 2, where Herod
the tetrarch is represented ss thinking that Jesus
was John the Baptist risen from the dead (though
a different color is given to Herod's thoughts in
the corresponding passage, Luke ix. 7-9); and
another in John ix. 2, where the question is put
to Jesus whether the blind man himself had
sinned, or his parents, that be was born blind 1
Notwithstanding these passages, however, there
does not appear to be sufficient reason for doubting
that the Pharisees believed in a resurrection of (he
dead very much in the same sense as the early
pradestlnarlan notion that the blindness from Mrta
wss a prtuding punishment for sins which the bund
man afterwards committed : Just as It has been sug-
gested, in a remarkable passage, that the death before
1688 of the Princess Anne's inlfcnt children (three la
number) was a preoeding punishment for her lubes
quent abandonment of her Either, James IT. Sss
Stewart's PkiUuopky, vol. II. App. vl., and the Oosa
menlaries of Ds Wests and hueke, ad teens.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2478
PHARISEES
Christians This is most in accordance with St.
Paul's statement to the chief priests and council
(Acta xxiii. 6), that he wu a Pharisee, the son of
a Pharisee, and that he was called in question for
the hope and resurrection of the dead — a state-
ment which would have been peculiarly disin-
genuous, if the Pharisees had merely believed in
the transmigration of souls; and it is likewise
almost implied in Christ's teaching, which does
not insist on the doctrine of a future life as any-
thing new, but assumes it as already adopted by
his hearers, except by the Sadducees, although he
eondemns some unspiritual conceptions of its nature
as erroneous (Matt. xzii. 80 ; Hark xii. 2D ; Luke
zz. 34-36). On this head the Hisbna it an illus-
tration of the ideas in the Gospels, as distinguished
from any mere transmigration of souls; and the
peculiar phrase, " the world to come," of which t
niitr 6 ipx&l**'os was undoubtedly only the trans-
lation, frequently occurs in it (H^il DvlSn,
Atoth, ii. 7, ir. 16; eomp. Hark x. 80; Luke xviii.
30). This phrase of Christians, which is anterior
to Christianity, but which does not occur in the
O. T., though folly justified by certain passages to
be found in some of its latest books," is essentially
different from Greek conceptions on the same sui>-
jeet; and generally, in contradistinction to the
purely temporal blessings of the Mosaic legislation,
the Christian ideas that this world is a state of
probation, and that every one after death will have
to render a strict account of his actions, were ex-
pressed by Pharisees in language which it is im-
possible to misunderstand ; " This world may be
likened to a court-yard in comparison of the world
to come; therefore prepare thyself in the ante-
chamber that thou mayest enter into the dining-
room " (Atoth, iv. 16). " Everything is given to
man on security, and a net la spread over every
living creature; the shop is open, and the mer-
chant credits; the book is open, and the hand
records; and whosoever chooses to borrow may
some and borrow : for the collectors are continually
going round daily, and obtain payment of man,
whether with his consent or without it; and the
judgment is true justice; and all are prepared for
the feast " (Awth, iii. 16). " Those who are born
are doomed to die, the dead to live, and the quick
to be judged ; to make us know, understand, and
be informed that He is God: He is the Former,
Creator, Intelligent Being, Judge, Witness, and
suing Party, and will judge thee hereafter. Blessed
be He; for in his presence there is no unrighteous-
ness, forgetralness, respect of persons, nor accept-
ance of a bribe; for everything ia his. Know also
that everything is done according to the account,
uid let not thine evil imagination persuade thee
that the grave is a place of refuge for thee : for
against thy will wast thou formed, and against
thy will wast thou bom ; and against tby will dost
thou live, and against thy will wilt thou die; and
against th» will must thou hereafter render an
account, a'td receive judgment in the presence of
the Sup-tme King of kings, the Holy God, blessed
k H«" (Atoth, iv. 23). Still it must be borne in
mii4 that the actions of which such a strict
account was to be rendered were not merely those
referred to by the spiritual prophets Isaiah and
Woah (Is. i. 16, 17; Hie. vi 3), nor even those
text in support of the expre s sio n Is
" the new haarsns and tha new earth" pram-
fUAxUBxtBS
enjoined in the Pentateuch, but <"fMwl thoas
fabulously supposed to have been orally transmitted
by Moses on Mount Sinai, and the whole body of
the traditions of the elders. They included, in
fact, all those ceremonial "works," against the
efficacy of which, in the deliverance of the human
soul, St. Paul so emphatically protested.
III. In reference to the opinions of the Phar-
isees concerning the freedom of the will, a difficulty
arises from the very prominent position which they
occupy in the accounts of Joseph us, whereas noth-
ing vitally essential to the peculiar doctrines of
the Pharisees seems to depend on those opinions,
and some of his expressions are Greek, rather than
Hebrew. " There were three sects of the Jews,"
he says, " which had different conceptions respect-
ing human affairs, of which one was called Phar-
isees, the second Sadducees, and the third Essenes.
The Pharisees say that some things, and not all
things, are the work of fate; but that some things
are in our own power to be and not to be. But
the Essenes declare that Fate rules all things, an!
that nothing happens to man except by its decree.
The Sadducees, on the other hand, take away
Fate, holding that it is a thing of nought, and
that human affairs do not depend upon it; but in
their estimate all things are in the power of our-
selves, as being ourselves the causes of our good
things, and meeting with evils through our own
inconsiderateness " (comp. xviii. 1, § 3, and B. J.
ii. 8, } 14). On reading this' passage, and the
others which bear on the same subject in Jose-
phus's works, the suspicion naturally arises that
be was biassed by a desire to make the Greeks
tielieve that, like the Greeks, the Jews had phi-
losophical sects amongst themselves. At any rate
his words do not represent the opinions as they
were really held by the three religious parties.
We may feel certain, that the influence of fate
was not the point on which discussions respecting
free-will turned, though there may have been dif-
ferences as to the way in which the interposition
of Corf in human affairs was to be regarded. Thus
the ideas of the Essenes are likely to have been
expressed in language approaching to the words of
Christ (Matt. x. 29, 30, vi. 25-34), and it is very
difficult to believe that the Sadducees, who accepted
the authority of the Pentateuch and other books
of the Old Testament, excluded God, in their con-
ceptions, from all influence on human actions.
On the whole, in reference to this point, the opin-
ion of Greets (Gttchichte dtr Judtn, iii. 609) seems
not improbable, that the real difference between
the Pharisees and Sadducees was at first practical
and political. He conjectures that the wealthy
and aristocratical Sadducees in their wars and
negotiations with the Syrians entered into matters
of policy and calculations of prudence, while the
sealous Pharisees, disdaining worldly wisdom, laid
stress on doing what seemed right, and on leaving
the event to God : and that this led to differences
in formal theories and metaphysical statements.
The precise nature of those differences we do not
certainly know, as no writing of a Saddoexe si
the subject has been preserved by the Jews, and
on matters of this kind it is unsafe to trust un-
reservedly the statements of an adversary. [Sat>
ddckeb.]
lead by Isaiah (Is. la.. 17-98). Compare 1
11.44; Is.xxTt.ia.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHARISEES
IV lu reference to the spirit of proselytisni
inwug the Pharisees, there Is indisputable author-
ity for the statement that it prevailed to a very
(treat extent at the time of Christ (Matt, xxiii.
IS); and attention is now called to it on account
of its probable importance in having paved the
way for the early diffusion of Christianity. The
district of Palestine, which was long in proportion
to its breadth, and which yet, ftom Dan to Ueer-
sheba, was only 160 Roman miles, or not quite 148
English miles long, and which is represented as
having been civilized, wealthy, and populous 1,000
years before Christ, would under any circumstances
have been too small to continue maintaining the
whole growing population of its children. But,
through kidnapping (Joel iii. 6), through leading
into captivitv by military incursions and victorious
enemies (2 K. xvii. 6, xviii. 11, xxiv. 16; Am. i.
6, 9), through flight (.ler. xliii. 4-7), through com-
merce (Joseph. Ant. xx. 3, § 3), and probably
through ordinary emigration, Jews at the time of
Christ had become scattered over the Surest por-
tions of the civilized world. On the day of Pente-
cost, that great festival on which the Jews suppose
Moses to have brought the perfect Lav down from
heaven (festival Prayertfur Prntecott, p. 6), Jews
are said to have been assembled with one accord in
one place at Jerusalem, " from every region under
heaven." Admitting that this was an oriental
hyperbole (comp John xxi. 25), there must have
beet, some foundation for it in fact; and the enu-
meration of the various countries from which Jews
are said to have been present gives a vivid idea
of the widely-spread existence of Jewish commu-
nities. Now it is not unlikely, though it cannot
be prorttl from Josephus (Ant. xx. 3, § 3), that
missions and organized attempts to produce con-
version!!, although unknown to Greek philosophers,
existed smong the Pharisees (De Wette, Kxegetit-
cliet Hmdbuch, Matt xxiii. 15). But, at any rate,
the then existing regulations or customs of syna-
gogues afforded facilities which do not exist now
either in synagogues or < 'hristian churches for pre-
senting new views to a congregation (Acts xvii. 3;
Luke iv. 16). Under such auspices the prosely-
tiling spirit of the Pharisees inevitably stimulated
a thirst for inquiry, and accustomed the Jews to
theological controversies. Thus there existed pre-
cedents and favoring circumstances for efforts to
make proselytes, when the greatest of all mis-
sionaries, a Jew by race, a Pharisee by education,
a - Greek by language, and a Roman citizen by
birth, preaching the resurrection of Jesus to those
who for tbe most part already behaved in the resur-
rection of the dead, confronted the elaborate ritual-
system of the written and oral law by a pure
spiritual religion : and thus obtained the eoopera-
jon of many Jews themselves in breaking down
very barrier between Jew, Pharisee, Greek, and
Roman, and in endeavoring to unite all mankind
»y the brotherhood of a common Christianity.
literature. — In addition to the New Testa-
nent, Josephus, and the Misbna, it is proper to
read Epiphanius Adtertu. Hartttt, lib. I. xri.;
and the notes of Jerome tc Matt xx.'i. 33, xxiii.
I, Ac , though I be information given by both these
writers is very imperfect.
In modern literature, see several treatises in
'Jgoiino's Thetaurut, vol. xxil.; and Lightfoot's
Bora Uebraioa on Matt. iii. 7, where a curious
•abbinUau description is given of seven sects of
whioh, from its being destitute of any
PHARPAR
2479
intrinsic value, is not inserted in this article. Set
likewise Brucker's Uirturia Criticn Philotophia,
ii. 744-759; Milman's Bietory of the Jtia, ii. 71;
Ewald's GtttkichU de* Vvlkn Itrael, iv. 415-419;
and the JaJtrktmdert dtt Beilt, p. 5, oYc of Gfrurer,
who has insisted strongly on the Importance of the
Miahna, and has made great use of the Talmud
generally. See also tbe following works by modern
learned Jews: Jost, Getchiehtt da Jwientttumt
und teintr Sekttn, i. 196; Greets, Gnchichte tkr
Jtulen, iii. 508-518 ; Herzfeld, Getchiehtt da
Volket Jitrael, iii. 358-363 ; and Geiger, Ur-
tehrift und Uebertctxmgen der Bibei, p. 103, dn.
E.T.
* Additional Literature. — See Grossmann, Dt
Judaorvm Discipiina Arcani, Part. 1, 2, lips.
1833-34; l>e Phnritaumo Judaorum AUxandma
Commenhttio, Part. 1-1, ibid. 1846-60; IH Cottt-
ijio P/tariueorvm, ibid. 1861. Biedennann, Phot-
itder u. SudducoUsr, Zurich, 1854. Reuss, art
Pharuder, in Herzog'a toai-KncyH. xi. 496-639.
Geiger, Sodducaer u. Pkaritier, from the Jid.
Zeittchr. f. Witt. u. Lebtn, Bredau, 1868; sea
also his Dm Judenthum u. seine Geschichte, 3*
Aufl. ibid. 1805. Delitxsch, Jetut u. HUUl (against
Kenan and Geiger), Erlangen, 1866. Ginsburg,
art Phariteet in Kitto's Cycl. of BibL Lit., 3d
ed., 1866. T. Keim, Gesch. Jetu ton jtataro,
Zurich, 1867, i. 251-272. J. Uerenbourg, Kuai
mr thin, el In geoyr de ti Palestine, Paris, 1867,
i. 119-144, 452 if. A. Hausrath, Xeutest. Zr.it-
t,eschichU, Heidelb. 1868, i. 117-133. A.
PHA'KOSH (ttfar]3 [o Jk„] : ««>«,: Pka-
rat). Elsewhere Parosh. The same variation is
found in tbe Geneva Version (Ear. viii. 3).
PHARTAR (Tgl? [sidft, rapid, Gee..
Fiirst], i. e. Parpar : [Rom. *afxpip ; Vat]
°A<t>of4>a; Alex. iapQapa: Pharphur). Tbe
second of the two " rivers of Damascus " — Abana
and Pharpar— alluded to by Naamsn (3 K. v.
12).
The two principal streams in the district of Da-
mascus are the Barnda and the Atoqj: in fact,
there are no others worthy of the name of "river."
There are good grounds for identifying the Barada
with the Abana, and there seems therefore to be no
alternative but to consider the Aaaj as being the
Pharpar. But though in the region of Damascus,
the Aanj has not, like the Barada, any connection
with the city itself. It does not approach it nearer
than 8 miles, and is divided from it by the ridge
of the Jebel Ancad. It takes its rise on the S. E.
slopes of Hermon, some 6 or 6 miles from Beit
Jenn, close to a village called Amy, the name of
which it bears during the first part of its course.
It then runs S. E. by Kefr Hauwar and Snta, but
soon recovering itself by a turn northwards, ulti-
mately ends in the Bahret flijtmeh, the most
southerly of the three lakes or swamps of Damascus,
nearly due east of, and about 40 miles from, the
point at which it started. The Aaaj has been
investigated by Dr. Thomson, and is described by
him in the BibUotheca Sacra for May, 1849 ; set
also Robinson (BibL Bet. iii. 447, 448). It is evi-
dently much inferior to the Barada, for while that
is extraordinarily copious, and also perennial in the
a The A at the -ommeneenmit of this name sua?
tests a» Habww definite article ; bat no knee of Is
appears In tbe Hebrew M8S.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2480 PHARZITES, THE
Hottest seasons, thli !■ described aa a small lively*
stream, not unfrequently dry in the lower part of
iU course- On the mapa of Kiepert (1868) and
Van de Velde (1858) the name of Wady Bariar
U found, apparently that of a valley parallel to the
Any near Ktfr ffaumir ; but what the authority
for this ia the writer has not succeeded in discov-
ering. Nor haa he found any name on the maps
or in the Hate of Dr. Robinson answering to Tau-
rah, ^ »«Ji, by which Pharpar it rendered in
the Arabic version of 3 K. v. 12.
The tradition of the Jews of Damascus, as re-
ported by Schwarz (54, also 20, 27), ia curiously
subversive of our ordinary ideas regarding these
streams. They call the river Fijeh (that is the
Barada) the Pharpar, and give the name Amana
or Kannion (an old Talmudic name, see vol. i. p.
2 ft) to a stream which Schwarz describes aa run-
ning from a fountain called el- Bn nitty, 1} miles
from Beth Djana (Btit Jem), in a N. K. direction,
to Damascus (see also the reference to the Nubian
geographer by Gesenius, Thtt. 1132 a). What ia
intended by this the writer ia at a loss to know.
G.
PHAR'ZITES, THE C'S'lBrt [patr., see
Pharei]: t *apt<ri: [Vat] Alex. *ap„: P*nr-
ttita). The descendants of Pharez, toe son of
Judah (Num. xxvi. 20). They were divided into
two branches, the Hezronitea and the Hamulites.
PH ASK'AH (np^ [lame, Get; bora at the
Pamover, Fiirst]: +«Hi; Alex. [«>«r<rT/; FA.]
foicrn: Phaua). Paseah 2 (Neh. vii. 51)
PHASETilS (*curn\h: Pkattlit). A town
on the coast of Asia Minor, on the confines of
Lycia and Pamphylia, and consequently ascribed
by the ancient writers sometimes to one and some-
times to the other. Its commerce was consider-
able in the sixth century b. c, for in the reign of
Amasls it was one of a number of Greek towns
which carried on trade somewhat in the manner
of the Hanseatic confederacy in the Middle Ages.
They had a common temple, the Hellenium, at
Naucratis in Egypt, and nominated Tpotrrirtu for
the regulation of commercial questions and the
decision of disputes arising out of contracts, like
the prewthommet of the Middle Ages, who presided
over the courts of pie powder (ptetlt poudra, ped-
lars) at the different staples. In later times Phase-
lia was distinguished as a resort of the Pamphylian
and Cilician pirates. Its port was a convenient
sne to make, for the lofty mountain of Solyma
(now Takhtalu), which backed it at a distance of
enly five miles, is nearly 8,000 feet in height, and
constitutes an admirable landmark from a great
distance. Phaselis itself stood on a rock of 50 or
00 feet deration above the sea, and was joined to
he main by a low isthmus, In the middle of which
was a lake, now a pestiferous marsh. On the
eastern side of this were a closed port and a road-
stead, and on the western a larger artificial harbor,
formed by a mole run out into the sea. The
remains of this may still be traced to a considerable
extent below the surface of the water. The ma-
sonry of the pier which protected the email eastern
port Is nearly perfect. In this sheltered position
the pirates could lie safely while they sold their
PHASSABOIT
booty, sod also refit, the whole region having bees
anciently so thickly covered with wood aa to give
the name of Pityuaa to the town. For a time the
Phaselites confined their relations with the Pam-
phyliana to the purposes just mentioned; but they
subsequently joined the piratical league, and suf-
fered in consequence the loss of their independence
and their town lands in the war which was waged
by the Roman consul Publiua Servilina Isauricus in
the years 77-75 b. c. But at the outset the Ro-
mans had to a great extent fostered the pirates, by
the demand which sprang up for domestic ttavea
upon the change of manners brought about ly the
spoliation of Carthage and Corinth. It is said
that at this time many thousand slavee were passed
through Delos — which was the mart between Asia
and Europe — in a single day ; and tho proverb
grew up there, "fc>w»pc, KardVAfvo-er" t"{«\oS -
wdVra wsVaarai. But when the Cilicians bad
acquired such power and audacity as to sweep the
seas as far as the Italian coast, and interrupt the
supplies of com, It became time to interfere, and
the expedition of Servilius commenced tbe work
which was afterwards completed by Pornpey the
Great
It is in the interval between tbe growth of tbe
Cilician piracy and the Servilian expedition that
the incidents related in the First Book of Macca-
bees occurred. The Romans are represented as
requiring all their allies to render up to Simon tbe
high-priest any Jewish exiles who may have taken
refuge among them. After uaming Ptolemy, De-
metrius (king of Syria), Attalus (king of Perga-
mua), Ariarathes (of Pontus). and Arsaces (of Par-
thia), as recipients of these missives, the author
adds that the consul also wrote tls irdVos tAm
X<*pa< koI Itmjtifiy (Grotius conjectures Asut-
+o«o;, sod one MS. has tittrtu/Urtrp) koI iwaprU-
rut Kol fir Ar)\or leal cii MvvZor «al tls Sucimuw
koI fir rr/y Kapiay ml fir Xdfior xal fix T"fc»
Ua^upvXtay koI fir tV AvkIw nai sir 'AKutap
ytwobr, col fir 'PiSor koI tit ♦o<ri)Xi'Sa «al
fis K» Kal fii H8t)y col fir 'Abator aral «Ii
V6fTvrar icai KriSor, ical Kirrpoe col Kupajpn*
(1 Mace. xv. 23). It will be observed that all the
places named, with the exception of Cyprus and
Cyrene, lie on the highway of marine traffic be-
tween Syria and Italy. The Jewish slaves, whether
kidnapped by their own countrymen (Ex. xxi. 16)
or obtained by raids (2 K. v. 2), appear in early
times to hare been transmitted to the west coast
of Asia Minor by this route (see Ez. xxvii. 13;
Joel iii. 6).
The existence of tbe mountain Solyma, and a
town of tbe same name, in the imnynliifr neigh-
borhood of Phaselis, renders it probalile that thai
descendants of some of these Israelites formed a
population of some importance in the time of
Strabo (Herod, il. 178; Strab. xiv. o. 8; Lit.
xxxvii. 23; Mela, L H; Beaufort, Karmama, pp.
53-56). J. W. B.
PH ASTRO N (sWips*?; [Sin. vas-fyuv:]
Phatervn ; Pariitm), the name of the head of an
Arab tribe, " the children of Phasiron " (1 Msec
ix. 66), defeated by Jonathan, but of whom noth-
ing more ia known. A. F. W.
PHAS13ARON (voo-o-avpor; |Vst, fea-
ts ths maantnt of tba word Pharpar, treated Pussy, however (Cum*, on
• aeeordiaf to Usssnlua and Funs. Dt. ' " *~" "
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHEBE
fMM si Aid. ♦awopdi :] PAnmrtm). Pashur
[1 E*dr. v. Mi).
PHET9E. [Phckbb.]
PHE'NIOE. L See Phckkice, Pikkicicia.
2. More properly Phosix (♦oli'if, Actaxxrii. IS),
though probably our translators meant it to be
pconouneed Plumas in two syllables, u opposed to
Phenid (*<i<W(ci), Ante ri. 19) in three.
The place under our present oonsideratiou was a
town and harlior on the south coast of Ckktk:
and the name was doubtless derived from the Greek
word for the palm-tree, which Theophrastus says
was indigenous in the island. [Palm-thkk.] The
PHICHOL
2481
ancient notices of Phosnix converge remarkably to
establish it* identity with the modern Lutro. lie-
sides Ptolrniy's longitudes, we have Pliny's state-
ment that it was (as l.ntro is) in the narrowest
part of the island. Moreover, we find applied to
this locality, by the modern Greeks, not only the
word Phimka, which is clearly Phanix, but also
the words Anopoiii and Arwlenn. Now Stephanus
Uyzantinus says that Anopolis is the same with
Aradene, and Hierocles says that Aradena is the
same with Phoenix. The last authority adds also
that the island of Clal'ha is very near. We see
further that all these indications correspond exactly
with what we read in the Acta. St Paul's ship
was at Fair Havksb, which is some miles to the
K. of Lutro; but she was bound to the westward,
and the tailors wished to reach Phoenix (xxvii.
8-12); and it was in making the attempt that they
were caught by the gale and driven to Clauda (ibiil.
18-16).
Still there were till lately two difficulties in the
matter: and the recent and complete removal of
them is so satisfactory, that they deserve to lie
mentioned. First, it uwl to be asserted, by per-
sons well ajxHtaintad with this coast, that there is
no such harbor hereabouts at all affording a safe
anchorage. This is simply an error of fact The
matter is set at rest by abundant evidence, and
especially by the late survey of our own officers, an
extract from whose drawing, snowing the excel-
lent soundings of the harbor, was first published
(1853) in the Brut edition of the Life and Epittlee
«f St. Paul, H. 832. An account by recent travel-
lers will be found in the second edition of Smith's
1'ay-iye ami Shipwreck of St. /W, p. 256. The
other difficulty is a verbal one. The sailors in the
Act* describe Phoenix as \tpha rrjs Kpnrrjs
fiKivovra koto. Ai/Jo Kol koto x»("»'. woe"**
Lvtro is precisely sheltered from these winds. But
it ought to have been remembered that seamen do
not recommend a harbor because of its exposure
to certain wind*; and the perplexity is at once
removed either by taking K ard as expressing the
direction in which the wind blows, or by bearing
in mind that a sailor speaks of everything from his
own point of view. The harbor of Phoenix or
Ultra doe* "look" from tie water toward the
kiwi which indtott it — to the direction of " south-
west and northwest" J. S. H.
* Mr. Twistleton's article on Phenice, in some
earlier copies of the Dictionary, was superseded
(except a tew sentences) by that of Dr. Howson
(as would seem) on account of his different inter-
pretation of JJAsWto. Karl At£a, etc. (see above).
Mr. T. maintains that the words can mean only
that "the harbor looked to the southwe*'. and
northwest," and will not beat any other explana-
tion. Scholars generally have heretofore held this
1M
opinion, which seems to exclude the supposition
that Lutro and Phenice are the same.
Mr. Smith (Voyage and Shipwreck of Paul,
p. 87 ft, 3d ed.) and Dean Alfbrd (on Act* xxrii.
12) understand xari of the direction whither and
not whence, and thus identify Phenice with the
modem Lvtro. Captain Spratt of the Royal Navy
( Travels and Rttearchei in Crete, ii. 249, Lond.
1865) assigns good reasons for this identification,
though, strangely enough, he separates mrd \(Ba,
etc., altogether from the question. He urges that
the name Pliineka (from ♦ofcif) is still current
as applied to Lutro, and also that a I-atin inscrip-
tion found at Lutro, dating from the emperor
Nerva (A. I>. 96-98), shows that ship* from Alex-
andria (see Act* xxvii. 6) resorted to thi* harbor.
It is the only one, say* this navigator, on the south
of Crete which affords a safe winter refuge. In-
stead, however, of referring 0\troyra • • •
X&por to the opening of the harbor, he under-
stands it of the course of the voyage from Fair
Havens to Pheuiee, namely, first southwest and
then beyond •'"•<• Uttinns for the rest of the w*j
northwest According to that view we learn ab-
solutely nothing from the text respecting the situa-
tion of the harbor. But 0\4irorra agreeing with
Xifiim shows that the point of observation must
be the port, and not the vessel.
It will he'uoticed that the above writers (How-
son, Smith, Alford, Spratt), who assume Lutro and
Phenice to be the same, by no means agree in their
mode of reconciling Luke's language with that con-
clusion. The argument on this side of the question
would be stronger if that disagreement did not exist
Dr. Lechler represents in part a still different opin-
ion. He accords with those who understand Kara
XfjBa and the like (correctly we think) of the (muter
whence the winds blow; but suggest* that Luke
may be stating here only the common opinion or
report in regard to Phenice, and not his owu testi-
mony ; for Paul's ship did not reach Phenice, and
the historian bad no personal knowledge on the
subject (see his Der Apottel tieukichUcn, p. 400,
3 • AufL, 1869). For a fuller criticism on Una
topic, see the writer's Commentary on Act*, pp
420-422 (2d ed.).
The case is certainly not without its difficulty.
Among the possibilities are that Lutro and Phenioe
may not be the same: or, that Luke deviates here
somewhat from the ordinary usage in speaking of
winds; or, that the coast-line of the harbor may
have changed in the course of time. The state-
ments both of Pashley ( TnmtU in Crete, l/>nd.
1837) and of Spratt show that upheavals and sub-
mergences have been frequent in Crete. We do not
presume at present to decide the question. H.
PHERE8ITES (*tp>(<uot : Phertmn), I
Esdr. viii. 69; = Pkhizxitku; oonip. Kar. fat. 1.
PHE1VEZITE; PHER'EZITES (a iepe-
foTov: Pheretame; Pheretm), .lud. v. 16; 9 E*dr.
i. 31. The latter of these passages contains a
statement in accordance with those of Oen. xdit.
7, xxxW. 80; Judg. 1. 4, Ac., noticed unde»
Pkmzzite.
• PHI-BE'SETH, Exek. xxx. 17. [P»-
BK8JETII.]
PHI'OHOL (bb s 9 [*troiy, mighty, Furti]
Satuar. b3 *S: +,x<iK\ Alex. ♦ l icoA; Joseph
♦(<coAof : Phichoi), chief captain of the army of
Abimelech, king of the Philistines of Gerar in tbt
Digitized by VjOOQlC
8482
PHIGHOL
days of both Abraham (Gen.xxi.99, 39) and Iiuo
(xxvi. 96). Joaephus mentioni him on the Kcond
occasion only. On the other hand the LXX. intro-
iuot Ahuazath, Abimelech'i other companion, on
the first alio. By Gesenius the name is treated u
Hebrew, and aa meaning the " mouth of all." By
Flint (ffandai. ii. 915 a), it is derived from a
root V>5^, to be strong. Bnt Hitzig (PhiHMcr,
§ 57) refers it to the Sanskrit piitchula, a tama-
risk, pointing out that Abraham had planted a
tamarisk in Beer-eheba, and comparing the name
with Elab, Berosus, Tappusch, and other names
of persons and places signifying different kinds of
trees; and with the name +(70X01, a village of
Palestine (Joseph. Anl. xii. 4, § S), and tiya\la in
Greece. Stark (Gam, etc., p. 96) more cautiously
avoids such speculations. The natural conclusion
PHILADELPHIA
from these mere conjectures is that Pkithoi is ■
Philistine name, the meaning and derivation of
which are lost to us- O.
* Phichol (whatever Its origin) was no doubt a
military title (like mudtr or muthir in the East at
present), and hence would be expected to recur ia
the history again and again. In speaking of Turk-
ish officers now the name is very seldom heard, and
they are known to the public almost exclusively by
their titles (Thomson's Land and Book, ii. 359).
H.
PHILADELPHIA (* ♦.XoWA^.a [»«**.
trly loot] : Philadelphia), Rev. iii. 7. A town aa
the confines of Lydia and Phrygia CatacecaanMne,
built by Attalus II., king of Pergamus. It was
situated on the lower slopes of Tmolus, on the
southern side of the valley of the Ain-i-ghM Bom,
Philadelphia (Itedarlans's Apocalyptic ObaneM).
k river which is probably the Cogamus of antiquity,
and falls Into the Wadis-tcAai (the Hermus) in the
neighborhood of Sart-Kaleti (Sardis), about 96
miles to the west of the site of Philadelphia. This
latter is still represented by a town called AUah-
thehr (city of God). Its elevation is 953 feet
above the sea. The region around is highly vol-
canic, and geologically speaking belongs to the
district of Phrygia Cataoecaumene, on the western
edge of which it lies. The soil was extremely
favorable to the growth of vines, celebrated by
Virgil for the soundness of the wine they pro-
duced; and in all probability Philadelphia was
built by Attalus as a mart for the great wine-
produeing region, extending for 600 stades in length
by 400 in breadth; for its coins have on them the
head of Bacchus or a female Bacchant. Strabo
compares the soil with that in the neighborhood
of Catena in Sicily; and modern travellers describe
the appearance of the country as resembling a
billowy sea of disintegrated lava, with here and
there vast trap-dykes protruding. The original
population of Philadelphia seems to have been
Macedonian, and the national character to have
been retained even in the time of Pliny. There
•as, however, as appears from Rev. iii. 9, a syna-
gogue of Heuenising Jews there, as well as a
Cbavu Church. The locality continued to be
tabjset to constant earthquakes, which in the time
of Strabo rendered even the town-walls of Phila-
delphia unsafe; but its inhabitants held pertina-
ciously to the spot, perhaps from the profit which
naturally accrued to them from their city being the
staple of the great wine-district. But the expense
of reparation was constant, and hence perhaps the
poverty of the members of the Christian Church
(oTSa . . . Jti fuKpor fx (u '(Swaus 1 , Rev.
iii. 8), who no doubt were a portion of the urban
population, and heavily taxed for public purposes,
as well as subject to private loss by the destruction
of their own property. Philadelphia was not of
sufficient importance in the Roman times to have
law-courts of its own, but belonged to a jurisdiction
of which Sardis was the centre.
It has been supposed by some that Philadelphia
occupied the site of another town named Calhtia-
bus, of which Herodotus speaks, in his account of
Xerxes's march, as famous for the production of a
sugar from the holau torghum and sweetwort (ir
Tp irlpis Sn/uoipyol u&i in uvpbcnt r« col rr
gov iroicvtri, vii. 31). But by the way In which
e mentions Callatebus (of which the name ia only
known from him) it would seem to have been not
far from the Hassnder, from which the ruins of At
lah-thehr cannot be less distant than from 30 to
40 miles, while they are very near the Cogamua
The enormous plane tree, too, which struck Xerxes's
attention, and the abundance of tin- >utp<<tn point
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Google
PHILARCHBa
o a region well famished with springs of water,
which is the cue with the northern tide of the
Hieander, where Xerxes crowed it, end not to with
Jw vieinity of AtUih-tkthr. At the same time the
Persian king, in hit two days' mmrch from Cydrara
lo Sartiia, must hare passed very near the site of
the future Philadelphia. (Strab. xii- e 8, xlii. e.
4: Virg. Ceoro. ii. 98; Herod. vB. 31; Win. H. N.
v. 39 ; ArundeU, Ditewtnu n Ana Minor, i. 84,
See.; Tehihateheff, Aue Mineure, p. 337, 4c.)
J. W. B.
PHILAK'CHES. This word oecura at a
proper name in A- V. in 8 Mace. viii. 33, where
it ii really the name of an office (o Qvkipxn* —
o <t>&\apx°i. " ">* commander of the cavalry").
The Greek text seems to be decisive a> to the true
rendering; but the Latin renion ("et Pbilarchen
qui cum Timotheo erat . . . ") might easily give
rue to the error, which U rery strangely supported
by Grimm, ud toe. B. K. W.
PHILETvION (•ia^/mm' [lotiny, affection-
ate): Philemon), the name of the Christian to
whom Paul addressed his epistle in behalf of Onesi-
mua. He was a native probably of Oolossie, or at
all events lived in that city when the Apostle wrote
to him; first, because Onesimus was a Colosthui
(Col. iv. 9); and secondly, because Archippus was
a Colotsian (Col. iv. 17), whom Paul associates
with Philemon at the beginning of his letter
(l'hilem. 1, 2). Wieaeler (Chronotoyie. p. 452)
argues, indeed, from Col. iv. 17, that Archippus
was a 1-aodioean, but the tlrart in that passage,
on which the point turns, refers evidently to the
Cokwsiaus (of whom Archippus was one therefore),
and not to the church at Laodicea spoken of in the
previous vena, aa Wieaeler without reason assumes.
[Laouicka, Amer. ed] Theodoret (Piixtm. in
KpiU. iid Phil. ) states the ancient opinion in say-
ing that Philemon was a citizen of Colons, and
that hit bouse waa pointed out there as late aa
the fifth century. The legendary history supplies
nothing on which we can rely. It is related that
Philemon became bishop of Colons (Omttii.
Ajunt. vii. 46), and died as a martyr under Nero.
It is evident from the letter to him that Phile-
mon waa a man of property and influence, since be
is represented as the head of a numerous house-
hold, and as exercising an expensive liberality to-
wards his friends and the poor in general. He
was indebted to the Apostle Paul as the medium
of his personal participation in the Gospel. All
Interpreters agree in assigning that significance to
atavriv poi x0o«7o$f(Aei* in Philera. 19. It is
not certain under what circumstances they became
known to each other. If Paul visited Colossst when
he passed through Phrygia on hi* second mission-
ary Journey (Acts xvi. 6), it was undoubtedly there,
and at that time, that Philemon heard the Gospel
and attached himself to the Christian party. On
the contrary, if Paul never visited that city in per-
son, aa many critics infer from Col. ii. 1, then the
best view is, that he was converted during Paul's
protracted stay at Epheaus (Acve xix. 10), about
\. v. 64-67. That city was the religious and
commercial capital of Western Asia Mi. .or. The
apostle labored there with such jucceas that " all
they who dwelt in Asia heard the word iff the Lord
Jesus-" Phrygia waa a neighboring province, and
tmong the strangers who repaired to Epheaus and
had an opportunity to hear the preaching of Paul,
amy have bean the Colotsian Philemon.
PHILEMON
2488
Paul terms Philemon trvrtoyit (ver. 1 1, which
may denote a preacher of the word (2 Cor. riii. 28;
Phil. 11. 26, etc.); but aa nothing iu the litter Id
dicatea that he performed this service, and as ton
appellation may designate other modes of labor
(applied to PrisciUa, Kom. xvi. 3), it probably
has not the official sense in this instance. Meyet
thinks that Philemon may have been an elder.
It is evident that, on becoming a disciple, be gar*
no common proof of the sincerity and power of his
faith. His character, as shadowed forth in the
epistle to him, is one of the noblest which the sacred
record makes known to us. He waa full of faith
and good works, waa docile, confiding, grateful waa
forgiving, sympathizing, charitable, and a man woe
on a question of simple justice needed only a hint
of bis duty to prompt him to go even beyond it
(fares 6 \4ya *or/jo-«i). Any one who studies
the epistle will perceive that it ascribes to him
these varied qualities; it bestows on him a meas-
ure of commendation, which forms a striking con-
trast with the ordinary reserve of the sacred writ-
ers. It waa through such believers that the
primitive Christianity evinced ita divine origin,
and spread so rapidly among the nations.
H. B. H.
PHILETHON, THE EPISTLE OP
PAUL TO, is one of the letters (the others are
Kpheaians, Colossians, Philippiana) which the Apos-
tle wrote during his first captivity at Home. The
arguments which show that he wrote the Epistle to
the Colossians in that city and at thai period, in-
volve the same conclusion in regard to this; for it
is evident from Col. iv. 7, 9, as compared with the
contents of this epistle, that Paul wrote the two
letters at the same time, and forwarded them to
their destination by the hands of Tychicus and
Onesimus, who accompanied each other to Coloaaav
A few modern critics, as Schulz, Schott, Bi ttger,
Meyer, maintain that this letter and the others as-
signed usually to the first Koman captivity, wen
written during the two years that Paul was impris-
oned at Ctesarea (Acta xxiii. 35, xxiv. 27). But
this opinion, though supported by some plausible
arguments, can be demonstrated with reasonable
certainty to be incorrect [Cuumhiaxs, Epistle
TOTHK.]
The nine when Paul wrote may be fixed with
much precision. The Apostle at the close of the
letter expresses a hope of his speedy liberation.
He speaks in like manner of his approaching deliv-
erance, in his Epistle to the Philippiana (ii. 23, 34),
which was written during the same imprisonment.
Presuming, therefore, that he had good reasons
for such an expectation, and that be was not dis-
appointed in the result, we may conclude that
this letter waa written by him about the year
a. D. 63, or early in a. d. 64; for it was in the
latter year, according to the beat chronologiata,
that he waa freed from his first Roman impris-
onment.
Nothing is wanting to confirm the aenuinentm
of this epistle. The external testimony is unim-
peachable. It is not quoted so often by the earlier
Christian fathers aa some of the other letters; its
brevity, and the fact that its contents are not di-
dactic or polemic, account for that omission. We
need not urge the expressions in Ignatius, cited aa
evidence of that apostolic Father's knowledge and
use of the epistle; though it is difficult to regard
the similarity between them and the language to
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2484
PHILEMON, THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO
rer. 2C as altogether accidental. See Kirchhofer's
Quellemammhmg, p. 206. The Canon of Muratori
which comes to us from the second century (Cred-
ner, Getchichte da /Canons, p. 69), enumerate*
thia as one of Paul's epistles. Tertullian men-
tions it, and says that Marcion admitted it into
bis collection. Sinope in Poutua, the birthplace
of Marcion, was not far from Coloaue where Phile-
mon lived, and the letter would find its way to the
neighboring churches at an early period. Origen
tad luuebius include it among the universally ac-
knowledged writings (ipokoyoififva) of the early
Christian times. It is so well attested historically,
that, aa De Wette says (EinUiiung ins Natt Ta-
tomtnt, p. 278), its genuineness on that ground is
beyond doubt.
Nor does the epistle itself offer anything to con-
flict with this decision. It is impossible to conceive
of a composition more strongly marked within the
nine limit* by those unstudied assonances of
thought, sentiment, and expression, which indicate
an author's hand, than this short epistle as com-
pared with Paul's other productions. Paley has a
paragraph in his //tots Paulina, which illustrates
this feature of the letter in a very just and forcible
manner. It will be found also that all the histori-
cal allusions which the Apostle makes to events in
his own life, or to other persons with whom he was
connected, harmonize perfectly with the statements
or incidental intimations contained in the Acts of
the Apostles or the other epistles of Paul. It be-
longs to a commentary to point out the instances
of snch agreement.
Baur (Pauiut, p. 475) would divest the epistle
of its historical character, and nuke it the personi-
fied illustration from some later writer, of the idea
that Christianity unites and equalizes in a higher
sense those whom outward circumstances have sep-
arated. He does not impugn the external evidence.
But, not to leave his theory wholly unsupported, he
suggests some linguistic objections to Paul's author-
ship of the letter, which must be pronounced un-
founded and frivolous. He finds, for example, cer-
tain words in the epistle, which are alleged to be
not Pauline ; but to justify that assertion, he must
deny the genuineness of such other letters of Paul
as happen to contain these words. He admits that
the Apostle could have said axKdyyva twice, but
thinks it suspicious that he should say it three
limes. A few terms he adduces, which are not used
elsewhere in the epistles ; but to argue from these
that they disprove the apostolic origin of the epistle,
is to assume the absurd principle that a writer,
ifter having produced two or three compositions,
siust for the future confine himself to an unvarying
circle of words, whatever may be the subject be dis-
cusses, or whatever the interval of time between his
iifferent writings.
The arbitrary and purely subjective character of
lueh criticisms can have no weight against the
raried testimony admitted as decisive by Christian
scholars for so many ages, upon which the canon-
si authority of the Epistle to Philemon is founded,
t'hey are worth repeating only as illustrating
(tour's own remark, that modem criticism in as-
•Uiiig this particular book runs a greater risk of
vpusing itself to the imputation of an excessive
distrust, a morbid sensibility to doubt and denial,
than hi questioning the claims of any other epistle
ascribed to Paul.
Oar knowledge respet ting the occmUm and oo-
•sct est the letter ws must derive from declarations
or inferences furnished by the latter itself.
the relation of Philemon and Onesimus to i
other, the reader will see the articles on
names. Paul, so intimately connected with the
master and the servant, was anxious naturally to
effect a reconciliation between them. He wished
also (waiving the sViptor, the matter of duty or
right) to give Philemon an opportunity of mani-
festing bis Christian love in the treatment of Ones-
imus, and his regard, at the same time, bt the
personal convenience and wishes, not to say official
authority, of bis spiritual teacher and guide. Paul
used his influence with Onesimus (aWweu^o, in
ver. 12) to induce him to return 1 to Colosne, u_J
place himself again at the disposal of his master
Whether Onesimus assented merely to the pi j-
posal of the Apostle, or had a desire at the same
time to revisit his former home, the epistle does
not enable us to determine. On his departure,
Paul put into his hand this letter as evidence that
Onesimus was a true and approved disciple of
Christ, and entitled as such to be received not as a
servant, but above a servant, as a brother in the
faith, as the representative and equal in that re-
spect of the Apostle himself, and worthy of the
same consideration and love. It is instructive to
observe bow entirely Paul identifies himself with
Onesimus, and pleads his cause aa if it were his
own. He intercedes for him as his own child,
promises reparation if he had done any wrong,
demands for him not only a remission of all pen-
alties, but the reception of sympathy, affection,
Christian brotherhood ; and while he solicits these
favors for another, consents to receive them with
the same gratitude and sense of obligation as ii
they were bestowed ou himself. Such was the pur-
pose and such the argument of the epistle.
The remit of the appeal cannot be doubted. It
may be assumed from the character of Philemon
that the Apostle's intercession for Onesimus was
not unavailing. There can be no doubt that,
agreeably to the express instructions of the letter,
the past was forgiven ; the master and the servant
were reconciled to each other; and, if the libel ty
which Onesimus had asserted in a spirit of inde-
pendence was not conceded as a boon or right, it
was enjoyed at all events under a form of servitude
which henceforth was such in name only. So
much must be regarded as certain ; or it follows
that the Apostle wss mistaken in his opinion of
Philemon's character, and his efforts for the welfare
of Onesimus were frustrated. Chrysostom declares,
in his impassioned style, that Philemon must have
been less than a man, must have been alike desti-
tute of sensibility and reason (rotor KlOos, rotor
Miptov), not to be moved by the arguments and
spirit of such a letter to fulfill every wish and inti-
mation of the Apostle. Surely no fitting response
to his pleadings for Onesimus could involve less
than a cessation of everything oppressive and harsh
in his civil condition, as far as it depended on
Philemon to mitigate or neutralize the evils of s
legalised system of bondage, as well as a cessation
of everything violative of his rights as a Chris-
tian. How much further than this an impartial
explanation of the epistle obliges us or authorize*
us to go, has not yet been settled by any very gen-
eral consent of interpreters. Many of the best critics
construe certain expressions (re ayaBir in ver. 14
and vwip s \4y» in ver. 21) as conveying a distinct
expectation on the part of Paul that Phihanos
would liberate Onesimus. Nearly all agree that hi
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHILEMON
noU baldly have failed to confer or him that fe-
tor, even if it was not requested in sc man; wordi,
■Iter such an appeal to his sentiments of humanity
ind justice, Thus it was, as Dr. Wordsworth
remarks (St. Pants Epistles, p. 328'/, "by Chris-
tianizing the master that the Gospel enfranchised
the slave. It did not legislate about mere names
snd forms, bat it went, to the root of the evil, it
spoke to the heart of man. Whan the heart of the
master was filled with divine grace and was warmed
with the love of Christ, the rest wonld soon follow.
The lips would speak kind words, the hands would
do liberal things. Every Onesimus would be
treated by every Philemon as a beloved brother in
Christ."
The Epistle to Philemon has one peculiar feature
— its irnheticnl character it may be termed —
which distinguishes it from all the other epistles,
and demands a special notice at our hands. It has
been admired deservedly as a model of delicacy and
skill in the department of composition to which it
Wongs. The writer had peculiar difficulties to
overcome. He was the common friend of the par-
ties at variance. He must conciliate a man who
supposed that he bad good reason to be offended.
He must commend the offender, and yet neither
deny nor aggravate the Imputed fault. He must
assert the new ideas of Christian equality in
the face of a system which hardly recognized the
humanity of the enslaved. He could have placed
the question on the ground of his own personal
rights, and yet must waive them in order to secure
an act of spontaneous kindness. His success
must be a triumph of love, and nothing be de-
manded for the sake of the justice which could
have claimed everything. He limits his request to
s forgiveness of the alleged wrong, and a restora-
tion to favor and the enjoyment of future sympa-
thy and affection, and yet would so guard his
words as to leave scope for all the generosity which
benevolence might prompt toward one whose con-
dition admitted of so much alleviation. These are
contrarieties not easy to harmonise; hut Paul, it
is confessed, has shown a degree of self denial and
a tact in dealing with them, which In being equal
to the occasion could hardly be greater.
There is a letter extant of the younger Pliny
(EpUt. ix. SI) which he wrote to a friend whose
•errant had deserted him, in which be intercedes
for the fugitive, who was anxious to return to hit
master, but dreaded the effects of his anger. Thus
the occasion of the correspondence was similar to
that between the Apostle and Philemon. It has
occurred to scholars to compare this celebrated
tetter with that of Paul in behalf of Onesimus; and
as the result they hesitate, not to say, that not only
in the spirit of Christian love, of which Pliny was
ignorant, bat in dignity of thought, argument,
pathos, beauty of style, eloquence, the communica-
tion of the Apostle is vastly superior to that of the
polished Koman writer.
Among the later Commentaries on this epistle
may be mentioned those of Rothe ( /nttrpretatio
Butorico-tjcegetica, Breme, 1844), Hogenbacb
(one of bis early efforts, Basel, 1839), Koch (Zurich,
/846, excellent). Wiesinger (1881 ), one of the oon-
tnuatJn of Olshausen's work, Meyer (ieViO), Do
ffette, Ewald (brief notes with a translation,
Waingen (1857). Alfbrd, Wordsworth, EUlcott,
lad the Amor. Bible Union (N. T. 1890). The
ratal iialiiil lavater preached thirty-nine sermons
PHILIP
248f
on the contents of this brief composition and pub-
lished them in two volumes. H B H.
* Among the patristic commentators Chrysos
torn exeels in bringing oat the delicate touches of
the letter. In torn. v. of the Criliei Sneri (Krancf.
1696) the Jurist, Sciplo Gentllls, devotes eighty folio
pages to Philemon. D. H. Wildsehut treats Dt n
itidionis (I sermoni* elegantin, in hpistoln PamS no
Philemonem (Traj. ad Khen., 1809). Her. J. &
Buckminster has a sermon on the entire letter as
a text (Sermons, pp. 78-92, Host. 1815). Still
later helps are, V. KUhne, Der /C/iistel PavH an
Pkilrmm, in Bibtlstunden (Utpz. 1856); Bksek,
VorUmvgen flo. die Brirft rrn nVe Colosur, ires
Philemon, ate. IMS); and J. J. Van Oosterasa,
Der Brief rm Philemon, in pt. xi. of Lange's
BibelmrkdesN- Test. (1862), translated with ad-
ditions by H. B. Hackett in Dr. SchaTs Coir*.
mentnry (S. T. 1868). On the relation of the
epistle to the subject of slavery see the opinions of
eminent writers as quoted at the end of the above
translation (pp. 39-31). H.
PHILETUS (♦Iawtoj [beloved, or worths of
ten] : Pliilehu) was possibly a disciple of Hymen-
asus, with whom he is associated in 2 Tim. ii. 17
and who is named without him in an earlier epis-
tle (1 Tim. i. 80). Waterland (Importance of the
Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, cb. iv., Works, iii.
459) condenses in a few lines the substance of many
dissertations which have been written concerning
their opinions, and the sentence which was inflicted
upon at least one of them : " They appear to have
been persons who believed the Scriptures of the U.
T., but misinterpreted them, allegorizing away the
doctrine of the Resurrection, and resolving it all
into figure and metaphor. The delivering over
unto Satan seems to have been a form of excom-
munication declaring the person reduced to the
state of a heathen ; and in the Apostolical age it
was accompanied with supernatural or miraculous
effects upon the bodies of the persons so delivered."
Walchiua is of opinion that they were of Jewish
origin ; Hammond connects them with the Gnostics;
Vitringa (with less probability) with tbeSaddueeet.
They understood resurrection to signify the knowl-
edge and profession of the Christian religion, oi
regeneration and conversion, according to J. G.
Walchius, whose lengthy dissertation, Ik llumtnao
et Phileto, in his Miscellanea Sacra, 1744, pp.
81-121, seems to exhaust the subject. Amongst
writers who preceded him may be named Vitringa,
Obserc. Sacr. iv. 9, 922-930; Buddeus, Ecduia
Apmtolica, r. 297-305. See also, on the heresy,
Burton, Bnmpton Lectures, and Dean Ellicott's
notes on the Pastoral Epistles; and Potter on
Cliurch Government, eh. v., with reference to the
sentence. The names of Philetus and Hyiiienseoj
occur separately among those of Cesar's household
whose relics have been found in the Columbaria at
Rome. W. T. B.
PHILIP (wlAmrOT [foeer o/Aor#a»]: Philip-
put). 1. The father of Alexander the Great (IMacc
I. 1 ; v. i. 3), king of Macedonia, a. o. 859-436.
S. A Phrygian, left by Antioehus Epiph. as
governor at Jerusalem (e. B. o. 170), when he be
nave'' with great cruelty (3 Haec. v. 83). burning
the fugitive Jaws in caves (8 Maeo. vi. 11), and
taking the earliest measures to cheek the growing
power of Judas Maeo. (2 Msec. vili. 8) He is
commonly identified with,
3. The foster brtNtur (e-oVrsotfwt, 8 Maw. fat
Digitized by VjOOQlC
£486 PHILIP THE AP08TLB
N) of Antiochus Epiph., whom the king upon bis
death-ben appointed regent of Syria and guardian
»f hii son Antiocbua V., to the exclusion of Lysias
;b. c. 164, 1 Mace. vi. 14, 16, 55). He returned
with the royal forcei from Persia (1 Mace. vi. 66)
to assume the government, and occupied Antioch.
But Lysias, who was at the time besieging " the
Sanctuary " at Jerusalem, hastily made terms with
Judas, and marched against him. Lysias stormed
Antioch, and, according to Josephus (Am. zii. 9,
§ 7), put Philip to death. In 2 Mace., Philip is
said to have fled to Ptol. Philometor on the death of
Antiochus (2 Mace. iz. 29), though the book con-
tains traces of the other account (xiii. 23). The
attempts to reconcile the narratives (Winer, s. v.)
bass no probability.
I'biUp V. of Haeedon.
Dtaraehm of Philip V. (AtUc talent). Obv.: Head of
king, r, bound with Met. Rev.: BA21AE02
♦UinnOY ; rlub of Hercules : aU within wreath.
4. Philip V., king of Macedonia, K. c. 220-179.
Hb wide and successful endeavors to strengthen
and enlarge the Macedonian dominion brought him
into conflict with the Romans, when they were en-
gaged in the critical war with Carthage. Desul-
tory warfare followed by hollow peace lasted till the
victory of Zama left the Komans free for more
rigorous measures. Meanwhile Philip had con-
solidated his power, though he had degenerated
into an unscrupulous tyrant. The first campaigns
of the Romans on the declaration of war (b. c,
200) were not attended by any decisive result, but
the arrival of rlamininus (R. c. 198) changed the
aspect of affairs. Philip was driven from his com-
manding position, and made unsuccessful overtures
lor peace. In the next year he lost the fatal battle
of Cynoscephahe, and was obliged to accede to the
terms dictated by his conquerors. The remainder of
his life was spent in vain endeavors to regain some-
thing of his former power; and was embittered by
sruclty and remorse. In 1 Mace. viii. 6, the defeat
rf Philip is coupled with that of Perseus as one of the
loblest triumphs of the Romans. 11. F. W.
PHILIP THE APOSTLE (♦.Aiinroj:
Philippm). The (impels contain comparatively
■canty notices of this disciple. He is mentioned
as being of liethsalda, the city of Andrew and
Peter o (John i. 44), and apparently was among
the Galilean peasants of that district who flocked
to hear the preaching of the Baptist. The manner
fat which St. John speaks of him, the repetition by
him of the self-same words with which Andrew
had brought to Peter the good news that the
Christ had at last appeared, all indicate a previous
friendship with the sons of Jonah and of Zebedee,
and a consequent participation in their Messianic
lopes. The close union of the two in John vi.
a Ortfweirs suggestion (Dissert, on Harmony,
ixxli.) that the Apostle was an Inhabitant («Vo) of
but a native (fa) of Oapemaum, is to be
4, bat baldly to be received.
PHILIP THE APOSTLE
and zii. suggests that he may have owed to la
drew the first tidings that the hope bad been fid-
filled. The statement that Jesus found him (Joht
i. 43) implies a previous seeking. To him first it
the whole circle of the disciples h were spoken thi
words so full of meaning, "Follow me" (Ibid.)
As soon as he has learnt to know his Master, he
is eager to communicate his discovery to soother
who had also shared the same expectations. He
speaks to Nathanael, probably on his arrival in
Cana (comp. John zzi. 2, Kwald, Getch. v. p. 261 ),
as though they bad not seldom communed to-
gether of the intimations of a better time, of a
divine kingdom, which they found in their sacred
books. We may well believe that he, like his
friend, was an " Israelite indeed in whom there
was no guile." In the lists of the twelve Apostles,
in the Synoptic Gospels, his name is as uniformly
at the head of the second group of four, as the
name of Peter is at that of the first (Matt. x. 3 ;
Mark iii. 18; Lukevi. 14); and the facta recorded
by St. John give the reason of this priority. In
those lists again we find his name uniformly
coupled with that of Bartholomew, and this has led
to the hypothesis that the latter is identical with
the Nathanael of John i. 46, the one being the
personal name, the other, like Barjonah of Barti-
nueus, a patronymic. Donaldson (Jnsfwr, p. ill
looks on the two as brothers, but the precise men-
tion of to? Xttov &St\<poy in ver. 41, and its
omission here, is, as Alford remarks (on Matt. x.
3), against this hypothesis.
Philip apparently was among the first company
of disciples who were with the Lord at the com-
mencement of his ministry, at the marriage of
Cana, on his first appearance as a prophet in Je-
rusalem (John ii.) When John was cast into
prison, and the work of declaring the glad tidings
of the kingdom required a new company of preach-
ers, we may believe that he, like his companions
and friends, received a new call to a more constant
discipleship (Matt iv. 18-22). When the Twelve
were specially set apart for their office, he was
numbered among them. The first three Gospels
tell us nothing more of bim individually. St* John,
with his characteristic fullness of personal reminis-
cences, records a few significant utterances. The
earnest, simple-hearted faith which showed itself in
his first conversion, required, it would seem, an
education ; one stage of this may he traced, accord-
ing to Clement of Alexandria (Shvm. iii. 26), u
the history of Matt viii. 21. He assumes, as a
recognized fact, that Philip was the disciple who
urged the plea, " Suffer me first to go snd bury my
father," and who was reminded of a higher duty,
perhaps also of tbe command previously given, by
the command, " I .et the dead bury their dead; follow
thou me." When the Galibean crowds had halted
on their way to Jerusalem to hear tbe preaching of
Jesus (John vi. 6-9), and were faint with hunger,
it was to Philip that the question was put
" Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat / "
" And this he said," St John adds, " to prove him,
for He himself knew what He would do." The
answer, " Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not
sufficient for them that every one may take a little,'
shows how little be was prepared for the work of
a It has bran assumed, on the authority of puri.tr
tradition (ns/r.j, that his call to tbe epoeUeship ta>
solved tbe abandonment, tot a Hate, of his wne tel
daeft-htei.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHILIP THE APOSTIjE
livine power that followed.* It h noticeable that
iere. aa in John i., ha appean In cloae connection
with Andrew.
Another incident la brought before ua in John
xii. 30-22. Among the pilgrims who had come to
keep the panover at Jerusalem were some Gentile
proselytes (Hellenes) who had heard of Jesus, and
desired to see Hint. The Greek name of IMulip
may haw attracted them. The senium love which
he had shown in the cam of Nathanael may bare
made him prompt to offer himself as their guide,
tut it is characteristic of him that he does not take
them at ones to the presence of his Master. " Philip
eometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew and
Philip tell Jesus." The friend and fellow-towns-
man to whom probably he owed his own introduc-
tion to Jeuia of Nazareth, is to introduce these
strangers also.' 1
There is a connection not difficult to be traced
between this fact and that which follows on the last
recurrence of Philip's name in the history of the
Gospels. The desire to see Jesus gave occasion to
the utterance of words in which the Lord spoke
more distinctly than ever of the presence of his
Father with Him, to the voice from heaven which
manifested the Father's will (John xii. 28). The
words appear to hare sunk into the heart of at
least one of the disciples, and he brooded over them.
The strong cravings of a passionate but unenlight-
ened faith led him to feel that one thing was yet
wanting. They heard their Lord speak of his Father
and of their Father. He was goim; to his Father's
house. They were to follow Him there. But why
would they not have even now a vision of the Di-
vine glory ? It was part of the childlike simplicity
of his nature that no reserve should hinder the ex-
pression of the craving, " Lord, shew us the Father,
and it sufficetb as " (John xiv. 8). And the an-
swer to that desire belonged also specially to him.
He had all along been eager to lead others to see
Jesus. He had been with Him, looking on Him
from the very commencement of his ministry, and
yet he had not known Him. He had thought of the
glory of the Father aa consisting in something else
than the Truth, Righteousness, Love that he had
witnessed in the Son. " Have I been so long time
with yon, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
He that hath teen me hath seen the Father. How
sayest that, Shew us the Father? " No other net
connected with the name of Phibi is recorded in
the Gospels. The close relation i which we have
teen him standing to the sons of Zebedee and Na-
thanael might lead us to think of bim as one of the
two unnamed disciples in the list of fishermeu on
the Sea of Tiberias who meet us in John xxi. He
is among the company of disciples at Jerusalem
titer the Ascension (Acts i. 13), and on the day of
Pentecost,
After this all is uncertain and apocryphal. He
i mentioned by Clement of Alexandria as having \
oad a wife and children, and as baring sanctioned (
the marriage of his daughters instead of binding |
them to vows of chastity (Strom, iii. 82; Kuseh. i
V. A'. Ui. 80), and ■ included in the list of those
4o bad bcrns witness of Christ in the 1 * lives, but
PHILIP THE APOSTLK 2487
had not died what was commonly k oked osMi
martyr's death (Strom, iv. 73). Polreratea (Ro-
sso. //. £. iii. 81), Bishop of Epbesus, speaks o
him as having fallen asleep in the Phrygian Hier-
apolis, as having had two daughters who had grown
old unmarried, and a third, with special gifts of
inspiration (sV 'A-ylqt IT>c0/iari •woKtrtwrafAirr}),
who had died at Lphesus. There seems, however,
in this mention of the daughters of Philip, to be
some confusion between the Apostle and the Evan-
gelist. Euaebius in the same chapter quotes a pas-
sage from Caius, in which the four daughters of
Philip, prophetesses, are mentioned as living with
their father at Hierapolis and as buried there with
him, and himself connects this fact with Acts xxi.
8, as though they referred to one and the same
person. Polycratea in like manner refers to him
in the Easter Controversy, aa an authority for the
Quartodeciman practice (Euseb. R. E. v. 24). It
is noticeable that even Augustine (Serin. 268;
apeuka with some uncertainty as to the distinctness
of the two Philips. The apocryphal >• Acta Pbil-
ippi " are utterly wild and fantastic, and if there is
any grain of truth in them, it is probably the ban
fact that the Apostle or the Evangelist labored in
Phrygia, and died at Hierapolis. He arrives in
that city with his sister MarUmne and his friend
Bartholomew.'' The wife of the proconsul is con-
verted. The people are drawn away from the wor-
ship of a great serpent. The priests and the pro-
consul seize on the Apostles and put them to the
torture. St. John suddenly appears with words of
counsel and encouragement. Philip, in spite of the
warning of the Apostle of Love reminding him that
he ahould return good for evil, curses the city, and
the earth opens and swallows it up. Then his Lord
appears and reproves him for his vindictive anger.
and those who had descended to the abyss are
raised out of it again. The tortures which Philip
had Buffered end in hia death, but, as a punishment
for his offense, he is to remain for forty days ex
eluded from Paradise. After hia death a vine
springs up on the spot where his Hood had hllen,
and the juice of the grapes is used for the Kucha
ristic cup (Tlschendorf, Acta ApocrytAn, pp. 71*
94). The book which contains this narrative is
apparently only the last chapter of a larger histo-j,
and it fixes the journey and the death ns after the
eighth year of Trajan. It is uncertain whether the
other apocryphal fragment professing to give an
account of his btliors in Greece is part of the same
work, but it is at least equally legendary. He ar-
rives in Athens clothed like the other Apostles, is
Christ bad commanded, in an outer cloak and a
linen tunic. Three hundred philosophers dispute
with him. They find themselves baffled, and send
for assistance to Ananias the high priest at Jeru-
salem. He puts on his pontifical robes, and acei
to Athens at the head of five hundred warrior*.
They attempt to seize on the Apostle, and ate all
smitten with blindness. The heavens open; the
form of the Son of Man appears, and all the idols
of Athens fall to the ground ; and ao on through a
succession of marvels, ending with hia remaining
two yean in the city, establishing a church there.
' Bengal draws from this narrative the Inlkrenee | patror saint of so roanv of than- kings on a level wtth
jat It was pan of Philip's work to provide for tea
tally awataoanoa of the company of the Twelve.
* The national pride of some Spanish theologians
ana led them to alarm than Inquirers ss tb-tr countrr-
taam, and to to explain the nv-mnea wtaieh ptoses the
Saint logo at the patron saint of the people (Act*
Sanctorum, May 1).
e The onion of the two naaaat la sap eons a* taaf
points to the Apcatw
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2488
PHILIP THE EVANGELIST
and then going to preach the Gospel hi l'arthia
(Tucbendorf, Aebt Apucr. pp. No— 104). A\ other
tradition represents Scythia aa the Kene of bis la-
bora (Abdlah. Hut. Apo$t. in Kabricius, Cod. Apoc.
S. T. i. 739), and throws the guilt of bin death
o|»n the Ebtonite* (Acta Sanctanm, Hay 1).
E.H. P.
PHILIP THE EVANGELIST. The
first mention of thi» name occur* in the account of
the dispute between the Hebrew and Hellenistic
disciples in Acta vi. He is one of the Seven ap-
pointed to superintend the daily distribution of
food and aln.s, and so to remove all suspicion of
partiality. The fact that all the seven names are
Greek, makes it at least very probable that they
wire chosen as belonging to the Hellenistic section
l the Church, representatives of the class which
had appeared before the Apostles in the attitude of
complaint. The name of Philip stands next to that
of Stephen ; and this, together with the fact that
these are the only two names (unless Nicolas be an
exception; comp. Nicolas) of which we hear
again, tends to the conclusion that he was among
'ne -Most prominent of those so chosen. He was,
at a«.y rate, well reported of as " full of the Holy
Ghost, and wisdom," and had so won the affections
of the great body of believers as to be among' the
objects of their free election, possibly (assuming the
votes of the congregation to hare been tak<?n for
the different candidates) gaining all but the high-
est number of suffrages. Whether the office to
which he was thus appointed gave him the position
and the title of a Deacon of the Church, or was
special and extraordinary in its character, must re-
main uncertain (comp. Deacon).
The after-history of Philip warrants the lielief.
hi any case, that bis office was not simply that of
the later Diaconate. It is no great presumption to
think of him as contributing hardly less than Ste
phen to the great increase of disciples which fol-
lowed on this fresh organization, as sharing in that
wider, more expansive teaching which shows Itself
for the first time in the oration of the proto-martyr,
and in which he was the forerunner of St Paul.
We should expect the man who had been his com-
panion and fellow-worker to go on with the work
which he left unfinished, and to break through the
barriers of a simply national Judaism. And so ac-
cordingly we find him in the next stage of his his-
tory. The persecution of which Saul was the leader
must have stopped the "daily ministrations" of the
Church. The teachers who bad been most prom-
inent were compelled to take to flight, and Philip
iras among them. The cessation of one form of
tctivity, however, only threw him forward into an-
other. It is noticeable that the city of Samaria is
the first scene of his activity (Arts viii. ). He is
the precursor of St. Paul in his work, as Stephen
had been in his teaching. It falls to his lot, rather
than to that of an Apostle, to take that first step
in the victory over Jewish prejudice and the expan-
sion of the Church, according to its Lord's command.
As a preparation for that work there may have been
Um Messianic hopes which were cherished by the
KatLaritans no less than by the Jews (John iv. 25),
the recollection of the two days which had witnessed
a The verse which Inserts the reqtdrtnent of a
s ou* salon of faith as the condition of baptism ap-
aaata to ham bean the work of a transcriber anxious
«• Mtof thf nwradve Into harmony with ecclsrla*-
tbe presence then of Christ and his disciples (Joist
iv. 40), even perhaps the craving for spiritual
powers which bad been roused by the strange in-
fluence of Simon the Sorcerer. The scene which
brings the two into contact with each other, in
which the magician has to acknowledge a power
over nature greater than his own, is interesting
rather as belonging to the Ufa of the hjreajaran
than to that of the Evangelist. [Smox Maous. j
It suggests the inquiry whether we can trace
through the distortions and perversions of the
" hero of the romance of heresy," the influence of
that phase of Christian truth which was likely to
be presented by the preaching of the HeUaaistie
Evangelist.
This step is followed by another. He is directed
by an angel of the Lord to take the road that led
down from Jerusalem to Gaza on the way to Egypt.
(For the topographical questions connected with
this history, see Gaza.) A chariot passes by in
which there is a man of another race, whose com-
plexion or whose dress showed him to be a native
of Ethiopia. From the time of Hsarometichua
[comp. Ma.nasskh] there had been a large body
of Jews settled in that region, and the eunuch oi
chamberlain at the court of Candace might easily
have come across them and their sacred hooka,
might have embraced their faith, and become by
circumcision a proselyte of righteousness. He had
been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He may have
beard there of the new sect. The history thai fol-
lows is interesting as one of the few records in the
N. T. of the process of individual conversion, and
one which we may believe St Luke obtained, during
his residence at Caesarea, from the Evangelist him-
self. The devout proselyte reciting the prophecy
which be does not understand, the Evaugelist-
preacher running at full speed till be overtakes the
chariot, the abrupt question, the simple-hearted
answer, the unfolding, from the starting-point of
the prophecy, of the glad tidings of Jesus, the
craving for the means of admission to the Heating
of fellowship with the new society, the simple
baptism in the first stream or spring," the instan-
taneous, abrupt departure of the missionary-
preacher, as of one carried away by a Divine im-
pulse, these help us to represent to ourselves much
of the life and work of that remote past. On the
hypothesis which baa just been suggested, we
may think of it at being the incident to which the
mind of Philip himself recurred with most satis-
faction.
A brief sentence tells us that he continued his
work as a preacher at Azotus (Ashdod) and among
the other cities that had formerly belonged to the
Philistines, and, following the coast-line, came to
Caesarea. Here for a long period, not leas than
eighteen or nineteen years, we lose sight of him.
He may have beeu there when the new • convert
Saul passed through on his way to Tarsus (Acts
ix. 30). He may have contributed by his labors
to the eager desire to be guided further into the
Truth which led to the conversion of Cornelius.
We can hardly think of him as giving up all at
once the missionary habits of bis lift. Caesarea,
however, appears to have been the centre of hit
activity. The last glimpse of him in the N. T. i.
Heal usage. (Comp. AUbrd, Meyer, T Uwh a stdor f, is
toe.)
t> • Three years at hast had passed sines the Ants
tit's conversion (comp. Ada Ix. 80, Dal I. 181 B
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHILIP THE EVANGELIST
In the aeoouBt of St. Paul's journey to Jerusalem. I
(t is to hie house, as to one well known to them, j
that St. Paul and bia oompankna turn for (batter.
He is still known as " one of the Seven." His '
work baa gained for him the yet higher title of ]
Evangelist (comp. Evangelist). He bss four!
daughters, who po s se s s the gift of prophetic utter- !
anee, and who apparently give themselves to the ]
work of teaching instead of entering on the life of
home (Acts xxi. 8, 0). He is Tinted by the proph- j
ets and elders of Jerusalem. At such a place as
Csaaree the work of such a man must have helped
to bridge over the erer-widening gap which threat-
ened to separate the Jewish and the Gentile
Churches. One who had preached Christ to the
hated Samaritan, the swarthy African, the despised
Philistine, the men of all nations who passed
through the seaport of Palestine, might well wel-
<»me the arrival of the Apostle of the Gentiles
(comp. J. P. Lange, in Hersog's RaaLEncykkp&d.
s. v. " Philippus").
The traditions in which the Evangelist and the
apostle who bore the same name are more or leas
«£ioanded have been given under Phiup the
PHILIPP1
2489
Arotrrut. According to another, relating more
distinctly to him, he died Bishop of TraDes (Acta
Sonet. June 6). The house in which he sod I is
daughters had lived was pointed out to travellers
in the time of Jerome (Epit. Paula, § 8). (Comp.
Ewald, Guckichie, vi. 176,208-214; Baumgsrten,
ApotUl GaehichU, {{ 10, 16.) E H. P.
PHILIP HEROD I., II.
ii. pp. 1062, 1863.]
[Hxbod; vol
PHILIPPI (wlAiinroi : Philippi). A city of
Macedonia, about nine miles from the sea, to the
N. W. of the island of Thasos, which is twelve
miles distant from its port Neapolis, the modern
Kavatln. It is situated in a plain between toe
ranges of Pangieus and Hcmus. St. Paul, when,
on his first visit to Macedonia in company with
Silas, he embarked at Troaa, nude a straight run
to Samotbrece, and from thence to Neapolis, which
he reached on the second day (Acts ivi. 11). This
was built on a rocky promontory, on the western
side of which is a roadstead, furnishing a sale
refuge from the Etesian winds. The town is cut
off from the interior by a steep line of bills.
Ruins at PhUlppi.
saMkratly called Symbolum, connected towards the
N. E with the western extremity of Hssmus, and
towards the S. W., less continuously, with the
eastern extremity of Pangssus. A steep track,
following the course of an ancient paved road, leads
over Symbolum to Philippi, the solitary pass being
about 1,600 feet above the sea-level. At this point
the traveller arrives in little more than half an
hour's riding, and almost immediately begi's to
descend by a yet steeper path into the plain.
From a point near the watershed, a simultaneous
view is obtained both of Kavalla and of the ruins
of Philippi. Between Pangssus and the nearest
part of Symbolum the plain is very low, and there
are large accumulations of water. Between the
foot of Symbolum and the site of Philippi, two
Turkish cemeteries are passed, the gravestones of
sbioh are all derived from the mine of the ancient
sjtv, and in the immediate' leighborhood of tbt
mr. dtaui, asms ens-
B
one first reached Is the modern Turkish -Tfcft
BerekelH. This is the nearest village to the
ancient ruins, which are not at the present time
inhabited at all. Near the second cemetery are
some ruins on a slight eminence, and also a khan,
kept oy a Greek family. Here is a large monu-
mental block of marble, 12 feet high and 7 feel
square, apparently the pedestal of a statue, a* oa
the top a hole exists, which was obviously intended
for its reception. This bole is pointed out by focal
tradition as the crib out of which Alexander's
horse, Bucephalus, was accustomed to eat his oats.
On two sides of the block is a mutilated I-atin
inscription, in which the names of Caius Vibiua
and Cornelius Quartos may be deciphered. A
stream employed In turning a mill bursts out from
a sedgy pool in the neighborhood, and probably
finds its way to the marshy ground mentioned as
existing in the S. W. portion of the plain.
After about twenty minutes' ride from the khan,
over groand thickly strewed with fragments of
marble columns, and slabs that have been employed
in building, a river-bed 96 feat wide is
Digitized by
J
2490
PHILIPPI
through which the stream ruahea with great force,"
and immediately on the other aide the walla of the
ancient Philippi ma; be traced. Their direction
u adjusted to the course of the stream; and at
only 360 feet from its margin there appears a gap
in their circuit indicating the former exixtenoe of
a gate. This is, uo doubt, the gate b out of which
the Apostle and his companion passed to the
"prayer meeting" on the banks of a river, where
they made the acquaintance of I.ydia, the Thyatiron
seller of purple. The locality, just outside the
walls, and with a plentiful supply of water for their
animals, is exactly the one which would be appro-
priated as a market for itinerant traders, "quorum
eophlnus fosnumque supellex," as will appear from
the parallel case of the Egerian fountain near
Rome, of whose desecration Juvenal complains (Sat
iii. 13). Lydia had an establishment in Philippi
for the reception of the dyed goods which were
imported from Thyatira and the neighboring towns
of Asia; and were dispersed by means of pack-
animals among the mountain clans of the liamius
and Pangieus, the agents being doubtless in many
instances her own co-religionists. High up in
Hajmus lay the tribe of the Satne, where was the
oracle of Dionysus, — not the rustic deity of the
Attic vine-dressers, but the prophet-god of the
Thracians (t Bpijjl pdVris, Eurip. //ecu*. 1267).
The "damsel with the spirit of divination" (ww-
tiffmj tx 0WTa vytv/jM irvBvya) may probably be
regarded as one of the hierodules of this estab-
lishment, hired by Philippian citizens, and fre-
quenting the country- market to practice her art
upon the villagers who brought produce fur the
consumption of the town. The fierce character
vf the mountaineers would render it imprudent to
admit them within the walls of the city; just as
ui some of the towns of North Africa, the Kabylea
are not allowed to enter, but have a market allotted
to them outside the walls for the sale of the prod-
uce they bring. Over such an assemblage only a
summary jurisdiction can be exercised; and hence
the proprietors of the slave, when they considered
themselves injured, and hurried Paul and Silas
uto the town, to the ngora, — the civic market
where the magistrates (apxoirci) sat, — were
at once turned over to the military authorities
(tfrpaTTfyoi), and these, naturally assuming that a
stranger frequenting the extra-mural market must
be a Thracian mountaineer or an itinerant trader,
proceeded to inflict upon the ostensible cause of a
riot (the merits of which they would not attempt
to understand) the usual treatment in such cases.
The idea of the Apostle possessing the Roman
franchise, and consequently an exemption from
sorporal outrage, never occurred to the rough sol-
licr who ordered him to be scourged; and the
whole transaction seems to have passed so rapidly
that he had no time to plead his citizenship, of
which the military authorities first heard the next
lay. But the illegal treatment (Sfipa) obviously
PHILIPPI
made a deep impression on the liind of its victim.
as is evident, not only from his refusal to take hh
discharge from prison the next morning (Acts xvi.
37), but from a passage in the Epistle to Mm
Church at Theasalonica (1 Thess. it. 2), in which
he reminds them of the circumstances under which
he first preached the Gospel to them (wpmnaMrres
koI &0pta94rr*s, KoOit otoarc, «V wiAfwwott)-
And subsequently at Jerusalem, under parallel cir-
cumstances of tumult, he warns the officer (to thai
great surprise of the latter) of his privilege (Acta
xxii. 29).
The Philippi which St. Paul visited, the site of
which has been described above, was a Roman
colony* founded by Augustus, and the remains
which strew the ground are no doubt derived from
that city. [Colony. Amer. ed.] The establish-
ment of Philip of Macedonia w«a probably not
exactly on the same site; for it is described by
Appian as being on m hill, and it may perhaps
be looked for upon the elevation near the second
cemetery. Philip is said to have occupied it and
fortified the position by way of a defense against the
neighboring Thracians, so that the nucleus of his
town, at any rate, would have been of the nature
of an acropolis. Nothing would be more natural
than that the Roman town should have been built
in the immediate neighborhood of the existing
Greek one, on a site more suitable for architectural
display.
Philip, when he acquired possession of the site,
found there a town named Vittus or Datum, which
was in all probability in its origin a factory of the
Phoenicians, who were the first that worked tht
gold mines in the mountains here, as in the neigh-
boring Thasos. Appian says that those were in a
hill (\A<pos) not far from Philippi, that the bill
was sacred to Dionysus, and that the mines went
by the name of "the sanctuary" ( T A aurvAa).
But he shows himself quite ignorant of the local-
ity, to the extent of believing the plain of Philippi
to lie open to the river Strymon, whereas the mas-
sive wall of Pangaeus is really interposed between
them. In all probability the " bill of Dionysus "
and the " sanctuary "' are "the temple of Dionysus "
high up the mountains among the Satne, who pre-
served their independence against all invaders down
to the time of Herodotus at least. It is more
likely that the gold-mines coveted by Philip were
the same aa those at Scnpte ffyle, which was cer-
tainly in this immediate neighborhood. Before the
great expedition of Xerxes, the Tbasians had a
number of settlements on the main, and this among
the number, which produced them 80 talents a
year as rent to the state. In the year 463 B. c,
they ceded their possessions on the continent to the
Athenians; but the colonists, 10,000 in number,
who bad settled on the Strymon and pushed their
encroachments eastward aa far as this point, were
crushed by a simultaneous effort of the Thracian
tribes (Thucydides, i. 100, iv. 102; Herodotus, ix.
a • The deep water-course Is always there ; but
whether It contains water or not depends cm the sea-
son of the year. On the 18th of December, 1869, It
was a rapid torrent, varying in depth at different
Mints from one and two feet to fonr and five (est,
tod covering a bed of abont thirty feet In width. It
's said to be still known as Anqkina. Some others
Who were then a few weeks earlier than this reported
aw* the channel at that tune was entirely dry. H.
» • The A. V. has "city " MXsw) there, but the
best copies re id " gato " OrvAijt). Thus Luke's oar.
raflrre accords precisely with the topography, In regai*
to the Implied vicinity of the place of worship tn th<
city-gate. H.
e • Luke twme it also "the tint dty (chief elty
A. V.) oT that part of Macedonia " (Acts xvi 13), aa)
In what sense It was fint 'a-awr*) has been eaatro
" See on this point the addition to aUesvoH*
ed If.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHILIPPI
r5; Pausanias, i. 39, 4). From that time until
the rise of the Macedonian power, the mines teem
to have remained in the hands of native chief*;
but when the affairs of Southern Greece became
thoroughly embroiled by the policy of Philip, the
Thasians made an attempt to reponen themselves
if this valuable territory, and sent a colony to the
ute — then going by the name oi " the Springs "
(Kp7|W8«f)- Philip, however, aware of the im-
portance of the position, expelled them and founded
Philippi, the last of all his creations. The mines
at that time, as was not wonderful under the cir-
cumstances, had become almost insignificant in
their produce; but their new owner oontrived to
extract more than 1,000 talents a year from them,
with which he minted the gold coinage called by
his name.
The proximity of the gold-mines was of course
the origin of so large a city as Philippi, but the
plain in which it lies is of extraordinary fertility.
The position, too, was on the main road from Rome
to Asia, the Via Egnatia, which from Thessalonica
to Constantinople followed the same course as the
existing post-rind. The usual course was to take
ship at Brundiaium and land at Uyrrachium, from
whence a route led across Kpirus to Thessalonica.
Ignatius was carried to Italy by this route, when
sent to Rome to be cast to wild beasts.
The ruins of Philippi are very extensive, but
present no striking feature except two gateways,
which are considered to belong to the time of
Claudius. Traces of an amphitheatre, theatre, or
stadium — for it does not clearly appear which —
are also visible in the direction of the hills on the
N. E. side. Inscriptions both in the Latin and
'ireek languages, but more generally in the former,
sre found.
St. Paul visited Philippi twice more, once im-
mediately after the disturbances which arose at
Ephesus out of the jealousy of the manufacturers
of silver shrines for Artemis. By this time the
hostile relation in which the Christian doctrine
necessarily stood to all purely ceremonial religions
was perfectly manifest; and wherever its teachers
appeared, popular tumults were to be expected, and
the jealousy of the Roman authorities, who dreaded
3ivil disorder above everything else, to be feared.
It seems not unlikely that the second visit of the
Apostle to Philippi was made specially with the
view of counteracting this particular danger. The
Epistle to the Philippians, which was written to
them from Rome, indicates that at that time some
»f the Christians there were in the custody of the
military authorities as seditious persona, through
some proceedings or other connected with their
faith (ou?p cxeu>fo*0n to inrep Xpurrov, ou fi6voy
to tls airtbv TiffTtvftv aAAa fcal to inrtp auToO
raVx"** vo* out ok a 7 « y a tx°* r * *
Tor <7S«t« iv «*uol Kcd vvv a«tov«T<
r iual; Phil. i. 39). The reports of the pro-
tincial magistrates to Rome would of course de-
scribe St. Paul's first visit to Philippi as the origin
sf the troubles there; and if this were believed, it
would be put together with the charge against him
by the Jews at Jerusalem which induced nim to
appeal to Cassar, and with the disturbances it
Ephesus and elsewhere; and the general conclu-
sion at which the government would arrive, might
jot improbably be that he was a dangerous person
md should be got rid of. This will explain the
strong exhortation In the first eighteen ve rs es of
• U., and thi peculiar way in which It winds
PHILIPPI
2491
up The Phllippian Christians, who arc at the
same time suffering for their profession, are ex
horted in the most earnest manner, not to firmness
(as one might have expected), but to moderation,
to abstinence from all provocation and ostentation
of their own sentiments (urrtiv nark Ipittlat
u»M KtyoSotlan, rer. 8), to humility, and consid
eration for the interests of others. They are to
achieve their salvation with fear and trembling,
and without quarreling and disputing, in order to
escape all blame — from such charges, that is, as
the Roman colonists would bring against them.
If with all this prudence and temperance in tha
profession of their faith, their faith is still made a
penal offense, the Apostle is well content to take
the consequences, — to precede them in martyrdom
for it, — to be the libation poured out upon them
the victims («! col oWroo/uu M Tp fluc/o *a)
Kttrovpytf rrjs rtltrrtas bpur, xafjw col avy~ .
yaffW) rwrty Ayur, ver. 17). Of course the Jew-
ish formalists in Philippi were the parties most
likely to misrepresent the conduct of the new con-
verts; and hence (after a digression on the subject
of Epaphroditus) the Apostle reverts to cautions
against them, such precisely as he had given be-
fore, consequently by word of mouth. " Beware
of those dogs " — (for they will not be children at
the table, but eat the crumbs underneath) — "those
doers (and bad doers too) of the Law — three flesh-
manglers (for circumcited I won't call them, wa
being the true circumcision") etc. (iii. 3, 3). Soma
of these enemies St. Paul found at Rome, who
» told the story of Christ insincerely " (itaT-fiyytiXat
o«x ayy&t, i. 17) in the hope to increase tha
severity of his imprisonment by exciting the jeal-
ousy of the court. These be opposes to such as
"preached Christ" (far)pu{cu») loyally, and can-
soles himself with the reflection that, at all events,
the story circulated, whatever the motives of those
who circulated it.
The Christian community at Philippi distin-
guished itself in liberality. On the Apostle's first
visit he was hospitably entertained by Lydia, and
when he afterwards went to Thessalonica, where
his reception appears to have been of a very mixed
character, the Philippians sent him supplies more
than once, and were the only Christian community
that did so (Phil. iv. 15). They also contributed
readily to the collection made for the relief of the
poor at Jerusalem, which St. Paul conveyed to
them at his last visit (3 Cor. viii. 1-6). And it
would seem as if they sent further supplies to the
Apostle after his arrival at Rome. The necessity
for these seems to have been urgent, and some de-
lay to have taken place in collecting the requisite
funds; so that Epaphroditus, who carried them,
risked his life in the endeavor to make up for lost
time i/iixP 1 bWotow Ijyytny wapaBovKtvaifttyt,:
T V r^XPt '"« irai-XqcaVfl to uu«V fo-rifoiuui
r»jj wpbs pi \eiTovpytai, Phil. 11. 30). The de-
lay, however, seems to have somewhat stung tb»
Apostle at the time, who fancied his beloved flues
had forgotten him (see iv. 10-17). Epaphroditus
fell ill with fever from his efforts, and nearly died.
On recovering he became homesick, and wandering
in mind lUliutoy&y) from the weakness which is
the sequel of fever; and St. Paul, although intend-
ing soon to send Timothy to the Philippian Church,
thought it issuable to let Epaphroditus go without
debr to them, wha had already heard of his sick-
ness, and carry with him the letter which is in-
cluded In tha Canon — out
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2492 PHILIPPIASB
after the Apostle's imprisonment at Rome had
lasted a considerable time. Some domeitie trouble*
connected with religion had already broken out in
the community. Euodia (the name of a female,
not Euodiaa, a* in A. V. : see Euodias) and Syn-
tyche, perhaps deaconesses, are exhorted to agree
with one another 'n the matter of their common
faith; and St. Paul entreata some one, whom he
ealla " true yoke-fellow," to » help " theee women,"
that it, in the work of their reconciliation, ainoe
they had done good service to the Apostle in his
trials at Philippi. Possibly a claim on the part of
these females to superior insight in spiritual mat-
tars may have caused some irritation ; for the Apos-
tle immediately goes on to remind his readers, that
the peace of God is something superior to the high-
est intelligence (&wep4xouaa rdvra rovy).
When St. Paul passed through Philippi a third
time he does not appear to have made any consid-
erable stay there (Acta xx. 6). He and his com-
panion are somewhat loosely spoken of as sailing
from Philippi ; but this is because in the oommon
apprehension of travellers the city and its port were
regarded as one. Whoever embarked at the Pineus
might in the same way be said to set out on a
voyage from Athens. On this occasion the voyage
to Troaa took the Apostle five days, the vessel being
probably obliged to coast in order to avoid the con-
trary wind, until coming off the headland of Sar-
pedon, whence she would be able to atand across
to Troaa with an E. or E. X. E. breeze, which at
that time of year (after Easter) might be looked
tor. (Stnb. Fragment, lib. vii.; Tbucyd. i. 100,
iv. 103; Herod, ix. 76; Diod. Sic. xvi. 3ff.; Appian.
Bell. Civ. iv. 101 ff.; Pausan. i. 28, § 4; Hackett's
Journey to Philippi in the Bible Uninn Quarterly
tar August, 1860) [and Bibl. Sacra for I860, vol.
xvii. pp. 866-898. For other sources see Macb-
domia, at the end.] J. W. B.
• PHILIPTIAN8 (♦lAfrwWw: Philippen-
ses), inhabitants of Philippi, but limited (Phil. iv.
14) to those whom Paul addressed in his letter as
Christians. See the next article. H.
PHILIPTIANS, EPISTLE TO THE.
'.. The canonical authority, Pauline authorship and
ntegrity of this epistle were unanimously acknowl-
edged up to the end of the 18th century. Maruion
(A. d. 140) in the earliest known Canon held com-
mon ground with the Church touching the au-
thority of this epistle (Tertullian, Adv. Marcum.
iv. 5, v. 20): it appears in the Muratorian Frag-
ment (Kouth, Heliquia Sacra, i. 395); among the
"acknowledged" books in Euaebius (H. £. iii.
26); in the lists of the Council of Laodlcea, A. D.
165, and the Synod of Hippo, 398; and in all sub-
•equent lists, as weO as in the Peshito and later
vetsioiis. Even contemporary evidence may be
churned for it. Philippion Christians who bad con-
tributed to the collections for St. Paul's support at
Borne, who had been eye and ear witnesses of the
return of F.paphroditus and the first reading of St.
Paul's epistle, may have been still alive at Philippi
when Polyearp wrote (A. D. 107) his letter to them,
in which (oc. 3, 3) he refers 4 to St Paul's epistle
PHILIPPIANS, EPISTLE TO THE
aa a well known distinction belonging to the Phi.
ippian Church. It is quoted as St. Paul's b]
Iremeos, iv. 18, § 4; Clem. Alex. Pmdag. L 6
§ 83, and elsewhere; Tertullian, Adv. Mar. v. 90
De Ret. Can. eh. S3. A quotation from it
(Phil. ii. 6) ia found in the Epistle of the Churches
of Lyona and Vienne, A. D. 177 (Euaebius, H. E
v. 8). The testimonies of later writers are innu-
merable. But F. C. Baur (1846), followed by
Schwegler (1846), has argued from the phraseology
of the epistle and other internal marks, that it is
the work Dot of St Paul, but of some Gnostic
forger in the 2d century. He baa been answered by
Lttnemann (1847), Bruckner (1848), and Beach
(1850). Even if hit inference were a fair conse-
quence from Baur's premises, it would still be neu-
tralized by the strong evidence in favor of Paulino
authorship, which Paley, Moras Paulina, oh. 7,
has drawn from the epistle aa it stands. The argu-
ments of the Tubingen school are briefly stated in
Beuss, Geteh. JV. T. §§ 130-133, and at greater
length in Wieainger'a Commentary. Host persona
who read them will be disposed to concur in the
opinion of Dean Alford (N. T. voL iii. p. 27, ed.
1856), who regards them as an instance of the in-
sanity of hyper-criticism. The canonical authority
and the authorship of the epistle may be considered
aa unshaken.
There is a break in the sense at the end of the
second chapter of the epistle, which every careful
reader must have observed. It is indeed quite nat-
ural that an epistle written amid exciting circum-
stances, personal dangers, and various distractions
should bear in one place at least a mark of inter-
ruption. I.e Moyne (1685) thought it was an-
ciently divided Into two parte. Heinrichs (1810)
followed by Paulus (1818) has conjectured from
this abrupt recommencement that the two parts
are two distinct epistles, of which the first, together
with the conclusion of the Ep. (iv. 31-33) was in-
tended for public use in the church, and the second
exclusively for the Apostle's special friends in Phil-
ippi. ft is not easy to see what sufficient founda-
tion exists for this theory, or what illustration of
the meaning of the epistle could be derived from it
It has met with a distinct reply from Krause (1811
and 1818) and the integrity of the epistle has not
been questioned by recent critics. Ewald (Send
tclireiotn da A. Paulut, p. 431) is of opinkni
that St Paul sent several epistles to the Philippians :
and he refers to the texts ii. 12 and iii. 18, as partly
proving this. But some additional confirmation or
explanation of his conjecture is requisite before it
can be admitted as either probable or necessary.
3. Where written. — The constant tradition
that this epistle wss written at Rome by St Paul
in his captivity, was impugned first by Oder
(1731), who, disregarding the fact that the Apostle
was in prison, I. 7, 13, 14, when be wrote, imagined
that he was at Corinth (see Wolfs Curat Philalo-
gica, iv. 168, 270); and then by Paulus (1799),
Schulz (1829), Bottger (1837), and Rilliet (1841),
in whose opinion the epistle was written during the
Apostle's confinement at Oesarea (Acta xxiv. 83):
a • The A. V. misleads the reader In Iv. 8. In the
wreck the first pronoun (avroTc, " them ") refers evi-
dently to Buodia and Syntyche. and the second (ainvtt
_ sloes they ") SMtms them to theeius of co-laborers
wl la Paul when toils and conflicts they had shared
.••HtUitro-). H.
a VwtuUtan raaVra to It In the same way, Dt Shmerim-
tione, xxzvt., wmiwf Philippi as one of those Apos-
tolic ehurches " In which at this day [a. ». 200] the
very aaats of the Apostles preside over their region*
In which the authentic epistles ttasiaaslvea of sat
Apostles are read, speaking wish the veto and i*tx»
anting the thee of seen."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PH1LIPPIAN8, EPISTLE TO THE
Mt the lefcrences to the "palace" (pretorium,
I 13), and to " Caesar's household," iv. 32, Mem
to point to Home rather then to Casarea; aud
there is no reaeoo whaterer lor supposing that the
Apostle Mt in Csatsrea thai extreme uncertainty
of life connected with the approaching decision
st his cause, which he must have felt towards the
end of his captivity at Rome, and which he ex-
presses in this epistle, i. 19, 90, ii. 17, Hi. 10; and
further, the dissemination of the Gospel described
Id Phil. i. 13-18, is not even hinted at in St
Luke's account of the Caaarean captivity, but is
described by him as taking place at Rome: com-
pare Aetaxxiv. 23 with xxriii. 30, 31. Even Reuse
{Gttch. ff. T. 1880), who assigns to Centre* three
of St. Paul's epistles, which are generally consid-
ered to have been written at Rome, is decided in
his conviction that the Epistle to the Philippians
was written at Rome.
3. Wtitn written Assuming then that the
-pintle was written at Rome during the imprison-
ment mentioned in the last chapter of the Acts, it
may be shown from a single fact that it could not
have been written long before the end of the two
years. The distress of the Philippians on account
of Epaphroditus' sickness was known at Rome
when the epistle was written; this implies four
journeys, separated by some indefinite intervals, to
or from Philippi and Rome, between the oommence-
ment of St. I'aul's captivity and the writing of the
epistle. The Philippians were informed of his im-
prisonment, sent Epaphroditus, were informed of
their messenger's sickness, sent then* message of
condolence. Further, the absence of St. Luke's
name from the salutations to a church where he
was well known, implies that ha was absent from
Rome' when the epistle was written: so does St.
Paul's declaration, U. 90, that no one who remained
with him felt an equal interest with Timothy in the
welfare of the Philippians. And by comparing the
mention of St Luke in CoL iv. 14, and Pbiiem.
24 with the abrupt conclusion of his narrative in
the Acta, we are led to the inference that he left
Rome after those two epistles ware written and be-
tas the end of the two years' captivity. Lastly, it
s obvious from Phil. i. 90, that St Paul, when he
note, felt his position to be very critical, and we
snow that (t became more precarious as the two
yean drew to a close. In a. d. 63 the infamous
Tigeuinas succeeded Burrus the upright Praetorian
prefect in the charge of St Paul's person; and the
marriage of Poppssa brought his imperial judge
under an Influence, which if exerted, was hostile to
St. Paul. Assuming that St Paul's acquittal and
■elease took place in 83, we may data the Epistle
o the Philippians early in that year.
4. Tin writer's ocowatftRMce witk fee PkUip-
ottms. — St Paul's connection with Philippi was
►f a peculiar character, which gave rise to the
XThing of this epistle. That city, important as a
mart for the produce of the neighboring gold mines,
and as a Roman stronghold to cheek the rude
Thracian mountaineers, was distinguished as the
wen* of the great battle fetal to B-utus and Caseins.
a. o. 42 [Priutpi]. In A. d. bl St Paul entered
Ha watts, accompanied by Silas, who had bean
#Hh him since he started from Antioch, and oy
timothy and Lake, whom he had afterwards at-
tached to himself; the former at Derbe, the latter
• Was 8s. Luke at Philippi T— the " tree Tocs-
in tv. 8? [Yowmuew, Amar.ed.]
quite recently at Trees. It may well bt
that the patience of the zealous Apostle had bean
tried by his mysterious repulse, first from Asia,
then from Bithynia and Mysia, and that his ex-
pectations had been stirred up by the vision which
hastened his departure with his new found aaso
eiate, Luke, from Troas. A swift passsge brought
him to the European shore at Neapolie, whence
he took the road about ten mites* long across
the mountain ridge called Symbolum to Philippi
(Acta xvi. 12). There, at a greater distance
from Jerusalem than any Apostle had yet pen-
etrated, the long restrained energy of St Pan!
waa again employed in laying the foundation of a
Christian church. Seeking first the lost sheep of
the house of Israel, he went on a Sabbath day
with the few Jews who resided in Philippi, to
their small proseuoha on the bank of the river
Gaugitaa. The missionaries sat down and spoke
to the assembled women. One of them, Lydia,
not bom of the seed of Abraham, but a proselyte,
whose name and occupation, as well ss her birth,
connect her with Asia, gave heed unto St Paul,
and >he and her household were baptized, perhaps
on the same Sabbath day. Iler house became the
residence of the missionaries. Many days they
resorted to the proseucha, and the result of tbeii
short sojourn in Philippi waa the conversion of mauy
persona (xvi. 40), including at last their jailer and
his household. Philippi was endeared to St. Paui,
not only by the hospitality of Lydia, the deep sym-
pathy of the converts, and the remarkable miracle
which act a seal on his preaching, but also by the
successful exercise of his missionary activity after
a long suspense, and by the happy consequences of
his undaunted endurance of ignominies, which re-
mained in his memory (Phil. i. 30) after a long
interval of eleven years. Leaving Timothy and
Ijike to watch over the infant church, Paul and
Silas went to Thesseloniea (1 Theas. ii. 2), whither
they were followed by the alms of the Philippians
(Phil. iv. 16), and thence southwards. Timothy
having probably carried out similar directions to
those which were given to Titus (i. 6) in Crete,
aoon rejoined St Paul. We know not whether
Luke remained at Philippi. The next six yean of
his life are a blank in our records. At the end of
that period he is found again (Acta xx. 6) at
Philippi.
After the lapse' of five yean, spent chiefly at
Corinth and Ephesus, St Paul, escaping from the
incensed worshippers of the Ephesian Diana, passed
through Macedonia, A. D. 57, on his way to Greece,
accompanied by the Epheslans Tychioua and Tnv
phhnns, and probably visited Philippi for the second
time, and was there joined by Timothy. His be-
loved Philippians, free, it seems, from the contro-
versies which agitated other Christian churches,
became still dearer to St Paul on account of the
solace which they afforded him when, e m e rgin g
from a season of dejection (9 Cor. vii. 6). op pit as u d
by weak bodily health, and anxious for the stead-
fastness of the churches which he had planted in
Ask and Achaia, he wrote at Philippi his Second
Epistle to the Corinthians.
On returning from Greece, unable to take snip
there on account of the Jewish plots against his
Has, he went through Macedonia, seeking a favor-
abas port for embarking. After parting from hit
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8494
PHILIPPIANS. EPISTLE TO THE
I (Acta xi 4), he •gain found a refuge
among his faithful Pbilippuns, where be spent some
days at Easter, A. D. 68, with St. Luke, who ac-
companied him when he sailed from Neapolia.
Once more, in his Roman captivity (a. d. 68)
their care of him rerived again. They sent Epaph-
roditus, bearing their aims for the Apostle's sap-
port, and ready also to tender his personal service
(Phil. ii. 25). He stayed some time at Rome, and
while employed as the organ of communication
between the imprisoned Apostle and the Christiana,
and inquirers in and about Rome, he fell danger-
ously ill. When be was sufficiently recovered, St.
Paul sent him back to the Philippians. to whom he
was very dear, and with him our epistle.
6. Scope anrf content! of the Epittlt. — St Paul's
aim in writing is plainly this: while acknowledging
the alms of the Philippians and the personal ser-
vices of their messenger, to give them some informa-
tion respecting his own condition, and some advice
respecting theirs. Perhaps the intensity of his
reelings and the distraction of his prison prevented
the following out his plan with underrating close-
ness, for the preparations for the departure of
Epaphroditus, and the thought that he would soon
arrive among the warm-hearted Philippians, filled
St Paul with recollections of them, and revived his
old feelings towards those fellow-heirs of his hope
of glory who were so deep in his heart (i. 7), and
so often in his prayers (i. 4).
After the inscription (i. 1, 2) in which Timothy
as the second father of the church is joined with
Paul, he sets forth his own condition (i. 3-28), his
prayers, care, and wishes for his Philippians, with
the troubles and uncertainty of his imprisonment,
and his hope of eventually seeing them again. Then
(i. 97- ii. 18) he exhorts them to those particular
virtues which he would rejoice to see them prac-
ticing at the present time — fearless endurance of
persecution from the outward heathen ; unity among
themselves, built on Christ-like humility and love;
Mid an exemplary life in the face of unbelievers.
He hopes soon to hear a good report of them (ii.
.9-30), either by sending Timothy, or by going
limself to them, as he now sends Epaphroditus,
vliose diligent service is highly commended. Re-
verting (iii. 1-21 ) to the tone of joy which runs
through the preceding descriptions and exhorta-
tions — as in i. 4, 18, 25, ii. 2, 16, 17, 18, 28 — be
bids them take heed that their joy be in the Lord,
and warns them, as he had often previously warned
them (probably in his hut two visits), against ad-
mitting itinerant Judaizing teachers, the tendency
ef whose doctrine was towards a vain confidence in
mere earthly things; in contrast to this, he exhorts
them to follow him in placing their trust humbly
but entirely in Christ, and in pressing forward in
their Christian course, with the Resurrection day ■
constantly before their minds. Again (iv. 1-8),
adverting to their position in the midst of unbe-
lievers, he b esee c hes them, even with personal ap-
peals, to be firm, united, joyful in the Lord; to be
full of prayer and peace, and to lead such a life as
must approve itself to the moral sense of all men.
Lastly (ir. 10-23), he thanks them for the contri-
bution sent by Epaphroditus for his support, and
XHicmdes with salutations and a benediction.
6. Effect of the Epistle. — We have no account
« The dental of an actual Resurrection was one of
dw earliest errors In the Christian Church. (See 1
for. xv 12; 2 Tim. U. 18; Polycarp, vU. ; Iranana,
of the reception of this epistle by the Plifll|saaiis
Except doubtful traditions that Erastus was theis
first bishop, and with Lydla and Pannenaa was
martyred in their city, nothing is recorded of them
for the next forty-four years. But, about a. a.
107, Pbilippi was visited by Ignatius, who was eon-
ducted through Neapolis and Pbilippi, and across
Macedonia in his way to martyrdom at Rome.
And his visit was speedily followed by the arrival
of a letter from Polycarp of Smyrna, which acccir ■
panied, in compliance with a characteristic request
of the warm-hearted Philippians, a copy of all ths
letters of Ignatius which were in the possession of
the church of Smyrna- It is interesting to com-
pare the Philippians of a. d. 63, as drawn by St.
Paul, with their successors in A. D. 107 as drawn
by the disciple of St. John. Steadfastness in the
faith, and a joyful sympathy with sufferers for
Christ's sake, seem to have distinguished them at
both periods (Phil. i. 5, and Potyc Ep. 1.). The
character of their religion was the same through-
out, practical and emotional rather than specula-
tive: in both epistles there are many practical
suggestions, much interchange of feeling, and aa
absence of doctrinal discussion. The Old Testa-
ment is scarcely, if at all, quoted : aa if the Philip-
pian Christians had been gathered for the most
part directly from the heathen. At each period
false teachers were seeking, apparently in vain, an
entrance into the Pbilippian Church, first luda-
izing Christians, seemingly putting out of sight
the Resurrection and the Judgment which after-
wards the Unosticixing Christians openly denied
(Phil Hi., and Polyo. vi., rii.). At both periods
the same tendency to petty internal quarrels seems
to prevail (Phil. i. 27, ii. 14, iv. 2, and Polyc ii..
ir., v., xii.). The student of ecclesiastical history
will observe the faintly-marked organization of
bishops, deacons, and female coadjutm to which
St Paul refers (Pbil i. 1, ir. 8), developed after-
wards into broadly-distinguished priests, deacons,
widows, and virgins (Polyo. iv., v., vi.). Though
the Macedonian churches in general were poor, at
least aa compared with commercial Corinth (9 Cor.
viii. 2), yet their gold mines probably exempted
the Philippians from the common lot of their
neighbors, and at first enabled them to be con-
spicuously liberal in alms-giving, and afterwards
laid them open to strong warnings against the love
of money (PhiL iv. 16; 2 Cor. viii. 3; and Polyc
iv., vi., xi.).
Now, though we cannot trace the immediate
effect of St Paul's epistle on the Philippians, yet
one can doubt that it contributed to form the
character of their church, aa it was in the time of
Polycarp It is evident from Polycarp's epistle
that the church, by the grace of God and the
guidance <>f the Apostle, had passed through those
trials of which St Paul warned it, and had not
gone back from the high degree of Christian attain-
ments which it reached under St. Paul's oral and
written teaching (Polyc 1., iii, ix., xi.). If It had
made no great advance in knowledge, still unsound
teachers were kept at a distance from its members
Their sympathy with martyrs and u o nf e ssors glowed
with as warm a flame aa ever, whether it was
claimed by Ignatius or by Paul. And they main-
tained their ground with meek firmness among ths
U.81; and the <
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rHILIPFIANS, EPISTLE TO THE
2496
, and Mill held forth the light of an exem-
plary, though not a perfect Christian hfc.«
7. The Church at Rome. — The state of the
church at Rome should be considered before enter-
ing on the study of the Epistle to the Phillppians.
Something is to be learned of its condition about
A. D. 88 from the Epistle to the Honiara, about
A. D. 61 from Acts xxriil. Possibly the Gospel
was planted there by some who themselves received
the seed on the day of Pentecost (Acts 11. 10).
The converts were drawn chiefly from Gentile
proselytes to Judaism, partly also from Jews who
were suoh by birth, with possibly n few converts
direct from heathenism. In A. i>. 58, this church
was already eminent for its faith and obedience: it
was exposed to the machinations of schismatics!
teachers; and it included two conflicting parties,
the one insisting more or less on observing the
Jewish law in addition to faith in Christ as neces-
sary to salvation, the other repudiating outward
o bserva nces even to the extent of depriving their
weak brethren of such as to them might he really
edifying. We cannot gather from the Acts whether
the whole church of Rome had then accepted the
teaching of St. Paul as conveyed in his epistle to
them. But it is certain that when he had been
two years in Rome, his oral teaching was partly
rejected by a party which perhaps may have been
oonnected with the former of those above men-
tioned. St. Paul's presence in Rome, the freedom
of speech allowed to him, and the personal freedom
of his fellow-laborers were the means of inrasinir
fresh missionary activity into the church (Phil. i.
18-14). It was in the work of Christ that Epaph-
rodKus was worn out (ii. 30). Messages and
letters passed between the Apostle and distant
churches; and doubtless churches near to Koine,
and both members of the church and inquirers
into the new faith at Rome addressed themselves
to the Apostle, and to those who were known to he
in constant personal communication with him.
And thus in his bondage he was a cause of the
advancement of the Gospel. From his prison, as
from a centre, light streamed into Caesar's house-
hold and far beyond (iv. 23, i. 12-19).
8. CharacttrMc Fenlum of the FpulU. —
Strangely full of joy and thanksgiving amidst ad-
versity, like the Apostle's midnight hymn from the
depth of his Philippmn dungeon, this epUtle went
forth from his prison at Rome. In most other
epistles he writes with a sustained effort to instruct,
or with sorrow, or with indignation ; he is striving
to supply imperfect, or to correct erroneous teach-
ing, to put down scandalous impurity, or to heal
schism in the church which he addresses. But in
Jus epistle, though he knew the Philippians inti-
nately, and was not blind to the faults and ten-
iencies to fault of some of them, yet be mentions
no evil so characteristic of the whole church as to
rail for general censure on his part, or amendment
on theirs. Of all his epistles to churches, none
■as so little of an official character as this. He
Tithholds his title of ••Apostle" in the Inscrip-
• It Is not easy to suppose that Polyearp was with.
■at a copy of St. Paul's epistle. Yet it Is singular
that though he mentions It twice, It Is almost the only
rnutle of St. Paul which he don not quota. This
ajet cmv at loast t» regarded as additional evidence of
ase ptraraeness of Polyearp's epistle. No forger would
save essn gutlry of such an omission. Its authenticity
ran In* qsauttooad by Use Magdeburg Osoturiatms,
tion. We Ion sight of his high authority, sad of
the subordinate position of the worshippers by tilt
river side; and wa are admitted to see the fret
action of a heart glowing with inspired Christian
love, and to bear the utterance of the highest
friendship addressed to equal friends conscious of a
connection which Is not earthly and temporal, but
in Christ, for eternity. Who that bears in mind
the condition of St. Paul in his Roman prison, can
read unmoved of his continual prayers for his dis
tent friends, bis constant sense of their fellowship
with him, his joyful remembrance of their post
Christian course, his confidence in their future, hit
tender yearning after them all in Christ, his eager-
ness to communicate to them his own circum-
stances and feelings, his carefulness to prepare
them to repel any evil from within or from without
which might dim the brightness of their spiritual
graces? Ix>ve, at once tender and watchful, that
love which " is of God," is the key-note of this
epistle: and in this epistle only we hear no under-
tone of any different feeling. Just enough, and
no more, is shown of his own harassing trials to
let us see how deep in his heart was the spring of
that feeling, and how he was refreshed by its sweet
and soothing flow.
9. Ttxt, Trmulitiim, and Commentarm. — 'II*
Epistle to the Philippians is found in all the pnn ■
cipal uncial manuscripts, namely in A, B, C, D,
E, F, G, J, K. In C, however, the verses pre-
ceding i. 22, and those following iil. 5, are wanting.
Our A. V. of the epistle, published in 1611, was
the work of that company of King James' trans-
lators who sat at Westminster, consisting of seven
persons, of whom Or. Barlow, afterwards Bishop of
Rochester, was one. It is, however, substantially
the same as the translation made by some unknown
person for Archbishop Parker, published in the
Bishops' Bible, 1568 .See Bagstor's Hexapla,
preface. A revised niton of the A. V. by Four
Clergymen, is puMi*h«l (1861) by Parker and
Boarn.
A complete list of works connected with this
epistle may be found in the Commentary of Rhein-
wald. Of Patristric commentaries, those of Chry-
aostom (translated in the Oxford Library of the
Fntkeri, 1843), Theodoret, and Tbeophylact, are
■till extant : perhaps also that of Theodore of Mop-
suestia in an old Latin translation (see Journ. of
Clou, irntt Sue. Phil. iv. 302). Among later
works may be mentioned those of Calvin, 1589:
Estirw, 1614; Dailll, 1659 (translated by Sherman,
1848); Ridley, 1548; Airay's Sermons, 1618; [.Fer-
guson, 1656; the annotated English New Teste
ments of Hammond, fell, Whitby, and Maeknlght;
the Commentaries of Peine, 1733; Storr, 1783
(translated in the F.dmburf Bibliciil Cabinet);
Am Elide, 1798; Rheinwald, 1827; T. Psasamnt,
1834; St. Matthies, 1835; Van Hengel, 1838,
Holemann, 1839; Killiet, 1841; De Wette, 1847 ;
Meyer, 1847 [3d ed. 1865] ; Neander, 1849 (trans-
lated into English, 1861 [by Mrs. H. C. Conant,
published in K. Y.j); Wiesinger, 1850 (trvnalated
and by DallW, whom Pearson answered (.Vimhtm
Igtmt. i 6) ; also by Semlar ; and mora recently by
Zeller, Schllemann, Bunsen, and others: of whose
crittdstn EwmJd says, that Ii n the greatest Injusttae to
Polyoarp that men In the present age sbvu'd deny thai
this epistle proceeded from him («•**• Jar. vK. 277,
ed. USB). IBunsan regards the tfaMIe at ha lb* asset
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PHILISTINES
Philistines. The difficult; arising ont of the ones
tkm of language may be niet by uitiming either
that the Caphtorim adopted the language of the
conquered Arim (a not unusual circumstance where
the conquered form the bulk of the population), or
that they diverged from the Hamitic stock at a
period when the distinctive features of Hamitism
and Semitism were yet in embryo A third ob-
jection to their Egyptian origin is raised from the
application of the term " uncircumcised " to them
(1 Sam. xvii. 26; 2 Sam. i. 20), whereas the Egyp-
tians were circumcised (Herod, ii. 36). But this
objection is answered by .ler. iz. 25, 26, where the
same term is in some sense applied to the Egyp-
tians, however it may be reconciled with the state-
ment of Herodotus.
The next question that arises relates to the early
movements of the Philistines. It has been very
generally assumed of late years that C'aphtor repre-
sents Crete, and that the Philistines migrated from
that island, either directly or through Egypt, into
Palestine. This hypothesis presupposes the Semitic
origin of the Philistines; for we believe that there
an no traces of Hamitic settlements in Crete, and
consequently the Biblical statement that Caphtorim
was descended from Mixraim forms an n priori ob-
jection to the view. Moreover, the name C'aphtor
can only be identified with the Egyptian Coptos.
[Caphtor.] But the Cretan origin of the Philis-
tines has been deduced, not so much from the
name Caphtor," as from that of the Cherethites.
This name in its Hebrew form * bears a close re-
semblance to Crete, and is rendered Cretans in the
I.XX. A farther link between the two terms has
been apparently discovered in the term cari,"
which is applied to the royal guard (2 K. xi. 4, 19),
and which sounds like Canans. The latter of
these arguments assumes that the Cherethites of
David's guard were identical with the Cherethites
of the Philistine plain, which appears in the highest
degree improbable.'' With regard to the former
argument, the mere coincidence of the names can-
not pass for much without some corroborative testi-
mony. The Bible furnishes none, for the name
occurs but thrice (1 Sam. xxx. 14; Ex. xxv. 16;
Zepb. ii. 6), and apparently applies to the occu-
pants of the southern district; the testimony of the
LXX. is invalidated by the fact that it is based
upon the mere sound of the word (see Zeph. ii. 6,
PHILISTINES
2497
where certih a also rendered Crete): aud lastly,
we hare to account for the introduction of the clas-
sical name of the island side by side with the He-
brew term Caphtor. A certain amount of testimony
is indeed adduced in favor of a connection between
Crete and Philistia; but, with the exception of the
vague rumor, recorded but not adopted by Tacitus '
(Uiil. v. 3), the evidence is confined to the town
of Gaza, and even in this case is not wholly satis-
factory./ The town, according to Stephanus Byxau-
tinus (j. v. Ti£a), was termed Minoa, as having
been founded by Minos, and this tradition may be
traced back to, and was perhaps founded on an in-
scription on the coins of that city, containing the
letters MEINfl; but these coins are of no higher
date than the first century B. c, and belong to a
period when Gaza had attained a decided Greek
character (Joseph. B. J. ii. 6, § 3). Again, the
worship of the god Mama, and its ideutity with
the Cretan Jove, are frequently mentioned by early
writers (Movers, Phmiz. i. 662); but the name ii
Phoenician, being the maran, " lord " of 1 Cor.
xri. 22, and it seems more probable that Gaza and
Crete derived the worship from a common source,
Phoenicia. Without therefore asserting that migra-
tions may not have taken place from Crete to Phil-
istia, we hold that the evidence adduced to prove
that they did is insufficient.
The last point to be decided in connection with
the early history of the Philistines is, the time
when they settled in the land of Canaan. If we
were to restrict ourselves to the statements of the
Bible, we should conclude that this took place be-
fore the time of Abraham : for they are noticed in
bis day as a pastoral tribe in the neighborhood of
Genu- (Gen. xxi. 32, 34, xxvi. 1, 8): and this posi-
tion accords well with the statement in Deut. ii.
23, that the Avim dwelt in Hazerim, i. e. in
nomad encampments; for Gerar lay in the south
country, which was just adapted to such a life. At
the time of the Exodus they were still in the same,
neighborhood, but grown sufficiently powerful to
inspire the Israelites with fear (Ex. xiii. 17, xv..
14). When the Israelites arrived, they were In
full possession of the 8/iefelah from the " river of,
Egypt " (et-Ari$h) in the south, to Ekron in tbe>
north (Josh. xv. 4, 47), and bad formed a confederacy*
of five powerful cities'— Gaza, Ashdod, Aahk ae o s y
Gath, and Ekron (Josh. xiii. 3). The interval thafa
« The only ground furnished by the Bible for this
view Is the application of the term rendered "Island "
to Caphtor In Jer. xlvll. 4. But the term also mains
mariirmr district ; and " the maritime district of Ceph-
tor " Is but another term for Philistia itself.
• OVT33- * *"!*•
«" It has been held by Bwald (1. 880) and others,
that the Cherethites and Pelethlte* (2 Bam. xx. 28)
were Cherethites and Philistines. The objections to
this view are: (1) that it Is highly Improbable that
David would select his officers from the hereditary
torn of his country, particularly so Immediately after
he had enforced their submission ; (2) that there seems
no reason why an undue prominence should have been
given to the Cherethites by placing that name first,
and altering Philistines Into Pelethltes, so ss to pro-
duce a paronomasia ; (3) that the names st»eqosntly
applied to the same body (2 K. xt. 19) are appellatives ;
and (4; that the terms admit of a probable explanation
from Hebrew roots.
< Among other aeemsots of the origin of ths Jews,
W gl ies this : "Judieos, Crete Inaula profugos, oovis-
abaa Maya bwdlasv " and, as part of the •ama tra-
1*7
dltioo, adds that the name Judasus was derived from,
Ida — a circumstance which suggests a foundations
for the story. The statement seems to have no mesa*
real welgnt than the reported connection between,
Hierosolyma and the Solymi of Lycia. Yet it Isao-
cepted as evidence that the Philisdnes, whom Tacitus
Is supposed to describe ss Jews, came from Crete..
/ The resemblance between the names Aptsraamt
Caphtor (Kell, Einleil. ii. 286), Phalassrna and Philis-
tine (Bwald, I. 830), is too slight to be of any weight-
Added to which, those places lie In the part of Crete,
most remote from Palestine.
At what period these cities were oiiginals>
founded, we know not ; but there are good- .grounds
for believing that they were of Canaanltish origin, ens)
had previously been occupied by the Avim. Hhe
name Oath Is certainly Canaanltish : so most probably
are Gasa, Ashdod, and Ekron. Askelon ts-douLfflu. ;
aud the terminations both of this and Kkron may he
i-nuistine. Qaza is mentioned as early as.in.Oen. x.
19 as a city of the Oanaamtes; and this aa well.ee
Ashdn. and Kkron were iu , cahna's time tbeasyluw
of the Canaanltish Anaeam (josh, xi. 22V
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2498 PH1LI8TINE8
alapsed between Abraham and the Exodus teems suf-
ficient to allow lor the alteration that took place in
the position of the Philistines, and their transfor-
mation from a pastoral tribe to a settled and powerful
nation. But such a Tiew has not met with acceptance
among modern critics, partly because it leaves the
niigratioiiii of the Philistines wholly unconnected
with any known historical event, and partly because
it does not serve to explain the great increase of their
power in the time of the judges. To meet these
two requirements a double migration on the part
of the Philistines, or of the two branches of that
nation, has been suggested. Knobel, for instance,
regards the Philistines proper as a branch of the
same stock as that to which the Hykaos belonged,
and he discovers the name Philistine in the op-
probrious name Philition, or Philitis, bestowed on
the shepherd kings (Herod, ii. 128): their lint en-
trance into Canaan from the Casluhim would thus
he subsequent to the patriarchal age, and coincident
with the expulsion of the Hykaos The Cherethites
he identifies with the Caphtorim who displaced the
A vim ; and these he regards as Cretans who did
not enter Canaan before the period of the judges.
The former part of his theory is inconsistent with
the notioes of the Philistines in the book of Genesis;
these, therefore, he regards as additions of a later
date" ( VBlktH. p. 318 ff.). The view adopted by
Movers is, that the Philistines were carried west-
ward from Palestine into Ixiwer Egypt by the
stream of the Hyksoe movement at a period subse-
quent to Abraham : from Egypt they passed to
Crete, and returned to Palestine in the early period
of the judges (Phaniz. iii. 268). This is incon-
sistent with the notices in Joshua. 6 Ewald, in the
second edition of his Getehickle, propounds the
hypothesis of a double immigration from Crete, the
first of which took place in the ante-patriarchal
period, as a consequence either of the Canaanitish
settlement or of the Hykaos movement, the second
in the time of the judges (Getek. i. 829-331). We
cannot regard the above views in any other light
than as speculations, built up on very slight data,
and unsatisfactory, inasmuch as they fail to recon-
cile the statements of Scripture. For they all im-
ply (1) that the notice of the Caphtorim in Gen.
x. 14 applies to an entirely distinct tribe from the
Philistines, as Ewald (i. 331, note) himself allows;
(2 ) that either the notices in Gen. xx., xxvi., or
those in Josh. xv. 46-47, or perchance both, are
interpolations; and (3) that the notice in Deut.
ii. 23, which certainly bears marks of high antiq-
uity, belongs to a late date, and refers solely
to the Cherethites. But, beyond these inconsis-
tencies, there are two points which appear to mili-
tate against the theory of the second immigration
in the time of the judges ; (1 ) that the national
title of the nation always remained Philistine,
whereas, according to these theories, it was the
Cretan or Cherethite element which led to the
a The sole ground for questioning tbe historical
value of these notices is that Abimelech 1* not termed
feme of the Philistines in xx. 2, but king of Gerar.
The land Is, however, termed the Philistine*' land.
It Is gratuitously assumed that the latter Is a ease of
prei*psi», and that the subsequent notice of the king
of the Philistines in xxvt. 1, Is the work of a later
writer who was misled by th e prolepsit.
* The grounds for doubting the genuineness of
Josh. xv. 46-47 an : (1) the omission of the total
-oomber of the towns; and (2) the notice of the
■* aailglisSM." or dependent towns, and ""Uitfss"
PHILISTINES
great development of power In the line at the
Judges; and (2) that it remaimi to be shown whs
a seafaring race like the Cretans, coming direct
from Caphtor in their ships (as Knobel, p. 224.
understands " Caphtorim from Caphtor " to imply)
would seek to occupy the quarters of a nomad rao
living in encampments, in tbe wilderness region of
the south. c We hesitate, therefore, to indorse any
of the proffered explanations, and, while we allow
that the Biblical statements are remarkable for their
fragmentary and parenthetical nature, we are not
prepared to fill up the gaps. If those statement*
cannot be received as they stand, it is questionable
whether any amount of criticism will supply the
connecting links. One point can, we think, be
satisfactorily shown, namely, that the hypothesis
of a second immigration is not needed in order tc
account for the growth of the Philistine power
Their geographical position and their relations te>
neighboring nations will account for It Between
the times of Abraham and Joshua, the Philistines
had changed their quarters, and bad advanced
northwards into the Shtfelnk or plain of Philistia.
This plain has been in all ages remarkable for the
extreme richness of its soil; its fields of standing
corn, its vineyards and olireyards, are incidentally
mentioned in Scripture (Judg. xv. 6); and in time
of famine the land of the Philistines was the hope
of Palestine (2 K. viii. 2). We should, however,
fail to form a just idea of its capacities from the
scanty notices in the Bible. The crops which it
yielded were alone sufficient to insure national
wealth. It was also adapted to the growth of mil-
itary power; for while the plain itself permitted the
use of war chariots, which were the chief arm of
offense, the occasional elevations which rise out of
it offered secure sites for towns and strongholds.
It was, moreover, a commercial country; from its
position it must have been at all times the great
thoroughfare between Phoenicia and Syria in the
north, and Egypt and Arabia in the south. Aahdod
and Gaza were the keys of Egypt, and commanded
tbe transit trade, and the stores of frankincense
and myrrh which Alexander captured in tbe latter
place prove it to have been a depot of Arabian prod-
uce (Plut. Alex. cap. 25). We have evidence in
the Bible that the Philistines traded in slaves with
Edom and southern Arabia (Am. i. 6; Joel iii. 3,
5), and their commercial character is indicated by
the application of the name Canaan to their laud
(Zeph. ii. 6). They probably possessed a navy;
for they had ports attached to Gasa and Aahkelon ;
the LXX. speaks of their ships in its version of
Is. xi. 14; and they are represented as attacking
the Egyptians out of ships. The Philistines had
at an early period attained proficiency in tbe arts
of peace ; they were skillful as smiths (1 Sam. xiil
20), as armorers (1 Sam. ivii. 6, 6), and as builders,
if we may judge from the prolonged sieges whieb
several of their towns sustained. Their images ai d
The second objection furnishes ths answer to the fin? ;
for as the n daughters '' are not enumerated, the totals
could not possibly be given. And the " daughters "
are not enumerated, because they were not actually la
possession of the Israelites, and Indeed were not
known by name.
c Ths Avim probably lived In the district between
Gerar and Qasa. This both accords best with the
notice of their living In Aoxerrm, and Is also tbe dis-
trict in which the remnant of them lingered ; •» m
Josh. xlll. 8, 4, the winds " from the south " are heel
■oomctvt with ' the A -rites," as In the Taigas*
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PHILISTINES
the golden mica and emerods (1 Sam. yi. 11) im-
ply an acquaintance with the founder's and gold-
imith't art*. Their wealth was abundant (Judg.
svi. 5, 18), and the; appear in all respects to have
bean a prosperous people.
Poesessed of such elements of power, the Phil-
istines had attained in the time of the judges an
important position among eastern nations. Their
history is, indeed, almost a blank ; yet the few par-
ticulars preserved to us are suggestive. About
n. o. 1209 we find them engaged in successful war
with the Sidonians, the effect of which was so
serious to the latter power that it involved the
transference of the capital of 1'h.cenioia to a more
secure position on the island of Tyre (Justin, xriii.
3). About the same period, but whether before or
after is uncertain, they were engaged in a naval
war with Rameses III. of Egypt, in conjunction
with other Mediterranean nations: in these wars
they were unsuccessful (Brugsch, Hitl. it£i/yple,
pp. 185, 187), but the notice of them proves their
importance, and we cannot therefore be surprised
that they were able to extend their authority over
the Israelites, devoid ss these were of internal
union, and harassed by external foes. With regard
to their tactics and the objects that they had in
view in their attacks on the Israelites, we may form
a fair idea from the scattered notices in the books
of Judges and SamueL The warfare was of a
guerilla character, and consisted of a series of
mult into the enemy's country. Sometimes these
extended only just over the border, with the view of
plundering the threshing-floors of the agricultural
produce (1 Sam. xxiii. 1); but more generally
they penetrated Into the heart of the country and
seized a commanding position on the edge of the
Jordan Valley, whence they could secure. themselves
against a combination of the trans- and cis-Jordan-
ite divisions of the Israelites, or prevent a return
of the fugitives who had hurried across the river
on the alarm of their approach. Thus at one time
we find them crossing the central district of Benja-
min and posting themselves at Michmash (1 Sam.
xiii. 16), at another time following the coast road
to the plain of Ksdraelou and reaching the edge of
the Jordan Valley by Jezreel (1 Sam. xxix. 11).
V'rom such posts »s their head-quarters, they sent
out detached bands to plunder the surrounding
country (1 Sam. xiii. 17), and, having obtained aU
they could, they erected a column " as a token of
their supremacy (1 Sam. x. 6, xiii. 3), and retreated
to their own country. This system of incursions
PHILISTINES
24W
<■ Th« Hebrew term nelxib, which Implies this prsc-
Ice, Is rendered " garrison " iu the A. V., which
'.wither agrees with the context nor gives a true idea
:f the Philistine tactics. Stark, however, dissents
Irom this view, and explains the term of military ofB-
wrs (Ouzo, p. 164).
» OH??, Md not &^ys.
e The trot text may have been n^TZSH, Instead
wTTt|r$n.
•t The apparent discrepancy between Jndg i. 18, 111.
u, has led to suspicions ss to the t*xt of the former,
which are strengthened by the rendering in to- LXX. ,
at o4« i>Ai|poi>d>i|<m', presupposing In the Hebrew
the reading l?b W?). Instead of Ysb»V The
testimony of the LXX. Is weakened by *Se oircntn-
itanees (1) that It Interpolates a ootlre of Ashdod and
1s suburbs (ssexwjpta, a peculiar term it, ilen of the
kept the Israelites in a state of perpetual dis-
quietude: all commerce was suspended, from the
insecurity of the roads (Judg. v. 6); and at
the approach of the foe the people either betook
themselves to the natural hiding-places of the
country, or fled across toe Jordan (1 Sam. xiii. 6,
7). By degrees the ascendency became complete,
and a virtual disarmament of the population was
effected by the suppression of the smiths (1 Sam.
xiii. 19). The profits of the Philistines were not
confined to the goods and chattels they carried off
with them. They seised the persons of the Israel-
ites and sold them for slaves; the earliest notice of
this occurs in 1 Sam. xiv. 31, where, according to
the probably correct reading * followed by the
LXX., we find that there were numerous slaves in
the camp at Michmash: at a later period the
prophets inveigh against them for their traffic hi
human flesh (Joel iii. 6; Am. i. 6): at a still later
period we hear that " the merchants of the coun-
try " followed the army of Gorgias into Jndssa for
the purpose of buying the children of Israel f-v
slaves (1 Maoc- iii. 41), and that these merchants
were Philistines is a fair inference from the sub-
sequent notice that Nicanor sold the captive Jews
to the "cities upon the sea-coast " (2 Msec. viii.
11). There can be little doubt, too, that tribute
was exacted from the Israelites, but the notices of
it are confined to passages of questionable au-
thority, such as the rendering of 1 Sam. xiii. 21
in the LXX., which represents the Philistines as
making a charge of three shekels a tool for sharp-
ening them; and again the expression "Metheg-
amraah " in 2 Sam. viii. 1, which is rendered h\
the Vulg. f reman tributi, and by Symroachns tt)»
i^owrlay rov <p6pov c In each of the passages
quoted, the versions presuppose a text whieh yields
a better sense than the existing one.
And now to recur to the Kiblicsl narrative:
The territory of the Philistines, having been once
occupied by the Canaanites, formed a portion of
the promised land, and was assigned to the tribe
of Judah (Josh. xv. 9, 12, 45-47). No portion
however, of it was conquered in the life-time of
Joshua (Josh. xiii. 2), and even after his death no
permanent conquest was effected (Judg. iii. 3),
though, on the authority of a somewhat doubtful
passage, 1 ' we are informed that the three cities of
Gaza, Ashkelon, and Kkron were taken (Judg. i.
18). The Philistines, at all events, soon recovered
these, and commenced an aggressive policy against
the Israelites, by which they gained a complete
ascendency over them. We an unable to say at
ifiut applied to the three other towns) ; and (2) that
the term l«Ai|pov6)n)«i' is given ss the equivalent tot
1J/, which occurs in no othsr Instance. Of the
two, therefore, the Qreek text is more open to sus-
picion. Stark (data, p. 129) regards the passage u
an interpolation.
* The alleged discrepancy (see above) does not exist
If TDy*] means that they took the does by storm,
but did' not retain them or drive out the inhabitants
(Judg. 111. 8). See Csasel's BUdirr do RieJurr u. Rata, p.
12. Tbe same verb occurs with regard to the captors
of Jerusalem (Jndg. 1. 8), though we read ex pr essly
(2 Sam. t.m.| that the Hebrews did not entirely
drive ont the Inhabitants till long after that time.
[Jsascs, Amer ed.] With the idea of permanent pos-
session, the strict term would havs been BT^mH
(see Baehmann, Tate* o'er Jb'MMr, p. 188). ■
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2500
PHILISTINES
what Intervals their incursions took place, as
Bathing Is recorded of them in the early period of
the judges. But they most hare been frequent,
inasmuch as the national spirit of the Israelites was
■o entirely broken that they even reprobated any
ittempt at deliverance (Judg. it. 12). Individual
heroes were raised up from time to time whose
achievements might well kindle patriotism, such as
Shamgar the son of Anath (Judg. iii. 31), and
still more Samson (Judg. ziii.-xvi.): but neither
]f these men succeeded in permanently throwing
off the yoke." Of the former only a single daring
feat is recorded *e effect of which appears, from
Judg. v. 8, 7, to have been very short-lived. The
true series of deliverances commenced with the
latter, of whom it was predicted that •' he shall
begin to deliver " (Judg. xiii. 51, and were carried
on by Samuel, Saul, and David. The history of
Samson furnishes us with some idea of the rela-
tions which existed between the two nations. As
a " borderer " of the tribe of Dan, he was thrown
into frequent contact with the Philistines, whose
supremacy was so established that no bar appears
to have been placed to free intercourse with their
country. His early life was spent on the verge of
the Shrfelnh between Zorah and EshtaoL, but
when his actions had aroused the active hostility
of the Philistines he withdrew into the central
district and found a secure post on the rock of
Etam, to the S. W. of Bethlehem. Thither the
Philistines followed him without opposition from
the inhabitants. His achievements belong to his
personal history: it is clear that they were the
isolated acts of an individual, and altogether un-
connected with any national movement; for the
revenge of the Philistines was throughout directed
against Samson personally. Under Eli there was
an organized but unsuccessful resistance to the
encroachments of the Philistines, who had pene-
trated into the central district and were met at
Aphek (1 Sam. iv. 1). The production of the ark
mi this occasion demonstrates the greatness of the
jmergency, and its loss marked the lowest depth
of Israel's degradation. The next action took place
under Samuel's leadership, and the tide of success
turned in Israel's favor: the Philistines hsd again
penetrated' into the mountainous country near Jeru-
salem : at Mizpeh they met the cowed host of the
Israelites, who, encouraged by the signs of Divine
favor, and availing themselves of the panic pro-
duced by a thunderstorm, inflicted on them a total
defeat. For the first time, the Israelites erected
their pillar or "MltU" at Eben-ezer as the token
of victory. The results were the recovery of the
border towns and their territories "from Ekron
even unto Gath," »'. e. in the northern district.
The success of Israel may be partly attributed to
their peaceful relations at this time with the Aroor-
■tes (1 Sam. vii. 9-14). The Israelites now attrib-
uted their past weakness to their want of unity,
ind they desired a king, with the special object
■ A brief notice occurs in Judg. x. 7 of Invasions
by the Philistines and Ammonites, fallowed by par-
ticulars which apply *x<-'-..sif ely to the latter people.
ft has been hence *-.j/uoeed that the brief nuVrenoe
lo the Philistines Is In anticipation of Samson's hls-
Jott. In Henog's Rnd-Encyk. (». v. " PhllUter ") It
• rather unnecessarily aranmed that the text Is to
ssrfcet, and that the words « that year " refer to the
PbiUarlnes, and the « eighteen years '< to the am.
* The aU h i s u us may be simply that the partsralais
PHILISTINES
of .ending them against the foe (1 Sean. vHL ts>)
It is a significant fact that Saul first feh inspira-
tion in the presence of a pillar (A. V. "garrison"'
erected by the Philistines in commemoration of a
victory (1 Sam. x. S, 10). As soon as be waa
prepared to throw off the yoke, be occupied with
his army a position at Michmash, commanding the
denies leading to the Jordan Valley, and his heroic
general Jonathan gave the signal for a rising by
overthrowing the pillar which the Philistines had
placed there. The challenge was accepted ; the
Philistines invaded the central district with an
immense force,* and, having dislodged Sanl from
Michmash, occupied it themselves, and sent forth
predatory bands 'into the surrounding country.
The Israelites shortly after took up a position ess
the other side of the ravine at Ueba, and, availing
themselves of the confusion consequent upon Jona-
than's daring feat, inflicted a tremendous slaughter,
upon the enemy (1 Sam. xiii., xiv.). No attempt
waa made by the Philistines to regain their su-
premacy for about twenty-five years, and the scene
of the next contest shows the altered strength of the
two parties : it was no longer in the central coun-
try, but in a ravine leading down to the Philistine
plain, the Valley of Elah, the position of which is
about 14 miles S. W. of Jerusalem : on this occa-
sion the prowess of young David secured su ccess
to Israel, and the foe was pursued to the gates
of Gath and Ekron (1 Sam. xvii.). The power of
the Philistines was, however, still intact on their
own territory, as proved by the -flight of David to
the court of Achish (1 Sam. xxi. 10-18), and his
subsequent abode at Ziklag (1 Sam. xxvii.), where
he was secured from the attacks of Saul. The
border warfare was continued ; captures and repri-
sals, such as are described ss occurring at Eeihh
(I Sam. xiiii. 1-6) being probably frequent. The
scene of the next conflict was far to the north, in
the valley of Esdraebn, whither the Philistines
may have made a plundering incursion similar to
that of the Midianites in the days of Gideon.
The battle on this occasion proved disastrous to the
Israelites: Sanl himself perished, and the Philis-
tines penetrated across the Jordan, and occupied
the forsaken cities (1 Sam. mi. 1-7). The dis-
sensions which followed the death of Saul wen
naturally favorable to the Philistines : and no sooner
were these brought to a close by the appointment
of David to be king over the united tribes, than
the Philistines attempted to counterbalance the
advantage by an attack on the person of the king :
they therefore penetrated into the Valley of Re-
phaim, S. W. of Jerusalem, and even pushed for-
ward an advanced post as for as Bethlehem (1 Chr.
xi. 16). David twice attacked them at the former
spot, and on each occasion with signal success,
in the first case capturing their images, in the
second pursuing them "from Geba until thoa
come to Gaser"c (3 Sam. v. 17-86; 1 Chr. ait
8-18).
are mentioned In one esse, but u v i ttt sd la the I
It Is unnecessary to call In qnestfrn the feet of n In
vaslons " by both tribes. H.
i The text states the force at 10,000 chariots and
6,000 honemsn (1 Sam. xUI. 6) : these numbers are,
however, qnlts out of proportion. The chariots were
probably 1,000, the present reeding being a mhnasv
of a copyist who repeated the final y of Israel, sat
lbs* converted the number Into 10,000.
c There Is some difficulty in :
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHILISTINES
Heexefcrth the Israelites appear as the aggree-
■on: about seven years after the defeat at Re-
ahaim, David, who had now consolidated his
power, attacked them on their own soil, and took
Gath with its dependencies (1 Chr. xviii. 1), and
Una (according to one interpretation of the obscure
expression >' Metheg-ammah " in 2 Sam. viii. 1)
"he took the arm-bridle out of the hand of the
Philistines" (Uertheau, Comm. on 1 Chr. in Joe.),
or (according to another) " he took the bridle of
the metropolis out of the hand of the Philistines "
(Gasen. Tkes. p. 113) — meaning in either case that
their ascendency was utterly broken. This indeed
was the case: for the minor engagements in Da-
vid's life-time probably all took place within the
holders of Philistia: Gob, which is given as the
seene of the second and third combats, being prob-
ably identical with Uath, where the fourth took
pbce (2 Sam. xxi. 16-22; oomp. LXX., some of
the copies of which read Tit instead of Ti&)- The
whole of Philistia was included in Solomon's em-
pire, the extent of which is described as being " from
the river unto the land of the Philistines, unto the
border of Egypt"" (1 K. iv. 21; 2 Chr. ix. 26),
and again " from Tiphaah even unto Gaxa "(IK.
iv. 84; A. V. "Arzah") [though the Hebrew
form is the same] The several towns probably re-
mained under their former governors, as in the case
of Uath (lK.iL 38), and the sovereignty of Solo-
mon was acknowledged by the payment of tribute
(1 K. iv. 21). There are indications, however,
that his hold on the Philistine country was by no
means established : for we find him securing the
passes that lad up from the plain to the central
district by the fortification of Gezer and Beth-boron
(1 K. ix. 17), while no mention is made either of
Gaza or Aahdod, which fully commanded the coast-
road. Indeed the expedition of Pharaoh against
Gezer, which stood at the head of the Philistine
plain, and which was quite independent of Solomon
until the time of his marriage with Pharaoh's
daughter, would lead to the inference that Egyp-
tian influence was paramount in Philistia at this
' period (1 K. ix. 16). The division of the empire
at Solomon's death was favorable to the Philistine
cause: Kehoboam secured himself against them by
fortifying Uath and other cities bordering on the
ilain (2 Chr. xi. 8): the Israelite monarchs were
aither not so prudent or not so powerful, for they
allowed the Philistines to get hold of Uibbethon,
•oniniandiug one of the denies leading up from the
plain of Sharon to Samaria, the recovery of which
involved them in a protracted struggle in the reigns
of Nadab and Zimri (1 K. xv. 27, xvi. 16). Judah
meanwhile had lost the tribute; for it is recorded
ss an occurrence that marked Jehoshaphat's suo-
PHILISTINE8
2501
jess, that •» some of the Philistines brought pre*
ants" (2 Chr. xvii. 11). But this subjection wss
of brief duration : in the reign of his son Jehorun
they avenged themselves by invading Judah in con-
junction with the Arabians, and sacking the royal
palace (2 Chr. xxi. 16, 17). The increasing weak-
ness of the Jewish monarchy under the attacks of
Uazael led to the recovery of Gath, which bad been
captured by that monarch in his advance on Jeru-
salem from the western plain in the reign of Jeho-
ash (2 K. xii. 17), and was probably occupied by
the Philistines after his departure as an advanced
post against Judah : at all events it was in their
hands in the time of Uzriah, who dismantled (2
Chr. xxvi. 6) and probably destroyed it: for it is
adduced by Amos as an example of Divine ven-
geance (Am. vi. 2), and then disappears from his-
tory. L'zziah at the same time dismantled Jabneh
(Jamnia) in the northern part of the plain, and
Aahdod, and further erected forts in different parts
of the country to intimidate the inhabitants b (2
Chr. xxvi. 6). The prophecies of Joel and Amos
prove that these measures were provoked by the
aggressions of the Philistines, who appear to have
formed leagues both with the Edomites and Phoe-
nicians, and had reduced many of the Jews to
slavery (Joel iii. 4-6; Am. i. 6-10). How far the
means adopted by Uzziab were effectual we are not
informed ; but we have reason to suppose that the
Philistines were kept in subjection until the time
of Ahaz, when, relying upon the difficulties pro-
duced by the Syrian attacks, they attacked the
border cities in the Shrfeiah, and " the south "
of Judah (2 Chr. xxviii. 18). Isaiah's declarations
(xiv. 29-32) throw light upon the events subsequent
to this : from them we learn that the Assyrians,
whom Alias summoned to his aid, proved them-
selves to be the " cockatrice that should come out
of the serpent's (Judah's) root," by ravaging the
Philistine plain. A few years later the Philistines,
in conjunction with the Syrians and Assyrians
(" the adversaries of Rezin "), and perhaps as the
subject-allies of the latter, carried on a series of at-
tacks on the kingdom of Israel (Is. ix. 11, 12).
Hezekiah's reign inaugurated a new policy, in
which the Philistines were deeply interested : that
monarch formed an alliance with the Egyptians, as
a counterpoise to the Assyrians, and the possession
of Philistia became henceforth the turning-point of
the struggle between the two great empires of the
East. Hezekiah, in the early part of his reign, re-
established bis authority over the whole of it, "even
unto Gaza" (2 K. xviii. 8). This movement was
evidently connected with his rebellion against the
king of Assyria, and was undertaken in conjunc-
tion with the Egyptians; for we find the latter
graphical statements in the narrative of this campaign.
Instead of the " Oeba " of Samuel, wa have " Qiboon "
In Chronicles. The latter lies N. W. of Jerusalem ;
and then is a Oeba in the same neighborhood, lying
Boon to the B. But the Valley of Rephatan Is placed
B. W. of Jerusalem, near to neither of these places.
Thenias (on 2 Sam. v. 18) transplants the valley to the
M. W. of Jerusalem; while Bertbeao (on 1 Ohr. xlv.
16) Men ones Oeba with the Qibaah of Josh. xv. 67,
and the Ma'k noticed by Boblnson (U. ., 13) as lying
W. of Bethlehem. Neither of then explanations can
30 accepted. We must assume that the direct retreat
Irom the valley to the plain was cut off, and tL»t the
rnlnstines were compelled to flee northwards, and
regained the plain by the pass of Beth-boron, which
fcy between Gibson (ss well ss between Oeba) and Oaasr.
• The Hebrew text, as It at present stands, in 1 K.
iv. 21, will not bear the sense hen put upon it ; but
a comparison with the parallel passage in 2 Ohr. shows
that the word T$] has dropped out before the " land
of the P."
t> The passage in Zeeh. ix. 6-7 refers, in the opin-
ion of those who assign an earlier date to the conclud-
ing chapters of the book, to the successful campaign
jf Uniah. Internal evidence is in favor of this view.
The alliance with Tyn is described as « the expecta-
tion " of Karon : Qasa was to lose her king, ». 4 bet
independence: Ashkelon should be depopulated: a
" bastard," . t. one who was excluded from the con-
gregation of Israel on the scon of Impure blnod,
should dwell in Ashdod, holding it ss a dependency of
Judah ; and Karoo should become « as a Jenneta* "
eubjset to Judah.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2502
PHILISTINES
people ilorUj after in possession of the five Philis-
tine cities, to which alone are we able to refer the
prediction in la. xix. 18, when coupled with the
bust that both Gaza and Ashkekui are termed
Egyptian cities in the annals of Sargon (Bunaen's
Egypt, ir. 603) The Assyrians under Tartan, the
general of Sargon, make an expedition against
Egypt, and took Ashdod, as the key of that coun-
try (Is. xx. 1, 4, S). Under Sennacherib Philistia
was again the scene of important operations : in
Ais first campaign against Egypt Ashkelon was
taken and its dependencies were plundered; Ash-
dod, Ekron, and Gaza submitted, and received
as a reward a portion of Hezekiah's territory
(Rawlinson, i. 477): in his second campaign other
towns on the verge of the plain, auch as Libnab
and Lachish, were also taken (2 K. xviii. 14, xix.
8). The Assyrian supremacy, though shaken by
the failure of this second expedition, was restored
by Esar-haddon, who claims to have conquered
Egypt (Rawlinson, i. 481); and it eeema probable
that the Assyrians retained their bold on Asbdod
until its capture, after a long siege, by the Egyptian
monarch Fsammetichus (Herod, ii. 167), the effect
of which was to reduce the population of that im-
portant place to a mere " remnant" (Jer. xxv. 20).
It was about this time, and probably while Psam-
metichua was engaged in the siege of Ashdod, that
Philistia was traversed by a vast Scjthian horde
on their way to Egypt: they were, however, di-
verted from their purpose by the king, and retraced
their steps, plundering on their retreat the rich
temple of Venus at Ashkelon (Herod, i. 105). The
description of Zephaniah (ii. 4-7), who was contem-
porary with this event, may well apply to this ter-
rible scourge, though more generally referred to a
Chaidcean invasion. The Egyptian ascendency was
not aa yet reestablished, for we find the next king,
Neco, compelled to besiege Gaza (the Cadytia of
Herodotus, ii. 159) on his return from the battle of
Hegiddo. After the death of Neco, the contest was
renewed between the Egyptians and the Chaldteans
under Nebuchadnezzar, and the result wss specially
disastrous to the Philistines: Gaza was again taken
by the former, and the population of the whole plain
was reduced to a mere " remnant " by the invading
armies (Jer. xlvii.). The "old hatred" that the
Philistines bore to the Jews was exhibited in acts
of hostility at the time of the Babylonish captivity
(Ea. xxv. 15-17): but on the return this was some-
what abated, for some of the Jews married Philis-
tine women, to the great scandal of their rulers
(Neh. xiii. 23, 24). From this time the history of
Philistia is absorbed in the struggles of the neigh-
boring kingdoms. In B. c. 332, Alexander the
Great traversed it on his way to Egypt, and cap-
tured Gaza, then held by the Persians under Betis,
after a two months' siege. In 312 the armies of
Demetrius Poliorcetes and Ptolemy fought in the
neighborhood of Gaza. In 198 Antiochus the
Great, in his war against Ptolemy Epiphanes, in-
vaded Philistia and took Gaza. In 168 the Philis-
tines joined the Syrian array under Gorgias in its
attack on Judas (1 Mace. in. 41). In 148 the
adherents of the rival kings Demetrius II. and Al-
exander Baku, under ApoUonius and Jonathan re-
•pectively, contended In the Philistine plain : Jona-
}TD. Two derivations have bean proposed for
nam.lv, 1J7 by Birald (1. 882), TJD,
' by O asin l us (Tint. p. 972) and Kail Id Jo*.
PHILOLOG0B
than took Ashdod, triumphantly entered ,
and received Ekron aa his reward (1 Mace, x. ttV
89). A few years later Jonathan again descended
into the plain in the interests of Antiochus VI.,
and captured Gaza (1 Mace xi. 60-62). No far-
ther notice of the country occurs until the captors
of Gaza in 97 by the Jewish king Alexander Jan-
najus in his contest with Lathyrus (Joseph. Aat.
xiii. 13, $ 3; B. J i. 4, J 2). In 61 Pompey an-
nexed Philistia to the province of Syria (Ant xiv.
4, § 4), with the exception of Gaza, which waa as-
signed to Herod (xv. 7, § 8), together with Jamnia,
Aahdod, and Ashkekm, as appears from xvii. 11, f i.
The three last fell to Salome after Herod's death,
but Gaza was reannexed to Syria (xvii. 11, §i 4, ft).
The latest notices of the Philistines as a nation,
under their title of i\ki<pvkot, occur in 1 Mac*.
iii.-v. The extension of the name from the dis-
trict occupied by them to the whole country, nnder
the familiar form of Palestute, has already been
noticed under that head.
With regard to the institutions of the Philistine*
our information is very scanty. The five chief
cities had, aa early as the days of Joshua, consti-
tuted themselves into a confederacy, restricted, how-
ever, in all probability, to matters of offense sad de-
fense. Each was under the government of a prince
whose official title was terrn " (Josh. xiii. 8; Jndg.
Hi. 3, Ac.), and occasionally «dr* (1 Sam. xviii. 30,
xxix. 6). Gaza may be regarded as having exer-
cised an hegemony over the others, for in the lists of
the towns it is mentioned the first (Josh. xiii. 8 ;
Am. i. 7, 8), except where there is an especial
ground for giving prominence to another, aa in the
case of Ashdod (1 Sam. vi. 17). Ekron always
stands last, while Ashdod, Aahkelon, and Gath in-
terchange places. Each town possessed its own
territory, as instanced in the esse of Gath (1 Chr.
xviii. 1), Ashdod (1 Sam. v. 6), and others, and
each possessed its dependent towns or " daughters"
(Josh. xv. 45-47; 1 Chr. xviii. 1; 2 Sam. i. SO;
Ex. xvi. 27, 57), and its Tillages (Josh. I. «•.). In
later times Gaza had a senate of five hundred (Jo-
seph. AnL xiii. 13, § 3). The Philistines appear to
have been deeply imbued with superstition : they
carried their idols with them on their campaigns
(2 Sam. v. 21), and proclaimed their victories in
their presence (1 Sam. xxxi. 9). They also carried
about their persons charms of some kind that had
been presented before the idols (2 Mace. xii. 40)
The gods whom they chiefly worshipped were Da
gon, who possessed temples both at Gaza (Judg.
xvi. 23) and at Asbdod (1 Sam. v. 8-5; 1 Chr. x.
10; 1 Mace. x. 83); Ashtaroth, whose temple at
Ashkelon was far-famed (1 Sam. xxxi. 10; Herod.
i. 105); Baal-eebub, whose fane at Ekron was con-
sulted by Ahaziah (2 K. i. 2-6); and Dereeto, who
was honored at Ashkelon (Diod. Sic. ii 4), though
unnoticed in the Bible. Priests and diviners (1
Sam. vi. 2) were attached to the various seats of
worship. (The special authorities for the history
of the Philistines are Stark's Gam, Knobet's
VdUeerinfd; Movers' Pkimntr; and HiUigs
UrgetekickU.) W. L. B.
PHILOL'OOTJS (♦.XdAojyo* Ifomiof talk.
talkative, and also Uarned] : Philologv*). A Chris-
tian at Rome to whom St. Paul sends his eahitattnt
xiii. 8, the Utter being supported by I
an Arabic ex pr ession.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHILOMETOR
,Mom. xvi. IS). Origen conjectures that he m
the muter of a Christian household which included
.he other persons named with him. Pseudo-Hip-
polytus (Dt LXX. ApottoUs) makes him one of the
10 diaciplea, and bishop of Sinope. HU name is
found in the Columbarium " of the freedmen of
Litis Augusta" at Home; which shows that there
was a Philologus connected with the imperial house-
held it the time when it included niauy Julias.
W. T. B.
• PHILOMETOR (*iAoMr<«p, mofktrlut-
mg: Phikmttor), a surname of Ptolem<kus or
Ptolemy VI., king of Egypt, 8 Mace. It. 21.
A.
PHILOSOPHY. It is the object of the fol-
lowing article to give some account (I.) of that de-
velopment of thought among the Jews which an-
swered to the philosophy of the West; (II.) of the
recognition of the preparatory (propedeutic) office
of Greek philosophy in relation to Christianity;
(III.) of the systematic progress of Greek philoso-
phy as forming a complete whole; and (IV.) of the
contact of Christianity with philosophy. The limits
of the article necessarily exclude everything but
broad statements. Many points of great interest
must be passed over unnoticed; and in a fuller
treatment there would be need of continual excep-
tions and explanations of detail, which would ouly
create confusion in an outline. The history of an-
cient philosophy in its religious aspect has been
ttrangely neglected. Nothing, as far as we are
aware, has been written on the pre-Christian era
answering to the clear and elegant essay of Matter
on post-Christian philosophy (Uuluire de la Phil-
trophic thins ses rapports avec la ReUyvm dtpuis
tire CAreliemu, Paris, 1854). There are useful
hints in Carovi's Vorhnlle (Us Christtnthums (Jena,
1831 1, and Ackermann's Dm ChrMiche im Plata
(Hamb. 1835). The treatise of Denis, Histoire dt*
Theories tt dt* Idets morales dam I AntiquiU
(Paris, 1856), is limited in range and hardly satis-
factory. DUlinger'e [Htidtntbum «. Judtntlium]
I'ork'dlt zur Vetch d VhrUUnthuiiis (Regenslig.
1857 [Eng. traus., Tht O'enlilt and the Jew, etc.
I^ond. 1862] ) is comprehensive, but covers too large
a field. The brief survey in De Pressensl's Hut.
dt* trots premiers Siicles dt lEylise Chre'tieune
(Paris, 1858) [translated under the title The Ht-
liy'uim before Christ, Kdiu. 1862] is much more
vigorous, and on the whole just. But no one seems
to have apprehended the real character and growth
of Greek philosophy so well as Zeller (though with
no special attention to its relations to religion) in
his history (Dit Philosaphie dtr (Sritehm, 2 to Aufl.
[3 Thaile in 6 Abth.] Tub. 1856-68), which for
subtlety and completeness is unrivaled. [See also
the literature at the end of the article.]
I. The Philosophic Discipline or the Jews.
Philosophy, if we limit 'he word strictly to de-
scribe the free pursuit of knowledge of which truth
is the one complete end, is essentially of western
growth. In the East the search after wisdom has
always been connected v^th practise: it has re-
mained there, what it was in Greece at first, a part
af religion. The history of the Jews offer* no ex-
seption to this remark : there is no Tewiah philos-
■phy properly so called. Yet oa the other hand
speculation and action meet in truth ; and perhaps
the most obvious lesson of the Old Testament lies
n the gradual construction of a Urine philosophy
PHILOSOPHY
250&
by fact, and not by speculation. The method of
Greece was to proceed from life to God; the
method of Israel (so to speak) was to proceed from
God to life. The axioms of one system are the
conclusions of the other. The one led to the suc-
cessive abandonment of the noblest domains of sci-
ence which man had claimed originally as bis own,
till it left bare systems of morality ; the other, in
the fullness of time, prepared many to welcome the
Christ — the Truth.
From what has been said, it follows that the
philosophy of the Jews, using the word in a large
sense, is to be sought for rather in the progress of
the national life than in special books. These, in-
deed, furnish important illustrations of the growth
of speculation, but the history is written more in
acts than in thoughts. Step by step the idea of
the family was raised into that of the people; and
the kingdom furnished the basis of those wider
promises which included all nations in one kingdom
of heaven. The social, the political, the oosmical
relations of man were traced out gradually in rela-
tion to God.
The philosophy of the Jews is thus essentially a
moral philosophy, resting on a definite connection
with God. The doctrines of Creation and Provi-
dence, of an Infinite Divine Person and of a re-
sponsible human will, which elsewhere form the ul-
timate limits of speculation, are here assumed at
the outset. The difficulties which they involve are
but rarely noticed. Even when they are canvassed
most deeply, a moral answer drawn from the great
duties of life is that in which the questioner finds
repose. The earlier chapters of Genesis contain an
introduction to the direct training of the people
which follows. Premature and partial developments,
kingdoms based on godless might, stand in contrast
with the slow foundation of the Divine polity To
distinguish rightly the moral principles which ware
successively called out in this latter work, would
be to write a history of Israel; but the philosoph-
ical significance of the great crises through which
the people passed, lies upon the surface. The call
of Abraham set forth at once the central lesson of
faith in the Unseen, on which all others were raised.
The father of the nation was first isolated from all
natural ties before he received the promise: his heir
was the son of his extreme age: his inheritance
was to him " as a strange land." The history of
the patriarchs brought out into yet clearer light the
sovereignty of God : the younger was preferred be -
fore the elder: suffering prepared the way for safety
and triumph. God was seen to make a covenant
with man, and his action was written in the rec-
ords of a chosen family. A new era followed. A
nation grew up in the presence of Egyptian cul-
ture. Persecution united elements which seem
otherwise to have been on the point of being ah
sorbed by foreign powers. God revealed Himself
now to the people in the wider relations of Law-
giver and Judge. The solitary discipline of the
desert familiarised them with his majesty and his
mercy. The wisdom of Egypt was hallowed to
new uses. The promised land was gained by the
open working of a divine Sovereign. The outlines
of national faith were written in defeat and victory ;
and the work of the theocracy closed. Human
passion then claimed a dominant influence. The
people required a king A fixed Temple was sub-
stituted for the shifting Tabernacle. Times of dis-
ruption and disaster followed ; and the voice of the
prophets declared the soiritnal meaning of the king-
Digitized by VjOOQlC
I
2504
PHILOSOPHY
"„.n. It the midst of sorrow and defeat and deso-
ation, the horizon of hope waa extended. The
aingdom which man had prematurely founded waa
Men to be the image of a nobler *■ kingdom of
God." The nation learned its connection with
"all the kindred of the earth." The Captivity
sonfirmed the lesson, and after it the Dispersion.
The moral effects of these, and the influence which
Persian, Greek, and Roman, the inheritors of all
the wisdom of the East and West, exercised upon
the Jews, have been elsewhere noticed. [Ctkus:
Dispersion.] The divine discipline closed before
the special human discipline began. The personal
relations of God to the individual, the family, the
nation, mankind, were established in ineffaceable his-
tory, and then other truths were brought into har-
mony with these in the long period of silence which
separates the two Testaments. But the harmony
was not always perfect. Two partial forms of re-
ligious philosophy arose. On the one side the pre-
dominance of the Persian element gave rise to the
Kabbah: on the other the predominance of the
Greek element issued in Alexandrine theosophy.
Before these one sided developments of the truth
were made, the fundamental ideas of the Divine
government found expression in words as well as in
life. The Psalms, which, among the other infinite
lessons which they convey, give a deep insight into
the need of a personal apprehension of truth, every-
where declare the absolute sovereignty of God over
the material and moral worlds. The classical
scholar cannot fail to be struck with the frequency
of natural imagery, and with the close connection
which is assumed to exist between man and nature
as parts of one vast Order. The control of all the
element* by One All-wise Governor, standing out
In clear contrast with the deification of isolated ob-
jects, is no less essentially characteristic of Hebrew
as distinguished from Greek thought. In the world
of action Providence stands over against fate, the
universal kingdom against the individual state, the
true and the right against the beautiful. Pure
speculation may find little scope, but speculation
guided by these great laws will never cease to af-
fect most deeply the intellectual culture of men.
(Compare especially Pa. viii., xix., xxix. ; I., lxv.,
lxviii. ; lxxvii., btxviii., lxxxix. : xcv., xcvii., civ. ;
cvi., exxxvi., exlvii., etc. It will be seen that the
same character is found in Psalms of every date.)
For a late and very remarkable development of this
philosophy of Mature see the article Book of
Kxoch [vol. i. p. 738 fll] ; Dillmann, Dot B. He-
noch, xiv. xv.
One man above all is distinguished among the
Jews as "the wise man." The description which
is given of his writings serves as a commentary on
the national view of philosophy. "And Solomon's
wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of
the east country and all the wisdom of Egypt. . ■ .
And he spake three thousand proverbs; and his
songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of
trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto
the hyssop that springeth out of the wall : he spake
also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things,
and of fishes " (1 K. iv. 30-33). The lesson of
practical duty, the full utterance of "a large
Mart " (ibid. 30), the careful study of God's crea-
tures: this is the sum of wisdom. Yet in fact the
ery practical airj of this philosophy leads to the
< relation of the most sublime truth. Wisdom waa
fivi-iaUy felt to be a Person, throned by God, and
soiling converse with men (Prov. viii.). She was
PHILOSOPHY
seen to stand In open enmity with < ti
woman," who sought to draw them aside by I
suous attractions; and thus a new step waa mad*
towards the central doctrine of Christianity — ths
Incarnation of the Word.
Two books of the Bible, Job and Eecletiastea,
of which the latter at any rate belongs to the period
of the close of the kingdom, approach more nearly
than any others to the type of philosophical dis-
cussions. But in both the problem is moral and
not metaphysical. The one deals with the evils
which afflict " the perfect and upright; " the other
with the vanity of all the pursuits and pleasure*
of earth. In the one wn are led for an answer to
a vision of " the euemy " to whor ■ a partial and
temporary power over man is conceded (Job
6-13); in the other to that great future when
" God shall bring every work to judgment" (Eed
xii. 14). The method of inquiry is in both came
abrupt and irregular. One clew after another ia
followed out, and at length abandoned; and the
final solution is obtained, not by a consecutive
process of reason, but by an authoritative utter-
ance, which faith welcomes as the truth, towards
which all partial efforts had tended. (Compare
Maurice, Morul and Metaphyseal Philoiophg, lint
edition.)
The Captivity necessarily exercised a profound
influence upon Jewish thought. [Comp. Cyrus,
vol. 1. p. 527.] The teaching of Persia seems tn
have been designed to supply important elements
in the education of the chosen people. But it did
yet more than this. The imagery of Ezekiet (chap,
i.) gave an apparent sanctiou to a new form of
mystical speculation. It is uncertain at what date
this earliest Kabbala (t. e. Tradition) received a
definite form ; but there can be no doubt that the
two great divisions of which it is composed, '■the
chariot" (Mercabnh, Ez. i.) and "the Creation "
(Berahith, Gen. i.), found a wide development
before the Christian era. The first dealt with the
manifestation of God in Himself; the second with
his manifestation in Nature; and as the doctrine
was handed down orally, it received naturally, both
from its extent and form, great additions from
foreign source*. On the one side it was open to
the Persian doctrine of emanation, on the other to
the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation ; and the
tradition was deeply impressed by both before it
was first committed to writing in the seventh or
eighth century. At present the original sources
for the teaching of the Kabbala are the Seplier
Jttrirah, or Book of Creation, and the Sepher ka-
Zohrtr, or Book of Splendor. The former of these
dates in its present form from the eighth, and the
latter from the thirteenth century (Zuni, Oottad.
Vortr. d. Juden, p. 165; Jellinek, Arose* den
Schemtob de Leon, Leipsic, 1861). Both are based
upon a system of Pantheism. In the Book of
Creation the Cabbalistio ideas are given in their
simplest form, and offer some points of comparison
with the system of the Pythagoreans. The book
begins with an enumeration of the thirty-two ways
of wisdom seen in the constitution of the world,
and the analysis of this number is supposed to con-
tain the key to the mysteries of nature. The
primar; division is into 10 -f- 22. The number
10 represent* the ten Sephuvth (figures), which
answer to the ideal world ; 82, on the other hand,
the number of the Hebrew alphabet, answer* to to*
world of objects; the object being related to lbs
idea as a word, formed of letters, to a naaabar
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHILOSOPHY
lwsniy-twu again is equal to 3 -f- 7 +■ 19; and
each of these numbera, which constantly recur iu
the 0. T. Scriptures, it invested with a peculiar
meaning. General!}' the fundamental conceptions
of the book may be thus represented. The ulti-
mate Being ia Divine Wisdom ( Choemah, %<Kf>ia)-
The universe is originally a harmonious thought of
Wisdom (Number, SejMrah): and the thought is
afterwards expressed in letters, which form, as
words, the germ of things. Man, with his twofold
nature, thus represents in some sense the whole
universe. He is the Microcosm, in which the body
rlothes and veils the soul, as the phenomenal world
nils the spirit cf (J 3d. It is impossible to follow
•ut here the details of this system, and its develop-
ment in Zobar; but it is obvious how great an in-
fluence it must have exercised on the interpretation
of Scripture. The calculation of the numerical
worth of words (comp. Rev. xiii. 18; Clematria,
Buxtorf, Lex. Rati. p. 446), the resolution of words
into initial letters of new words (JVoOiricon, Bux-
torf, 1339). and the transposition or interchange
of letters ( Temuruh), were used to obtain the inner
meaning of the text; and these practices have con-
tinued to affect modern exegesis (Lutterbeck, JVeu-
taL Lthrbeariff, i. 223-254; Reuss, Kabbala, in
Herzog's UncykUip. ; Joel, Die ReUg.-PhiL d.
Zobar, 1849 ; Jcllinek, as above ; Westoott, Introd.
In Goepele, pp. 131-134; Franck, Li Kabbale,
1843; Old Testament, B § 1).
Tbe contact of the Jews with Persia thus gave
rise to a traditional mysticism. Their contact with
Greece was marked by the rise of distinct sects.
In tbe third eentury B. c. the great doctor Antig-
onus of Socho bears a Greek name, and popular
belief pointed to him as the teacher of Sadoc and
Boethus, the supposed founders of Jewish ration-
alism. At any rate, we may date from this time
the twofold division of Jewish speculation which
corresponds to the chief tendencies of practical
philosophy. The Sadducees appear as the sup-
porters of human freedom in its widest scope; the
Pharisees ot i religious Stoicism. At a later time
the cycle of doctrine was completed, wben by a
natural reaction the Essence established a mystic
Asceticism. The characteristics of these seats are
noticed elsewhere. It is enough now to point out
the position which they occupy in the history of
Judaism (comp. Jntrod. to Gospels, pp. tfO-66).
At a later period the Fourth Book of Macca-
bees (q. v.) is a very interesting example of Jew-
ish moral (Stoic) teaching.
The conception of wisdom which appears in the
Book of Proverbs wss elaborated with greater detail
afterwards [Wisdom of Solomon], both in Pal-
estine [Kcclesiasticus] and in Egypt; but the
doctrine of the Word is of greater speculative in-
terest. Both doctrines, indeed, sprang from the
same cause, and indicate the desire to find some
mediating power between God and the world, and
to remove tbe direct appearanoe and action of God
from a material sphere. The personification of
Wisdom represents only a secondary power in rela-
tion to God ; the I-ogos, in the double sense of
Reason (Xoyor IritABtros) and Word (\6yoi *f»-
popuUs), both in relation to God and in relation
to the universe. The first use of the term Word
[Memra), based upon the common formula of the
prophets, is 'n the Targum of Onkelos (first cent.
». o.\ in which " the Word of God " is commonly
l»bstltoted lor God in his immediate, personal
^sttkas with man (Introd. to Gospels, p. 187);
PHILOSOPHY
2606
ap4 it is probable that round this tradiJonil ren-
dering a fuller doctrine grew up. But there is a
clear difference between the idea of the Word then
prevalent in Palestine and that current at Alex-
andria. In Palestine the Word appears as the
outward mediator between God and man, like the
Angel of the Covenant; at Alexandria it appears
as the spiritual connection which opens the way to
revelation. The preface to St. John's Gospel in-
cludes the element of truth in both. In the Greek
apocryphal books there is no mention of the Word
(yet comp. Wisd. xviii. 15). For the Alexandrine
teaching it is necessary to look alone to Philo (cir.
b. c 20 — A. D. 50); and the ambiguity in tbe
meaning of the Greek term, which has been already
noticed, produces the greatest confusion in his
treatment of the subject. In Philo language dom-
ineers over thought He has no one clear and
consistent view of the Logos. At times he assigns
to it divine attributes and personal action; and
then again he affirms decidedly the absolute indi-
visibility of the divine nature. The tendency of
his teaching is to lead to tbe conception of a two-
fold personality in the Godhead, though he shrinks
from the recognition of such a doctrine (De Mon-
arch. § 6: De Somn. { 37; Quod. det. pot. ins. $
24; De Somn. § 89, Ac.). Above all, his idea of
the Logos was wholly disconnected from all Messi-
anic hopes, and was rather the philosophic sub-
stitute for them. (Jntrod. to Gospels, pp. 138-141;
DKhne, J id.- Alex. RtUg.-Philos. 1834; Gfrorer,
Philo, etc. 1835: Doner, Die Lehre «. of. Person
ChrisH, i. 33 «".. Liicke, Comm. i. 207 [272, 3«
Aufl.], who gives an account of the earlier litera-
ture.) [Word, The. Amer. ed.]
* On Philo's idea of the Logos see also Kefer-
stein, Philo't Lehre ton dem gStlL Mittehotsen,
Leipz. 1846; Niedner, De Subsistenlia re? Self
\6ytfi aptul Philtmem Judomm el Joannem Apost.
tribute, in his Zeitschr f. d. hut. TheoL, 1849,
Heft 3; Norton's Statement of Reasons, etc., 3d
ed. (Boat 1856), pp. 807-349; Jowett, St. Paul ana
Philo, in his Epistles of St. Paul, etc 3d ed.,
Lond. 1859, i. 448 ff.; Zeller, Pkilos. der Griechtn,
Bd. iii. Abth. 2. A.
n. The Patristic Recognition or the Pro-
pedeutic Office of Greek Philobofiit.
Tbe divine discipline of the Jews was, as has
been seen, in nature essentially moral. The lessons
which it was designed to teach were embodied in
the family and the nation. Yet this was not in -
itself a complete discipline of our nature. The
reason, no less than the will and the affections, had
an office to discharge in preparing man for tbe
Incarnation. The process and the issue in the two
es were widely different, but they were in some
sense complementary. F.ven in time this relation
holds good. The divine kingdom of the Jews was
just overthrown when free speculation arose in the
Ionian colonies of Asia. The teaching of the last
prophet nearly synchronized with the death of
Socrates. All other differences between the disci
pline of reason and that of revelation are implicitly
included in their fundamental difference of method.
In tbe one, man boldly aspired at onoe to God, in
the other, God disclosed Himself gradually to man
Philosophy failed ss a religious teacher practically
(Rom. i. 21. 22), but it bore noble witness to an
inward law vRom. ii. 14, 16). It laid open in-
stinctive wants which it could not satisfy. It
cleared away error, when it oould not found troth.
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PHILOSOPHY
It swayed the foremost minds of * nation, when it
left the man without hope. In its purest end
grandest forms it was "a schoolmaster to bring
men to Christ" (Clem. Alex. Strom. 1. { 48).
This function of ancient philosophy is distinctly
recognized by many of the greatest of the fathers.
The principle which is involved iu the doctrine of
Justin Martyr on "the Seminal Word" finds a
clear and systematic expression in Clement of Alex-
andria. (Cooip. Redepenning, Origntt, i. 437-
489.) "Every race of men participated in the
Word. And they who Ihred with the Word were
Christiana, even if they were held to be godless
(Uml, as for example, among the Greeks, Socrates
and Hmelitus, and those like them " (Just. Hart.
Ap. i. 4B; eomp. Ap. i. 5, 28; and ii. 10, 13).
" Philosophy," ssys Clement, " before the coming
ef the Lord, was necessary to Greeks for righteous-
tress; and now it proves useful for godliness, being
in some sort a preliminary discipline (woorutcia
rif aitra) for those who reap the fruits of the faith
through demonstration Perhaps we
■nay say that it was given to the Greeks with this
special object (-rfxnryovfiJrms), for it brought
(rrouoaysVyfi) the Greek nation to Christ, as the
Law brought the Hebrews" (Clem. Alex. Strom.
i. 6, § 38; eomp. 9, $ 43, and 18, $ 80). In this
sense be does not scruple to say that " Philosophy
was given as a peculiar testament (8iorM|Kwr) to
the Greeks, as forming the basis of the Christian
philiaopby'' {Strom, vi. 8, § 67; eomp. 5, $ 41).
Origen, himself a pupil of Amroonius Saccas, speaks
with leas precision ss to the educational power of
philosophy, hut his whole works bear witness to iu
influence. The truths which philosophers taught,
he says, referring to the words of St. Paul, were
from God, for " God manifested these to them, and
all things that have been nobly said " (e. Ctls. vi,
3; Pkituc. p. IS). Augustine, while depreciating
the chums of the great Gentile teachers, allows that
" some of them made great discoveries, so far
th »y received help from Heaven, while they erred
as far as they were hindered by human frailty "
(Aug. Dt CSr. ii. 7; eomp. Dt Doetr. Ckr. ii. 18).
They had, as he elsewhere says, a distant vision
of the truth, and learnt from the teaching of nature
what prophets learnt from the Spirit (Serai, lxviii.
3, cxI. etc).
But while many thus recognised hi philosophy
the free witness of the Word speaking among men,
the same writers in other places sought to explain
the partial harmony of philosophy and revelation
by an original connection of the two. This at-
tempt, which in the light of a clearer criticism is
seen to be essentislly fruitless and even suicidal,
was at least more plausible in the first centuries.
A multitude of writings were then current bearing
the names of the Sibyl or Hyataspes, which were
obviously baaed on the 0. T. Scriptures, and as
long as they were received as genuine it was im-
possible to doubt that Jewish doctrines were spread
in the West before the rise of philosophy. And on
the other band, when the Fathers ridicule with the
bitterest acorn the contradictions and errors of
philosophers, it must be remembered that they
■poke often fresh from a conflict with degenerate
pro fe s s or s of systems which had long lost all real
JJe. Some, indeed, there were, chiefly among the
u»*ins, who consistently inveighed against phi
Vwphy. But even 1 frtullian, who is among its
Vreest adversaries, allows that at times the phi-
oacphars hi* upon truth by a happy chance or
PHILOSOPHY
blind good fortune, and yet men by that <
feeling with which God was pleased to endow the)
soul " (Tert. Dt An. e. 3). The use which waa
made of heathen speculation by heretical writers
waa one great cause of its disparagement by their
catholic antagonists. Irenjeua endeavors to reduce
the Gnostic teachers to a dilemma: either the
philosophers with whom they argued knew the
truth or they did not; if they did, the Incarna-
tion was superfluous; if they did not, whence
comes the agreement of the true and the falae?
(Ado. Har. ii. 14, 7). Hippolytua follow* out
the connection of different sects with earlier teach-
ers in ctaborate detail. Tertulhan, with charac-
teristic energy, declares that " Philosophy fur-
nishes the arms and the subject* of heresy. What
(he asks) has Athens iu common with Jerusalem ?
the Academy with the Church ? heretics with
Christians? Our training is from the Porch of
Solomon. ... Let those look to it who
bring forward a Stoic, a Platonic, a dialectic Chris-
tianity. We have no need of curious inquiries
after the coming of Christ Jesus, nor of investi-
gation after the Gospel " (Tert. Dt Prmer. Boer.
c.7).
This variety of judgment in the heat of eontro
versy wss inevitable. The hill importance of the
history of ancient philosophy was then first seen
when all rivalry was over, and it became possible
to contemplate it as a whole, animated by a great
law, often trembling on the verge of Truth, and
sometimes by a " bold venture " churning the heri-
tage of faith. Yet even now the relations of the
" two old covenants " — Philosophy and the He-
brew Scriptures — to use the language of Clement
— have been traced only imperfectly. What has
been done may encourage labor, but it does not
supersede it. In the porticoes of eastern churches
Pythagoras and Plato are pictured among those
who prepared the way for Christianity (Stanley,
p. 41); but in the West, Sibyls and not philosophers
are the chosen repre s en tatives of the divine element
in Gentile teaching.
ITI. Thr Dkveum-mrxt or Greek Piiilo*-
OFHT.
The complete fitness of Greek philosophy to per-
form this propaedeutic office for Christianity, as an
exhaustive effort of reason to solve the great prob-
lems of ldng, must be apparent after a detailed
study of its progre ss and consummation ; and even
the simplest outline of its history cannot fail to
preserve the leading traits of the natural (or even
necessary) law by which its development was gov-
erned.
The various attempts which have been made
to derive western philosophy from eastern so ur ce s
have signally railed. The external evidence in fa-
vor of this opinion is wholly insufficient to establish
it (Kitter, Uaek.d. Piil 1. 159, Ac; Thirlwau,
Hiit. of Cr. ii. 130: ZeDer, Ge$ck. d. PhU. d.
Gr.eckem, 1. 18-34: Max MUJIer, On Lamgwtgt,
84 anfe), and on internal grounds K is most im-
probable. It is true that in some degree the char-
acter of Greek speculation may have been influenced,
at least in its earliest stages, by religious ideas
which were originally introduced from the East ,
but this indirect influence doss not affect the rev
originalityofthegreat Greek teachers. The spirit of
prow philosophy is (as has been already seen) wholly
alien from eastern thought; and it was compara-
tively lata whan even a Greek ventured to ■
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PHILOSOPHY
ahisssopay from religion. But it Grace the separa- J
Hon, when it na oiice effected, remained essentially I
complete. The opinions of the ancient philosopher!
might or might not be outwardly reconcilable
with the popular faith ; but philosophy and faith
wen independent. The rery value of Greek
teaching lies in he fact that it was, aa far aa ia
possible, a result of aim pie reason, or, if faith aaaerta
it* prerogative, the distinction ia aharply marked,
in thia we have a record of the power and weakneat
of the human mind written at once on the grandest
aeale and in the fairest characters.
Of the various classifications of the Greek schools
i have been proposed, the simplest and truest
i to be that which divides the history of phil-
osophy into three great periods, the first reaching
to the era of the Sophists, the next to the death of
Aristotle, the third to the Christian era. In the
first period the world objectively is the great centre
of inquiry; in the second, the "ideas' of things,
truth, and being; in the third, the chief interest of
philosophy tills back upon the practical conduct of
life. Successive systems overlap each other, both
in time and subject* of speculation, but broadly
the sequence which has been indicated will hold
good (ZeUer, Die Phikeophie der Griechtn, i.
Ill, Ac.). After the Christian era philosophy
ceased to have any true vitality in Greece, but it
made fresh efforts to meet the changed conditions
of life at Alexandria and Home. At Alexandria
Platonism was vivified by the spirit of oriental
mysticism, and afterwards of Christianity; at
Rome Stoicism was united with the vigorous vir-
tues of active life. Each of these great divisions
must be passed in rapid review.
1. The pr»-8oeratic Betook. — The first Greek
philosophy was little more than an attempt to fol-
low out in thought the mythic cosmogonies of
earlier posts. Gradually the depth and variety of
the problems included in the idea of a cosmogony
became apparent, and, after each clew had been
sallowed out, the period ended in the negative
leashing of the Sophists. The questions of crea-
tion, of the immediate relation of mind and matter,
were pronounced in fact, if not in word, insoluble,
and speculation was turned into a new direction.
What is the one permanent element which un-
■liea the changing forms of tbings? this was
toe primary inquiry to which the fnrne school en-
deavored to find an answer. Thaler (cir. B. c.
610-030), following, as it seems, the genealogy of
Hesiod, pointed to moisture (water) as the one
source and supporter of life. Anaximenes (cir.
B. o. 530-480) substituted air for water, as the more
subtle and all-pervading element; but equally with
Thales he neglected all consideration of the force
which might be supposed to modify the one primal
substance. At a much later date (cir. B. c. 450)
DiuOKWza of Apollonia, to meet this difficulty,
represented this elementary "air" as endowed
with intelligence (i/oS)o~u), but even he makes no
distinction between the material and the intelligent.
The atomio theory of Democritus (cir. B. C.
160-367), which stands in close connection with
this form of Ionic teaching, offered another and
more plausible solution. The motion of his atoms
included the action of 'brce, but he wholly omitted
to account for it* source. Meanwhile another
■ode af speculation hid arisen in the »mr school.
b place of one definite element AM.txttt.tNDBR
'a c. 610-M7) suggested the unlimited (re •*«-
«r) as the adequate origin of all special exiaten-
PHILOSOPHT
2607
eea. And somewhat mora than ■ oautury later
Axaxagora* summed up the result of such a
line of speculation : " All things were together;
then mind (rovi) came and disposed them is
order " (Uiog. Laert. ii. 6). Thus we are left face
to face with an ultimate dualism.
The Eleatic school started from an opposite point
of view. Thales saw moisture present in material
things, and pronounced this to be their funda-
mental principle: Xkkophahes (cir. b. c. 630-
50) " looked up to the whole heaven and said that
the One ia God " (Ariat. Met. i. 5, re *> «W fym
rhv 6t6v). " Thales saw gods in all things: Xea-
ophanes saw all things in God " (Thirlwall, Hitt.
of Gr. ii. 186). That which it, according to Xen-
ophanes, must be one, eternal, infinite, immovable,
unchangeable. Parhbxidks of Elea (B. o 600)
substituted abstract " being " for " God " in the
system of Xenophanes, and distinguished with pre-
cision the functions of sense and reason. Senas
teaches us of "the many," the false (phenomena);
Reason of "the one," the true (the absolute).
Zeno af Elea (cir. B. c. 450) developed with log-
ical ingenuity the contradictions involved in our
perceptions of things (in the idea of mutum. for
instance), and thus formally prepared the way for
skepticism. If the one alone ia, the phenomenal
world is an illusion. The sublime aspiration of
Xenophanes, when followed out legitimately to it*
consequences, ended in blank negation.
The teaching of Hebacutus (b. c. 500) offers
a complete contrast to that of the Eleatiss, and
stands far in advance of the earlier Ionic school,
with which he is historically connected. So far
from contrasting the existent and the phenomenal,
he boldly identified being with change. " There
ever was, and is, and shall be, an ever-living fire,
unceasingly kindled and extinguished in due meas-
ure" (oa-rif/ufvor pJrpa ko! bwocPwrifitror
ptrpa, Clem. Alex. Slrvm. v. 14, § 105). Rest
and continuance is death. That which is is the in-
stantaneous bafamee of contending powers (Diog.
Laert. ix. 7, 3<a Tt?j ^rajriorpoirfir fipfi6tr$cu re
trra). Creation is the pUrg of the Creator.
Everywhere, as far as his opinions can be grasped,
Heraclitus makes noble " guesses at truth ; " yet he
leaves "fate" (tifiapfiirri) aa the supreme creator
(Stob. EcL i. p. 69, ap. Ritter A Prefer, § 42).
The cycle* of life and death run on by its law. It
may have been by a natural reaction that from
these wider speculations he turned his thoughts in-
wards. " I investigated myself," be says, with
conscious pride (Plut. adv. Col. 1118, c); and in
this respect he foreshadows the teaching of Socrates,
as Zeno did that of the Sophist*.
The philosophy of Pythagoras (eir. B. a 8W~
510) is subordinate in interest to hi* social and
political theories, though it supplies a link in the
course of speculation ; others had labored to trace
a unity in the world in the presence of one under
lying element or in the idea of a whole; he sought
to combine the separate harmony of parts with total
unity. Numerical unity includes the finite and
the infinite; and in the relations of number there
is a perfect symmetry, aa all spring out of the fun-
damental unit. Thus numbers seemed to Pythag-
oras to be not only " patterns " of things (-rib
SWatr). but causes of their being (rijj ovo-lat).
How he connected numbers with concrete being
it is impossible to determine; but It may not U
wholly faudful to see in the doctrine of transmi-
gration of souls an attempt to trace intneanMto
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2508
PHILOSOPHY
live forms of fife an outward expression of a her-
moolom law in the moral u well u in the physical
world. (The remains of the pre-Socratic philoso-
phers have been collected in a very convenient form
by F. Mullach in Didota Bibtiuth. Gr., Paris,
1860.)
The first cycle of philosophy was thus completed.
All the great primary problems of thought had
been stated, and typical answers rendered. The
relation of spirit and matter was still unsolved.
Speculation issued in dualism (Anaxagoras), ma-
terialism (Democritus), or pantheism (Xenophanes).
On one side reason was made the sole criterion of
truth (l'annenides): on the other, experience
(Heraclitus). As yet there was no rest, and the
Sophists prepared the way for a new method.
Whatever may be the moral estimate which is
formed of the Sophists, there can be little doubt
as to the importance of their teaching as prepara-
tory to that of Socrates. All attempts to arrive
at certainty by a study of the world had foiled :
might it not seem, then, that truth is subjective?
" Man is the measure of all things." Sensations
are modified by the individual; and may not this
hold good universally V The conclusion was ap-
plied to morals and politics with fearless skill. The
belief in absolute truth and right was well-nigh
banished ; but meanwhile the Sophists were perfect-
ing the instrument which was to be turned against
them. Ijmguage, in their hands, acquired a pre-
cision unknown before, when words assumed the
place of things. Plato might ridicule the pedantry
of Protagoras, but Socrates reaped a rich harvest
from it.
3. The Soci-atic Schools. — In the second period
of Greek philosophy the scene and subject were
both changed. Athens became the centre of spec-
ulations which had hitherto chiefly found a home
among the more mixed populations of the colonies.
And at the same time inquiry was turned from
the outward world to the inward, from theories of
the origin and relation of things to theories of our
knowledge of them. A philosophy of ideas, using
the term in its widest sense, succeeded a philosophy
of nature. In three generations Greek speculation
reached its greatest glory in the teaching of Soc-
rates, Plato, and Aristotle. When the sovereignty
of Greece ceased, ail higher philosophy ceased with
it. In the hopeless turmoil of civil disturbances
which followed, men's thoughts were chiefly di-
rected to questions of personal duty.
The famous sentence in which Aristotle (Met.
M. 4) characterizes the teaching of Socrates (b.
n. 468-399) places his scientific position in the
dearest light. There are two things, be says,
which we may rightly attribute to Socrates, induc-
tive reasoning, and general definition (roe* tVsxuc-
ruroiij \6yov s »cal to 6plCf<r9at «a$6kov)- By the
first be endeavored to discover the permanent
element which underlies the changing forms of
appearances and the varieties of opinion ; by the
second he fixed the truth which he had thus gained.
But, besides this, Socrates rendered another service
to truth. He changed not only the method bnt
also the subject of philosophy (Cic. Acad. Poll.
. 4). Ethics occupied in his investigations the
primary place which had hitherto been held by
Physics. The great aim of his induction was to
establish the sovereignty of Virtue; and before
altering on other speculations he determined to
:bey the Delphian maxim and "know himself"
'.Put Pkadr. 299). It was a necessary consequence
PHILOSOPHY
of a first effort in this direction that
regarded all the results which he derived as Mke ix
kind. Knowledge (AnarTJ/tn) was eq- ally abso-
lute and authoritative, whether it referred to the
laws of intellectual operations or to questions of
morality. A conclusion in geometry and a conda-
sion on conduct were set forth as true in the same
sense. Thus vice was only another name for igno-
rance (Xen. Mem. iii. 9, 4; ArisU Elk. End. I. 5).
Every one was supposed to have within him a faculty
absolutely leading to right action, just as the mind
necessarily decides rightly as to relations of spaee
and number, when each step in the proposition is
clearly stated. Socrates practically neglected the
determinative power of the will. His great glory
was, however, clearly connected with this funda-
mental error In his system. He affirmed the ex-
istence of a universal law of right and wrong. He
connected philosophy with action, both in detail
and in general. On the one side he upheld the
supremacy of Conscience, on the other the working
of Providence. Not the least fruitful characteristic
of his teaching was what may I e called its desulto-
riness. He formed no complete sj stem. He wrote
nothing. He attracted end impressed bis readers
by his many-aided nature. He helped others U>
give birth to thoughts, to use his favorite image,
but be was barren himself (Plat Theat. p. ISO).
As a result of this, the moat conflicting opinions
were maintained by some of his professed followers,
who carried out isolated fragments of his teaching
to extreme conclusions. Some adopted bis method
(Euclides, cir. b. c 400, the Megnriavi); others
his subject. Of the latter, one section, following
out his proposition of the identity of self-command
(fytpdVeia) with virtue, professed an utter disre-
gard rf everything material (Antisthenes, cir. B.
c. 366, the Cgma), while the other (Aristippua,
cir. B. c. 366, the Cyrennict), inverting the maxbx
that virtue is necessarily accompanied by pleasure,
took immediate pleasure as toe rule of action.
These " minor Socratic schools " were, however,
premature and imperfect developments. The truths
which they distorted were embodied at a later time
in more reasonable forms. Plato alone (b, c
430-347), by the breadth and nobleness of his
teaching, was the true successor of Socrates; with
fuller detail and greater elaborateness of parts, his
philosophy was as manyaided as that of his master.
Thus it is impossible to construct a consistent PJa-
tonio system, though many Platonic doctrines are
sufficiently marked. Plato, indeed, possessed two
commanding powers, which, though apparently in-
compatible, are in the highest sense complementary :
a matchless destructive dialectic, and a creative
imagination. By the first he refuted the great
fallacies of the Sophists on the uncertainty of
knowledge and right, carrying out in this the
attacks of Socrates; by the other he endeavored to
bridge over the interval between appearance and
reality, and gain an approach to the eternal. His
famous doctrines of ideas and recollection (sWoV
prno-it) are a solution by imagination of a logical
difficulty. Socrates had shown the existence <*'
general notions: Plato felt constrained to attribute
to them a substantive existence (Arist. Met. M.
4). A glorious vision gave completeness to his
view. The nnembodied spirits were exhibited in
Immediate presence of the •'Ideas" of things
(Phadr. p. 347); the law of their embodiment
was sensibly por tr ayed; and the more or less vivid
remembranoe of supramundanr realities in this HsV
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHILOSOPHY
m tawed to antecedent facts. All men vera Una
■opposed to have been face to face with Truth:
the object of teaching mi to bring back impres-
sions latent but nneffiued.
The "myths" of Plato, to one of the most
famous of which reference hai just been made,
play a moat important part in his system. They
anawer in the philosopher to faith in the Christian.
In dealing with immortality and judgment he
leaves the way of reason, and ventures, as he says,
on a rude raft to brave the dangers of the ocean
(Phad. 85 D; Gory. 523 A). "The peril and
the prise are noble and the hope is great " (Phad.
114, C, D). Such tales, he admits, may seem
puerile and ridiculous; and if there were other
surer and clearer means of gaining the desired end,
the judgment would be just (Gory. 527 A). But,
as it is, thus only can he connect the seen and the
un see n . The myths, then, mark the limit of his
dialectics. They are not merely a poetical picture
of truth already gained, or a popular illustration
of his teaching, but real effort* to penetrate beyond
the depths of argument. They show that bis
method was not commensurate with his instinctive
desires; and point out in intelligible outlines the
(objects on which man looks for revelation. Such
are the relations of the human mind to truth
(Phadr. pp. 940-249); the preexistence and im-
mortality of the soul {if em, pp. 81-83: Phmdr.
pp. 110-119; Tim. p. 41); the state of future retri-
bution (Gorg. pp. 523-525 ; Rep. x. 614-616);
the revolutions of the world {PoUt. p. 269. Com-
pare also Sympoe, pp. 189-191, 903-205; Zeller,
Phikm. d. Oriech. pp. 361-363, who gives the
literature of the subject).
The great difference between Plato and Ahu-
totle (B. o. 384-322) lies in the use which Plato
thus made of imagination as the exponent of in-
stinct. The dialectic of Plato is not inferior to
that of Aristotle, and Aristotle exhibits traces of
poetic power not unworthy of Plato; but Aristotle
never allows imagination to influence his final
decision. He elaborated a perfect method, and he
used it with perfect fairness. His writings, if any,
contain the highest utterance of pure reason. Look-
ing back on ail the earlier efforts of philosophy, he
pronounced a calm and final judgment. Kor him
many of the conclusions which others had main-
tained were valueless, because he showed that they
rested on feeling, and not on argument. This
stern severity of logic gives an indescribable pathos
to those passages in which he touches on the high-
est hopes of men ; and perhaps there is no more
jruly affecting chapter in ancient literature than
that in which he states in a few unimpsssioned
■entencee the issue of his Inquiry into the immor-
tality of the soul. Part of it may be immortal,
ut that part is impersonal (De An. Hi. 5). This
wm the sentence of reason, and he gives expres-
sion to it without a word of protest, and yet as
one who knew the extent of the sacrifice which
ft involved. The conclusion is, as it were, the
epitaph of free speculation. Laws of observation
sod argument, rules of action, principles of gov-
ernment remain, but there is no hope beyond the
grave.
It follows necessarily that the Platonic doctrine
sf ideas was emphatically rejected by Aristotle,
who gave, however, the final development to the
■riginal conception of Socrates. With Socrates
• Ideas" (general definitions) were mere abstrao-
ians; with Plato they had an absolute existence;
PHILOSOPHY
2509
with Aristotle they had no existence separata frost
tilings in which they were realized, though the
form (uopavfi), which answers to the Platonic idea,
was held to be the essence of the thing itself (oomp.
Zeller, Philos. d. Griech. i. 119, 120).
There is one feature oommon in essence to the
systems of Plato and Aristotle which has not yet
been noticed. In both, Ethics is a part of Politics.
The citizen is prior to the man. Iu Plato this
doctrine finds its most extravagant development in
theory, though his life, and, in some places, his
teaching, were directly opposed to it (e. g. Gory.
p. 527 L>). This practical inconsequence was due,
it may be supposed, to the condition of Athens at
the time, for the idea was in oomplete harmony
with the national feeling; and, in fact, the absolute
subordination of the individual to the body includes
one of the chief lessons of the ancient world. In
Aristotle the " political " character of man is
defined with greater precision, and brought within
narrower limits. The breaking-up of the small
Greek states had prepared the way for more com-
prehensive views of human fellowship, without de-
stroying the fundamental truth of the necessity of
social union for perfect life. But in the next gen-
eration this was lost. The wars of the Succession
obliterated the idea of society, and philosophy was
content with aiming at individual happiness.
The coming change was indicated by the rise of
a school of skeptics. The skepticism of the Sophists
marked the close of the first period, and in like
manner the skepticism of the Pyrrhonists marks
the close of the second (Stilfo, cir. a. c. 990;
Ptkbhon, cir. b. c. 990). But the l*yrrboniats
rendered no positive service to the cause of phi-
losophy, as the Sophists did by the refinement of
language. Their immediate influence was limited
in its range, and it is only as a symptom that the
rise of the school is important But in this respect
it foreshows the character of after-philosophy by
denying the foundation of all higher speculations.
Thus all interest was turned to questions of prac-
tical morality. Hitherto morality had been based
as a science upon mental analysis, but by the
Pyrrhonists it wss made subservient to law and
custom. Immediate experience was held to be the
rule of life (oomp. Hitter and PreUer, § 350).
3. The potLSocratic SchooU. — After Aristotle,
philosophy, ss has been already notioed, took a new
direction. The Socratio schools were, as has been
shown, connected by a common pursuit of the
permanent element which underlies phenomena-
Socrates placed Virtue, truth in action, in a knowl-
edge of the ideas of things. Plato went further,
and maintained that these ideas are alone truly
existent. Aristotle, though differing in terms, yet
only followed in the same direction, when he at-
tributed to Form, not an independent existenee,
but a fashioning, vivifying power in all individual
objects. But from this point speculation took a
mainly personal direction. Philosophy, in the
strict sense of the word, ceased to exist. TTiis wss
due both to the circumstances of the time and to
the exhaustion consequent on the failure of the
Socratio method to solve the deep mysteries of
being. Aristotle had, indeed, laid the wide founda-
tions of an inductive system of physics, but few
were inclined to continue his work. The physical
theories which were brought forward were merely
adaf tations from earlier philosophers.
In dealing with moral questions two opposite
systems are possible, sod have found advocates m
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.2510
PHILOSOPHY
ill ages. On the one side it may be said tint
the character of actiont is to be judged by their
results; on the other, that it ia to be sought only
in the action* themselves. Pleasure U the test
of right in one case; an assumed, or discovered,
law of our nature in the other. If the world were
perfect and the balance of human faculties undis-
turbed, it is evident that both systems would give
identical result*. As it is, there is a tendency
to error on each aide, which is clearly seen in the
rival schools of the Epicureans and Stoics, who
practically divided the suffrages of the mass of
educated men in the centuries before and after the
Christian era.
Epicurus (b. c. 852-270) defined the object of
philosophy to be the attainment of a happy life.
The pursuit of truth for its own sake he regarded
as superfluous. He rejected dialectics as a useless
study, and accepted the senses, in the widest ac-
ceptation of the term [Epicureans, i. 670], as
the criterion of truth. Physics he subordinated
entirely to ethics (Cic it Fin. i. 7). But he
differed widely from the Cyrenaics in his view of
happiness. The happiness at which the wise man
aims is to be found, he said, not in momentary
gratification, but in lifelong pleasure. It does not
consist necessarily in excitement or motion, but
often in absolute tranquillity (arcuxt{fa). " The
wise man is happy even on the rack " (Diog. Laert
z. 118), for " virtue alone ia inseparable from
pleasure " (id. 138). To lire happily and to
five wisely, nobly, and justly, are convertible
phrases (id. 140). Bat it followed as a corollary
from his view of happiness, that the Gods, who
were assumed to be supremely happy and eternal,
were absolutely free from the distractions and emo-
tions consequent on any care for the world or man
(ttt 189; comp. l.ucr. ii. 646-847,). AU things
were supposed to come into being by chance, and
so pass away; and the study of Nature was chiefly
useful as dispelling the superstitious fears of the
Gods and death by which the multitude are tor-
mented. It ia obvious how such teaching would
degenerate in practice. The individual was left
master of his own life, free from all regard to any
igher law than a refined selfishness.
While Epicurus asserted in this manner the
..aims of one part of man's nature in the conduct
if life, Zero of Citium (cir. b. c. 380), with equal
partiality, advocated a purely spiritual (intellectual)
morality. The opposition between the two was
complete. The infinite, cbance-fonned worlds of
the one stand over against the one harmonious
world of the other. On the one side are Gods
regardless of material things, on the other a Being
xrmeating and vivifying all creation. This differ-
mee necessarily found its chief expression in ethics,
.'or when the Stoics taught that there were only
two principles of things, Matter (to rdirxor), and
God, Fate, Reason — for the names were many by
which it was fashioned and quickened (to woiovv)
— it followed that the active principle in man is
rf Divine origin, and that his duty is to live con-
formably to nature (to 6/MoKoyov^nts [vf tpi<rtt]
(%*). By •' Nature " some understood the nature
if man, others the nature of the universe; but both
agreed in regarding it as a general law of the whole,
and not particular passions or impulses. Good,
is but one. All external things were
» This statement, which is true generally, is open to
The Buttons hymn of Qlsanshas Is
PHILOSOPHY
Indifferent. Reason was the absolute sn t sjua g si at
man. Thus the doctrine of the Stoics, Uba that
of Epicurus, practically left man to himself. But
it was worse in its final results than Epicurism, for
it made him his own god."
In one point the Epicureans and Stoics were
agreed. They both regarded the happiness and
culture of the individual as the highest good. Both
systems belonged to a period of corruption and
decay. They were the efforts of the man to sup-
port himself in the ruin of the state. Put at the
same time this assertion of individual independence
and breaking down of focal connections performed
an important work in preparation for Christianity.
It was for the Gentile world an influence ear-
responding to the Dispersion for the Jews. Men,
as men, owned their fellowship as they had not dona
before. Isolating superstitions were shattered by
the argument* of the Epicureans. The unity of the
human conscience was vigorously affirmed by tha
Stoics (comp. Antommu, ir. 4, 33, with Gatakar'a
notes).
Meanwhile in the New Academy Platonism degen-
erated into skepticism. Epicurus found an authori-
tative rule in the senses. The Stoics took refuge
in what seems to answer to the modern doctrine
of "common sense," and maintained that the
senses give a direct knowledge of the object. Cak-
neadeb (B. c. 213-129) combated these views,
and showed that sensation cannot be proved to de-
clare the real nature, but only some of the effects,
of things. Thus the slight philosophical basis of
the later school* was undermined. Skepticism
remained as the last issue of speculation ; and, if
we may believe the declaration of Seneca ( (fstiasl
Nat. vii. 32), skepticism itself soon ceased to be
taught as a system. The great teachers had sought
rest, and in the end they found unrest. No sootc*
of life could be established. The reason of the few
failed to create an esoteric rule of virtue and hap-
piness. For in this they all agreed, that the bless-
ings of philosophy were not for the mass. A
" Gospel preached to the poor " waa at yet un-
known.
But though the Greek philosophers fell short of
their highest aim, it needs no words to show the
work which they did as pioneers of a universal
Church. They revealed the wants and the instincts
of men with a clearness and rigor elsewhere unat-
tainable, for their eight was dazzled by no reflec-
tions from a purer faith. Step by step great
questions were proposed — Fate, Providence — Con
science, Law — the State, the Man — and answers
were given, which are the more instructive because
tbey are generally one-sided. The discussion*,
which were primarily restricted to a few, in time
influenced the opinions of the many. The preacher
who spoke of " an unknown God " had an audience
who could understand him, not at Athena only or
Rome, but throughout the civilized world.
The complete course of philosophy was run be-
fore the Christian era, but there were yet two mixed
systems afterwards which offered some novel features.
At Alexandria Platonism was united with various
elements of eastern speculation, and for several
centuries exercised an important influence on
Christian doctrine. At Rome Stoicism waa vivified
by the spirit of the old republic, and exhibited tha
extreme western type of philosophy. Of the tret
one of the noblest exs r iss f ona of bettaf
Power (HuUanh, Fngm. Ptulet. p. 16U
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PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY
2511
■ruling on be aid ban. It aim only
Christianity wu a recognised spiritual power, and
w influenced both positively and negative!; by
the Ooapei. The bum remark applies to the effort*
to quicken afresh the forma of Paganism, which
found their climax in the reign of Julian. These
nave no independent ralue as an expression of
anginal thought; but the Roman Stoicism calls for
brief notice from its supposed connection with
Christian morality (Sksiga, t A. d. 85; Epio-
TCToa, t air. A. u. 116; M. Auhkliub Antoninus,
181-180). The belief in this connection found a
singular expression in the apocryphal correspond-
enje of St. Paul and Seneca, whioh wu widely
rereired in the early Church (Jerome, Dt Vir. UL
xii.). And lately a distinguished writer (Mill, On
Libert*/, p. 58, quoted by Stanley, Eastern Ch.
ljsss. VI., apparently with approbation) has specu-
lated on the " tragical fact " that Constantino, and
not Marcus Aurelius, was the first Christian em-
peror. The superficial coincidences of Stoicism
with the N. T. are certainly numerous. Coinci-
dences of thought, and even of language, might
easily be multiplied (Gataker, Antoninus, Pnef. pp.
xi. etc.), and in considering these it is impossible
not to remember that Semitic thought and phrase-
ology must have exercised great influence on Stoic
teaching (Grant, Oxford Euayt, 1858, p. 88).o
Hut beneath this external resemblance of Stoicism
to Christianity, the later Stoics were fundament-
ally opposed to it. For good and for evil they
were the Pharisees of the Gentile world. Their
highest aspirations are mixed with the thanksgiv-
ing " that they were not as other men are " (conip.
Anton, i.). Their worship was a sublime egotism. '
The conduct of lift wu regarded u an art, guided
in individual actions by a conscious reference to
reason (Anton, iv. 3, 3, v. 89), and not a sponta-
neous process rising naturally out of one vital prin-
ciple.' The wise man, "wrapt in himself" (vii.
28), was suppos e d to look with perfect indifference
on the changes of time (iv. 49); and yet beneath
this show of independence he was a prey to a hope-
less sadness. In words he appealed to the great
law of fate which rapidly sweeps all things into
oblivion as a source of consolation (iv. 9, 14, vi. 16) ;
hut there is no confidence in any future retribution.
In a certain sense the elemn.ta of which we are
composed are eternal (v. 13), for they are incorpo-
rated in other puts of the univei •*, but aw shall
cease to exist (iv. 14, 21, vi. 24, vii. 10). Not
only it there no recognition of communion between
an immortal man and a personal God, but the
idea is excluded. Man is but an atom in a rut
universe, and his actions and sufferings are meas-
ured solely by their relation to the whole (Anton.
I. 6, 6, 20, xii. 26, vi. 46, v. 22, vii. »). God is
a uttlum, the birthplace of Zeno, wu a Phoenician
jolaav ; Harlllus, his pupil, wu a Carthaginian ;
Chryslppus wu born at Soil or Tarsus ; of his schol-
ars and sucoessois, Zeno and Antipater were natives of
Tarsu, and Diogenes of Babylonia. In the next
generation, Posidonius wu a native of Apamea in
Syria ; and Kpictetus, the noblest of Stoles, wu born
at Hierapoha In Phrygia.
t> Seneca, Ep. 68, 11 :« Bat allquld quo sapiens
eatseodat Dawn; Ule beoefleio natural Don timet, soo
■ j a m s," Comp. Bp. 41. Anton, xil. 28, i tnirrov
M*v tee* «ol j« if** fcrtppvipcf . Oomp. v. 10.
' This explains the well-known reference of Marcus
tanhus to the Ohrlenans. They wen ready to die
of BSBS oosohasoy " (ear* *tA))r eaaaraftr. i- :
out another ■lann for « the mind of the universe ••
(• rev (Xew revs, v. 80), " the soul of the world '
(iv. 40), " the reuon that ordereth matter " (vi.
1), "universal nature" (4, Tan* 8a.o»» o>&m, vii.
83, ix. 1 ; comp. x. 1 ), and if even identified with
the world itself (rev -rervojo-asTer KoVpov, xii. 1 ;
comp. Gatoker on iv. 83). Thus the Stoicism of
M. Aurelius gives many of the moral precepts of
the Gospel (Gataker, Prof. p. xviii.), but without
their foundation, which can find no place in his
system. It is impossible to read his reflections
without emotion, bnt they have no creative energy.
They are the last strain of a dying creed, and in
themselves have no special affinity to the new faith.
Christianity necessarily includes whatever is noblest
in them, l>ut they affect to supply the place of
Christianity, and do not lead to it. The real
elements of greatness in M. Aurelius are many,
and truly Roman ; but the study of his Meditations
by the side of the N. T. can leave little doubt that
he oould not have helped to give a national stand
ing place to a Catholic Church/'
17. Christianitt in contact with Ancient
Philosophy.
The only direct trace of the contact of Chris-
tianity with western philosophy in the N. T. is in
the account of St. Paul's visit to Athens, when
" certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the
Stoics " (Acts xvii. 18) — the r epresen tatives, that
is, of the two great moral schools which divided
the West — "encountered him;" and there is
nothing in the apostolic writings to show that it
exercised any important influence upon the early
church (comp. 1 Cor. i. 22—1). But it wu oth-
erwise with eastern speculation, which, u it wu
less scientific in form, penetrated more deeply
through the mans of the people. The " philosophy "
against which the Colossians were warned (Col. ii.
8) seems undoubtedly to have been of eastern
origin, containing elements similar to those which
wen afterwards embodied in various shapes of
Gnosticism, u a selfish asceticism and a supersti-
tious reverence for angels (Col. ii. 16-23); and in
the Epistles to Timothy, addressed to Epbesus, in
which city St. Paul anticipated the rise of false
teaching (Acts xx. 30), two distinct forms of error
may be traced in addition to Judaism, due more
or leas to the same influence. One of these wu s
vain spiritualism, insisting on ascetic observances
and interpreting the resurrection u a moral change
(1 Tun. iv. 1-7; 2 Tim. ii 16-18); the other a
materialism allied to sorcery (3 Tim. HI. 13,
yiriTu)- The former is that which is peculiarly
" false-styled gnosis " (1 Tim. vi. 20), abounding
in "profane and old wives' fables " (1 Tim. tv. T)
and empty discussions (i. 6, vi. 20); the latter has
faith), wherau, he says, this readiness ought to come
" from personal Judgment after due calculation "
(awh iiudfq KptovMC .... AfAoyiO'jWnK . . . . XL
8) Bo also Bplctstns (Diss. Ix. 7, k) contrasts the
fortitude gained by "habit," by the OallUsans, with
the true fortitude baaed on " reason and demonstra-
tion."
A The writings of Spletstas contain In the mate ass
same system, but with somewhat less arrogance. It
mav be remarked that the alienee of Bpktetas and M.
Aurtliusea the teaching of OhiwHsnltv eaa baoouy he
explained bv Inoranw. It sums that the phltese
poor would not notice (in word) the benerer. Oman
Urdner, Worts, vii. 868-67.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2612 PHUXdOPHY
s (Horn connection with earlier tendencies at Ephe-
ras (Acta xix. 19), and with the traditional ac-
counts of Simon Magus (cotnp. Acta riii. 9), whose
working on the earl; church, however obscure, was
unquestionably most important. These antago-
nistic and yet complementary forms of heresy found
a wide development in later times: but it is
remarkable that no trace of dualism, of the distinc-
tion of the Creator and the Redeemer, the
Demiurge and the true God, which formed so
essential a tenet of the Gnostic schools, occurs in
the N. T. (comp. Thiersch, Versuch tur BertL
d. hist. Stnndp. etc., 231-304).
The writings of the sub-apostolic age, with the
exception of the famous anecdote of Justin Martyr
{Dial 9-4), throw little light upon the relations
of Christianity and philosophy. The heretical
systems again are too obscure and complicated to
illustrate more than the general admixture of
foreign (especially eastern) tenets with the apostolic
teaching. One book, however, has been preserved
in various shapes, which, though still unaccountably
neglected in church histories, contains •* vivid de-
lineation of the speculative struggle which Chris-
tianity had to maintain with Judaism and Heath-
enism. The Clementine Homiliet (ed. Dressel,
1853) and Recognitions (ed. Gersdorf. 18-18) are a
kind of Philosophy of Religion, and in subtlety and
richness of thought yield to no early Christian
writings. The picture which the supposed author
draws of his early religious doubts is evidently
taken from lift (Clem. Recogn. i. 1-3; Keander,
Ch. Hitt. i. 43, E. T.)i and in the discussions
which follow there are clear traces of western as
well as eastern philosophy (Uhlhorn, Die Horn. «.
Recogn. d. Clem. Rom. pp. 404, Ac.).
At the close of the second century, when the
Church of Alexandria came into marked intellect-
ual preeminence, the mutual influence of Chris-
tianity and N/eo-Plstonism opened a new field of
speculation, or rather the two systems were pre-
sented in forms designed to meet the acknowledged
wants of the time. According to the commonly
received report, Origen was the scholar of Am-
monius Saccas, who first gave consistency to the
later Platonism, and for a long time he was the
contemporary of l'lotinua (a. d. 205-270), who was
its noblest expositor. Neo-Platonism was, in fact,
an attempt to seize the spirit of Christianity apart
from its historic basis and human elements. The
separation between the two was absolute ; and yet
the splendor of the one-sided spiritualism of the
Veo-PIatomsts attracted in some cases the admira-
tion of the Christian Fathers (Basil, Theodoret),
«nd tho wide circulation of the writings of the
pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite served to props-
jata many of their doctrines under an orthodox
name among the schoolmen and mystics of the
Middle Ages (Vogt, Ntu-Platanismus u. Christen-
l/ium, 1836; Heraog. Encykhp. a. v. Neu-Platunis-
mu4).
The want which the Alexandrine Fathers
endeavored to satisfy is in a great measure the want
of our own time. If Christianity be truth, it
most have points of special connection with all
ations and all periods. Tho difference of chanc-
er in the constituent writings of the N. T. are
evidently typical, and present the Gospel in s form
(if technical language may be used) now ethical,
now logical, now mystical. The varieties of aspect
thus Indicated combine to give the idea of a har-
toonkms whole. Clement -ightly maintained that
PHINEHAS
there is a gnosis " in Christianity distinct fron:
the errors of Gnosticism. The latter was a pre-
mature attempt to connect the Gospel with earlier
systems ; the former a result of conflict grounded
on faith (Mulder, Potrologie, 424, Ac.). Christian
philosophy may be in one sense a contradiction in
terms, for Christianity confessedly derives its first
principles from revelation, and not from simple
reason ; but there is no less a true philosophy of
Christianity, which aims to show how completely
these, by their form, their substance, and their
consequences, meet the instincts and aspirations of
all ages. The exposition of such a philosophy would
be the work of a modern Origen. B. F. W.
* It may be worth while to mention some m
the more recent works which illustrate points
touched upon in the preceding article. Sea J. F.
Brueh, Weishtits-Lehre der Hebraer, Straasb.
1851. M. Nicolas, Du doctrine* reUgiaut* da
Juifs pendant Ut delta; siicies omteriemrt a tirtj
chretieme, Paris, 1880. C. G. Ginsburg, The
Kabbalah, London, 1865. — C. A. Brandis, Hand*,
der Vetch, d. griteh. -rdmuehe* Phihsophie, 3
Theih) in 6 Abth., Berl. 1886-66. A. R Kriashe,
Fvrtehmgen, etc. or, Die IkeoL Ltkrtn der griteh.
neither, ewe Prifung der Darstelhmg Cicero's,
Getting. 1840. Norton's Kvid. of the Genuineness
of the Gospel*, 2d ed. voi. iii. (Boat 1848). L. P.
A. Maury, HitU du religions de In Greet antique,
3 torn. Paris, 1857-59. Sir Alex. Grant, The An-
cient Stoics, in Oxford Assays for 1858, pp. 80-
123. Id. The Ethics of Aristotle, ilhutrnfd trie*
Essays and Notes, 2d ed., 2 vols. Lond. 1866.
Zeller, Die Enhdekehmg der Monotheism** bri
den Griechen, in his VortrSge «. Abhandhmgem,
Leips. 1866. W. A. Butler, Lecture* on tht
Hitt. ofAnc. Philosophy, 2 vols. Lond. 1866. G.
H. Lewes, Hist, of Philos. from Thait* to tht
Present Day, 3d ed., vol. i. (Lond. 1866). Grote,
Plato and the other Companion* of Sokrate*,%a
ed., 8 vols. Lond. 1887. — J. Huber, Die Philoto
phi* der KirchtmSter, MUnehen, 1859. A
StoeckL 6Vsc*. d. Philos. d. patrutuchen Ztk,
Wiirab. 1859. E. W. Mulier, GeseA. d. Kotmoi-
ogie in der griteh. Kirehe, bit auf Origenes,
Halle, 1860. — Ueberweg's Grtmdri** d. Geteh. d.
Philos. von Thaks bis aufd. Gegemeart, S» Aufl.
3 Tbeile, Berl. 1867-68, is not only an excellent
compendium, but is very full in its references to
the literature of the subject. A.
PHIN'EES [3 syl.] (tinn! [1 Esdr. riii. 2.
Vat *«>>«>; 1 Mace., Alex. *nrm:] Phinees).
1. The son of Eleuzar son of Aaron, the great hero
of the Jewish priesthood (1 Esdr. v. 5, viii. 2, 29 : «
2 Esdr. i. 2b; Eceras. xlv. 23; 1 Mace ii. 26).
2. Phinehas the son of EH, 2 Esdr. L 2a: but
the insertion of the name in the genealogy of Ezra
(in this place only) is evidently an error, since Ezra
belonged to the line of Eleasar, and Eli to that of
Ithamar. It probably arose from a confusion of
the name with that of the great Phinehas, whs
was Ezra's forefather.
3. p^at fewest] A priest or Lerite of the
time of Ezra, father of Eleasar (1 Esdr. rift. 63;
4. (*u> <: Sinont.) 1 Esdr. v. 81. [Pasxah.
2.] «•
PHIN'EHAS (DTJJ*?, i. *. Pinschas [oracle
mouth, utterance, Ftrst"; erases stout*, Get.)
a Hers the USX. [Tat.] has
•uwft]-
*>ot«\hmiatm Iks
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHIKEHAS
[Bobl. Alex.] vWt; but [Vat.] ouee in Pent.
tad nniformlj elsewhere, turns; Jot. ♦Wir»|i :
Pkinea). Son of Eleazar and gTandaon of Aaron
(Ex. vi. So). Ilia mother u recorded at one of the
daughter! of Putlel, an unknown person, who is
identified by the Rabbis with Jethro the Midianite
(l'arg. Pteudojon. on Ex. vi. 96; Wagenaeil's
Sola, Tiii. 6). Phinehaa is memorable for baring
while quite a youth, by hi* seal and energy at the
critical moment of the licentious idolatry of Shit-
tim, appeased the divine wrath and put a stop to
the plague which was destroying the nation (Num.
xxv. 7). For this he was rewarded by the special
approbation of Jehovah, and by a promise that the
priesthood should remain in his family forever
(10-13). This seems to have raised him at once
to a very high position in the nation, and be was
appointed to accompany as priest the expedition
by which the Midianite* were destroyed (xxxi. 6).
Many years later he also headed the party who
were d espatc h ed from Shiloh to remonstrate against
the Altar which the trans-Jordanic tribes were
reported to have built near Jordan (Josh, xxii.
13-33). In the partition of the country he re-
ceived an allotment of his own — a hill on Mount
Ephraim which bore his name — Gibeath-Pinecbas.
Here bis father was buried (Josh. xxiv. 33).
< During the life of Phineha* he appears to have
been the chief of the great family of the Korahitet
or Sorbites who guarded the entrances to the
■acred tent and the whole of the sacred camp (1
Chr. ix. ilO). After Eleazar'i death he became
high-priest — the third of the series. In this
capacity he is introduced as giving the oracle to
the nation during the struggle with the Benjamites
on the matter of Gibeah (Judg. xx. 28). Where
the Ark and Tabernacle were stationed at that time
is not clear. From ver. 1 we should infer that
they were at Mizpeh, while from w. 18, 36, it
teems equally probable that they were at Bethel
(which is also the statement of Josephus, Ant. v.
2, § 11). Or the Hebrew words in these latter
verses may mean, not Bethel the town, but, as they
are rendered in the A. V., "house of God," and
refer to the Tabernacle at Shiloh. But wherever
$mi Ark may have been, there was the aged priest
« standing before it,'' and the oracle which he de-
Jvered was one which mutt have been fully in
accordance with hit own vehement temper, " Shall
we go out to battle ... or shall we cease? "
And the answer was, "Go up: for to-morrow I will
deliver them into your hand."
The memory of this champion of Jehovah was
nrj dear to the Jews. The narrative of the Pen-
tateuch presents bim as the type of an ardent and
devoted priest. The numerous references to him
in the biter literature all adopt the tame tone.
He is commemorated in one of the Psalmt (cvi.
30, 81) in the identical phrase which it conse-
crated forever by its use in reference to the great
act of faith of Abraham ; a phrase which perhaps
more than any other in the Bible binds together
the old and new dispensations — "that was cowtftd
t> him for rightcouinrs* unto all generations for-
evennore" (comp. Gen. xr. 8; Rom. iv. 8,. The
•' covenant " made with him is put into the tame
rank for dignity and oertainty with that by which
the throne was assured to Kin* David (Eeclus. xh
36). Theaealof Mattathiu the Haccabee Is suffi-
ciently praised by a comparison with that of
" Pbinees against Zambri the ton of Salom " (1
Msec M. 36). The priest* who returned from the
1M
PHINEHAS
2518
Captivity are enrolled in the official lists as the toot
of Phinehas (Ear. viii. 3; 1 Esdr. v. 8). In the
Stder Ohm (eh. xx.) he is identified with " the
Prophet" of Judg. vi. 8.
Joeephus (Ant. iv. 6, } 13), out of the venerable
traditions which he uses with such excellent effect,
addt to tho narrative of the Pentateuch a state-
ment that " so great was his courage and to re-
markable hit bodily strength, that he would never
relinquish any undertaking, however difficult and
dangerous, without gaining a oomplete victory."
The later Jewa are fond of comparing him to
Elijah, if indeed they do not regard them at one
and the same individual (see the quotations in
Meyer, t'Aron. Htbr. p. 815; Fabricius, Codtx
pseudfpig. p. 894, note). In the Targum Pseudo-
jonathau of Num. xxv. the slaughter of Zimri
and Cozbi is accompanied by twelve miracles, and
the covenant mode with Phinehas is expnnded into
a promise, that he shall be " the angel of the cove-
nant, shall live forever, and shall proclaim redemp-
tion at the end of the world." Hit Midianite
origin (already noticed) it brought forward a*
adding greater lustre to bis real against Midian,
and enhancing his glorious destiny.
The verse which closet the book of Joshua it
ascribed to Phinehas, as the description of the death
of Moses at the end of Deuteronomy it to Joshua
(Baba Bathra, in Fabricius, p. 893). He it also
reported to be the author of a work on sacred
names {ibid.}, which however is so rare that Fabri-
ciut had never seen it.
The succession of the posterity of Phinehas in
the high-priesthood was interrupted when Eli, of
the race of Ithamar, was priest; but it was re-
sumed in the person of Zadok, and continued in
the same line to the destruction of Jerusalem.
[High-pkiest, voL ii. p. 1070 ff.] One of the
members of the family — Manaateh ton of Johanan,
and brother of Jadilua — went over to the Samari-
tans, and they still boast that they preserve the
succession (see their I-etter to Scaliger, in Eich-
horn's fiepertoriuin, xiii. 268).
The tomb of Phinehas, a place of great resort to
both Jews and Samaritans, is shown at Aicertah,
four miles 8. E. of Nabhu. It stands in the
centre of the village, inclosed within a little area
or compound, which is overshadowed by the thickly -
trellited foliage of an ancient vine. A small
mosque joint the wall of the compound. Outside
the village, on the next bill, it a larger inckwira,
containing the tomb of Eleazar, and a cave as-
cribed to Ely ah, overshadowed by two venerable
terebinth trees, surrounded by arcades, and form-
ing a retired and truly charming spot. The local
tradition asserts that Atoertnh and its neighbor-
hood are the " Hill of Phinehas."
In the Apocryphal Books his name is given a*
Phihkes.
2. [Vat. ^firsts.] Second ton of Eli (1 Sam.
i. 8, ii. 84, iv. 4, 11, 17, 19, xiv. 8). He was not
of the same Hne at his illustrious and devoted
namesake, but of the family of Ithamar. [Eu.]
Phinehas was killed with his brother by the Philis-
tines when the ark was captured. He had two
sons, Ahitub, the eldest — whose sons Ahjjab and
Ahimelech were hlgh-prietts at Shiloh and Nob in
the time of Saul (xiv. 8) — and Ichabod. He It
introduced, apparently by mistake, in the geneaL-gy
of Eara in 3 Esdr. Lia [Phuuu, 3.]
3. [Vat *„yts] A Levite of Eara't tun*
(Ear. viii. 83), unlet* the meaning be that F
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2614 PHISON
was of the family of tin gnat Phinehs*. In tin
aandlsl passage of 1 Eadr. be is called Phixes*.
6.
PHPSON (♦how; Alex. *>io-»»>: Phuon).
rhe Greek form of the name I'isoh (Eeclus. xxiv.
25).
PHLK'QON (*)A<7«r [burning]: Phlegim).
A Christian at Rome whom St. Paul salutes (Kom.
xvi. 14). Pseudo-HIppolytus (De LXX. Apottolu)
make* him oue of the seventy diaciplea and bishop
of Marathon. He ii aaid to hare suffered martyr-
dom on April 8th (Martyruioyium SommnuH,
apud Eatinm ), on which day he ii commemorated
in the calendar of the Byzantine Church.
W. T. B.
PHCfcTBE [A. V. Phkbe] (* tfin [Mnatg,
bright]: Phabe), the first, and one of the most
important, of the Christian persons the detailed
mention of whom fills nearly all the last chapter
of the Epistle to the Romans. What is said of
her (Kom. xvl. 1, 9) is worthy of especial notice,
because of its bearing on tho question of the dea-
conesses of the Apostolic Church. On this point
we hare to observe, (1) that the term ttdxovoi,
here applied to her, though not in itself necessa-
rily an official term, is the term which would be
applied to her, if it were meant to be official; (3)
that this term is applied in the Apottvlicul (,'otuli-
tutiim» to women who ministered officially, the
deaconess being called jj Siixoros, as the deacon is
called i BidWoi; (8) that it is now generally
admitted that in 1 Tim. iii. 11, St. Paul applies it
so himself; (4) that in the passage before us Phoebe
is called the Suutoror of a particular church, which
seems to imply a specific appointment; (6) that the
Church of Cknchke*, to which she lidonged,
could only have been a small church : whence we
may draw a fair conclusion as to what was cus-
tomary, in the math-r of such female ministration,
in the larger churches; (6) that, whatever her
errand to Rome might be, the independent manner
of ber going there seems to imply (especially when
we consider the secluded habits of Greek women)
not only that she was a widow or a woman of
mature age, but that she was acting officially; (7)
that she had already been of great service to St
Paul and others drpoordVir iroAA£», icol iftoi
loroii), either by ber wealth or her energy, or both ;
statement which closely corresponds with the
description of the qualifications of the enrolled
widows in 1 Tim. t. 10; (81 that the duty which
we here see Phoebe discharging implies a personal
character worthy of confidence and respect. [Dea-
ooxbvjb.] J. S. H.
PIKENI'CE, PHG3NI01A (ewurn [see
below]: Phameti rarely in Latin, Phoenicia: see
Faeciolati's Lexicon, s. v.), a tract of country, of
vhieh Tyre and Sidon were the principal cities, to
jie north of Palestine, along the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea; bounded by that sea on the
■cat, and by the mountain range of I^banon on
the east. The name was not the one by which its
native inhabitants called it, but was given to it by
the Greeks; probably from the palm-tree, aolVif,
with which it may then hare abounded; just aa
the name Brazil was given by Europeans to a large
• Thrwgu mistake, a mesne* of Herodlan, to Xra,
j*V» ya* ***r<pav *, tarbi UmDrin, is printed In the
OH i m ll Hiloritonm O rmcarum. p. 17 (Pari*, 1811),
■ sa estreat from Heeatsras at attlstaa, and la anally
PHCZKIOX, PUCBKICU.
territory in South America, from the Banal »asj|
which a part of it supplied to Europe. The peine
tree is seen, as an emblem, on some corns of Andes,
Tyre, and Sidon; and there an now several palm-
trees within the circuit of modern Tyre, and along
the coast at various points ; but the tree is not at
the present day one of the characteriatie features
of the country. The native name of Phoenicia was
Kenaan (Canaan) or Kna, signifying lowland, an
named in contrast to the adjoining Aram, i. e.
Highland : the Hebrew name of Syria. The name
Kenaan is preserved on a coin of Laodko, of the
time of Antiochus Fpiphanee, whereon Lsmlisas
is styled "a mother dty in Canaan," H3*TKV".'
19333 DH. And Knft or Cans (Xri) fa) mas
tioned distinctly by Herodian ■ the grammarian, ae
the old name of Phoenicia- (See Tlepl /uwr/oovi
ktltmt, under the ward 'AOnro.) Hence, aa Phoe-
nicians or Canaanitea were the most powerful of all
tribes in Palestine at the time of its invasion by
Joshua, the Israelites, in sneaking of their own
territory aa it was before the conquest, called it
"the laud of Canaan."
The length of coast to which the name Phoenicia
wan applied varied at different times, and may be
regarded under different aspects before and after
the loss of its independence. 1. What may be
termed Phoenicia Proper was a narrow undulating
plain, extending from the pass of Ms el~Bti<> I or
Atn/rid, the " Promontorium Album" of the an-
cient*, about six miles south of Tyre, to the A'nAr
tt-Auly, the ancient Bosurenua, two miles north of
Sidon (Robinson's Bibl Ret. ii. 473). The plain
is only 88 miles in length, and, considering the
great importance of Phoenicia in the world's his-
tory, this may well be added to other instances in
Greece, Italy, and Palestine, which show how little
the intellectual influence of a city or state has de-
pended on the extent of its territory. Its average
breadth is about a mile (Porter's llnndbuok f<r
Syria, ii. 396); but near Sidon, the mountain*
retreat to a distance of two miles, ami near Tjre
to a distance of five miles (Kenrick's Phmicin. p.
19). The whole of Phoenicia, thus understood, u
called by Josephus (AnL v. 3, $ 1 ) the great phis
of the city of Sidon, re piy* rtStoy SitWrot
vi\nts. In it, near its northern extremity, was
situated Sidon, in the north latitude of 83° 34'
05"; and scarcely more than 17 geographical miles
to the south was Tyre, in the latitude of 33° 17'
(Admiral Smyth's Mediterranean, p. 469): so that
in a straight line those two renowned cities were
less than 30 English miles distant from each other.
Zarephath, the Sarepta of the New Testament, was
situated between them, eight miles south of Sidon,
to which it belonged (1 K. xvii. 9; Obad. 30;
Luke iv. 36). 3. A still longer district, which
afterwards became fairly entitled to the name of
Phoenicia, extended np the coast to a point marked
by the island of Aradus, and by Antarerius towards
the north; the southern boundary remaining the
same as in Phoenicia Proper. Phoenicia, thus de-
fined, is estimated by Mr. Grote ( ffitlorg of Gnut,
iii. 354) to have been about 190 miles in length
while its breadth, between Lebanon and the sea,
quoted ae Aran Hseataraa. It is, he
merely the aoastttoo of «
though It Is taoat probable that he bad aa Us I
the aaaaw of 1
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHOENIOB, PHGBNIOIA
M«w amended 90 mile*, and was generally tuaeh
km. This estimate ii most reasonable, allowing
br the bends of the coast; as the diiect difference
in latitude between Tyre ud Antarauus (Tortos)
a equivalent to 106 Knglith milea; and six miles
to the south of Tyre, as already mentioned, inter-
vene before the beginning of the pass of Bit et-
Abyid. The claim of the whole of this district to
the name of Phoanieia rests on the probable fact,
that the whole of it, to the north of the great plain
of Sidon, was oooupied by Phoenician colonists;
not to mention that there seems to hare been some
kind of political connection, bowerer loose, between
all the inhabitants (Diodorus, xri. 41). Scarcely
16 geographical miles farther north than Sidon was
Berytue; with a roadstead so well suited for toe
purposes of modern navigation that, under the
modern name of Bnril, it has eclipsed both Sidon
and Tyre as an emporium for Syria. Whether
this Berytus was ideutical with the Berdthsh and
Berothai of Ecekiel xlrii. 16, and of 2 Saw. viii.
8, is a disputed point. [Berothah.] Still farther
north was Byblue, the Uebal of the Bible (Ei.
xxrii. 9), inhabited by seamen and calkera. Its
inhabitants are supposed to be alluded to in the
word OibUm, translated " stone-squarera " in the
authorised version of 1 K. v. 18 (33). It still
retains in Arabio the kindred name of JebtiL
Then came Tripoli! (now Turdlmlut), said to hare
been founded by eokmists from Tyre, Sidon, and
AMdua, with three distinet towns, each a furlong
apart from one another, each with its own walls,
and dacb named from the city which supplied its
colonists. General meetings of the Phoenicians
stem to have been held at Tripolis (Diod. xvi. 41 ),
as If a certain local jealousy had prevented the
selection for this purpose of Tyre, Sidon, or Aradus.
And lastly, towards the extreme point north was
Aradns itself, the Arvad of Gen. x. 18, and E».
xxvil. 8; situated, like Tyre, on a small island near
the mainland, and founded by exiles from Sidon.
The whole of Phoenicia Proper is well watered by
various streams from the adjoining hills : of these the
two largest are the AVidanwyeA, a few miles north of
Tyre — the aneient name of which, strange to say,
a not certain, though it is conjectured to have been
the Leontes — and the Boatrenus, already men-
tioned, north of Sidon. The soil is fertile, although
now generally ill-cultivated; but in the neighbor-
hood of Sidou there are rich gardens and orchards;
" and here," says Mr. Porter, " are oranges, lemons,
figs, almonds, plums, apricots, peaches, pomegra-
nates, pears, and bananas, all growing luxuriantly,
and forming a forest of finely-tinted foliage"
(Handbook Jbr Syria, ii. 898). The havens of
Tin and Sidon afforded water of sufficient depth
'or all tbe requirements of ancient navigation, and
the neighboring range of the Lebanon, in its ex-
tensive forests, furnished what then seemed a nearly
.■■exhaustible supply of timber for ship-building.
To the north of Boatrenus, between that river and
Bfirtt, lies the only bleak and barren part of
Phoanieia. It is crossed by the ancient Tamyras
jr Damuras, tbe modern Nakr od-Dimtr. From
BHrU, the plains are again fertile. The principal
streams a are the Lycus, now the Nakr el-Kelb,
set far north from BanU ; the Adonis, now the
PHOENICIANS
2516
« • 8se notices of thaw straaou by Dr. T. Untie,
amatty a miaskmary to Syria BM. Sacra- for July,
HB, a.688ft H
• * Oar Lord to the course <4 bit Pu retail ministry
Nakr Ibrahim, about five milea south of Gohali
and the Eleutherua, now the Nakr ef-JCeotV, la
the bend between Tripolis and Antaradua.
In reference to the period when tbe Phoenicians
had lost their independence, scarcely any two Greek
and Roman writers give precisely tbe same geo-
graphical boundaries to Phoenicia. Herodotus uses
an expression which seems to imply that he re-
garded its northern extremity as corresponding
with the Myriandrian Bay, or Bay of Issue (iv. 38).
It is doubtful where exactly be conceived it to ter-
minate at tbe south (ill. 6). Ptolemy is distinct
in making tbe river Eleutherua the boundary, on
tbe north, and the river Cborseus, on the south.
The Chorseus is a small stream or torrent, south
of Mount (farmed and of the small Canaanitiah dty
Dor, tbe Inhabitants of which the tribe of Manaaeen
was confessedly unable to drive out (Judg. i. 87).
This southern line of Ptolemy coincides very closely
with the southern boundary of Pliny the Elder,
who includes Dor in Phoenicia, though the south-
ern boundary specified by him is a stream called
Crocoduon, now Nttkr Zurka, about two miles to
the north of Caeearea. Pliny's northern boundary,
however, is different, as be makes it include Antar-
adua. Again, the geographer Strabo, who was
contemporary with the beginning of the Christian
era, diners from Herodotus, Ptolemy, and Pliny,
by representing Phoenicia at the district between
Orthopia and Pelusium (xvi. 31), which would make
it include not only Mount Carmel, but likewise Caee-
area, Joppa, and the whole coast of the Philistines.
In the Old Testament, the word Phoenicia does
not occur, as might be expected from its being a
(ireek name. In the Apocrypha, it is not defined,
though spoken of as being, with Coele-Syria, under
one military commander (3 Mace. iii. 5, 8, viii. 8,
x. 11; 8 Mace iii. 16). In tbe New Testament, tbe
word occurs only in three passages. Acts xi. 19,
xv. 3, xxi. 3; * and not one of these affords a clew
aa to how far the writer deemed Phoenicia to extend.
On the other hand, Joaephus possibly agreed with
Strabo; for he expressly says that Cauarea ii sit-
uated in Phoenicia (Anl. xv. 9, § (i); and although
be never makes a similar statement respecting
Joppa, yet he speaks, in one passage, of the coast
of Syria, Phoenicia, and Egypt, as if Syria and
Phoenicia exhausted the line of coast on the Medi-
terranean Sea to the north of Egypt (B. J. iii. 9,
S3). E. T.
PHOENICIANS. The name of the race
who in earliest recorded history inhabited Phoenicia,
and who were the great maritime and commercial
people of the ancient world. For many centuries
they bore somewhat of the same relation to other
nations which the Dutch bore, though less exclu-
sively, to the rest of Europe in the 17th century.
They were, moreover, preeminent hi colonization
as well aa in trade; and in their settlement of
Carthage, producing tbe greatest general of an-
tiquity, h>t proved the most formidable of all
antagonist* to Home in its progress to universal
empire. A complete history, therefore, of the
Vhcenicians would occupy a large extent of ground
which would be foreign to the objects of this Dic-
tionary. Still some notice is desirable of such an
impo.tant people, who were in one quarter the
(Matt. xv. 11 : Mack vU. 3i) on ooa occasion, at least
entered Photnieia and probably patted throofb BMes
Itself , hi. 81, when the approved raadtof Is
<•* lieurat). B
Digitized by VjOOQlC
K>M> PHtENIOIANS
eaerest neighbors of the Israelites, and indirectly
Influenced their history in various way*. Without
dwelling on matter! which belong more strictly to
the articles Ttrjr and Sidoh, it may be proper to
touch on certain points connected with the lan-
guage, race, trade, and religion of the Phoenicians,
which may tend to throw light on Biblical history
and literature. The communication of letters by
the Phoenicians to the European nations will like-
wise deserve notice.
I. The Phoenician language belonged to that
family of languages which, by a name not altogether
bee from objection, but now generally adopted, is
called " Semitic.'' « Under this name are included
three distinct branches: 1st. Arabic, to which
belongs ^Ethiopian as an ofishoot of the Southern
Arable or Himyaritic. 2dly. Aramaic, the vernac-
ular language of Palestine at the time of Christ, in
which the few original words of Christ which have
been preserved in writing appear to ham been
spoken (Matt, xxvii. 46; Mark v. 41; and mark
especially Matt xvi. 18, which is not fully signifi-
cant either in Greek or Hebrew). Aramaic, as
used in Christian literature, is called Syriac, and as
used in the writings of the Jews, has been very
generally called L'haldee. 3dly. Hebrew, in which
by far the greatest part of the Old Testament was
composed. Now one of the most interesting points
to the Biblical student, connected with Phoenician,
is, that it does not belong to either of the two first
branches, but to the third ; and that it is in feet so
closely allied to Hebrew, that Phoenician and He-
brew, though different dialects, may practically be
regarded as the same language. This may be
shown in the following way: 1st, in paaaages
which have been frequently quoted (see especially
Gesenius's Manumentii Scriptura Lingumout Phoe-
nicia, p. 281), testimony is borne to the kinship
of the two languages by Augustine and Jerome, in
whose timo Phoenician or Carthaginian was still a
living language. Jerome, who was a good He-
brew scholar, after mentioning, in his Commenta-
ries on Jeremiah, lib. v. c. 25, that Carthage was a
Phoenician colony, proceeds to state — " Unde et
Poeni sermone corrupto quasi Pbceni appellantur,
quorum lingua Hebneee linguae magna ex parte
eonfinis est." And Augustine, who was a native
of Africa, and a bishop there of Hippo, a Tyrian
colony, has left on record a similar statement
several times. In one passage he says of the two
anguages, "Istsa lingua; non multum inter se
Jiffemnt" (Qaaitume* in ffeplateuckum,yu. 16).
In another passage he says, " Cognate sunt istsa
lingua) et vieinse, Hebrsea, et Punica, et Syra "
(InJoann. Tract. 15). Again, on Gen. xviii. 9, be
ays of a certain mode of speaking (Gen. viii. 9),
Locutn est, quam propterea Hebraeam puto, quia
at Punkas linguae faniiliarissima est, in qu&multa
(nvenimui Hebraeis verbis consonantia " (lib. i.
loeut. 24). And on another occasion, remarking
on the word Messias, he says, " quod verbum Pun-
J 8o called from the descendants of Sham (Gen. x.
21-29) ; nearly all of whom, as represented by nations,
an known to have spoken cognate languages. Then
nave been hitherto two objections to the name : 1st.
That the language of the Bamltes and Assyrians (sea
rer. 22) belonged to a different Brolly. 2dly. That the
Phiraklans, as Oanaanltee, are derived from Ham
(9an. x. 6). If the recent InCarp r et a tlons of Assyrian
Inseriptlone an admitted to prova the Identity of
Assyrian with Aramaie or Syrian, the objection to the
•or* "Saantsle" nearly disappears. Mr Max Mulls*,
PH(EN1CLAN8
icss linguae eonsonum est, stout alia Btbraa ssstsst
et pome omnia" (Contra Hieras Pet&ani, it «.
104). 2dly. These statemenU are folly eonfinuasl
by a passage of Carthaginian preserved in the
Panuhit of Plautus, set v. scene 1, and accom-
panied by a Latin translation as part of the play.
There is no doubt that the Carthaginians and the
Phoenicians were the same race: and the Cartha-
ginian extract is undeniably intelligible through He-
brew to Hebrew scholars (sea Boehart's Canaan;
and especially Gesenius's Mommtnta Pkanida,
pp. 357-382, where the pssssge is translated with
notes, and full justice is done to the p rev iou s
translation of Boehart). 3dly. The close kinship
of the two languages is, moreover, strikingly con-
firmed by very many Phoenician and f!«Hh»giniMi
names of places and persons, which, destitute of
meaning in Greek and Latin, through which lan-
guages they have become widely known, and having
sometimes in those languages occasioned false ety-
mologies, become really significant in Hebrew.
Thus through Hebrew it is known that Tyre, as
Ttbr, signifies " a rock," referring doubtless to the
rocky island on which the city was situated : that
Sidon, ss Tzidtn, means " Fishing " or " Fishery,"
which was probably the occupation of its first set-
tlers : that Carthage, or, as it was originally called,
" Cartliada," means " New Town, " or " Newton : "
and that Byrsa, which, as a Greek name, suggested
the etymological mythus of the Bull's Hide (/Entid,
i. 366-07), was simply the citadel of Carthage —
Carthat,im$ accent, as Virgil accurately termed ill
the Carthaginian name of it, softened by the
Greeks into Bvpcs, being merely the Hebrew word
Botzrah, " citadel ; " identical with the word called
Bozrah in the English Version of Isaiah lxiii. 1.
Again, through Hebrew, the names of celebrated
Carthaginians, though sometimes disfigured by
Greek and Roman writers, acquire a meaning.
Thus Dido is found to belong to the same root as
David, 6 " bekwed ; " meaning '• his love," or " de-
light;" t. e.The love or delight either of Baal or
of her husband: Hasdrubal is the man "whose
help Baal is: " Hamilcar the man whom the god
"Milcar graciously granted" (comp. Hananed;
8t itnpot) : and, with the substitution of Baal for
El or God, the name of the renowned Hannibal is
found to be identical in form and meaning with
the name of Hanniel, who is mentioned in Num.
xxxiv. 23 ss the prince of the tribe of Manaaseh :
Hanniel meaning the grace of God, and Hannibal
the grace of Baal. 4thly. The same conclusion
arises from the examination of Phoenician inscrip-
tions, preserved to the present day: all of which
can be interpreted, with more or less certainty,
through Hebrew. Such inscriptions are of three
kinds: 1st, on gems and seals; 2dly, on coins of
the Phoenicians and of their colonies; Sdly, on
stone. The first class are few, unimportant, and
for the most part or uncertain origin. The oldest
known coins with Phoenician words belong to Tar-
a high authority on such a point, regards it ss i
that the inscriptions of Nineveh, as well u of Baby-
lon, an Semitic Lecaarj on las Sritnce s/ htm-
gwoge, p. 2S5.
• Movers sod Flint, supported by the Erymdog*
am Magnum, adopt " nedidi," or « nedldih," as tbs
etymology of Dido, In the sense of " tnveUcst," at
" wanasrer." Although a possible derivation, this
seems lass probata** in Itself, sad lass eosmtsnaaastt •»
Habnw analogies
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHOENICIANS
sts and other Cillcian cities «nd vera struck in
the period of the Persian domination. Bnt coins
are likewise in existence of Tyre, Sidon, end other
eitiee of Phoenicia; though all such era of later
date, and belong to the period eithei of the Seleu-
atdse, or of the Romans. Moreover, other coins
bare been bund belonging to cities in Sicily,
Sardinia. Africa, and Spain. The inscriptions on
stone are either of a public or a private character.
The former are comparatively few in number, but
relate to various subjects: such, for example, as
the dedication of a temple, or the commemoration
of a Numidian victory over the Romans. The
private inscriptions were either in the nature of
votive tablets erected ss testimonials of gratitude
to some deity, or were sepulchral memorials en-
graven on tombstones. Phoenician inscriptions on
stone have been found not only in all the countries
hat mentioned, except Spain, but likewise in the
bland of Cyprus near Citium, in Malta, at Athens,
at Marseilles, and at Sidon."
II. Concerning the original race to which the
Phoenicians belonged, nothing can be known with
certainty, because they are found already estab-
lished along the Mediterranean Sea at the earliest
dawn of authentic history, and for centuries after-
wards there is no record of their origin. Accord-
ing to Herodotus (vii. 89), they said of themselves
in his time that they came in days of old from the
shores of the Red Sea — and in this there would be
nothing in the slightest degree improbable, as they
spoke a language cognate to that of the Arabians,
who inhabited the east coast of that sea; and both
Hebrew and Arabic, as well as Aramaic, are seem-
ingly derived from some one Semitic language now
tost Still neither the truth nor the falsehood of
(be tradition can now be proved ; for language, al-
though affording strong presumptions of race, is
not conclusive on the point, as is shown hy the
language at present spoken by the descendants of
the Normans in France. But there is one point
respecting their race which can be proved to be in
(be highest degree probable, and which has peculiar
Interest as bearing on the Jews, namely, tbat the
Phomieians were of the same race as the t'anaan-
ites. This remarkable fact, which, taken in con-
nection with the language of the Phoenicians, leads
to some interesting results, is rendered probable by
the following circumstances: 1st. The native name
of Phoenicia, as already pointed out, was Canaan,
a name signifying " lowland " [Phcejticia]. This
was well given to the narrow slip of plain between
the Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea, in con-
trast to the elevated mountain range adjoining ; but
it would have been inappropriate to tbat part of
Palestine conquered by the Israelites, which was
undoubtedly a hill-country (see Movers, Dot Pht-
mdxhe AUerUltm, Tbeil 1, p. 6); so that, when it
is known that the Israelites at the time of their in-
vasion found in Palestine a powerful tribe called
the Canaanites, and from them called Palestine
the land of Canaan, it is obviously suggested that
the Canaanites came originally from the neighbor-
ing plain, called Canaan, along tfao sea-coast
Jdly. This is further confirmed through the name
o Africa whereby the Carthaginian Phomieians
•ailed themselves, as attested by Augustine, who
b 1M7 a eotteetton of all Phoenician lueripMons
known, with translations and notes, was pnb-
by Osesnlus, the great Hebrew laxioographsr,
kr bis vast knowlsdfs awl unrivaled clearness
PHOENICIANS 2517
states that the peasants in his part if Africa, tt
asked of what race they were, would answer, it
Punic or Phoenician, ■' C anaaiu'tes " " Interrogati
rustici nostri quid tint, Punice" respondents!, Ca-
nani, eorrupta scilicet sicut in talibus una litter*
(accurate enim dicere debebant Chanani) quid aliud
respondent quam Chananssi " ( Oper<i Omnia, iv.
1235; KxpotU. Epi$t. ad Bom. $ 13). 3dly. The
conclusion thus suggested is strongly supported by
the tradition that the names of persons and places
in the land of Canaan — not only when the Israel-
ites invaded it, but likewise previously, when "there
were yet but a frw of them," and Abraham is said
to hare visited it — were Phoenician or Hebrew:
such, for example, as Abimelek, '< Father of the
king " (Gen. xx. 2) ; Melchizedek, " King of right-
eousness" (xiv 18): Kirjath-sepher, "city of the
book" (Josh. xv. 16).
As this obviously leads to the conclusion that the
Hebrews aduptvl Phoenician as their own language,
or, in other words, that what is called the bebrew
language was in fact " the language of Cauan,"
as a prophet called it (Is xix. 18), and this not
merely poetically, hut literally and in philological
truth ; and as this is repugnant to some precon-
ceived notions respecting the peculiar people, the
question arises whether the Israelites might not
have translated Canaanitish names into Hebrew.
On this hypothesis the names now existing in the
Bible for persons and places in the land of Canaan
would not be the original names, but merely the
translations of those names. The answer to this
question is, 1st Tbat there is not the slightest di-
rect mention, nor any indirect trace, in the Bible,
of any such translation. 2dly. That it is contrary
to the analogy of the ordinary Hebrew practice in
other cases; as, for example, in reference to the
names of the Assyrian monarchs (perhaps of a for-
eign dynasty) Pul, Tiglath-Pileser, Sennacherib, or
of the Persian monarchs Darius, Ahasuerus, Arta-
xerxes, which remain unintelligible in Hebrew, and
can only be understood through other Oriental lan-
guage). 8dly. That there is an absolute silence in
the Bible as to there having been any difference
whatever in language between the Israelites and
the Canaanites, although in other cases where a
difference existed, that difference is somewhere al-
luded to, as in the case of the Egyptians (Ps. lxxxi.
6, cxiv. 1), the Assyrians (Is. xxxri. 11), and the
Chaldees (Jer v. 16). Yet in the case of the Ca-
naanites there was stronger reason for alluding tc
it; and without some allusion to it, if it had ex-
isted, the narration of the conquest of Canaan un-
der the leadership of Joshua would have been sin-
gularly imperfect
It remains to be added on this point, that al-
though the previous language of the Hebrews must
be mainly a matter for conjecture only, yet it is
most in accordance with the Pentateuch to suppose
that they spoke originally Aramaic. They came
through Abraham, according to their traditions,
from Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia, wher«
Aramaic at a later period is known to have been
spoken ; they are instructed In Deuteronomy to say
that an Aramaean (Syrian) ready to periih was
their father (xxvi. 6); and the .two earliest words
of Aramaic contained in the Bible, Yegor snaodu-
bas dons more than any one soholar since Boxtorf
to facilitate the study of Hebrew. His opinion on to*
relation of Phoenician to Hebrew is : " Omnlno bos
tenendum est, pleraque et dbum onufa eu
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2518
PHOENICIANS
rid, are. in the Book of Genesis, put into the
mouth of Laban, the son of Abraham's brother,
and first cousin of Isaac (zxxi. 47)."
III. In regard to Phoenician trade, at connected
irlth the Israelites, the following points an worthy
of notice. 1. Up to the time of David, not one of
the twelve tribes seems to have possessed a single
harbor on the sea-coast: it was impossible therefore
that they could become a commercial people. It is
true that according to Judg. i. 31, combined with
Josh. six. 96, Accho or Acre, with its excellent har-
bor, had been assigned to the tribe of Asher; hut
bom the same passage in Judges it seems certain
that the tribe of Asher did not really obtain posses-
sion of Acre, which continued to be held by the
Canaanites. However wistfully, therefore, the Is-
raelites might regard the wealth accruing to their
neighbors the Phoenicians from trade, to vie with
them in this respect was out of the question. But
from the time that David had conquered Edom, an
opening for trade was afforded to the Israelites.
The command of Ezion-geber near Elath, in the
land of Edom, enabled them to engage in the navi-
gation of the Red Sea. As they were novices, how-
ever, at sailing, as the navigation of the Bed Sea,
owing to its currents, winds, and rocks, is danger
out even to modern sailors, and as the Phoenicians,
during the period of the independence of Edom,
were probably allowed to trade from Ezion-geber,
It was politic in Solomon to permit the Phoenicians
of Tyre to have docks, and build ships at Ezion-
geber on condition that his sailors and vessels might
have the benefit of their experience. The results
seem to hare been strikingly successful. The Jews
and Phoenicians made profitable voyages to Ophir
in Arabia, whence gold was imported into Judaea
in large quantities ; and once in three yean still
longer voyages wen made, by vessels which may
possibly have touched at Ophir, though their im-
ports were not only gold, but likewise silver, ivory,
apes, and peacocks, 1 K. x. 23. [Tarshish.]
There seems at the same time to have been a great
direct trade with the Phoenicians for cedar-wood
(ver. 27), and generally the wealth of the kingdom
reached an unprecedented point. If the union of
the tribes had been maintained, the whole sea-coast
of Palestine would have afforded additional sources
of revenue through trade; and perhaps even ulti-
mately the " great plain of Sidon " itself might
have formed part of the united empire. But if any
possibilities of this kind existed, they were destroyed
by the disastrous secession of the ten tribes; a
heavy blow from which the Hebrew race hat never
yet recovered during a period of nearly 3000
rears.'
2. After the division into two kingdoms, the cur-
tain alls on any commercial relation between the
Israelites and Phoenicians until a relation is brought
souvenir*, «lve radices speotu idve verborum et forroan-
eorura etflectenaorum radooem " (Man. Pkan. p 886).
« It seems to be admitted by pbllologers that
neither Hebrew, Aramaic, nor Arabic, la derived the
one from the other ; Joxt as the same may be said of
Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. (See Lewis, On the
Romance Languages, p. 42). It Is a question, bow-
nver, which of the three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic,
Mid AraWe, Is likely to res em ble most the original Se-
attle language. Flint, one of the best Aramaic sehol-
tn now living, Is in favor of Aramaic (Lthrgebctudt der
Aramditenen Idiame, p. 2). But his opinion has been
itronrl) Impugned in favor of Hebrew (Bless, 's Binlti-
»snt m Jet A. T p. 76).
PBKKNICIAN8
to notice, by no meant brotherly, at in the ttett
which navigated the Red Sea, nor friendly, at be
tween buyers and sellers, but humiliating and exas-
perating, as between the buyers and the .bought.
The relation is meant which existed between the
two nation when Israelites were sold as slaves by
Phoenicians. It was a custom in antiquity, wheal
one nation went to war against another, for mer-
chants to be present in one or other of the hostile
camps, in order to purchase prisoners of war at
■laves. Thus at the time of the Maccabees, when
a large army was sent by Lysias to invade arid sub-
due the land of Judah, it is related that " the mer-
chants of the country, hearing the fame of then,
took silver and gold very much with servants, and
came into the camp to buy the children of Israel
for slaves " (1 Msec. iii. 41), and when it it re-
lated that, at the capture of Jerusalem by Antio-
chus Epipbanes, the enormous number of 40,000
men wen slain in battle, it it added that then
were " no fewer told than slain " (2 Mace. v. 14;
Oredner's JotL, p. 240). Now this practice, which
is thus illustrated by details at a much later pe-
riod, undoubtedly prevailed in earlier timet (Odys-
sey, xr. 427 ; Herod, i. 1 ), and is alluded to in a
threatening manner against the Phoenicians by the
prophets (Joel iii. 4, and Am. i. 8, 10), about 800
yean before Christ" The circumstances which led
to this state of things may be thus explained. Af-
ter the division of the two kingdoms, there is no
trace of any friendly relation between the kingdom
of Judah and the Phoenicians: the interest of tin
latter rather led them to cultivate the friendship of
the kingdom of Israel; snd the Israelitiah king,
Ahab, had a Sidonian princess as his wife (1 K .
xvi. 81). Now, not improbably in consequence of
these relations, when Jehoshaphat king of Judah
endeavored to restore the trade of the Jews in the
Red Sea, and for this purpose built large ships at
Esion-geber to go to Ophir for gold, be did not ad-
mit the Phoenicians to any participation in the ven-
ture, and when king Ahasiah, Ahab's son, asked to
have a share in it, his request was distinctly refused
(1 K. xxii. 48, 49). That attempt to renew the
trade of the Jews in the Red Sea failed, and in the
reign of Jehorani, Jehoshaphat's son, Edom re-
volted from Judah and established its indepen-
dence; so that if the Phoenicians wished to de-
spatch trading-vessels from Ezion-geber, Edom was
the power which it was mainly their interest to con-
ciliate, and not Judah. Under these circumstances
the Phoenicians seem, not only to hare purchased
and to have sold again as slaves, and probably is
tome instances to ban kidnapped inhabitants of Ju
dab, hut even to hare sold them to their enemies tht
Edoraites (Joel, Amos, as above). This was re-
garded with reason at a departure from the oU
brotherly covenant, when Hiram was a great Ions
b After the disruption, ■ the period of union was
looked back to with endless longing.
e In Joel iii. 6 (Heb. Iv. 6), "sons of the Ionian* "
i. e. of the Greeks, la the most natural translation 01
Brnet-Yawanim- But there is a Tawan mentioned la
Arabia Felix, and there is still a Yawan in Yemen :
and both Cr-dner and Furst think that, looking to Am
1. 9, an Arabian people, and not Grecians, are here al
luded to. The threat, however, of selling the Poena
elans In turn to the Sshssens, "a people tar tB," whist
tesms to Imply that the Yawarum were not " far off,-
tends to make it Improbable that the Yawioim was
near the Sabseans, as they would have been k> i
faux r«ea Javss, Bon or, Amsr. ed-j
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PHOENICIANS
/ David, awl subsequently had the most friendly
wmwhl relation* with David's eon: end thU
may be regarded u the original foundation of the
hostility of the Hebrew prophets toward* PhoeiL-
oan Tyre. (la. xxili.; Ea. xxviil.)
1. The only other notice in the Old Testament
of trade between the Phoenicians and the Israelites
is in the account given by the prophet Exekiel of
the trade of Tyre (xxviL 17). While this account
supplies Tsluable information respecting the various
commercial dealings of the most illustrious of Phoe-
nician cities [Trait], it likewise makes direct men-
tion of the exports to it front Palestine. These
were wheat, honey (t. c sirup of grapes), oil, and
balm. The export of wheat deserves attention (con-
osraing the other exports, see Hoxkt, Oil, Balm),
. because it shows how important it most hare been
to the Phoenicians to maintain friendly relations
with their Hebrew neighbors, and especially with
Um adjoining kingdom of Israel. The wheat is
called wheat of Minnith,* which was a town of the
Ammonites, on the other side of Jordan, only once
mentioned elsewhere in the Bible: and it is not
certain whether Minnith was a great inland empo-
rium, where large purchases of com were made, or
whether the wheat in its neighborhood was pecul-
iarly good, and gave its name to all wheat of a cer-
tain fineness in quality. Still, whatever may be the
jorrect explanation respecting Minnith, the only
countries specified for exports of wheat are .ludah
and Israel, and it was through the territory of Is-
rael that the wheat would be Imported into Phoeni-
cia. It is suggested by Hceren in his Ifaturiatl
Haearcha, ii. 117, that the fact of Palestine being
thus, sa it were, the granary of Phoenioia, expiring
in the dearest manner the lasting peace that pre-
vailed between the two countries. He observes
that with many of the other adjoining nations the
Jews lived in a state of almost continual warfare;
but that they never once engaged in hostilities with
their nearest neighbors the Phoenicians. The fact
itself is certainly worthy of special notice ; and is
the more remarkable as there were not wanting
tempting occasions for the interference of the Phoe-
nicians in Palestine if they had desired it. When
Elijah at the brook Kishon, at the distance of not
more than thirty miles in a straight Hne from Tyre,
put to death 460 prophets of Baal (1 K. xviii. 40),
we can well conceive the agitation and anger which
men a deed must have produced at Tyre. And at
Sidon, mote especially, which was only twenty
miles farther distant from the scene of slaughter,
the first impulse of the inhabitants must have been
to march forth at onoe in battle array to strengthen
the hands of Jezebel, their own princes*, in behalf
of Baal, their Phoenician god. When again after-
wards, by means of falsehood and treachery, Jehu
was enabled to massacre the worshippers of Baal in
the land of Israel, we cannot donbt that the intelli-
gence was received in Tyre, Sidon, and the other
dtiss of Phoenicia, with a similar burst of horror
and indignation to that with which the news of the
Massacre on St Bartholomew's day was received
n all Protestant countries; and there must have
Men an intense desire in the Phoenicians, if they
sad the power, to invade the territories of Israel
without delay and inflict signal chastisement on
PHUSNIOIANS
2519
« In ver. IT the word « Pannag" ocean, which Is
act (mod alaawhara. Opinions are divided as to
whether It Is the name of a place, like Hlnnita.or the
assns of an article of mod ; " sweat cake," fcr sxamnle.
Jehu (2 K. x. 18-28). The fact thai Israel was
their granary would undoubtedly have been an ele-
ment in restraining the Phoenicians, even on occa-
sions such as these; but probably still deeper mo-
tives were likewise at work. It seems to have been
part of the settled policy of the Phoenician cities to
avoid attempts to make conquests on the continent
of Asia, Kor this there were excellent reasons in
the position of their small territory, which with the
range of Lebanon on one side as a barrier, and the
sea on the other, was easily defensible by a wealthy
power having command of the sea, against second
or third rate powers, but for the same reason was
not well situated for offensive war on the land aide-
It may be added that* a pacific policy was theft
manifest interest as a commercial nation, unless by
war they were morally certain to obtain an impor-
tant accession of territory, or unless a warlike pol-
icy was an absolute necessity to prevent the for-
midable preponderance of any one great neighbor.
At last, indeed, they even carried their system of
non-intervention in continental wars too far, If it
would have been possible for them by any alliances
in Syria and Gaele-Syria- to prevent the establish-
ment on the other side of the Lebanon of one great
empire. For from that moment their ultimate
doom was certain, and it was merely a question of
time as to the arrival of the fatal hour when they
would lose their independence. But too little is
known of the details of their history to warrant an
opinion as to whether they might at any time by
any course of policy have raised up a Itarrier against
the empire of the Assyrians or (Jhaldees.
I V. The religion of the Phoenicians is a subject
of vast extent and considerable perplexity in details,
but of its general features as bearing upon the
religion of the Hebrews there can be no doubt.
As opposed to Monotheism, it was a Pantheistical
personification of the forces of nature, and in its
most philosophical shadowing forth of the Supreme
powers, it may be said to have represented the
male and female principles of production. In its
popular form, it wis especially a worship of the
sun, moon, and fire planets, or, as it might have
been expressed according to ancient notic ns, of the
seven planets — the most beautiful, and perhaps the
most natural, form of idolatry ever presented to the
human imagination. These planets, however, were
not regarded as lifeless globes of matter, obedient
to physical laws, but as intelligent animated powers,
influencing the human will, and controlling human
destinies. An account of the different Phoenician
gods named in the Bible will be found elsewhere
[see Baal, Ashtaboth, Asrkrah, etc.] ; but it
will be proper here to point out certain effects which
the circumstance of their being worshipped in Phoe-
nicia produced upon the Hebrews.
1. In the first jJace, their worship was a comta-it
temptation to Polytheism and idolatry. It is the
general tendency of trade, by making merchants
acquainted with different countries and various
modes of thought, to enlarge the mind, to promote
the increase of knowledge, and, in addition, by the
wealth which it diffuses, to afford opportunities
in various ways for intellectual culture. It can
scarcely be doubted that, owing to these circum-
stances, th» Phoenicians, as a great commercial
Patfaaps no **» can really d* joors than to man a
coats on the mint. As svMkroes for sash mssnsag k
mcooclustve.
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2520 PHOENICIANS
people, wen more generally intelligent, and, as we
iboald now say, civilized, than the inland agri-
cultural population of Palestine. When the sim-
ple-minded Jews, therefore, came in contact with a
people more versatile and, apparently, more en-
lightened than themselves, but who nevertheless,
either in a philosophical or in a popular form,
admitted a system of Polytheism, an influence
would l* exerted on Jewish minds, tending to make
them regard their exclusive devotion to their own
one God. Jehovah, however transcendant bis attri-
butes, as unsocial and morose. It is in some such
way that we must account for the astonishing fact
that Solomon himself, the wisest of the Hebrew
race, to whom Jehovah is expressly stated to have
appeared twice — once, not long after his marriage
with an Egyptian princess, on the night after his
sacrificing 1,1)00 burnt offerings on the high place
of Gibeon, and the second time, after the consecra-
tion of the Temple — should have been so far be-
guiled by his wires in his old age as to become a
Polytheist, worshipping, among other deities, the
Phoenician or Sidonian goddess Ashtaroth (1 K.
iii. 1-5, ix. 2. xi. 1-5). This is not for a moment
to be so interpreted, as if he ever ceased to worship
Jehovah, to whom be had erected the macnificeut
Temple, which in history is so generally connected
with Solomon's name. Probably, according to his
own erroneous conceptions, be never ceased to regard
himself as a loyal worshipper of Jehovah, but he at
the same time deemed this not incompatible with
sacrificing at the altars of other gods likewise.
Still the fact remains, that Solomon, who by his
Temple in its ultimate results did so much for
establishing the doctrine of one only God, died
himself a practical Polytheist- And if this was
the case with him, Polytheism in other sovereigns
of inferior excellence can excite no surprise. With
such an example before him, it is no wonder that
Ahab, an essentially bad man, should after his
marriage with a Sidonian princess not only openly
tolerate, but encourage, the worship of Baal;
though it is to be remembered even in him, that
he did not disavow the authority of Jehovah, but,
when rebuked by his great antagonist Elyah, he
rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and
showed other signs of contrition evidently deemed
sincere (1 K. xvi. 31, xxi. 27-29). And it is to be
observed generally that although, before the refor-
mation of Josiah (2 K. xxiii.), Polytheism prevailed
in Judah as well as Israel yet it seems to have
been more intense and universal in Israel, as might
have been expected from its greater proximity to
Phoenicia : and Israel is sometimes spoken of as if
It had set the bad example to Judah (2 K. xrii.
19; Jer. iii. 8): though, considering the example
jf Solomon, this cannot be accepted as a strict
historical statement.
2. The Phoenician religion was likewise in other
respects deleterious to the inhabitants of Palestine,
neing in some points essentially demoralizing. For
rumple, it sanctioned the dreadful superstition of
urning children as sacrifices to a Phoenician god.
"They have built also," says Jeremiah, in tbe name
of Jehovah (xix. 6), "the high places of Baal, to
earn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto
Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither
a Whatever eua the amstsd saeriBca of Isaac arm-
I (0»n. xrii. IS), it likewise symboUsss the sub-
I m sacrifices of the Inferior animals for ehil-
tna Isltb, if oomnanoad, was isedj to •serine*
PHOENICIANS
came it into my mind" (comp. Ik xxzd It)
This horrible custom was probably in its ongix
founded on the idea of Sacrificing to a god what
was best and most valuable in the eyes of tbe sup-
pliant ;« but it could not exist without having a
tendency to stifle natural feelings of affection, and
to harden the heart. It could scarcely have beta
first adopted otherwise than in tbe infancy of the
Phoenician race; but grown-up men and grown-up
nations, with their moral feelings in other respects
cultivated, are often the slaves in particular points
of an eariy-implanted superstition, and It is worthy
of note that, more than 250 years after the death
of Jeremiah, the Carthaginians, when their city
was besieged by Agathocles, offered as burnt sacri-
fices to the planet Saturn, at the public e xp ense,
200 boys of the highest aristocracy; and, suhae- .
quently, when they had obtained a victory, seen •
Deed the most beautiful captives in the like mannet
(Diod. xx. 14, 65). If such things were possible
among tbe Carthaginians at a period so much later,
it is easily conceivable how common the practice
of sacrificing children may have been at the time
of Jeremiah among the Phoenicians generally: and
if this were so, it would have been certain to pre-
vail among the Israelites who worshipped the same
Phoenician gods; especially as, owing to the inter-
marriages of their forefathers with Canaanites,
there were probably few Israelites who may not
have had some Phoenician blood in their veins
(Judg. iii. 5). Again, parts of the Phoenician
repgion, especially the worship of Astarte, tended
to encourage dissoluteness in the relations of the
sexes, and even to sanctify impurities of the most
abominable description. Connected with her tem-
ples and images there were male and female prosti-
tutes, whose polluted gains formed part of the
sacred fund appropriated to tbe service of the
goddess. And, to complete tbe deification of Im-
morality, they were even known by the name of
tbe " consecrated." Nothing can show more clearly
how deeply this baneful example had eaten into the
hearts and habits of the people, notwithstanding
positive prohibitions and the repeated denuncia-
tions of the Hebrew prophets, than the almost
incredible fact that, previous to the reformation of
Josiah, this dasi of persons was allowed to have
houses or tents close to the Temple of Jehovah,
whose treasury was perhaps even replenished by
their gains. (2 K. xxiii. 7: Dent, xxiii. 17, 18; 1 K.
xiv. 24, xv. 12, xxii. 46: Hos. iv. 14; Job xxxvi. 14;
Ludan, Ludut, c 35; De Dei Sgri, ee. 27, 61 ;
Gesenius, Thetnunu, s. T. W~Xn, p. 1196; Hovers,
PhSmaer, i. 678, Ac.: Spencer, De J^gibn Hn-
braorum, i. 561.)
V. The most important intellectual invention of
man, that of letters, was universally ass er t ed by
tbe Greeks and Romans to have been communicated
by the Phoenicians to the Greeks. The earliest
written statement on the subject is in Herodotus,
v. 57. 58, who Incidentally, in giving an account
of Harmodius and Aristogdton, says that they
were by race Gephyneans; and that he had ascer-
tained by inquiry that the Gephyneans were Phoe-
nicians, amongst those Phoenicians who came over
with Cadmus' 1 into Boeotia, and instructing the
even children; but the Hebrew* war* stand th»
dreadful trial, and war* parmltcsd to sabsettots these
and goats, and balls.
» In Hebrew then Is a root Kadam. torn wnirb
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PHfflNICIANS
■ fa many other art* and sciences, uugh t them
likewise letters. It ni an easy step from this to
katieve, u many of the ancient* believed, that the
Phoenician* meenltd letters.
* Phasnleas priml, famse si eredltur, au»l
•Jansoiam rudlbus vocem dgnara BgurU."
Loom's Phonal. ill. 220, 221
This belief, however, was not universal ; and Pliny
the elder expresses his own opinion that they were
of Assyrian origin, while he relates the opinion of
Gellius that they were invented by the Egyptians,
sad of others that they were invented by the
Syrians (.Nat. DitL rii. 57). Now, as Phoenician
has been shown to be nearly the same language ■*
Hebrew, the question arises whether Hebrew throws
any light on the time or the mode of the invention
of letters, on the question of who invented them,
or on the universal belief of antiquity that the
knowledge of them was communicated to the Greeks
by the Phoenicians. The answer is as follows:
Hebrew literature ia as silent as (ireek literature
respecting the precise date of the invention of let-
ters, and th> name of the inventor or inventors;
but the names of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet
are in accordance with the belief that the Phoe-
nicians ooinmunieated the knowledge of letters to
the Giceks: for many of the names of letters in the
Greek alphabet, though without meaning in Greek,
have a meaning in the corresponding letters of
Hebrew. For example: the four first letters of
the Greek alphabet, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta,
are not to lie explained through tbe Greek lan-
guage; but the corresponding four first letters of
the Hebrew alphabet, namely, Aleph, Beth, Giniel,
Daleth, being essentially the same words, are to be
explained in Hebrew. Thus in Hebrew Aleph or
Eleph means an ox; Beth or Bayitb a bouse:
Gamal a camel; and Ueletb a door. And the
tarn* ia essentially, though not always so clearly, the
ea«e with almost all the sixteen earliest Greek letters
said to have been brought over from Phoenicia by
Cadmus, ABTAE F IKAMNOnPST;" and
called on this account Phoenician or Cadmeian
letters (HervdoL L «.; Pliny, HuL Nat. vii. 67;
Jelf s Greti Grum. i. 3). Moreover, as to writing,
tbe ancient Hebrew letters, substantially the same
as Phoenician, agree closely with ancient Greek
letters — a fact whioh, taken by itself, would not
prove that the Greeks received them from the
Phoenicians, as tbe Phoenicians might possibly have
received them from the Greeks; but which, viewed
in connection with Greek traditions on the subject,
and with the significance of the letters in Hebrew,
seems reasonably conclusive that the letters were
transported from Phoenicia into Greece. It is true
that modem Hebrew writing and the later Greek
writing of antiquity have not much resemblance
to each other; but tbis is owing partly to gradual
hanges in tbe writing of Greek letters, and partly
.-> the fact that the character in which Hebrew
Bibles are now printed, called tbe Assyrian or
square character, was not the one originally in use
among the Jews, but seems to have been learnt in
PHOENICIANS
2521
Ktdrm, a noun with the double meaning of tht "Bisf
sod "ancient tune." With the former sense, Cadmus
Alibi mean " ■astern," or one from the last, ilkn the
aara* " Norman," or " Fleming," or, still mors clce&jr,
fee " Western," Or " Southern," In Bullish. Wife tbe
■Mar sense tor XsdVm, the name would mean "Ollen"
r " l u SJs n ' ami an etymological etgntaeance might
the Babylonian Captivity, and afterwards gred-
unlly adopted b) them on their return to Palestine.
(Gesenius, Getchichtt da- HebrSUchtn Spraeht
unit Seln-i/l, p. 166.)
As to the mode in which letters were invented,
some clew is afforded by some of the early Hebrew
and the Phoenician characters, which evidently
aimed, although very rudely, like the drawing of
very young children, to represent the object which
the name of the letter signified. Thus the earliest
Alpha has some vague resemblance to an ox's head,
Gimel to a camel's back, Daleth to the door of a
tent, Vau to a book or peg. Again, the written
letters, called respectively, Lamed (an ox goad),
Ajin (an eye), Qoph (the back of the head), Reish
or Rough (the head), and Tav (a cross), are all ef-
forts, more or less successful, to portray the things
signified by tbe names. It is said that this is
equally true of Egyptian phonetic hieroglyphics;
but, however this may be, there is no difficulty in
understanding in this way the formation of an
alphabet, when the idea of representing the com-
ponent sounds or half-sounds of a word by figures
was once conceived. But the original idea of thus
representing sounds, though peculiarly felicitous,
was by no means obvious, and millions of men
lived and died without It* occurring to any one of
them.
In conclusion, it may not be unimportant to
observe that, although so many letters of the Greek
alphabet have a meaning in Hebrew or Phoenician,
yet their Greek names are not in the Hebrew or
Phoenician, but in the Aramaic form. There is a
peculiar form of the noun in Aramaic, called by
grammarians the itntta emphaticut, in which the
termination d (K ) is added to a noun, modify-
ing it according to certain laws. Originally this
termination was probably identical with tbe defi-
nite article "ha"; which, instead of being pre-
fixed, was subjoined to the noun, as is the case now
with the definite article in the Scandinavian lan-
guages. This form in a is found to exist in the
oldest specimen of Aramaic in the Bible, Ytyar
t'h idithH, in Genesis xxxL 47, where takndUk,
testimony, is used by Laban in the status etnpkat-
icui. Now it is worthy of note that the names of
a considerable proportion of the " Cadmeian letters "
in tbe Greek alphabet are in this Aramaic form,
such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kta, Thett,
Iota, Kappa, Lambda; and although this fact by
itself is not sufficient to support an elaborate theory
on the subject, it seems in favor, as far as it goes,
of the conjecture that when the Greeks originally
received the knowledge of letters, the names by
which the several letters were taught to them were
Aramaic. It has been suggested, indeed, by Ge-
senius, that tbe Greeks themselves made the addi-
tion in all these cases, in order to give the words a
Greek termination, as •' they did with other Phoe-
nician words a* melet, uatAffo, neveL nfflAa." If,
however, a list is examined of Phoenician words
naturalized in Greek, it will not be found that the
o» ffven to a line of Sophocles, In widen Oadmus is
DMutfoned ; —
*0 riiaa Kalao* rev laXai riarpo+i-
(Slip. 2\r. 1.
o The sixth latter, afterwards disused, and now
generally known by the name of Digamma (from Oto-
njifus, I. 2 n \ was unquestionably the same as Ike
Hebrew letter Tau (a hook).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2622 PHOENICIANS
aiding in i ha* been the favorite mode of aeoom-
Biodating them to the Greek language. Kor ex-
ample., the following sixteen words are specified by
Week {hitdtitung in dot A. T., p. 6Uj, u having
Leen communicated through the l'b<EUician» to the
Greeks : yiplos = uered ; Kiivd/uwuov — kinna-
uiuu; <rdr<ptipos — supplr; uuppu, p,vpor = wor;
icaoia, xao"<rla = ketziah ; {taowror = e*6v ;
MjSavor, AijSeuwrdi = levonah; fiieeot = bfttx;
Ki'iuyer = kaxumon ; uaVra = man; <>i/Ka> =
pflk; evicd^ucoi = shikniah; rcf0Aa = nevel;
Kiripa = kuin6r; *dV?|\oi = gonial; ap^ajStiv
= eravon. Now it if remarkable that, of these six-
teen, only four end in a in Greek which hare not
a similar termination in Hebrew; and, of these
four, one is a late Alexandrine translation, and two
are names of musical instruments, which, very
probably, may first have beeu communicated to
Greeks, through Syrians, in Asia Minor. And,
under any circumstances, the proportion of the
Phoenician words which end in a in Greek is too
small to warrant the inference that any common
practice of the Greeks in this respect will account
for the seeming fact that nine out of the sixteen
Caduieian letters are in the Aramaic ibitut tuipl.al-
icut. The inference, therefore, from their endings
in a remains unshaken. Still this must not be
regarded in any way as proving that the alphabet
was invented by those who spoke the Aramaic lan-
guage. This is a wholly distinct question, and far
more obscure; though much deference on the point
is due to the opinion of Gesenius, who, from the
Internal « evidence of the names of the Semitic let-
ters, has arrived at the conclusion that they were
invented by the Phoenicians (Pulaiigrnpliit, p.
tM).
Literature. — In English, see Kenrick's Pirn-
uicia, London, 1866: in Latin, the second part of
Bochart's O'eograjiliia Sacra, under the title "Ca-
naan," and Gesenius' work, Scriptum Linyuaque
Pltomicia Moimmtnta quvtqwt tupersutit, Lipsisa,
1837 : in German, the exhaustive work of Movers,
Die Phbnizier, and Du Phomiitehe AUerthum,
6 vols.. Berlin, 1841-1856; an article on the same
lubject by Movers, in Ersch and Gruber's Ancycto-
oaxlie, and an article in the same work by Gesenius
on Pultipgrnp/iie. See likewise, Gesenius' 6'es-
cliichtt der lltbraucken Spin die Mtel 8chr\fl,
Leipzig, 1815; Week's Einltittmy in Hat Alte Tes-
tament, Berlin, 1860. Phoenician inscriptions dis-
covered since the time of Gesenius have been pub-
lished by Judas, Etude demonstrative de In langut
Phenicienne et de la Inngve Liliyque, Paris, 1847,
and forty-five other inscriptions have been pub-
lished by the AbW Bourgade, Paris, 1863, fol. in
1846 a votive tablet was discovered at Marseilles,
respecting which see Movers' Phamid$che Text*,
1847. In 1856, an inscription was discovered at
Sidou on the sarcophagus of a Sidonian king
named Eshmunazar, respecting which see Die-
trich's Ztcri Sidom'tche lntchriflen, und tint alte
Phbumtche Kdnigtintchrifl, Marburg, 1856, and
Kwald's ErklSrung der grotttn PhBnizuchrn In-
tchrifl von Sidon, Gottingen, 1866, 4to; from the
a The strongest argument of Gesenius against the
Inmate invention of the letters is, that although
Inubttaa many of the names an both Aramaic and
Csbrsw, some of them are not Aramaic ; at least, not
• the Hebrew «ignU)cuUou : while the Syrians use
I te nones tl > same Mass. Thus P|Vr*
PHV.T, PUT
seventh volume of the AOktmdhmgen d*r Juta>
ficAer GeeeUtchaJl m OtKtmgto. Information re-
specting these works, and others on Phnriiri—
inscriptions, is given by Bieek, pp. 64, 65.
E. T.
PHCKOS («•»>: Phttrtt, Fore) = Pakobh
(1 Esdr. t. 9, ix. 96).
PHRYG'IA (*otryta: Phrygia). Perhaps
there is no geographical term in the Mew Testa-
ment which is less capable of an exact definition.
Many maps convey the impression that it was co-
ordinate with such terms as Uithynia, Cilicia, or
Galatia. But in fact there was no Koman province
of Phrygia till considerably after the first establish-
ment of Christianity in the peninsula of Asia Mi-
nor. 'Ine word was rather ethnological than po-
litical, and denoted, in a vague manner, the western
part of the central region of that peninsula. Ac-
cordingly, in two of toe three places where it it
used, it is mentioned in a manner not intended to
be precise (8isA6dWtt tV ipvytay ma) tV Tar
AarixV x&Vor, AeU xvi. 6; tupxiperm ats0afq>
tV raAoruckr xipon col +puyta*. Acts xviii.
23). the former having reference to the second
missionary journey of St. Paul, the tatter to the
third. Nor is the remaining passage (Acta ii. 10)
inconsistent with this view, the enumeration of
those foreign Jews who came to Jerusalem at Pen-
tecost (though it don follow, in some degree, a
geographical order) having no reference to political
boundaries. By Phrygia we must iinderetai.il an
extensive district, which contributed portions to
several Koman provinces, and varying portions at
different times. As to its physical characteristics,
it wss generally a tableland, but with considerable
variety of appearance and soil. Several towns
mentioned in the Mew Testament were Phrygian
towns; such, for instance, as Iconium and C'oloaue:
but it is better to class them with the provinces to
which tbey politically belonged. All over this dis-
trict the Jews were probably numerous. Tbey were
first introduced there by Antiochus the Great (Jo-
seph. Ant. xii. 3, § 4): and we have abundant proof
of their presence there from Acts xiii. 14, xiv. 1,
It), as well as from Acts ii. 10. [See Philip, p.
2485 o.] J. 8. H.
PHUD ( V ov8) = Phut (Jnd. ii. 88; comp.
Ear. xxvil. 10).
PHU'&AH (rn^ [bough, branch]: *np4:
Phara). Gideon's servant (lit. " lad," or " hoy " ),
probably his armor-bearer (comp. 1 Sam. xiv. 1),
who accompanied him in his midnight visit to the
camp of the Midianites (Judg. vii. 10, 11).
PHU'KIM (raw *povpai; [Alex, vmsu;
FA.» ipovpip.:] Phaim), Esth. xi. 1. [PoiuM.]
PHUT, PUT (MB [see below] : *oii, [Alex,
in 1 Chr. ♦owt; in Jer., Ezek., Nab.] A/0w«:
Phutli, Phut, Libyet, Libya, Afrim [ ?] ), the third
name in the list of the sons of Ham (Gen. x. b° : 1
Chr. i. 8), elsewhere applied to an African countrv
or people. In the list it followa Cush and Mixnum
and precedes Canaan. The settlements of Cuak
in Araaiaie means only 1000, and not an ox ; Uw wart
(or « door " In Aramaic is not /"iVl, but STI
while the six following names of fartmshn lillm ao
not Anmale : 11, IV, D?P, KB flt/r. CSB), V\y
VT.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PHUT, PUT
extended from Babylonia to Ethiopia above Egypt,
Iboae of Mizraim stretched from the Philistine ter-
ritory through Egypt and along the northern coast
of Africa to the west; and the CanaaniUs were es-
tablished at first in thn land of Canaan, but after-
wards were spread abroad. The order seems to be
ascending towards the north : the Cushite chain of
settlements being the most southern, the Mizraite
chain extending above them, though perhaps
through a smaller region, at least at the first, and
the Canaanites holding the most northern position.
We cannot place the tract of Phut out of Africa,
and it would thus seem that it was almost parallel
to that of the Mizraites, as it could not be further
to the north: this position would well agree with
Mbya. But it must be recollected that the order
of the nations or tribes of the stocks of Cosh, Miz-
raim, and Canaan, is not the same as that we hare
inferred to be that of the principal names, and that
it is also possible that Phut may be mentioned in
a supplementary manner, perhaps as a nation or
country dependent on Egypt.
The few mentions of Phut in the Bible clearly
indicate, as already remarked, a country or people
of Africa, and, it must be added, probably not far
from Egypt. It is noticeable that they occur only
In the list of Noah's descendants and in the pro-
phetical Scriptures. Isaiah probably makes men-
tion of Phut as a remote nation or country, where
the A. V. has Pul, as in the Masoretic text (Is.
brri. 19). Nahuni, warning Nineveh by the fall of
No-Amon, speaks of Cush and Mtzr.iim as the
strength of tlie Egyptian city, and Phut and l.u-
bitn as its helpers (Hi. 9). Jeremiah tells of Phut
in Necho's army with Cush and the l.udim (xlvi.
9). Exekiel speaks of Phut with Persia and Lud
as supplying mercenaries to Tyre (xxvil 10), and
as sharing with Cusb, Lud, and other helpers of
Kgypt, in her all (xxx. 6); and aga'.n, with
Persia, and Gush, perhaps in the sense of nier-
jenarias, as warriors of the army of Gog (xxxviii.
From these passages we cannot infer anything
«e to the exact position of this country or people;
unless indeed in Nabum, Cush and Phut, Mizraim
and l.ubim are respectively connected, which might
indicate a position south of Egypt. The serving in
the Egyptian army, and importance of Phut to
Egypt, make it reasonable to suppose that its posi-
tion was very near.
In the ancient Egyptian inscriptions we find two
names that may be compared to the Biblical Phut.
The tribes or peoples called the Nine Bows IX
PETU or IX NA-PETU, might partly or whoUy
represent Phot Their situation is doubtful, and
they are never found in a geographical list, but only
In the general statements of the power and prowess
sf the kings. If one people be indicated by them,
we may compare the Napbtubini of the Bible.
[Nafhtuhiu.] It seems unlikely that the Nine
Bows should correspond to Phut, ss their name
does not occur as a geographical term in use in the
directly historical inscriptions, though it may be
■opposed that several well-known names there take
ks place as those of individual tribes; but this is
an improbable explanation. The second name is
•hat of Nubia, TO-PET, '< the region of the Bow,'°
tlso sailed TO-MEKU-PET, "the region -he island
PHUT, PUT
2528
• • lew Phut (u Dm marf.) the A. T. in the two
law aaesaass above has Lax* (which sse), sod In Jet.
SivtUxUbyans." B.
of the Bow," whence we conjecture the name of
Meroe to come. In the geographical lists the latter
form occurs in that of a people, ANU-MEKU-PET
found, unlike all others, iu the lists of the southern
peoples and countries as well as the northern. The
character we read PET is an unstrung bow, which
until lately was read KENS, as a strung bow is
found following, ss if a determinative, the latter
word, which is a name of Nubia, perhaps, however,
not including so large a territory as the names be-
fore mentioned. The reading KENS is extremely
doubtful, because the word does not signify bow in
Egyptian, as far as we are aware, and still more
because the bow is used as the determinative of its
name PET, which from the Egyptian usage as to
determinatives makes it almost impossible that it
should be employed as a determinative of KENS.
The name KENS would therefore be followed by
the bow to indicate that it was a part of Nubia.
This subject may be illustrated by a passage of
Herodotus, explained by Mr. Harris of Alexandria,
if we premise that the unstrung bow is the com-
mon sign, and, like the strung bow, is so used ss
to be the symbol of Nubia. The historian relates
that the king of the Ethiopians unstrung a bow,
and gave it to the messengers of Cambyses, telling
them to say that when the king of the Persians
could pull so strong a bow so easily, he might come
against the Ethiopians with an army stronger than
their forces (iii. 21, 22, ed. Rawlinson: Sir G.
Wilkinson's note). For the hieroglyphic names see
Brugsch's (Jtogr. Jntchr.
The Coptic III <bi ] A.T mm * •I* •* oom "
pared with Phut. The first syllable being the
article, the word nearly resembles the. Hebrew
name. It is applied to the western part of Lower
Egypt beyond the Delta; and Champollion con-
jectures it to mean the Ubyan part cf Egypt, so
called by the lireeks, comparing the Coptic name
of the similar eastern portion, *|* » <>^.gt^.,
T'AJp,$.gj < J., the older Arabian part of Kgypt
and Arabian Nome (L'Ajijplt «••»» U $ Plwraom, ii.
pp. 28-31, 243). lie this as it may, the name seems
nearer to Naphtuhim than to Phut. To take a
broad view of the question, all the names which we
have mentioned may be reasonably connected with
the Hebrew Phut; and it may be supposed that the
Naphtuhim were Mizraites in the territory of
Phut; perhaps intermixed with peoples of the latter
stock. It it, however, reasonable to suppose that the
PET of the ancient Kgyptiaus, as a geographical
designation, corresponds to the Phut of the Ittble,
which would therefore denote Nubia or the Nu-
bians, the former, if we are strictly to follow the
Egyptian usage. This Identification would acct 1 1
for the position of Phut after Mizmim in the list ia
Genesis, notwithstanding the order of the othet
names ; for Nubia has been from remote times a de-
pendency of Egypt, excepting in the short period oi
Ethiopian supremacy, and the longer time of Ethio-
pian independence. The Egyptian name of Cush,
KEESH, is applied to a wider region well corre-
sponding to Ethiopia. The governor of Nubia in
the time of the Pharaohs was called Prince of
KEESH, perhaps because his authority extended
beyond Nubia. Tb. Identification of Phut with
Nubia is not repugnant to the mention in lbs
prophets: on the contrary, the great importance of
Nubia in their time,' which comprehended that of
the Ethiopian supremacy, would account for thai)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2524
PHUVAH
speaking of Phut u a mpport of Egypt, and m
furaiahmg It with warrioti.
The identification with Libya hu given rise to
attempt* to find the name in African geography,
which we shall not here examine, ag such mere
simian ity of aound is a moat unsafe guide.
B. S.P.
* Some Egyptologers identify the Put with the
Punt of the Egyptian monuments. Thus Bunsen,
(tgypfi Place, vol. ii. p. 804) says, " the Put of
Scripture ia analogoua with Punt, just aa Moph ia
with Men/, SheshaJs with Shetlionk." Accord-
ingly he regard* the Put aa Mauritanians. Ebera
(/Eyypttn und die Bicker Mote't, i. 84) says,
•' the name Punt ia identical with Put, for the
Egyptians, to whom a medial T aound was so diffi-
cult, always prefixed to this a nasal n, when it oc-
curred in a foreign name. For a like reason they
wrote Ndarius Tor Darius." If this identification
with the Punt ia admitted, then the home of the
Put could not have been either Nubia or Lydia.
The Punt were Arabians, and their country lay to
the east of Egypt (Urugach, Ueog. /mclirifl. ii.
16). This ia evident from monumental inscrip-
tions which represent a commerce with the land of
Phut by means of ships, that brought inceuse,
apices, precious stones, and other well-known prod-
ucts of Arabia. This commerce was probably by
way of the Arabian Gulf. The view here sug-
gested is maintained at length by Ebera, but the
identification ia still doubtful. J. P. T.
PHITVAH (ns^ [perh. mouth]: *oud-
Phua). One of the sons of Issachar (Gen. xlvi.
13), and founder of the fiunily of the PuMTBa,
In the A. V. of Num. xxvi. 28 be is called. Pua,
though the Heb. is the same; and in 1 Chr. vii. 1,
Ppah is another form of the name.
PHYGEI/LUS (♦uyeAAoi, or +tykt
[Laehm. Tiach.]: Pliigtlut), 2 Tim. i. IS. A
Christian connected with those in Asia of whom
St. Paul speaks as turned away from himself. It
ia open to question whether their repudiation of the
Apostle was joined with a declension from the faith
(see Buddeus, EccL ApotUi. ii. 310 ), and whether
the open display of the feeling of Asia took place
— at least so far as Phygellus and Hermogenes
were concerned — at Rome. It was at Rome that
Onesiphorus, named in the next verse, showed the
kindness for which the Apostle invokes a blessing
du his household in Asia: so perhaps it waa at
Rome that Phygellus displayed that change of feei-
ng toward St. Paul which the Apostle's former
'jllowers in Asia avowed. It seems unlikely that
H. Paul would write so forcibly if Phygellus had
aerely neglected to visit him in his captivity at
Rome. He may have forsaken (see 2 Tim. iv. 16)
•hj Apostle at some critical time when his support
ms expected -, or he may have been a leader of
scene party o.' nominal Christiana at Rome, auch
aa tho Apostle describes at an earlier period (Phil.
I. 15, 18) opposing him there.
Dean Ellicott, on 2 Tim. i. 15, who ia at variance
with the ancient Greek commentators aa to the ex-
»ct force of the phrase " they which are In Asia,"
states various opinions concerning their aversion
from 8t- Paul. The Apostle himself seems to have
kirca c e n it (Acta xx. 80); and there ia nothing in
the fact inounaistent with the general picture of the
state of Aaia at a later period which we have in
the first three chapters of the Revelation.
W. T. B.
PI-BK8KTH
PHYLACTERY. [FBoamcts.]
• PHYSICIAN. [Medici**]
PI-BE'SETH [A. V. ed. 1611, Phi-Bmrii)
(n*.3"*\: [see below]: Botfttoro*: Bubattmt)
a town of Lower Egypt, mentioned but once in ths
Bible (Ez. xxx. 17). In hieroglyphics its name is
written BAHEST, BAST, and UA-BAUEST,
followed by the determinative sign for an Egyp-
tian city, which was probably not pronounced.
The Coptic forms are RA.C r f~ vit ^ "* Mtie *'
m prefixed, ITorSiCTe. 1Ip~"
SAcf. <w>OT6<J.cei, BovsI-ctj,
IIoT<$-C r j~i ""d the Greek, Boifrurr s, Boo-
/Bcurros- The firat and second hieroglyphic names
are the same as those of the goddess of the place,
and the third signifies the abode of BAHEST,
that goddess. It is probable that BAHEST is an
archaic mode of writing, and that the word was
always pronounced, as it was sometimes written,
BAST. It seems aa if the civil name was BA-
HEST, and the aacred, UA-BAHEST. It is diffi-
cult to trace the first syllable of the Hebrew and oi
the Coptic and Greek forms in the hieroglyphic
equivalents. There is a similar case in the names
HAHESAR,Borc!pi, aloTcipi, Be*-
tripis, Butiru. Dr. Brugsch and M. Devi ria mul IK
or PA, instead of HA; but this is not proved. It
may be conjectured that in pronunciation the mas-
culine definite article PEP A or PEE was prefixed
to HA, as could be done in Coptic: in the ancient
language the word appears to be common, whereas
it la masculine in tbe later. Or it may be sug-
gested that tbe first syllable or first letter was a
prefix of the vulgar dialect, for it is frequent in
Coptic. The name of Phihe may perhaps afford a
third explanation, for it is written EELEK-T,
KELEK. and P-EELEK (Brugsch. Gtogr. Jtuekr.
i. 156. Nos. 626, 627); whence it would seem that
■he sign city (not abode) waa common, aa in the
first form the feminine article, and in the last the
masculine one, is used, and this would admit of
the reading PA-BAST, "tbe [city] of Bubaati*
[the goddess]."
Bubaatto was situate on the west bank of the
Peluaiae or Bubaetlte branch of the Nile, in the
Bubastite nome, about 40 miles from the central
part of Memphis. Herodotus speaks of its site as
hating been raised by those who dug the canals
for Sesottris, and afterwards by the labor of crimi-
nals under Sabacos the Ethiopian, or, rather the
Ethiopian dominion. He mentions the temple of
the goddess Bubastis aa well worthy of description,
being more beautiful than any other known to hit:.
It lay in the midst of the city, which, having been
raised on mounds, overlooked it on every side. An
artificial canal encompassed it with the waters of
tho Nile, and was beautified by trees on Hs bank.
There was only a narrow approach leading to a
lofty gateway. Tbe enclosure thus formed was
surrounded by a low wall, bearing sculptures-
within was the temple, surrounded by a grove of
fine trees (ii. 137, 138). Sir Gardner Wilkinson
observes that the ruins of the city and temple con-
firm thia account Tbe height of tbe mounds
and the site of the temple are very remarkable, m
well as the beauty of tbe latter, which waa " of the
finest red granite." It " was surrounded by a sa-
cred cocksure, about 600 feet square . .
Digitized by VjOOQlC
FI-BESETH
*hich ni k larger circuit, measuring 940 feet by
1900, containing tho minor one and the cans.."
The temple is entirely ruined, but the name* of
Rameses II. of the XlXth dynasty, I'serken I.
((torchon I.) of the XXIId, and Nekht-har-heb
(Kecta-nebo I.) of the XXXth, have been found
here, as well u that of the eponymous goddess
BAST. There are also remain* of the ancient
houses of the town, and, " amidst the houses on
the N. W. aide are the thick walk of a fort,
which protected the temple below " (Notes by Sir
G. Wilkinson in Rawlinson's fferodotia, vol. ii. pp.
219, plan, and 102). Bubastis thus had a fort,
besides being strong from its height.
The goddess BAST, who was here the chief
object of worship, was the same as PESHT, the
goddess of fire. Both names accompany a lion-
headed figure, and the cat waa sacred to them.
Herodotus considers the goddess Bubastis to be the
same as Artemis (11. 137), and that this was the
current opinion in Egypt In the Greek period is
evident from the name Specs Artemidos of a rock
temple dedicated to PESHT, and probably of a
neighboring town or village. The historian speaks
of the annual festival of the goddess held at Bu-
bastis as the chief and most largely attendee* of the
Egyptian festivals. It was evidently the most pop-
ular, and a scene of great license, like the great
Muslim festival of the Seyyid el-Iieriawee celebrated
at Tanteh in the Delta (ii. 59, 60).
There are scarcely any historical notices of Hu-
lwstis in the Egyptian annals In Manetho's list
it is related that in the time of Boethos, or Bochos,
first king of the lid dynasty (n. c. cir. 2470), a
chasm of the earth opened at Bubastis, and many
perished (Cory's Ancient FrngmtnU, 2d ed. pp.
98. 99). This is remarkable, since, though shocks
of earthquakes are frequent in Egypt, the actual
earthquake is of very rare occurrence. The next
event in the list connected with Bubastis is the
accession of the XXI Id dynasty (b. c. cir. 990),
a line of Bubastite kings {Itiid. pp. 124, 123).
These were either foreigners or partly of foreign
extraction, and it is probable that they chose Bu-
bastis as their capital, or as an occasional residence,
on account of its nearness to the military settle-
ments. [Migdol.] Thus it must have been a
rity of great importance when Enkiel thus fore-
told its doom : " The young men of Aveu and of
Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword : and these [cities]
shall go into captivity" (xxx. 17). Heliopolis and
Bubastis are near together, and both in the route
of an invader from the east marching against
Memphis. R. S. P.
* In Egyptian mythology, the goddess Palil,
the divinity of Bubastis, is described as the best-
beloved of Ptah. To her was attributed the cre-
ation of tiie Asiatic race, which immediately suc-
ceeded the creation of the Egyptians by Ka,
the Sun-god. She appears also as the avenger of
srimes, and in this character is depicted with the
head of a lioness. Perhaps under these two forms
i! "treating and punishing, she represented the
lolai ray as both vivifying and destructive. But
he was also presented under a gracious aspect
PIECE OF SIXVBtt
2525
« 1 n\Btp5, fto,n ^tyi "behoW." with
Q ^ : iJtot nowit : inugnulagnt{hn. xxvi. -. ),A. V.
k image of stone " ; Num. xxxlil. 82, aowU : ttfuhu
■» sh- v«H. 12. -•tb. "TTTJ: hihtIjv iqnnrrot : mbtand
toward men, and then, a* at Bubastis, the oat a
bead was her symbol. Some good examples of
this are to be seen in the Museums of Berlin
Leyden, and the Louvre at Paris.
Uiodorus (i. 27) has an inscription concerning
/sis, which says : " I am queen of the whole country,
brought up by Hermes: I am the eldest daughter
of the youngest god, Chronoa. For me Bubntii*
was built." But Isia personated various divinities,
and sometimes Peaht, appearing with the cat's-
head, and the usual symbols of that goddess
(Bunsen, i. 420). J. P. T.
PICTURE." In two of the three passages ir
which " picture " is used in A. V. it denotes idol-
atrous representations, either independent image*
or more usually stones " portrayed," i. e. sculptured
In low relief, or engraved and colored (Ez. xxiii. 14 ;
Layard, Nin. if Bub. ii. 308, 308). Movable picture*,
in the modern sense, were doubtless unknown to the
Jews ; but colored sculptures and drawings on walls
or on wood, as mummy cases, must have been famil*
iar to them in Egypt (see Wilkinson, Ane. Egypt, ii.
277). In later times we read of portraits (s bco'rai).
perhaps busts or intagli sent by Alexandra to An-
tony (Joseph. Ant. xv. 2 § 6). Tbe "pictures of
silver" of Prov. xxv. 11, were probably wall-sur-
faces or cornices with carvings, and the " apples of
gold " representations of fruit or foliage, like Solo-
mon'* flowers and pomegranates (1 K. vi., vii.).
The walls of Babylon wen ornamented with pic-
ture* on enameled brick. [Bkickh.] H. W. P.
PIECE OP GOLD. The A. V., in render-
ing the elliptical expression "six thousand of gold,"
in a passage respecting Naanian, relating that ht
" took with him ten talent* of silver, and six thou-
sand of gold, and ten changes of raiment " (2 K.
v. 5), supplies " pieces " a* the word understood.
The similar expression respecting silver, in which
the word understood appears to be shekels, probably
justifies the insertion of that definite word. [Piece
op Silver ] The same expression, if a weight of
gold be here meant, is also found in the following
passage: "And king Solomon made two hundred
targets [of] beaten gold: six hundred of gold went
toone target " (1 K. x. 16). Here the A. V. supplies
the word "shekels," and there seems no doubt that
it U right, considering the number mentioned, and
that a common weight must be intended. That a
weight of gold is meant in Naaman'a case may he in-
ferred, because it is extremely unlikely that coined
money was already invented at the time referred to,
and Indeed that it was known in Palestine before the
Persian period. [Moskt; Paric.] Kings or ingot*
of gold may have been in use, but we are scarcely
warranted in supposing that any of them bore the
name of shekels, since the practice was to weigh
money. The rendering " pieces of gold " is therefor*
very doubtful ; and " shekels of gold," a* designat-
ing the value of the whole quantity, sot individual
pieces, is preferable. R. S. P.
• PIECE OP MONET. [Stater.]
PIECE OF SILVER. The passage* in
the O. T. and those in the N. T. in which the
item atbituh A. T. "chamber of Imagery :" LntbM
seMftiten katnmtr. [TjtiaxxT, Ounns or, Amer. ad.J
2. n>37, from suae root (Is. 11 16) : tii. (»Xou.r:
xaAAtfvt : quod visu pulckntm tut : Prov. xxv. 11
" Applei of gold In ptctnns of silver : " LXX. ir tf/tt
•m> matim : m Itait atgtnttu : Latum, 9t*m**
Digitized by VjOOQlC
<
2626 PIECE OF SILVKE
A V. oses this term mnt be separately con-
I. In the O. T. the word " pieces " is used in
the A. V. for a word understood in the Hebrew, if
we except one case to be afterwards noticed. The
pbraae is always -'a thousand" or the like "of
silver" (Geo. xx. 16, xxxvii. 28, xlv. 22; Jndg. ix.
4, xvi. 5; 2 K. vi. 25; Hos. iii. 2; Zech. xi. 12,
13). In similar passages the word " shekels '"
occurs in the Hebrew, and it must be observed that
these are either in the Law, or relate to purchases,
some of an important legal character, as that of
the cave and field of Machpelah, that of the
threshing-floor and oxen of Araunah, or to taxes,
and the like (Gen. xxiii. 1$, 16; Ex. xxi. 32; Lev.
xxvii. 3, 6, 16; Josh. vii. 21; 2 Sam. xxiv. 24; 1
Chr. xxi. 26, where, however, shekels of gold are
spoken of; 2 K. xv. 20; Neb. v. 15; Jer. xxxii. 9).
There are other passages in which the A. V. sup-
plies the word "shekels" instead of "pieces"
(Deut xxii. 19, 29; Judg. xvii. 2, 3, 4, 10; 2
Sam. xviii. 11, 12), and of these the first two re-
quire this to be done. It becomes then a question
whether there is any ground for the adoption of the
word •• pieces," which is vague if actual coins be
meant, and Inaccurate if weights. The shekel, be
it remembered, was the common weight for money,
and therefore most likely to be understood in an
elliptical phrase. When we find good reason for
concluding that in two passages (Dent xxii. 19,
10) this is the word understood, it seems incredible
that any other should be in the other places. The
exceptional case in which a word corresponding to
'* pieces " is found in the Hebrew is in the Psalms,
where present* of submission are prophesied to be
made of "places of saver," Hr??"''??"! (Ixviii. 30,
Heb. 81). The ward ^T, which occurs nowhere
eke, if it preserve its radical meaning, from V ?"?•
must signify a piece broken off, or a fragment :
there is no reason to suppose that a coin is meant.
II. In the N. T. two words are rendered by the
phrase "piece of silver," drachma, JpoxM^i *"&
IpyipM (1.) The first (Luke xv. 8, 9) should
be represented by drachma. It was a Greek silver
eoin, equivalent, at the time of St. Luke, to the
Roman denarius, which is probably Intended by the
Evangelist, as it had then wholly or almost super-
seded the former. [Drachma.] (2.) The second
word is very properly thus rendered. It occurs in
the account of the lietrayal of our Lord for " thirty
pieces of silver" (Matt. xxvi. 15, xxvii. 3, 5, 6, 9).
It is difficult to ascertain what coins are here in-
tended. If the most common silver pieces be meant,
they would be denarii. The parallel passage in
Zeehariah (xi. 12, 13) must, however, be taken into
aonaideration, where, if our new he correct, shekels
■nit be understood. It may, however, be suggested
.hat the two thirties may correspond, not as of
exactly the same coin, but of the chief current coin.
Some light may be thrown on our difficulty by the
number of pieces. It can scarcely be a coincidence
that thirty shekels of silver was the price of blood
n the case of a slave accidentally killed (Ex. xxi.
18). It may be objected that there is no reason to
(oppose that shekels were current in our Lord's
time; but it must be replied that the tetradrschms
jf depreciated Attic weight of the Greek cities of
Syria of that time were of the same weight as the
shekels which we believe to be of Simon the Mao-
sabes [Homky], so that Josephus jpesis of the
PILATE, PONTIUS
shekel as equal to four Attic drachma! {Am. iii. *■
§ 2). These tetradrachms were common at the thnt
of our Ij)rd, and the piece of money found by St
Peter in the fish must, from its name,' have been of
this kind. [States.] It is therefore more prob-
able that the thirty pieces of silver were tetra
drachms than that they were denarii. There is nt
difficulty in the use of two terms, a name designat-
ing the denomination and " piece of silver," whether
the latter mean the tetradrachm or the denarius,
as it is a vague appellation that implies a more dis-
tinctive name. In the received text of St Matthew
the prophecy as to the thirty pieces of silver is s»
cribed to Jeremiah, and not to Zeehariah. and
much controversy has thus been occasioned. The
true explanation seems to be suggested by the ab-
sence of any prophet's name in the Syriac version,
and the likelihood that similarity of style would
have caused a copyist inadvertently to insert the
name of Jeremiah instead of that of Zeehariah.
[Aceldama, Amer. ed.] E. S. P.
PIETY. This word occurs but once in A. V. :
"Let them learn first to show piety at home"
(re* fSior oTa-ov tbat&ur, better, " towards their
own household," 1 Tim. r. 4). The choice of this
word here instead of the more usual equivalents of
" godliness," "reverence," and the like, was prob-
ably determined by the special sense of pitta*, as
" eiya parentes " (Cic. Pmiit. 22, Rep. vi. 15, 7«r.
ii. 22). It does not appear in the earlier English
versions, and wa may recognize in its application in
this passage a special felicity. A word was wanted
for tvvtfft7r which, unlike " showing godliness,"
would admit of a human as well as a divine object,
and this piety supplied. E. H. P.
PIGEON. [Ttjbtlb-Dovb.]
pi-HAHrROTH(rrr>TTrr *<9, riniii
[see below] : jj iwavXif, to cri/ta Zifxit, tipiH:
Pniknhiroth), a place before or at which the Isrv-
elites encamped, at the close of the third march
from Kameses, when they went out of Egypt Pi-
hahiroth was before Migdol, and on the other hand
were Baul-zephon and the sea (Ex. xiv. 2, 9 ; Num.
xxxiii. 7, 8). The name is probably that -'* nat-
ural locality, from the unlikelihood that there should
have lieen a town or village in both parts of the
country where it is placed in addition to Migdol
and Haal-zephon, which seem to have been, if not
towns, at least military stations, and its name is
susceptible of an Egyptian etymology giving a sens*
apposite to this idea. The first part of the word is
apparently treated by its omission ss a separate
prefix (Num. xxxiii. 8), and it would therefore
appear to be the masculine definite article PE,
PA, or PEE. Jablonsky proposed the Coptic
IU-J.;XM-pa7T, "the place where sedge
grows," and this, or a similar name, the late H.
Fulgence Krone) recognised in the modern G'*w-
mybet-el-boot, " the bed of reeds-" It is remark-
able that this name occurs near where we suppoa*
the passage of the Red Sea to have taken place, as
well as near Sues, in the neighborhood usnaP>
chosen as that of this miracle,' but nothing coulu
be inferred as to place from such a name being near
found, as the vegetation it describe* is fiawtuaong
[Exodus, the.] R. 8. P.
PITiATE, PONTITJ8 (TldVrtor nfAtn-ei
[n.iXorot, Tiseh., 8th ed.]: Ponthu POntn, his
pnenomen being unknown). The name indicates
that he was connected, by descent oradoptien, with
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PILATE, PONTIUS
the gem of the Pontii, first conspicuous in Raman
history in the person of C. Pontius Teleainua, the
gnat Samnite general. 11 He m the lixth Roman
procurator of Judaea, and under him our Lord
worked, suffered, and died, an we learn, not only
bom the obvious Scriptural authorities, but from
lactam (Ann. it. 44, " Chriatua Tiberio imperitante,
per procuratorem Pontium Palatum aupplieio ad-
fectus erat ").» A procurator (ewiVpowot, Philo,
Leg. ad Cnwm, and Joaeph. B. J. ii. 9, § 2; but
leu correctly yyeauf r, Matt, xxvii. 2 ; and Joaeph.
Ant. xviii. 3, § 1) was generally a Koman knight,
appointed to *ct under the governor of a provisos
aa collector of the menus, and judge in causes con-
nected with it. Strictly speaking, proatratoru
Castarit wen only required in the imperial prov-
inces, t. e. those which, according to the constitu-
tion of Augustus, were reserved for the special
administration of the emperor, without the inter-
vention of the senate and people, and governed by
his legate. In the senatoriaii provinces, governed
by proconsuls, the corresponding duties were dis-
charged by quaestors. Yet it appears that some-
times procuratorri were appointed in those prov-
inces also, to collect certain dues of the Jitau (the
emperor's special revenue), aa distinguished from
those of the arnrium (the revenue administered by
the senate). Sometimes in a small territory, espe-
cially in one contiguous to a larger province, and
dependent upon it, the procurator was head of the
administration, and had full military and judicial
authority, though he waa responsible to the governor
of the neighboring province. Thus Judaea was at
tached to Syria upon the deposition of Archelaua
(A. D. 6), and a procurator appointed to govern it,
with Cesarea for its capital. Already, during a
temporary absence of Arcbelaus. it had been in
charge of the procurator Sabinus; then, after the
ethnarch'a banishment, came fjoponius ; the third
procurator waa M. Ambivius; the fourth, Auniua
Rufus; the fifth Valerius Gratua; and the aixth
Pontius Pilate (Joseph. AnL xviii. 3, $ 2), who
waa appointed A. D. 25-96, in the twelfth year of
Tiberius. One of his first acts waa to remove the
headquarters of the army from Caesarea to Jerusa-
lem. The soldiers of course took with them their
standards, bearing the image of the emperor, into
the Holy City. No previous governor hsd ven-
ured on such an outrage." Pilate had been obliged
PILATE, PONTTTTB
2521
« The cognomen PUatas has received two explana-
tions. (1.) Aa armed with the pilum or javelin ; comp.
"pilata agmlna," Vtrg. JSx. xii. 121. (2.) Aa con-
tracted from piUatut. The But that the pitewt or cap
was the badge of manumitted slaves (comp. Suetonius,
Nero, e. 67, Tiber, c. 4) makes It probable that the
epithet marked him out as a tibertut, or as descended
from one. K. H. P.
t> Of the early history of Pilate we know nothing ;
mt a German legend fills up the gap strangely
enough. Pilate la the bastard son of Tyrns, king of
His toner sends bhn to Borne as a hostage.
1 he la guilty of a murder ; but being sent to Pon-
us, rises Into notice aa subduing the barbarous trihea j
■here, receives In consequence the new name of Pon-
tius, and is sent to Judaea. It has been suggested
that the twenty-second legion, which was in Palestine
at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, and was
afterwards stationed at Mayenoe, may have been in
tNs case either the beams of the tradition or the m-
vscSora of the table. (Comp. VUmar'a Dtutxk. Ma-
ke*, Liter. I. 217.) K. H. P.
< Hated the Great, it la true, had placed the Borneo
sa*> on one of tie new buildings ; but this bad been
to send them in by night, and there were no bounds
to the rage of the people on discovering what had
thus been done. They poured down in crowds tc
Caeaarea where the procurator waa then residing,
and besought him to remove the images. After
five days of discussion, he gave the signal to some
concealed soldiers to surround the petitioners, and
put them to death unless they ceased to trouble
him ; but this only strengthened their determina-
tion, and they declared themselves ready rather to
submit to death than forego their resistance to an
idolatrous innovation. Pilate then yielded, and 'he
standards were by hia orders brought down to Can-
are* (Joseph. AnL xviii. 8, }§ 1, 2, B. J. ii. 9,
§§ 2-4). On two other occasions he nearly drove
the Jews to insurrection ; the first when, in spite
of this warning about the images, he hung up in
hia palace at Jerusalem some gilt shields inscribed
with the names of deities, which were only removed
by an order from Tiberius (Philo, ad Caimn, § 38,
ii. 589): the second when he appropriated the rev-
enue arising from the redemption of vows (Corban ;
comp. Mark vii. 11 ) to the construction of an aque-
duct. This order led to a riot, which he suppressed
by sending among the crowd soldiers with concealed
daggers, who massacred a great number, not only
of rioters, but of casual spectators d (Joaeph. B. J.
ii. 9, { 4). To these specimens of his administra-
tion, which rest on the testimony of profane au-
thors, we must add the slaughter of certain Gali-
leans, which waa told to our Lord as a piece of
news (a-rayy iKKorrts, Luke xiii. 1 ), and on which
He founded some remarks on the connection be-
tween sin and calamity. It must hare occurred at
some feast at Jerusalem, in the outer court of the
Temple, since the blood of the worshippers was
mingled with their tncrifieei; but the silence of
Josephus about it seems to show that riots and
massacres on such occasions were so frequent that
it was needless to recount them all.
It was the custom for the procurators to reside
at Jerusalem during the great feasts, to preserve
order, and accordingly, at the time of our Lord's
last passorer, Pilate was occupying his official resi-
dence in Herod's palace; and to the gates of this
palace Jesus, condemned on the charge of blas-
phemy, was brought early in the morning by the
chief priests and officers of the Sanhedrim, who
were unable to enter the residence of a Gentile, lest
followed by s violent outbreak, and the attempt had
not been repeated (Bweld, Onehichte, ir. 609). The
extent to which the soruples of the Jews on this print
were respected by the Roman governors, Is shown by
the But that no effigy of either god oreuiparor is found
on the money coined by them in Jndasa hefore tint
war under Nero [Ibid. r. 88, referring to De Saulcj ft*
durehrt sur in Numismatiom Judaiaue, pi. rill., it.)
Assuming this, the denarius with Caesar's image nnd
superscription of Matt, xxill. must have been a win
from the Kouian mint, or that of some other province.
The latter was probably euro-nt for the common pur-
poses of lite. The shekel alone was received as a Tern-
p.j offering. K H. P.
tf Kwald suggests that the Tower of Blloam may
have been part of the same works, and that this waa
the reason why its Bill waa looked on aa a Judgment
( Otxhidae , vl. 40 ; Luke xiil. 4). The Pharisaic rev-
erence lor whatever waa aet apart for the Corban (Mark
vii. 11 „ ar d tnelr scruples as to admitting Into It any
thing that baa an Impure origin (Matt, xxvii. ft), may
be regarded i perhaps, ss o ut grow t hs of the sasss
IB.*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2628
PILATE, PONTIUS
■bey should be defiled, and unfit to eat the paesorer
(John xviii. 28). l'ilate therefore came out to
■earn their purpose, and demanded the nature of
the charge. At first they seem to hare expected
that he would have carried out their wishes without
further inquiry, and therefore merely described
our Ixird aa a iceucowoiSs (disturber of the public
peace), but aa a Roman procurator had too much
respect for justice, or at least understood his busi-
ness too well to consent to such a condemnation,
and as they knew that he would not enter into
theological questions, any more than Gallio after-
wards did on a somewhat similar occasion (Acta
xviii. 14), they were obliged to dense a new charge,
and therefore interpreted our Lord's claims in a
political sense, accusing him of assuming the royal
title, perverting the nation, and forbidding the
payment of tribute to Rome (Luke xxiii. 9; an
account plainly presupposed in John xviii. 33). It
is plain that from this moment Pilate was dis-
tracted lietween two conflicting feelings ; a fear of
offending the Jews, who had already grounds of
accusation against him, which would be greatly
strengthened by any show of lukewarmness in pun-
ishing an offense against the imperial government.
And a conscious conviction that Jaus was innocent,
since it was absurd to suppose that a desire to free
the nation from Roman authority was criminal in
the eyes of the Sanhedrim. Moreover, this last
feeling was strengthened by his own hatred of the
Jews, whose religious scruples had caused him fre-
quent trouble, and by a growing respect for the
calm dignity and meekness of the sufferer. First
he examined our Lord privately, and asked Him
whether He was a king? The question which He
hi return put to his judge, " Sngett thou tliis of
Ihytetf, or did othert tell it thee of met" seems to
imply that there was in Pilate's own mind a sus-
picion that the prisoner really was what He was
charged with being; a suspicion which shows itself
again in the later question, " Whence art thou t "
(John xix. 9), in the increasing desire to release
Him (12), and in tlie refusal to alter the inscrip-
tion on the cross (22). In any case Pilate accepted
as satisfactory Christ's assurance that his kmt/dom
wis not d/thit woiht, that is, not worldly in its na-
ture or objects, and therefore not to be founded by
this world's weapons, though he could not under-
stand the assertion that it was to be established by
benring witness to the truth. His famous reply
•• 'Vhut it truth t " was the question of a worldly-
minded politician, skeptical because be was indif-
ferent: one who thought truth an empty name, or
at least could not see " any connection between
eJJittta and fauriXtU, truth and policy " (Dr. C.
Wordsworth, Coram, in loco). With this question
ae brought the interview to a clone, and came out
to the Jews and declared the prisoner innocent
Tc this they replied that his teaching had stirred
ip all the people from Galilee to Jerusalem. The
mentiri of Galilee suggested to Pilate a new
way of escaping from bis dilemma, by sending on
the caw to Herod Antipaa, tetrarch of that coun-
try, «uo had come up to Jerusalem to the feast,
while at the same time this gave him an opportu-
nity for making overtures of reconciliation to Herod,
PILATE, PONTIUS
with whose jurisdiction be had probably In i
recent Instance interfered. But Herod, though
propitiated by this act of courtesy, declined to en-
ter into the matter, and merely sent Jeans hack U
Pilate dressed in a shining kingly robe (itr^ijra
AcuurpdV, Luke xxiii. 11), to express his ridicule
of such pretensions, and contempt for the whole
business. So l'ilate was compelled to come to a
decision, and first, having assembled the chief
priests and also the people, whom he probably sum-
moned in the expectation that they would be favor-
able to Jesus, he announced to tbem that Use
accused had done nothing worthy of death, but at
the same time, in hopjs of pacifying the Sanhe-
drim, he proposed to scourge Him before he re-
leased Him. But as the accusers were resolved to
have his blood, they rejected this concession, and
therefore Pilate had recourse to a fresh expedient.
It was the custom for the Roman governor to grant
every year, in honor of the Passover, pardon to one
condemned criminal. The origin of the practice
is unknown, though we may connect it with the
feet mentioned by Livy (v. 13) that at a l^etister-
nium "vinctis quoque denipta vincula." Pilate
therefore offered the people their choice between two,
the murderer Barabbas," and the prophet whom a
few days before they had hailed as the Messiah.
To receive their decision be ascended the jSv/po,
a portable tribunal which was carried about with a
Roman magistrate to be placed wherever he might
direct, and which in the present case was erected on
a tessellated pavement (AiSeVrjmrsi') in front of
the palace, and called in Hebrew OnlAntkn, prob-
ably from being laid down on a slight elevation
(H5|, "to be high"). As soon as Pilate had
taken his seat, he received a mysterious message
from bis wife, according to tradition a proselyte of
the gate (0«xrc04>)> named Prncla or Claudia
Procula (ktang. A'icorf. ii.), who bad "suffered
many things in a dream." which impelled her to
intreat her husband not to condemn the Just One.
But be had no longer any choice in the matter, for
the rabble, instigated of course by the priests, chose
Barabl>as for pardon, and clamored for the death
of Jesus; insurrection seemed imminent, and Pi-
late reluctantly yielded. But, before issuing the
fatal order, he washed his bands before the multi-
tude, as a sign that lie was innocent of the crime,
in imitation probably of the ceremony enjoined in
Deut. xxi., where it is ordered that when the per-
petrator of a murder is not discovered, the elder*
of the city in which it occurs shall wash then?
hands, with the declaration, " Our hands have not
shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen &.'
Such a practice might naturally be adopted even
by a Roman, as intelligible to the Jewish multitude
around him. Aa in the present case it produced
no effect, Pilate ordered his soldiers to inflict the
scourging preparatory to execution ; but the sighs
of unjust suffering so patiently borne seems again
to hare troubled bis conscience, and prompted a
new effort in favor of the victim. He brought
Him out bleeding from the savage punishment,
and decked in the scarlet robe and crown of thorns
which the soldiers bad pot on Him in derision.
« Oomp. *■**■"" Bwakt amnjasts that the Insor-
i~*toa of which St Hark speaks must have bam that
somwetad with Um appropriation of ths Oorbsn (sajn),
eat that this explains ths ssgernsss with wbJrn the
I his rslsass. Bs infers tether, from
hat name, that ha was ths sou ofa Rabbi (Abba waaa
BabMnie UU» of boner) and thus accounts for the pan
taken la his favor by the members of the B s uli et il aa
S.B.*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PILATE, PONTIUS
and said to the people, " Behold the meal " hop*
fag that such a spectacle would rouse them to
shame and compassion. But the priests only re-
newed their clamors for his death, and, fearing
that the political charge of treason might be con-
sidered insufficient, returned to their first accusa-
tion of blasphemy, and quoting the law of Moses
(Lev. xxir. 16), which punished blasphemy with
stoning, declared that He mutt die >' because He
made himself the Son of God." But this title
was Stot augmented Pilate's superstitious fears,
already aroused by hit wife's dream (fiaWor «"d>o-
fidtii, John xix. 7); he feared that Jesus might be
oat of the heroes or demigods of his own mythol-
ogy; hi took Him again into the palace, and in-
ifuired anxiously into his descent (" Whence art
thou ? ") and hit claims, but, at the question was
only prompted by fear or curiosity, Jesus made no
reply. When Pilate reminded Him of his own
absolute power over Him, He closed this last con-
versation with the irresolute governor by the
mournful remark, " Thou couldst hare no power at
all against me, except it were given thee from
above; therefore he that delivered me unto thee
hath the greater sin." God had given to Pilate
power over Him, and power only, but to those who
delivered Him up God had given the means of
judging of His claims ; and therefore Pilate's sin,
in merely exercising this power, was less than theirs
who, being God's own priests, with the Scriptures
before them, and the word jf prophecy still alive
among them (John xi. 60, xviii. 14), had deliber-
ately conspired for his death. The result of this
interview was' one last effort to save Jesus by a
fresh appeal to the multitude; but now arose the
formidable cry, " If thou let this man go, thou art
not Cesar's friend," and Pilate, to whom political
success was as the breath of life, again ascended
the tribunal, and finally pronounced the desired
condemnation. 11
So ended Pilate's share in the greatest crime
whieh has been committed since the world began.
That he did not immediately lota his feelings of
anger against the Jews who had that compelled his
acquiescence, and of compassion and awe for the
nunerer whom he had unrighteously sentenced, is
plain from his curt and angry refusal to alter the
inscription which he had prepared for the cross
(ft ytypwpa, yjypwpa), his ready acquiescence in
the request made by Joseph of Arimatluea that the
Lord's body might be given up to him rather than
consigned to the common sepulchre reserved for
those who bad suffered capital punishment, and his
PILATE, PONTIUS
2529
a The proceedings of Pilate in onr Lord's trial sup-
ply many interesting Illustrations of the accuracy of
tat Krangeltstt, from the accordance of their narrative
with the known customs of the time. Thus Pilate,
sasBg only a procurator, had no quaestor to conduct
the trial, end therefore examined the prisoner himself.
igatn, hi early rimes Roman magistrates had not been
allowed to lake their wives with them into the provtn-
nes, but this prohibition had fallen Into neglect, and
latterly a proposal made by Cteclna to enforce It had
been rejected (Tec. Ann. 111. 83, 34). Orottus points
oat that the word sWir«pJ/tr, used when Pilate sends
our Lord to Herod (Luke xxlii. 7) Is " propria Romanl
Juris vox : nam remittitur reus qui aUeubi eomprehen-
sus mlttttnr ad Judleem ant originls ant hebltatlonls "
(sss Alford, <• law). The tessellated pavement (Ai-
Mwrtwror) was so necessary to the form* of Justice, is
sell as the /ripta, that Julius Cesser carried one about
wHk htm on his expeditions (Bust. Jul s. *f». The
169
sullen answer to the demand of the Sanhedrim that
the sepulchre should be guarded.* And here, as far
as Scripture is concerned, our knowledge of Pilate's
Jife ends. But we learn from Joseph ua (Ant. xviii.
4, § 1) that hit anxiety to avoid giving; offense to
Ctssar did not save him from political disaster.
The Samaritans were unquiet and rebellious. A
leader of their own race had promised to disclose
to them the sacred treasures which Moses was
reported to have ooncealed in Mount Gerizim.e
Pilate ted his troops against them, and defeated
them easily enough. The Samaritans complained
to Vitellius, now president of Syria, and be sent
Pilate to Roma to answer their accusations be-
fore the emperor (Ibid. J 2). When he reached
it, he found Tiberius dead and Caius (Ca-
ligula) on the throne, A. D. 36. Eutebius adds
(H. E. ii. 7) that toon afterwards, "wearied with
misfortunes," he killed himself. As to the scene of
his death there are various traditions. One is,
that he was banished to Vienna AUobrogurn
(Vienna on the Rhone), where a singular monu-
ment, a pyramid on a quadrangular base, 62 feus
high, is called Pontius Pilate's tomb (Dictionarf
of Uioyraphy, art. " Vienna). Another it, that
be sought to hide his sorrows on the mountain by
the lake of Luoerne, now called Mount Pilatut;
and there, after spending years in its recesses, in
remorse and despair rather than penitence, plunged
into the dismal lake which occupies its summit
According to the popular belief, " a form is often
seen to emerge from the gloomy waters, and go
through the action of one washing his hands; and
when he does so, dark clouds of mist gather first
round the bosom of the Infernal Lake (such it hat
been styled of old), and then, wrapping the whole
upper part of the mountain in darkness, presage a
tempest or hurricane, which is sure to follow in a
short space." (Scott, Anne of GeiersUin, ch. i.)
(See below)
We learn from Justin Martyr (ApoL i. pp. 76,
84), Tertullian (ApoL c 21), Eutebiut (H. £. U.
2), and others, that Pilate made an official report
to Tiberius of our Lord's trial and condemnation ,
and in a homily ascribed to Cbrysostom, though,
marked as spurious by his Benedictine editort
(Horn. viii. in Patch, vol. viii. p. 968, D), certain,
farapyfj/iara (Acta, or Commeniarii Piiati) are
spoken of at well-known documents in common cir-
culation. That he made tuch a report is highly
probable, and it may hare been in existence in
Chrytostom's time; but the Acta Pilati now ex-
tant in Greek, and two Latin epistles from him to
power of lift and death was taken from the Jews whan
Judree became a province (Joseph. Ant. xx. 9, J 1).
Scourging before execution was a well-known Roman
practice.
6 Matt, xxvii. 66, IxeTt eovorwolar* veeyerv, Ae^a-
A&wree m Mm. BUloott would translate this,
" Take a guard," on the ground that the watchers
were Roman soldiers, who were not under the com-
mand of the priests. But some might bam been
placed at their disposal during the hast, and we
should rather expect Kifim if the sentence wen to
perative.
e Ewald ( OfttMdilt, v. 48) ventures on the eon-
jeeture that this Samaritan leader may have been
Simon Magus. The description fits in well enough ;
but the class of such Impostors was sc arge, that
taere are but slight grounds for fbdng on him In par
ocular. M H. P
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2530 PILATE, PONTIUS
the emperor (Fabric. Cod. Apoer. N. T. 1. 287, 998,
IU. 446), are certainly spurious. (For farther par-
ticular! see below.)
The character of Pilate may be sufficiently in-
fared from the sketch given above of his conduct
at oar lord's trial. He was a type of the rich
and corrupt Romans of his age; a worldly-minded
statesman, conscious of no higher wants than those
of this life, yet by no means unmoved by feelings
of justice and mercy. His conduct to the Jews,
in the instances quoted from Josephus, though
severe, was not thoughtlessly cruel or tyrannical,
considering the general practice of Roman gov-
ernors, and the difficulties of dealing with a nation
so arrogant and perverse. Certainly there is noth-
ing in the facts recorded by profane authors incon-
sistent with his desire, obvious from the Gospel
narrative, to save our Lord. Brit all his better
feelings were overpowered by a selfish regard for
his own security. He would not encounter the
least hazard of personal annoyance in behalf of in-
nocence and justioe ; the unrighteous condemnation
of a good man was a trifle in comparison with the
fear of the emperor's frown and the loss of place and
power. While we do not differ from Chrysostom's
opinion that be was a-oodVopoi (Chrys. i. 80S,
adv. Judaos, ri.), or that recorded in the Apos-
tolical Constitutions (r. 14), that he was Iraytpos,
we yet see abundant reason for our Lord's merciful
judgment, '■ He that delivered me unto thee hath
the greater sin." At the same time his history
famishes a proof that worldliness and want of
principle are sources of crimes no less awful than
those which spring from deliberate and reckless
wickedness. The unhappy notoriety given to his
name by its place in the two universal creeds of
Christendom is due, not to any desire of singling
him out for shame, but to the need of fixing the
date of our Lord's death, and so bearing witness
to the claims of Christianity to rest on a historical
basis (August. Dt Fide tt Symb. c. v. vol. ri. p.
156; Pearson, On the Creed, pp. 239, 840, ed.
Bart, and the authorities quoted in note c). The
number of dissertations on Pilate's character and
all the circumstances connected with him. his
" facinora," his •' Christum servandi studium," his
wife's dream, his supposed letters to Tiberius, which
have been published during the last and present
centuries, is quite overwhelming. The student
■ may consult with advantage Dean Alford'a Com-
mentary; EUicott, Historical Lectures on the life
?'tmr Lord, sect, vii.; Neaoder's Life of Christ,
885 (Bohn); Winer, Beahcirterhvch, art. "K-
Jatus;" Ewald, Geschiehte, v. 80, 4c
G. E.L.C.
Acta Pilati. — The number of extant Acta
Pilati, in various forms, is so large as to show
that very early the demand created a supply of
.documents manifestly spurious, and we have no
reason for looking on any one of those that remain
as more authentic than the others. The taunt of
Celsus that the Christhuis circulated spurious or
distorted narratives under this title (Orig. e. Celt.),"
and the complaint of Euaebius (H. E. ix. 6) that
the heathens made them the vehicle of blasphemous
ealnmniea, show how largely the machinery of faUfi-
nestinn was used on either aide. Such of these
doemnents as are extant are found in the collections
• This reference is given in an article by Lsyrer tn
■meg'* Rral-Excyld., but the writer has been unable
*> ratty tt. Xhe nearest approach mms to be Has
PILATE, PONTICS
of Fabrieius, Thilo, and Heehendorf. Some il
them are bat weak paraphrases of the Gospel his-
tory. The most extravagant are perhaps the moss
interesting, as indicating the existence of modes of
thought at variance with the prevalent traditions
Of these anomalies the most striking is that known
as the Paradosis Piiuti (Tlsohendorf, Ettmg. Apoo.
p. 4S6). The emperor Tiberias, startled at the
universal darkness that had fallen on the Roman
Empire on the day of the Crucifixion, summons
Pilate to answer for having caused it He is con-
demned to death, but before his execution he prays
to the Lord Jesus that he may not be destroys I
with the wicked Hebrews, and pleads his ignorant*
as an excuse. The prayer is answered by a voice
from heaven, assuring him that all generations
shall call him blessed, and that he shall be a wit-
ness for Christ at bis second coming to judge the
twelve tribes of Israel. An angel receives his head,
and his wife dies filled with joy, and is buried with
him. Startling as this imaginary history may be,
it has its counterpart in the traditional customs of
the Abyssinian Church, in which Pilate is recog-
nized as a saint and martyr, and takes his place in
the calendar on the 26tb of June (Stanley, Eastern
Church, p. 13; Neale, Eastern Church, i. 80S).
The words of Tertnllian, describing him as "jam
pro sua eonacientia Christiana* " (ApoL c. 81),
indicate a like feeling, and we find traces of it also
in the Apocryphal Gospel, which speaks of him aa
" uneircumcised in flesh, bat circumcised in heart "
(Epang. Nicod. i. 18, in Tischendorf. Etang. Apoe.
p. 886).
According to another legend {Mors Pilati, in
Teschendorf s Evang. Apoc. p. 438), Tiberius, hear-
ing of the wonderful works of healing that had
been wrought in Judaat, writes to Pilate, bidding
him to send to Rome the man that had this divine
power. Pilate has to confess that be has crucified
him; but the messenger meets Veronica, who gives
him the cloth which had received the impress of
the divine features, and by this the emperor ie
healed. Pilate is summoned to take his trial, and
presents himself wearing the holy and seamkaa
tunic. This acts as a spell upon the emperor, and
he forgets his wonted severity. After a time Pilate
is thrown into prison, and there commits suicide
His body is cast into the Tiber, but sa storms and
tempests followed, the Romans take it up and send
it to Vienna. It is thrown into the Rhone; bat
the same disasters follow, and it is sent on to
Losania (Lucerne or Lausanne ?). There it is tank
in a pool, fenced round by mountains, and even
there the waters boil or babble strangely. In*
interest of this story obviously lies in its presenting
an early form (the existing text is of the 14th
century) of the focal traditions which connect lit
name of the procurator of Judasa with the Moon*.
Pilatus that overlooks the Lake of 1-ucerae. The
received explanation (Ruskin, Modern Painters, v.
128) of the legend, aa originating in a distortion
of the descriptive name Mora Pifeatus (the "cloud-
capped " ), supplies a curious instance of the gt nesa
of a mythus from a false etymology: b'lt it may
be questioned whether it tests on sufflciuit grounds,
and is not rather the product of a pseubo-eritiojam,
finding in a name the starting-point, not the em-
bodiment of a legend. Have w* any evidence that
assertion that no Judgment Ml on niat* for hail
(8.89).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
F1LDASH
fee mountain wm known u ••Pilntiu" before
Jio legend? Hare we not, in the apocryphal
story just cited, the legend independently of the
name?' (eonip. Vilmar, Deutsck. Nation. Liter.
I 217).
Pilate's wife la also, u might be expected, prom-
inent to theae traditions. Her name ii given aa
Claudia Proeula (Kieeph. II. E. i. 30).» She had
been a proselyte to Judaism before the Crucifixion
(Evany. Nieod. c 2). Nothing certain is known
M to her history, but the tradition that the became
a Chriatian is a* old aa the time of Origen (Horn.
in Matt. xxxr.). The system of administration
under the Republic forbade the governors of prov-
Inees to take their wives with them, but the practice
had gained ground under the Empire, and Tacitus
{Ann. iii. 83) records the failure of an attempt to
reinforce the old regulation. (See p. 2529, note a.)
E.H.P.
PUVDASH (&??& [Jlomt of fire, Flint]:
*u\Usi Alex. ♦oA.Joi: Phtldat). One of the
eight sons of Nahor, Abraham's brother, by his
wife tad niece, Milcah (Gen. xxii. 22). The set-
tlement of his descendants has not been identified
with any degree of probability. Bunsen (Bibtl-
nri, Gen. xxli. 22) compares Ripalthns, a place in
the northeast of Mesopotamia: bnt the resemblance
of the two names is probably accidental
PII/EHA (NTT?B [tncinon, $hce]: toAot;
[Vat. Ooto, -«i joined with the following; FA.
♦oj, -swi joined with the following ; Alex. ♦aAa«i :]
Phalta). The name of one of the chief of the
people, probably a family, who signed the covenant
with Nehemiah (Neb. z. 24).
• PILGRIMS. [STRAxonta.]
PILLAR' The notion of a pillar is of a
shaft or isolated pile, either supporting or not sup-
porting a roof. Pillars form an important feature
n oriental architecture, partly perhaps as a rem
miseenoe of the tent with its supporting poles, and
partly also from the use of flat nob, in consequence
ef which toe chambers were either narrower or
divided into portions by columns. The tent-prto
jiple is exemplified in tbe open halls of Persian and
jther eastern buildings, of which the fronts, sup-
ported by pillars, are shaded by curtains or awnings
Ctstened to the ground outside by pegs, or to trees
in the garden-court (Esth. i. 6; Chardin, Vog. vii.
387, ix. 469, 470, and plates 39, 81; Layard, ffin.
f Bab. pp. 630, 648; Burckhardt, NoUi on Bed.
i 37). Thus also a figurative mode of describing
PILLAB
2581
heaven Is as a tent or canopy supported by ptUaia
(Pa. civ. 2; Is. xl. 22), and tbe earth as a flat
surface resting on pillars (1 Sam. ii. 8 ; Ps. lxxr
3). [Tests, Amer. ed.]
It may be remarked that the word " place," in
1 Sam. xt. 12, is in Hebrew "hand."" In the
Arab tent two of the poets are called yed or " hand "
(Burckhardt, Bed. i. 87).
The general practice in oriental buildings ot
supporting fiat roofs by pillars, or of covering open
spaces by awnings stretched from pillars, led to an
extensive use of them in construction. In Indies
architecture an enormous number of pillars, some
times amounting to 1,000, Is found. A similat
principle appears to have been carried out at Per
ipolis. At Nineveh the pillars were probably of
wood [Cedah], and it is very likely that the samt
construction prevailed In tbe " house of the fores)
of Lebanon," with its hall and porch of pillars (1
K. vii. 2, 6). Tbe "chapiters " of the two pillirs
Jachin and Boaz resembled the tall capitals of th*
Penepolitan columns (Layard, JVi'n. A Bab. pp.
282, 660; Nineveh, ii. 274; Kergusson, Hundbk.
pp. 8, 174, 178, 188, 190, 196, 198, 231-283; Rob-
erts, Sketches, Nos. 182, 184, 190, 198; Euseb. Vit
Cotitt. iii. 84, 88; Burckhardt, Trot, in Arabia,
I. 244, 246).
But perhaps the earliest application of the pillai
was the votive or monumental This in early times
consisted of nothing but a single stone or pile of
stones. Instances are seen in Jacob's pillars (Gen.
xxviii. 18, xxxi. 46, 61, 52, xxxv. 14); in the twelve
pillars set up by Moses at Mount Sinai ( Ex. xxiv
4) ; the twenty-four stones erected by Joshua (Josh,
ir. 8, 9; see also Is. xix. 19, and Josh. xxiv. 27).
The trace of a similar notion may probably bs
found in the holy stone of Mecca (Burckbarit,
7Vo». i. 297). Monumental pillars hare alsc been
common in many countries and in various styles
of architecture. Such were perhaps the obebtks
of Egypt (Fergusson, 6, 8, 116, 246, 340; Ibn
Batuta, Trav. p. Ill; Strabo, iii. 171, 172; Herod,
ii. 106; Amm. Mare. xvii. 4; Joseph. Ant. i. 2, §
3, tbe pillars of Seth).
The stone Exel (1 Sam. xx. 19) was probably a
terminal stone or a waymark.
The "place" set up by Saul (1 Sam. xt. 12) is
explained by St. Jerome to be a trophy, Vulg.
form'cem triumphalem (Jerome, QiuetL Ilebr. w
lib. i. Reg. iii. 1339). The word ueed is the same
as that for Absalom's pillar, ifaftubih, called by
Josephus xtipa (Ant. vii. 10, § 3), which wss clearly
of a monumental or memorial character, but not
* Tbe extant to wfaleh the terror connected witb
Mm bsnef formerly prevailed Is somewhat startling.
If a stone wen thrown Into the lake, a violent storm
tould follow. No one was allowed to visit it without
a special permission from the authorities of Lucerne,
rbe neighboring shepherds wen bound by a solemn
oath, renewed annually, never to guide a stronger to
[I (Oeasner, Deteript. Mont. Pilot, p. 40, Zurich. 1666).
Ihe spell wss broken in 1684 by Johannes afuller,
•.are of Lucerne, who was bold enough to throw stones
and aside the eoneequeneee. (Golbery, Unirtn Pit-
.jKsew ** Sail*, p. 827.) It is striking that tredl-
900s of Pilate attach themselves to several localities
j> the South of Pianos (eomp. Murray's Hani"vok 0/
frana, Bonte 126).
» If It wen possible to attach any va.u» to the
Codex of St. Matthew's Gospel, of which portions have
t ed by Hmonldw, as belonging to the 1st
the name of Pempele might claim pnee-
< 1. "ryip& a K. x. 12): iwavrnpt-ntm* : JVtrn,
from T37D, "support;" marg. "rails"
2. n3$Q ; the same, or nearly so.
8. rQ89, from 355, " place :»«r*>a: «■*»•;
a pile of 'stones, or monumental pillar.
4. VS}- <rr*><: stoma (Gen. six. 98), of Lot's
wife ; from' ssme root as 2 and 8.
6. "T1SB: wrVpa: munitio: "tower;" only Ii
Hab. 11 1 ; elsewhere "strong dty," i. 1. a place of
defjnss, from "SS, "press," "eonflne."
9- fOtiJ : wnMat : se h sss as j ; from "Vjlf
d TJjxesea:
Digitized by VjOOQlC
'2532 PILLAR, PLAIN OF THE
necessarily carrying my representation of a hand
m Ita structure, aa has been supposed to be the
•age. So also Jacob let op a pillar over Rachel's
grave (Gen. xxxv. SO, and Robinson, i. 318). The
monolithic tombs and obelisks of Petra are in-
stances of similar usage (Burckhardt, Syria, p.
422; Roberta, Sketches, p. 108; Irby and Mangles,
Travels, p. 126).
But the word Afatstsib&h, "pillar," is mora
often rendered "statue" or "image" («. g. Dent,
ni. 6, xii. 3, xvi. 22; Ler. nil 1; Ex. xxiii. 24,
xxxiv. 13; 2 Chr. xiv. 3, xxxi. 1; Jer. xliii. 13;
Ho*, iii. 4, x. 1 ; Hie. t. 18). This agrees with
the usage of heathen nations, and practiced, as we
have seen, by the patriarch Jacob, of erecting blocks
or piles of wood or stone, which in later times grew
into ornamented pillars in honor of the deity
(Clem. Alex. Con. ad Gent, c ir.j Strom, i. 24").
Instances of this are seen in the Attio Heroin
(Paus. iv. 33, 4), seven pillars significant of the
planets (iii. 21, 9, also vii. 17, 4, and 22, 2, viii.
87); and Arnobius mentions the practice of pouring
libations of oil upon them, which again recalls the
case of Jacob (Adv. Gent. i. 335, ed. Gauthief ).
The termini or boundary marks were originally,
perhaps always, rough stones or posts of wood,
which received divine honors (Ov. Fait. ii. 641,
884). [Idol, ii. 1120 a.]
Lastly, the figurative use of the term " pillar,"
in reference to the cloud and fire accompanying the
Israelites on their march, or as in Cant. iii. 6 and
Rev. x. 1, is plainly derived from the notion of
an isolated column not supporting a roof.
H. W. P.
PILLAR, PLAIN OF THE (^Vr*
3^P ' T B &**4*¥ ff etptrS' rrjs o-raVf**;
Alex, omits rp eiptrf- quercim gum ttabai), or
rather " oak * of the pillar " — that being the real
signification of the Hebrew word eiJn. A tree
which stood near Shechem, and at which the men
of Shechem and the house of Hillo assembled, to
crown Abimeleeh son of Gideon (Judg. ix. 6).
There is nothing said by which its position can be
ascertained. It possibly derived ita name of Mut-
ttab from a stone or pillar set up under it; and rea-
sons have already been adduced for believing that
this tree may have been the same with that under
«hich Jacob buried the idols and idolatrous trink-
ets of his household, and under which Joshua
erected a stone as a testimony of the covenant there
reexecuted between the people and Jehovah. [Mb-
oxekim.] There was both time and opportunity
during the period of commotion which followed the
death of Joshua for this sanctuary to return into
the hands of the Canaanites, and the stone left
standing there by Joshua to become appropriated
to idolatrous purposes as one of the Mattsib&ks in
which the religion of the aborigines of the Holy
Land delighted. [Idol, il. 1119 A.] The terms in
which Joshua speaks of this very stone (Josh. xxir.
27) almost seem to overstep the bounds of mere
imagery, and would suggest and warrant it* being
sfterwards regarded as endowed with miraculous
qualities, and therefore a fit object for veneration.
PINE-TREE
Especially would this be the ease if the singula.- ex-
pression, « it hath heard all the words of Jehovah
our God which fie sprite to us," were intended to
indicate that this stone bad been brought from Si-
nai. Jordan, or some other scene of the communi-
cations of Jehovah with the people. The Samari-
tans stS show a range of stones on the summit o.
Gerixim aa those brought from the bed of Jordan
by toe twelve tribes. G.
PILLED (Gen. xxx. 37, 38): Peeled (fa
xviii. 2; Ex. xxix. 18) [Too. xi. 18]. The verb
" to pill " appears in old Eng. aa identical in mean-
ing with « to peel = to strip," and in this sense is
used in the above passages from Genesis. Of thi
next stage in its meaning ax — plunder, we have
traces in the word •' pillage," pilfer. If the differ-
ence between the two forms be more than acciden-
tal, it would seem aa if in the English of the 17th
century •' peel " was used for the latter signification.
The " people scattered and peeled," are those that
have been plundered i f all tbey have.'' The sol-
diers of Nebuchadnaaar's army (Ex. xxix. 18),
however, have their shoulder peeled in the literal
sense. The skin is worn off with carrying earth
to pile up the mounds during the protracted siege
of Tyre. ["Pilled" has the sense of " bald " in
Lev. xiii. 40 mar;.] E. H. P.
• PILLOW (wpoo-KveHUVmor), > cushion for
the head. Pillows were used on the divans or
couches, on which the Orientals recline for rest and
sleep. So our Saviour had laid himself down fos
repose after a day of fatigue, on a pillow in the
hinder part of the ship, when the storm arose, as
recorded in Mark ir. 88. The article in Greek in-
dicates that the pillow belonged to the furniture of
the boat The pillow [nitt^P = at the head]
on which the head of the image that was made to
represent David in 1 Sam. xix. 13, was placed, was
made of goat's hair; or, as some conjecture, a text-
ure of goat's hair was placed at the head of the
image, so aa by ita resemblance to David's hair to
make the deception more complete (see Gee. Hebr.
Handio. p. 17, 6." Aufl.). Jacob used stones for
his pillow, or, more literally, placed them at his
head, when overtaken by night he slept at Lux
(Gen. xxviii. 11, 18). In Ex, xiii. 18, 20, cush-
ions (" pillows," A. V.) were used aa especial appli-
ances of luxury and effeminacy; whilst generally
those sitting upon a couch only had pillows for the
elbow to rest upon, these women made (sewed) them
(together) even for all the Joints of the hand. The
word does not occur further in the A. V.
R. D. C. B.
PILTAI [2 syl.] CTp^S [whom Jehovah de-
livers] ; ♦,Atrf ; [Tat. Alex. EA." omit; FA.' »<A«-
Tt«;] PketU). The representative of the priest}/
house of Moadiah, or Maadlah, in the time of
Joiakhn the son of Joshua (Neb. xiL 17).
PINE-TREE- 1. Tidhir,' from a root sig-
nifying to revoke. What tree is intended is not
certain. Gesenius inclines to think the oak, at
implying duration. It has been variously explained
■ Sajuumt 4 cmlAot to anunvtarev rai *tm>.
» A double translation of the Hebrew word
■fffoated hi the erroneous Idea that U» word Is
with MSB, "to find."
• This It given In the margin of the a. V.
d Oomp. « peeling their prisoners," Milton, P. B. rr
" To peel tha chiefs, the people to devour."
Drydan, Homer, ttad (Richardson).
• "VT"If): mihaj: puiiu (Is.lx. 18); tromirTJ
" rsvolvi •' (Gas. p. 888). In Is. xu. 19, /
■times.
Digitized by
Google
PINNACLE
lo be the Indian plane, the larch and the elm (Cel-
liaa, Bierob. ii. 971). Bat the rendering " pine "
wemi least probable of any, as the root implies
either enrraturo or duration, of which the latter ia
act particularly applicable to the pine, and the for-
mer remarkably otherwise. The LXX. rendering
in It. xlL 19, fipadvSaap, appear) to hare ariien
from a confused amalgamation of the words berSth
and tidliir, which follow each other in that pas-
sage. Of these beriek is sometimes rendered " cy-
press," and might stand for "juniper." That spe-
cies of Juniper which is called savin, ia in Greek
fiaaBi. The word Soap is merely an expression in
Greek letters for tidbdr. (Pliny, ait. 11, 61;
8ehleusner, a. r.i Celsius, Hitrob. i. 78.) [Fib.]
2. Shemen" (Neh. vill. IB) is probably the wild
ohte. The cultivated olive was mentioned just be-
fore (Ges. p. 1437). H. W. P.
PINNACLE (to TTtpiyiof- pinna, pbmae-
ulwn: only in Matt. iv. 5, and Luke ir. 9). The
word is used in O. T. to render, 1. Cdnaphf a
wing or border, e. g. of a garment (Nam. xv. 88;
1 Sun. xr. 47, xxhr. 4). 2. Snapper, fin of a Ash
(Ler. xi. 9. So Arlst. Anim. i. 6. 14). 8. Kit-
ai*, edge; A. V. end (Ex. xxviiL 36). Hesycblus
explains a-r. as lucptrrfipior.
It is plain, 1. that to imp. is not a pinnacle,
bat the pinnacle. 3. That by the word itself we
should understand an edge or border, like a leather
or a fin. The only part of the Temple which an-
swered to the modern sense of pinnacle was the
golden spikes erected on the roof, to prevent birds
from settling there (Joseph. B. J. v. 6, { 6). To
meet the sense, therefore, of <■ wing," or to use our
modern word founded on the same notion, "aisle,''
Lightfoot suggests the porch or vestibule which
projected, like shoulders on each side of the Temple
(Joseph. B. J. v. 8, J 4; Vitruv. iii. 2).
Another opinion fixes on the royal porch adjoin-
ing the Temple, which rose to a total height of
400 cubits above the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joseph.
Anl. xv. 11, J 5, xx. 9, § 7).
Euseblus tells us that it was from " the pinna-
cle" (to *~r«p.) that St. James was precipitated,
and it is said to have remained until the 4th cen-
tury (Euseb. B. £. ii. 23; Williams, Holy City, ii.
838).
Perhaps in any case to wrto. means the battle-
ment ordered by law to be added to every roof. It
is in favor of this that the word Canaph is used to
Indicate the top of the Temple (Dan. ix. 27; Ham-
mond, Grotius, Calmet, De Wette, Lightfoot, H.
Bebr. on Matt. ir.). H. W. P.
PI'NON fliPS [darhuu, obicurityf]i ♦,-
air; [Alex, in Gen. vivcr ; Vat. in 1 Chr. ♦ti.w :]
.*khon). One of the " dukes " of Edom; that is,
head or founder of a tribe of that nation (Gen.
axxvi. 41s 1 Chr. L 52). By Euseblus and Je-
rome ( Onomattieon, 4>iv&y, and " Fenon " ) the seat
Of (he tribe is said to have been at Pokok, one of the
stations of the Israelites in the Wilderness; which
again they identify with Phaeno, " between Petra
and Zoar," the site of the famous Soman copper
mines. No name answering to Pinon appears to
save been yet discovered in Arabic literature, >r
I the existing tribes.
pipe
2538
« ?Qfp ! tftsr mnraatmM* : Jit-awn
man.
• L Tffi : rrutfrur : arm
* PINS. [Crispiko Pun, imer. ed., and
Tent.]
PIPS (^bn, chiltt). The Hebrew word os
rendered is derived from a root signifying " to bore,
perforate," and is represented with sufficient cor-
rectness by the English " pipe " or " flute," as in
the margin of 1 K. i. 40. It is one of the simplest
and therefore, probably, one of the oldest of musi-
cal instruments, and in consequence of its simplic-
ity of form there is reason to suppose that the
" pipe " of the Hebrews did not differ materially
from that of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. It
is associated with the tabret (ttph) as an instru-
ment of a peaceful and social character, just as in '
Shakespeare (Much Ado, ii. 8), "I hare known
when there was no music with him but the drum
and fife, and now had he rather hear the tabor and
the pipe " — the constant accompaniment of merri-
ment and festivity (Luke vil. 82), and especially
characteristic of " the piping time of peace." The
pipe and tabret were used at the banquets of the
Hebrews (Is. v. 12), and their bridal processions
(Mishna, Baba mettia, vi. 1), and accompanied the
simpler religious services, when the young proph-
ets, returning from the high-place, caught their in-
spiration from the harmony (1 Sam. x. 6) ; or the
pilgrims, on their way to the great festivals of their
ritual, beguiled the weariness of the march with
psalms sung to the simple music of the pipe (Is.
xxx. 29). When Solomon was proclaimed king the
whole people went up after him to Gihon, piping
with pipes (1 K. i. 40). The sound of the pipe
was apparently a soft wailing note, which made it
appropriate to be used in mourning and at funerals
(Matt. ix. 23), and in the lament of the prophet
orer the destruction of Moab (Jer. xlviii. 36). The
pipe was the type of perforated wind instruments,
as the harp was of stringed instruments (1 Mane,
iii. 4o),atftl was eren used in the Temple-choir, as
appears from Ps. lxxxrii. 7, where " the players on
instruments " are properly " pipers." Twelve days
in the year, according to the Mishna ( Arach. ii. 3),
the pipes sounded before the altar: at the slaying
of the First Passover, the slaying of the Second
Passover, the first feast-day of the Passover, the
first feast-day of the Feast of Weeks, and the eight
days of the Feast of Tabernacles. On the last-
mentioned occasion the playing on pipes accom-
panied the drawing of water from the fountain of
Siloah (Sueeah, iv. 1, v. 1) for five and six days.
The pipes which were played before the altar were
of reed, and not of copper or bronze, because the
former gave a softer sound. Of these there were
not less than two nor more than twelve. In later
times the office of mourning at funerals became a
profession, and the funeral and death-bed were never
without the professional pipers or flute-players (av-
Anrrfj, Matt. ix. 23), a custom which still exists
(oomp. Ovid, FatL vi. 660, "eantabat mantis til>ia
fnneribua"). It was incumbent on even the poor-
est Israelite, at the death of his wife, to provide at
least two pipers and one woman to make lamenta-
tion. [Mosio, vol. iii. p. 9039 0.]
In the social and festive life of the Egyptians the
pipe played as prominent a part as among the He-
While dinner was preparing, the patty
1 T»B3 tp : me. : jimmis.
— nSPs «rtp. : ntmmitM.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2684
PIPE
m enlivened by the sound of mu»ic ; and * band,
sonsisting of the harp, lyre, guitar, tambourine,
iouble and (ingle pipe, flute and other instruments,
played the favorite airs and songs of the oountry "
(Wilkinson, Anc Eg. ii. 232). In the different
combinations of instruments used in Egyptian
bands, we generally find either the double pipe or
the flute, and sometimes both; the former being
played both by men and women, the latter exclu-
sively by women. The Egyptian single pipe, as
described by Wilkinson (Anc. Eg. ii. 308), was
"a straight tube, without any increase at the
mouth; and, when played, was held with both
hands. It was of moderate length, apparently not
exceeding a foot and a half, and many have been
found much smaller; but these may have belonged
to the peasants, without meriting a place among
the instruments of the Egyptian band Some
have three, others four holes and some wen
furnished with a small mouthpiece" of reed or
thick straw. This instrument most have been
something like the Nay, or dervish's flute, which is
described by Mr. Lane (Mod. Eg. ii. chap, v.) as
" a simple reed, about 18 inches in length, seven-
eighths of an inch in diameter at the upper ex-
tremity, and three-quarters of an inch at the lower.
It is pierced with six holes in front, and generally
with another bole at the back In the hands
of a good performer the nay yields fine, mellow
tones; but it requires much practice to sound it
well." The double pipe, which is found aa fre-
quently in Egyptian paintings as the single one,
"consisted of two pipes, perhaps occasionally united
together by a common mouthpiece, and played each
with the corresponding hand. It was common to
the Greeks and other people, and, from the mode of
holding it, received the name of right and left pipe,
the tibia dexlra and sinistra of the Romans: the
latter had but few holes, and, emitting a deep
sound, served as a bass. The other had more
holes, and gave a sharp tone" (Wilkinson, Anc. Eg.
ii. 309, 310). It was played on chiefly by women,
who danced as they played, and is imitated by the
modern Egyptians, in their zummdra, or double
reed, a rude instrument, used principally by peas-
tnts and camel drivers out of doors (ibid. pp. 311,
312). In addition to these is also found in the
earliest sculptures a kind of flute, held with both
hands, and sometimes so long that the player was
obliged to stretch his arms to their full length
while playing.
Any of the instruments above described would
have been called by the Hebrews by the general
term chdlii, and it is not improbable that they
might have derived their knowledge of them from
Egypt. The single pipe is said to have been the
invention of the Egyptians alone, who attribute it
to Osiris (Jul. Poll. OnomasL iv. 10), and as the
material of which it was made was the lotus-wood
(Ovid, Fa$. iv. 190, "horrendo lotos aduncasono")
there may be some foundation for the conjecture.
Other materials mentioned by Julius Pollax are
reed, brass, boxwood, and horn. Pliny (xvi. 66)
adds silver, and the bones of asses. Bartenora, in
hi* note on Arachim, ii. 3, above quoted, identifies
the chalil with the French chalvmcau, which is the
3erman tchalmeit and our $haum or thalm, of
which the clarionet is a modern Improvement. The
ibawm, says Mr. Chappell (Pop. Mut. i. 85, note
6), " was played with a reed like the wayte, or
hautboy, but bang a bass instrument, with about
She e ca n p ass of an octave, had probably more the
PISGAH
tone of a bassoon." This can scarcely be co r r ea l.
or Drayton's expression, "the tkriliai shawm'
(PoU/oL iv. 366), would be inappropriate.
W. A. W.
• PrPKR, Rev. xviU. 22. [Motim*,;
Pipe.]
PT/RA (of Ik Tltipas [Tat, ol it nip**, Aid. .
Rom. Alex, omit]), 1 Eedr. v. 19. Apparently a
repetition of the name Caphira in the forme! part
of the verse.
PITt AM (DH"V? [pah. fit* at the wild aii] i
♦iSaV; [Vat. *«cW;] Alex. *«poap; [tknir
♦epcyt:] Pharam). The Amorits king of Jat-
niuth at the time of Joshua's conquest of Canaan
(Josh. x. 3). With his four confederates he was
defeated in the great battle before Gibeon, and
fled for refuge to the cave at Makkedah, the en-
trance to which was closed by Joshua's command.
At the close of the long day's slaughter and pur-
suit, the five kings were brought from their hiding-
place, and hanged upon five trees till sunset, when
their bodies were taken down and cast into the cava
11 wherein they had been hid " (Josh. x. 27).
PIK'ATHON (1'Vljn? {pn^edf, Gas.]:
[Vat] *apaB»u; [Rom. *apa$dy,] Alex. *pa-
aeW: Phnrnthm), "in the land of Ephrahn in
the mount of the Anialekite; " a place named no-
where but in Judg. xii. 15, and there recorded
only as the burial-place of Abdon ben-HiDd the
Piratbonite, one of the Judges. Its site was not
known to Eusebius or Jerome; but it is mentioned
by the accurate old traveller hap-Parebi as lying
about two hours west of Sheebem, and called fer*-
ata (Asber's Benjamin of Tud. ii. 426). When
it stood in the 14th century it stands still, and is
called by the same name. It was reserved for Dr.
Robinson to rediscover it on an eminence about a
mile and a half south of the road from Jaffa by
Habltk to NnbhU, and just six miles, or two hours,
from the last (Robinson, iii. 134).
Of the remarkable expression, " the mount (or
mountain district) of the Amalekite," no explana-
tion has yet been discovered beyond the probable
fact that it commemorates a very early settlement
of that roving people in the highlands of the coun-
try.
Another place of the same name probably existed
near the south. But beyond the mention of Pra-
rathoni in 1 Mace. bL 60, no trace has been
found of it. G.
PIK'ATHONITB OyTH^and ^h^l?
[pair, see above] : vapaeWsrnri , +apaBmvtl, it
+apa$Sy: Pharalkomtn), the native of, or dwell-
er in, Pirathos. Two such are named in the
Bible. L [woooeWrnr (Vat. -«:-)•] Abdon ben-
Hillel (Judg. xii. 13, 15), one of the minor judges)
of Israel. In the original the definite artiile ia
present, and it should be rendered "(As Pira-
tbonite."
2. [woootW (Vat -mi), eV *umoW: Phara-
Oumitr; Pharalomtet.] From the same place
came " Benaiah the Piratbonite of the children of
Ephrahn," captain of the eleventh monthly course
of David's army (1 Chr. xxvii. 14) and one of the
king's guard (2 Sam. xxtii. 80; 1 Chr. xi. 8H
O
PIS'GAH (n^QSn, with the def. ertias)
ftte pari, piece]: ihuryrft in Deut iii. IT, xxxtf
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PISGAH
>, *nd in Joshua; elsewhere rb KtXaftviiiro* ° or
}Aa{«in»r): Pkaiga). An ancient topographical
same which U found, in the Pentateuch and Josh-
aa only, in two connections.
1. The top, or head, of the Piagah ('grt ttWl),
Mum. xxi. 90, xxiii. 14; Dent. Ui. 27, xxxiv. 1.
9. Aabdoth hap-Piagah, perhapa the apringa, or
root., of the Piagah, Deut Ui. IT, It. 46; Joan,
ill. 3, xiil 90.
The latter baa already been noticed under iti
own head. [Ashduth-Pisoah.] Of the former
bat little can be aaid. >< The Piagah " moat hare
been a mountain range or district, the aame aa, or
a part of that called the mountains of Abarim
(eomp. Deut. xxxii. 49 with xxxiv. 1). It lay on
the east of Jordan, contiguous to the field of Moab,
and immediately opposite Jericho. The field of
Zophim waa situated on it, and its highest point
or summit — its " bead " — was the Mount Nebo.
If it was a proper name we can only conjecture that
it denoted the whole or part of the range of the
highlands on the east of the lower Jordan. In the
late Targunis of Jerusalem and Pseudojonatban,
Piagah is invariably rendered by rnmalhaf a term
in common use for a hill. It will be observed that
the I.XX. also do not treat it as a proper name.
On the other hand Eusebius and Jerome ( Onomat-
tiem, " Abarim," " Kasga ") report the name as
existing in their day in its ancient locality. Mount
Abarim and Mount Nabau were pointed out on the
road leading from Unas to Heshbon (i. e. the
Wady Httban), still hearing their old names, and
close to Mount Pbogor (1'eor), which also retained
Its name, whence, says Jerome (a quo), the contig-
uous region was even then called Phasgo. This
connection between Phogor and Phasgo is puzzling,
and suggests a passible error of copyists.
No traces of the name Piagah have been met
with in later times on the east of Jordan, but in
the Arabic garb of Rns cl-Ftikkah (almost identi-
cal with the Hebrew Rosh hep- Piagah) it is at-
tached to a well known headland on the north-
western end of the Dead Sea, a mass of mountain
bounded on the south by the (Foots ea-JVor, and
on the north by the Waily Sidr, and on the north-
ern part of which is situated the great Mussulman
sanctuary of Iftby Mutn (Moses). This associa-
tion of the names of Hoses and Piagah on the west
side of the Dead Sea — where to suppose that
Moses ever set foot would be to stultify the whole
narrative of his decease — is extremely startling.
Mo explanation of it has yet been offered. Cer-
tainly that of M. De Saulcy and of his translator,'
that the Rnt tLFchlcah is identical with Pisgah,
cannot be entertained. Against this the words of
Deut iii. 97, "Thou shalt not go over this Jordan,"
an decisive.
Had the name of Moses alone existed here, it
alight with some plausibility be conceived that the
salutation for sanctity bad been at some time,
iXving the long struggles of the. country, transferred
from east to west, when the original spot was out
if the reach of the pilgrims. But the existence of
PIT
2585
I the name Fahkak — and, what is equally enrtoue,
its non-existence on the east of Jordan — seems Is
preclude this suggestion. [Nebo, Moukt, Amer.
ed.] G.
PI8ID1A (n«ri»ra: PidiXa) wss a district of
Asia Minor, which cannot be very exactly defined.
But it may be described sufficiently by saying that
it was to the north of Pamphylia, and stretched
along the range of Taurus. Northwards it reached
to, and was partly included in, Phbyoia, which
was similarly an indefinite district, though far more
extensive. Thus Autiock in Pisidia waa some-
times called a Phrygian town. The occurrences
which took place at this town give a great interest
to St. Paul's first visit to the district. He passed
through Pisidia twice, with Barnabas, on the first
missiouary journey, i. e. both in going from Pbkoa
to looxiUM (Acts xiil. 13, 14, 51), and in return-
ing (xiv. 21, 24, 35; compare 2 Tim. iii. 11). It
is probable also that be traversed the northern part
of the district, with Silas and Timotheus, on the
second missionary Journey (xvi. 6): but the word
Pisidia does not occur except in reference to tbe
former journey. The characteristics both of the
country and its inhabitants were wild and rugged ;
and it is very likely that the Apostle encountered
here some of those " perils of robbers " and " perils
of rivers " which he mentions afterwards. His
routes through this region are considered in detail
in Lift and Kpp. of St. Paul (2d ed. voL i. pp.
197-207, 240, 241), where extracts from various
travellers are given. J. S. H.
PI'80N (Jlttf^S [etrenmuio, can-eat, Ges.] :
[Rom. 4i<r<&V; Alex.] itiauv- Phiton). One of
the four >' heads " into which the stream flowing
through Eden was divided (Gen. ii. 11). Nothing
ia known of it; the principal conjectures will be
found under Eden [vol. L p. 656 f.].
PIBTAH (H9P? [expansion]: v ao-e>sS;
[Vat taur^oi:] Phatpha). An Asberita: one of
the sons of Jether, or Ithran (1 Chr. vii. 88).
PIT. In the A. V. this word appears with a
figurative as well as a literal meaning. It passes
from the fscts that belong to the outward aspect of
Palestine and its cities to states or regions of tbe
spiritual world. With this power it is used to rep-
resent several Hebrew words, and the starting point
which the literal meaning presents for the spiritual
is, in each case, a subject of some interest
1. Shidl (VHtp), in Num. xvi. 30, 33; Job
xvii. 16. Here the word is one which is used only
of the hollow, shadowy world, the dwelling of the
dead, and as such it has been treated of under
Hell.
2. Shackuti (nnttF). Here, aa the root (TIB?
shows, the sinking of the pit is the primary thought
(Gesen. Tket. s. v.). It is dug into the earth
(Pa. ix. 15, cxix. 85). A pit thus made and then
covered lightly over, served as a trap by which ani-
mals or men might be ensnared (Ps. xxxv. 7). It
• Tbe singular manner in which the LXX
lasers of the Pentateuch have fluctuated in their
Nndsrinrs of Piagah between the proper name ana the
lppaJaUvs, leads to the Inference that their Hebrew
sort wss diflersnt In some of the passages to xm.
Mr. W. A. Wright has suggested that In the latter
asset soar may have read n^DS for TODD,
from 70S, a word which they actually translate by
Aofrwir in Xx. xxxlv. 1, 4, Deut. x. 1.
Probably the origin of the marginal
the A. T. " the hill."
< See Ds Saulcjr's Voyage, etc., sad the
80-66 of the English eaMon.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2636
PIT
'Jm» became * type of sorrow and confusion, from
which a man could not extricate himself, of the
great doom which cornea to all men, of the dreari-
neu of death (Job xxxiii. 18, 24, 28, 80). lb
'• go down to the pit," it to die without hope. It
ti the penalty of evil-doers, that from which the
righteous are delivered by the hand of God.
3. B6r (~n3). In this word, as in the cog-
nate BUr, the special thought is that of a pit or
well dug for water (Gesen. The*, s. v.). The pro-
cess of desynonymizing which goes on in all lan-
guages, seems to have confined the former to the
state of the well or cistern, dug into the rock, but
no longer filled with water. Thus, where the sense in
both cans is figurative, and the same English word is
need, we have pit (Jeer) connected with the " deep
water," « the waterflood," •• the deep" (Ps. lxix. 16),
while in pit (^t'lS), there is nothing but the
•• miry clay " (Ps. zl. 9). Its dreariest feature is
that there is " no water " in it (Zech. ix. 11). So
far the idea involved has been rather that of misery
and despair than of death. But in the phrase
« they that go down to the pit " (~)13), it becomes
even more constantly than the synonyms already
noticed (Slteoi, Shachalh), the representative of the
world of the dead (Es. xxxi. 11, 16, xxxii. 18, 34;
Ps. xxviii. 1, cxliii. 7). There may havr been two
reasons for this transfer. 1. The wide, deep exca-
vation became the place of burial. The " graves
were set in the sides of the pit " (tor) (Ex. xxxii.
24). To one looking into it it was visibly the
home of the dead, while the vaguer, more mys-
terious Sheol carried the thoughts further to an in-
visible home. 2. The pit, however, in this sense,
was never simply equivalent to burial-place. There
is always implied in it a thought of scorn and con-
demnation. This too had Its origin apparently in
the use made of the excavations, which had either
never been wells, or had lost the supply of water.
The prisoner in the land of his enemies, was left to
perish in the pit (tor) (Zech. ix. 11). The greatest
of all deliverances is that the captive exile is re-
leased from the slow death of starvation in it
(thachath. Is. Ii. 14). The history of Jeremiah,
cast into the dungeon, or pit (tor) (Jer. xxxviii. 6,
9), let down into its depths with cords, sinking into
the filth at the bottom (here also there is no water),
•nth death by hunger staring him In the lace,
shows bow terrible an instrument of punishment
was such a pit. The condition of the Athenian
prisoners in the stone quarries of Syracuse (Thuc.
rii. 87), the Persian punishment of the <rw66oi
iCtesias, Pert. 48), the oubliettes of medians!
jrisona present instances of cruelty, more or less
uuuogou*. It is not strange that with these associ-
ations of material horror clustering round, it should
nave involved more of the idea of a place of punish-
ment for the haughty or unjust, than did the theol,
the grave.
In Rev. ix. 1, 2, and elsewhere, the " bottomless
pit," is the translation of to <pp4<w tt)i hfiiaaou.
The A. V. has rightly taken <ppiap here as the
• i. T§: HfCa.: kydria, logout; akin to Sanskrit
hu aadctfjot. Also "barrel" (1 K. xvil. 12, xvlU.
18% (Oss. p. 600 i Mohhoff, YtrgUick. da Bprtuhtn, p.
n»)
& "?J3 at* b^: «n«M»: em ; A. T. » bottle,"
PITCHES.
equivalent of Mr rather than beer. The pit of lbs
abyss is as a dungeon. It is opened with a key
(Rev. ix. 1, xx. 1). Satan is east into it, a* s
prisoner (xx. 8). E. U. P.
PITCH (rrJJT, -l^-ipi: wfo-.ni: pis)
The three Hebrew terms above given all represent
the same object, namely, mineral pitch or asphalt,
in its different aspects: tephtlk (the rift of the
modem Arabs, Wilkinson, Anc. £</. ii. 120) in its
liquid state, from a root signifying "to flew;"
cMmdY, in its solid state, from its red color, though
also explained in reference to the manner in which
it boils up (the former, however, being more cor.
sistent with the appearance of the two terms in
juxtaposition in Ex. ii. 3; A. V. "pitch and
slime"); and copier, in reference to its use in
overlaying wood-work (Gen. vL 14). Asphalt in an
opaque, inflammable substance, which Lul bias up
from subterranean fountains in a liquid state, and
hardens by exposure to the air, but readily melts
under the influence of heat. In the latter state
it is very tenacious, and was used ss a cement in
lieu of mortar in Babylonia (Gen. xi. 8; Strab-
xvi p. 743; Herod, i. 179), as weU as for coating
the outsides of vessels (Gen. ii. 14; Joseph. B. J.
iv. 8, § 4), and particularly for making the papy-
rus boats of the Egyptians water-tight (Ex. ii. 8;
Wilkinson, ii. 120). The Babylonians obtained
their chief supply from springs at Is (the modem
Hit), which are still in existence (Herod, i. 179).
The Jews and Arabians got theirs in large quanti-
ties from the Dead Sea, which hence received ite
classical name of Lttcu* Atphahitet. The latter
was particularly prized for its purple hue (Plin.
xxviii. 28). In the early ages of the Bible the
slime-pits (Gen. xiv. 10), or springs of asphalt,
were apparent in the Vale of Siddim, at the south-
ern end of the sea. They are now concealed through
the submergence of the plain, and the asphalt
probably forms itself into a crust on the bed of the
lake, whence it is dislodged by earthquakes or
other causes. Early writers describe the masses
thus thrown up on the surface of the lake at of
very considerable size (Joseph. B. J. iv. 8, § 4;
Tac Hit. v. 6; Diod. Sic. ii. 48). This is now a
rare occurrence (Robinson, Re*, i. 517), though
small pieces may constantly be picked up on the
shores. The inflammable nature of pitch is noticed
in Is. xxxiv. 9. W. L. &
PITCHER" The word « pitcher" is used in
A. T. to denote the water-jars or pitchers with one
or two handles, used chiefly by women for carrying
water, as in the story of Rebecca (Gen. xxiv. 15-20;
but tee Hark xiv. 13; Luke zxii. 10).' This prac-
tice has been and is still usual both In the East
and elsewhere. The vessels used for the purpose
are generally carried on the head or the shoulder.
The Bedouin women commonly use skin-bottles.
Such was the " bottle " carried by Hagar (Gen.
xx!. 14; Harmer. Ob*, iv. 246; Leyard, ffm. d>
Bab. p. 678; Roberts, Sketches, pi. 164; Af
vieux, Trav. p. 208; Burckhardt, NoUl on Bed.
i. 861).
only once a " pitcher " (Lam. Iv. 2), whan it Is J
with BTin, an earthen veassl (Oss. 522).
8. In N. I. m»s>uh>, twin only ■ stark zrr. II, U
m ; Luke xxil. 10, amphora.
t> • Hence the owner of the guest-chamber was la
mors nadlly Known, as pointed rut In note a, vol V
p. 1876. a.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PITHOM
The Mint word cad is used of the pitchen em-
ployes' by Gideon's 300 men (Judg. vii. 16), where
lbs us; made of tbera marks the material. Also
the Teasel (A. V. "bairel") in which the meal of
the Sareptan widow was contained (1 K. xrii. 12),
and the "barrels " of water used by Ely ah at Mount
Carmel (xviii. 33). [Babrel, Amer. ed.] It is
also used figuratively of the lift of man (Keel. xii.
8). [Fountain; Medicine.] It is thus prob-
able that earthen vessels were used by the Jews as
they were by the Egyptians fur containing both
liquids and dry provisions (Birch, Anc Putlay, i.
48). In the view of the Fountain of Nazareth
[vol. i. p. 838], may be seen men and women with
pitchers which scarcely differ from those in use in
Egypt and Nubia (Roberts, Skttcht; plates 29,
164). The water-pot of the woman of Samaria
was probably one of this kind, to he distinguished
from the much larger amphora of the marriage-
feast at Can*. [Fountain; Cbosi; Bottle;
Flagon; Pot.] H. W. P.
PITHOM (DhS [see below]: n.iW; [Alex.
IlieWpO rhilhom), one of the store-cities built by
the Israelites for the first oppressor, the Phsraoh
" which knew not Joseph" (Ex. i. 11). In the
Heb. these cities are two, Pithoin and Raamses:
the LXX. adds On, as a third. It is probable
that Pitbom lay in the most eastern part of Lower
Egypt, like Raamses, if, as is reasonable, we sup-
pose the Utter to be the Rameses mentioned else-
where, and that the Israelites were occupied in
public works within or near to the land of Goshen.
Herodotus mentions a town called Patumus, ni-
rovuot, which seems to be the same as the Thoum
t»r Thou of the Itinerary of Antoninus, probably
the military station Thohu of the Notitut.
Whether or not Patumus be the Pithoin of
Scripture, there can be little doubt that the name
Is identical. The first part is the same as in Bu-
bastis and Bu-siris, either the definite article mas-
culine, or a possessive pronoun, unless indeed, with
Brugsch, we read the Egyptian word "abode" PA,
and suppose that it commences these names. [Pi-
BE8ETH.] The second put appears to be the
name of ATUM or TUM, a divinity worshipped
at On, or Heliopolis, as well as Ra, both being
forms of the sun [On], and it is noticeable that
Thoum or Thou was very near the Heliopolite
noma, and perhaps more anciently within it, and
that a monument at Aboo-Kuhtyd shows that the
worship of Heliopolis extended along the valley of
the Canal of the Red Sea. As we find Thoum and
Patamus aid Rameses in or near to the land of
Goshen, there can be no reasonable doubt that we
have here a correspondence to Pithom and Raam-
ses, and the probable connection in both cases with
Heliopolis confirms the conclusion. It is remark-
able that the Coptic version of Gen. xlvi. 28 men-
tions Pithom for, or instead of, the Heroopolia of
the LXX. The Hebrew reads, "And he sent
Jud&h before him unto Joseph, to direct his faoe
unto Goshen; and they came into the land
if Goshen." Here the LXX. has, ku0' 'HooW
■wAur, cb -rSi* "Paiuotnj, but the Coptie, £4.
asecBju. i~S^Ki sben nKAgi
1pA.JULi.CCH. Whether Patumus and Thoum
«e the same, and the position of one or both, have yet
to be determined, before we can speak positively as to
ba P thorn of Exodus. Herodotus i laces Patumus
PLAGUE, THE
2581
In the Arabian nome upon the Canal of the Red Ses
(ii. 48). The Itinerary of Antoninus puts Inou M
Roman miles from Heliopolis, and 48 fro.n Pelu-
sium ; but this seems too far north for Patumus,
and also for Pithom, if that place were near Heli-
opolis, as its name and connection with Uaamaet
seem to indicate. Under Raamses is a discussion
of the character of these cities, and of their im-
portance in Egyptian history. [Ramksks.]
B.S. P.
* Chabaa (Voynge d"t» Egyptitn, p. 286) sug-
gests the probable identity of PWum and the
Etkam of Ex. xiii. 20 : the initial p being simply
the masculine singular of the article in Egyptian.
But this seems to call for two cities or towers oi
the tame name, in the same general locality, since
there is good reason for placing the Pithom of Ex.
i. 11, to the west of Raamses. The children of Is-
rael would naturally assemble for the exodus at the
point nearest the eastern desert; and their place oi
rendezvous was Raamses; nor would they be likely
to encamp near a fortified city such as Pithom was.
In his Melanges Egypt, it. 164, M. Chains gives
at length the arguments for the identification oi
Pithom with the Patumus of Herodotus, and with
the ruins of Ahoo-Ketheyd. A thorough archaeo-
logical exploration of the Delta alone could deter-
mine these localities with certainty. This we may
hope for when M. Marietta shall hare finished his
most rewarding work in the Nile valley. The Patu-
lous of Herodotus lay upon the canal that joined the
Nile to the Bitter Lakes, and the sweet-water ca-
nal of Lessens, by restoring fertility to the ancient
Goshen, and inviting thither a permanent popula-
tion, may give occasion for discoveries that shall
illustrate and confirm the history of Israel in
Egypt. J. P. T.
PITHOM (fl/V? [Aarmfe«i,Furst]: *.«*V
[in ix. 41, Vat- Sin. 4>ai0»»>.-] Phithon). One oi
the four sons of Miaah, the ton of Meribbaal, or
Mephibotheth (1 Chr. viil. 35, ix. 41).
PLAGUE, THE. The disease now called the
Plague, which has ravaged Egypt and neighboring
countries in modem times, is supposed to have pre-
vailed there in former ages. Manetho, the Egyp-
tian historian, speaks of " a very great plague " in
the reign of Semempses, the seventh king of the
first dynasty, b. c. cir. 2500. The difficulty of de-
termining the character of the pestilences of ancient
and medieval times, even when carefully described,
warns us not to conclude that every such mention
refers to the Plague, especially as the cholera has,
since its modem appearance, been almost as severe
a scourge to Egypt as the more famous disease,
which, indeed, as an epidemic seems there to have
been succeeded by it. Moreover, if we admit, as
we must, that there hare been anciently pestilences
very nearly resembling the modem Plague, we must
still hesitate to pronounce any recorded pestilence to
be of this class unless it be described with some
distinguishing particulars.
The Plague in recent times has not extended far
beyond the Turkish Empire and the kingdom oi
Persia, It has been asserted that Egypt it its cra-
dle, but this does not seem to be corroborated by
the later history of the disease. It is there both
sporadic and epidemic: in the first form it has ap-
peared almost annually, in the second at rarer in-
tervals. As an epidemic it takes the character oi
a pestilence, sometimes of the greatest severity.
Our subsequent remarks apply to it in this tsar
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2588
PLAGUE, THE
[t f» a much-vexed question whether it if ever
endemic: that inch la the cue is favored by its
rareness since sanitary measures have been en-
forced .
The Plague when most severe usually appears
first on the northern coast of Egypt, having previ-
ously broken out in Turkey or North Africa west
of Egypt. It ascends the river to Cairo, rarely
going much further. Thus Mr. Lane has observed
that the great plague of 1838 '• was certainly intro-
duced from Turkey " (Modern Egyptiant, 5th ed.
p. 8, note 1 ). It was first noticed at Alexandria,
■Mended to Cairo, and further to the southern part
of Egypt, a few cases having occurred at Thebes;
and it " extended throughout the whole of Egypt,
ttough its ravages were not great in the southern
parts" (Ibid.). The mortality is often enormous,
and Mr. Lane remarks of the plague just men-
tioned : " It destroyed not less than eighty thou-
sand persons in Cairo, that is, one-third of the pop-
ulation ; and far more, I believe, than two hundred
thousand in all Egypt " (Ibid.)." Ihe writer was
in Cairo on the last occasion when this pestilence
visited Egypt, in the summer of 1843, when the
deaths were not numerous, although, owing to the
Government's posting a sentry at each house in
which any one had died of the disease, to enforce
quarantine, there was much concealment, and the
number was not accurately known (Mrs. Poole,
EngUtkwoman in Egypt, ii. 82-35). Although
since then Egypt has been free from this scourge,
Benghazee (Hetperides), in the pashalic of Tripoli,
was almost depopulated by it during part of the
years 1880 and 1861. It generally appears in
Egypt in midwinter, and lasts at most for about
six months.
The Plague is considered to be a severe kind of
typhus, accompanied by buboes. Like the cholera
it is most violent at the first outbreak, causing
almost instant death ; later it may last three days,
and even longer, but usually it is fatal in a few
hours. It has never been successfully treated ex-
cept in isolated eases or when the epidemic has
seemed to have worn itself out. Depletion and
stimulants have been tried, as with cholera, and
stimulants with far better results. Great difference
of opinion has obtained as to whether it is conta-
gious or not Instances have, however, occurred in
which no known cause except contagion could have
conveyed the disease.
In noticing the places in the Bible which might
be supposed to refer to the Plague we must bear in
mind that, unless some of its distinctive character-
istics are mentioned, it is not safe to infer that this
disease is intended.
In the narrative of the Ten Plagues there is, as
we point out below [p. 3542, n], none correspond-
ing to the modern Plague. The plague of boils has
Indeed some resemblance, and it might be urged
that, an in other cases known scourges were sent
(their miraculous nature being shown by their oppor-
tune occurrence and their intense character), so in
this sue a disease of the country, if indeed the Plague
anciently prevailed in Egypt, might have been em-
ployed. Yet the ordinary Plague would rather exceed
in severity this infliction than the contrary, which
Hems fatal to this supposition. [Plagues, the
fEH.]
<• A nutans story uranactsd with this plague is
(Ivsc tn th> notes [of Mr. Laos] to the Thousand and
Oh Jftfefci, so, Ut.
PLAGUE, THE
St Ten] Hebrew words are trantbttul "past!
lance "or "plague." (1.) ~3^, property H do
struction," hence " a plague; " in LXX. commonly
Ootaros. It is used with a wide signification fcs
different pestilences, being employed even for mur-
rain in the account of the plague of murrain (Ex.
iz. 8). (9.) HJ?p, properly "death," hence '-a
deadly disease, pestilence." Geaenius compares the
Schtoaner Tod, or Black Death, of the middle
ages. (3.) F]2«l *ad i"tg3D, properly anything
with which people are smitten, especially by God,
therefore a plague or pestilence sent by Him. (4.)
aiBp., '• pestilence " (Dent, xxxii. 34, A. V. « de-
struction " ; Pa. xd. 8, " the pestilence [that] walk-
eth in darkjess"), and perhaps also 3lj?P, n* we
follow Geeenius, instead of reading with the A. T.
"destruction," in Hos. xiii. 14. (5.) *lt?f!?, prop-
erly "a flame," hence "a burning fever," "a
plague" (Deut xxxii. 34; Hab. iii. 5, where it
occurs with ~)3Tf ). It is evident that not one of
these words can be considered ss designating by-
its signification the Plague. Whether the disease
be mentioned must be judged from the sense of pas-
sages, not from the sense of words.
Those pestilences which were sent as special
judgments, and were either supernatural!} rapid in
their effects, or in addition directed against par-
ticular culprits, are beyond the reach of human in-
quiry. But we also read of pestilences which, al-
though sent as judgments, have the characteristic*
of modern epidemics, not being rapid beyond nature,
nor directed against individuals. Thus in the re-
markable threatenings in Leviticus and Deuteron-
omy, pestilence is spoken of as one of the enduring
judgments that were gradually to destroy the dis-
obedient. This passage in l^viticus evidently refers
to pestilence in besieged cities: "And I will bring
a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of
[my] covenant: and when ye are gathered together
within your cities, I will send the pestilence among
you ; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the
enemy" (xxvi. 25). Famine in a besieged city
would occasion pestilence, A special disease may
be indicated in the parallel portion of Deuteronomy
(xxviii. 21 ) : •• The Lord shall make the pestilence
cleave unto thee, until he [or "it"] have consumed
thee from off the land whither thou goest to possess
it." The word rendered " pestilence " may, how-
ever, have a general signification, and comprise ca-
lamities mentioned afterwards, for there follows an
enumeration of several other diseases and similar
scourges (xxviii. 21, 22). The first disease hen
mentioned, has been supposed to be the Plagaa
(Iiunseti. Bibdwtrk). It is to be rememhered that
" the latch of Egypt " is afterwards spoken of (97),
by which it is probable that ordinary boils are in-
tended, which are especially severe in Egypt in the
present day, and that later still "all the di seas e s of
Egypt " are mentioned (80). It therefore seems
unlikely that so grave a d i s e as e as the Plague, it
then known, should not be spoken of in either of
these two passages. In neither place does it seen
certain that the Plague is specified, though, in the
one, if it were to be in the land it would fasten
upon the population of besieged cities, and in the
other, if then known, it would probably be aliadasi
to as a terrible judgment in an enumeration of dia>
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2540 PLAGUES, THE TEN
genera] and powerful nature of the wonden wrought
by the bind of Moses and Aaron and tbeir partial
and weak imitation*. When Pharaoh hod refined
to let the Israelites go, Moses was sent again, and,
on the second refusal, was commanded to smite
upon the waters of the river and to turn them and
all the waters of Egypt into blood. The miracle
was to be wrought when Pharaoh went forth in the
morning to the river. Its general character is very
remarkable, for not only was the water of the Kite
smitten, but all the water, even that in vessels,
throughout the country. The fish died, and the
river stank. The Egyptians could not drink of it,
and digged around it for water. This plague
appears to have lasted seven days, for the account
of it ends, " And seven days were fulfilled, after
that the Lord had smitten the river" (vii. 13-25),
and the narrative of the second plague immedi-
ately follows, as though the other had then ceased.
Some difficulty has been occasioned by the mention
that the Egyptians digged for water, but it is not
stated that they so gained what they sought,
although it may be conjectured that only the water
that was seen was smitten, in order that the nation
should not perish. This plague was doubly hu-
miliating to the religion of the country, as the Nile
was held sacred, as well as some kinds of its fish,
not to speak of the crocodiles, which probably were
destroyed. It may have been a marked reproof for
the cruel edict that the Israelite children should
be drowned, and could scarcely have failed to strike
guilty consciences as such, though Pharaoh does
not seem to have been alarmed by it. He saw
what was probably an imitation wrought by the
magicians, who accompanied him, as if he were
engaged in some sacred rites, perhaps connected
with "the worship of the Nile. Events having
some resemblance to this are mentioned by an-
dent writers: the most remarkable is related by
Hanetho, according to whom it was said that, in
the reign of Nephercheres, seventh king of the
fid dynasty, the Nile flowed mixed with honey for
eleven days. Some of the historical notices of the
earliest dynasties seem to be of very doubtful
authenticity, and Hanetho seems to treat this one
as a fable, or, perhaps as a tradition. Nepher-
cheres, it must be remarked, reigned several hundred
years before the Exodus. Those who have endeav-
ored to explain this plague by natural causes, have
referred to the changes of color to which the Nile
is subject, the appearance of the Red Sea, and the
so-called rain and dew of blood of the Middle
Ages ; the last two occasioned by small fungi of
•cry rapid growth. But such theories do not
explain why the wonder happened at a time of year
when the Nile is most clear, nor why it killed the
lab and made the water unfit to be drunk. These
are the really weighty points, rather than the
change into blood, which seems to mean a change
Into the semblance of blood. The employment
of natural means in effecting a miracle is equally
seen in the passage of the Red Sea: but the
Divine power is proved by the intensifying or ex-
lending that means, and the opportune occurrence
of the result, and its fitness for a great moral
purpose.
2. The Plague of Frogt When seven days
had passed after the smiting of the river, Pharaoh
ras threatened with another judgment, and, on
his refusing to let the Israelites go, the second
uague was sent The river and all the open waters
if Egypt brought forth countless frogs, which not
PLAGUES, THE TEH
only covered the land, bnt filled the houses, awes
in their driest parts, and vessels, for the ovens and
kneading- 1 roughs are specified. The magicians
again had a seeming success in their opposition;
yet Pharaoh, whose very palaces were filled by the
reptiles, entreated Moses to pray that they might
be removed, promising to let the Israelites go: but,
on the removal of the plague, again hardened his
heart (vii. 25, till. 1-15). This must have been
an especially trying judgment to the Egyptians, as
frogs were included among the sacred animals,
probably not among those which were reverenced
throughout Egypt, like the cat, but in the second
class of local objects of worship, like the crocodile.
The frog was sacred to the goddess HEKT, who
is represented with the head of this reptile. la
hieroglyphics the frog signifies "very many," » mil-
lions," doubtless from its abundance. In the
present day frogs abound in Egypt, and in the
summer and autumn their loud and incessant
croaking in all the waters of the country gives
some idea of this plague. They are not, however,
heard in the spring, nor is there any record, ex-
cepting the Biblical one, of tbeir having been
injurious to the inhabitants. It must be added
that the supposed cases of the same kind elsewhere,
quoted from ancient authors, are of very doubtful
authenticity.
8. Tie Plague of Lux. — The account of the
third plague is not preceded by the mention of any
warning to Pharaoh. We read that Aaron waa
commanded to stretch out his rod and smite the
dost, which became, as the A. V. reads the word,
" lice " in man and beast. The magicians again
attempted opposition; but, failing, confessed that
the wonder waa of God (viii. 16-19). There is
much difficulty as to the animals meant by the
term 033. The Masoretio punctuation is DJ3,
which would probably make it a collective noun
with Q formative; but the plural form C33
also occurs (ver. 16 [Heb. 12]; P*. er. 31), of
which we once find the singular )3 in Isaiah (li.
6). It is therefore reasonable to conjecture that
the first form should be punctuated Q3S, as the
defective writing of D^S? ; sod It should also be
observed that the Samaritan has Q % 33. To*)
LXX. ha* (nt»lt)n, *»d the Vulg. trim/tee, mos-
quitoes, mentioned by Herodotus (li. 85), and Philo
(De Vita Mont, i. 20, p. 87, ed. Mang.), as trou-
blesome in Egypt Josephus, however, makes the
D33 Ilea (Ant. ii. 14, § 3), with which Bochart
agree* (Bierm. ii. 572 ft). The etymology »
doubtful, and perhaps the word is Egyptian. The
narrative doe* not enable us to decide which is the
more probable of the two renderings, excepting,
indeed, that if it be meant that exactly the sune
kind of animal attacked man and beast, mosqnif ses
would be the more likely translation. In this case
the plague does not seem to be especially directed
against the superstitions of the Egyptians: if, how-
ever, it were of lice, it would have been most dis-
tressing to their priests, who were very cleanly
apparently, like the Muslims, as a religious duty
In the present day both mosquitoes and lice an
abundant in Egypt: the latter may be avoided,
but there is no escape from the former, which an
so distressing an annoyance that an i ncr ease of
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PLAGUES, TEE TEN
nem would render life almost insupportable to
beast* as well as men.
4. The Plague of Flies. — In the cue of the
fourth plague, a* in that of the first, Moeea was
commanded to meet Pharaoh in the morning at be
came forth to the water, and to threaten him with
a judgment if he (till refined to give the Israelite!
leave to go and worship. He was to be punished
by 3Ty, which the A. T. renders "swarms [of
ffies]," "a swarm [of flies]," or, in the margin,
" a mixture [of noisome beasts]." These creatures
were to cover the people, and fill both the houses
and the ground. Here, for the first time, we read
that the land of Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt,
was to be exempt from the plague. So terrible was
It that Pharaoh granted permission for the Israel-
ites to sacrifice in the land, which Hoses refused to
do, as the Egyptians would stone his people for
P^riaVdng thdr " abomination." Then Pharaoh
gave them leave to sacrifice in the wilderness, pro-
vided the; did not go far; but, on the plague being
removed, broke his agreement (viii. 20-32). The
proper meaning of the word 2 if , is a question
of extreme difficulty. The explanation of Josephus
(AM. ii. 14, i 8), and almost all the Hebrew com-
mentators, Is that it means " a mixture," and here
designates a mixture of wild animals, in accordance
with the derivation from the root 2"TO, "be
mixed." Similarly, Jerome renders it omnt gams
mvscarum, and Aquila wdpMvia- The LXX.,
however, and Philo (De Vita Moot, i. 23, ii. 101,
ed. Hang.) suppose it to be a dog-fly, Kvyi/utia-
The second of these explanations seems to be a
compromise between the first and the third. It is
almost certain, from two passages (Ex. viii. 29, 31 ;
Hebrew, 25, 27), that a single creature is intended.
If so, what reason is there in favor of the LXX.
rendering ? Oedmann ( Verm. Sammltmgen, ii.
150, ap. Gas. Thet. s. v. ) proposes the blatta orien-
tnlis, a kind of beetle, instead of a dog- fly; but
Gescnius objects that this creature devours things
rather than stings men, whereas it is evident that
the animal of this plague attacked or at least an-
noyed men, besides apparently injuring the land.
Vroin Ps. lxxviii. 45, where we read, " He sent the
3"iy, which devoured them," it must have been
a creature of devouring habits, as is observed by
Kaliseh (Comment, on Kxotl. p. 138), who sup-
ports the theory that a beetle is intended. The
Egyptian language might be hoped to give us a
elew to the rendering of the LXX. and Philo. In
hieroglyphics a fly is AF, and a bee SHKB, or
K.HKB, SH and KH being interchangeable, in
different dialects; and in Coptic these two words are
confounded in <5-<5-<J, i-Qy <5-tS, £4>(|j
mvLtca, apis, scarntxau. We can therefore only
Judge from the description of the plague; and here
Gescnius seems to nave too hastily decided against
the rendering " beetle," since the beetle sometimes
attacks men. Yet our experience does not bear
sjt the idea that any kiud of beetle is injurious to
man in Egypt; but there is a kind of gad-fly found
n that country which sometimes stings men,
though usually attacking beasts. The difficulty,
however, in the way of the supposition that a
stinging fly is meant is that all such flies are, like
tat one, plagues to beasts rather than men ; and
't we conjecture that a fly is intended, perhaps il
• more reasonable to infer that it was the common
PLAGUES, THE TEN 2541
fly, which in the present day is probably the moat
troublesome insect in Egypt. That this was s
more severe plague than those preceding it, appears
from it* effect on Pharaoh, rather than from the
mention of the exemption of the Israelites, for it
can scarcely be supposed that the earlier plagues
affected them. As we do not know what creature
is here intended, we cannot say if there were any
reference in this case to the Egyptian religion
Those who suppose it to have been a beetle might
draw attention to the great reverence in which
that insect was held among the sacred animals,
and the consequent distress that the Egyptians
would bare felt at destroying it, even if they did
so unintentionally. As already noticed, no insect
is now so troublesome in Egypt ss the common fly,
and this Is not the case with any kind of beetle,
which fact, from our general conclusions, will be
seen to favor the evidence for the former. In the
hot season the flies not only cover the food and
drink, but they torment the people by settling on
their faces, and especially round their eyes, thus
promoting ophthalmia.
5. The Plague of the Murrain of Beasts. — Pha-
raoh was next warned that, if he did not let the
people go, there should be on the day following " a
very grievous murrain," upon the horses, asses,
camels, oxen, and sheep of Egypt, whereas those of
the children of Israel should not die. This came
to pass, and we read that " all the cattle of Egypt
died : but of the cattle of the children of Israel died
not one." Yet Pharaoh still continued obstinate
(Ex. ix. 1-7). It is to be observed that the ex-
pression " all the cattle " cannot be understood to
be universal, but only general, for the narrative of
the plague of hail shows that there were still at a
later time some cattle left, and that the want of
universal terms in Hebrew explains this seeming
difficulty. The mentiou of camels is important,
since it appears to favor our opinion that the Pha-
raoh of the Exodus was a foreigner, camels appa-
rently not having been kept by the Egyptians of
the time of the Pharaohs This plague would hare
been a heavy punishment to the Egyptians as fall-
ing upon their sacred animals of two of the kinds
specified, the oxen and the sbeep ; but it would have
been most felt in the destruction of the greatest
part of their useful beasts. In modern times mur-
rain is not an unfrequeut visitation in Egypt, and
is supposed to precede the plague. The writer wit-
nessed a very severe murrain in that country In
1842, which lasted nine months, during the latter
half of that year and the spring of the following
one, and was succeeded by the plague, as had been
anticipated (Mrs. Poole, Englishwoman t» Egypt,
ii. 32, i. 69, 114). " ' A very grievous murrain,'
forcibly reminding us of that which visited this
same country in the days of Moses, has prevailed
during the last three months" — the letter is
dated October 18th, 1842 — , " and the already dis-
tressed peasants feel the calamity severely, or rather
(I should say) the few who possess cattle. Among
the rich men of the country, the loss has been
enormous. During our voyage up the Nile " in
the July preceding, " we observed several dead cows
and buffaloes lying in tbe river, as I mentioned in
a former letter; and seme friends who followed as,
two months after, saw many on the banks ; indeed,
up to this time, great numbers of cattle are dying
i in every part of the country" (Id. i. 114, 116).
The limilaritv of the calamity in character is to
' marcabfy in contrast with it* difference in dnrav
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2642 PLAGUES, THE TEN
Hon: the miraculous murrain seems to hire been
m sodden and needy as brief as the destruction of
the first-bom (though far less terrible), and to have
therefore produced, on ceasing, leas effect than
other plagues upon Pharaoh, nothing remaining to
be removed.
6. The Plague of Boils. — The next judgment
appears to have been preceded by no warning, ex-
cepting indeed that, when Moses publicly sent it
abroad in Egypt, Pharaoh might no doubt hare
repented at the last moment We read that Hoses
and Aaron were to take ashes of the furnace, and
Hoses was to " sprinkle it toward the heaven in
the sight of Pharaoh." It was to - become •< small
dust " throughout Egypt, and " be a boil breaking
forth [with] Mains upon man, and upon beast."
This accordingly came to pass. The magicians
now once more seem to have attempted opposition,
for it is related that they " could not stand before
Hoses because of the boil : for tbe boil was upon
the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians." Not-
withstanding, Pharaoh still refused to let the Israel-
ites go* (ix. 8-12) This plague may be supposed
to have been either an infliction of lioils, or a pes-
tilence like the plague of modern times, which is
an extremely severe kind of typhus fever, accom-
panied by swellings. [Pi-acuk.] Tbe former is,
however, the more likely explanation, since, if the
plague bad been of the latter nature, it probably
would have been less severe than the ordinary pes-
tilence of Egypt baa been in this nineteenth cen-
tury, whereas with other plagues which can be
illustrated from the present phenomena of Egypt,
the reverse is the case. That this plague followed
that of the murrain seems, however, an argument on
the other side, and it may be asked whether it is
not likely that the great pestilence of the country,
probably known in antiquity, would have been one
of the ten plagues ; but to this it may be replied
that it is more probable, and in accordance with the
whole narrative, that extraordinary and unexpected
wonders should be effected than what could be par-
alleled in the history of Egypt. The tenth plague,
noreover, is so much like the great Egyptian dis-
ease in its suddenness, that it might rather be com-
pared to it if it were not so wholly miraculous in
every respect as to be beyond the reach of human
inquiry. The position of the magicians must be
noticed aa indicative of the gradation of tbe
plagues: at first they succeeded, as we suppose, by
deception, in imitating what waa wrought by
Hoses, then they (ailed, and acknowledged the
finger of God in the wonders of the Hebrew
prophet, and at last they could not even stand be-
fore him, being themselves smitten by the plague
he waa commissioned to send.
7. The Plague of Hail. — The account of the
seventh plague is preceded by a warning, which
Hoses waa commanded to deliver to Pharaoh, re-
specting the terrible nature of the plagues that
were to ensue if he remained obstinate. And first
of all of the bail it is said, " Behold, to-morrow
about this time, I will cause it to rain a very
grievous hail, such ss hath not been in Egypt since
the foundation thereof even until now." He was
then told to collect his cattle and men into shelter,
for that everything hailed upon should die. Ac-
cordingly, such of Pharaoh's servants aa " feared
the Lord," brought in their servants and cattle
from the field. We read that "Hoses stretched
forth bis rod toward haiven : and the Lord sent
thunder and bail, and the fire ran along upon the
PLAGUES, THE TEN
Thus man and beast were T—rttf,
and the herbs and every tree broken, save in the
land of Goshen. Upon this Pharaoh acknowledged
his wickedness and that of his people, and the
righteousness of God, and promised if tbe phgns
were withdrawn to let tbe Israelites go. Tien
Hoses went forth from tbe city, and spread ont bis
hands, and tbe plague ceased, when Pharaoh, sup-
ported by his servants, again broke bis promise
(ix. 13-36). Tbe character of this and the follow-
ing plagues must be carefully examined, as tl-w
warning seems to indicate an important turning-
point. Tbe ruin caused by the hail waa evidently
far greater than that effected by any of tl e ear-
lier plagues; it destroyed men, which those othen
seem not to have done, and not only men but
beasts and the produce of the earth. In this case
Hoses, while addressing Pharaoh, openly warns
his servants how to save something from the ca-
lamity. Pharaoh for the first time acknowledges
his wickedness. We also learn that bis people
joined with him in the oppression, and that at this
time he dwelt in a city. Hail is now extremely
rare, but not unknown, in Egypt, and it is inter-
esting that the narrative seems to imply that it
sometimes falls there. Thunder-storms occur,
but, though very loud and accompanied by rain
and wind, they rarely do serious injury. We do
not remember to have heard while in Egypt of a
person struck by lightning, nor of any ruin ex-
cepting that of decayed buildings washed down by
rain.
8. The Plague of Locusts. — Pharaoh waa now
threatened with a plague of locusts, to begin the
next day, by which everything the hail had left
waa to be devoured. This waa to exceed any like
visitations that had happened in tbe lime of tbe
king's ancestors. At last Pharaoh's own servants,
who had before supported him, remonstrated, for
we read : " And Pharaoh's servants said unto bun,
How long shall this man be a snare unto us ? let
the men go, that they may serve the Lord their
God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is de-
stroyed 1 " Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and
Aaron, snd offered to let the people go, but refused
when tbey required that all should go, even with
their flocks and nerds: " And Moses stretched forth
his rod over the lend of Egypt, and the Lokd
brought an east wind upon tbe land all that day,
and all [that] night; [and] when it was morning,
the east wind brought the locusts. And the lo-
custs went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested
in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous [went
they] ; before them there ware no such locusts as
they, neither after them shall be such. For tbey
covered the sue of the whole earth, so that the
land was darkened: and they did eat every herb of
tbe land, and all the fruit of tbe trees which the hail
had left : and there remained not any green thing
in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through
all the land of Egypt." Then Pharaoh hastily
sent for Hoses and Aaron and confessed his sin
against God and the Israelites, and begged them
to forgive him. " Now therefore f rgive, I pray
tbee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lobs
your God, that He may take away from me this
death only." Moses accordingly prayed. '• An*
tbe Lokd turned a mighty strong west wind
which took away the locusts, and cast them into
tbe Red Sea; there remained not one locust in a*
the coasts of Egypt." Tbe plague being removed
Pharaoh again would not 1st the people go (x. J-
Digitized by VjOOQlC
WiAGUES, THE TEN
V)). This plague has not the unusual nature of
Jw one that preceded it, but it even exceeds it in
severity, and ao occupies its place in the gradation
of the more terrible judgment! that form the later
part of the series. Its severity can be well under-
stood by those who, like the writer, have been in
Egypt in a part if the oountry where a flight of
locusts has alighted. In this case the plague was
greater than an ordinary visitation, since it ex-
tended over a far wider space, rather than because
it was more intense ; for it is impossible to imagine
any more complete destruction than that always
caused by a swarm of locusts. So well did the
people of Egypt know what these creatures effected,
that, when their coming was threatened, Pharaoh's
servants at once remonstrated. In the present day
locusts suddenly appear in the cultivated land,
coming from the desert in a column of great length.
They fly rapidly across the oeuntry, darkening the
air with their compact ranks, which are undis-
turbed by the constant attacks of kites, crows, and
vultures, and making a strange whizzing sound
like that of fire, or many distant wheels. Where
they alight they devour every green thing, even
stripping the trees of their leaves. Rewards are
offered for their destruction, but no labor can
seriously reduce their numbers. Soon they con-
tinue their oourse, and disappear gradually in a
short time, leaving the place where they hare been
a desert. We speak from recollection, but we are
permitted to extract a careful description of the
effects of a flight of locusts from Mr. Lane's man-
uscript notes. He writes of Nubia: " Locusts not
■infrequently commit dreadful havoc in this coun-
try. In my second voyage up the Nile, when be-
fore the village of Boostan, a little above Ibreem,
many locusts pitched upon the boat. They were
lieautifully variegated, yellow and blue. In the
following night a southerly wind brought other
locusts, in immense swarms. Next morning the
air was darkened by them, as by a heavy fall of
snow; and the surface of the river was thickly
scattered over by those which had fallen and were
unable to rise again. Great numbers came upon
and within the boat, and alighted upon our
persons. They were different from those of the
preceding day; being of a bright yellow color,
with brown marks. The desolation they made was
areadful. In four hours a field of young durah
[millet] was cropped to the ground. In another
field of durah more advanced only the stalks were
left. Nowhere was there space on the ground to
set the foot without treading on many. A field
of cotton-plants was quite stripped. Even the
acacias along the banks were made bare, and palm-
trees were stripped of the fruit and leaves. Ijwt
night we heard the creaking of the sakiyehs [water-
wheels], and the singing of women driving the
eows which turned them : to-day not one sakiyeh
was in motion, and the women were going about
bowling, and vainly attempting to frighten away
the locusts. On the preceding day I had preserved
two of the more beautiful kind of these creatures
with a solution of arsenic: on the next day some
if the other locusts ate them almost entirely,
joisoned as they ware, unseen by me till they had
lastly finished their meal. On the third day they
ware less numerous, and gradually disappeared.
Leenste are eaten by most of the Bedawees of
Arabia, and by some of the Nubians. We ate a
Saw, dressed in the most approved manner, being
•tripped of the legs, wings, and head, and fried in
PLAGUES, THE TEN 2648
batter. They had a flavor somewhat like that of
the woodcock, owing to their food. The Arabs
preserve them as a common article of provision by
parboiling them in salt and water, and then dry-
ing them in the sun."
The parallel passages in the prophecy of Joel
form a remarkable commentary on the description
of the plague in Exodus, and a few must be here
quoted, for they describe with wonderful exactness
and vigor the devastations of a swarm of locusts.
» Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an
alarm in my holy mountain : let all the inhabitants
of the land tremble: for the day of the Loan
cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand ; a day of darkness
and of gloominess, a day of clouds sod of think
darkness, as the morning spread upon the moun-
tains: a great people and a strong; there hath not
been ever the like, neither shall be any more after
it, [even] to the years of many generations. A
fire devoureth before them; and behind them a
flame burnetii: the land [is] as the garden of
Eden before them, and behind, a desolate wilder-
ness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The
appearance of them [is] as the appearance of horses;
and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the
noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains shall
they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that de-
voureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle
array They shall run like mighty
men ; they shall climb the wall like men of war,
and they shall march every one on his ways, and
they shall not break their ranks
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens
shall tremble: the sun and the moou shall be
dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining "
(U. 1-5, 7, 10; see also 6, 8, 9, 11-85; Rev. U.
1-12). Here, and probably also in the parallel
passsge of Rev., locusts are taken as a type of a
destroying army or horde, since they are more ter-
rible in the devastation they cause than any other
creatures.
9. The Plague of Darkntu. — After the plague
of locusts we read at once of a fresh judgment
" And the Lord said unto Hoses, Stretch out thine
hand toward heaven, that there be darkness over
the land of Egypt, that [one] may feel darkness.
And Moses stretched forth bis hand toward heaven ;
and there was a thick darkness in all the land of
Egypt three days : they saw not one another, neithei
rose any from his place for three days : but all the
children of Israel bad light in their dwellings."
Pharaoh then gave the Israelites leave to go if only
they left their cattle, but when Moses required the'
they should take these also, he again refused (x. 91-
39). The expression we have rendered, "that [one]
may feel darkness," according to tbe A. V. in the
margin, where in the text the freer translation
" darkness [which] may be felt " is given, has oc-
casioned much difficulty. The LXX. and Vulg.
give this rendering, and the modems generally fol-
low them. It has been proposed to read " and they
shall grope in darkness," by a slight change of ren-
dering and the supposition that the particle 5 is
understood (Kalisch, Comm. on Ex. p. 171). It la
unreasonable to argue that the forcible words of the
A. V. are too strong for Semitic phraseology. The
difficulty is, however, rather to be solved by a con-
sideration of the nature of the plague. It has been
Illustrated by reference to the Saiuoom and the bat
wind of the Kbamaseen. The former is a sand-
storm which occurs in the desert, seldom lasting,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2544 PLAGUES, THE TEN
according to Mr. Lane, more than a quarter of ID
hour or twenty minutes (Mod. Eg. Sth ed. p. 2) ;
but for the time often causing- the darkness of twi-
light, and affecting man and beast. Mrs. Poole, on
Mr. Lane's authority, has described the Samoom as
follows: " The ' Samoom,' which is a very violent,
hot, and almost suffocating wind, is of more rare
occurrence than the Khamaseen winds, and of
shorter duration : its continuance being more brief
in proportion to the intensity of its parching heat,
and the impetuosity of its course. Its direction is
generally from the southeast, or south-southeast.
It is commonly preceded by a fearful calm. As it
approaches, the atmosphere assumes a yellowish
hue, tinged with red; the sun appears uf a deep
blood color, and gradually becomes <fuite concealed
before the hot blast is felt in its full violence. Toe
•and and dust raised by the wind add to the gloom,
and increase the painful effects of the beat and
rarity of the air. Respiration becomes uneasy, per-
spiration seems to be entirely stopped ; the tongue
is dry, the skin parched, and a prickling sensation
is experienced, as if caused by electric sparks. It
is sometimes impossible for a person to remain erect,
on account of the force of the wind; and the sand
and dust oblige all wbo are exposed to it to keep
their eyes closed. It is, however, most distressing
When it overtakes travellers in the desert. My
brother encountered at Koos, iu Vpper Egypt, a
samoom which was said to be one of the most
violent ever witnessed. It lasted less than half an
hour, and a very violent samoom seldom continues
longer. My brother is of opinion that, although it
is extremely distressing, it can never prove fatal,
unless to persons already brought almost to the
point of death by disease, fatigue, thirst, or some
other cause. The poor camel seems to suffer from
it equally with his master: and will often lie down
with his back to the wind, close his eyes, stretch
out his long neck upon the ground, and so remain
until the storm hss passed over " (KnijU$htBoman
in Egypt, I 96, 97). The hot wind of the Kha-
maseen usually blows for three days and nights,
and carries so much sand with it, that it produces
the appearance of a yellow fog. It thus resembles
•be Samoom, though far less powerful and far less
distressing in its effects. It is not known to cause
actual darkness ; at least the writer's residence in
^ypt afforded no example either on experience or
hearsay evidence. By a confusion of the Samoom
and the Khamaseen wind it has even been supposed
that a Samoom in its utmost violence usually lasts
three days (Kalisch, Com. Ex. p. 170), but this is
an error. The plague may, however, have been an
extremely severe sandstorm, miraculous in its vio-
lence and its duration, for the length of three days
does not make it natural, since the severe storms
are always very brief. Perhaps the three days was
the imit, as about the longest period that the peo-
ple could exist without leaving their houses. It has
been supposed that this plague rather caused a su-
pernatural terror than actual suffering and loss, but
this is by no means certain. The impossibility of
uoving about, and the natural fear of darkness
fhich affects beasts and birds ss well as men, as in
a total eclipse, would hare caused suffering, and if
the plague were a sandstorm of unequaled severity,
't would have produced the conditions of fever by
tie parching beat, besides causing much distress of
other kinds. An evidence in favor of the wholly
supernatural character of this plague is its preced-
ing the last judgment of all, the death of the fint-
PLAGTJES, THE TEH
born, as though it were a terrible fmwbsdowing of
that great calamity.
10. Tkt Death of the Fbntborn. — Before the
tenth plague Mom went to warn Pharaoh. " And
Moses said, Thus saitb the Lord, About midnight
will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the
firstborn in the land of Kgypt shall die, from the
firstborn of Pharaoh that ritteth upon his throw,
even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that [is]
behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
And there shall be a great cry throughout all the
land of Egypt, such as there was none like H, nor
shall be like it any more." He then foretells that
Pharaoh's servants would pray him- to go forth.
Positive as is this declaration, H seems to hare beer
a conditional warning, for we read, " And be went
out from Pharaoh in heat of anger," and it is added ,
that God said that Pharaoh would not hearken to
Moses, and that the king of Egypt still refused to
let Israel go fxi. 4-10). Tie Passover was then
instituted, and the houses of the Israelites sprinkled
with the blood of the victims The firstborn of the
Egyptians were smitten at midnight, as Moses had
forewarned Pharaoh. " And Pharaoh rose up in
the night, he, and all his servants, and all the
Egyptians; and there was a great cry m Egypt;
for [there was] not a house where [there was] not
one dead " (xii. 30). The clearly miraculous na-
ture of this plague, in its severity, its falling upon
man and beast, and the singling out of the first-
born, puts it wholly beyond comparison with any
natural pestilence, even the severest recorded in his-
tory, whether of the peculiar Egyptian Plague, or
other like epidemics. The Bible affords a parallel
in the smiting of Sennacherib's army, and still
more closely in some of the punishments of mur-
mnrers in the wilderness. The prevailing customs
of Egypt furnished a curious illustration of the nar-
rative of this plague to the writer. " It is well
known that many ancient Egyptian customs an
yet observed. Among these one of the most prom-
inent is the wailing for the dead by the women of
the household, as well as those hired to mourn. In
the great cholera of 1848 I was at Cairo. Ilia
pestilence, as we all know, frequently follows the
course of rivers. Thus, on that occasion, H as-
cended the Nile and showed itself in great strength
at Boolak, the port of Cairo, distant from the city
a mile and a half to the westward. For seme days
it did not traverse this space. Every evening at
sunset, it was our custom to go up to the terrace
on the roof of our house. There, in that calm,
still time, I beard each night the wail of the women
of Boolak for their dead borne along in a great wave
of sound a distance of two miles, the lamentation of a
city stricken with pestilence. So, when the Ir rt bern
were smitten, • there was a great cry in Egypt.' '
The history of the ten plsgues strictly ends with
the death of the firstborn. The pursuit and tire
passsge of the Red Sea are discussed eht w l in e.
[Exodus, the; Red Sea, Passage or.] Here
it is only necessary to notice that with the even*.
last mentioned the recital of the wonders wrought
in Egypt concludes, and the history of Israel aa a
separate people begins.
Having examined the narrative of the ten phgnea
we can now speak of their general character
In the first place, we have constantly kept fat
view the arguments of those wbo bold that the
plagues were not miraculous, and, while fnfly ad-
mitting all the illustration that the physical History
of Egypt has aflbrded us, both in our own o l se l la
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PLAGUES, THE TEN
tioo and the observation of other*, we have found
no reason foV the naturalistic view iu a single in-
stance, while in many inatanoea the illustrations
Groin known phenomena have been so different as
to bring oat the miraculous element in the narra-
tive with the greatest force, and in every case that
element has been necessary, unless the narrative be
deprived of its rights as historical evidence. Yet
more, we have found that the advocates of a natu-
ralistic explanation have been forced by their bias
into a distortion and exaggeration of natural phe-
nomena in their endeavor to find in them an expla-
nation of the wonders recorded in the Bible.
In the examination we have made it will have
been seen that the Biblical narrative has been
illustrated by reference to the phenomena of Egypt
and the manners of the inhabitants, and that,
throughout, its accuracy in minute particulars baa
been remarkably shown, to a degree that is suffi-
cient of itself to prove its historical truth. This
in a narrative of wonders is of no small impor-
tance.
Respecting the character of the plagues, they
were evidently nearly all miraculous in time of
occurrence and degree rather than essentially, in
accordance with the theory that God generally
employs natural means in producing miraculous
effects. They seem to have been sent as a series
of warnings, each being somewhat more severe than
its predecessor, to which we see an analogy in the
waroiugs which the providential government of the
world often puts before the sinner. The first
plague corrupted the sweet water of the Nile and
slew the fish. The second filled the land with
frogs, which corrupted the whole country. The
third eovjred man and beast with vermin or other
annoying insects. The fourth was of the same
kind and probably a yet severer judgment With
the fifth plague, the murrain of beasts, a loss of
property began. The sixth, the plague of boils,
was worse than the earlier plagues that had affected
roan and beast. The seventh plague, that of bail,
exceeded those that went before it, since it de
stroyed everything in the field, man and beast and
herb. The eighth plague was evidently still more
grievous, since the devastation by locusts must
have been far more thorough than that by the hail,
and since at that time no greater calamity of the
kind could have happened than the destruction of
all remaining vegetable food. The ninth plague
we do not sufficiently understand to be sure that
it exceeded this in actual injury, but it is clear
from the narrative that it must have caused great
terror. The last plague is the only one that was
general in the destruction of human life, for the
effects of the hail cannot have been comparable to
those it produced, and it completes the climax,
unless indeed it be held that the passage of the
Red Sea was the crowning point of the whole
aeries of wonders, rather than a separate miracle.
In this case its magnitude, as publicly destroying
the king and his whole army, might even surpass
that of the tenth plague.
The gradual increase in severity of the plagues
is perhaps the best key to their meaning. They
seem to have been sent as warnings to the op-
pressor, to afford him a means of seeing God's will
and an opportunity of repenting before Egypt was
ruined. It is true that the hardening of Pharaoh's
heart is a mystery which St. Paul leaves unex-
plained, answering the objector, " If ay bat, man,
who art thou that repHest against God?" (Rom.
160
PLAGUES, THE TEN 254ft
lx. 80). Yet the Apostle is arguing that we have
no right to question God's righteousness for not
having mercy on all, and speaks of his bug-suffer-
ing towards the wicked. The lesson that Pha-
raoh's career teaches us seems to be, that there are
men whom the most signal judgments do not affect
so as to cause any lasting repentance. In this re-
spect the after-history of the Jewish people is a com-
mentary upon that of their oppressor. R, S. P.
* In studying the ten plagues of Egypt two
points must be kept distinctly in view: (1) their
reality, and (2) their judicial character. Were
these plagues actual occurrences? Were they
divine judgments? Ewald, who admits a general
foundation of fact for the story as given in Exodus,
nevertheless regards it as the growth of successive
traditions, finally redacted many centuries after
the event. '■ Everything in this story is on a
coherent and sublime plan, is grand and instruct-
ive, excites and satisfies the mind. It is like a
divine drama, exhibited on earth in the midst of
real history; to be regarded in this light, and to
be treasured accordingly. Not that we hereby
assert, that this story does not on the whole ex-
hibit the essence of the event as it actually hap-
pened. For the sequel of the narrative shows that
Pharaoh did not voluntarily allow the people to
go; and we cannot form too exalted an idea of
Moses. But we do insist that the story as it now
is cannot have been drawn up before the era a
tbe great Prophets " (History of Israel, Marti
neau's trans., i. 488). In answer to this theory
of a late composition of the story, Mr. Poole
(supra) has aptly remarked that the minute accu-
racy of the Biblical narrative in its references to
Egypt is a signal proof of its historical truth.
Admitting the general analogy of the plagues with
the phenomena of the country, the knowledge of
tbe physical features of Egypt, its soil, climate, pro-
ductions, natural history, and meteorology, which
the author of this narrative exhibits, is such as
could have been gained only by a personal resi-
dence in Egypt, and argues a personal observation
of the events described. Moreover this narrative
occurs in a book which exhibits throughout tbe
personal familiarity of its author with the customs
of Egypt, religious, social, and domestic, with its
cities and forts, its laws and institutions, its super-
stitions and modes of worship, its arts and manu-
factures ; and this knowledge, revealing itself in a
merely incidental way, is so much the stronger
evidence of the genuineness and authenticity of
the account given by Moses.
But Ewald's theory finds also a positive refuta-
tion in the institution of the Passover, lie him
self traces this observance back to tbe time of
Joshua. "About this time, many customs cer-
tainly first received proper le^ai sanction, which,
though closely oonnected with the existing religion,
possessed more popular importance for the fully
established community ; as the Feast of the Pass-
over, in commemoration of the deliverance out of
Egypt; and circumcision, as marking every mala
member of the community. Not without reason
does the earliest narrator make Gilgal tbe scene of
the first general circumcision, and likewise of the
first Passover. At Gilgal near the Jordan, doubt-
less, many in still later days loved to keep the
Passover; being more forcibly reminded by the
sight of the Jordan of the triumphant entry into
Canaan, of the previous adventures in the desert,
and of the deliverance out of Egypt" (Ewald,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2546 PLAGUES, THE TEN
But. of fmatt, li. 8*). Thus Ew«Id distinctly
admits that, as far back as the time of Joshua,
the Passover was observed, to commemorate the
deliverance out of Egypt The Passover is a
perpetual witness for the Exodus. But the Pass-
over contains features so unnatural, so remote
in themselves from mere imagination or invention,
that one cannot conceive of their origin except in
some fact of actual occurrence. This is true espe-
cially of the time and manner of killing the lamb,
and the sprinkling of the blood on the side posts
and the upper door-post of the houses. As the
observance itself witnesses for the departure out
of Egypt, so do these unique features of it witness
for the facts which are recorded as having attended
its own institution. But the tenth decisive plague
was only the culmination of a series, and the whole
narrative must stand or fall together. The plagues
were actual occurrences.
Were they also divine judgments? Upon this
point Ewald again says (vol. 1. p. 484), " Among
the ten plagues by which Pharaoh is ultimately
coerced into compliance, eight are nothing more
than extraordinary calamities of such a kind as
may occur in any country, but most frequently
and easily in the swampy northern portion of
Egypt (only that, in connection with this history,
they are to 1 * viewed in that terrible light in which
the locusts are regarded by Joel), and are arranged
in an appropriate advance in severity : frogs out of
the water, mosquitoes as if swarming from the
dust, dogflies, murrain among the cattle, a kind
of Mains, hail, locusts, darkness .... 11m
whole constitutes a very Egyptian picture, indeed
more so than the separate details; in no nation
was the observation and the fear of extraordinary
atmospheric and other natural phenomena so early
and carefully developed as in Egypt. The Egyp-
tians are beaten by the true God in and through
their own faith — that is the fundamental thought
of the whole." Now it is this fundamental thought,
sustained by certain special features of phenomena
in other respects natural, that gives to these calam-
ities the character of divine judgments. They
came in rapid succession, apparently at unusual
seasons, and all point toward one end. They come
and go at the word or prayer of Moses, and are
jven announced by him beforehand in terms of
warning. At first they are feebly imitated or
simulated by the magicians, but their resources
loon come to an end. In several instances the
Israelites are exempted from the plague that smites
jrerything around them. These peculiarities can-
lot be accounted for by the operation of natural
.-auses : and, " where natural power is pushed be-
yond natural limits, the event is just as miracu-
oos as where the power is wholly unknown to
nature." The manifestation of supernatural power
within the sphere of phenomena peculiar to Egypt
was the more impressive as a proof that the God
sf the .Hebrews had supreme dominion over all
natural and spiritual powers in Egypt also. This
Pharaoh himself at last acknowledged.
• An entirely different word In Hebrew (though
Stant ka l Id English) from the nam* of the son of
Adam, which Is Htbtt.
» For Instance, from the mountain between Zrt-
tmy and Baalbtc, half an hour past the Roman
e • Pot the situation of "the plain of Ono" an
loWnson's »»«. Otagr. of PaUuint, pp. 118, 128. It
■as ao doubt near Lon or Ltbda. H.
PLAINS
The hardening of his heart was due to hfcj own
willfulness. He is said again and again to have
hardened it; and the divine agency in that result
was simply that of multiplying appeals and won
ders fitted to convert him, though it was f o rese en
that he would resist them all. The Hebrew Scrip-
tures, overlooking secondary agencies, ascribe to
Jehovah whatever He in any wise causes or suffers
to come to pass. J. P. T.
PLAINS. This one term does duty in tin
Authorized Version for no lea* than seven distinct
Hebrew words, each of which had its own inde-
pendent and individual meaning, and could not
be — at least it not — interchanged with any ether;
some of them are proper names exclusively at-
tached to one spot, and one has not the meaning
of plain at all.
1. Abil » PSH). This word perhaps answer*
more nearly to our word "meadow" than any
other, its root having, according to Gesenlns, the
force of moisture like that of grass. It occurs
in the names of Abel-haw, AflEHdmouH.
Abei-shittim, and is rendered "plain " In Judg.
xi. 33, " plain of vineyards."
3. Bik'ik (n^(?3). From • root signifying
" to cleave or rend" (Gesen. That. p. 332; Fflrst,
Hnndwb. i. 313). Fortunately we are able to
identify the most remarkable of the Bihtht of the
Bible, and thus to ascertain the force of the term.
The great Plain or Valley of Code Syria, the
" hollow land " of the Greeks, which separates
the two ranges of Lebanon and Antilebanon, ia the
most remarkable of them all. It is called in the
Bible the Bika'ath Aven (Am. I. 5), and also
probably the Bika'ath Lebanon (Josh. xi. 17, xii.
7) and Bika'ath -Hizpeh (xi. 8), and is still known
throughout Syria by its old name, as tUBdca'a,
or Ard d-Betn'a. " A long valley, though broad,"
says Dr. Pusey (Comment, on Am. i. 5), "if seen
from a height looks like a cleft;" and this if
eminently the case with the " Valley of l^banon "
when approached by the ordinary roads from north
or south. 6 It is of great extent, more than 80
miles long by about 8 in average breadth, and the
two great ranges shut it in on either hand, Leb-
anon especially, with a very wall-like appearance.
[Lebanon.] Not unlike it in this effect is the
Jordan Valley at Jericho, which appears to be once
mentioned under the same title in Dent xxxiv. 3
(A. V. « the Valley of Jericho "). Thia, however,
is part of the Arabah. the proper name of the Jor-
dan Valley. Besides these the '• plain of Hegiddo"
(3 Chr. xxxv. S3; Zech. xii. 11, A. V. « valley of
M.") and <• the plain of Ono" (Neh. vi. 8) hare
not been identified.'
Out of Palestine we find denoted by the word
Bik'ik "the plain in the land of Shinar" (Gen.
xi. 2), the "plain of Mesopotamia" (Ex. Hi. S3,
83, viii. 4, xxxrii. 1, 3), and the " plain i* the
province of Dura " (Dan iii. 1).
BiH Ah perhaps appears, with other Arabic'
d for Instance, the fann-honsas which "sparkls
amid tha stomal verdure of the Vega of Granada"
an called oanntiws, a term derived through the Arabts
from the Hebrew rcrvm, a vineyard, a rich spot — a
ObrdsL Another Semitic word Mtoralnad In Spaas
Is Seville (ses farther down, No. 6). But Indeed thsj
are most numerous. For other examples at* Ohu mtn
da molt ripagniAi dtrivii dt IMrote, par fngahnamh
Ujden. 186X
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PLAINS
mm, in Spanish u Vega, a term applied to well-
watered valleys, between bill* (Ford. Hattdbk. wet
li.), and especially to the Valley of Granada, the
moat extensive and moat fruitful of them all, of
which the Moon were accustomed to boast that it
was larger and richer than the Ghtttah, the Oasis
if Damascus.
3. Hae-Ciccir C">^3n). This, though ap-
plied to a plain, has not (if the lexicographers are
\ight) the force of flatness or extent, but rather
nenis to be derived from a root signifying round-
Mas. In its topographical sense (for it has other
neauingi, such as a coin, a cake, or flat loaf) it is
soufiued to the Jordan Valley. This sense it bears
a Uen. xiii. 10, 11, 18, xix. 17, 85-39; Deut.
txxiv. 3; 3 iism. xviii. 33; 1 K. vii. 46; 8 Chr.
<v. IT; Neb. iii. 23, xii. 38. The LXX. translate
U by rtplx»pos and wepfoucot, the former of
which is often found in the N. T., where the Eng-
lish reader is familiar with it as " the region round
about." It must be confessed that it hi not easy
to trace any connection between a "circular form "
and the nature or aspect of the Jordan Valley, and
It is difficult not to suspect that Occur is an
archaic term which existed before the advent of
the Hebrews, and was afterwards adopted into their
language. [Rkgion-boukd-about.J
4. Ham-MUMr Oitthttn). This is by the
lexicographers explained as meaning " straightfor-
ward," "plain," as if from the root ydsfiar, to be
just or upright; but this seems far-fetched, und it
is more probable that in this ease also we have
an archaic term existing from a pre-historic date.
It occurs in the Bible in the following passages:
Deut. iii. 10, iv. 43; Josh. xiii. 9, 16, 17, 21, xx.
8; 1 K. xx. 23, 25; 2 Chr. xxvi. 10; Jer. xlviii.
8, 21. In each of these, with one exception, it is
used for the district in the neighborhood of Hesh-
bon and Dibon — the BtOca of the modem Arabs,
their most noted pasture-ground ; a district which,
from Use scanty descriptions we possess of it, seems
to resemble the " Downs " of our own country In
the regularity of its undulations, the excellence of
Its turf, sad its fitness for the growth of flocks.
There is no difficulty in recognizing the same dis-
trict in the statement of 3 Chr. xxvi. 10. It is
evident from several circumstances that Usxiah
had been a great conqueror on the east of Jordan,
as well as on the shore of the Mediterranean (see
Ewald's remarks, (Jeechichte, iii. 588, note), and
he kept his cattle on the rich pastries of Philis-
tines on the one hand, and Ammonites on the
ither. Thus in all the passages quoted above the
word Mishor seems to be restricted to one special
district, and to belong to it as exclusively as She-
ftlak did to the lowland of Philiatia, or Arabah
to the sunken district of the Jordan Valley. And
therefore it is puzzling to find it used in one pas-
sage (1 K. xx. 23, 85) apparently with tbe mere
general sense of low land, or rather flat land, in
which chariots could be manoeuvred — as opposed
*o uneven mountainous ground. There is some
reason to believe that the scene of the battle in
question was on the east side of the Sea of Gen-
■esaret in tbe plain of Jovian; but this is no
explanation of the difficulty, because we are not
plains 2547
warranted in extending tbe Miikor further than
the mountains which bounded it on the north, aw
where tbe districts began which bore, like it, tbeb
own distinctive names of Gilead, Bashan, Argob,
Golan, Hauran, etc. Perhaps the most feasible
explanation is that the word was used by the
Syrians of Damascus without any knowledge of its
strict signification, in the same manner indeed that
it was employed in the later Syro-Chaldee dialect,
in which mcihra is the favorite term to express
several natural features which in tbe older and
stricter language were denominated each by its own
special name.
6. Ha-Arabah (fT^njjn). This again had
an absolutely definite meaning — being restricted
to tbe valley of the Jordan, and to its continuation
sonth of the Dead Sea. [See Arabah, vol. i. pp.
183, 184; and for a description of the sapect of the
region, Palestine, vol. iii. pp. 8398, 2299.] No
doubt the Arabah was the most remarkable plain
of the Holy Land — but to render it by so general
and common a term (as our translators have done
in the majority of cases) is materially to diminish
its force and significance in the narrative. This is
equally the case with
6. na-She/SldM (nbstfn), the invariable
designation of the depressed, flat, or gently undu-
lating region which intervened between the high-
lands of Judah and the Mediterranean, and was
commonly in possession of tbe Philistines. [Pal-
E8TIDK, p. 2396; Sephela.] To the Hebrews
this, and this only, was The Shefelah ; and to have
spoken of it by any more general term would have
been as impossible as for natives of the Cam of
Stirling or the Weald of Kent to designate them
differently. Shefelah has some claims of its own
to notioe. It was one of the most tenacious of
these old Hebrew terms. It appears in the Greek
text and in the Authorized Version of the Book
of Maccabees (1 Mace. xii. 38), and is preserved on
each of it* other occurrences, even in such corrupt
dialects as the Samaritan Version of tbe Penta-
teuch, and the Targums of Pseudo-jonathan, and
of Rabbi Joseph. And although it would appear
to be no longer known in its original seat, it has
transferred itself to other countries, and appears
in Spain as Senile, and on the east coast of Africa
ss Sofula.
7. Eton (Yi7$). Our translators have uni-
formly rendered this word " plain," doubtless fol-
lowing the Vulgate,' which in about half the pas-
sages has coneallu. But this is not the verdict of
the majority or the most trustworthy of the ancient
versions. They regard the word as meaning an
"oak " or "grove of oaks," a rendering supported
by all, or nearly all, the commentators and lexicog-
raphers of the present day. It has the advantage
also of being much more picturesque, and throws
a new light (to the English reader) over many an
incident in the lives of the Patriarchs and early
heroes of tbe Bible. The passages in which the
word occurs erroneously translated " plain," are as
follows: Plain of Moreh (Gen. xii. 6; Deut. xi.
30), Plain of Mamie (Gen. xiii. 18, xiv. 13, xviii.
1), Plain of Zaanaim (Judg. iv. 11), Plain of ths
• Jerome, again, probably followed tbe Terrain or | to and a reason for H — not a saUaketory one: "to
r Jewish authorities, and they usually ample/ tbe i oauss tress frequent plains or msaihias " (Jiaaetav
[ above manttonad. Vurst alone endeavors I L 90 el.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2548 PLAINS OF JBBICHO
Pflkr (Jodg. Ix. 6), Plain of Meonenim (he. 47),
Plain of Tabor (1 Sam. x. S)
8. The 1'laiii of Esdraelon which to the modern
traveller in the Holy Land forms the third of 1U
three most remarkable depressions, U designated In
the original by neither of the above terms, but by
emek, an appellative noun frequently employed in
the Bible for the smaller valleys of the country —
" the valley of Jexrael." Perhaps Esdraelon may
anciently have been considered as consisting of tiro
portions; the Valley of Jexrael the eastern and
smaller, the Plain of Hegiddo the western and more
extensive of the two. G.
• PLAINS OF JBBIOHO. [Jehjcho.]
• PLANE-TBEE,Ecdus.xxiv.H. [Chwt-
kut-Trke.]
PLASTER.' The mode of making plaster-
cement has been described above. [Mobtkk.]
Plaster is mentioned thrice in Scripture: 1. (Lev.
xir. 42, 48], where when a house was infected with
" leprosy," the priest was ordered to take away the
portion of infected wall and re-plaster it (Michaelia,
Lata of Mo$ti, § 211, iii. 297-306, ed. Smith).
• House; Ijjprost.]
2. The words of the Law were ordered to be em-
graved on Mount Ebal on stones which bad laaa
previously coated with plaster (Dent xxvii. 2, 4;
Josh. viii. 32). The process here mentioned was
probably uf a similar kind to that adopted in Egypt
for receiving lias-reliefs. The wall was first made
smooth, and its interstices, if necessary, filled up
with piaster. When the figures had been drawn,
and the stone adjacent cut away to at to leave them
In relief, a coat of lime whitewash was laid on, and
followed by one of varnish after the painting of the
tgures was complete. In the case of the natural
rock the process was nearly the same. The ground
was covered with a thick jayer of fine plaster, con-
listing of lime and gypsum carefully smoothed and
polished. Upon this a coat of lime whitewash was
laid, and on it the colors were painted, and set by
means of glue or wax. The whitewash appears in
moat instances to have been made of shell-limestone
not much burnt, which of itself is tenacious enough
without glue or other binding material (Long,
quoting from Heboid, Eg. Ant. ii. 49-50).
At Kehistun in Persia, the surface of the in-
scribed rock-tablet was covered with a varnish to
preserve it from weather; but it seems likely that
in the case of the Ebal tablets the inscription was
eat while the plaster was still moist (Layard, Nin-
eost, ii. 188; Vanx, Sin. a* Pertep. p. 172).
3. It was probably a similar coating of cement,
on which the fatal letters were traced by the mystic
hand " on the plaster of the wall " of Belshazzar's
palace at Babylon (Dan. v. 6). We here obtain an
incidental confirmation of the Biblical narrative.
For while at Nineveh the walls are paneled with
alabaster slabs, at Babylon, where no such mate-
rial is found, the builders were content to cover
their tiles or bricks with enamel or stucco, fitly
termed plaster, fit for receiving ornamental designs
f Layard, Am. and Bab. p. 539; Diod. ii. 8).
[Bhiou.] H. W. P.
• PLATES. [Lavkb, 2 ((*).]
• 1. TJ, I"?, Oh. MH"?: ass*.: oate.
- », "chalk-atone."
la Is.
ft. T^tp: tmU: sacs.
PLEIADES
PLEIADES. The Hebrew word (. tQ'S.
efsssU) to rendered occurs in Job ix. 9, xxxviii. si,
and Am. v. 8. In the last passage our A. V. ha*
" the seven stars," although the Geneva versios)
translates the word " Pleiades " at in the other
eases. In Job the LXX. hat riAndj, the order of
the Hebrew words having been altered [see Onto*),
while In Amos there is no trace of the original,
and it is difficult to imagine what the translators
had before them. The Vulgate in each passage
has a different rendering: Hjadei in Job ix. 9,
Platidet in Job xxxviii. 81, and Arctxna in Asa.
v. 8. Of the other versions the Peehtto-Syrrao and
Chaldee merely adopt the Hebrew word ; Aquita in
Job xxxviii., Symmichut in Job xxxviii. and Amos,
and Theodotion hi Amos give " Pleiades," while
with remarkable inconsistency Aquila in Amos baa
11 Arcturus." The Jewish commentators are no
less at variance. R. David Kimchi in hit Lexicon
says: '< R. Jonsh wrote that it was a collection of
stars called in Arabic At ThuroiyA. And the wise
Kabbi Abraham Aben Exra, of blessed memory,
wrote that the ancients said Ctmdh is seven stare,
and they are at the end of the constellation Aries,
and those which are seen are tix. And be
that what was right in his eyes was that it i
single star, and that a great one, which it
the left eye of Taurus; and CetU is a great star, the
heart of the constellation Scorpio." On Job xxxviii.
81, Kimchi continues: " Our Rabbis of blessed mem-
ory have said (Berocuth, 68, 2), Qmih hath great
cold and bindeth up the fruits, and Call hath great
heat and ripeneth the fruits : therefore He said, ' or
loosen the hands of CesuV for it openeth the fruits
and bringetb them forth." In addition to the evi-
dence of K. Jonah, who identifies the Hebrew
cimdli with the Arabic Al Thuraiya, we have the
testimony of K. Isaac Israel, quoted by Hyde in
his notes on the Tables of Ulugh Beigh (pp. 31-33,
ed. 1666) to the same effect. That Al Thuroiyi
and the Pleiades are the same is proved by the
words of Aben Rsgel (quoted by Hyde, p. 83):
" Al Thuraiya is the mansion of the moon, in tot
sign Taurus, and it is called the celestial ben with
her chickens." With this Hyde compares the Fr.
/ruitiniere, and Kng. Hen and chicktnt^ which are
old names for the same stars: and Niebuhr (Deter,
cle t Arable, p. 101) gives at the result of hit in-
quiry of the Jew at Sank, " Kimeh, Pleiades,' qu'on
apptlle aussi en Allemagne la poule qui glonsse."
The •' Ancient*," whom Aben Kara quotes (on Job
xxxviii. 31), evidently understood by the seven
small stars at the end of the constellation Aries the
Pleiades, which are indeed in the left shoulder of
the Bull, but so near the Kam's tail, that their
position might properly be defined with reference
to it. With the statement that " those which art
seen are six " may be compared the words of Didy-
nius on Homer, -raw Si HKtiiiur ofaaV irra
wdVv ifiavpht i ifitoaier aVrrip, and of Ovid
(Fatt.lv. 170) —
< Qoa> septan dtsi, sax 1
i solan t"
The opinion of Aben Kara himself has been fre-
quently misrepresented. He held that Clmak was
a single large star, AUebaran the brightest of the
Hyades, while CttU [A. V. " Orion "] was Ata-
ret the heart of Scorpio. '• When these rise In the
east," be continues, "the effects which are record**
appear." He describretrjem as ojyoti/e each other
and the difference hi Bight Amotion between A>
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PLEDGE
lebaran and Antares is as nearly as passible twelve
hoars. The belief of Aben Ezra had probably the
nme origin as the rendering of the Vulgate,
Hyde:
One other point la deserving of notice. The
Rabbis, as quoted by Kimchi, attribute to Clmdh
peat cold and the property of checking vegetation,
while Cesti works the contrary effects. But the
words of K. Isaac Israel on Job xxxviii. 31 (quoted
by Hyde, p. 72), are just the reverse. He says,
" The stars have operations in the ripening of the
baits, and such is the operation of Cimik. And
some of them retard and delay the fruits from ripen-
ing, and this is the operation of Cesll. The inter-
pretation is, ' Wilt thou bind the fruits which the
constellation Cimah ripeneth and openeth ; or wilt
thou open the fruits which the constellation 6Y«i/
aontracteth and bindeth up? ' ".
On the whole, then, though it is impossible to
arrive at any certain conclusion, it appears that our
translators were perfectly Justified in rendering
Clm&h by "Pleiades." The "seven stars'' In
Amos clearly denoted the same cluster in the Ian-
Ce of tie 17th century, for Cotgrave in his
ch Dictionary gives " Pleiade, f., one of the
ttven ttnrt."
Hyde maintained that the Pleiades were again
mentioned in Scripture by the name Suoeoth Be-
noth. The discussion of this question must le
reserved to the Article on that name.
The etymology of ci/adA is referred to the Arab.
t
tjOmS, "a heap," as being a heap or cluster of
■tars. The full Arabic name given by Gesenius is
i}\ (SfiS. "the knot of the Pleiades;" and,
v*
in accordance with this, most modern commen
tators render Job xxxviii. 31, " Is it thou that
bindest the knots of the Pleiades, or loosenest the
bands of Orion?" Simonis (Lex. fftbr.) quotes
the Greenland name for this cluster of stars, " Kit-
hUUereet, i. e. tldiit coUig'itae," as an instance of
the existence of the same idea in a widely different
language. The rendering " sweet influences " of
the A. V. is a relic of the lingering belief in the
?ower which the stars exerted over human destiny,
lie marginal note on the word '* Pleiades " in the
Geneva Version is, " which starrea arise when the
•mine is in Taurus, which is the spring tyme, and
•ring flowers," thus agreeing with the explanation
if K. Isaac Israel quoted above.
For authorities, in addition to those already re-
ferred to, see Michaeli* (Su/ipL ad Lex. Hebr. No.
1136), Simonis (Lex. Hebr.), and Gesenius (The-
Kwrtu). W. A. W.
* PLEDGE. The words so translated in the A.
v-.aw Voq, n$>3q, Bias, yvxyg, n^j;.
All these, except the' last, designate something
{tan as security for the payment of a debt or the
fulfillment of a promise. The pasaage 1 Sam.
xvtt. 18, where alone Hy"! JJ ** rendered Pk°*S«
by our translators (it occurs but once elsewhere,
Prov. xvii. 18: n^S 3137, rendered beamtih
sare<»;, is of doubtful import. See Thenius in loc.
The practice of taking pledges for the payment of
iebt, common from time immemorial throughout
!be East (Job xxii. 6, xxir. 3, 9; for the present
i Land and Book, i. 499) was regulated in
POETRY, HEBREW 2549
the Mosaio Law as follows: (1.) The creditor was
not allowed to enter the house of bis debtor, in or-
der to take a pledge, but it must be brought sut to
him, Deut. xxiv. 10, 11. (2.) A handmill was not
allowed to be taken in pledge (Deut. xxir. 6), not
the raiment D3S) of ■ widow (Deut. xxiv. 17)
(3.) An outer garment (TV^P i. q. TT??pB7,
used also as a night-covering) taken in pledge must
be delivered to the owner at sunset (Ex. xxii. 26;
Deut. xxiv. 13). For allusions to the disregard cf
these enactments, see Ezek. xviii. 7, 12, 16, xxxiii.
15; Am. ii. 8.
One of the Hebrew words given above, 7^2"JS,
occurs in the N. T. in the form of hibafUr (A.V.
"earnest "), 2 Cor. 1. 22, v. fi; Eph. 1. 14; most
probably, however, in the sense not simply of a
pledge of something to be bestowed in future, but
of such a pledge as, being, like earnest-money, of
the same or a kindred nature with the ultimate gift
or payment, should be also thus a partial antici-
pation of it. [See Earnest.] Another cognate
form is found in the expression fTQIIJjriU *33p
(A. V. <• hostages "), 2 K. xiv. U; 2 Chr. xxv. 24,
employed to designate parsons given to be held in
pledge for the performance of treaty obligations.
D. S. T.
PLOUGH. [Aoricultuhe.]
• PLUMB-LINE. [Line, Amer. ed.]
• PLUMMET, 2 K. xxviii. 13; Is. xxl. 18.
[Handicraft; Link.]
POOHE'RETH CnSb [naring, catching] ,
♦ax'pcW [Vat. *oo-pa9] : Alex. taxtpaS, in Ear.;
InutapiB, Alex, GaxapaS [FA. taxapar], in Neb.:
Phochtreth). Tbe children of Pochereth of Ze-
baim were among the children of Solomon's ser-
vants who returned with Zerubbabel (Ear. ii. 57;
Neb. vii. 59). He is called in 1 Esdr. v. 34, Phao-
ARETH. [ZEBAIM.]
POETRY, HEBREW. The subject of He-
brew Poetry has been treated at great length by
many writers of the last three centuries, but the
results of their speculations have been, in most in-
stances, in an inverse ratio to their length. That
such would be the case might have been foretold as
a natural consequence of their method of investiga-
tion. In the 16th and 17th centuries the influence
of classical studies upon the minds of the learned
was so great as to imbue them with the belief that
the writers of Greece and Rome were file models of
all excellence, and consequently, when their learning
and critical acumen were directed to the records of
another literature, they were unable to divest them-
selves of the prejudices of early education and hab-
its, and sought for the same excellences which they
admired in their favorite models. That this hat
been the case with regard to most of the specula-
tions on the poetry of the Hebrews, and that the
failure of those speculations is mainly due to this
cause, will be abundantly manifest to any one who
is acquainted with the literature of the subject
But however barren of results, the history of the
various theories which have been framed with
regard to the external form of Hebrew poetry is a
necessary part of the present article, and will serve
in some measure as a warning, to any who may
hereafter attempt the solution of the problem, what
to avoid- The attributes which are common to al
poetry, and which the poetry of the Hebrews pas
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2650 POETRY, HEBREW
Mean in a higher degree perhaps than the literature
of any other people, it la unnecessary hen to de-
scribe. But the points of contrast are so numerous,
and the peculiarities which distinguish Hebrew
poetry so remarkable, that these alone require a full
and careful consideration. It is a phenomenon
which is universally observed in the literatures of
all nations, that the earliest form in which the
thoughts and feelings of a people find utterance is
the poetic. Prose is an aftergrowth, the vehicle of
less spontaneous, because more formal, expression.
And so it is in the literature of the Hebrews. We
find in the sober narrative which tells us of the
fortunes of Cain and his descendants the earliest
known specimen of poetry on record, the song of
Lamech to bis wives, " the sword song," as Herder
terms it, supposing it to commemorate toe disoov-
ery of weapons of war by his son Tubal-Cain. But
whether it be a song of triumph for the impunity
which the wild old chief might now enjoy for his
son's discovery, or a lament lor some deed of vio-
lence of his own, this chant of l^amech has of itself
an especial interest ns connected with the oldest ge-
nealogical document, and as possessing the charac-
teristics of Hebrew poetry at the earliest period
with which we are acquainted. Its origin is ad-
mitted by Kwald to be pre- Mosaic, and its antiq-
uity the most remote. Its lyrical character is con-
sistent with its early date, for lyrical poetry is of
all forms the earliest, being, as Kwakl (Dichl. da
A. B. 1 Th. i. § 2, p. 11) admirably describes it,
" the daughter of the moment, of swift-rising pow-
erful feelings, of deep stirrings and fiery emotions
of the soul." This first fragment which has come
down to us possesses thus the eminently lyrical
character which distinguishes the poetry of the He-
brew nation from its earliest existence to its decay
and fall. It has besides the further characteristic
o* parallelism, to which reference will be hereafter
made.
Of the three kinds of poetry which an illustrated
by the Hebrew literature, the lyric occupies the
foremost place. The Shemitie nations have noth-
ng approaching to an epic poem, and in proportion
*o this defect the lyric element prevailed more
greatly, commencing, as we have seen, in the pre-
Mosaic timet, flourishing in rude vigor during the
earlier periods of the Judges, the heroic age of the
Hebrews, growing with the nation's growth and
strengthening with its strength, till it reached its
aighest excellence in David, the warrior-poet, and
from thenceforth began slowly to decline. Gnomic
poetry is the product of a more advanced age. It
arises from the desire felt by the poet to express the
results of the accumulated experiences of life in a
form of beauty and permanence. Its thoughtful
character requires for its development a time of
peacemlness and leisure; for it gives expression, not
nke the lyric to the sadden and impassioned feel-
ings of the moment, but to calm and philosophic re-
flection. Being less spontaneous in its origin, its
form is of necessity more artificial. The gnomic
poetry of the Hebrews has not its measured flow
disturbed by the shock of arms or the tumult of
tamps; it rises «ilently, like the Temple of old,
without the sounw of a weapon, and its groundwork
Is the home life of the nation. The period during
Which it flourished corresponds to its domestic and
•titled chuacter. From the time of David on-
wards through the reigus of the earlier kings, when
J» nation was quiet and at peace, or, if not at
, at least so firmly fixed in its acquired terrl-
POBTKV, HEBREW
tory that its wars wen no struggle for existence
gnomic poetry blossomed and bare fruit. We meat
with it at intervals np to the time of the Captivity
and, as it is chiefly characteristic of the age of the
monarchy, Ewald has appropriately designated this
era the '-artificial period " of Hebrew poetry. From
the end of the 8th century B. a the decline of the
nation was rapid, and with its glory departed the
chief glories of its literature. The poems of this
period are distinguished by a smoothness of diction
and an external polish which betray tokens of la-
bor and art; the style is less flowing and easy, and,
except in rare instances, there is no dash of the an-
cient vigor. Alter the Captivity we have nothing
but the poems which formed part of the liturgical
services of the Temple. Whether dramatic poetry, '
properly so called, ever existed among the Hebrews,
is, to say the least, extremely doubtful. In the
opinion of some writers the Song of Songs, in its
external form, is a rude drama, designed for a sim-
ple stage. But the evidence for this view Is ex-
tremely slight, and no good and sufficient reasons
have been adduced which would lead us to con-
clude that the amount of dramatic action exhibited
in that poem is more than would be involved in an
animated poetic dialogue in which more than two
persons take part. Philosophy and the drama
appear alike to have been peculiar to the Indo-
Germanic nations, and to have manifested them-
selves among the Sbemitic tribes only in their
crudest and most simple form.
1. Lyrical Pottry. — The literature of the He-
brews abounds with illustrations of all forma of
lyrical poetry, in its most manifold and wide-em-
bracing compass, from such short ejaculations as
the songs of the two Lamechs, and Pss. xv., exvii.,
and others, to the longer chants of victory and
thanksgiving, like the songs of Deborah and David
(Judg. v., I's. xviii.). The thoroughly national
character of all lyrical poetry has been already al-
luded to. It is the utterance of the people's life in
all its varied phases, and expresses si! Its most ear-
nest strivings and impulses. In proportion as this
expression is vigorous and animated, the idea em-
bodied in lyric song is in most cases narrowed or
rather concentrated. One truth, and even one
side of a truth, is for the time invested with the
greatest prominence. All these characteristics will
be found in perfection in the lyric poetry of the
Hebrews. One other feature which distinguishes
it is its form and its capability for being set to a
musical accompaniment. The names by which the
various kinds of songs were known among the
Hebrews will supply some illustration of this.
1. "W27, sAtr, a song in general, adapted forth*
voice alone.
8. T1DTP, miancr, which Ewald considers a
lyric song,* properly to called, but which rather
seems to correspond with the Greek ^a\fiAs, a
psalm, or song to be sung with any instrumental
accompaniment.
8. n*f>*l), nigMk, wfakh Ewald it of opinion
is equivalent to the Greek tyakiUt, is more prob-
ably a melody expressly adapted for stringed in-
struments.
4. VSJjpt}, mated, of which it may be said
that, If Ewald's suggestion be not correct, that it
denotes a lyrical song requiring nice musical skill
it is difficult to gin any more probable explanation
[Maschil.]
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VOETRY, HBBKEW
I. D£I?Q, mictdm, a term of extremely doubt-
W mauling. [Hichtam.]
8. T^ttJ, ihiggiyin (Ps. vii. 1), a wild, irreg-
ular, dithyramoic long, M the word appean to de-
note; or, according to some, a aong to be rang
with variation*. The former U the more probable
meaning. [Shioqaiob.] The plural occurs in
Hab. iii. 1.
But, beaidea these, then are other divisions of
lyrical poetry of great importance, which hare re-
gard rather to the subject of the poems than to their
form or adaptation for muaical aooompanimenta. Of
then we notice: —
1. nbn^l, tlhilldfi, a hymn of praise. The
plural tihiUVn is the title of the Book of Psalms in
Hebrew. The 146th Paalm la entitled "David's
(Psalm) of praiae; " and the subject of the paalm
Is in accordance with its title, which is apparently
suggested by the concluding verse, " the praue of
Jehovah my mouth shall speak, and let all flesh
bless his holy name for ever and ever." To thia
class belong the songs which relate to extraordinary
deliverances, such aa the songs of Moses (Ex. xv.)
and of Deborah (Judg. v.), and the Psalms xviii.
and lxviii., which have all the air of chants to be
sung In triumphal processions. Such were the
hymns sung in the Temple services, and by a bold
figure the Almighty is apostrophized as "Thou
that inhabitest the prove* of Israel," which rose in
the holy place with the fragrant clouds of incense
(Pa. xxii. 3). To the same class also Ewald refers
the shorter poems of the like kind with those al-
ready quoted, such aa Pas. xxx., xxxii., cxxxviii.,
and Is. xxxriii., which relate to leas general occa-
sions, and commemorate more special deliverances.
The songs of victory sung by the congregation in
the Temple, as Pas. xlvi., xlviii., xxiv. 7-10, which
la a short triumphal ode, and Ps. xxix., which
praises Jehovah on the occasion of a great natural
phenomenon, are likewise all to be classed in this
division of lyric poetry. Next to the hymn of
praiae may be noticed, —
3. n2*I?, Irtndh, the lament, or dirge, of which
there are many examples, whether uttered over an
Individual or as an outburst of grief for the calam-
ities of the land. The most touchingly pathetic of
all la perhaps the lament of David for the death of
Saul and Jonathan (3 Sam. i. 19-27), in which
passionate emotion is blended with touches of ten-
derness of which only a strong nature is capable.
Compare with thia the lament for Abner (2 Sam.
Iii. 83, 84) and for Absalom (3 Sam. xviii. 33).
Of the same character alao, doubtless, were the
songs which the singing men and singing women
spake over Josian at his death (2 Cbr. xxxv. 25),
and the songs of mourning for the disasters which
befell the hapless land of Judah, of which Psalms
xlix., lx., lxxUi., oxxxvii., are examples (comp. Jer.
rii. 39, lx. 10 [9]), and the Lamentations if Jere-
miah the moat memorable instances.
8. /tVr "V>BJ, tktr yedidM, a bve-eong
(Ps. xlv. 1), in its external form at least. Other
kinds of poetry there are whioh occupy the middle
TOtnjd between the lyrio and gnomic, being lyric
POBTKY, HEBKEW 2551
in form and spirit, but gnomic in subject Thaa
may be classed aa —
4. 'ty9> miihil, properly a similitude, and
then a parable, or sententious saying couched in
poetic language. 2 Such are the songs of Balaam
(Num. xxiii. 7, 18; xxiv. 8, US, 80, 21, 23), which
are eminently lyrical in character: the mocking
ballad in Num. xxi. 27-80, which has been conjec-
tured to be a fragment of an old Amorite war-song
[Numbers, p. 8197 6]; and the apologue of Jo-
tham (Judg. ix. 7-20), both which last are strongly
satirical in tone. But the finest of all is the mag-
nificent prophetic aong of triumph over the fall of
Babylon (Is. xiv. 4-27). !1Tn, chUah, aa
enigma (like the riddle of Samson, Judg. xiv. 14),
or " dark saying," as the A. V. has it in Pa. xlix.
4, lxxriiL 3. The former passage illustrates the
musical, and therefore lyric character of these
" dark sayings: "I will incline mine ear to a par-
able, I wiD open my dark saying upon the harp."
Miihil and chUAh are used as convertible terms in
Ex. xvii. 2. Lastly, to thia clan belongs il^pbj},
milUsdh, a mocking, ironical poem (Hab. ii. 6).
5. rf"Bip, UphiOdh, prayer, is the title of Pas.
xvii., Ixxxri., xc, di., cxlii., and Hab. iii. All
these are strictly lyrical compositions, and the title
may have been assigned to them either as denoting
the object with which they were written, or the use
to which they were applied. As Kwald justly ob-
serves, oil lyric poetry of an elevated kind, in so far
as it reveals the soul of the poet in a pure, swift
outpouring of itself, is of the nature of a prayer;
and henoe the term <> prayer " was applied to a col-
lection of David's songs, of whioh Ps. lxxii. formed
the conclusion.
II. Gnomic Poetry. — The second fraud division
of Hebrew poetry is occupied by a class of poems
which are peculiarly Shemitic, and which represent
the nearest approaches made by the people of that
race to anything like philosophic thought. Reason-
ing there is none: we have only results, and those
rather the product of observation and reflection than
of induction or argumentation. As lyric poetry is the
expression of the poet's own feelings and impulses,
so gnomic poetry is the form in which the desire
of communicating knowledge to others finds vent.
There might possibly be ah intermediate stage in
which the poets gave out their experiences for tbeil
own pleasure merely, and afterwards applied then
to the instruction of others, but this could scarcely
have been of long continuance. The impulse to
teach makes the teacher, and the teacher must have
an audience. It has been already remarked that
gnomic poetry, as a whole, requires for its develop-
ment a period of national tranquillity. Its germs
are the floating proverbs which paas current in the
mouths of the people, and embody the experience*
of many with the wit of one. From this small be-
ginning it arises, at a time when the experience of
the nation has become matured, and the mass of
truths which are the result of sueh experience have
passed into circulation. The fame of Solomon's
wisdom was so great that no less than three thou-
sand proverbs are attributed to him, thia being the
form j> whisk the Hebrew mind found its most
Unrth (Is. xlv. 4) understands m&sM&l to be " the
v name for poetic style among the Hebrews, In-
tasaag every sort of It, as ranging under one, or ether,
of all the
sublime."
elMMCwMBt* Wt MtattMltstasW,
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
2652 POKTRT. HEBREW
tongrnial utterance. The sayer of sententious say-
Si m to the Hebrews the wise man, the philos-
er. Of the earlier isolated proverbs but few ex -
tinples remain. One of the earliest occurs in the
mouth of David, and in his time it was the proverb
of the ancients: "from the wicked cometh wicked-
ness" (I Sam. xxiv. 18 [14]). l*ter on, when the
fortunes of the nation were obscured, their experi-
ence was embodied in terms of sadness and despond-
ency: "The daja are prolonged, and every vision
faileth," became a saying and a by-word (Ez.xii.
22,; and the feeling that the people were suffering
far the sins of their fathers took the form of a sen-
tence, '• The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and
the children's teeth are set on edge" (Ex. xviii. 9).
Such were the models which the gnomic poet had
before him for imitation. These detached sen-
tences may be fairly assumed to be the earliest form,
of which the fuller apophthegm Is the expansion,
swelling into sustained exhortations, and even dra-
matic dinkigue.
III. Dramatic Poetry. — It la impossible to as-
sert that no form of the drama existed among the
Hebrew people; the most that can be done is to
examine such portions of their literature aa have
come down to us, for the purpose of ascertaining
how far any traces of the drama proper are discern-
ible, and what inferences may be made from them.
It is unquestionably true, as Ewald observes, that
the Arab reciters of romances will many times in
their own persons act out a complete drama In rec-
itation, changing their voice and gestures with the
change of person and subject. Something of this
kind may possibly have existed among the Hebrews ;
but there is no evidence that it did exist, nor any
grounds for making even a probable conjecture with
regard to it. A rude kind of force is described by
Hr. Ijuie (Mai. Kg. ii. chap, vii.), the players of
which " are called .Vohhabtmtet'n. These frequently
perform at the festivals prior to weddings and cir-
cumcisions, at the houses of the greet ; and some
times attract rings of auditors and spectators in the
public places in Cairo. Their performances are
scarcely worthy of description : it is chiefly by vul-
gar gestures and indecent actions that they amuse
and obtain applause. The actors are only men and
boys: the part of a woman being always performed
by a man or boy in female attire." Then follows
a description of one of these plays, the plot of which
was extremely simple. But the mere fact of the ex-
istence of these rude exhibitions among the Arabs
and Egyptians of the present day is of no weight
when the question to lie decided it, whether the Song
y( Songs was designed to be so represented, as a
iiinple pastoral drama. Of course, in considering
inch a question, reference is made only to the exter-
nal form of the poem, and, in order to prove it, it
must be shown that the dramatic is the only form of
rep rese n tation which it could assume, and not that,
by the help of two actors and a chorus, it is capable
3f being exhibited in a dramatic form. All that has
been done, in our opinion, is the latter. It is but
bur, however, to give the views of those who bold
the opposite. Ewald maintains that the Song of
Songs is designed for a simple stage, because it de-
velops a complete action and admits of definite
tauses in the action, which are only suited to the
drama. He distinguishes it In this respect from the
Vtoofc of Job, which Is dramatic in form only, though,
M It is occupied with a sublime subject, he compares
ft with trngtrly, while the Song of Songs, being
I torn the common Ufa of the nation, may be
POETRY, HEBREW
compared to comedy. The one comparison la prob-
ably as appropriate at the other. In EwsJd'a di-
vision the poem falls into IS cantos of tolerably
equal length, which have a certain beginning and
ending, with a pause after each. The whole forma
four acta for which three actors are sufficient: a
hero, a maiden, and a chorus of women, these be-
ing all who would be on the stage at once. Tha
following are the divisions of the acts: —
First Aet,l2-u.7... **««•». «•»-•■ .
Second Act, U. 8- Ui.
Third Aet,t».e-vta.4
Fourth Act, Till. 6-14.
The latest work on the subject is that of H
Kenan (Lt Ctmtique des Cantiqaa), who hat given
a spirited translation of the poem, and arranged it
in acts and scenes, according to bis own theory of
the manner in which lt was Intended to be repre-
sented. He divides the whole into 16 cantos, which
form five acts and an epilogue. Hie acts and
scenes are that arranged: —
2d "
L 0-B.7.
ad «
U.8-1T.
4th «
ML 1-6.
6th "
tS.6-11.
6th «
hr.1-7.
7th «
iV. 8-T. 1.
8th «
v. 2-8.
9th »
v.S-vLfc
10th «
VL4-VB.L
Uth "
vB. 2-10.
12th «
viL10-vUl. 4.
18th canto.
Scant 1.
1.2-8.
First Act. 1.2-11. 7 . . .
" 2.
1. 7-11.
« 8.
1. 1S-H.7.
Second Act, U. 8 -111. 6. .
[ Scent 1.
« 2.
II. 8-17.
HI. 1-6.
r Besot 1.
IH.6-11.
Third Act, Ui. 6 - v. 1 . . .
« a.
iv. 1-6.
" 8.
IV.7-T.1
Fourth Act, v. 3 - vL 8 . of a tingle
■cent.
Scene 1
vl.4-9.
FKu»Aet,vL4-vtU. 7 . . .
« 2.
« 8.
vl.10-TB.ll
tU. 12- Tin. 4.
« 4.
Tin. 6-7.
Bpuogue, rill. 8-14.
But H. Return, who la compelled, in accordant*
with, his own theory of the mission of the Shemiti*
races, to admit that no trace of anything approach-
ing to the regular drama it found among them,
does not regard the Song of Songs as a drama in
the tame sense as the products of the Greek and
Roman theatres, hut at dramatic poetry in the
widest application of the term, to designate any
composition conducted in dialogue and correspond-
ing to an action. The absence of the regular
drama he attributes to the want of a complicated
mythology, analogous to that postresed by the Indo-
European peoples. Monotheism, the characteristic
religions belief of the Shemitic races, stifled tha
growth of a mythology and checked the develop-
ment of the drama. Re this as it may, dramatis
representation appears to hare been alien to tha
feelings of the Hebrews. At no period of then*
history before the age of Herod is there the hast
trace of a theatre at Jerusalem, whatever other
foreign innovations may hare been adopted, and
tbe burst of indignation which the high-priest
Jason incurred for attempting to establish a gym-
nasium and to Introduce tbe Greek games is a
significant symptom of the repugnance which the
people felt for inch spectacles The same antipathy
remains to the p r esen t day among the Arabs, ana
the attempts to introduce theatres at Beyrout and
in Algeria have signally foiled. But, tayt K
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1-OETKY, HEBREW
Rant), the Song of Sougi is a dramatic poem.
fare wen no public performance! in Palestine,
therefore it muit have been represented in private;
and he la compelled to frame the following hy-
potheaU concerning it : that it is a libretto intended
to be completed by the play of the actors and by
music, and represented in private familial, prob-
ably at marriage- feasts, the representation being
extended over the several days of the feast. The
last supposition removes a difficulty which has been
felt to be almost fatal to the idea that the poem is
a continuously developed drama. Each act la com-
plete in itself; there is no suspended interest, and
the structure of the poem is obvious and natural
if we regard each act as a separate drama intended
for one of the days of the feast. We must look
for a parallel to it in the Middle Ages, when,
besides the mystery plays, there were scenic repre-
sentations sufficiently developed. The Song of
Songs occupies the middle place between the regular
drama and the eclogue or pastoral dialogue, and
Cuds a perfect analogue, both as regards subject
and scenic arrangement, in the most celebrated of
the plays of Arras, Le Jtu de Robin tt Marion.
Such hi H. Kenan's explanation of the outward
form of the Song of Songs, regarded as a portion
of Hebrew literature. It has been due to his great
learning and reputation to give his opinion some-
what at length : but his arguments in support of
it are so little convincing that it must be regarded
at best but as an ingenious hypothesis, the ground-
work of which is taken away by M. Kenan's own
admiasiou that dramatic representations are alien
to the spirit of the Shemitic races. The simple
corollary to this proposition must be that the Song
of Songs is not a drama, but in its external form
partakes more of the nature of an eclogue or pas-
toral dialogue.
It is scarcely necessary after this to discuss the
question whether the Book of Job is a dramatic
poem or not Inasmuch as it represenU an action
and a progress, it ia a drama as truly and really as
any poem can be which develops the working of
passion, and the alternations of faith, hope, dis-
trust, triumphant confidence, and black despair, in
he struggle which it depicts the human mind as
engaged in, while attempting to solve one of the
most intricate problems it can be called upon to re-
gard. It is a drama as life is a drama, the most pow
erful of all tragedies ; but that it ia a dramatic poem,
intended to be represented upon a stage, or capable
of being so represented, may be confidently denied.
One. characteristic of Hebrew poetry, not indeed
peculiar to it, but shared by it in common with the
literature of other nations, ia its intensely national
and local cohring. The writers were Hebrews of
the Hebrews, drawing their inspiration from the
Mountains and rivers of Palestine, which they have
•mmortalised in their poetic figures, and even while
uttering the sublimest and moat universal truths
never forgetting their own nationality in its nar-
rowest and iutensest form. Their images and
metaphors, says Munk (Palatine, p. 444 a\ "are
taken chiefly from nature and the phenomena of
Palestine and the surrounding countries, from the
pastoral life, from agriculture and the national
history. The stars of heaven, the sand of the sea-
tfiore, are the image of a great multitude. Would
bey speak of a mighty hoat of enemies invading
lbs country, they are the swift torrents or the roar-
ag waves of the sea, or the clouds that bring on
tempest; the war-chariot* advance swiftly like
POETRY, HEBREW 2558
lightning or the whirlwinds. Happiness rises ss
the dawn and shines like the daylight; the blessing
of God descends like the dew or the bountiful rain
the anger of Heaven is a devouring fire that anni
hilates the wicked as the flame which devours the
stubble. Unhappiness is likened to days of clouds
and darkness; at times of great catastrophes the
sun sets in broad day, the heavens are shaken, the
earth trembles, the stars disappear, the sun is
changed into darkness and the moon into blood, and
so on. The cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of Baahan,
are the image of the mighty man, the palm and
the reed of the great and the humble, briers and
thorns of the wicked ; the pious man is an olive
ever green, or a tree planted by the water-side.
The animal kingdom furnished equally a large
number of images: the lion, the image of power,
ia also, like the wolf, bear, etc., that of tyrants and
violent and rapacious men; and the pious who
suffers is a feeble sbeep led to the slaughter. The
strong and powerful man is compared to the he-
goat or the bull of Baahan ; the kine of Baahan
figure, in the discourses of Amos, as the image
of rich and voluptuous women; the people who
rebel against the Divine will are a refractory heifer.
Other images are borrowed from the country life
and from the life domestic and social : the chastise-
ment of God weighs upon Israel like a wagon
laden with sheaves; the dead cover the earth as
the dung which covers the surface of the fields.
The impious man sows crime and reaps misery, or
he sows the wind and reaps the tempest. The
people yielding to the blows of their enemies an
like the corn crushed beneath the threshing instru-
ment. God tramples the wine in the wine-press
when He chastises the impious and sheds their
blood. The wrath of Jehovah is often represented
as an intoxicating cup, which He causes those to
empty who have merited his chastisement: terrors
and anguish are often compared to the pangs of
childbirth. Peoples, towns, and states are repre-
sented by the Hebrew poets under the image of
daughters or wives; in their impiety they ate
courtesans or adulteresses. The historical allusious
of most frequent occurrence are taken from the
catastrophe of Sodom and Gomorrha, the miracles
of the departure from Egypt, and the appearance
of Jehovah on Sinai." Examples might easily be
multiplied in illustration of this remarkable char-
acteristic of the Hebrew poets: they stand thick
upon every page of their writings, and in striking
contrast to the vague generalizations of the Indian
philosophic poetry.
In Hebrew, as in other languages, there is a
peculiarity about the diction used in poetry — a
kind of poetical dialect, characterized by archaic
and irregular forms of words, abrupt constructions,
and unusual inflexions, which distinguish it from
the contemporary prose or historical style. It it
universally observed that archaic forma and usages
of words linger in the poetry of a language after
they have fallen opt of ordinary use. A few of
these forms and usages are here given from Gese-
nius's LekrgebSude. The Piel and Hipbil voices
are used intransitively (Jer. li. 56; Ex. x. 7; Job
xxix. 34): the apocopated future is used as a
present (Joo xr. 33; Fa. xi. 6; Is. xlii. 6). Tbt
termination fTJ Is found for the ordinary feminine
FT (Ex. n 1, Geo. xlix. S3; Pa. exxxii. 4); mi
for the plural Q>" we have f*\ (Job xr. U; ah.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
8554 POJBTRY, HEBREW
mi. 18/ and ""7 (Jer. xxii. 14; Am. vii. 1). The
verbal suffixes, H&, "ID", and TOT (Ex. it. 9),
and the pronominal suffixes to nouns V2~ for D~>
sod VT^ for V- (Hab. iii. 10), are peculiar to
the poetical books; as are "711 (Pa. exvi. 12),
iC^ (Dent, xxxii. 87 j Pa. xi. 7), and the more
unusual forma, n^peTT (Ex. xL 16), nj3^
(Ex. L 11), nyTZ (Ex. xiil. 20). In poetical
language also we find "Kr) for 17 or DrTJ>, ID 7
for 7, 1J33 for 3, -,, 03 for 3; the plural foruis
of the prepositions, "^J* for ?r$, ^"J^ for T3,
\?5> *»d the peculiar foruis of the nouns, '"HI
fof ^f TJij" *» *3 r T '. C*P»5 for D' , »?.
But the form of Hebrew poetry is its distin-
guishing characteristic, and what this form is. has
been a vexed question for many ages. The Tbera-
peutae, as described by Pbilo (it Vita Cmttmpl.
§ 3, vol. ii. p. 475, ed. Ming.), sang hymns and
psalms of thanksgiving to God, in divers measures
and strains ; and these were either new or ancient
ones composed by the old poets, who had left be-
hind them measures and melodies of trimeter verses,
of processional songs, of hymns, of songs sung at
the offering of libations, or before the altar, and
continuous choral songs, beautifully measured out
In strophes of intricate character (§ 10, p 484).
The value of Philo's testimony on this point may
be estimated by another passage in his works, in
which he claims for Moses a knowledge of num-
bers and geometry, the theory of rhythm, harmony,
and metre, and the wbole science of music, prac-
tical and theoretical (dt Vita MotU, i. 5, voL ii. p.
14). The evidence of Josephus is as little to be
relied upon. Both these writers labored to mag-
nify the greatness of their own nation, and to show
that in literature and philosophy the Greeks had
been anticipated by the Hebrew barbarians. This
idea pervades all their writings, and it must always
be borne in mind as the key-note of their testi-
mony on this as on other points. According to
Josephus (Ant. ii. 16, § 4), the Song of Moses at
the Ked Sea (Ex. xv. ) was composed in the hex-
ameter measure (in i^au4rp<p roVot); and again
(Ant. iv. 8, § 44), the song in Deut xxxii. is de-
serihed as a hexameter poem. The Psalms of
David were in various metres, some trimeters and
some pentameters (Ant vii. 12, § 3). Eusebius
N "rfs Prop. Evtmg. xi. 3, 614, ed. Col. 1688) ehar-
saUilili the great Song of Moses and the 118th
(119th) Psalm as metrical compositions in what
the Greeks call the heroic metre. They are said
to be hexameters of sixteen syllables. The other
verse compositions of the Hebrews are said to be
b trimeters. This saying of Eusebius is attacked
if Julian (Cyrill. contr. Jul. vii. 2), who on his
)art endeavored to prove the Hebrews devoid of all
mlture. Jerome (Praf. in Hiob) appeals to Pbilo,
Josephus, Origen, and Eusebius, for proof that the
Psalter, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and almost
all the songs of Ssripture, are composed in metre,
law toe odes of Horace, Pindar, Alcamia, and Sap-
sho. Again, he says that the Book of Job, torn
POBT&x*, HEBREW
ItL 3 to xlll. 6, is in hexameters, with daitjis aal
spondees, and frequently, on account of the pe-
culiarity of toe Hebrew language, other fort which
hare not the same syllables but the same time-
In EpitL ad Paulnn (Opp. ii. 709, ed. Martianay)
occurs a passage which shows in some measnm
how for we are to understand literally the terms
which Jerome has borrowed from the verse litera-
ture of Greece and Rome, and applied to the poetry
of the Hebrews. The conclusion seems inevitable
that these terms are employed simply to denote a
general external resemblance, and by no means to
indicate the existence, among the poets of the Old
Testament, of a knowledge of the laws of metre,
as we are accustomed to understand the term.
There are, says Jerome, four alphabetical Psalms,
the 110th (tilth), 111th (112th), 118th (119th),
and the 144th (145th). In the first two, one latter
corresponds to each clause or versicle, which is
written in trimeter iambics. The others are in
tetrameter iambics, like the song in Deuteronomy.
In Ps. 118 (119), eight verses follow each letter:
in Ps. 144 (145), a letter corresponds to a verse.
In lamentations we have four alphabetical acros-
tics, the first two uf which are written in a kind
of Sapphic metre; for three clauses which are
connected together and begin with one letter (i. «.
in the first clause) close with a period In heroic
measure (fferoid comma). The third is written
in trimeter, and the verses in threes each hegin
with the same letter. The fourth is like the first
and second. The Proverbs end with an alpha-
betical poem in tetrameter iambics, beginning, » A
virtuous woman who can find ? " In the Prof.
in Chron. Kvttb. Jerome compares the metres of
the Psalms to those of Horace and Pindar, now
running in Iambics, now ringing with Alcaics, new
swelling with Sapphics, now beginning with a half
foot What, be asks, is more beautiful than the
song of Deuteronomy and Isaiah? What more
weighty than Solomon ? What more perfect than
Job ? All which, as Josephus and Origen testify,
are composed in hexameters and pentameters.
There can be little doubt that these terms are mere
generalities, and express no more than a certain
rough resemblance, so that the songs of Moses and
Isaiah may be designated hexameters and pentam-
eters, with as much propriety as the first and
second chapters of Ijunentations may he compared
to Sapphic odea. The resemblance of the Hebrew
verse composition to the classic metres, is expressly
denied by Gregory of Nyasa (1 7Vaol. m Ptabn.
cap. iv.). Augustine (Kp. 131 ad Nmntram) •
confesses his ignorance of Hebrew, but adds that
those skilled in the language believed the Psalms
of David to be written in metre. Isidore of Seville
(Orig. i. 18) claims for the heroic metre the high-
est antiquity, inasmuch as the Song of Moses was
composed in it, and the Book of Job, who was
contemporary with Moses, long before the timet
of Pherecydes and Homer, is written in dactyls
and spondees. Joseph Scaliger (Am'madv. ad £«*.
Chnm. p. 6 A, etc.) was one of the first to point
out the fallacy of Jerome's statement with regard
to the metres of the Psalter and the Lamentations,
and to assert that these boob contained no verse
bound by metrical laws, but that their language
was merely prose, animated by a poetic sphli. H
admitted the Song of Moses In Deuteronomy, the
Proverbs, and Job, to be the only books In whiel
there was necessarily any trace of rhythm, and this
rhythm ha compares to that of two dimeter laa»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
POHTBY, HHBBHW
hags, sometime* of mora, sometime* of fewer sylla-
bi** h the eeoM required. Gerhard Vossins (<Je
WaL et ContU Arm Pott. lib. 1, c. 13, $ 2) says,
that hi Job and the Proverbs there ii rhythm
bat no metre; that la, regard it had to the
■umber of syllables but not to their quantity. Id
the Palms and Lamentation! not eren rhythm is
observed.
But, in spite of the opinions pronounced by
these high authorities, there were still many who
believed in the existence of a Hebrew metre, and in
the possibility of recovering it. The theories pro-
posed for this purpose were various. Gomarus,
professor at Groningen (Daoidii Lyra, Lugd. Bat.
1637), advocated both rhymes and metre; for the
latter he laid down the following rules. The vowel
alone, as it is long or short, determines the length
of a syllable. Shiva forms no syllable. The
periods or venieles of the Hebrew poems never
contain leas than a distich, or two verses, but in
proportion as the periods are longer they contain
more verse*. The last syllable of a verse is indif-
ferently long or short. This system, if system
it may be called (for it hi equally adapted for
prose), was supported by many men of note ; among
others by the younger Buxtorf, Heinaiua, L. de
Dieu, Constantin l'Enipereur, and Hottiiiger. On
the other hand it was vigorously attacked by I.
Oeppellus, Cakivius, Danbauer, l'feifler, and Solo-
mon Tan TU. Towards the close of the 17th cen-
tury Marcus Meibomius announced to the world,
with an amount of pompous assurance which is
iharuiing, that he had discovered the lost metrical
system of the Hebrew*. By the help of this mys-
terious secret, which be attributed to divine revela-
tion, he proposed to restore not only the Psalms
but the whole Hebrew Scriptures, to their pristine
condition, and thus confer upon the world a knowl-
sdge of Hebrew greater than any which had existed
since the ages which preceded the Alexandrine
translators. But Meibomius did not allow his en-
thusiasm to get the better of his prudence, and the
condition on which this portentous secret was to he
made public was, that six thousand curious men
should contribute &L sterling a-piece for a copy of
his book, which was to be printed in two volumes
folio. It is almost needless to add that his scheme
Ml to the ground. He published some specimens
of his restoration of ten psalms, and six entire chap-
ters of the Old Testament in 1690. The glimpses
which he gives of his grand secret are not such as
,/ould make us regret that the knowledge of it
perished with him. The whole Book of Psalms, he
says, is written in dittichs, except the first psalm,
which is in a different metre, and serves as an in-
troduction to the rest. Tbey were therefore in-
tended to be sung, not by one priest, or by one
ehoms, but by two. Meibomius " was severely
^tastieed by J. H. Mains, a H. Gebhardus, and
}. G. Zentgraviut " (Jebb, 8aer. Lit. p. 11). In
the last century the learned Francis Hare, bishop
of Chichester, published an edition of the Hebrew
Psalms, metrically divided, to which he prefixed a
iiassrfifinp on the ancient poetry of the Hebrews
\ Pfihn. Hi. in vtrticulot metric* divinu, etc., Lond.
1736). Bishop Hare maintained that in Hebrew
Jta tiy no regard was bad to the quantity of sylla-
ble*. Ha regarded Shims as long vowels, and
cog vowels as short at bis pleasure. The role* which
la hid down are the following. In Hebrew poetry
iD the feet are dissyllables, and no regard it had to
ha quantity of a syllable. Clauses consist of an
POHTBY, HHBBHW 2565
equal or unequal number of syllables. If the
number of syllables be equal, the verses are tro-
chaic ; if unequal, Iambic. Periods for the must part
eonaist of two verses, often three or four, sometimes
mora. Clauses of the same periods are of the same
kind, that it, either iambio or trochaic, with very
few exceptions. Trochaic clauses generally agree
in the number of the feet, which are sometimes
three, as in Pss. xciv. 1, cvi. 1, and this is the most
frequent ; sometimes five, at in Pa. ix. 6. In iam-
bic chases the number of feet is sumetimes the
same, but they generally diner. Both kinds of vera*
are mixed in the same poem. In order to carry
out these rules they are supplemented by one which
gives to the versifier the widest license. Words
and verses are contracted or lengthened at will, by
syncope, elision, etc. In addition to this, the
bishop was under the necessity of maintaining that
all grammarians had hitherto erred in laying down
the rules of ordinary punctuation. His system, if
it may be so called, carries it* own refutation with
it, but was considered by Lowth to be worthy a
reply under the title of Metrical Batianm Brtvil
Con/utalio, printed at the end of his .De Sacra
Pott. Heb. PraUctbmet, etc.
Anton (Confeet. dt Metro HA. Ant Lips.
1770), admitting the metre to be regulated by the
accents, endeavored to prove that in the Hebrew
poems was a highly artistic and regular system,
like that of the Greek* and Romans, consisting of
strophes, antistrophea, epodes, and the like; but his
method is as arbitrary at Hare's. The theory of
Lautwein ( Vcrtttch eintr richliytn Tkeorie van
der bibL Vertkmut, Tub. 1775) is an improvement
upon those of his predecessors, inasmuch as he re-
jects the measurement of verse by long and short
syllables, and marks the scansion by the tone ac-
cent. He assumes little more than a free rhythm:
the verses are distinguished by a certain relation
in their contents, and connected by a poetic
euphony. Sir W. Jones ( Comment Pott. AdoU
1774) attempted to apply the rule* of Arabic metre
to Hebrew. He regarded as a long syllable on*
which terminated in a consonant or quiescent letter
(S, n, *) ; but he did not develops any system.
The present Arabic prosody, however, is of com-
paratively modern invention ; and it is not consistent
with probability that there could be any system of
versification among the Hebrews like that imagined
by Sir VV. Jones, when in the example he quotes
of Cant. 1. S, he refers the first clause of the vera*
to the second, and the last to the fifteenth kind of
Arabic metre. Greve (Ultima Capita Jobi, etc.
1791) believed that In Hebrew, as in Arabia and
Syria*, there was a metre, but that it was obscured
by the false orthography of the Masorets. Hs
therefore assumed for the Hebrew an Arabic vo-
calization, and with this modification he found
iambic trimeters, dimeters, and tetrameters, to be
the most common forms of verse, and lays down
the laws of versification accordingly. Bellermann
( Vertuclt uber die Mttrik der Htbrier, 1813) was
the last who attempted to set forth the old Hebrew
metres. He adopted the Masoretic orthography
and vocalization, and determined the quantity ot
syllables by the accentuation, and what he termed
tee Morensystem," denoting by moren the com-
pass of a single syllable. Each syllable which nas
not the tone accent must have three moral ,- every
syllable which ha* the tons accent may have either
four or two, but generallr three. The store*) at*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2666 POETRY, HEBREW
reckoned a) follows: a long rowel hai two; a abort
voweL one; every consonant, whether tingle or
double, has one more. Shezn ttmple or oom-
poaite ii not reckoned- The quiescent letters hare
no more. Dngah forte oompentative haa one; to
haa mtlhty. The majority of diaeyllable and tri-
syllable words, having the accent on the laat »)"!-
table, will thus form iambics and anapanU. But
M many hare the accent on the penultimate, these
will form trochees. The most common kinds of
feet are iambics and anapsssts, interchanging with
trochees and tribraehs. Of verses composed of
these feet, though not uniform as regards the num-
bers of the feet, consist, according to Bellermann,
the poems of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Among those who believed in the existence of a
Hebrew metre, but in the impossibility of recover-
ing It, were Carpzor, Lowth, Pfeiffer, Herder to a
certain extent, Jahn, Bauer, and Buxtorf. The
opinions of lx>wth, with regard to Hebrew metre,
are summed up by Jebb (floor, lit. p. 16) at fol-
lows: " He begins by asserting, that certain of the
Hebrew writings are not only animated with the
true poetic spirit, but, In some degree, oouehed in
poetic numbers ; yet, he allows, that the quantity,
the rhythm, or modulation of Hebrew poetry, not
only is unknown, but admits of no investigation by
human art or industry; be states, after Abarbanel,
that the Jews themselves disclaim the very memory
of metrical composition; he acknowledge*, that the
artificial conformation of the sentences, is the sole
Indication of metre in these poems; he barely main-
tains toe credibility of attention having been paid
to numbers or feet In their compositions; and, at
the same time, be confesses the utter impossibility
of determining, whether Hebrew poetry was modu-
lated by the ear alone, or aeoording to any definite
and settled rules of prosody." The opinions of
Scaliger and Vostius have been already referred to.
Vitringa allows to Isaiah a kind of oratorial meas-
ure, but adds that it could not ou this account be
-ightly termed poetry. Micbaelis (Not i in PraL
Ji.) in his notes on Lowth, held that there never
m metre in Hebrew, but only a free rhythm, at in
.ecitatire, though even less trammeled. He de-
clared himself against the Masoretic distinction of
long and short vowels, and made the rhythm to de-
pend upon the tone syllable ; adding, with regard to
fixed and regular metre, that what has evaded such
diligent search he thought had no existence. On
the subject of the rhythmical character of Hebrew
poetry, as opposed to metrical, the remarks of Jebb
are remarkably appropriate. "Hebrew poetry,"
be says (Saa: lit. p. 30), "is universal poetry:
the poetry of all languages, and of all peoples: the
collocation of words (whatever may have been the
sound, for of this we are quite ignorant) is primarily
directed to secure the best possible announcement
and discrimination of the sense: let, then, a trans-
lator only be literal, and, so far as the genius of
bis language will permit, let him preserve the origi-
nal order of the words, and he will infallibly put
the reader in possession of all, or nearly all, that
the Hebrew text can give to the best Hebrew
scholar of the present day. Now, had there been
originally metre, the case, it is presumed, could
hardly have been such; somewhat must have been
sacrificed to the importunities of metrical necessity ;
the sense could not have invariably predominated
w»r the sound ; and the poetry could not have been,
as kt unquestionably and emphatically is, a poetry,
sat of sounds or of words, bat of things. Let
POETRY, HEBREW
not this hat assertion, however, be misinterpreted
I would be understood merely to assert that sound
and words in subordination to sound, do not it
Hebrew, as in classical poetry, enter into the es-
sence of the thing; but it is happily undeniable,
that the words of the poetical Scriptures are ex-
quisitely fitted to convey the sense; and it is
highly probable, that, in the lifetime of the lan-
guage, the sounds were sufficiently harmoukma:
when I say sufficiently harmonious, I mean to
harmonious as to render the poetry grateful to the
ear in recitation, and suitable to musical accom-
paniment; for which purpose, the cadence of weB-
modnlated prose would fully answer; a fact which
will not be controverted by any person with a
moderately good ear, that has ever heard a chapter
of Isaiah skillfully read from our authorized trans-
lation, that has ever listened to one of Kent's
Anthems well performed, or to a song from the
Messiah of Handel."
Abarbanel (on Is. v.) makes three divisions of
Hebrew poetry, including in the first the modern
poems which, In imitation of the Arabic, are con-
structed aeoording to modem principles of versifi-
cation. Among the second class he arranges such
as have no metre, but are adapted to melodies. In
these occur the poetical forms of words, lengthened
and abbreviated, and the like. To this class belong
the songs of Hoses in Ex. xv., Dent, mil., the)
song of Deborah, and the song of David. The
third class Includes those compositions which are
distinguished not by their form but by the figura-
tive character of their descriptions, as the Song of
Songs, and the Song of Isaiah.
Among those who maintain the absence of any
regularity perceptible to the ear in the oomposHfoo
of Hebrew poetry, may be mentioned Richard
Simon {Hist. CriLdu V. T. I. e. 8, p. 87), Was-
muth (ItuL Ace. Bebr. p. 14), Alstedius (file.
BibL c 27, p. 267), the author of the book Coxri,
and H. Azariah de' Rossi, In his book entitled
Meor Enayim. The author of the book Cotri
held that the Hebrews had no metre bound by the
laws of dictlou, because their poetry being intended
to be sung was therefore independent of metrical
laws- it Azariah expresses his approbation of the
opinions of Cotri and Abarbanel, who deny the
existence of songs in Scripture composed after the
manner of modern Hebrew poems, but he adds
nevertheless, that beyond doubt there are other
measures which depend upon tbe sense. Mendels-
sohn (on Ex. xr.) also rejects the system* of
mSlam rWV (literally, pegs and vowels).-
Rabbi Azariah appears to have anticipated Bishop
Lowth in his theory of parallelism : at any rate his
treatise contains the germ which Lowth developed,
and may be considered, as Jebb calk* it, the tech-
nical basis of his system. Bat it also contains
other elements, which will be alluded to hereafter.
His conclusion, in Lowth's words (/stnaa, praL
diss.), was as follows: ••That the sacred songs
hare undoubtedly cerUin measures and proportions
which, however, do not consist in the number «J
syllables, perfect or imperfect, aeoording to the
form of the modern vesee which the Jews make)
use' of, and which ia borrowed from the Arabians
(though the Arable prosody, he observe*, ia tea
a IfT* Is a syllable, shapes or compound, beats
atng with a conson a nt bearing moving ffUoa (avata)
and Bernard* Jfco. Or. U. 208).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
POETKY, HEBREW
Mnpttoated to be applied to tbe Hebrew language) ;
but in tbe number of things, and of the parti of
thing*, — that is, the subject, and the predicate,
mid their adjunct*, in every sentence and proposi-
tion. Thug a phrase, containing two part* of a
proposition, consists of two measures: add another
containing two more, and they become four meas-
ures; another again, containing three part* of a
proposition, consist* of three measures ; add to it
another of the like, and you hare six measurea."
The following «w«™pl« will serve for an illustra-
tion:—
Thy-rlght-hand, O-Jehorah, to-glorious ln-po*/tr,
Thy-rlghtJund, O-Jehoreh, hath-orusbad tha-anamr.
The word* connected by a hyphen form a terra, and
the two lilies, forming four measures each, may be
called tetrameters. " Upon the whole, the author
concludes, that the poetical parts of the Hebrew
Scriptures are not composed according to the rules
and measures of certain feet, dissyllables, trisyl-
lables, or the like, as the poems of tbe modern
Jews are; but nevertheless hare undoubtedly other
measures which depend on things, as above ex-
plained. For which reason tliey are more excel-
lent than those which consist of certain feet,
according to the number and quantity of syllables.
Of this, says he, you may judge yourself in the
Songs of the Prophets. For do you not see, if
you translate some of them into another language,
that they still keep and retain their measure, if not
wholly, at least in part? which cannot be the
ease in those verses, the measures of which arise
from a certain quantity and number of syllabi**."
Lowth expresses his general agreement with R.
Axariah's exposition of the rhythm us of things;
but instead of regarding tenia, or phrases, or
senses, in single lines, as measurea, be considered
" only that relation and proportion of one verae to
another, which arises from the correspondence of
terms, and from tbe form of construction; from
whence results a rhythmus of propositions, and a
harmony of sentences." But Lowth's system of
parallelism was more completely anticipated by
Schoettgen in a treatise, of the existence of which
the bishop does not appear to have been aware.
It is found in his Harm Htbraian, vol. i. pp. 1249-
1963, diss, vi., " de Kxergasia Sacra." This exer
oaaa he define* to be, the conjunction of entire
sentences signifying the same thing : so that extr-
gima bear* the same relation to sentences that
synonymy does to words. It is only found in those
Hebrew writings which rise above the level of his-
torical narrative and the ordinary kind of speech.
Ten canons are then laid down, each Illustrated by
three examples, from which it will be seen how far
Seboettgen's system corresponded with Lowth's.
(1.) Perfect extrgatia is when the members of the
two clauses correspond, each to each ; as in Pa.
wxili. 7; Num. xxiv. 17; Lake L 47. (8.) Some-
'imes in the second clause the subject Is omitted,
U in Is. i. 18; Prov. vii. 19; Ps. cxxix. 3. (8.)
Sometimes part of the subject is omitted, as in Ps.
xxxvii. 30, cU. 38; Is. liii. 5. (4.) The predicate
la sometimes omitted in the second clause, as in
rTuni. xxiv. 6; Ps. xxxliL 19. (5.) Sometimes part
snly of the predicate is omitted, a* in Ps. Ml. 9,
saii. 1, cxxix. 7. (8.) Words are added in one
Mmbrr which are omitted In the other, ss in Num.
oriii. 18; Ps. eU. 98; Dan. xli. 3. (7.) Sometimes
jwo propositions will occur, treating of different
JMnga, hat referring to one general proposition, as
x*>ETBY, HEBREW 2557
in Ps. xciv. 9, cxxviii. 8; Wisd. iii. 16. (8.)
Cases occur, in which the second proposition is the
contrary of tbe first, aa in Prov. xv. 8, xiv. 1, 11
(9.) Entire propositions answer each to each,
although the subject and predicate are not the
same, as in Pa. li. 7. cxix. 168; Jer. viii. 93.
(It.) Eztrgasia la found with three members, as
in IV i. 1, cxxx. S, lii. 9. These canons Schoett-
gen applied to the interpretation of Scripture, of
which he gins examples in the remainder of this
and the following dissertation.
But whatever may have been achieved by hit
predecessors, there can be no question that the de-
livery of Lowth's lectures on Hebrew Poetry, and
the subsequent publication of his translation of
Isaiah, formed an era in the literature of the subject)
more marked than any that had preceded it Of bis
system it will be necessary to give a somewhat de-
tailed account; for whatever may have been done
ainoe his time, and whatever modifications of his ar-
rangement may have been introduced, all subsequent
writers hare confessed their obligations to the two
works above mentioned, and have drawn their in-
spiration from them. Starting with the alphabeti-
cal poems ss the basis of his investigation, because
that In them the verses or stanza* were mora dis-
tinctly marked, Lowth came to the conclusion that
they consist of verses properly en called, " of vers**
regulated by some observation of harmony or ca-
dence; of measure, numbers, or rhythms," and that
this harmony does not arias from rhyme, but from
what he denominates parallelism. Parallelism he
defines to be the correspondence of one verse or
line with another, and divides it into three clssses,
synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic.
1. Parallel lines synonymous correspond to each
other by expressing the same sense in different but
equivalent terms, ss in the following warn plea,
which are only two of the many given by Lowth:
'< O-Jehorah. In-tby-strength the-king shall-rejsioa ;
And-in-thy-salvation how greatly ahall-ha-axult !
ThfrdMlr* of-hi*-h*art thou-hast-grutad nnto-him j
And-tha-requast of-hls-Ups thou-hast-not denied."
Pa xxl. 1,3
" For the-moth ahall-consimw-tham Uk*-*-a>nnsnt ;
And-the-wonn *hall-*at-tlwm like wool :
But-my-rlghteouinMs shall-andnre Ibr-ever ;
ADd-my-*alvation to-tn*-age of-aga*."— I*. U.S.
It will be observed from tbe examples which Lowth
gives that the parallel lines sometimes consist of
three or more synonymous terms, sometimes of two,
sometimes only of one. Sometimes the lines consist
each of a double member, or two propositions, aa
Ps cxliv. 5, ; Is. lxv. 91, 29. Parallels are formed
also by a repetition of part of the first sentence
(Ps. lxxvii. 1, 11, 16; Is. xxvi. 5, 6; Hot. vi. 4);
and sometimes a part has to be supplied from tht
former to complete tbe sentence (2 Sam. xxli. 41 ;
Job xxvi. 5; Is. xli. 88). Parallel triplets occur in
Job iii. 4, 6, 9; Ps. cxii. 10; Is. ix. 90; Joel iii. 18.
Examples of parallels of four lines, In which two
dlttichs form one stanza, are Pi. xxxvii. 1, 3; Is.
L 8, xllx. 4; Am. 1. 3. In periods of five lines the
odd line sometimes somes in between two distich*,
as in Job viii. 6, 6; Is. xlvi. 7; Hot. xiv. 9; Jos,
iii. 16 : or after two distichs closes tbe stanza, as la
Is. xliv. 36. Alternate parallelism in stanza* of
four line* is found in Ps. ciii. 11, 19; Is. xxx. 18
but the most striking ex a m ples of the alternate
quatrain are Deut xxxii. 90, 43, the first line form-
ing a continuous sense with the third, am) tht
seoond with the fourth (oomp. Is. xxxJv. 4; UtB
Digitized by VjOOQlC
Sf-68 POETBT, HBBBEW
xHx. 8). In I». L 10 we find an alternate quatrain
followed by a fifth line. To this first division of
Lowth's Jebb objects that the name tyvonymotu is
inappropriate, for the second clause, with few ex-
ceptions, " divertifies the preceding clause, and
generally so as to rise shore it, forming a sort of
climax in the sense." This peculiarity was recog-
nized by Lowth himself in his 4th Prelection, where
he says, "idem iterant, variant, augent," thus
marking a cumulative force in this kind of parallel-
ism. The same was observed by Abp. Newcome
in his Preface to Exeklel, where examples are given
in which " the following clauses so diversify the
preceding ones as to rise above them " (Is. xlii. 7,
sliU. 16 ; Ps. xcv. 3, civ. 1 ). Jebb, in support of his
own opinion, appeals to the passages quoted by
Lowth (Pi. xxi. 19, cvii. 88; la. lv. 8, 7), and sug-
gests as a more appropriate name for parallelism of
this kind, cognate parallelism (Saer. lit. p. 88).
9. Lowth't second division is antithetic pmvllel-
am i when two lines correspond with each other
by a.i opposition of terms and sentiments ; when
the second is contrasted with the first, sometimes in
expressions, sometimes in sense only, so that the
degrees of antithesis are various. As for exam-
pie-
" A wise son rcjoleeth his Hither ;
But a foolish son Is the grisf of his mother."
Prov. x. 1.
"The memory of thajuat to a blearing;
Bat the nams of tha wicked shall rot."
Prov. x. 7.
The gnomic poetry of the Hebrews abounds with
Illustrations of antithetic parallelism. Other ex-
amples are Pa. xx. 7, 8: —
" These in chariots, end those In home,
But we In the same of Jehovah our God win be
strong. ,
They are bowed down, and fallen ;
But we are risen, and maintain ourselves Ann "
Compare also Ps. xxx. 5, xxxvii. 10, 11; Is. liv.
10, ix. 10. On these two kinds of parallelism Jebb
appropriately remarks : " The Antithetic ParalUL
itm serves to mark the broad distinction! between
.ruth and falsehood, and good and evil: the Cog-
nate ParnlUlitm dischargee the more difficult and
nore critical function of discriminating between
Mfferent degrees of truth and good on the one hand,
if falsehood and evil on the other " (Sacr. Lit.
0.39).
3. Synthetic or amitructhe parallelism, where
Jie parallel " consist! only in the similar form of
construction; in which word does not aniwer to
word, and sentence to sentence, aa equivalent or
opposite; but there is a correspondence and equality
between different propositions, in respect of the
shape and turn of the whole sentence, and of the
aontti active parts — such aa noun answering to
noun, verb to verb, member to member, negative
~o negative, interrogative to interrogative." One
•J the examples of constructive parallels given by
'owth is, Is. 1.6, 8: —
R The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear,
And I was not rebellious;
Neither did I withdraw myself backward —
1 gave my back to the amlters,
■lui my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair ;
My face I hid act from shame and spitting."
febb gives as an illustration Pa. xix. 7-10: —
*The law of Jehovah b perfect, ecu verting thesoul,
The testimony of Jehovah le sore, making wise the
" "'em.
FOSTBT, HHBBBW
It is Instructive, aa showing how difficult, V oof
impossible, it is to make any strict chserncatton of
Hebrew poetry, to observe that this very passage Is
given by Qesenina as an example of synonymons
parallelism, while Da Wette calls it synthetic. The
illustration of synthetic naralHiam quoted by Gee-
enlus is Ps. xxvii. 4: —
"One thing leak from Jehovah.
It will I seek after —
My dwelling in tha house of Jsttovah all tha saga
ofay Ufa,
Co behold the beauty of Jehovah,
And to Inquire in his temple."
In this kind of parallelism, as Nordheuner (Oram.
AnaL p. 87) observes, "an idea is neither repeated
nor followed by its opposite, but Is kept in view
by the writer, while be proceeds to develop and
enforce his meaning by accessory ideas and modifi-
cations."
4. To the three kinds of parallelism above de-
scribed Jebb adds a fourth, which seems rather to be
an unnecessary refinement upon than distinct from
the others. He denominates it introverted parol-
lelitm, in which he says, " there are stanzas so con-
structed that, whatever be the number of lines, tie
first line shall be parallel with the last; the sec-
ond with the penultimate; and so throughout In aj
order that looks inward, or, to borrow a military
phrase, from flanks to centre " (Sacr. LU. p. 58).
Xbus —
"My eon, If thine heart be wbe,
My heart also shall rejoice ;
Tea, my reins shall rejoice
When thy Upe speak right things."
Prov. xxfll. 14, 18.
" Unto Thee do I lift up mine eyes, Thou that dwatV
eet In the heavens ;
Behold as the eyes of servants to tha hand of tatetr
masters ;
As the eyas of a maiden to tha hands of beraats-
treas:
■van so look our eyes to Jehovah oar Gad, until ha
have mercy upon us." — Ps. cxxttL 1, 8.
Upon examining these and the other examples
quoted by Bishop Jebb in support of his new divis-
ion, to which he attaches great importance, it will
be seen that the peculiarity consists in the struc-
ture of the stanza, and not in the nature of the
parallelism ; and any one who reads Ewald's elabo-
rate treatise on this part of the subject vrfll rise
from the reading with the conviction that to attempt
to classify Hebrew poetry according to the charac-
ter of the stanzas employed will be labor lost and
in vain, resulting only in a system which is no sys-
tem, and in rules to which the exceptions are more
numerous than the examples.
A few words may now be added with respect to
the classification proposed by De Wette, in which
more regard was had to the rhythm. The four
kinds of parallelism are — 1. That which conaieta
in an equal number of words in each member, as in
Gen. ir. S3. Thia be caDa the original and perfect
kind of parallelism of members, which correspo n ds
with metre and rhyme, without being identical with
them (Die Pialmen, EinL § 7). Under this head
are many minor divisions. -"»9. Unequal parallelism
in which the number of words in the members is
not the same. This again is divided into— a. The
simple, as Ps. lxviii. 88. ft. The composi te , consist-
ing of the synonymous (Job x. 1 ; Ps. xxxvi. 8), tea
antithetic (Ps. xv. «), and the synthetic (Pa. xv. •)
c That In which the simple member fa diseawpof
Digitized by VjOOQlC
POBTBY, HBBRBW
Hsnately small (Ps. xl. 10). <£ Where the compos-
ite member gram ap into three and more sentences
(l*. i. 3, lxv. 10). e. Instead of the clow pareHel-
wa there nmetiawe occurs a short additional olauae,
lain Ps.xxiii.3.— 8. Out of the parallelism which
ia unequal in consequence of the composite charac-
ter of one member, another ia developed, so that both
members are composite (Ps. xxxi. 11). This kind
af parallelism again admits of three subdivisions. —
i. Rhythmical parallelism, which lies merely In the
external form of the diction. Thus in Ps. xix. 11
there is nearly an equal number of words : —
" Moreover by them was toy servant warned,
In keeping of them there Is great reward."
In Ps- xxx. 3 the inequality is remarkable. In Ps.
xW. 7 is found a double and a single member, and
in Ps. xxxi. 83 two double members. De Wette also
held that there ww* ui Hebrew poetry the begin-
nings of a composite rhythmical structure like our
strophes. Thus in Ps. xlii., xliii., a refrain marks
the conclusion of a larger rhythmical period. Some-
thing similar is observable in Ps. evil. This arti-
ficial structure appears to belong to a late period
of Hebrew literature, and to the same period may
probably be assigned the remarkable gradational
rhythm which appears in the Songs of Degrees, e.g.
Pa. exxi. It must be observed that this gradational
rhythm is very different from the cumulative paral-
lelism of the Song of Deborah, which is of a much
earlier date, and bears traces of lees effort in the
composition. Strophes of a certain kind are found
in the alphalietical pieoes in which several Maso-
retic clansos belong to one letter (Ps ix. t I., xxivii.,
esJx.; Lam. iii.), but the nearest approach to
anything like a atrophica! character is found in
poems which are divided into smaller portions by a
refrain, and have the initial or final verse the same
or similar (Ps. xxxix., xlii., xliii.). In the opinion
of some the o c cur re n ce of the word Selah is sup-
posed to mark the divisions of the strophes.
It is impossible here to do more than refer to the
assay of Koester (ThtoL Stud, mtd Kril. 1831,
pp. 40-114) on the strophes, or the parallelism of
verses in Hebrew poetry ; in which he endeavors to
show that the verses are subject to the same laws of
symmetry as the verse members ; and that conse-
quently Hebrew poetry is essentially strophical in
character. Ewald's treatise requires more careful
consideration; but it must be rend itself, and a
slight sketch only can here be given. Briefly thus:
— Verses are divided into verse-members in which
the number of syllables is less restricted, as there is
no syllabic metre. A verse-member generally con-
tains from seven to eight syllables. Two members,
the rise and fall, are the fundamental constituents :
thus (Judg. v. 3): —
« Hear, ye kings ! give ear, ys princes !
I to Jahve, I will slag."
To this all other modifications must be capable of
being reduced. The variations which may take
place may be either amplifications or continuations
of the rhythm, or compositions in which a oomplete
rhythm is made the half of a new compound, or
we may have a diminution or enfeebkunent of the
arigicai. To the two members correspond two
Mights which constitute the life of the verse, and
each of these again may distribute itself. Grada-
tions of symmetry are formed — 1. By the echo of
lb* wheel s s nt enos, when the same sense which is
given ia the first member rises sgain in the second,
POBTBY, HKBREW 2556
in order to exhaust itself more thoroughly (Qen. It
33; Prov. i. 8). An important word of the Ant
member often r e s e rv es Its force for the second, sa In
Ps. xx. 8 ; and sometimes in the second member a
prinoipal part of the sense of the first ia further de-
veloped, as Ps. xllx. 5 [8]. — 8. When the thought
trails through two members of a verse, as in Ps.
ex. 6, it girea rise to a less animated rhythm (comp.
also Ps. cxli. 10). — 3. Two sentences may be brought
together as protasis and apodosii, or simply to form
one complex thought; the external harmony may be
dispensed with, but the harmony of thought re-
mains. This may be called the intermediate
rhythm. The forms of structure assumed by the
vane are many. First, there Is the single member,
which occurs at the commencement of a series ia
Ps. xvlil. 9, xxiii. 1; at the end of a series in Ex.
xv. 18, Ps. xcil. 8; and in the middle, after a shot
pause, in Ps. xxix. 7. The uhnembral verse is
most frequently found, consisting of two members
of nearly equal weight. Verses of more than two
members are formed either by increasing the num-
ber of members from two to three, so that the
complete fall may be reserved for the third, all
three possessing the same power; or by combining
four members two and two, as in Ps. xviil. 7,
xxviii. 1.
The varieties of this structure of verse are too
numerous to be recounted, and the laws of rhythm
in Hebrew poetry are so free, that of necessity the
varieties of verse structure must be manifold. The
gnomic or sententious rhythm, F.wald remarks, is
the one which is perfectly symmetrical. Two mem-
bers of seven or eight syllables, corresponding to
each other as rise and fall, contain a thesis and an-
tithesis, a subject and its image. This is the con-
stant form of genuine gnomic sentences of the best
period. Those of a later date have many members
or trail themselves through many verses. The an-
imation of the lyrical rhythm makes it break
through all such restraints, and leads to an ampli-
fication or reduplication of the normal form ; or the
passionate rapidity of the thoughts may disturb the
simple concord of the members, so that the unequal
structure of verse intrudes with all its varieties. To
show how impossible it is to attempt a classifica-
tion of verse uttered under such circumstances, it
will be only n ec es sa ry to quote Ewald's own words.
« All these varieties of rhythm, however, exert a
perfectly free influence upon every lyrical song, Just
according as It suits the mood of the moment to
vary the simple rhythm. The most beautiful songs
of the flourishing period of poetry allow, in fast, the
verse of many members to predominate whenever
the diction rises with any sublimity; nevertheless,
the standard rhythm still returns In each when thf
diction flags, «nd the different kinds of the mora
complex rhythm are employed with equal freedom
and ease of .variation, just as they severally accord
with the fluctuating hues of the mood of emotou,
and of the sense of the diction. The lnte alphalietical
songs are the first in which the fixed choice of a par-
Iticular versification, a choice, too, made with designed
art, establishes itself firmly, and maintains Itsell
symmetrically throughout all the verses " (Dichttr
duA.B.LSa, trans, in Kitto's Journal, 1. 818).
It may, however, be generally observed, that Use
older rhythms are the most animated, as if accom-
panied by the hands and feet of the singer (Nam.
xxi.; Ex. xr.| Judg. v.), and that In the time of
David the rhythm had attained its most perfect de-
velopment. By the end of the 8th sauturj a. o.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2660
POETRY, HEBREW
the decay of Tersifiestiou begun, and to this period
belong tin artificial forma of Terse.
It remains now only to notice the rules of Hebrew
poetry as laid down by the Jewish grammarians, to
which reference was made in remarking upon the
system of It. Azariah. They hare the merit of
being extremely simple, and are to be found at
length, illustrated by many examples, in Mason and
Bernard's lleb. Gram, vol ii. let. 67, and accom-
panied l>y an interesting account of modem Hebrew
versification. The rules are briefly these: 1. That
a sentence may be divided into members, some of
which contain too, three, at even /our words, and
see accordingly termed Binary, Ternary, and Qua-
tirxiry members respectively. 2. The sentences
are oompoeed either of Binary, Ternary, or Qsin-
terrury members entirely, or of these different
members intermixed. 3. That in two consecutive
members it is an elegance to express the same idea
in different words. 4. That a word expressed in
"ither of these parallel members is often not ex-
pressed in the alternate member. 6. That a word
witiwrit an accent, being Joined to another word by
Uakliph, is generally (though not always) reckoned
with that second w ord as one. It will be seen that
these rules are essentially the same with thorn of
Lowth, De Wette, and other writers on parallelism,
and from their simplicity are less open to objection
than any that have been given.
In conclusion, after reviewing the various theories
which have been framed with regard to the struct-
ure of Hebrew poetry, it must be confessed that be-
yond the discovery of very broad general laws, little
has been done towards elaborating a satisfactory
system. Probably this want of success is due to the
fact that there is no system to discover, and that
Hebrew poetry, while possessed, in the highest de-
gree, of all sweetness and variety of rhythm and
melody, Is not fettered by laws of versification as
we understand the term.
For the literature of the subject, In addition to
the works already quoted, reference may be made
to the following: Carpzor, Inlr. ad JJbr. Can*
BibL pt S, c. 1; Lowth, Dt Sacra Poeri Hebra-
ornm Pixdectionet, with notes by J. D. Hichsdis
and RosenmuUer (Oxon. 1828) [translated, with
notes, by Calvin E. Stowe, Andover, 1828] ; the Pre-
liminary Dissertation in his translation of Isaiah ;
Herder, Gtitt der Heir. Poerie [transl. by Pres-
ident James Marsh, 2 vols., Burlington, 1838];
Jebb, Sacred literature; Saalschiitt, Van der
Form iler Hebr. Poerie, Konigsberg, 1826, which
xntains the most complete account of all the vari-
ous theories ; De Wette, Ueber die Piabnen [transl.
by Prof. J. Torrey, BibL Repot, lit. 446-618];
Meier, Gnch. der Poet. Natimat-lMemhtr der
Utbraer; Delitxach, Commmtar flier den Platter)
tnd HupfeM, Die Piabnen. W. A. W.
* Other and in part later writers: F. Goma-
ras, DaritHt Lyra (1837); J. C Schramm, De
Poem Hebraorum (1723). (The two essays just
named, with others on the same subject by Ebert,
the AbW Floury. Dannhawer, PfeirJer, Leyser, Le
I'lerc, Hare, and Lowth, are reprinted in vol. xxxi.
of Ugolini'e Thetmtna. ) Herder, Briefe da* Stu-
<n*un d. ThioL betrtffend, the first twelve of which
letters he devotes to the poetry of the Hebrews,
pointing out its characteristics and illustrating
them by translations from the Pentateuch (Jacob's
blessings, the farewell of Moses), from Judges (the
3ong of Deborah and Barak), and from the PssJms
«nt the Prophets. A. von Humboldt, Cosmos (Eng.
POETRY, HEBREW
transl. ii. 67 f.). according to whom "nature to tin
Hebrew poet is Dot a self-dependent object — but a
work of creation and order, the living expres-
sion of the omnipresence of the Divinity in the
visible world." A single Psalm (the 104th) almost
"represents the image of the whole Cosmos." A.
G. Hoffmann, art. Btbrauche Literatur (Erseh
and Gruber's AUgem. KncykL, 2* Sect. UL 387 ft
(1828). Prof. S. H. Turner, D. D., Ctaimtoftkt
Htbrtv Language and Literature (Five Lectures),
especially as founded on the character of its Poetry,
BM. RepotUory, i. 608 ff. (1831). M. Nicolas,
Forme de la poerie hebralque (1833). Frans De-
litsch, Zur G'eicliiehte der jid'uehen Pottie, ex-
tending from the close of the 0. T. collection to
modem tunes (Lefps. 1838). Prof. B. B. Edwards,
Beatons/or the Study of the Hebr. language, an
Inaugural Address, in which he urges this study
among other arguments on account of its opening
to us the treasures of so rieh a poetic literature
(Amer. BibL RepotUory fat July, 1838, pp. 118-
132). The thoughts are suggestive and beantimDy
expressed. J. G. Sonimer, Von Rome in der hebr.
Volhpotrie, in his BibL Abhandbmgen, pp. 86-42
(Bonn, 1846). Ed. Reuss, Hebiaitcke Pottie. in
Heraog's Real-KneykL r. 698-808 (1866). Isaac
Taylor, The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry (Amer. re-
print, 1862). The author's point of view ia « that
not less in relation to the most highly eutthmted
minds than to the most rude — not less to minds
disciplined in abstract thought, than to such aa are
unused to generalization of any kind — the Hebrew
Scriptures, in their metaphoric style and their po-
etic diction, are the fullest medium for conveying
what it is their purpose to convey, concerning the
Divine Nature, and concerning the spiritual lilt,
and concerning the correspondence of man — the
finite, with God — the Infinite." In its sphere aa
an able exposition of this train of thought, then la
no better treatise than this. Ileinrieh Ewald, Alt-
gemeinei ib. die kebrAucke Dichtung, etc. (n-
wrought, Getting. 1 866 ; half of vol. i. of hie Diehter
dee A. Bundei). I-eymr, art Dichthmet in ZaUar'i '
BibL Wbrterb. i. 282-242 (1866). Prof. Hupfeld,
Rhythm and Accentwrtitm in Hebrew Poetry (urn
adopt the briefer title), translated by Professor
Charles M. Mead, BibL Sacrn, xxir. 1-40 (1867).
Dr. Diestel, art Dichthunst in Scbeukd's BibeL
iAsrikun, i. 607-616 (1868), valuable.
For information on this subject see also the In-
troductions to the Old Testament (Eiehborn, Hnv-
eraick, De Wette, EeU, Bleek), as well as the
Commentaries on the O. T. poetic books (men-
tioned in the Dictionary under these books).
As regards the examples of poetry In the N. T.
Schenkels art Dichllanut, urckrutlicke tat If. 2%
(in his BibtULexikon, i. 616-618) deserves atten-
tion. The songs (ss they may be termed) of Eliza-
beth (Luke L 42-46), of Mary (46-66) and of Zach-
sriss (78-69), breathe the spirit of the Hebrew posts,
and are largely exp ress ed in language derived from
them. See also Acts It. 24 ff., xvL 26; Rer. It. IX,
xt.3,4. In CoL ill. 16 and Eph. T. 19, Paul recog-
nizes the use of "psalms, hymns, snd sptrltnai
songs " as forming a part of the social worship of
the first Christians. With this intimation agrees
Pliny's statement (Epitt. x. 97) that those in B*.
thynia who professed this faith assembled at early
dawn and sung praises to Christ {airmen Ckrittt
quasi deo dietre tecum Mnorst). It is generally al-
lowed that we bare a fragment of wch a hymn la
lTim.ui.16. Not a isw of Paul's i
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POISON
we an accustomed to read as prose, bring back to
tha ear the adduce of Hebrew verse. The follow-
ing ii an example of tbia (2 Tim. ii. 11): —
" tot if we died with him,
We shall also live with him ;
If we endure, we dull alio reign with him ;
1/ we shall deoj him,
Ha also will deny as J
If we en nuthlees, he remains faithful ;
For he cannot deny himself."
It ma; be well to remark that although " hymn "
aud " hymning " do not occur hi our EnglUh trans-
lation of the 0. T., the correspondent Greek terms
often occur in the SeptuaginL The verb " to
hyniu " (ujiritt) has sometimes the general sense
of " to praise," but when applied to any particular
composition refers to the use of the Psalms for that
purpose. In the titles of the Psalms, the Greek
phrase for " hymns of David " is generally found,
in the place of " psalms of David " in the A. V.
See Bid's Lexicon in LXX. Jnlerprelet, s. w.
iuritt and Sfufos. The usage of the LXX. no
doubt influenced the N. T. phraseology iu this re-
spect Comp. Matt. zxvi. 30; Mark xiv. 36; Acta
xvL S3; Ueb. ii. 12.
On the hymnology of the early Church the
reader may aee Daniel's Tliuaurut llymiiolngicut
(1841), and the art. ffgmnotogie, by Christ. Palmer
iu Hereog's Rtat-Encyk. vi. 305 ff., where a list
of other writers will be found, as also under
IlYHlf in this Dictionary. H.
POISON. Two Hebrew words are thus ren-
dered in the A. T. but they are so general aa to
throw little light upon the knowledge and practice
nf poisons among the Hebrews. 1. The first of these,
mjpn, cfiimdh, from a root signifying "to be hot,''
b used of the heat produced by wine (Hoa. vii. A),
and the hot passion of anger (Deut. xxix. 27, Ac.),
as well as of the burning venom of poisonous ser-
pents (Deut xxxii. 34, 33; Ps. lriii. 4, cxl. 3). It
in ail cases denotes animal poison, and not vegetable
or mineral. The only allusion to its application is
in Job vi. 4, where reference seems to he made to
the custom of anointing arrows with the venom of
a snake, a practice the origin of which is of very
remote antiquity (oomp. Horn. Od. i. 361, 262;
Ovid, TritL ili. 10, 64, FatL v. 397, Ac.; Plin.
xvili. 1). The Soanea, a Caucasian race mentioned
by Strabo (xi. 499), were especially skilled in the
art. Pliny (vi. 34) mentions a tribe of Arab pi-
rates who infested the Ked Sea, and were armed
with poisoned arrows like the Malays of the coast
of Borneo. For this purpose the berries of the yew-
tree (I%i. xvi. 20) were employed. The Gauls
(Plin. ravii. 76) used a poisonous herb, limeum,
s up posed by some to be the " leopard's bane," and
the Scythians dipped then- arrow-points in viper's
vacant mixed with human blood. These were so
iiadly that a slight scratch inflicted by them was
fatal (Plin. xi. 116). The practice was so common
that the namo toIikoV, originally a poison in
which arrows were dipped, was applied to poison
generally.
i. trfrh (once ttfTI, Deut xxxii. 32«), rdeA,
f a poison at aQ, denotes a vegetable poison prima-
rily, and is only twice (Deut xxix. S3; Job xx. 16)
POMEGRANATE
2561
• la some UBS. this reading ocean In other pee-
wges, of which a list Is given by aUchaella (Says' p.
Ul
used of the venom of a serpent In other |
where it occurs, it is translated ' gall " iu the A.
V., except in Hoa. x. 4, where it is rendered " hem-
lock." In the margin of Deut xxix. 18, our
translators, feeling die uncertainty of the word,
give as an alternative " roth, or, a poitunful lierb."
Beyond the fact that, whether poisonous or not, it
was a plant of bitter taste, nothing can be inferred.
That bitterness waa its prevailing characteristic is
evident from its being associated with wormwood
(Deut xxix. 18 [17]; Lam. iii. 19; Am. vi. 12),
and from the allusions to " water of rus/t " in Jer.
viii. 14, ix. 16, xxiii. IS. It was not a juice or
liquid (Ps. lxix. 21 [22]; comp. Maik xv. 23), but
probably a bitter berry, in which case the expression
in Deut. xxxii. 32, "grapes of roth," may be taken
literally. Gesenius, on the ground that the word
in Hebrew also signifies "head," rejects the hem-
lock, colocynth, and darnel of other writers, an!
proposes the "poppy" instead; from the "heads"
in which its seeds are contained. " Water of roth"
is then "opium," but it must be admitted that
there appears in none of the above passages to be
any allusion to the characteristic effects of opium.
The effects of the roth are simply nausea and loath-
ing. It waa probably a general term for any bitter
or nauseous plant, whether poisonous or not, and
became afterwards applied to the venom of snake*,
as the corresponding word in Chaldee is frequently
so used. [Gall.]
There Is a clear case of suicide by poison related
in 2 Mace. x. 13, where Ptotemaeua Macron is said
to have destroyed himself by this means. But we
do not find a trace of it among the Jews, and
certainly poisoning in any form was not in mvar
with them. Nor is there any reference to it Iu
the N. T., though the practice was fatally common
at that time in Rome (Suet JVero, cc. So, 84, 36;
Tib. c. 73; Claud, c. 1). It has been suggested,
indeed, that the ipap/iaxtla of Gal. v. 20 (A- V.
" witchcraft"), signifies poisoning, but this is by
no means consistent with the usage of the word in
the LXX. (comp. Ex. vii. 11, viii. 7, 18, Ac.), and
with its occurrence in Rev. ix. 21, where it denotes
n crime clearly distinguished from murder (see Rev.
xxi. 8, xxii. 15). It more probably refers to the
concoction of magical potions and love philtres.
On the question of the wine mingled with myrrh,
see Gau. W. A. W
POI/LTJX. [Castor and Pollux.]
POLYGAMY. [Marriage.]
POMEGRANATE (pan, rwimdn: Am,
tout, rotaicos. «ioW: malum punieum, mahm
granatum, milot/rannturn) by universal consent is
acknowledged to denote the Heb. rimnwn, a word
which occurs frequently iu the O. T., and is used
to designate either the pomegranate tree or its fruit.
The pomegranate was doubtless early cultivated in
Egypt: hence the complaint of the Israelites in the
wilderness of Zin (Num. xx. 5), this " is no place
of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates." The
tree, with its characteristic calyx-crowned fruit, is
easily recognized on the Egyptian sculptures (Atte.
Kgypt. i. 36, ed. 1864). The spies brought to
Joshua "of the pomegranates" of the land of
Canaan (Num. xiil. 23; comp. also Deut viii. 8).
The villages or towns of Kimmon (Josh. xv. 39),
Gsth-rimmon (xxi. 85), En-rimmon (Neh. xi. 29),
possibly derived their names from pomegranate-
trees which grew in their viciritr. These tress
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2662
POMEGRANATE
I occasionally from the devastations of locusts
(Joel L 13; see also Hag. ii. 19). Mention is
made of "an orchard of pomegranates" in Cant.
It. 13; and in iv. 8, the checks (A. V. " temples")
of the Beloved are compared to a section of " pome-
granate within the locks," in allusion to the beau-
tiful rosy color of the fruit. Carved figures of the
pomegranate adorned the tops of the pillars in
Solomon's Temple (1 K. vii. 18, 30, Ac.); and
worked representations of this fruit, in blue, purple,
and scarlet, ornamented the hem of the robe of
the ephod (Ex. xxriii. 38, 34). Mention is made
of " spiced wine of the juice of the pomegranate '"
In Cant. viii. 2; with this may be compared the
pomegranate wine (Aofrnr olvot) of which Dios-
corides (v. 34) speaks, and which is still used in
the East Chardin says that great quantities of
II were made in Persia, both for home consumption
AaSfRS f fOJMAMt.
and far exportation, in his time (Script. Herb. p.
809; Harmer'a 0b$. i. 377). Kussell (Nat. Hut.
of Aleppo, i. 85, 2d ed.) states "that the pome-
granate " (rumman in Arabic, the same word as
the Heb.) "is common in all the gardens." He
speaks of three varieties, " one sweet, another very
acid, and a third that partakes of both qualities
equally blended. The juice of the sour sort is
used instead of vinegar: the others are cut open
when served up to table ; or the grains taken out,
and, besprinkled with sugar and rose-water, are
brought to table in saucers." He adds that the
trees are apt to suffer much in severe winters from
extraordinary cold.
The pomegranate-tree (Punicn granntum) de-
rives its name from the 1-atin pomum graiutum,
» grained apple." The Romans gave it the name
rf Pxm'co, as the tree was introduced from Car-
thage; it belongs to the natural order Myrtacea,
being, however, rather a bush than a tree. The
foliage is dark green, the flowers are crimson; the
fruit is red when ripe, which in Palestine Is about
DjH' Iaoc: P<*u: plur. In Jar. 11 82; A. V.
*•-" i. «. reedy ptaoas; <rv<rrfcutr*: pthida : also
•1
npn^: <aOic: waOu.
POOL
the middle of October, and contains a quantity of
juice, lie rind is used in the manufacture of
morocco leather, and, together with the bark, is
sometimes used medicinally to expel the tape-worm.
Pomegranates without seeds are said to grow neat
the river Cabul. Dr. Royk (Kitto's Cjrc. art,
"Rimnion") states that this tree is a native of
Asia, and Is to be traced from Syria through Per-
sia even to the mountains of Northern India.
W. H.
POMMELS, only in S Chr. Iv. 18, 13. 1c
] K. vii. 41, "bowls." The word signifies coo-
vex projections belonging to the capitals of pillars
[Bowl; Chaitteb.] H. W. P.
POND. A</Am.« The ponds of Egypt (Es
vii. 19, viii. 5) were doubtless water left by the
inundation of the Nile. In Is. xix. 10, when
Vulg. haa qui fadebant tncunaa ad capiendo*
ptictt, IJlX. has oi rbv (Uor moihrnt, tit}
who mnke Hit beer. This rendering, so character-
istic of Egypt (Hit. ii. 77: I Mod. i. 34; Strain,
p. 799), arises from regarding ihjam as denoting a
result indicated by its root, i. e. a fermented
liquor. St. Jerome, who alludes to beer called by
the name of Sabaius, explains Agam to mean water
fermenting from stagnation (Hieron. Com. m /«.
lib. vii. vol. iv. p. 292; Calmet; Stanley, S. 4 P.
App. § 57). H. VV. P.
PONTIUS PIT.ATE. [Pilate.]
PONTUS (noVros), a large district in the
north of Asia Minor, extending along the coast of
the I'ontus Euxinus, from which circumstance the
name was derived. It is three times mentioned in
the N. T. It is spoken of along with Asia, Cap-
padocia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia (Acts ii. 9, 10),
as one of the regions whence worshippers came to
Jerusalem at Pentecost : it is specified (Acts xviii.
2) as the native country of Aquila; and its "scat-
tered strangers " are addressed by St- Peter (1 Pet.
i. 1), along with those of Ualatia, Cappodocia, Asia,
and Bitbynia. All these passages agree in showing
that there were many Jewish residents iu the dis-
trict. As to the annals of Pontile, the one brill-
iant passage of its history is the life of the great
Mithridates; but this is also the period of its
coming under the sway of Rome. Mithridates
was defeated by Pompey, and the western part of
his dominions was incorporated with the province
of Bithynia, while the rest was divided, for a con-
siderable time, among various chieftains. Under
Nero the whole region was made a Roman province,
bearing the name of Pontus. The last of the
petty monarchs of the district was Polenio II., who
married Berenice, the great-grand-daughter of
Herod the Great. She was probably with Polemo
when St- Paul was travelling in this neighborhood
about the year 52. He saw her afterwards at
Ccaarea, about the year 60, with her brother,
Agrippa II. J. S. H.
POOL. (1.) Agfim, see Pokd. (2.) Ber.t-
cdh* in pi. once only, poolt (Ps. btxxiv. 6). (8.)
The usual word Is BtricAh, closely connected with
the Arabic Blrkrh, and the derived Spanish with
the Arabic article, Al-berea. A reservoir for water.
These pools, like the tanks of India, are in many
.p*H : piscina, ag a a Waetai (Caai
vii. 4) ; *oAvW>v»>«, *vva i from TI^, "sail oa Hat
ktMaf"(mJoas;. vU. 6,6). In It. T. wH—faJafra.
only In John v 2. Ix. 7.
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FOOL, OK BKTHESDA
parts of Palestine uid Syria the only resource for
water during the dry season, aud the failure of
them involves drought and calamity (Is. xlii. 15).
Some are supplied by springs, and some are merely
receptacles for rain-water (Burckhardt, Syria, p.
311). Of the various pools mentioned in Scrip-
tore, as of Hebron, Samaria, etc (for which see
the articles on those places), perhaps the moat cele-
brated are the pools of Solomon near Bethlehem,
called by the Arabs d-Buralc, from which an
aqueduct was carried which still supplies Jerusalem
with water (EooL ii. 6; Ecclus. zziv. 30, 31).
poor 2568
They are three in number, partly hewn out of the
rock, and partly built with masonry, but all lined
with cement, and formed on successive levels with
conduits leading from the upper to the lower, aud
Bights of steps from the top to the bottom of each
(Sandys, True. p. 150). They are all formed in
the Bides of the valley of Ethaiu, with a dam
across its opening, which forms the E. side of the
lowest pool. Their dimensions are thus given by
Dr. liobiuson: (1.) Upper pool, length 380 feet;
breadth at E. 236, at W. 229; depth at £. 25
feet; distance above middle pool, 169 feet. (2.*
Fools of Salomon, and Hill Country of Judah, from 8. W
Middle pool, length 423 feet; breadth at E. 250,
at \V. 160; depth 39; distance above lower pool
248 feet. (3. ) Lower pool, length 582 feet ; ■ breadth
at Is. 207, at W. 148; depth 50 feet. They appear
to be supplied mainly from a spring in the ground
above (Fountain; Cistkkn ; Jehuhalhm, vol. ii.
pp. 1287 a, 1323; Conduit; Kobinsoo, Rtt. i.
848, 474). H. \V. P.
• POOL OF BETHESDA. [Bethesda.]
POOR." The general kindly spirit of the law
towards the poor is sufficiently shown by such
passages w lleut. xv. 7 for the reason that (ver.
i TJ : «-0|s: pauper.
t. nj7n : rmvjs : pauper.
«. JSPO: Wns: pauper; « word of later
, Jonnseted with va Knfn.it. probably the orig-
inal of meteUn», nusewjaj'ete. (Oss. p. 964).
*. njJJ, Cheld. (Ban. It. V): rerut: pauper;
11), " the poor shall never cease out of the land,"
and a remarkable agreement with some of its direc-
tions is expressed in Job xx. 19, xxiv. 8, foil., where
among acta of oppressiou are particularly men-
tioned " taking (away) a pledge," and withholding
the sheaf from the poor, w. 9, 10 [Loan], xxix.
12, 16, xxxi. 17, "eating with" the poor (comp.
Deut. xxvi. 12, Ac.). See also such passages a*
Ex. xviii. 12, 16, 17, xxii. 29 ; Jer. xxii. 13, 16, v
28; Is. x. 2; Am. ii. 7; Zech. vii. 1C, and Ecclus.
ir. 1, 4, vii. 32; Tob. xii. 8. 9. [AuuJ
Among the special enactments in their favor the
following must be mentioned. 1. The right of
6. , 39, the word most usually « poor " In A. T. :
irmxpoc, imago;, Wnn • indigent, pauper. Also Zsnh.
lx. 9, and Is. xxvi. 6, rp&uc : pauper.
1. Bn, part of UPD: rartiy6t: pauper. In 1
Sam. xU. 1, tT tO : lev, wn, x it.
8. Poverty : "I'lOfTO : MeU : egeeuu. In K.
T., rrmxit, pauper, and rcVirt. 't'nut, oaeo only.
3 Oor. lx. 9. "Poor" Is also osnl In toe ssose at
« afflicted, " " humble," ate. ; t. f Matt. v. •
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MO* POOR
(leaning. The "corner*" of the field were not
to be reaped, uor mil the grapes of the vineyard to
be gathered, the olive-tree) not to be beaten a
second time, but the (banger, fatherless, and widow
to be allowed to gather what ni left. So too if a
sheaf forgotten waa left in the fell, the owner waa
not to return for it, but leave it for them (Lev.
xix. 9, 10; Deut xxiv. 19, 21). Of the practice
iii inch eases in the timet of the Judges, the story
of Koth is a striking illustratiou (Ruth ii. 2, Ac.).
[Corner; Gleaning; Ruth, Uuok or (Anter.
ed.)]
2. From the produce of the had in sabbatical
rears, the poor and the stranger were to have their
portion (Ex. xxiii 11; Lev. xxv. 8).
8. Reentry upon land in the jubilee veer, with
the limitation as to town homes (Lev. xxv. 35-30).
[Jubklme.]
4. Prohibition of usury, and of retention »f
pledges, i. e. loans without interest enjoined (Lev.
xxv. 35, 37: Ex. xxii. 95-27; Deut. xv. 7, 8, xxiv.
10-13). [Loan.]
5. Permanent bondage forbidden, and aiauu-
aiissiou of Hebrew bondsmen or bondswomen en-
•oined in the sabbatical nnd jubilee years, even
when bound to a foreigner, and redemption of such
previous to those years (Ueut. iv. 12-15; Lev. xxv.
39-42, 47-64).
6. Portions from the tithes to be shared by the
poor after the Levites (Ueut xiv. 28, xxvi. 12, 13).
[TniiES.]
7. The poor to partake in entertainments at the
leasts of Weeks and Tabernacles (Ueut. xvi. 11, 14;
see Neb. viii. 10).
8. Daily payment of wages (I*v. xix. 13).
On the other hand, while equal justice was eatn-
manded to be done to the poor man, he was not
allowed to take advantage of hia position to ob-
struct the administration of justice (Ex. xxiii 3;
Lev. xix. 15).
On the law of gleaning the Rabbinical writers
founded a variety of definitions and refinements,
which notwithstanding their minute nnd frivolous
character, were on the whole strongly in favor of
the poor. They are collected in the treatise of
Mairaonides tfitiinotk Ainim, de jure pauperis,
transacted by Prideaux (UgoKni, viii. 721), and
specimens of their character will appear in the fol-
lowing titles.
There are, he says, 13 precepts, 7 affirmative
tad 6 negative, gathered from Lev. xix., xxiii ;
Pent, xiv., xv., xxiv. On these the folowing ques-
tions are raised and answered, What is a " coiner,"
a "handful?" What is to "forget" a sheaf?
What is a " stranger? " What Is to be done when
a field or a single tree belongs to two persons ; and
farther, when one of them is a Gentile, or when it
is divided by a road, or by water; — when insects
or enemies destroy the crop? How much grain
most a man give by way of alms ? Among pro-
hibitions is one forbidding any proprietor to frighten
away the poor by a savage beast. An Israelite is
forbidden to take alma openly from a Gentile. Un-
willing almsgiving is condemned, on the principle
expressed in Job xxx. 25. Those who gave less
than their due proportion, to be punished. Men-
dicants are divided Into two classes, settled poor
and vagrants. The former were to be relieved
POFLAB
by the authorized collectors, but aO areexdeanaal to
maintain themselves if possible. [Alms.] Lastly,
the claim of the poor to the pertkne prescribed ie
laid down ss a positive right
Principles similar to those laid .town by Moses
are inculcated in M. T., as Luke id. 11, xiv. 13;
AcUvi. l;Gal. B. 10; Jas. ii. 16 In hue? times,
mendicancy, which does net appear lo bare been coo
teniplated by Hoses, became frequent, kstancee
actual or hypothetical may be seen in the follow-
ing passages: Luke xvi. 20, 21, xviii. 35; Mark
x.46; John ix. 8; Acts iii. 2. Oa the whole sub-
ject, besides the treatise above named, see Mishna.
Peak, i. 2, 3,4, 5; ii. 7; Pood, tv. 8; SeldeuL
as Jure JVntor. vi. 8, p. 736, .**.; SasJeehuta,
Art*, fftb. ii p. 256; Michaels, f 149, vcL B. p.
248; Otho, Ux. Rati. f. 308. M. W. P.
POPLAB (n33b, Omtk: rriyaWes, to
Gen. xxx. 37; At twvj, to Hos. iv. 13: fsytuus), the
rendering of the above Bu ssed Hebrew ward, which
occurs only in the two places cited. Peettd roda
of the UlmtJi were put by Jacob before labaaa
ring-streaked sheep. This tree is mentioned with
the oak and the terebinth, by Heesa, as one under
which idolatrous Israel used to sacrifice.
Several authorities, Celsius aaseugst the ■amber
(JWerwV i. 292), are in fevor of the renderuag of
the A. V., and think the " white poplar " (Posudsw
o*V>) is the tree denoted; others aad mts a d the
"storax tree" I Sly ox vfianalt, Una.). Thia
opinion is eenfrmed by the LXX. transh t or
ef Genesis, and by the Arabic versiea of Saa rlise
which hat the ton* fooeo (^j-UJ,) a\ «. the
« Styrax tree." •
Both poplars'' and styrax or stomx tests are
common in Palestine, and either would suit the
passsgss where the Hob. term occurs. Dioscoridea
(i. 79) and Pliny (If. H. xii. 17 sad 25) both
speak of the Styrax ofiehtok, and mentien several
kinds of exudation. Piny says, "that part of
Syria which adjoins Judsta above Phoenicia pro-
duces ttorax, which is found in the neighborhood
of Gabafo (JebtU) and Mataahne, at aha of Casius,
a moontain ef Seteucia, .... That which
comes from the mouateia ef Amanus in Syria ia
highly esteemed for medieiaal pawps e ss, and avast
more to by the perfumers."
Stores (*repa{) n> mentioned ia Eeefas. xxre.
15, together with other aroeaatie substaoees. The
modem Greek name of the tree, as we learn from
Sibthorpt (Fhr. Grac i. 276) is aroupaiti, and ia
a common wild shrub ia Greece and in most porta
of the Levant. The resin exudte either sponta-
neously or after incision. This property, however,
it would seem, Is only for the most part possessed
bv trees which grow in a warm country; for Eng-
lish specimens, though they flower profusely, do
not produce the drug. Mr. Dan. Haabury, who
bas discussed the whole subject of the storax plants
with much care (see the /"*nrmnceuhV»f Journal
™d 7Vfm*ieoim» for Feb. 1857), telh ns that a
friend of hia quite failed to obtain any exudation
from Styrax officinale, by incisions made in the
hottes* part of the summer of 1858, on specimen*
growing ia the botanic garden at M o ntps B i rr
• arbor las amlttoni meUla meter, quo at sufltus
It : vMttur ease Btynuis arbor. Kim PJ. Set Fre-
hg, Vat Jnts. s. v.
• « FimUa otto and T. Sxf*ratica 1 saw. P. aw
uuaandmrra are sJse ssU to r« w ia Byda'tf.]
Hooker t.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PORATHA
• TV experiment was quite unsuccessful; neitner
aqueous sap nor resinous juice flowed from the
incisions." Still Mr. Hanbury quotes two authori-
ties to show that under oertaiu favorable circuni-
itances the tree may exude a fragrant resin even in
France and Italy.
Stjrrax tfflttmmU.
Tk* Stgrax officinale is a shrub from nine to
twelve feet high, with ovate leaves, which are white
underneath ; the Bowers are in racemes, and are white
or cream-colored. This while appearance agrees
with the etymology of the Heb. libneh. The liquUl
ilorax of commerce is the product of the Luptid-
ambar Orientate, Mill, (see a fig. in Mr. Hanbury's
communication), an entirely different plant, whose
resin was probably unknown to the ancients.
W. H.
POKATHA (Nrn'lQ [Pen. = perh. /<«*»•«*
hyfaU]: *>aputa$i; Alex. BopJaflu; [FA. *apa-
«0a:] Phorathn). One of the ten sons of Hainan
slain by the Jews in Shushan the palace (Esth. ix.
J). Perhaps " Poradatha " was the full form of
the name, which the LXX. appear to have had be-
fore them (compare Aridatha, Parsbandatha).
PORCH. 1. tf/om," or Ham. 2. .VtKleron
Mm, strictly a vestibule (Ges. p. 43), was probably
a sort of verandah chamber in the wwks of Solo-
mon, open in front and at the sides, but capable of
being Inclosed with awnings or curtains, like that
if the royal palace at Ispahan described by Chardin
(vii. 386, and pL 39). The word is used in the
Talmud {Miihhth, iii. 7).
Mittron was probably a corridor or colonnade
connecting the principal rooms of the house (\ v il-
cinson, A. £. I 11). The porch » (Matt. xxvi.
• I obtlN, or DbN :
roll. 11); mAt : porliaih.
alAa>: portirui (1 Chr.
1 T VHDD : mpurrt* : pmtitw : oa.y one* used
fadg. IB.* 1 '
• nkir.
PORTER 2565
71) was probably the passage from die street into
the first court of the house, in which, in eastern
houses, is the masldbah or stone-bench for the por-
ter or persons waiting, and where also the master of
the house often receives visitors and transacts busi-
ness (I-ane, Mod. Eg. i. 32; Shaw, Trav. p. 207).
[House.] The word in the parallel passage (Mark
xiv. 68) is rpocLuKioy, the outer court. The scene
therefore of the [second ?] denial of our Lord took
place, either in that court, or in the passage from it
to the house-door. The term erod is used for the
colonnade or portico of Bethesda, and also for that
of the Temple called Solomon's porch (John v. 2,
I. 23; Acts iii. 11, v. 12).
Josepkus describes the porticoes or cloisters
which surrounded the Temple of Solomon, and
also the royal portico These porticoes are de-
scribed by Tacitus as forming an important line of
defense during the siege (Joseph. Ant. viii. 3, § 9
xv. 11, §§ 3, 6; B. ./. v. 6, J 2; Tac /fist. v. 12).
[Tempi.*:; Solomon's Porch.] H. W. P.
* The " porch " between which and the altar
toe priests were directed to pray and weep (Joel ii.
17), was on the east side of the Temple, leading
from the court of the priests into the sanctuary or
outer apartment of the fane of the Temple. The
priests standing here had the altar behind them
with their faces towards the sanctuary, which was
the proper position when they offered prayer. It is
mentioned (Kzek. viii. 16) as an insult to Jehovah,
a heathenish act, that the priests stood with their
back towards the sanctuary and their faces towards
the east. U.
POR'CrUS FESTUS. [Festus.]
* PORT, Neh. ii. 13, is used in the Latin
sense of " gate," from porta, whence " porter," a
gate-keeper. Port = seaport, is from port**, a har-
bor. On the "Dung Port" or Dung Gate, an
Jerusalem, vol. ii. p. 1322. H.
PORTER This word when used in the A,
V. does not bear its modern signification of a car-
rier of burdens," but denotes in every case a gate-
keeper, from the Latin portariui, the man who at-
tended to the porta. In the original the word is
"l^tT, ih&ir, from "'?P\ shn'ar, a gate: dvpw-
fis, and TrtAwpdV : porlttritu and jrmiior. This
meaning is evidently implied in 1 Chr. ix. 21; 2
Chr. xxiii. 19, xxxr. 15; John x. 3. It is generally
employed in reference to the Levites who had charge
of the entrances to the sanctuary, but is used also
m other connections in 2 Sam. xviii. 26 ; 2 K. vii.
10, 11; Mark xiii. 34; John x. 3, xviii. 16, 17. In
two passages (1 Chr. xv. 23, 24) the Hebrew word
is rendered ••doorkeepers," and in John xviii. 16,
17, r) tvptpis » " she that kept the door." G.
* Khoda was portress in the house of the mother
of John Mark, at Jerusalem (Acts xii. 13). Luke
employs in that passage the classical term (tbra-
xowra) signifying to answer a call or knock at the
door (Kypke, Oiterrv. Sacra, ii. 60). Women
often performed that office among the Greeks and
Romans as well as the Jews. The " porter " (John
e Tbe two words axe In fact quite distinct, being
derived from different roots. " Porter " In the mod*
ere «eoie Is from the French porteur. The similarity
between the two is alluded to in a passage quoted tress
Watts by Dr. Johnson.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2566
PORTION, DOUBLE
E. 9) tn the gate-keeper of one of the larger sheep-
folds Jointly occupied by KTeral shepherds : they
had a right to be admitted at the door, but thieve*
•ought to enter by another way. See Wahl, C'lurit
AT. T. a. t. tvpmpis- [Gate.] . H.
• PORTION, DOUBLE, i. «. '• the portion -
(more literally mouthful) «of two" (D*3?? *B).
So in Dent. xxi. 17, of the treatment of the first-
born son, who is to be distinguished from those
later born, by receiving a larger portion of the
father's estate. In S Kings ii. 9, Elisha asks
Elyah as he is about to ascend to heaven that a
double portion, i. e. an abundant supply, of his
spirit may fall upon himself. K. D. C. K.
POSIDOTJIU8 (noo-i8<£not: Posidomu),
an envoy sent by Nicanor to Judas (2 Mace. xiv.
19).
POSSESSION. [Demokiacs.]
POST. I. 1. Ajil,* a word indefinitely ren-
dered by LXX. and Vulg. Probably, os Gesenius
argues, the door-case of a door, including the lintel
and side posts (Gee. Tktt. p. 43). Akin to this is
ailimfi only used in plur. (Kx. xl. 16, 4c.), probably
a portico, and so rendered by Symm. and Syr.
Vera. (Ges. p. 48).
2. Ammih,' usually " cubit," once only " post "
(Is. vi. 4).
8. Mtxittah* from a root signifying to shine,
i. t. implying motion (on a centre).
4. Saph,» usually " threshold."
The ceremony of boring the ear of a voluntary
bondsman was performed by placing the ear against
the door-post of the house (Ex. xxi. 6; see Jur.
Sal. i. 103, and Plaut. Pern. v. 2, 21). [Slave;
Pillar.]
The posts of the doors of the Temple were of
olive-wood (1 K. vi. 83).
II. Rat;/ A. V. "port" (Esth. iii. 13), else-
where " runner," and also " guard." A courier or
•wrier of messages, used among other places in
Job ix. 26. [A.ngareuo.] H. W. P.
* Our English '• post '' (in French potte and
Italian po$ta) is from putitum, a fixed place, as a
military pott, then a station for travellers and re-
lays of horses, and thence transferred to the travel-
ler himself, especially on expeditious journeys. (See
Eastwood and Wright's Bible Word-Book, p. 378.)
H.
POT. The term "pot"» la applicable to so
many sort* of vessels, that it can scarcely be re-
stricted to any one in particular. [Bowl; Cal-
dron; Basin; Cup, etc ]
POTIPHAR
But from the places where the word la need wt
may collect the uses, and also in part the materials
of tho utensils implied.
1. Aric, an earthen jar, deep and narrow
without handles, probably, like the Roman and
Egyptian amphora, inserted in a stand of wood of
stone (Wilkinson, Anc. Kg. i. 47; Sandys, Trav
p. 160).
2. Clitrti, an earthen vessel for stewing or
seething. Such a vessel was used for baking lEa.
iv. 9). It is contrasted in the same passage (Lev.
vi. 28) with a metal vessel for the same purpose.
[Vessel.]
3. Dmi, a vessel for culinary purposes, men
tioned (1 Sam. ii. 14) in conjunction with "ai
dron" and u kettle," and so perhaps of tmalln
stae.
4. Sir is combined with other words to denote
special uses, as batter, "flesh" (Ex. xvi. 8); >•«-
chatz, "washing" (Ps. Ix. 8; I AX. has Atari
■rijr iXwltot); mattriph, "fining-pot" (Prov
xxvii. 21).
The blackness which such vessels would contract
is alluded to in Joel ii. 6.
The " pots," gebiytm, set before the Rechabites
(Jer. xxxv. 6), were probably bulging jars ot
bowls.
The water-pots of Cana appear to have bees
large amphorae, such as are in use at the present
day in Syria (Fisher, Vina, p. 66; Jollifle, i. 33)
These were of stone or hard earthenware; but gold,
silver, brass, or copper, were also used for vessels
both for domestic and also, with marked preference,
for ritual use (1 K. vii. 46, x. 21; 2 Chr. It. 18,
ix. 20; Mark vii. 4: Heb. ix. 4; John ii. •;
Michaelia, Lam of Mom, $917, iii. 836, ed.
Smith).
Crucibles for refining metal are mentioned (Prov.
xxvi. 23, xxvii. 21).
The water-pot of the Samaritan woman may
have been a leathern bucket, such as Bedouin
women use (Burckhardt, ffotet, 1. 46).
The shapes of these vessels we ran only conjecture,
as very few remains have yet lieen discovered, but
it is certain that pottery formed a branch of native
Jewish manufacture. [Pottery.] H. W. P.
POT1PHAE (n?^B [see below] : rirr.-
«>/>r/i; [Alex, in xxxrii. 38, nrrpteVns:] Putipiar),
an Egyptian pr. n., also written 5^5 *fcl"®i
PoTtPHERAR. That these are but two forms of
one name is shown by the ancient Egyptian equiv-
alent, PET-P-RA, which may have been pro-
nounced, at least in Lower Egypt, PET-PU-RA
It signifies "Belonging to the Sun."
• Vrl: r»aS*>or :J*»»*
6 DW : r i aiAop : ratibubtm.
' rTjpy : *Wp*i>oav : <ifp«rltm«*ar*.
* nWtp- tmliiAt, *Aii: possis,
nr,
« F,D : <Uu4: Hnun; In plur. vi «p6i*Aa: nptr-
tminarla (Am. Ix. 1).
/ Tf~J, part, of VST!, "ran j» fiifikm+ipo- t
m.
• L TpOt*: *yyt«w(2 K. Iv. 2), appllsd to oil
1 "S^ll npiiucr: KypAu (Jer. mr. 6 ; 0«e.
a HO) ; wraally « bowl - «r "cup."
8. TIT : -At^m •■ copkituu; also "basket.''
4. s /?: enctvot: cos; usually "vassal,'' cars
only «pot"'(L*v. vi. 28).
8. TO: K^,:eUaiume.nWhTyiD^ (*r. I
18), *' a SMthlDg-pot."
6. "V"TIB ; X aA»!or : eseasn.
7. n?.?3S: *Ti*m: m(bxri, 88; H*
Ix. i). T "
«. OVlBlp: «A*o.: «ta«; "a
9. win :
ri.2ir* ,,vv
•srsannr: «u Jktile (bn
Digitized by VjOOQlC
POTIPHERAH
I that it is of very frequent occurrence on
■he Egyptian monuments (ilonumtnti Storici, 1.
117, 118). The fuller form is clearly Dearer to
the Egyptian.
Potiphar is described as " an officer of Pharaoh,
shief of the executioners ("Itp n^"Jg , "TQ
D^p^nn), an Egyptian" (Gen. mix. lj
eomp. xxxvii. 36). The word we render " officer,"
as in the A. V.,<"ls literally "eunuch," and the
LXX. and Vulg. so translate it here (trrdSair,
eunuchus) ; hot it is also used for an officer of the
court, and this is almost certainly the meaning
here, as Potiphar was married, which is seldom
the case with eunuchs, though some, as those
which have the custody of the Ka'abeh at Mekkeh
are exceptions, and his office was one which would
not usually be held by persons of a class ordina-
rily wanting in courage, although here again we
must except the occasional usage of Muslim sov-
ereigns, whose executioners were sometimes eu-
nuchs, as iiaroon er-Rasheed's Mesroor, in order
that they might lie able to carry out the royal
commands even in the hareems of the subjects.
Potiphar' s office was " chief of the executioners,"
not, as the LXX. makes it, "of the cooks"
(apXtfutycipo?), for the prison was in his house,
or, at least, in that of the chief of the executioners,
probably a successor of Potiphar, who committed
the disgraced servants of Pharaoh to Joseph's
charge (xl. 3-1). He is called an Egyptian, though
his master was probably a Shepherd-king of the
XVth dynasty; and it is to be noticed that his
name contains that of an Kgyptian divinity, which
does not seem to be the case with the names of the
kings of that line, though there is probably an in-
stance in that of a prince. [Chkoxology, vol.
i. p. 443.] He appears to have been a wealthy
man, having property in the field as well as in the
house, over which Joseph was put, evidently in an
important post (xxxix. 4-6). In this position
Joseph was tempted by bis master's wife. The
view we have of Potiphar's household is exactly
in accordance with the representations on the
monuments, in which we see how carefully the
produce of the land was registered and stored up
in the house by overseen, as well as the liberty
that the women of all ranks enjoyed. When Jo-
seph was accused, his master contented himself
with casting him into prison (19, 30), probably
oeing a merciful man, although he may have been
restrained by God from acting more severely.
After this we hear no more of Potiphar, unless,
which is unlikely, the chief of the executioners
afterwards mentioned be he. [See Joseph.]
K.S. P.
POTIPHETttAH (»r? "^9 [see below]:
n«r«fp^»; [Alex. n*Tp«£jjj:] Putiphare), an
Egyptian pr. n., also written IS^'lB, Pon-
rrrAH, corresponding to the PET-P-RA, " Belong-
ing to the Sun," of the hieroglvohlcs.
Potlpoenh wis priest or prince of On (]M )TJ3),
uA his daughter Asenath was giver. Joseph to wife
by Pharaoh (xli. 46, 50, xlvi. 30). His name, 1m-
jlying devotion to the sun, is very appropriate to
POTTER'S FIELD, THE 2667
a Heliopolite, especially to a priest of Heliopolia,
and therefore the rendering " priest " is preferable
in his case, though the other can scarcely be as-
serted to be untenable. [On; Asknath; Jo.
•Bra.] R. S. P.
POTSHERD (BTin: tarpaxor: tula, vat
fictile): also in A. V. "sherd" (». e. anything
divided or separated, from than, Richardson's
Diet.), a piece of earthenware, broken either by
the heat of the furnace in the manufacture, by
fire when used as a crucible (Prov. xxvi. 33), or
otherwise. [Pottkry.] [For illustrations, see
Thomson's Lund and Book, ii. 284.] H. W. P.
• POTTAGE. [Lehtilks.]
POTTER'S FIELD, THE (o tr/obs rsi
Kipapim : ngerfiguli). A piece of ground which,
according to the statement of St. Matthew (xxvii.
7), was purchased by the priests with the thirty
pieces of silver rejected by Judas, and converted
into a burial-place for Jews not belonging to the
city (see Alford, ad be.). In the narrative of the
Acts the purchase is made by Judas himself, and
neither the potter's field, its connection with the
priests, nor its ultimate application are mentioned.
[Aceldama.]
That St. Matthew was well assured of the accu-
racy of his version of the occurrence is evident
from his adducing it (ver. 9) as a fulfillment of an
ancient prediction. What that prediction was,
and who made it, is not, however, at all clear.
St. Matthew names Jeremiah : but there is no pas-
sage in the Book of Jeremiah, as we possess it
(either in the Hebrew or LXX.), resembling that
which be gives; and that in Zechariah, which is
usually supposed to be alluded to, has only a vary
imperfect likeness to it. This will be readily.
8t Matt, xxvii. 9, 10.
Then was fulfilled that
which was spukeu by Jer-
emy the prophet, saying,
" And they took ths thirty
pieces of stiver, ths pries
of him that was valued,
whom they of the ohlldren
of Israel did value, and
gave them for the potters
field, as the Lord ap-
pointed me."
• • In Sen. xxxix. 1 the A. T. hss "captain of
B.
"1?1*n. If this be ths right translation, ths
Zsch. xl. 12, 18.
And I said unto thentj
"If ye think good, gtvs-
my price ; and If not, for*
bear." So they weighs*
for my pnos thirty plsoss
of silver. And Jehovah
said unto me, "Cast it
unto the potter , a goodly
price that I was prised at
by them!" And I took the
thirty pieces of silver, sod
east them to the potter ia
the house of Jehovah.
And even this Is doubtful; for the word skews
translated "potter" is in the LXX. rendered '"fur-
nace," and by modem scholars (Oesenius, Font,
Ewald, De Wette, Herxheimer — following the Tar-
gum, Peahito-Syriao, and Kimchl) " treasury " • or
" treasurer." Supposing, however, this passage to
be that which St. Matthew refers to, three expla-
nations suggest themselves: —
1. That the Evangelist unintentionally substi-
tuted the name of Jeremiah for that of Zeehariah,
at the same time altering the passage to suit hii
immediate object, in the same way that St Paul
has done In Rom. x. 6-9 (compared with Dent viii.
17, xxx. 11-14), 1 Cor. xv. 45 (comp.. with Gee
ii. 7). See Jowett's Si. Pants Epuiitt (Euan on
Quotalimt, etc.)
passage, Instead of being in agreement, is dtessliT at
variance with ths statement of Matt, xxvii. 6, ska,
the diver was not pat into the U i—s a i.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2668 POTTER'S FIELD, THE
SI. That this portion of the Book of Zechariah
— a book the different portions of which there is
H—nii to believe are in different styles and by dif-
ferent anthors — was in the time of St. Matthew
attributed to Jeremiah.
8. That the reference is to some passage of Jere-
miah which has been lost from its place in his
book, and exists onlj in the Evangelist. Some
slight support is afforded to this view by the fact
that potters and the localities occupied by them
are twice alluded to by Jeremiah. Its partial cor-
respondence with Zech. xi. 12, 13, is no argument
against it* having at one time formed a part of
the prophecy of Jeremiah : for it is well known to
every student of the Bible that similar correspond
ences are continually found in the prophets. See,
for Instance, Jer. xlviii. 45, comp. with Num. xxi.
17. 88, xxiv. 17; Jer. xlix. 97, oomp. with Am. 1.
POTTERY
4. For other examples, see Dr. Posey's Ccmm n t
lory on Amos and Mieah. [On this question sec
vol. i. p. 30 n, and vol. il. p. 1608 a, Arner. ed ]
The position of Aceldama has been treated
of under that head. But there is not now any
pottery in Jerusalem, nor within several miles of
the city." G.
• POTTER'S VESSEL. [Potcshy.]
POTTERY. The art of pottery is one of the
most common and most ancient of all manufae
turn. The modern Arab culinary vessels are
chiefly of wood or copper (Niebuhr, Voy. i. 188),
but it is abundantly evident, both that the Ht
brews used earthenware vessel* in the wilderness,
when there wmld be little facility for making
them, and that the potter*' trade was afterwards
carried on in Palestine. They had thems el ves
il
v. « Ml-
afcyptlaa Pottery. (Wilkinson.)
bean eoneerned In the potters' trade in Egypt (P*.
baxi. 6), and the wall-painting* minutely illus-
trate the Egyptian process, which agrees with such
notices of the Jewish practice as are found in the
Prophet*, and also in many respects with the pro-
ws* as pursued in the present day. The clay,
•bee dug, was trodden by men's feet so as to form
a paste (Is. xli. 25; Wlsd. xv. 7) [Bricks]; then
placed by the potter* on the wheel beside which
he sat, and shaped by him with his hands. How
early the wheel came into use in Palestine we know
not, but it seems likely that it was adopted from
Egypt It consisted of a wooden disk « placed on
• • The writer visited a pottery at Jerusalem, In
aompany with Dr. Barclay, author of The City of the
tmat King. It was « in the nave of the ruins of a
church of the Crusaders, near St. Stephen > gate, on
Besetha" {MS. notes, April 17, 1852). This pot-
tery Is also mentioned in the Ordnance Survey of Je-
vtaUm, p. 69, when it is said that the clay used then
« brought from B-JT4, Qlbeon. Dr. Tohler speaks
>f three potteries on Bewtha, and describes the pro-
Mas of making various kinds of earthenwan {DenJc-
Uttter mil Jenuairm, p. 267). Mr. Williams mentions
a Ulastntlon of Jer. xvltt. 1-10, which he saw In ow
»• these potteries {Holy City, vol. I, lam. p. 24).
another larger one, and tamed by the hand by an
attendant, or worked by a treadle (I*, xlv. 9; Jar
xviii. 3; Ecclua. xxxviii. 29, 30; see Tennent
Ceylon, i. 462). The vessel was then smoothed
and coated with a glaze, 1 ' and finally burnt in a
furnace (Wilkinson, Anc Eg. ii. 108). We find
allusions to the potsherds, i. e. broken pieces* of
vessels used as crucibles, or burst by the furnace,
and to the necessity of keeping the latter clean («s.
xxx. 14, xlv. 9; Job ii. 8; Ps. xxii. 15; Prov
xxvi. 23; Ecclus- «. *.).
Earthen vessels were used, both by Egyptians
and Jews, for various purposes besides culinary.
Both of these writers speak of potters' day a* mvna
near Jerusalem. ft.
» 1. 15V, part, of -1^, ».««.:» „.^,
Jtfuka.
2. *1|1*), only to Dan. U. 41' jfeiaau.
' D*23K "*- "*"» •too**:" Atfai: rata (ass
Gee. p. 18$. T
*" Xeiova (Hoolus. I. c).
< ttnn : *wra«w : msm. 8«> Pot, • (a****
Digitized by VjOOQlC
POUND
Dm* ■» kept in them (Jer. xxxii. 14). TUst
with patterns and writing were common both in
Egypt and Assyria, and were alto in nee in Pales-
tine (Ea. it. 1 ). There was at Jerusalem a royal
sstaMithment of pottera (1 Chr. iv. 2.)), from whose
employment, and from the fragments east away in
the process, the Potter's Kield perhaps received its
iMme (Is. xxz. 14). Whether the term " potter "
(Zech. xL IS) is to be eo interpreted may be
doubted, a* it may be taken for •■ artificer " in
general, and also " treasurer," as if the coin men-
tioned were to be weighed, and perhaps melted
down to be reeoined (Get. p. 619 j Grotius, (Jalmet,
St. Jerome, Hitaig, Birch, Hut. of Pullers, '• W8;
Sealsohuts, Hebr. Arch. i. 14, 11).
H. W. P.
POUND. 1. A weight. See Weigh™ and
ICCASffBU.
8. (Mm.) A money of account, mentioned in
the parable of the Ten Pounds (Luke xix. 13-37),
as the talent it in the parable of the Talents (Matt.
xrr. 14-30), the comparison of the Saviour to a
matter who intrusted money to his servants where-
with to trade in his absence being probably a fre-
quent lesson in our Ix>rd's teaching (eomp. Hark
xiii. 33-37). The reference appears to be to a
Greek pound, a weight used as a money of account,
of which sixty went to the talent, the weight de-
pending upon the weight of the talent. At this
time the Attic talent, reduced to the weight of the
earlier Phoenician, which was the same as the He-
brew, prevailed in Palestine, though other systems
must have been occasionally used. The Greek name
doubtless came either from the Hebrew mnnek or
from a common origin; but it must be remembered
that the Hebrew talent contained but fifty msnehs,
and that we have no authority for supposing that
the maneh was called In Palestine by the Greek
name, so that it is most reasonable to consider the
Greek weight to be meant [Talent; Weights
AXD MEASURES.] K. 8. P.
• POWER U used in 3 Chr. xxxii. 9 (A. V.)
to denote a military force, an army. The abstract
it similarly used for the concrete in Eph. ii. 2,
where " the prince of the power of the air " ( T er
&pX oyTa rijs i£ov*lai tou kipot) denotes the ruler
of the powers (evil spirits) that dwell in the air.
[Aik, Anier. ed.; Prwcipauty, do.] A.
PBVaBTO'RIUM (wfairifiw). The head-
quarters of the Koman military governor, when-
ever he happened to be. In time of paaee some
one of the best buildings of the city which was the
residence of the proconsul or prater was selected
for this purpose. Thus Verves appropriated the
palace of king Hiero at Syracuse; at Caeaarea that
}f Herod the Great was occupied by Felix (Acta
txiii. 3D); and at Jerusalem the new palace erected
by the amine prince was the residence of 1'ilate.
"bis last was situated on the western, or more
i arreted hill of Jerusalem, and was connected with
■ system of fortifications, the aggregate of which
xmrttkrted the wcuxujSaXv), or fortified barrack.
■t was the dominant position on the western hill,
and — at any rate on one side, probably the eastern
— was mounted by a flight of steps (the same from
whksn St Paul made his speech in Hebrew to the
angry crowd of Jews, Acts xxii. 1 ff.). From the
«n| below the barrack, a terrace led eastward to a
rate opening into the western side of the cloU'er
■wronnding the Temple, the road being carried
xa^taaValkg of Tyropoxm (asperating the West-
PRAMORIUM 256$
era from the Temple hill) on a causeway balk atj
of enormous stone blocks. At the angle of the
Temple cloister just above this entrance, i. e. the
N. W. comer [tee Jerusalem, vol. ii. pp. 1300,
1813] ttond the old citadel of the Temple hill, the
Bapti, or Bgrta, which Herod rebuilt and called
by the name Antonia, after his friend and patron
the triumvir. After the Roman power was estab-
lished in Judna, a Roman guard was always main-
tained in the Antonia, the commander of which
for the time being seems to be the official termed
grp a i »' y ef tow iepov in the Gospels and Acts.
The guard in the Antonia was probably relieved
regularly from the cohort quartered in the wtuxp-
0oAv}, and hence the plural form arpemryoi ■*
sometimes used, the officers, like the privates, being
changed every watch; although it is very con-
ceivable that a certain number of them should hare
been selected for the service from possessing a
superior knowledge of the Jewish customs, or skill
in the Hebrew language. Besides the cohort of
regular legionaries there was probably an eqral
number of local troops, who when on service acted
as the " supports *' (SefioAd'jBoi, caterers of the
right /ank. Acts xxiii. 33) of tbe former, and there
were also a tew squadrons of cavalry; although it
seenw likely that both these and the local troops
hsd separate barracks at Jerusalem, and that the
muM/t/ioA^, or praetorian camp, was appropriated
to the Koman cohort. The ordinary police of the
Temple and the city seems to have been in the
hands of tbe Jewish officials, whose attendants
(va-wperw) were provided with dirks and clubs,
but without the regular armor and the discipline
of the legionaries. When the latter were required
to assist this gtndnrmerir, either from the appre-
hension of serious tumult, or because the service
was one of great importance, the Jews would apply
to tbe officer in command at the Antonia, who
would act so far under their orders as the com-
mander of a detachment in a manufacturing town
does under the orders of the civil magistrate at the
time of a riot (Acts iv. 1, v. 34). But tbe power
of life and death, or of regular scourging, rested
only with tbe pnetor, or the person r ep r e se n ting,
him and commissioned by him. This power, and
that which would always go with it, — the right to
press whateter men or things were required by the
public exigencies, — appears to be denoted by tbe
term i(ov<rla, a term perhaps the translation of
the Latin imperium, and certainly its equivalent.
It was inherent in the pnetor or his representa-
tives — hence themselves popularly called i(ovoltu-
or itowrlat Mprtoai (Rom. xiii. 1, 3) — and
would be communicated to all military officers, is
command of detached posts, such as the centurioai
at Capernaum, who describes himself as possessing
summary powers of this kind because he was for"
itovrlf, covered by the privilege of the imperium
(Matt viii. 9). The forced purveyances (Matt. v.
40), the requisitions for baggage animals (Matt v.
41), the summary punishments following transgres-
sion of orders (Matt v. 39) incident to a< military
occupation of the country, of course must have been
a perpetual source of irritation to the peasantry
along tbe lines of the military roads, even when
the despotic authority of the Koinau officers might
be exercised with moderation. But such, a state
of things also afforded constant opportunities to as
unprincipled soldier to extort money under the
D"**anse of a loan, as the price of exemption frees
persona, services which he was competent to intaat
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2570
P1LBTOKIUM
tpon, or as a bribe to buy of the prosecution of
tome relations charge before a military tribunal
(Matt. v. 43; Luke iii. 14).
The relation* or the military to the civil author-
ities in Jerusalem come out very clearly from the
history of the Crucifixion. When Judas first makes
his proposition to betray Jesus to the chief priests,
a conference is held between them and the orpar
rmal as to the mode of effecting the object (Luke
xxii. 4). The plan involved the assemblage of a
large number of the Jews by night, and Koman
Jealousy forbade such a thing, except under the sur-
veillance of a military officer. An arrangement was
accordingly made for a military force, which would
naturally be drawn from the Antonio. At the
appointed hour Judas comes and takes with him
" the troops " " together with a number of police
{trnpjras) under the orders of the high-priests
and Pharisees (John xviii. 3). When the appre-
hension of Jesus takes place, however, there is
scarcely any reference to the presence of the mil-
itary. Matthew and Hark altogether ignore their
taking any part in the proceeding. From St.
Luke's account one is led to suppose that the mili-
tary commander posted his men outside the garden,
and entered himself with the Jewish authorities
(xxii. 58). This is exactly what might be expected
nnder the circumstances. It was the business of
the Jewish authorities to apprehend a Jewish of-
fender, and of the Roman officer to take care
that the proceeding led to no breach of the public
pence. But when apprehended, the Roman officer
became responsible for the custody of the offender,
snd accordingly he would at onee chain him by the
wrists to two soldiers (Acts xxi. 33) and carry him
Off. Here St John accordingly gives another
glimpse of the presence of the military : " the
troopt then, and the chiliarch and the officers of
the Jews apprehended Jesus, and put him in bomi$
and led him away, first of all to Annas " (xviii. 12).
The insults which St Luke mentions (xxii. 63),
are apparently the barbarous sport of the ruffianly
soldiers and police while waiting with their prisoner
for the assembling of the Sanhedrim in the hall of
Calaphas; but the blows inflicted are those with
the vine-stick, which the centurions carried, and
with which they struck the soldiers on the hesd
and face (Juvenal, Sat. riii. 247), not a flagellation
by the hands of lictors.
When Jesus was condemned by the Sanhedrim
and accordingly sent to Pilate, the Jewish officials
certainly expected that no inquiry would be made
into the merits of the case, but that Jesus would
be simply received as a convict on the authority
of his own countrymen's tribunal, thrown into a
dungeon, and on the first convenient opportunity
executed. They are obviously surprised at the
suestion, " What accusation bring ye against this
•can ? " and at the apparition of the governor him-
self outside the precinct of the preptorium. The
cheapness in which he had held the life of the
utive population ou a former occasion (Luke xiii.
1 ), must have led them to expect a totally different
course from him. His scrupulosity, most extraor-
dinary in any Koman, stands in striking contrast
with the recklessness of the oommander who pro-
leeded at once to put St. Paul to torture, aimply
o ascertain why it was that so violent ai. attack
PRJffrORIUM
was made on him by the crowd (Aets mi. M)
Yet this latter is undoubtedly a typical spew met:
of the feeling which prevailed among the eooqaeron
of Jndiaa in reference to the conquered. The or-
dering the execution of a native criminal would, hi
ninety-nine instances out of a hundred, have l«en
regarded by a Roman magnate as a simply minis-
terial act, — one which Indeed only he was com-
petent to perform, but of which the performance
was unworthy of a second thought. It Is probable
that the hesitation of Pilate was due rather to a
superstitions fear of his wife's dream, than to a
sense of justice or a feeling of humanity towards
an individual of a despised race; at any rate such
an explanation is more in accordance with what we
know of the feeling prevalent among his class it
that age.
When at last Pilate's effort to save Jesus wss
defeated by the determination of the Jews to claim
Rarabbas, and he had testified, by washing his
hands in the presence of the people, that he did
not consent to the judgment passed on the prisons!
by the Sanhedrim, but must be regarded aa per-
forming a merely ministerial act, — he proceeds at
once to the formal infliction of the appropriate
penalty. His lictors take Jesus and inflict the
punishment of scourging upon Him in the presence
of all (Matt xxvii. 26). This, in the Koman idea,
was the necessary preliminary to capital punish-
ment, and had Jesus not been an alien, his head
would have been struck off by the lictors imme-
diately afterwards. But crucifixion being the cus-
tomary punishment in that case, a different coarse
becomes necessary. The execution must take place
by the hands of the military, and Jesus is banded
over from the lictors to these. They take Him
into the pnetorium, and muster the whole enhmi —
not merely that portion which is on duty at the
time (Matt, xxvii. 27; Mark xv. 16). While a
centurion's guard is being told off for the purpose
of executing Jesus and the two criminal*, the rest
of the soldiers divert themselves in mocking the
reputed King of the Jews (.Matt xxvii. 28-30;
Mark xv. 17-19: John xix. 2-3), l'ilste, who in
the mean time has gone in, living probably a witness
of the pitiable spectacle. His wife's dream still
haunts him, and although helias already delivered
Jesus over to execution, and what is takii u place
is merely the ordinary course,* he comes out again
to the people to protest that he is passive in the
matter, and that they must take the prisoner, there
before their eyes in the garb of mocker}-, and crucify
Him (John xix. 4-6). On their reply that Jesus
had asserted Himself to be the Son of God, Pilate's
-fears are still more roused, and at last he is only
induced to go on with the military execution, for
which he b himself responsible, by the threat of a
charge of treason against Omar in the event of
his not doing so (John xix. 7-13). SJtting then
solemnly on the bema, and producing Jesus, who
in the mean time has had his own clothes put upon
Him, he formally delivers Him up to be crucified in
such a manner as to make it appear that be is
acting solely in the discbarge of his duty to the
emperor (John xix. 13-16).
The centurion's guard now proceed with the pris-
oners to Golgotha, Jesus himself carrying the cross-
piece of wood to which his hands were to be nailed
.• Oausd rs» mtpap, although of course only a <Je-
' from the oohort.
* Bend's guard had p un as* arssssslr as*
brutal conduct just bswe*.
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PRJLTORIUM
freak from km of blood, the result of the scourging,
fb U unable to proceed ; bat jtut a* the; are leer-
ing the gate they meet Simon the Cyrenian, and
at once uee the military right of prating (Ayya-
•<v*ir) him for the public lervioe. Arrived at the
•pot, four aoldieri are told off for the bueineu of
the executioner, the remainder keeping the ground.
Two would be required to hold the hand*, and a
third the feet, while the fourth drove in the nail*.
Hence the distribution of the garment* into four
parte. The centurion in command, the principal
Jewish officials and their acquaintance (hence prob-
ably St John xviii. 15), and the nearest relations
of Jesus (John xix. 36, 37), might naturally be ad-
mitted within the cordon — a square of perhaps 100
yards. The people would be kept outside of this,
but the distance would not he too great to read the
title, « Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews,"
or si any rate to gather its general meaning." The
whole acquaintance of Jeans, and the women who
had followed Him from Galilee — too much afflicted
to mix with the crowd in the immediate vicinity,
and too numerous to obtain admission inside the
cordon — looked on from a distance (4»i /uutpittv)
doubtless from the hill on the other side of the Val-
ley of Kedron 6 — a distance of not mors than 600 or
700 yards, according to Mr. Fergusson'* view of the
site of Golgotha.' The vessel containing vinegar
(John xix. 8») was set within the cordon for the
benefit of the soldiers, whose duty it was to remain
under arms (Matt, xxvii. 36) until the death of the
prisoners, the centurion in command being respon-
sible for their not being taken down alive. Had
the Jews not been anxious for the removal of the
bodies, in order not to shock the eyes of the people
coming in from the country on the following day,
the troops would have been relieved at the end of
their watch, and their place supplied by others un-
til death took place. The jealousy with which any
interference with the regular course of a military
execution was regarded appears from the applica-
tion of the Jews to Pilate — not to the centurion —
to hare the prisoners dispatched by breaking their
legs. For the performance of this duty other sol-
tiers were dispatched (xix. 33), not merely permis-
sion given to the .lews to have the operation per-
formed. Even for the watching of the sepulchre
recourse is had to Pihte, who bids the applicants
■'take a guard" (Matt, xxvii. 65), which they do,
and put a seal on the stone in the presence of the
soldiers, in a way exactly analogous to that practiced
in the custody of the sacred robes of the high-priest
in the Antonia (Joseph. AM. xv. 11, % 4).
The Praetorian camp at Rome, to which St Paul
lefers (Phil. V 13), was erected by the e n i p a o i
Tiberius, acting under the advice of Sejanus. Be-
fore that time the guards were billeted in different
parts of the city. It stood outwie the walls, at
some distance short of the fourth milestone, and so
tear either to the Salarian or the Xomentane road,
that Nero, in his (light by one or the other of them
PRAYER
2671
« The latter supposition is perhaps the more oor-
-vct, as the mm Evangelists five (Our different
» • It is impossible to be to precise In our Ignorance
pf the place of the crucifixion. U.
c The two first Evangelist* oauie Mary Magdalene
among these women (Matt xxvU. 66 ; Mark xv. 40).
ft. John Dames her, together with the Lord's mother,
usd Mary Clopas, as at the side of the crow.
* 0tm the well-known linee : —
" fers alt tw tpeis expn Im Nuininlbaa. aatd
to the house of his freedman Phaor, which was sit-
uated between the two, beard the cheers of the sol-
diers within for Galha. In the time of Vespasian
the houses seem to have extended so for as to reach
it (Tacitus, Amnl iv. 3; Suetonius, 71*. 87, Nt
ran. 48; Plin. H. N. Hi. 5). From the first, build-
ings must have sprung up near it for sutlers and
others. St Paul appears to have been permitted
for the space of two years to lodge, so to speak,
" within the rules " of the Pratorium (Acta xxriiL
30), although still under the custody it a soldier.
J. ff. B.
PRAYER. The words generally need in the
O. T. are njrtf) (from root 7?n, " to incline,"
'•to be gracious," whence in Hlthp. "to entreat
grace or mercy"): LXX. (generally), oVvjffit:
Vulg. depreentio: and rTJDW (from root '?9»
"to Judge," whence in Hithp. "to seek judg-
ment"): LXX. wpocrvyv): Vulg. emtio. The
latter is used to express intercessory prayer. The
two words point to the two chief objects sought in
prayer, namely, the prevalence of right and truth,
and the gift of mercy.
The object of this article will be to touch briefly
on (1.) the doctrine of Scripture as to the nature
and efficacy of prayer; (3.) its directions ss to time,
place, and manner of prayer; (3.) its types and
examples of prayer.
(1.) Scripture does not give any theoretical ex-
planation of the mystery which attaches to prayer.
The difficulty of understanding its real efficacy
arises chiefly from two source* : from the belief that
man lives under general laws, which in all cases
must be fulfilled unalterably ; and the opposing be-
lief that he is master of his own destiny, and need
pray for no external blessing. The first difficulty
is even increased when we substitute the belief In a
Personal God for the sense of an Impersonal Des-
tiny; since not only does the predestination of God
seem to render prayer useless, but his wisdom and
love, giving freely to man all that is good for him,
appear to make it needless.
The difficulty is familiar to all philosophy, the
former element being for the more important: (be
logical inference from it is the belief in the absolute
useleaaness of prayer.'' But the universal instinct
of prayer, being too strong for such reasoning, gen-
erally exacted as a compromise the use of prayer fof
good in the abstract (the " mens sana in corpora
sano"); a compromise theoretically liable to the
same difficulties, but wholesome in its practical
effect A far more dangerous compromise was that
adopted by some philosophers, rather than by man-
kind at large, which separated internal spiritual
growth from the external circumstances which ghe
scope thereto, and claimed the former as belonging
entirely to man, while allowing the latter to be gilt*
of the gods, and therefore to be fit objects of prayer*
Convenlat nobis, rsbosque sit utile noatris.
Carter eat tills homo quam stM."
Jot Sat. x. 8*6-848.
And the older quotation, referred to by Plato (.Ale. H
184):-
Zri 0astAe3, rat tier evettA «<u tvxetuVwt ami
evrfcvoif
*Aa*u o*i&9v* va St 6twa ami cvxop«'rotc a>4At|t.
• " 8*4 satis est orar* Jovam, que dooat at aussrt
Bet vitam, dat opsa ; aBquum mi anhnum ipsa pantbo.'
Hem. a)>. 1. xtM. Ill ; oomp.
Ok. At iVte. Datr. Uk fa
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2572 PRAYBR
TJhe most obvious escape from then difficulties is
lu &U back on the mere subjective eflect of prayer,
sod to suppose that its only object is to produce on
the mind that consciousDeas of dependence which
leads to faith, and that sense of God's protection
and mere; which fosters lore. These being the
conditions of receiving, or at least of rightlj enter-
ing into, God's blessings, it is thought that in its
encouragement of them all the use and efficacy of
prayer consist.
Now Scripture, while, by the doctrine of spirit-
ual influence, it entirely disposes of the latter diffi-
culty, does not so entirely solve that part of the
mystery which depends on the nature of God. It
places it dearly before us, and emphasises most
strongly those doctrines on which the difficulty
turns. The reference of all events snd actions to
the will or permission of God, and of all blessings
to bis free grace, is indeed the leading idea of all
its ports, historical, prophetic, and doctrinal ; and
this general idea is expressly dwelt upon in its ap-
plication to the subject of prayer. The principle
that our " Heavenly Father knoweth what things
we have need of before we ask Him," is not only
enunciated in plain terms by our Lord, but is at all
times implied in the very form and nature of all
Scriptural prayers ; and moreover, the ignorance of
man, who "knows not what to pray for as be
ought," and his consequent ceed of the Divine
guidance in prayer, are dwelt upon with equal ear-
nestness. Yet, while this is so, on the other hand
the instinct of prayer is solemnly sanctioned and
enforced in every page. Not only is its subjective
eflect asserted, but its real objective efficacy, as a
means appointed by God for obtaining blessing, is
both implied and expressed in the plainest terms.
As we are bidden to pray for general spiritual bless-
ings, in which instance it might seem as if prayer
were simply a means of preparing the heart, and
so making it capable of receiving them ; so also are
we encouraged to ask special blessings, both spirit-
ual and temporal, in hope that thus (and thus
only) we may obtain them, and to use intercession
for others, equally special and confident, in trust
that an effect, which in this case cannot possibly
be subjective to ourselves, will be granted to our
prayers. The command is enforced by direct
Komises, such as thst in the Sermon on the
ount (Matt. vii. 7, 8), of the clearest and most
comprehensive character; by the example of all
saints snd of our Lord Himself; and by historical
records of such effect as granted to prayer again
and again.
Thus, as usual in the esse of such mysteries, the
wo apparently opposite truths are empbsslzed, be-
eause they are needful to man's conception of his
relation to God ; their reconcilement is not, per-
haps cannot be, fully revealed. For, in fact, it is
involved in that inscrutable mystery which attends
oh theeoMeption of any free action of man as neces-
sary for the working out of the general laws of
God's unchangeable will.
At the same time it is clearly implied that such
a reconcilement exists, and that all the apparently
isolated and independent exertions of man's split
In prayer are in some way perfectly subordinated to
he One supreme will of God, so as to form a part
•i bis scheme of Providence. This follows from the
audition, expressed or understood in every prayer,
• Not my will, but Thine, be done." It is seen in
the distinction between the granting of our peti-
tons i.whioh k not absolutely promised), and the
PRAYBB
certain answer of blessing to all faithful prayer; s
distinction exemplified in the case of St. Paul's prayer
against the " thorn in the flesh," and of our Lord's
own agony in Gethsemane- It is distinctly enun-
ciated by St. John (1 John t. 14, 15) : « If we ask
any thing according to kit tall, He beareth us: and
if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we
know that we have the petitions that we desired of
Him."
It is also implied that the key to the mystery
lies in the fact of man's spiritual unity with God
in Christ, and of the consequent gift of the Holy
Spirit. All true and prevailing prayer is t» be of-
fered " in the name of Christ " (John xiv. 13, it.
16, xvi. 23-27), that is, not only for the sake of his
Atonement, but also in dependence on his interces-
sion; which is therefore as a central influence, act-
ing on all prayers offered, to throw off whatever
in them is evil, and give efficacy to all that is in
accordance with the Divine will. So also is it
said of the spiritual influence of the Holy Ghost on
each individual mind, that while "we know not
what to pray for," the indwelling " Spirit makes
intercession for the saints, aeon ding to the trill of
Gud" (Rom. viii. 26, 27). Here, as probably in
all other cases, the action of the Holy Spirit on the
soul is to free agents, what the laws of nature are
to things inanimate, and is the power which har-
monizes free individual action with the universal
will of God. The mystery of prayer, therefore, like
all others, is seen to be resolved into that great
central mystery of the Gospel, the communion of
man with God in the Incarnation of Christ. Be-
yond this we cannot go.
(2.) There are no directions as to prayer given
in the Mosaic Law: the duty is rather taken for
granted, as an adjunct to sacrifice, than enforced or
elaborated. The Temple is emphatically designated
as " the House of Prayer " (la. lvL 7); it could not
lie otherwise, if " He who hears prayer" (Pa. lxr.
2) there manifested his special presence; and the
prayer of Solomon offered at its consecration (1 K.
viii. 30, 35, 38) implies that in it were offered,
both the private prayers of each single man, and
the public prayers of all Israel.
It is hardly conceivable that, even from tie be-
ginning, public prayer did not follow every public
sacrifice, whether prcpitiatory or eucharistic, as
regularly ss the incense, which was the symbol of
prayer (see Ps. cxli. 2; Rev. vii. 3, 4). Such a
practice is alluded to as common, in Luke i. 10;
and in one instance, at the offering of the first-
fruits, it was ordained in a striking form (Deut.
xxvi. 12-15). In later tunes it certainly grew into
a regular service, both in the Temple and in the
Synagogue.
But, besides this public prayer, it wss the cus-
tom of all at Jerusalem to go up to the Temple,
at regular hours if possible, for private prayer (see
Luke xviii. 10; Acts til. 1); and those who were
absent were wont to " open their windows towards
Jerusalem," and pray " towards " the place of
God's Presence (1 K. viii. 46-49; Dan. vi. 10;
Pa. v. 7, xxviii. 2; exxxviii. 2). The desire to do
this was possibly one reason, independently of other
and more obvious ones, why the house-top or
the mountain-top were chosen places of private
prayer.
The regular hours of prayer seem to hare bear,
three (see Ps. lv. 17; Dan. vi. 10), "the evening,"
that is, the ninth hour (Acts iii. 1, x. 3) the bra
of the evening sacrifice (Dan. ix. 21); the "mom
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PBAYEK
bj," that la, the thud hour (Ada U. 15 >. that of
tha morning sacrifice; and the liitb hour, or
" noonday." To than would naturally be added
some prayer at riling and lying down to then; and
thence might easily be developed (by the love of
the mystic number seren), the "seven times a
day" of Pa. exix. 164. if thia is to be literally
understood, and the seven hours of prayer of the
ancient church. Some at least of these hours
seem to have been generally observed by religious
men in private prayer at home, or in the midst
of their occupation and in the streets (Matt. vi.
5). Grace before meat would seem to have been
an equally common practice (see Matt. xv. 36;
Acts xxvii. 36).
The posture of prayer among the Jews seems to
have been most often standing (1 Sam. i. 96 ; Matt.
vi. 6; Mark xi. 25; Luke xviii. 11); unless the
prayer were offered with especial solemnity, and
humiliation, which was naturally expressed by
kneeling (1 K. viii. 64; comp. S Chr. H. 18; Ear.
ix. 5; Pa. xev. 6; Dan. vi. 10); or prostration
(Josh. to. 6; 1 K. xrlii. 42; Neh. viii. 6). The
bands were " lifted op," or " xpread out " before
the Lord (Pa. xxvili. 2, cxxxiv. 2; Ex. ix. 33, Ac ,
Ac.). In the Christian Church no posture is
mentioned in the N. T. excepting that of kneeling ;
sea Acts vii. 60 (St Stephen); ix. 40 (St Peter);
xx. 36, xxi. 5 (St Paul); perhaps from imitation
of the example of our Lord in Gethaemane (on
which occasion alone his posture in prayer is re-
corded). In after-times, as la well known, this
posture waa varied by the custom of standing in
prayer on the Lord'e-day, and during the period
from Easter to Whit-Sunday, In order to com-
memorate his resurrection, and our spiritual resur-
rection in Him.
(3.) The only form of prayer given for per-
petual use in the O. T. is the one in Drat xxvi.
6-15, connected with the offering of tithes and
first-fruits, and containing in simple form the im-
portant elements of prayer, acknowledgment of
God's mercy, self-dedication, and prayer for future
blessing. To thia may perhaps be added the three-
fold blessing of Num. vi. 24-26, couched as it is
in a precatory form; and the short prayers of
Moses (Num. x. 35. 36) at the moving and resting
of the cloud, the former of which waa the germ
if the 68th Psalm.
Indeed the forma given, evidently with a view to
preservation and constant use, are rather hymns or
songs than prayers properly so called, although they
often contain supplication. Scattered through the
historical books, we have the Song of Moses, taught
to the children of Israel (Deut xxxii. 1-43); his
less important songs after the passage of the Red
Sea (Ex. xv. 1-19) and at tha springing out of the
water (Num. xxl. 17, 18); the Song of Deborah
ud Barak (Judg. v.); the Song of Hannah in 1
Sam. ii. 1-10 (the effect of which is seen by refer-
ence to the Magnificat); and the Song of David
(Pa. xviii.) singled out in 2 Sam. xxii. But after
David's time, the existence and use of the Psalms,
and the poetical form of the Prophetic books, and
V the prayers which they contain, mint have
■ended to fix this Psalmic character on all Jewish
prayer. The effect is seen plainly in the form of
HeaaUab's prayers in 2 K. xix. 15-19; la. xxxviii.
•MO.
But of the prayers recorded in the O. ?., the
ran moat remarkable are thoae of Solomor. at the
of the Temple (1 K. vilL 23-58), and
PRAYEB
2578
of Joshua the high-priest, and his colleagues, after
the Captivity (Neh. ix. 5-38)." The former is a
prayer for God'a presence with his people in time
of national defeat (vv. 33, 34), famine or pestilence
(35-37), war (44, 45), and captivity (46-60), and
with each individual Jew and stranger (41-431
who may worship In the Temple. The latter con-
tains a recital of all God's blessings to the children
of Israel from Abraham to the Captivity, a con-
fession of their continual sins, and a fresh dedica-
tion of themselves to the Covenant It is clear
that both are likely to have exercised a strong
liturgical influence, and accordingly we find that
the public prayer in the Temple, already referred
to, had in our Lord's time grown into a kind of
liturgy. Before and during the sacrifice there was
a prayer that God would put it into their hearts to
love and fear Him ; then a repeating of the Ten
Commandments, and of the passages written on
their phylacteries [FBOirrucrs] ; next three or four
prayers, and ascriptions of glory to God; and the
blessing from Num. vi. 24-26, "The Lord bless
thee," etc., closed this service. Afterwards, at the
offering of the meat-offering, there followed the
singing of psalms, regularly fixed for each day of
the week, or specially appointed for the great festi-
vala (see Bingham, b. xiii. cb. v. sect. 4). A somr-
what similar liturgy formed a regular part of the
Synagogue worship, in which there was a regular
minister, as the leader of prayer (TE3?$n nVJD?,
" legatua ecclesie "); and public prayer, as well as
private, was the special object of the Proseuchaa.
It appears also, from the question of the disciples
in Luke xi. 1, and from Jewish tradition, that the
chief teachers of the day gave special forms of
prayer to their disciples, as the badge of their die-
cipleship and the bait fruits of their learning.
All Christian prayer is, of course, baaed on tha
Lord's Prayer; but its spirit is also guided by tbU
of his prayer in Gethaemane, and of the prayer
recorded by St. John (ch. xvii. ), the beginning of
hie great work of intercession. The first is tha
comprehensive type of the simplest and moat uni-
versal prayer; the second justifies prayers for
special blessings of this life, while it limits them
by perfect resignation to God's will; the last,
dwelling aa it does on the knowledge and glorifica-
tion of God, and the communion of man with Him,
aa the one object of prayer and life, ia the type of
the highest and moat spiritual devotion. The
Lord's Prayer baa given the form and tone of all
ordinary Christian prayer; it has fixed, as its lead-
ing principles, simplicity and confidence in Our
Father, community of sympathy with all men, and
practical reference to our own life; it baa shown,
aa its true objects, first the glory of God, and next
the needs of man. To the intercessory prayer, wa
may trace up its transcendental element its desire
of that communion through love with the nature
of God, which is the secret of all individual holi-
ness, and of all community with men.
The Influence of these prayers is more distinctly
traced in the prayers contained in the Epistles (sea
Eph. iii. 14-21; Rom. xvi. 25-27; PbiL I. 8-11;
Col. L 9-15; Heb. xiii. 20, 91; 1 Pet v. 10, 11,
Ac.), than in those recorded In the Acta. The
public prayer, which from the beginning became
the principle of life and unity in the Charon (ass
a To these may be added Dan. te. 4-W.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2674
PREACHING
Acts 1L 42; and conip. i. 94, 36, ir. 84-30, ri. 6,
rii. 5, xiii. 3, 3, xvi. 25, xz. 36, xxi. 5), although
doubtless always including the Lord's Prayer, prob-
ably in the first instance took much of its form
and style from the prayers of the synagogues.
The only form given (besides the very short one
of Acts i. 24, 26), dwelling as it does (Acts iv. 34-
30) on the Scriptures of the 0- T. in their appli-
cation to our Lord, seems to mark this connection,
ft was probably by degrees that they assumed the
distinctively Christian character.
In the record of prayers accepted aud granted by
God, we observe, ss always, a special adaptation to
the period of his dispensation to which the; be-
long. It the patriarchal period, they have the
simple and childlike tone of domestic supplication
fcr the simple and apparently trivial incidents of
domestic life. Such are the prayers of Abraham
fcr children (Gen. xv. 3, 3); for Ishniael (xvii.18);
of Isaac fcr Rebekah (xxv. 21); of Abraham's
servant in Mesopotamia (xxiv. 12-14); although
sometimes they take a wider range in intercession,
as with Abraham for Sodom (Gen. xviii. 23-32),
and for Abimelech (xx. 7, 17). In the Mosaic
period they assume a mote solemn tone and a
national bearing ; chiefly that of direct intercession
for the chosen people; as by Moses (Num. xi. 3,
xii. 13, xxi. 7); by Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 5, xii. 10,
33); by David (2 Sam. xxiv. 17, 18); by Hexe-
kiah (3 K. xjx. 15-19); by Isaiah (2 K. xix. 4;
9 Chr. xxxii. 20); by Daniel (Dan. ix. 30, 31): or
af prayer for national victory, as by Asa (3 Chr.
dv. 11); Jehoshapbat (2 Chr. xx. 6-12). More
rarely are they for individuals, as in the prayer of
Manuah (1 Sun. 1. 19); in that of Hezekiah in his
sickness (2 K. xx. 2); the intercession of Samuel
for Saul (1 Sam. xv. 11, 85), Ac. A special class
are those which precede and refer to the exercise of
miraculous power; ss by Moses (Ex. viii. 12, 80,
xv. 35); by Elijah at Zarephath (1 K. xvii. 80)
and Carmel (1 K. xviii. 36, 87); by Eiisha at
Sbunem (2 K. iv. 33) and Dothan (vi. 17, 18);
by Isaiah (3 K. xx. 11); by St Peter for Tabitha
(Acts ix. 40); by the elders of the Church (James
v. 14, 15, 16). In the New Testament they have
a more directly spiritual bearing; such as the
prayer of the Church for protection and grace
(Acts iv. 84-30); of the Apostles for their Sa-
maritan converts (viii. 16); of Cornelius for guid-
ance (x. 4, 31); of the Church for St. Peter (xii.
5); of St Paul at Pbilippi (xvi. 36); of St Paul
against the thorn in the flesh, answered, although
jot granted (2 Cor. xii. 7-9), Ao. It would seem
the intention of Holy Scripture to encourage all
prayer, more especially intercession, in all relations,
and for all righteous objects. A. B.
• PREACHING. The word "preach" is
isrived through the French pricker from the Latin
pradicar*. As such it means primarily to pub-
1sh or proclaim by public authority, as a herald or
crier (pneco), and answers to the Greek mui&ra-v,
properly, to proclaim a* a herald drifymij), and then
in general simply to proclaim, pubUeh, ss one act-
ing by authority. This latter, the common class-
es! meaning of KT)pv<nv, is its frequent meaning
jd the New Testament. In the Gospels it rarely,
t at all, appears In any other than its simple
llassical signification, and such, therefore, in the
Gospels st least, is the uniform meaning of its oor-
-letpouding "preach." Thus (Matt iii. 1), "John
fee Baptist, preaching," i. e. making proclama-
PREACHING
tion,tn the wilderness of .Tudaa (iv. 9J);
ing the (jospel," «., proclaiming the glad
"of the kingdom " (x. 27) "that preach ye,*
i. e. proclaim, "on the house-tops." Gradually,
however, the word mpiartc, from its frequent spe-
cial use, came to take, like many other New Testa-
ment words (as fbar/yi\u>r, bricroKoi, imtm»
rot, SuUoros), a specific and half technical relig-
ious senss. Hence in the Epistles it appears partly
in its proper sense, as (Rom. x. 14), * How shall
they bear without one to make proclamation (ret
ici|/nWo»Tor) ? " and partly as a half technical
term denotes the proclaiming of salvation without
the sdded substantive. Thus the " foolishness of
preaching " is the foolishness (in the judgment of
human wisdom) of proclaiming salvation through
the cross, and (1 Pet iii. 19) the preaching to the
spirits in prison, whatever the form and locality
of the preaching, is undoubtedly the proclaiming
of salvation and not of judgment In this sense
the word approximates in the New Testament to
the idea of the English " preach," though it is by
no means so strictly a religious word, and never
perhaps carries with It the idea of a set formal
discourse, which is so commonly Implied in the
English word.
"Preach," however, is employed in the New
Testament to translate other words besides unpir-
ir«. It is sometimes used as a rendering of
\a\4*, to tptak ; once of liaeyyiWi, to — n o— c e
abroad, to tpread whs (Luke ix. 60); twice of
Sia\eyotuu, to ducwrse (Acts xx. 7, 9); three or
four tunes of KarmyyiWrn, to announce tioromgUm
(ss Acts ir. 3); ana frequently of elmyytiUfymi,
to bring good nan, or glad ItaVnos, but trans-
lated, in this case, to preach tie GoeptL Of tliil
woid, ••preach the Gospel" is often a sufficiently
accurate translation, though in many oases it is
not. Thus (Matt xi. 6), " the poor bare the Gos-
pel preached to them," would be more properly
rendered "the poor hare glad tidings brought to
them." Still more unfortunate is the rendering
"preach the Gospel" in the following passages:
Horn. x. 16, •' How beautiful are the feet of then
that preach the Gospel of peace," where all the
force of the imagery ia lost (the feet of them that
bring us as from afar the glad tidings of peace) :
Gal. iii. 8, •' The Scripture . . . preached before the
Gospel unto Abraham," i. e. brought before, or
formerly, tbe joyful massage to Abraham ; Heb. iv.
2, " For unto us wss tbe Gospel preached as well
ss unto them," i. e. for we have had the glad an
nouncement (of a rest) just as did they.
As a rendering of ebvyriKlfauu, " preach the
Gospel " refers simply to the annunciation of the
Gospel under the character of glad tidings; ss a
rendering of tenpioam, it refers to It simply se •
public and authorised proclamation. In both eases
it refers rather to the first announcement of the
Gospel to the ignorant and estranged, rather than
to the instructions given to the historic body by
pastors and teachers. These would naturally be
designated by some other word. Of that exten-
sion of the word '• preach," by which it comas to
denote the ordinary religious discourses of a pastor
to his people, the New Testament knows nothing
although this is undoubtedly a vary natural exten-
sion of the term. The wards originally employed
to denote the announcement of the Gospel to lbs
heathen, might very easily slide over into an aajftt
cation to all public and established ntt a s T jssss af
religious truth.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PRECIPITATION
It h obvious that the oiml preuchiiigof the Gos-
pel is divinely adjoined in the New Testament, and
is Ual which the departing Saviour instituted u
the grand mean* of evangelising the world. Some-
thing might, indeed, be due to the great imperfec-
tion then attendant on any other means of propa-
gating the Gospel, and the almost complete de-
pendence of the mass of men upon oral commu-
nication, for instruction on an; subject. Still the
Saviour consulted not only tie necessity of the
times, but the constitution of human nature.
Nothing reaches the human mind and heart so
quickly as the fresh and living utterances from
kindred heart* and lips, and we may well believe,
therefore, that the office of preaching and the
divine credentials of the preacher have their source
equally in the authority and the wisdom of God.
" Preaching,'' the oral proclamation of the Gospel,
is iivinely enjoined. The New Testament heralds
cf the cose do not make their proclamation except
as they are sent forth (Rom. z. 15). The Chris-
tian preacher is the " legate of the skies, his offloe
sacred, his credential! clear; " and his function is
to endure in undiminished saeredness and impor-
tance, until the Gospel has achieved its last triumph,
and the Church is ready for the coming of her
Lord. A.C.E.
• PRECIPITATION. [Po»»"«">™.
(5).]
• PREPARATION OP THE PASS-
OVER (lohn six. 14). [Pabsovkk, p. 3350 f.]
* PRESENTLY = immediately (I Sam. ii.
16 ; Matt. xxvi. 53). The difference between
" now " and " soon " is important to the sense in
those passages' H.
PRESENTS. [Guts.]
. PRESIDENT. Sirae,' or SMcA, only used
Dan. vi., the Chaldee equivalent for Hebrew ShoUr,
probably from Sara, Zend, a "head " (see Strabo,
si. 381 )■ SaparapH = KfaKoripot is connected
with the Sanskrit rimt or fir?*, and ia traced in
Sari/v* « na other wurds (Kichhoff, VergL Spr. pp.
188, 416; see Her. iii. 80, where he calk Sntr»/> a
Persian word). II. W. P.
* PREVENT (from prtmvenio, "to oome be-
fore,") is never used in the A. V. in its present
sense of to hinder, but occurs in other senses, now
obsolete, which are likely to perplex the common
reader. In the O. T. it is the rendering of the
Piel and, Hiphil forms of the Heb. DTiJ, Manas,
signifying, primarily, " to go or come before; " in
the Apocrypha and the N. T., of (peirm, and once,
wpoQtdra, "to anticipate." It is used, accord-
ingly, (1) in the literal sense of "to come before,"
e. y. Ps. lxxxviii. 13, •' in the morning shall my
prayer prevent thee;" so Ps. xcv. 2, marg.; (8)
' to anticipate," Pa, cxix. 147, " t prevented the
lawning of the morning " (more strictly, " I rise
tariy in the dawn"); so ver. 148; Wisd. vi. 18,
vi. 88; Matt. xrii. 25; 1 These, iv. 15, "shall not
,rerent them which are asleep;" (3) "to meet"
as a friend, Ps. xxi. 1, " Thou prevented him with
(he blessings of goodness; " so Ps. lix. 10, lxxix.
i; U. xxi. 14: Job iii. 12 (receive); (4) "to meet"
as an enemy, "come upon," "fall upon," s. f. Job
xxx. 87, "the days of affliction prevented me; "
(milady 8 Sam. xxU. 6 (seised upon), 18; P*.
^T7}> " HJ'^IJ : ranuret : snawnt.
PRIEST 2576
sriii. 5, 18; Am. ix. 10; Ps. xvii. 13 marg. Job
xli. 11, " Who hath prevented me, that I should
repay him?" (A. V.) is well rendered by Dr.
Noyes, " Who hath done me a favor," etc. A.
• PRICE is used in the A. V. (ed. 1611) in
I Cor. ix. 34; Phil. iii. 14, for prise, which if
substituted in modem editions. A.
• PRICKS. [Goad.]
PRIEST OrnX, oMen; I«»«fe: eaeerdoe).
Mime. — It is unfortunate that there is nothing
like s consensus of interpreters as to the etymology
of this word. Its root-meaning, uncertain as hi
as Hebrew itself Is concerned, is referred by Geee-
nius (Thesamtu, s. v.) to the idea of prophecy.
The Cdhtn delivers a divine message, stands as a
mediator between God and man, represents each to
the other. This meaning, however, belongs to the
Arabic, not to the Hebrew form, and Ewald con-
nects the latter with the verb ^3il (fte'cdi), to
array, pot in order (so in Is. lxi. 10), seeing in it
a reference to the primary office of the priests as
arranging the sacrifice on the altar (Atterihim. p.
372). According to SaalachuU (ArchdoL dmr
Heir. e. 78), the primary meaning of the word =
minister, and he thus accounts for the wider appli-
cation of the name {infra). Bihr (Symooojt, U.
15) connects It with an Arabic root = 3~lp, to
draw near. Of these etymologies, the last has the
merit of answering most closely to the received
usage of the word. In the precise terminology of
the Law, it ia used of one who may " draw near "
to the Divine Presence (Kx. xix. 23. xxx. 20) while
others remain afar off, and is applied accordingly,
for the most part, to the sons of Aaron, as those
who were alone authorized to offer sacrifices. In
some remarkable passages it takes a wider range.
It is applied to the priests of other nations or
religions, to Melchizedek (Gen. xiv. 18 ), Potipherau
(Gen. xli. 45), Jethro (Ex. ii. 16), to those who
discharged priestly functions in Israel before the
appointment of Aaron and his sons (Ex. xix. 33).
A case of greater difficulty presents itself in 3 Sam.
▼iii. 18, where the sons of David are described as
priests (GJAdxim), and this immediately after the
name had been applied in its usual sense to the
sons of Aaron. The writer of 1 Chr. xviii. 17, as
if reluctant to adopt this use of the title, or anx-
ious to guard against mistake, gives a paraphrase,
" the sons of David were first at the king's hand "
(A. V. " chief about the king"). The LXX. and
A. V. suppress the difficulty, by translating (MA-
Mm into ai\Apx< u < ""^ "«hlef officers." The
Vulgate more honestly gives "sacerdotea." Luther
and Coverdale follow the Hebrew strictly, and give
II priests." The received explanation is, that the
word ia used here in what is assumed to be its
earlier and wider meaning, as equivalent to rulers,
or, giving it a more restricted sense, that the sons
of David were Pterins Regie as the sons of Aaron
were Vicarii Dei (oomp. Patrick, Michaelia, Rossn-
miiller, in loo., Keil on 1 Chr. xviii. 17). It can
hardly be said, however, that this accounts satis-
factorily for the use of the same title in two suc-
cessive verses in two entirely different senses.
Ewald accordingly (AUerthUm. p. 376) sees in it
an actual suspension of the usual law in favor of
members of the royal bouse, end finds a parallel
i instance in the acts of David (2 Sam. vi. 14) and
ISolomon (1 K. iii. 15). Da Wette and I
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2676 priest
ta Eke manner, look on it as ■ rerival of the old
honaehold priesthoods. These theories are in their
torn unsatisfactory, u contradicting the whole spirit
and policy of David's reigu, which was throughout
that of reverence for the Law of Jehovah, and the
priestly order which it established. A conjecture
midway between these two extremes is perhaps per-
missible. David and his sons may have been ad-
mitted, not to distinctively priestly acts, such as
burning incense (Num. xvi. 40; 9 Chr. xxvi. 18),
bat to an honorary, titular priesthood. To wear
the ephod in processions (2 Sam. vi. 1 4), at the
time when this was the special badge of the order
(1 Sam. xzii. 18), to Join the priests and Levites
m their songs and dances, might hare been oon-
eeded, with no deviation from the Law, to the
member* of the royal house-" There are some in-
dications that these functions (possibly this litur-
gical retirement from public life) were the lot of
the members of the royal bouse who did not come
into the line of succession, and who belonged, by
descent or Incorporation, to the house of Nathan as
distinct from that of David (Zech. xii. 12). The
very name Nathan, connected, as it is, with Nethi-
nim, suggests the idea of dedication. [Nrrnimv.]
The title Colttn is given to Zabud, the son of
Nathan (1 K. iv. 5). The genealogy of the line of
Nathan in Luke iii. includes many names — Levi,
Eliexer, Halchi, Jochanan, Hattathias, Heli —
which appear elsewhere ss belonging to the priest-
hood. The mention in 1 Ksdr. v. 6 of Joiakim
as the ion of Zerubbabel, while in Neh. xii. 10 be
appears ss the son of Jeshua, the son of Joeedek,
Indicates, either a strange confusion or a connec-
tion, as yet imperfectly understood, between the
two families.' The same explanation applies to the
parallel cases of Ira the Jalrite (2 Sam. xx 36),
where the LXX. gives /epei>«. It is noticeable
that this use of the title is confined to the reigns of
David and Solomon, and that the synonym » at
the king's hand " of 1 Chr. xviii. 17 Is used in 1
Chr. xxv. 2 of the sons of Asaph as " prophesying "
under then- bead or father, and of the relation of
Asaph himself to David in the choral service of the
Tempts.
■ The apocryphal literature of the U. T-,
as a witness to a tut, may perhaps be received as an
'Bilicatlon of the feeling which saw In the house and
image of David a kind of quasl-eacerdotal character.
Joseph, though of the tribe of Judah, is a priest liv-
ing In the Temple (Hiu. Jotrpk. e. 2, In Tbohendorf,
Bvang. Apoc.). The kindred of Jesus are reoogniaed
M taking tithes of the people (Evan*. Nicod. I 10,
ibid.). In what approaehes more nearly to history.
Jamas the Just, the brother of the Lord, Is admitted
(partly, it ta true, as a Naasrlte) Into the Holy Place,
and wears the Uneo dram of the priests (Hegeeipp. sp.
Bosch. H. S. 11. 23). The extraordinary story found
in guides, s. v. 'lipnif, represents the priests of Jeru-
salem ss sleeting the n Son of Joseph "to s vacant
efflee In the priesthood, on the ground that the two
famines bad been so cleeely connected, that there was
do g rea t deviation from usage In admitting one of the
Unsafe of David to the privileges of the soon of Aaron.
Augustine was Inclined to see In this Intermingling of
the royal and priestly Unee a possible explanation of
be apocryphal traditions that the Mother of the Lord
wasv/ the tribe of Levi (e. Fault, xxlii. 9). The mar-
tags of Aaron himself with the sister of the prince
ef Judah (Ex. vl. 28), that of Jehciada with Jehoah-
s bsath (2 Chr. xxlL 11), and of Joseph with one who
"cousin" to a daughter of Aaron (Luke I. 88). are
of this eonneetlon. The state-
PRIEST
Origin. — The idea of a priesthood connects It-
sen*, in all its forms, pure or corrupted, with the
consciousness, more or lees distinct, of sin. Men
feel that they k»ve broken a law. The power
above them is holier than they are, and they dare
not approach it. They crave for the intervention
of some one of whom they ean think as likely to
be more acceptable than themselves. He must
offer up their prayers, thanksgivings, werlfirae He
becomes their repre s en tative in •• things pertaining
unto God." ' He may become also (though this
does not always follow) the representative of God
to man. The functions of the priest and prophet
may exist in the same person. The reverence
which men pay to one who bears this consecrated
character may lead them to acknowledge the pries!
as being also their king. The claim to fill the
office n.ay rest on characteristics belonging only to
the individual man, or confined to a single family
or tribe. The conditions of the priesthood, the
office and influence of the priests, as they an
among the most conspicuous facts of all religions
of the ancient world, so do they occupy a Hke
position in the history of the niig'on of Israel.
No trace of an hereditary or caste-priesthood
meets us in the worship of the patriarchal age.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob perform priestly acta,
offer sacrifices, "draw near" to the l-ord (Gen. xii.
8, xviii. 23, xxvi. 25, xxxiii. 20). To the eldest son,
or to the favored son exalted to the place of the
eldest, belongs the " goodly raiment " (Gen. xxvii.
15), the " coat of many colors " (Gen. xxxvii. 3).
in which we find perhaps the earliest trace of a
sacerdotal vestment * (comp. Blunt, Scri/dund
Cuincid. i. 1 ; UgolinI, xiii. 138). Once, and once
only does the word Cik&n meet us as belonging to
a ritual earlier than the time of Abraham. Mel-
ehixedek is "the priest of the most high God "
((ion. xiv. 18). The argument of the Kpistle su
the Hebrews hss an historical foundation in the
fact that there are no indications in the narrative
of Gen. xiv. of any one preceding or following him
that office. The special Divine names rhfch
are connected with him as the priest of '•the moat
nwnt of Eutyehlu* (— Sayd tin Betrtk). patriareh of
Alexandria (Balden, Dt Siccus. Pent. 1. 18), that Arie-
tobulus was a prieet of she houee of David, suggests a
Has explanation.
» Comp. the remarkable passage In Augustine, Dm
dram. Qiuul. 1x1. : "A David enhn in dues *-»in— .
reghun et aaasrdotalem, origo Ilia distribute est, ana-
nun doarum nunularum, efcut dlorunv est, regfam
deacendsos Hatthatus. sacerdotalam o ds con doDS Lucas
scontns est, utDomlnus meter Jesus Chriehss, rex et
saeerdos ooster, et eognattouem ducerst de stbpe
sacerdotal!, et non eeset tamen de tribn acerdotalL"
The cogiuitfo be supposes to have been the marriage
of Nathan with one of the daughters of Aaron.
«* The true idea of the priesthood, as distinct frexe
all other ministerial functions like those of the Levies*,
is nowhere given more distinctly than In Num. xvl. 6-
Ths prieet Is Jehovah's, Is "holy," la "chosen,"
" draws near " to the Lord In all these points bs
represents tar ideal Ufa of the people («x. xlx. 8-6)
His higheet sot, that which Is exclusively saeerdola,
(Num. xvl. 40; 2 Chr. xxvi. 18), Is to oner the incense
which la the symbol of the prayers of ths worshippers
(Ps.cxll.2;Kev. vlU. 8).
«" In this saeerdotal, dedicated character of Joseph's
youth, we end the simplest expla n ation of the words
which speak of him as " the s ep a ra ted one " "the
Naasrlte " (JVattr), among his brethren (Oca. six, 2B>
Dsut-xxxm. 161.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
FHIBSf
alga God, the yommot of heaven and earth,"
raider it probable that ha rose, in the strength of
than great thought* of God, above the level of the
other Inhabitant! of Canaan. In him Abraham
meognkad a (aith like hie own, a Ufa more entirely
comet rated, the priestly eharaeter in its perfection
[eomp. Msxchizidkk]. In the worship of the pa-
triarchs themselves, the chief of the family, as such,
acted as the priest The office descended with the
birthright, and might apparently be transferred
with it. As the family expanded, the head of each
section probably stood in the same relation to it
"Ike thought of the special consecration of the first-
born was recognized at the time of the Exodus
ifufra). A priesthood of a like kind continued to
•mist in other Semitic tribe*. The Book of Job,
whatever may be its date, ignores altogether the
institutions of Israel, and represents the man of
Us as himself " sanctifying " his sons, and offering
barnt-ettrings (Job i. 6). Jethro is a " priest of
Midian" (Ex. il. 16, iii. 1), Baktk himwlf oner* a
buttock and • ram upon the seven altars on Pisgah
(Num. xxiiL 2, Ac).
In Egypt the Israelites came into contact with a
priesthood of another kind, and that contact must
have been far a time a very close one. The mar-
riage of Joseph with the daughter of the priest of
On — a priest, as we may infer from her name, of
the goddess Neith — (Gen. xli. 45) [Askkath], the
special favor which be showed to the priestly caste
in the yean of famine (Gen. xlvii. 26), the training
of Hose* in the palace of the Pharaohs, probably
in the ooUeges and temples of the priests (Acts vii.
22), — all this must have impressed the constitution,
the dress, the outward form of life upon the minds
of the lawgiver and his contemporaries, little ss
we know directly of the life of Egypt at this remote
period, the stereotyped fixedness of the customs of
that oountry warrants us in referring to a tolerably
distant past the facts which belong historically to
a later period, and in doing so, we find coincidences
with the ritual of the Israelites too numerous to be
looked on as accidental, or as the result of forces
which were at work, independent of each other, but
taking parallel directions. As circumcision was
common to the two nations (Herod ii. 37), so the
shaving of the whole body (ibid.) was with both
part of the symbolic purity of the priesthood, once
lor all with the Levttes of Israel (Num. will. 7),
every third day with those of Egypt Both are re-
stricted to garments of linen (Herod, il. 37, 81 ;
Plutarch, De Itid. c. 4; Juven. vi. 633; Ex. xxviii.
19; Ei. xli*. 18). The sandals of byblus worn
by the Egyptian priests were but little removed
from the bare feet with which the sons of Aaron
went into the sanctuary (Herod, il. 37). For both
there were multiplied ablutions. Both had a pub-
Be maintenance assigned, and bad besides a large
share in the flesh of the victims offered (Herod.
I c). Over both there was one high-priest In
both the law of succession was hereditary {itid. ;
somp. also Spencer, De Leg. Htbr. e. iii. 1, 6, 11;
Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, iii. p. 116).
Facta such as these leave scarcely any room for
■ For a temperate dhnuarion of tot connection be-
tween the eutttu of Israml and 'bat of Bgypt, on views
3fjpoe*d to Spencer, aw Bitar • SymboHk (Bnlatt. § 4,
I. e. 1. 1 S); and Ian-bairn's Typology of Sa-iptwt
(». ML e. 8, § 8).
• The Targums both of Babylon and Jerusalem five
" ■rattan " as an equivalent (Baubert, De Shunt.
MS
PRIEST
2677
doubt that there was a connection of some kind
between the Egyptian priesthood and that of Israel.
The latter was not, indeed, an outgrowth or imita-
tion of the former. The faith of Israel in Jeho-
vah, the one Lord, the living God, of whom there
was no form or similitude, presented the strong-
est possible contrast to the multitudinous idols of
the polytheism of Egypt The symbolism of the
one was cosmic, " of the earth, earthy," that of the
other, chiefly, if not altogether, ethical and spiritual.
But looking, as we must look, at the law and ritual
of the Israelites ss designed for the education of a
people who were in danger of sinking into such a
polytheism, we may readily admit that the educa-
tion must have started from some point which the
subjects of it had already reached, must have em-
ployed the language of symbolic acta and rites with
which they were already familiar. The same alpha-
bet had to be used, the same root-forms employed
as the elements of speech, though the thoughts
which they were to be the instruments of uttering
were widely different The details of the religion
of Egypt might well be used to make the protest
against the religion itself at once less startling and
more attractive."
At the time of the Exodus there was as yet no
priestly cute. The continuance of solemn sacri-
fices (Ex. r. 1, 8) implied, of course, a priest h ood
of some kind, and priests appear as a recognized
body before the promulgation of the Law on Sinai
(Ex. xix. S3). It has been supposed that these
were identical with the " young men of the chil-
dren of Israel" who offered burnt-oflerings and
peace-offerings (Ex.xxiv. B) either as the firstborn,*
or ss representing in the freshness of their youth
the purity of acceptable worship (oomp. the anal-
ogous esse of " the young man tho Lerite " in Judg.
xvii. and Ewald, Alterthim. p. S78). On the
principle, however, that difference of title implies in
most cases difference of functions, it appears more
probable that the " young men " were not those who
had before performed priestly acta, but were chosen
by the lawgiver to be his ministers in the solemn
work of the covenant, representing, in their youth,
the stage in the nation's life on which the people
were then entering (Keil, in he.). There are signs
that the priests of the older ritual were already
dealt with as belonging to an obsolescent system.
Though they were known as those that "come near"
to the Lord (Ex. xix. 22), yet they are not per-
mitted to approach the Divine Presence on Sinai.
They cannot " sanctify " themselves enough to en-
dure that trial. Aaron alone, the futon high-
priest, but ss yet not known as snob, enters with
Hoses into the thick darkness. It is noticeable
also that at this transition-stage, when the old
order was passing away, and the new was not yet
established, there is the proclamation of the truth,
wider and higher than both, that the whole people
was to be "a kingdom of priesta " (Ex. xix. 6).
The idea of the life of the nation was, that it
was to be as a priest and a prophet to the rest of
mankind. They were called to a universal priest-
hood (camp. Keil, mi loo.). As a people, however,
Boor. In Ufollnl, Vta. xU. 2 ; eomp. also xiil. 186).
Jewish Int erpr eter* (Saedias, Bash!, Abu-Bam) take
the asms view ; and the Talmud (Snath, rtv. 4) ex
pnasly asserts the priesthood of the Ant-born In the
pre-Hosalc tunes. It has, however, been denied by
Vltrinsa and others. (Oomp. BKhr's BfmboKk, I 4 >
Balee n , De Sfmedr. 1. 16, De Sutcom font. e.L)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2678 priest
they needed a long discipline before they could
make the idea a reality. They drew Lack from
their high vocation (Ex. xx. 18-21). A» for other
reaaona •: alao for this, that the central truth
required a rigid, unbending form for its outward
expression, a distinctive priesthood was to be to the
nation what the nation was to mankind. The
position given to the ordinance* of the priesthood
indicated with sufficient clearness, that it was sub-
ordinate, not primary, a means and not an end.
Not in the first proclamation of the great laws of
duty in the Decalogue (Ex. xx. 1-17), nor in the
applications of those laws to the chief contingencies
of the people's life in the wilderness, does it find
a place. It appears together with the Ark and
the Tabernacle, as taking its position in the educa-
tion by which the people were to be led toward the
mark of their high calling. As such we have to
consider it.
Conacratwn. — The functions of the High-
priest, the position and history of the Lkvitks
as the consecrated tribe, have been discussed fully
under those heads. It remains to notice the char-
acteristic fact* connected with " the priests, the
sons of Aaron," as standing between the two.
Solemn as was the subsequent dedication of the
Ijsvitks, that of the priests involved a yet higher
consecration. A special word (tEHH, IcAlnih) was
appropriated to it. Their old garments were laid
aside. Their bodies were washed with clean water
(Ex. xxix. 4; Lev. viii. 6) and anointed with the
perfumed oil, prepared after a prescribed formula,
and to be used for no lower purpose ■ (Ex. xxix. 7,
xxx. 88-33 ). The new garments belonging to their
office were then put on them (jmfrn). Tbe truth
that those who intercede for others must tliemselres
have been reconciled, was indicated by the sacrifice
of a bullock as a sin-offering, on which they
solemnly laid their hands, as transferring to it the
guilt wuicu had attached to them (Ex. xxix. 10;
Lev. viii. 18). Tbe total surrender of their lives
was represented by the ram slain as a burnt-offer-
ing, a "sweet savour" to Jehovah (Ex. xxix. 18;
Lev. viii. 81 ). Tbe blood of these two was sprinkled
on tbe altar, offered to tbe Lord. The blood of a
third victim, the ram of consecration, was used for
another purpose. With it Moses sprinkled the
right ear that was to be open to tbe Divine voice,
the right hand and the right foot that were to be
active in divine ministrations (Ex. xxix. 80: Lev.
viii. 83, 4). Lastly, as they were to be the ex-
ponents, not only of the nation's sense of guilt, but
of its praise and thanksgiving, Moses was to '■ fid
their hands" * with cakes of unleavened bread and
portions of tbe sacrifices, which they were to present
before the Lord as a wave-offering. The whole of
this mysterious ritual was to he repeated for seven
days, during which they remained within the Taber-
nacle, separated from the people, and not till then
was the consecration perfect (comp. on the meaning
of aH these acts Bahr, Symbolik, ii. c. v. § 8).
a The snis of Aaron, H may be noticed, were simply
sprrokkkl with the preelous oU (Lev. vUl. 80). Over
Aaroc kunself it was poured till It went down to the
skirts J his clothing (Ibid. 12 ; Ps. oxixiii. 8).
* This appears to have been regarded as the utntial
part of the consecration ; and the Hebrew, " to SJ1 the
hand," Is accordingly used as a synonym for "to
sosasorata (Bx. xxix. S ; 2 Cbr. xiil. 9)
e Bwald (Murium, p. 290-291) writes as if the
■asssaesdss of eonaecraion were repeated on the ad-
PBJBSr
Moats himself, as tbe representative jf the L'ueaa*
hang, is the oonseeratoi. the sacrifices' th r ou gh oa x
these ceremonies; as the channel throngs, which
the others receive their office, he has for the tint
a higher priesthood than that of Aaron (Selden,
Dt Sgaedr. i. 16; Ugolini, xii. 8). In accordance
with the principle which runs through the history
of Israel, be, the ruler, solemnly divests himself of
the priestly office and transfers it to another. The
fact that be had been a priest, was merged in hie
work ss a lawgiver. Only once in the Language
of a later period was the word CiMn applied to
him (Ps. xcix. 6).
The consecrated character thus imparted did not
need renewing. It was a perpetual inheritance
transmitted from father to son through all the cen-
turies that followed. We do not read of its being
renewed in the osae of any individual priest of tha
sons of Aaron." Only when tbe line of earn if Inn
was broken, and tbe impiety of Jeroboam intruded
the lowest of the people into the sacred office, do
we find the reappearance of a like form (8 Cbr.
xiii. 9) of tbe same technical word. The previous
history of Jeroboam and the character of the
worship which be introduced make it probable that,
in that case also, the ceremonial was, to seme em-
tent, Egyptian in lie origin.
High-prlsst.
Drett. — Tbe <■ sons of Aaron " thus dedicated
were to wear during their ministrations a special
apparel — at other times apparently they wore the
common dress of tbe people. The material was linen,
but that word included probably, as in the case of tha
Egyptian priests, the byssus, and the cotton stnA
of that country (Ex. xxviii. 42; comp. CoTTOlt).''
mission of every priest to the performance of his Amo-
tions ; but this Is on tbe assumption, apparently, that
Xx. xxix. and Lev. viii. are not historical, but embody
the customs of a later period. Banr (SymMik, 1. a.
leaves it as an open question, and treats it at of tie
rf The reason for Using on this material is given ta
ah xliv. 18 ; but the feeling that them was esmathtnc
nnoiesn in elothee made from the skin or wool < f en
animal was *~-tt" to other natkna. Bsjpt has ease
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PRIB8T
Umb dnm ("breechta,' A. V.} from the lob* to
the thighs inn " to oover tbair nakedness." The
Mrecttatna of the Hebrew ritual in toil and in
rther placet (Ex. xx. 96, xxviii. 43) wai probably
protest agalnat torn* of the fouler forma of uature-
PBIBST
25T9
worship, at a. g. in the worship of Poor (Maiaw
nidea, Mart Netochim, iii. 46, in Ugolini, xiiL p.
388), and potelbly alto, in tome Egyptian ritet
(Herat 1 , li. 60). Orer the drawers was worn tb*
oakMeti, or doee-itting catsock, alao of line linen,
Drew of Ksypti in Prie.u. (Wilkinson.)
white, but with a diamond or chew-board pattern
on it (BKhr, Symb. U. o. iii. $ 8). This caine
nearly to the feet (mS^prit jr.iT«5r, • Io » e P n - Ant -
Hi. 7, § 1), and ni to be woven in ita garnient-
ihape (not cut out and then sewed together), tike
the xit&k ifyaspoi of John xix. 33, in which some
interpreters have even seen a token of the priest-
hood of him who wore it (EwaM, (luck. v. 177;
Ugolini, xiii. p. 218).° The white cassock was
gathered round the body with a girdle of needle-
work, Into which, as in the more gorgeous belt of
the high-priest, blue, purple, and scarlet were in-
termingled with white, and worked in the form of
lowers (Ex. xxviii. 39, 40, xxxix. 3; Ex. xliv. 17-
19). Upon their heads they were to wear caps or
bonnets (in the English of the A. V. the two words
are synonymous) in the form of a cup-thaped flower,
also of fine linen. These garments they might wear
at any time in the Temple, whether on duty or not,
bus they were not to sleep in them (Joseph. B. J.
v. 6, f 7). When they became soiled, they were
not washed or used again, but torn up to make
wieks for the lamps in the Tabernacle (Selden, Oe
Stwedr. xiii. 11). They had besides them other
< clothes of sendee," which wen probably simpler,
but are not described (Ex. xxxi. 10; Ea. xiii. 14).
5n all their acta of ministration they were to be
Barefooted.* Then, at now, this was the strongest
tjuugoition of the sanctity of a holy place which
ibeaiy DMOttoned. The Arab priests In the time o*
Mohammed won linen only (aVald, Aixtnh. c. 389).
a Hart also modern Battel n customs present an
l—lap In the woven, smmlns i* mn won b*- the
team aUsjstme (Bnald, AlunA. p. 389).
• Thislslnfcn»d(l) th»n taeibataesef anjmrse-
the Oriental mind could think of (Ex. 111. 5: Josh
v. IS), and throughout the whole existence of the
Temple service, even though it drew upon then
the scorn of the heathen (Juven. Sot. vL low), anal
Dress of Egyptian High-nrks t s.
seriously aSected the health of the priests (Ugollm,
via. p. 976, xiii. p. 405), it was scrupulously ad-
hered to." In the earlier liturgical costume, the
Hon as to a covering tor the test ; (3) from the later
custom; (S from the universal haling of the ■sat
Shots were worn as a protection against denlaoent
In a seoetaary that* was nothing that could italii
o Banr (Symbol*, n. e. IH. 1 1, 3) node a ■tnMs
m the number, ma t sshu, total, shape, ef the
Digitized by G00gle ^1
2580
PRIEST
•phod is mentioned m belonging to the high-priest
onlj (Ex. xxviii. 6-12, xxxix. 2-6). At a later
period H is Died apparently by ill the priest*
(1 Sum. xxii. 18), and even by othera, not of the
tribe of Levi, engaged in religion* ceremonial
(2 Sam. vi. 14). [Ephod.]
JUovtations. — The idea of a consecrated life,
which wai thus asserted at the outset, ni carried
through a multitude of details. Each probably
had a symbolic meaning of its own. Collectively
they formed an education by which the power of
distinguishing between things holy and profane,
between the clean and the unclean, and so ulti-
mately between moral good' and evil, was awakened
and developed (Ex. xliv. 23). Before they entered
the Tabernacle they were to wash their hands and
their feet (E*. xxi. 17-21, xl. 30-32). During the
time of their ministration they were to drink no
wine or strong drink (Lev. x. 9; Ez. xliv. 31).
Their function was to be more to tbeni than the
ties of friendship or of blood, and, except in the
ease of the nearest relationships (six degrees are
specified, Lev. xxi. 1-6; Es. xliv. 26), they were
to make no mourning for the dead. The high-
priest, ss carrying the consecrated life to its highest
Gint, was to be above the disturbing power of
man sorrow even in these instances. Customs
which appear to have been common in other priest-
hoods were (probably for that reason) forbidden
them. They were not to shave their heads. They
were to go through their ministrations with the
serenity of a reverential awe, not with the orgiastic
wildness which led the priests of Baal in then-
despair to make cuttings in their flesh (Lev. xix
28; 1 K. xviii. 28), and carried those of whom
Atys was a type to a more terrible mutilation
(Deut- xxiii. 1). Tbe same thought found expres-
sion in two other forms affecting the priests of
Israel The priest was to be one who, as the rep-
resentative of other men, was to be physically as
well as liturgically perfect. As the victim was to
be without blemish so also was tbe sacrificer (comp.
Bihr, Symbol. ii. c. ii. { 3). The law specified in
broad outlines the excluding defects (Lev. xxi. 17-
II ), and these were such as impaired the purity,
or at least the dignity, of the ministrant. The
morbid casuistry of the later rabbis drew up a list
of not less than 142 faults or infirmities which in-
volved permanent, of 22 which involved temporary
deprivation from the priestly office (Carpaov. App.
Critic, pp. 92, 93; Ugolini, xii. 54, xili. 908); and
the original symbolism of the principle (Philo, Dt
Vict, and Dt Munarck. ii. 6) was lost in the
prurient minuteness which, here as elsewhere, often
makes the study of rabbinic literature a somewhat
repulsive task. If the Christian Church has some-
times seemed to approximate, in the conditions it
laid down for the priestly character, to the rules of
Judaism, it was jet careful to reject the Jewish
srineiples, and to rest its regulations simply on the
grounds of expediency ( Conttt. Apod. 77, 78). The
marriages of tbe sons of Aaron were, in like mail-
er, hedged round with special rules. There is,
•ndeed, no evidence for what has sometimes been
asserted, that either the high-priest (Philo, Dt
Monarch, ii. 11, ii. 229, ed. Hang. ; Ewald, AUrrth.
a. 302) or the other sous of Aaron (Ugolini, xii. 62)
SftssUT vestments, dlecuues each paint elaborately,
awl status In $ 8 on tbe diffmnrtt between them and
■Base ef the Bgjptian priesthood.
• The atsa of tbe perfect body, as stmboUatnf the
PRIEST
were limited in their choice to tht women of that
own tribe, and we have some distinct tostincat to
the contrary. It is probable, however, that the
priestly families frequently Intermarried, and it ii
certain that they were forbidden to marry an un-
chaste woman, or one who had been divorced, a
the widow of any but a priest (Lev. xxi. 7, 14; Ex
xliv. 22). The prohibition of marriage with out
of an alien race was assumed, though not enacted
in the law ; and hence the reforming zeal of a lata
time compelled all who had contracted such mar-
riages to put away their strange wives (Ear. x. 18)
and counted the offspring of a priest and a womat
taken captive in war as illegitimate (Joseph. Ant
iii. 10, xl. 4; c Apian, i. 7), even though the priest
himself did not thereby lose his function (Ugolini,
xii. 924). The high-priest was to carry the same
idea to a yet higher point, and was to marry none
but a virgin In tbe first freshness of her youth (Lev.
xxi. 18). Later casuistry fixed the age within the
narrow limits of twelve and twelve and a half
(Carpaov. App. CriL p. 88). It followed at a mat-
ter of necessity from these regulations, that tht
legitimacy of every priest depended on his genealogy.
A single missing or faulty link would vitiate the
whole succession. To those genealogies, accord-
ingly, extending back unbrokeu for 2000 years, the
priest* could point, up to the time of the destruc-
tion of the Temple (Joseph, c Apkm. i. 7). In
later times, wherever the priest might live — Egypt,
Babylon, Greece — he was to send the register of
all marriages in bis family to Jerusalem (total).
They could be referred to In any doubtful or dis-
puted esse (Ear. ii. 62; Neh. vii. 84). In them
was registered the name of every mother as weO as
of every father (ibid. ; comp. also the story already
referred to in Suidaa, *■ v. 'Inaovt). It was the
distinguishing mark of a priest, not of the Aaronie
line, that he was dxdVaip, Aju^Toop, erytireaAoTwres
(Heb. vii. 3), with no father or mother named as
the ground of his title.
The age at which the sons of Aaron might enter
upon their duties was not defined by the Law, at
that of the Levites was. Their office did not call
for the same degree of physical strength; and if
twenty-five in the ritual of the Tabernacle (Num.
viii. 24) and twenty in that of tbe Tempi* (1 Car.
xxiii. 27) was the appointed age for the latter, tbe
former were not likely to be kept waiting till a later
period. In one remarkable instance, indeed, we
have an example of a yet earlier age. Tbe boy
Aristobulus at the age of seventeen ministered in
the Temple in bis pontifical robes, tbe admired o>
all observers, and thus stirred the treacherous jeal-
ousy of Herod to remove so dangerous a rival (Jo-
seph. Ant. xv. 3, $ 8). This may have been excep-
tional, but the language of the rabbis indicates that
the special consecration of the priest's lift began
with tbe opening years of manhood. As soon as
the down appeared on his cheek the young candi-
date presented himself before the Council of the
Sanhedrim, and his genealogy was carefully in-
spected. If it failed to satisfy his judges, he left
the Temple clad in black, and had to seek another
calling; if all was right so far, another ordeal
awaited him. A careful inspection was to deter-
mine whether he was subject to any one of the 144
holy soul, was, as might be expected,
among the nlhjlons of hesthsntsni. *
tntefrl corporis quasi mail oxalate rat
(nausea, Count, tv. t>
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBIB8T
Hecte which would invalidate hit priestly act*.
[f be was found free from all blemien, he waa clad
Id the white linen tunic of the priests, and entered
ju his ministrations. If the result of the exam-
ination waa not satisfactory, he was relegated to
the half-menial office of separating the sound
wood for the altar from that which was decayed
•lid worm e a ten , but was not deprived of the
emoluments of bis office (Lightfbot, Temple Set*
rice, e. 6).
Functions. — The work of the priesthood of Is-
rael was, from its very nature, more stereotyped by
the Mosaic institutions than any other element of
the national life. The functions of the Lerites —
leas defined, and therefore more capable of expan-
sion — altered, as has been shown [Levitks],
from age to age; but those of the priests contin-
ued throughout substantially the same, whatever
changes might be brought about in their social po-
sition and organization. The duties described in
Exodus and Leviticus are the same as those reoog-
iiizad in the Books of Chronicles, as those which
the prophet-priest Ezekiei sees in his vision of the
Temple of the future. They, assisting the high-
priest, were to watcn over the fire on the altar of
burnt-offerings and to keep it burning evermore
both by day and night (Lev. vi 19; 8 (Jhr. xiii.
1 1 ), to feed the golden lamp outside the veil with
oil (Ex. xxvii. 80, 31; Lev. xxiv. 2), to offer the
morning and evening sacrifices, each accompanied
with a meat-offering and a drink-offering, at the
door of the Tabernacle (Ex. xxix- 38-44). These
wen the fixed, invariable duties; but their chief
function was (hat of being always at hand to do
Che priest's office for any guilty, or penitent, or re-
joicing Israelite. The worshipper might come at
sny time. If he were rich and brought a bullock,
It was the priest's duty to slay the victim, to place
the wood upon the altar, to light the fire, to sprinkle
the altar with the blood (Lev. i. 5). If he were
poor and brought a pigeou, the priest was to wring
its neck (Lev. i. 15). In either case he was to
burn the meat-offering and the peace-offering which
accompanied the sacrifice (Lev. ii. 8, 9, iii. 11).
Aft«r the birth of every child, the mother was to
come with her sacrifice of turtle-doves or pbreons
(Lev. xii. 6; Luke ii. 83-84), and was thus to be
purified from her uncleanness. A husband who sus-
pected his wife of unfaithfulness might bring her to
the priest, and it belonged to him to give her the
water of jealousy as an ordeal, and to pronounce
the formula of execration (Num. v. 11-31). Lepers
were to come, day by day, to submit themselves to
the priest's inspection, that he might judge whether
they were clean or unclean, and when they were
healed perform for them the ritual of purification
(Lev. xiiL,xiv., und comp. Mark i. 44). All the
numerous accidents which the Law looked on as de-
filements or sins of ignorance had to be expiated by
a sacrifice, which the priest, of course, had to offer
(Lev. xv. 1-33). As they thus acted as mediators
tor those who were laboring under the sense of
guilt, so they were to help others who were striving
to attain, if only far a season, the higher standard
of a consecrated life. The Nazarite was to oome
a In this esse, however, the ermnpets wm of imoj'
sans, net of silver.
> Jest (Jwfert*. i. US) regards the war-priest as bs-
eaghag to the ideal system of the later Babble, not to
ass M s M 'is l esBstttunon of Israel. Dent. xx. «
p&iBtjT 2581
to them with Us sacrifice and his mil
(Num. vL 1-31).
Other duties of a bigbir and more ethical char
acter were hinted at, but were not, and probably
could not be, the subject of a special regulation
They were to teach the children of Israel the stat
utes of the Lord (Lev. x. 11; Deut. xxxiii. 10;
Chr. xv. 3; Ezek. xiiv. 33, 24). The "iriest's
lips" (iu the language of the last prophet io iking
back upon the ideal of the order) were to ' keep
knowledge " (Mat. ii. 7). Through the whole his-
tory, with the exception of the periods of natknal
apostasy, these acts, and others like them, formed
the daily life of the priests who were on duty. The
three great festivals of the year were, however,
their seasons of busiest employment. The pilgrims
who came up by tens of thousands to keep the
feast, came each with his sacrifices and oblations
The work at such times was, on some occasions at
least, beyond the strength of the priests in attend-
ance, and the Lerites had to be called in to help
them (3 Chr. xxix. 34, xxxv. 14). Other acts of
the priests of Israel, significant as they were, were
less distinctively sacerdotal. Tbey were to bless
the people at every solemn meeting ; and that this
part of their office might never fall into disuse, a
special formula of benediction waa provided (Num.
vi. 33-37). During the journeys in the wilderness
it belonged to them to cover the ark and all the
vessels of the sanctuary with a purple or scarlet
cloth before the 1-evites might approach them
(Num. iv. 5-15). As the people started on each
day's march they were to blow " an alarm " with
long silver trumpets (Num. x. 1-8), — with two if
the whole multitude were to be assembled, with
one if there was to be a special council of the elders
and princes of Israel. With the same instruments
they were to proclaim the commencement of all the
solemn days, and days of gladness (Num. x. 10)|
and throughout all the changes in the religious his-
tory of Israel this adhered to them as a character-
istic mark. Other instruments of mwdc might be
used by the more highly trained Lavitet arid the
schools of the Prophets, bnt the trumpets belonged
only to the priests. They blew them in the solemn
march round Jericho" (Josh. vi. 4), in the relig-
ious war which Judah waged against Jeroboam (8
Chr. xiii. 12), when they summoned the people to
a solemn penitential fast (Joel U. 1, 16). In the
service of the second temple there were never to be
less than 21 or more than 84 blowers of trumpets
present in the Temple daily (Ugolini, xiii. 1011).
The presence of the priests on the field of battle for
this purpose, often in large numbers, armed for war,
and sharing in the actual contest (1 Chr. xii. 83,
27; 2 Chr. xx. 31, 33), led, in the later periods of
Jewish history, to the special appointment at such
times of a war-priest, deputed by the Sanhedrim to
be the representative of the high-priest, and stand-
ing next but one to him in the order of precedence
(comp. Ugolini, xii. 1031, De Sacerdote Cajtrenu,
and xiii. 871).»
Other functions were hinted at in Deuteronomy
which mignt hare given them greater infinenoe as
tn» educators and civilixers of the people They
however, supplies the fsrm out of which snob, sa
eases might naturally grow. Judas Hsinslisw, ss
his wars, doss what the wax-prlsst was said to *»
" ss. Hi. 561.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2582
PEBEST
were to act (whether individually or eoDeethdj
does not dutinetly appear) a* a court of appeal in
(be more difficult controversies in criminal or civil
nuea (Deut. xrii. 8-13). A special reference was
to be made to them in cam of undet e cted murder,
and they were thus to check the vindictive blood-
feuds which it would otherwise hare been likely to
occasion (Deut xxi. 6). It must remain doubtful,
however, how far this order kept its ground durimj
the storms and changes that followed. The judicial
and the teaching functions of the priesthood re-
mained probably for the most part in abeyance
through the ignorance and vices of the priests.
Zealous reformers kept this before them as an ideal
(2 Chr. xvil. 7-9, six. 8-10; Ex. xllv. 34), but the
special stress laid on the attempts to realise it shows
that they were exceptional.
Maintenance. — Functions such ss these were
clearly incompatible with the common activities of
men. At first the small number of the priests
must have made the work almost unmtermittent,
and even when the system of rotation had been
adopted, the periodical absences from home could
not fail to be disturbing and injurious, had they
been dependent on their own labors. The serenity
of the priestly character would have been disturbed
had they bad to look for support to the lower indus-
tries. It may have been intended (saprn) that their
time, when not liturgically employed, should be
given to the study of the l-aw, or to instructing
others in it. On these grounds therefore a distinct
provision wss made for them. This consisted * —
(1) of one tenth of the tithes which the people paid
to thcLevitee, one per cent. i. t. on the whole prod-
uce of the country (Num. xviii. 26-28). (2) Of a
special tithe every third year (Deut xiv. 28, xxvi.
12). (3) Of *tlie redemption-money, paid at the
fixed rate of five shekels a head, for the first-born of
man or beast (Num. xviii. 14-19).* (4) Of the re-
demption money paid in like manner for men or
things specially dedicated to the Ix>rd (Lev. xxvii.).
(5) Of spoil, captives, cattle, and the like, token in
war (Num. xxxi. 25-47). (6) Of what may be de-
scribed as the perquisites of their sacrificial func-
tions, the shew-bread, the flesh of the burnt-offer-
Ings, peace-offerings, trespass-offerings (Num. xviii.
8-14 ; I -ev. vi. 26, 29, vii. 6-10), and, in particular,
the heave-shoulder and the wave breast (Lev. x.
12-15). (7) Of an undefined amount of the first-
fruits of corn, wine, and oil (Ex. xxiii. 19; Lev. 11.
14; Deut xxvi. 1-10). Of some of these, as "most
holy," none but the priests were to partake (Lev.
vi. 29). It was lawful for their sons and daugh-
ters (Lev. x. 14), and even in some cases for their
jme-born slaves, to eat of others (Lev. xxii. 11).
The stranger and the hired servant were in all cases
excluded (Lev. xxii. 10). (8) On their settlement
in Canaan the priestly families had thirteen cities
assigned them, with « suburbs " or pasture-grounds
for their flocks (Josh. xxi. 13-19). While the Le-
vites were scattered over all the conquered country,
the cities of the priests were within the tribes of
Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, and this concentra-
« The teaching functions of the priest have prob-
ably bssn uxduly magnified by writers like Mehaalls,
who aha at bringing th« institutions of Kraal to the
Maadard of modern expadk'ney ( Cmm. m Lam of
Vssrs, t. 85-52), as they have been unduly depnei-
•sad by SaalBehuta and Jabn
» the lalsr BabMs snumen** no lass thaa twenty
tku was not without Its Inflnenos on their i
quest history. [Corns. Larvrrxs.] These provis-
ions were obviously intended to secure the religioi
of Israel against the dangers of a caste of pauper
priests, needy and dependant, and unable to beat
their witness to the true faith. They were, on the
other hand, ss far as passible removed from the con-
dition of a wealthy order. Even in toe ideal stats
contemplated by the Book of Deuteronomy, the
Levite (here probably used genericaUy, so ss to in-
clude the priests) is repeatedly marked out as an
object of charity, along with the stranger and tka
widow (Deut. xii. 12, 19, xiv. 27-29). During the
long periods of national apostasy, tithes were prob-
ably paid with even lew regularity than they wen
in the more orthodox period that followed the re-
turn from the Captivity (Neb. xiii. 10; Mai iil. 8-
10). The standard of a priest's income, even b the
earliest days after the settlement in Canaan, was
miserably low (Judg. xvii. 10). Large portions of
the priesthood fell, under the kingdom, into a state
of abject poverty (comp. 1 Sam. ii. 38). Toweling.
Rig evil throughout their history was not that they
were too powerful and rich, but that they sank
into the state from which the Law was intended to
preserve them, and so came to " teach for hire "
(Mic. iii. 11; eomp. Saalsohute, ArckMogie dtr
Hebrder, Ii. 344-355).
Ctossificatim ltd SUUiitia. — The earliest his-
torical trace of any division of the priesthood, and
corresponding cycle of services, belongs to the time
of David. Jewish tradition indeed recognises an
earlier division, even during the life of Aaron, into
eight houses (Gem. Hieros. Taanitk, in Ugolini,
xiii. 878), augmented during the period of the
Shiloh-worship to sixteen, the two families of Eksv-
zar and Ithamar standing in both esses on an
equality. It is hardly conceivable, however, that
there conld have been any rotation of service while
the number of priests wss so small as it must here
been during the forty years of sojourn in the wil-
derness, if we believe Aaron and his lineal descend-
ants to have been the only priests officiating. The
difficulty of realizing in what way the stogie fiun-
Uy of Aaron were able to sustain all the burden
of the worship of the Tabernacle and the sacri-
fices of individual Israelites, may, it is true, sug-
gest the thought that possibly in this, as in other
instances, the Hebrew idea of sonshhp by adoption
may have extended the title of the "Sons of
Aaron " beyond the limits of lineal descent, end,
in this esse, there may be some foundation for the
Jewish tradition. Nowhere in the later history
do we find any disproportion like that of three
priests to 22,000 Levites. The office of super-
vision over those that "kept the charge of the
sanctuary," entrusted to Elearar (Num. iii. 82),
implies that some others were subject to it b e side s
Ithamar and his children, while these very keepers,
of the sanctuary are identified in ver. 38 with the
sons of Aaron who are encamped with Moses and
Aaron on the east side of the Tabernacle. The
allotment of not leas than thirteen cities to
four wnisas of emolument Of thess the chief oar/
an given here (Ugolini, xtu. 1124).
c It la to be Dotioed that tha Law, oy reoognbang
the substitution of the Uvnaa tor tha flnt^ore, aad
ordering payment only for the small number of tie
latter In excess of tha former, deprive! Aaron aad ba-
sons of a large sum which would i
era* to than (Hum. IB. 44-61).
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PRIEST
who tore the name, within Httle more than forty
years Ann the Exodus, tends to the same conclu-
sion, and at any rate indicates that the priesthood
were net intended to be always in attendance at
the Tabernacle, but were to have homes of their
own, and therefore, is a uecersary consequence,
Used periods only of service. Some notion may
be formed of the number on the accession of
David from the facts (1) that not less than 8700
te ndered their allegiance to him while he was as
yet reigning at Hebron over Jndah only (1 Chr.
til. 97), and (2) that one-twenty fourth part were
e u n Vl e nl for ail the services of the statelier and
MM frequented worship which be established. To
this reign belonged accordingly the division of the
priesthood into the four-and-twenty 'courses" or
orders Cn'lpjTJQ, iuupiant, t^niuflcu, 1 Chr.
ntr. 1-19; 3 Chr. ixKi. 8; i-uke i. 6), each of
weieh was to serve in rotation for one week, while
the further assignment 'of special services during
the week was determined by lot (Luke i. 9). Kacb
soarse appears to have commenced its work on the
Sabbath, the outgoing priests taking the morning
sacrifice, and leaving that of the evening to their
successors (S Chr. xxiii. 8; Ugohni, xiii. S19).
In this division, however, the two great priestly
houses did not stand on an equality. The de-
scendants of Ithamar were found to have fewer
re pre se n tatives than those of Eleazar," and sixteen
courses accordingly were assigned to the latter,
eight only to the former (1 Chr. xxiv. 4; comp
Carpaor. App. CriL p. 98). The division thus
I n s titute d was confirmed by Solomon, and contin-
ued to be recognized as the typical number of the
priesthood. It is to be noted, however, that this
arrangement was to some extent elastic. Any
priest might be present at any time, and even
perform priestly acts, so long as he did not in-
terfere with the functions of those who were offl-
slating in their course (Ugolini, xiii. 881), and at
the great solemnities of the year, as well as on
special occasions like the opening of the Temple,
they were present in great numbers. On the re-
tarn from the Captivity there were found but four
e nsj res s out of the twenty-four, each containing,
in round numbers, about a thousand k (Ear. ii.
86-39). Out of these, however, to revive, at
least, the idea of the old organisation, the four-
and-twenty courses were reconstituted, bearing
the same names ss before, and so continued till the
destruction of Jerusalem. If we may accept the
numbers given by Jewish writers as at ail trust-
worthy, the proportion of the priesthood to the
stipulation of Palestine during the last century
f their existence as an order must have been far
greater than that of the clergy has ever been in
any Christian nation. Over and above those that
were scattered in the country and took their tum,
there were not fewer than 24,000 stationed perma-
nently at Jerusalem, and 13,000 at Jericho (Oemar.
Hleros. Twmhh, fol. 67, in Carpzov. App. Crit. p.
100). It was a Jewish tradition that it had never
hOen to the lot of any priest to offer ineense twice
(Ugolini, xii. 18). Oriental statistics are, how-
ever, always open to some susp : ?ion, tlree of the
Talmud not least so; and then 'a, probably, more
priest
2588
• This diminution may have been caused pertly by
Vis slaughter of the priests who accompanied Hoptasl
aai PfatMhas (Ps. hnrrHl 14), partly by the aissssers
MM
truth In the computation of Josephiu, who esti-
mates the total number of the four houses of the
priesthood, referring apparently to Est. ii. 38, at
•bout 90,000 (e. Apion. 11. 7). Another Indies
tkm of number is found in the feet that a " great
multitude" could attach themselves to the "sect
of the Nazarenes" (Acta vi. 7), and so have cut
themselves off, sooner or later, from the Temple
services, without any perceptible effect upon its
ritual. It was almost inevitable that the great
mass of the order, under such circumstances,
should sink in character and reputation. Poor
and ignorant, despised and oppressed by the more
powerful members of their own body, often robbed
of their scanty maintenance by the rapacity of the
high-priests, they must have been to Palestine
what the clergy of a later period have been to
Southern Italy, a dead weight on its industry and
strength, not compensating for their unproductive
lives by any servioes rendered to the higher inter-
est* of the people. The Rabbinic classification of
the priesthood, though belonging to a somewhat
later date, reflects the contempt into which the
order had fallen. There were — (1 ) the heads of
the twenty-four courses, known sometimes sa
dpx.cfHit ; (3) the large number of reputable offi-
ciating but inferior priests; (3) the plebeii, or (to
use the extremest formula of Rabbinic scorn) the
" priests of the people of the earth," ignorant snd
unlettered: (4) those that, through physical dis-
qualifications or other causes, were non-efficient
members of the order, though entitled to receive
their tithes (Ugolini, xil. 18; Jost, JudcnOtttm, L
156).
Hittory. — The new priesthood did not establish
itself without a struggle. The rebellion of Koran,
at the head of a portion of the Lerites ss repre
sentatives of the first-born, with Dathan and Abi-
ram as leaders >f the tribe of the first-bom son
of Jacob (Num. xvi. 1), showed that some looked
back to the old patriarchal order rather than for-
ward to the new, and it needed the witness of
"Aaron's rod that budded" to teach the people
that the latter had in it a vitality and strength
which had departed from the former. It may be
that the exclusion of all but the sons of Aaron
from the service of the Tabernacle drove those who
would not resign their claim to priestly functions
of some kind to the worship (possibly with a rival
tabernacle) of Moloch and ChiJn (Am. v. 36, 36;
Ez. xx. 16). Prominent ss was the part taken by
the priests in the daily march of the host of Israel
(Num. x. 8), In the passage of the Jordan (Josh,
iii. 14, IS), in the destruction of Jericho (Josh. vi.
12-16), the history of Hicah shows that within
that century there was a strong tendency to re-
lapse into the system of a household instead of an
hereditary priesthood (Judg. xrii.). The frequent
invasions and conquests during the period of tht
Judges must hare interfered (as stated above) witb
the payment of tithes, with the maintenance of
worship, with the observance of all festivals, and
with this the influence of the priesthood must have
been kept in the background. If the descend-
ants of Aaron, at some unrecorded crisis in the
history A Israel, rose, under Eli, into the ooaition
of national defenders, it was only to sink in his
» The causes of this (rest reduction are not stated,
but large numbers most bars perished In the stags
and storm of Jerusalem (bun. tv. 16), and saany may
have pw ss n s i l remaining In Babylon.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2584 priest
wot iatc th» lowest depth of sacerdotal eorrup-
Uor.. For a tiw- the prerogative of the line of
Aaron was in abeyance. The capture of the Ark,
the removal of the Tabernacle from Shiloh, threw
everything into confusion, and Samuel, a Levito,
but not within the prieatly fiunily [Sawukl], sac-
rifices, and " cornea near " to tbe Lord : his train-
ing under FJi, hit Nazarite life," hia prophetic
ottice, l«ing regarded apparently aa a special eon-
secratiuti (comp. August, e. Fmat. iU. 33; De
(.'it. //Vi, zvii. 4). For the priesthood, as for the
people generally, the time of Samuel must hare
been one of a great moral reformation, while tbe
expansion, if not the foundation, of the Schools
of the Prophets, at once gave to it the support of
an independent order, and acted aa a cheek on its
corruptions and excesses, a perpetual safeguard
against the development from it of any Egyptian
or Brahminic caste-system (Ewald, Ct$ch. Itr. ii.
185), standing to it in much the same relation as
the monastic and mendicant orders stood, each in
its turn, to tbe secular clergy of the Christian
Church. Though Shiloh had become a deserted
sanctuary. Nob (1 Sam. xxi. 1) was made for a
time the centre of national worship, and the sym-
bolic ritual of Israel was thus kept from being for-
gotten. The reverence which the people feel for
them, and which compels Saul to have recourse to
one of alien blood (Doeg the JCdomile) to carry
his murderous counsel into act, shows that there
must have been a great step upwards since the
time when the sons of Eli " made men to abhor
the offerings of tbe Lord " (1 Sam. xxii. 17, 18)
The reign of Saul was, however, a time of suffer-
ing for them. He bad manifested a disposition to
usurp the priest's office (1 Sam. xiii. 9). The
massacre of the priests at Nob showed how inse-
ure their lives were against any unguarded or
wage impulse.' They could but wait in silence
for the coming of a deliverer in David. One at
least among them shared his exile, and, so for aa
it was possible, lived in bis priestly character, per-
forming priestly acts, among tbe wild company of
Adullam (1 Sam. xxiii. 6, 9). Others probably
sere sheltered by their remoteness, or found shel-
ter in Hebron as the largest and strongest of the
priestly cities. When the death of Saul act them
"ree they came in large numbers to the camp of
Javid, prepared apparently not only to testify their
allegiance, but also to support him, armed for bat-
tle, against all rival* (1 Chr. xii. 87). They were
summoned from their cities to the great restora-
tion of the worship of Israel, when the Ark was
nrougnt up to tbe new capital of the kingdom (1
Chr. xv. 4). For a time, however (another proof
a Another remarkable Instance of tbe connection
b SvW—n the Nasarfte vow, when extended over the
whole lift, and a liturgical, quaat-priesUv character,
Is found In the history of the Kechabitae. They, or
others like them, an named by Amos (tl. 11) a* hav-
ing a vocation like that of the prophets. They are
received by Jeremiah Into the boose of the Lord, Into
the chamber of a prophet-priest (Jer. xxxv. 4). Tbe
solemn blearing which the prophet piOnounces (xxxv.
19) goes beyond the mere perpetuation of the name.
the term he uses, " to stand before me " (Tig *
*J57), Is one of special significance. It Is used
smphaOcally of ministerial functtorn, like those of
i prophet (1 K. xvB. 1, xvffl. IS; Jer. xv. 19), or
" I (Bant x. 8, Trill. 6-7; Judg. xx. 28). The
PRIEST
of the strange confusion into which the i
life of the people had fallen), tbe Ark was not the
chief centre of worship; and while the newer rit-
ual of psalms and minstrelsy gathered round it
under the ministration of the Leritea, headed by
Benaiah and Jahaaiel aa priests (1 Chr. l-rt. 5, 8),
the older order of sacrifices was carried on by the
priests in the Tabernacle on tbe high-place at Gib-
eon (1 Chr. xvi. 37-89, xxi. 29 ; S Chr. L 8). We
cannot wonder that first David and then Solomon
should have sought to guard against the evils inci-
dental to this separation of the two orders, and to
unite in one great Temple priests and Leritea, the
symbolic worship of sacrifice and the tpiritnal
offering of praise.
The reigns of these two kings were naturally
the culminating period of the glory of the Jewish
priesthood. They had a king whose heart was
with them, and who joined in their services dressed
as they were (1 Chr. XT. 37), while he yet scrupu-
lously abstained from all interference with their
functions. The name which they bore was accepted
(whatever explanation may be given of the fact) at
the highest title of honor that could be borne by
the king's sons (2 Sam. viii. 18, $upi>). They
occupied high places in the king's council (1 K. it.
2, 4), and might even take their places, aa in the
case of Benaiah, at tbe head of his armies (1 Chr.
xii. 27, xxvii. 6), or be recognized, as Zabnd the
son of Nathan was, as the «' king's friends," the
keepers of the king's conscience (1 K. iv. b ; Ewald,
OtKh. iii. 834).
Tbe position of tbe priests under the monarchy
of Judah deserves a closer examination than it has
yet received. Tbe system which has been described
aliove gave them for every week of service in tbe
Temple twenty-three weeks in which they had no
appointed work. Was it intended that they should
be idle during this period V Were they actually
idle? They had no territorial pnesflons to culti-
vate. Tbe cities assigned to tbem and to the Le-
vites gave but scanty pasturage to their flocks. To
what employment could they turn ? (1.) The more
devout and thoughtful found, probably, in the schools
of the prophets that which satisfied them. The his-
tory of the Jews presents numerous instances of
the union of the two offices. [Comp. LEvrrxn.]
They became teaching-priests (2 Chr. xv. 3), stu-
dents, and Interpreters of the Divine Law. From
such as these, men might be chosen by the more
zealous kings to instruct the people (2 Chr. xrii.
8), or to administer justice (2 Chr. xix. 8). (9.)
Some, perhaps, ss stated above, served in the king's
army. We have no ground for transferring our
modern conceptions of the peacefuinett of the
Tanrum of Jonathan accordingly gives this meaning
to it here. Strangely enough, we hare in the history
of the death of Janm the Just (Hegeatpp In Cos.
H. S. ii. 28) an Indication of the fattlhmot of the
blessing In this sense. Among tbe p r iest s who en
present, there Is one R belonging to the Bae hahhn of
whom Jeremiah had spoken." The mention of the
house of Baobab among the " Bundles of the scribes."
In 1 Chr. II. 66, points to something of the asms na-
ture. The title prefixed In the LXX. and Tnlg. te
Pa. Ixxl. connects It with the " sons of Jonsdab, the
first that went Into oaptlvity." Augustine takes this
ss the starting-point tor his Interpretation (Brarr. ta
Mm lxx.)
6 It is to be noticed that while tbe Bab. text gross
86 ss the number of priests slain, the LXX. I
It to 806, Jossphns {Jbu. vi. 12, 6) tr (86.
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PRIEST
priestly Ife to the remote past of the Jewish peo-
ple. Priests, as we have seen, were with David at
Hebron as men of war. They were the trumpeters
oT Abijah's army (S Chr. xiii 18). The Temple
itaelf was a (treat armory (3 Chr. xxiii. 9). The
heroic struggles of the Maccabees were sustained
shiefly by their kindred of the same family (2 Mace.
*iii. 1 ). (3.) A few chosen ones might enter more
deeply into the divine life, and so receive, like
Zeehiriah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, a special call to the
office of a prophet. (4.) We can hardly escape the
conclusion that many did their work in the Temple
of Jehovah with a divided allegiance, and acted at
jther times as priests of the high-places (Ewald,
G'escA. iii. 704). Not only do we read of no pro-
late against the sins of the idolatrous kings, except
from prophets who stood firth, alone and unsup-
ported, to bear their witness, but the priests them-
selves were sharers In the worship of Baal (Jer. ii.
8), of the sun and moon, and of the host of heaven
(Jer. viii. 1, 2). In the very Temple itself they
"ministered before their idols " (Ez. xliv. 12), and
allowed others, vuueircumcised in heart, and uncir-
cumcised in flesh," to join them {ibid. 7). They
ate of unclean things and polluted the Sabbaths.
There could lie no other result of this departure
from the true idea of the priesthood than a general
degradation. Those who ceased to be true shep-
herds of the people found nothing in their ritual to
sustain or elevate them. They became as sensual,
covetous, tyrannical, as ever the clergy of the Chris-
tian Church became in its darkest periods; conspic-
uous as drunkards and adulterers (Is. xxviii. 7, 8,
Iri. 10-12). The prophetic order, instead of acting
as a check, became sharers in their corruption i Jer.
t. 31; Lam. iv. 13; Zeph. iii. 4). For the most
put the few efforts after better things are not the
result of a spontaneous reformation, hut of conform-
ity to the wishes of a reforming king. In the one
instance in which they do act spontaneously — their
resistance to the usurpation of the priest's func-
tions by Uzziah — their protest, however right in
tadf, was yet only too compatible with a wrong use
if the office which they claimed as belonging exclu-
sively to themselves (2 Chr. xxvi. 17). The disci-
pline of the Captivity, however, was not without its
fruits. A large proportion of the priests had either
perished or were content to remain in the land of
their exile; but those who did return were active in
the work of restoration. Under Ezra they submit-
ted to the stern duty of repudiating their heathen
wives (Kz. x. 18, 19). They took part — though
here the Levites were the more prominent — in the
instruction of the people (Ez. iii. 2; Neh. viii. 9-
13). The root-evils, however, soon reappeared.
The work of the priesthood was made the instru-
ment of covetousness. The priests of the time of
Halachi required payment for every ministerial act,
and would not even " shut the doors " or " kindle
fire" for nought (Mai. i. 10). They "corrupted
Jie covenant of Levi " (Mai. il. 8). The idea of
the priest as the angel, the messenger, of the Lord
of Hosts, was forgotten (Mai. ii. 7; eomp. Eca. >.
8 ). The inevitable result was that they again lost
Sbeir influence. Tbey became " base and contempt-
"ble before all the people " (Mai. ii. 9). The office
rf the scribe rose in repute as that of the priest de-
■ A real submission Is hardly concealed by the nar-
•Uv» of the Jewish hlsiorlan. The account o> toe
stsct produced on the mind of the Macedonian king
% Has solemn prKstaton of orkats In their linen
PRIEST
258/5
dined (Jost, Jwlenth. i. 37, 148). The sects thai
multiplied during the last three centuries of tbs
national life of Judaism were proofs that the estab-
lished order had failed to do its work in maintain-
ing the religious life of the peopk'. Mo great
changes affected the outward position of the priests
under the Persian government. When that mon-
archy fell before the power of Alexander, tbey were
ready enough to transfer their allegiance." Both
the Persian government and Alexander had, how-
ever, respected the religion of their subjects; and
the former had conferred on the priests immunities
from taxation (Ex. vi. 8, 9, vii. 24; Joseph. Ant.
xi. 8). The degree to which this recognition was
carried by the immediate successors of Alexander
is shown by the work of restoration accomplished
by Simon the son of Oiiias (Ecclus. L 12-20); and
the position which they thus occupied in the eyes
of the people, not less than the devotion with which
his zeal inspired them, prepared them doubtless for
the great struggle which was coming, and in which,
under the priestly Maccabees, they were the chief
defenders of their country's freedom. Some, In-
deed, at that crisis, were found among the apostates.
Under the guidance of Jason (the heathenized form
of Joshua) they forsook the customs of their fathers;
and they who, as priests, were to be patterns of a
self-respecting purity, left their work in the Temple
to run naked in the circus which the Syrian king
had opened in Jerusalem (2 Mace. iv. 13, 14;.
Some, at an earlier period, bail joined the schismatic
Onias in establishing a rival worship (Joseph. Ant.
xii. 3, § 4). The majority, however, were true-
hearted; and the Maccabean struggle which left
the government of the country in the hands of their
own order, and, until the Roman conquest, with a
certain measure of independence, must have given
to the higher members of the order a position of
security and iiifluence. The martyr-spirit showed
itself again in the calmness with which they carried
on the ministrations in the Temple, when .'eras*
leiu was besieged by Pompey, till they were slain
even in the act of sacrificing (Jos. Ant. xiv. 4, § 3:
B. J. i. 7, § 5). The reign of Herod, on the other
hand, in which the high-priesthood was kept in
abeyance, or transferred from one to another at the
will of one who was sn alien by birth and half a
heathen in character, must hare tended to depress
them.
It will be interesting to bring together the few
facts that indicate their position in the N. T. pe-
riod of their history. The division into four-end-
twenty courses is still maintained (Luke i. 6,'
Joseph. I7(. 1), and the heads of these courses, to-
gether with those who have held the high-priest-
hood (the office no longer lasting for life), are
" chief priests " (apx'»p«'») by courtesy (Carpzov.
Api>. Cril. p. 102), and take their place in the
Sanhedrim. The number scattered throughout
Palestine was. as has been stated, very large. Of
these the greater number were poor and ignorant,
despised by the more powerful members of their
own order, not gaining the respect or affection ot
the people. The picture of cowardly selfishness in
the priest of the parable of Luke r. 31. can hardly
be thought of as other than a representative one,
Indicating the estimate commonly and truly formed
ephods (Joeepr Am. xL 8) stands probably on
same footing as Dry's account of the retreat of f
ssna from the walls of uneonqaared Base*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2686
PRIEST
of the charvter of the clan. The priestly order,
like the nation, was divided between contending
nets. The influence of Hyrcanus, himself in the
latter part of his lift a Sadducee (Joseph. Ant. ziii.
10, $6), had probably made the tenet* of that
party popular among the wealthier and more pow-
erful members, and the chief priests of the Gospels
and the Acts, the whole ipx'tperucbr yiros (Acts
iv. 1, 6, t. 17), were apparently consistent Saddu-
eeea, sometimes combining with the Pharisees in
the Sanhedrim, sometimes thwarted by them, per-
secuting the followers of Jesus because they preached
toe resurrection of the dead. The great multitude
(oX&os)t on the other hand, who received that tes-
timony " (Acts vi. 7) must have been free from, or
Bust have overcome Sadducean prejudices. It was
not strange that thnse who did not welcome the
truth which would have raised them to a higher
life, ibonld sink lower and lower into an ignorant
and ferocious fanaticism. Few stranger contrasts
meet us in the history of religion than, that pre-
sented in the life of the priesthood in the last half-
century of the Temple, now going through the sol-
emn sacrificial rites, and joining in the noblest
hymns, now raising a fierce clamor at anything
which seemed to them a profanation of the sanctu-
ary, and rushing to dash out the brains of the bold
or incautious intruder,' or of one of their own order
who might enter while under some oeremouial de-
filement, or with a half-humorous cruelty setting
Are to the clothes of the Levites who were found
sleeping when they ought to have been watching
at their posts (lightfoot, Temple Set-vice, c. 1).
The rivalry which led the Levites to claim privi-
leges which had hitherto belonged to the priests
has been already noticed. [Levites.] In the
scenes of the last tragedy of Jewish history the or-
der passes away, without honor, " dying as a fool
dieth." The high-priesthood is given to the low-
est and vilest of the adherents of the frenzied Zeal-
ots (Joseph. B. J. iv. 3, J 6). Other priests ap-
pear as deserting to the enemy {Ibid. vi. 6, J 1).
It Is from a priest that Titus receives the lamps,
and gems, and costly raiment of the sanctuary
(Ibid. vi. 8, § 3). Priests report to their conquer-
ors the terrible utterance " Let us depart," on the
hut Pentecost ever celebrated in the Temple {Ibid.
vi. 5. § 3). It is a priest who fills up the degrada-
tion of his order by dwelling on the fall of his coun-
try with a cold-blooded satisfaction, and finding in
Titus the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies of
the O. T. (Ibid. vi. 5, J 4). The destruction of
Jerusalem deprived the order at one blow of all but
an honorary distinction. Their occupation was
gone. Many families must have altogether lost
their genealogies. Those who still prided them-
selves on their descent, were no longer safe against
the claims of pretenders. The jealousies of the let-
tend class, which had been kept under some re-
straint as long as the Temple stood, now bad full
play, and the influence of the Rabbis increased with
a It deserves notice that from these priests may
save come the statements as to what passed within
tbs Temple at tha time of the Oruclflxlon (Matt, xzrll.
I), and that these nets may have had some Influence
l determining their Belief They, at any rate, would
se brought into frequent contact with the teachers who
manned daily In the Temple and taught in Solo-
•OS's porch (Acts v. 12).
• It belonged to the priests to act as sentinels over
as Hely JPlnse, as to the Levites to guard the wider
PRIEST
the fall of the priesthood. Their position in i
seval and modern Judaism has never risen above
that of complimentary recognition. Those whs
claim to fake their place among the sons of Aaron
are entitled to receive the redemption money of the
first-born, to take the Law from its chest, to pro-
nounce the benediction in the synagogues (Ugolini,
xii. 48).
The language or the N. T. writers In relation fee
the priesthood ought not to be passed over. The*
recognize in Christ, tbe first-born, the king, the
Anointed, the representative of the true primeval
priesthood after the order of Melcbieedek (Heb. vil.,
viii.), from which that of Aaron, however necessary
for the time, is now seen to have been a deflection.
Hut there is no trace of an order in the new Chris-
tian society, bearing the name, and exercising
functions like those of the priests of the older Cov-
enant. Tbe Synagogue and not the Temple fur-
nishes the pattern for the organization of the
Church. The idea which pervades the teaching of
the Epistles is that of an universal priesthood. All
true believers are made kings and priests (Rev. L
6; 1 Pet. U. 9), offer spiritual sacrifices (Rom. xii.
I), may draw near, may enter into the holiest
(lleb. x. 19-22) as having received a true priestly
consecration. They too have been washed and
sprinkled as the sons of Aaron were (Heb. x. 22).
It was the thought of a succeeding age that tha
old classification of the high-priest, priests, sod
Invites was reproduced in the bishops, priests,
and deacons of the Christian Church." The idea
which was thus expressed rested, it is true, on the
broad analogy of a threefold gradation, and thai
terms, "priest," "altar," •'sacrifice," might be
used without Involving more than a legitimate sym-
bolism, but they brought with them the inevitable
danger of reproducing and perpetuating in tha
history of the Christian Church many of the feel-
ings which belonged to Judaism, and ought to have)
been left behind with it. If the evil has not
proved so fatal to the life of Christendom ss It
might have done, it is because no bishop or pops,
however much he might exaggerate the harmony of
the two systems, has ever dreamt of making the
Christian priesthood hereditary. We have perhaps
reasou to be thankful that two errors tend to neu-
tralise each other, and that the age which witnessed
the most extravagant sacerdotalism was one in
which the celibacy of the deny was first exalted,
then urged, and at last enforced.
Tbe account here given has been based on the)
belief that the books of the O. T. give a trustworthy
account of the origin and history of the priesthood
of Israel. Those who question their authority
have done so, for the most part, on the strength of
some preconceived theory. Such a hierarchy as
the Pentateuch prescribes, is thought impossible in
the earlier stages of national life, and therefore the
reigns of David and Solomon are looked on, not as
the restoration, but ss the starting-point of the
area of the precincts ef the Temple (Cgcllol, alii.
1062).
e The history of language pres e nts tew stranger
facts than those connected with these words. Priest,
our only equivalent for itstvt, comes to us from the
word which was chosen because It excluded the idee
of a sacerdotal character. Bi*hep has uarrowr/ es-
caped alike perversion, occurring, ss It does constantly
In WyUlftVs version ss the translation of lfx"f">
(«. g. John xvtll. IS Heb. vlH. II.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PRINCE
(Ton Dohlen, Die Genesis, Ein_ § 16). It
is alleged that there could have been no tribe like
that of Levi, for the oonaecration of a whole tribe
bi without a. parallel in history (Vatke, Bibl. Theol.
1. p. 222). Deuteronomy, assumed for once to be
older than the three books which precede it, repre-
sents the titles of the priest and Levito as standing
on the tame footing, and the distinction between
them ia therefore the work of a later period
(George, Die a/term Jul. Feste, pp. 45, 61 ; comp.
Bahr, Sginbolik, b. ii. c. i. § 1, whence these
references are taken). It is hardly necessary here
to do more than state these theories. E. H. P.
* In addition to the writers named in the pre-
ceding article (Saubert, Krumbholtz, etc. in Ugo-
lini's Thesaur. vols, xil and xiii., Micbaelis, Spencer,
Mbr, Ewald, SaaUchiitz, Jost), a few others should
be mentioned. Lightfoot, The Temple Service as
it stood in the Digs of our Saviour, Lond. 1049, or
Works, Pitman's ed., vol ix. J. Braun, De Ves-
liiu sncerdolum ffebrworum (1680). J. Buxtorf,
Dissert, de pontifice meurimo Hebr. (1686). A.
Thotuck, Veber dm Opfer-und Priester- Be oriff
im A. und W. Test. (6th ed.), appended to his
Das Alte Test, im Neuen Test. Winer, Priester,
<n his BibL Retdw. il. 269-276 (an elaborate sum-
mary both of sources and results). Oehler, Pritst-
erthum im AUem Testament, in ilerzog's Real-
Encyk. xii. 174-187; and ibid, art Leviten, viii.
847 ft*. Men, Priester, in Zeller's BibL Worterb.
ii. 279-283. C. R. KUper, Das Priestcrtltum des
A. Bundes (Berl. 1866), maiuly archawlogical,
together with a history of the Hebrew priesthood.
K. F. Keil, Bibl. Arehaohoie, i. 164-187 (1858).
J. P. Smith, Discourses on the Sacrifice and
Priesthood of Christ (Lond. 1842). Stanley. The
Jewish Priesthood, in his lACtures on Jeaith His-
tory, il. 448-477 (Anier. ed.). On the priesthood
of Melebizedek see the literature under that name.
For the number and situation of the Levitical
cities, see Clark's Bible All is of Maps and Pirns,
p. 97 f. (Lund. 1858). The related articles in the
Dictionary on Levitks, Sackificks, Tabeh
nacle, Temple, and Vows may be consulted.
H.
PRINCE." PRINCESS. The only special
ases of the word <■ prince" are — 1. " Princes of
provinces"' (1 K. xx. 14), who were probably
local governors or magistrates, who took refuge in
Samaria during the invasion of Benhadad, and
PRINCIPALITY
2587
> 1. "jnS, only In a few places ; commonly
•priest"
2. T3}: im*: lfoo*<mt: Act: applied to
nestiah (Dan. Ix. 25).
8. D*"TJ , properly « willing," chiefly In poet (See.
p. 858) : ipx— '• printtps.
4. TPD3, from TJD3, " prince," an anointed One :
tc-xmr : princtpt : also In A. V. " duke " (Josh. xUL 21).
6- K'tM. verb adj. from SttM, "raise:" i?y*r,
fyoiffAfMK, qytfiwy, fam>*d%' printtps six: also in
*.T. "mler," "chief," "captain." This word ay
«em on Oh coins of Simon Maeeabama (Qes. B17#.
6. X*$\V- i *X'not< i mf*- rrmesp" **— "cap- 1
Wn," and " ruler."
t. 3^, an adj. "great," also as a rabst "eep-
ttbt," and used In composition, w Bab-saris : t^w,
rrWM>: ftimus.
their " young men " were their atteiul.ii.ts, wotSaV
put, pedisseqvi (Tbenlus, Ewald, llesch. ill. 4961.
Josephiu says, vial t«c iryeu6vur (Ant. uii. 14,
§ 2). 2. The " princes " mentioned in Dan. vl. 1
(we Esth. 1. 1) were the predeceaturs, either in fact
or In place, of the satraps of Darius Uyataapii
(Her. Hi. 89). II. W. P.
• The " prince of Persia," " prinee of Greeia,"
and "Michael your prince" (Dan. x. 18,20, 21,
xii. 1), are apparently the patron or guardian an-
gels of the nations referred to. [Angkls, vol. L
p. 97.] See Rosenm. and Hitzig on Dan. x. 13
the LXX., Deut. xxxii 8; Ecclus. xvii. 17; ana
Eisenmenger's Entdeckles Judenthum, i. 803 ff.
A.
• PRINCE OF DEMONS. [Demos, in.)
• PRINCE OP THE POWER OP THH
AIR, Eph. ii. 2. [Air, Amer. ed.]
• PRINCIPALITY. The word translated
" principalities" in Jer. xiii. 18 (A. V.), — « For
jour principalities shall come down, even the crown
of your glory,' ' — is understood by (jesenius, Ewald,
Hitzig, De Wette, and others, to mean " heads,"
and they render, " from your heads shall come down
the crown of your glory." Some, as Roaenmiillei
and FUrst, with the margin of the A. V. (" head-
tires " ), take the word to denote an ornament worn
on the head = crown. In 2 Mace. iv. 27, " prin-
cipality " is used in reference to the office of high-
priest In several passages of the X. T. the terms
«px*l *<d Vfouo-fai, " principalities and powers,"
appear to denote different orders of angels, good or
bad. See Eph. vi. 12, " For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers," etc. (Comp. the art Aik, i. 67 a.) In
Col. ii. 14, 15, God (not Christ see ver. 13) is
spoken of as " blotting out the handwriting in or-
dinances that was against us," and taking it out ot
the way, " nailing it to the cross " (r«7 oraispe?,
not his cross, A. V.); "and having despoiled (or.
perhaps, " having disarmed " ) principalities and
powtrs, be made a show of them ojenly, triumph-
ing over them in it " (or perhaps, " in him," i. e.
Christ). Here, in boldly figurative language, the
image being that of a conqueror leading in triumph
his captives in war, is described the victory ovet
the powers of evil won by the death and resurrec-
tion of Christ Compare John xii. 31, 32; Heb.
11. 14, 15; 1 Cor. xv. 24-26. In other passages, m
8. ]th, part of ]n, "bear," a poet w»i*V
eurpainjv, twianji : prineeps, tegum conditor.
9. Itp : ipx-''- pr>*"ps ■' also In A. V. "captain,'
" ruler," prefixed to words of offlee, as " ohlsf-baker.*
•to. m|p : Apxovro: rtgina.
10. IV 9BJ, " ruler," « captain ; » HPbttf, " asp
tain," "prince: " Tpurrinp: dux.
11. In plur. only, D^Q^pS : skin to Saaskr
prathamo, primus : IMofjet : mtlyti (sath. 1. 8).
12. D 1 }}!?: Smomt: mtttstntus: usually
" rulers."
18. D^StJ^n: wpiopw: itfi: only to Ps
IxvUL 81. ' '
14. »yr\ iti^ and D^l -76^ i
iteunrnu '• smtnpm : a Fanriao word.
• Hu^TIJ : gfisst :pminrum
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2588
PRINTED
Eon. iii. 10, Col. t. 16, the terms " principalities "
nod "powers" are applied to good angels, and to
probably in Eph. 1. SI, Col. ii. 10, at least inclu-
sively; comp. 1 Pet iii. 21. The reference in Kom.
riii. 38 is more doubtful That the terms BpAvai,
KupiirtfTtt, ApX**, i(ovcricu in Col I. 16 (comp.
Milton's " Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Vir-
tues, Powers ") denote different orders of angels is
probable, but there is little ground for speculation
about their relative dignity. "Thrones" may
naturally be taken as denoting the highest, and
Fritxsohe (on Rom. riii. 38) observes that in the
various enumerations « principalities " (ipxal) al-
ways precedes "powers" (i(ouaicu), from which
b! infers the superior rank of the former. In the
account ol the seven heavens given in the Testa-
ment! of the Twelve Patriarchs, a work of the
second century (Levi, c. 3), the angels designated
as Soya/tut t&v vaptuPoAwv, literally " powers
of the armies," are placed in the third heaven, and
the Bpivoi /vol Ifowrfai, "thrones and authorities,"
in the fourth or fifth (not the itventh, as Meyer
represents). In the Attention of haiah (o. vii.),
translated by Laurence from the Ethiopic (Oxon.
1(119), an angel surpassing others in splendor is
represented as enthroned in each of the first six
heavens, and these angels are themselves called
" thrones." This psrt of the work however only
represents the notions of some Gnostic Christian in
the second half of the third century (Dillmann, in
Heixog's RenUKncykL xii. 813). The passages
in respect to different orders of angels cited from
the Rabbinical writings by Bartolocci (BiU. magna
Rnbbin. i. 267 ff), J. H. Maiua (Syiw/au rieol.
Jud. p. 76 f.), Eisenmenger (Kntdecktet Judenth.
U. J74, and Gflvrer {Juhrhvndert del Heilt, i. 368
IT.), throw no light on the phraseology of Paul.
The notions of the Christian Fathers on this subject
are set forth with great fullness by Petavius, Thevl.
Dogm. vol. iii. p. 55 ff. (Antwerp edition, 1700).
[Asgklh; Powkk.J A.
• PRINTED, A. V. .lob xix. 23, should be
" Inscribed " or " marked down " (Noyes). A.
PRIS'CA (Xlplo-n* [micieirtj: PrUca) r i Tim.
.T. 19. [Pkiscilla.]
PRISCII/LA (XlpurntWa [dimin. of Prisea] :
PrlsciU-t), To what has been said elsewhere under
the head of Aquii-a the following may be added.
The name is Prisea (np(<rra) in 2 Tim. iv. 19.
aiid (according to the true reading) in Rom. xvi.
8, and also (according to some of the best MSS.)
in 1 Cor. xvi. 19. Such variation in a Roman
i is by no means unusual. We find that the
• 1. "WDS, Aramaic for ' D „, "a ehaln," Is
tamad with iTJ, and rendered a prison : aim St-
*• ^?. W 1 ??, and H"«b|, with n^:
Jiwt ^vAo«i« (Jer. xxxvii. 15).
8. nSSna, «rom Tfjn, "turn,"* «twist,'»
me stocks (Jar. xx. 2).
4. nntsD and H*1^9 : awAanf : emit (Ges.
•.879). n
8. "*J2^ : ttriuerfounn carter.
' " , t'-' , ? : t"*"**: o-uikt ; also plur.
PRISON
nan*) of the wife is placed before that of the ana-
band in Kom. xvi. 3, 2 Tim. iv. 19, and (aeconfinf
to some of the beat MSS.) in Acts xviii. 26. II
is only in Acts xviii. 2 and 1 Cor. xvi. 19 that
Aquila has unequivocally the first place. Hence ws
should I* disposed to conclude that Priscilla was
the more energetic character of the two; and it is
particularly to be noticed that she took part, not
only in her husband's exercise of hospitality, but
likewise in the theological instruction of Apollos.
Vet we observe that the husband and the wife are
always mentioned together. In fact we may amy
that Priscilla is the example of what the married
woman may do, for the general service of the
Church, in conjunction with home duties, a*
Hiuebe is the type of the unmarried sen-ant of
the Church, or deaconess. Such female ministra-
tion was of essential importance in the state of
society in the midst of which the early Christian
communities were formed. [Deaconess, Amer.
ed.] The remarks of Archdeacon Evans on the
position of Timothy at Ephesus are very just: " In
his dealings with the female part of his flock,
which, in that time and country, required peculiar
delicacy and discretion, the counsel of the expe-
rienced Priscilla would be invaluable. Where, for
Instance, could he obtain more prudent and faith-
ful advice than hers, in the selection of widows to
he placed upon the eleemosynary list of the Church,
and of deaconesses for the ministry ? " (.Script.
B'uig. ii. 298). It seems more to our purpose to
lay stress on this than on the theological learning
of Priscilla. Vet Winer mentions a monograph
de Pritcilln, Aquila uxore, tanquam feminarmm «
gente Judiiica eruditarum tprcimine, by Q. G.
Zeltner (Altorf, 1709). ' J. S. H.
PRISON." For imprisonment ss a punish-
ment, see Punishments. The present article will
only treat of prisons as places of confinement.
In Egypt it is plain both that special places
were used as prisons, and that they were under
the custody of a military officer (Gen. xL 3, xhi.
17).
During the wandering in the desert we read on
two occasions of confinement " in ward " (Lev.
xxiv. 12; Num. xv. 34); but as imprisonment was
not directed by the l-aw, so we hear of none til]
the time of the kings, when the prison appears as
an appendage to the palace, or a special part of
it (1 K. xxii. 27). Later still it is distinctly
described as being in the king's house (Jer. xxxii.
2, xxxvii. 21 ; Neh. iii. 25). This was the oast
also at Babylon (2 K. xxr. 27). But private
7. S$ : cmtniltla: nnuwic (Oee. 1069).
8. n'vnj'J? (I*, bd. 1), mora properly written
In one word : ajrfjuutu : iiptrtio (Ges. 1121).
9. *^7TD t sxvpMata : carter; properly a tower.
10. n^tpprTTI^J: otataptJUow: datmu em-
eerie. jTV3 Is also somstiinos "prison" In A. V., as
Qen. xxxlx. 20.
11. pb"*S : xarajpaVrif : carter; probably "cbs
stocks " (as A. V.) or some sock Instrument of conns*
sunt ; perhaps ondarstood by LXX. as a srwsr or as
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PRISON-GATE
ttooees wen sometimes used aa placet of ooufine-
[nent (Jer. xnvii. 15), probably much aa Chardiu
describe* Persian prisons in hit day, namely, house*
kept by private speculators for prisoners to be
maintained there at their own coat ( Vuy. vi. 100).
Public prison* other than these, though in use by
the Canaanitisli natious (Judg. xvi. 21 25), were
unknown in Judaea previous to the Captivity.
Under the Herod* we hear again of royal prisons
attached to the palace, or in royal fortrejse* (Luke
in. 20; Acta zii. 4, 10; Joaiph. Ant. xviii. 5, J 2;
Hacheerua). By the Romans Antonia was used
a* a prison at Jerusalem (Acta xxiii. 10), and at
Casarea the pratorium of Herod (to. 35). The
sacerdotal authorities also had a prison under the
superintendence of special officers, itanatpvKaKts
(Acta r. 18-23, riii. 3, xxvi. 10). The royal pris-
on* in those days were doubtless managed after
the Koman fashion, and chains, fetter*, and stocks
used aa means of confinement (see Acta xvi. 24, and
Job xiii. 27).
One of the readiest place* for confinement was a
dry or partially dry well or pit (tee On. xxxrii. 24
and Jer. xxxviil. 6-11); but the usual place ap-
pears, in the time of Jeremiah, and in general, to
have been accessible to visitor* (Jer. xxxvi. 5; Halt,
xi. 2, xxv. 36, 39; Acta xxtr. 23). II. W. P.
• PRISON-GATE. [Jkkusalkm, voL ii.
p. 1322.]
• PRIZE. [Gamm; Pkicb.]
PROCH'ORUS (npo'xopor [leader of <i dunce
or choiiu : Prochorus] ). One of the seven dea-
cona, being the third on the list, and named next
after Stephen and Philip (Acta vi. 6). No further
mention of him ia made in the N. T. Then it
a tradition that he waa consecrated by St. l'eter
bishop of Nioomedia, (Baron, i. 292). In the
Magna Btbliotheca Patrum, Colon. Agripp. 1618,
i. 49-69, will be found a fabulous " Historia Pro-
chori, Christi Diacipuli, de vita B. Joannia apoe-
toli." K. H-a.
PROCONSUL. The Greek aVfliWoj, for
which this i* the true equivalent, is rendered uni-
formly " deputy " in the A. V. of Act* xiii. 7, 8,
12, xix. 38, and the derived verb AfCinrart list, in
Acta xviil. 12, ia translated * to be deputy." At the
division of the Roman provinces by Augustus in
the year b. c. 27, into Senatorial and Imperial, the
emperor assigned to the senate such portions of
territory a* were peaceable and oould be held with-
out force of arms (Suet. Oct. 47 ; Strabo, xvii. p.
840 ; Dio Cass. liii. 12), an arrangement which re-
mained with frequent alterations till the 3d century.
Over these senatorial provinces the senate appointed
y lot yearly an officer, who was called " proconsul "
i Dio Case, liii. 13), who exercised purely civil func-
tions, had no power over life and death, and was
attended by one or more legates (Dio Cass. liii.
14). He was neither girt with the sword nor wore
the military dress (Dio Cass. liii. 13). The prov-
inces were in consequence called " proconsular."
With the exception of Africa and Asia, which were
assigned to men who had passed the office of con-
sul, the senatorial provinces were given to those
who had been praetors, and were divided by lot each
year among those who had held this office five year*
previously. Their term of office was one year.
PROCURATOR
2589
« 'Hyquir la the federal term, which It tpptttd alao
e the governor (prmus) of the Imperial prov tn et of
tjtia (Lux* U. 2) ; the Ones equivalent of jarmmUar
Among the senatorial proviucea in the first arrange.
ment by Augustus, were Cyprus, Achaia, and Asa*
within the Halys and Taurus (Strabo, xvii. p. 840)
The first and but of these are alluded to in Act*
xiii. 7, 8, 12, xix. 38, aa under the government of
proconsuls Achaia became an imperial province
in the second year of Tiberius, a. u 16, and waa
governed by a procurator (Tac. Ann. i. 76), but
was restored to the senate by Claudius (Suet. Claud.
25), and therefore Uallio, before whom St- Paul
was brought, ia rightly termed " proconsul " in
Acta xviii. 12, Cyprus also, after the battle of
Actium, was first made an imperial provinoa (Dio
Cass. liii. 12), but five years afterwards (B. o. SS)
it was given to the senate, and ia reckoned by
Strabo (xvii. p. 840) ninth among the province* of
the people governed by arparnyol, *s Aohaia k
the seventh. These vrparrrjol, or propraetors, had
the title of proconsul. Cyprus and Narboneae
Caul were given to the senate in exchange for Dal-
matia, and thus, says Dio Cassius (liv. 4), procon-
suls (aj/Oiia-OTOi) began to be sent to those nations.
In Boeckh's Cm-put Imcnplionum, No. 26.11, is
the following relating to Cyprus: rj wo'Air K<iip-ror
'lovKiov KopSW iriiwaToii ayvttas. This Quin-
tua Julius Cordus appears to have been proconsul
of Cyprus before the 12th year of Claudius. He
is mentioned in the next inscription (No. 2632) a*
the predecessor of another proconsul, Lucius
Annius Baasus. The date of this last inscription
is the 12th year of Claudius, A. l>. 52. The name
of another proconsul of Cyprus in the time of
Claudius occurs on a copper coin, of which an en
graving is given in voL i. p. 524. A ooin of
Ephesus [see vol. i. p. 749] illustrate* the usage of
the word AWhWroj in Acta xix. 38.
W. A. W.
PROCURATOR. The Greek fry'fui','
rendered " governor " in the A. V.. is applied in
the N. T. to the officer who presided over the im-
perial province of Judaea. It ia used of Pontius
Pilate (Matt, xxvii.), of Felix (Acta xxiii., xxir.),
and of Featus (Acta xxvi. 30). In all these case*
the Vulgate equivalent is prmet. The office of
procurator {rryffiorlo) is mentioned in Luke iii. 1,
and in this passage the rendering of the Vulgate
ia more close (proauante Pontic Pilato Judaam).
It is explained, under the head of Pkoconsul.
that after the battle of Actium, b c. 27, the prov-
inces of the Houiiui empire were divided by Augus-
tus into two portions, giving some to the senate,
and reserving to himself the rest. The imperial
provinces were administered by legates, called Ugati
Augutti pro pratort. sometimes with the addition
of amtulnri poteitate, and sometimes Ugati ccn-
tulara, or Ugati or cmuulmet alone. They wis*
selected from among men who had been consuls or
proton, and sometime* from the inferior senakr*
(Dio Casa. liii. 13, 15). Their term of office was
indefinite, and subject only to the will of the em-
peror (Dio Cass. liii. 13). These officers were also
called pramdes, a term which in later times was
applied indifferently to the governor* both of the
senatorial and of the imperial provinces (Suet.
Claud. 17). They were attended by aix lictora,
need the military dress, and wore the sword (Dio
Cass. liii. 13). No quaestor came into the em-
peror's provinces, but the property and revenue* of
I* strictly sWrpont (Jot. Am. xx. 6, } i, 8, § 6;
eemp. xx. 6, f 1), and his offlot la calls* aWatwi
(Jot. Am. xx. 6, f It
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2590
PROCURATOR
toe imperial treasury were administered by the
RalivnaltM, Procuratora, and Actora of the em-
peror, who were choeen from among hii freedmen,
or from among the kuighU (Tac. Hut. v. 9; Dio
Can. liii. IS). Tbew procurators were tent both
to the iuiperial and to the senatorial provinces (Dio
Cms. liii. 15°). Sometime! a province was gov-
erned by a procurator with the function* of a
prase*, 'liii* was especially the caw with the
smaller provinces and the outlying districts of a
larger province; and such is the relation in which
Judaea stood to Syria. After the deposition of
Archelaua,Judsea was annexed to Syria, and the
bit procurator was Coponius, who was sent out
with Quirinus to take a census of the property of
the Jews and to confiscate that of Archelaus (Jos.
Ant. xviii. 1, § 1). His successor was Marcus
Ambivius, then Anuiua Kufus, in whose time the
emperor Augustus died. Tiberius sent Valerius
Gratus, who was procurator for eleven years, snd
was succeeded by Pontius Pilate (Jos. Ant. xviii.
e\ § 2), who is called by Josephus (Ant. xviii. 3,
§ 1) Tjytfuii/, as be is in the N. T. He was sub-
ject to the governor (praset) of Syria, for the
council of the Samariums denounced Pilate to
Vitellius, who sent him to Home and put one of
his own friends, Maroellua, in bis place (Jos. Ant.
xviii. 4, § 2). The head-quarters of the procurator
were at (.'lesarea (Jos. B. J. ii. 9, § 2 ; Acts xxiii.
83), where he had a judgment-seat (Acts xiv. 6)
In the audience chamber (Acta xxv. 23 '), and was
assisted by a council (Acts xxv. 12) whom he con-
sulted in cases of difficulty, the aueuortt (Suet.
Galb. 14), or fiytpins, who are mentioned by
Josephus (B. J. ii. 16, § 1) as having been con-
sulted by Cestius, the governor of Syria, when cer-
tain charges were made against Floras, the pro-
curator of Judtea. More important cases were laid
before the emperor (Acta xxv. 12; ooinp. Jos. Ant.
xx. 6, § 2). The procurator, as the representative
of the emperor, bad the power of life and death
over his subjects (Dio Cass. liii. 14; Matt, xxvii.
26), which was denied to the proconsul. In the
N. T. we see the procurator only in his judicial
capacity. Thus Christ is brought before Pontius
Pilate as a political offender (Matt, xxvii. 2, 11),
and the accusation is heard by the procurator, who
is seated on the judgment-seat (Matt, xxvii. 19).
F clix heard St Paul's accusation and defense from
.he judgment-seat at ( 'lesarea (Acta xxiv. ), which
was in the open air in the great stadium (Jos. B. J.
d. 9, § 2), and St. Paul calls him "judge " (Acta
xxiv. 10), as if this term described his chief func-
tions. 'Hie procurator (rryfiiiv) is again alluded
to in his judicial capacity in 1 Pet. ii. 14. He was
attended by a cohort as body-guard (Matt, xxvii.
17), and apparently went up to Jerusalem at the
time of the high festivals, and there resided Id the
palace of Herod (Jos. B. J li. 14, § 8; Philo, Dt
Leg. ad Caium, § 37, ii. 589, ed Mang.), in which
was the /rratorium, or "judgment-hall," as it is
rendered in the A. V. (Matt, xxvii. 27; Mark xv.
16; cotnp. Acts xxiii. 35). Sometimes it appears
Jerusalem was made his winter quarters (Jos. Ant.
xviii. 3, 5 1 )• The High-Priest was appointed and
•(moved at the wil' of the procurator (Jos. Ant.
a A carious illustration of this Is given by Tacltns
Jem. xlii. 1), where he describes the poisoning of
lanlus Sllanua, proconsul of Asia, by P. Oder, a
tsaaan knight, and Hslius, a headman, who had the
PROPHET
xviii. 2, § 2). Of the oppression and
practiced by one of these officers, Gessius Floras,
which resulted in open relielliou, we have an account
in Josephus (Ant. xx. 11, § 1; B. J. ii. 14, § 9).
The same laws held both for the go v er n or s of the
imperial and senatorial provinces, that they could
not raise a levy or exact more than an appointed
sum of money from their subjects, and that when
their successors came they were to return to Bom*
within three mouths (Dio Case. liii. IS). For
further information see Walter, Gttch. da Bits*.
Rtchu. W. A. V
• PROPER U used hi the A. V. In Heb u.
23 (" because they saw he was a proper child) m
the sense of " handsome," " fair " ((jr. eWreuw )•
So often in Shakespeare. A.
PROPHET (W3} : wpodrtmf. propheto).
I. Tub Namk. — The ordinary Hebrew word far
prophet b ndbi (r**^), derived Iron the vers
K^IJ, connected by Gesenius with $33, " to bub-
ble forth," like a fountain. If this etymology at
correct, the substantive would signify either a per-
son who, as it were, involuntarily bursts frrth with
spiritual utterances under the divine influence (cf.
Ps. xiv. 1, " My heart is bubbling up of a good
matter"), or simply one who pours forth words.
The analogy of the word *1£3 (ndiVrpA), which
has the force of " dropping " a* honey, and is used
by Micah (ii. 6, 11), Kzekiel (xxi. 2), and Amos
(vii. 16), in the tense of prophesying, point* to the
last signification. The verb N33 is found only in
the ni/ihrd and hitlipntl, a peculiarity which it
shares with many other words expressive of speech
(cf. loqui, fan, vociferarl, concionari, dteVyyosisu,
as well aa uasrsvouat and vnticinari). Uunsen
(Celt in d. Guehielitt, p. 141) and Davidson (/ntr.
OUi Tett. ii. 430) suppose ntiii to signify the man
to whom announcements are made by God, s. e.
inspired. But it is more in accordance with the
etj mology and usage of the word to regard it a*
signifying (actively) one who announces or pours
furth the declarations of God. The latter signifi-
cation is preferred by Ewald, Haremick, Oehler,
Heugstenberg, lileek, Lee, Pussy, M'CauL and the
great majority of Biblical critic*.
Two other Hobrew words are used to designats
a prophet, H^"), ruth, and fTTH, choztk, both
signifying one who eta. They are rendered in the
A. V. by " seer; " hi the LXX. usually by fr-try
or Mr, sometimes by n-foptrrnt (1 fhr. xxvi. 28;
2 Chr. xvi. 7, 10). The three words seem to be
contrasted with each other in 1 Chr. xsJx. 29. - The
acts of David the king, first and last, behold they
are written in the book of Samuel the seer (roik),
and in the book of Nathan the prophet (nAbi), and
in the book of Gad the seer (choteh)." Both b
a title almost appropriated to Samuel. It b only
used ten times, and in seven of these it is applied
to Samuel (1 Sam. ix. 0, 11, 18, 19; 1 Chr. ix.
22; xxvi. 28; xxix. 29). On two other occasion-
it b applied to Hanani (2 Chr. xvi. 7, 10). Ones
it b used by Isaiah (la. xxx. 10) with no re/a
car* of the Imperial n vs u oss In Asia (rat / su w wi o n i
prmrtpit in Ana imporiti).
6 Cnta-tb.4jvo.rVor (A. V. " plsc* of hearing "
was tb* grsat start! nm msouonsd by Joaspha* (B. J
a. 9, f 2).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PROPHBT
■o any particuhvr pawn. It wu superseded in
general me by the word ndW, which Samuel (him-
self entitled ndbi u well u roth, 1 Sam. iii. 30;
1 Chr. xxxv. 18) appean to have revived after a
period of desuetude (1 Sam. ix. 9), and to have ap-
plied to the prophet* organized by him. a The verb
ITS"!, from which it it derived, b the oommon
pme word signifying "to tee: " njn — whence
theiubetantive iTf/l, chozth, ii derived — b more
poetical. Chauh U rarely found except in the
hooka of the Chronicles, but ]1TH ii the word
eonatantly used for the prophetical vision. It is
found in the Pentateuch, in Samuel, in the Chron-
icles, in Job, and in most of the prophet*.
Whether there b any difference in the usago of
these three words, and, if any, what that difference
is, baa been much debated (see Witsiua, Miscell
Sacra, i. 1, § 19; Carpzovtus, Introd. ad Libros
Canon. V. T. iii. 1, § 3; Winer, Seal- WSrttrbuch,
art. " Propheten " ). Havernick (Einieitung, Th. 1. ;
Abth. v. s. 66) considers ndbi to express the title
of those who officially belonged to the prophetic
order, while roih and chateli denote those who
received a prophetical revelation. Dr. Lee (In-
tp'tration of Holy Scripture, p. 613), agrees with
Havernick in his explanation of ndbi, but he iden-
tifies roih in meaning rather with rtdbi than with
chauh. He further throws out a suggestion that
chauh b the special designation of the prophet
attached to the royal household, lu 3 Sam. xxiv.
11, Gad b described a* " the prophet (u&bi) Gad,
David's seer (chozth);" and elsewhere he is called
"David's seer (cliouh)" (1 Chr. xxi. 9), "the
king's seer (chauli)" (3 Chr. xxix. 35). "The
case of Gad," Dr. Lee thinks, " affords the clew to
the difficulty, as it clearly indicates that attached
to the royal establishment there was usually an in-
dividual styled ' the king's seer,' who might at the
same time be a nabi." The suggestion b ingenious
(see, in addition to places quoted above, 1 Chr. xxv.
5, xxix. 39; 3 Chr. xxix. 30, xxxv. 15), but it was
only David (possibly also Manasaeh, 3 Chr. xxxiii.
18) who, so far as we read, had thb seer attached
to hb person ; and in any case there b nothing in
the word chozth to denote the rebtion of the
prophet to the king, but only in the connection in
which it stands with the word king. On the whole
it would seem that the same persons are designated
by the three words ndhi, roih, and chauh ; the
hat two titles being derived from the prophets'
power of seeing the visions presented to them by
PROPHBT
2591
a In 1 8am. Ix. 9 we read, "II* that to now called
a prophet (nabi) was beforetime called a Mar (roih) ; "
from whence Or. Stanley (Led on Jewish Chunk) has
concluded that roth was " the oldest designation of
the prophetic office," "superseded by nabi shortly
after Samuel s time, when nabi first came into use "
(led. xvill., xlx). This seams opposed to ths bet
that nabi is the word commonly used In the Penta-
teuch, whereas roth does not appear until the days
tf Samuel. The passage In the book of Samuel Is
dearly a parenthetical Insertion, perhaps made by the
mabi Nathan (or whoever was the original author of
the book), perhaps added at a later date, with the view
of explaining how It was that Samuel bore the title of
<w"» Instead of the now usual appellation of rrnbi.
to the writer the days of Samuel were " beforetime,"
<ud he explains that in theme soclent days, that Is the
■ays of Samuel, the word used for prophet was roth,
sat «4ti. But that ones no* Imply that nth was
God, the first from their function of revealing and
proclaiming God's truth to men. When Gregory
Naz. (Or. 38) calls Ezekiel t raw* utyUai
«Vottij» ksI «f iryrrii» pvtmmlttf, be gives a suf-
ficiently exact tranaUtiou of the two titles chauh
or roih, and ndbi.
The word N&bi b uniformly translated in to*
LXX by Tpocjrtrrnt, and in the A. V. by "prophet."
In classical Greek vpotpirrnt signifies one who
speak* for another, specially one who speaks for a
yod and so interprets hb will to man (Liddell t
Scott, >. v.). Hence its essential meaning it " aa
interpreter." Thus Apollo b a z-poctrhrni •* being
the interpreter of Zeus (jfisch. A'um. 19). Poetl
are the Prophets of the Muses, at being their in-
terpreters (Hbt Phadr. 363 D). The t-poeMrrat
attached to heathen temples are so named from
their interpreting the oracles delivered by the in-
spired and unconscious piirrtis (Plat. Tim. 73 B;
Herod, vii. Ill, note, ed. Bsefar) We hare Plato's
authority for deriving ueWis from uairoutu (la).
The use of the word Trpocpirrnt in its modern
sense b post-classical, and is derived from the LXX.
From the medieval use of the word wpotprrrtla,
prophecy passed into the Englbh language in the
sense of prediction, and thb sense it hss retained
at its popular meaning (see Richardson, s. v. ). The
larger tense of interpretation has not, however,
been lost Thus we find in Bacon, •> An exercise
commonly called prophesying, which was thb: that
the ministers within a precinct did meet upon a
week day in tome principal town, where there was
some ancient grave minister that was president,
and an auditory admitted of gentlemen or other
persons of leisure. Then every minuter succes-
sively, beginning with the youngest, did handle one
and the same part of Scripture, spending severally
some quarter of an hour or letter, and in the whole
tome two hours. And so the exercise being begun
and concluded with prayer, and the president giving
a text for the next meeting, the assembly was dis-
solved " (Pacification of the Church). Thb mean-
ing of the word b made further familiar to ut by
the title of Jeremy Taylor't treatise " On Liberty
of Prophesying." Nor was there any risk of the
title of a book published in our own days, " On the
Prophetical Office of the Church" (Oxf. 1838),
being misunderstood. In bet the English word
prophet, like the word inspiration, has always been
used in a larger and in a closer tense. In the
larger sense our Lord Jesus Christ ill " prophet,"
Hoses ill " prophet," Mahomet b a " prophet."
The expression means that they proclaimed and
the primitive word, and that nasi first came Into nee
subsequently to Samuel (see Hengstenberf, Btilrdgt
zur Binltitung ins A. T. 111. 836). Dr. Stanley repre-
fents chozth %s " another antiqut title." But on ae)
sufficient grounds. Chozth Is first fonnd In 2 Sam
xxiv. 11 ; so that it aces not seem to have come into
use until roih had almost disappeared. It Is also
found In the books of Kings (2 K. xrti. 18) and Chron-
icles (frequently), lu Amos (vll. 12), Isaiah (xxix. 101,
Mlcah (111. 7). and the derivatives of the »-rb ehaxbh
are used by the prophets to designate their visions
down to ths Captivity (cf Is. 1. I : Dan. vill. 1 ; Zseh.
xlll 4). The derivatives of rd'dA are rarer, and, as
being prase words, are chiefly used by Daniel (cf. tn.
1. 1 ; Dan. x. 7) On examination we find that nasi
existed before and after and alongside of both ree*
and chozth, bat that chozth was somewhat zaere
modern than rt*k.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
259i
PROPHET
published a new religious dispensation. 1 a ilm-
iar though uot identical sense, the Church is said
to have a >' prophetical," i. t. an expository and
interpretative office. Hut in its closer sense the
word, according to usage though not n^xirding to
atymology, involves the idea of foresight. And
this is and always has been its more usual accepta-
tion." The different meanings, or shades of mean-
ing, in which the abstract noun is employed in
Scripture, have been drawn out by l.ocLe as fol-
lows: "l'rophecy comprehends three things: pre-
diction; singing by the dictate of the Spirit; and
miierstauding and explaining the mysterious, hid-
den sense of Scripture, by an immediate illumina-
tion and motion of the Spirit " (Parnphra$t of 1
Jin: xii. note, p. 121, Lond. 1742). It is in virtue
jf this last signification ot the word, that the
prophets of the N. T. are so called (1 Cor. xii.):
by virtue of the second, that the sons of Asaph, etc.
are said to have " prophesied with a harp" (1 Chr.
xxv. 3), and Miriam and Deborah are termed
" prophetesses." That the idea of potential if not
actual prediction enters into the conception ex-
pressed by the word prophecy, when that word is
used to designate the function of the Hebrew
prophets, seems to be proved by tbe following pas-
sages of Scripture, Deut. xviii. 22; Jer. xxviii. 9;
Acti ii. 80, iii. 18, 21; 1 Pet. r. 10; 2 Pet. i. 19,
20, iii. 2. Etymologically, however, it is certain
that neither prescience nor prediction are implied
by tiir term used in the Hebrew, Greek, or English
huiji liige.
11. Pbophctioal Ohdrr. — The sacerdotal
order was originally the instrument by which the
members of tbe Jewish Theocracy wx* taught and
governed in things spiritual. 1'euc and fast, sacri-
fice and offering, rite and ceremony, constituted a
varied and ever-recurring system of training and
teaching by type and symbol. To the priests, too,
wss intrusted the work of » teaching the children
of Israel all the statutes which tbe Lord hath spoken
.into them by the hand of Moses" (Lev. x. 11).
Teaching by act and teaching by word were alike
their task. This task they adequately fulfilled for
some hundred or more years after the giving of the
1.SLW at Mount Sinai. But during the time of the
Judges, the priesthood sank into a state of degen-
eracy, and the people were no longer affected by
the acted lessons of the ceremonial service. They
required less enigmatic warnings and exhortations.
Under these circumstances a new moral power was
evoked — the Prophetic Order. Samuel, himself a
Levite, of the family of Kohath (1 Chr. vi. 28), and
« Xt seems to be Incorrect to say that the English
word was " originally " used In the wider sense of
" preaching," and that It became " limited " to the
meaning of n predicting," in the seventeenth century,
In consequence of " an etymological mistake " (Stanley,
Isst. six., xx.). The word entered into the Bnglish
language in its eenee of predicting. It could not have
been otherwise, for at the time of the formation of the
English language, the word irposSrrrna had. by usage,
issumel popularly the meaning of prediction. And
we find It or.'inarily employed, by early u well as by
lato writers, In this sense (lee Polydore Virgil, History
■>/ Mmglanrt. iv. 161, Camden ed. 1848; Contrary
Mysteries, p. 65, Shakespeare Soo. ed., 1841, and
Klchardson, s. v.). It is probable that the meaning
was *' limited " to tr prediction " as much and as UtUe
before the seventeenth century as It has bean since.
• Dr. Stanley (Ucl. xviii.) deolares it to be " doubt-
's! If a* was of UvUteal descant, and certain that he
PROPHET
almost certainly a priest, 6 was the in
at once for effecting a reform in the sacerdotal crdcf
(1 Chr. ix. 22), and for giving to the prophets a
position of importance which they had never before
held. So important was the work wrought by him,
that he is classed in Holy Scripture with Moses
(Jer. xv. .1; Pi. xcix. 6; Acts iii. 24), Samue.
being the great religious reformer and organiser of
the prophetical order, as Moses was tlie great legis-
lator and founder of the priestly rule. Neverthe-
less, it is not to be supposed that Samuel created
the prophetic order as a new thing before unknown.
The germs both of the prophetic and of the rega 1
order are found in the I am as given to the Israelites
by Moses (Deut. xiii. 1, xviii. 20, xvii. 18), but
they were not yet developed, because there was not
yet the demand for them. Samuel, who evolved
tbe one, himself saw the evolution of the other.
Tbe title of prophet is found before tbe legislation
of Mount Sinai. When Abraham is called a
prophet (Gen. xx. 7), it is probably in the sense of
a friend of God, to whom He makes known His
will ; and in the same sense the name seems to be
applied to the patriarchs in general (Ps. cv. 16).<"
Muses Is more specifically a prophet, as Icing a
proclaimer of a new dispensation, a revealer of God**
will, and in virtue of his divinely inspired songs
(Ex. xv.; Deut. xxxii., xxxiii.; Ps. xc.), but his
main work was not prophetical, and he is therefore
formally distinguished from prophets (Num xii. 6)
as well ss classed with them (Deut. xviii. 15, xxxiv.
10). Aaron is the prophet of Moses (Ex. xii. 1);
Miriam (Ex. xv. 20) is a prophetess: and we find
the prophetic gift in the elders who " prophesied "
when "the Spirit of tbe I.r*<d rested upon them,"
and in Eldad and Methw, «no " prophesied in the
camp" (Num. xi. 27). At the time of the sedi-
tion of Miriam, the possible existence of prophets
is recognised (Num. xii. 6). In tbe days of the
Judges we find that Deborah (Judg. iv. 4) is a
prophetess; a prophet (Judg. vi. 8) rebukes and
exhorts tbe Israelites when oppressed by the Mid-
ianites; and, in Samuel's childhood, '• a man of
God " predicts to Eli the death of his two sons,
and the curse that was to fall on his descendants
(1 Sam. ii. 27).
Samuel took measures to make his work of res-
toration permanent as well as effective for tbe mo-
ment. For this purpose be instituted Comjsuiies,
or Colleges of Prophets. One we find in his life-
time at Hainan (1 Sam. xix. 19, 20;; others after-
wards at Bethel (2 K. ii. 8), .lericbo (2 K. U. 6),
Gilgal (2 K. iv. 38), and elsewhere (2 K. vt 1).
was not a priest " If the record of 1 Chr. vi. 28 Is
correct, It Is certain that he was a Levite by descant
though an Bphrathlrs by habitation (1 Sam. 1. 1).
There Is every probability that he was a priest (cf. 1
Sam. I. 22, II. 11, 18, vii. 6, 17, x. 1, xlil. 11) and no
presumption to the contrary. The fact on which Or
Stanley relies, that Samuel lived " not at Olbeon or
at Nob but at Raman," and that "the propheue
schools were at Ramsh, and at Bethel, and at Ougal,
not at Hebron and Anathoth,' 1 does not inrace to
raise a presumption. As judge, Samuel would have
lived where it was most suitable for the judge to dwel
Of the three colleges, that at Bamah was alone fbuodea
by Samuel, of course where he lived himself, and ev*«
where Ramah was we do not know : one of the latest
hypotheses places It two miles from Hebron.
* According to Heogstenberg's view of prophecy
Abraham was a prophet because be received revels
Bone by IAf means of dream omd vision. ^Gen. xv. 1%
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PKOPHBT
TMr umissHiiIswi tod object were similar to those
of Theological Colleges. Into them were gathered
promising students, end here they were trained for
the office which they wen afterwards destined to
fulfill. So successful were these institutions, that
from the time of Samuel to the closing of the
Canon of the Old Testament, there seems never to
have been wanting a due supply of men to keep up
the line of official prophets. The apocryphal books
of the Maccabees (i. iv. 46, ix. 27, xiv. 41) and of
Kccleaiasticus (xxxri. 15} represent them as ex-
tinct. The colleges appear to have consisted of
students differing in number. Sometimes they
ware very numerous (1 K. xviii. 4, xxii. 6 ; 2 K.
ii. 16). One elderly, or leading prophet, presided
over them (1 Sam. xix. 90), called their Father
(1 Sam. x. 18), or Master (2 K. ii. 3), who was
apparently admitted to his office by the ceremony
of anointing (1 K. xix. 16; I*, hi. 1; Ps. cv. 15).
Tbey were called bis sons. Their chief subject of
study was, no doubt, the Law and its interpreta-
tion; oral, as distinct from symbolical, teaching
being henceforward tacitly transferred from the
priestly to the prophetical order.* Subsidiary sub-
jects of instruction were music and sacred poetry,
both of which had been connected with prophecy
from the time of Moses (Ex. xv. 20) and the Judges
(Jndg. iv. 4, r. 1). The prophets that meet Saul
" came down from the high place with a psaltery
and a tablet, and a pipe and a harp before them "
(1 Sam. x. 5). Eljaha calls a minstrel to evoke
the prophetic gift in himself (2 K. iii. 15). David
'• separates to the service of the sous of Asaph and
of Heman and of Jeduthun, who should projrfiety
with harps and with psalteries and with cymbal*.
. . All these were under the hands of their father
far song in the bouse of the Lord with cymbals,
psalteries, and harps for the service of the house
of God " (1 Chr. xxv. 6). Hymns, or sacred songs,
are found in the books of Jonah (ii 2), Isaiah (xii.
1, xxvi. lj, Hahakkuk (ill. 3). And it was prob-
ably the duty of the prophetical students to compose
verse* to be sung in the Temple. (See Lowth,
Soared Poetry of the Hebrem, 1-ect. xviii.) Having
been themselves trained and taught, the prophet*,
whether still residing within their college, or having
left its precincts, had the task of teaching others.
From the question addressed to the Shunammite by
her husband, '• Wherefore wilt thou go to bim to-
day ? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath " (2 K.
iv. 33), it appears that weekly and monthly relig-
ious meetings were held as an ordinary practice by
the prophets (see Patrick, Comm. in foe.). Thus
we find that " Elisha sat in his house," engaged
in his official occupation (cf. El. viii. 1, xiv. 1,
xx. 1), "and the elders sat with him" (2 K. vi.
J8), when the King of Israel sent to slay him. It
was at these meetings, probably, that many of the
warnings and exhortations on morality and spiritual
i no •ufflctent (round for tat common
that, alter the sobism, the colleges existed
only in lbs Israellush kingdom, or for KonbeTs sup-
position that tbey ceased with Kltsha (PropMetiimw,
H- 8»), nor again for Bishop Lowtb's statement that
" they existed tram the earliest times of the Hebrew
republic" (Sum/ Poetry, Lee'., xrtt!.), or for M.
Mectae' ss earnW that their previous establishment
can be Inferred Horn 1 Bam. via., fax., x. (JfmaVs critteun
tar Is JBtals, p. 166). We have, however, no actual
proof ot their existence except In the dara of eamuel
sasl 1 Btjah and aVaha.
ua
PBOPHET 2698
religion were addressed by the prophets to task
countrymen. The general appearance and life of
the prophet were very similar to those of the East-
ern dervish at tie present day. His dress was a
hairy garment, girt with a leathern girdle (Is. xx.
2; Zech. xiii. 4; Matt. iii. 4). He was married
or unmarried as he chose; but his manner of life
and diet were stern and austere (2 K. iv. 10, 88;
1 K. xix. 6; Matt. iii. 4).
III. The Prophetic Gut. — We hare been
speaking of the Prophetic Order. To belong to
the prophetic order and to possess the prophetic gift
are not convertible terms. There might be mem-
bers of the prophetic order to whom the gift of
prophecy was not vouchsafed. There might be
inspired prophets, who did not belong to the
prophetic order. Generally, the Inspired prophet
came from toe College of the Prophet*, and be-
longed to the prophetic order; but this was not
always the case. In the instance of the Prophet
Amos, the rule and the exception are both mani-
fested. When Amaxiah, the idolatrous Isrsetitith
priest, threatens the prophet, and desires him to
" flee away into the land of Judah, and there est
bread and prophesy there, but not to prophesy
again any more at Bethel," Amos in reply say*,
'■ I was no prophet, neither was I a' prophet's son ;
but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore
fruit; and the Lord took me as I followed the flock,
and the l-ord said unto me, Go prophesy unto my
people Israel " (vii. 14). That is, though called
to the prophetic office, he did not belong to the
prophetic order, and had not been trained In the
prophetical colleges ; and this, he indicates, was an
unusual occurrence. (See J. Smith on Prophecy,
c. ix.).
The sixteen prophets whose books art in the
Canon hats therefore that place of honor, because
they were endowed with the prophetic gift as well
as ordinarily (so for a* we know) belonging to the
prophetic order. There were hundreds of prophets
contemporary with each of these sixteen prophets;
and no doubt numberless compositions in sacred
poetry and numberless moral exhortations were
issued from the several schools, but only sixteen
hooks find their place in the Canon. Why is this?
Because these sixteen had what their brother-
collegians had not, the Divine call to the office of
prophet, and the Divine illumination to enlighten
tbem. It was not sufficient to have been taught
and trained in preparation for a future call. Teach,
ing and training served as a preparation only.
When the schoolmaster's work was done, then, if
the instrument was worthy, God's work began
Moses had an external call at the burning bush
(Ex. iii. 2). The Lord called Samuel, so that Eli
perceived, and Samuel learned, that it was the Lord
who called him (1 Sam. iii. 10). Isaiah (vL 8).
Jeremiah (1. 6), Exeklel (U. 4), Amos (vii. 16),
» It Is a vulgar error respecting Jewish history to
suppose that there was an antagonism between the
prophets and the priests. There is not a trace of soon
antagonism. Isaiah may denounce a wicked tuesasehy
(1. 10), but it if because It is wicked, not because it Is
a hierarchy, afalaehl « sharply reproves " the priests
(11. 1). bat It is In order to support the priesthood (of.
1. 14). Mr. P. W. Newman even designates sss rl slw
writings as " hard sacerdotalism," " tedious and SB
edifying as Urlucus itself" (He*. Monarch, p. MO).
The Prophetical Order was, In truth, mpslssisnts.1, net
aacagoalaao to the fc ee n tetsl.
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2fi94
PBOPHBT
Mare theii special mission. Nor m It sufficient
for this coll to have been made once for all. Each
prophetical utterance is the mult of a communi-
cation nf the Divine to the human spirit, received
either by " riaion " (Is. vi. 1) or by " the word of
the Lord " (Jer. ii. 1). (See Aid* to Faith, Essay
Hi., " On Prophecy.") What then are the charac-
teristics of the sixteen prophets, thus called and
commissioned, and entrusted with the messages of
(Sod to his people?
(1.) They were the national poets of Judsea.
We have already shown that music and poetry,
chants and hymns, were a main part of the studies
of the class from which, generally speaking, they
were derived. As is natural, we find not only the
songs previously specified, but the rest of their com-
positions, poetical or breathing the spirit of poetry."
(2. ) They were annalists and historians. A great
portion of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, of Daniel, of Jonah,
of Haggai, is direct or indirect history.
(3.) They were preachers of patriotism; their
patriotism being founded on the religious motive.
To the subject of the Theocracy, the enemy of bis
nation was the enemy of God, the traitor to the
public weal was a traitor to his God ; a denunciation
of an enemy was a denunciation of a representa-
tive of evil, an exhortation in behalf of Jerusalem
was an exhortation in behalf of God's Kingdom on
earth, "the city of our God, the mountain of
holiness, beautiful for situation, the joy of the
whole earth, the city of the great King" (I's.
sttil. 1, 2).
(4.) They were preachers of morals and of spirit-
ual religion. The symbolical teaching of the Law
had lost much of its effect. Instead of learning the
necessity of purity by the legal washings, the ma-
jority came to rest in the outward act as in itself
sufficient It was the work, then, of the prophets to
hold up before the eyes of their countrymen a high
and pure morality, not veiled in symbols and acts,
but such as none could profess to misunderstand.
Thus, in his first chapter, Isaiah contrasts ceremo-
nial observances with spiritual morality : " Your
new moons and your appointed feasts my soul
hateth : they are a trouble to me; I am weary to
bear them Wash you, make you clean ; put
away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ;
eease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment;
relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for
the widow" (i. 14-17). He proceeds to denounce
God's judgments on the oppression and covetous-
a Bishop Lowth " esteems the whole book of IaaUh
poetical, a few passages exempted, which, if brougbt
together, would not at most exceed the bulk of Ave or
six chapters," " half of the book of Jeremiah," " the
greater part of Esekjel." The rest of the prophets
axe mainly poetical, but Haggal is "prosaic," and
Jonah and Daniel are plain prose (Stirred Poitry, Lect.
xxU
a "Magna tides et gmndls andada Propbetarom,"
says 8s. Jerome (fit Bzek.). This was their general
characteristic, but that gifts and graces might be dis
severed. Is proved by the cases of Balaam, Jonah,
uaJephas, and the disobedient prophet of Judah.
e Br. Davidson pronounces It as "now commonly
admitted that the essential part of Biblical prophecy
does not lie Id predicting contingent events, but In
tsrvmmg the essentially religious In the course of his-
tory. . Id do prophecy can It be shown that
UM usual predietiiig of distant historical evens* Is
In conformity with the analogy
PBOPHBT
ness of the rulers, the pride of t* womet (a ML
on grasping, profligacy, iniquity, injustice (« v.,
and so on throughout. The system of morals put
forward by the prophets, if not higher, or sterner
or purer than that of the Law, is more plainly de-
clared, and with greater, because now more needed,
vehemence of diction.*
(5.) They were extraordinary, but yet authorised,
exponents of the I*aw. As an instance of this, we
may take Isaiah's description of a true fast (lviii.
3-7); Ezekiel's explanation of the sins of the fathei
being visited on the children (c xviii.); Hicah'a
preference of " doing justly, loving mercy, and walk-
ing humbly with God," to " thousands of rams and
ten thousands of rivers of oil " (vi. 6-8). In these
as in other similar cases (cf. Hos. vi. 6; Amos
T. SI), it was the task of the prophets to restore
the balance which had been overthrown by the
Jews and their teachers dwelling on one side or on
the outer covering of a truth or of a duty, and
leaving the other side or the inner meaning out o*
sight.
(6.) They held, as we have shown above, a pat
toral or quasi-pastoral office.
(7.) They were a political power In the state.
Strong in the safeguard of their religious charac-
ter, they were able to serve aa a counterpoise to
the royal authority when wielded even by an Abab.
(8.) But the prophets were something more thai
national poets and annalists, preachers of patriot-
ism, moral teachers, exponents of the Law, pastors.
and politicians. We have not yet touched upon
their most essential characteristic, which is, that
they were instruments of revealing God's will to
man, as in other ways, to, specially, by predicting
future events, and, in particular, by foretelling the
incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the re-
demption effected by Him/ There are two chief
ways of exhibiting this fact: one is suitable when
discoursing with Christians, the other when argu-
ing with unbelievers. To the Christian it is
enough to show that the truth of the New Testa-
ment and the truthfulness of its authors, and of
the Lord Himself, are bound up with the truth
of the existence of this predictive element in the
prophets. To the unbeliever it is necessary to show
that facta have verified their predictions.
(a.) In St Matthew's Gospel, the first chapter,
we find a quotation from the prophet Isaiah, " Be-
hold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Em
of prophecy generally, special predictions eoneeretng
Christ do not appear In the Old Testament." Di
Davidson must mean that this Is "now commonly
admitted" by writers like bimself, who, following
■tehhorn, resolve " the prophet's delineations of ths
future" Into "In essence notanig bu /orebtJmgs —
efforts oflht spiritual «** to bring up before itself ths
distinct form of the future. The irevudon of tin
prophet is Intensified presentiment.'" Of course, If
the powers or the prophets were simply " mrebodtngs ''
and " presentfanrats " of the human spirit In " ns
preconsdons region," they could not do mora matt
make Indefinite guesses about the rotor*. But ths)
Is not the Jewish nor the Christian theory of prophecy
See 8. Basil (fit Bssi HI.), 8. Chrys. (Horn. Mil t *
137, ed. 1612), Clem. Alex. (Strom. 1. fa), smseb. (ft»
Brang. v. 182, ed. 1644), and Jnsttn Martyr (J>'*>
earn TrypH. p. 224, *d. 1686). (Bee Baker, •■ •
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Google
PROPHBT
■omul; " and, at the suae time, we find a state-
nent that the birth of Christ took place at it did
1 that it might be fulfilled which m spoken of the
Lord by the prophet," in those words (i. 83, 33).
TUs means that the prophecy was the declaration
sf God's purpose, and that the circumstances of
the birth of Christ w<re the fulfillment of that
purpose. Then, either the predictive element exists
in the book of the Prophet Isaiah, or the authority
of the Evangelist St Matthew must be given up.
The same evangelist testifies to the same prophet
having " spoken of " John the Baptist (iii. 3) in
words which be quotes from Is- xl. 3. He says
(rr. 18-18) that Jesus came and dwelt in Ca-
ptrnanm, •• that " other words " spoken by " the
■ana prophet (ix. 1) "might lie fulfilled." He
ears (viii. 17) that Jems did certain acts, "that it
aright be fulfilled which was spoken by Ksa'uis the
prophet " (b. liil. 4). He says (xii. 17) that Jesus
acted in a particular manner, " that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet "
in words quoted from chap. xlii. 1. Then, if we
believe St. Matthew, we must believe that in the
pages of the Prophet Isaiah there was predicted
that which Jesus some seven hundred years after-
wards fulfilled. But, further, we have not only
the evidence of the Kvangelist; we have the evi-
dence of the Lord Himself. He declares (Matt.
rfii. 14) that in the Jews of his age " is fulfilled
the prophecy of Ksaias, which saith — " (Is. vi. 9).
He says (Matt. xv. 7) " Esaiat well prophesied of
them" (Is. xax. 13). Then, if we believe our
fjord's sayings and the record of them, we must
believe in prediction as existing in the Prophet
Isaiah. This prophet, who is cited between fifty
and sixty times, may he taken as a sample; but
the same argument might be brought forward with
respect to Jeremiah (Matt. ii. 18; Heb. viii. 8),
Daniel (Matt xxiv. 15), Hosea (Matt. ii. 16; Rom.
ix. 95), Joel (Acta ii. 17), Amos (Acta vii. 43; XV.
16), Jonah (Matt xii. 40), Mieah (Matt xii. 7),
Habakkuk (Acta xili. 41), Haggai (Heb. xii. 36),
Zechariah (Matt. xxi. 5; Mark xiv. 37; John xix.
37), Malachi (Matt xi. 10; Mark i. 9; Luke vii.
37). With this evidence for so many of the
prophets, It would be idle to cavil with respect to
ExekieL Obadiah, Nahum, Zephaniah; the more,
as "the prophets" are frequently spoken of to-
gether (Matt ii. 33; Acta xiii. 40, xv. 15) as au-
thoritative. The Psalms are quoted no leas than sev-
enty times, and very frequent) j as being predictive.
03.) The argument with the unbeliever does not
admit of being brought to an issue so concisely.
Here it is necessary (1) to point out the existence
•f certain declarations as to future events, the
probability of which was not discernible by human
tajaeity at the time that the declarations were
made; (3) to show that certain events did after-
wards take place corresponding with these declara-
tions; (3) to show that a chance coincidence is not
in adequate hypothesis on which to account for
•jot correspondence.
PROPHET
2696
a This eonoloskm cannot be escaped by pressing the
words Ims a-Aiftwvf , for If they do not mean that cer-
tain things were done In order that the Divine pre-
lestinatlon might be accomplished, which predestina-
ioo was already declared by the prophet, they must
anan that Jesus Christ knowingly moulded his jets so
t* to be In accordance with what whj n»H In an au-
ttvat book wbtoh In reality had nn refen-rx-e to him, a
fcafcf, «t '.eta Is eadraly at varaum with the character
Davison, in his valuable .Discourses on Pitpheef
fixes a "Criterion of Prophecy," and In accord-
ance with it he describes " the conditions whieb
would confer cogency of evidence on single ei
ample* of prophecy," in the following manner
first, "the known promulgation of the prophecy
prior to the event; secondly, the clear and palpable
fulfillment of it; lastly, the nature of the event
itself, if, when the prediction of it was given, it
lay remote from human view, and was such at
could not be foreseen by any supposable effort of
reason, or be deduced upon principles of calcula-
tion derived from probability and experience "
(Disc. viii. 378). Applying his test, the learned
writer finds that the establishment of the Christian
Keligion and the person of its Founder were pre-
dicted when neither reason nor experience could
have anticipated them; and that the predictions
respecting them have been clearly fulfilled in his-
tory. Here, then, is an adequate proof of an
inspired prescience in the prophets who predicted
these things. He applies his test to the prophecies
recorded of the Jewish people, and their actual
state, to the prediction of the great apostasy and
to the actual state of corrupted Christianity, and
finally to the prophecies relating to Nineveh, Baby-
lon, Tyre, Egypt, toe Ishniaelites, and the Four
Kmpires, and to the events which have befallen
them; and in each of these cases be finds proof
of the existence of the predictive element in the
prophets.
In the book of Kings we find Micaiah the son
of Imlah uttering a challenge, by which his pre-
dictive powers were to be judged. He had pro-
nounced, by the word of the Lord, that Ahab
should fall at Ramoth-Gilead. Ahab, in return,
commanded him to be shut up in prison until he
came back in peace. " And Micaiah said, If thoa
return at all in peace " (that is, if the event does
not verify my words), "the Lord hath not spoken
by me " (that is, I am no prophet capable of pre-
dicting the future) (1 K. xxii. 38). The test is
sound as a negative test, and so it is laid down In
the lav (Deut xviii. 33); but as a positive test H
would not be sufficient. Ahab's death at Kamoth-
Oilead did not prove Micaiah's predictive powers,
though his escape would hare disproved them.
But here we must notice a very important differ-
ence between single prophecies and a series of
prophecy. The fulfillment of a single prophecy
does not prove the prophetical power of the prophet
but the fulfillment of a long aeries of prophecies
by a series or number of events does in itself con-
stitute a proof that the prophecies were intended
to predict the events, and, consequently, that pre-
dictive power resided in the prophet or prophets.
We may see this in the so far parallel cases of
satirical writings. We know for certain that
Aristophanes refers to Cfeon, Pericles, Nicias (and
we should be equally sure of it were his satire
more concealed than it is) simply from the fact of
a number of satirical hits converging together on
drawn of him by St Matthew, and which would make
him a oonadous Impostor, inasmuch as be himself
appeals to the prophecies. Further, It would Imply
(as In Matt. 1. 22) that Ood Himself contrived certain
events (as those oonneoted with the birth of Christ),
not in order that they might be In accordance with
his will, but In order that they might be agr e ea b le
to the declarations of a certain book — than which
nothing could well be more ahrant
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2696
PROPHET
the object of his satire. One, two, or three strokes
night be intended for more persons than one, but
the addition of each stroke makes the aim more
apparent, and when we hare a sufficient number
before us we on no longer possibly doubt his de-
sign. Tbe same may be said of fables, and still
more, of allegories. Tbe fact of a complicated
lock being opened by a key shows that the lock
and key were meant for each other. Now tbe
Messianic picture drawn by the prophets as a liocy
contains at least as many traits as these: — That
salvation should come through the family of Abra-
ham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David : that at the time
of the final absorption of the Jewish power, Shi-
lob (the tranquilliser) should gather the nations
under his rule: that there should be a great
Prophet, typified by Moses; a King descended
from David ; a Priest forever, typified by Melchis-
edek: that there should be born into tbe world
a ehild to be called Mighty God, Eternal Father,
Prince of Peace: that there should be a Righteous
Servant of God on whom the I>ord would lay the
iniquity of all: that Messiah the Prince should
he cut off, but not lor himself: that an everlasting
kingdom should lie given by the Ancient of Days
.V one like tbe Son of Man. It seems impossible
to harmonise so many apparent contradictions.
Nevertheless it is an undoubted fact that, at the
time seemingly pointed out by one or more of
♦hew predictions, there was born into the world a
child of the house of David, and therefore of the
family of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, who
claimed to be the object of these and other pre-
dictions; who is acknowledged as Prophet, Priest,
and King, as Mighty God, and yet as God's
Righteous Servant who bears the iniquity of all;
who was cut off, and whose death is acknowledged
not to have been for his own, but for others' good;
who has instituted a spiritual kingdom on earth,
which kingdom is of a nature to continue forever,
if there is any continuance beyond this world and
this life; and in whose doings and sufferings on
earth a number of specific predictions were mi-
nutely fulfilled. Then we may say that we have
here a series of prophecies which are so applicable
to the person and earthly life of Jesus Christ as
to be thereby shown to have been designed to ap-
ply to Him. And if they were designed to apply
to Him, prophetical prediction is proved.
Objections have been urged: — 1. Vagueneu.
— It has been said that the prophecies are too
darkly and vaguely worded to be proved predictive
by the events which they are alleged to foretell.
This objection is stated with clearness and force
by Ammou. He says, " Such simple sentences as
the following : Israel has not to expect a king, but
% teacher; this teacher will be born at Bethlehem
during tbe reign of Herod ; he will lay down bis
Jfe under Tiberius, in attestation of the truth of
his religion; through the destruction of Jerusa-
lem, and the complete extinction of the Jewish
state, he will spread bis doctrine in every quarter
of the world — a few sentences like these, expressed
in plain historical prose, would not only bear the
jharacter of true predictions, but, when once their
genuineness was proved, they would be of incom-
parably greater worth to us than all the oracles of
•*e Old Testament taken together" (Chrulology,
p. 19). But to this it might be answered, and
mm been in effect answered by Hengstenberg — 1.
Hist God nsver forces men to believe, but thst
dan is such an union of definiteness and vague-
PBOPHRT
net* in the prophecies a* to enable thine wha an
willing to discover tbe truth, while the wiDnuly
blind are not forcibly constrained to see it. 9
That, bad the prophecies been couched in the fore
of direct declarations, their fulfillment would have
thereby been rendered impossible, or, at least, capa-
ble of frustration. 3. That tbe effect of prophecy
(e. g. with reference to the time of the Messiah's
coming) would have been far less beneficial to be-
lievers, as being less adapted to keep them in a
state of constant expectation. 4. That the Mes-
siah of Revelation could uot be so clearly por-
trayed in his varied character as God and Mao, a*
Prophet, Priest, and King, if he had been the
mere "teacher" which is all that Amman ac-
knowledges him to be. 6. That the state of the
Prophets, at the time of receiving the Divine retm.
latiou, was (as we shall presently show) such as
necessarily to make their predictions fragmentary,
figurative, and abstracted from the relations of
time. 6. That some portions of the prophecies
were intended to be of double application, and
some portions to be understood only on their ful-
fillment (cf. John xiv. 29; Ex. xxxvi. 33).
2. Obscurity of a part or parte of a prqpkecf
oihertdtt clear. — Tbe objection drawn from " the
unintelligibleness of one part of a prophecy, as
invalidating the proof of foresight arising from the
evident completion of those parts which are under-
stood " i* akin to that drawn from tbe vagueness
"f the whole of it. And it may be answered with
the same arguments, to which we may add tha
consideration urged by Butler that it is, for tha
argument in hand, the same aa if the parts not
understood were written in cipher or not written
at all : " Suppose a writing, partly in cipher and
partly in plain words at length; and that in
the part one understood there appeared mention
of several known facts — it would never coma into
any man's thought to imagine that if he under-
stood tbe whole, perhaps he might find that these
facta were not in reality known by the writer"
(Analogy, pt. ii. c. vii.). Furthermore, if it be
true that prophecies relating to the first coming
of tbe Messiah refer also to his second coming,
some part of those prophecies must necessarily be
ss yet not fully understood.
It would appear from these considerations that
Davison's second " condition," above quoted, " the
clear and palpable fulfillment of the prophecy,"
should be so far modified as to take into account
tbe necessary difficulty, more or less great, in recog-
nizing tbe fulfillment of a prophecy which results
from the necessary vagueness and obscurity of the
prophecy itself.
3. Application of tie eeveral pnpkedet to a
more immediate tubject. — It has been the task of
many Biblical critics to examine the different pas-
sages which are alleged to be predictions of Christ,
and to show that they were delivered in reference
to some person or thing contemporary with, or
shortly subsequent to, the time of the writer.
The conclusion is then drawn, sometimes scorn-
fully, sometimes as an inference not to be resisted,
that the passages in question have nothing to do
with tbe Messiah. We hare here to distinguish
carefully between the conclusion proved, and ths
corollary drawn from It. Let it be granted that it
may be proved of all the predictions of the Mes-
siah — it certainly niay be proved of many —tbe)
they primarily apply to aome historical and prsasal
foot: in that osae a -etain law, under which GW
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PROPHET
ois prophetical revelations, U discov-
ered ; but then is no semblance of disproof of the
farther Messianic interpretation of the passages
■nder consideration. That some such law does
exist has been argued at length by Mr. Davison.
He believes, however, that "it obtains only in
some of the more distinguished monuments of
prophecy," such as the prophecies founded on, and
having primary reference to, the kingdom of Da-
rid, the restoration of the Jews, the destruction
of Jerusalem ( On Prophtcg, Disc. v. ). Dr. Lee
thinks that Davison " exhibits too great reserve in
tits application of this important principle" {On
inspiration, l.ect. iv.). He considers it to be of
universal application; and upon it be founds the
doctrine of the "double sense of prophecy," ao-
ourdtng to which a prediction is fulfilled in two or
even more distinct but analogous subjects: first in
type, then in antitype; and after that perhaps
awaits a still further and more complete fulfillment.
This view of the fulfillment of prophecy seems
necessary lor the explanation of our Lord's predic-
tion on the mount, relating at once to the fall of
Jerusalem and to the end of the Christian dis-
pensation. It is on this principle that Pearson
writes: "Many are the prophecies which concern
Him, many the promises which are made of Him;
but yet some of them very obscure. ....
Wheresoever He Is spoken of as the Anointed, it
may well be firtt understood of some other per-
son; except one place in Daniel, where Messiah
is foretold < to be cut off'" (On the Creed, Art.
II.).
Whether it can be proved by an investigation
of Holy Scripture, that this relation between
Divine announcements for the future and certain
present events does so exist as to constitute a law,
and whether, if the law is proved to exist, it is of
universal, or only of partial application, we do not
pause to determine. But it is manifest that the
existence of a primary sense cannot exclude the
possibility of a secondary sense. The question,
therefore, really is, whether the prophecies are
applicable to Christ: if they are so applicable, the
previous application of each of them to some his-
torical event would not invalidate the proof that
they were designed as a whole to find their full
completion in Him. Nay, even if it could be
shown that the prophets had in their thoughts
nothing beyond the primary completion of their
words (a thing which we at present leave undeter-
mined), no inference could thence be drawn against
their secondary application ; for such an inference
would assume, what no believer in inspiration will
grant, viz., that the prophets are tbe sole authors
of their prophecies. The rule. Nihil in ecripto
jnno* nan priut in $eriptore, is sound; but, tbe
rion is, who is to be regarded as tbe true au-
of the prophecies — the human Instrument or
the Divine Author? (See Hengstenberg, Chru-
tology. Appendix VI., p. 433.)
4. Hfirnculout c/iaracter. — It is probable that
his lies at the root of the many and various efforts
nade to disprove the predictive power of the
prophets. There is no |uestlon that if miracles
in, either physically or morally, impossible, then
PROPHET
2591
<■ Hence the emphatic declarations of the 3real
Prophet of the Church that ha did not speak of Bun-
k*f (John Til. 17, fee.).
» aWsaooldss has drawn oat the pouts In which
STcsss Is oanaasml superior to all other prophets as
prediction is impossible; and those passages which
have ever been accounted predictive, must be ex-
plained away as being vague, as being obscure, as
applying only to something in the writer's lifetime,
or on some other hypothesis. This is only saying
that belief in prediction is not compatible with the
theory of Atheism, or with tbe philosophy winch
rejects the overruling Providence of a personal
God. And this is not to be denied.
IV. The Pbophetic Statb. — We learn from
Holy Scripture that it was by the agency of the
Spirit of God that the prophets received the Di-
vine communication. Thus, on the appointment
of tbe seventy elders, " The Lord said, I will take
of tbe Spirit which is upou thee, and will put it
upon them And the Lord . . . took of
the Spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto
the seventy elders; and it came to pass that when
the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and
did not cease. .... And Moses said, Would
God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and
that tbe Lord would put his Spirit upon them "
(Num. xL 17, 95, 29). Here we see that what
made the seventy prophesy, was their being endued
with the Lord's Spirit by the Lord Himself. So
it is the Spirit of the Lord which made Saul (1
Sam. x. 6) and his messengers (1 Sam. xix. 30)
prophesy. And thus St. Peter assures us that
"prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man, but holy men of God spake, moved (ftpi/t-
skoi) by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet i. 21), while
false prophets are described as those " who speak a
vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth
of tbe Lord " (Jer. xxiii. 16), " who prophesy oat
of their own hearts, . . who follow their own
spirit, and have seen nothing " (Es. xiii. 2, 3).*
The prophet held an Intermediate position in com-
munication between God and man. God commu-
nicated with him by his Spirit, and he, having
received this communication, was "the spokes-
man " of God to man (cf. Ex. vii. 1 and iv. 16).
But the means by which the Divine Spirit commu-
nicated with the human spirit, and the conditions
of the human spirit under which the Divine
communications were received, have not been
clearly declared to us. They are, however, indi-
cated. On the occasion of the sedition of Miriam
and Aaron, we read, " And tbe Lord said, Hear
now my words : If there be a prophet among yon,
I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a
vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My
servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all min*
bouse: with him will I speak mouth to mouth,
even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the
similitude of the I-ord shall he behold" (Num.
xii. 6-8). Here we have an exhaustive division
of the different ways in which the revelations of
God are made to man. 1. Direct declaration and
manifestation, " I will speak mouth to mouth, ap-
parently, and the similitude of the Lord shall ha
behold." 3. Vision. 8. Dream. It is indicated
that, at least at this time, the vision and the
dream were the special means of conveying a reve-
lation to a prophet, while the higher form of direct
declaration and manifestation was reserved for the
more highly favored Moses. 6 Joel's prophecy ap-
followt: "1. Ail the other prophets saw the propb>
ccy m a drsam or in a vision, but our Babbl Hoses
ssw It whilst awake. 2. To all the other prophets U
was revealed through the medium of an ansjel, ant
therefore thsy saw that which taey saw la SB aB»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2698 PROPHET
peart to moke the aarae division, '• Your old awn
■hall dream dreamt, and your young men shall ace
visions," these being the two methods in which
the promise, " jour sons and your daughters shall
prophesy," are to be carried out (ii. 28). And of
Daniel we are told that " he had understanding in
all visions and dreams " (Dan. i. 17). Can these
phases of the prophetic state be distinguished from
aach other? and in what did they consist?
According to the theory of Philo and the Alex-
andrian school, the prophet was in a state of entire
unconsciousness at the time that he was under the
Influence of Divine inspiration, "for the human
understanding," says Philo, " takes it* departure on
the arrival of the Divine Spirit, and, on the removal
of the latter, again returns to its home, for the
mortal must not dwell with the immortal " ( Quit
Ser. Div. Har. t i. p. 511). Balaam is described
by him as an unconscious instrument through
whom God spoke ( Ot Vila ifosis, lib. 1. t ii. p.
124). Josephus makes Balaam excuse himself to
Batik on the same principle: " When the Spirit of
God seixea us, It utters whatsoever sounds and words
It pleases, without any knowledge on our part,
. ... for when It has oome into us. there is
nothing in us which remains our own " (Antiq. iv.
6, § 6, i. i. p. 216). This theory identifies Jewish
prophecy in all essential points with the heathen
uarrtidi, or divination, as distinct from wpo^nrrtia,
or interpretation. Montanism adopted the same
view: "Defendimus, in causa novae prophetic,
gratisa exstasin, id est amentiam, convening. In
spiritu enim homo constitutus, pnesertim cum glo-
riam Dei couspicit, vel cum per ipsum Deus loqui-
tur, neoesse est excidat sensu, obumbratus scilicet
virtute divina, de quo inter no* et Paychioos (cath-
olicoa) quaeatio est " (Tertullian, Adv. Marriott.
iv. 22). Accordiug to the belief, theu, of the
heathen, of the Alexandrian Jews, and of the Mon-
taniata, the vision of the prophet was seen while be
waa in a atate of ecstatic unconsciousness, and the
enunciation of the vision was made by him in the
same state. The Fathers of the Church opposed the
Hontanist theory with great unanimity. In F.uae-
bius'a Hiatory (v. 17 ) we read that Miltiadea wrote
a book rcpl toE ph Bur vpoaytfrvy I* ixcriatt
Kaktiv. St. Jerome writes: "Non loquitur
propheta in aWo-roVei, ut Hontanua et Prise* Max-
hnillaque delirant, sed quod prophetat liber est vis-
ionis intelligentis univeraa que loquitur " {Prolog,
in Nithwn). And again: "Nequevero ut Mou-
tanus cum insanis faeminia aomniat, prophetee in
tcataai locuti aunt ut neacierint quid Ioquerentur, et
mm alios enidirent ipsi ignorarent quid dioerent "
, Prolog, in Ksni.). Origen ( Contr. Ctltutn, vii. 4),
and St. Basil (Commentary on Isaiah, Procem. c.
6), contrast the prophet with the soothsayer, on
the ground of the latter being deprived of his
senses. St. Chrysostom draws out the contrast:
Toirro yap udVrcst (Siov, to t$tarriKivat, rb
iriyxv irofiiytiy, TO iotttaiat, rb i\Kta6at,
ro avptaiai fimrep \tm»iiK*vov. 'O Si wootfrrns
lirx otrut, iWa starA Stayotas nrpoio-nt <col
na*>povovo-n> Karaordatm, «al «l'5»j ft Q8iy
■ory or enigma, but to Moaaa It Is said : With Mm
will I apsak mouth to mouth (Mum. xli. 8) and free
» *M* (Bx- xxxlH. 11). 8 All the other prophets
•am terrified, but with Mom It was not so; and this
i* what the Scripture says : As a man apeaketh unto
sat Maul Qtx. xxxiil. 11). 4. All the other propheta
<Wtt as* nrapfcasy at any time that they wished, bat
PROPHET
ymu, dtyrlr aVavra' for* aai raw raja «VaJar
asms xaWsvfcr yripi(» rbr pArrv mU t*»
■wptaytftnv (Horn. xxix. in Epist ad Corinth.). At
the same time, while drawing the distinction
sharply lietween heathen soothsaying and Hon-
tanist prophesying on the one side, and Hebrew
prophecy on the other, the Fathers use expressions
so strong as almost to represent the Prophets to
be passive instruments acted on by the Spirit of
God. Thus it is that they describe them as
musical instruments, — the pipe (Athensgoraa, Leg.
pro Christianity c. ix.; Clem. Alex. Cohort, ad
Gent. e. 1.), the lyre (Justin Martyr, Cohort, ad
Crac. c. viii.; Ephraem Syr. khylhm. xxix.;
Chrysostom, Ad Pop. Antioeh. Horn. i. t ii.); at
aa pens (St Greg. Magn. Prof, in Mor. in jii).
Expressions such a* these (many of which ant
quoted by Dr. Lee, Appendix G.) must be set against
the passages which were directed against the Mon-
tanist*. Nevertheless, there is a very appreciable
difference between their view and that of Tertullian
and Philo. Which is most in accordance with the
indications of Holy Scripture?
It doe* not seem possible to draw any very pre-
cise distinction between the prophetic " dream "
and the prophetic "vision." In the case of Abraham
(Gen. xv. 1) and of Daniel (Dan. vii. 1), they seem
to melt into each other. In both, the external
sense* are at rest, reflection is quiescent, and intu-
ition energizes. The action of the ordinary {acui-
ties is suspended in the one case by natural, in the
other supernatural or extraordinary causes. (See
I-ee, Insjnration, p. 173.) The state into which
the prophet was, occasionally, at least, thrown by
the ecstacy, or vision, or trance, is described poet-
ically in the Book of Job (iv. 13-16, xxxiii. 15)
and more plainly in the Book of DanieL In tht
case of Daniel, we find first a deep sleep (viii. 18,
x. 9) accompanied by terror (viii. 17, x. 8). Then
be la raised upright (viii. 18) on his hands and
knees, and then on hia feet (x. 10, 11). Ha then
receives the Divine revelation (viii. 19, x. 13).
After which he falls to the ground in a awoou (x.
16, 17); he la faint, aick, and astonished (viii. 87).
Here, then, ia an instance of the ecstatic state; nor
is it confined to the Old Testament, though we do
not find it in the New Testament accompanied by
such violent effects upon the body. At the Trans-
figuration, the disciples fell on their owe, being
overpowered by the Divine glory, and were restored,
like Daniel, by the touch of Jesus's hand. St
Peter fell into a trance ((kotocu) before he re
ceived hia viaion, instructing him aa to the admis-
sion of the Gentile* (Act* x. 10, xi. 5). St Paul
was in a trance («V aVoreVci) when he was com-
manded to devote himself to the conversion of tba
Gentilea (Acta xxii. 17), and when he was caught
up into the third heaven (2 Cor. xii. 1). St
John was probably in the same state (cV rrev/ucri)
when he received the message to the seven churches
(Bev. i. 10). The prophetic trance, then, must ba
acknowledged aa a Scriptural account of the stats
in which the prophet* and other inspired per-
sons, sometime*, at least, received Divine revel*-
wtth Has** It was not ao, but at any an that bf
wished for It, the Holy Spirit earns upon him ; so the
It waa not necessary for him to prepare his mind, at
he waa alwaya ready for It, like the ministering aa>
gab" (Tod HdchaxaiaA. e. viL, Bernard's rraaal J
116, quoted by fee, p. 4(7).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
Him »>«*«•
great voice .
sticks" (Her.
PBOPHBT
It would Mem to have been of the following
■nm.
(l.) The bodily senna were closed to external
objects n in deep sleep. (2.) The reflective and
discursive faculty was still and inactive. (3.) The
spiritual faculty (rrti/ta) was awakened to the
highest state of energy. Hence it is that revela-
tions in trances are described by the prophets as
" seen " or " heard " by them, for the spiritual
(acuity energizes by Immediate perception on the
part of the inward sense, not by inference and
thought. Thus Isaiah "*tu> the Lord sitting"
(Is. vL 1). Zechoriah " lifted up his eyes and
saw" (Zech. ii. 1); '• the word of the I.ord which
Micah »iw" (Mic i. 1); '-the wonder which Ha-
bakkuk did jre" (Ua'>. i. 1).' " Peter saw heaven
opened . . . ai.d there came a roscc to him "
(Acta x. 1 1). Paul was "in i trance, and < ia
(Act* xxii. 18). John " Aran/ a
. . and » ue seven gulden candle-
i. 13). Hence it is, too, that the
prophets' visions am unconnected and fragmentary,
inasmuch as they are not the subject of the reflec-
tive but of the perceptive faculty. Tbey described
what they saw and heard, not what they had them-
selves thought out and systematized. Hence, too,
succession in time is disregarded or unnoticed.
The subjects of the vision being, to the prophets'
sight, in juxtaposition or enfolding each other,
some in the foreground, some in the background,
are necessarily abstracted from the relations of time.
Hence, too, the imagery with which the prophetic
writings are colored, and the dramatic cast in
which they are moulded ; these peculiarities result-
ing, as we have already said, in a necessary obscu-
rity and difficulty of interpretation.
But though it must be allowed that Scripture
language seems to point out the state of dream and
of trance, or ecstasy, as a condition in which the
human instrument received the Divine communica-
tions, it does not follow that all the prophetic rev-
elations were thus made. We must acknowledge
the state of trance in such passages as Is. vi.
(called ordinarily the vision of Isaiah), as Es. 1.
(called the vision of Esekiel), as Dan. vii., viii.,x.,
xi., xii. (called the visions of Daniel), as Zech.i.,
It., v., vi. (called the visions of Zechariah), as Acts
>. (called the vision of St. Peter), as 3 Cor. xii.
(called the vision of St Paul), and similar in-
stances, which are indicated by the Language used.
But it does not seem true to say, with Hengsten-
berg. that " the difference between these prophecies
tnd the rest is a vanishing one, and if we but pos-
sess the power and the ability to look more deeply
Into them, the marks of the vision may lie
discerned" (CArisfufojy. vol. iv. p. 417).° St.
Pan] distinguishes '- revelations" from " visions '°
(9 Cor. xii. 1). In the books of Moses "speak-
ing mouth to mouth " is contrasted with " visions
tnd dreams " (Num. xii. 8). It is true that bi
his last-quoted passage, " visions and dreams "
■^one appear to be attributed to the prophet, while
•' speaking mouth to mouth " is reserved for Moses.
But when Moses was dead, the cause of this differ-
ence would cease. During the era of prophecy there
were none nearer to f>»d, none with whom He
would, we may suppose, communicate moi% openly
than the prophets. We should expect, then, that
■hey would be the recipients, not only of visions
PROPHBT
2699
• Bus view Issdvocatsd also by Velthuses (Dt i
as* Mrasn futmnm ducriptiotu), Jaha {EinltU. ia
in the state of dream or ecstasy, but also of thr
direct revelations which are called speaking mouth
to mouth. The greater part of the Divine oommuul.
cations we may suppose to have been thus made to
the prophets in their waking and ordinary state,
while the visions were exhibited to them either in
the state of sleep, or in the state of ecstasy. " The
more ordinary mode through which the word of the
1/wd, as far as we can trace, came, was through a*
divine impulse given to the prophet's own thoughts "
(Stanley, p. 436). Hence it follows that, while the
Fathers in their opposition to Montanism and uaria
were pushed somewhat too far in their denial of
the ecstatic state, they were yet perfectly exact in
their descriptions of the condition under which the
greater part of the prophetic revelations were re-
ceived and promulgated. No truer description has
been given of them than that of Hippolytus, and
that of St. Basil: Oi -yap «*{ Mat 8umt/uaw
ifOiyyoirro, oiSJ arss avrol tBofcorrt ravra
cVr/jpuTToy, aAAa rtpAror /tiv Stk rov Aoyaw
iiro(pl(orro ipd&s, trtira Si' ipa/tdmy wpoeoV
tiaKorro t« niXXorra KaAwt* tW otrm we-
Tiurfijvot IXryor raura tartp airuts Ii* p&ron
4w» toS ©sou kiroKfKpvfinit/a (HippoL Dt An-
lichruto, e. ii.). n«» Ttioupfaivov al KaSapal
Kal tiavytit <f"'X a '' o< "«' Karoxr pa firi/iam
TTJi Mas iftpytlat, tV f/upamw /SarV *al
haiyxuTcr <cai oWlJe <Vi8oAovpeViu> Ik reV
vaSir TTjr oxtpxos ra-cBf urswro' wao*i per ysW
vdpeoTi t* 'Kyior ftrsv/M (St. Basil, Comm. m
Eiai. Prooem.).
Hsd the prophets a full knowledge of that which
they predicted? It follows from what we have
already said that they had not, and could not have.
They were the " spokesmen " of God (Ex. vii. 1),
the " mouth" by which his words were uttered,
or they were enabled to view, and empowered to
describe, pictures presented to their spiritual In-
tuition; but there are no grounds for believing that,
contemporaneously with this miracle, there was
wrought another miracle enlarging the understand-
ing of the prophet so as to grasp the whole of the
Divine counsels which he was gazing into, or which
he was the instrument of enunciating. We should
not expect it lieforehand ; and we hare the testi-
mony of the prophets themselves (Dan. xii. 8; Zech
iv. 5), and of St. Peter (1 Pet. i. 10), to the foot
that they frequently did not comprehend them.
The passage In St. Peter's Epistle is very instruc-
tive: "Of which salvation the prophets have in-
quired and searched diligently, who prophesied of
the grace that should come unto you: searching
what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory
that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed,
that not unto themselves, but unto us they did
minister the things, which are now reported unto
you by them that have preached the gospel unto
you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven."
It is here declared (1) that the Holy Ghost through
the prophet, or the prophet by the Holy Ghost,
testified of Christ's sufferings and ascension, and
of the institution of Christianity: (3) that after
having uttered predictions on those •ejects, the
minds of the prophets occupied themselves in search-
ing Into the full meaning of the words that they
had uttered; (3) that they were then divinely for
dit gBtuickm BUdur dt$ A. B.),
pktuu mm! tart Wtiuaguntml
Theiwek(J>.i ft»
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2600
PROPHET
formed that their prediction! were not to find their
eon pletion until the last days, and that they them-
selves were instruments for declaring good things
that shook) conic not to their own bat to a future
generation. This is exactly what the prophetic
state above described would lead us to expect.
While the Divine communication is being received,
the human instrument ii simply passive. He sees
or bears by his spiritual intuition or perception,
and declares what he has seen or heard. Then
the reflective faculty which had been quiescent but
never so overpowered as to be destroyed, awakens
to the consideration of the message or vision re-
ceived, and it strives earnestly to understand it,
and more especially to look at the revelation as tn
Instead of out vftime. The result is failure; but
this failure is softened, by the Divine intimation
that the time is not yet* The two questions,
What did the prophet understand by this prophecy ?
and. What was the meaning of this prophecy? are
totally different in the estimation of every one
who believes that " the Holy Ghost spake by the
Prophets," or who considers it possible that be did
so speak. 6
V. Interpretation of Predictive Proph-
ect. — We have only space for a few rules, deduced
from the account which we have given of the nature
of prophecy. They are, (1.) Interpose distances of
time according as history may show them to be
necessary with respect to the past, or inference may
■how them to be likely in respect to the future,
because, as we have seen, the prophetic visions are
abstracted. from relations in time. (2. ) Distinguish
the form from the Hen. Thus Isaiah (xi. 15) rep-
resents the ulea of the removal of all olwtacles from
before God's people in the form of the Ix>rd *
destroying the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and
smiting the river into seven streams. (3.) Distin-
guish in like manner figure from what is represented
by it, e. g., in the verse previous to that quoted,
do not understand literally, •' They shall jly upon
lit t/touUert of the Philistines " (Is. xi. 14). (4. )
Make allowance for the imagery of the prophetic
visions, and for the poetical diction in which tbey
are expressed. (5 ) In respect to things past, in-
terpret by the apparent meaning, checked by refer-
ence to events ; in respect to things future, inter-
pret by the apparent meaning, checked by reference
to the analogy of the faith. (6. ) Interpret accord-
ing to the principle which may be deduced from
the examples of visions explained in the Old Testa-
ment. (7.) Interpret according to the principle
which may be deduced from the examples of proph-
ecies interpreted in the New Testament.
TI. Use op Prophecy. — Predictive prophecy
■ at once a part and an evidence of revelation : at
a See Keble, Christian Year, 18th 3. aft. Trln., and
Lee, Inspiration, p. 210.
o It Is on this principle rather than as It Is ex-
plained by Dr. M'Caul (Aids to Faith) that the
prophecy of Hoaea xi. 1 Is to bs Interpreted. Hoses,
we may well believe, understood In his own words no
nan than a reference » the historical fact that the
shikbvn of Israel came out of Egypt. But Horn was
sot the author of the prophecy — he was the instru-
asnt by which It was promulgated The Holy Spirit
ntended something further — and what this something
was He informs us by the Evangelist St. Matthew
.Matt. II IS!. The two Huts of the Israelites being
.•* otl U Egypt and of Christ's return from Egypt
poser to Professor Jowett so distinct that the reler-
PROPHET
the time that it h delivered, and until it* I
loent, a part; after it has been fulfilled, an eride u ea
St Peter (Ep. 8, i. 19) describes it as "a hghl
shining in a dark place," or "a taper glimmering
where there is nothing to reflect its rays," that is.
throwing some light, but only a feeble light as
compared with what is shed from the Gospel his-
tory. To this light, feeble as it is, ■' you do well,"
says the Apostle, "to take heed." And he warns
them not to be offended at the feebleness of the
light, because it is of the nature of prophecy until
its fulfillment — (in the case of Messianic predic-
tions, of which he is speaking, described aa " until
the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your
hearts") — to shed only a feeble light Nay, ha
continues, even the prophets could not themselves
interpret it* meaning," "for the prophecy earns)
not in old time by the will of man," i. e. the)
prophets were not the authors of their predictions,
" but holy men of old spake by the impulse
(tptpiptvoi) of the Holy Ghost." This, then, waa
the use of prophecy before its fulfillment, — to act
as a feeble light in the midst of darkness, which it
did not dispel, but through which it threw its rajs
in such a way as to enable a true-hearted believer
to direct his steps and guide his anticipations (ef.
Acts xiii. 27). But after fulfillment, St Peter says,
"the word of prophecy" becomes "mure sure"
than it was before, that is, it is no longer scmij
a feeble light to guide, but it is a firm ground of
confidence, and, combined with the apostolic testi-
mony, serves as a trustworthy evidence of the faith;
so trustworthy, that even after he and his brother
Apostles are dead, those whom he addressed wiB
feel secure that they ■' had not followed cunningly
devised fables," but the truth.
As an evidence, fulfilled prophecy is as satisfac-
tory aa anything can be, for who can know the
future except the Ruler who disposes future events;
and from whom can come prediction except from
Him who knows the future? After all that has
been said and unsaid, prophecy and miracles, each
resting on their own evidence, must always be the
chief and direct evidences of the truth of the Divine
character of a religion. Where tbey exist, a Divine
power is proved. Nevertheless, they should navel
be rested on alone, but in combination with the
general character of the whole scheme to which
they belong. Its miracles, its prophecies, its morals,
its propagation, and its adaptation to human needs,
are the chief evidences of Christianity. None of
these must be taken separately. The fact of their
conspiring together is the strongest evidence of aD.
That one object with which predictions are delivered
is to serve in an after age as an evidence on which
faith may reasonably rest, is stated by our Lord
ones by St Matthew to the Prophet Is to nun inex-
plicable except on the hypothesis of a mistake on the
part of the Evangelist (see Jowetfs Essay on du In-
terpretation of Srriptnrr). A deeper i sight Into Strip-
tore shows that " the Jewish people hemselves, that'
history, their ritual, their govern meo., all present one
grand prophecy of the future Redeemer " (Lee, p. 107).
Consequently " Israel " Is one of the forms naturally
taken in the prophetic vision by the itlta " Mtstiak '■
e This is a more probable meaning of the words
totac eriAiiseex ov yi'avnu than that given by t'esrssa
(On Iks CM, art 1. p 17, ed. Burton), "that m
prophecy did so proceed from the prophet thai he sf
himself or by his own fauttnet did open htt month M
prophesy."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBOPHBT
Himself : " And now I have told you before it coma
to pan, that team it it comr to past ye might bt-
lieve" (John xhr. 89).
Til. Development of Messianic Proph-
ect. — Prediction, in tb* shape of promise and
threatening, begins with tue Book of Genesis. Im-
mediately upon the Kail, hopes of recovery and sal-
vation an held out, but the manner in which this
salvation is to be effected is left altogether indefinite-
All that is at first declared is that it shall come
through a child of woman (Gen. iii. 15). By de-
grees the area is limited : it is to come through the
family of Shera (Gen. ix. 26 ), through the family
of Abraham (Gen. iii. 3), of Isaac (Gen. xxii. 18),
of Jacob (Gen. ixviii. 14), of .ludah (Gen. xlix. 10).
Balaam seems to say that it will be wrought by a
warlike Isnelitish King (Num. xxiv. 17); Jacob,
by a peaceful Ruler of the earth (Gen. xlix. 10);
Hoses, by a Prophet like himself, i. e. a revealer
of a new religious dispensation (Deut. xriii. 15).
Nathan's announcement (2 Sam. vii. 16) deter-
mines further that the salvation is to come through
the house of David, and through a descendant of
David who shall be himself a king. This promise is
developed by David himself in the Messianic Psalms.
Pss. xvKi. and lxi. are founded on the promise
communicated by Nathan, and do not go beyond
the announcement made by Nathan. The same
may be said of l's. Ixxxix., which was composed by
a biter writer. Pss. ii. and ex. rest upon the same
promise as their foundation, but add new features
to H. The Son of David Is to be the Son of God
(U. 7), the anointed of the Lord (ii. 3), not only
the King of Zion (ii. 6, ex. 1), but the inheritor
and lord of the whole earth (ii. 8, ex. 6), and, be
sides this, a Priest forever after the order of Mel-
chiaedek (ex. 4). At the same time he is, ss
typified by his progenitor, to be full of suffering and
affliction (Pss. xxii., lxxi., cii., cix.): brought down
to the grave, yet raised to life without seeing cor-
ruption (Ps. xri.). In Pat. xlv., lxxii., toe sons of
Korah and Solomon describe his peaceful reign.
Between Solomon and Hezekiah intervened some
WO years, during which the voice of prophecy was
silent. The Messianic conception entertained at
this time by the Jews might have been that of a
King of the royal house of David who would arise,
and gather under his peaceful sceptre his own people
and strangers. Sufficient allusion to his propheti-
cal and priestly offices had been made to create
thoughtful consideration, hut as yet there was no
dear delineation of him in these characters. It
was reserved for the Prophets to bring out these
features more distinctly. The sixteen Prophets
may lie divided into four groups: the Prophets of
the Northern Kingdom, — Hosea, Amos, Joel,
a The modern Jews, In opposition to their ancient
exposition, have been driven to a non-Messianic inter-
pretation of Is. 1111. Among Christiana the non-Mes-
lUnie Interpretation commenced with Orotius. lie
applies the ohapter to Jeremiah. According to Doeder-
lelo. Schuster. Stephanl, Btahhoro, BosenmuUar, Illt-
Tig, Uendewerk, Kofiter (after the Jewish expositors,
Verchi, &ben-Eira, Ktmchl, Abarbanel, Upmann), the
i object of the prophecy is the IsraellUsh people. Ac-
cording to Bcksrmann, Ewald, Bleek, it is the ideal
Israelidsh people. According to Paulas, Animon.
Maarer, Thenius, Knobel. it is the godly portion of
she IsraellUsh people. According to De Wette, Sees-
jroe. Bcbenkel, Umbrelt, Hofmann, It Is the prophetical
>ody. Augnstl refers it to king Cssiah ; Konynenburg
tod Bahrdt to Heaaklah ; Staudlln to Isaiah tJLnself ;
<olt»r to the boon rf David. Iwald thinks that no
PROPHET 2601
Jonah ; the Prophets of the Southern Kingdom, —
Isaiah, Jeramiah, Obadiah, Hicah, Nahum. Habak
kuk, Zephaniab ; the Prophets of the Captivity, —
Kxekiel and Daniel; the Prophets of the Return, —
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. In this great period
of prophetism there is no longer any chronological
development of Messianic Prophecy, as in the earlier
period previous to Solomon. Each prophet adds a
feature, one more, another less clearly: combine
the features, and we have the portrait; but it does
not grow gradually and perceptibly under the hands
of the several artists. Here, therefo-e, the task of
tracing the chronological progress of the revelation
of the Messiah comes to an end: it* culminating
point is found in the prophecy contained in Is. lit
13-15, snd liii. We here read that there should
be a Servant of God, lowly and despised, full of
grief and suffering, oppressed, condemned as a male-
factor, and put to death. But his sufferings, it is
said, are not for his own sake, for he had never
been guilty of fraud or violence; they are spon-
taneously taken, patiently borne, vicarious in their
character; and, by God's appointment, they have
an atoning, reconciling, and justifying efficacy. The
result of his sacrificial offering is to be his exaltation
and triumph. By the path of humiliation and
expiatory suffering be is to reach that state of glory
foreshown by David and Solomon. The prophetis
character of the Messiah is drawn out by Isaiah in
other parts of bis book as the atoning work hen.
By the time of Hezekiah therefore (for Hengsten-
berg, Cln-iuuioyy, voL ii., has satisfactorily dis-
proved the theory of a Deutero-Isaiah of the days
of the Captivity) the portrait of the QtArdpmeos —
at once King, Priest, Prophet, and Redeemer — was
drawn in all its essential features." The contem-
porary and later Prophets (cf. Mic. v. 2; Dan. vil.
9; Zech. vi. 13; Mai. iv. 2) added some particulars
and details, and so the conception was left to await
its realization after an interval of some 400 yean
ftom the date of the last Hebrew Prophet.
It is the opinion of Hengstenberg ( Ckrittologf,
i. 235) and of Pusey {Minor Prophett, Part i
Introd.) that the writings of the Minor Prophets
are chronologically placed. Accordingly, the for-
mer arranges the list of the Prophets as follows:
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Isaiah
(" the principal prophetical figure in the first or
Assyrian period of canonical prophetism " ), Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Jeremiah ("the principal
prophetical figure in the second or Babylonian pe-
riod of canonical prophetism "), Eiekiel, Daniel,
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Calmet (Diet. BM.
s. v. •> Prophet " ) as follows : Hosea, Amos, Isaiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Joel,
Daniel, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, Obadiah,' Haggai.
historical person was Intended, but that the author .
of the chapter has misled his readers by Inserting s
passage from an older book, In which a martyr was
spoken of. "This,'' he says, "quite spontaneously
suggested itself, and has impressed Itself on his mind
more and more ; " and be thinks that " controversy
on chap. liii. will never cease until this truth Is ao
knowledged" {Prop/Men, 11. 8. 407). Hengstenberg
gives the following list of German commentators who
have maintained the Messianic explanation : Paths,
Hensler, Kocher, Koppe, Mtchaelis, Sohmieder, Storr,
Hanel, Krttger, Jabn, Stendel, Sack, Betake, Thoiank.
Etfverolck, Soer. Hengstenberg's own exposition, ana
criticism of ths expositions of others, Is well worth
consultation (Qtmto/oey, vol. It).
!• Obadiah Is generally considered to base Irrsd at s
later date than la compatible with a iiliiniiiiilisrtss' «t
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2602
PROPHET
Znharhh, Malachi. Dr. Stanley (Led. xix.) in
the following order: Joel, Jonah, Hoaea, Amos,
Isaiah, Micah, Naham, Zecbariah, Zephaniah,
Habakkuk, Oliatliah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah,
Daniel, Ilxggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Whence it
appears that \)t. Stanley recognizes two Isaiahs
and two Zechariahs, unless " the author of Is. xl.-
Ixvi. is regarded as the older Isaiah transported
into a style and pt sition later than his own time "
(p. 423).
VIII. Pbophkts op the New Testament.
— So fiu •■ their predictive powers are concerned,
the Old Testament prophets find their New Testa-
meat counterpart in the writer of the Apocalypse
[Revelation op St. Johx ; Antichrist] ;
but in their general character, as specially illumined
revealers of God's will, their counterpart will rather
be found, first in the Great Prophet of the Church,
and his forerunner John the Baptist, and next in
all those persons who were endowed with the
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit in the Apostolic
age, the speakers with tongues and the interpre-
ters of tongues, the prophets and the diseerners
of spirits, the teachers and workers of miracles
(1 Cor. xii. 10, 38). The connecting link between
the 0. T. prophet and the speaker with tongues
is the state of ecstasy in which the former at
times received his visions and in which the latter
uttered his words. The 0. T. prophet, however,
was his own interpreter: he did not speak in the
state of ecstasy : he saw his visions in the ecstatic
and declared them in the ordinary state. The N.
T. discemer of spirits lias his prototype in such as
Mieaiah the son of ImUh (1 K. xxii. 22), the worker
of miracles in Elijah and Klisha, the teacher in each
and all of the prophets. The prophets of the N. T.
represented their namesakes of the 0. T. as being
expounders of Divine truth and interpreters of the
Divine will to their auditors.
That predictive powers did occasionally exist in
the N. T. prophet* is proved by the case of Agabus
(Acts xi. 28), but this was not their characteristic,
rhey were not an order, like apostles, bishops or
presbyters, and deacons, but tbey were men or
women (Acta xxi. 9) who had the x&pio-ua wooav-
rfrdas vouchsafed them. If men, they might at
the same time be apostles (1 Cor. xiv.); and there
was nothing to hinder the different xaflcuara of
wisdom, knowledge, faith, teaching, miracles, proph-
ecy, discernment, tongues, and interpretation (1
Cor. xii.) being all accumulated on one person, and
this person might or might not be a presbyter. St
Paul describes prophecy as being effective for the
conversion, apparently the sudden and immediate
conversion, of unbelievers (1 Cor. xiv. 24), and for
the instruction and consolation of believers (Ibid.
31). This shows its nature. It was a spiritual gift
which enabled men to understand and to teach the
truths of Christianity, especially as veiled in the
Old Testament, and to exhort and warn with Mi-
nority and effect greater than human (see Locke,
Paraplirate, note on 1 Cor. xii., and Conybeare and
llowson, i. 481). The prophets of the N. T. were su-
pernaturaUy-illuminated expounders and preachers.
S. Augustinus, De CiviUitt Dei, lib. xviii. c.
ixrii. et eeq.. Op. torn. vii. p. 608, Paris, 1685.
1. G. Oarpxorius, Introd. ad Librae Canonic e,
ssp g s ui cnt of the canon, in consequence of his refer*
*mv to the capture of Jerusalem. But such an infer-
sasa Is not necessary, for the prophet might have
I himself In Imagination forward to the date of
PROSELYTES
Lips. 1767. John Smith, Select Discourses: Os
Prophecy, p. 179, Lond. 1821, and prefixed Is
Latin to Le Clare's Commentary, Amst. 1781.
Lowth, Dt Sacra Potd Hebraui-um, Oxon. 1891,
and translated by Gregory, Lond. 1836. Davison,
Discourses on Prophecy, Oxf. 1889. Butler, Anal-
ogy of Religion, Oxf. 1849. Uorsley, Biblical
Criticim, Lond. 1820. Home, Introduction to
Holy Scripture, c. iv. § 3, Lond. 1828. Van Mil-
dert, Bogle Lectures, S. xxii., Loud. 1831. Etch
horn, Die Hebr&ischen Propheten, Getting. 1816
Knobel, Der Prophelismus der /reorder, BreaL
1837. Kiister, Die Propheten da A. md If. T.,
Leipz. 1838. Ewald, Die Propheten dee Ahen
Dundee, Stuttg. 1840. Hofinann, Weieeagvng tmd
ErfuUang in A. und N. T., Nordl. 1841. Heog-
stenberg, Christvlogy of the Old Teetamenl, in T.
T. Clark's Translation, Edinb. 1864. Fab-bairn,
Prophecy, its Nature, Function!, and Interpreta-
tion, Edinb. 1856. Lee, Inspiration of Holy Scrip-
ture, Lond. 1857. Oehler, art. Prophetenthum da
A. T.ia Herzog's ReaLEncyUapSdic, Goth. I860.
Pusey, The Minor Prophets, Oxf. 1861. Aide to
Faith, art. " Prophecy " and " Inspiration," Lond.
1861. R. Payne Smith. Messianic Interpreta-
tion of the Prophecies of leninh, Oxf. 1862. Da-
vidson, Introduction to the Old Testament, ii. 422,
" On Prophecy," I>ond. 1862. Stanley, Lectures
on the Jewish Church, Lond. 1863. F. M.
* A few other works may be added to the pre-
ceding list. TJmbreit, Die Propheten dee A. feet
die SUesten u. wSrdigsten Vulkeredner, in the SO-
dim v. Kritiken for 1833, pp. 1043-1056. Haver-
nick, Vwlesungm us. die TheoL dee A. Test.
(1848), pp. 145-175. J. L. Saalschttte, Dae Mom-
itch e Recht, i. 128 ff. A. Tholuck, Die Propheten
u. ihre Weiseagungen (1861), and TheoL Encycb-
padia, transl. by Prof. E. A. Park in the BibL
Sacra, i. 861 ff. F. R. Haaae, Geschichte des A.
Bundes, especially pp. 93-211. K. F. Keil, Lehr-
buch der EM. in das A. Test., pp. 138-416 (1859).
Fr. Bleek, Einleitung in tf/-* A. Test, pp. 409-
611 (1860). FronraUller, Pi-ophelen, in Zeller'i
BibL Wtrterbuch, ii. 284-292 (an excellent sum-
mary). F. D. Maurice, Prophets and Kings of
the Old Test (2d ed. Boat. 1853). M. Stuart,
Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy (Andover,
1844). Prof. E. P. Barrows, The Element of Tim*
in Prophecy, in the BibL Sacra, xii. 789-821.
Isaac Taylor, The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, pp.
239-354 (N. T. 1862). Dr. Thomas Arnold, Tat
Sermons on the Interpretation of Prophecy, with
Notes and two Appendices, in his Works, L 373-
456 (Lond. 1845).
For works more especially on the Messianic
Prophecies, see the literature under Messiah
(Amer. ed.). For Commentaries on partieiual
prophets see their names in the Dictionary H.
• PROPHETS, SCHOOLS OF THE
[Pbophkts, p. 2592 f.]
PROSELYTES (3*!?: wp«r*>irr«, 1
Chr. xxii. 2, Ac.; ytutoeu, Ex. xii. 19: Proeelyti).
The Hebrew word thus translated is In the A. V
commonly rendered " stranger " (Gen. xv. 13, Ex.
ii. 22, Is. v. 17, Ac.). The LXX., as above, com.
monly gives the equivalent in meaning (wpoa^Kv
his prophecy (Hengstanberg), or the words which, M
translated by the A. V., an a remonstrance aa to aV
past, may be really but an Imparattv* as to the MB)
(Pussy).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBOSELYTBS
•m «wi tow wpoffcAi)\v$c'rai «u»" <tol e>Ao9<V
r*AiT«i<j, Philo and Suidas, ». ».), l>ut sonxiimes
substitutes a Hellenixed form (■y«is»j>aj) of the Ara-
maic form Mn'^a. In the N. T. the A. V. hat
taken the word in a more restricted meaning, and
translated it accordingly (Matt, xxiii. 15, Acta ii.
10, vi. 6).
The existence, through all stages of the history
of the Israelites, of a body of men, not of the same
race, but holding the same faith and adopting the
tame ritual, is a feet which, from its very nature,
requ'res to be dealt with historically. To start
with the technical distinctions and regulations of
the later Rabbis is to invert the natural order, and
leads to inevitable confusion. It is proposed accord-
ingly to consider the condition of the proselytes of
Israel in the fire great periods into which the his-
tory of the people divides itself, namely, (I.) the age
of the patriarchs; (II.) from the Exodus to the
commencement of the monarchy; (III.) the period
of the monarchy; (IV.) from the Babylonian cap-
tivity to the destruction of Jerusalem; (V.) from
the destruction of Jerusalem downwards.
I. The position of the family of Israel as a dis-
tinct nation, with a special religious character, ap-
pears at a very early period to have exercised a
power of attraction over neighboring races. The
slaves and soldiers of the tribe of which Abraham
was the head (Uen- xvii. 27), who were included
with him in the covenant of circumcision,
hardly perhaps be classed as proselytes in the later
sense. The case of the Shechemites, however (Gen.
xxxiv. ), presents a more distinct instance The con-
verts are swayed partly by passion, partly by inter-
est. The sons of Jacob then, as afterwards, require
circumcision as an indispensable condition (Gen.
xxxiv. 14). This, and apparently this only, was
required of proselytes in the pre-Mosaic period.
II. The life of Israel under the Law, from the
very first, presupposes and provides for the incorpo-
ration of men of other races. The " mixed multi-
tude " of Ex. xii. 38 implies the presence of prose-
lytes more or less complete. It is recognized in the
earliest rules for the celebration of the Passover (Ex.
xii. 19). The "stranger" of this and other laws
m the A. V. answers to the word which distinctly
Means " proselyte," and is so translated in the
LXX., and the prominence of the class may be es-
timated by the frequency with which the word re-
curs: 9 times in Exodus, 20 in Leviticus, 11
Numbers, ly in Deuteronomy. The laws clearly
point to the position of a convert. The "stranger"
is bound by the law of the Sabbath ( Ex. xx. 10, xxiii.
12; Deut v. 14). Circumcision is the condition
■if any fellowship with him (Ex. xii. 48; Num. ix.
14). He is to be present at the Passover (Ex. xii.
19), the Feast of Weeks (Deut xvi. 11), the Feast
of Tabernacles (Deut. xvi. 14), the Day of Atone-
ment (l*v. xvi. 29). The laws of prohibited mar-
riages (Lev. xviii. 26) and abstinence from blood
(I<ev. xvii. 10) are binding upon him. He is liable
to the same punishment for Molech-worship (Lev.
rx. 2), and for blasphemy (Lev. xxiv. 16) may claim
he same right of asylum as the Israelites in the
aities of refuge (Num. xxiv. 15; Josh. xx. 9). On
the other side he is subjected to some drawbacks
He cannot hold land (Lev. xix. 10). He has no
fn$ comtulni with the descendants of Aaron (Lev.
td. 14). His condition is assumed to be, for the
oort part, one of poverty (Lev. xxiii. 22), often of
lerrltudo (Deut. xxix. 11). For this reason he is
PBOSBLYTKS
2608
placed under the special protection of the Law (Dent,
x. 18). He is to share in the right of gleaning
(Lev. xix. 10), is placed in the same category as the
fatherless and the widow (Deut. xxiv. 17, 19,xxrL
12, xxvii. 19), is joined with the Levite as entitled
to the tithe of every third year's produos (Dent
xiv. 29, xxvi. 12). Among the proselytes of thai
period the Kknitks, who under Hobaii uceom
panied the Israelites in their wanderings, and ulti
mately settled in Canaan, were probably the most
conspicuous (Judg. L 16). The presence of the
class was recognized in the solemn declaration of
blessings and curses from Ebal and Gerizim (Joan,
viii. 33).
The period after the conquest of Canaan was not
favorable to the admissiOD of proselytes. The people
had no strong faith, no commanding position. The
Gibeonites (Josh. ix. ) furnish the only instance of
a conversion, and their condition is rather that of
slaves compelled to conform than of free proselytes.
[Nkthinim.]
III. With the monarchy, and the consequent
fame and influence of the people, there was mora
to attract stragglers from the neighboring nations,
and we meet accordingly with many names which
suggest the presence of men of another race con-
forming to the faith of Israel. Doeg the Edomite
(1 Sam. xxi. 7), Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam. xi. 8),
Araunah the Jebusite (2 Sam. xxiv. 23), Zelek the
Ammonite (2 Sam. xxiii. 37), Ithmah the MoabiU
(1 Car. xi. 46) — these two, in spite of an express
law to the contrary (Deut xxiii. 3) — and at a later
period Shebna the scribe (probably, comp. Alexan-
der ou Is. xxii. 15), and Ebed-Melech the Ethio-
pian (Jer. xxxviii. 7), are examples that such pros-
elytes might rise even to high offices about till
person of the king. The Ciikhetihtbb and P«v
letiiitks consisted probably of foreigners who had
been attracted to the service of David, and were
content for it to adopt the religion of their master
(Ewald, Gach. i. 330, iii. 183). The vision in Ps
lxxxvii. of a time in which men of Tyre, Egypt
Ethiopia, Philistia, should all be registered among
the citizens of Zion, can hardly fail to have had its
starting-point in some admission of proselytes
within the memory of the writer (Ewald and Da
Wetto, in he.). A convert of another kind, the
type, as it has been thought, of the later proselytes
of the gate (see below), is found in Naaman the
Syrian (2 if. v. 15, 18) recognizing Jehovah as his
God, yet not binding himself to any rigorous ob-
servance of the Law.
The position of the proselytes during this period
appears to have undergone considerable changes.
On the one band men rose, as we have seen, to
power and fortune. The case for which the Law
provided (Lev. xxr. 47) might actually occur, and
they might be the creditors of Israelite debtors, the
masters of Israelite slaves. It might well be a
sign of the times In the later days of the monarchy
that they became " very high," the " head " and
not the " tail " of the people (Deut xxviii. 43, 44).
The picture had, however, another side. They
were treated by David and Solomon as a subject-
class, brought (like Perioeci, almost like Helots)
under a system of compulsory labor from which
others were exempted (1 Chr. xxii. 2; 2 Chr. II. 17,
18). The statistics of this period, taken probably
for that ourpose, give their number (probably, i. «.
the number of adult working males) at 1B3.80C
{ibid.). They were subject at other times to wan-
ton insolence and outrage (Ps. xciv. 6). As I
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2604
PR08ELYTES
jompensatian for their Buffering! they became the
special objects of the care and sympathy of the
prophets. One after another of the " goodly fel-
lowship" pleads the cause of the proselytes as
warmly as that of the widow and the fatherless
(Jer. vii. 6, xxii. 3; Ex. zzii. 7, 29; Zech. vii. 10;
Hal. iii. 5). A large accession of convert* enters
into all their hopes of the Divine Kingdom (Is. ii.
2, xi. 10, hi. 3-6; Hie. ir. 1). The sympathy of
one of them goes still further. He sees, in the fax
future, the vision of a time when the last rem-
nant of inferiority shall be removed, and the pros-
elytes, completely emancipated, shall be able to hold
and inherit land even as the Israelites (Ez. xlvii. 22).«
IV. The proselytism of the period after the Cap-
tivity assumed a different character. It was for
the most part the conformity, not of a subject race,
but of willing adherents. Even as early as the
return from Babylon we have traces of those who
were drawn to a faith which they recognized as
holier than their own, and had " separated them-
selves" unto the law of Jehovah (Neh. x. 28).
The presence of many foreign names among the
Nbthixih (Neh. vii. 46-69) leads us to believe
that many of the new converts dedicated them-
selves specially to the service of the new Temple.
With the conquests of Alexander, the wars between
Egypt and Syria, the struggle under the Macca-
bees, the expansion of the Human empire, the Jews
became more widely known and their power to
proselytize increased. They had suffered for their
religion in the persecution of Antiochus, and the
spirit of martyrdom was followed naturally by
propagandiam. Their monotheism was rigid and
unbending. Scattered through the east and west,
a marvel and a portent, wondered at and scorned,
attracting and repelling, they presented, in an age
of shattered creeds, and corroding doubts, 'he
spectacle of a faith, or at least a dogma, which
remained unshaken. The influence was sometimes
obtained well, and exercised for good. In most of
the great cities of the empire, there were men who
bad been rescued from idolatry and its attendant
debasements, and brought under the power of a
higher moral law. It is possible that in some cases
the purity of Jewish life may have contributed to
this result, and attracted men or women who
shrank from the unutterable contamination, in the
midst of which they lived* The converts who
were thus attracted, joined, with varying strictness
(infra) in the worship of the Jews. They were
present in their synagogues (Acts xiii. 42, 43, 50,
xvii. 4, xviii. 7). They came up as pilgrims to the
great feasts at Jerusalem (Acts ii. 10). In Pales-
tine itself the influence was often stronger at_J
better. Even Roman centurions learnt to love the
conquered nation, built synagogues for them (Lnke
vH. 5), fasted and prayed, and gave alms, after the
pattern of the strictest Jews (Acta x. 2, 30), and
oeeame preachers of the new faith to the soldiers
under them (Hid. v. 7). Such men, drawn by
what was best in Judaism, were naturally among
■ The significance of this puffize In its historical
soonection with Ps. IiiitII , already referred to, and
ts spiritual fulfillment in the language of St. Paul
,Bph. ii. 191. deserve a fuller notice than they have
b This influence is not perhaps to be altogether
deluded, hut It has sometimes been enormously ex
sgawratsd. Camp Dr. Temple's " Baey an the Edu
jetton of the World " (Enayi and Rteitw$, p. 12).
PBOSELTTK8
the read est receivers of the new truth whisk roes
out of it, and became, in many cases, the nuelsas
of a Gentile Church.
Proselytism had, however, its darker side. The
Jews of Palestine were eager to spread their faith
by the same weapons as those with which tbey had
defended it. Had not the power of the Empire
stood in the way, the religion of Hoses, stripped of
its higher elements, might have been propagated
far and wide, by force, as was afterwards the relig-
ion of Mohammed. As it was, the ldunueans had
the alternative offered them by John Hyrcauus of
death, exile, or circumcision (Joseph. AM. xiii. 9,
§ 8). The Iturssans were converted in the same)
way by Aristobulus (ibid. xiii. 11, J 3). In the
more frenzied fanaticism of a later period, the Jean
under Josephus could hardly be restrained from
seizing and circumcising two chiefs of Trachonitis
who had come as envoys (Joseph. 111. p. 23).
They compelled a Roman centurion, whom they
had taken prisoner, to purchase his life by accept-
ing the sign of the covenant (Joseph. B. J. ii. 11,
§ 10). Where force was not in their power (the
" veluti Judasi, cogemns " of Hor. SaL 1. 4, 142,
implies that they sometimes ventured on it even at
Rome), they obtained their ends by the most un-
scrupulous fraud. They appeared as soothsayers,
diviners, exorcists, and addressed themselves espe-
cially to the fears and superstitions of women.
Their influence over these became the subject of
indignant satire (Juv. Sot. vi. 543-647). They
persuaded noble matrons to send money and pnrple
to the Temple (Joseph. Ant. xviii. 8, $• 5). At
Damascus the wives of nearly half the population
were supposed to be tainted with Judaism (Jos ep h.
B. J. ii. 10, § 9). At Rome they numbered in
their ranks, in the person of Poppas, even an im-
perial concubine (Joseph. Ant xx. 7, § 11). The
converts thus made, east off all ties of kindred and
affection (Tac. Hat. v. 0). Those who were moat
active in proselytizing were precisely those from
whose teaching all that was most true and living
had departed. The vices of the Jew were engrafted
on the vices of the heathen. A repulsive casuistry
released the convert from obligations which be had
before recognized," 1 while in other things he was
bound, hand and foot, to an unhealthy superstition.
It was no wonder that be became " twofold more
the child of Gehenna " (Matt, xxiii. 16) than tba
Pharisees themselves.
The position of such proselytes was indeed every
way pitiable. At Rome, and in other large cities,
they became the butts of popular scurrility. The
words "curtus," "verpea," met them at every
corner (Hor. Sat. i. 4, 142; Hart. vii. 29, 84, 81,
xi. 95, xii. 37). They had to share the fortunes
of the people with whom they had east in their
lot, might be banished from Italy (Acts xviii. 9;
Suet. Claud, p. 25), or sent to die of malaria in
the most unhealthy stations of the empire (Tae.
Ann. ii. 85). At a later time, they were bound to
make a public profession of their conversion, and
to pay a special tax (Suet Dumil. xii.). If tbey
failed to do this and were suspected, they might
e The Law of the Corban may serve as one iDStanee
(Matt. xv. 4-6). Another is (bund In the Babbmk
laanhlng as to marriage. C lr cumchdon, like a new
birth, canceled all previous relationships, and unless
within the nearest degrees of blood were tberatxe at
longer incestuous (Meimon. ez Mam. f. 982 ; Bahta
ssJmkMU. « Oeal.il. 4; Kcor Hm>. ■- 18).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PROSELYTES
m sohjeet to the moat degrading examination to
■certain the bet of their being proselytes (ibid.).
Among the Jews themselves their case was not
much batter. For the most part the convert gained
but little honor even from those who gloried in
baring brought him over to their sect and party.
The popular Jewish feeling about there was like
the popular Christian feeling about a converted
Jew. Thej were regarded (by a strange Rabbinic
perrenion of b. xiv. 1) as tbe leprosy of Israel,
"clearing " to the house of Jacob (Jtbam. 47, 4;
Kiddtai. 70, G). An opprobrious proverb coupled
them with the vilest profligates ("proselyti et
pssdemtc ") as hindering the coming of the Mes-
siah (Ughtfoot, Hot. h3>. in Matt, xxiii. 5). it
became a recognized maxim that no wise man
would bust a proselyte even to the twenty-fourth
generation (JnllaUh Rath, f. 163 a).
The better Rabbis did their best to guard against
these evils. Anxious to exclude all unworthy con-
verts, they grouped them, according to their mo-
tives, with a somewhat quaint classification.
(1.) liuve-proselytes, where they were drawn by the
hope of gaining the beloved one. (The story
of SylUeus and Salome, Joseph. Ant. xvi. 7,
5 6, is an example of a half-finished conver-
sion of this kind.)
(2.) Man-for-Woman, or Woman-for-Man prose-
lytes, where the husband followed the religion
of the wife, or conversely.
(8.) Esther-proselytes, where conformity was as-
sumed to escape danger, as in the original
Purim (Esth. viii. 17).
(4.) King's-table-proselytes, who were led by the
hope of court favor and promotion, like the
converts under David and Solomon.
(6.) Lion-proselytes, where the conversion orig-
inated in a superstitious dread of a divine
Judgment, as with the Samaritans of 2 EL.
xvii. 28.
(Gem. Hieros. KUehuh. 65, 6; Jost, Judenth. i.
p. 448.) None of these were regarded as fit for
sd mission within the covenant When they met
with one with whose motives they were satisfied,
he was put to a yet further ordeal. He was warned
that in becoming a Jew he was attaching himself
to a persecuted people, that in this life he wss to
expect only suffering, and to look for his reward in
the next. Sometimes these cautions were in their
tun carried to an extreme, and amounted to a
vjlijy of exclusion. A protest against them on
i» part of a disciple of the Great Hillel is recorded,
which throws across the dreary rubbish of Rabbin-
«m the momentary gleam of a noble thought.
"' Our wise men leach," said Simon ben Gamaliel,
"that when a heathen comes to enter into the
covenant, our part is to stretch out our hand to
him and to bring him under the wings of God "
(.lost, Judenth. i. 447).
Another mode of meeting the difficulties of the
ease was characteristic of the period. Whether
en may transfer to it the full formal distinction
between Proselytes of the Gate and Proselytes of
Righteousness (*n/rn) may be doubtful enough,
bat we find two distinct modes of thought, two
distinct policies in dealing with converts. Tbe
history of Helena, queen of Adiabene, and her son
■aias, presents the two in oollision with each other.
They had been converted by a Jewish mercha.it,
tnaulas, butlhe queen feared lest the elrcumdsiou
«T bar sou should disquiet and alarm her subjects.
PROSELYTES
260c
Ananias assured her that it was not
Her son might worship God, study the Law, keep
the commandments, without it. Soon, however,
a stricter teacher came, Eleuar of Galilee. Find-
ing bates reading the Law, he told him sternly
that it was of little use to study that which he
disobeyed, and so worked upon his fears, that the
young devotee was eager to secure the safety of
which his uncircumcision had deprived him (Joseph.
Ant xx. 2, § 6; Jost, Judenth. i. 341). On tho
part of some, therefore, there was a disposition to
dispense with what others looked on as indis-
pensable. The centurions of Luke vii. (pr bably I
and Acts x., possibly the Hellenes of John x'l. 20
and Acts xiii. 42, are instances of men admitted
on the former footing. The phrases of otfSififrci
TfmrbXvTOi (Acts xiii. 43), of (rt$4ntrot (xvii. 4,
17; Joseph. AtiL xiv. 7, § 2), tvSptt <u\a/3«i
(Acts ii. 5, vii. 2) are often, but inaccurately, sup-
posed to describe the same class — the Proselytes
of the Gate. The probability is, either that tbe
terms were used generally of all converts, or, if
with a specific meaning, were applied to the full
Proselytes of Righteousness (couip. a full examina-
tion of the passages in question by N. Lardner,
On the Decree of AcU xv. ; Works xi. 305). The
two tendencies were, at all events, at work, and
the battle between them was renewed afterwards
on holier ground and on a wider scale. Ananias
and Eleazar were represented in the two parties of
the Council of Jerusalem. Tbe germ of truth had
been quickened into a new life, and was emanci-
pating itself from the old thraldom. The decrees
of the Council were the solemn assertion of the
principle that believers in Christ were to stand on
the footing of Proselytes of the Gate, not of Prose-
lytes of Righteousness. The teaching of St. Pan]
as to righteousness and its conditions, its depend-
ence on faith, its independence of circumcision,
stands out in sharp clear contrast with the teachers
who taught that that rite was necessary to salva-
tion, and confined the term "righteousness" to
the circumcised convert-
V. The teachers who carried on the Rabbinica.
succession consoled themselves, as they saw the
new order waxing and their own glory waning, by
developing the decaying system with an almost
microscopic minuteness. They would at least
transmit to future generations the full measure of
the religion of their fathers. In proportion as
they ceased to have any power to proselytize, they
dwelt with exhaustive fullness on the question how
proselytes were to be made. To this period accord-
ingly belong the rules and decisions which are often
carried back to an earlier age, and which may now
he conveniently discussed. The precepts of the
Talmud may indicate tbe practices and opinions of
the Jews from the 2d to the 5th century. They
are very untrustworthy as to any earlier time.
The points of interest whioh present themselves for
inquiry are, (1.) The classification of Proselytes.
(2.) The ceremonies rf their admission.
The division whioh has been in part anticipated,
was recognized by the Talmudic Rabbis, but re-
ceived its full expansion at the hands of Mai-
monides (ffifc. Mil. i. 6). They claimed for it a
remote antiquity, a divine authority. The term
Proselytes of the Gate ("IS® H *nj), waa derived
from tbe frequently occurring description in tbe
Law, "the stranger PS) that is within thy gales"
(Ex. xz. 10, Ae,). Tber were known alio it tot
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2606
PROSBLTTKS
sojourners pBJ'u"! ^g), with a reference to Lev.
xxv. 47, Ac. To them were referred the greater
part of the precepts of the Law as to the "stranger."
The Targutus of Onkelos and Jonathan give thi»
as the equivalent in Deut. xiiv. 21. Convert! of
this class were not bound by circumcision and the
other special laws of the Mosaic code. It was
enough for them to observe the seven precepts of
Noah (Otho, Lex. Rabb. " Noachida; " Selden,
D» Jur. Nat et (Sent. i. 10), •'. t. the six supposed
to have been given to Adam, (1) against idolatry,
(9) against blaspheming, (8) against bloodshed,
(4) against uncleanness, (5) against theft, (6) of
obedience, with (7) the prohibition of » flesh with
the blood thereof" given to Noah. The proselyte
was not to claim the privileges of an Israelite,
might not redeem his first-born, or pay the half-
shekel (Leyrer, trt inf.). He was forbidden to
study the Law under pain of death (Otho, I c).
The later Rabbis, when Jerusalem had passed into
other hands, held that it was unlawful for him to
reside within the holy city (Maimon. Beth-haccher.
vii. 14). In returnj.hey allowed him to offer whole
burntroflerings for the priest to sacrifice, and to
contribute money to the Corban of the Temple.
They held out to him the hope of a place in the
paradise of the world to come (I*yrer). They in-
listed that the profession of his faith should be
made solemnly in the presence of three witnesses
(Maimon. Hilc Mel viii. 10). The Jubilee was
the proper season for his admission (Muller, De
Pros, in Ugolini xxii. 841).
All this seems so full and precise, that we can-
not wonder that it has led many writers to look on
it as representing a reality, and most commenta-
tors accordingly have seen these Proselytes of the
Gate in the ro/SoVtroi, evKafitU. Qofaiiuvoi rby
»,i, of the AcU. It remains doubtful, however,
whether it was ever more than a paper scheme of
what ought to be, disguising itself as having actu-
ally been. The writers wbo are most full, who
claim for the distinction the highest antiquity,
confess that there had been no Proselytes of the
Gate since the Two Tribes and a half had been
carried away into captivity (Maimon. Bile. iftk.
i. 6). They could only be admitted at the jubi-
lee, and there had since then been no jubilee cele-
brated (Muller, I c). All that can be said, there-
fore, is, that in the time of the N. T. we have
independent evidence (it tupra) of the existence
of converts of two degrees, and that the Talmudic
division is the formal systematizing of an earlier
HcL The words " proselytes," and o<" atfiiiuvoi
ror 8«oV, were, however, in all probability limited
to the ciroumcised.
In contrast with these were the Proselytes of
Righteousness (P^U Tsft kuown » ho " ****
siyte* of the Covenant, perfect Israelite*. By
some writers the Talmudio phrase protdgti tracti
(CWI?) is applied to them as drmm to the cov-
enant by spontaneous conviction (Buxtorf, Lexic.
s. v.„ while others (Kimcbi) refer it to those who
were constrained to conformity, like the Gibeon-
tos. Here also we must receive what we find
with the same limitation as before. All seems at
PBOSBLTTBS
first clear and definite enough. The proaetyto was
first catechised as to his motives (Maimon. as
lupt-a). If these were satis&ctory, he wee first
instructed as to the Divine protection of the Jew-
ish people, and then circumcised. In the can of
a convert already circumcised (a Midianite, «. g.
or an Egyptian), it was still necessary to draw a
few drops of "the blood of the covenant" (Gem.
Bab. Shabb. f. 138 a). A special prayer was ap-
pointed to accompany the act of circumcision.
Often the proselyte took a new name, cpening tha
Hebrew Bible and accepting the first that earns)
(Leyrer, vt infr.).
All this, however, was not enough. The con-
vert was still "a stranger." His children would
be counted as bastards, i. e. aliens. Baptism was
required to complete his admission. When tha
wound was healed, he was stripped of all bin
clothes, in the presence of the three witnesses who
had acted as bis teachers, and who now acted as
his sponsors, the "fathers" of the proselyte (JTo-
tubh. xi., Erubh. xv. 1), and led into the tank at
pool. As he stood there, up to his neck in water,
they repeated the great commandments of the Law.
These he promised and vowed to keep, and then,
with an accompanying benediction, he plunged un-
der the water. To leave one hand-breadth of his
body unsubmerged would have vitiated the whole
rite (Otho, Lex. Rubb. "Bapttsmus;" Reiak. D»
BnpL Prot. in Ugolini xxii). Strange as it ■euro,
this part of the ceremony occupied, in the eyes of
the later Rabbis, a coordinate place with dreum-
oision. The latter was incomplete without it, fix
baptism also was of the fathers (Gem. Bab. Jebam.
t. 461, 9). One Rabbi appears to have been bold
enough to declare baptism to have been sufficient
by itself (ioitt); but for the most part, both were
reckoned as alike indispensable. They carried back
the origin of the baptism to a remote antiquity,
finding it "in the command of Jacob (Gen. ixxt.
2) and of Moses (Ex. xix. 10). The Targum of
the Pseudo-Jonathan inserts the word " Thou soar*
circumcise and bnptue" in Ex. xii. 44. Evan to
the Ethiopic version of Matt xxiil. 15, we find
" compass sea and land to baptUt one proselyte "
(Winer, Rwb. t. v.). Language foreshadowing,
or caricaturing, a higher truth was used of thia
baptism. It was a new birth « (J than, f. 63, 1 ;
92 1; Maimon. lour. Bich. c 14; Ughtfcot,
H„rm. of Ootpeh, iii. 14; Extrc cm John Hi.).
The proselyte became a little child. He received
the Holy Spirit (Jetam. f. 92 «, 48 6.). All nat-
ural relationships, as we have seen, were canceled.
The baptism was followed, as long as the Tem-
ple stood, by the offering or Corban. It consisted,
like the offerings after a birth (the analogy appar-
ently being carried on), of two turtle-doves or
pigeons (Lev. xii- 8). When the destruction of
Jerusalem made the sacrifice impossible, a vow to
offer it as soon as the Temple should be rebuilt
was substituted. For women-proedytea, there were
only baptism* and the Corban, or, ir later times,
baptism by itself.
It is obvious that this account suggests many
questions of grave interest. Ws» Aia ritual ob-
served as early as the commencement of the first
century? If so, was the baptism of John, or thai
a This thought probably had lis starthig-potat In
*m language of Ps. IxxxtU. There also tha proselytes
* Babylon and Bgypl are registered as "born" hi
» The aalitaan ftmab proselytes ware said
•ejected to this, sa maauur ba nannies
JbNUM*.).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBOBKLYTEa
jf the Christian Church In any way derived from,
■ oonnocted with the baptism of proselytes? If
net, «u the latter in any way burrowed from the
former?
It would be impossible here to enter at ail into
the literature of this controversy. The list of
works named by Leyrer occupies nearly a page of
Henog's Reat-EncyclopaaHe. It will be enough
to sum np the conclusions which seem fairly to be
Irawn from them.
(1.) There is no dirtct evidence of tbe practice
being in use before the destruction of Jerusalem.
Tbe statements of the Talmud as to its having
some from the fathers, and tbeir exegesis of the
0. T. in connection with it, are alike destitute of
authority.
(3.) The negative argument drawn from the
silence of tbe T., of the A|»crypha, of Philo,
and of Josephua, is almost decisive against tbe be-
lief that there was in their time a baptism of
proselytes, with as much importance attached to it
aa we find in the Talmudists.
(8.) It remains probable, however, that there
was a baptism in use at a period considerably ear-
lier than that for which we have direct evidence.
The symbol was in itself natural and fit It fell
in with the disposition of the Pharisees and others
to multiply and discuss "washings" ($mrrur/ut(,
Mark vii. 4) of all kinds. The tendency of the
later Rabbis was rather to heap together the cus-
toms and traditions of the past than to invent
new ones. If there had not been a baptism, there
would have been no initiatory rite at all for female
proselytes.
(4.) Tbe history of the X. T. itself suggests
the existence of such a custom. A sign is seldom
shosen unless it already has a meaning for those
to whom it is addressed. The fitness of the sign
in this ease would be in proportion to the associa-
tions already connected with it. It would bear
witness, on the assumption of the previous exist-
ence of tbe proselvte-baptism, that tbe change
from the then condition of Judaism to the king-
dom of God was as great as that from idolatry to
ludaism. The question of the Priests and I-e-
vitea, " Why haptizest thou then? " (John i. 25),
implies that they wondered, not at the thing itself,
but at its being done for Israelites by one who
disclaimed the names which, in their eyes, would
have justified the introduction of a new order.
In like manner the words of our lx>rd to Nicode-
mus (John iii. 10) imply the existence of a teach-
ing aa to baptism like that above referred to. He,
"the teacher of Israel," had been familiar with
'* these things " — the new birth, tbe gift of tbe
Spirit — as words and phrases applied to heathen
proselytes. He failed to grasp the deeper truth
which lay beneath them, and to see that they had
wider, an universal application.
'5.) It is, however, not improbable that there
mly have been a reflex action in this matter, from
the Christian upon the Jewish Church. The Rab-
bis saw the new society, in proportion as the Gen-
tile element in it became predominant, tnrowing
eff circumcision, relying on baptism only. They
could not ignore the reverence which men had for
the outward sign, their belief that it was all but
identical with the thing signified. There wss
everything to lead them to give a fresh prominence
to what had been before subordinate. If tbe Nax-
srenet attracted men by their baptism, they would
sjmi that they had baptism as well as circunt-
PROVERBS, BOOK OF 2607
ciston. Tbe necessary absence of the Corban aflef
the destruction of the Temple would also tend at
give more importance to the remaining rite.
Two facts of some interest remain to be noticed.
(1.) It formed part of the Rabbinic hopes of the
kingdom of the Messiah that then there should be
no more proselvtes. The distinctive name, with Its
brand of inferiority, should be laid aside, and all,
even tbe Nethiuim and the Mamxerim (children of
mixed marriages) should be counted pure (Schoett-
gen, Uor. Btb. ii. p. 614). (2.) Partly, perhaps,
as connected with this feeling, partly in consequene*
of the ill-repute into which the word had faUs.,
there is, throughout the N. T., a sedulous avoid -
anoeofit. The Christian convert from beatbdnism
is not a proselyte, but a rfifvroi (1 Tim. iii. 6).
Ijttratwt. — Information more or leas ajeorato
is to be found in the Archaologies of Jahn, Carp
zov, Saalschiltz, I-ewis, Leusden. Tbe treatises
cited above in Ugolini's Thuiturra, xxii. ; Slevogt.
de Protdytii; Muller, d» Pnulytit; Reisk. dt
BapL Judaoium ; Danz. Bapt. Pivteh/t, are all
of them copious and interesting. The article by
Leyrer in Herzog's Real-Encyklop. s. v. " Prose-
lyteu," contains the fullest and most satisfying dis-
cussion of the whole matter at present accessible.
The writer is indebted to it for much cf the ma-
terials of the present article, and for most of the
Talmudic references. E. H. P.
• For " religious " applied to '• proselytes,"
(A. V.) Acts xiii. 43, the Greek has trc&ofievot,
" worshipping," tc. God and not idols aa formerly.
The English reader might suppose that some of
the proselytes were meant to be distinguished aa
more religious than others. The same Greek term
(ver. 50) describes " the women " at Antioch
(called "devout" in tbe A. V.) as Jewish con-
verts, and thus explains why the Jews could an
easily instigate them (being at the same time wives
of "the chief men") to persecute Paul and Bar-
nabas, and drive them from the city. The same
Greek term In Acts xvii. 4 and 17 ("devout,"
A. T.) states simply that the Greeks spoken of at
Thessslonica and at Athens had been Jewish
proselytes before their conversion to Christianity.
On this use of atficaSai as thus definite without
an object, see Cremer's Wirterb. der NaOaL
OraciUU, ii. 476 (1868). The Jewish proselytes
who embraced the gospel formed the principal
medium through which Christianity passed to the
Gentile races. See the addition to Stnagoocm
(Amer. ed.). H.
PROVERBS, BOOK OF. 1. 7VuV— The
title of this book in Hebrew is, ss usual, taken
from the first word, \?tPO, mishli, or, more filly,
nb'b.jp s btpiD, miihli ShUAmth, and is in this
case appropriate to the contents. By this name it
is commonly known in the Talmud ; but among the
later Jews, and even among tbe Talmudists them-
selves, the title n 9?n ^D, Upher chocmAh,
" book of wisdom," is said to have been given to is.
It does not appear, however, from tbe passages of
the Touphoth to the Baba Bathra (foL 14 6), that
this '•» necessarily the case. All that is there said
is that the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastss are
butt- "books of wisdom," with a reference rather
to their contents 'ban to the titles by which they
were known. In the early Christian Church the
title muwi/ilai SoJlaiuhraf was adopted from the
truncation of the LXX.; and the book Ii also
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2608 PROVERBS, BOOK OF
quoted as troQla, " wiadotn," or fi rardptrn
rofla, " wisdom that is the sum of all virtues."
This last title is given to it by Clement in the Ep.
nd Cor. i. 57, where Prov. i. 83-31 is quoted with
the introduction otrcts yhp \tyti ii ravdptros
ra<f>lai and Kusebius {II. A. iv. 22) gays that not
only Hegesippus, but Irenieus and the whole band
of ancient writers, following the Jewish unwritten
tradition, cnlled the i'rovrrbs of Solomon Ttaviprrov
aopiav. According to Melito of Sardes (huseb.
H. E. It. 28), the Proverbs were also cnlled ampia,
" wisdom," simply; and (iregory of Nazianzus re-
fers to them (Oral, xi.) as reuSceyvyinii aafila.
The title In the Vulgate is Liber Proterbiirum,
quern Htbrvri Mitle ii/jjitllnnt.
The significance of the Hebrew title may here
be appropriately discussed. '?£??' mithU, ren-
dered in the A. V. " by-word," " parable," " prov-
erb," eipreases all and even more than is oonvejed
by these its English representatives. It is derived
from a root, btTO, miihal, « to be like," « and
the primary idea involved in it is that of likeness,
comparison. This form of comparison would very
naturally be taken by the short pithy sentences
which passed into use as popular sayings and prov-
erbs, especially when employed in mockery and
sarcasm, as in Hie. ii. 4, Hab. ii. 8, and even in
the more developed taunting song of triumph for
the (all of Babylon in Is. xiv. 4. Prolawly all
proverbial sayings were at first of the nature of
similes, but the term mithil soon acquired a more
extended significance. It was applied to denote
such short, pointed sayings, as do not involve a
comparison directly, but still convey their meaning
by the help of a figure, as in 1 Sam. x. 12, Ex. xii.
28, 88, xvil. 2, 3 (comp. tooojSoAt), Luke iv. 23).
From this stage of its application it passed to that
of sententious maxims generally, as in Prov. t 1,
x. 1, xxv. 1, xxvi. 7, 9, Eccl. xii. 9, Job xiil 12,
many of which, however, still involve a comparison
(Prov. xxv. 3, 11, 12, 13, 14, Ac ., xxvi. 1, 2, 3,
Ac.). Such comparisons are either expressed, or
the things compared are placed side by side, and
the comparison left for the hearer or reader to sup-
ply. Next we find it used of those longer pieces in
which a single idea is no longer exhausted in a
sentence, but forms the germ of the whole, and is
worked out into a didactic poem. Many instances
if this kind occur in the first section of the Book
of Proverbs : others are found in Job xxvii., xxix.,
'.n both which chapters Job takes up his mitkil,
t " parables," as it is rendered in the A. V. The
parable" of Balsam, in Num xxiii. 7-10, xxiv.
8-9, 16-19, 20, 21-22, 24-24, are prophecies con-
veyed in figures ; but mAth&l also denotes the
•• parable" proper, as in Ex xvii. 2, xx. 49 (xxi. 6),
ixiv. 3. Lowth, in his notes on Is. xiv. 4, speak-
ng of mishdl, says: " I take this to be the general
tame for poetic style among the Hebrews, includ-
ing every sort of it, as ranging under one, or other,
or all of the characters, of sententious, figurative,
md sublime; which are all contained in the original
notion, or in the use and application of the word
■ Oompan Arab. JuuO, «•*•««•> "to be Bks;»
«• •"
JjLo, miM, "Uk«MSs;» and the ad). Jjts),
mmlkal, "like." The cognate Anionic and Byriae
eots have the aai
PROVERBS, BOOK OF
maAaL Parables or p r ove rb s , such as those of
Solomon, are always expressed in short, pointed
sentences; frequently figurative, being formed on
some comparison, both in the matter and the form.
And such in general is the style of the Hebrew
poetry. The verb mntknl signifies to rule, to exer-
cise authority; to make equal, to compare one
thing with another; to utter pa rallies, or acute,
weighty, and powerful speeches, In the form anc"
manner of parables, though not properly such.
Thus Balaam's first prophecy, Num. xxiii. 7-10, is
called his mntknl ; though it has hardly anything
figurative in it: but it is beautifully sententious,
and, from the very form and manner of it, has
great spirit, force, and energy. Thus Job's hist
speeches, in answer to the three friends, chaps.
xxrii.-xxxi., are called mnihuU, from no one par-
ticular character which discriminates them from
the rest of the poem, but from the sublime, the
figurative, the sententious manner, which equally
prevails through the whole poem, and makes it one
of the first and most eminent examples extant of
the truly great and beautiful in poetic style." Bat
the Book of Proverbs, according to the introductory
verses which describe its character, contains, besides
several varieties of the mathil, sententious sayings
of other kinds, mentioned in i. 6. The first of
these is the i"Tpn, chidah, rendered in the A. V.
'• dark saying," " dark speech," " hard question,"
" riddle," and once (Hab. ii. 6) " proverb." It ■
applied to Samson's riddle in Judg. xiv., to the
hard questions with which the queen of Sheba plied
Solomon (1 K. x. 1; 3 Chr. ix. 1), and is used
almost synonymously with mathil in Ea. xvii 8,
and in Pa. xhx. 4 (5), lxxviii. 2, in which last pas-
sages the poetical character of both is indicated.
The word appears to denote a knotty, intricate
saying, the solution of which demanded experieuos
and skill : that it was obscure is evident from Num.
xii. 8. In addition to the chidah was the iTJTbp,
milUtih (Prov. i. 8, A. V. "the uterpremtion/'
marg. "an eloquent speech"), which occurs in
Hab. ii. 8 in connection both with iAfc/dA and
mdthdL It has been variously explained as a mock-
ing, taunting speech (Kwald); or a speech dark
and Involved, such as needed a mititt, or interpreter
(cf. Gen. xlii. 23; 2 Chr. xxxii. 31; Job xxxiii. 23;
la. xliii. 27) ; or again, as by Delitxsch (Dtr
prophet Habnkuk, p. 69), a brilliant or splendid
saying (" 6'tinx- oiler Woklrtde, oratio sptewtitla,
etegniu, luminibut otttnta"). This last interpre-
tation is based upon the usage of the word in
modern Hebrew, but it certainly does not appear
appropriate to the Proverbs ; and the first explana-
tion, which Kwald adopts, is as little to the point.
It is better to understand it as a dark enigmatical
saying, which, like the mithil, might assume the
character of sarcasm and irony, though not essen-
tial to it.
2. Canamdly of the book and As pint* w Ou
Canon — The canonicity of the Book of Proveru
has never been disputed except by the Jews them
selves. It appears to hare been one of the points
urged by the school of Sbammai, that the contra-
dictions in the Book of Proverbs rendered it
apocryphal. In the Talmud (Skabbntk, foL 806)
it is said : " And even the Book of Proverbs the)
sought to make apocryphal, because its words wen
contradictory the one to the other. And wherefore
did they not make it apocryphal? The words <t
the beok Koheleth [are] not [apocrjnbal) we k»vt
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PROVERBS, BOOK OK
looked and found the sense; here also we must
look." That is, the book Koheleth, in spite of tlie
apparent contradictions which it contains, ii allowed
to be canonical, and therefore the existence, of sim-
ilar contradictions in the Book of Proverbs forms
no ground for refusing to acknowledge its canon-
Idty. It occurs In all the Jewish lists of canonical
books, and is reckoned among what are called the
••writings" (CetK&bim) or Hagiographa, which
form the third great division of the Hebrew Scrip-
tures. Their order in the- Talmud (Baba BaMirn,
foL 14 A) is thus given : Ruth, Psalms, Job, Prov-
erbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations,
Daniel, Esther, Ezra (including Nehemiah), and
Chronicles. It is in the Tueephutk on this passage
that Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are styled « books
of wisdom.** In the German HSS. of the Hebrew
O. T. the Proverbs are placed between the Psalms
and Job, while in the Spanish MSS-, which follow
the Maaorah, the order is, Psalms, Job, Proverbs.
This latter is the order observed in the Alexandrian
MS. of the I JCX. Melito, following another Greek
MS., arranges the Hagiographa thus : Psalms,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job, as in
toe list made out by the Council of Laodicea; and
the same order is given by Origen, except that the
Book of Job is separated from the others by the
prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel.
But our present arrangement existed in the time
of Jerome (see Prtef. in U6r. Begum UL ; " Ter-
tius ordo ayt6ypa<pa possidet. Et primus liber
incipit ab Job. Secundus a David
Tertios est Salomon, tree lihroa habens : Proverbia,
qua ill! parabolas, id est Masaloth appellant: Ec-
clesiastes, id est, (,'oeleth: Cunticum Canticorum,
quern titulo Sir Asiriin pnenotant"). In the
Peshito Syriac, Job is placed before Joshua, while
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes follow the Psalms, and
arc separated from the Song of Songs by the Book
of Ruth. Gregory of Naziansus, apparently from
the exigencies of his verse, arranges the writings
of Solomon in this order, Ecclesiastes, Song of
Songs, Proverlis. Pseudo-Epiphanius places Prov-
erbs, Ecclesiastes. and Song of Songs between the
let and 2d Books of Kings and the minor prophets.
The Proverbs are frequently quoted or alluded to
In the New Testament, and the canouicity of the
book thereby confirmed. The following is a list
af the principal passages: —
Prov. 1. 16 compare Rom. ill. 10, 16.
UL 7 « Bom. xtt. 16.
taX 11, 12 u Uab.xU.(,6;essalsoBev.
Ul. 19.
U. 84 u Jam. Iv. 6.
x. 13 •> 1 Pet Iv. 8.
XL 81 >• 1 Pet It. 18.
ztH. 18 u Bom. xll. 17 ; 1 Thsas. v.
16; 1FM.UL9.
xtU. 37 u Jam. 1. 19.
ax. » <• 1 John L 8.
XX 30 •. Matt. xt. 4; Mark vU. 10.
xxU.8(LXX.) » 3Cor.ii. 7.
xxt. 31, 32 u Rom. xU. 30.
xxrl. 11 « 3 Pat. It. 33.
xxtU. 1 <• Jam. It. 18, It.
8. Aulhorthip and date. — The superscriptions
which are affixed to several portions of the Book
af Proverbs, in I. 1, x. 1, xxt. 1, attribute the
authorship of those portions to Solomon, the son
of David, king of Israel. With the exception of
the last two chapters, whieh are distinctly assigned
to other authors, it is probable that the statement
ef tho superscriptions is in the main correct, and
164
PROVERBS, BOOK OF 2609
that the majority of the proverlis contained in the
book were uttered or collected by Solomon. It was
natural, and quite in accordance with the practice
of other nations, that the Hebrews should connect
Solomon's name with a collection of maxima and
precepts which form a part of their literature to
which he is known to hare contributed most largely
(1 K. iv. 32). In the same way the Greeks attrib-
uted most of their maxims to Pythagoras; the
Arabs to Lokman, Abu Obeid, Al Hofaddel, Mei-
dani, and Zamakhshari ; the Persians to Ferid
Attar; and the northern people to Odin. But
there can be no question that the Hebrews wen
much more justified in assigning the Proverbs to
Solomon, than the nations which have just been
enumerated were in attributing the collections of
national maxims to the traditional authors above
mentioned. The parallel may serve as an illustra-
tion, but must not be carried too far. According
to Bartolocci {Bibl. R >M. iv. 373 6), quoted by
Carpzov (Introtl. pt. ii. c. 4, § 4), the Jews ascribe
the composition of the Song of Songs to Solomon's
youth, the Proverbs to his mature manhood, and
the Ecclesiastes to his old age. But in the Setter
Olam Rabbi (ch. xv. p. 41, ed. Mejer) they are
all assigned to the end of his life. There it
nothing unreasonable in the supposition that
many, or moat of the proverbs in the first twenty-
nine chapters may have, originated with Solomon.
Whether they were left by him in their present
form is a distinct question, and may now be con-
sidered. Before doing so, however, it will be neces-
sary to examine the different parts into which the
book is naturally divided. Speaking roughly, it
consists of three main divisions, with two appen-
dices. 1. Chaps, i.-ix. form a connected mathM,
in which Wisdom is praised and the youth ex-
horted to devote themselves to her. This portion
is preceded by an introduction and title describing
the character and general aim of the book. 3.
Chaps, x. 1-xxiv., with the title, " the Proverbs
of Solomon," consist of three parts : x. 1-xxii. 16,
a collection of single proverbs, and detached sen-
tences out of the region of moral teaching and
worldly prudence; xxii. 17-xxiv. 21, a more con-
nected mishit, with an introduction, xxii. 17-33,
which contains precepts of righteousness and prud-
ence : xxiv. 23-34, with the inscription, " these also
belong to the wise," a collection of unconnected
maxims, which serve as an appendix to the pre-
ceding. Then follows the third division, xxv.-xxix.,
which, according to the superscription, professes to
be a collection of Solomon's proverbs, consisting of
single sentences, which the men of- the court of
Hezekiah copied out The first appendix, ch. xxx.,
"the words of Agur," is a collection of partly
proverbial and partly enigmatical sayings; the sec-
ond, ch. xxx!., it divided into two parts, " the words
of king Lemuel " (1-6), and an alphabetical acrostic
in praise of a virtuous woman, which occupies the
rest of the chapter. Rejecting, therefore, for the
present, the two last chapters, which do not even
profess to be by Solomon, or to contain any of hie
teaching, we may examine the other divisions for
the purpose of ascertaining whether any ooncluslon
as to their origin and authorship can be arrived at.
At first sight it is evident that there is a marked
difference between the collections of single maxims
and the longer didactic pieces, which both come
under the general head mithiL The collection of
Solomon's proverbs made by the men of Heteknd)
(xxv.-xih.) belongs to the former class of detached
Digitized by VjOOQlC
8610 PBOVJtBBS, BOOK OF
asn liu i in . and in this leanest corresponds with those
in the second main division (i. 1-xxii. 16). The
expression in xxv. I, •• these also are the proverbs
sf Solomon," implies that the oollectiou was made
as an appendix to another already in existence,
which we mat nut unreasonably presume to have
been that wliich stands immediately before it in
the present arrangement of the book. Upon one
point most modern critics are agreed, that the germ
of the look in its present shape is the portion x.
1-xxii. 16, to which is prefixed the title, •' the
Proverbs of Solomon." At what time it was put
into the form in which we hare it, cannot be ex-
actly determined. Ewald suggests as a probable
date about two centuries after Solomon. The col-
lector gathered many of that king's genuine sayings,
bat must have mixed with them man} by other
authors and from other times, earlier and later. It
seems clear that he must hare lived before the time
af Hezekiah, from the expression in xxr. 1, to which
reference has already been made. In this portion
many proverbs are repeated in the same, or a similar
form, a fact which of itself militates against the
supposition that all the proverbs contained in it
proceeded from one author. Compare xir. 12 with
xvi. 25 and xxi. 2"; xxi. 9 with xxi. 19; x. 1* with
XT. 90*; x. 2 b with xi. 4»; x. 16* with xviii. 11*;
xt. 33t> with xviii. 12*; xi. 91* with xvi. 5»; xiv.
31* with xvii. 5»; xix. 12* with xx 2*. Such
repetitions, as Uertbeau remarks, we do not expect
to find in a work which proceeds immediately from
the hands of its author. But if we suppose the
contents of this portion of the book to have been
eollected by one man out of divers sources, oral as
well as written, the repetitions become intelligible.
Bertboldl argues that many of the proverbs could
not have proceeded from Solomon, because they
presuppose an author in different circumstances of
life. His arguments sre extremely weak, and will
scarcely bear examination. For example, be asserts
that the author of x. 5, xii. 10, 11, xir. 4, xx. 4,
must have l«en a landowner or husbandman; that
c 15 points to a man living in want; xi. 14, xiv.
9U, to a private man living under a well-regulated
government: xi. 26, to a tradesman without wealth;
xii. 4, to a man not living in polygamy; xii. 9, to
one living in the country; xiii. 7, 8, xvi. 8, to a
man in a middle station of life; xir. 1, XT. 85, xvi.
11, xvii. 2, xix. 18, 14, xx. 10, 14, 23, to a man
of the rank of a citizen; xir. 21, xvi. 19, xviii. 23,
to a man of low station; xvi. 10, 12-15, xix. 12,
xx. 2, 26, 28, to a man who was not s king; xxi.
t, to one who was acquainted with the course of
circumstances in the common citizen life; xxi. 17,
to one who was an enemy to luxury and festivities.
It must be confessed, however, that an examination
of these passages is by no means convincing to one
who reads them without having a theory to main-
lain. That all the proverbs in this collection are
not Solomon's is extremely probalile; that the ma-
jority of them are his there seems no reason to
4oubt, and this fact would account for the general
title in which they are all attributed to him. It is
obvious that between the proverbs in this collection
and tbose that precede and follow it, there is a
marked difference, which Is sufficiently apparent
Ten in the English Version. The poetical style,
<*vn Ewald, is the simplest and most antique im-
aginable. Host of the proverbs are examples of
antithetic parallelism, the second clause containing
Hn aontrasl to the first Each verse consists of
tan members, with generally three or four, but
PBOVEHB8, BOOK OF
seldom five word* in each. The only esnpUoa to
the first law is xix. 7, which Kwald accounts for by
supposing a clause omitted, litis supposition may
be necessary to h«s theorj, but cannot be admitted
on any true principle of criticism. Furthermore,
the proverbs in this collection have the peculiarity
of being contained in a single verse. Each verse is
complete in itself, and embodies a perfectly intel-
ligible sentiment; but a thought in all its breadth
and definiteness is not iieoessarily pihansted in a
single verse, though each verse must be a perfect
sentence, a proverb, a lesson. There is one point
of great importance to which Ewald draws attention
in connection with this portion of the book ; that
it is not to be regarded, like the collections of
proverbs which exist among other nations, as an
accumulation of the popular .naxims of lower fife
which passed current among the people and were
gathered thence by a learned man ; but rather sa
the efforts of poets, artistically and scientifically
arranged, to comprehend in short sharp sayings
the truths of religion ss applied to the infinite eases)
and possibilities of life. While admitting, however,
this artistic and scientific arrangement, it is dif-
ficult to assent to F.wsM's further theory, that the
collection in its original shape had running through
it a continuous thread, binding together what was
manifold and scattered, and that in this respect it
differed entirely from the form in which it appears
at present Here and there, it is true, we meet
with verses grouped together apparently with a
common object but these sre the exceptions, and
a rule so general cannot be derived from them. No
doubt the original collection of Solomon's proverbs,
if such there were, from which the present was
made, underwent many changes, by abbreviation,
transposition, and interpolation, in the two cen-
turies which, according to Emdd's theory, must
hare elapsed before the compiler of the present col-
lection put them in the shape in which they have
come down to us ; but evidence is altogether want-
ing to show what that original collection may have
been, or how many of the three thousand proverbs
which Solomon is said to have spoken, have bean
preserved. There is less difficulty in another prop-
osition of Ewald's, to which a ready assent will be
yielded: that Solomon was the founder of this
species of poetry: and that in fact many of the
proverbs here collected may lie traced back to him,
while all are inspired with his spirit The peace
and internal tranquillity of his reign were favorabls
to the growth of a contemplative s] irit and it is
just at such a time that we should expect to find
gnomic poetry developing itself and forming sa
epoch in literature.
In addition to the distinctive form assumed by
the proverbs of this earliest collection, may be no-
ticed the occurrence of favorite and peculiar words
and phrases. » Fountain of Kfe" occurs it Pror.
x. 11, xiii. 14, xir. 97, xvi. 22 (eomp. Pa. xxxrt,
9 [10]); "tree of life," Pror. xi. 3U, xiii. 18, XT.
4 (eomp. iii. 18); ••snares of death," Pror. xiii.
14, xiv. 87 (eomp. Ps. xviii. 5 [6]); HETD,
marpl, "healing, health," Prov. xii. 18, xiii. '17,
xvi. 24 (eomp. xiv. 30, xv. 4), but this expression
also occurs in ir. 22, ri. 15 (con p. iii. 8), and is
hardly to be regarded ss peculiar lo the older por-
tion of the book; nor is it fair to say that the pas-
sages in the early chapters in which it occurs art
imitations: njpntj, mlcliHM, <> destruction,'
Pror. x. 14, 16, 89,' xiU. 8, xir. 88, Xviif 7. xxi. U
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FBOVBRBS, BOOK OF
mi Mflm else in the book; TV^, yOphldch,
which Emld calls a participle, but which ma; be
regarded m a future with the relative omitted.
Pror. zU. 17, xir. 6, 26, xix. 6, 9 (comp. vi. 19);
H79i seJeji*, " perverseness," Prov. xi. 3, it. 4;
1 vD, aUjpA, the verb from the preceding, Pror.
xiii. 6, xix. 3, xxii. 12; ntf}?. ^i *> simiktk,
"shall not be acquitted," Prov. xi. SI, xri. 6, xrii.
5, xix. 5, 9 (comp. ri. 99, xxriii. 90); P(T\, rid-
diph, •• pursued," Pror. xi. 19, xii. 11, xiii. 91,
xt. 9, xix. 7 (oomp. xxriii. 19). The antique ex-
pressions nying 17. '«* a»-yf4A. A- V., •' but
for a moment," Prov. xU. 19; T 1 ? TJ, ydo* «j«H
lit. "hand to hand," Prov. xi. 91, xri. 6: sVc^T?.
UUigaOa', " meddled with," Prov. xrii. 14, xriii.
1, xx. 3; 1$T3. mry&n, " whisperer, talebearer,"
Prov. xri. 28", xviii. 8 (oomp. xxri. 90, 99), are
almost confined to this portion of the Proverbs.
There is also the peculiar usage of U^, y»a*,
•• there is," in Prov. xi. 94, xii. 18, xiii. 7, 93, xiv.
19, xri. 95, xviii. 24, xx. 16. It will be observed
that the use of these words and phrases by no
means assists in determining the authorship of this
section, but gives it a distinctive character.
With regard to the other collections, opinions
difier widely both as to their date and authorship.
Ewald places next in order chaps xxr.-xxix., the
superscription to which fixes their date about the
end of the 8th eeutury b. o " These also are the
proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah
aopied out," or compiled. The memory of these
learned men of Hezekiah's court is perpetuated in
Jewish tradition. In the Talmud (Baba Bathra
fbl 16 a) they are called the ny*l?, iC.k, "so-
ciety " or " academy " of Hezekiah, and it is there
said, "Hezekiah and his academy wrote Isaiah,
Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecelesiastes." R. Oedaliah
(Bhalthtkth Hakhibbakah, foL 68 4), quoted by
Carpzov (Intrad. part. ii. c. 4, § 4), says, " Isaiah
wrote his own book and the Proverbs, and the Song
of Songs, and Eoeleaiastes." Many of the proverbs
in this collection are mere repetitions, with slight
variations, of soma which occur in the previous
section. Compare, for example, xxv. 94 with xxi.
I; xxri. 13 with xxii. 13; xxri. 16 with xix. 24;
(xri. 92 with XTiii. 8; xxrit 13 with xx. 16; xxrii.
15 with xix. 13; xxrii. 91 with xrii. 3; xxriii. 6
with xix. 1; xxriii. 19 with xii. 11; xxix. 22 with
xv. 18, Ac. We may infer from this, with Bertheau,
that the compilers of this section made use of the
same sources from which the earlier collection was
derived. Hitzig (/We Spriche Snlomo't, p. 958)
suggests that there is a probability that a great,
or the greatest part of these proverbs were of
Kphraimitic origin, and that after the destruction
of the northern kingdom, Hezekiah sent his learned
men through the land to gather together the frag-
ments of literature which remained current among
the people and had survived the general wreck.
There does not appear to be the slightest ground,
linguistic or otherwise, for this hypothesis, and it
is therefore properly rejected by Bertheau. The
(uestion now arises, in this sa in the former section
ware all these proverbs Solomon's ? Jahn says Yes
, No: for xxv. 9-7 oould not hare been
PROVERBS, BOOK OF 2611
by Solomon or any king, but by a man who haw
lived for a long time at a court. In xxvii. 11, it is
no monarch who speaks, but on instructor of youth .
xxriii. 16 censures the very errors which stained
the reign of Solomon, and the effect of which de-
prived his son and successor of the ten tribes,
xxvii. 23-27 must have been written by a sage whe
led a nomad life. There ia more force in then
objections of liertholdt than in those which be
advanced against the previous section. Henaler
(quoted by Bertholdt) finds two or three sections
in this division of the book, which he regards as
extracts from as many different writings of Solomon,
But Bertholdt confesses that his arguments are not
convincing.
The peculiarities of this section distinguish ft
from the older proverbs in x.-ixii. 16. Some of
these may be briefly noted. The uae of the inter-
rogation •' seest thou ? " in xxri. 12, xxix. 20 (comp.
xxii. 99), the manner of comparing two things by
simply placing them aide by side and connecting
them with the simple copula " and," as in xxv. 3,
30, xxri. 3, 7, 9, 91, xxvii. 15, 20. We miss the
pointed antithesis by which the first collection waa
distinguished. The verses are no longer of two
equal members; one member is frequently shorter
than the other, and sometimes even the verse ia
extended to three members in order fully to exhaust
the thought. Sometimes, again, the same sense ia
extended over two or more verses, as in xxv. 4, 6
6, 7, 8-10; and in a few cases a series of connected
verses contains longer exhortations to morality and
rectitude, as in xxri. 23-28, xxvii. 23-27. To*
character of the proverbs is clearly distinct. Their
construction is looser and weaker, and there is no
longer that sententious brevity which gives weight
and point to the proverbs in the preceding section.
Ewald thinks that in the couteuts of this ptrtioa
of the book there are traceable the marks of a later
date ; pointing to a state of society which had be-
come more dangerous and hostile, in which the
quiet domestic life had reached greater perfection,
but the state and public security and confidence
had sunk deeper. There is, he sin ». s cautious and
mournful tone in the language when the rulers an
spoken of; the breath of that untroubled joy for
the king and the high reverence paid to him, which
marked the former collection, does not animate
these proverbs. The state of society at the end of
the 8th eeutury B. c, with which we are thoroughly
acquainted from the writings of the prophets, cor-
responds with the condition of things hinted at ia
the proverbs of this section, and this mny therefore,
in accordance with the superscription, be accepted
as the date at which the collection was made. Such
is Ewald's conclusion. It is true we know much
of the later times of the monarchy, and that the
condition of those times was such ss to call forth
many of the proverbs of this section ss the result
of the observation and experience of their authors,
but it by no means follows that the whole section
partakes of this later tone; or that many or moat
of the proverbs may not reach back as far as the
time of Solomon, and so justify the general title
which is given to the section, " These also are the
proverbs of Solomon." But of the state of society
in the age of Solomon himself we know so little,
e-»rytbing belonging to that period is encircled
with such a halo of dazzling splendor, in which
the people almost disappear, that it is impisaiblt
to assert that the circumstances of the times might
not hare given birth to many of the maxima whisk
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2612 PBOVEKBS, BOOK OF
apparently carry with thorn the marks of a later
period At beat such reasoning from internal evi-
dence is uncertain and hypothetical, and the in-
ferences drawn vary with each commentator who
examines it Ewald discovers traces of a later age
in chapters xxviii., nix., though be retains them
in this section, while Hitzig regards xxriii. 17-xxix.
87 as a continuation of xxii. 16, to which tbey were
added probably after the year 760 B. c.« This
apparent precision in the assignment of the dates
of the several sections, it must be confessed, has
very little foundation, and the dates are at best but
conjectural. All that we know about the section
xxv.-xxix., is that in the time of Hexekiah, that is,
in the last quarter of the 8th century n. c. it was
supposed to contain what tradition had handed
down as the proverbs of Solomon, and that the
majority of the proverbs were believed to be his
there seems no good reason to doubt. Beyond this
we know nothing. Ewald, we have seen, assigns
the whole of this section to the close of the 8th
century b. c., long before which time, be says, most
of the proverbs were certainly not written. But be
is then compelled to account for the fact that in
the superscription they are called " the proverbs
of Solomon." He does so In this way. Some of
the proverbs actually reach back into the age of
Solomon, and those which are not immediately
traceable to Solomon or his time, are composed
with similar artistic flow and impulse. If the earlier
collection rightly bears the name of " the proverbs
of Solomon " after the mass which are his, this may
daim to bear such a title of honor after some im-
portant elements. The argument Is certainly not
sound, that, because a collection of proverbs, the
majority of which are Solomon's, is distinguished
by the general title " the proverbs of Solomon,"
therefore a collection, in which at most but a few
belong to Solomon or his time, is appropriately
distinguished by the same superscription. It will
be seen afterwards that Ewald attributes the super-
scription in xxv. 1 to the compiler of xxii. 17-
xxv. 1.
The date of the sections i.-ix., xxii. 17-xxv. 1,
las been variously ssssigned. That they were added
about the same period Ewald infers from the oc-
currence of favorite words and constructions, and
that that period was a late one he concludes from
the traces whiib. are manifest of a degeneracy from
the parity &' Jie Hebrew. It will be Interesting to
examine the evidence upon this point, for it is a
remarkable fact, and one which is deeply Instructive
ss shoving the extreme difficulty of arguing from
Internal evidence, that the same details lead Ewald
«nd Hitxig to precisely opposite conclusions; the
ormer placing the date of i.-ix. in the first half of
the 7th century, while the latter regards it as the
eldest portion of the book, and assigns it to the 9th
century. To be sure those points on which Ewald
relies as indicating a late date for the section, Hit-
xig summarily disposes of as interpolations. Among
the favorite words which occur In these chapters are
JYlDpTl, ehoandlk, •'wisdoms," for "wisdom "in
the abstract, which is found only in l. 20, ix. 1,
PROVERBS, BOOK OF
a HItzig's theory about lbs Book or Proverbs In its
feasant shape Is this : that the oldest portion consists
f chaps. I.~li , to which iu added, probably after
shs jeer 760 a. >,., the second part, x.-xxll.l6, xxviii.
17-xxU. : that in the last quarter of the Sams century
she anthology, xxv.-xxvU., was Armed, and coining
•aw) tew hands of a man who already Bossssasd the
xxiv. 7; HTt, adraU, "the strange woman,' sad
n *"!?J. noayyih, "the foreigner," the adulteress
who seduces youth, the antithesis of the virtuous
wife or true wisdom, only occur in the first collec-
tion in xxii. 14, but are frequently found in this,
ii. 16, v. 3, 20, vi. 24, vii. 8, xxiii. 27. Traces oi
the decay of Hebrew are seen in such passages as
v. 2, where OYiptp, a dual fern., is constructed
with a verb nisso. pi., though in v. 8 it has prep.
erly the feminine. The unusual plural D^tC^N
(vlii. 4), says Ewald, would hardly be found hi
writings before the 7th century. These difficulties
are avoided by Hitxig, who regards the passages in
which tbey occur as interpolations. Wheu we come
to the internal historical evidence these two author-
ities are no less at issue with regard to their cooda-
sions from it There are many passages which point
to a condition of things in the highest degree con-
fused, in which robbers and lawless men roamed at
large through the land and endeavored to draw said*
their younger contemporaries to the like dissolute
life (i. 11-19, U. 12-15, iv. 14-17, xxiv. 15). In title
Ewald sees traces of a late date. But Hitxig avoids
this conclusion by ssserting that at all times there)
are individuals who are recklew and at war with so-
ciety and who attach themselves to bands of robbers
and freebooters (conip. Judg. ix. 4, xi. 3; 1 Sam.
xxii. 2; Jer. vii. 11), and to such allusion is made
in Prov. i. 10; but there is nowhere in these chap-
ters (i.-ix.) a complaint of the general depravity of
aociety. So far he is unquestionably correct, and net
inference with regard to the date of the section can
be drawn from these references. Further evidence
of a late date Ewald finds in the warnings against
lightly rising to oppose the public order of things
(xxiv. 21), and in the beautiful exhortation (xxiv.
11) to rescue with the sacrifice of one's self the in-
nocent who is being dragged to death, which points
to a confusion of right pervading the whole state, of
which we nowhere see traces in the older proverbs.
With these conclusions Hitzig would not disagree,
for he himself assigns a late date to the section xxii.
17-xxiv. 34. We now come to evidence of another
kind, and the conclusions drawn from it depend
mainly upon the date assigned to the Book or Job.
Iu this collection, says Ewald, there is a new danger
of the heart warned against, which is not once
thought of in the older collections, envy at the evi-
dent prosperity of the wicked (iii. 31, xxiii. 17, xxiv.
1, 19), a subject which for the first time is brought
into the region of reflection and poetry in the Book
of Job. Other parallels with this book are found in
the teaching that man, even in the chastisement of
Hod, should see his love, which is the subject of
Prov. iii, and it the highest argument in the Book
of Job; the general apprehension of Wisdom as the
Creator and Disposer of the world (Prov. iii., viii.)
appears ss a further conclusion from Job xxriii. ; and
though the author of the first nine chapters of the
Proverbs does not adopt the language of the Book
of Job, but only in some measure its spirit and teach-
ing, yet some images and words appear to be reach-
other two parts, Inspired him with the oomposJUoo of
xxii. 17-xxiv. 84, which he placed before the ss)
thology, sod inserted the two- before the last sheet el
the second part Than, rinding that xxvlll. 17 was
left without a beginning, being separated from xx>
1-18, he wrote xxviii. 1-M on his but bank Issf
the I This was after the Mils.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PBOVERBS, BOOK O*
m! here from that book (comp. Prov. viii. 28 with I
Job xzxriii. 6; Prov. ii. 4, iii. 14, riii. 11, M, with
Job xxviii. 13-19; Prov. rii. 23 with Job xvi. 13,
iz. 25; Prov. iii. 23, Ac, with Job v. 22, Ac.).
Consequently the writer of this section must bare
been acquainted with the Hook of Job, and wrote
at a later date, about the middle of the 7th century
B. c. Similar resemblances between passages in the
earlv chapters of the Proverbs and the Book of Job
are observed by Hitzig (comp. Prov. iii 25 with
Job t. 21; Pror. ii. 4, 14 with Job iii. 21, 33;
Prov. iv. 12 with Job xviii. 7; Prov. iii 11, 13 with
Job v. 17; Pror. riii. 35 with Job xv. 7), but the
eonelusion which he derives is that the writer of Job
had already read the Book of Proverbs, and that the
latter is the more ancient. Reasoning from evidence
of the like kind he places this section (i.-ix.) later
than the Song of Songs, but earlier than the second
collection (x. 1-xiii. 16, xxriii. 17-xxix.), which ex-
isted before the time of Hezekiab, and therefore as-
signs it to the 9th century B. c. Other arguments
hi support of this earl}' date are the fact that idol-
atry is nowhere mentioned, that the offerings had
not ceased (rii. 14), nor the congregations (v. 14).
The two last would agree as well with a late as
with an early date, and no argument from the si-
lence with respect to idolatry can be allowed any
weight, for it would equally apply to the 9th cen-
tury as to the 7th. To all appearances, Hitzig con-
tinues, there was peace in the land, and commerce
was kept up with Egypt (rii. 16 J. The author may
hare lived in Jerusalem (i. 80, 21, rii. 12, viii. 3) ;
rii. 16, 17 points to the luxury of a large city, and
the educated language belongs to a citizen of the
capital. After a careful consideration of all the ar-
guments which have been adduced, by Ewald for the
late, and by Hitzig for the early date of this section,
it must be confessed that they are by no means con-
clusive, and that we must ask for further evidence
before pronouncing so positively as they have done
upon a point so doubtful and obscure. In one re-
spect they are agreed, namely, with regard to the
unity of the section, which Ewald considers as sn
original whole, perfectly connected and Bowing as it
were from one outpouring. It would be a well-or-
dered whole, says Hitzig, if the interpolations, es-
pecially vi. 1-19, iii. 22-26, viii. 4-12, 14-16, ix.
7-10, Ac., are rejected. It never appears to strike
him that such a proceeding is arbitrary and uncrit-
ical in the highest degree, though he clearly plumes
himself on his critical sagacity. Ewald finds in
these chapters a certain development which shows
that they must be regarded as a whole and the work
of one author. The poet intended them as a general
nbroduction to the l'rorerbs of Solomon, to recom-
mend wisdom in general. The blessings of wisdom
s the reward of him who boldly strives after her are
epeatedly set forth in the most charming manner,
as on the other hand folly is repre s ented with its
disappointment and enduring misery. There are
three main divisions after the title, i. 1-7. («.) i.
(-iii. 35; a general exhortation to the youth to fol-
low wisdom, in which all, even the higher arguments,
ue touched upon, but nothing fully completed. (A.)
If. l-»i. 19 exhausts whatever is individual and par-
ticular; while in (c.) the language rises gradually
with ever-increasing power to the most universal
Hid loftiest themes, to conclude in the subiimsst and
•boost lyrical strain (vi. 20-ix. 18). But, as Ber-
Ihosn remarks, there appears nowhere throughout
Ibis section to be any reference to what follows,
«Ueh must have been the case bad it bean intended
PBOVERBS, BOOK OF
2fJ13
for an introduction. The development and |inmns«
which Ewald observes in it are by no means sc
striking as he would have us believe. The unity
of plan is no more than would be found in a colle-
tion of admonitions by different suthors referr'na,
to the same subject, and is not such ns to necessitate
the conclusion that the whole is the work of one
There is observable throughout the section, when
compared with what is called the earlier collection,
a complete change in the form of the proverb. The
•ingle proverb is seldom mot with, and is rather the
exception, while the characteristics of this collection
are connected descriptions, continuous elucidations
of a truth, and longer speeches snd exhortations.
The style is more highly poetical, the parallelism h
synonymous and not antithetic or synthetic, as in
x. 1-xxil. 16; and another distinction is the usage
of Elohim in ii. 5, 17, iii. 4, which does not occur
in x. 1-xxii. 16. Amidst this general likeness, how-
over, there is consideralile diversity. It is not neces-
sary to lay so much stress as Bertheau appears to do
upon the fact that certain paragraphs are distin-
guished from those with which they are placed, not
merely by their contents, but by their external form ;
nor to argue from this that tbeyare therefore the
work of different authors. Some paragraphs, it ii
true, are completed in ten verses, as i. 10-19, Iii.
1-10, 11-20, ir. 10-19, viii. 12-21, 23-31; but it
is too much to assert that an author because ho
sometimes wrote paragraphs of ten verses, should
always do so, or to say with llertheau, if the whok
were the work of one author it would be very re-
markable if he only now and theu bound himself by
the strict law of numbers. The argument assumes
the strictness of the law, and then attempts to
bind the writer to observe it There is more fore*
in the appeal to the difference in the formation of
sentences and the whole manner of the language at
indicating diversity of authorship. Compare ch. ii
with vii. 4-27, where the same subject is treated of.
In the former, one sentence is wearily dragged
through 22 verses, while in the latter the language
is easy, flowing, and appropriate. Aipun the connec-
tion is interrupted by the insertion of vi. 1-19. In
the previous chapter the exhortation to listen to the
doctrine of the S|ieaker u followed by the warning
against intercourse with the adulteress. In vi. 1-19
the subject is abruptly changed, and a series of prov-
erbs applicable to different rel itiona of life is intro-
duced. From all this Bertheau concludes against
Ewald that these introductory chapters could not
have been the product of a single author, forming a
gradually developed and consistent whole, but that
they are a collection of admonitions by different
poets, which all aim at rendering the youth capable
of receiving good instruction, and inspiring him to
strive after the possession of wisdom. This supposi-
tion is somewhat favored by the frequent repetitions
of favorite figures or impersonations: the strange
woman and wisdom occur many times over in this
section, which would hardly have been the case if it
had been the work of one author. But the occur-
rence of these repetitions, if it is against the unity
of authorship, indicates that the different portions
of the section must have been contemporaneous, and
were written at a time when such vivid impersona-
tions of wisdom and its opposite were current and
familiar. The tone of thought is the same, and the
question therefore to be considered is whether it is
more probable that a writer would repeat himself,
or that fragments of • number of writers should bt
found, distinguished by the same way of tkh»n»g
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2614 PROVERBS, BOOK OF
and by the n« of the um striking figure* and per- 1
Bonifications. If the proverbs spoken by one man
were circulated orally for a time, and after hit death
collected and arranged, there would almost of ueesa- .
sity be a recurrence of the aame expressions and il-
hiatrations, and from this point of view the argu-
ment from repetitions loses much of its force. With
regard to the date aa well aa the authorship of this
section it is impossible to pronounce with certainty.
In its present form it did not exist till probably
some long time after the proverbs which it contains
were composed. There is positively no evidence
which would lead us to a conclusion upon this point,
and consequently the most opposite results have
been arrived at : Ewald, as we have seen, placing it
in the 7th century, while Hi trig refers it to the 9th.
At whatever time it may have reached its present
shape, there appears no sufficient reason to conclude
that Solomon may not hare uttered many or most
of the proverbs which are here collected, although
Ewald positively asserts that we here And no prov-
erb of the Solomon inn period. He assumes, and it
Is a mere assumption, that the form of the true Sol-
omonian proverb is that which distinguishes the sec-
tion x. 1-xxii. 16, and has already been remarked.
Bleek regards cc i.-ix. as a connected mdt/idl, the
work of the last editor, written by him as an intro-
duction to the I'roverbs of Solomon which follow,
while i. 1-6 was intended by him as a superscrip-
tion to indicate the aim of the book, less with ref-
erence to his own mdthil than to the whole book,
and especially to the proverbs of Solomon contained
in it. Bertboldt argues against Solomon being the
author of these early chapters, that it was impossi-
ble for bim, with his lnrge harem, to have given so
forcibly the precept aliout tbe blessings of a single
wife (v. 18, Ac.); nor, with the knowledge that his
mother became the wife of David through an act of
adultery, to warn so strongly against intercourse
with the wife of another (ri. 34, Ac., vii. 5-23).
These argument* do not appear to qa so strong as
Bertholdt regarded them. Kichhoro, on the con-
trary, maintains that Solomon wrote the introduc-
tion in the first nine chapters. From this diver-
sity of opinion, which be it remarked is entirely tbe
result of an examination of internal evidence, it
teems to follow naturally that the evidence which
leads to such varying conclusions is of itself insuf-
ficient to dei ide the question at issue.
We now pass on to another section, xxii. 17-xxiv.,
which contains a collection of proverbs marked by
certain peculiarities. These are, 1. The structure
of the verses, which is not. so regular as in the pre-
ceding section, x. 1-xxii. 16. We find verse* of
eight, seven, or six words, mixed with others of
eleven (xxii. 20, xxiii. 31, 35), fourteen (xxiii. 29)
and eighteen words (xxir. 12). The equality of
the verse members is very much disturbed, and
there is frequently no trace of parallelism. 2. A
sentence is seldom completed in one verse, but
most frequently in two; three verses are often
closely connected (xxiii. 1-3, 6-8, 19-21 ) ; and some-
times as many aa five (xxiv. 80-34). 3. The form
of address " my son," which la so frequent in the
erst nine chapters, occur* also here in xxiii. 19, 86,
txiv. 13; and the appeal to the hearer ia often
made in the second person. Ewald regards this
lection aa a kind of appendix to the earliest eol-
ectipn of the proverbs of Solomon, added noi long
after the introduction in the first nine chapters,
though rot by the same author. He thinks it
arobabl* that the compiler of tfaii section added
PROVERBS, BOOK OF
also the collection of proverbs which was made by
the learned men of tbe court of Hexekiah, to whins
he wrote the superscription in xxv. 1. This thesry
of course only affect* the date of the section in its
present form. When the proverbs were writtec
there is nothing to determine. Bertheau main-
tains that they in great part proceeded from out
poet, in consequence of a peculiar construction
which he employs to give emphasis to his presen-
tation of a subject or object by repeating the pro-
noun (xxii. 19; xxiii. 14, 15, 19, 20, 28; xxhr. «,
27, 32). The compiler himself appear* to baai
added xxii. 17-21 as a kind of introduction. Aa-
other addition (xxiv. 23-34) is introduced with
"these also belonged to the wise," and contains ap-
parently some of " the words of the wise " to which
reference is made in i. 6. Jahn regards it aa a col-
lection of proverbs not by Solomon. Henaler says it
ia an appendix to a collection of doctrines which b
entirely lost and unknown ; and with regard to the
previous part of the section xxii. 17-xxiv. 22, he
leaves it uncertain whether or not the author
was a teacher to whom the son of a distinguished
man was sent for instruction. Hitxig'a theory
has already been given.
After what has been said, tbe reader must be
left to judge for himself whether Keil ia justified
in asserting so positively aa be does the single au-
thorship of cc. i.-xxix., and in maintaining that
" the contents in all parts of the collection show
one and the same historical background, corre-
sponding only to tbe relations, ideas, and circum-
stances, aa well as to the progress of the culture
and experiences of life, acquired by the political
development of the people in the time of Solomon."
The concluding chapters (xxx., xxxi.) are in
every way distinct from the rest and from each
other. The former, according to the superscrip-
tion, contains "the words of Agur the son of
Jakeh." Who was Agur, and who was Jakeh, am
questions which have been often asked, and never
satisfactorily answered. The Rabbins, according
to Raahi, and Jerome after them, interpreted the
name symbolically of Solomon, who "coBected
understanding" (from ^3^?, dorrr, "to collect,*
•' gather,"), and is elsewhere called "Koheleth."
All that can be said of him ia that be ia an un-
known Hebrew sage, the son of an equally unknown
Jakeh, and that he lived after the time of Heee-
kiah. Ewald attributes to him the authorship of
xxx. 1-xxxi. 9, sod places him not earlier than the
end of the 7th or beginning of the 6th cent. B. c
HiUig, aa usual, baa a strange theory: that Agur
and I-eniuel were brothers, both sons of tbe queen
of Massa, a district in Arabia, and that the father
was the reigning king. [See Jakeh.] Bunaen
(Bibtltctrk, i. p. clxxviii.), following Hitzig, con-
tends that Agur waa an inhabitant of Massa. and
a descendant of one of the five hundred Simepuitea
who in tbe reign of Hexekiah drove out tbe Amale-
kitea from Mount Seir. All this is mere conjecture-
Agur, whoever be was, appears to have had for ha
pupils Ithiel and Ucal, whom he addresses in xxx
1-6, which is followed by single proverbs of Agur a
Ch. xxxi. 1-9 contains " the words of king Lem-
uel, tbe prophecy that hie mother taught him.'
Lemuel, like Agur, ia unknown. It ia even uncer-
tain whether he is to be regarded aa a real person-
age, or whether the name ia merely symbolical, at
Kichborn and Ewald maintain. If the pre*
be retained it ia difficult to see what finer
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PROVERBS, BOOK OF
■n be arrived at If Lemuel were a real per-
I be mart hare been a foreign neighbor-king
or the chief of a nomad tribe, and In this can the
proverbs attributed u> him must have conn to the
Hebrews from a foreign source, which U highly
improbable and contrary to all we know of the
people. Dr. Davidson indeed is in favor of alter-
ing the punctuation of nx 1, with llittig and
Bertheau, bj which means Agur and Ijemuel be-
came brothers, and both sons of a queen of
Mais Reasons against this alteration of the text
are given under the article Jakkr. Eichhoru
maintains that Lemuel is a figurative name appro-
priate to the subject. [Lemuel.]
The last section of all, xzxi. 10-31, is an alpha-
betical acrostic in praise of a virtuous woman. Its
artificial form stamps it as the production of a late
period of Hebrew literature, perhaps about the 7th
century B. c. The coloring and language point to
a different author from the previous section, xxx.
1-xxxL ».
To conclude, it appears, from a consideration
of the whole question of the manner in which the
Book of Proverbs arrived at its present shape, that
the nucleus of the whole was the collection of Solo-
mon's proverbs in x. 1-xxii. 16 ; that to this was
added the further collection made by the learned
man of the court of Hezekiah, xxv.-xxix. ; that
these two were put together and united with xxii.
lT-xxir., and that to this as a whole the introduc-
tion i.-ix. was affixed, but that whether it was com-
piled by the same writer who added xxil. 16-
xxir. cannot be determined. Nor is it possible to
assert that this same compiler may not have vlded
the concluding chapters of the book to his previous
collection. With regard to the date at which the
several portions of the book were collected and put
jx their present shape, the conclusions of various
critics are uncertain and contradictory. The chief
, of these have already been given.
The nature of the contents of the Book of Prov-
erbs precludes the possibility of giving an outline
of Its plan and object. Such would be more ap-
propriate to the pages of a commentary. The
chief authorities which have been consulted in the
preceding pages are the introductions of Carpzov,
Eichhom, Bertholdt, Jahn, De Wette, KeiL David-
son, and Bleek ; Roaenmiiller, Scholii; Ewald. Die
Dicht. da A, B. 4 Th. ; Bertheau, Die SprUehc
Salerno's; Hitzig, Die SprQchc SilomoU; Elster,
Die Salomonitchen Spr&che. To these may be
added, as useful aids in reading the Proverbs, the
commentaries of Albert Schultens, of Kichel in
Mendelssohn's Bible (perhaps the best of all), of
Loewenstein, Unibreit, snd Motes Stuart. There is
also a new translation by Dr. Noyes, of Harvard
University, of the three books of Proverbs, Eocleai-
sstes, and Canticles, which may be consulted, as
•nil as the older works of Hodgson and Holden.
W. A. W.
* The preceding discussion leaves room for a
snore particular analysis of the contents of this re-
Rawkable book. After a brief introduction (ch. i.
• * In ton beautifully constructed discourse, the
statement of the conditions (rv. 1-4) Is followed by a
twofold expression of the reward of compliance ;
tamely, one in ver. 5, and another In vet. 9, each con-
formed and illustiated by the v ers e s following; it vv. 12,
H, 30, all stand In the same relation ; each expressing
SB end or object to be attained, of which the principal,
sad the sum of all, is given in ver. S0. T. J. 0.
PEOVBKBS, BOOK OF 2616
1-6), setting forth its design and uses, the ground-
thought of the whole is expressed in ver. 7 ; namely,
that all true knowledge has its beginning in the
fear of God, the seminal principle of which the
whole moral life is the growth, and the central law
of our moral relations ; that only fools despise toil
heavenly wisdom, and the means of acquiring il.
This is the key to the instructions of the book.
The following are very distinctly marked divisions.
1. Chapters i. - ix. First division, consisting of
short continuous discourses, on various topics of
religion and morality. Vv. 10-19. Against eutioa
incuts to crime and criminal gains, and the fatal
influences of a covetous spirit, Vv. 20-33. Wis-
dom's expostulations with those who refuse bar
warnings. Chap. ii. Rewards of those who seek
wisdom.' Chap. Hi. A discourse in several parts,
commending kindness and truth, as foundation
principles in all social relations (vv. 1-4); trust in
Jehovah, and conscious reference to Him in all
things (w. 6—8); recognition of Him in the use of
his gifts (vr. 9, 10), and filial submission to his
chsstisements (rv. 11, 12); blessedness of attaining
the true wisdom (rv. 13-26); practical precepts for
direction in the relations of social life (vv. 27-36).
Chap. iv. Admonition to seek wisdom (rv. 1-9);
to heed instruction and avoid the way of the
wicked (vv. 10-19); to keep the heart, from which
the outward life proceeds (Matt. xv. 19), and shun
every deviation from the right (tv. 20-27). Chap. v.
Admonition to shun the fatal snare of the strange
woman (it. 1-14); to regard the divinely instituted
law of the marriage relation, and be satisfied with
its pure and chaste enjoyments (vv. 15-23). Chap.
vi. Against being surety for nnother (w. 1-6);
against alothfulnea ( w. 6-1 1 ) ; against the false
and insidious mischief-maker (w. 12-16); seven
abominations of Jehovah (vv. 16-19); value of pa-
rental instruction and of its restraints in the con-
duet of life (rv. 20-35). Chap. vii. Warning
against the allurements of the strange woman.
Chap. riii. Wisdom's discourse. Her appeal
to the sons of men (vr. 1-11); liei claim to be
their true and proper guide in the affairs of life
(vr. 12-21); her relation to Jehovah as his com-
panion and delight before the worlds were, and his
associate in founding the heavens and the earth
(rv. 22-31 ) ; blessedness of those who hearken to
her voice (vr. 32-36).* Chap. ix. Wisdom's in-
vitation to her feast (vr. 1-6); the scoffer scorns
reproof, which the wise gratefully accepts (rv. 7-2);
contrast of the foolish woman, and of tlu fate of
her victim (vr. 13-18).
2. Chapters x.-xxii. 16. Second dirisim, con-
sisting of single unconnected sayings, or maxima,
expressing in few words the accumulated treasures
of practical wisdom.
3. Chapters xxii. 17- xxir. 22. Third division,
consisting of brief moral lessons, in very short, con-
tinuous d'scourses, less extended than those of ths
first division. An introductory paragraph admon-
ishes to a diligent and needful consideration of
the words of the wise (vv. 17-21); against robbery
and oppression of the weak and poor (rv. 22, S3);
against companionship with the passionate man,
a • Wkdom hers personates a divine principle, es-
tablished as the law of the universe, to whhh all en.
ated things are subjected. The delight of Jehcfat,
and the guide of his creative work, she here dales* M
be the guide anf Mend of his creature man.
t.i a
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2616 PROVERBS, BOOK OF
end the influence of his evil example (rtr. 24, 28);
against being surety for another's indebtedness
(tt. 26, 27) ; against the perfidious removal of land-
marks (t. 28); caution against indulgence of
appetite at the table of a ruler (ch. xxiii. 1- 3); folly
of a craving for riches (w. 4-6) ; accept no favors
from tiie grudging and envious (w. 6-8); leave
the fool lo his folly (v. 9); removal of landmarks,
and violation of the orphan's domain, will surely be
avenged (vv. 10, 11); correction needful and salutary
for the child (vv. 13, U) ; a parent's joy in a wise
and discreet son (vv. 15-18); against companion-
ship with the dissolute (vv. 19-21); regard due to
parents (vv. 22-25); a parent's plea for the love
and obedience of a son, especially as a security
from the moat fatal snare of the young (vv. 28-28);
description of the victim of the intoxicating cup.
and warning against its seductions (vv. 29-85).°
Chap. xxix. consists, for the moat part, of brief
practical directions for the conduct of life, closing
with the spirited description of the neglected fields
■f the sluggard.
4. Chapters xxv.-xxix. Fourth division, being
another collection of the Proverbs of Solomon.
6. Chapters xxx. -xxxi. An appendix, con-
taining the words of Agur, and the words of king
Lemuel, and closing with the beautiful portraiture
of a capable woman ° (xxxi. 10-81).
From this brief and necessarily partial analysis
of the book, something may be inferred of tlie ex-
tent and variety of its topics. Of the richness of
its teachings, the trains of thought suggested I y
single pregnant expression*, an analysis can give no
conception. The gnomic poetry of the most en-
lightened of other ancient nations will not bear
comparison with it, in the depth and certainty of
its foundation principles, or in the comprehensive-
ness and the moral grandeur of its conceptions of
human duty and responsibility. There is no rela-
tion in life which has not its appropriate untrue
tion, no good or evil tendency without its proper
Incentive or correction. The human consciousness
is ever} where brought into immediate relation with
the Divine, with the All-seeing Eye, from which
no act of the outward life or thought of the heart
can be concealed, and man walks as in the presence
of his Maker and Judge. But be is taught to
know Him also as the loving Father and Guide,
seeking to succor the tempted, to win the wayward,
to restrain the lawless, to restore the penitent.
The knowledge of human nature, in its various
developuieuta, it also worthy of note. Every type
of humanity Is found in this ancient book; and
though sketched three thousand years ago, Is still
as true to nature as if now drawn from Us living
representative.
In the teautiful description of the chaste rela-
tions of husband and wife (ch. v. 15-23), the writer's
meaning is lost in the A. V., and his statements
made contradictory, by rendering ver. 16 affirma-
tively. It should be rendered as an interrogative
expostulation, thus: —
«b*U thy tbuntalns spread abroad,
■ of water in tha stmts T
PROVINCE
humor, by which the gravest morel lesson ia efts*
most effectively pointed. One example baa been
given above, from ch. xxiii. 35. In ch. xv. 38, it is
said, with sarcastic humor: —
Wisdom diralla In tha heart of the djtearolnf ;
But In feola it shall be taught.
The « heart of toe discerning" is Wisdom's
home, her proper dwelling, place, and there she
abides. Fools are sometimes '• taught " a lesson
in wisdom ; but it ia after the manner described a
Judges viii. 16. " he took thorns of the wilderness,
and briers, and with them he taught the nam of
Succoth." In ch. xix. 7, it is said —
All the poor man's brethren hate him ;
Much more do his friends keep fax from htm |
lie follows after words — them he has!
A polished irony points tlie concluding member.
The favors he is encouraged to hope for be finds
to be empty talk, and that in seeking them ha
has " followed after words " — which be gets !
The older commentaries are given by Kosan-
miiller. The later critical works are : Holden,
Jmproted tram, of Prov. icith nott * crit and expl.,
1819. Denser (Die h. Schrift, von Brentano),
1825. Umbreit, Comm. Slier die Spriche Sal
tmo'e, 1826. Gramberg, Da* Buck der Spriche
Sidomo't, 1828. Koeenn-.iiUer, Prorerbia Salomon*,
1829. BockeL Die Dtnktpiiche Sokmo't, 1829.
French and Skinner, Ntr trant. of the Prat, lata
expl. note*, 1831. F.wald, S/>riclie Satomo't (poet.
Biicher des A. T. 1837), 2* Ausg. 1867. Maarer,
Comm. Crii. vol. ill., 1838. Ii wenstein, Proter*
Mm Sahmo't (aus Handscbriften edirt), 1838.
Noyea, New Iran: of Piirv. Sect, ami Cant, with
note*, Boston, 1846 (3d ed. 1867). Berthean, Die
Spriche Snbmo't (Faeget. Ilandbuch, Mat til.),
1847. Stuart, Comm. cm Me Book if Pro*., New
York, 1852. Vaihinger, Spriche u. KhgL tier*. «.
erkt., 1857. Hitzig, Die S/niche Salomo'; 1858.
Elster, Comm. iter tlie Salomon. Spriche, 1858.
Diedrich, Die SnLmwn. Scliriften, 1865. Muen-
scher. The Book of /Ver., amemlcri ten. with /at
and expl note*, Gambler, Ohio, 1866. Zickler, DU
Spriche Snima't (tinge's Biieltcerk, I9f Th.),
1867. Kamphauaen (in Bunsen's Bihelwert).
Conant, T. J., The Book of Prorertt: Part first,
Heb. text, with revised Kng. version, and crit. and
phlL notes; Part second, revised Kng. version, with
expl. notes (in press, 1869). DeHUseh, art
Spriche Salami'*, Hereog'a Jteat-KncfkJ. vol. xr?.
pp. 691-718. T. 1. C
* PROVOKE (from proroenre, "to eaB
forth ") ia used in a few passages of the A. V. fa
the sense of to "excite," "Incite," •• stimulate,''
as in Heb. x. 24, " to provoke to love and good
works." So 1 Chr. xxl. 1 ; Rom. x. 19, at 11, 14;
9 Cor. ix. 9. H.
PROVINCE ( J*""*. : sV« W r,fa,N.T. *>««,
LXX.: protmda). ft is not intended here to da
The book is X; wanting in strokes of wit and
« • The grave humor of tha laebrlata's helpless
uraadooaosss, k w. 81, 85, Is but partially ex.
jrissifl In the A. T., through the defective rendering
aT (be latter vans. It should bs translated thus : —
Thej smite me, I feel no pain ;
They beat at, I know It MS.
vTbsn shall I awake?
I will sssk It yet again.
All his senses are locked np. If there Is any
dreamy eonscknamses, It Is of a longing to awake
and take another draught ; he will seek It ye* again
*. J. 0.
» • Rot a "virtuous woman" (as In the A. »
n a virtuous woman who can find H ), bat ene eempe
seat to the dnoVs of her station. T. J. 0.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PROVINCE
man than indicate the point* of contact which this
awnl presents with Biblical history and Bur*-
tat*.
(1.) In the O. T. it appears in connection with
ill* wan between Ahab and Benhadod (1 K. xx
14, 16, 19). The victory of the former ia gained
ehiefiy - by the young men of the princes of the
provisoes," i. e. probably, of the chiefs of tribes in
the Gilesd country, recognizing the supremacy of
Ahab, and having a common interest with the
Israelites in resisting the attacks of Syria. They
are specially distinguished in rer. IS from "the
children of Israel." Not the hosts of Ahab, but
tne youngest warriors ("armor-bearers," KeiL in
loo.) of the land of .Jeplithah and EUjah, fighting
with a fearless faith, are to carry off the glory of
the battle (oomp. Kwahl, Ouch. iii. 489).
(2.) More commonly the word la used of the
livitious of the Chaldean (Dan. II 49, iii. 1, 30)
and the Persian kingdoms (Est. Ii. 1 ; Neh. vii. 6 ;
Ksth. i. 1, 22, ii. 3, etc). The occurrence of the
word in Keel. ii. 8, v. 8, may possibly be noted as
an indication of the later date now oommouly as-
cribed to that book.
The facts as to the administration of the Per-
sian provinces which coma within our view in
those passages are chiefly these: Each province
has its own governor, who communicates more or
less regularly with the central authority for in-
structions (Kzr. iv. and v.). Thus Tatnai, gover-
nor of the provinces on the right bank of the
Euphrates, applies to Darius to know how he is to
set ss to the conflicting claims of the Apharsachitea
and the Jews (Est. v.). Each province has its
own system of finance, subject to the king's di-
rection (Herod, iii. 8J). The " treasurer " is or-
dered to spend a given amount upon the Israelites
(Ear. vii. 22), and to exempt them from all taxes
(ril. 24). [Taxes.] The total number of the prov-
inces is given at 127 (Ksth. i. 1, vili. 9). Through
the whole extent of the kingdom there is carried
something like a postal system. The king's
couriers i$ifi\to<pipot, the trfyaooi of Herod, viii.
M) convey bia letters or decrees (Ksth. i. 22, iii. 13).
From all provinces concubines are collected for his
harem (ii. 3). Horses, mules or dromedaries, are
employed on this service (viii. 10). (Comp. Herod,
viii. 98; Xen. Cyrop. viii. 6; Heeren's Persians,
■h. 11.)
The word is used, it must be remembered, of
die smaller sections of a satrapy rather than of the
satrapy itself. While the provinces are 127, the
satrapies are only 20 (Herod, iii. 89). The Jews
who returned from Babylon are described as " chil-
dren of the province " (Ear. ii. 1; Neh. vii. 6), and
have a separate governor [Tirshatha] of their
awn race (Ear. ii. 63; Neh. v. 14, viii. 9); while
toey are subject to the satrap (HIIS) of the whole
province wast of the Euphrates (Ear. v. 6, vi. 0).
(8.) In the N. T. we are brought into contact
With the administration of the provinces of the
Soman empire. The classification given by Strubo
(rvii. p. 840) of provinces (Arapyfai) supposed to
seed military control, and therefore placed under
as* immediate government of the Caesar, and
'anas still lwlonging theoretically to the rept/uic,
and adauuitteied by the senate; and of the latter
PSALMS, BOOK OP
2617
• TB« A. r. nndermi «dtinty» had, it should
• passu ill ml, » mors dsflatt* vslns in the days of
again into proconsular (fnrar>xoi) and pnatorian
(arparnytKai), is recognised, more or leas dis-
tinctly, in the Gospels and the Acts. Cyreniui
(Quirinius) is the $y<u<*V of Syria (Luke ii. 2)
the word being in this case used for prases a
proconsul. Pilate was the jj7</u(yof the sub-prov-
ince of Judasa (Luke iii. 1, Matt xxvii. 2, etc.),
as procurator with the power of a legatus; sud
the same title is given to his successors, Felix and
Eestus (Acts xxiii. 24, xxv. 1, xxvL 30). The gover-
nors of the senatorial provinces of Cyprus, Aehaia,
and Asia, on the other hand, are rigatly described
as aXh/roroi, proconsuls (Acts xiii. 7, xviii. 12,
xix. 38)." In the two former esses the provinos
had been originally an imperial one, but had been
transferred, Cyprus by Augustus (Uio Cass. liv. 4),
Aehaia by Claudius (Sueton. Claud. 26), to the
senate. The trtparr,yoi of Acta xvi. 22 (•» magis-
trates," A. V.), on the other band, were the
duumviri, or prettors of a Koman colony. The
duty of the legati and other provincial governors to
report special cases to the emperor is recognized
in Acts xxv. 2li, and furnished the groundwork for
the spurious Acta /'Halt. [Pilate.] The right
of any Koman citizen to appeal from a provincial
governor to the emperor meets us as asserted
by St Paul (Acts xxv. 11). In the council
{(TvufioiKiov) of Acts xxv. 12 we recognize the
assessors who were appointed to take part in the
judicial functions of the governor. The authority
of the legatus, proconsul, or procurator, extended,
it need hardly be said, to capital punishment (sub-
ject in the case of Roman citizens, to the right of
appeal), and in most eases the power of inflicting
it belonged to him exclusively. It was necessary
for the Sanhedrim to gain Pilate's consent to the
execution of our Lord (John xviii. 31). The strict
letter of the law forbade governors of provinces to
take their wives with them, but the eases of Pi-
late's wife (Matt, xxvii. 19) and DrusiUa (Acta
xxiv. 24) show that it hod fallen into disuse.
Tacitus (Ana. iii. 33, 34) records an unsuccessful
attempt to revive the old practice.
The financial administration of the Roman
provinces is discussed under Publicans and
Taxes. E. H. P.
• PRUHTNG-HOOK. [Knife, 6.]
PSALMS, BOOK OF. 1. Tie Collection
nt a Whole. — It does not appear how the Psalms
were, as a whole, anciently designated. Their
present Hebrew appellation ia Dublin, " Praises."
But iu the actual superscriptions of the psalms the
word n?nn Is applied only to one, Pt. ezlv.
which is indeed emphatically a praise-hymn. The
LXX. entitled them YaAuol, or " Psalms," using
the word ifiaApor at the same time as the tranaU-
tion of ""llOTD, which signifies strictly a rhyth-
mical composition (Lowth, Prated. IU.), and
which was probably applied in practice to any poem
specially intended, by reason of its rhythm, for
musical performance with instrumental accompani-
ment But the Hebrew word is, in the O. T.,
never used in the plural : and in the anperseriptiona
of even the Davidic psalms it is applied only to
soma, not to all; probably to those which had bean
composed most expressly for the harp. The netlet
and Jamas than tw us. The giiraraei at
Ireland was oBdally " the Lord Deputy."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2618 PSALMS, BOOK OF
tt the end of Ps- bail, baa auggeated that the
Paslma ma; in the earliest times have been known
a* mbon," Prayers; "and in fact "Prayer"
U the title prefixed to the most ancient of all the
psalms, that of Moses, l*s. xc. But the same
Jtsignation is in the superscriptions applied to only
three besides, Pas. xvii , Ixxxvi., cii. ; nor have all
the psalms the character of prayers. The other
special designations applied to particular psalma are
the following: "YW, •• Song," the outpouring of
the soul in thanksgiving, used in the first instance
of a hymn of private gratitude, Pa. xxx., afterwards
of hymns of great national thanksgiving, Pas. xlvi.,
xbiii., lxr., etc; T3IDZ3, mntchil, » Instruction "
or "Homily," Pas xxxii., xlii., xiiT., etc (eonip. the
~f /*Ot"*H, " I will instruct thee," in Pa. xxxii.
I); DTI3-, michtam, "Private Memorial," from
the root OTO (perhaps also with an anagrammati-
sal allusion to the root "TOn "to support,"
" maintain," comp. Ps. xvi. 5), Pas. xvi., lvi.- lix. ;
flTTO, eduth, " Testimony," Pas. lx., lxxx.i and
"j VatP, lUggaim, « Irregular or Dithyrambic Ode,"
•Pa. vil. The strict meaning of these terms ia in
general to be gathered from the earlier superscrip-
tions. Once made familiar to the psalmists, they
were afterwards employed by them more loosely.
The Christian Church obviously received the
Psalter from the Jews not only as a constituent
portion of the sacred volume of Holy Scripture,
but also as the liturgical hymn-book wbieh the
Jewish Church had regularly used in the Temple.
The number of separate psalms contained in it is,
by the concordant testimony of all ancient author-
ities, one hundred and fifty; the avowedly "super-
numerary " psalm which appears at the end of the
Greek and Syriac Psalters being manifestly apocry-
phal. This total number commends itself by its
internal probability sa having proceeded from the
last sacred collector and editor of the Psalter. In
the details, however, of the numbering, both the
Greek and Syriac Psalters differ from the He-
brew. The Greek translators joined together Pas.
ix., x., and Pss. cxiv., cxv., and then divided Ps.
cxvi. and Ps. cxlvii.; this was perpetuated in the
versions derived from the Greek, and amongst
others in the Latin Vulgate. The Syriac so far
followed the Greek as to join together Pss. cxiv.,
cxt., and to divide Pa. cxlvii. Of the three diver-
gent systenuof numbering, the Hebrew (as followed
in our A. V.) is, even on internal grounds, to be
preferred. It is decisive against the Greek num-
bering that Pa. cxvi., being symmetrical in its con-
struction, will not bear to be divided ; and against
the Syriac, that it destroys the outward correspond-
ence in numerical place between the three great
triumphal psalms, Pss. xviii., Ixviii., cxviii., as also
between the two psalms containing the praise of
*e Law, Pss. xix., cxix. There are also some dis-
rrepaucies in the versual numberings. That of
Mr A. V. frequently differs from that of the He-
brew in consequence of the Jewish practice of reck-
nlng the superscription as the first verse.
8. Component Parti of the Collection. — An-
• An old Jewish canon, which may be deemed to
aaH good far the earlier but not tar the later Books,
•sauts that all anonymous psalms bt accounted the
PSALMS, BOOK OF
eient tradition and internal evidence ooueur hi
parting the Psalter into five great divisions or books
The ancient Jewish tradition is preserved to ns by
the abundaut testimonies of the Christian Fathers
And of the indications which the sacred text itesat
contains of this division the most obvious are the
doxologies which we find at the ends of Pas xli.
Ixxii., lxxxix., cvi., and which, having for the most
part no special connection with the psalms to which
they are attached, marie the several ends of the
first four of the* five Books. It suggests itself at
once that these looks must have been originally
formed at different periods. This is by various
further considerations rendered all but certain,
while the few difficulties which stand in toe way af
admitting it vanish when closely examined.
Thus, there ia a remarkable difference betwerc
the several books in their use of the divine name*
Jehovah and Klohim, to designate Almighty God.
In Book 1. the former name prevails : it is found
272 times, while Elohirn occurs but 15 times. (We
hen take no account of the superscriptions or dox-
ology, nor yet of the occurrences at Klohim when
inflected with a possessive suffix.) On the aber
hand, in Book II. Klohim ia found more tlun fire
times ss often sa Jehovah. In Book III. the p o-
pouderance of Elohini in the earlier is balanced by
that of Jehovah in the later psalms of the book.
In Book IV. the name Jeliovnh is exclusively em-
ployed ; and so also, virtually, in Hook V., IJohim
being there found only in two passages incorporated
from earlier psalma. Those who maintain, there-
fore, that the psalms were all collected and srranged
st once, contend that the collector distributed the
psalms according to the divine names which they
severally exhibited. But to this theory the exist-
ence of Book III., in which the preferential us*
of the Elobim gradually yields to that of the Jeho-
vah, la fatal. The large appeanu.ee, in fact, of the
name Elohim in Books II. and III. depends in
great measure on the period to which many of the
psalma of those Books belong : the period from the
reign of Solomon to that of Hezekiah, when through
certain causes the name Jehovah was exceptionally
disused. The preference for the name Kkihiw in
most of the Davidic psalms which are included in
Book II., ia closely allied with that character of
those psalms which induced David himself to exclude
them from his own collection, Hook I.; while, lastly,
the sparing use of the Jehovah in Ps. Ixviii., and the
three introductory psalma which precede it, is de-
signed to cause the name, when it occurs, and
above all J ah, which is emphatic for Jehovah, to
shine out with greater force and splendor.
This, however, brings us to the observance of the
superscriptions which mark the authorship of the
several psalms; and here again we find the several
groups of psalms which form the respective five
books distinguished, in great measure, by their
superscriptions from each other. Book I. is ex
clusively Davidic. Of the forty-one psalma nf
which it consists, thirty-seven have David's name
prefixed ; and of the remaining (bur, Pss. i., ii. an
probably outwardly anonymous only by reason of
their prefatory character, Pss. x., xxxiii., by ressoa
of their close connection with those which ths)
immediately succeed. 1 * Book II. (in which the ap.
parent anonymousness of Pes. xliii., livi, hrviL
compositions of the authors named to tlx
nans last preceding.
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KULMS, BOOK Of
tad., may be similarly explained) bill, b) .*«
■pencriptioni of its psalms, into two distinct sub-
Jivialons, a Levitic and a Davidic. The former
consists of P«». xliL-xlix.. ascribed U *ie Son*
of Korah, and Pi. 1., " A Pnlm of Asaph: " the
latter comprise* Pie. li. -lxxi., bearing the name
of David, and supplemented by Pi. lxxii., the
pnlm of Solomon. In Book III. (Pa. lxxiii.
-Ixzxix.), where the Asaphie psalnu precede those
if the Sons of Korah, the paalmi are all ascribed,
explicitly or virtually, to the varioui Lerite lingers,
except only Pi. lxxxvi., which bears the name of
David : this, however, is not set by itself, but standi
in the midst of the rest. In Books IV., V., we
have, in ell, seventeen psalms marked with Darid's
name. They are to a certain extent, as in Book
III., mixed with the rest, sometimes singly, some-
times in groups. But these hooks differ from
Book III. in that the non- Davidic psalms, instead
of being assigned by superscriptions to the Lerite
singers, are left anonymous. Special attention, in
respect to authorship, is drawn by the superscrip-
tions only to Pa. xc., "A Prayer of Moses," etc.;
Pa. du, " A Prayer of the Afflicted," etc. ; and Ps.
exxviL, marked with the name of Solomon.
In reasoning from the phenomena of the super-
scriptions, which indicate in many instances not
only the authors, but also tbe occasions of the
several psalms, as well as the mode of their musical
performance, we bare to meet the preliminary in-
quiry which has been raised, Are the superscrip-
tions authentic ? For the affirmative it is contended
that they form an integral, and till modern times
almost undisputed, portion of the Hebrew text of
Scripture; • that they are iu analogy with other
Biblical super- or subscriptions, Davidic or other-
wise (comp. 2 Sam. i. 18, probably based on an
old superscription; to. xxiii- 1; Is. xxxviiL 9; Hab.
iii. 1, 19); and that their diversified, unsystematic,
and often obscure and enigmatical character is in-
consistent with the theory of their having originated
at a later period. On the other hand is. urged
their analogy with the untrustworthy subscriptions
of the N. T. epistles : as also tbe fact that many
arbitrary superscriptions are added in the Greek
version of the Psalter. The above represents,
however, but the outside of the controversy. The
real pith of it lies in this : Do they, when individ-
ually sifted, approve themselves as so generally cor-
rect, and as so free from any single fatal objection
to their credit, as to claim our universal confidence?
This can evidently not be discussed here. We
nnst simply avow our conviction, founded on
thorough examination, that they are, when rightly
Interpreted, fully trustworthy, and that every sep-
arate objection that has been made to the correct-
ness of any one of them can be fairly met. More-
over, some of the arguments of their assailants
obviously recoil upon themselves. Thus when it Is
alleged that the contents of Pi. xxriv. have no con-
nection with tbe occasion indicated in the super-
cription, we reply that the fact of the connection
lot being readily apparent renders it improbable
that the superscription should have been prefixed
iy any but David himself.
Let us now then trace the bearing of the super-
scriptions upon the date and method of compila-
tion of the several books. Book I. is, by tbe
PSALMS, BOOK OF
26 LU
a Well says Bossoat, Dissert. {18: "Qui Urolos
KB ano nudo Intelligent, vldso assa qnam plorimoa:
|Dl Is ttMorasianototitats dubitaiit, sx anttqols am-
superscriptions, entirely Davidic; nor do »e And la
it a trace of any but David's authorship. Nv such
trace exists in the mention of the " Temple " (r.
7), for that word is even in 1 Sam. i. 9, iii. 3 ap-
plied to the Tabernacle; nor yet in the phras*
11 bringeth back the captivity " (xiv. 7), which is
elsewhere used, idiomatically, with great latitude of
meaning (Job xlii. 10; Ho*, vi. 11; Ez. xvi. 53),
nor yet in the acrosticism of 1'ss. xrv., etc., for
that all acrostic psalms are of lata date is a purely
gratuitous sssumptiou, and some even of the moat
skeptical critics admit the Davidic authorship of the
partially acrostic Pss. ix., x. All tbe psalms of
Hook I. being thus Davidic, we may well believe
that tbe compilation of the book was also David's
work. In favor of this is the circumstance that
it does not comprise all David's psalms, nor hie
latest, which yet would have been all included in It
by any subsequent collector ; also the circumttanoa
that its two prefatory psalms, although not super-
scribed, are yet shown by internal evidence to have
proceeded from David himself; and furthermore,
that of the two recensions of tbe same hymn, Pas.
xiv., liii., it prefers that which seems to have been
more specially adapted by its royal author to the
temple-service. Book II. appears by the date of
its latest psalm, Ps. xlvi., to have been compiled in
the reign of King Hezekiah. It would naturally
comprise, 1st, several or most of the l>evitical psalms
anterior to that date ; and 2dly, the remainder of the
psalms of David, previously uncompiled. To these
latter tbe collector, after properly appending the
single psalm of Solomon, has affixed the notice tbat
" the prayers of David the son of Jesse sre ended "
(Ps. lxxii. 90); evidently implying, at least on the
primi facie view, that no more compositions of the
royal psalmist remained. How then do we find,
in the later Books HI., IV., V., further psalms yet
marked with David's name? Another question
shall help us to reply. How do we find, in Book
III. rather than Book II. eleven psalms, Pss. lxxiiL
- htzxiii., bearing the name of David's contempo-
rary musician Asaph ? Clearly liecauw they pro-
ceeded not from Asaph himself. No cKtx whatever
contends that nU these eleven belong to tbe age of
David; and, in real truth, internal evidence is in
every single instance in favor of a later origin.
They were composed then by the " sons of Asaph "
(9 (Tir, ixix. 13, xxxv. IS, Ac.), the members, by he-
reditary descent, of tbe choir which Asapb founded.
It was to be expected that these psalmists would, in
superscribing their psalms, prefer honoring and
perpetuating the memory of their ancestor to ob-
truding their own personal names on the Church:
a consideration which both explains tbe p r ese n t
superscriptions, and also renders it improbable that
the person intended in them could, according to a
frequent but now waning hypothesis, be any second
Asaph, of younger generation and of inferior fame.
The superscriptions of Pss. Ixxxviii., lxxxix.,
" Maschil of Heman,' " Maschil of Kthan," have
doubtless a like purport; the one psalm having
been written, as in fact the rest of its superscrip-
tion states, by the Sons of Korah, the choir of
which Hema_ was the founder; and the other cor-
respondingly proceeding from the third Levities!
choir, which owed its origin to Ethan or Jedutbun.
If now in the times posterior to those of David the
nino nsmln
•XOSpUOB
Theodore of McfwasstJa
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2620 PSALMS, BOOK OF
Levite choirs prefixed to the psalms which they
fompotad the nuua of Asaph, Heman, and Ethan,
3Ut of a feeling of veneratiou for their menioriea ;
how much more might the name of David be pre-
fixed to the utterances of those who were not merely
hit descendant*, but also the representative! for the
time being, and so hi tome sort the pledges, of the
perpetual royalty of his lineage ! The name David
is used to denote, in other parts of Scripture, after
the original David's death, the then head of the
Davidic family : and so, in prophecy, the Messiah of
the seed of David, who was to sit on David's throne
(1 K. xii. 16; Hot, iii. 5; Is. Iv. 3; Jer. xxx. 9;
Bk. xxxiv. 33. 34). And- thus then we may ex-
plain the meaning of the later Davidic superserip-
tfont in the Psalter. The psalms to which they
belong were written by Hexeklah, by Joaiah, by
Zerubbabel, or others of David's posterity. And
this view is confirmed by various considerations.
It is confirmed by the circumstance that in the
later books, and even in Book V. taken alone, the
psalms marked with David's name are not grouped
all together. It is confirmed in some Instances by
the internal evidence of occasion : thus Psalm ci. can
HI be reconciled with the historical circumstances
of any period of David's life, but suits exactly with
those of the opening of the reign of Joaiah. It is
confirmed by the extent to which some of these
psalms — Pas. lxxxv., cviii., cxliv. — are compacted
of passages from previous psalms of David. And
it it confirmed lastly by the fact that the Hebrew
text of many (see, above all Ps. cxxxix.), is marked
by grammatical C'baidaisms, which are entirely un -
paralleled in Pat. i. - lxxii., and which thus afford
sure evidence of a comparatively recent date. They
cannot therefore be David's own: yet that the
superscriptions are not on that account to be re-
ieoted, as false, but must rather be properly inter-
preted, is shown by the Improbability that any
would, carelessly or presumptuously, have prefixed
David's name to various psalms scattered' through
a collection, while yet leaving the rest — at least
In Books IV., V. — altogether unsupertcribed.
The above explanation removes all serious diffl-
eulty respecting the history of the later books of the
Psalter. Book III., the interest of which centres in,
She times of Hezekiah, stretches out, by its last two
psalms, to the reign of Manasaeh : it was probably
compiled in the reign of Joaiah. Book IV. contains
the remainder of the psalms up to the date of the
Captivity ; Book V. the psalms of the Return. There
it nothing to distinguish these two books from each
ether in respect of outward decoration or arrange-
ment, and tbeymay have been compiled together in
'be days of Nehemiah.
The superscriptions, snd the places which the
( °aalms themselves severally occupy in the Psalter,
era thus the two guiding clews by which, in eon-
hmction with the internal evidence, their various
a itbors, cHtes. and occasions, are to be determined.
In the critical results obtained on these points by
Jhise scholars who have recognised and used these
.wins there is, not indeed uniformity, but at hast a
visible tendency towards it The same cannot be
•aid for the results of the judgments of those, of
whatever school, who have neglected or rejected
them; not indeed is it easily to be imagined that
(eternal evidence alone should suffice to assign one
honored and fifty devotional hymns, even approxi-
asatery, to their several epochs-
It would manifestly be impossible, in the ootn-
f of an article nke the Present, te exhibit in de-
PBALMS, BOOK O*
tall the divergent views which have beat taken e>
the dates of particular psalms. There is. however
one matter which must not be altogetlier passed
over in silence: the assignment of various psalms,
by a large number of critics, to the age of the Mac-
cabees. Two preliminary difficulties fatally beset
such procedure : the hypothesis of a Maccabean au-
thorship of any portion of the Psalter can ill be rec-
onciled either with the history of the 0. T. canon, or
with that of the translation of the LXX. But the
difficulties do not end here. How — for we shall
not here discuss the theories of Hi trig and his fol-
lowers Leugerke and Justus Olshausen, who would
represent the greater part of the Psalter at Macca-
bean, — how is it that the psalms which one would
moat naturally assign to the Maccabean period meet
us not in the close but in the middle, i. e. in the
Second and Third Books of the Psalter? The three
named by De Wette (AVul in dot A. T.\ 370) aa
bearing, apparently, a Maccabean impress, are Pas.
xliv., lx., lxxiv. ; and in fact these, together with
Ps. lxxix., are perhaps all that would, when taken
alone, seriously suggest the hypothesis of a Macca-
bean date. Whence then arise the early places in
the Psalter which these occupy? But even in the
case of these, the internal evidence, when more nar-
rowly examined, proves to be in favor of an earner
date. In the first place the superscription of Ps.
lx. cannot possibly have been invented from the
historical books, inasmuch at it disagrees with them
in its details. Then the mention by name in that
psalm of the Israeli tiah tribes, and of Moab, and
Philiatla, is unsuited to the Maccabean epoch. In
Ps. xliv. toe complaint is made that the tree of the
nation of Israel was no longer spreading over the
territory that God had assigned it. Is it conceiv-
able that a Maccabean psalmist should have bald
this language without making the slightest aOnsisn
to the Babylonish Captivity; aa though the tree's
growth were now first being seriously impeded by
the wild stocks around, notwithstanding that it has!
once been entirely transplanted, and that, though
restored to its place, it had been weakly ever since?
In Ps. lxxiv. it is complained that •• there is no mora
any prophet." Would that be a natural complaint
at a time when Jewish prophecy had ceased for more
than two centuries? Lastly, in Ps. Ixxix. the men-
tion of " kingdoms " in ver. 4 ill suits the Macca-
bean time ; while the way in which the psalm ia
cited by the author of the First Book of Msccabeat
(vii. 16, 17), who omits those words which are foreign
to his purpose, it such aa would have hardly been
adopted in reference to a contemporary composition.
3. Comtetkm of(U Ptnlmt talk lie /si-nenat*
History. — In tracing this we shall, of course, asanas!
the truth of the conclusions at which in the pre-
vious section we have arrived.
The psalms grew, essentially and gradually, out
of the personal snd national career of David and of
Israel. That of Moses, Psalm xc, which, though
it contributed Utile to the production of the rest, it
yet, in point of actual date, the earliest, taithfulr*
reflects the long, weary wanderings, the multiplied
provocations, and the consequent punishments e*
the wilderness; and it ia well that the Psattst
should contain at least one memorial of those fort*
years of toU. It is, however, with David that hnv
elitiah psalmody may be said virtually to commence
Previous mastery over bis harp had probably a]
ready prepared the way for his future strains, whan
the anointing oil of Samuel descended upon f '
and he began to drink in special i
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PSALMS, BOOK OF
lay forward, of the Spirit of the Lord. It m
thin that, rictorioiu at home over the mysterious
mslsnrhrlj of Saul and in the field over the Taunt-
ing champion of the Philistine hosts, be tang how
bom even babes and suckling* God had ordained
strength because of his enemies (Ps. viii. ). His
next psalms are of a different character: his perse-
cutions at the hands of Saul had commenced. Ps.
Iviii. was probably written after Jonathan's disclos-
ures of the murderousdesignsof theeourt: Ps-llx.
when bis bouse was being watched by Saul's emis-
saries. The inbospitality of the court of Acbiah at
Uath, gate rise to Pa. In. : Ps. xxzir. was David's
thanksgiving Tor deliverance from that court, not
unmingled with shame for the unworthy stratagem
to which he had there temporarily had recourse.
The associations connected with the cave of Adul-
lan are embodied in Ps. Irii. ; the feelings exeited by
the tidings of Doeg's senility in Ps. Hi. The escape
from Keilab, in consequence of a divine warning,
suggested Ps. xxxi. Ps. liv. was written when the
Ziphitet officiously informed Saul of David's move-
ments. Pas. xxxv., xxxvi, recall the colloquy at
Engedi. Nabal of ( ,'arniel was probably the original
of the fool of Pa list. ; though in this case the clos-
ing verse of that psalm must have been added when
it was further altered, by David himself, into Ps.
xiv. The most thoroughly idealized picture sug-
gested by • retrospect of all the dangers of bis out-
law-life is that presented to us by David in It.
xxii. But In Ps. xxiii., which forms a side-piece
to it, and the imagery of which is drawn from his
earlier shepherd-days, David acknowledges that his
past career had had it* brighter as well as its
darker side; nor had the goodness and meroy
which were to follow him all the days of his life
been ever really absent from him. Two more
psalms, at least, must be referred to the period be-
fore David ascended the throne, namely, xxxviii
and xxxix., which naturally sssociste themselves
with the distressing scene at Ziklag after the inroad
of the Amalekites. Ps. xL may perhaps be the
thanksgiving for the retrieval of the disaster that
bad there befallen.
When David's reign has commenced, it i* still
with the most exciting incident* of hi* history, pri-
vate or public, that his psalms are mainly associated.
There are none to which the period of his reign at
Hebron can lay exclusive chum. But after the eon-
quest of Jerusalem his psalmody opened afresh with
the solemn removal of the ark to Mount Zion ; and
In Pss. xxiv.-xxix., which belong together, we have
the earliest definite instance of David's systematic
composition or arrangement of psalms for public
use. Ps. xxx. is of the same date: it was composed
for the dedication of David's new palace, which took
place on the same day with the establishment of
the ark in its new tabernacle. Other psalm* (and
in these first do we trace any allusion* to the prom-
ise of perpetual royalty now conveyed through Na-
than) show the feelings of David in the midst of
hi* foreign wars. The Imagery of Ps. ii. is perhaps
jawn from the events of this period; Pss. lx., bit.
<ekmg to Uw campaign against Kdotn; Ps. xx. to
be second campaign, conducted by David In par-
sen, of the war against the allied Ammonites and
Syrians; and Ps. xxi. to the termination of that
tar by the capture of Kabbah. Intermediate in
late to the but-mentioned two psalms is Ps. H. ;
Mnneotod with the dsrk episode which made David
Gamble not only for himself, but saw for the city
i he bad labored, and which ha ban partly
PSALMS, BOOK OP
2021
named by his own name, lest Gud should in dis-
pleasure not permit the future Temple to be reared
on Mount Zion, nor the yet imperfect walls of Jeru-
salem to be completed. But rich above all, in the
psalms to which it gave rise, is the period of David's
flight from Absalom. To this wo may refer Pss.
]ii.-Al. (the "Cush" of Ps. rii. being Shimei);
also Ps. lv., which reflects the treachery of Ahitho-
phel, Ps. lxii., which possibly alluiles to the false-
hood of both Ziba and Mephibosheth, and Ps. IxiU.,
written in the wilderness between Jerusalem and
the Jordan.
Even of those psalms which cannot be referred to
any definite occasion, several reflect the general his-
torical circumstances of the times. Thus Ps.ix.h)
a thanksgiving for the deliverance of the land of Is-
rael from its former heathen oppressors. Ps. x. is
a prayer for the deliverance of the Church from Uw
high-handed oppression exercised from within. The
succeeding psalms dwell on the same theme, the vir-
tual internal heathenism by which the Church of
God was weighed down. So that there remain very
few, e. g. Pss. xv.-xvii., xix., xxxii. (with its choral
appendage xxxiii.), xxxvii., of which tome historical
account may not be given; and even of these tome
are manifestly connected with psalms of historical
origin, e. g. Ps. xr. with Ps. xxiv.; and of others
the historical reference may be more reasonably
doubted than denied.
A season of repose near the close of his reign in
duoed l<avid to compose his grand personal thanks-
giving for the deliverances of his whole lib, Pa,
xviii.; the date of which is approximately deter-
mined by the place at which it is inserted in the
history (8 Sam. xxii.). It was probably at this pe-
riod that he finally arranged for the sanctuary-ser-
vice that collection of his psalms which now con-
stitutes the First Book of the Psalter. From this
he designedly excluded all (Pss. Ii -hriv.) that, from
manifest private reference, or other cause, were un-
fitted for immediate public use; except only when
he to fitted them by slightly generalizing the lan-
guage, and by mostly substituting for the divine
name Klohim the more theocratic name Jehovah;
as we see by the instance of Ps xiv. = liii., where
both the altered and original copies of the hymn
happen to be preserved. To the collection thus
formed be prefixed by way of preface Ps. I., a sim-
ple moral contrast between the wars of the godly
and the ungodly, and Ps. ii., a prophetical picture
of the reign of that promised Kulor of whom be
knew himself to be but the type. The concluding
psalm of the collection, Ps. xli., seems to he a tort
of ideal summary of the whole.
The course of David's reign was not, however, as
yet complete. The solemn assembly convened by
him for the dedication of the materials of the future
Temple (1 Chr. xxviii., xxix.) would naturally osB
forth a renewal of his best efforts to glorify the God
of Israel in psalms ; and to this occasion we doubt-
less owe the great festal hymns Pss. lxr.-lxvil.,
lxviii., containing a large review of the past history,
present position, and prospective glories of Ood's
chosen people. The supplications of Pa. lxix. suit
best with the renewed distress occasioned by the
sedition of Adotujah. Ps. lxxt, to which Ps. hub,
a fragment of a former psalm, is introductory, forms
David's parting strain. Yet that the psalmody of
Israel may not seam finally to terminate with him,
the glories of the future are forthwith antic ip ated
by his son in Ps. bail. And so closes the first
great blase of Uw lyrical devotions nf Israel. Ua>
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2622 PSALMS, BOOK OF
rid to not merely the mil of it; be it»nd» in it
absolutely alone. It i« from the event* of hii own
«wr that the greater part of the psalms have
jprung; he U their author, and on hit harp are
<bey first sung; to him too is due the design of
the establishment of regular choirs for their future
•acred performance; hit are all the arrangements
oy which that design is carried out ; and even the
improvement of the musical instruments needed for
the performance is traced up to him (Amos vi. 6).
For a time the single psalm of Solomon remained
the only addition to those of David. Solomon's
awn gifts lay mainly in a different direction; and
no sufficiently quickening religious impulses min-
gled with the generally depressing events of the
reigns of Rehoboam and Abijab to raise up to
David any lyrical successor. If, however, religious
psalmody were to revive, somewhat might be not
unreasonably anticipated from the great assembly
of King Asa (9 Chr. it.); and Ft. 1. suits so
exactly with the circumstances of that occasion,
that it may well be assigned to it Internal evi-
dence renders it more likely that this •' Psalm of
Asaph " proceeded from a descendant of Asaph than
from Asaph himself; and possibly its author may
be the Azariah the ton of Oded, who had been
moved by the Spirit of God to kindle Asa't leal.
Another revival of psalmody more certainly oc-
curred under Jelioehaphat at the time of the
Moabite and Ammonite invasion (8 Chr. xx.). Of
this, Pss. xlvii., xlviii. were the fruits; and we
may suspect that the Levite singer Jahaziel, who
foretold the Jewish deliverance, was their author.
The great prophetical ode (Ps. xlv.) connects itself
most readily with the splendors of Jehoshaphat's
reign. And after that psalmody had thus definitely
revived, there would be no reason why it should
not thenceforward manifest itself in seasons of
anxiety, as well as of festivity and thanksgiving.
Hence Ps. xiix. Yet the psalms of this period flow
but sparingly. Pss. xlii. -xliv., lxxiv., are best
assigned to the reign of Ahax ; they delineate that
monarch's desecration of the sanctuary, the sigh-
ing! of the faithful who had exiled themselves in
consequence from Jerusalem, and the political hu-
niliation to which the kingdom of Judah was,
through the proceedings of Ahae, reduced. The
atlgn of Hezekiah is naturally rich in psalmody.
Pss. xlvi., lxxiii., lxxv.„ Ixxvi., connect themselves
with the resistance to the supremacy of the Assyr-
ians and the divine destruction of their host.
The first of these psalms indeed would by itt place
In the Psalter more naturally belong to the deliv-
erance in the days of Jehoshaphat, to which some,
«s Deli tzsch, actually refer it ; but if internal evi-
lenoe be deemed to establish sufficiently its later
date, it may have been exceptionally permitted to
appear in Book tl. on account of its similarity in
tyle to Pss. xlvii., xlviii. We are now brought
jo a scries of psalms of peculiar interest, springing
out of the political and religious history of the
separated ten tribes. In date of actual composi-
tion they commence before the times of Hezekiah.
The easiest is probably Ps. lxxx-, a supplication
for the Israelitish people at the time of the Syrian
•ppressioii. Pa. lxxxi. is an earnest appeal to
them, indicative of what God would yet do for
them if they would hearken to hit voice: Ps.
Vzxxii. a stern reproof of the internal oppression
prevalent, by the testimony of Amos, in the realm
sf Irrael. In Ps. baoriii we have a prayer for
Itttvirance from that extensive C u ufedaraoy of eno-
PSALMS, BOOK OP
miet from all quarters, of which the traces nam
ut in Joel Hi., Amos i., and which probably was
eventually crushed by the contemporaneous victo-
ries of Jeroboam II. of Israel and tjzxlah of Judah
All these psalms are referred by their superscrip-
tions to the Levite singers, and thus bear wittiest
to the efforts of the Leritet to reconcile the two
branches of the chosen nation. In Pa. lxxvui.,
belonging, probably, to the opening of Hezekiah *■
reign, the psalmist assumes a bolder tone, apd, re-
proving the disobedience of the Israelites by the
parable of the nation's earlier rebellions, seta forth
to them the Temple at Jerusalem as the appointed
centre of religious worship, and the heir of the
house of David as the sovereign of the LonPs
choice. This remonstrance may bare contributed
to the partial success of Hezekiah't messages of
invitation to the ten tribes of Israel. Ps. Ixxxtr.
represents the thanks and prayers of the northern
pilgrims, coming up, for the first time in two hun-
dred and fifty years, to celebrate the passover In
Jerusalem : Ps. lxxxr. may well be the thanksgiv-
ing for the happy restoration of religion, of which
the advent of those pilgrims formed part. Pa.
lxxvil., on the other hand, it the lamentation of
the Jewish Church for the terrible political calamity
which speedily followed, whereby the inhabitant!
of the northern kingdom were carried into Cap-
tivity, and Joseph lost, the second time, to Jacob.
The prosperity of Hezekiah's own reign outweighed
the sense of this heavy blow, and nursed the holy
faith whereby the king himself in Ps. lxxxri, and
the Levites in Ps. Ixxxvii., anticipated the future
welcome of all the Gentiles into the Church of
God. Pi. lxxlx. (an Asaphic psalm, and therefore
placed with the others of like authorship) may beat
be viewed at a picture of the evil days that followed
through the transgressions of Manasseh. And in
Pss. lxxxviii., lxxxix. we have the pleadings of the
nation with God under the severest trial that ft
had yet experienced, the captivity of itt anointed
sovereign, and the apparent failure of the promisee
made to David and his house.
The captivity of Manasseh himself proved to be
but temporary; but the sentence which his tins
had provoked upon Judah and Jerusalem still re-
mained to be executed, and precluded the hope
that God's salvation could be revealed till after
snoh an outpouring of his judgments as the nation
never yet had known. Labor and sorrow most be
the lot of the pre t er it generation; through these
mercy might occasionally gleam, but the glory
which was eventually to be manifested must be for
posterity alone The psalms of Book IV. bear
generally the impress of this feeling. The Mosaic
Psalm xc., from whatever cause here placed, har-
monizes with it Pss. xci., xeii. are of a peaceful,
simple, liturgical character; but in the teriee of
psalms Pit. xeiil. -c, which foretell the future
advent of God's kingdom, the days of adversity
of the Chaldtatn oppression loom in the foreground.
Pas. ci., ciii., " of David," readily refer themselves
to Josiah as their author; the former e mb od i es
bis early resolutions of piety; the latter belongs w
the period of the solemn renewal of the covenant
alter the discovery of the book of the Law, arri
after the assurance to Josiah that for his tender-
ness of heart he should be graewnely spared from
beholding the approaching evil Intermediate at
these in place, and perhaps In date, is Pa. di., « A
Prayer of the afflicted," written by one who w
almost entirely wrapped up in the prospect of Mm
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PSALMS, BOOK OF
j desolation, though he recognizes withal
t divine fiiror which thould remote); bat event-
mBj be manifested. Pt. civ., a meditation on
the providence of God, it itself a preparation for
that " hiding of God's face " which thould enaue
ere the Church were, like, the face of the earth,
renewed; and in the historical Pat. ct., evL, the
one the story of God's faithfulness, the other of the
people's transgressions, we hare the immediate pre-
lude to the Captivity, together with a prayer for
eventual deliverance from it.
We pass to Book V. Pi. erii. if the opening
Cof the return, rang probably at the first
of Taliernacles (Ear. iii.1 The ensuing
Davidie psalms may well be ascribed to Zerubbabel;
Ps. cviii. (drawn from Pat. lvii., lx.) bring in
anticipation of the returning prosperity of the
Church; Ps. cix., a prayer against the eflbrts of
the Samaritans to hinder the rebuilding of the
Temple; Pa. ex., a picture of the triumphs of the
Church in the days of the future Messiah, whose
anion of royalty and priesthood had been at this
tune art forth in the type and prophecy of Zeeh.
ft 11-13.' IV cxviii., with which Pes. cxiv.-
exrii. certainly, and in the estimation of some Ps.
sxiiL, and even I'ss. cxi., cxil., stand connected, is
the festal hymn sung at the laying of the founda-
tions of the second Temple. We here pass over
the questions connected with Ps. cxix.; but a
directly historical character belongs to Pas. exx. -
exxxiv., styled in our A. V. " Songs of Degrees."
[Degrees, Songs ov, where the different inter-
pretations of the Hebrew title are given.] Internal
evidence refers these to the period when the Jews
under Nehemiah were, in the very bee of the
enemy, repairing the walls of Jerusalem; and the
title may well signify " Songs of goings up (as the
Hebrew phrase is) upon the wails," the psalms
being, from their brevity, well adapted to lc sung
by tbs workmen and guards while engaged in their
respective duties. As David cannot well be the
author of Pet. exxii., exxiv., exxxi., exxxiii., marked
with his name, so neither, by analogy, can Solomon
wall be the actual author of Ps. exxvii. Theodoret
thinks that by "Solomon " Zerubbabel is intended,
both as deriving his descent from Solomon, and as
renewing Solomon's work: with yet greater prob-
ability we might ascribe the psalm to Nehemiah.
Pas. exxxv., exxxvi., by their parallelism with the
confession of sins in Neh. ix., connect themselves
with the national fast of which that chapter speaks.
Of somewhat earlier date, it may be, are Ps.
exzxrii. and the ensuing Davidic psalms. Of these,
Ps. exxxix. is s psalm of the new birth of Israel,
from the womb of the Babylonish Captivity, to a
life of righteousness: l'ss. cxl.-cxliii. may be a
picture of the trials to which the unrestorrd exiles
were still exposed in the realms of the Gentiles.
Henceforward, as we approach the close of the
Psalter, its strains rise in cheerfulness; and it
fittingly terminates with Pss. cxlvil.-cL, which
ware probably sung on the occasion of the thanks-
giving procession of Neh. xii., after the rebuilding
sf the walls of Jerusalem had been completed.
4. Moral CliaracUrutie* of the Ptahnt. — Fore-
most among these meets us, undoubtedly, th« unl-
recourse to communion with God. "My
« A. vtir strong haling exists that stark xii. 88,
**., show Ps. ex to ban been oomnostd by David
ejnaalf. To the writer of this artkus It appears, that
at ear Saviours argument nanus the boh from
PSALMS, BOOK OP 2C£3
voice is unto God, and I will cry " (Pa. ixxtU. 1),
might well stand as a motto to the whole of ths
Psalter; for, whether immersed in the depths, or
whether blessed with greatness end comfort on
every aide, it is to God that the psalmist's voice
seems ever to soar spontaneously aloft. Alike in
the welcome of present deliverance or in the con-
templation of past mercies, be addresses himself
straight to God as the object of his praise. Alike
in the persecutions of his enemies and the deser-
tions of his friends, in wretchedness of body and
in the agonies of Inward repentance, in the hoar
of impending danger and In the hour of a pp aren t
despair, it is direct to God that he utters forth Ml
supplications. Despair, we say; for such, as In?
as the description goes, Is the psalmist's state ra
Ps. lxxxvill. But meanwhile he is praying; tbs
apparent impossibility of deliverance cannot restrain
his God-ward voice; and so the very force of com-
munion with God carries him, almost unawares to
himself, through the trial.
Connected with this is the faith by which be
everywhere lives In God rather than In himself.
God's mercies, God's greatness form the sphere in
which his thoughts are ever moving: even when
through excess of affliction reason is rendered
powerless, the naked contemplation of God's won-
ders of old forms his effectual support (Pa. lxxvil.).
It is of the essence of such (kith that the
psalmist's view of the perfections of God should be
true and vivid. The Psalter describes God as He
is: it glows with testimonies to his power and
providence, his love and faithfulness, his holiness
and righteousness. Correspondingly it testifies
against every form of idol which men would sub-
stitute in the living God's place: whether it be the
outward image, the work of men's hands (Ps. cxv.),
or whether it be the inward vanity of earthly com-
fort or prosperity, to be purchased at the cost of
the honor which Cometh from God alone (Ps. iv.).
The solemn "See that there is no idol-way ("TTT
339) In me" of Pa. exxxix., the striving of the
heart after the very truth and nought Inside, is
the exact anticipation of the " Little children, keep
yourselves from idols," of the loved Apostle In
the N. T.
The Psalms not only aet forth the perfections of
God : they proclaim also the duty of wonhipping
Him by the acknowledgment and adoraticn of bis
perfections. They encourage all outward rites and
means of worship : new songs, use of musical in-
struments of all kinds, appearance in God's eourts
lifting up of hands, prostration at his footstool,
holy apparel (A. V. " beauty of hollnns ")
Among these they recognise the ordinance of laerl
fice (Pas. iv., v., xxvii., li.) as an expression uf (ht
worshipper's consecration of himself to God's ser-
vice. But not the leas do they repudiate the oat-
ward rite when separated from that which it was
designed to express (Pss. xl , lxix.): a broken and
contrite heart is, from erring man, the genuine
sacrifice which God requires (Ps. li.).
Similar depth is observable in the view taken by
the psalmist of human sin. It Is to be traced
not only in Its outward manifestations, but also ia
whichever of hi* soeastors the psalm p r oesedsd,
won* do not nmitsarlly imply mora than Is ia'
In ths ropeneriptkn of the psalm.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2624
psalms, book of
the inward workings of the bent (Ps. xxxvi.),'
ud Is to he priuiarilv ascriled to nun'i innate;
corruption (I'm. li., Iviii. ). tt shows itself alike in
deed*, in words (l'as xvii., cxli.), and in thoughts
(Pi. cxxxix.); nor in even the believer able to dis-
cern all it* various ramifications (Fa. xix.). Con-
nected with tliis view of sin in. on the one hand,
the picture of the utter corruption of the ungodly
world (I's xiv ): on the other, the encouragement
to genuine repentance, the assurance of divine
forgiveness (I's. xxxii.), and the trust in God as
the source of complete redemption (Ps. exxx.).
In regard of the I aw. the psalmist, while warmly
acknowledging its excellence, feels yet that it can-
not so effectually guide his own unassisted exer-
tions as to preserve him from error (Ps. xix.). He
needs an additional grace from above, the grace of
God's Holy Spirit (Ps. 11.). But God's Spirit is
also a free spirit (»*.): led by this he will discern
the Law, with all its precepts, to be no arbitrary
rule of bondage, hut rattier a charter and Instru-
ment of liberty (Ps. cxix.).
The Psalms bear repeated testimony to the duty
of instructing others in the ways of holiness (Pss.
xxxii., xxxiv., li.). They also indirectly enforce
the duty of love, even to our enemies (Ps. vii. 4,
xxxv. 18, cix. 4). On the other hand they impre-
cate, in the strongest terms, the judgments of
God on transgressors. Such imprecations are lev-
illed at transgressors as a body, and are uniformly
uttered on the hypothesis of their willful persist-
ence in evil, in which case the overthrow of the
sinner becomes a necessary part of the uprooting
of sin. They are In nowise inconsistent with any
efforts to lead sinners Individually to repentance.
[Psalms Imprkcatoky, Amer. ed.]
This brings us to notice, lastly, the faith of the
psalmists in a righteous recompense to all men
according to their deeds (Ps. xxxvll., Ac.). They
generally expected that men would receive such
recompense in great measure during their own
lifetime. Vet tbey felt withal that it was not then
complete: it perpetuated itself to their children
(Pi. xxxvti. 28, cix. 12, Ac.); and thus we find set
forth in the Psalms, with sufficient distinctness,
though in an unmatured and consequently Imper-
fect form, the doctrine of a retribution alter death
6. Prfiphtticnl Character of lit Pialnu. — The
moral struggle between godliness and ungodliness,
■o vividly depicted in the Psnln s, culminates, in
Holy Scripture, in the life of the Incarnate Son
of God upon earth. It only remains to show that
the Psalms themselves definitely anticipated this
culmination. Now there are in the Psalter at
least three psalms of which the interest evidently
centres in a person distinct from the speaker, and
which, since they cannot without violence to the
language be interpreted of any but the Messiah,
may be termed directly and exclusively Messianic.
We refer to Pas. li., xlv., ex. ; to which may par-
baps be added Pa. lxxii.
It would be strange if these few psalms stood,
In their prophetical significance, absolutely alone
among the rest: the more so, Inasmuch as Ps. li.
forms part of the preface to the First Book of the
Psalter, and would, as such, be entirely out of
slice, did not its general theme virtually extend
itself over those which follow, in which the inter-
est generally centres In the figure of the suppliant
ar worshipper himself. And hence the lrnpossi-
Dfllty of viewing the psalms generally, notwith-
standing tbs historical drapery in which they are
PSALMS, BOOK OF
outwardly clothed, as limply the past devotions at
the historical David or the historical Israel Other
arguments to the same effect ire furnished by tin
idealised representatjons which msny of them pre-
sent; by the outward points of contact be t a 1 tea
their language and the actual earthly career of oat
Saviour ; by the frequent references made to then
both by our Saviour Himself and by the Evangel-
ists ; and by the view taken of them by the Jews,
as evidenced in several passages of the Targum.
There is yet another circumstance well worthy of
note in its bearing upon this subject. Alike hi
the earlier and in the later portions of the Psalter,
all those psalms which are of a personal rather
than of a national character are marked in the
superscriptions with the name of David, as pro-
ceeding either from David himself or from one of
his descendants. It results from this, that whfla
the Davidic psalms are partly personal, partly na-
tional, the Levitic psalms are uniformly national.
Exceptions to this rule exist only in sppearenes:
thus Ps. lxxiii., although couched in the first per-
son singular, is really a prayer of the Jewish faith-
ful against the Assyrian invaders; ami in Pas. xhi.,
xliii., it is the feelings of an exiled company rather
than of a single individual to which utterance is
given. It thus follows that it was only those psalm-
ists who were types of Christ by external office
and lineage as well as by inward piety, that wen
charged by the Holy Spirit to set forth before-
hand, in Christ's own name and person, the sufler-
ings that awaited him and the glory that should
follow. The national hymns of Israel are indeed
also prospective; but in general they anticipate
rather the struggles and the triumphs of tbe Chris-
tian Church than those of Christ Himself.
We annex' a list of the chief psssages in the
Psalms which are in anywise quoted or embodied
in tbe N. T.: Pi. li. 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, It. 4, v. »,
vi. 8, 8, viii. 2, 4-6, x. 7, xiv. 1-3, xri. 8-11, xviii.
4, 49, xix. 4, xxii. 1, 8, 18. 22. xxiii. 6, xxhr. L
xxxi. 5, xxxii. 1, 2. xxxiv. 8, 12-16, 20, xxxv. 9,
xxxvi. 1. xxxvii. 11, xl 6-8, xli. 9, xliv. 28, xlv.
6, 7, xlviii. 2! li. 4, lv. 22. Ixviii. 18, lxix. 4, 9, 29,
23, 25, lxxv. 8, Ixxviii. 2. 24, Ixxxii. 6, Ixxxvi. 9,
lxxxix. 20 xc. 4, xcl. 11, 12. xdi. 7, xdv. 11, xcv
7-11, cii. 26-27. civ. 4, cix. 8, ex. 1, 4, cxii. 9, cxvL
10, civil. 1, cxviil. 6, 22, 23, 25. 26. rxxv. 6, cxL 8.
6. Zt'/emntre. — The list of Jewish commenta-
tors on the Psslter Includes the names of Saadiah
(who wrote ill Arabic), Jarchi. Alien Kara, and
Kimchi. Among later performances that of Sforno
(t 1550) is highly spoken of (reprinted in a Kurth
Psalter of 1804); and special mention is also dm
to the modem German translation of jtlendelasohn
(t 1786), to which again is appended a comment
by Joel Bril. In the Christian Church devotional
familiarity with the Psalter has rendered tbe num-
ber of commentators on it immense ; and in mod-
ern times even the number of private translations
of it hss been so lsnre as to preclude enumeration
here. Among the Greek Fathers, Tbeodoret is the
best commentator, Chrjsost?m the heat botnUia*,
on the Psalms : for tbe rest, a catena of the Greek
comments was formed by the Jesuit Corderins. la
the West the pithy expositions of Hilary and toe
sermons of Augustine are the main patristic helps
A list of the chief medheval comments, which an
of a devotional and mystical rather than of a crit-
ical character, will be found in Neale's Copmrntrrf
(vol. I. 1860), which la mainly derived from than
and favorably introduces them to modern Korttst
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PSALMS, BOOK OF
Later Roman Catholic laborers on the
Psalms an Uenebrard (1587), AgeJliua (1606),
BsUarmine (1617), Lorinus (1619), and Ue Muis
(1650): the valuable critical commentary of the
but named lian been reprinted, accompanied by
the able preface and teres annotations of Bossuet
Among the Keformers, of whom Luther, Zwingl?,
Bucer, and Calvin all applied themselves to the
Psalms, Calvin naturally standi, as a commentator,
preeminent. Of sulieeqiient works th>«e of Geier
(1668) and Venenia (17J2, &c.) an still held in
some repute; while KoeeninuUer'e Hell- li i give, of
course, the substance of other*. The modern Ger-
man liuoren on the 1'salnu. commencing with Ue
Watte, are very numerous. Maurer shines as an
elegant grammatical critic: Kwald (Oicliter del
A. B. i. and ii.) as a translator. Heiigstenberg's
Commentary holds a high place. The two latest
Commentaries are that of Hupfeld (in progress), a
work of high philological merit, but written in
strong opposition to Heiigstenberg, and from an
unsatisfactory point of theological new; and that
of Delitzsch (1853-611), the diligent work of a
sober-minded theologian, whose previous Symtxia
ad Pst. illatti: inyoyicj had been a valuable
contribution to the external criticism of the Psalms
Of Knglish works we may mention the Paraphrase
of Hammond : the devotional Commentary of Bishop
Horne, and along with this the unpretending but
useful Plan Conuuentm-y recently published ; Mer-
rick's Annotations; Bishop Horsley's Translation
and Notes (1815, posthumous); Dr. Mason Good s
Historic'il Outline, and also his Translation with
Notes (both posthumous; distinguished by taste
and originality rather than by sound judgment or
accurate scholarship); I'hiUips's Text, with Com-
mentary, for Hebrew students; J. Jebb's Literal
Transition und Dissertations (1846); and lastly
Thrapp's Introductum to the Paint (1860), to
which the reader is referred for a fuller discussion
if the various matters treated of In this article.
In the press, a new translation, etc., by Perowne,
of which specimens have appeared. A catalogue
of commentaries, treatises, and sermons on the
Psalms is giren in Darling's Cyclop. Biblioyraph-
ien (subjects), p. 374-514.
7. Psalter of Solomon. — Under this title is
extant, in a Greek translation, a collection of eigh-
teen hymns, evidently modeled on the canonical
psalms, breathing Messianic hopes, and forming a
favorable specimen of the later popular Jewish lit-
erature. They have been variously assigned by
critics to the time* of the persecution of Antkchus
Kpiphane* (Rwald. Dillmann), or to those of the
rale of Herod (Movers, Delitzsch). They may he
found in the Codex Ptewlepiyraphut V. T. of
Fabricius. J. F. T.
• On the Pnher of Solomon see art. Macca-
Btncs. vol. ii. p. 1713 f., and note «. p. 1714. It
is bast edited in Hilgenfeld's Messias Judaortm,
Up*. 1863.. A.
• AdIUitmal Literature. — The following are the
latest critical works on the Psalms: De Wette,
Commentir fiber die Pmlnen, 181 1 ; 6'» Aufl. tor
(l. Baur, 1856. RoaenraiiUer. Scholia in Psalmne,
1841. Clans, Beitrtge zur Krit. und F.xeg. der
Pttlmen, 1811. Noyes, A new Trantlation of the
Book of Pnlmt, with an Introduction, 1831 . 3d ed.
1867. Keil, Suing mttgtio. Ptalmen autgetegt,
1834-8. Hitaig, Bit Pt Omen, hi*t. krit. Co-men-
tor, 1830-6 ; Die Pflmen, uebertettt u. autgtUgt,
'••3-6 (a new work). Maurer, Ptnlmi (comment.
PSALMS, BOOK OF S685
crit vol. Hi.), 1888. Ewald, Die Ptalmen erkUrt,
1839; 3* Ausg. 1866. Duracb, Kin atlgem. Com-
ment, aber die Ptalmen det A. T., 1842. Heng-
stenberg, Commentir fitter die Ptiilmtn, 1848-7;
2*> Aufl. 1849-63; Eng. trans., 3 vols Edinb. 1857.
Tboluck, Uebertttzuny undAutlrgung tier Ptalmen,
1843; Eng trans., Phils, 1858. Vaihmger, DU
Ptalmen metr. ubtrsttzt und erklart, 1846. De-
litzsch, Symbola ad Ptnlmot iUuttrundot itagogi-
CJt, 1846. Phillips, The Ptalmt in Hebrew, with
crit. exeget. ami phil. comment try, 1846. Lan-
gerke. Die fin/ Bicker der Ptilmen, 1847. Al-
exander, The Ptalmt translated and explained,
1860. Olahauaen, Die Ptalmen erklart (Exeget.
Handb. 14<« Th.}, 1853. Hupfeld, Die Ptalmen
ubertetzt und amy tie gt, 1855-62; 2" Aufl. von
Riehm, 1867-9. Reinke (Cath.), Die messian.
Pi ilmen, Einl, Grunt/text u. Uebers., nebtl einem
phU.-krit. u. hist. Comm., 1857-9. Delitaaeh,
Commentar uber den Ptiller, 1859-60; Die
Ptnlmen, neue AumrbiUimg (llihl. Com. 4'«»Th.),
1867. Thrupp, Emendations on the Ptalmt
(Journal or Class, and Sacr. Phil), 1860. Tan
Ortenberg, Zur , Textkritik der Ptalmen, 1881
Bohl, Xtoolf Mettvmitche Psdmen, 1862. Kamp-
hauaen, Die Pttlmen (Bunsen's liibelwerk), 1868.
Perowne, The Book of Ptalmt, a new Trantlation,
with Introduction! and Nutet expL and criL,
1864-8; 2d ed. (in press, 1889). Wordsworth,
The Book qf Ptalmt, 1867. The Ptalmt chrouo-
UtificaUy arranged; an amended version, with
hitt. introductions and explm. notet, by Four
Fiitndt, Lond. 1867. Ehrt, Abfassungtzeit und
Abtchluss des Psilters, 18Ci». Moll, Die Ptalter,
It* Halfto (Langes liibelwerk, 11*' Th.), 1869.
Barnes, Notet crit. expL and pract. on the hook of
Ptalmt, 3 vols. 186J. Didham, A new Trantla-
tion of the Ptilmt; Part I., Pss. L-xxv., 1888.
Conant, The Ptilmt, revised version, with an /aw
ti-oduction and occasional notet (in press, 1869).
T. J. C.
* Psalms, Imprecatory. The psalms desig-
nated under this title are those in which the author
is supposed to invoke curses upon his enemies, and
for the gratification of a vindictive spirit to delight
in their sufferings. Entire psalms usually classed
as imprecatory in this sense are xxxv., Iviii., lix.,
brix., and cix., all of which bear strong marks o*
the authorship of David. Part* of other psalnta
have also been classed as imprecatory: Pa. iii. 8'
7, ix. 8-4, xviii. 37-43, xvi. 7-11, xxxvii. 12-»16t
111. 6-7, lr. 9, 16, and 23. bail. 9-11, Ixiv. 7-0,
exxxv. 8-12, exxxvii. 7-9. Among the strongest
passages in which this maledictory spirit is said'U
appear are the following : —
" Set thou a wicked man over him,
And 1st Satan stand at Us right hand.
When he shall be judged, let him be corn
And let his prayer become sin " (cix. 6, 7)
" Let his children be fcUwrUw, and his wifc a i
Let his ohlldraD be continually vagabonds aod.bsg
Let th* •itortfoner catch all that be hath,
And let strangers spoil his labor " (cix. 9-11).
(Of a later date) —
x O daughter of Babylon, who art to be J as tiuj s d,
dtappy shall he be that rawardsth the*
As thou hast served us.
Happy shall h* be thai tskath
sod dasbeth thy little ones against th* stoas*
(exxxvM. ft, M
Digitized by VjOOQlC
9626 PSALMS, IMPRECATORY
H it undeniable that these and such expression In
the I'salms hare been a source of grief and perplex-
ity to the Christian, while they have furnished oc-
casion for cavil and scoffing to the skeptical. Vari-
ous theories have tieen proposed for explaining the
language so as to remove this ground of complaint
against the Scriptures. It has been suggested that
the so called imprecations are simply predictions of
toe evil which is likely to befall the wicked. But
the study of the Hebrew original does not warrant
such a view: the imprecation is expressed by the
tonus of the verb (imperative as well as future) em-
ployed in Hebrew for uttering a wish or prayer.
This, moreover, is a timid way of dealing with the
difficulty. It is better at once to admit the appar-
ent inconsistency between this spirit of the Psalms
and that of the teachings and example of Christ,
and then inquire what explanation can be given of
it. Within the limits to which we are restricted,
we can only glance at some of the leading consid-
erations.
(i.) In the first place it has been said that
the duty of forgiving and loving our enemies is
not distinctly taught in the O. T., and that Da-
vid therefore is not to be expected to rise above the
standard of duty and character of the dispensation
to which he belonged. But we must reply to this
that David was not ignorant of this requisition ; for
the Jewish Scriptures condemned a spirit of re-
venge, and enjoined the requiting of evil with good.
In Ex. xxiii. 4, 5, we read (as correctly translated):
" If thou seest thine enemy's ox or his ass going
astray,' thou shalt surely bring it back to him.
When thou seest the ass of him that hatetb thee
lying under its burden, thou shalt forbear to leave
him: thou shalt surely help him loose it." So in
Lev. xix. 18 : " Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any
grudge against the children of thy people ; but thou
■halt love thy neighbor as thyself; " Prov. xxiv. 17,
18 : " Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth ; and
let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth ;
lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him " (see
also ver. 29); and xxv. 21, 22: " If thine enemy be
hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty,
give him water to drink : for thou shalt heap coals
of Are upon his head, and the Lord shall reward
thee.'' Not only so, but David himself recognized
this obligation, and, as all admit, was certainly in
his general conduct a remarkable example of pa-
tience under multiplied wrongs and of magnanimity
to his foes when he hsd them in his power (see infra ).
(ii.) Some would regard the psalms here under
consideration at historical in their character, and
not strictly preceptive or didactic. That is, they are
the records of facts, and hence express the actual feel-
ings of the writers, just ss the biography of good
meu in the Bible and elsewhere relates other acts
of such men, of the character of which the render is
left to Judge according to his own standard of piety
and morality. If inspired men may do things
which are wrong, they may utter words which are
selfish, or passionate, or resentful, and yet not for-
feit their character for general uprightness or their
claim in other respects to confidence as religious
'teachers. It is precisely this fidelity with which
the Scriptures record the acts and feelings of men
who usually were eminent servants of God, sup-
nrsstiug nothing, palliating nothing, that, more
than any ingenious defense of apologists, has
^vsen to the Bible: its hold on the confidence of the
i wonM. Thu perfect truthfulness makes an irresist-
V'ith wonderful wisdom the Bible
PSALMS, IMPRECATORY
does not present to us for a model, die piety *>l Ha
saint or angel, but piety in its human development
struggling with sins, temptations, difficulties; not
the highest form of religion, but the highest form
which man can un Jerstaud. The Callings of David,
Moses, and Peter hare benefited the Church as
well as the unblemished correctness of Joseph and
DanieL The experience of any one takes bold of
us, when his real feelings, good and bad, are honestly
told. They are so much like our own that we sym-
pathise with him. They interest intensely sach
successive generation of mankind, for " one touch
of nature makes us all akin." The wonder and
beauty of these compositions is that they in a
glass through which we see nature exactly; they
give a Shakespearian picture of all the moral walk-
ings of the heart. The Psalmist does not select
his best feelings for exhibition and hold his bad
ones in the shade, but all ideas and emotions are
given Just as they are. Kev. Albert Barnes admits
an element of truth in this explanation, and Dr.
Tboluck distinctly holds that a personal feeling baa
occasionally mixed itself with David's denunci-
ations of the wicked. Hengstenberg objects to
such a view that it invalidates the character of the
Psalms ss a normal expression of only such nets
and feelings as God must approve.
(iii.) In the third place, it is undeniable that
some critics have greatly exaggerated this charge of
vindictiveness on the part of David. In reality
very few of the Psalms have with any appearance
of truth incurred this censure. Of the one hun-
dred and fifty psalms, Stanley (Lectures <m tilt Jew-
ish Church, ii. 170) singles out only four as marked
illustrations of this spirit. With reference to these,
or others which may be classed with these, we are
to make due allowance for the rrArmeore «f ori-
ental expression as compared with our own habits
of thought and language. It is a maxim in litera-
ture that an author is to be judged by the stand-
ard of bis own ace and time, not by the standard
of our own. This is a simple principle of justice
readily granted to all authors, and due certainly to
the Biblical authors as well as others. An honest
effort to understand the imprecatory psalms re
quires that we study the genius of Hebrew poetry,
the spirit of the age In which David lived, and the
circumstances of Dnvid at the moment when bs
uttered the imprecations. To understand an au-
thor, we must with pains and study reach the au-
thor's exact point of view. We must distinguish
between the real meaning of the man and the color
given to that meaning by his education and habits
of thought. A very little study shows tu that Hi>
brew poetry partakes of the intenseness ot oriental
temperament. The Oriental expresses in the
language of strong passion the same munlng
which to the European appears to be the dictate of
reason and common sense. If the European says
that God loves men, the Asiatic prophet expresses
the same idea by a phrase which is almost ama-
tory; " Thy Maker is thine husband; " >• As the
bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy
God rejoice over thee." Now the sentiments of
indignation are expressed with the same hyperbole
If the European merely says that justice wiH bs
done to the wicked che Oriental means the tans
thing, but expresses it by saying: —
" Tta« righteous shall rajoic* when he sseth the v«a
Bs shall w.ali his ftst m the blood of saw
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PSALMS, IMPRECATORY
Wfcan the Psalmist utters i denunciation which to
ss seenss terrific, ha may have intended only to ex-
press a plain thought with ordinary rigor. A gen-
sroos and certainly a thorough examiner will take
the geuiu of the age and rf the man lor the back-
ground of hie criticism upon the man's production ;
be will criticise poetry as poetry, and Oriental Poe-
try as a department of the art, distinct and sepa-
rate in itself; be will not complain because in the
poetry of Isaiah there are found some expressions
which would not be pertinent to a demonstration
of Euclid, nor will he expect to find in Homer the
same style of expression which he looks for in Sir
WUttam Hamilton.
(rr.) Another consideration which, if not rightly
—ills ill nod, will confuse the reader of these psalms,
is that their author identifies the enemies of God
with his own enemies. The spirit of David is well
■|irasm il in his own words : " Do I not hate them,
OLord, that hate thee? I hate them with perfect
hatred; I eount them mine enemies; " or, in the
colder language of Solomon : " The fear of the Lord
ie to hate evil : pride, and arroganoy, and the evil
way, and the froward mouth do I hate." Even
Catttiiie had insight enough to say, '■ An identity
of wishes and aversions, this alone is tame friend-
ship ; " ■ and such was the friendship between David
and Jehovah. So close was the union between Da-
vid and his Master that intuitively David assailed
the Lord's enemies as his own. The truth is that
David's personal attitude towards his enemies was
diflerent from that of any other warrior in history.
The cause of God was placed in his hands obviously
and directly. He was called upon to uphold the
cause of Jehovah against the heathen without and
the bouse of Saul within the Jewish kingdom. He
had the wrongs of Jehovah as well ss his own to
requite, and in requiting the wrongs of Jehovah he
probably lost sight of his own altogether. During
his youth, spies in the employ of Saul were around
him oontinually, and often was he pursued by a
band of furious and blood-thirsty men, who, by ex-
terminating bun, hoped to extinguish the cause of
God altogether. He was situated like the English
itatesman who in an attack upon himself sees the
.Town and government to be really aimed at.
Hence the terrible strength of David's retort. He
replied not for himself, but for those whom he
represented. His zeal for God spent itself in a
tempest of fury upon God's enemies. It was
whan he felt God's honor to be insulted that he
rose to a loftiness of vengeance all his own, and
prayed: —
•i That thy mot may be dipped In the blood of thine
•Demist,
And the tongue of thy dogs in ths same."
Unless we rise to this view, we are left to suppose
Unit David left the vast respomiliility of defending
God's earthly honor, for the little work of redress-
lag his personal wrongs. The elevation of his char-
acter above snch a motive is evident from his spar-
ing the chief of his enemies when he had him in
his power, and from the generous eloquence of his
lamentation when that enemy fell. David's real
haling towards his enemies he expresses thus (I's.
on. 18,18): —
« They rewarded me evil for good ;
ity soul hi made desolate (orphaned) ;
■ " Nam Hem velte atqne Idem nolle ea
1" (Ballast, OuUtn, », 4).
PSALMS, IMPRECATORY 2623
Bnt ss for me, when they were skat,
«ty clothing was sackcloth.
I afflicted my soul with Bating,
And my prayer returned into mine own bosom."
David also wrote (Ps. lxix. 3*) : —
" Poor ont thint indignation upon them,
And let thy wrathful anger take hold of them."
But in the one case he spoke of his own enemies,
and in the other case of the enemies of God, as be
shows in the very next verse: —
* for they pereoente him whom thou hast smitten,
And they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast
wounded."
(v.) These considerations prepare the way for
the main explanation of the Imprecatory Psalms.
They express the sense of outraged justice. In the
nature of things, the sense of wrong and Injustice
must have its rebound. There are times when for-
bearance ceases to be a virtue, when Heaven en-
courages men to express the pent- up indignation
of their hearts. It is not to be supposed God
intends that the saints shall bear all the Inquisi-
tions, Saint Bartholomews, Smithfield fires of ths
enemy in total silence. If man Is liable to oppres-
sion, he is also gifted with resistive powers, and of
those powers the spirit of God only invigorates
the proper use. The grace which makes men free
from sin, makes them free from the earthly tyrant,
and the spirit of God is the real force which in-
spires men to resist oppression with the pen and
the sword. David was the Milton and the Crom-
well of his time. With dauntless courage and
determination he fought the earthly battles of ths
Lord, and the English poet caught the echo of his
lyre, when he sang, —
" Avenge, Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold."
The wicked man is not merely the foe of the on*
whom be injures; he is the common enemy of
all mankind. While the judge and the execu-
tioner are engaged in punishing him, they may
be cheered in their work by the prayer of the
Christian and the song of the poet. Any govern-
ment would be Justly derided which showed itself
unable or unwilling to punish at the proper time.
Baaed npon this irrepressible instinct of human
nature, we rise to survey the vast field of revealed
doctrine, and see that the spirit of the Imprecatory
Psalms is no morbid or inconsistent sentiment of
the Bible; but if that spirit is necessary to a natural
government, it is equally necessary to a perfect
revelation. From a low moral standpoint these
psalms seem to be an irregular part of the Bible;
they take their place with poise and beauty in ths
great scheme when we rise sufficiently high to see
the whole of it If the main purpose of God's
mind is love to the universal good, its alternate
expression is denunciation of evil. It is but a nar-
row spirit which condemns, in a small portion of
the Psalms, that resistance to evil, which goes forth
from the throne of God to form all that is manly
in human nature, and around which every other
sentiment of the Bible is adjusted.
(vi.) Nearly every book of the Scriptures has a
.arm of denouncing sin, which is peculiar to itself.
The Pentateuch denounces by this severity of rtt
laws against the wicked man ; it give* that view of
sin which Is peculiar to the lawgiver's mind. Ths
historical books of the Bible do not denounce sb
«t they quietly show Us effect*. In ths indMlas/
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2628 PSALMS, IMPRECATORY
Ma they show that a bad character is naturally
Mnnected with the lou of all resources, and, gen-
erally apeaking, with a miaerable end. In the cafe
vf a nation, they ihow that it* guilt is closely con-
nected with its enslavement; for after sin has
mastered the nations, character, the government
soon loses all vigor and cohesion, and the sword of
the tyrant rapidly presses through the breach which
sin has made in the rampart of public virtue. This
part of the Bible pictures sin ss it is seen from the
historic standpoint. The prophets denounce sin
in a manner more rhetorical and direct, and the
imprecations of David are gentle, compared with
the anathemas of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Hose*.
If our Saviour had uttered no imprecations, those
of David could certainly be questioned; but He did
utter them with a scope, duration, and intensity of
meaning which David never knew, for the greater
the being the greater is his power to destroy. The
very gentleness of the Saviour's character prevent*
any suspicion that He could have been influenced
by private resentment, and gives an indescribable
air of truth and justice to his threatenings. Now
why is it that in a few songs of David the same
spirit is so much condemned ? We answer that,
as far as we can judge, there is an ambiguity in
the object of David's imprecation. In his case,
the enemies of God and his own enemies were the
same persons, and the Psalmist is accused of at-
tacking those as his own enemies, while there is
overwhelming reason to believe he attacked them
only as the enemies of God. It is probably this
circumstance alone which has confused the mind
of the good, and exposed the Psalmist to the charge
of vindictiveness.
(vii.) The revealed word is reflected in man's
experience, and we remark finally that the events
of history continually give the Imprecatory Psalms
■ew meaning. Experience is their best interpreter.
When the cause of truth is borne down for the
moment, when the wicked oppose, and the good
man is anxious, and the time-server is silent and
kiraid, then the soul, heated by persecution, is pre-
pared to grasp the spirit of the Imprecatory Psalms.
In the palace of God's truth these psalms hang
like a sword upon the wall: in times of peace we
make idle criticisms upon its workmanship and idle
theories as to its use; sound the trumpet of dan-
ger, and we instinctively grasp it — it is all that
we have between us and death. In the day of
lirosperity these psalms seem useless, in the dark-
ness of affliction they are luminous; ss a piece of
fireworks has no prominence in the day-time, but
it is the splendor and illumination of the night
There are times when the Christian is not to blame
for having the spirit of these psalms, but he would
deserve the contempt of mankind if he failed to
have it. Resentment becomes the holiest of in-
stincts when it resents the proper object. The
spirit of the prophet is not dead, who was asked,
" Doest thou well to be angry? " and he answered,
" I do well." With wonderful wisdom the Bible
provides, not only for man's present, but for his
future emergencies, as the earth is stored with mine
after mine which successive ages shall open. These
psalms have a "springing and germinant fulfill-
ment;" every throe and struggle of humanity com-
ments upon them, and each generation of mankind
penetrates further into their meaning. Think not
tost, any truth is useless ; the rolling wheel of time
dull at length come upon it
8ach is a brW view of these celebrated oomnosi-
P8ALTBRT
Dona. Truthful in delineating the I
Asiatic in the exuberance of their diction, mask
rag the unity of their author's mind with God, they
furnish an expression of that majestic spirit of
resistance to evil, which, planted by God in the hu-
man bosom, is expressed with increasing ej uuiif
a* God's revelation is disclosed, and, deriving new
power from every crisis of human experience, looks
forward with augmented confidence to a day of the
triumph of truth and justice over all enemies.
The following writers on this subject may be
mentioned: Hengstenberg, Die Pttbncn, iv. 9t>9-
805. Tholuok, Uebattlttmg u. AutUgung dtr
Ptahnen, § 4 (transl. by J. I. Homberl ). Hurfcid,
Dm Ptalmen, iv. 4*1 f. The article Ptalmen by
Delitssch In Hersog's XeaLKneuk, xj. 880, and
id., by Wunderlieh in Zelier's BibL WBrterb. il
998 £ Perowne, Tk* Ptalmt of Darid, Introd.
batii., and on Pa. Uix. Isaac Taylor, Spirit of Bt-
brta Poetry, pp. 810-317 (N. Y., 1868). B. B.
Edwards, Imprtcntkmt m the Scriptures, in his
Life and Writingt, by E. A. Park, H. 364 fT. Prot
3. J. Owen, Imprecatory Ptalmt, in the BM.
Sacra, xifi. 881-663. Prof. E. A. Park, hmwtca-
lory Ptalmt, in the BM Sacra, xix. 166-910.
Rev. Albert Barnes, Commentary on lit Ptalmt,
Introd. J 6 (1869). W. E. P.
PSALTERY. The psaltery was a stringed
instrument of music to accompany the voice. The
Hebrew bjj), neM, or 733, nettt, is so ren-
dered in the' A. V. in all passages where it occurs,
except in Is. v. 13, xiv. 11, xxii. 34 marg.; Am
v. 83, vi. 8, where it is translated viol, following
the Geneva Version, which hsa viole in all cases,
except 3 Sam. vi. 8; 1 K. x. 19 ("psaltery"); 9
Esdr. x. 33; Ecclus. xL 91 ("psalterion"); Is.
xxii. 34 ("musicke"); and Wisd. xix. 18 ("in-
strument of musike"). The ancient viol was a
six-stringed guitar. " Viols had six strings, and
the position of the fingers was marked on the finger-
board by frets, as in the guitars of the present
day " (Chappell, Pop. Mum. i. 346). In the Prayer
Book version of the Psalms, the Hebrew word is
rendered " lute." This instrument resembled the
guitar, but was superior in tone, "being larger,
and having a convex back, somewhat like the ver-
tical section of a gourd, or more nearly resembling
that of a pear. ... It had virtually six strings,
because, although the number was eleven or twelve,
five, at least, were doubled; the first or treble,
being sometimes a single string. The head in
which the pegs to tum the strings were inserted,
receded almost at a right angle " (Chappell, 1. 103).
These three instruments, the psaltery or sentry, the
viol, and the lute, are frequently associated in the
old English poets, and were clearly instruments re-
sembling each other, though still different. Thai
in Chaucer's Flower and Leaf, 837, —
" And before hem went minatralas mat j one.
As harpes, pipes, tmut, sad wary;"
and again In Drayton's PotyuBmm, iv. 866: —
" The trembling /««« some touch, sons strain the via
bast''
The word ptahery In its present form appears Is
have been introduced about the end of the 16U,
century, for it occurs in the unmodified form jseoi
ttrion in two passages of the Gen. Version (1660)
Again, in Norths Plutarch (.Tkem. p. 194, ad
1596) we read that Themtstocles, "being
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P8ALTBKY
, . by some that bad (todied humanitie, and
rther liberall sciences, be ma driuen for renenge
and hia owne defence, to auuawer with gnats and
itouta words, aajing, that in deed he oould no
■kill to tune a harpe, nor a violl, nor to play of a
ptakerion; but if they did pot a citie into hia
bands that was of siuall name, weake, and lit)*,
be knew waves enough how to make it noble,
strong, and great." The Greek ^aXrhpior, from
whieb our word is derived, denotes an instrument
played with the fingers instead of a plectrum or
quill, the rerb ^iwtiv being used (Eur. BaccJi.
784), of twanging the bowstring (conip. ^aApol
rifaw, Eur. Ion, 173). But it only occurs in the
LXX. as the rendering of the Heb. ntbtl or nebel
b Neh. ill. 87, and la. r. 19, and in all the pas-
sages of the Psalms, except Pa. Ixxi. 92 tyoAfuff ),
and Pa. lzxxi. 2 (giidpa), while in Am. v. 93, vi.
5, the general term tpyarov is employed. In all
other cases rifi\a represent* nebel or nebeL These
various renderings are sufficient to show that at
the time the translation of the LXX. was made,
there was no certain identification of the Hebrew
instrument with any known to the translators.
The rendering ri$\a commends itself on account
of the similarity of the Greek word with the He-
brew. Josephus appears to have regarded them as
equivalent, and his is the only direct evidence upon
the point. He tells us (Ant vii. 12, } 3) that the
difference between the Kirvpa (Heb. "T^SS, einndr)
and the r&fiKa was, that the former had ten strings
and was played with the plectrum, the latter had
twelve notes and was played with the hand. Forty
thousand of these instruments, he adds (Ant. viii.
3, § 8), were made by Solomon of electrons for the
Temple choir. Rashi (on Is. v. 12) says that the
nebel had more strings and pegs than the einndr.
That nnbli was a foreign name is evident from
Strabo (x. 471), and from Atheneu* (iv. 175),
where its origin is said to be Sidonian. Beyond
this, and that it was a stringed instrument (Ath.
iv. 175), played by the hand (Ovid, Art Am.
iii. 327), we know nothing of it, but in these facts
we have strong presumptive evidence that nubia
and ntbtl are the same; and that the mbla and
pflttrion are identical appears from the Glossary
of Philoxenus, where nablio = ijidArnr, and ni-
btizo = $4 AX», and from Suidas, who makes pt-iJ-
terion and ntula, or nabbt, synonymous. Of the
psaltery among the Greeks there appear to have
been two kinds. The mjirrit, which was of Per-
sian (A then. xiv. 636) or Lydian (ibid. 635)
origin, and the fiaydtts. The former had only
two (Athen. iv. 183) or three {ibid.) strings;
the latter as many as twenty (Athen. xiv. 634),
sbcugh sometimes only Jive (ibid. 637). They
are sorcstimes said to be the same, and were evi-
dently of the same kind. Both Isidorua (de Origg.
HI. 21) and Cassiodorus (Prof, in Ptal. c iv.)
describe the psaltery as triangular in shape, like
the Greek A, with the sounding-board above the
strings, which were struck downwards. The lat-
ter adds that it was played with a plectrum, so that
he contradicts Josephus if the psaltery and nebel
are really the same. In this case Josephus is the
rather to be trusted. St. Augustine (on Ps. xxxii.
r xxxiii.]) makes the position of the sounding board
s Abraham de Porta-Leom, the author of SMUt
HnrfMorim (c. 61, ldanttths the ntbtl with the Ital-
aa liutr, toe lute, or rather with the particular kind
PSALTEBY
the point in which the cithara ana psalter} differ,
in the former it is below, in the latter above the
strings. His language implies that both were played
with the plectrum. The distinction between the
cithara and psaltery is observed by Jerome (ProL
in Pint.). From these conflicting accounts it is
impossible to say positively with what instrument
the nebel of the Hebrew exactly corresponded. It
was probably of various kinds, as Kimchi says In
his note on Is. xxii. 24, differing from each other
both with regard to the position of the pegs and
the number of the strings. In illustration of the
descriptions of Isidorus and Cassiodorus reference
may be made to the drawings from Egyptian mu-
sical instruments given by Sir Gard. Wilkinson
(Anc. Eg. ii. 280, 287), some one of which may
correspond to the Hebrew nebeL" Hunk (Pale*
nvie, plate 16, figs. 12, 13) gives an engraving ot
au instrument which Niebuhr saw. Its form is
that of an inverted delta placed upon a round box
of wood covered with akin.
The neteJ 'tt&r (Ps. xxxUi. 2, xcii. 3 [4], cxliv. 9)
appears to have been an instrument of the psaltery
kind which had ten strings, and was of a trapezium
shape, according to some accounts (Forkel, (reads.
d. Mut. i. 133). Aben Ezra (on Ps. cL 3) says
the nebel had ten boles. So that he must have
considerud it to be a kind of pipe.
From the fact that nebel in Hebrew also signifies
a wine-bottle or skin, it has been conjectured that
the term, when applied to a musical instrument, de-
notes s kind of bagpipe, the old English cornamule,
Fr. eornemuie; but it seems clear, whatever else
may be obscure concerning it, that the nebel was a
stringed instrument. In the Miahna ( Celim, xvi.
7) mention is made of a case (nT\ = **)«■») b>
which it was kept
Its first appearance in the history of the 0. T.
is in connection with the " string " of prophets who
met Saul as they came down from the high place
(1 Sam. x. 5). Here it is clearly used in a re-
ligious service, as again (2 Sam. vi. B; 1 Chr. xiii.
8), when David brought the ark from Kirjath-
jetrim. In the Temple band organized by David
were the players on psalteries (1 Chr. xv. 16, 20),
who accompanied the ark from the house of Obed-
edom (1 Chr. xv. 28). They played when the ark
was brought into the Temple (2 Chr. v. 12); at the
thanksgiving for Jehoahaphat's victory (2 Chr. xx-
28); at the restoration of the Temple under Hns-
kiah (2 Chr. xxix. 25), and the dedication of the
walls of Jerusalem after they were rebuilt by Ke-
beniiah (Neh. xii. 27). In all these cases, and in
the passages in the Psalms where allusion is mads
to it, the psaltery is associated with religious ser-
vices (comp. Am. v. 23; 2 Esdr. x. 29). But it
had its part also in private festivities, as is evident
from Is. v. 12, xiv. 11, xxii. 24; Am. vi. 5, where
it is associated with banquets and luxurious in-
dulgence. It appears (Is. xiv. 11) to have bad a
soft plaintive note.
The psalteries of David were made of cypress
(2 Sam. vi 5), those of Solomon of algum ot
almug-trees (2 Chr. ix. 11). Among the instru-
ments of the band which played before Nebuehad-
neszar's golden image on the plains of Dura, wi
again meet with the psaltery (r")OT39, Dsn. U.
called (into eUtammalo (the (term. mandoUmt),
thirteen strings of which were of gut or I
were struck with a quill.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2680
ITOLKMLSUS
6, 10, 16; inCSJpg, piiantMn). The Chmldee
word appears to be 'merely a modification of the I
Greek yaKHipior- Attention ia called to the (act '
that the word ia lingular iu Gesenius [Tht$. p. '
1116), the termination ]^ oorrcaponding to the
Greek -toy. W. A. W.
[PTOLEMJKTJ8, in A. V.] PTOI/EMEE |
and PTOLEME'USdlToAfjwuoi: PloUmcau). \
I. "'Die eon of Doryinenes" (1 Mace. iii. 38; 9
Mate. iv. 45; eomp. Polyb. t. 61), a courtier who
poss es se d great influence with Antiochue Epiphanes.
He waa induced by a bribe to support the cause of
Menelaus (2 Mace iv. 45-60); and afterwards
took an active part in forcing the Jews to aposta-
tise (2 Mace. vi. 8, according to the true reading).
When Judas had successfully resisted the first ss-
sautts of the Syrians, Ptolemy took part hi the
great expedition which Lysias organized against
hiiu, which ended in the defeat at Einmaus (B. c.
16b), but nothing is said of his personal fortunes
iu the campaign (1 Mace. iii. 38).
3. The sou of Agesarchus (Ath. vi. 316 C),
a Megalopolitan, surnamed Macron (2 Mace. z. 12),
woo was governor of Cyprus during the minority
of Ptol. Phikmietor. This office he discharged
with singular fidelity (Polyb. zxvii. 12); but after-
wards be deserted the Egyptian service to join An-
tiochus Epiphtnes. He stood high in the favor of
Antiochus, and received from him the government
of Phoenicia and Cole-Syria (2 Mace. viii. 8, x.
II, 12). On the accession of Ant. Eupator, his
conciliatory policy toward the Jews brought him
into suspicion at court He was deprived of his
government, and in consequence of bis disgrace he
poisoned himself c. b. c. 164 (2 Mace. x. 18).
PtoL Macron is commonly identified with Ptol.
" the son of Dorymenes," and it seems likely from
a comparison of 1 Mace. iii. 38 with 9 Mace. viii.
8, 9, that they were confused in the popular ac-
count of the war. But the testimony of Athensus
distinctly separates the governor of Cyprus from
" the son of Dorymenes " by his parentage. It is
also doubtful whether Ptol. Macron had left Cyprus
as early as B. o. 170, when " the son of Dorytae-
ms " wss at Tyre (2 Mace. iv. 45), though there
1 no authority for the common statement that he
PTOLBMLKTJS
gave up the island into the bands cf ,
who did net gain it till B. c. 168.
3. The son of Abubus, who married the daagat
ter of Simon the Maocabee. He waa a man of gnat
wealth, and, being invested with the government of
the district of Jericho, formed the design of usurp-
ing the sovereignty of Judasv With this view he
treacherously murdered Simon and two of bis sons
(1 Mace. xvi. 11-16; Joseph. Art. xii. 7, J 4; 8,
1 1, with some variations); but Johannes Hyrcanut
received timely intimation of his design, and
eaeapsd. Hyrcanus afterwards besieged him iu hit
stronghold of D&k, but in oonsequenee of the oc-
currence of the Sabbatical year, be was enabled to
make his escape to Zeno Cotylas, prince of Pbikv
delphia (Joseph. Ant xiii. 8, § 1).
4. A citizen of Jerusalem, father of Lysuns
chus, the Greek translator of Esther (Esth. a.;
[Lybulachus 1.] B. F. W.
PTOLEBLBOTS (to A. V. PTOL'OMEB
and PTOLBMETJ8 — tlrokt/uutn, "the war-
like," rr6Ktfwi — w6Ktuos), the dynastio names
of the Greek kings of Egypt. The name, which
occurs in the early legends (II. iv. 228; Pans. x. 6),
appears first in the historic period in tiu time of
Alexander the Great, and became afterwards vary
frequent among the states which arose out of Iris
conquests.
For the civil history of the Ptolemies the student
will find ample references to the original anthori-
ties in the articles in the Dictionary of Biograpkm,
ii. 581, etc, and in Pauly's Retd-KncycUf&tU.
The literature of the subject in its religions
aspects has been already noticed. [Ai^cxavdbu;
Dibpkkbiok.] A curious account of the literary
activity of Ptol. Philadelphia is given — by Simon
de Magistris — in the Apologia tent. Pat. de LXX.
Vert., appended to Daniel tec LXX (Rooms,
1772), but this is not always trustworthy. Mors
complete details of the history of the Alexandrine
Libraries are given by Ritjcbl, Die A h nin u si * .
nuchtn Bibliotheken, Ureslau, 1838; snd Parthey
Dot Altxandr. Muttum, Berlin, 1838.
The following table give* the descent of the
royal line at fin- at it is connected with Pib Meej
history. R F. W.
GJBNKAL0OICAL TABLB OF THX FtDUBUSB.
1. Proumm L SorxR (son of Lsfus), c a. a 336-286.
Arehwe— 2. Ptol. n. PmusxiPBus (a. a. 286-217)
—8. ArsUuM.
I PHL
m.
I. (B. c. 247-222).
5- B«r»ofc»— 4aooohnan.
6. Ptol IT. Pblopixob (a. o. 222-206) _ 7. Aistno*.
a.a->^l .-n
I Pies. TI. Pbblombtob 10. Ptol. TTI. ftmsm II. (Physcon) — 11.
(B. o. 181-146) a. o. 171-146-117) - (2) Cleopatra (14).
= Oaooatra (11). I
«-)
18.
Pi.
lasTX
15. Pns.Tm.Banm II.
<».o.Itt-tt*
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PTOLBMcSTJS I.
PTOLEM.S'US I. SOTER, known u the
wn of Lagus, a Macedonian of low rank, m gen-
erally supposed to have been an illegitimate son of
Philip. He distinguished himself greatly during
tbe campaigns of Alexander; at whose death, fore-
seeing the necessary subdivision of the empire, he
secured fur himself tbe government of Egypt, where
he proceeded at once to lay the foundations of a
kingdom (a. c. 323). His policy during the wars
of the succession was mainly directed towards tbe
consolidation of Lis power, and i:ot to wide con-
quests. He maintained himself against the attacks
of Penliccas (a, «'. 321) and Demetrius (B. c.312,,
■ad gained a rrecarious footing iu Syria and Phoe-
nicia. In u. c. 307 lie suffered a very severe defeat
at sea off Cyprus from An tigunus, but successfully
defended Egypt against invasion. After tbe final
defeat of Antigonus, b. c. 301, he was obliged to
concede the) debatable provinces of Phoenicia and
Coale-Sy ria to Seleucus ; aud during tbe remainder
of his reign his only important achievement abroad
was the recovery of Cyprus, which he permanently
attached to the Egyptian monarchy (B. c. 295).
He abdicated in favor of his youngest son Ptol. II.
Philadelphia, two years before his death, whioh
took place in B. a 283.
Ptol. Soter is described very briefly in Daniel
(ri. 5) as one of those who should receive put of
the empire of Alexander when it was " divided to-
ward the four winds of heaven." "The king of
tlie south [Egypt in respect of Judteaj tliuU be
strong ; and one of his princes [Seleucus Nicator,
shall be strong]: and he [Seleucus] shall be strung
above him [Ptolemy], nml hnct dominion," Seleu-
cus, who is here mentioned, fled from Babylon,
where Antigouiu sought his life, to Egypt in ii. c.
316, and attached himself to Ptolemy. At last
the decisive victory of Ipsue (u. c. 301), which was
mainly puued by his services, gave him tbe com-
mand of an empire which was greater than any
ether held by Alexander's successors; and "hit
Aminhun mi n great dominion " (Dan. /. c.)."
PTOUOLoSUS II.
2681
Ptolemy I.. King of Berne.
Pantadrachm of Ptolemy I. (Alexandrian talent). Ob*.
Read or king, r. f. bound with fillet. Rev.
ITTOABMAIOY IflTHPOS. Bigle, 1., on thun-
derbolt. (Struck at Tyre.)
In one of his expeditions into Syria, probably
ex c. 320, Ptolemy treacherously occupied Jerusa-
lem <m tbe Sabbath, a fact which arretted the at-
tention of the heathen historian Agatharcidee (ap.
Joaeph. c Ap. 1. 29; Am. xii. 1). He carried
naay many Jews and Samaritans captive to Alex-
saafria.; but, aware probably of tbe great importance
4 the good will of the inhabitants of Palestine in
*» event of a Syrian war, he gave them the full
> (ait Dan. I. e.) very strange./ refers the
attar elaases of the verte to Ptol. Philadelphia,
aaxeso f |i t»e ses|isssnl that of bis etcher." The
privileges of citizenship in tbe new city. In the
campaign of Gaza (B. c. 312) be reaped the fruits
of bis liberal policy; and many Jews voluntarily
emigrated to Egypt, though tbe colony was from
the first disturbed by internal dissensions (Joseph,
as above ,- Hecat. ap. Joaeph. c. Ap. 1. c).
EF.W.
PTOLESLSSTTS II. PHILADEL'.
PHUS, the youngest eon of Ptol. I., was made
king two years before his death, to confirm tbe
irregular succession. The conflict between Egypt
and Syria was renewed during his reign in conse-
quence of the intrigue of his half-brother Hagae.
" But in the end of years they [the kings of Syria
and Egypt] joined themselves together [in friend-
ship]. For the king't daughter of the south [Ber-
enice, the daughter of Ptol. Philadelphia] came [as
bride] to the king of the north [Antiochus II.], to
make an agreement " (Dan. xi. 6). The unhappy
issue of this marriage has been noticed already
[Antiochus II., vol. i. p. US]; and the political
events of the reign of Ptolemy, who, however, re-
tained possession of the disputed provinces of
Phoenicia and Cade-Syria, offer no further points
of interest in connection with Jewish history.
In other respects, however, this reign was a
critical epoch for the development of Judaism, as it
was for the intellectual history of the ancient
world. The liberal encouragement which Ptolemy
bestowed on literature and science (following out
in this the designs of his father) gave birth to
a new school of writers and thinkers. The critical
faculty was called forth in place of the creative, and
learning in some sense supplied the place of origi-
nal speculation. Eclecticism was the necessary
result of the concurrence and comparison of dog-
mas; and it was impossible that the Jew, who wee
now become as true a citizen of the world as the
Greek, should remain passive in the conflict of
opinions. The origin and influence of the transla-
tion of the LXX. will be considered in another
place. [Sbptuagint.] It is enough now to ob-
serve the greatness of the consequences involved in
the union of Greek language with Jewish thought.
From this time the Jew was familiarized with the
great types of Western literature, and in some de-
gree aimed at imitating them. Ezechiel (o raw
lov&aiitmv TferftfOttiv woinr^t, Clem. Alex. Str.
i. 23, § 155) wrote a drama on tbe subject of tbe
Exodus, of which considerable fragments, in faff
iambic verse, remain (Euseb. Prop. Ev. ix. 28, 29 1
Clem. Alex. /. c. ), though he does not appear to
bare adhered strictly to the laws of classical com-
position. An elder Philo celebrated Jerusalem in
a long hexameter poem — Kunebius quotes tbe 14th
book — of which the few corrupt lines still pre-
served (Euseb. Prop. Ev. ix. 20, 24, 28) convey
no satisfactory notion. Another epic poem, " on
the Jews," was written by Tbeodotus; and as the
extant passages (Euseb. Prop. Ev. ix. 22) treat of
the history of Sicbem, it has been conjectured that
he was a Samaritan. The work of Akistobulus
on tbe interpretation of the I .aw was a still more im-
portant result of tbe combination of tbe old faith with
Greek culture, as forming the groundwork of later
allegories. And while the Jews appropriated the
fruits of Western science, tbe Greeks looked towards
whole
nunc
of tbe
pssssgi raejntne the i
on which the fortune* of im
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2632
PTOLEMjEUS III.
the East with a new curiosity. The histories of
Berosua and Manetho and Hecateeus opened a
worid a* wide and novel as the conquests of Alex-
ander. The legendary sibyls were taught to speak
in the language of the prophets. The name of
Orpheus, which was connected with the first rise
of Greek polytheism, gave sanction to verses which
set forth nobler views of the Godhead (Kuaeb.
Prop. Ev. xiii. 12, Ac.). Even the most famous
poets were uot free from interpolation (Ewald,
Ouch. iv. 297, note). Everywhere the intellectual
approximation of Jew and Gentile was growing
closer, or at least more possible. The later specific
forms of teaching to which this syncretism of East
an 1 West gave rise have been already noticed.
[ Alkxandkia, vol. i. pp. 64, 65.] A second time
and in a new fashion Egypt disciplined a people
of God. It first impressed upon a nation the firm
unity of a family, and then in due time reconnected
a matured people with the world from which it had
been called out a F. W.
Ptolemy TJ.
Oetodrachm of Ptolemy II. Obv. AAEAOfJN. Busts
of Ptolemy n. and Arsinoe, r. Bar. ©EON.
Busts of Ptolemy I. and Berenice, r.
PTOLElktffi'US HI. EUER'GETES
was the eldest son of Ptol. 1'hilad. and brother of
Berenice, the wife of Antiochus II. The repudia-
tion and murder of his sister furnished him with
an occasion for invading Syria (c. n. c. 246). He
" stood up, a branch out of her stock [sprung from
the same parents] in his [father's] estate ; and set
himself at [the head of ] hit army, and came against
the fortresses of the king oftlie north [Antiochus],
and dealt against them and prevailed" (Dan. xi.
7). He extended his conquests as far as Antioch,
and then eastwards to Babylon, but was recalled to
Egypt by tidings of seditions which had broken
out there. His success was brilliant and complete.
" He carried captive into Egypt the gods [of the
conquered nations] with their molten images, and
with their precious vessels of silver and gold " (Dan.
xi. 8). This capture of sacred trophies, which in-
cluded the recovery of images taken from Egypt by
Cambyses (Jerome, ad for.), earned for the king
the name Kutrgetes — " Benefactor " — from the
uperstitiotis Egyptians, and was specially recorded
n the Inscriptions which he set up at Adule in
memory of his achievements (Cosmas Ind. op.
Clint. F. II. 382 mlt). After his return to Egypt
(cir. n. c. 743) he suffered a great part of the con-
quered provinces to fall again under the power of
Seleucus. But the attempts which Seleucus made
to attack Egypt terminated disastrously to him-
self. He first collected a fleet which was almost
totally destroyed by a storm : and then, " as if by
tome judicial infatuation," "he came against the
tamnofthe king of the south and [being defeated]
•nUnti to his own land [to Antioch] " (Dan. xi.
; JaaUc. xr-U. 2 After this Ptolemy " oVsisSed
TTOIXNUBUS TV.
some years from [attacking] the king of Us I
(Dan. xi. 8), since the civil war between Seasons
and Antiochus Hierax, which he fomented, secured
him from any further Syrian invasion. The re-
mainder of the reign of Itolemy seems to bar*
been spent chiefly in developing the resources ot
the empire, which he raised to the highest pitch of
its prosperity. His policy towards the Jews was
similar to that of his predecessors, and on his occu-
pation of Syria he " offered sacrifices, after the
custom of the Law, in acknowledgment of his suc-
cess, in the Temple at Jerusalem, and addid gifts
worthy of his victory " (Joseph, c Ap ii. ( ). The
famous story of the manner in which Jcutpb the
son of Tobias obtained from him the lease of th»
revenues of Juda» is a striking illustration both of
the condition of the country and of the 'rfnwnnt
of individual Jews (Joseph. Ant. xii. 4). [Oausv]
B.F. W.
Ptolemy III.
Octodnehm of Ptolemy TH. (Egyptian talent). Obv.
Bust of king, r., wearing radiate diadem, ami
carrying trident Rev. BAXIAEOI TTTOAX-
MAtOY. Badiate cornucopia.
PTOLEM-dE'US IV. PHILQP'ATOR.
After the death of PtoL Euergetes the line of the
Ptolemies rapidly degenerated (Strabo, xvi. 13, 13,
p. 798). Ptol. l'hilopator, his eldest son, who suc-
ceeded him, was to the last degree sensual, effemi-
nate, and debased. But externally his kingdom
retained its power and splendor; and when circum-
stances forced him to action, Ptolemy himself
showed ability not unworthy of his race. The de-
scription of the campaign of Raphia (b. c. 917) is
the Book of Daniel gives a vivid description of his
character. " The sons of Seleucus [Seleucus Ce-
raunus and Antiochus the Great] were stirred up
and assembled a multitude of great forces; and on*
of them [Antiochus] came and over/lowed and
passed through [even to Pelnsium, Polyb. v. 69] ;
and he returned [from Seleucia, to which he had
retired during a faithless truce, Polyb. v. 66] ; and
they [Antiochus and Ptolemy] were stirred up
[in wax] even to his [Antiochus - ] fortress. And
die king of the south [Ptol. Philopator] was avoced
with choler, and came forth and fought with him
[at Raphia]; and he set forth a grett rrndtiUide ;
and the multitude was given into his hand [to lead
to battle]. And the multitude raised for// - [proudly
for the conflict], and his heart was lifted up, and
he cast down ten thousands (of. Polyb. v. 86); oat
he was not vigorous " [to reap the fruits of hit
victory] (Dan. xi. 10-12: cf. 3 Mao:, i. 1-S). After
this decisive success Ptol. Philopator visited the
neighboring cities of Syria, and among others Je-
rusalem. After offering sacrifices of thanksgiving
in the Temple be attempted to enter the sanctuary
A sudden paralysis hindered his design ; but whs*,
he returned to Alexandria, he determined to inflic
on the Alexandrine Jews the vengeance for his die-
appointment. In this, however, he was agaia Ua>
Digitized by
Google
PTOLBMiSUS V.
and eventually he confirmed to them the
fall privileges which they had enjoyed before. [3
MAOGABBK8.J The recklessness of his reign wu
further marked by the first insurrection of the
native Egyptian! acainst their Greek rulers (I'olyb.
». 107). This was put down, and I'tolemy, during
the remainder of his life, gave himself up to un-
bridled excesses. He died b. c. 305, and was suc-
ceeded by his only child, Ptol. V. Epiphanes, who
was at the time only four or five yean old (Jerome,
as! Dan. xi. 10-13). B. F. V7.
PTOLEMJEUS VL
268*
Ptolemy IV.
of Ptolemy IT. (Egyptian talent). Obv.
Boat of king, r , bound with fillet. Rev. UTOA-
EMAIOY ♦IAOIIATOPOJ «kgk>, I., oa than
derbolt. (Struck at Tyre.)
PTOLEMA! US V. EPIPH'ANRS. The
feign of Ptol. Epiphanes was a critical epoch in
the history of the Jews. The rivalry between the
Syrian and Egyptian parties, which had for some
time divided the people, came to an open rupture in
the struggles which marked his minority. The Syr-
Ian taction openly declared for Antlochus the Great,
when he advanced on his second expedition against
Egypt; and the Jews, who remained faithful to the
old alliance, tied to Egypt in great numbers, where
Onias, the rightful successor to the high-priesthood,
not long afterwards established the temple at Le-
ontopolis." [Onus] In the strong language
of Daniel, •• The robbers of the ptopU exalted
themselves to establish the vision " (Dan. xl. 14) —
to confirm by the issue of their attempt the truth
of the prophetic word, and at the same time to
forward unconsciously the establishment of the
heavenly kingdom which they sought to anticipate.
The accession of Ptolemy and the confusion of a
disputed regency furnished a favorable opportunity
for foreign invasion. " Many tlood up against the
king of the south," under Antiochus the Great
and Philip III. of Macedonia, who formed a league
for the dismemberment of his kingdom. " So the
king of tlie north [Antiochus] came, and cast up
a mount, nod tuok the most fenced city | Sidon,
to which Scopas. the general of Ptolemy, had fled :
Jerome, ad l»c.], and the arms of the south did
not wititstnnti" [at Paneas, B. c. 198, where Anti-
ochus gained a decisive victory] (Dan. xl. 14, 16).
The interference of the Romans, to whom the re
gents had turned for help, checked Antiochus in his
career ; but in order to retain the provinces of Coele-
9yria, Pluenicia, and Judssa, which he had recon-
auered, really under his power, while he seemed to
tomply with the demands of the Romans, who
♦jnired them to lie surrendered to Ptolemy, " he
gate him [Ptolemy, his daughter Cleopatra) a
young maiden " [as his betrothed wife] (Dan. xl
18). But in the end his policy only partially sae-
caeded. After the marriage of Ptolemy and Cleo-
patra was consummated (b. c. 193), Cleopatra did
" not stand on his side," but supported her husband
in maintaining the alliance with Rome. The dis-
puted provinces, however, remained in the possession
of Antiochus; and Ptolemy was poisoned at the
time when ha was preparing an expedition to re-
cover them from Saleueus, the unworthy sneoassat
of Antioohus, b. a 181. B. F. W.
Ptolemy T.
Tstrsdrachm of Ptolemy T. (Egyptian talent). Ok*
Bust of king, r., bound with fillet adorned wttfc
ears of wheat. Bev. BA2IABOS nTOABMAIOy.
Bsfls, 1., on thunderbolt.
PTOLETvLSTJS VI. PHILOMETOR.
On the death of Ptol. Epiphanes, his wife Cleopatra
held the regency for her young son, Ptol. Philo-
metor, and preserved peace with Syria till she
died, B. c. 173. The government then fell into
unworthy hands, and an attempt was made to re-
cover Syria (comp. 9 Mace. iv. 21). Antiochus
Epiphanes seems to have made the claim a pretext
for invading Egypt The generals of Ptolemy were
defeated near Peltiaium, probably at the close of
B. o. 171 (Clinton, F. H iii. 319; 1 Maoe. i. 16 ft*.);
and in the next year Antiochus, having secured the
person of the young king, reduced almost the whole
of Egypt (comp. 9 Mace. v. 1). Meanwhile PtoL
Euergetes II., the younger brother of Ptol. Philo-
metor, assumed the supreme power at Alexandria;
and Antiochus, under the pretext of recovering the
crown for Philometor, besieged Alexandria in B. c.
169. By this time, however, hie selfish designs
were apparent: the brothers were reconciled, and
Antiochus was obliged to acquiesce for the time in
the arrangement which they made. But while
doing so, he prepared for another invasion of Egypt,
and was already approaching Alexandria, when ha
was met by the Roman embassy led by C. PopUlius
Lamas, who, in the name of the Roman senate,
insisted on his immediate retreat (ft. o. 168), a
command which the late victory at Pydna made it
impossible to disobey.*
These campaigns, which are intimately connected
with the visits of Antiochus to Jerusalem in B. o.
170, 168, are briefly described in Dan. xi. 95-10:
" He [Antiochus] shall stir up his power and his
courage against the king of the south with a great
army ; and the king of the south [Ptol. Philometor]
shall be stirred ui> to brittle with n very great and
mighty army ; but he shall not stnnd . for then
[the ministers, as it appears, in whom he trusted]
a Jerome (ad Dan. xl. 14) places tb* flight of Onias
to Bgrpt and the foundation of the temple if Leooto-
•ota In the reign of Ptol. Bplphanes. But Onias war _
■ > youth at the tune of his father's death, etr a I thoagh In toe description of DmnM the
V 171. 1 170 and IflB are not noticed separately.
» Others wtkon eoly three campaigns of Antioehas I
again** Bgypt In 171. 170, 168 (Grimm on 1
18). Tet the campaign or 169 seems clearly
gntshed from those m the yean before and
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2684
PTOLEMJETJS VI.
matt forecast devices against km. Tea, they that
feed of the portion of hit meat shad destroy him.
and hit nrmy thail melt away, and many shall fall
dawn tiain. And both tiitte king? heart! shall be
to do mischief, imd they tknil tptak tin at one
taiie [Antiochiu shall profess falsely to maintain
the came of I'hilometor against hit brother, and
Phikmwtor to trust in bis good iaith] ; but it shall
not prosper [the resistance of Alexandria shall pre-
sene the independence of Egypt] ; for the end shall
be at the time appointed. Then shall he [A ntioeims]
return into- his land, and his heart shaft be agmntt
the holy corennnl ; and he shall do exploits, and
return to his own land. ■ At the time appointed he
shall return and come towards the south ; but it
shall nut be as the former so also the latter time.
[His career shall be checked at once] for the ships
of Chittim [comp. Num. xxiv. 34 : the Roman fleet]
shall come against him : therefore he shall be dis-
mayed and return and have indignation against
the holy covenant."
Ptolemy VI.
ntradrachm of Ptolemy VI. (IgypUan talent). Obi
Head of king, r., bound with nllet Rev. nTOAE-
MAIOY MAOMHTOPOS. Eagle, 1., with palm
branch, on thunderbolt.
After the discomfiture of Antiocbus, Philometor
was for some time occupied in resisting the ambi-
tious designs of his brother, who made two attempts
to add Cyprus to the kingdom of Gyrene, which i
allotted to him. Having effectually put down these
attempts, be turned his attention again to Syria.
During the brief reign of Antiocbus Eupator he
seems to have supported Philip against the regent
I.ysias (comp. 2 "Mace. ix. 39). After the murder
of Eupator by Demetrius I., Philometor espoused
the cause of Alexander Balas, the rival claimant to
the throne, because Demetrius bad made an attempt
3n Cyprus; and when Alexander had defeated and
slain his rival, he accepted the overtures which he
made, and gave him his daughter Cleopatra in
marriage (b. c. 160: 1 Mace. x. M-68). But,
according to 1 Mace, xl- 1. 10, Ac., the alliance
was not made in good faith, but only as a means
towards securing possession of Syria. According
to others, Alexander himself made a treacherous
attempt on the life of Ptolemy (comp. 1 Mace. xi.
10), which caused him to transfer his support to
Demetrius II., to whom also he gave his daughter,
whom he had taken from Alexander. The wjole
of Syria was quickly subdued, and he was crowned
at Antioeh king of Egypt and Asia (1 Mace. xi. 18).
Alexander made an effort to recover his crown, but
was defeated by the forces of Ptolemy and Detne-
jtos, and shortly afterwards put to death in Arabia.
But Ptolemy did not long enjoy his success. He
PTOlXtLMVb VI.
fell from ha bone in the battle, and die,/ with* s
few days (1 Mace. xL 18), b. c. 140.
Ptotemeus Philometor is the last king of Egypt
who is noticed in sacred history, and his reign was
marked also by the erection of the temple at
Leontopotts- Toe coincidence is worthy of notice,
for the consecration of a new centre of worship
placed a religions as well as a political barrier
between the Alexandrine and Palestinian Jews.
Henceforth the nation was again divided. The
history of the temple itself is extremely obscure,
but even in its origin it was a monument of civil
strife. Onias, the son of Onias III.," whs was
murdered at Antioeh, b. c. 171, when he saw that
he was excluded from the succession to the high-
priesthood by mercensry intrigues, fled to Egypt,
either shortly after his Cither's death or upon the
transference of the office to Alcimns, B. c. 143
(Joseph. Ant. xii. 9, § 7). It is probable that his
retirement must be placed at the later date, for be
was a child (wa?s, Joseph. Ant. xii. 6, § 1) at the
time of his father's death, and he is elsewhere
mentioned as one of those who actively opposed the
Syrian party in .Jerusalem (Joseph. B. J. 1.1). In
Egypt he entered the service of the king, and rose,
with another Jew, Dositheus, to the supreme com-
mand. In this office be rendered important sen ic es
during the war which Ptol. Pbyecon waged against
his brother; end he pleaded these to induce the
king to grant him a ruined temple of Diana (ttjj
irypiat Bev0dVr«Stt) at I^ontopolis, as the site of
• temple, which he proposed to build " after the
pattern of that at Jerusalem, and of the same
dimensions." His alleged object was to unite the
Jews in one body, who were at the time ** divided
into hostile factions, even as the Egyptians wen,
from their differences in religious services " (Joseph.
Ant. xiii. 3, $ 1 ). In defense of the locality which
he chose, be quoted the words of Isaiah (Is. six. 18,
18), who spoke of " an altar to the l-iird in the
midst of the land of Egypt," and according to one
interpretation mentioned " the city of the Son "
(O^nn TV) by name. The site was granted
and the temple built; but the original plan was
not exactly carried out. The A'nos rose " like a
tower to the height of sixty cubits " (Joseph. B. J.
vii. 10, § 8, rvpytf trapcnrAf/o-iOx . . . «« «fv(-
Korra irfix'" oy«<m)<c»Ta)- The altar aud the
offerings wen similar to those at Jerusalem ; but
in place of the seven-branched candlestick, was " a
single lamp of gold suspended by a golden chain."
The service was performed by priests and [writes
of pure descent; and the temple possessed consid-
erable revenues, which were devoted to their sup-
port and to the adequate celebration of the divine
ritual (Joseph. B. J. vii. 10, § 3; AnL xiii. 3, § 3).
The object of Ptol. Philometor in furthering the
design of Onias, was doubtless the same as that
which led to the erection of the " golden calves "
in Israel. The Jewish residents in Egypt wen
numerous and powerful : and when Jerusalem was
in the hands of the Syrians, it became of the ut-
most importance to weaken their connection with
their mother city. In this respect the position of
the temple on the eastern border of the kingdom
was peculiarly important (Jost, Gtsch. d. Juden-
thnms, i. 117). On the oth/r hand, it is probable
has m oo. place (B. J. vH. 10, } 3) calls
" the son of Bhnon," and be appears under the
• aams In Jewish legends; but It sssms certain
that this was a men error, occasioned by t
nymte of the most famous Onias Ceoasp.
«.»<*. Jnd. U. M7).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PTOLBftLXUS VI.
Aat OniM m no hope In the Helleniaed Judaiam
of a Syrian province; and the triumph of the Mao-
aabaca was atiil unachieved when the temple at
Leontopolia wh founded. The date of thia event
oanaot indeed be exactly determined. Joaephua
nys (B. J. »h\ 10 J 4) that the temple had ex
iated "343 jean" at the time of ita dntruetion,
eir. A. D. 71; but the text U manifestly corrupt.
I'Vuaebiu* (np. Hieron. riiL p. 607, ed. Higne) no-
lijn the flight of Oniaa and the building of the
temple under the same year (8. c. 162), possibly
' am the natural connection of the event* without
/grtrd to the exact date of the latter. Some time
at least must be allowed for the military service of
Oniaa, and the building of the temple may perhaps
be placed after the conolusion of the last war with
Ptol. PhyasoD (o. B. c. 154), when Jonathan " be-
gan to judge the people at Machiuas " (1 Mace. ix.
73). In Palestine the erection of this second tem-
ple was not condemned so strongly as might have
been expected. A question indeed vras raised in
later times whether the aervioe was not idolatrous
(.Aerua. Joma 43 d, np. Jost, Ouch. d. Judenlh. i.
119), but the Mishna, embodying without doubt
the old decisions, determines the point more favor-
ably. " Priests who had served at Leontopolis were
forbidden to serve at Jerusalem ; but were not ex-
cluded from attending the public services.'' "A
vow might be discharged rightly at LeontopaUs as
well as at Jerusalem, but it was not enough to dis-
charge it at the former place only " (Menach, 109,
(., np. Jost, at nbon). The circumstances under
which the new temple was erected were evidently
acoepted as in some degree an excuse for the irreg-
ular worship. The connection with Jerusalem,
though weakened in popular estimation, waa not
broken; and the spiritual significance of the one
Temple remained unchanged for the devout believer
CPhilo, de Monarch, il. $ 1, Ac.). [Albxabdbia,
vol. i. p. 63.]
The Jewish colony in Egypt, of which Leon-
topoll» waa the immediate religious centre, was
formed of various elements and at different times.
The settlements which were made under the Greek
sovereigns, though the most important, were by no
means the first. In the later times of the kingdom
of Judah many " trusted in Egypt," and took refuge
there (Jer xliii. 6, 7); and when Jeremiah was
taken to Tahpanhes, he spoke to '■ all the Jews
which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at
Migdol and Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the
country of Pathroa " (Jar. xliv. 1). This colony,
for lied against the command of God, was devoted
to complete destruction (Jer. xliv. 27), but when
lh» connection was once formed, it is probable that
the Persians, acting on the same policy as the
i'tolecbs, encouraged the settlement of Jews in
Egypt to keep in check the native population
After the Return the spirit of commerce must have
contributed to increase the number of emigrants;
bit the history of the Egyptian Jews is involved
In the same deep obscurity aa that of the Jews of
Palestine till the invasion of Alexander. There
euinot, however, be any reasonable doubt aa to the
(lower and influence of the colony ; and the mere
(act of ita existence is an important consideration
PTOLKMAI8
in estimating tb.> l M*sihility of Jewish ideas flasV
icg their way to the west. Judaiam had secured
in old times aii the treasures of Egypt, and ton
the first installment of the debt was repaid. A
preparation was already made for a great work
whan the founding of Alexandria opened a new an
in the history of the Jews. Alexander, according
to the policy of all great conquerors, incorporated
the conquered in his armies. Samaritans (Joseph.
AnL xi. 8, § 6) and Jews (Joseph. AnL xi. 8, $ 6;
Hecet. ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 22) are mentioned
among his troops; and the traditio is probably
true which reckons them among the first settlers
at Alexandria (Joseph. B. J. ii. :8, § 7; c. Ap.
ii. 4). Ptolemy Soter increased the colony cf the
Jews in Egypt both by force and by policy ; and
their numbers in the next reign may be estimated
by the statement (Joseph. AnL xii. 2, $ 1) that
Ptol. Philadelphia gave freedom to 120,000. The
position occupied by Joseph (Joseph. AnL xii. 4)
at the court of Ptol. Euergetes I., implies thai the
Jews were not only numerous, but influential. Aa
we go onwards, the legendary accounts of the per-
secution of Ptol. Philopntor bear witness at least
to the great number of Jewish residents in Egypt
(3 Mace. iv. 15, 17), and to their dispersion through-
out the Delta. In the next reign many of the in-
habitants of Palestine who remained faithful to the
Egyptian alliance fled to Egypt to escape from the
Syrian rule (corap. Jerome ml Din. xi. 14, who is,
however, confused in his account). The consid-
eration which their leaders must have thus gained,
accounts for the rank which a Jew, Aristobulus, is
said to have held under Ptol. Philometor, as " tutor
of the king" (J<JdV«oAot, 2 Mace. i. 10). The
later history of the Alexandrine Jews has been
noticed before (vol. i. p. 03). They retained their
privileges under the Romans, though they wen
exposed to the illegal oppression of individual gov-
ernors, and quietly acquiesced in the foreign do-
minion (Joseph. B. J. vii. 10, § 1 ). An attempt
which was made by some of the fugitives from
Palestine to create a rising in Alexandria after the
destruction of Jerusalem, entirely failed ; but the
attempt gave the Romans an excuse for plundering,
and afterwards (h. o. 71) for closing entirely the
temple at Leootopolis (Joseph. B. J. vii. 10).
B. F. W.
PTOLEMA1S (TlToAtuah : PtolemaU).
This article is merely supplementary to that on
Accho. The name ia in fact an interpolation in
the history of the place. The city which was
called Accho in the earliest Jewish annals, and
which ia again the Akka or SL Jean <fAert of
crusading and modern times, was named Ptolemaia
in the Macedonian and Roman periods. In the
former of then periods it waa the most important
town upon the coast, and it is prominently men-
tioned in the first book of Maccabees, v. 16, 66, i.
1, 58, 60, xii. 48. In the latter its eminence was
far outdone by Herod's new city of Cwarea. 11
Still in the N. T. Ptolemaia is a marked point in
St. Paul's travels both by land and sen. He must
have passed through it on all hit journeys along
the great coast-road which connected Caatrea and
Antfoch " (Acts xi. 30, xii. 25, xv. 2, 30, xviii. 29);
« It is worthy of nonce that Herod, oa his return
torn Italy to Syria, landed at Ptntauati (Joseph. Jnt.
u». u, , n
• • On the Journey from '.pooch to Jeraaakau
acts xv 8 S.) Paul instead t° raUowioi the coast-
road to Onearea, aspaara to have turned Inland Iron
Ptolemaia, across the Plain of ndraelon, sum be
passed on that occasion through Pbnoten and nana
rat to Jamaalsm. t
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2686
PTOLEMEft
and the distances are given both In the Antonlne
tod Jerusalem itineraries (Wegteling, Mm. pp. 168,
684). Bnt it it specifically mentioned in Acta in.
7, m containing a Christian community, visited for
one day by St. PauL On this occasion be came to
Ptoiemait by tea. He was then on his return
voyage from the third missionary journey. The
last harbor at which he had touched was Tyre
(ver. 8). From Ptoiemait he proceeded, apparently
by land, to Casarea (rer. 8) and thence to Jeru-
salem (ver. 17). J. S. H.
• PTOI/EMEE, PTOLEMETTS, PTOL'-
OMEE, PTOLOMETJS, A. V. in Esther
(Apoc.) and 1 and 9 Maccabees. [Ptolem.kus.]
PTJ'A (njQ [=nr«S]: *ovi: PAtw), prop-
erly Puwah. Phuvah the son of lasachar (Num.
an. 23).
PtI'AH (iTr|19 [uttermct, Ffirst; mouth,
Ges.]: *ovi- Phua). 1. The father of Tola, a
man of the tribe of lasachar, and judge of Israel
after Abimelcch (Jndg. x. 1). In the Vulgate,
instead of "the son of Dodo," he is called " the
uncle of Abimelecb ; " and in the LXX. Tola is
said to be " the son of Phua, the ton (utit) of his
father's brother;" both versions endeavoring to
wider " Dodo " as an appellative, while the latter
introduces a remarkable genealogical difficulty.
8. [Vat *«i>c .] The son of lasachar (1 Chr.
41. 1), elsewhere called PnirvAH and Pda.
3. (n^5 [gracffulntut, beauty, Get., FBret]).
{me of the two midwives to whom Pharaoh gave
nstructions to kill the Hebrew male children at
their birth (Ex. i. 16). In the A. V. tbey are
called " Hebrew midwives." a rendering which is
not required by the original, and which is doubtful,
both from the improbability that the king would
have intrusted the execution of such a task to the
women of the nation he was endeavoring to
destroy, as well as from the answer of the women
themselves in ver. 19, "for the Hebrew women are
not like the Egyptian women;" from which we
may infer that they were accustomed to attend
upon the latter, and were themselves, in all prob-
ability, Egyptians. If we translate Ex. i. 18 in
this way, "And the king of Egypt said to the
women who acted as midwives to the Hebrew
women," this difficulty is removed. The two,
Shiphrah and Puah, are supposed to have been
the chief and representatives of their profession;
at Aben Etra says, "They were chiefs over all the
midwives : for no doubt there were more than five
hundred midwives, but these two were chiefs over
them to give tribute to the king of the hire."
According to Jewish tradition, Shiphrah was Joch-
ebed, and Puah, Miriam; « because," says Rashl,
"the cried and talked and murmured to the child,
after the manner of the women that lull a weeping
Infant." The origin of all this is a play upon the
neaie Push, which is derived from a root signify-
ing «• to cry out," as in Is. xlii. 14 and used in
aabbinical writers of the bleating of sheep.
W. A. W.
* There are tome reasons for the other opin-
ion with regard to Push's nationality. It not
aeing said that Pharaoh appointed the midwives,
the more obvious supposition it that those who
acted in this capacity among the Hebrews were
women of their own race, and so much the more,
at tot Hebrews at this time lived apart from
the Egyptians in their own separate province (see
PUBLICAN
Ex. b. 96). The fear of God ascribed to Mm
midwives at the motive for their humanity (K*. 1
19) leads us to think of them at Hebrews sad not
Egyptians; and, farther, according to the best
view, the name* of the women (Puah, SUphrah)
are Shemitic and not Egyptian. The rendering
of the A. V. it the more obvious one (the con-
struction like that in ver. 19), and it generally
adopted. H.
PUBLICAN (rtXArnf- B"»fiw"*»). The
word thus translated belongs only, in the N. T., to
the three Synoptic Gospels. The class designated
by the Greek word were employed as collectors of
the Roman revenue. The Latin word from which
the English of the A. V. hae been taken wat ap-
plied to a higher order of men. It will be neces-
sary to glance at the financial administration of the
Roman provinces in order to understand the reis-
tion of the two classes to each other, and the
grounds of the hatred and scorn which appear in
the N. T. to have fallen on the former.
The Roman senate had found It convenient, at •
period as early as, if not earlier than, the second
Punic war, to farm the vectignlia (direct taxes)
and the portoria (customs, including the octroi on
goods carried into or out of cities) to capitalists
who undertook to pay a given sum Into the lute
ury (in publicum), and to received the name of
pubtiami (Liv. xxxii. 7). Contracts of this kind
fell naturally into the hands of the equilet, as the
richest class of Romans- Not infrequently tbey
went beyond the means of any individual capitalist,
and a joint-stock company (tocietnt) was formed,
with one of the partners, or an agent appointed by
them, acting as managing director (maoutter ; Cie.
ad Die. xiii. 9). Under this officer, who resided
commonly at Rome, transacting the business of the
company, paying profits to the partners and the
like, were the sub-magittri, living in the provinces.
Under them, in like manner, were the Borntores,
tbe actual custom-home officers (donanien), who
examined each bale of goods exported or I mp orted,
a s sessed its value more or less arbitrarily, wrote out
the ticket, and enforced payment. The latter were
commonly natives of the province in which they
were stationed, as being brought daily into contact
with all classes of the population. Tbe word
TtXavcu, which etymologically might hare been
used of the pubticani properly so called (r&i),
im>co/uu), was used popularly, and in the N. T.
exclusively, of the portitoret.
Tbe pubticani were thus an important section
of the equestrian order. An orator wishing, for
political purposes, to court that order, might de-
scribe them as " flos equitum Romanorum, orna-
mentum cMtatls, firmaiuentum ReipubHess " (Cie.
pro Plane, p. 9). The system was, however, es-
sentially a vicious one, tbe most detestable, perhaps,
of all modes of managing a revenue (comp. Adam
Smith, Wealth of Nnritmt, v. 8), and it bore Ha
natural fruits. Tbe publicum were banded to-
gether to support each other's interest, and at
once resented and defied all interference (Liv. axv.
8). They demanded severe laws, and put every
such law Into execution. Their agents, tbe parti-
(ores, wen encouraged in the most vexatious or
fraudulent exactions, and a remedy was all bus
impossible. The popular feeling ran strong even
against the equestrian capitalists. The Macedo-
nians complained, as soon as they were brou gh t
under Soman government, that, " nbi pnblieanut
est, i l l aut jus publicum ranum, ant libertas mens)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PUBLICAN
mU»" (Uv. ih. 18). Cicero, in writing to hi*
brother (ad QuaL i. 1, 11), speak* of tin difficulty
of keeping the publicum within bounds, and jet
not offending them, at the hardest task of the
g over n or of a province. Tacitus connted it as one
bright nature of the ideal life of a people unlike
bis own, that there " nee publicanus atterit "
(Germ. p. 89). For a moment the capricious
liberalism of Nero led him to entertain the thought
of sweeping away the whole system of portoria,
bat the conservatism of the senate, serrile as it
was in all things else, rose in arms against it, and
the scheme was dropped (Tac. Ann. xiii. 60): and
the "immodestia publicanorum " (ibid.) remained
PUBLICAN
2637
If this was the case with the directors of the
company, we may imagine bow it stood with the
underlings. They overcharged whenever they had
an opportunity (Luke iii. 13). They brought false
charges of smuggling in the hope of extorting
hush-money (Luke xix. 8). They detained and
spatted letters on mere suspicion (Terent Phorm. i.
% 99; PlauL Trinamm. iii. 3, 64). The injuria
portitorum, rather than the portoria themselves,
were in most eases the subject of complaint (Cic.
ad Quint. i. 1, 11). It was the basest of all live-
lihoods (Cic. ols Offic. i. 42). They were the
wolves and bears of human society (Stobaus, Sera.
U. 34). "ndrrsj t«AAVqi, woVtcs Spray i"
bad become a proverb, even under an earlier
regime, and it was truer than ever now (Xeno.
Comic, op. DicsMureh. Meineke, Frag. Com. iv.
W6).«
All this was enough to bring the class into ill-
Stvor everywhere. In Judaea and Galilee there
were special circumstances of aggravation. The
smptoymeot brought out all the besetting vices of
ihe Jewish character. The strong feeling of many
Jews as to the absolute unlawfulness of paying
tribute at all made matters worse. The Scribes
who disgusted the question (Matt. xxii. 16) for the
most part answered it in the negative. The fol-
lowers of Judas of Galilee had made this the
special grievance against which they rose. In
iddition to their other faults, accordingly, the
Publicans of the N. T. were regarded as traitors
ind apostates, defiled by their frequent intercourse
with the heathen, willing tools of the oppressor.
They were chased with sinners (Matt ix. 11, xi.
19), with harlot* (Matt, xxi. 31, 33), with the
heathen (Matt, xviii. 17). In Galilee they con-
sisted probably of the least reputable members of
the fisherman and peasant class. Left to them-
selves, men of decent lives holding aloof from
them, their only friends or companions were found
4inong those who like themselves were outcasts
from the world's law. Scribes and people alike
bated them as priests and peasants in Ireland have
hated a Roman Catholic who took service in col-
lecting tithes or evicting tenants.
The Gosp els p resent us with some instances of
this feeling. To eat and drink "with publicans "
teems to the Pharisaic mind incompatible with the
of a recognized Rabbi (Matt ix. 11).
m Amusing instances of the eontlnuanoe of this
Swung may bs aacn In ths extracts from Ohryaaeiom
•ad other writers, quoted by Bateer, f. e. vaXiiww.
us part thaaa an perhaps rhetorical ampUncatioos
■T what thsy Brand In lbs Gospels, bat It can
tartly be doubted that they testify sis: to the aevsr-
tjrtsuj dislike of the tax-payer to the tax-ooueetor.
They spoke in their acorn of our Lord is the
friend of publicans (Mstt xi. 19). Rabbinic writ-
ings furnish tome curious illustrations of the same
feeling. The Chaldee Targum and R. Solomon
find in « the archers who sit by the waters " of
Judg. v. 11, a description of the Ttk&yai sitting
on the banks of rivers or seas in ambush for the
wayfarer. The casuistry of the Talmud enumer-
ates three classes of men with whom promises need
not be kept, and the three are murderers, thieves,
and publicans (Ntdar. iii. 4). No money known
to come from them was received into the alms-box
of the synagogue or the Corban of the Temple
(Baia casta, x. 1). To write a publican's ticket,
or even to carry the ink for it on the Sabbath-day
was a distinct breach of the commandment (Skabb.
viii. 2). They were not fit to sit in judgment, of
even to give testimony (Sanhedr. f. 26, 2). Some-
times there is an exceptional notice in their favor.
It was recorded as a special excellence in the father
of a Kabbi that, having been a publican for thir-
teen years, he had lessened instead of increasing
the pressure of taxation (ibid.).t> (The references
are taken, for the most part, from Lightfbot)
The class thus practically exoommunicated fur-
nished some of the earliest disciples both of the
Baptist and of our \xxd. Like the outlying, so-
called " dangerous classes " of other times, they
were at least free from hypocrisy. Whatever mo-
rality they had, was real and not conventional. We
may think of the Baptist's preaching as having
been to them what Wesley's was to the colliers of
Kingtwood or the Cornish miners. The publican
who cried in the bitterness of his spirit, " God be
merciful to me a sinner" (Luke xviii. 13), may be
taken as the representative of those who had come
under this influence (Matt xxi. 32). The Gali-
lajan fishermen had probably learnt, even before
their Master taught them, to overcome their re-
pugnance to the publicans who with them had
been sharers in the same baptism. The publicans
(Matthew perhaps among them) had probably
gone back to their work learning to exact no mora
than what was appointed them (Luke iii. IS).
However startling the choice of Matthew the pub-
lican to be of the number of the Twelve may have
seemed to the Pharisee, we have no trace of any
perplexity or offense on the part of the disciples.
The position of Zacch.kus as an opxrrf AaVip
(Luke xix. 2) implies a gradation of some kind
among the persons thus employed. Possibly the
balsam trade, of which Jericho was the centre, may
have brought larger profits, possibly he was one of
the tub magiiiri In immediate communication with
the Bureau at Rome. That it was possible for even
a Jewish publican to attain considerable wealth, wt
find from the history of John the rsAjeVnj (Joseph.
B. J. ii. 14, § 4), who sets with the leading Jew*
and oners a bribe of eight talents to the Procurator,
Genius Floras. The fact that Jericho was at this
time a city of the priests — 12,000 an said to have
lived there — gives, it need hardly bs said, a special
significance to oar Lord's preference of the house
of Zaochstus. K. H. P.
Their vehement dtnunclatjoni stand almost on a sms-
1ns; with Johnsot's definition of an excasmas [e*
rather of txam\.
' We have a singular parallel to But In the statute
rf oJIm nAm>4mm, inenaooed by "ossonhn ss
ersetsd by the doss of Am to Babfttas, tbeMtawef
(8u*tr«sj>. U
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2688 pubijtts
PUBTiltTS (TlirXm' P**Bus). The chief
■an — probably the governor — of Melite, who re-
eeived and lodged St. Paul and hU companions on
the orceeion of their being shipwrecked off that
island (Acta xxviii. 7). It won appeared that he
was entertaining an angel unawares, for St Paul
gate proof of hie divine commission by miracu-
lously healing the lather of Publiua of a fever, and
afterwards working other cures ou the sick who
were brought unto him. Publius possessed property
in Helita: the distinctive title given to him is " the
first of the island : " and two inscriptions, one in
Ureek, the other in Latin, have been found at
Citta, Vecchia. in which that apparently official
title occurs (Attbrd). Publius may perhaps have
bean the delegate of the Roman praetor of Sicily to
whose jurisdiction Melita or Malta belonged. The
Borneo martynlogies assert that he was the first
bishop of the island, and that he was afterwards
appointed to aueeeed Dionysius aa bishop of Ath-
ens. St. Jerome records a tradition that he was
crowned with martyrdom (Dt Vhit JUust. xix.;
Baron, i. 654). £. H— s.
* The beet information which we ean obtain
respecting the situation of Malta at the time of
Paul's visit, renders it doubtful, to say the least,
whether the interpreters are in the right as it re-
gards the station of Publius. In a Greek inscrip-
tion of an earlier date we find mention made of
two persons holding the office of arekon or magis-
trate in the island. A later inscription of the
time* of the Emperors may be translated as follows :
" Lucius Pudens, son of Claudius, of the tribe
Quirine, a Roman equea, first [vparror, as in Aote]
and patron of the Melitiesns, after being magistrate
and having held the post of flamen to Augustus,
erected this." Hoe it appe a rs that the person
named was still chief man of the island, although
his magistracy had expired. From this inscription
and others in Latin found at Gozzo, it is probable
that the inhabitants of both islands had received
the privilege of Rotnau citiaenship, and wan en-
roiled in the tribe Quirina. The magistracy was,
no doubt, that of the Dummvirt, the usual muni-
cipal chief officers. The other titles correspond
with titles to be met with on marbles relating to
towns in Italy. Thus the title of chief corresponds
to that of prinae/H in the colony of Pisa, and ia
probably no more a name of office than the title of
natron. For no such officer is known to have ex-
isted in the colonies or in the mumeipia, and the
prances* colonics of Pisa is mentioned at a time
when it is said that owing to a contention between
candidates there were no magistrates. T. 1). W.
rtT'DENS (TlotSSqs: Pudeiu), a Christian
Mend of Timothy at Roma. 8t Paul, writing
•bout A. o. 06, says, " Eubulos greeteth thee, and
Pudens, and Linns, and Claudia" (S Tim. iv. 91).
Re 1* commemorated in the Byzantine Churoh on
April 14; in the Roman Church on Hay 19.
He la included in the list of the seventy disciples
given by Pseudo-Hippolytus. Papebrocb, the Bol-
tsndiat editor (Acta Seactortm, Maii, torn. iv. p.
Jt6), while printing the legendary histories, distin-
guishes between two saints of this name, both
one the host of St. Peter and
a Thai Timothy Is said to have prsa ahe drheOoaaal
■ Maun.
* "PTVjptuao «t MteervaB touatam [pv]o saints
learns dtvtoae, aaartorttat* libera Olaudu [Oo]|Uubnl
wans sawn aaajottl la Brit., |MJ*khua vabrormn at
PUJJJSBH
(Mend of St. Paul, maatymd under Hero; the eahae
the grandson of the former, living about A. n» lsa\
the father of Novates, Timothy,' Praxadis, anal
Pudentiana, whose house, in the valley between the
Viminal hill and the Eequinne, served to bJaJhw-
time for the eesembly of Roman Christiana, and
afterwarda gave place to a church, now the Church
of 8. Paotnwa, a short distance at the back of
the Basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiere. Earner
writers (ae Baroniua, Ana. 44, § 61; Ana. W, $ 18-
Am. 162) are disposed to behave in the i alstoaiua
of one Pudens only.
About the end of the 16th century it was ob-
served (F. de Monceaux, EecL Chruthmm retort*
BriUmmcce incunabula, Toumay, 1614; fistina, or
his editor; Abp. Parker, Dt AntiquiL Britmm.
EccL 1606; M. Alford, AnnaUt tee. Brit. 1641;
Camden, Britamin, 1686) that Martial, the Span-
ish poet, who went to Rome a. d. 66, or earlier, in
his 93d year, and dwelt there for nearly forty yean,
mentions two contemporaries, Pudens snd Claudia,
aa husband and wife (Epig. iv. 18); that he men-
tions Pudens or Aulus Pudens in i. 33, iv. 99, r. 46,
vi.68, vil. 11, 97; Claudia or Claudia Rufina in vtii.
60, xi. 83; and, it might be added, Linus, in i. 76,
ii. 64, iv. 66, zt 96, xii. 49. That Timothy and
Martial should have each three friends bearing the
same names at the same tame and place, ia at feast
a very singular coincidence. The poet's Pudens
was his intimate acquaintance, an admiring critic
of his epigrams, an immoral man if Judged by the
Christian rule. lie was an Umbrianand a soldier:
first be appears as a centurion aspiring to become
a primipilua; afterwards he is on military duty in
the remote north; and the poet hopes that on his
return thence he may be raised to equestrian rank.
Hit wife Claudia is described ae of British birth,
of remarkable beauty and wit, and the mother of a
flourishing family.
A Latin inscription » found in 1783 at Chiches-
ter connects a [Pud]en* with Britain and with tie)
Claudian name. It commemorates the erection of
a temple by a guild of carpenters, with the aanrajan
of King Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus, the eke
being toe gift of [Pudjens the son of PodenUrrae.
Cogidubnue was a native king appointed and sap-
ported by Rome (Tee. Aorioota, 14). He reurued
with delegated power probably from A. D. 62 to
A. D. 76. If he had a daughter she would inherit
the name Claudia and might, perhaps ae a hostage,
be educated at Rome.
Another link seems to connect the Romanhang
Britons of that time with Claudia Rufina and with
Christianity (see Muagrave, quoted by Fafariaiua
Lux Etxmgetii, p. 709). The wife of Aulas PWn-
tius, who commanded in Britain from A. 7>. 4» U>
A. D. 69, was Pomponfat Gradna, and the Ball
were a branch of ber house. She waa aeeoaed at
Rome, A. D. 57, on a capital charge of " foreign
superstition ; " wss acquitted, and lived for nearly
forty years in a state of austere and mysterious nwt-
ancboly (Tec. Ana. xlii. 39). We know from tLa
Kpietie to the Romans (xvi. 13) that the Rot wen
well represented among the Roman Christians in
A. d. 68.
Modern rsssarohss among the Onlnmharla «t
qui In ao [a aaerw eant] ds
aream [Pudtoit* Puaantlnl
stone waa broken on", and on
have keen inserted i
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PTJHITBS, THB
sppropriaicd to mnbn of the Imperial
aoexchold have brought to light an inscription in
which the name of Pudena occurs as that of a ser-
rant of Tiberius or Claudius (Journal of Ctauiaal
\md Sacred Philology, iv. 76).
On the whole, although the identity of St Pauls
Pudena with any legendary or heathen namesake is
not absolutely proved, yet it is difficult to believe
that these nuts sdd nothing to our knowledge of
the friend of Paul and Timothy. Future dis-
aoreTies may go beyond them, and decide the ques-
tion. They are treated at great length in a
pamphlet entitled Claudia nnrf Ptuietu, by Arch-
deacon Williams, Llandovery, 1848, p. 58 ; and
more briefly by Dean Alford, Grttk Testament, ili.
104, "ed. 1886; and by Conybeare and Howaon,
Lift of St. Paul, ii. 694, ed. 1853. They ereln-
geuiouely woven into a pleasing romance by a
writer in the Quirterty Review, vol. xovii. pp. 100-
106. See also Ussher, Keel. Brit. Aniiqmtnttt,
I 8, and Stillingfleet's AtUiauiiif. [Ci^vddia,
Amer. ed.] ^^ W. T. B.
PTJ'mTBS, THB OrflSI? [patr.]:Mi«>-
Mfi: [Vat. M««><>0<im;] AieK - He^sWs Aphuthii).
According to 1 Chr. 0. 63, the " Puhttea " or
' l'uthitea " belonged to the families of Klrjath-
jearim. There is a Jewish tradition, embodied in
the Targum of K. Joseph, that these families of
Kirjath-jearira were the sons of Moses whom
Zipporah bare him, and that from them were de-
scended the disciples of the prophets of Zorah and
Sabtaol.
PUL ( U -19 [see below] *oit; some oodd.
•oM: Africa), a country or nation once mentioned,
if the Masoretlc text be here correct, in the Bible
(Is. lxvi. 19). The name ia the same as that of
Pol, king of Assyria. It is spoken of with distant
nations; " the nations (D^SH), [to] Tarsbish,
PuL and Lad, that draw the bow, [to] Tubal, and
Javau, [to] the isles afar oft*." If a Mizraite Lud
be intended [Lou, Lodix], Pul may be African.
It has accordingly been compared by Bochart
(Phtlrg, iv. 26) and J. D. Micliaelis (Spiciltg,
-256: ii. 114) with the Island Phi!*, called in Cop-
tic Il€"\/» K, ni>AK, IU A, K*» » the
hieroglyphic name being F.ELEK, P-REI.KK,
EE1.EK-T. If it be not African, the identity with
the king's name is to be noted, as we find Shiahak
ptP'tP) as the name of a king of Egypt of Baby-
lonian or Assyrian race, and Sbeehak CtfWW),
which some rashly take to be artificially formed
after ths cabbalistic manner from Babel ( '3^)
for Babybn itself, the 'difference in the final letter
probably arising from the former name being taken
from the Egyptian 8HE8HENK.. In the line of
Strishak, the name TAKELAT has bean compared
by Birch with forms of that of the Tigris '\fcij J,
PUL
2689
»hleb Oessnins has thought to be identical with
the flat part of the name of Tiglath-Pifcser
{Inf. s. v.).
The osmmon LXX. reading suggests that the
Heb. had originally Phut (Put) in this place,
although we must remember, as Gesenius observes
(Thee, s. v. Vffl), thatOOTA could be easily
changed to *OTA by the error of a copyist Yet
in three other places Put and Lud occur together
(Jer. xlvi. 9; Ex. xxvil. 10, xxx. 5). [Lcdim.]
The circumstance that this name is mentioned with
names or designations of importance, makes it
nearly certain that some great and well-known
country or people ia intended. The balance of
evidence ia therefore almost decisive in favor cf the
African Phut or Put [Phot.] R. 8. P.
PUL (VlS [see above] : wooA, *aMx ' " [ Atafc
in Chr. +oA»i:] Pkul) was an Assyrian king, east
is the first of those monarch* mentioned in Scrip-
tore. He made an expedition against Henahem,
king of Israel, about B. c 770. Menabem appears
to have inherited a kingdom which was already
included among the dependencies of Assyria; for as
early as B. a 884, Jehu gave tribute to Snalma-
Deter, the Black-Obelisk king (see voL L p. 188 a),
and if Judssa was, as she seems to have been, a
regular tributary from the beginning of the reign
of » Amaziah (B. O. 838), Samaria, which lay l«-
tween Judssa and Assyria, can scarcely have been
independent Under the Assyrian system the
monarcha of tributary kingdoms, on ascending the
throne, applied for "confirmation in their king-
doms" to the Lord Paramount, and only became es-
tablished on receiving it. We may gather from 8 K.
xv. 19, 30, that Henahem neglected to make any
such application to his liege lord, Pul — a neglect
which would have been regarded as a plain act of
rebellion. Possibly, he was guilty of more overt
and flagrant hostility. " Henahem smote Tiphtnk "
(9 K. xv. 16), we are told. Now if this Tiphsah
is the same with the Tiphsah of 1 K. iv. ii, which
is certainly Thapsaous, — and it is quite a gratu-
itous supposition to hold that there were two Tipfa-
»ahs (Winer, Jkakeb. ii 613),— we most regard
Menahem as having attacked the Assyrians, and
deprived them for a while of their dominion west of
the Euphrates, recovering in this direction the
boundary fixed for hie kingdom by Solomon (1 K.
iv. 84). However this may have been, it ia evi
dent that Pul looked upon Menahem as a rebel
He consequently marched an army into Palestine
for the purpose of punishing his revolt, when
Menahem hastened to make his submission, and
having collected by means of a pnU-tax, the large
aum of a thousand talents of gold, he paid it over
to the Assyrian monarch, who consented thereupon
to " confirm " him as king. This is all that
Scripture tells us of PuL The Assyrian monu-
ments have a king, whose name Is read very doubt-
fully as VuUiih or Im-kuh, at about the period
when Pul must have reigned. This monarch is
the grandson or Shalmaneser (the Black-Obahsk
king, who warred with Ben-haded and HasaeL and
took tribute from Jehu), while he is certainly an-
terior to the whole line of monarcha forming the
lower dynasty — TigJath-Pileser, Shalinaneser, Sar-
gon. etc. His probable date therefore is B. c.
80O-7S0, while PuL as we have seen, ruled over
Assyria in b. c 770. The Hebrew name Pul la
undoubtedly curtailed; for no Assyrian nana* esav
tf tab asms an *»i,«nU, and
rthki to perhaps <mpUsd In toe worda " the kiasj-
demieasenvtrimrfm bis hand " (8 K. atv >;
xv. m.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2640
PULPIT
■1st* of a single element If we take the " Phalos "
fcr "Phaloc'h" of the Septoagint as probably
nearer to the original type, we have a form not very
different from Vul-lmh or /vii-Uuh. If, on these
grounds, the identification of the Scriptural Pul
srith the monumental V'td-htili be regarded as es-
tablished, we may give some further particulars of
him which possess considerable interest VuUtuh
reigned at Calah ( JVunrurf) from about B. C. 800 to
B. c. 760. He states that he made an expedition
into Syria, wherein he took Damascus; and that he
received tribute from the Medea, Armenians, Phoeni-
cians, Samaritans, Damascenes, Philistines, and
Edomites. He also tells us that he invaded Baby-
lonia, and received the submission of the Cbaldaeans.
His wife, who appears to have occupied a position of
more eminence than any other wife of an Assyrian
monarch, bore the name of Seniiramis, and is
thought to be at once the Babylonian queen of He-
rodotus (i. 184), who lived six generations before
Cyras, and the prototype of that earlier sovereign
of whom Ctesias told such wonderful stories (Dim).
Sic H. 4-20), and who long maintained a great
local reputation in Western Asia (Strab. xvi. 1,
§2). It is not improbable that the real Snub-amis
was a Babylonian princess whom VuLlntk married
on his reduction of the country, and whose sou
Nabonassar (according to a further conjecture) be
placed upon the Babylonian throne. He calls
himself in one inscription " the monarch to whose
son Asshur, the chief of the gods, has granted the
kingdom of Babylon." He was probably the last
Assyrian monarch of his race. The list of Assyrian
monumental kings, which is traceable without a
break and in a direct line to bim from his seventh
ancestor, here comes to a stand : no son of Vut-
huh Is found; and Tiglath-Pileser, who seems to
bare been VuUuth's successor, is evidently a
usurper, since he makes no mention of his father
or ancestors. The circumstances of VuUuih'i
death, and of the revolution which established the
lower Assyrian dynasty, are almost wholly unknown,
no account of them having come down to us upon
any good authority. Not much value can be
attached to the statement in Agathias (ii. 25, p.
119) that the last king of the upper dynasty was
succeeded by his own gardener. 6. R,
• PULPIT, only in Neb., viil. 4, the render-
tig of V^jp, (generally "tower" in the A. V.),
a high stage or platform erected in the open apace
(has correctly •' street," A. V.) before one of the
gates at Jerusalem, from which Esra and other
Levites read and explained the Law of Moses (the
Pentateuch) to the assembled people. This was
after the return from the Babylonian captivity,
during which the language of the Jews had changed
so much that many words in the Hebrew Scrip-
tures required interpretation and explanation. The
Targwus or Chaldea translations which formed so
important a part of the later Jewish literature,
rrew out of this necessity. [Vuuuohs, Ancikict
Taboow).] Yet another object of Em's pub-
is recitals no doubt was to promote among the
Jews a better knowledge of the Scriptures which
they had too much neglected in their exile, and to
reassert the authority of the Law. We may add
that the word "pulpit'' has ootue to us from the
Latin pulpitum, which among the Romans was the
part of the stage (as distinguished from the orches-
tra) on which the actors performed thair parts.
the word, as thus applied, forms an exeepboq to the
PUNISHMENTS
general rule, for most of our nnr l ra t as tian 1 tanas)
are derived from the Greek. H.
PULSE (try'lT.af.d'lm, and Qrrtnj, ssV-
!m\m : Hairpia ; Theod. <rw4p/iara ■ Ugumina) occurs
only in the A. V. in Dan. i. 12, 16, as the transla-
tion of the above plural nouns, the literal mraning
of which is " seeds " of any kind. The ui-fftm
on which •' the four children " thrived for ten days
is perhaps not to be restricted to what we u w un-
derstand as " pulse," 1. e. the grains of legucinou
vegetables: the term probably includes edible seeds
in general. Gesenius translates the words " vege-
tables, herbs, such as are eaten in half- fast, as
opposed to flesh and more delicate food." Prob-
ably the term denotes uncooked grains of any kiiul,
whether bailey, wheat, millet, vetches, etc
W. H.
PUNISHMENTS. The earliest theory of
punishment, current among mankind is doobtlaas
the one of simple retaliation, " blood for blood "
[Blood, Revkngkk or], a view which in a
limited form appears even in the Mosaic lav.
Viewed historically, the first case of punishment
for crime mentioned in Scripture, next to the Fall
itself, is that of Cain the first murderer. His pun-
ishment, however, was a substitute for the retalia-
tion which might have been looked for from the
hand of man, and the mark set on him, whatever
it was, served at once to designate, protect, and
perhaps correct the criminal. That death was re-
garded as the fitting punishment for murder ap-
pears plain from the remark of 1-ameeh (Gen. iv.
24). In the post-diluvian code, if we may so call
it, retribution by the hand of man, even in the
case of an offending animal, for blood shed, is
clearly laid down (Gen. ix. 0, 8); but its terms
give no sanction to that >' wild justice" executed
even to the present day by individuals and families
on their own behalf by so many of the uncivilized
races of mankind. The prevalence of a feeling
of retribution due for bloodshed may be remarked
as arising among the brethren of Joseph in refer-
ence to their virtual fratricide (Gen. xlii. 21).
Passing onwards to Mosaic times, we find the
sentence of capital punishment in the case of mur-
der, plainly laid down in the law. The murderer
was to be put to death, even if he should have
taken refuge at God's altar or in a refuge city,
and the same principle was to be carried out even
in the case of an animal (Ex. xxi. 12, 14, 28, 86;
Lev. xxiv. 17, 21; Num. xxxv. 31; Dent xix. 11,
12; and see 1 K. ii. 28, 84).
I. The following offenses also are mentioned hi
the Law as liable to the punishment of death:
1. Striking, or even reviling, • parent (Ex. xxi
16, 17).
2. Blasphemy (Lev. xxiv. 14, 16, 23; see Pbilo,
V. M. iii. 26; 1 K. xxi. 10; Matt. xxvi. 66, 66).
8. Sabbath-breaking (Num. *». 82-86; Ex. xxxi
14, xxxv. 2).
4. Witchcraft, and false pretension to prophecy
(Ex. xxii. 18; Lev. xx. 27; Dent. xiii. 6, xviij.
20; 1 Sam, xxviii. 9).
5. Adultery (Lev. xx. 10; Deut xxii. 22; an
John vKi. 6, and Joseph. Ant. iii. 12, 1 1).
6. Gnehastity, («.) previous to marriage, but o*>
tectod afterwards (Deut xxii. 21). (4.) In a bo
trothed woman with some one not affianced to DM
(t». ver. 93). («.) In a priest's daughter (l<a»
xxi. 9).
7. Rape (Dent xxU. 26).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PUNISHMENTS
8. foeestoous and unnatural connections (Lev
tx.ll. 14, IS; Ex. nil. 19).
9. Man-stealing (Ex. xxi. 16; Deut. xxiv. 7).
10. Idolatry, actual or virtual in any thape
(1.4V. xx. 2: Deut. xiii. 6, 10, 15, xvii. 3-7; see
josh. vii. and xxii. 80, and Num. xxv. 8).
11. False witness in certain cam* (Deut. xlx.
16, 19).
Some of the foregoing are mentioned aa being in
earlier times liable to capital or severe punishment
bv the hand either of God or of man, as (6.) (Jen.
xixviii. 34; (1.) Gen. ix. 25; (8.) Gea xix.,
xiiviil 10; (5.) Gen. xii. 17, xx. 7, xxxix. 19.
II. tiut there is a large number of offenses.
soma of tbem included in this list, which are
named in the Law as involving the penalty of
" cutting ■ off from the people." On the meaning
of this expression some controversy has arisen.
There ue altogether thirty-six or thirty seven
cases in the Pentateuch in which this formula is
used, wtieh may be thus classified: (n.) Breach of
Morsus. (6.) Breach of Covenant, (c.) Breach of
Kitnal.
1. Willful sin in general (Num. xv. 30, 31).
•15 eases of incestuous or Unclean connection
{im. xviii. 29, and xx. 9-21).
8. *tUneircumcision (Gen. xvii. 14; Ex.iv.34).
Neglect of Passover (Num. ix. 13).
•Sabbath-breaking (Ex. xxxi. 14).
Neglect of Atonement-day (Lev. xxiii. 29).
tWork done on that day (Lev. xxiii. 30).
•tChildren offered to Molech (Lev. xx. 3).
•tWitchcraft (l,ev. xx. 6).
Anointing a stranger with holy oil (Ex.
xxx. 33).
8. Ealing leavened bread during Passover
(Ex. xii. 15, 19).
Eating fat of sacrifices (Lev. vii. 26).
Eating blood (Lev. vii. 37, xvii. 14).
•Eating sacrifice in an unclean condition
(Lev. vii. 30, 21, xxii. 8, 4, 9).
Offering too late (Lev. xix. 8).
Making holy ointment for private use (Ex.
xxx. 32, 33).
Making perfume for private use (Ex.
xxx. 38).
Neglect of purification in general (Num.
xlx. 13, 20).
Not bringing offering after slaying a beast
for food (Lev. xvii. 9).
Not slaying the animal at the tabernacle-,
door (Lev. xvii. 4).
•f Touching holy things illegally (Num. iv.
15, 18, 30: and see 3 Sam. vL 7; 3 Chr.
xxvi. 21).
In the foregoing list, which, it will be seen, is
llassined according to the view supposed to be
taken by the Law of the principle of condemnation,
the cases marked with * are (a) those which are
expressly threatened or actually visited with death,
as well as with cutting off. In those (6) marked
t the hand of God is expressly named as the instru-
ment if execution. We thus Bndthat of (a) there
are in class 1, 7 cases, all named in Lev. xx. 9-18.
class 2, 4 cases,
class 8, 2 cases,
«hHe of (4) we find in ciass 2, 4 cases, of which
» belong also to (a), and in class 3, 1 case. The
inestkm to be determined is, whether the phrase
PHI: tf sxefe w -
PUNISHMENTS 2641
" cut off" be likely to mean death In all eases,
and to avoid that conclusion I<e Clero, Minh— Be,
and others, have suggested that in some of them,
the ceremonial ones, it was intended to be commuted
for banishment or privation of civil rights (Mich.
tjmt of Motet, § 237, vol. Ui. p. 436, trans.).
Rabbinical writers explained "cutting off" to mean
excommunication, and laid down three degrees of
severity as belonging to it (Selden, de Syn. i. 6)
[Axathkma.] But most commentators agree,
that, in accordance with the priind facie meaning
of Heb. x. 28, the sentence of " cutting off" must
be understood to be death-punishment of some sort
SaaUchiiU explains it to be premature death by
God's hand, as if God took into his own hand such
cases of ceremonial defilement as would create
difficulty for human judges to decide. Knobel
thinks death-punishment absolutely is meant So
Com. ft Lapide and Ewald. Jahn explains, that
when God is said to cut off, an act of divine Provi-
dence is meant, which in the end destroys the family,
but that "cutting off " in general means stoning to
death aa the usual capital punishment of the law.
Calmet thinks it means privation of all rights be-
longing to the Covenant. It may be remarked
(«), that two instances are recorded, in which viola-
tion of a ritual command took place without the
actual infliction of a death-punishment: (1.) that
of the people eating with the blood (1 Sam. xiv.
82); (2.) that of Urxiah (2 Chr. xxvi. 19, 21) —
and that in the latter case the offender was in fact
excommunicated for life; (A), that there are also
instances of the directly contrary course, namely, iu
which the offenders were punished with death for
similar offenses, — Nadab and Abihu (Lev. x. 1,
2), Komh and his oompany (Num. xii. 10, 88),
who " perished from the congregation," Uacah (8
Sam. vi. 7), — and further, that the leprosy inflicted
on Uzziah might be regarded as a virtual death
(Num. xii. 12). To whichever side of the question
this ease may be thought to incline, we may
perhaps conclude that the primary meaning of
cutting off" is a sentence of death to be executed
in some cases without remission, but in others
voidable: (1) by immediate atonement on the
offender's part; (2) by direct interposition of the
Almighty, i. e. a sentence of death always "re
corded," but not always executed. And it is also
probable that the severity of the sentence produced
in practice an immediate recourse to the prescribed
means of propitiation in almost every actual ease
of ceremonial defilement (Num. xv. 27, 28; Seal-
sehutz, Arch. Uebr. x. 74, 75, vol. 11. 899; Knobel,
Calmet, Corn, a Lapide on Gen. xvii. 13, 14; Kail,
BM. Arc*, vol. ii. 264, $ 153; Ewald, Gaeh. App
to vol. ui. p. 168; Jahn, ^rcA. BibL § 857).
III. Punishments in themselves are twofold,
Capital and Secondary.
(a.) Of the former kind, the following only an
prescribed by the Law. (1.) Stoning, which was
the ordinary mode of execution (Ex. xvii. 4; Luke
xx. 6; John x. 31; Acts xiv. 5). We find it
ordered in the cases which are marked in the list*
above as punishable with death ; and we may re-
mark further, that it is ordered also in the case of
an offending animal (Ex. xxi. 29, and xix. 13).
The false witness also, in a capital case, would by
the law of retaliation become liable to death (Dent
xix. 19; Maceoth; i. 1, 6). In the case of idola-
try, and it may be presumed in other cases alas,
the wit ne ss es, of whom there ware to be at least
two, were required to cast the first stone (Dsat
Digitized by VjOOQlC
J
2642
PUNISHMENTS
riii », mi. 7; John viii 7; Acta vii. 88). The
HalihanicaJ writers odd, that the first stone m
out by am of them on the chert ef the convict,
and if this failed to oMtae death, the byatandere
procended to complete the sentence. (Sauktdr. ri.
1, 3, 4; Uodwyn, Mmti and Aaron, p. 181.)
The body was then to be suspended till sunset
(Dent, xxi. S3; Joth. x. 26; Joseph. Ant. iv. 8,
§24), and uot buried in the family gran (San-
hedr. vi. 6).
(9. ) Hanging is mentioned aa a distinct punish-
ment (Num. xxv. 4; 2 Sam. ui. 6, 9); but is
generally, in the case of Jews, spoken of aa fol-
lowing death by tome other means.
(3.) Burning, iu pre-Uoaak timet, was the
prniahuieut for uuchastity (Uen. xxxviii. 84).
Under the Law it is ordered in tbecase of a priest's
daughter (Lev. xxi 8), of which an inatanoe is
mentioned (Sanhedr. vii. 2). Also in oaae of in-
east (Lev. xx. 14); but it is also mentioned aa fol-
lowing death by other means (Josh. vii. 86), and
some have thought it was never used excepting
after death. A tower of burning enil era ia men-
tioned in 9 Mace. xiii. 4-8. The Rabbinical account
of burning by means of molten lead poured down
the throat baa no authority in Scripture.
(4.) Dt/ith tig the twvrd or ipvir ia named in
toe Law (Kx. xix 13, xxxii. 27; Num. xxv. 7);
but two of the cases may be regarded a* excep-
tional; but it occurs frequently in regal and post-
Babylonian times (1 K. ii. 26, 34, xix. 1; 2 C'hr.
xxi. 4 ; Jer. xxvi. 23; 2 Sam. i. 15, iv. 18, xx. 88;
1 Sam. xv. U, xxii. 18; Judg. ix. 6; 8 K. x. 7;
Matt. xiv. 8. 10), a list in which more than one
case of assassination, either with or without legal
forms, is included.
(6.) Strangling is said by the Rabbins to have
bean regarded aa the most common but least severe
of the capital punishments, and to have been per-
formed by immersing the convict in clay or mud,
and then strangling him by a cloth twisted round
the neck (Uodwyn, •Motet and Aaron, p. 122; Otho,
Lex. Rub. s. v. " Supplicia ; " Sanhedr. vii. 8 ; Ker
Porter, Trm. ii. 177 ; U. B. Michaelis, De Judiciit,
*p. Pott, SglL Comm. iv. §§ 10, 12).
This Rabbinical opinion, founded, it is said, on
Ml tradition from Moses, has no Scripture au-
bority.
(o.) Betides these ordinary capital punishments,
** read of others, either of foreign introduction or
j€ an irregular kind. Among the former (1.)
CnucirtxiOK ia treated alone (vol. t p. bit), to
which article the following remark may be added,
that the Jewish tradition of capital punishment,
independent of the Roman governor, being inter-
acted for forty years previous to the Destruction,
tppears in foot, if not in time, to be justified (John
tviii 31, with De Wette'a Comment. ,- Godwyn, p.
181; Kaiii. 264; Joseph. Ant. xx. 9, § 1).
(9.) Drowning, though not ordered under the
Lair, was practiced at Rome, and ia said by St.
Jerome to have been in use among the Jews (CSc
to. SexL Rote. Am. 96; Jerome, dim. on Malik.
■>. Ui. p. 188; Matt, xviii. 6; Mark ix. 49).
'Mill, Amer. ed.]
(8.) Sawing asunder or crushing beneath iron
instruments. Toe former ia said to have been
practiced on Isaiah. The latter may perhaps not
bate always caused death, and thus have bean a
Vortare rather than a capital punishment (9 Sam.
xft. 31, and perhaps Prov. xx. 28; Ueb. xi. 87;
last Matt. Tryph. 120). The process of tawing
PUNISHMENT!*
■•under, at practiced in Barbery, it
Shaw (Trav. p. 264).
(4.) Pounding in a mortar, or otatinf to death,
is alluded to in Prov. xxvii. 23, but net aa a laga.
punishment, and eases are described (8 Mace, rl
28, 30). Pounding in a mortar is mentioned as a
Cingalese punishment by Sir E. Tenneut (Ceukm,
ii. 88).
(6.) Pi eeipitatkm, attempted in the ease of oar
Lord at Ntarueth, and carried out in that of cap-
tives from the Edomites, and of St. James, who it
said to have been cast from " the pinnacle " of the
Temple. Also it ia said to have bean executed an
tome Jewish women by the Syrians (8 Mace, ti
10; Luke Iv. 89; Euseb. U. £. ii 23; 2 Chr. xxv
12).
Criminals executed by law wen buried outside
the city gates, and heaps of stones wen flung opes
their gravel (Joth. vii. 96, 88; 8 Sam. xviii If;
Jer. xxii 19). Mohammedans to this day east
stones, in passing, at the supposed tomb of Abtalaan
(Kaliri, Kvagatvrium, i. 409 ; Sandys, Trot. p. 189;
Kaumer, PaldtU p. 872).
(c. ) Of secondary punithmentt among the Jewt
the original principles were, (1.) retaliation, •> eye
for eye," etc (Ex. xxi. 24, 26; see OelL JVuet AtL
.1).
(2.) Coatpentation, identical (restitution) or
analogous; payment for lots of time or of power
(Ex. xxi. 18-38; Lev. xxiv. 18-21; Deut. xix. 81).
The man who stole a sheep or an ox was required
to restore four sheep for a sheep and five oxen for
an ox thus stolen (Ex. xxii 1). The thief caught
in the fact in a dwelling might even be killed or
told, or if a stolen animal were found alive, he
might be compelled to restore double (Ex. xxii 8-4).
Damage done by an animal was to he fully com-
pensated (ib. ver. 8). Fire caused to a neighbor's
corn wit to be compensated (ver. 6). A pledge
stolen, and found in the thief's possession, was ta
be compensated by double (ver. 7). All trupatt
wat to pay double (ver. 9). A pltdye lost or dam-
aged was to be compensated (w. 12, 13). A pledge
withheld, to be restored with 20 per cent, of the
value (Lev. ri. 4, 6). The " seven-fold " or Prov.
vi. 31, by it* notion of completeness, probably in-
dicates servitude in default of full restitution (Ex.
xxii. 2-4). Slander against a wife's honor was to
be compensated to her parents by a fine of 100
shekels, and the Inducer himself to be punished
with stripes (Deut. xxii 18, 19).
(3.) Stripe; whose number was not to exceed
forty (Deut. xxv. 3); whence the Jewt took care
not to exceed thirty-nine (2 Cor. xi. 24; Joaeph.
Ant. iv. 8, $ 21). The convict was dripped to the
waist and tied in a heut position to a low pillar,
and the stripes, with a whip of three thongs, went
inflicted on the. back between the shoulders [Acta
xxii. 96]. A single stripe in excess snltpsted the
executioner to punishment (Maccoth, Ui 1, 2, >
13, 14). It is remarkable that the At>anoistt>
use the same number (Wolff, 7Vnr. ii 976).
(4.) Scourging with thorns is mentioned Judg.
viii. 16. The ttoctt are mentioned Jer. xx. 2 [Acta,
xvi 84]; patting through Jire, 2 Sam. xii. 81;
mutilation, Judg. 1. 6, 2 Mace. vii. 4, and aet 8
Sam. iv. 12; plucking out hair. Is. I. 6; in later
times, impritonment, and conjuiaxtion or exile, Ear.
ii. 26; Jer. xxxvii. 16, xxxviii 6; Acts iv. 8, v.
18, xii. 4. As in earlier times iirprisonmeut formal
no part of the Jewish svsUm, the s ent e n ces were
executed at ones (sse Fsth vii 8-10; Selden. Dm
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PTJNI8HMBNT8
%a. U. e. IS. p. 868). Before death a gnu., of
kantdnoeom in a enp of wine wm given to the
criminal to Intoxicate htm (to. 889). The com-
mand for witneaaea to east the first atone thowa
that the duty of execution did not bewng to any
•fecial officer (Dent xrll. 7).
Of piffiiahmenta Inflicted by other nationa we
have the following notices: In Egypt the power of
Bib and death and imprisonment rested with the
kins;, and to some extent also with officers of high
rank (Qen. xl. 8, 89, tlii. 80). Death might be
•emmutad for slavery (xllL 19, xBv. 9, S3). The
law of retaliation was also In use in Egypt, and the
punishment of the bastinado, as represented in the
paintings, agrees better with the Mosaic directions
than with the Rabbinical (Wilkinson, A. E. II. 814,
fit, SIT). In Egypt, and also in Babylon, the
stiat of the executioners, Rnb-Tabbackm, was a
C officer of state (Gen. xxxvii. 86, mix., xl.;
tt. 14; Jer. mix. 18, xli. 10, xliii. 8, Hi. 16,
16; Miobaelie, iii. 413; Joseph. Ant. x. 8, § 6
fJOmueniiM] ; Mark vi. ST). He was sometimes
a ennuoh (Joseph. Ant. vil. 6, § 4).
Patting oat the eyes of captives, and other
orusltin, as flaying alive, banting, tearing out the
tongue, etc., were practiced by Assyrian and Baby-
lonian conquerors; and parallel instances of despotic
cruelty are found in abundance in both ancient and
modem times in Persian and other history. The
execution of Hunan and the story of Daniel are
ptnunGsYTioy
2648
King patting oat the ayss of a Captive, who, with
Others, Is held Prisoner by a Hook in the lips.
Botta'a Ninivt.
pictures of summary Oriental procedure (8 K. xxv.
7» Esth. vii. 9, 10; Jer. xxix. 88; Dan. iii. 6, vL
T, 84; Her. vii. 39, ix. 118, 113; Chardin, Voy. vt
U, 118; Uyard, Nineveh, U. 369, 874, 377, If in.
f Bat. pp. 466, 4S7). And the duty of oounting
•he numbers of the victims, which is there rapre-
waUd, agrees with the story of Jehn (8 K. x. 7)
«nd with one recorded of Shah Abbas Mirza, by
Ker Porter ( TrmxU, ii. 694, 686; are also Burek-
lardt, Syria, p. 57; and Malcolm, Sketcku of
Ptrtia, p. 47).
With the Romans, stripes and the stocks, wesre-
awpiyyer {foor, awrau and eohmbnr, were in use,
and UnprUunment, with a ohain attached to a sol-
dier. There were also the libera out out hi prtaati
bouses [Puuon] (Acts xvi. 83, xxii. U, xxviii. 16;
Xen. Bett. iiL 8, 1 1 : Herod, ix. 37; Plautus, ltud.
iii. 6, 80, 34, 88, 60; Ariat £s. 1044 (ed. Bekker),
Joseph. Ant xviii. 6, $ 7, xix. 6, 4 1 ; SalL CM. 47 ;
Viet, of Antiq. " Flagrum ").
Ex/mure to wild beam appears to lie mentioned
by St. Paul (1 Cor. xv. 38; 8 Tim. ir. 17), but not
with any precision. H. W. P.
• Striking on the month (ss inflicted on Paul,
Acts xxiii. 8), was a punishment for speaking with
undue liberty or insolence. It signified that the
mouth must be shut which uttered such speech-
Travellers report Instances of this practice atill in
the East " As soon as the ambassador came,"
says Morier (Second Journey throuyh Perdu, p. 8),
'• he punished the principal oflfenders by causing
tbem to be beaten before him ; and those wbo had
spoken their minds too freely, be smote upon the
month with a shoe." For another illustration sea
p. 94 of the same work. H.
PU'NITES, THE (^BJl : i +ovat: Phu-
alta). The descendants of Pua, or Pbuvah, the
sou of Issachar (Num. xxvi. 23).
PXTNON (]J©, i. e. Phunon [ore-pit, Fttrst;
darhteu ( ?), Get.] : Samarit p N S : [Vat] vsutf:
[Rom.] Alex, tin; [Aid. *<»»■> :] Phtmon). One
of the halting-places of toe Israelite host during
the last portion of the Wandering (Num. xxxuL 43,
43). It lay next beyond Zalmoiiab, between it and
Olioth, and three days' journey from tbe mountains
of Aliarini, which formed the boundary of Moab.
By Euaebius and Jerome ( OnmmuHem, iirur,
" Kenon") it is identified with Pinon, the seat of
the Edomite tribe of that name, and, further, with
Phieuo, which contained the copper-mines so no-
torious at that period, and was situated between
I'etra and Zoar. This identification is supported by
the fonp of the name in the I. XX. and Samaritan;
and the situation falls in with the requirements of
the Wanderings- No trace of such a name appears
to have been met with by modern explorers. G.
* Among tbe ruined places on the caravan road
east of Mt Seir, Seetxen's Arab guide mentioned
to him a certain Knlaat (i. e. Castle) Phena*
(Zach's Mrnatl Cori: xvii. 137). This is conjee-
tared by I. Viilter (Zdler's Bit*. WSrlerb. ii. 867)
and others to be the Punon or Phunon referred to
in Numbers, as above. A.
PURIFICATION. The term "purifica-
tion," in its legal and technical sense, is applied to
the ritual observances whereby an Israelite was
formally absolved from the taint of uncleanness,
whether evidenced by any overt act or state, of
whether connected with man's natural depravity
The esses that demanded it in the former inatanoe
are defined in tbe [.evitical law [Dnclkaksesb]:
with regard to the latter, it is only possible to lay
down the general rule that it was a fitting prelude
to any nearer approach to the Deity : as, for in-
stance, in the admission of a proselyte to the con
^legation [Probbxytk], in the baptism (koOoow
nil, John iii. 36) of the Jews as a sign of repent
ance [Baptism], in the consecration of priests and
Levites [Phiut; Lavrrt], or in the performance
of special religious acts (Lev. xvi. 4 8 Chr. xxx.
19). Ic the present article we are concerned solely
with the former class, inasmuch as in this alone
I were the ritual obanrai.cea of a special character
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2644 PURIFICATION
Tt» canoe of purification, Indeed, in sQ eases,
consisted in the ub of water, whether by we; of
ablution or aspersion : but is the nur/ora delicto
of legal uncleanness, sacrifice* of various kind* were
added, and the ceremonies throughout bore an ex-
piatory character. Simple ablution of the person
was required after aexual intercourse (Ler. xv. 18;
2 Sam. li. 4) : ablution of the clothes, after touch-
ing the carcam of an unclean beast, or eating or
carrying the carcass of a clean beast that had died
a natural death (Ler. xi. 25, 40): ablation both of
the person and of the defiled garments in cases of
gonurrkea dwmteniium (Ler. xr. 16, 17) — the
ceremony in each of the above instances to take
place on the day on which the uncleanness was con-
tracted. A higher degree of uncleanness resulted
from prolonged gonorrhea in males, and menstru-
ation in women : in these cases a probationary in-
terval of seven days was to be allowed after the
cessation of the symptoms; on the evening of the
seventh day the candidate for purification performed
an ablution both of the person and of the garments,
and on the eighth offered two turtle-doves or two
young pigeons, one for a sin-offering, the other for
a burnt-offering (Lev. xv. 1-16, 19-30). Contact
with persons in the above states, or eveu with
clothing or furniture that had been need by them
while in those states, involved uncleanness in a
minor degree, to be absolved by ablution on the
day of infection generally (Lev. xr. 6-11, 21-23),
but in one particular case after an interval of seven
days (Lev. xv. 24). In cases of childbirth the
sacrifice was increased to a lamb of the first year
with a pigeon or turtle-don (Ler. xii. 6), an ex-
ception being made in favor of the poor who might
present the same offering as in the preceding ease
(Ler. xii. 8; Luke ii. 23-24). The purification
took place forty days after the birth of a son, and
eighty after that of a daughter, the difference in
the interval being based on physical considerations.
The uncleannesses already specified were compara-
tively of a mild character: the more severe were
connected with death, which, viewed as the penalty
of sin, was in the highest degree contaminating.
To this bead we refer the two cases of (1) touch-
ing a corpse, or a grave (Num. xix. IS), or even
killing a man in war (Num. xxxL IV): and (2)
leprosy, which was regarded by the Hebrews ss
nothing less than a living death. The ceremonies
of purification in the first of these two eases are
detailed in Num. xix. A peculiar kind of water,
termed the water of unclmnntu" (A. V. " water
jf separation"), was prepared in the following
jianner: An unblemished red heifer, on which the
mke had not passed, was slain by the eldest son
of the, high-priest outside the camp. A portion of
its blood was sprinkled seven times towards 6 the
sanctuary; the rest of it, and the whole of the
carcass, including even it* dung, were then burnt
"n the sight of the officiating priest, together with
■edtr-wood, hyssop, and scarlet. The ashes were
aollected by a clean man and deposited in a clean
place outside the camp. Whenever occasion re-
■uired, a portion of the ashes was mixed with
spring water in a jar, and the unclean person was
• rrrSiT^c.
» rW njrbM. The A. Y tnemetly
i "eajeetb- before/*"
PTJKIWCATIOK
sprinkled with it on the third, and again on ate
seventh day after the contraction of the ama—
ness. That the water had an expiatory efficacy, it
implied in the term sm-oferiao' c (A. T. " ptnhV
cation for sin") applied to it (Num. xix. 9), and
all the particulars connected with its preparation
had a symbolical significance appropriate to the
object sought- The sex of the victim (fen: tie, and
hence life-giving), its red color (the color of blood,
the seat of life), ite unimpaired vigor (never having
borne the yoke), its youth, and the absence in it
of spot or blemish, the cedar and the hyssop (pos-
sessing the qualities, the former of incorrnptioa,
the latter of purity), and the scarlet (aga'a the.
color of blood) — all thaw symbolized life in Ha
fullness and freshness a* the antidote of deal a. At
the same time the extreme virulence of the lmnVan
ness is taught by the regulations that the rictus
should be wholly consumed outside the camp,
whereas generally certain parte were eonanmed oat
the altar, and the offal only outside the camp (coup.
Lev. iv. 11, IS); that the blood was sprinkled
townrdi, and not before the sanctuary; that tha
officiating minister should be neither the higb-
priest, nor yet simply a priest, but the/ irt i m s sjif is's
high-priest, the office being too impure for the Brat,
and too important for the second ; that even the
priest and the person that burnt the heifer wen
rendered unclean by reason of their contact with
the victim ; and, lastly, that the purification should
be effected, not simply by the use of water, but of
water mixed with ashes which served as a lye, and
would therefore have peculiarly rlesnsing qualities.
The purification of the leper was a yet more for-
mal proceeding, and indicated the highest pitch of
uncleanness. The rites are thus described in Ler.
xir. 4-32: The priest having examined the leper
and pronounced him clear of his disease, took for
him two birds " alive and clean," with cedar, sear-
let, and hyssop. One of the birds was killed under
the priest's directions over a vessel filled with spring;
water, into which ite blood fell; the other, with
the adjuncts, cedar, etc., was dipped by the priest
into the mixed Mood and water, and, after the no-
clean person had been seven times sprinkled with
the same liquid, was permitted to fly away •' into
the open field." The leper then washed himself
and his clothes, and shaved his bead. The abova
proceedings took place outside the camp, and forme d
the first stage of purification. A probationary in-
terval of seven days was then allowed, which period
the leper was to pas* " abroad oat of his tent: " *
on the last of these day* the washing was repeated,
and the shaving was more rigidly p er form e d , even
to the eyebrows and all his hair. The second
stage of the purification took place on the eighth
day, and was performed •' before the Loan at the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation." The
leper brought thither an offering consisting of two
he-lambs, a yearling ewe-lamb, fine flour mingled
with oil, and a log of oil : in cases of poverty the
offering was reduced to one lamb, and two turtle-
doves, or two yoang pigeons, with a less quantity
of fine flour, and a log of oil. The priest slew one
of the he-lambs as a trespass offering, and appBsC
i The Babbtaical explanation of Una was in i
ftxmlty with the addition In the Ctuuaaa
Don aoeedat ad lata* axoris torn." The
however, be thns r e stricte d. : they an d esigned
the partial mutation of the lever — tnsHe tt
Janteenshtsahissat.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PURIFICATION
portion of iU blood to the right ear, right thumb, |
tail groat toe of the right loot of the leper: be next i
sprinkled a portion of the oil seven timet before
the Lord, applied another portion of it to the part* '
of the body already specified, and poured the re-
mainder over the leper's head. The other he-lamb
and the ewe-lamb, or the two birds, as the case
might be, were then offered as a sin-offering, and
a burnt-offering, together with the meat-offering.
Toe significance of the cedar, the seanet, and the
hyssop, of the running water, and of the "alive
(full of life) and clean " condition of the birds, is
the same as in the case previously described. The
too stages of the proceedings indicated, the first,
which took place outside the camp, the re-admission
of the leper to the community of men; the second, !
before the sanctuary, his re-admission to common- j
ion with God. In tie first stage, the slaughter of
the one bird and the <<i«ml««») of the other, sym-
bolized the punishment of death deserved and folly
remitted. In the second, the use of oil and its
application to the same parts of the body as in the
consecration of priests (Lev. viii. 83, 34) symbol-
ized the re-dedication of the leper to the service
of Jehovah.
The ceremonies to be observed in the purification
of a house or a garment infected with leprosy, were
identical with (he first stage of the proceedings used
for the leper (l*v. zlv. 33-53).
The necessity of purification was extended in the
post- Babylonian period to a variety of unauthorized
cases. Oups and pott, brazen vessels and couches,
were washed as a matter of ritual observance (Mark
vii. 4). The washing of the hands before meals
was conducted in a formal manner « (Mark vii. 3),
and minute regulations are laid down on this sub ■
ject in a treatise of the Mishna, entitled i'ndaim.
These ablutions required a large supply of water,
and hence we find at a marriage feast no less than
six jars containing two or three firkins apiece, pre-
pared for the purpose (John ii. tt). We meet with
references to purification after childbirth (l.uke ii.
88), and after the cure of leprosy (Matt viii. 4:
Lain xvii. 14 ), the sprinkling of the water mixed
with ashes being still retained in the latter case
(Ueb. ix. 13). What may have been the specific
causes of uncleanneas in those who came up to
purify themselves before the Passover (John xi. 65),
or in those who bad taken upon themselves the
Nazarite's vow (Acta ixi. 34, 26), we are not in-
formed; in either case it may bare been contact
with a corpse, though in the latter it would rather
appear to have been a general purification prepara-
tory to the accomplishment of the vow.
In conclusion it may be observed, that the dis-
tinctive feature in the Mosaic rites of purification
b their expiatory character. The idea of unclean-
neas was not peculiar to the Jew: it was attached
by the Greeks to the events of childbirth and death
PUBIM
2646
a Various opinions an bald with regard to the term
evypiff. The meaning " with the flat " is In accord-
ance with the geneial tenor of the Babbfnleal usages,
Ism hand used In washing the other being closed lest
t» palm should contract imcltannaas in the act.
» The word "W9 (par) Is Persian. In the moderr
language. It takes the form of ponA, and It Is cognate
atth pari and part (Oaten. IV*.). It Is explained, Kstk.
H. T, and Ix. 84, by the Hebrew V"n3
< It can hardly be doubted that the conjecture of
(Thucyd. iii. 104; Eurip. Ipk. m Tour. SOT), aad
by various nations to the oase of sexual interooons
(Herod, i. 198, 1L 64; Pert. ii. 16). But with all
these nation! simple ablution sufficed: no sacrifices
were demanded. The Jew alone was taught b)
the use of expiatory offerings to discern to its full
extent the connection between the outward sign
and the inward fount of Impurity. W. L. B.
PURIM (CTB©:* ipovpal}' [in ver. 26,
FA. 8 tyoupip, +ovp; ver. 31, Alex, raw wpoyotuo,
FA. 1 raw *povpmr, FA. 8 T . *povptfi:] Phurim:
alto, D'*¥tSn 'Vi) (Esth. ix. 26, 31): oVe* tcr-
Uum), the annual festival instituted to commemo-
rate the preen r ation of the Jewt in Persia from
the massacre with which they were threatened
through the machinations of Hainan (Esth. ix.;
Joseph. Ant. xi. 6, § 13). [Esther.] It tret
probably called Purim by the Jewt In Irony. Their
great enemy Haman appears to have been very su-
perstitious and much given to casting lots (Esth
iii. 7). They gave the name Purim, or Lota, to
the commemorative festival, because he had thrown
lots to ascertain what day would be auspicious for
him to carry into effect the bloody decree which
the king bad issued at bis instance (Esth. ix. 84).
The festival lasted two days, and was regularly
observed on the 14th and 18th of Adar. But if
the 14th happened to fall on the Sabbath, or on the
second or fourth day of the week, the commence-
ment of the festival was deferred till the next day.
It is not easy to conjecture what may hare been
the ancient mode of observance, so as to have given
the occasion something of the dignity of a national
religious festival. The traditions of the Jews, and
their modern usage respecting it are curious- It
is stated that eighty-five of the Jewish elders ob-
jected at first to the institution of the feast, when
it was proposed by Mordecai (Jerus. Gem. MtgiU
Inh — Lightfoot on John x. 21). A preliminary
fast was appointed, called " the fast of Either," to
he observed on the 13th of Adar, in memory of
the fast which Esther and her maids observed, and
which the enjoined, through Mordecai, on the Jewt
of Shushan (Esth. iv. 16). If the 13th was a
Sabbath, the fast was put back to the fifth day of
the week; it could not be held on the sixth day,
liecause those who might be engaged in preparing
food for the Sabbath would necessarily have to
taste the dishes to prove them. According to mod-
ern custom, as soon as the start begin to appear,
when the 14th of the month hat commenced, can-
dles are lighted up in token of rejoicing, and the
people assemble in the synagogue.'' After a short
prayer and thanksgiving, the reading of the Book of
Esther commences. The book is written in a pecul-
iar manner, on a roll called nor' H»xh", " ""> H " ' '
(n^aJJ, MtfOak).' The reader translates the text,
the editor of the Oomplutenslan Polyglot (approved by
Grottos, in E*th. IB. 7, and by Sehkmsnar, La. m
LXX. s. wpovpai) Is correct, and that the reading
shoull be Aovpo/. In Ilka manner, the modern edi-
tors of Josephna have ohanged •poveaZot into toveeMt
( Ant. xi. 6, «. 18). The old editors imagined that Jo-
aaphoa connected the word with ^povocir.
a" This service is tsM to nave taken plane In Annas
tames on the loth In welled towns, but on the Mth it
the country an* unwaUed towns, according to lath
ix.18,19.
• live b~*« of toe 0. T. (Ruth, ]
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2646
PTJEEM
as he goes on, Into Um vernacular tongue of the I
place, and make* commenU on particular passages. I
He Kadi tn a histrionic manner, lulling hi* tabes
and gestures to the changes iu the subject mat-
ter. When he cornea to the name of Hainan the
whole congregation cry out, "May hia name be
blotted out," or " Let the name of the ungodly
periah." At the same time, in some places, the
boys who are present make a great noise with their
bands, with mallets, and with pieces of wood or
stone on which they hare written the name of He-
man, and which they rub together so as to oblit-
erate the writing. When the names of the sons
of Haman are read (ix. 7, 8, 9) the reader utters
them with a continuous enunciation, so as to make
them into one word, to signify that they were
hanged all at ones. When the Megillah is read
through, the whole congregation exclaim, " Cursed
be Human ; blessed be Mordecai ; cursed be Zoresh
(the wife of Haman); blessed be Esther; eursed
be all idolaters; blusscd le all Israelites, and blessed
be Harbonah who banged Haman." The volume
is then solemnly rolled up. All go home and par-
take of a repast said to consist mainly of milk and
eggs. In the morning sen-ice in the synagogue,
on the 14th, after the prayers, the passage is read
from the Law (Ex. xvii. 8-10) which relates the
destruction of the Amalekites, the people of Agag
(1 Sam. xv. 8), the supposed ancestor of Haman
(Esth. ili. 11. The Megillah is then read again in
the same manner, and with the same responses from
the congregation, as on the preceding evening. All
who possibly can are bound to hear the rending of
the Megillah — men, women, children, cripples, in
valids, and even idiots — though they may, if they
please, listen to it outside the synagogue (Mishna,
Roth. H«th. 111. 7).
The 14th of Adar," as the very day of the de-
liverance of the Jews, is more solemnly kept than
the 13th. But when the service in the synagogue
is over, all give themselves up to merrymaking.
Games of nil sorts, with dancing and music, com-
mence. In the evening a quaint dramatic enter-
tainment, the subject of which is connected with
the occasion, sometimes takes place, and men fre-
quently put on female attire, declaring that the
festivities of Purim, according to Esth. ix. 23, sus-
pend the law of Deut. xxii. 5, which forbids one sex
to wear the dress of the other. A dainty meal then
follows, sometimes with a fre^ indulgence of wine,
both unmixed and mulled. According to the Ge-
mara (UtyiUah, vii. 2), "tenetur homo in festo
Purim eo usque inehriari, ut nullum diacrimen norit,
inter mslodictionem Hamanis et benedictionem
Mardocbni." b
tea. Canticles, and lamentations) an designated by
the Rabbinical writers " the Five Bolls," because, as It
would seem, they used to be written In separate vol-
umes for the use of the synagogue (Gfleen. ZVs. s.
V? ? ).
[Bsnus, Book or.]
« It Is called 4 llapftoxaucj) Vps, 2 Usee. xv. 86.
o Buxtorf remarks on this passage : " iloc est, ne-
sdat supputare numerum qui ex singular um vocum
Marls ssstroitar: nan lltsrss *3T"ll3 ~P~0 et
'OH "Y!~W In Qematrla enndem numerum eonfl-
Jtans. Pexinde est so at dloentur, posse lllos in tam-
tam Ularr, ut quinque menus digltoa numerare sm-
itten niv posslnt."
< Bee Ood. Tbsodoe. lib. xrt Ut rill. 18 : « Judaaoa,
FTJBIM
On the 16th the rejoicing la continued, ani gstt
consisting chiefly of sweetmeats and other (intsblsa
are interchanged. Offerings for the poor are ales
made by all who can afford to do so, in i » «ylm
to their means (Esth. ix. 19, 23).
When the month Adar used to be doubled, ir
the Jewish leap-year, the festival was repeated oc
the 14th and 15th of the second Adar.
It would seem that the Jews wen tempted to
associate the Christians with the Persians and Am-
alekites in tin curses of the synagogue.' Hence
probably arose the popularity of the feast of Purim
in those agea in which the feeling of enmity was) to
strongly manifested between Jews and Christiana.
Several Jewish proverbs are preserved which strik-
ingly show the way iu which Purim was regarded,
such as, ," The Temple may fail, but Purim never ; ' '
" The Prophets may foil, but not the Megillah.'"
It was said that no books would survive in the Mes-
siah's kingdom except the Law and the Megillah
This affection for the book and the festival con-
nected with it if the more remarkable because the
events on which they are founded affected only an
exiled portion of the Hebrew race, and because
there was so much in them to shock the principles
and prejudices of the Jewish mind.
Ewald, in aupport of hia theory that there was
in patriarchal times a religious festival at every
new and full moon, conjectures that Purim waa
originally the full moon feast of Adar, aa the Pass-
over was that of Niaan, and Tabernacles that of
Tisri.
It was suggested first by Kepler that the cocrH)
raw 'lovSatur of John v. 1 wss the feast of
Purim. The notion has been confidently espoused
by Petavius, Olshausen, Stier, Wieseler, Winer,
and Anger (who, according to Winer, has proved
the point beyond contradiction), and is favored by
Alford and EUicott The question is a difficult
one. It seems to be generally allowed that the
opinion of Chryaoatom, Cyril, and most of the
Fathers, which was taken up by Erasmus, Calvin,
Bern, and BengeL that the feast was Pentecost,
and that of Coceeius, that it was Tabernacles (which
is countenanced by the reading of one inferior
MS. ), are precluded by the general course of the
narrative, and especially by John iv. 35 (assuming
that the words of our Lord which are there given
were spoken in seed-time) <* compared with v. 1.
The interval indicated by a comparison of these
texts could scarcely have extended beyond Niaan.
The choice is thus left between Purim and the
Passover.
The principal objections to Purim are, (a) that
it was not necessary to go up to Jerusalem to keep
quodam Itstlvltaas sua solemnj, Amsn, ad
quondam racordatlonem meanders, et crude adabnav
latam spedem Id ooutamptu Christianas fldel saerlaasje
mente exursre, Provinclarum Bactorse problbeaat: ne
loots aula nasi nostra akjnum unmlareant, sad tttas
auos Infra oontemptum Christiana) legla rettneant
auiisniri sine dubio permlaaa hactmoa, nisi ab UUettls
tampereverlDt."
<* This supposition does not appear to be SfaatekUy
weakened by our taking aa a proverb nvataVsjaet ami
«u 4 fffjx<n*»c Ipxmu. Whether the expression waa
such or not, it aunty adds point to our Lord's l
h* we suppose the figurative Ungues* to have I
suggested by what waa actually going on In the I
baton the eyas of Himself and his hearses
Digitized by VjOOQlC
PURIM
the lethal >; that it U not very likely that our
Lord would Mre made ■ point of paying especial
honor to a festival which appears to hare had but
a very email religioua dement in it, and which
•eerns rather to hare been the meane of keeping
alive a feeling of national revenge and hatred. It
ia alleged on the other hand that our Lord's at-
tending the feast would be In harmony with his
deep sympathy with the feelings of the Jewish
people, which went further than his merely •' ful-
filling all righteousness " in carrying out the pre-
cepts or the Mosaic Law. ft ia further urged that
the narrative of St John is best made out by sup-
pling that the incident at tho pool of Bethesda
occurred at the festival which was characterized by
showing kindness to the poor, and that our Lord
was induced, by the enmity of the Jews then
evinced, not to remain at Jerusalem till the Pass-
over, mentioned John vi. 4 (Slier).
lie identity of the Passover with the feast in
question has been maintained by Irenosus, Euse-
bius, and Theodoret, and, in modem times, by
Luther, Sealiger, Grotius, Hengstenberg, Greswell,
Neander, Tholuck, Robinson, and the majority of
commentators. The principal difficulties in the
way are, (>i) the omission of the article, involving
the improbability that the great festival of the
year should be spoken of as '■ a feast of the Jews ; "
(4) that as our Lord did not go up to the Passover
mentioned John ri. 4, He must have absented
himself from Jerusalem for a year and a half, that
is, till the feast of Tabernacles (John vii. 3).
Against these points it ia contended, that the appli-
cation of io/rHi without the article to the Passover
is countenanced by Matt, zxvii. 16; Luke zxiii.
17 (conip. John zviii. 39); that it is assigned as a
reason for his staying away from Jerusalem for a
longer period than usual, that " the Jews sought
to kill htm" (John vii. 1; cf. r. 18); that this
long period satisfactorily accounts for the surprise
expressed by his brethren (John vii. 3), and that,
at it was evidently his custom to visit Jerusalem
once a year, He went up to the feast of Tabernacles
'vii. 2) instead of going to the Passover.
On the whole, the only real objection to the
Passover seems to be the want of the article before
leprr)." That the language of the New Testament
wul not justify our regarding the omission as ex-
pressing emphasis on any general ground of usage,
Is proved by Winer (Grammar of the iV. T. dia-
lect. Hi. 19). It must be admitted that the diffi-
culty is no small one, though it does not saera to
be sufficient to outweigh the grave objections which
lie against the feast of Purim.
The arguments on one side are best set forth
by Stier and Olshauaen on John v. 1, by Kepler
(ICdoga Chronica, Francfort, 1615), and by Anger
(rfe tonp. in Act Apotl. i. 84); those on the other
ride, by Robinson (Harmony, note on the Second
Piutovtr) and Neander, Lift of Chritl, % 143.
Bee also I Ightfoot, Kuinoel, and Tholuek, on John
v. 1; and Greswell, Ditt. viii. vol. ii.; Oicott,
iectp.188.
PUTEOLI
2647
a TsKheudorf Inserts the article tn his text, and
Winer allows that there to much authority In Its favor,
(at the nature of the ease man to be such, that the
Basrtton of the article In later MBS. may be mors
■ally accounted lor than Its omission In the older
.Baa.
* Thai arttola Is Inssrted In the Slnaiac and Sphrem
am aad apparently In I, of the sixth century, which
SeeOarpaov, App. CWt.lU.ll; Rata id, Ani.tr,
9; Sohiekart, Purim tit* Bacchanalia Jmbtormm
(Crit Sac lit. coL 1184); Boxtorf, Sen. Jud. xxiz.
The Mishnical treatise, JfegUla, contains directions
respecting the mode in which the scroll should be
written ont and m which it should be read, with
other matters, not much to the point in hand, con-
nected with the service of the synagogue. Stauben,
La Itt June en Almee; Mills, British Jan, p.
IMS. S.C.
• PTJBPLE. [Oolom, 1.]
PURSE. The Hebrews, when on a journey,
were provided with a bag (variously termed cis,»
Ulrir, and chirtl), in which they carried their
money (Gen. xlii. 35; Prov. 1. 14, vii. 30; la. zlrL
6); and, if they were merchants, also their weights
Deutxxv. 13; Micvi. 11). This bag is described
in the N. T. by the terms $aKdrru>y [Tisch. floA-
AdVriov] (peculiar to St Luke, x. 4, xli. 33, nil.
35, 36), and y\v<r<r6K0)ior (peculiar to St John
xii. 6, xiil 39). The former is a classical term
(Plat. C'oncie. p. 190, It, clxntaara /SaAdVrin):
tbe latter is connected with the classical y\acr~
bokoiuIov, which originally meant the bag in
which musicians carried tbe mouthpieces of their
instruments. In the LXX the term is applied to
the chest for the offerings at the Temple (2 Chr.
xxiv. 8, 10, 11 ), and was hence adopted by St. John
to describe tbe common purse carried by the dis-
ciples. Tbe girdle also served as a purse, and
hence the term C&vn occurs in Matt. x. 9 ; Mark
vi. 8. [Gikdle.] Ladies wore ornamental purses
(Is. iii. 33). the Rabbinists forbade any one
passing through the Temple with stick, shoes, and
purse, these three being the indications of travel •
ling (Mishn. Btrach. 9, § 5). [Scrip.]
W. L. B.
PUT, 1 Chr. i. 8; Nah. iii. 9. [Phot.]
PUTE'OLI (norfoAoi: [PWeoK]) appears
alike in Josephus ( Vit. c. 3; Ant. xvii. 18, § 1,
zviii. 7, § 8) and in the Acts of the Apostles
(xxviil. 13) In its characteristic position under the
early Roman emperors, namely, as the great land-
ing-place of travellers to Italy from the Levant
and as the harbor to which the Alexandrian com.
ahips brought their cargoes. These two features
of the place in fact coincided ; for in that day the
movements of travellers by sea depended on mer-
chant-vessels. Puteoli was at that period a plan
of very great importance. We cannot elucidati
this better than by saying that the celebrated bay
which is now " the bay of Naples," and an early
times was " the bay of Cumas," was then called
" Sinus Puteolanus." The city was at the north-
eastern angle of the bay. Close to it was Baits,
one of the most fashionable of the Roman watering-
places. Tbe emperor Caligula once built a ridic-
ulous bridge between the two towns ; and the re-
mains of it must hsve been conspicuous when St
Paul landed at Puteoli in the Alexandrian ship
which brought him from Malta. [Castor ahd
may to regarded as a fitlr onset to A B D. The nuclei
MSS are about equally divided both In nspeet ta
authority and number, there being 10 on each side.
The article is also added In the Bahidlo and Ooptte (ot
Thebaic and Memphltfc) versions. A.
» 9*3 "VH?, and CHR The last ocean
only ic 8 ft, t. 18 ''begs ; " Is. iliTaS, A. r. "cttsrhuf.
mns Tbe latter Is supposed to r»» la the Iras
round term of the purse.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2648
PUT1EL
Polutx; Mklita; Rhkoium; Stkacuse.] In
umstratiou of the arrival hen of the corn-ships
■e may refer to Seneca (£/>. 77) and Suetonius
[Octal. 98).
Hie earlier name of Puteoli, when the lower
part uf Italy wm Greek, was LMesserchia: and thia
name continued to lie used to a late period. Joee-
|,lm« use* it in two of the passages abore referral
to: in the third (VU.cZ) he speaks of himself
(after the shipwreck which, like St. Paul, be had
recently gone through) as SuurmttU eU tV
Ancoiaa^/av, %9 Tiarri6\ovs 'ItoAoI KaKovctp.
So Philo, in describing the curious interview which
he and his fellow Jewish ambassadors had here
with Caligula, uses the old name (Legal, ad Cnium,
ii. 521). The word Puteoli was a true Koman
name, and arose (whether a pulcis or a putendo)
from the strong mineral springs which are char-
acteristic of the place. Its Koman history may be
said to have begun with the Second Punic War.
It rose continually into greater importance, from
the cause* above mentioned. No part of the Cam-
panian shore was more frequented. The associa-
tions of Puteoli with historical personages are very
numerous. Scipio sailed from hence to Spain.
Cicero bad a villa (his " Puteolanum ") in the
neighborhood. Here Nero planned the murder of
his mother. Vespasian gave to this city peculiar
privileges, and here Hadrian was buried. In the
5th century Puteoli was ravaged both by Alaric
and Genseric, and it never afterwards recovered its
former eminence. It is now a fourth-rate Italian
town, still retaining the name of Potzuuli.
In connection with St. Paul's movements, we
must notice its communications in Nero's reign
along the mainland with Rome. The coast-road
leading northwards to Sinuessa was not made till
the reign of Domitian : but there was a cross-road
leading to Capua, and there joining the Appian
Way. [April Forum ; Thbkk Tavemns.] The
remains of this road may be traced at intervals;
and thus the Apostle's route can be followed almost
step by step. We should also notice the feet that
there were Jewish residents at Puteoli. We might
be sure uf this from its mercantile importance;
but we are positively informed of it by Josephus
(Ant. ivii. 12, § 1) in his account of the visit of
the pretended Herod- Alexander to Augustus; and
the circumstance shows how natural it was that
the Apostle should find Christian '• brethren " there
immediately on landing.
The remains of Puteoli are considerable. The
aqueduct, the reservoirs, portions (probably) of
hatha, the great amphitheatre, the building called
the Temple of Scrapie, which affords very curious
indications of changes of level in the soil, are all
well worthy of notice. But our chief interest here
Is concentrated on the ruins of the ancient mole,
which is formed of the concrete called Pozzolann,
and sixteen of the piers of which still remain. No
toman harbor has left so solid a memorial of itself
ss this one at which St. Paul landed in Italy.
J. S. H.
PUTIEL (byES-ia [afflicted of God, Qt*.y.
txwrrfa: Phuti'I). One of the daughters of Pu-
Mel was wife of Elearar the son of Aaron, and
mother of Phinehas (Ex. ri. 25). Though he does
30t appear again in the Bible records, Putiel has
some celebrity in more modern Jewish traditions.
They identify him with Jethro the Hldianite, "who
fatted the calves for idolatrous worship " (Targum
PYBEHTT8
Pseudojon. on Ex. vi. 25; Cessans of Sato by
Wagenseil, viii. § 6). What are the ground* for
the tradition or for such an accusation against
Jethro is not obvious. Q.
PYGARO flSnJT, dlaM.: w+ypy,- Pff-
argue) occurs only (Deut. xiv. 6) in the Bat of elesa
animals as the rendering of the Hen. dbMa, the
name apparently of some species of antelope, though
it is by no means easy to identify ft. The Greek
ri-yapyos denotes an animal with a "whits rump,"
and is used by Herodotus (it. 192) as the name of
some Libyan deer or antelope. J£haa (vil. 19)
also mentions the wiynpyat, but gives no more
than the name; eomp. alio Juvenal (Sat. xi. 138).
It is usual to identify the pjfcarg of the Greek
and Latin writers with the ad/lax it North Africa,
Nubia, etc. (Addaznieomaculnha); but ws cannot
regard this point as satisfactorily settled. In the
first place, this antelope does not present at all the
required characteristic implied by its lame; and,
in the second, there is much reason f jr believing,
with Kiippell (Aline ss der Reiee as Nird. A/rik,
p. 21), and Hamilton Smith (Griffith's CWeter's
Auirn. King. iv. 193), that the Addaa is identical
with the Strepeiceme of Pliny (ff. H. a. 37),
which animal, it must be observed, the Roman
naturalist distinguishes from the pfgargw (viii.
53). Indeed we may regard the identity of the
Add"! and Pliny's Strepeiceroe as established ; for
when this species was, after many years, at length
rediscovered by Hemprich and RiippeD. it was
found to be called by the Arabic name of aha or
adae, the very name which Pliny gives as the focal
one of his Strepeiceroe. The pvgnrgue, therefore,
must be sought for in some animal different from
the iiddnx. There are several antelopes which hare
the characteristic white croup required; many of
which, however, are inhabitants of South Africa,
such as the Spring-hok (Antidorcae emekore) and
the Bonte-bok (l)nmnUe pfgnrga). We are in-
clined to consider the svyiyyot, or pggargue, as
a generic name to denote any of the white-romped
antelopes of North Africa, Syria, etc., such as the
Ariel gazelle (Anlilipe Arabicn, Hemprich), the
Isabella gazelle (Gozeltn lenbeUmt); perhaps too
the niohr, both of Abyssinia (G. Soemmermgti)
and of Western Africa (G. Makr), may be included
under the term. Whether, however, the LXX.
and Vulg. are correct in their interpretation of
dielifat is another question; hut there is no col-
lateral evidence of any kind beyond the authoritv
of the two most important versions to aid us in
our investigation of this word, of which various
etymologies have been given from which nothing
definite can be learnt. W. H.
•PYBTtHUS (nupAot. red-haini: Pgr-
rhue), father of Sopater, one of Paul's company on
his journey from Greece to Asia (Acta zx. 4).
The name in that passage is undoubtedly genuine,
being found in the best copies of the text, though
omitted in the teztue recrptue, and hence also in
the A. V. The father was no doubt a Bsrean as
well as the son, but whether he was a Christian ot
not is uncertain, unless, a» some suppose, Sopater
and Sosipater (Rom. xvi. 21 ) were forms of the same
name, and belonged in this history to the same per-
son. In the latter case he was at Corinth what
Paul wrote to the Church at Rome. The mention
of the father serves to distinguish this Sopater I
others of the same name. The same usai
in modern Greek. H.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
QUAILS
Q
QUAILS (VytjT, $IIAt; but in AV. '^jp.
*tta»». - ipTin*t*Jrrpa: coturmz). Various opinion*
have been held u to the nature of the food denoted
By the Heb. tiUv, which on two distinct occasion*
was tupplied to the Israelite* in the wilderness ; tee
Ex. xvi. 13, on which occasion the people were
between Sin and Sinai; and Num. xi. 31, 32,
when at the station named, in consequence of the
lodgment which befell them, Kibroth^iatuwvah,
That the Hebrew word is correctly rendered "quail*,''
■ we think beyond a shadow of doubt, notwith-
standing the different interpretations which hate
bean assigned to it by several writers of eminence.
Ludoif, for instance, an author of high repute,
baa endeavored to snow that the ttUv were locusts;
Me hit Diuertatio dt Loautit, cm Diniribn, etc ,
Franc, ad Moen. 1694. Hit opinion hat beau fully
advocated and adopted by Patrick ( Comment, on
Num. xi 31, 32) ; the Jews in Arabia aha, as we
learn from Niebuhr (Sttckreib. mm Arab. p. 172),
" are convinced that the birds which the laraeiitet
at* in such numbers were only clouds of locusts,
and they laugh at those translators who suppose
that they found quails wbere quails were never
teen." Rudbeck (IcIiUiyd. BiU. Spec, i.) hat ar-
gued in favor of the tiU'u meaning •« flyiug-nah,"
tome species of the genus Kxuct tut ; M clmelis atone
time held the same opinion, but afterward* prop-
erly, abandoned it (tee lioeeuiuiiller, Ni4. mi Bo-
ebart. Hierox. ii. 549). A late writer, IChrenberg
(Geograph. Zeit ix. 86), from having observed a
number of "flying fish " (gurnards, of the genut
Trigla of Oken, Daciylu/ittnuot modern icthyolo-
giatt) lying dead on the shore near Elim, believed
that this was the food of the Israelites in the wil-
derness, and named the fish "Trigla Israelitarum."
Hermann von der Hardt supposed that the locust
bird (Potior Roteui), was intended by flat; and
recently Mr. Forster ( Voice of Itrati, p. 98) has
advanced an opinion that " red geese " of the genua
t'aeu-ca are to lie understood by the Hebrew term ;
a similar explanation hat been suggested by Stan-
ley (8. <f P. p. 82) and adopted by Tennent (Cty-
im, i. 487, note): this it apparently en old conceit,
for Patrick (Nwiti. xxi. 31) alludes to such an ex-
planation, but we hare been unable to trace it to
it* origin. Some writers, while they bold that the
original word denote* "quails," are of opinion
that a species of sand-grouse (Pterocltt alchata),
frequent in the Bible-lands, is alto included under
the term; aeo Winer (BM. RtalaarU ii. 772):
Rosenmtiller (Not. ad /Herat, ii. 649); Faber
(ad Maimer, ii. 442); Ueawius (Tka. a. v.
V3tp\ It is usual to ref ar to Hasselquitt as the
authority for believing that the Kata (sand-grouse)
it denoted : this traveller, I lwever, was rather in-
•lined to believe, with tome it the writers named
•bove, that "locusts," and not birds, are to be
understood (p. 443); and it it difficult to make
tut what he means by Tttrao Itratliturum. Lin-
jtaut supposed he intended by it the common
quail:" in one paragraph be states tnat the
Arabians call a bird "of a grayish color and lea*
■awl our partridge," by the name of Kntta. He
•Ms '• An Sriaw ? " This cannot be the Pltro-
Imal-Aaln.
Tltt view taken by Ludoif may be dltmlated
QUAIL8 2649
with a very few word*. The expression m IV
Ixxviii. 27 of " feathered fowl " (^33 *1W)> »kich
It. used In reference to the Miv, clearly denottt
tome bird, and Ludoif quite hull to prove that it
may include winged insects; again there is not a
shadow of evidence to support the opinion that
tSidv can signify any " locust," this term being
used in the Arabic and the cognate languages to de-
note a " quail." As to any species of " flying-fish,"
whether belonging to the genus IJactylo/Meiiu, or
to that of Exirelus, being intended, it will be
enough to state that "flying-fish " are quite un-
able to sustain their flight above a few hundred
yards at the moat, and never could have been
taken in the Ked Sea in numbers sufficient tr sup-
ply the Israelitish host. The interpretation of
tU4r by " wild geese," or " wild cranes," or any
"wild fowl," is a gratuitous assumption, without a
particle (if evidence in its favor. The Casarca,
with which Mr. ranter identities the tf&b, is the
V. rutilui, a liird ahout the size of a Mallard,
which can by no means answer the supposed requi-
site of standing three feet high hum the ground.
"The Urge red-legged cranes," of which Prol'essoi
Stanley tpaalbt, are evidently white storks ( CVtiTiia
nl/m), and would in Hill the condition as to height;
but the flesh is so nauseous that no Israelii* ccil'J
have doue more than have totted it. With respect
PttrocUt atduita.
to the Pterocltt alch»ta, neither it i.or indeed
any other species of the genu* can square with the
Scriptural account of the sitav; the gaud-grouse ar*
birds of strong wing and of unwearied flight, and
never could have been captured in any number*
by the Israelitish multitudes. We much question,
moreover, whet her t he people would have eaten to ex-
cess — for so much the expression translated " fully
satisfied" (Ps. Ixxviii. 29) implies — of the flesh of
this bird, for according to the testimony of trav-
ellers, from Dr. Russell (Hill, of Alrpp.', ii. 194,
2d ed. ) down to ohservers of to-day, the flesh o*
sand-grouse is haul and tasteless. It is *tcar,
however, that the rflav of the Pentateuch and the
105th Psalm denotes the common "quail" (Cotur-
nix dactylitonttns) and no bird. In the first place,
the Hebrew word V^B? it unquestionably iden-
tical with the Arabic Kiwi r^«Jlw\ a "quail"
According to Schultent (Orig. ffet. I. Ml) lb*
Heb. YJtp is derived from an Arabic root " to b*
fat; " the round, plump form of a quail it ami-
net-y suitable to this etymology; indeed.it* fct
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9660
QUAILS
mm h proverbial The objections which have been
urged by Patrick and othen against " quails " being
Intended are very easily refuted. The cxprrawinn,
"as if it were two cubit* (high) upon the face of the
earth " (Num. xi. 81) is explained by the LXX., by
the Vulg., and by Josephus (Ant. iii. 1, §5), to refer
to the height at which quails flew above too ground,
iu their exhausted condition from their long flight.
Aa to the enormous quantities which the least suc-
cessful Israelite is said to hare taken, namely, " ten
homers," in the space of a night and two days,
there is every reason for believing that the " ho-
mers " here spoken of do not denote strictly the meas-
ure of that name, but simply "t heap: " this is
■to ambulation given by Onkelos and the Arabic
vsjrsfesj* «f Stadia* and Erpenlus, hi Num. xi. 31
Cotttritix cutgari.i.
The quail migrates in immense uuiul«i«: see
TUny <'/. A", x. 83), and Touniefort ( ruynoe, i.
839 ), who says that all the islands of the Archi-
pelago at certain seasons of the year are covered
with these birds. Col. Sykes states that such
quantities were once caught in Capri, near Naples,
as to have afforded the bishop no small share of
lis revenue, and that in consequence he has been
jailed Bishop of Quails. The same writer men-
tions also (TViin*. Zaii. Sue. ii.) that 160,000
quails bare been netted in otw season on this little
island; according to Tenimiuck 100,000 have been
•■ken near Nettuno, in one day. The Israelites
would have had little difficulty in capturing large
quantities of these birds, as they are known to
arrive at places sometimes so completely exhausted
•tj their (light as to be readily taken, not in nets
lily, but by the hand. See Diod. Sic. (i. 83,
sd. Dindorf); Prosper Alpinua (Jlerwn AJyypL
T. 1); Josephus (Ant. iii. 1, § 5). Sykes (/. c.)
says " they arrive in spring on the shores oi Prov-
• * In the northern parts of Persia and Armenia,
secornug to Morler, quails an taken In gnat abun-
dance, and with p-sat esse, with the simplest possible
machinery. The men stick tiro poles Id their gir-
dles, on which poles they so stretch a coat or pair
sf trousers, that the sleeves or the legs shall project
am* the horns of a beast. Thus disguised, they prowl
a** if the ftelds with a hand-net. and the quails,
unply supposing the strange object to be a horned
a rse s , and therefore harmless so them, allow him to
Bll ha throws the net over them. Rode
, the Psislaas catch them |
QUAILS
enet so fatigued that for the first fev taya tart
allow themselves to be taken by tlw hand." •
The Israelites " spread the quails round about the
camp; " this was for the purpose of drying thaw
The Kgyptian* similarly prepared these Wards; sat
Herodotus (ii. 77), and Maillet (Lttht$ mm
tSgyplf, ix. 91, iv. 130). The expression « quail*
from the sea," Num. xi. 31, must not be if ukas e
to denote that the birds came from the sea as
their starting-point, but it must be taken to show
the direction from which they were coming; thf
quails were, at the time of the event narrated is
the sacred writings, on their spring journey of
migration northwards, an interesting proof, as Cot
Sykes has remarked, of the perpetuation of an in-
stinct through some 3300 years; the flight which
fed the multitudes at Kibroth-hattaavmh might
have started from Southern Egypt and crossed the
Ked Sea near Has Mohammed, and so np the Gulf
of Akahah into Arabia 1'etrssa. It is interesting
to note the time specified ; " it was at even " that
they legan to arrive; and they no doubt c o ntinu e d
to come all the night. Many olejerver* have re-
corded that the quail migrates l,y night, though tine
la denied by Col. Montagu (OmioW. Diet. art.
'• Quail ")fi The flesh of the quail, though of an
agreeable quality, is said by some writers to be
heating, and it is supposed by some that the deaths
that occurred from eating the food in the wilder-
ness resulted partly from these birds feeding on
hellebore (HKny, //. N. x. 23) and other poisonous
plants; see Winer, Bib. KenOHi. ii. 773: but this
is exceedingly improbable, although the immoder-
ate gratification of the appetite for the space of a
whole month (Num. xi. 80) on such food, in a hot
ciimate, and in the care of a people who at the time
of the wanderings rarely tasted flesh, might nave
induced dangerous symptoms. "The plague "
seems to have been directly sent upon the people
by God as a punishment for their murmuring*,
and perhaps is not, even iu a subordinate sense to
be attributed to natural causes.
The quail (Cuturnix dnctybtem'tns), the only
species of the genus known to migrate, baa a very
wide geographical range, Iwing found in China,
India, the Cape of Good Hope and Kugrand, and,
according to Temminck. in Japan See Col. Sykes**
paper on "The ({nails and Heuiipudii of India"
( Trmu. of XuU Sue. H ).
The opTv-you.frrpa of the I.XX. should not be
passed over without a brief notice. It is not esary
to determine what bird is intended by this term as
used by Aristotle and limy (iirryunwienvT): accord-
ing to the account given of this bird by the Greek
and l-atin writers on Natural History just men-
tioned, the Hi-tyij-HMrIrn precede* the quail in it*
migrations, and acts as a sort of leader to the
flight Some ornithologists, as Itelon and Flem-
ing ( Bril. Anim. p. 98) have assigned this term
to the " landrail " ( Crez /natentit), the Roi des
thus with astonishiag rapidity (Sectmd Jbamrc, p.
818, as quoted by P. H Oosw In ralrbalrn's Imprrimt
Bible Did. 11. 741). For other modes of capturing
these birds still practiced In the Kast, as* Woods
BNe Animals (Lond. 1869), pp. 185. 488. A.
e "On two successive year* 1 ea s el re d u e m i u a i —
flights of quails on the N. roast of Algeria, whists ar-
rived from the South m thr *•*•*■, and war* at daw
in such Dumber* throurh the plslsa. Has
soars* of spsrtianeo had. only to sheet a* But aa Mass
eould reload" (H. B. Tristram).
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QUARRIES, THE
» of the French, Re di Qiaglie of the Ital-
lem, and the WaohleL-Koulg of the Germans, bat
with whet reuon we em unable to say; probably
the LXX. aee the tern; as * synonym of tprvl,
or to exprras the good condition in which the birds
were, for Hesyehius explains opTv-vo/drvpa by
(arv( irwfpfitytihis. '• «• "a quad of large die. '
Thus, in point of etymology, zoology, history,
end the authority of almost ell the important old
versions, we hare ai complete a chain of evidence
In proof of the quail being the true representative
of the ttldv as can possibly be required. W. H.
• QU AERIES, THE (D^Vp? : awe t»>
yKmrrin: «W trant idoin) are mentioned in Judg.
ui. 19, 96 (A. V.), as a place well known near Gil-
gaL Ehud, alter having brought his present to reg-
ion, king of Mof>, went with his attendants on
their return as far as these "quarries" (A. V.),
and then "turned again from them," and went
back to execute the meditated murder alone. In-
stead of " quarries," or "quarry," the A. V. renders
ottihm or petti elsewhere (31 times in the singu-
lar and 31 times in the plural, and also, Judg. iii.
19, in the margin) by "graven" or "cured im-
ages." It fa) certainly unsafe, in view of such a
usage, to admit an exceptional meaning in this place.
See against that supposition especially Bach man n,
Dat Buck dtr Riehttr, p. 908 ff. (1868). A lew
make the word a proper name, Petilim, with refer-
ence to some ancient idolatry there, though no
longer practiced in Ehud's time.
Professor Cassel, Hickttr u. Ruth, p. 37, in
Unge's Bibeboerk (I860), suggests another expla-
nation. He understands that the D^V*D9 were
landmarks (consisting of pillars or heaps of* stone,
trrfjAeu) which marked the boundary between the
territory of the Hoabites on the west of the Jordan
(held by them as conquerors at that time) and that
if the Hebrews; and that it was from these stone
heaps or pillars that Ehud turned back after part-
ing with his servants. Petilim, in this sense,
would be nearly allied to that of " images," idol-
gods (comp. Oeut. vB. 96 and Isa. xliL 8), since
boundaries (InpHet tneri, termini) were regarded
as properly inviolate, consecrated. To the heathen
they were hardly leas than objects of religious ven-
eration. The Hebrews would naturally speak of
them with reference to the feelings of their foreign
oppressors, though we need not altogether acquit
the Hebrews of a similar superstition. Filrst sana-
tions "quarries," but as Targumio rather than
Hebrew. H.
QUARTUS (Keeoprot [Lat fourth] : Qmr-
hu), a Christian of Connth, whose salutations St
Paul sends to the brethren at Rome (Rom. xvi. 93).
There is the usual tradition that he was one of the
Seventy disciples; and it is also said that he ulti-
mately became Bishop of Berytus (TiUemont, i.
*8*).« E. H— a.
QUATERNION (rcrprfSiay: qvaUrmo), a
military term, signifying a guard of four soldiers,
two of whom were attached to the person of a pria-
sner, while the other two kept wa«eh outside the
•sor of Us cell (Tegetma, De Be mil iii. 8; Poiyb.
•L St, § 7). Peter was delivered over to fear such
* • In the Oreek It Is Quartos — " the brother "
—« la ssi.il lt», A. T-), wMoh Implies that bo was wall
1 te Ike Bxaao (XtfUUans. H
QUEEN OF HEAVEN 2651
bodies of four (Acts xii. *), each of which took
charge of him for a single watch of the night.
W. L.R
• Of the quaternion on guard at a given time,
two may have watched at the door of the cell, and
two at the gate which opened into the city. Peter,
in making his escape, " passed through " (Sn\6eir) s
first and a second watch (o>v*eurt>), which suggests
the Idea of more than one sentinel at each post.
Welch thinks that the two soldiers to whom Peter
was bound in the prison (ver. 6) did not belong to
the quaternion, inasmuch as the security of Peter
might not require them to be changed during the
night like the others. On these details, and the
archawlogy of the subject generally, aee acpentalr*
Welch, De eincaos Petri, in his Vitttrtt. ad Acta
Apott. pp. 147-190. H.
QUEEN (n? 1 ^; bjgj rTTOjO. Of the
three Hebrew terms cited ss the equivalents of
" queen " in the A. V., the first ahme is applied to
a queen-reyaynu' .' the first and second equally to a
queen-coHsuit, without, however, implying the dig-
nity which in European nations attaches to that
position; and the third to the queen-moteer, to
whom that dignity is transferred in oriental courts.
The etymological force of. the words accords with
their application. Maicih is the feminine of m-
lech, •• king ; " it is applied in its first sense to the
queen of Shaba (1 K. x. 1), and in its second to
the wives of the first rank, as distinguished from
the concubines, in a royal bamm (Esth. i. 9 ff., vii.
1 ff.; Cant vi. 8): the term " princesses " is sim-
ilarly used in 1 K. xi. 8. Shigii simply means
" wife; " it is applied to Solomon's brido (Pa, xlv.
9), and to the wives of the first rank in the harems
of the Chakiee and Persian monarch* (Dap. v. 9, 3;
Neh. ii. 6). GtUrik, on the other hand, is expres-
sive of authority; it means ■' powerful " or " mis-
tress." It would therefore be applied to the female
who exercised the highest authority, and this, in an
oriental household, is not the wife but the mother
of the master. Strange as such an arrangement at
first sight appears, it is one of the inevitable results
of polygamy: the number of the wives, their social
position previous to marriage, and the precarious-
neat of their hold on the affections of their lord,
combine to annihilate their influence, which is trans-
ferred to the mother as being the only female who
occupies a fixed and dignified position. Hence the
application of the term yibtr&k to the queen-nuXaer,
the extent of whose influence is well illustrated by
the narrative of the interview of Solomon and Bath-
sheba, as given in 1 K.. ii. 19 ff. The term is ap-
plied to Maechah, Asa's mother, who was deposed
from ber dignity in consequence of her idolatry (1
K. xv. 13; 9 Chr. xv. 16); to Jezebel as contrasted
with Joram (3 K. x. 13, "the children of the king,
and the children of the queen " ) ; and to the mother
of Jeboiachin or Jeeoniah (Jar. xiii. 18; comp. 9 K.
xxiv. 12; Jer. xxix. 2). In 1 K, xi. 19, the text
probably requires emendation, the reading followed
intbeLXJC, n^VrirJT, "the elder," according
better with the context W. L. B.
QUEEN OF HEAVEN. In Jer. vii. 18,
xliv. 17, 18, 19, 26 the Heb. CVJtyn D^^O
mlleeeth kaththdmagim, is thus rendered in the
A. v . In the cargin is given '• frame or work-
manship if heaven," for in twenty of Kannieott'i
1188. the read** is n;jr£>0, ■cTecett, of which
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2652 QUEEN OF HEAVEN
this is the translation and the nme is the cue in
fourteen MSS. of Jer. xliv. 18, and in thirteen of
Jer. xlrr. 19. The latter reading is followed by the
I.XX. and Peshito Sjriac in Jer. vii. 18, but in all
the other passages the received text is adopted, as
by the Vulgate in every instance. Kimchi says:
» M is wanting, and it is as if i"13H ;C, 'work-
tranship of heaven,' i. a. the stars ; and some inter-
pret < the queen of heaven,' i. t. a great star which
*■ in thj heavens." Kashi is in favor of the latter;
and the Targuiu renders throughout "the star of
hea\en." Kircher was in favor of some constella-
tion, the Pleiades or Hyades.' It is generally be-
lieved that the ■ queen of heaven " is the moon
(eoDip. "sidnrum regina," Hor. Carat. See. 35,
and " regina ooeli," Apul. Met. zl. 657), wor-
shippnd as AshUroth or Astarte, to whom the He-
brew women offered cakes in the streets of Jerusa-
lem. Hitzig (Dtr Pnipk. Jereny'n, p. 64) aays the
Hebrews gave this title to the Egyptian Neith,
whose name in the form Ta-nith, with the Egyp-
tian article, appears with that of Baal Hamm&n,
on four Carthaginian inscriptions. It is little to
the purpose to inquire by what other names this
goddess was known among the Phoenician colonists :
the Hebrews, in the time of Jeremiah, appear not
to have given her any special title. The Ilahylo-
nian Venus, according to Harpocrntion (quoted by
Selden, tie Da Syris, synt. 3, cap. 6, p 220, ed.
1617 J, was also styled " the queen of heaven." Mr.
I-avard identifies Hera, "the second deity mentioned
by LHodorus, with Astarte, Mylitta, or Venus," and
with the " ' queen of heaven,' frequently mentioned
in the sacred volumes. .... The planet which
bore her name was sacred to her, and in the Assyr-
ian sculptures a star is placed upon her head. She
was called Beltis, because she was the female form
of the great divinity, or Baal; the two, there is
reason to oonjecture, having been originally but one,
and androgyne. Her worship penetrated from As-
syria into Asia Minor, where its Assyrian origin
jraa recognized. In the rock tablets of Pterium she
is represented, as in those of Assyria, standing erect
on a lion, and crowned with a tower or mural cor-
onet; which, we learn from Lucian, was peculiar to
the Semitic figure of the goddess. This may have
been a modification of the high cap of the Assyrian
bas-reliefs. To the Shemites she was known under
the names of Astarte, AshUroth, Mylitta, and
Alitta, according to the various dialects of the na-
tions amongst which her worship prevailed " (iVt'n-
teeh, ii. 454, 456, 457). It is so difficult to sepa-
rate the worship of the moon-goddess from that of
he planet Venus in the Assyrian mythology when
ltroduced among the western nations, that the two
tre frequei cly confused. Movers believes that Ash.
toreth was originally the moon-goddess, while ac-
cording to Rawlinson (fferorf. 1. 521) /thlar is the
Babylonian Venus, one of whose titles in the Sar-
danapalus inscriptions is " the mistress of heaven
and earth."
With the cakes (D^J?, anxanim: X auiyts)
vhich were offered in her honor, with incense and
buttons, Selden compares the rirvpa (A. V.
•bran") of Ep. of Jer. 43, which were burnt by
•he women who sat by the wayside near the idola-
trous temples for. the purposes of prostitution.
These rirvpa were oflered hi sacrifice to Hecate,
•bile invoking her aid for success in love (Theoer.
1 U,. The Targum gives l'EflT}?, eordMa,
QUIVER
which elsewhere appears to oe the Greek x<umsV
ret, a sleeved tunic Kashi says the cakes had tfc*
image of the god stamped upon them, and Tneode-
ret that they contained pine-cones and raislns-
W. A.W.
• QUEEN OF THE SOUTH (Luke si
31). [Shkba.]
• QUICK (from A.-S. aoic or aoac) = living
alive, Lev. xiii. 10; Num. xvi. 30; Ps. It. 15, cxxiv.
8: Acts x. 42; 9 11m. iv. 1; Heb. iv. IS; 1 Pet. rr.
6. H.
• QUICKEN = to make alive (A.-8. cwie-
ian), Ps. cxU. 50; 1 Cor. xv. 86; Eph. ii. 1, etc
[Quick.] H.
QUICKSANDS, THE (jj 2e>ru: tyrtu),
more properly the Stbtu (Acts xxrii. 17), the
broad and deep bight on the Nofth African coast
between Carthage and Cyrenc The name is derived
from Serf, an Arabic word for a desert For two
reasons this region was an object of peculiar dread
to the ancient navigators of the Mediterranean,
partly because of the drifting sands and the beat
along the shore itself, but chiefly because of the
shallows and the uncertain curreuts of water in the
bay. Josephus, who was himself once wrecked in
this part of the Mediterranean, makes Agrippa say
(B. J. ii. 16, § 4), e)o/9cpal «al voir hxovovai Sco-
tch. So notorious were these dangers, that they
became a commonplace with the poets (see Hor.
Od. i. 22, 5; Or. FatL iv. 499; Virgil, JSn. L
111; Tibull. iU. 4, 91; Lucan, Plum. ix. 431).
It is most to our purpose here, however, to refer to
ApoUonius Khodius, who was familiar with all the
notions of the Alexandrian sailors. In the 4th
book of his Argonaut 1233-1237, he supplies illus-
trations of the passage before us, in more respects
than one — in the sudden violence [irafriytnr)
of the terrible north wind (oAoJ) Boptoo fhSc AAa),
in its long duration (irria rduras Nvcrot itms
«ol reVo-a *«>' fi/iara), and in the terror which
the sailors felt of being driven into the Syrtia
(Upowpb /idA' IvSoBt Xiprw, If oixrVi roSTSs
b*loe» Nnwrl w(Ktt)- [See Clauda and Eo-
boclyuon.] There were properly two Syrtes, the
eastern or larger, now called the Gulf of Btdra,
and the western or smaller, now the Gulf of Cubes.
It is the former to which our attention is directed
in this passage of the Acts. The ship was caught
by a northeasterly gale on the south coast of
Ckete, near Mount Ida, and was driven to the
island of Claud*. This line of drift, continued,
would strike the greater Syrtis : whence the natu-
ral apprehension of the sailors. [Ship.] The best
modern account of this part of the African coast is
that which is given (in his Memoir on the JkfeoS-
terronenn, pp. 87-91, 186-190) by Admiral Smyth,
who was himself the first to survey this bay thor-
oughly, and to divest it of many of its terrors.
J. 8. H.
QUINTUS MEMM1US, 3 Mace xL M.
[See Mahuds, T. voL ii. p. 1779 6.]
• QUIRIN1US. [CTMamia.]
• QUIT, in the sense of acquit: « Quit your-
selves like men" (1 Sam. iv. 9); and, •QuU yo»
like men " (1 Cor. xvi. 18). H.
QUIVER. Two distinct Hebrew terms see
represented by this word in the A V
(1 ) ,T ?F1, IMIL This occurs only in Gen. xxnt
9: "Take thy weapons (lit "thy things"), thy
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QUIVER
■wr sod thy bow." It Ii derived (by Gesenlus,
7W p. 1604, and Filrst, Hnndwb. ii. 598) from ■
toot which has the force of hanging. The outage
ita&lf aflbnU no clew to iti meaning. It may then-
fan signify either • quirer, or a suspended weapon
Assyrian Warrior with Quiver.
— for instance, such a sword as in our own lan-
guage was formerly called a >• hanger." Between
these two significations the interpreters are divided.
The LXX., Vulgate, and Targuin Paeudojon. adhere
to the former ; Onkelos, the Peshito and Arabic Ver-
sious, to the latter.
(2.) HQt^S, athpih. The root of this word is
oneertaln (Geseoioa, Thes. p. 161). From two of its
Assyrian Obaiiot with Quirer.
i its force would seem to be that of con-
fining or concealing (Ps. cxxvii. 5; Is. xlix. SJ.
It la connected with arrows only in Lam. Hi. 13,
Its other occurrences are Job xxxix. S3, Is. xxii. 6
•ad Jar. t. 16. In each of these the LXX. trans '
RAAMAU 2653
late it by "quirer" (^operpo), with two exoep
tions, Job xxxix. 93, and Ps. cixvii. 6, in the ho-
mer of which they render it by *' bow." iu the lattei
by switfvufa.
As to the thing Itself, there is nothing in the
Bible to indicate either its form or material, or in
what way it was carried. The quivers of the As-
syrians are rarely shown in the sculptures. When
they do appear they are worn at the back, with the
top between the shoulders of the wearer, or hung
at the side of the chariot.
The Egyptian warriors, on the other hand, won
them slung nearly horizontal, drawing out the
arrows from Iwneath the arm (Wilkinson, Poyutnr
Account, i. 854). The quiver was about I inches
diameter, supported by a belt passing over the
shoulder and across the br.vst to the opposite side-
When not in actual use, it was shifted behind.
The English word "quiver" is a variation of
" cover " — from the French couvrir ; and then*
fore answers to the second tf tint two Hebrew
words. G.
• QUOTATIONS FROM THE O.T. IK
THE NEW. [Old Tkstamkxt, Ui.]
R.
RA'AMAH (n^y? [h-emblinc,, and mtm*
of a horu): 'Pty/id, [Alex. Ptyx/ui,] . Gen. x. 7t
Poppet, [Vat. Papa, Alex. Pay/to,] Kz. xxrii. 99:
[N^V"?: p «7Md, l Chr - '• 9 ttfgum, Utema).
A son of Cush, and father of the Cushite Sheba
and Dedan. The tribe of Haainah became after-
wards renowned as traders; in Ezekiel's lamenta-
tion for Tyre it is written. "The merchants of
Sheba and Kaamah, they [were] thy merchants;
they occupied in tby fairs with chief of all the
spices, and with all precious stones and gold "
(xxvfi. 22). The general question of the identity,
by intermarriage, etc., of the Cushite Sheba and
Uedan-with the Keturahites of the same names is
discussed, and the 27th chapter of Ezekiel ex-
amined, in art. Dkdan. Of the settlement of
Raamah on the shores of the Persian Gulf then
an several indications. Traces of I Man are very
(tint; but Raamah seems to lie recovered, through
the LXX. reading of Gen. x. 7, in the 'Piy/ui of
Ptol. vt 7, and 'Ptrrpa of Steph. Hyzant. Of
Sheba, the other son of Kaamah, the writer has
found a trace iu a ruined city so named (La»&,
8htb&) on the island of Awal (MarasJd, s v.), be-
longing to the province of Arabia called Kl-Bshreyu
on the shores of the gulf. [Siikba.] This Mol-
tification strengthens that of Kaamah with 'Pryui,
and the establishment of these Cushite settlements
on the Persian Gulf is of course important to the
theory of the identity of these Cushite and Ketu-
rahite tribes: but, Iwsides etymological grounds
there are the strong reasons stated in Dedah for
holding that the Cushites colonized that region,
and for connecting them commercially with Pales-
tine by the great desert route.
The town mentioned by Niebuhr caUed Reyny*
(&4>>) Dt$cr. de t Ambit) cannot, on etymological
grounds, be connected with Raamah, as it wants %■
equivalent for the V • nor cso we suppose thai it H
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2654
RAAMIAH
to be probably traced three days' journey from San'a
[Uxal], the capital of the Yemen. E 8. P.
RAAMI'AH (rPpr?: y„x,U; [Vat
Nooiua, 3- m. Nu/ua;] FA. Sasuta: J&wnins).
One of the chief* who returned with Zerubbabel
(Neh. Tit 7). Id Ear. ii. 3 he is called Rkelaiah,
and the Greek equivalent of the name in the LXX.
of Nehemiah appean to hare ariien from a confusion
of the two readings, unlets, at Burlington (G'rntaL
ii. 68) suggests, PftK/ui is sn error of the copyist
for Pec Asia, the uncial lettert ai having been mis-
taken for M. In 1 Esdr. r. 8 the name appears as
atBESAIAS.
RAAM'SES, Ex. 1. 11. [Rambus.]
RABTJAH. The name of sereral ancient
abeea, both east and west of the Jordan. The
root is rnb, meaning " multitude," and thence
" grestnets," of size or importance' (Geseuius,
Tlta. p. 12M; Fiirst, Handwb. Ii 847). The word
survive* in Arabic at a common appellative, and is
alto in use as the name of pbtoes — e. gr. RaMa
•a the east of the Dead Sea; RiibbaJt, a temple in
the tribe of Medshidj (Freytag, U. 107 o); and
perhaps also Habal in Morocco.
1. {TVSn: »'Po33dS, 'PafidS, 1, "Pa$$d;
[Rom- 'ApdJ, Josh. ziii. 35 (to Tat.); "Poftfci,
1 Chr. xx. 1; i) wiXu reu 'A/t^utr, Ex. xxv. 6
(to Tat. Alex.); elsewhere fafifUB: — Tat in 1
Chr. xvii. 87, Pa/9a0 ; 1 Chr. xx. 1, Pafi$av,
Pafifia; Am. i. 14, Pa$0a (so Alex.); Josh, and
F-x. as shore; elsewhere Pafi&aB: — Alex, in Josh,
xiii. 35, Am. 1. 14, Pa$0a: 2 Sam. xii. 38, PafiaB:
E*. as above; elsewhere PafifiaB; — FA. 1 Jer. xlix.
3, PafiaB, ver. 3, FA. Pt00aS:} Rnbbn, Riibbath.)
A very strong place on the east of Jordan, which,
when its name is first introduced in the sacred
records, was the chief city of the Ammonites. In
live passage* (Dent. iii. 11; 3 Sam. xii. 38, xvii.
37; Jer. xlix 3; Ex. xxi. 80) it is stvled at length
Rabbnlh btne-Ammfm, A. T. fin Pent iii 11, Ez.
xxi. 30] Kabbath [elsewhere Kabbah] of the Am-
monites, or, children of Amnion ; but elsewhere
(Josh, xxiii. 35; 3 Sam. xi. 1, xii. 37, 29; 1 Chr.
xx. 1; Jer. xlix. 3; Ex. xxv. 6; Amos i. 14)
limply Rarhaii.
It sppeare in the sacred records at the single
city of the Ammonites, at least no other bears any
distinctive name, a lact which, as has been already
remarked (vol. i. p. 84 ft), contrasts strongly with
be abundant details of the city life of the Moab-
-.tea.
Whether it was originally, as some conjecture,
he Ham of which the Zurim were dispossessed by
r%edorlaomer (Gen. xiv. 5), will prolnbly remain
octver a conjecture." When first named, it is in
be hands of the Ammonites, an/1 is mentioned as
containing the bed or sarcophagus of the giant Og
(l>eut- iii. 11), possibly the trophy of some success-
ful war of the younger nation of Ijot, and more
recent settler in the country, against the more
Bephaim. With the people of Lot, their
• It Is hardly asosssary to point out that the title
Snbbi Is directly derived from the same root
e In Dent. 111. 11 It is tj tVpe. riv vlmv 'Amuiv In
•nth MS9. In Jo*, xiii. 25 the Vst. has 'Apc£a i
arnr rare, spSewee e 'ApmS, when the tint sod last
fords of the sentence seem to havs changed places.
< The statement of s his cMns (Onom. "Amman")
■sat it was originally a city or the Bephaim, implies
Stat II was the Ashtaroth Kamalm of Gen. xiv. In
KABBAH
kinsmen the Israelites had no quarrel and Rtbhnth
of-tae-ehildreoMif-Aminon remained to all appear-
anee unmolested during the tret period of Ik*
Israelite occupation. It was Dot included in the
territory of the tribes east of Jordan; the bonk*
of Gad stops at "Aroar, which feces Kabbah'
(Josh. xiii. 35). The attacks of the Bene-Ammon
on Israel, however, brought these peaceful rdalioos
to an end. Saul mutt have had occupation enough
on the west of Jordan in attacking and lepefiiag
the attacks of the Philistine* and in pursuing David
through the wood* and la i in as of Judah to prevent
his crossing the river, untax* on such special occur
sionsas the relief of jabeeh. At any rate we never
bear of his having penetrated so far in that enac-
tion a* Kabbah. But David'* armies were often
engaged against both kToab and Amnion.
Hi* first Ammonite campaign appears to ham
occurred early in hi* reign. A part of the army,
under Abishai, was sent as far as Kabbah to hasp
the Ammonite* hi check (3 Sam. x. 10, 14), bat
the main force under Joab remained at Meneba
(1 Chr. rJx. 7). lie following year was occupied
in the great expedition by David in person against
the Syrians at Befaun, wn ereter that may has*
been (3 Sam. x. 16-19). Alter their desist the
Ammonite war was resumed, and this time Kabbah
was made the main point of attack (xi. 1). Joab
took the command, and was followed by the whole
of the army. The expedition included Ephrahn
and Benjamin, as well as the king's own tribe (ver.
11): the "king's slaves " (nr. 1, 17, 34); prob-
ably David's immediate body-guard, and the thirty-
seven chief captains. Uriah was certainly there,
and, if a not improbable Jewish tradition may be
adopted, Ittai the Gittite was there also. [Ittai.]
The ark accompanied the camp (ver. 11), the only
time* that we bear of it* dome so, except that
memorable battle with the Phffistiiiea, when it*
capture caused the death of the high -p rie st David
alone, to hit cost, remained in Jerusalem. The
country was wasted, and the roving Ammonites
wen driven with all their property (xii. 80) into
their tingle stronghold, as the Bedouin (Unites
were driven from their tents inside the walls of
Jerusalem when Judah was overrun by the Chal-
deans. [Rkchabitks.] The siege must bare
lasted nearly, if not quite, two years ; since during
its pr ogress David formed hi* connection with
Bathsbeba, and the two children, that which died
and Solomon, were successively bom. The aalliee
of the Ammonite* appear to hare formed a mala
feature of the siege (8 Sam. xL 17, Ac). At the
end of that tune Joab *oeceeded in capturing a
portion of the place— the " city of waters," Oat
is, the lower town, so called from its containing
the perennial stream which rises in and still flows
through it- The feet (which teem* undoubted)
that the source of the stream was within the lower
city, explains its having bald out for to long. It was
abo called the "royal city" (nyibljn "VS).
perhaps from Ka connection with M oksch or MBcua
agreement with this Is the feet that K was la sum
tunes known as astarte (Staph. Bys., quoted by Utter,
p. 1116). In this esse the dual coding of Karnatsi
may point, a* sane have conjectured in Jenuhalaxat.
to the double nature of the city — a lower town and*
* On a
only are
to include «b*
(Nu
Ota*
wham
Digitized by VjOOQlC
KABBAH
— the » king "• - more probably from its contain-
ing ths palace of Harran and Kahath. Bat the
eludeL which rises abruptly on tbe north side of
the lower town a place of very gnat strength, still
remained to lie taken, and tbe honor of this cap-
ture, Joab (with that deration to David which
rniis like a bright thread through the dark web of
his character) insists on reserving for the king.
" T have (ought," writes he to his uncle, then living
at ease in the harem at Jerusalem, iu all the satis-
faction of the birth of Solomon — " I have fought
against Kabbah, and have taken " tbe city of waters :
but the citadel still remains : now therefore gather
the rest of the people together and come ; put your-
self at the head of the whole army, renew the
assault against the citadel, take it, and thus finish
the siege which I have carried so far," and then
he ends with a rough banter » — half jest, half
earnest — " lest I take tbe city and in future it go
under my name." The waters of the lower city
once in tbe hauda of the besiegers, tbe fate of the
citadel was certain, for that fortress possessed in
itself (as we learn from tbe invaluable notice of
Josephus, Ant. vii. 7, § 5) but one well of limited
supply, quite inadequate to tbe throng which
crowded its walls. The provisions also were at last
exhausted, and shortly after David's arrival the
fortress was taken, and its inmates, with a very
great booty, and the idol of Molech, with all its
costly adornments, Call into tbe hands of David.
[Ittai; Molkch.]
We are not told whether the city was demolished
or whether David was satisfied with the slaughter
of its inmates. In the time of Amos, two centuries
aud a half later, it had again a "wall" and
" palaces," and was still the sanctuary of Molech
— ■'the king " (Am. i. 14). So it was also at the
date of tbe invasion of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. zlix.
2,3), when its dependent towns ("daughters")
are mentioned, and when it is named in such terms
as imply that it was of equal importance with Jeru-
salem (Ez. zxi. 20). At Rabbab, no doubt, Baalis,
king of the Bene-Ammon (Jer. xl. 14), held such
oourt as he could muster, and within its walls was
plotted the stuck of Iihmael which cost Gedalinh
his life, and drove Jeremiah into Egypt. [Isiimael,
6, vol. ii. p. 1172 6.] Tbe denunciations of tbe
prophets just named may have been fulfilled, either
at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, or five
rears afterwards, when the Assyrian armies over-
ran the country east of Jordan on their road to
Egypt (Joseph. Ant. x. 9, § 7). See Jerome, on
Amu i. 41.
In the period between the Old and New Testa-
ments, Rabbath-Ammon appears to have been a
place of much importance, and the scene of many
contests. The natural advantages of position and
water supply which bad always distinguished it,
still made it an important citadel by turns to each
side, during the contentions which raged for so long
over the whole of the district It lay on the road
between Heshbon and Bosra, and was the last place
at which a stock of water could be obtained for the
journey across tbe desert, while as it stood on the
confines of the richer and more civilized country, it
formed an important garrison station, for repelling
the Incursions of the wild tribes of the desert.
■ The Vallate alters the force of the whole passage
by rendering this tt capunda ui urbs ayvarum, " the
slty of waters is about to bs taken." But neither
■sbrsw nor uXX. will bear this interpretation.
KABBAH
From Ptolemy Philndelphus (n. c. 286- 247) it re
ceived the name of Philadelphia (Jerome on Ea
xxv. 1 ), and the district either then or subsequently
was called Philadelphene (Joseph. B. .1. iii. 8, § «)
or Arabia Philarielphensis (Epiphanius, in Hitter,
Syritn, p. 1151V}. In n. c. 218 H was taken from
the then Ptolemy (Philopator) by Antiochus tbe
Great, after a long and obstinate resistance from
the besieged in the eltadel. A communication with
the spring In the lower town had been made sines
(possibly in consequence of) David's siege, by a long
secret subterranean psssage, and had not this been
discovered to Antiochus by a prisoner, the citadel
might have been enabled to hold oat (Polybias, v.
17, in Ritter, Syritn, p. 1155). During tbe stroggb
between Antiochus the Pious (Sidetes), and Ptolemy
the son-in-law of Simon Maccabeus (cir. i. c. 184),
it is mentioned as being governed by a tyrant
named Cotylas (Ant. xiil. 8, § 1). Its ancient
name, though under a cloud, was still used; it is
mentioned by Polybius (v. 71) under the hardly
altered form of Rabhatamana ('PaASaTdpara).
About the year 66 we bear of it as in tbe hands of
Aretos (one of the Arab chiefs of that name), who
retired thither from Judssa whan menaced by
Scaurus, Pompey's general (Joseph. B.J.i.Q,§ 3).
The Arabs probably held it till the year B. a 80,
when they were attacked there by Herod the Great.
But the account of Josephus (B. J. I 19, §§ 5, «)
seems to imply that tbe city was not then inhabited,
and that although the citadel formed tbe main
point of tbe combat, yet that it was only occupied
on the instant. The water communication above
alluded to alio appears not to have been then in
existence, for the people who occupied the citadel
quickly surrendered from thirst, and the whole
affair was over in six days.
At the Christian era Philadelphia formed the'
eastern limit of the region of Peraw ( B. J. iii. 8,
§ 8). It was one of the cities of the Decapolis, and
as far down as the 4th century was esteemed one
of the most remarkable and strongest cities of the
whole of Coele-Syria (Eusebius, Onotn. " Amman ; "
Ammianns Marc, in Ritter, p. 1157). Its magnif ■
cent theatre (said to be the largest* in Syria),
temples, odeon, mausoleum, and other public build-
ings were probably erected during the 2d and 3d
centuries, like those of Jerath, which they resem-
ble in style, though their scale and design are
grander (Lindsay). Amongst the ruins of an
" immense temple " on the citadel hill, Mr. Tipping
saw some prostrate columns 5 ft. diameter. Hi
coins are extant, some hearing the figure of Astarte,
some the word llerakleion, implying a worship of
Hercules, probably the continuation of that of
Molech or Milcom. From Stephanus of Byzantira
we learn that it was also called Astarte, doubtless
from its containing a temple of that goddess. Jus-
tin Martyr, a native of Shecbem, writing about X.
D. 140, speaks of the city as containing a raultittid*
of Ammonites (IHnL with Trt/pho), though it
would probably not be safe to interpret this ton
strictly.
Philadelphia became the seat of a Christian
bishop, and was one of the nineteen sees of " Pal-
estine tertia," which were subordinate to Bostra
* Very characteristic of Joab. See a similar strain,
2 Sam. six. 6.
c Mr. Tipping gives the following dlmeastons in MS
Journal. Breadth 210 It. ; height 42 steps ; namely
first row 10, second 14, third 18.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2666
KABBAH
(Behind, Pal p. 228.) The ehursh (till remains
" in excellent preservation " with ita loft; steeple
(Lord Lindsay). Some of the buhope appear to
hare signed nnder the title of Bakittha; which
Bakatha is by Epiphanius (himself a native of
Palatine) mentioned in nieh a manner aa to im-
ply that it wag bat another name for Philadelphia,
derived from an Arab tribe in whose possessio n it
was at that tune (a. d. dr. 400). But this is doubt-
ful. (See Reland, PaL p. 619; Rltter, p. 1167.)
A mman ' lies about 22 miles from the Jordan
at the eastern apex of a triangle, of which Hesh-
bon and tt-Snk form respectively the southern and
northern points. It is about 14 miles from the
former, and 12 from the latter. Jrrash is due
north more than 20 miles distant in a straight
line, and 35 by the usual road (Lindsay, p. 278). It
lies in a valley which is a branch, or perhaps the
main course, of the Wady Ztrkaf usually ldenti-
RABBAH
fled with the Jabbok. The Haiel-Ammt «. m
water of Amman, a mere streamlet, rises vidua
the basin which contains the ruins of the town.
The main valley Is a mere winter torrent, but ap-
pear* to be perennial, and contains a quantity of
fish, by one observer said to be trout (see Barak-
hards, p. 858 ;G. Robinson ii. 174 ; " a pert** nth-
pond," Tipping). The stream runs from wast to
east, and north of it is the citadel on its isolated
hill.
When the Moslems conquered Syria they bond
the city in ruins (AbuUeda in Rltter, p. 1158; and
in note to Lord Lindsay) ; and in ruins remarkrUa
for their extent and dssslation even fix Syria, the
" Land of ruins," it still remains. The public
buildings are said to be Roman, in general charac-
ter like those at Jrrnth, except the citadel, which
is described as of large square stones put together
without cement, and which is probably
Amman, from the East
showing the paranoial stream and part of the citadel-hill.
Tipping. Bmi.
a sketch by vTsj
ancient than the rest. The remains of private houses
scattered on both sides of the stream are very
extensive. They have been visited, ftiiri described
in more or lea* detail, by Diirckhardt (•%>'"< PP- *°7
-380), who (jives a plan; Seetzen (Reiirn, i. 396, iv.
212-214): Irhy (June 14); Buckingham, K, Syria,
pp. 08-82; Urd Lindsay (5th ed. pp. 278-284):
G. Robinson (ii. 172-178); I-ord Claud Hamilton
(in Keith, F.vvl. nf Pivpk. eh. vi.). Kurckhardt's
plan gives a general idea of the disposition of the
place, but n comparison with Mr. Tipping's sketch
(on the accuracy of which every dependence may
be placed ) semis to show that it is not correct as
to the proportions of the different parts. Two
views are given by Ijiborde ( Files en Syrit), one
of a tomb, the other of the theatre; hut neither
of these embraces the characteristic features of the
I — the streamlet and the citadel. The ae-
t-L*.
w Awn"*
ntiaUy the
word as she Hs-
compnnying view has lieen engraved (for the first
time) from one of several careful sketches made In
1840 by William Tipping. Vm\ . and by him kindly
placed, with some valuable information, at the dis-
posal of the author. It is taken looking towards
the east. On the right is the legiiining of the
citadel bill. In front it an nrch (also mentioned
l.y Hnrckhardt) which spans the stream. Itelow and
in front of the arch is masonry, showing how the
stream was formerly embanked or quayed in.
No inscriptions hare been yet discovered. A
lengthened and excellent summary of all the in-
formation respecting this city will lie found : n Rir-
ter's Knlkuncle, Syrirn (pp. 1145-1158',-
* These ruins, among the most impressive i=
Syria, are not, with the exception of the citadel,
those of the Rahbath of the Ammonites. Thai
has vanished with the Iron bedstead of the last
6 This is dlstJocUy staled by Abut)
1168. Lindsay, noes 871.
Digitized by
Google
HABBATH
gtac t King of Baahan. The remains of the Bo-
man Phihdelpfaia appear in the elaborate but muti-
lilatad Grecian sculpture with which the lite ia
now strewed. (Triatram, Omii ->/" Itrntl, pp. 648-
o55, Sd ad.) S. W.
2. Although there ia no trace of the (act in the
Bible, there can be little doubt that the nam* of
Rabbah was also attached in Biblical tiroes to the
chief city of Moab. Its Biblical name is An, but
we hare the testimony of Kusebiue (OnomntL
" Moab ") that in the 4th century it possessed the
special title of Kablittf.li Moab, or as it appears in
the corrupted orthography of Stephanus of Byzan-
tium, the coins, and the Kcclesiastical Lists,
Rabalkmoba, Rnbbiithmomn, and Rutin or Robba
Moabitit (Roland, pp. 057,226; Seetzen, Reiten, It.
897; Bitter, p. 1220). This name was for a time dis-
placed by Areopolh, in the same manner that Rab-
2667
RABBI
bath-Ammon had been by Philadelphia:
however, were but the names imposed by the I
porary masters of the country, and employed by
them in their official documents, and when they
passed away, the original names, which had nerar
lost their place in the mouths of the common peo-
ple, reappeared, and Rcibba and Amm&n still remain
to testify to the ancient appellations. Rabba lies
on the highlands at the S. E. quarter of the Dead
■Sea, lietween Kernk and Jibel Shihan. Its ruins,
which are unimportant, are described by Burck-
liardt (July 16). Seetzen (Reiten, i. 411), and De
Saulcy (Jan. 18).
3. (H2-in, with the definite article: Xu&nHa:
Alex. AofjU/fo: Artbba.) A city of Judah, named
with Knjath-jearim, in Josh. it. 60 only. Ns>
trace of it* existence has yet been discovered
Jem of Philadelphia, showing ths Tent or Shims of Hankies, the Greek equivalent to Molech. USX. ■
AVT-KAICM-AVP-ANTIJNIirV, Bust of M. Aurelius, r. Rev. : •IAKOCYTHFAKAEION P1IA [A. w
C. 890]. Shrine In quadriga, r. [vIAAAfAvCnN KOIAHC OYFIAC HPAKAf IONJ.
4. In one passage (Josh. xi. 8) ZrooN is men-
tioned with the affix Rabbah — Zidon-rabbah.
This is preserved in the margin of the A. V.,
though in the text it ia translated •• great Zidon."
G.
RAB'BATH OP THE CHILDREN OF
AMMON, and R. OF THE AMMONITES.
(The former ia the more accurate, the Hebrew
being in both cases pifi]7 "O? H2"} : q tucpa
raw viw 'Kmulf ["Am^Sj-, Vat. 1 ], 'Ptu30a0 vl&v
'Amubv Ribb'ilh Jiliorum Amman). This ia the
full appellation of the place commonly given as
Rabbah. It occurs only in Dent. iii. 11 and Ez.
xxi. 20. The Ik is merely the Hebrew mode of
connecting a word ending in ah with one following
it. (Comp. Ramath, Gibeath, Kikjath, etc.)
G.
RABTJI ( s 2n : •p a $$l). A title of respect
givwi by fiie Jews to their doctors and teachers,
>cd often addressed to our Ix>rd (Matt, xxlii. 7, 8,
i m. 25, 19; Mark ix. 5, xi. 21, xiv. 46: John i.
.'13, 40, iii. % 26, iv. 31, vi. 25, ix. 2, xi. 8). The
meaning of the title is interpreted in express words
by St. John, and '>y implication in St. Matthew,
to mean Master, Teacher; AtticieaAt, John i. 38
(compere si. 28. xiii. 13), and Matt xxiii. 8, where
recent editors (Tischendorf, Wordsworth, Alford),
on the authority of MSS., read i SttivicaXot, in-
stead of i Ka &ny r rr fit of the Textus "eoeptus.
The same interpretation is given by St John of
the kindred title Rarbosi, 'Pa0fto«vi (John xx.
16), which also Tecum in Mark x. 35, where the
Textna Receptus, with less authority, spells the
word 'Pa0$ori- The reading in John xx. 16
which has perhaps the greatest weight of authority.
makes an addition to the common text: " She
turned herself and said unto Him, in the Hebrew
tongue ('E0pa.<rn'), Rabboni; which is to say,
Master." The. *» which is added to these titles,
3~> (r«4) and fian (rabUn) or )3"] {rabbin),
has been thought to be the pronominal affix " My; "
but it is to be noted that St. John does not trans-
late either of these by " My Master," but simply
•' Master," so that the s would seem to hare lost
any especial significance as a possessive pronoun
intimating appropriation or endearment, and, like
the " my " in titles of respect among ourselves, or
in such terms as Afonaeigneur, Afonsieur, to be
merely part of the formal address. Information
on these titles may be found in Ligbtfbot, Barmrm%
nf the Four Kvangelitlt, John i. 38; flora fft-
braicaet TalmwHca, Matt, xxiii. 7.
The Latin translation, Magister (connected with
maynut, mngit), is a title formed on the same prin-
ciple as Rabbi, from rab, " great." Rab enters into
the composition of many names of dignity and
office. [Rabshakkh; Rab-saris; Rab-mao.]
The title Rabbi is not known to have been used
before the reign of Herod the Great, and is thought
to hare taken Its rise about the time of the dis-
putes between the rival schools of Hillel and
Shammai. Before that period the prophets and
the men of the great synagogue were simply called
by their proper names, and the first who had a
title is said to be Simeon the son of Hillel, who
is supposed by some to be the Simeon who took
our Saviour in his arms in the Temple : he waa
called Rabhan, and from his time such titles cams
' to b» in fashion. Rabbi waa considered a higher
'title than Rab, and Rabban higher than RabN
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2658 RABBITH
J* it was Mid in the Jewish books that greater
tv be wbo was called by his own name than even
he who was called Rabban. Some account of the
Rabbis and the Hishnical and Talmudical writings
may be found in i'rideaux, Connection, part i.
book 6, under the year b. c. 446 ; part ii. book 8,
ander the year a. c 37; and a sketch of the
history of the school of rabbinical learning at
Tiberias, founded by Rabbi Judah Hakkodesh, the
compiler of the Mishnah, in the second century
after Christ, is given in Robinson's Biblical Re-
Mturchet, ii. 391. See also note 14 to Burton's
Bamptm Ltetttra, and the authorities there quoted,
for instance, Brueker, rol. ii. p. 830, and Baenage,
Hut. de» Jmft, Ui. 6, p. 138. E. P. E.
RAB'BITH (n , a'nn [the multitude], with
the def. article; [Horn. Aafiifxim Vat.] Aafftifmv.
Alex. Pa0$uB: Rnbbuth). A town in the terri-
tory, perhaps on the boundary, of Iasachar (Josb.
six. 80 only). It is not again mentioned, nor is
anything yet known of it, or of the places named
in company with it. G.
EABBCKNI, John xz. 16. [Rabbi.]
RAB-M AG' (yp-Zn [see below] : •Pafi-^dy,
Taffa/iix ■ " Rebmag) is found only in Jer. xxxix.
3 and 13. In both places it is a title borne by a
certain Nergal-sharezer, who is mentioned among
the "princes" that accompanied Nebuchadnezzar
to the last siege of Jerusalem. It has already been
shown that Nergal-sharezer is prohabl) identical
with the kino;, called by the Greeks Neriglissar,
who ascended the throne of Babylon two yean
after the death of Nebuchadnezzar. [NkrqaI/-
bharezeh] This king, as well as certain other
important personages, is found to bear the title in
the Babylonian inscriptions. It is written indeed
with a somewhat different vocalization, being read
as Rabn-Kmga by Sir H. Rawlinson. The sig-
nification is somewhat doubtful Rabu is most
oertaiiily " great," or " chief," an exact equivalent
of the Hebrew 3^, whence Rabbi, " a great one,
a doctor: " but Mng, or Emga, is an obscure term.
It has been commonly identified with the word
« Magus" (Geseniut, ad toe. 3lf; Cslmet, Com-
mtnlnire. lilternl, vi. 203, Ac.); but this identifica-
tion is very uncertain, since an entirely different
word — one which is read as Mnguni — is used in
that sense throughout the Behistun inscription
(Oppert, KxpaKtian Sritntifique en Sfetopobimit,
ii. 209). Sir 11. Rawlinson inclines to translate
emga by » priest," but does not connect it with
the Magi, who in the time of Neriglissar had no
footing in Babylon. He regards this rendering,
however, as purely conjectural, and thinks we can
only say at present that the office was one of great
power and dignity at the Babylonian court, and
probably gave its possessor special facilities for ob-
taining Uie throne. G. R.
RAB'SACES CPoy-iiirns: Sabtace$). Rab-
shaker (Ecclus. xlviii. 18).
RAB'-SARIS flyn^-an [see below] :
"Vwfls ; Vat. Pa$<is : Alex. Vafimpta : Rab-
taru). 1. An officer of the king of Assyria sent
up with Tartan and Rabshakeh against Jerusalem
an the time of Hezekiah (2 K. xviii. 17).
■2. (Safiovcapth • Alex. ya0ovfa,s : Rab-
RABSHiKEH
a. Tat. (as part of the preceding word) Aid. Paiiafiax; Comp. 'Pa&way ; the i
Uax. (also united with pnosdlog word) given above is not apparent.
wires.) One of the princes of ]
who was present at the capture of Jerusalem, b. o
588, when Zcdekiah, after endeavoring to escape.
was taken and blinded' and sent in chains to Baby-
Ion (Jer. xxxix. 3). Rab-aaris is mentioned after-
wards (ver. 13) among the other princes who at
the command of the king were sent to deliver Jere-
miah out of the prison.
Bab-saris is probably rather the name of an office
than of an individual, the word signifying chief
eunuch ; in Dan. i. 3, Ashpenax is called the master
of the eunuchs (Rab-sarisim). Lather trausktoi
the word, in the three places where it occurs, a* a
name of office, the arch-chamberlain (der Erzkacv
merer, der oberste Hammerer). Josephus, Ant. x_
8, § 2, takes them as the A. V. does, as proper
names. The chief officers of the court were presK.1
attending on the king; and the instance of the
eunuch Nareea would show that it wss not impos-
sible for Rab saris to possess some of the qualities
fitting him for a military command. In 2 K. xxv.
19, an eunuch {O y "P, SarU, in the text of the A.
V. "officer," in the margin "eunuch ") is spoken
of as set over the men of war; and in the sculp-
tures at Nineveh " eunuchs are represented as com-
manding iu war; lighting both on chariots and on
horseback, and receiving the prisoners and the
heads of the slain after battle " (Ijiyard's Ninmi,
vol. ii. p. 325).
It is not improbable that in Jeremiah xxxix. we
have not only the title of the Rab-aaris given, but
his name also, either Sarsechim (ver. 8) or (ver.
13) Nebu-shasban (worshipper of Nebo, Is. xrri. 1),
in the same way as Nergal-sharezer is given in the
same passages ss the name of the Rab-mag.
K. P. K.
RAB'SHAKEH (Tj^'yi [see below]-
'Pa+dVn*, 8 K. xviii., xix'.; *'PajSo-rf«*s, [Sin
Alex. Padwrnt,] Is. xxxvi., xxxvii.: Rabniea).
One of the officers of the king of Assyria sent
against Jerusalem in the reign of Hezekiah. Sen-
nacherib, having taken other oities of Judah. was
now besieging Lachiah, and Hezekiah, terrified at
his progress, and losing for a time bis firm faith in
God, sends to Ijichish with aii offer of submission
and tribute. This he strains himself to the utmost
to pay, giving for the purpose not only all the
treasures of the Temple and palace, but stripping
off the gold plates with which lie himself in the
beginning of his reign had overlaid the doors and
pillars of the house of the Lord (8 K. xviii. 16;
2 Chr. xxix. 3; see Rawlinson's Bamptm Lecture*,
iv. 141 ; J-ajard's Nineveh and Babylon, p. 146).
But Sennacherib, not content with this, his cupidity
being excited rather than appeased, sends a great
host against Jerusalem under Tartan, Rab-sris,!
and Rabshakeh ; not so much, apparently, with the
object of at present engaging in the siege of the
city, ss with the idea that, in its present disheart-
ened state, the sight of an army, combined with
the threats and specious promises of Rabshakeh,
might induce a surrender at a ice.
In b- xxxvi., xxxvii., Rabshakeh alone is men-
tioned, the reason of which would seem to be, thai
he acted as ambassador and spokesman, and cams
so much more prominently before the people than
the others. Keil thinks that Tartan had the
supreme command, inasmuch as in 8 K. he is
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RABSHAKEH
Mentioned first, and, according to It. zz. 1, con-
tacted the siege of Atbdod. It 3 Clir. zzxii.,
where, with the addition of Home jot unimportant
tireumstaucn, there ia given an extract of these
events, it is simply said that (ver. 9) " Sennacherib
king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem."
Rabshakeh seems to have discharged his mission
with much seal, addressing himself not only to the
offioerf of Hezekiah, but to the people on the wall
if the city, setting forth the hopelessness of trust-
ing to any power, human or divine, to deliver them
out of the band of " the great king, the king of
Assyria," and dwelling on the many advantages
to be gained by submission. Many have imagined,
•toiii the familiarity of Rabshakeh with Hebrew,'
that he either was a Jewish deserter or an apostate
•apt ire of Israel. Whether this be so or not, it is
not impossible that the assertion which be makes
on the part of his master, that Sennacherib had
even the sanation and command of the l-ord Jeho-
vah for his expedition against Jerusalem (" Am I
now come up without the Lord to destroy it?
Tba Lord said-to me, Go up against this land to
destroy it") may have reference to the prophecies
of Isaiah (viii. 7, 8, x. 6, 6) concerning the desola-
tion of Judah and Israel by the Assyrians, of which,
in some form more or less correct, he had received
information. Being unable to obtain any promise
?f submission from Hesekiab, who, in the ex-
tremity of his peril returning to trust in the
help of the Lord, is encouraged by the words and
predictions of Isaiah, Kabshakeh goes bock to
the king of Assyria, who had now departed from
Lachish.
The English version takes Rabshakeh as the
name of a person ; it may, however, be questioned
whether it be not rather the name of the office
which he held at tba court, that of chief cup-
bearer, in the same way as Kab-saris denotes the
chief eunuch, and Rabmao possibly the chief
priest.
Luther in his version is not quite consistent,
sometimes (2 K. xviii. 17; Is. xxxvi. 2) giving
Rabshakeh as a proper name, but ordinarily trans-
lating it as a title of office, arch-cupbearer (der
Eraehenke).
The word Itab may be found translated in many
places of the English version, for instance, 3 K. xzt.
S, 20; Jer. zzziz. II; Dan. U. 14 (DTTjlt > V*3n),
Bab-iabMcklm, "captain of the guard," in the
margin "chief marshal," "chief of the execu-
RACHBL
2659
■ The difference between speaking In the Uabraw
■ nd the A ramssu," In she Jews' laognafs " (/TTirP,
i"hudlth), and In the " Syrian language " (•TQ'TO
Arunlth), would be rather a matter of pronunciation
bud dialect than of essential difference of language.
Bee for the "Syrian tongue,'' Bar. If 7 ; Dan 11. 4.
* In this name eh is sounded like hard r, as the
Maereeu strive of the Hebrew eapk. In Rachel, on the
••tier hand, It represents cVfA, and should properly
as pronounced like a guttural A i«e A. V. of Jar.
mi. U).
c Thenlua, with his usual rashness, says " Baeal is
taraiium of Cannel."
' It la not obvious ho» -ur translators cams to
-prD the name 7("T"I as they do In their Has: revision
•J 1611. namely, Rachel. Their practice — almost, if
sot quits, ln«*rleble— throughout the Old Test, of
ttowrs." Dan. 1. 3, Rab-tarUim, < master of the
eunuchs;" H. 48 CP3?trri), Rnb-ugnbi, "chief
of the governors; " iv. 9, t. 11 O^P^T^l).
Rab-chirtummln, "master of the magicians;"
Jonah i. 8 (bjhn 3^), Rab-kneliobll, " ship-
master." It enters into the titles Rabbi, Rabboni,
and the name Kabbah. [On this name see also
Rawlinaou's Ancient Monarchies, ii. 440 f ]
E. P. E.
RA'CA CPacd*), a term of reproach used by the
Jews of our Saviour's age (Matt. v. 22). Critics
are agreed in deriving it from the Chaldee term
r^B "2 with the sense of " worthless," but they
differ as to whether this term should be connected
with the root jA 1, conveying the notion of empti-
ness (Uesen. Thti. p. 1279), or with one of the
cognate roots p]JTl (Tholuck), or ViFl (EwaW),
conveying the notion of thinntu (Olsbaussn, De
Wette, on Matt v. 32). The first of these virws
is probably correct. Wo may' compare the use of
|TT, " vain," in Judg. ix. 4, zl. 8, at, and of
Ktwi in Jam. ii. 30. W. L. R
RACE- [Gajum, vol. I. p. 884.]
RA'OHAB (T>ax«l0: Rnhab). Rahab the
harlot (Matt 1. 6).
RA'CHAL* (bjT [traffic]: [Alex. Pa*"*;
Comp. "PoYdA :] Rachal). One of the places which
David and his followers used to haunt during the
period of his fraebooting life, and to the people
of which he sent a portion of the plunder taken
from the Anialekites. It is named in 1 Sam. zxx.
39 only. The Vatican LXX. inserts five name*
in this passage between "Eshtemoa" and "the
Jerahmeeiitea." The only one of these which hsa
any similarity to Racal is Carmel, which would
suit very well as far as position goes; but it is
impossible to consider the two as identical without
further evidence.' No name like Racal has been
found in the south of Judah. G.
RA'CHEL (Vn.rf n ewe; the word rnhtt
occurs in Gen. zzzi. 38, zzzii. 14; Cant. vi. 6; la.
Hi!. 7: A. V. rendered "ewe" and "sheep:"
farb\: Sacktt). The younger of the daughters
of Laban, the wife of Jacob, tie mother of Joseph
and Benjamin. The incidents of her life may be
that edition, Is to represe nt 1*1, the hard guttural
aspirate, by h («. g. Halab for rTJO) : tba eh (hard.
of course) they r e serve with equal consistency ibr 3,
On this principle Rachel should have been givao
throughout " Rahel," as Indeed It Is in one case, re-
tained In the most modern editions — Jar. zxxl 1ft
And In the earlier editions of the Bngllsh Bible ('■ f
1640, 1561, 1666) we Had Rahel throughout. It Is
diBcult not to suspect that Rachel (however orig-
inating) was a favorite woman's name to the latter
part of the 16th and barinntng of the 17th centuries,
and that It was substituted for the lass familiar though
■note accurate Rahel to deference to that fact and In
obedience to the rule laid down for the guidance of
the translators, that " the names to the text an to be
retained as near as may be, accordingly as they are
vulgarly used."
Raehael (so common in the literature of a usuluij
I ago) Is a corruption as Rebecca of Rabcfcah 4)
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2660
RACHEL
Hand ia Gen. xxix. ~ xxxiii., xxxr The story of
'»cob end Racbel bus always bad ■ peculiar inter-
ttt; there ia that in it which appeals to some of
the deepest feelings of the human heart. The
beauty of Rachel, the deep love with which she
was loved by Jacob from their firot meeting by the
well of Haran, when be showed to her the simple
courtesies of the desert life, and kissed her and told
her he was Rebekah'i sou : the tone servitude with
which he patiently served for her, in which the
seven years " seemed to him but a few days, for
the lore he had to her; " their marriage at last,
alter tbe cruel disappointment through the fraud
which substituted the elder sister in the place of
the younger; and the death of Rachel at tbe very
time when in giving birth to another son her own
Ionic-delayed hopes were accomplished, and she had
become still more endeared to her husband; his
deep grief anil ever-living regrets for her loss (Gen.
xlviii. 7): these things make up a touching tale
of personal and domestic history which has kept
alive the memory of Rachel — the beautiful, the
beloved, the untimejy taken away — and has pre-
served to this day a reveren«> for her tomb ; the
very infidel invaders of C. Holy l-and having
respected the traditions of the site, and erected
over the spot a small rude shrine, which conceals
whatever remains may h»ve once been found of the
pillar first set up by her mourning husband over
her grave.
Yet from what is related to us concerning Ra-
chel's character there does not seem much to claim
any high degree of admiration and esteem. The
discontented and fretful impatience shown in her
grief at beinj for a time childless, moved even her
fond husband to anger (Gen. xxx. 1, 8). She ap-
pears, moreover, to have shared all the duplicity and
falsehood of her family, of which we have such pain-
ful instances in Rebekah, in Laban, and not least
in her sister Leah, who consented to bear her part
In the deception practiced upon Jacob. See, for
instance, Rachel's stealing her Dither's images, and
the ready dexterity and presence of mind with
which she concealed her theft (Gen. xixi.) : we seem
to detect here an apt scholar in her father's school
of untruth From this incident we may also infer
(though this is rather the misfortune of her posi-
tion and circumstances) that she was not altogether
free from the superstitions and idolatry which pre-
vailed in the land whence Abraham had been called
(Josh. xxiv. 2, 14), and which still to some degree
infected even those families among whom the true
God was known.
The events which preceded the death of Rachel
ire of much interest and worthy of a brief consid-
eration. The presence in his household of these
idolatrous iinnges, which Rachel and probably
others also had brought from the East, seems to
have been either unknown to or connived at by
Jacob for some years after his return from Haran;
sill, on being reminded by the Lord of the vow
which he bad made at Bethel when he fled from
the face of Esau, and being bidden by Him to erect
an altar to the God who appeared to him there,
• Hebrew CJeraA; In the LX.X. here, xlvUt. 7, and
I K. v. 19, Xa/SpoM. This ssems to hare bean ac-
cepted as tbe name of the spot (Demetrius In Bus. Pr
Be. lx 21), and to have been actually encountered
twee by a traveller In the 12th cent. (Burcbard de
hrubuif, by Saint Oenols, p. 86), who gives the
tnbt? name of Rachel's tomb as Cabntfa or CarixUa.
RACHEL
Jacob felt the glaring impiety of thus sctancrr aa>
peering before God with the taint of imfiety elect-
ing to him or his, and " said to his household are"
all that were with him. Put away the strange gods
from among you " (Gen. xxxr. 9). After thai
casting out the polluting thing from his house, Ja-
cob journeyed to Bethel, where, amidst the associa-
tions of a spot consecrated by the memories of the
past, he received from God an emphatic promise
and blessing, and, the name of the Supplanter br-
ing laid aside, he had given to him instead the holy
name of Israel. Then it was, after his spirit had
been there purified and strengthened by commun-
ion with God, by the assurance of the Divine love
and favor, by tbe consciousness of ev3 put away
and duties performed, then it was, as he journeyed
away from Bethel, that the chastening blow fob
and Rachel died. These circumstances are alluded
to here not so much for their bearing upon tbe spir-
itual discipline of Jacob, but rather with reference
to Rachel herself, as suggesting the hope that they
may have had their effect in bringing her to a higher
sense of her relations to that Great Jehovah in whom
her husband, with all his faults of character, so
firmly believed.
Rochet $ Tomb. — » Rachel died and was buried
in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And
Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the piflai
of Rachel's grave unto thh) day " (Gen. xxxr. 19
30). As Rachel ia the first related instance of
death in childbearing, so this pillar over her grave
is the first recorded example of the setting up of a
sepulchral monument; caves having been up to this
time spoken of as the ususl places of burial. The
spot wsa well known in the time of Samuel and
Saul (1 Sam. x. 2); and the prophet Jeremiah, by
a poetic figure of great force and beauty, r epre s en ts
the buried Rachel weeping for the loss and captiv-
ity of her children, as tbe bands of the exiles, led
away on their road to Babylon, passed near her
tomb (Jer. xxxi. 15-17). St Matthew (ii. 17, 18)
applies this to the slaughter by Herod of the infants
at Bethlehem.
The position of tbe Ramah here spoken of is one
ofthe disputed questions in the topography of Pal-
estine ; hut the site of Rachel's tomb, " on the way
to Bethlehem," "a little way ■ to eome to Eph-
rath," " in the border of Benjamin," has never been
questioned. It is about 2 miles S- of Jerusalem,
and one mile N. of Bethlehem. 6 " It is one of the
shrines which Muslims, Jews, and Christians agree
in honoring, and concerning which their traditions
are identical." It was visited by MaundreU, 1697.
The description given by Dr. Robinson (i. 818)
may serve as the representative of the many ac-
counts, all agreeing ~ith each other, which may be
read in almost every ocok of eastern travel. It ii
" merely an ordinary Muslim Wely, or tomb of a
holy person, a small square building of stone with
a dome, and within it a tomb in the ordinary Mo-
hammedan form, the whole plastered over with mor-
tar. Of course the building is not ancient: in the
seventh century there was here only a pyramid tf
stones. It is now neglected and failing to deeey.'
• • The distance of Rachel's tomb Is at hast 6 a
from Jerusalem, and not more than half a mile (rets
Bethlehem. H.
c Since Robinson's last visit, It has barn link) lows
by the addition of a square court on the east sMa
with bath walls and arches (Later f im m tku , SSI
Digitized by VjOOQlC
HATlTlAI
RAGES
SGU1
_ i pilgrimages are still made to it by the Jew* ituis spot for the tomb of Rachel aannot ml b»
tm» n»ked walk are covered with name* in several i drawu in question, since it ii roll; iupported by
hngmges, many of them in Hebrew. The general I the circumstances of the Scriptural narrative. It
eorreotnesa of the tradition which haa fixed upon | la also mentioned by the Itm. ifieras., A. o. M>,
Bethel's Tomb.
and by Jerome (Ep. lxxxvi. ad Euetoeh., Epitaph.
Paula) in tbe aame century." ■
Those who take an interest in such interpreta-
tions may find the whole story of Rachel and Leah
allegorized by St. Augustine (contra Fautttm Ma-
nichamm, xxli., lL-iriii. vol. riii. 433, ete., ed. Higne),
and Justin Martyr {Dialogue nth Trfpho, c 134,
p. 360). E. P. E.
B ADD AI (*• •£> [breaJmg down, Gee.] : [Vat.]
Za33<u; [Rom.] Za$Sat; [Alex. VaSSai :] Joseph.
"PdijXoi: Raddai). One of Darid's brothers, fifth
son of Jesse (I Chr. ii. 14). He does not appear
In the Bible elsewhere than in this list, unless he
be, as Ewald conjecture* (Guchichie, iii. 366 note),
Identical with Rki. But this does not seem prob-
able. Fiirst (ffandwo. ii. 356*) considers tbe final
i of the name to be a remnant of Jab or Jehovah
[= J. ie freedom]. G.
KA'GATJCPa-yaS: Ragau). 1. A place named
only in Jud. 1. 5, 15. In the latter passage the
" mountains of Ragau " are mentioned. It is prob-
ably identical with Raok*.
St. One of the anoestora of our Lord, the son of
Phalec (Luke lit 35). He is the aame person
with Rso son of Peleg; and the difference in the
name arises from our translators baring followed
the Greek form, in which the Hebrew V was fre-
eajantty expr esse d by 7, as is the case In Ragual
« • for th* (nnnds of the tradition that Isabel
me tmrlsd In this place, see Dr. Boetnson's argument,
ML amam, I. 60S £ H.
(which once occurs for Reuel), Gomorrha, Gutt»
liah (for Atboliah), Phogor (for Peor), ete. G.
RA'GES ('PaVyi, 'Piiyoi: tt'iytt) was an impor-
tant city In northeastern Media, where that coun-
try bordered upon Parthia. It is not mentioned
In the Hebrew Scriptures, but occurs frequently in
the Book of Tobit (i. 14, v. 5, vi. 9, 12, Ac.), and
twice in Judith [in tbe form of Kaoau] (i. 6, 15)
Aooording to Tobit, it was a place to which some
of the Israelitlsh captives taken by Shalmaneasr
(Enemessar) had been transported, and thither the
angel Raphael conducted the young Tobiah. In
the Book of Judith it is made the scene of the great
battle between Nabuchodonosor and Arphaxad,
wherein the latter is said to hare been defeated
and taken prisoner. Neither of these accounts can
be regarded as historic ; but the latter may con-
ceal a fact of some importance in the history of the
city.
Rages is a plaoe mentioned by a great nuu.bsr
of profane writers. It appears as Hughs in tbe
Zendavesta, in Isidore, and in Stephen ; as Kags in
the inscriptions of Darius; Rhage in Duris of Su-
mos (Fr. 95), Strabo (xl. 9, § 1), and Arrian (£ay%
Alex. ill. 30); and Rhagea in Ptolemy (vi 5).
Properly speaking, Rages is a town, but the town
gave name to a province, which is sometimes called
Rage* or Rhagss, sometimes Rhagiana. It appears
from the Zendavesta that here was one of th* earli-
est settlements of the Aryans, who were mingled, ha
Rhagiana, with two other races, and were thus
brought into contact with heretics (Bunaen, PkUot
ophy of Umvertal Bietory, iii. 485). Isidore sells
Rages " th* greatest dty in Media " (p. «), \" '
Digitized by
Google
1
2662
RAGUKL
stay bare been true in hi* day; but other writan
commonly rigeid it as much Inferior to Ecbatana.
It ni the place to which Frawartuh (Phraortes),
the Median rebel, fled, when defeated by Darius Hys-
tatpis, and at which he waa made prisoner by one of
Darius' generals (Bek. Inter, col. ii. par. 13). [Me-
dia.] This is probably the bet which the apocry-
phal writer of Judith had in his mind when he
spoke of Arphaxad as baring been captured at Ka-
gau. When Darius Codomannus fled from Alexan-
der, intending to make a final stand in Bactria, he
must have passed through Rages on his way to the
Caspian Gates ; and so we find that Alexander ar-
rived there in pursuit of his enemy, on the eleventh
day after be quitted Ecbatana (Arrian, Exp. Alex.
iii. 30). In the troubles which followed the death
of Alexander, ltages appears to hare gone to decay,
but it was soon after rebuilt by Seleueus I. (Nica-
tor), who gave it tbe name of Europus (Strab. xi.
13, § 8; Steph. Byz.' ad vuc. ). When the Farthi-
ans took it, they called it Arsacia, after the Arsa-
ees of the day; but it soon afterwards recovered its
ancient appellation, as we see by Strabo and Isi-
dore. That appellation <t has ever since retained,
with only a slight corruption, the ruins being still
known by the name ol JViey. These ruins lie about
five miles southeast of Teheran, and cover a space
4,500 yards long by 3,500 yards liroad. The walls
are well marked, and are of prodigious thickness;
they appear to hare been flanked by strong towers,
and are connected with a lofty citadel at their
northeastern angle. Tbe importance of the place
consisted in its vicinity to the Caspian Gates, which,
in a certain sense, it guarded. Owing to the bar-
leu and desolate character of the great salt desert
of Iran, every army which seeks to pass from Bac-
tria, India, and Afghanistan to Media and Meso-
potamia, or vice verti, must skirt the range of
mountains which runs along the southern shore of
the Caspian. These mountains send out a rugged
and precipitous spur in about long. 53 s 25' E.
from Greenwich, which runs far into the desert, and
can only be rounded with the extronieat difficulty.
Across this spur is a single pass, — the Pylsj Cas-
pian of the ancients, — and of this pass the posses-
sors of Bhages must have at all times held the keys.
Tbe modem Teheran, built out of its ruins, has
now superseded Rhty; and it is perhaps mainly
from the importance of its position that it has
become the Persian capital. (For an account of the
ruins of Hhey, see Ker Porter's Travelt, i. 35"
KU; and compare Fraser's Khoraisan, p. 886.)
G. E.
KAGU'KL, or KEU'EL (Vr*nH [/<"»«»<»
e/ Uci]: 'PtrvovfjA : Rnguel). 1. A prince-priest
of Midian, the father of Zipporah according to Ex.
U. 81, and of Hobab according to Num. x. 29. As
the father-in-law of Moses is named Jethro in Ex.
Ui. 1, and Hohab in Judg. iv. 11, and perhaps in
Hum. x. 39 (though the latter passage admits of
another sense), the primd fade view would be that
Kagud, Jethro, and Hobab were different names
far tbe same individual. Such is probably the case
with regard to the two first at all events, if not
with tbe third. [Hobab.] One of tbe names
■ay repre se n t an official title, but whether Jethro
tr Bagnd, is uncertain, both being appropriately
• Jotturo- " preeminent,'' from ~VV<, « to •zeal,"
I tat^ - " tnend of (Jod,'' from *7W W1.
BAHAB
significant:* Josephue was in favor U Hat I
(voire, i (• leeVyAeubr, if iwlmKit/m rf "Pur
■yov*>f>, Ant. ii. 18, i 1), and tins is not nnlikehr
as the name Reuel was not an uncommon one. The
identity of Jethro aud Reuel it tnpported by the
indiscriminate use of the names in the LXX. (Ex.
ii. 16, 18); and the application of mora than one
name to the same individual was a usage familiar
to the Hebrews, as instanced in Jacob and Israel,
Solomon and Jedidiah, and other similar eataa.
Anotber solution of tbe difficulty has been sought
in the loose use of terms of relationship among
tbe Hebrews; as that caouWm,* in Ex. iii. 1, xtiii.
1 ; Num. x. SB, may signify any relation by mar-
riage, and consequently that Jethro and Hobab
were hrothers-in-law of Motes; or thai the term*
ab« and balk,* in Ex. It 16, 21, mean gr andf ather
aud granddaughter. Neither of these assumptions
is satisfactory, the former in the absence of an;
corroborative evidence, tbe latter because the omis-
sion of Jethro the father's name in to circumstan-
tial a narrative at in Ex. ii. it inexplicable, nor can
we conceive the indiscriminate use of the terms
father and grandfather without good cause. Nev-
ertheless tins view has a strong weight of author-
ity in its favor, being supported by the Targam
JooaUian, Aben fin, Michaelia, Winer, and others.
W. L.B.
3. Another transcription of the name Rkckl
occurring in Tobit, where Ragud, a pious Jew of
'• Ecbatane, a city of Media," it father of Sara the
wife of Tobias (Tob. iii. 7, 17, 4c.). ' The name was
not uncommon, and in the book of Enoch it h) ap-
plied to one of tbe great guardian angels of the
universe, who was charged with the execution of
tbe Divine judgments on the (material) world and
the stars (co. xx. 4, xxiii. 4, ed. DUlmano).
B.F. W.
BA'HAB, or RA'CHAB (3TTI [orooot
large]: 'PaviijS, and TWj3: Rakab, and Raab).
a celebrated woman of Jericho, who leue i red tbe
spies tent by Joshua to spy out the land, hid them
in her bouse from the pursuit of her countrymen,
was saved with all her family when the Israelites
sacked tbe city, and became the wist of Salmon,
and tbe ancestress of the Messiah.
Her history may be told in a few words. At
the time of the arrival of the Israelites in Canaan
she was t young unmarried woman, dwelling in a
house of her own alone, though the had a father
and mother, and brothers and sisters, living in Jer-
icho. She was a '• harlot," and probably combined
the trade of lodging-keeper for wayfaring men. She
teems also to have bean engaged in the manufac-
ture of linen and the art of dyeing, for which tbe
Phoenicians were early famous; since we find the
flat roof of her bouse covered with stalks of flax
put there to dry, and a stock of scarlet or crimson
CStP) line in her house: a circumstance which,
coupled with the mention of Babylonish garments
at Josh. vii. 81, as among the spoilt of Jericho, in-
dicates tbe existence of a trade in such articles be-
tween Phoenicia and Mesopotamia. Her house was
situated on tbe wall, probably near the town gate
so as to be convenient for persons coming in and
going out of the city. Traders coming front Mes-
opotamia or Egypt to Phamicia would frequently
MOK
=*
-ni.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
BAHAB
ass through Jcriobo, situated as it ni near the
bras of the Jordan; and of these man; would re-
tort to the house of Rahab. Rahab therefore had
been well Informed with regard to the events of the
Exodus. She had heard of the passage through
the Red Sea, of the utter destruction of Sihon and
<)g, and of the irresistible progress of the Israel-
itish host. The effect upon her mind had been
what one would not hare expected in a person of
her way of life. It led her to a Arm faith in Jeho-
vah as the true God, and to the conviction that He
purposed to give the land of Canaan to the Israel-
ites When therefore the two spies sent by Joshua
»»flie to her house, they found themselves under the
ro. f of one who, alone probably of the whole pop-
ulation, was friendly to their nation. Their com-
ing, however, was quickly known ; and the king of
Jericho, having received information of it while
at supper, according to Joseph™, sent that very
evening to require her to deliver them up. It is
very likely that, her house being a public one, some
one who resorted there may have seen and recog
nixed the spies, and gone off at once tu report the
matter to the authorities. But not without awak-
ening Rahab's suspicions; for she immediately hid
the men among the flax-stalks which were piled on
the flat roof of ber house, and, on the arrival of the
officers sent to search her house, was ready with the
story that two men, of what country she knew not,
had, it was true, been to ber house, but had left it
just before the gates were shut for the night. If
they pursued them at once, she added, they would
he sure to overtake them. Milled by the false in-
formation, the men started in pursuit to the fords
of the Jordan, the gates having been opened to let
them out, and immediately closed again. When
all was quiet, and the people were gone to bed,
Kahab stole up to the house-top, told the spies
what had happened, and assured them of ber faith
in the God of Israel, and her confident expectation
of the capture of the whole land by them ; an ex
pectation, she added, which was shared by her coun-
trymen, and had produced a great panic amongst
them. She then told them ber plan for their escape.
It was to let them down by > cord from the win-
dow of her house which looked over the city wall,
and that they should flee into the mountains which
hounded the plains of Jericho, and lie hid there
for three days, by which time the pursuers would
have returned, and the fords of the Jordan be open
to them again. She asked, in return for her kind-
ness to them, that they should swear by Jehovah,
that when their countrymen had taken the city
they would spare her life, and the lives of her father
and mother, brothers and sisters, and all that be-
longed to them. The men readily consented, and
it was agreed between them that she should hang
jut her scarlet line at the window from which they
aad escaped, and bring all ber family under her
roof. If any of ber kindred went out of doors into
the street, his blood wuuld be upon his own bead,
and the Israelites in that case would be guiltless.
Th« event proved the wisdom of her precautions.
The pursuers returned to Jericho after a fruitless
search, and the spies got safe back to the Israelitish
samp. The news they brought of the terror of
he Oanaanites doubtless inspired Israel with fresh
•oarage, and, within three days of their return,
a duaflv by Ontbov, a Dutch professor, In the Bib-
toes. AVeswiti. The earliest expression of any doubt
a hy Iheoahf-leet In the 11th oentary.
RAHAB
266*
the passage of the Jordan was effected. In the
utter destruction of Jericho which ensued, Joeb.e»
gave the strictest orders for the preservation of Re-
hab and her family; and accordingly, before the
city was burnt, the two spies were sent to her house,
and they brought out her, ber father and mother,
and brothers, and kindred, and all that she had,
and placed them in safety in the Israelitish camp.
The narrator adds, "and she dwelleth in Israel
unto this day; " not necessarily implying that she
was alive at the time he wrote, but that the family
of strangers of which she was reckoned the bead,
continued to dwell among the children of Israel.
May not the 345 "children of Jericho," mentioned
in Ezr. ii. 84, Nell. vii. 36, and << the men of Jeri-
cho " who assisted Nehemiah in rebuilding the walla
of Jerusalem (Neh. iii. 2), have been their poster-
ity? Their continued sojourn among the Israel-
ites, as a distinct family, would be exactly analo-
gous to the cases of the Kenites, tbe house of
Rechab, tbe Gibeonites, the house of Caleb, and
perhaps others.
As regards Rahab herself, we learn from Matt. I.
S, that she became the wife of Salmon the son of
Naasson, and the mother of Boaz, Jesse's grand-
father. The suspicion naturally arises that Salmon
may have been one of the spies whose life she saved,
and that gratitude for so great s benefit led in his
case to a more tender passion, and obliterated the
memory of any past disgrace attaching to her name.
We are expressly told that the spies were " young
men" (Josh. vi. S3), fsoWo-koiu, ii. 1, LXX.;
and the example of the former spies who were sent
from Kadesh-Barnea, wbo were all " heads of Is-
rael" (Num. xiii. 3), as well as the importance of
the service to be performed, would lead one to
expect that they would be persons of high station.
But, however this may be, it is certain, on the au-
thority of St. Matthew, that Rahab became the
mother of the line from which sprung David, and
eventually Christ; and there can be little doubt
that it was jo stated in the public archives from
which the Evangelist extracted our I-ord's geneal -
ogy, in which only four women are named, namely,
Thamar, Rachab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, who were
all apparently foreigners, and named for that rea-
son. [B\th-Shua.] For that the Rachab men-
tioned by St. Matthew is Rahab the harlot, is aa
certain as that David in the genealogy is the same
person as David in the books of Samuel. The at-
tempts that hare been made to prove Rachab dif-
ferent from Rahab," in order to get out of the
chronological difficulty, are singularly absurd, and
all the more so, because, even if successful, they
would not diminish the difficulty, as bng as Sal-
mon remains as the son of Naasson and the father
of Boaz. However, as there are still found » those
who follow Ontbov in his opinion, or at least speak
doubtfully, it may be aa well to call attention, with
Dr. Mill (p. 131), to the exact coincidence in the
age of Salmon, aa the son of Nahshon, wbo was
prince of the children of Judah in the wilderness,
and Rahab the harlot; and to observe that the only
conceivable reason for the mention of Rachab in
St. Matthew's genealogy is, that she waa a remark-
»*)le and well-known person, as Tamar, Ruth, and
Bathsneba were.' The mention of an utterly un-
o Valor's Orssk Test with Bng. notes, on Matt. I
6; Burrington, On t/u Qentalogiu, i. 193-4, fee.;
Kuinosl on Haft. I. S ; Olshausra. ».
" Than doss not seas- to be any forts in BnujaTa
Digitized by VjOOQlC
I
2064
BAHAB
known Rahab in the line would be absurd. The
sDutions to >• Rahab the harlot " in Heb. a. SI,
Jam. ii. 25, by classing her among those illustrious
for their faith, make it atill more impossible to sup-
pose that St. Matthew was speaking of any one
eke. The four successive generations, Nahshon,
Salmon, Boas, OI*d, are consequently as certain
as words can make them.
The character of Kahab has much and deep in-
terest. Dismissing as inconsistent with truth, and
with the meaning of H21T and xoprfi, the attempt
to clear her character of stain by saying that she
•as only an innkeeper, and not a harlot (xaria-
ftvrpla, Chrysostom and Cbald. Vers.), we may
yet notice that it is very possible that to a woman
of her country and religion such a calling may have
implied a far less deviation from the standard of
morality than it does with ns ("vita genus vile
magis quain fiagitiosum " Grotius), and, moreover,
that with a purer faith she seems to have entered
upon a pure life.
As a ease of casuistry, her conduct in deceiving
the king of Jericho's messengers with a false tale,
and, above all, in taking part against her own coun-
trymen, has been much discussed. With regard to
the first, strict truth, either in Jew or heathen, was
a virtue so utterly unknown before the promulgation
of the Gospel, that, as far as Kahab is concerned,
the discussion is quite superfluous. The question
as regards ourselves, whether in any case a false-
hood is allowable, any to save our own life or that
of another, is different, but need not be argue4
here." With regard to her taking part agaiust her
own countrymen, it can only be justified, but is
fully justified, by the circumstance that fidelity to
her country would in her case have been infidelity
to God, and that the higher duty to her Maker
eclipsed the lower duty to her native land. Her
anxious provision for the safety of her father's house
shows how alive she was to natural affections, and
seems to prove that she was not influenced by a self-
ish insensibility, but by an enlightened preference
for the service of the true God over the abominable
pollutions of Canannite idolatry. If her own life
of shame Iras in any way connected with that idol-
atry, one can readily understand what a further
stimulus this would give, now that her heart was
purified by faith, to her desire for the overthrow of
the nation to which she belonged by birth, and the
establishment of that to which she wished to belong
by a community of faith and hops. Anyhow, al-
lowing for the difference of circumstances, her feel,
ings and conduct were analogous to those of a
, Christian Jew in St. Paul's time, who should have
preferred the triumph of the Gospel to the triumph
of the old Judaism; or to those of a converted
Hindoo in our own days, who should side with
( hristian Englishmen against the attempts of his
i«n countrymen to establish the supremacy either
af Brahma or Mohammed.
Thia view of Rahab's conduct is fully borne out
by the references to her in the X. T. The author
of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that " by fiuth
BAHAB
the harlot Rahab perished not with them that be-
lieved not, when she had received the spies with
peace" (Heb. xi. 31); and St James fortifies his
doctrine of justification by works, by asking, " Wat
not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she
had received the messengers, and had sent them
out another way?" (Jam. ii. 28.) And in like
manner Clement of Home says, " Kahab the harlot
was saved for her faith and hospitality " («d Co-
rinth. xii.).
The Fathers generally (miro consensu, Jnodbmm )
consider the deliverance of Kahab as typical of sal-
vation, and the scarlet Hue bung out at her win.
dow as typical of the blood of Jesus, in the sams
way as the ark of Noah and the blood of the pas-
chal lamb were; a view which is borne oat by the
analogy of the deliverances, and by the language
of Heb. xi. 31 (rott iwuHaaatr, "the disobe-
dient "), compared with 1 Pet iii. 20 (owctr^o-ae-fo
wort). Clement (»rf Corinth, xii.) is the first to
do so. He says that by the symbol of the scarlet
line it was " made manifest that there shall be re>
demotion through the blood of the Lord to all who
believe and trust in God; " and adds, thai Kahab
in thia was a prophetess as well as a believer, a
sentiment in which he is followed by Origen (us lib.
J ei., Horn. iii.). Justin Martyr in like manner
calls the scarlet line •• the sym";j u of the blood of
Christ, by which those of all nations, who once were
harlots and unrighteous, are saved ; " and in a b"k»
spirit Ireueus draws from the story of Rahab lb*
conversion of the Gentiles, and the admission of
publicans and harlots into the kingdom of heaven
through the symbol of the scarlet line, which be
compares with the Passover and the Exodus. Am-
brose, Jerome, Augustine (who, like Jerome and
Cyril, takes Ps. lxxxvii. 4 to refer to Kahab the
harlot), and Theodoret, all follow in the same track:
but Origen, as usual, carries the allegory still fur-
ther. Irenaeus makes the singular mistake of call-
ing the spies thrtt, and makes them symbolical of
the Trinity! The comparison of the scarlet lit*
with the scarlet thread which was bound round the
hand of Zarah is a favorite one with them.'
The Jews, as might perhaps be expected, are
embarrassed as to what to say concerning Rahab.
They praise her highly for her conduct ; but some
Rabbis give out that she was not a Canaanite, bat
of some other Gentile race, and was only a so-
journer iu Jericho. The Gemara of Babylon men-
tions a tradition that she became the wife of
Joshua, a tradition unknown to Jerome (oaV. Ju-
ris).), and eight persons who were both priests and
prophets sprung from her, and alas Huldah tba
prophetess, mentioned 2 R. xxii. 14 (see Patrick,
ad loe.). Josephus describes her as an innkeeper,
and her house as an inn (mmrvaVyior), and neve*
applies to her the epithet veprn, which is the term
used by the LXX.
Rahab is one of the not very numerous cases of
the calling of Gentiles before the coming of Christ;
and her deliverance from the utter destruction
which fell upon her countrymen is so beautifully
illustrative of the salvation revealed in the Gospel
emark, adopted by Olihausen, that the article (fa rfr
P*Xtf0) proves that Rahab of Jericho Is meant, seeing
mat all the proper names in the genealogy, which an
si the oblique csm, have the article, though many of
■jess ueeur nowhere else ; and that it is omitted before
tsaaiat in v«r. 16.
a The question, in referents both to Rahab and to
Christians, Is well illsrnsssd by Avguettno rsHSr. Jam
daeium (Ofp. vi. 88, 84: eomp. Bollinger, Is! Arc
Strm. Iv.).
» Bollinger (fits Du. Strm. vi.) views ths One ss
sign and seal of ths covenant b et we e n the T
and Rahab.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
KAHAB
that it ■ impossible not to believe that it n> ia
me fullest sense a type of the redemption of the
•arid by Jesai Christ.
See the articles Jericho; Joshua. Also Ben-
pi. Ughtfoot, Alford, Wordsworth, and Olshausen
mi Matt. L 5; Patrick, Urotius, and Hitzig on
Josh. ii. ; Or. Mill, DetcerU and Pnrtntngt of the
Saviour; Enid, Gaickichte, ii. 820, etc.; Jose-
ph™, Ant. t. 1; Clemens Rom. ad Corinth, cap.
iii.; Ireuens, a. Haw. iv. 20, § 12 ; Just. Hart
amir. Tn/ph. p. 11 ; Jerome, adv. Juvin. lib. i.;
Kpitl. xxxiv. ad NtpoU ; Breviar. in Pi. lxxxvi. ;
Origan, Horn, in Jetmn Nave, iii. and vi. ; Comm.
m Math. xxvii. ; Chrysoat Bom. 3 in Matth., also 3
in Ep. ad Bom.] Ephr. Syr. Rhythm 1 and 7
on Natit., Rhythm 7 on Me Faith ; Cyril of Jerui.,
CattchtL Lect. ii. 0, x. 11 : Bullinger, I. e. ; Tyn-
dale, Doetr. Treat, x. 11 ; (Parker Soc.), pp. 119,
120; Schleuaner, Lexic. ff. T. a. t. wiprn-
A.GH.
RA'HAB (arjn: [in Pi. Ixxxvii. 4] 'Pud$:
Raliab [Job xxvi. 12, to (rij-ros, Ps. lxxxix. 10,
frr<p4e>aj>05; Is. Ii. 9, LXX. omit: super-ius]),
a poetical name of Egypt. The name signifies
"fierceness, insolence, pride;" if Hebrew, when
applied to Egypt, it would indicate the national
character of the inhabitants. Gesenius thinks it
was probably of Egyptian origin, but accommodated
to Hebrew, although no likely equivalent has been
found in Coptic, or, we may add, in ancient Egyp-
tian (The$. a. v.). That the Hebrew meaning is
alluded to in connection with the proper name, does
not seem to prove that the latter is Hebrew, but
this is rendered very probable by its apposite char-
acter, and its sole use in poetical books.
This word occurs in a passage in Job, where It is
usually translated, as in the A. V., instead of being
treated as a proper name. Yet if the passage be
compared with parallel ones, there can scarcely be
a doubt that it refers to the Exodus, " He divideth
the sea with His power, and by His understanding
He smiteth through the proud " [or " Kahab "]
(xxvi. 12). The prophet Isaiah calls on the arm of
the Lord, •' [Art] not thou it that hath cut Ka-
hab [and] wounded the dragon ? [Art] not thou
it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the
great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea
a way for the ransomed to pass over?" (Ii. 9, 10;
camp. 15). In Ps. Ixxiv. the division of the sea is
mentioned in connection with breaking the heads
of the dragons and the heads of the leviathan
(13, 14). So too in Ps. lxxxix. God's power to
subdue the sea is spoken of immediately before a
mention of his having " broken Rahab in pieces "
(9, 10). Rahab, as a name of Egypt, occurs once
only without reference to the Exodus: this is in
Psalm lxxxvii., where Rahab, Babylon, Philistia,
Tyre, and Cush are compared with /ion (4, 6).
In one other passage the name is alluded to, with
tference to its Hebrew signification, where it is
lophesied that the aid of the Egyptians should
wet avail those, who sought it, and this sentence
sUowt: rqttJ Dil ann, •> Insolence [«'. e. 'the
nsolent '], they ait still " (Is. xxx. 7), as Gesenics
•ads, considering it to be undoubtedly a proverbial
scpreerion. K. S. P.
lVa/H AM (CtTI [womb, maiden] : 'Po^; [Vat.
•«•>.•] Raham). In the genealogy of the de-
ilt of Caleb the son of Hezron (1 Chr. B. 44),
is described as the son of Shema and father
RAIN 2600
of Jorkoam. Rashi and the author rf the (kusat n%
Para!., attributed to Jerome, regard Jorkoam as a
place, of which Raham was founder and prince.
R A'HEL (brn [am, iheep] : 'Pox<A ' Rachel)
The more accurate form of the familiar name else-
where rendered Rachel. In the older English
versions it is employed throughout, but survives
in the Authorised Version of 1611, ud in our
present Bibles, in Jer. xxxi. 15 only. G.
RAIN. "l^a (mttar), and also Q#S
(gtihtm), which, when it differs from the common
word "^9' »'g n i'* e * * moFe violent rain ; it is
also used as a generic term, including the tally
and latter rain (Jer. v. 24; Joel it 23).
Eaklt Raw, the rains of the autumn, JTTT
(yrfreA), part, subst. from i"nj, •• he scattered "
(Deut xL 14; Jer. v. 24); also the hiphil part
rrj'm (Joel a. 23): a«roj wp&pa, lxx.
Lattkr. Rahj, the rain of spring, B71p75
(milUth) (Prov. xvi. 15; Job xxix. 23; Jer. iii.' 8
Hos. vi. 3; Joel ii. 23; Zech. x. 1); biros 6tf»uo*.
The early and latter rains are mentioned together
(Deut xi. 14; Jer. v. 24; Joel ii. 23; Hot. vi. 3;
James v. 7).
Another word, of a more poetical character, it
B s 3 N 2n (rebtbtm, a plural form, connected with
rob, •• many," from the multitude of the drops),
translated in our version " showers " (Deut xxxiL
2; Jer. iii. 3, xiv. 22; Hie. v. 7 (Heb. 8); Ps.
Ixt. 10 (Heb. 11), Ixxii. 6). The Hebrews hart
also the word DTT (arm), expressing violent rain,
storm, tempest, accompanied with hail — in Job
xxiv. 8, the heavy rain which comes down on
mountains ; and the word "V"T3D (ingrir), which
occurs only in Prov. xxvii. 15, continuous and heavy
rain, iy rtnipa x«jut piiy-
In a country comprising so many varieties of
elevation as Palestine, there must of necessity oc-
cur corresponding varieties of climate; an account
that might correctly describe the peculiarities of
the district of Lebanon, would be in many respects
inaccurate when applied to the deep depression and
almost tropical climate of Jericho. In any general
statement, therefore, allowance must be made for
not inconsiderable local variations. Compared with
England, Palestine would be a country in which
rain would be much less frequent than with our-
selves ; contrasted with the districts most familial
to the children of Israel before their settlement in
the land of promise, Egypt and the Desert, rain
might be spoken of as one of its distinguishing
characteristics (Deut. xi. 10, 11; Herodotus iii. 10).
For six months in the year no rain falls, and the
harvests are gathered in without any of the anxiety
with which we are so familiar lest the work be in-
terrupted by unseasonable storms. In this respect
at least the climate has remained unchanged since
the time when Boaz slept by his heap of corn; and
the sending thunder and rain in wheat harvest was
a miracle which filled the people with fear and
wonder (1 Sam. xii. 18-18); and Solomon could
speak of "rain in harvest " as the most forcible ex-
presshn for conveying the idea of something ut-
terly out of place and unnatural (Prov. xxvi. 1).
There are, however, very considerable, and peihaps
more than compensating, disadvantages oocaaintd
Digitized by VjOOQlC
8666 rain
by this long absence of nia: the whole lend be-
— I dry, parched, and brown, the oieterrw are
empty, the springs mid fountains mil, and the au-
tumnal rain* are eagerly looked for to prepare the
earth for the reception of the seed. These, the
early rains, commence about the latter end of Oc-
tober or beginning of November, in Lebanon a
month earlier: not suddenly but by degrees; the
busliaudinan has thus the opportunity of sowing
his fields of wheat and barley. The rains come
mostly from the west or southwest (Luke xii. Ml,
continuing for two or three days at a time, and
railing chiefly during the night; the wind then
shifts round to the north or east, and several days
of flue weather succeed (Prov. xrv. 38). During
the months of November and December the rains
aautiniie to fall heavily, but at intervals; after-
snsua they return, only at longer intervals, and
see leas heavy ; but at no period during the winter
de they entirely cease. January and February are
the oddest months, and snow falls sometimes to
the death of a foot or more, at Jerusalem, but it
does net lie long; It is very seldom seen along the
esast and in the low plains. Thin ice occasionally
covers the pools for a few days, and while 1'orter
was writing his Handbook, the snow was eight
inches deep at Damascus, and the iee a quarter
of an inch thick. Bain continues to fall more
or less during the month of March; it is very
rare in April, aud even in Lebanon tie showers
that ooeur are generally light In the valley of
the Jordan the barley harvest begins as early as
the middle of April, and the wheat a fortnight
later; hi I^ebanon the grain is seldom ripe before
the middle of June. (See Robinson, Biblical Re-
tewelitt, i. 429; and Porter, ffondfoat, p. xlviii.)
(Palestine, p. 2318.]
With respect to the distinction between the early
and the latter rains, Robinson observes that there
are not at the present day " any particular periods
of rain or succession of showers, which might be
regarded as distinct rainy seasons. The whole pe-
ried from October to March now constitutes only
sue continued season of rain without any regularly
.ntervening term of prolonged fine weather. Un-
less, therefore, there has been some change in the
climate, the early and tbe latter rains for which the
husbandman waited with longing, seem rather to
have implied the first showers of autumn which
wived the parched and thirsty soil and prepared
t for the seed ; and the later showers of spring
which continued to refresh and forward both the
ripening crops and the vernal products of the
fields " (James v. 7; Prov. xvi. 16).
In April and May tbe sky is usually serene;
showers occur occasionally, but they are mild and
.^freshing. On tbe 1st of May Robinson experi-
enced showers at Jerusalem, and " at evening there
was thunder aud lightning (which are frequent in
winter), with pleasant and reviving rain. Tbe 8th
of May was also remarkable for thunder and for
several showers, some of which were quite heavy.
The rains of both these days extended far to the
north, .... but the occurrence of rain so late in
tbe season was regarded as a very unusual circum-
« * for a diary or the weather at Beirut from April,
*8Mt to May. 1848, by Dr. De Forest, m aimatology
t/ FaUuint In the KM. Sura, I. 221-224. The
sot* greatest rain #ef* November, Deeember, sad
, awl of least, Jane, July, August, and 8ep-
. Of the olansts of Naaerath in this and other
RAIN
(BiU.IUt.l4Mc hehsnashhsss* trnt
year 1838.)
In 1856, however, "there was vary heavy rase
accompanied with thunder all over the region of
Lebanon, extending to Beirut and Dsmsseas, oa
the 28th and 28th of May; but the oldest inhabi-
tant had never seen the like before, and it creased
says Porter (Handbook, xhriii.), almost as ranch
astonishment as the thunder and rain which Sam-
uel brought upon tbe Israelites during the time of
wheat harvest"
During Dr. Robinson's stay at Beirut on his
second visit to Palestine, in 18(2, there wen heavy
rains in March, once for five days continuously,
and the weather continued variable, with oecasionsJ
heavy rain, till tbe close of the first week in April.
The •• latter rains " thus continued this season for
nearly a month later than usual, and tbe result was
afterwards seen in the very abundant crops of win-
ter grain (Robinson, BiU. Ret. iii. 9).°
These details will, it is thought, better than any
generalized statement, enable the reader to form
his judgment on the '« former " and " tatter " rains
of Scripture, and may serve to Introduce a remark
or two on the question, about which some interest
has been felt, whether there has been any change
in the frequency and abundance of the rain in
Palestine, or in the periods of its supply. It is
asked whether " these stony hills, these deserted
valleys," can be the land flowing with milk and
honey; the land which God cared for; the land
upon which were always the eyes of the Lord, from
the beginning of the year to tbe end of the year
(l)eut. xi. 12). As far as relates to tbe other con-
siderations which may account for diminished fertil-
ity, such as the decrease of population and industry,
the neglect of terrace-culture and irrigation, and
husbanding the supply of water, it may suffice to
refer to the article on Aobicdltukk, and to
Stanley (Sinti and Palatine, pp. 120-128). With
respect to our more immediate subject, it is
urged that the very expression " flowing with milk
and honey " implies abundant rains to keep alive
the grass for the pasture of the numerous herds
supplying the milk, and to nourish the flowers
clothing the now bare hill-sides, from whence the
liees might gather their stores of honey. It a
urged that the supply of rain in its due season
seems to be promised as contingent upon the fldel
ity of the people (Deut xi. 13-15; Lev. xxvi. 3-5/
and that as from time to time, to punish tbe
people for their transgressions, " the showers hare
been withholden, and there hath been no latter
rain" (Jer. iii. 3; 1 K. xvii., xviii.), so now, in
the great and long-continued apostasy of the chil-
dren of Israel, there has come upon even the land
of their forfeited inheritance a like long-continued
withdrawal of the favor of God, who claims tbe
sending of rain as one of His special prerogatives
(Jer. xiv. 22).
Tbe early rains, it is urged, are by comparison
scanty and interrupted, tbe bitter rains have alto-
gether ceased, and hence, it is maintained, the ears*
has been fulfilled, >• Thy heaven that Is over thy
head shall be brass, and the earth that is I
respects, Tobler gives tall Information m his I
in Pal&Mtma, pp. 8-11. Thomson msntioos (Load
and Book, U. 86) that In Palestine the rain frsqasnttt
mils very unequally, soastowssnesasrtycTBSklaaf
pass over tbe nest (earns. Ass. iv. 7, 8). SL
Digitized by VjOOQlC
BAIN
fen shall be imo. Tbe Lord shall nuke the rain
sf thy land powder sod dust " (Deut xxviii. 83,
84; Lev. xxvi. 19). Without entering here into
the consideration of the justness of the interpreta-
tion which would alanine then prediction! of the
withholding of rain to be altogether different in the
manner of their infliction from the other calamities
denounced in these chapters of threatening, it would
appear that, as far as the question of fact is con-
cerned, there is scarcely sufficient reason to imagine
that any great and marked changes with respect to
the rains have taken place in Palestine. In early days,
as now, rain was unknown for half the year ; and
if we may judge from the allusions in Pror. xvi.
16, Job xxix. 83, the latter rain was even then,
while greatly desired and longed for, that which
was somewhat precarious, by no means to be abso-
lutely counted on as a nutter of course. If we are
to take as correct our translation of Joel ii. 23,
" the latter rain in the first (mouth <■)," i. e. Nisan
or Abib, answering to the latter part of March and
the early part of April, the times of the latter rain
in the days of the prophets would coincide with
those in which it falls now. The same conclusion
would be arrived at from Amos iv. 7 " I have
withholden the rain from you when there were yet
three months to the harvest." The rain here
spoken of is the latter rain, and an interval of
three months between tbe ending of the rain and
the beginning of harvest woulil seem to be in an
average year as exceptional now as it was when
Amos noted it as a Judgment of God. We may
infer also from the Song of Solomon ii. 11-
13, where is given a poetical description of the
bursting forth of vegetation in the spring, that
when the " winter " was past, the rain also was
over and gone: we can hardly, by any extension
of the term "winter," bring it down to a later
period than that during which the rains still fall.
[See Palestine, p. 3318.}
It may be added that travellers have, perhaps
unconsciously, exaggerated the barrenness of the
land, from confining themselves too closely to the
southern portion of Palestine; the northern por-
tion, Galilee, of such peculiar interest to the
readers of the Gospels, is fertile and beautiful (see
Stanley, Sinai ami Palestine, chap, x., and Van
de Vekle, there quoted ), and in his description of
the valley of Nnbhu, the ancient Shechem, Robin-
son (BM. Set. ii. 275) becomes almost enthusias-
tic: " Here a scene of luxuriant and almost un-
paralleled verdure burst upon our view. The
whole valley was filled with gardens of vegetables
and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by sev-
eral fountains, xhich burst forth iu various parts
and Sow westward in refreshing streams. It came
upon us suddenly, like a scene of fairy enchant-
bant. We saw nothing like it in all Palestine."
rhe account given by a recent lady traveller {Egyp-
tian Stpulchret and Syrian Shrinei, by Mi»»
Beaufort) of the luxuriant fruit-trees and vegeta-
bles which she saw at Meahullam's farm in tbe
valley of Urtas, a little south of Betblenem (pos-
sibly the site of Solomon's gardens. Keel. ii. 4-6),
■> The word " month " la supplied by our transla-
tors, and their rendering !s not supported by either the
uXX. (uMk ipirpoaeVv) or the Vnlg. (sicmi in principio)
laother Interpretation is Inured equally probable ; but
(he following passages, Q<n. vlH. IS, Num. tx. S. b.
Ota 17, xh. 18 2:,Ju»Uf, the reodertog ptTN"^
<sr .fee tat <av nth.
RAINBOW 8667
may serve to prove how mush now, as ever, saay be
effected by irrigation. 6
Rain frequently furnishes the writers of the Old
Testament with forcible and appropriate metaphors,
varying in their character according as they regard
it as the beneficent and fertilizing shower, or the
destructive storm pouring down the mountain-aide
and sweeping away the labor of years. Thus
Prov. xxviii. 3, of the poor that oppresseth the
poor: Ex. xxxviii. 22, of tbe just punishments and
righteous vengeance of God (compare Ps. xi. 6;
Job xx. 23). On the other hand, we have it used
of speech wise and fitting, refreshing tbe souls of
men ; of words earnestly waited for and heedfully
listened to (Deut xxxii. 2; Job xxix. 23); of the
cheering favor of the Lord coming down onoe more
upou the penitent soul; of the gracious presence
and influence for good of the righteous king among
his people; of the blessings, gifts, and graces of the
reign of the Messiah (Hos. vi. 3; 2 Sam. xxiii. 4s
Ps. lxxii. 6). K P. K
RAINBOW (naff? (i. e. a bow with which
to shoot arrows), Gen. ix. 13-16; Es. i. 28: ro^ov,
so Ecclus. xliii. 11 : areut. In N. T., Rev. iv. 3, x.
1, bit). The token of tbe covenant which God
made with Noah when he came forth from the ark,
that the waters should no more become a flood to
destroy all flesh. With respect to the covenant
itself, as a charter of natural blessings and mercies
("the World's covenant, not tbe Church's"), re-
establishing the peace and order of Physical Na-
ture, which in the flood bad undergone so great a
convulsion, see Davison On Prophecy, lecL iii.
pp. 76-80. With respect to the token of the cove-
nant, tbe right interpretation of Gen. ix. 13 seems
to be that God took the rainbow, which had hith-
erto been but a beautiful object shining in the
heavens when the sun's rays fell on falling rain,
and consecrated it as the sign of His love and the
witness of His promise.
The following psistges, Num. xlv. 4; 1 Sam.
xii. 13; 1 K. 11. 35, are instances in which ]ri3
(nalhnn, lit. "give"), the word used in Gen. ix.
13, " 1 do set my bow in the cloud," is employed
in the sense of " constitute," " appoint." Accord-
ingly there is no reason for concluding that igno-
rance of tbe natural cause of the rainbow occasioned
the account given of its institution in the Book of
Genesis. [Sioss, Amer. ed.]
Tbe figurative and symbolical use of the rain-
bow as an emblem of God's mercy and faithful-
ness must not be passed over. In the wondrous
vision shown to St- John in the Apocalypse (Rev.
iv. 3), it is said that " there was a rainbow round
about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald : "
amidst the awful vision of surpassing glory is seen
the symbol of Hope, the bright emblem of Mercy
and of Love. " Look upon the rainbow," saith the
son of Sirnch (Ecclus. xliii. 11, 12), " and praise
Him that made it: very beautiful it is in the bright-
ness thereof; it compasseth the heaven about with
a glorious circle, and the hands of tbe Most High
have bended it." E. P. R.
* • The liseovery of a single fountain, and the re-
moval of rubbish which had choked up the soil, enacted
the tracamrmatlon. The writer was told on the ground,
that Ave different crops of vegetables may be raised
there one after another in a staff* seam (see *
hair, tf Scripture, p. 1M C). ■.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RAISINS
RAISINS [Vim.]
RA1EBM (Efin, in pause BRl [Jhwer
garden] : "Pox Ju; om. in [Vat and] Alei.; [Corap.
Aid. Pa/nip:] kecen). Among the deaoendanta of
Machir the ion of Manaueh, by his wife Maachah,
are mentioned Ulam and Rakem, who are ap-
perentlj the sou of Sherash (1 Chr. ril. 16).
Nothing is known of them. [In Hebrew this
oame and Rekem (which see) are the same, out of
pause. — H.]
RAK/KATH (Tljn [«*ore] : friiia*«]oW«:
Alex. VtitKoB: Reccadt). One of the fortified
towns of Naphtali, named between Ham math and
Chimnebxth (Josh. xix. 86). Hammath was
probably at the hot springs of Tiberias; but no
trace of the name of Rakkath has been found in
that or any other neighborhood. [See Rob. BibU
Ret. iii. 866.] The nearest approach Is Kerak, for-
merly Tarlehsea, three miles further down the shore
RAM, BATTERING
| of the lake, close to the embouchure of thf lay
dan. a.
RAK/KON (V^yj, with the def artfasi
[the temple (of the head), Gee.; a «oeB vatertt
Spinet, Ftirst] : 1epdra»v; [Comp. CltpanSr col,
' 'HpaxKiyi] Arecon). One of the towns in the in-
j heritance of Dan (.Tosh. xW -16), apparently not tat
distant from Joppa. The LXX. (both MSS.) grre
only one name (that quoted above) for this and Me-
jarkon, which in the Hebrew text precedes it. This
fact, when coupled with the similarity of the two
names in Hebrew, suggests that the one may be
merely a repetition of the other. Neither baa bean
yet discovered. G.
RAM (DT [high, exalted]: 'Apif, [Vat]
Alex. Appav in Ruth; [Vat. Opcui and 1jiia».
Alex.] Owait and Apo/t in 1 Chr. : Aram). L
Son of Hezron and lather of Amminadab. Hi
was born in Egypt after Jacob's migration there, as
Battering Bam.
his name is not mentioned in Gen. xM. 4. He
first appears in Ruth It. 19. The genealogy in 1
Chr. Li 9, 10, 25, adds no further information con-
cerning him, except that he was the second son of
Hezron, Jerahmeel being the first-bom. He ap-
pears in the N. T. only in the two lists of the
ancestry of Christ (Matt i. 8, 4; Luke iii. 33),
where he is called Aram, after the LXX. and Vul-
gate. [Amminadab; Nahshoh.] A. C. H.
2. CPd>; (Vet Pav, Apaiti Alex, in ver. 25,
Apav] Ram.) The first-born of Jerahmeel, and
therefore nephew of the preceding (1 Chr. li. 25,
JT). He had three sons, Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.
3. [Horn. Vat. Sin. 'PdV; Alex. Papa: Rum.]
EUhu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, is described
as " of the kindred of Ram " (Job xxxii. 2)
nashi's note on the passage is curious: " 'of the
Vmlly of Ram ; ' Abraham, for it is said, ' the
t man among the Anakim ' (Josh, xiv.); this
[is] Abraham." Ewald identifles Ram with Aran,
mentioned in Gen. xxii. 21 in connection with Hue
and Buz (Getch. i. 414). Elihn would thus be a
a collateral descendant of Abraham, and this may
have suggested the extraordinary explanation gitea
by Rashi. W. A. W.
RAM. [Sheet; Sacrifices.]
RAM, BATTERING ("13: /SeXoVrwru,
X<ipai- ariet). This Instrument of ancient siege
operations is twice mentioned in the O. T. (Ec It
2, xxi. 22 [27] ) ; and as both re fe re n ce s are to the
battering-rams in use among the Assyrians and
Babylonians, it will only be necessary to describe
those »Mch are known from the monuments to
hare been employed in their sieges. With regard
to the meaning of the Hebrew word then b bat
little doubt. It denotes an engine of war whisk
was called a ram, either because it had an iron bast
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RAM, BATTERIITO
shaped like that of a nun, or because when used
for battering down a wall, the movement waa like
the butting action of a ram.
In attacking the walla of a fort or city, the first
step appears to have been to form an inclined plane
or bank of earth (comp. Ez. iv. 2, " cast a mount
against It"), by which the besiegers could bring
their battering-rams and other engines to the foot
of the wall*. " The battering-rams," says Mr.
Layard, " were of several kinds. Some were joined
to movable towers which held warriors and armed
men. The whole then formed one great temporary
building, the top of which is represented in sculp-
tures as on a level with the walls, and even turrets,
of the besieged city. In some bas-reliefs the
battering-ram is without wheels ; it was then per-
haps constructed upon the spot, and was not in-
tended to be moved. The movable tower was
probably sometimes unprovided with the ram, but
I have not met with it so represented in the sculp-
tures. .... When tiie machine containing
the battering-ram was a simple framework, and did
not form au artificial tower, a cloth or some kind of
drapery, edged with fringes and otherwise orna-
mented, appears to have been occasionally thrown
over it. Sometimes it may have been covered with
hides. It moved either on four or on six wheels,
and was provided with one ram or with two. The
mode of working the rams cannot be determined
from the Assyrian sculptures. It may be presumed
from the representations in the bas-reliefs that they
were partly suspended by a rope fastened to the
outside of the machine, and that men directed and
impelled them from within. Such was the plan
adopted by the Egyptians, in whose paintings the
warriors working the ram may be seen through the
frame. Sometimes this engine was ornamented by
a carved or painted figure of the presiding divinity,
kneeling on one knee and drawing a bow. The
artificial tower was usually occupied by two war-
riors ; one discharged his arrows against the besieged,
whom he was able, from his lofty position, to harass
more effectually than if he had been below; the
other held up a shield for his companion's defense.
Warriors are not unfrequently represented as step-
ping from the machine to the battlements. . .
. . Archers on the walls hurled stones from
slings, and discharged their arrows against the
-varriors in the artificial towers ; whilst the rest of
the besieged were no less active in endeavoring to
frustrate the attempts of the assailants to make
oreaches in their walls. By dropping a doubled
chain or rope from the battlements, they caught
■ne ram. and could either destroy its efficacy
altogether, or break the foroe of its blows. Those
Wow, however, by placing hooks over the engine.
aid throwing their whole weight upon them,
struggled to retain it in its place. The besieged,
if unable to displace the battering-ram, sought to
destroy it by fire, and threw lighted torches or fire-
jrands upon it; but water was poured upon tne
dimes through pipes attached to the artificial
tower " (Xintveh and iU Remain, 11. 367-370).
W. A. W.
• go fflr H. 0. BawUnson, In AHetumn, No. 17B9,
WD.
* Its place In the list of Joshua (menoonad above),
sanely, betwsan Qlbeon and Beerotn, suits the pr»«ent
Saai-Atfaa ; but the considerations najied in the text
■sake K very difflcult to Identify any other sits with
« than a-Riwi
RAMAH 26oi5
RA'MA ("Poua: Rama), Matt il. 18, refer-
ring to Jer. xxxi. 15. The original passage allude)
to a massacre of Benjamites or Ephraimites (comp.
ver. 9, 18), at the Ramah in Benjamin or in Mount
Ephraim. This is seized by the Evangelist and
turned into a touching referenoe to the slaughter
of the Innocents at Bethlehem, near to which was
(and is) the sepulchre of Rachel- The name of
Rama is alleged to have been lately discovered
attached to a spot close to the sepulchre. If it
existed there in St Matthew's day, it may have
prompted his allusion, though it is not necessary
to suppose this, since the point of the quotation
does not l<e in the name Raman, but in the lamen-
tation of Rachel for the children, as is shown by
the change of the vloit of the original to rsVcro.
O.
RAMAH (myin, with the definite article
[Me height], excepting a few cases named below).
A word which in its simple or compound snaps
forms the name of several places in the Holy lAnd;
one of those which, like Gibeah, Geba, Gibeon, or
Mizpeh, betrays the aspect of the country. The
lexicographers with unanimous consent derive it
from a root which has the general sense of eleva-
tion — a root which produced the name of Aram,"
"the high lands," and the various modifications
of Ram, Ramah, Ramath, Ramoth, Remeth, Ram-
athaim, Arimathan, in the Biblical records. As
an appellative it is found only in one passage (Es.
xvi. 24-39), in which it occurs four times, each
time rendered in the A. V. " high place." But in
later Hebrew ramtha is a recognized word for a
hill, and as such is employed in the Jewish versions
of the Pentateuch for the rendering of Pisgah.
1. ('Pa/us; [Neb. vii. 30, 'Apa/uE; Vat also
Kpap,] Pacuia, Ba/ia, etc.; [Jer. xl. 1, Tat FA.
Aapay;] Alex. louta, Pa^uar, [Pau/ut,] Papa:
Rama.) One of the cities of the allotment of
Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 28), a member of the group
which contained Gibeon and Jerusalem. Its place
in the list is between Gibeon and Beeroth. There
is a more precise specification of its position in the
invaluable catalogue of the places north of Jeru-
salem which are enumerated by Isaiah as disturbed
by the gradual approach of the king of Assyria
(Is. x. 28-32). At Michmash he crosses the ravine ;
and then successively dislodges or alarms Geba,
Ramah, and Gibeah of SauL Each of these may
be recognized with almost absolute certainty at the
present day. Geba is Jtbn, on the south brink of
the great valley ; and a mile and a half beyond it,
directly between it and the main road to the city,
is er-R&m (its name the exact equivalent of ha-
R&mab) on the elevation which its ancient name
implies.' Its distance from the city is two hours,
i. e. five English or six Roman miles, in perfect
accordance with the notice of Eusebius and Jerome
in the Onommdam (" Rama " ),» and nearly agree-
ing with that of Josephus (Ant. viii. 12, § 3), whs
places it 40 stadia north of Jerusalem.
Its position is also in close agreement with the
notion of the Bible. The paliu-tree of Deborah
(Judg. iv. 6) was "between Ramah <* and Bethel,"
• In his commentary on Hon. v. 8, Jerome mentions
" Juxta Gabae In septfano laplde a Ieresolyaals
stta,"
<* The Targum on this passage substitutes tor tea
Palm of Deborah. Ateroth-Dsborah, no donbt referring
to the town of Ataroth. This has everything In Mi
favor, sines 'Atom is still found en toe left hand ef
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2670
RAMAH
k one of the jnltry valleys inclosed in the lime
■tone hllla which compose this district. The Levite
and his concubine in their journey from Bethlehem
to Ephraim passed Jerusalem, and pressed on to
Gibeah, or even if possible beyond it to Unman
(Judg. xix. 13). In the struggles l«twi>en north
and south, which followed the disruption of the
kingdom, Ramah, as a frontier town, the possession
of which gave absolute command of the north road
from Jerusalem (1 K. xy. 17). was taken, fortified,
and retaken (ibid. 21, 8-2; 2 Chr. xri. 1, 6, 6).
After the destruction of Jerusalem it appears to
have been used as the depot for the prisoners (Jer.
iL 1 ) ; and, if the well-known passage of Jeremiah
(zzxi. 15), in which he introduces the mother of
the tribe of Benjamin weeping over the loss of her
children, alludes to this Kamah, and not to one
nearer to her sepulchre at liethlehein, it was prob-
ably also the scene of the slaughter of such of the
captives as from age, weakness, or poverty, were
not worth the long transport across the desert to
Babylon [Rama.] Its proximity to Gibeah la im-
plied in 1 Sam. xxii. 6"; Hoe. v. 8; Ezr. ii. 26;
Meh. vii. SO: the last two of which passages show
also that its people returned after the Captivity.
The Raman in Neh. xi. 33 occupies a different
position in the list, and may be a distinct place
situated further west, nearer the plain. (This and
Jer. xxxi. 15 are the only passages in which the
name appears without the article.) The 1.XX.
find an allusion to Ramah in Zech. xir. 10, where
tbey render the words which are translated in the
A. V. "and shall be lifted up (it^tn), and in-
habited in her place," by "Kamah shall remain
upon her place."
Er-Ram was not unknown to the mediaeval
travellers, by some of whom (e. g. Brooardus,
Dttcr. ch. vii.) it is recognized as Ramah, but it
was reserved for Dr. Robinson to make the identifi-
cation certain and complete (BikL Set. i. 676).
He describes it ss lying on a high hill, command-
ing a wide prospect — a miserable village of a few
half-deserted houses, but with remains of column*,
squared stones, and perhaps a church, all indicating
former importance.
In the catalogue of 1 Eadr. v. (80) the name
appears as Cibama.
8 (' Apfiatial/jL in both MSS., except only 1 Sam.
nv. 1, xxviii. 8, where the Alex, has "Papa [and
1 Sam. xix. 19, 22, 23. xx. 1, where Rom. Vat.
Ilex, have the same: Ramatha}.) The home of
r^lkanah, Samuel's father (1 Sam. i. 19, iL 11),
the birth-place of Samuel himself, his home and
official residence, the site of his altar (vii. 17, viii.
4, xv. Si, xvi. 13, xht. 18), and finally his burial-
place (xxv. 1, xxviii. 3). In the present instance
it is a contracted form of Ramathaim-zophim,
which in the existing Hebrew text is given at length
but once, although the LXX. exhibit Annathaim
an every occasion.
All that is directly said as to its situation is
she north road, vary marly midway between tr-R&m
a This passage may either be translated (with Ju-
ste, Wehasua. 0s Watta, and Bunam), "Saul abode
B Olbaah under the tamarisk on tht height " (In which
isas It wal add one to the scanty number of eases in
which tha word is mad otherwise than as a proper
Must), or It may imply that Bamah was included
of the stag's assy. <he LXX.
BAMAH
that it was in Mount Ephraim (1 Sam. Ll n aa|
tins would naturally lead us to seek it in the
neighborhood of Shechem. B\ t the whole tenet
of the narrative of the public iifc of Samuel (ta
connection with which alone this Ramah is men-
tioned) is so restricted to the region of the tribe of
Benjamin, and to the neighborhood of Gibeah the
residence of Saul, that it seems impossible not to
look for Samuel's city in the tame locality. R
appears from 1 Sam. vii. 17 that his annual func-
tions as prophet and judge were confined to tht
narrow round of Bethel, GUgal, and Mizpeh — tht
first the north boundary of Benjamin, the second
near Jericho at its eastern end, and the third oa
the ridge in more modem times known at Seopaa,
overlooking Jerusalem, and therefore near tot south-
ern confines of Benjamin. In the centre of theat
was Gibeah of Saul, the royal residence during the
reign of the first long, and the centre of hit opera-
tions. It would be doing a violence to the whole
of this part of the history to look for Samuel's
residence outside these narrow limits.
On the other baud, the boundaries of Mount
Ephraim are nowhere distinctly set forth. In tht
mouth of an ancient Hebrew the expression would
mean that portion of the mountainous district
which was at the time of speaking in the possession
of the tribe of Ephraim. " Little Benjamin " was
for to long in close alliance with and dependence on
its more powerful kinsman, that nothing it mora
probable than that the name of Ephraim may have
been extended over the mountainous region which
was allotted to the younger son of Rachel. Of thit
there are not wanting indications. The palm-tret
of Deborah was "in Mount Ephraim," between
Bethel and Ramah, and is identified with great
plausibility by the author of the Targum on
Judg. iv. 6 with Ataroth, one of the landmarks on
the south boundary of Ephraim, which still sui i l ie t
in 'At&ra, 2f miles north of Kamah of Benjamin
(er-R4m). Bethel itself, though in the catalogue
of the cities of Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 22), waa
appropriated by Jeroboam as one of hit idol
sanctuaries, and is one of the 'cities of Mount
Ephraim" which were taken from him by P^-i*-!
and restored by Aaa (2 Chr. xiii. 19, xv. 8). Jere-
miah (eh. xxxi.) connects Kamah of Benjamin with
Mount Ephraim (w. 6, 9, 16, 18).
In this district, tradition, with a truer I
than it sometimes displays, has placed tht i
of Samuel. The earliest attempt to identify U in
in the Onomnttiam of Eusebiut, and was not so
happy. His words are, " Armatbem Seipha : the eity
of Helkana and Samuel; it lies near' (wAnwior)
Diospolia : thence came Joseph, in the Gospels said
to be from Arimathsea." Diospolis is Lydda, the)
modern IMd, and the reference of Ensebius is no
doubt to Ratmleh, the well-known modern town
two miles from Laid. But there it a fatal obstseltj
to this identification, in the fact that Ramhk (" tht)
tandy") lies on the open face of the maritime plain,
and cannot in any sense be said to be in T
lead Bsma tor Bamah, and render the words " on ttss
hill under the nsM in Bama." BaarMua, la the
Ouamtutiam (Pasof), ohanMttrlsss Bamah at tot
"city of Saul."
* Jerome across with Boseblus in his t m is l s taus.
of this passage ; but in the BpitnMum Piml m (Bans
eriU.) ha eonnsets Bandsh with J
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RAMAH
Spans)**, or an; other mountain dVtriet hum
sine possibly refers to another Bamali named in
3teh. xi. S3 (•»» below, No. 6).
Bat there U another tradition, that jut alluded
to, ooiniuoo to Moslems, Jews, and Christians, up
to the present day, which places the residence of
Samuel on the loft; and remarkable eminence of
N*bg Xnmwil, which rises four miles to the N. W.
of Jerusaleiu, and which its height (greater than
that of Jerusalem itself), its commanding position,
and its peculiar shape, render the most conspicuous
abject in all the landscapes of that district, aud
make the names of Kamah and Zophim exceedingly
appropriate to it. The name first appears in the
travels of Areulf (a. l>. eir. 700), who calls it Saint
Samuel. Before that date the relics of the Prophet
bad beta transported from the Holy Land to Thrace
by the emperor Arcadius (see Jerome contr. Hg-
iiantium, § J), and Justinian had enlarged or eotn-
pleted " a well and a wall " for the sanctuary (Pro-
suptua, de JEdif. v. cap. 9). True, neither of
these notices names the spot, but they imply that
it was well known, and so far support the placing
it at Ifeby SanueiL Since the days of Areulf the
tradition appears to have been continuous (see the
quotations in Robinson, Sibl. Jits. i. 469; Tobler,
p 881, Ac.). The modem village, though miserable
even among the wretched collections of hovels which
crown the bias in this neighborhood, bears marks
of antiquity in cisterns and other traces of former
habitation. The mosque is said to stand on the
foundations of a Christian church, probably that
which Justinian built or added to. The ostensible
tomb is a mere wooden box; but below it is a
save or chamber, apparently excavated, like that
of the patriarchs at Hebron, from the solid rock
uf the hill, and. like that, closed against all access
except by a narrow aperture in the top, through
which devotees are occasionally allowed to trans-
mit their lamps and petitions to the sacred vault
below.
Here, then, we are inclined, in the present state
of the evidence, to place the Kamah of Samuel.'
And there probably would never have been any
resistance to the traditional identification if it had
not been thought necessary to make the position
of Kamah square with a passage with which it does
not seem to the writer to have necessarily any con-
nection. It is usually assumed that the city in
whioh Saul was anointed by Samuel (1 Sam. ix., x.)
was Samuel's own city Kamah. Josephus cer-
tainly (Ant. vi. 4, § 1) does give the name of the
ity as Armathem, and in his version of the occur-
rence implies that the Prophet was at the time in
■is own boose; but neither the Hebrew nor the
LXX. contains any statement which con fi rms this,
if we exeept the slender fiict that the "land of
Zuph " (ix. 5) may W. connected with the Zophim
of Kamathaim-zophim. The words of the maidens
(v«r. 18: may equally imply either that Samuel had
hut entered one of his cities of circuit, or that he
had just returned to his own house. But, however
Us may be, it follows from the minute specification
■ " Beth-horon and her suburbs " ware allotted to
uw Kohethlts Lavites, oT whom Samuel was one by
sweat. Perhaps the village on the top of Miey
Bmmwil may have been dependent on the more regu-
artj MBM Beth-boron (1 K. Ix. 17).
» tss* Q??3) si quits a dlsunot name from galena*.
41StvS), with which some would idsntn> It («. g .
KAMAH 2671
of Saul's route in 1 Sam. x. 2, that the clay hi
which the interview took place was near lot
sepulchre of Rachel, which, by Gen. xxxv. 16, 19,
and other reasons, appears to be fixed with certainty
as close to Bethlehem. And this supplies a strong
argument against its being Remethaim-zophim,
since, while Mount Ephrahn, as we have endeavored
already to show, extended to within a few miles
north of Jerusalem, there is nothing to warrant the
supposition that it ever reached so far south as the
neighborhood of Bethlehem. Saul's route will be
most conveniently discussed under the head of
Saul; but the question of both his outward and
his homeward journey, minutely as tbey are de-
tailed, is beset with difficulties, which have been
increased by the assumptions of the commentators
For instance, it is usually taken for granted that
his father's bouse, and therefore the starting-point
of his wanderings, was Uibeah. True, Saul him-
self, after be was king, lived at Gibeah; but the
residence of Kiah would appear to have been at
Zela 4 where his family sepulchre was (2 Sam. xxL
14), and of Zela no trace has yet been found. 11m
Authorized Version has added to the difficulty by
introducing the word " meet " in x. 8 as the trans-
lation of the term which they have more accurately
rendered " find " in the preceding verse. Again,
where was the '•hill of God," the gibtaUi-Ekhim,
with the ttetsib' of the Philistines? A tutsib of
the Philistines is mentioned later in Saul's history
(1 Sam. xiii. 3) as at Geba opposite Michmash.
But this is three miles north of Gibeah of Saul,
and does not at all agree with a situation near
Bethlehem for the anointing of Saul. The Tar-
gum interprets the " hill of God "as "the plans
where the ark of God was," meaning Kirjath-
jearim.
On the assumption that Ramathaim-zophim was
the city of Saul's anointing, various attempts hue
been made to find a site for it in the neighborhood
of Bethlehem. («.) Gesenius ( 7W p. 1276 o) sug-
gests the Jebel Furtidis, four miles southeast of
Bethlehem, the ancient Herodium, the » Frank
mountain " of more modern times. The drawback
to this suggestion is tbst it is not supported by
any hint or inference either in the Bible, Josephus
(who was well acquainted with the Herodion), or
more recent authority, (4.) Dr. Robinson (BiU.
Res. ii. 8) proposes 8Sba, in the mountains six
miles west of Jerusalem, as the possible representa-
tive of Zophim : but the hypothesis has little be-
sides its ingenuity to recommend it, and is virtually
given up by its author in a foot-note to the passage,
(c.) Van de Velde (Syr. a} Pal ii. 50), following
toe lead of Wolcott, argues fcr Hiimth (or Haunt
eLKhalil, Rob. I. 216), a well-known site of rakes
about two and a half miles north of Hebron. Hit
main argument is that a castle of S. Samuel ii
mentioned by F. Fabri in 1483 * (apparently) as
north of Hebron ; that the name Ramth is identi-
cal with Ramah; and that its position suit* tM
requirements of 1 Sam. x. 2-5. This is also sup-
ported by Stewart (Tent and Khan, p. 247). (A)
atowart, Tint and JEfcui, p. 247 ; Tan ds TsUi, Mt
mofr •'«., etc.).
a The meaning of this word Is uncertain. It may
stgniry a garrison, an ottoer, or a commsmoraslM
oommn — a trophy.
d In the Urns of Bsojamlr of Tndala It was kaawa
as the « house at Abraham " (B. •/ T., ad. Aster, II
m
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2672 RAMAH
Dr. Bomr (Land of Promite, pp. 178, 664) adopt*
tr-Ram, which he placet a short distance north of
Bethlehem, east of Rachel's sepulchre. Euaebiua
( Onum. 'PaB(te) anys that " Kama of Benjamin "
la near (w»pl ) Bethlehem, where the " voice in Kama
was beard:." and in our times the name is men-
tioned, besiilrs Dr. Itotiar, by Prokesch and Salz-
bacher (cited in Kob. BiU. Ret. ii. 8 note), but this
cannot be regarded as certain, and Dr. Stewart has
pointed out that it is too close to Rachel's monu-
ment to suit the case.
Two suggestions in an opposite direction must
be noticed : —
(«.) That or EwaM (Geuhichte, il. 650), who
places Ramatbairo-xophim at Ram-Allah, a mile
west of el-Birth, and nearly five north of Neby
Bamwil. The chief ground for the suggestion ap-
pears to be the affix Allih, as denoting that a cer-
tain sanctity attaches to the place. This would be
■■ore certainly within the limits of Mount Ephraim,
and merits investigation. It is mentioned by Mr.
Williams (Diet, of Gtoyr. "Ramatha") who,
however, gives his decision in favor of Neby
Bamwil
(6.) That of Schwarz (pp. 162-158), who, start-
ing from Gibeah-of-Saul as the home of rush, fixes
upon Ramth, north of Samaria and west of Sanw;
which he supposes also to be Itamoth or Jarmuth,
the Levities! a city of Issachar. Schwarz's argu-
ments must be read to be appreciated.
* The site of this Kaniah, Dean Stanley pro-
nounces " without exception the moat complicated
and disputed problem of sacred topography." The
writer, with others, baa devoted many fruitless
hours to its solution; and the difficulties of the
ease, Inherent and apparently ineradicable, may be
briefly stated. (1.) The Kaniah of Samuel's birth
was in Mount Ephraim (see above). (2.) The
Bamah of his residence and burial was the Ramah
of his birth (see above). " The inference h direct
and stringent, that the two were identical." Rob-
inson's BibL Sacra, p. 606 (1843). (3.) The Ramah
of his interview with Saul was the Kamah of his
residence (see above). " It is hardly possible to
avoid identifying them. This, which is not stated
expressly in the Old Testament [though fairly im-
plied], is taken for granted by Josephus " (Dr.
Stanley, B. d 1 P. p. 220). Josephus, without doubt,
was familiar with all the localities, and would know
whether his statement was compatible with the
sacred narrative. (4.) The Ramah in which Saul
was anointed by Samuel was so situated that, in
a Bat Bamoth was allotted to the Oershonltes, while
Samuel was a Kohathlte.
6 • The German missionary, Pastor Valentiner, re-
gards the Bamah in Isaiah's vision (No. 1 above) and
u» Bamah of Samuel (No. 2) as the same, namely,
the present &- Ram, about 6 miles north of Jerusalem
on the traveller's right to going to Bethel and
ftnechem. Samuel's lather, Klkanah (as he main-
tains), Is said to be " a man of Hamathsim-sophlm, of
Mount Bphraim " (1 Bam. 1. I, fcc), not because he
lived then at the time of Samuel's birth, but because
le dwelt there originally, and afterwards migrated to
tamah in Benjamin. Farther, he considers it un-
necessary (so also Stanley, Jnoitk Clmrch, 1 464, Kail on
1 Sam lx. 6 ft", and others) to Identify the Bamah of
fjamuet with the nameless city of Saul's Interview with
lemoel as related 1 Sam. lx. 1 If. Among his posidva
reasons lb. this Identification of Bamah with R-Ram
are that it lies fairly within the territory of Benjamin ;
that it lam the eentral point of SemasTa Judicial
RAMAH
paring from it to his home in Benjamin, ha \
pass by the tomb of Rachel (see above).
Neither of these four points can yet be disproved,
and on every proposed site of the Ramah of the
prophet, some one of them directly impinges ; and
the prospect now is, that the question will remain
inexplicable.' S. W.
3. ('AjKtf/A; Alex. Papa: Aroma.) One «f
the nineteen fortified places of Napbtall (Josh. xix.
36) named between Adaniah and Haaor. It wour?
appear, if the order of the list may be accepted to
have been in the mountainous country N. W. of
the Lake of GenneaareU lu this district a plus
bearing the name of Ramth baa been discovered by
Dr. Robinson (BiU. Re*, iii. 78), which is not Im-
probably the modern representative of the Ramah u>
question. It lies on the main track between .dtro
and the north end of the Sea of Galilee, and about
eight miles E. S. K. of Safed. It is, perhaps,
worth notice that, though the apot is distinguished
by a very lofty brow, commanding one of the moat
extensive views in all Palestine (Kob. BibL Ret. Si
78), and answering perfectly to the name of Bam*!^
yet that the village of Ritmtk itself is on the lower
elope of the hill.
4. ('Paud: Horma.) One of the landmarks on
the boundary (A. V. "coast ") of Asber (Josh. xix.
99), apparently between Tyre and Zidon. It does
not appear to be mentioned by the ancient geog-
raphers or travellers, but two placet of the same
name haw been discovered in the district allotted
to Asber; the one east of Tyre, and within about
three miles of it (Van de Velde, Map, Memoir)
the other more than ten miles off, and southeast
of the same city (Van de Velde, Map ; Robinson,
BiU. Ret. iii. 64). The specification ol the boundary
of Asher is very obscure, and nothing can yet be
gathered from it; but, if either of these placet rep-
resent the Ramah in question, it certainly seems
safer to identify it with that nearest to Tyre and
the sea-coast
6. {'VfufuM, Alex. Papa*; [in 9 Chr. xxii. 6,
Rom. Vat. Pa/woe 1 , Alex. Papa:] Ramolk.) By
this name in 3 K. viii. 99 and 9 Chr. xxii. 6, only
is designated Ramoth-Gilead. The abbreviatioii
is singular, since, in both cases, the foil name
occurs in the preceding versa,
6. [Rom. Vat. Alex. FA. 1 omit; FA.» Comp.
*Pau<l: Rama.] A place mentioned in the catalogue
of those reinhabited by the Benjamltes after their
return from the Captivity (Neb. xi. 33). It may
be the Ramah of Benjamin (above, No. 1) or to*
circuit (Gllgal on the east, Bethel on the north, and
Mlspeh (— Niby Saimcil) on the west, 1 8am. vll. 16) ;
and that the vicinity of Saul's Gibeah to this Bamah
( » Er-Ram) tallies well with the local relator* of
Gibeah and Bamah to each other In the narrative
1 Sam. ee. xix. and xx. It follows from this view
that Bamah No. 1 and Bamah No. 2 may In the same
place. The dlmculttes, whatever they may be, as as
Zoph and the course of Saul's Journey in search of <*■•
lost esses encumber any one hypothesis of the Beman
question as well as another. See Valentiner'a art.
Beitng zw Topograph* da Stammu Benjamin, in the
Ztittda. da- diutieh. M. (iatUict. xtl. 161-170.
Prof. Graf in like manner (Lag* em BUM, Kama
k. Oilgai, in the Slid. u. Kit. 1864, pp. 861-802
recognises only one Bamah, wileh he identifies wits
Br- Ram, but he distinguishes Uamathaim-eophim an4
Bamah from each other. U.
< lor the preceding name — Adamab — they gist
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RAMATH-LEHI
Ramah of Samuel, but it* position in the list (re-
mote from Geba, Michmash, Bethel, ver. 31, comp.
En- ii. 86, 38 1 eeema to remove it further west, to
the neighborhood of Lod, Hadid, and Ono. There
ii do further notice in the Bible of a Ramah in this
direction, but Eusebius and Jerome allude to one,
though they may be at fault in identifying it with
Ramathaim and Arimathss ( Onom. " Armathn 8o-
phim ; " and the remark* of Robineon, Bitil. Ret. ii.
238). The situation of the modern Rumltli agrees
very well with this, a town too important snd too
well placed not to hare existed in the ancient
times." The consideration that Ramleh signifies
"sand," and Ramah "a height," is not a valid
argument against the one being the legitimate suc-
cessor of the other. If so, half the identifications
of modem travellers must be reversed. JBeU-ir
tan no longer be tho representative of Beth-boron,
because ir means " eye," while horon means
"caves;" n'T Beit-bihm, of Bethlehem, because
lahm is " flesh," and khem " bread; " nor et-Aul,
of Elealeh, because el is in Arabic the article, and
in Hebrew the name of God. In these cases the
tendency of language is to retain the sound at the
expense of the meaning. 6.
BA'MATH-LE'HI ("flS PiOn [see be-
low] : 'Avatptais aiayimf- Ramallikchi, quod in-
terpretatur ekmtio mnxilla). The uauie which
purports to have been bestowed by Samson on the
scene of his slaughter of the thousand Philistines
with the jaw-bone (Judg. xv. 17). >■ He cast away
the jaw-bone out of his hand, and called that place
' Ramatb-lehi,' " — as if "heaving of the jaw
bone." In this sense the name (wisely left un-
translated in the A. V.) is rendered by the LXX
and Vulgate (as above). But Gesenius has pointed
out ( Thei. p. 759 a) that to be consistent with this
the vowel points should be altered, and the words
become VJ ? HD"! ; and that as they at present
stand they are exactly parallel to Ramath-mizpeh
and Ramath-negeb, and mean the " height of
Leehi." If we met with a similar account in or-
dinary history we should say that the name had
already been Ramath-lebi, and that the writer of
the narrative, with that fondness for pnronommia
which distinguishes these ancient records, had in-
dulged himself in connecting the name with a pos-
sible exclamation of his hero. But the fact of the
positive statement in this case may make us hesitate
in coming to such a conclusion In less authoritative
records. [See Lehi, note e, vol. ii. p. 1627.]
0.
ra'math-miz'peh (ng?»n nnn,
with def. article [height of the mUch-tower] :
'Kpa&tA koto rij» Matrtrnpi; Alex. Va)ut$ b
h. t. Kao-ipa'- Ramath, Matphe). A place men-
tiotied, in Josh. xiii. 26 only, in the specification
of the territory of Gad, apparently as one of its
uorthern landmarks, Heshbon being the limit on
the south. But of this our ignorance of the topog-
raphy east of the Jordan forbids us to speak at
present with any certainty.
There is no reason to doubt that It is the same
RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM 2673
place with that early sanctuary at which Jacob and
Laban set up their cairn of stones, and which re-
ceived the names of Mlzpeh, Galeed, and Jegar
Sahadutha: and it seems very probable that all
these are identical with Ramoth-Gilaad, so notorious
in the later history of the nation. In the Books
of Maccabees it probably appears in the garb of
Maspha (1 Mace. v. 35), but no information is
afforded us in either Old Test, or Apocrypha as to
its position. The lists of places in the districts
north of ei-Salt, collected by Dr. Eli Smith, and
given by Dr. Robinson (Biol. Ret. 1st edit. App. to
vol. iii. ), contain several names which may retain
a trace of Ramath, namely, Rumeimin (167 b)
Reiiaun (166 a), Jtumrdma (165 a), but the sitn-
ation of these places is not accurately known, and
it is impossible to say whether they are appropriate
to Ramath-Mizpeh or not. G.
RATMATH OF THE SOUTH (nt$l
SJJ: Bop}0 koto- \t0a; Alex, by double trans).
Bcprippa/ipad . . . tafuB K. A.: Ramath contra
atutralem pin yam), more accurately Ramah of the
South. One of the towns in the allotment of
Simeon (Josh. xix. 8), apparently at its extreme
south limit It appears from this passage to have
been another name for Baalath-Bker. KanuJi
is not mentioned in the list of Judah (comp. Josh,
xr. 21-32), nor in that of Simeon in 1 Chr. iv. 28-
33, nor is it mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome.
Van de Velde (Memoir, p. 342) takes it as identical
with Ramath-Lehi, which he finds at Tell el
Ltkiyeh ; but this appears to be so far south as U
be out of the circle of Samsoi/s adventures, and as
any rate must wait for further evidence.
It is in all probability the same place as Sooth
Ramotfi (1 Sam. xxx. 27), and the towns in com.
pany with which we find it in this passage confirm
the opinion given above that it lay very much to
the south. G.
RAMATHA'IM-ZOTHIM (OVliynn
CDIS [see below]: •ApyaoSolu frupd, Vat.]
2ei<£a; Alex. A. 2«a)ui: Ramathaim Sophim).
The full form of the name of the town in which
Elkanah, the father of the prophet Samuel, resided.
It is given in its complete shape in the Hebrew text
and A. V. but once (1 Sam. I. 1). Elsewhere (L
19, ii. 11, vii. 17, viii. 4, xv. 84, xvi. 13, xix. 18, 19,
22, 23, xx. 1, xxv. 1, xxviii. 3) it occurs in the shorter
form of Ramah. [Ramah, 2.] The LXX., how-
ever (in both MSS-), give it throughout as Anna-
thaim, and insert it in 1. 8 after the words " his
city," where it is wanting in the Hebrew and
A. V.
Ramathaim, if interpreted as a Hebrew word, 1
dual — "the double eminence." This may point
to a peculiarity in the shape or naiun ' / the place,
or may be an instance of the tendency familiar to
all students, which exists in language to force an
archaic or foreign name into an intelligible form.
This has been already remarked in the ease of Je-
rusalem (vol. ii. p. 1272 a); and, like that, the pres-
ent name appears in the form of Rahathbm, as
as well as that of Ramathaim.
a This Is evidenced by the attempts of Benjamin of
Todela ami others to make out Ramlah to be Oath,
Qessr, etc.
6 This reading of Ramoth lor n*"i«»h Is counte-
nanced by one Hebrew MS. collated by Kennlcott. It
■ also followed bj th* Volgats, which gives &wux_
ttaspht (the reading in th* Uxt is tram the Beotdle
tine Edition of th* BMuUJuea Divina). On the othar
band, than Is no warrant whatever tar separating th*
two words, as if belonging to distlnet placet, as Is desw
In both th* UUn tuts.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
8674 BAMATHA1M-ZOPHIM
Of the tone of « Zophim" bo feaaible explana-
tion bM been given, it «u an aucient name on
tba out of Jordan (Num. xxia. 14), and thaw, as
■ere, ww attached to an eniinense. In the Targum
of Jonathan, Ramathaini-zophini w rendered " Ha-
matha of the scholars of the propbaU; " hut this ia
sridentiy a late interpretation, arrived at by regard-
ing the prophet* aa watchmen (the root of ui/i/iim,
also that of mu/vh, having the force of looking
out afar), coupled with the fact that at Nsioth in
Raman there was a school of prophets. It will not
escape observation that one of the ancestors of
Elkauah waa named Zophai or Zuph (1 I'lir. vi.
86, 86), and that when Saul approached the city
hi which he encountered Samuel he entered the
land of Zuph; but no connection between these
nuns* and that of Ramathaim-nophiin has yet been
established.
Even without the testimony of the LXX. there
b no doubt, from the narrative itself, that the
Ramah of Samuel — where he lived, built an altar,
died, and was buried - was the same place as the
Ramah or KAmalhaini-Zophim in which be waa
born. It is implied by Jueephus, and affirmed by
Eusebius and Jerome in the Onomnitiouu (" Anna-
them Seipha "), nor would it ever hate been ques-
tioned had there not been other Kamahs mentioned
In the sacred history.
Of its position nothing, or next to nothing, can
be gathered from the narrative. It was in Mount
Ephraim (1 Sam. i. 1). It had apparently at-
tached to it a place called Naioth, at which the
••company" (or "school,'' as it is called in mod-
ern times) of the sons of the prophets was main-
tained (xix. 18, Ac., xx. 1); and it had also in its
neighborhood (probably between it and Gibeah-of-
Saul) a great well known as the well of Haa-Sechu
(xix. 22). [Skchu.] But unfortunately these
scanty particulars throw no light on its situation.
Naioth and Secbu have disappeared, and the limits
of Mount Ephraim are uncertain. In the 4th cen-
tury Kamatbaim-Zophim ( OnomatlicuH, <> Arma-
tha-sophim ") waa located near Diospolis (Lydda),
probably at Ramleh ; but that is quite untenable,
and quickly disappeared in favor of another, prob-
ably older, certainly more feasible tradition, which
placed it on the lofty and remarkable hiO four
miles N.W. of Jerusalem, known to the early pil-
grims and Crusaders ss Saint Samuel and Mont
3©ye. It is now universally designated Ifetn/
Samicil—ihe "Prophet Samuel;" and in the
mosque which crowns its long ridge (itself the
successor of a Christian church), his sepulchre
is still reverenced alike by Jews, Moslems, and
Christians.
There is no trace of the name of Ramah or Zo-
pklm having ever been attached to this UU since
the Christian era, but it has borne the name of the
great prophet certainly since the 7th century, and
not improbably from a still earlier date. It is not
too far south to have been within the limits of
Mount Ephraim. It is in the heart of the district
•here Saul resided, and where the events in which
Samuel took so large a share occurred. It com-
■tetas the circle of the sacred cities to which the
prophet was in the habit of miking his annual
stacoit, and which lay — Bethel on the north, Mis-
ts*" on the south, Gilgal on the east, and (if ire
ki this identification) liamathsim-sophim on
« On In* ridge of Scopus, aeseratag to (
r ttM writar (ss* Mnrts, p. iXK I).
RAMK81W
the west— round the royal city of Canaan, la i
the king resided who had bean anointed to hie si-
nce by the prophet amid such universal expecta-
tion and good augury. Lastly, as already remarked,
it has a tradition in its favor of early date and at
great persistence. It is true that even these grounds
are but slight and shifting, hot they are more than
can be brought in support of any other site; sad
the task of proving them fallacious must be under-
taken by those who would disturb a tradition so oH,
and which has the whole of the evidence, slight as
that is, in its favor.
This subject is examined In greater detail, and
in connection with the reasons commonly slkgal
against the identification, under Ramab, No. *.
O.
RAM'ATHEM CPaSa^fr, Mat [Sin.] and
Alex.; [Rom. 'PopooVu;] Joseph. •po/ioSd': Arsa-
ntkan). One of the three " governments " (vest**
and ToTocxfai) which were added to Judaea by
king Demetrius Nicator, out of the country of Sa-
maria (1 Mace. xi. 34); the others were Apherema
and Lydda. It no doubt derived its name from a
town of the name of Ramatbaim, probably that
renowned ss the birthplace of Samuel the Prophet,
though this cannot be stated with certainty.
6.
RA'MATHITB, THE (Tlp-jn [pair.]:
i Ik 'ParJAi Alex, o Psyuulaiar: JiomaiMtti).
Shimei the Ramathite had charge of the royal ritst-
yards of king David (1 Chr. xxvii. 87). The name
implies that be was native of a place called Ramah,
but of the various Ramahs mentioned none is said
to have been remarkable for vines, nor is there any
tradition or other clew by which the psrticolar Ra-
mah to which this worthy belonged can be HurflflH
G.
RAM-ESE8 (DDtpin [see below] : Ta^nri,;
[Vat in Num., Fuuo-owr, rV*o-«r»r:] Posses-
ses), or RAAM'SES (DDrjjn : Tv«riri,:
Hamwa), a city sod district' of Lower Egypt-
There can be no reasonable doubt that the asms
city is designated by the Rameses and Raamses of the
Hebrew text, and that this waa the chief place of
the land of Rameses, all the passages referring to the
same region. The name is Egyptian, the same aa
that of several kings of the empire, of the X Vllith,
XlXth, and XXth dynasties. In Egyptian it a)
written RA-MKSES or RA-MSES, it being doubt-
ful whether the short vowel understood occurs twies
or once : the first vowel is represented by a sign
which usually corresponds to the Heb. 9, m figyp
tian transcriptions of Hebrew names, and Hebrew,
of Egyptian.
The first mention of Rameses ia in the narrative
of the settling by Joseph of his father and brethren
in Egypt, where it is related that a possession was
given them " in the land of Rameses " (Gen. xlviL
11). This land of Rameses, DDJjyn Y~X&
either corresponds to the land of Goshen, or was a
district of it, more probably the former, aa appears
from a comparison with a parallel passage (81
The name next occurs as that of one of the ta*
cities built for the Pharaoh who first oppressed tba
children of Israel. " And they built for Pass sat
treasure cities (jTDSpS "^J?), Pituom and aa
(Ea. L .11). " sola the A. V. The LXX
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RAMRSBS
) vikiis &xvpir, and the Vnlg. urin
labeituKulontin, as if the root had been "fjtp.
The signification of the word n*13?"?!a is decided
by iU use for storehouses of com', wine, and oil,
which Heaekiah had (2 Chr. xxxii 28). We
ihoukl therefore here read store-cities, which may
have been the meaning of our translators. The
name of PIthoh indicates the region near Heliop-
olis, and therefore the neighborhood of Goshen or
that tract itaelf, and there can therefore be no
doubt that Kaamtes U Ramesea in the land of
Goshen. In the narrative of the Exodus we read
of Ramesea as the starting-point of the journey (Ex.
xii. 37 ; see also Num. xxxiii. 3, 6).
if then we suppose Kameses or Raamses to hare
lew. the chief town of the land of Rameses, either
Goshen itself or a district of it, mv have to endeavor
to determine its situation. Lepsius supposes that
Aboo-Kesheyd is on the site of Rameses (see Map,
voL i. p. 794). His reasons are, that in the LXX.
Heroiipolis is placed in the land of Rameses (icaB'
Hpday w6\ir, iv 75 ¥afu«r<rj), or «i'j •yS»,'P«-
fuaa^U 'u a passage where the Hebrew only men-
tions "the land of Goshen" (Gen. xlvi. 28), and
that there is a monolithic group at Aboo-Keshevd
representing Turn, and Ro, and, between them, Ra-
meses II., who was probably there worshipped.
There would seem therefore to be an indication of
the situation of the district and city from this men-
tion of Heroipolis, and the statue of Kameses might
mark a place named after that king. It must, how-
ever, be remembered (ft) that the situation of Hero-
opolis is a matter in great doubt, and that therefore
we can scarcely take any proposed situation as an
indication of that of Rameses; (4) that the land of
Rameses may be that of Goshen, as already re-
marked, in which case the passage would not afford
any more precise indication of the position of the
city Rameses than that it was in Goshen, as is evi-
dent from the account of the Exodus ; and (e) that
the mention of Heroiipolis in the LXX. would seem
to be a gloss. It is also necessary to consider the
evidence in the Biblical narrative of the position of
Rameses, which seems to point to the western part
of the land of Goshen, since two full marches, and
part at least of a third, brought the Israelites from
this town to the Red Sea: and the narrative appears
to indicate a route for the chief part directly to-
wards the sea. After the second day's journey they
' encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilder-
aess" (Ex. xiii. 20), and on the third day they ap-
uear to have turned. If, however, Rameses was
where Lepsius places K, the route would have been
almost wholly through the wilderness, and mainly
along the tract bordering the Red Sea in a south-
erly direction, so that they would have turned al-
most at onee. If these difficulties are not thought
insuperable, it must be allowed that they render
Lepsius s theory extremely doubtful, and the one fact
■hat Aboo-Kesheyd is within about eight miles of
the ancient head of the gulf, seems to as fatal to
kaa identification. Even could it be proved that
it was anciently called Rameses, the case would
tot be made out, for there is good reason to sup-
pose that many cities in Egypt bore this name.
Vpart from the ancient evidence, we may mention
hat there is now a place called "Re-aseee"' or
"Barneses" in the Bobeyreh (the great province on
the Witt of the Bosetta branch ef the Nile) men-
ioned in the list of towns and vfflagss of Kgypt in
BAMOTH GfliKAD 2676
De Saoy's • AbdnUattf," p. 664. It gan to Hi
district the name of" Hdf-Remsees" or 'Ramses*,'*
This "Hof" must not be confounded with Hat
" Hof " commonly known, which was in the district
of BUbeys.
An argument for determining under what dy-
nasty the Exodus happened has been founded on
the name Rameses, which has been supposed to in-
dicate a royal builder. This argument has beet,
stated elsewhere: here we need only repeat that
the highest date to which Rameses I. can be rea-
sonably assigned is consistent alone with the Rab-
binioai date of the Exodus, and that we find a
prince of the same name two oenturiee earlier, and
therefore at a time perhaps consistent with Ussber's
date, so that the place might have taken its name
either from this prince, or a yet earlier king of
prince Rameses. [Curomolooy ; Eotpt; Pha-
kaoh.] R. S. P.
RAMES'SE fPofstnri}: om.in Vulg.)»« Ra-
meses (Jud. L 9).
RAMI'AH (-"Nfl [Jehovah txalted] : •Peysfai
Aenief'O- A layman of Israel, one of the sons of
Parosh, who put away his foreign wife at Ezra's
command (Ear. x. 25). He la called HiBBMAg ia
1 Esdr. ix. 86.
RA'MOTH (rfon [htighuy. f, taiiiii
[Tat. Alex." omit:] Rnmot/i). One of the four
Levitical cities of Issachar according to the cata-
logue in 1 Chr. (vi. 73). In the parallel list in
Joshua (xxi. 28, 29), amongst other variations, Jar-
muth appears in place of Ramoth. It appears im-
possible to decide which is the correct reading; or
whether aga n Remsth, a town of Issachar, is dis-
tinct from them, or one and the same. No plats
has yet been discovered which can be plausibly
identified with either. G.
RA'MOTH (ninn [heiffhu]: [Vat] M«-
fu»v, [FA. Mnrav; Rom.] Alex. P>uue0: Jfa-
moth). An Israelite layman, of the sons of Bant,
who had taken a strange wife, and at Eire's insti-
gation agreed to separate from her (liar. x. 29).
In the parallel passage of 1 Esdras (ix. 80) this
name is given as Hiebemoth. (1.
RA'MOTH GII/EAD (f^Ti fib") [set
below] : ftftfiiB, "Ptppett, and "Pa/AiU, [also 1
Ghr. vi. 80, , P< w u$8 (Vat. Pasipov), 1 K. iv. 18,
*Paj84fl,] roAorfSi [2 Chr. xviii. 2, 3, •paiiW nil
ra\aatlritos (Vat. -8«t-); Vat. in 1 K. iv. 13,1
Ep*ixa8ya\aa0: [m 2 Ghr. xxii. 5, PaxuryoAoal;]
Alex. PamutS, [and several other forms;] Joseph.
'ApafusSd: Rimoth G<i ■find), the " heights of GB-
ead." One of the great fastnesses on the east of
Jordan,.and tile key to an important district, at aj
evident not only from the direct statement of 1 K.
iv. 13, that it commanded the regions of Asgob
and of the towns of Jair, but also from the ob-
stinacy with which it was a ttacked and defended
by the Syrians and Jews in the reigns of Ahab
Aharish, and Joram.
It seems probable that it was identical with
Ramath-Mixpeh, a name which occurs bat ooee
(Josh. xiii. 26), and which again there is every
reason to believe occupied the spot on which Jacob
had made his covenant with Laban by the simple
rite of piling tip a heap of stones, which heap tj
expressly stated to have borne the names of both
GtUtAD ind Mixpeh, and became the great sane-
tnaryof the regions enat of Jordan. Thai
Digitized by VjOOQlC
1676
RAMOTH G^-EAD
if R»moth and Ramath U quite feasible. Indeed,
It occuri in the cue of a town of Judah. Prob-
ably from its commanding position in the territory
of Gad, as well as it* sanctity and strength, it was
chosen by Moses as the City of Refuge for that
tribe. It is in this capacity that its name ia first
introduced (Dent ir. 43; Josh. zx. 8, xzi. 88).
We next encounter it as the residence of one of
Solomon's commissariat officers, Ren-geber, whose
authority extended over the important region of
Argob, and the no less important district occupied
by the towns of Jair (1 K. iv. 18).
In the second Syrian war Ramoth-Gilead played
a conspicuous part. During the invasion related
in 1 K. xt. 20, or some subsequent incursion, this
important place had been seized by Benhadad I.
from Omri (Joseph. Ant. viii. 18, § 8). Abab had
been too much occupied in repelling the attacks of
Syria on his interior to attempt the recovery of a
place so distant, but as soon sa these were at an
end and be could secure the assistance of Jehosha-
phat, the great and prosperous king of Judah, he
planned an attack (1 K. xxii. ; 2 Chr. xviii.). The
Incidents of the expedition are well known : the at-
tempt failed, and Aliab lost his life. [Jezbkel;
Micaiah; Naaiian: Zedekiah.]
During Ahaziah's short reign we hear nothing
of Ramoth, and it probably remained in possession
of the Syrians till the suppression of the Moabite
rebellion gave Jorum time to renew the siege. He
allied himself for the purpose as his father had
done, and as be himself had done on his late cam-
paign, with his relative the king of Judah. He
was more fortunate than Ahab. The town was
taken by Israel (Joseph. Ant. ix. 6, § 1), and held
in spite of all the efforts of Hazael (who was now on
the throne of Damascus) to regain it (2 K. ix. 14 ).
During the encounter .Toram himself narrowly
escaped the fate of his father, being (as we learn
from the LXX. version of 2 Chr. xxii. 6, and from
Josephus) wounded by one of the Syrian arrows,
and that so severely as to necessitate his leaving
the army and retiring to his palace at Jezreel (2 K.
viii. 38, ix. IS; 2 Chr. xxii. 6). The fortress was
left in charge of Jebu. But be was quickly railed
away to the mora important and congenial task of
rebelling against his master. He drove off from
Ramoth-Gilead as if on some errand of daily
recurrence, but he did not return, and does not
appear to have revisited the place to which be
must mainly have owed his reputation and bis ad-
vancement.
Henceforward Ramoth-Gilead disappears from
our view. In the account of the Gileadite cam-
paign of the Maccabees it is not recognisable, un-
less it be under the name of Maspha (Mizpeb).
Carnaim appears to have bean the great sanctuary
of the district at that time, and contained the
•acred close (rJ/uyot) of Ashtaroth, in which
fugitives took refuge (1 Mace. v. 43).
Eusebius and Jerome specify the position of
Ramoth as 15 miles from Philadelphia (Amman).
n Eg- Salt appears to be an Arable appropriation of
the scoiaslastlc^l name Satlon kitratieon — the sacred
toast — which occurs in lists of the episcopal cities on
the east of Jordan (Beland, Pal. pp. 816, 817). It
•as now, as is usual in such cases, sequlnd a new
•waning of Its own —"the broad Star." (Compare
■)
b In this connection It li curious that the Jews
awaM aatrra Jasaah (which they writs U7~Q), by
HAMS' SKINS DYED BED
Their knowledge of the country on that side of taw
Jordan was, however, very imperfect, and in that
ease they are at variance with each other, Eusebina
placing it west, and Jerome east of Philadelphia.
The latter position is obviously untenable. The
former is nearly that of the modern town of et-Salt*
which Geaenins (notes to Burckhardt, p. 1061 ) pro-
poses to identify with Ramoth-Gilead. Ewald
( Getch. iii. 500, note), indeed, proposes a site further
north as more probable. He suggests Jtdmm,
on the northern slopes of the Jebel AjUn, a few
miles west of Jerath, and between it and the
well-known fortress of Kuldl er-Rvbud. The
position assigned to it by Eusebius answers toler-
ably well for a site bearing the name of Jefii
(i)Lawl>), exactly identical with the ancient
Hebrew Gilead, which Is mentioned by Seetaem
(Arisen, March 11, 1806), and marked on his map
(Ibid., iv.) and that of Van de Telde (1858) aa
four or five miles north of et-8alL And probably
this situation is not very far from the truth. If
Ramoth-Gilead and Ramath-Mizpeh are identical,
a more northern position than ee-Salt would seem
inevitable, since Ramath-Mizpeh was in the north-
ern portion of the tribe of Gad (Josh. xm*. 26).
This view is supported also by the Arabic version
of the Book of Joshua, which gives Bamah d-
Jereth, i. e. the Gerasa of the classical geographers,
the modem Jerath ; with which the statement of
the careful Jewish traveller Parch! agrees, who says
that "Gilead is at present 'Djerash" (Zuoz in
Asher's Benjamin, p. 405). Still the fact remains
that the name of Jebel Jitad, at Mount Gilead, is
attached to the mass of mountain between tbe
Wady Sho'eib on the south, and Worfy Zerta on
the north, the highest part, the Ramoth, of which,
is the Jebel Otha. G.
• Tristram assumes the identity of tbe site of
Ramoth-Gilead with et-Salt, about six hours N. E.
of Amman. He found there a nourishing modern
town with few traces of antiquity (Land of Iiraet,
pp. 552-556, 2d ed.). S. W.
BA'MOTH IN GIL'KAD (^23 HOpn
[height* in Uilend] : v) 'Pop&6 «V TaWf, 'Apxf-
suM [«V tjJ r.]. Tfu^iad rcAadl; Alex. Pawutv,
VafimS: K'inuili in tlntitut), l>eut. iv. 48; Josh.
xx. 8, xxi. 38; 1 K. xxii 8.* Elsewhere tbe shorter
form, Kamoth Gilead, is used.
RAMS' HORNS. [Corhbt; Justin]
RAMS' SKINS DYED RED (rhti
D' I Q'^9 D'V'H, •Mth (tbn meoddamtmt Urn-
uarra cpifir iiptApotarttni'va. pellet aliens** n*>
oriental) formed part of the materials that the
Israelites were ordered to present as offerings for
the making of the Tabernacle (Ex. xxv. 5); of
which they served as one of the inner coverings,
there being above tbe rams' akin* an outer covet lug
of badgers' skins, [See Badger.]
There is no doubt that the A. V., following taw
contraction, from Kni~TnQ7"13'', Jegar nahaonuaa,
one of the names oonaarrsd on Mlxpeh (Boos, aa
above).
c The "In" in this last passage (though not dis-
tinguished by italiet) Is a men Interpolation of aba
translator; the Hebrew words do not contain Baa
preposition, ss they do In the three other passafsa,
bat an exactly those which elsewhere an Moaavaw
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RANGES
[XX. and Vulgate, and the Jewish Interpreters, is
KKTeet. lie original words, it is true, admit of
being rendered thus — " skins of red nuns," in
wbieh case meodddmim agrees with Mm instead of
'irtkh (see Kwald, Or. § 570). The red ram is by
Ham. Smith (Kitto, Cycl. s. t.) identified with
the Aoudad sheep (Ammoti-agutTraytlnphut ; see
a figure in toL i. p. 411), " whose normal color is
red, from bright chestnut to rufous chocolate." It
is much more probable, however, that the skius
were those of the domestic breed of rams, which,
as Rashi says, " were dyed red after they were pre-
pared." W. H.
• RANGES. The rendering of EF?? in
l>av. vi. 35, explained by Keil (t'n toe.) as a pot or
pan with its cover (hence the dual) ; but by Fiirst
as a oooking furnace, consisting of two ranges of
•tones so laid as to form an angle. [Pot.] It
is the rendering also of TTJtp in 2 K. xi. 8, 15,
and 3 Chr. xxiii. 14. As applied there it refers to
the long array of armed soldiers through whose
ranks Jeboiada ordered Athaliah the queen to be
dragged out of the Temple, and, according to
Joeephus (Ant. ix. 7, § 4) out of the city, so as not
to pollute the holy places with blood, before putting
her to death. For a graphic picture of the scene,
see Stanley's Ltcturts m the Jcmith Church, ii.
437 ff. [Athaliah.] H.
* RANSOM. [Pckishmknts; Saviour;
Slavs.]
HATHA (npT [ewet,rilait; or perh. high,
tatt}: 'PottWo; [yatPoafcu; Comp. *Pae^(:] Ka-
pha). Son of Bines, among the descendants of
Saul and Jonathan (1 Chr. viii. 37). He is called
Rkphaiaii in 1 Chr. ix. 48.
RAPHAEL CPa£a4\= 1 ?H9"^ "the divine
healer:" [Rnpltaef]). "One of the seven holy
angels which . . • . go in and out before
the glory of the Holy One" (Tob. xiL 16). Ac-
cording to another Jewish tradition, Raphael was
one of the four angels which stood round the
throne of God (Michael, Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael).
Ilia place is said to have been behind the throne,
by the standard of Ephraim (comp. Num. ii. 18),
and his name was interpreted as foreshadowing the
healing of the schism of Jeroboam, who arose from
that tribe (1 K. xi. 36; Buxtorf, /-ex. Rabb. p.
47). In Tobit he appears as the guide and coun-
sellor of Tobias. By his help Sara was delivered
bom her plague (vi. 16, 17), and Tobit from his
blindness (xi. 7, 8). In the book of Enoch he
appears as " the angel of the spirits of men " (xx.
* , comp. Dillmann, ad Inc. ). His symbolic char-
leter in the apocryphal narrative is clearly indi-
cated when he describes himself as " Azarlaa the
son of Ananias " (Tob. v. 13), the messenger of
the Lord's help, springing from the Lord's merey.
[Tcnirr.] The name occurs in 1 Chr. xzvi. 7 as
a simple proper name. [Rephakl.]
B. F. W.
RAPHA1M ([Rom. omits; Alex.] Tmpmr
[Sin. Pwpasiy] = D^NSI, Rapnaim). The name
jf an ancestor of Judith (Jud. viii. 1). In swoe
W8S. this name, with three others, is omitted.
B. F. W.
BATHOS ([Mai] •paeW*; [Rom. Sin.]
tin. and Joseph. Taffr' Pesh. ^*S»: faphon).
RAVEN 2677
A city of Gileod, under the walls of which Jodaa
Maccabeus defeated Timotheus I Mace. v. II
only). It appears to hare stood on the eastern
side of an important wady, and at no great dU
tance from Carnaim — probably Ashterotb-Kar-
naim. It may have been identical with Raphana,
which is mentioned by Pliny (H. JV. v. 16) as one
of the cities of the Decapolis, but with no speci-
fication of its position. Nor is there anything
in the narrative of 1 Mace., of 3 Mace (xii.), or
of Joeephus ( Ant. xii. 8, § 3), to enable us to decide
whether the torrent in question is the Hitromax
the Zurka, or any other.
In Kiepert's* map accompanying Wetatein'i
Hauran, etc (I860), a place named Er-RAft la
marked, on the east of Wady Hrir one of tha
branches of the Wady MnndJiw, and close to tha
great road leading to Sanamein, which last has
some claims to be identified with Aahteroth Csr-
naim. But in our present ignorance of the distriot
this can only be taken as mere conjecture. If Er-
R&ft be Raphana we should expect to find large
ruins. G.
RA/PHTJ (Kr3? [healtd\i TwboS: Raphu).
The father of Palti, the spy selected from the tribe
of Benjamin (Num. xiii. 9).
RAS'SES, CHILDREN OF (viol Tao-o-ft;
[Vat. Sin. Aid. 'P<uro-«r»:] fiii Thnrrit). One
of the nations whose country was ravaged by Hok>
fernes in his approach to Judasa (Jud. ii. 33 only).
They are named next to Lud (Lydia), and appar-
ently south thereof. The old Latin version reads
Thirnt et Satis, with which the Eeshito was prob-
ably in agreement before the present corruption of
its text. Wolff (Dm Buch Judith, 1861, pp. 95,
96) restores the original Chaldee text of the pas-
sage as Than and Rosen, and compares the latter
name with Rhoeua, a place on the Gulf of Tjsus,
between the Rat el-Khanar (Rhossieus soopulus)
and Itktnderun, or Alexandretta. If the above
restoration of the original text is correct, the inter-
change of Meshech and Rosos, as connected with
Thar of Thiroa (see Gen. x. 2), is very remarkable;
since if Meshech be the original of Muscovy, Rosos
can hardly be other than that of Russia. [Rom.]
G.
RATHTJMUS [or RATHU'MTJS] ('Pd#-
vuo> ; Alex, [in ver. 16] Paflvot : Rathimut).
" Rathumus the story writer " of 1 Rsdr. ii. 16, 17,
85, 30, is the same as " Rkhum the chancellor "
of Ezr. iv. 8, 9, 17, 33.
RAVEN (yji, 'Mb: ko>o{: oorvut), tht
well-known bird of that name which is mentioned
in various passages in the Bible. There is no doubt
that the Heb. 'drib is correctly translated, the old
versions agreeing on the point, and the etymology,
from a root signifying " to be black," favoring this
rendering. A raven was sent out by Noah from
the ark to see whether the waters were abated (Gen.
viii. 7). This bird was not allowed as food by tUr
Mosaic law (Lev. xi. 15): the word 'Mb is doubt-
less used in a generic sense, and includes other
species of the genus Coitus, such as the crow ( C.
corone), and the hooded crow ( C. comix). Ravens
were the means, under the Divine command, of
supporting the prophet Elijah at the brook Cherish
(1 K. xvil. 4, 6). They are expressly mentioned
as instances of God's protecting love and goodness
(Job xxxviii. 41; Luke xii. 84; Ps. cxlvii. ft).
They are enumerated with the owl, the bittern, ess.,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2678 razk
m marking the desolation of Edom (Is. ixxiv. 11).
" The locks of the beloved " are compared to the
gtnssy blackness of the raven's plumage (Cut v.
11). The raven's carnivorous habits, and especially
Ua readiness to attack the eye, are alluded to in
Prov. xxx. 17.
The LXX. and Vulg. differ materially from the
Hebrew and our Authorised Version in Gen. viii.
7, for whereas in the Hebrew we read '■ that the
raven went forth to and fro [from the ark] until
the waters were dried up," in the two old versions
named above, together with the Syriac, the raven
is re pr ese n ted as " not returning until the water
was dried from off the earth." On this subject
the reader may refer to Houbigant (Not Crit. i.
IS). Bochart (Hunt. ii. 801), Roaenmuller (SekoL
t» V. 7V), Kalisch (Genesis), and Patrick (C'om-
tmrntmy), who shows the manifest incorrectness of
the LXX. in representing the raven as keeping
away from the ark while the waters lasted, but as
returning to it when they were dried up. The
expression "to and fro" clearly proves that the
raven must have returned to the ark at intervals.
The bird would doubtless have found food in the
floating carcasses of the deluge, but would re-
quire a more solid reating-grouud than they could
afford.
The subject of Elijah's sustenance at Cheritb by
means of ravens has given occasion to much fanci-
ful speculation. It has been attempted to show
that the 'drtbim ("ravens") were the people of
Orbo, a small town near Cberith ; this theory has
been well answered by Roland (PalasU ii. 913).
Others have found in the ravens merely merchants ;
while Hichaelis has attempted to show that Elijah
merely plundered the ravens' nests of hares and
other game! Keil (Comment tn K. xvii.) makes
the following just observation : " The text knows
nothing of bird-catching and nest-robbing, but ac-
knowledges the I/>rd and Creator of the creatures,
who command&l the ravens to provide his servant
with bread and flesh." [Cherith, Amer. ed.]
Jewish and Arabian writers tell strange stories
of this bird and its cruelty to its young; hence,
say some, the Lord's express care for the young ra-
vens, after they had been driven out of the nests
by the parent birds; but this belief in the raven's
want of affection to its young is entirely without
foundation. To the fact of the raven being a com-
mon bird in Palestine, and to its habit of flying
restlessly about in constant search for food to sat-
isfy its voracious appetite, may perhaps be traced
the reason for its being selected by our I.ord and
the inspired writers as the especial object of God's
providing care. The raven belongs to the order
Inttuortt, family Comb. W. H.
RA'ZIS ([Rom. 'PaCls; Alex.] p«f« r : Ra-
mat). "One of the elders of Jerusalem," who
killed himself under peculiarly terrible circum-
stances, that he might not fall " into the hands of
the wicked " (2 Mace. xiv. 87-46). In dying he
■ reported to have expressed his faith in a resur-
rection (ver. 46) — a belief elsewhere characteristic
sf the Maeeabsssn conflict. This act of suicide,
" I. miD: vttnaet, cVpar: i ssa t a fa , fimm
■sts l» with the root NT\ "to fter"(XVt p. 818).
REBRKAH
which was wholly alien to the spirit of tasJawisk
law and people (Ewald, AUerik. 198; John rlfi. tt
eomp. Grot. Dt Jw* BtUi, u. xix. S), has bee*
the subject of considerable discussion. It was
quoted by the Donatiata as the single fact in Scrip-
ture which supported their fsnatiral contempt of
lift (Aug. Zip. 104, 6). Augustine denies the fit-
ness of the model, and condemns the deed as that
of a man " non ehgenda mortis sapiens, sed ferendat
humilitatis impatiens " (Aug. L c ; conrp. c Gawd.
i. 36-39). At a later time the favor with which
the writer of 2 Mace, views the conduct of Basis
— a fact which Augustine vainly denies — was
urged rightly by Protestant writers as an argument
against the inspiration of the book. Indeed, the
whole narrative breathes the spirit of pagan hero-
ism, or of the later zealots (oomp. Jos. B. J. iiL
7, iv. 1, § 10), and the deaths of Samson and Sanl
offer no satisfactory parallel (comp. Grimm, ad
he). B. F. W.
RAZOR. 11 Besides other usages, the practice
of sharing the head after the completion of a vow
must have created among the Jews a necessity for
the special trade of a barber (Mum. vi. 9, 18, viii.
7: I«v. xiv. 8; Judg. xiii. 6; Is. vii. 20; Ex. v. 1,
Acts xviii. 18). The instruments of his work wear
probably, as in modern times, the razor, the basis
the mirror, and perhaps also the scissors, such as
are described by Lucian (Adv. IndocL p. 394, vol.
ii. ed. Amst ; see 2 Sam. xiv. 26). The process of
oriental shaving, and especially of the head, is mi-
nutely described by Chardin (Vog. iv. 144). It
may be remarked that, like the Levites, the Egyp-
tian priests were accustomed to shave their whole
bodies (Her. ii. 36, 37). H. W. P.
REAI'A (rPK"1 [M*om./d«>w!*sfM]: , p r xa:
Add). A Reubenite, son of Micah, and appar-
ently prince of his tribe (1 Cbr. v. 5). The name
is identical with
RBAI'AH (rTrfJ [as above]: -pita; Alas.
Pcia: Rain)- 1. A descendant of ShubaL the son
of Judah (1 Cbr. Iv. 2).
2. CPoIrf, [V**- P"!«,] E"-! faaU, [V»*-
FA. Po«o,] Neh.: Santa.) The children of
Reaiah were a family of Nethinim who returned
from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ear. ii. 47; Neh.
vii. 50). The name appears as Aram in 1 Esdr.
v. 31.
* REAPING. [Aoricttlturb; Roth, Boos
or.]
RE'BA (53*5 [four]: To04k In Norn.,
'Po$4 in Josh.: Rrbe). One of the five kings of
the Midianites slain by the children of Israel km
their avenging expedition, when Balaam fell (Num.
xxxi. 8; Josh. xiii. 21). The different equivalents
for the name in the LXX. of Numbers and Joshua
seem to indicate that these books were not trans-
lated by the same band.
REBECCA l*Pf/S««««: Stbeeea). The Greek
form of the name Rebekah (Rom. Ix. 10 onlyt-
REBEK'AH (nf£J~l, i. «. Ribkah [cord with
a noose, then aumartr]: "PeBenca: Rtbteca),
daughter of Bethuel (Gen. xxii. 28) and sister ef
Laban, married to Isaac, who stood la the rsktioa
8. df?i '• aovanfC <"»» 9 *"*■
--*.- — - «r «-»
Syitao Ten. of 2 Sam. xx. 8,|alsse Is *s> aaaar
(Oa. p. 288).
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RECEIPT OF CUSTOM
RECHAMTES 2679
if a first cousin to her father and to Lot, She Is |nna on Judg. I.; Sanetius, quoted by Calx**, Diet.
ant prennted to ua in the account of toe mi
■ion
al Blienr to Padan-aram (Gen. xxiv.), in which
hia Interriew with Rebekah, her consent and mar-
riage, are related. The whole chapter baa been
pointed oat as uniting meet of the eiicumstanom
of a pattern-marriage. The sanction of parents,
the guidance of God, the domestic occupation of
Rebekah, her beauty, courteous kindness, willing
concent and modesty, and success in retaining her
husband's love. For nineteen years she was chUd-
lees: then, after the prayers of Isaac and her jour-
ney to inquire of the Lord, Esau and Jacob were
born, and while the younger was more particularly
the companion and favorite of his mother (xxv.
19-88) the elder became a grief of mind to her
(nvi. 86). When Isaac was driven by a (amine
Into the lawless country of the Philistines, Rebek-
ah'* beauty became, as was apprehended, a source
of danger to her husband. But Abimeleeh was
restrained by a sense of justice such as the conduct
of his predecessor (xx ) in the case of Sarah would
not lead Isaae to expect. It was probably a con-
siderable time afterwards when Rebekah suggested
the deceit that was practiced by Jacob on his blind
father. She directed and aided him in carrying it
out, foresaw the probable consequence of Esau's
anger, and prevented it by moving Isaao to send
Jacob away to Padan-aram (xxvii.) to her own kin-
dred (xxix. 12). The Targum Pseudojon. states
(Gen. xxxv. 8) that the news of her death was
brought to Jacob at Allon-bochuth. It has been
conjectured that she died during his sojourn in
Padan-aram; for her nurse appears to have left
Isaac's dwelling and gone back to Padan-aram be-
fore that period (compare xxiv. 69 and xxxv. 8),
and Rebekah is not mentioned when Jacob returns
to his father, nor do we hear of her burial till it
is incidentally mentioned by Jacob on his death-
bed (xlix. 81).
St Paul (Rom. ix. 10) refers to her as being
made acquainted with the purpose of God regard-
ing her children before they were born.
For comments on tbe whole history of Rebekah,
see Origen, Horn, in Gen. x. and xii. ; Chrysostom,
Bom. in Uenetin, pp. 48-64. Rebekah's inquiry of
God, and the answer given to her, are discussed by
Deyling, Otter. Sac. i. 19, p. 63 seq., and in an
assay by J. A. Schmid in Nov. The$. ThtoL-Phi-
kbg. 1. 188. W. T. B.
• RECEIPT OP CUSTOM (.TtXiinor)
denote* not so directly the act as the place of col-
lecting customs. It is mentioned in the accounts
of Matthew's call (Matt. ix. 9, Mark ii. 14, and
Luke v. 27). Matthew was a tax-collector on the
shore of the lake of Galilee, probably near Caper-
naum. Tbe toll-bouse may hare been a building
or a booth merely with a seat and table. [Pub-
lican; Taxes.] H.
RE'CHAB (S^ = hortemnn, from — 3^'
rdcoo, "toride '; fnx«B m - #««*"*)• Three oer-
sons bearing this name are mentioned in the
P. T.
1. [Tat. in 1 Chr. Pwva.] The father or an-
taator of Jehonadab (2 K. x. 16, 23; 1 Chr. ii.
K; Jar. xxxv. 6-19), identified by some writers,
•a* eoajeeturally only, with Hobab (Arias Monta-
tur Us R*chabitt$). [Rbchabitbs.]
8. One of the two " captains of bands " (foe*
funoi mcTft/tiuir<m>, Jirracfres latromm), whose
Ish-bosheth took into his service, and who, when
his cause waa failing, conspired to murder him (2
Sam. iv. 8). Josephus (Ant. vii. 2, § 1) calls him
ednwr. [Baasah; Ish-boshkth, vol ii. r
1168.]
3. ITiefatherof Malchiah, ruler of part of Beth-
hacceram (Neh. iii. 14), named as repairing tbe
Dung Gate in the fortifications of Jerusalem under
Nehemiab, E. H. P.
RE CHABITE8 (B*?y3 [honemen] : 'Ap X -
a0tly. [Alex.] AAxaleiv. [ X af>o$uv, Comp.
"PnXoJSf/o, 'PuxajBeluO R* ck « b ><<*)- Th* t" *
thus named appears before us in one memorable
scene. Their history before and after, it lies in
some obscurity. We are left to search out and
combine some scattered notices, and to get from
them what light we can.
(I.) In 1 Chr. ii. 66, the house of Rechab is
identified with a section of the Kenites, who came
into Canaan with the Israelites and retained their
nomadic habits, and the name of Hammath is
mentioned as the patriarch of the whole tribe.
[Kenites: IIkmath.] It baa been inferred from
this passage that the descendants of Rechab De-
longed to a branch of the Kenites settled from the
first at Jabez in Judah. [Jehonadab.] The
fact, however, that Jehonadab took an active part
in the revolution which placed Jehu on the throne,
seems to indicate that be and his tribe belonged to
Israel rather than to Judah, and the late date of
1 Chr., taken together with other facts (infrtt),
makes it more probable that this passage refers to
the locality occupied by the Rechabites after then
return from the Captivity." Of Rechab himself
nothing is known. He may have been the father,
he may have been the remote ancestor of Jehona-
dab. The meaning of the word makes it probable
enough that it was an epithet passing into a propel
name. It may have pointed, as in the robber-chief
of 2 Sam. iv. 2, to a conspicuous form of tbe wild
Bedouin life, and Jehonadab, the son of the Rider,
may have been, in part at least, for that reason,
the companion and friend of the fierce captain of
Israel who drives as with the fury of madness (2
K. ix. 90).
Another conjecture as to the meaning of the
name is ingenious enough to merit a disinterment
from the forgotten learning of the sixteenth cen-
tury. Boulduo ( De Kctkt. ante Leg. iii. 10) in-
fers from 2 K. ii. 12, xiii. 14, that the two great
prophets Elijah and EUsha were known, each of
them in his time, as the chariot (3PT}' *****)
of Israel, i. e. its strength and protection. Tit
infers from this that the special disciples of thf
prophets, who followed them in all their austerity,
were known as the "sons of the chariot," ETni
Reoeb, and that afterwards, when tho original
meaning had been lost sight of, this was taken as
a patronymic, and referred to an unknoan Rechab.
At present, of course, the different vowel-pointa of
tbe two words are sufficiently distinctive; but the
strange reading of the LXX. in Judg. I. 19 (Sri
*Pirxa0 auarslAara atrreis, whan the A. V. has
■ In eontrmathm of this view. It may be nooeed
skat the "shaarloa>tiousF n of 2 K. x. 14 was proaa-
■rjr tt» known redssvous of the nomad tribe of the
Ksnltea, with Jab flocks of shea*.
1
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2680
KECHABITES
! they had chariot$ of iron " ) shows that
me word might easily enough be taken for the
utber. Apart from the evidence of the name, and
the obvious probability of the fact, we have the
statement (tvi/eol quantum) of John of Jerntalem
thnt .lehonadab mi a disciple of Eliaha (Dt Instil.
Mt-ntich. c. 26).
(II.) The personal history of Jehonadab has
been dealt with elsewhere. Here we have to notice
the new character which he impressed on the tribe,
of which he was the head. As bis name, his de-
scent, and the part which he played indicate, he
and his people had all along been worshippers of
Jehovah, circumcised, and so within the covenant
of Abraham, though not reckoned as belonging to
Israel, and probably therefore not considering them-
selves bound by the Mosaic law and ritual. The
worship of Rial introduced by Jezebel and Abah
was accordingly not leas offensive to them than to
the Israelites. The luxury and license of Phoeni-
cian cities threatened the destruction of the sim-
plicity of their noniadic life (Amos ii. 7, 8, vi.
8-6). A protest was needed against both evils,
and as in the case of Elijah, and of the Nazarites
of Amos ii. 11, it took the form of asceticism.
There was to be a more rigid adherence than ever
to the old Arab life. What had been a traditional
habit, was enforced by a solemn command from the
sheikh and prophet of the tribe, the destroyer of
idolatry, which no one dared to transgress. They
were to drink no wine, nor build house, nor sow
seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any. All their
days they were to dwell in tents, as remembering
that they were strangers in the land (Jer. xxxv.
6, 7). This was to be the condition of their re-
taining a distinct tribal existence. For two cen-
turies and a half they adhered faithfully to this
rule; but we have no record of any part taken by
them in the history of the period. We may think
of them as presenting the same picture which other
tribes, uniting the nomad life with religious aus-
terity, hare presented in later periods.
The Kabathaeans, of whom Diodorua Siculus
speaks (xix. 94) as neither sowing seed, nor plant-
ing fruit tree, nor using nor building house, and
enforcing these transmitted customs under pain of
death, give us one striking instance. 11 Another is
found in the prohibition of wine by Mohammed
(Sale's Koran, Prtlim. Dit*. § 6). A yet more
interesting parallel is found in the rapid growth
of the sect of the Wahabya during the last and
present centuries. Abd-ul-Wahab, from whom the
sect takes its name, reproduces the old type of
character in all its completeness. Anxious to pro-
tect his countrymen from the revolting vices of the
Turks, as Jehonadab had been to protect the.
Ketiitea from the like vices of the Phoenicians, the
Bedouin reformer felt the necessity of returning to
the old austerity of Arab life. What wine had
■ las fast that tha Nsbatfaamns habitually drank
'wild hooey " G"Ai ayptov) mixed with water (Dtod.
Me. xlx- 94), and that the Bewjuins as habitually still
Bake locusts an article of (bod (Burckhardt, Bedouin*,
t. 370), shows very strongly that the Baptist's lib was
hshioned after the Bcchabtta as well as the Masarite
•ypa.
* It may be worth while to near to a few authori-
ties agreeing in the general Interpretation here given.
Munch differing; as to details. Vatablua ( Oil. St. in
ee ) mentions a Jewish tradition (R. Judah, as died
ay Khnehl , ramp. Bcaliger, Bench. TKaarn. Sort.
KK0HABITB8
been to the earlier preacher of righu
outward sign and incentive of a fatal i
opiuui and tobacco were to the later prophet, and,
as such, were rigidly proscribed. The rapidity
with which the Wahabys became a formidable
party, the Puritans of Islam, presents a striking
analogy to the strong political influence of Jehona-
dab in 2 K. x. 16, 23 (com; . Borckhar.t, Bedamnt
and Wahabyt, p. 283, Ac).
(III.) The invasion of Judah by Neboxhad-
in B. c. 607, drove the ReehabHes from
their tents. Possibly some of the p revio u s periods
of danger may hare led to their nettling within
the limits of the territory of Judah. Some in-
ferences may be safely drawn from the facte of
Jer. xxxv. The names of the Rechabites show
that they continued to be worshippers of Jehovah.
They are already known to the prophet. One of
them (ver. 3) bears the same name. Their right
Nasarite life gained for them admission into tiki
boose of the Lord, into one of the chambers as-
signed to priests and Levites, within its precincts.
They were received by the sons or followers of a « man
of God," a prophet or devotee of special sanctity
(ver. 4). Here they are tempted and are proof
against the temptation, and their steadfastness it
turned into a reproof for the unfaithfulness of
Judah and Jerusalem. [Jeremiah.] The history
of this trial ends with a special blessing, the fall
import of which has, for the most part, not hen
adequately apprehended: "Jonadab, toe son of
Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before
me forever " (ver. 19). Whether we look on this
ss the utterance of a true prophet, or as a enft-
cmhim ex event*, we should hardly expect at this
precise point to lose sight altogether of those of
whom tbey were spoken, even if the words pointed
only to the perpetuation of the name and tribe.
They have however, a higher meaning. The
words "to stand before me" ( S 3S. ^§Vl are
essentially liturgical. The tribe of Levi is chosen
to "stand before" the Lord (Ileut. x. 8,rrii.6,7).
In Gen. xviii. 22 : Judg. xx. 28 ; Pa. exxxiv. 1 ; Jer.
xv. 19, the liturgical meaning is equally promineut
and unmistakable (comp. Gesen. Tkt$. s v. ; Gro-
tius i« toe.). The fact that this meaning is given
("ministering before me") in the Targum of
Jonathan, is evidence (1 ) as to the received mean-
ing of the phrase; (2) that this rendering did
not shock the feelings of studious and devout
Rabbis in our lord's time; (3) that it was at
least probable that there existed representatives
of the Rechabites connected with the Temple services
in the time of Jonathan. This then, wss the ex-
tent of the new blessing. The Rechabites were
solemnly adopted into the families of Israel, and
were recognised as incorporated into the tribe of
Levi 1 Their purity, their faithfulness, their eon-
p. 26) that the daughters of the ■cohabitee <
levites, and that thus their children came to ■
In the Temple. Clarius (iii'rf.) conjectures that tas
Bechabiles themselves wen chosen to sit in the (rear
Oonndl. SanctJus and Gahnet suppose them to have
ministered in the same way as the Netblnbn (OahsM
Dim. nr la Rechab. in Com. vi. p. xvlil. 1TJB). Ber
ratios (TVifesnu.) Identifies them with tha ansenee
Bcaliger (I. c.) with the ChasUum, in whom name la*
priests soared special dally eaerUeea, and who, at Bab
way, were "stsadmg bean tha Lord " eootareePy.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RECHAB1TES
—tod life gained for them, as it gained for other
Nisaritea, that honor (oomp. HitiKaXK). In Lam.
iv. 7, ire may perhaps trace a reference to the
Kechabites, who had been the must conspicuous
namplei of the Naanrite life in the prophet's time,
tod meet the object of hie admiration.
(IV.) It remains for us to see whether there are
iny traces of their after-history in the biblical or
later writers. It is believed that there are such
traces, and that they confirm the statements made
in the previous paragraph.
(I.) We have the singular heading of the Ps.
itxi- in the LXX. version (ry AaufS, oi&y 1s»ra-
Jd/j, xai Tin wottVrev alxjia^TieSivrm), evi-
dence, of course, of a corresponding Uebrevr title
in the 3d century n. c, and indicating that the
"sons of Jonadal) " shared the captivity of Israel,
and took their placo among the Levite psalmists
who gave expression to the sorrows of the people "
(2.) There is the significant mention of a son
of Bschab in Neb. iii. 14, as cooperating with the
priests, Levites and princes in the restoration of
the wall of Jerusalem.
(3.) The mention of the house of Kechab in
1 Chr. ii. 65, though not without difficulty, points,
then can be little doubt, to the same conclusion.
The Rechabitea have become scribes ID* , "1!}"0,
Sdphtrim). They give themselves to a calling
which, at the time of the return from Dibykni,
was chiefly if not exclusively in the hinds of
Levites. The other names (Tiuathitks, Siii-
meathitks, and SixiiATiiiTEa in A. V.) seem to
add nothing to our knowledge. The V'ulg. ren-
dering, however (evidence of a traditional Jewish
interpretation in the time of Jerome) gives a trans-
lation based on etymologies, more or less accurate,
of the proper names, which strikingly confirms the
view now taken. " C'oguationes quoque Scrilmruni
habitantium in Jabes, caneutes atque resonantes, et
in tabemaculis commorantes.'' * Thus interpreted,
the passage points to a resumption of the outward
fcrai of their old life and its union with their new
functions. It deserves notice also that while in
1 Chr. ii. 64, 65, the Rechabitea and Netopha-
thitea are mentioned in close connection, the " sons
of the singers " in Neb. xii. 28 appear as coming in
large numbers from the villages of the same Ne-
topbathitea. The close juxtaposition of the Recha-
bitea with the descendants of David in 1 Chr. iii. 1
shows also in how honorable an esteem they were
held at the time when that book was compiled.
(4.) The account of the martyrdom of James
the Just, given by Hegesippus (Ells. //. £. ii. 23),
brings the name of the Kechabitee once more before
us, and in a very strange connection. While the
Scribes and Pharisees were stoning him, " one of
the priests of the sons of Kachab, the son of Re-
chabira, who are mentioned by Jeremiah the proph-
et," cried out, protesting against the crime. Dr.
Stanley {Sermont and /usaju on the Apotiuiic Age,
p. 333), struck with the seeming anomaly of a
• Hstther Ewild nor Hengstenbenr nor Us Wette
aotieas this inscription. Bwald, however, refers the
Psalm to the time of the Captivity. Hangstsnberg,
■ho asserts its DavMic au'nonhip, '.ndioaUa an alpha-
Miss relation between it and Ps. lax., which is at
toast presumptive evidence of a later origin, and
saiata, with boom but probability, to Jeremiah as ths
TiMsr. (Oomp. UauauxiOMS.) It Is no tt ss d, bow-
RECHABITES 2681
priest " not only not of Levities], but not eve* of
Jewish descent," supposes the name to have been
used loosely as indicating the abstemious life of
Jama, and other Naxarites, and points to toe fee!
that Epiphanius {Hot. lxxviii. 14) ascribes to
Symeon the brother of James the words which
Hegeaippus puts into the mouth of the Recbabite,
as a proof that it denoted merely the Naxarite
form of life. Calmet (Diu. mv let Rtehnb. 1. c.)
supposes the man to have been one of the Rechabite
Xetbinim, whom the informant of Hegesippus took,
in his ignorance, for a priest. The view which has
been here taken presents, it is believed, a more
satisfactory solution. It was hardly possible that
a writer like Hegesippus, living at a time when
the details of the Temple-eervices were fresh in the
memories of men, should have thus spoken of the
Rechabim unless there bad been a lody of men tc
whom the name was commonly applied. He uses
it as a man would do to whom it was familiar, with-
out being struck by any apparent or real anomaly.
The Targum of Jonathan on Jer. xxxv. 19 indi-
cates, as has lieen noticed, the same fact. We may
accept Hegrsippus therefore as an additional witness
to the existence of the Kechabites as a recognised
body up to the destruction of Jerusalem, sharing in
the ritual of the Temple, partly descended from the
old "sons of Jonadab," partly recruited by the in-
corporation into their ranks of men devoting them-
selves, as did James and Symeon, to the same con-
secrated life. The form of austere holiness presented
in the life of Jonadab, and the blessing pronounced
on his descendants, found their highest 'representa-
tives in the two Brothers of The lx>rd.
(* ) Some later notices are not without interest.
Benjamin of Tudela, in the 12th century (Edit.
Asher, 1840, i. 112-114), mentions that near VX-
Jubar (= Humbenitba) he found Jews who were
named Kechabites- They tilled the ground, kept
Socks and herds, aliatained from wine and flesh,
and gave tithes to teachers who devoted themselves
to studying the Law, and weeping for Jerusalem.
They were 130,000 in number, and were governed
by a prince, Salomon hsn-Nasi, who traced his
genealogy up to the house of David, and ruled over
the city of Thema and Telmaa. A later traveller.
Dr. Wolff, gives a yet stranger and more detailed
report- The Jews of Jerusalem and Yemen told
him that he would find the Rechabitea of Jer- xxxv.
living near Mecca (JuurmiL, 1829, ii. 334). When
he came near Senas he came in contact with a
tribe, the Beni-Khabr, who identified themselves
with the sons of Jonadab. With one of them,
Mousa, Wolff conversed, and reports the dialogue
as follows: "I asked him, > Whose descendants are
yon? ' Mousa answered, ' Come, and I will show
you.' and read from an Arabic Bible the words of
Jer. xxxv. 6-11. He then went on. ' Come, and
you will find us 60,000 in number. Tou see the
words of the Prophet have been fulfilled, Jonadab
the son of Kechab shall not want a man to stand
before me forever'" (ibid. p. 836). Iu a later
ever, by Augustine (Brarr. In Ps. lxx. f 2), and Is re-
ferred by him to the Rechabitea of Jer. xxxv.
i The etymologies on which this version rests am.
It must be confessed, somewhat doubtful. Scattfss
(Bench. Trikat. Ulnar, e. 28) rejects them with seem.
Pelliean and Oahnet, on the other hand, dusnd ths
Vulg. rendering, and Sill (as loc.) doss not Jsspsjss is.
Most modern Interpreters follow ths A. T fa taksssj
the words as proper names.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2682 REOHAH
oarnal (Joan. 1 839, p. 389) be mentions a sec-
end interview with Mouse, describes them, as keep-
ing strictl}' to tbe obi rule, calls them now by the
name of the B'nA-Arbab, and says that B'n£ Israel
if tbe tribe of Dan Ere with them." E 11. P.
RB'CHAH in3T [hinder part, recess]:
Ti)X<(3; Alex. Pypa; [Comp. 'Pard']: Rtcka).
In 1 Chr. It. IS, Bet li- Kapha, Paaeah, and Tehin-
oah the father, or founder, of Ir-nahash, are said
to have been the " men of Kechah." In the Tar-
gum of K. Joseph they are called " the men of the
greet Sanhedrin," the Targuniiet apparently read-
RECORDER ("1 N ?T9), an officer of high rank
m tbe Jtnvish state, exercising the functions, not
simply ot an annalist, but of chancellor or president
of the privy council. The title itself may perhaps
have reference to his office aa adviser of the king :
at all events tbe notices prove that he was more
than an auoaliat, though the superintendence of tbe
records was without doulit entrusted to hint. In
David's court the recorder appears among the hieh
officers of his household (2 Snm viii. 16, xx. 24:
1 Chr. xviii. 15). In Solomon's, he is coupled
with the three secretaries, and is mentioned last,
probably as being their president (1 K. iv. 3). L'n-
.ler Hezekiah, the recorder, in conjunction with the
(>retect of the palace and the secretary, represented
the king (S K. xviii. 18, 37): the patronymic of
the recorder at this time, Joan the son of Asaph,
makes it probable that be was a Unrite. Under
Josiah, the recorder, the secretary, and the gover-
nor of the city were entrusted with the superin-
tendence of the repairs of tbe Temple (3 Chr.
xxxiv. 8). These notices are sufficient to prove
the high position held by him. [Town Clkhk ]
W. LB.
• RED. [Colors, 3.]
RED-HEIFER [Sis-Okkkuing.]
RED SEA. The sea known to us as tbe Red
Sea was by the Israelites called " tbe sea " (2*n,
Ex. xiv. 9, 9, 16, 21, 28: xv. 1, 4, 8, 10, 19; Josh,
xxiv. 6, 7; and many other passages) ; sod specially
" the sen of auph " (*pD"D% Ex. x. 19, xiU. 18,
xv. 4, 22, xxiil. 31; Mum. xiv. 26, xxi. 4, xxxiii.
10, 11; DeuU i. 40, xi. 4; Josh. ii. 10, iv. 23,
xxiv. 6; Judg. xi. 16; 1 K, u. 96; Neb. ix. 9; Pa.
evi. 7, 9, 32, exxxvi. 13, 16; Jer. xlix. 91). It
is also perhaps written rtSID (ZwdA LXX.) in
Num. xxi. 14, rendered " Red Sea " in A. V. ; and
hi Uke manner, in Dent. L 1, H^Di withoot DJ.
The LXX. always render it i) Vavflpa 0tL\<ur<ra
RED SEA
(except in JiHg. xi 16, where ffD, $L+, * nts>
served). So too in N. T. (Acta vii. 86; Hob. si
29); and this name is found in 1 Mace. iv. 9. By
tbe classical geographers this appellation, like its
Latin equivalent Mart Rviirmu or SI. AVstsusma,
was extended to all tbe seas warning the abates of
the Arabian peninsula, and even tbe Indian Ocean '
the Red Sea itself, or Arabian Gulf, was 6 'Afjfiiot
koAwoi, or 'ApafiiKbs «., or Sinus Arabtau, and
its eastern branch, or the Gulf of tbe '>l-»t»-
kiKarlrnt, 'EAsvlrst, 'EAorirucbi ni\wat, Simu
Jilimittt, or S. yElanilicut. The Gulf of Sues
was specially tbe Heroopolite Gulf, 'b>~o*-oArras
koAwoi, Sinui HeroBpoUttt, or & Heroopok tia t*.
Among tbe peoples of the East, the Red Sea has
for many centuries lost its old names: it ia now
called generally by the Arabs, as it was in mHiai
val times, Bahr El-Kulxum, " the sea of El-Kul-
zum," after the ancient dysma, "tbe aea beech,"
the site of which is near, or at, tbe modern Sobs.*
In tbe Kur-an, part of its old name ia pre s erv ed, the
rare Arabic word yamm being used in the sceosast
of the passage of the Red Sea (see also footnote
to p. 1012, infra, and El-Beydawee's CommaU. ea
the Kur-an, vii. 182, p. 841; and xx. 81, p. 609).»
Of the names of this sea (1.) C* (Syr. V^
and l^ip — the latter generally «i lake;"
s ^
Hierog. YDMA; Copt 1011 ', Arabic, 2j)t
signifies " the sea," or any sea. It is also applied
to the Nile (exactly as the Arabic bahr is so ap-
plied) in Nab. ili. 8, "Art thou better than popu-
lous No, that was situate among tbe rivers (yeortVn),
[that had] the waters round about it, whose nun-
part [was] the sea (ydm), and ber wall was froe
the sea (yam)? <
(9.) *pD"tF; In the Coptic version, rBlOlA
JlJgJsV.pl> The meaning of tipM, and . the
reason of its being applied to the sea, have given
rise to much learned controversy. Geseniua rea-
ders it ruth, reed, ita-weed. It is mentioned in
the O. T. almost always in connection with the sea
of the Exodus. It also occurs in the narrative of
tbe exposure of Hoses in the "IN" 1 (yeor); for ha
was laid in tiph, on the brink of the jwtr (Ex. ii.
3), where (in the tiph) be was found by Pharaoh's
daughter (6); and in tbe >' burden of Egypt " (Is.
xix.), with the drying tip of tbe waters of Egypt:
" And tbe waters shall fail from the sea (y*m), and
the river (nrfAdr) shall be wasted and dried up.
And they shall turn the rivers (noAdr, constr. pi.)
far away; [and] the brooks (yeor) of defense (or
a A paper "On Recent Notices of the Bechabites,"
by Signer PlerotU, has been read, since the above was
hi type, st the Cambridge Meeting of the British Asso-
sietlna (October, 1862). He met with a tribe calling
themselves by that name near the Dead Sea, about
two miles 8. B. from It. They had a Hebrew Bible
U<J said their prayers at the tomb of a Jewish Babbl.
They told him precisely the same stories ss had been
xild to fvouT thirty years before.
* Or, as some Arab authors say, the sea is so named
f«u the drowning of Pharaoh's host; Kulsum beings
tiva of (•'.JLi'j W|M> «hls a%n l n«i Hon : or, ae-
■erebig to others, from its befog hemmed In by moun-
tains, from the same not (M- H s srs se n' s Klaus, dascr.
of the Sea of El-Kolsum).
e Its general name Is "the Sea of BVKalsam ; " bwt
In dlflersnt parts It la also called after the nearest ssnst
as "the sea of the HUas," ete. (Tifcoot, In on
Moajam),
d Yamm slgnines a tsar of which tbs bottom is sni
reached. BsAr applies to a "see" or a "great river "
« Qesenlus sdds Is. xix. 6, quoted below ; but It Is
not easy to see wby una should be the Nils (except
from preconceived notions), Instead of the ancient em
tension of the Red Sea. He allows the » tongue af
me esjypoee asa (sum)" m Is. xt It, what* the stsst
[Nile] is noAAr.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RED HEA
■r Egypt?) shall be emptied end dried up: the
reeds and flags (tuph) shall wither. The paper
itejda* by the brooks (y<4r), by the mouth of the
Brooks (ye*-), and everything sown by the brooks
(•eoY), shall wither, be driven away, and be no
[more]. The Others also shall mourn, and all they
that cast angle into the brooks (ycoV) shall lament,
and they thai spread nets upon the waters shall
languish. Moreover tbey that work in flue flax,
and tbey that weave net works (white linen?) shall
be confounded. And they shall be broken in the
purposes thereof, all that makes sluices [and] ponds
for fish " (xU. 6-10). Siph only occurs in one
place besides those already referred to: in Jon. ii.
5, it is written, '• The waters compassed me about,
[even] to the soul; the depth closed me round
about, the weeds («*>*> were wrapped about my
bead." With this tingle exception, which shows
that this product was also found in the Mediter-
ranean, $if)k is Egyptian, either in the Reel Sen, or
in the yedr, and this yttr in Kx- ii. was in the land
of Goshen. What ytfir signifies bare, in Is. xix ,
snd generally, we shall examine presently. But
first of «\pA.
The signification of *V©, i*A must be gath-
ered from the foregoing passages. In Arabic, the
word, with this signification (which commonly is
"wool"), is found only in one passage in a ran
lexicon (the Mohkam MS.). The author says,
» Soof-tUahr (the son/ of the tea) ii like the wool
of sheep. And the Arabs have a proverb: ' I will
eome to tbee when the sea ceases to wet the mi/,' "
i. e. never. The *fO of the D^, it seems quite
certain, is a tea-weed rttembliny wooL Such sea-
weed is thrown up abundantly on the shores of the
Red Sea. Ftirst says, $■ «. *pD, " Ab .AStbiopi-
bus herba qiuedam tapho appeuabatur, qua in pro-
fundo maris rubri ereacit, qiue rubra est, rubrum-
qne oolorem eontinet. patinit tingendis inservientem,
teste Hieronymo de qualitats maris rubri " (p. 47,
Ac.). Diodorus (ill. ch. 18), Artemidorua (ap.
Strabo, p. 770), and Agatliarchidet (ed. Muller, p.
188-47), speak of the weed of the Arabian Gulf.
Ehrenherg (in Winer) enumerates Fwut lattfobut
on the shores of this sea, and at Sues Fuau aitput,
F. trine lit, F. turiinnUu, F. py'Motiu, F. (Kapha-
aiu, tie., and the specially red weed 7VicAorfe«m;'«un
crytkramm. The Coptic version renders $0ph by
atari (see above), supposed to be the hieroglyphic
" SHER " (sea?). If this be the same as the xiri
of Pliny (see next paragraph), we must conclude
that atari, like t&pk, was both marine and fluvial.
The passage in Jonah proves it to be a marine prod-
uct; and that it was found in the Red Sea, the
numerous passages in which that tea is called the
sea of sup* leave no doubt.
But F^D may have been alto applied to any
substance resembling wool, produced by a flvrinl
ruth, such as the papyrus, and benee by a synec-
doche to such rush itself. Golius says, s. v.
RED SEA
2688
ifitJyJ. on th « authority of Ibu-Maaroof (after
S .-
explaining ^ Jo bj » papyrus herba"), " Hint
r L > ;l| i^ [the cotton of the papyrus]
gossippiutu papyri, quod /«*» simile ex thyrso col-
ligitur, et permixtum calci efficit tenacissimum
ctemeuti genus." This is curious: and it may also
be observed that the papyrus, which included mors
than one kind of cyptntt, grew in the marshes, aud
in lands on which about two feet in depth of the
waters of the inundation remained (Wilkinson's
Ancient Eyy/ithtii, iii. 61. 148, citing Pliny, xiii.
11; Strab. xvii. 560); and that this is agreeable tr
the position of the ancient head of the gulf, with
its canals and channels for irrigation (yeih-fm t)
connecting it with the Nile and with l-nke Mareotn;
and we may suppose that in this and other similar
districts, the papyrus was cultivated in the j/tArim:
the marshes of Egypt arc now in the north of the
Delta aud are salt lands As a fluvial null, sd/Jft
would lie found in marsh-lands as well as strenmt,
and in brackish water as well as in sweet. It is
worthy of note that a low marshy place near the
ancient head of the gulf is to this day culled
Ghmoeybet el-Boot, " the bed of reeds," aud another
place near Suez has the aune name; traces perhaps
of the great fields of reeds, rushes, and papyrus,
which flourished here of old. See also Pi-hahi-
Koni, « the place where sedge grows " ( ?). _ Fres-
nel (Diuertativn sm- U tchari de* Egyptitni et
U toitfdet Hebieux, Jvurn. Atiut. 4« stfrie, xi. pp.
274, Ac.) enumerates seme of the reeds found in
Egypt. There is no sound reason for identifying
any one of these with tiph. Freeuei, in this cu-
rious paper, endeavors to prove that the Coptic
" shari " (in the ynm atari) was the Arundo
/£i/ypmtea of Desfontaiun (in modem Arable
boot Fdo-itee, or Persian cane): but there appear to
be no special grounds for selecting this variety for
identification with the fluvial shan: und we must
entirely dissent from his suggestion that the shari
of the Red Sea was the same, and not sea-weed:
apart from the evidence which controverts his ar
guraents, they are in themselves quite inconclusive,
Sir Gardiner Wilkinson's catalospie of reeds, etc.,
is fuller than Fresnel's, and he suggests the Cypnu
Oivrt or fiulij,i'lut (Arabic, Deet) to be the (art
of Pliny. The latter says, " Fructicosi est genu*
sari, circa Niluni nascens, duorum fore cubitcrum
altitudine, pollicari crassitudine, coma papyri, sin>
ileque manditur modo '• (H If. xiii. 33; see alio
Theophr. iv. 8).
The occurrence, of tipk in the j/tir (Ex ii., Ici.
xix.) in the land of Goshen (Kx. II.), brings us tu
a consideration of tlie uieaniiig of the latter, which
in other respects is closely connected with the sub-
ject of this article.
(8.) "A*| (Hierog. ATUR, AURsCopt-eiepO,
• Hsb. rfrVB, rendered by the LXX. agi, &xn.
tu Break bring derived from SffTr* an ■gyptlan word
bnetai " marsh-grass, raids, bulrushes, and soy ver-
fcres gloving In a marsh.* Oesmlns randan TV~lV
H HVl^, '» «*•■ or base sites, i. «. destitute
of trees : hem used of ths grassy plaofS
on tht ^anks of lbs Nile : " but this is unsatblaetory
Boothroyd says " Our translators, after others, sap-
pnsed this word to signify the papyrus : bnt wtthonl
any Just authority. Klmohi explains, ' Aroth tat
nomen apptMabvunr olsrum et herbamm vtnattiim.'
Hence we may render « The marshy [s«l medows (s>«;
at the month of the river,' " etc.
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2084
BED 8EA
ApO, IJ-pOJ, Memphitlc dialect, IVpO,
Bahidic) signifies " * river." It seems to apply to
•> a gleet river," or tlie like, and also to '• an arm
of tlie sea; " and perhaps to -a tea" absolutely;
like tlie Arabic Mir, Geeeniui says it ia almost ex-
clusively used of tlie Nile: but tlie passages in which
it. occurs do not necessarily lear out this conclusion.
By far tbe greater number refer to the sojourn iu
Egypt : tlieae are Gen. ili. 1. 2. 3, 17, 18. Pha-
raoh's dreuiu; I£x. i. 22, the exposure of tlie male
shildren; Kx. ii. 3, 6, the exposure of Moses; Kx.
•ii. 15 If., and xvii. 6, Moses before I'baraoh and
therplague of blood ; and- Kx. viri. 6, 7-. toe plague,
ef frogs. Tlie next most iiuportant instance is tbe
prophecy of Isaiah, already quoted in full. Then,
that of Amos (viii. 8, couip. ix. b), where the land
shall rise up wholly as a flood (s^-or*); and sliall be
east out and drowned as [by] Ce flood (ytvr) of
fiftypt- The irreat prophecy of Ecekiel against
I'baraoh and against all Kgypt, where Phsraoh is
" tlie grext dragon that lieth in tbe midst of his
rivers (YHs*".) which hath said, My river C"fc*)
is mine own,' and I have made [it] lor myself"
(xxix. 3), iwes the pi. throughout, with the above
exception and verse 9, " because he hath said, The
river (*^S?) [is] mine, and I have made it." It
cannot 1« supposed that Pharaoh would have said
of the Nile that he had made it, and the passage
seems to refer to a great canal. As Krekiel was
eontemporary with I'liaraoh Necho, may lie not
-here have referred to the rcexcavation of tbe canal
of the Ked Sea by that Pharaoh ? That canal may
haw at least received the name of the canal of
Pharaoh, just as the same canal when reexcavated
for the last time was "the canal of the Prince
of the Faithful," and continued to 1* so called.
Ytor occurs elsewhere only in Jer. xlvi 7, 8, in the
prophecy against Necho: in Isa. xxiii. 10, where its
application is doubtful : and in Dan. xii. 5, 6, where
it Is held to be tlie Kuphrstes, but may be the great
eanal of Babylon. 'Ilie pi. f/ttirim, seems to lie
often uaeil interchangeably with ytnr (as in Kx.
xxix., and Nali. Hi. 81; it is used for "rivers." or
"channels of water: " and, while it is not restricted
to Egypt, especially of those of tlie Nile.
From a comparison of all the passag es iu which
It occurs there appears to he no conclusive reason
for supposing that ye<V applies generally, if ever, to
the Nike. In tlie passages relating to the exposure
of Moses it appears to appiy to tbe ancient exten-
sion of tlie Red .Sea towards Tanis (Zoah, Avarisl,
or to the ancient canal (see below) through which
the water of the Nile passed to the " tongue of the
Kgvptian Sea." The water was potable (Kx. vii.
18,, but so is that of the l-ake of the Feiyonm to
Its own fishermen, though generally very brackish:
od tbe canal must have received water from the
file during every inundation, and then must haw
boon sweet. During the height of the inundation,
Ike s*veet water would flow into the Red Sea. The
pasiuge of tbe canal was regulated by sluices, which
a Ths Mohammedan account of the exposure of
tsoass is curious. Moses, we read, was laid In the
wamm (which is explained to be the Nile, though that
irer Is not elsewhere so called), and tbe ark was car-
ried by too current along a canal or small river (nnar)
to a lake, at the further and of which was Pharaoh's
Cvtlioo (Kl-Bevdawep's Qmtmmt. en the Kvr-in, xx.
, p. 696, and Jfe-Zamakhatoree's CommmJ., eoKUed
law Kokttfi. Wblls we place bo dapsndanee on Mo-
RED SEA
excluded the waters of the Red Sea and tmmcaual
by the water of tbe canal tbe salt lakes. Scabs
(xvii. I, § 26) says that they were thus rendered
sweet, and in hi* time contained good fish and
abounded with water fowl : the position of these
lakes is more conveniently discussed in another part
of this article, on tbe ancient geography of the head
of the gulf. It must not be forgotten that the Pha-
raoh of Moaes was of a dynasty residing at Tauia
and that the extension of the Ked Sea, " the tongut
of the Kgyptinn Sea," stretched in ancient times
into the borders of the land of Goshen, about 50
miles north of its present head, and half-way to-
wards Tanis. There ia abundant proof of the former
cultivation of this country, which must have been
effected by tbe canal from the Nile just mentioned,
and by numerous canals and channels for irriga-
tion, the «roVii», so often mentioned with the yeor.
There appears to be no difficulty in Isa. xix. 8
(comp. xi. 15), for, if tbe Red Sea became cLsei
at Sues or thereabout, the t&pk left on the
beaches of the yt&r must have dried up and
rotted. The ancient beaches in the tract here
spoken of, which demonstrate successive elevations,
are well known.*
(4 ) 'H cpuApA fdAaova- The origin of this ap-
pellation has been tbe source of more speculation
even than the obscure niph ; for it lies more within
the range of general scholarship. The theores
advanced to account for it have been often puerile,
and generally unworthy of acceptance. Their an -
thors may be divided into two schools. The first
have ascribed it to some natural phenomenon ; such
as the aiugularly red appearance of tbe moun-
tains of tlie western coast, looking as if they sue
sprinkled with" Havannah or Brazil snuff, or brick-
dust (Ilruce), or of which the redness was reflected
in the waters of the sea (Goaselin, ii. 78-84): the
red color of tin water sometimes caused by tbe pres-
ence of zoophytes (Salt; Khrenlerg); the red coral
of tlie sea; the red sea-weed; and tbe red sturks
that have been seen in great numbers, etc Ro-
land (/>e Mart liuhrv, Out. MitctlL I 69-117)
argues that tlie epithet red was applied to this and
tlie neighboring seas on account of their tropical
bent: as indeed was said by Arteraidoros (<nx
Strain, xvi. 4, 20), that the sea was called red be-
cause of the reflection of tbe sun. The second have
endeavored to find an etymological derivation. Of
these the earliest (European) writers pr o p osed a
derivation from Edoin, " red," by the Greeks trans-
lated literally. Among them were N. Fuller ( Mu-
ctlt. Sticr. iv. c. 20); before bim, Scanger, in hia
notes to Fttiut ; voce jEy f/ iti m m, ed. 1574 ; and
still earlier Genebrard, Coutmtnl. *d P$. 108:
liocbart (Phaltg, iv. c 84) adopted thia theory (see
Kelaud, /*'«*. Mitcell. i. 86, ed. 1706). The
Greeks and Komans tell us that the sea received its
name from a great king, Erythras, who reigned in
tbe adjacent country (Strab. xvi. 4, J 20; Plhiv,
//. If. vi. cap. 23, § 28; Agatharch. i. § 6; Phil-
ostr. iii. 16, and others):* the stories that laws
come down to us appear to be distortions of ths tra-
hammedan relations of Biblical events, tbare may be
hers a slimmer of truth.
» Belaud (Dim. MitcrU. i. 67, fce.) Is pleasantly se-
vers on ths story of king Krythras ; but, with ail his
rare learning, be was Ignorant of Arab history, which
is (km of the unmet value, and of the various proof,
of a eonnaotton between this Brythra* and Hlmjer
and the Phoenicians in language, race, anl nellgtoa
Besides, Beland bad a Unary of his own to rapport
Digitized by VjOOQlC
RED SEA
iUfcm that Himyer was the name of apparently the
ihief family of Arabia Felix, tlw great South- Ara-
bian kingdom, whence the Himyeritee, and Homer-
itas. 1 linijrer appears to be derived from the Arable
" ahmar," retl (Himyer ma ao called became of
the ml color of hie clothing, Ktt- A'moryrte in
Oiutan, i. 64): "aafar" alao signifies "red,'' and
U the root of the oamea of several places in the
peiiinaula ao called on account of their redness (see
M.trati<l, 263, Ac.); this majr point to Ophir:
potvil is red. and the Phoenicians came from the
Erythraean Sea (Herod, rii. 8J). We can scarcely
doubt, on these etymological grounds « the connec-
tion between the Phoenicians and the Him rentes,
or that in this is the true origin ut the appellation
of the Red Sea. But when the ethnological side of
the question is considered, the evidence is much
strengthened. The South-Arabian kingdom was a
Joktanite (or Shemite) nation mixed with a Cush-
ite. This admixture of races produced two results
(as in the somewhat similar cases of Egypt, As-
syria, etc. ) : a genius for manure architecture, and
rare seafaring ability. The Southern-Arabians ear-
ned on all the commerce of Egypt, Palestine, and
Arabia, with India, until shortly before our .own
era. It is unnecessary to insist on this Phoenician
characteristic, nor on that which made Solomon
call for the assistance of Hiram to build the Tem-
ple of Jerusalem. The Philistine, and early Cretan
and Carian, colonists may have been connected with
the South-Arabian race. If the Assyrian school
would trace the Phoenicians to a Cbakuean or an
Assyrian origin, it might be replied that the Cush-
ites, whenee came Nimrod, passed along the south
coast of Arabia, and that Berosua (in Lory, 2d ed.
p. 60) tells of an early Arab domination of Clial-
deea before the Assyrian dynasty, a story alao pre-
served by the Arabian historians (El-Mea'oodee,
Oiddtn Mvulmcs, MS.). The Bed Sea, therefore,
was most probably the Sea of the Red men. It
adds a link to the curious chain of emigration of
the Phoenicians from the Yemen to Syria, Tyre,
and Sidon, the shorn and islands of the Mediter-
ranean, especially the African coasts of that sea, and
to Spain and the far-distant northerly ports of their
commerce; as distant, and across oceans aa terrible,
as those reached by their Himyerite brethren in the
Indian and Chinese Seaa.
Ancient JamUi — Ine most important change in
the Red Sea has been thedrtiugup of its northern
extremity, " the tongue of the Egyptian Sea.' ' The
laud aliout the head of the gulf has risen, and that
near the Mediterranean become depressed. The
head of the gulf has consequently retired gradually
•iooe the Christian era. Thus the prophecy of
Isaiah has been fulfilled: '• And the Lord shall ut-
terly destroy toe tongue of the Egyptian aea " (xi.
15): ••the waters shall fail from the sea" (xix. 5):
the tongue of the Red Sea has dried up for a dis-
tance of at least 60 miles from its ancient bead, and
a cultivated and well-peopled provinos has been
changed into a desolate wilderness. An ancient
eanal conveyed the waters of the Nils to the Red
BED 8EA
12685
• If we concede the derivation, it cannot be held
. .at the Greeks mistranslated the name of lliajer.
,8e» bland. Dim. JMikWI. I 101.) It Is worthy of
mensatn that the Arabs often call themselves " the red
s**V as dfrttoftushed from the black or negro, and
the yellow or Turanian, raws ; though they call them-
selves " the black," ss distinguished from the mow
aartaara neat, whom (bs> term " the red ; " as tab
Sea, flowing through the tVddi-t-Tumeytdt and Ir-
rigating with its system of water-channels a large
extent of oountry ; it also provided a means for con-
veying all the commerce of the Red Sea, once sc
important, by water to the Nile, avoiding the risk*
of the desert Journey, and securing water-carriage
from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. The dry-
ing up of the head of the gulf appears to have beeu
one of the chief causes of the neglect and ruin of
this canal.
The country, for 'the distance above indicated, is
now a desert of gravelly sand, with wide patches
about the old sea-bottom, of rank marsh land, now
called the » Bitter Lakes '' (not those of Strabo).
At tiie northern extremity of this salt waste is a
small lake sometimes called the Lake of HerodpotLi
(the city after which the Gulf of Suez waa cello]
the Herocpolite Gulf): the lake is now Birktt ft-
Timsdk, " the lake of the Crocodile," and is sup-
posed to mark the ancient head of the gulf. The
canal that connected this with the Nile was of
Pharaonic origin. 6 It was anciently known as tbt
" Fossa Kegum," and the "canal of Hero." Pliny,
Diodorus, and Strabo, state that (np to their time)
U reached only to the bitter springs (which appeal
to be not the present bitter lakes, but lakes west of
Heroopolii), the extension being abandoned on ac-
count of the supposed greater height of the water*
of the Red Sea. According to Herod, (ii. cap. 168)
it left the Nile (the Tanitic branch, now the canal
of M-Mo'ia) at Bubaetis (Pi-beseth), and a canal
exists at this day in this neighborhood, which ap-
pears to be the ancient channel The canal was
four days' voyage in length, and sufficiently broa*
for two triremes to row abreast (Herod, ii. 168
or 100 cubits, Strab. xvii. 1, § 26; and 100 feet,
Pliny, vi. cap. 29, § 33). The time at which the
canal was extended, after the drying up of the bead
of the gulf, to the present head is uncertain, but
it must have been late, and probably since the Mo-
bimmedan conquest Traces of the ancient chan-
nel throughout its entire length to the vicinity of
Bubastis, exiit at intervals in the present day
(/Jsscr. o*e tggyptt, E. M. xi. 37-381, and v. 185-
158, 8vo ed.). The Arnnu Trnjnmu (Toalovoi
war. |it. iv. 5, J 54), now the canal of Cairo, was
probably of l'haraonie origin ; it was at any rate
repaired by the emperor Adrian ; and it joined the
ancient canal of the Red Sea between Bubastis and
Herobpolia. At the Arab conquest of ■ Egypt, this
was found to be closed, and was reopened by 'Ami
by command of 'Omar, after whom it was called
the " canal of the Prince of the Faithful." Coun-
try-boats sailed down it (and passed into the Red
Sea to Yembo' — see « Sbems ed-Deen " in Dtscr.
d» tSgi/pU, 8vo ed. xi. 359), and the water of the
Nile ran into the sea al ELKuhmn ; but the for
mer commerce of Kgypt was not in any degree re-
stored ; the canal was opened with the intention of
securing supplies of grain from Egypt in esse ol
famine in Arabia; a feeble interco urs e with the
newly-important holy cities of Arabia, to provide
for the wants of the pilgrims, was its principal use.
epithet la used by them, when thus applied, aa mess-
ing both "red "and "white"
» Commenced by Bssostrls (Arlstot Mtuor. 1. 14,
Strata, i. and zvii. ; Pun. Hiti. Nat. vt. 28 ; Herod. B.
US; Mod. I. 88) or by Heeho IT., most probably las
former ; ooo Uu oad ay Derlna Hyitsspta, and by Pas*
Pbuadelphus. Sea Jawst. Bra. art " Crypt."
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2680
BED SEA
b A. n. 105, Kl-Msnaoor ordered It to be filled up
(the Khitnt, Deacr. of the Canals), in order to cat
off supplies to -the Shiya'ee heretic* in ELMedee-
nth. Now it does not Sow many mile* beyond
Cairo, but it* channel is easily traceable.
The land north of the ancient bead of the gulf is
a plain of heavy sand, merging into marsh-land
near, the Mediterranean coast, and extending to
Palestine. We learn from El-Makreezee that a
tradition existed of this plain having been formerly
well cultivated with saffron, safnower, and sugar-
sane, and peopled throughout, from the frontier-
town of Et-'Areeth to EU'Abbdtth in Wddi-t- Tu-
mtyliit (see Exodus, tub, Map ; The Khitnt, a. r.
Ji/iirf romp. Mnrdtid, ib.). Doubtless the dry-
ing up of the gulf with its canal in the south, and
the depresrion of the land in the north, have con-
verted this once (if we may believe the tradition,
though we cannot extend this fertility as far as El-
'Areesh) notoriously fertile tract into a proverbially
sandy and parched desert. His region, including
Wdili-t- Tumeylii, was prolably the frontier' land
occupied in part by the Israelites, and open to the
incursion* of the wild tribes of the Arabian desert;
and the y«<>, as we have given good reason for be
lieving, in this application, was apparently the an-
cient bead of the gulf or the canal of the Red Sea,
with its f/tirlm or water-channels, on which Goshen
and much of the plain north of it depended for their
fertility.
Phyical Detcriptim. —In extreme length, the
Red Sea stretches from the Strait* of Bib et-
Mendeb (or rather Rat Bab el-Mendeb) In (at.
18° 40' N., to the modern head of the Gulf of
Suez, kit. 30' N. It* greatest width may be stated
roughly at about 900 geographical miles; this is
about hit. 16° 80', but the navigable channel is
here really narrower than in some other portions,
groups of islands and rocks stretching out into the
sea, between 30 and 40 miles from the Arabian
toast and 50 miles from the African coast. From
shore to shore, its narrowest part is at Rit Br«i$
lat. 94°, on the African coast, to Rie Bereedee
opposite, a little north of Yembn', the port of A7-
Medeeneh and thence n o rthw ards to Rat Mi<-
hnmmnd (i. e. exclusive of the Gulfs of Sues and
the 'Akabeh), the sea maintains about the same
lveragr width of 100 geographical miles. South-
wards from Rat Bendt, it opens out in a broad
each ; contracts again to nearly the above narrow-
aess at .leddnh (correctly Juddah), lat. 21° 80',
the port of Mekkeh ; and opens to its extreme
width south of the last-named port.
At Rat Mohammed, the Red Sea is split by the
{igsnlic peninsula of Sinai into two gulfs: the
westernmost, or Gulf of Suez, is now about 130
reojrranhical miles in length, with sn average width
. jf about 18, though it contracts to less than 10
miles: the easternmost, or Gulf of El-'Aknbeh, is
only about 90 miles lone, from the Straits of
Tiran, to the 'Akabeh [Elath], and of propor-
tionate na rrowness . The navigation of the Red
Sea and Gulf of Suez, near the shores, is very
difficult from the abundance of shoals, coral reefs,
rocks, and small islands which render the channel
intricate, and cause strong currents, often of un-
known force and direction; but in mid-channel,
rxclusive of the Gulf of Suez, there is generally a
vidth of 100 miles dear, except the Daedalus reef
.VTrllsted, ii. 800). — The bottom in deep sound-
ings is in most places sand and stones, from Sues
as tar as Juddah ; and thence to the Straits It is
KED SEA
commonly mod. The deepest sounding la tkl
excellent Admiralty chart Is 1064 fathoms, in lat
99° 80'.
Journeying southwards from Suez, on oar left is
the peninsula of Sinai [Sinai] : on the right, la the
desert eoant of Egypt, of limestone formation like
the greater part of the Nik valley in Egypt, the
cliffs on the sea-margin stretching landwards in a
great rocky plateau, while more inland a chain of
volcanic mountains (beginning about lat 98° 4'
and running south) rear their lofty peaks at in
tervala aliove the limestone, generally about 10
miles distant. Of the most important is 6'efrol
Uhdrib, 8,000 feet high ; and as the Straits of Jobs]
are passed, the peaks of the primitive range attain
a height of about 4,600 to 6,900 ft, until the
" Elba " group rises in a huge mass about lat. 99°.
Further inland is the (.'see/ ed-JChMUtdn, the
"porphyry mountain" of Ptolemy (iv. 6, § 97;
M. Claudianua, are Miller, Urogr. Mm. Atlas
vii.), 6,000 ft. high, about 97 miles from the coast,
where the porphyry quarries formerly supplied
Rome, and where are some remains of the time of
Trajan (Wilkinson's Modern Egypt and Thibet,
ii. 383); and besides these, along this desert south-
wards are " quarries of various granites, serpen-
tines, Breccia Verde, slates, and micaceous, talcoae,
and other schist* " (id. 382). Gebel-ez-Zeyt, " the
mountain of oil," close to the sea, abounds in pe-
troleum (id 386). This coast is especially inter,
esting in a Biblical point of view, for here were
some of the earliest monasteries of the Eastern
Church, and in those secluded and barren moun-
tains lived very early Christian hermits. The
convent of St Anthony (of the Thebals), " Deyr
Mar Antooniyoos," and that of St Paul, " Deyr
Mar Bolus," are of great renown, and were onee
important They are now, like all Eastern monas-
teries, decayed; but that of St Anthony gives,
from its monks, the Patriarch of the Coptic
church, formerly chosen from the Nitrian monas-
teries (id. 881} —South of the "Elba" chain, the
country gradually sinks to a plain, until it rises to
the highland of Ceedan, lat 15°, and thence to
the straits extend a chain of low mountains. The
greater part of the African coast of the Red Sea is
sterile, sandy, snd thinly peopled; first beyond
Suez by Bedawees chiefly of the Ma'azee tribe.
South of the Kusejr road, are the 'Abab'deh; and
beyond, the Bisharees, the southern branch of
which are called by Arab writers •• Beja," whose cus-
toms, language, and ethnology, demand a careful
investigation, which would undoubtedly be repaid
by curious results (see El-Makreezee'a Khitnt,
Deter, of the Beja, and Deter, of the Detert of
Eydhab ; Qnatremere'a Assays on these subjects,
in his Mimoirtt flitt. et Gtogr. tttr tllgypte, it. pp.
134, 162; and The Genesis of the Earth and of
Man, 2d ed. p. 109); and then, coast-tribes of
Abyssinia.
The Gulf of Ei- Akabeh (i. e. "of the Moun-
tain-road ") is the termination of the long vallev
of the Ghor or 'Arabah that runs northwards to
the Dead Sea. It is itself a narrow valley; the
sides are lofty and precipitous mountains, of en-
tire barrenness; the bottom is a river-like set,
running nearly straight for its whole length of
about 90 miles. The northerly winds rush dowi
this gorge with uncommon fury, and render Hi
navigation extremely perilous, causing at the
I same time strong counter-currents; while most
of the few anchorages sic open to the soutaans
Digitized by VjOOQlC
BED SEA
pirn. It " bsi the appearance of a narrow, deep
ravine, extending nearly a hundred miles in a
straight direction, and the circumjacent hills rise
in eoroe pLicee two thousand fact perpendicularly
from the ebon " (Weilsted, ii. 108). The wettem
ahore i* the peninsula of Sinai. 'I°he Arabian
chain of mountains, the continuation of the southern
spurs of the l^ebsnon, skirt the eastern coast, and
rise to about 3,500 ft., while Utbit TVyort-' Alte
near the Straits is 6,000 ft. There is no pastur-
age, and little fertility, except near the 'Akrnbth,
where sre date-groTes and other plantations, etc.
In earlier days, this last-named place was (it is
said) famous for its fertility. The Island of Graia,
Jttttrtt Fara'oon, once fortified and held by the
Crusaders, is near its northern extremity, on the
Sinaitic side. The sea, from its dangers, and
sterile shores, is entirely destitute of lioats.
The Arabian coast outside the Gulf of the 'Akabth
Is skirted by the range of Arabian mountains, which
in some few places approach the sea, but generally
leave a belt of coast country, called Tihdmth, or
the Ghdr, like the Sbeelah of Palestine. This tract
is generally a sandy, parched plain, thinly inhab-
ited ; these characteristics being especially strong
in the north. (Niebuhr, Deter. 80S ; Weil-
sted.) The mountains of the Hejaz consist of
ridges running parallel towards the interior, and
Increasing in height as they recede (Weilsted, ii.
242). Burckhardt remarks that the descent on
the eastern side of these mountains, like the Leb-
anon and the whole Syrian range east of the Dead
Sea, is much less than that on the western ; and that
the peaks, seen from the east or land side, appear
mere hills (Arnbin, p. 381 ity.) In clear weather
they are visible at a distance of 40 to 70 miles
(Weilsted, ii. 243). The distant ranges have a
rugged, pointed outline, and are granitic; at
Wejh, with horizontal veins of quartz; nearer the
sea many of the hills are fossiliferous limestone,
while the lieach hills "consist of light-colored
sandstone, fronted by and containing Urge quan-
tities of shells and masses of ooral " (Weilsted, ii.
843). Coral also " enters largely into the compo-
sition of some of the most elevated hills." The
more remarkable mountains are Jabtl ' Kyn-Unnb
(or " 'Eynuwunna," Mwdtid, t. v. " *Eyn," "Orrn
of Ptol), 6,090 ft, high near the Straits; a little
further south, and close to Mo'tgleh, are moun-
tains rising from 6,330 to 7,700 ft., of which
Weilsted says, " The coast ... is low, gradually
ascending with a moderate elevation to the dis-
tance of six or seven miles, when it rises abruptly
to hills of great height, those near ilimunhh
terminating in sharp and singularly-shaped peaks
. . . Mr. Irwin [1777] ... has styled them
Bullock's Horns. To me the whole group seemed
to bear a great resemblance to representations
which I have seen of enormous icebergs" (ii. 176;
see also the Admiralty Chart, and Midler's Gtoyr.
Min.). A little north of IVmoo' is a remark-
able group, the pyramidal mountains of Agath-
archidet; and beyond, about 26 miles distant,
rises J. Kadwa, Further south, J. Subh is re-
markable for its magnitude and elevation, which
is greater than any other between i'embo' and
liddnh ; and still further, hut about 80 miles dis-
•juit from the coast, J. Rut-il-Kiua rises oehind the
Holy city, Mekkeh. It is of this mountain that
Burckhardt writes so enthusiastically — bow
•mrely is he enthusiastic — contrasting its verdure
sod cool brasses with the sandy waste of Tihd-
EED SEA
2687
mth {Arabia, p. 66 nqq.). The chain continues
the whole length of the sea, terminating in the
highlands of the Yemen. The Arabian moun-
tains are generally fertile, agreeably different from
the parched plains below, and their own bare
granite peaks above. The highlands and moun-
tain summits of the Yemen. » Arabia the Happy,"
the Jebel as distinguished from the plain, are
precipitous, lofty, and fertile (Niebnhr, Deter.
161): with many towns and villages in their
valleys snd on their sides. — The coast-line itself,
or Tihdmth, "north of Ytmbcf, is of moderate
elevation, varying from 50 to 100 feet, with no
beach. To the southward [to Jvddah] it is
more sandy and less elevated; the inlets sal
harbors of the former tract may be styled cone;
in the latter they are lagoons" (Weilsted, tt.
244). — The coral of the Red Sea is remarkably
abundant, and beautifully colored and variegated.
It is often red, but the more common kind is
white; and of hewn blocks of this many of the
Arabian towns are built.
The earliest navigation of the Red Sea (pass-
ing by the pre-historical Phoenicians) is men-
tioned by Herodotus. "Sesostris (Rameses II.)
was the first who, psssing the Arabian Gulf in
a fleet of long vessels, reduced under his author-
ity the inhabitants of the coast bordering the
Erythraean Sea; proceeding still further, he came
to a sea which, from the great number of its
shoals, was not navigable;" and after another
war against Ethiopia he set up a stela on the
promontory of Din, near the straits of the
Arabian Gulf. Three centuries later Solomon's
navy was built " iu Kzion-geber which is besids
Eloth, on the shore of the Ked Seat ( Yam Siph),
in the land of Edom " (1 K, far. 96). In the de-
scription of the Gulf of El-' Akabth, it will bt
seen that this narrow sea is almost without any
safe anchorage, except at the island of Graia near
the 'Ahibeh, and about 50 miles southward, the
harbor of hM-Dhakub. It is possible that the
sea has retired here as at Suez, and that Kzion-
geber is now dry land. [See Ezion-gkmk*. ;
Eumf.] Solomon's navy was evidently con-
structed by Phoenician workmen of Hiram, for he
" sent in the navy his servants, sbipmen that had
knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solo
num." ITiis was the navy that sailed to Ophir.
We may conclude that it was necessary to transport
wood as well as men to build and man these ships
on the shores of the Gulf of the 'Akabth, which
from their natural formation cannot be supposed to
hare much altered, and which were besides part >f
the wilderness of the wandering ; and the Edoinitet
were pastoral Arabs, unlike the seafaring Himyer-
ites. Jehoahaphat also " made ships of Tarshiah U
go to Oi-i.ir for gold; but they went not, for the
ships were broken at Ezion-geber" (1 K. xxii. 43)-
The scene of this wreck has been supposed to be
Edh-Dhahab, where is a reef of rocks like a
"giant's backbone" (= Ezion-geber) (Weilsted, ii
153), and this may strengthen an identification
with that place. These ships of Jehoshaphat were
manned by "his servants," who from their igno-
rance of the see may have caused the wreck. Pha-
raoh-Necho constructed a number of ships in the
Arabian gun, and the remains of his works existed
in the time of Herodotus (ii. 159), who also tells
us that these ships were manned by PhamuuaS)
sailors.
The fashion of the ancient ships of the Red Sea,
Digitized by VjOOQlC
2688
RED SKA
Jf of the Phoenician •hipa of Solomon, U unknown.
From I'lin v we learn that the ship* were of papyrus
•lid like (he loats <if the Nile; and this statement
»n» jio doulit in some meaaure correct But the
traxtiiil! craft must have been very different from
tin «• en plated iii the Indian trade. More precise
•nd .'iiriuiM ia Kl-Makreezee's description, written
in I he first half of tlie lath century, of the ships
thai xirled from Eyrfhdb on the Egyptian coast to
Jmhlnl,. -Their -jdeuehs' (P. Lobo, ap. Quatre-
niiTe Memuirrt, ii. 164. calU them 'gelvea').
which carry the pilgrims on the coast, hare not a
nail used in them, but their planks are sewed to-
gether with fibre, which is taken from the cocoa-
nut-tree, and tliey caulk them with the fibres of
the wood of the dale-palm; then they 'pay ' them
with butter, or the oil of the palma Christ!, or
with the fnl of the kirah (squalus carchariaa:
KorskAl, UtKr. Animnlium, p. riii. No. 19) . . .
The sails of these jelebehs are of mats made of
the dbm-palm " (the Khifit, •> Desert of Kydhab " ).
Ore of the sea-going ships of the Arabs is shown
RED SEA
in the rlew of EUBatrak, from * sketch Is
Colonel Chesney, (from Lane's '1001 Night* •,
The crews of the latter, when not exceptionally
Phoenicians, sa were Solomon's and Pharaoh
Necho's, were without doubt generally Arabians,
rather than Egyptians — those Himyerite Arabs
whose ships carried all the wealth of the East
either to the Ked Sea or the Persian Gulf. The
people of OoiAu, the southeast province of Arabia,
were among the foremost of these navigators (El-
Mes'oodee's UMrn .Mendinct, MS., and The Ae-
nrnnte nf Too Mohammedan Traztttert of the
Ninth Century). It was customary, to avoid
probably the dangers and delays of the narrow
seas, for the ships engaged in the Indian tmv. to
transship their cargoes at the straits of Bit tL
Mrndtb to Egyptian and other vessels of the Red
Sea (Agath. §' 103, p. 190; anon, Peripl § 98, p.
377, ed. Miiller). The fleets appear to hare sailed
about the autumnal equinox, and returned in De-
cember or the middle of January (Pliny, B. If.
vl. cap. xxiii. J 98; eomp. Peripl. passim). 8s.
**i
B-Basrah. From a Drawing by Colonel Chesney.
Jeiome says that the navigation was extremely
tedious. At the present day the voyages are
periodical, and guided by the seasons; but the
ilil skill of the seamen has nearly departed, and
they nre extremely timid, and rarely venture far
from the coast.
The Kcd Sea, as it possessed for many centuries
the most important sea- trade of the East, routained
port* ol celebrity. Of these, Klnth and Kzion-gelier
alone ap|iear to be mentioned in the Bible. The
Hcroi polite Gulf is of the chief interest: it was
near to Ooslieu ; it was the scene of the passage of
tne Ked Sea ; and it was the " tongue of the Kgyp
linn Sea." It was also the split of the Egyptian
trade in this sen and to the Indian Ocean. Hero-
0|»)lis ia doubtless the same as Hero, and its site
has been prolnhly identified with the modern Aboo-
Krshiyl, at the head of the old gulf. By the
nnsent of the classics, it stood on or near the head
sf the gulf, and was 68 miles (according to the
Itinerary of Antoninus) from Clysma, by the Arabs
galled El-Kuhum, near the modem Suez, which is
dose to the pretent head. Suez is a Door town.
and has only an unsafe anchorage, with very i
water. On the shore of the Heroiipolite gulf wee
also Arsinoe, founded by Ptolemy I'hiladelphua: its
site has not been settled. Herenice. founded by the
same, on the southern frontier of Egypt, rose to
importance under the ltolemies and the Konians;
it is now of no note. On the western coast was
also the anchorage of Myos Hormos. a little north
of the modem town Et-Kuttyr, which now forms
the point of communication with the old route to
Coptos. On the Arabian coast the principal porta
are .Vu'eylth, Yrmbo' (the port of EI~.VedtentM),
Jwldnh (the port of MeUceh'i, and Mvkha, by m
commonly written Mfchn. The Red Sea in meet
parts affords anchorage for country-vessels well ac-
quainted with it* intricacies, and able to creep
along the coast among the reefs and islands thai
girt the shore. Numerous creeks on the Arabian
shore (called "shuroom," sing, "sharm,") indent
the land. Of these the anchorage called Eth-
Sharm, st (he southern extremity of the |ii n'mssjsl
of Sinai, is much frequented.
The commerce of the Red Sea was, in very aa>
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RED SEA
time*, unquestionably great The earliest
recordi tell of the ships of the Egyptians, the Phoe-
nicians, and the Arabs. Although the porta of the
Persian gulf received a part of the Indian traffic
[Dkdas], and the Himyerite maritime cities in
the south of Arabia supplied the kingdom of Shrba,
the trade with Egypt was, we must believe, the
most important of the ancient world. That all this
traffic found its way to the head of the Heroiipolite
gulf seems proved by the absence of any important
Pharaonic remains further south on the Egyptian
coast. But the shoaling of the head of the gulf
rendered the navigation, always dangerous, more
difficult; it destroyed the fonuei anchorages, and
made it necessary to carry merchandise across the
desert to the Nile. This change appears to have
been one of the main causes of the decay of the
commerce of Egypt. ' We have seen that the long-
voyaging ships shifted their cargoes to Ked Sea
craft at the Straits; and Ptolemy Philadelphus, after
founding Arsinoe and endeavoring to re- open the
old canal of the Bed Sea, abandoned the upper
route and established the southern road ironi his
new eity Berenice on the frontier of Egypt and
Nubia to Coptos on the Nile. Strabo tells us that
this was done to avoid the dangers encountered in
navigating the sea (zvii. 1, § 45). Though the
stream of commerce was diverted, sufficient seems
to have remained to keep in existence the former
ports, though they have long since utterly disap-
peared. Under the Ptolemies and the Romans the
commerce of the Red Sea varied greatly, influenced
by the decaying state of Egypt and the route to
Palmyra (until the fall of the latter). But even its
best state at this time cannot have been such as to
make us believe that the 120 ships sailing from
Hyos Hormos, mentioned by Strabo (ii. 5, § 12),
was other than an annual convoy. The wars of
Heraclius and Khosroes affected the trade of Egypt
as they influenced that of the Persian gulf. Egypt
had fallen low at the time of the Arab occupation,
and yet it is curious to note that Alexandria even
then retained the shadow of its former glory. Since
the time of Mohammed the Red Sea trade has been
insignificant. E. S. P.
• Recent exploration*. In 1857 Th. v. Heuglin
made a scientific exploration of the Red Sea, tbe
results of which were published in Petennann's
Miukahmgen for 1860. These researches cover
the physical features of tbe sea and its coast, the
Fauna and Flora, the meteorological and hypsomet-
rieal phenomena, etc., all which are given with
much minuteness of detail. Valuable contributions
to the same purport, from Th. Kinzelbach and Dr.
Steudner, appear in the same geographical Journal
for 1864. The MitthtUungen for September 1860
contains the journal of Th. v. Heuglin'a travels
along the western coast of the Sea, from Cairo to
Qpueir, tram Qpttelr to Snuakm, from Sauakin to
Mastaua, thence along the 8imher coast and in
the adjacent Archipelago of Dnhlak, and thence
down the Danakil coast to Bab-el- Mandeb. This
journal is accompanied with an excellent map, tbe
most minute and accurate yet published, of the
Red Sea and the principal harbors on its western
side. These an Qossefr in lat, 36° 7 N. Sauakm,
lat. 19° 8', and tfnmiun, lat 15« H3T. Qptteir
was much used by the ancient Egyptians in their
commerce with Arabia, serving a> a port to the
Tbebaii capital, as Sues now answers to Cairo.
Mention is made of this route of traffic in ancient
monuments and papyri. (See in Chabas, Voyage
169
RES SEA, PA8SAGE OF 2689
(fun lUgyptien, p. 63.) Qfittetr is to-day a sitj
of 3,000 inhabitants, cleanly and well built, with a
good mole and harbor. It is a port of entry, and
sometimes maintains a lively traffic with pilgrims
on their way tn and from Mecca. Fishing and
handicrafts are its principal support. Tbe pearl-
fisheries of the Red Sea are less profitable than in-
former times. Sauakin, the capital of a province of
the same name, is a city of 8,009 inhabitants, with
a small but well-sheltered harbor. Mtutaua, sit-
uated on an island in the Gulf of Harkiko, is an
important avenue of trade for Abyssinia. Its cli-
mate is hot, and the inhabitants sometimes suffer
for want of water — their supply being collected in
cisterns, in the rainy season. The highest moun-
tains along the western coast range from 4,000 to
7,000 feet English, and the coast line is generally
abrupt, though indented with numerous little bays.
The opening of the Suez canal will more than re-
store the Red Sea to its ancient importance in tba
commerce of tbe world. J. P. T.
RED SEA, PASSAGE OF. The passage
of the Red Sea was the crisis of the Exodus. It
was tbe miracle by which the Israelites left Egypt
and were delivered from the oppressor. Probably
on this account St. Paul takes it as a type of
Christian baptism. All the particulars relating to
this event, and especially those which show its
miraculous character, require careful examination.
The points that arise are the place of the passage,
the narrative, and the importance of the event in
Biblical history.
1. It is usual to suppose that the moat northern
place at which the Red Sea could have been crossed
is the present head of tbe Gulf of Sues. This sup-
position depends upon the erroneous idea that in
the time of Moses the gulf did not extend further
to tbe northward than at present. An examination
of the country north of Suez has shown, however,
that the sea has receded many miles, and there can
be no doubt that this change baa taken place within
the historical period, doubtless in fulfillment of the
prophecy of Isaiah (xi. 15, xix. 5 ; conip. Zech. x.
11 ). The old bed is indicated by the Birket-et-
Tiintah, or " take of the Crocodile," and the more
southern Hitter Lakes, the northernmost part of tbe
former probably corresponding to the head of the
gulf at the time of the Exodus. In previous cen-
turies, it is probable that the gulf did not extend
further north, but that it was deeper in its northern-
most port
It is necessary to endeavor to ascertain the route
of the Israelites before we can attempt to discover
where they crossed the sea. The point from which
they started was Rameaea, a place certainly in the
Land of Goshen, which we identify with the Widi-
t-Tumeyldt. [Ramkses : Goshen.] After the
mention that tbe people journeyed from Ramcset
to Succoth, and before that of their departure from
Succoth, a passage occurs which appears to show
the first direction of tbe journey, and not a change
in the route. This we may reason .oly infer from
its tenor, and from its being followed by the state-
ment that Joseph's bones were taken by Moses with
him, which must refer to the commencement of the
journey. " And it came to pass, when Pharaoh
had let the people go, that God led them not [by]
tbe way of the land of the Philistines, although
that [was] near; for God said, Lest pa-adventure
the people repent when they see war, and they re-
tarn to Lgypt: bat God caused the neople to tors
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2690 BED SEA, PASSAGE OF
[by] the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea "
(Ex. xiii. 17, 18). It will be seen by reference to
the map already given [vol. i. p. 794] that, from
the Wddi-t- Tumeyidl, whether from its eastern end
or from any other part, the route to Palestine by
way of Gasa through the Philistine territory is near
at hand. In the Roman time the route to Uan
from Memphis and Heliopolis passed the western
sod of the Wddi-t- Tumeyidl, as may be seen by the
Itinerary of Antoninus (Farther, Zur Krdkmndt d.
Alt. jEgyptent, map vi.), and the chief modern
route from Cairo to Syria passes along the Wddi-t-
Tumeyldt and leads to Gasa (Wilkinson, Hand-
took, new ed. p. 209).
At the end of the second day's journey the
eamping-place was at Etbam " in the edge of the
wilderness" (Ex. xiii. 80; Num. xxxiii. 6). Here
the Wddi-t-Tumeyldl was probably left, as it is
cultivable and terminates in the desert. After
leaving this place the direction seems to hare
changed. The first passage relating to the Journey,
after the mention of the encamping at Etham, is
this, stating a command given to Moan: " Speak
onto the children of Israel, that they torn [or
' return '] and encamp [or • that they encamp
■gain,' 13011 ^^l] before Pi-hahiroth, be-
tween Hlgdol and the sea, over against Baal-
aephon " (Ex. xiv. 2). This explanation is added:
•' And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel,
They [are] entangled in the land, the wilderness
hath shut them in" (3). The rendering of the
A. V., "that they turn and encamp," seems to us
the most probable of those we have given : " return "
Is the closer translation, but appears to be difficult
to reconcile with the narrative of the route; for the
more likely inference is that the direction was
changed, not that the people returned : the third
rendering does not appear probable, as it does not
explain the entanglement The geography of the
country does not assist us in conjecturing the
direction of the last part of the journey. If we
knew that the highest part of the gulf at the time
of the Exodus extended to the west, it would be
probable that, if the Israelites turned, they took a
northerly direction, as then the sea would oppose
sn obstacle to their further progress. If, however,
they left the Wddi-t- Tttmryldt at Etham « in the
edge of the wilderness," they could not hare turned
far to the northward, unless they had previously
turned somewhat to the south. It must be borne
in mind that Pharaoh's object was to cut off the
■(treat of the Israelites: be therefore probably en-
samped between them and the head of the sea.
At the end of the third day's march, for each
mmping-place seems to mark the close of a day's
Journey, the Israelites encamped by the sea. The
place of this but encampment, and that of the
passage, on the supposition that our views as to
the most probable route are correct, would be not
very far from the Persepolitan monument [See
map, vol. i. p. 794.] The monument is about
thirty miles to the northward of the present head
of the Gulf of Sues, and not far south of the posi-
tion where we suppose the head of the gulf to have
been at the time of the Exodus. It is her* neces-
BED SEA, PArJSAGE 0»
« In order to favor the opinion that the IsraeUtaa
look the route by the WMU-toek, this name, Gefet-
m-THah (to which It Is difficult to assign a probable
ettaalng), has been changed to GeM-'jUajboA, as if
slcnlfflng "the Mountain of DoUvwance ; " though,
<ary to mention the arguments for and i _
common opinion that the Israelites passed near the
present head of the gulf. Local tradition is in its
favor, but it must be remembered that local tradi-
tion in Egypt and the neighboring countries, judg-
ing from the evidence of history, is of very little
value. The Muslims suppose Memphis to have
been the city at which the Pharaoh of the Exodus
resided before that erent occurred. From opposite
Memphis a broad valley leads to the Red Sea. It
is in part callea the Wddi-t-Teeh, or "Valley of
the Wandering." From it the traveller reaches
the sea beneath the lofty Gebtl-tt-Tdkak," which
rises on the north and shuts off all escape in that
direction, excepting by a narrow way along the sea-
shore, which Pharaoh might hare occupied. The)
sea here is broad and deep, as the narrative is gen-
erally held to imply. All the local features seem
suited for a great erent; but it may well be asked
whether there is any reason to expect that suitable
ness that human nature seeks for and modern im-
agination takes for granted, since it would have
been useless for the objects for which the minds
appears to have been intended. The desert-way
from Memphis is equally poetical, but how is *.»
possible to recognise in it a route which seems tr
hare had two days' journey of cultivation, the wil-
derness being reached only at the end of the second
day's march 1 The supposition that the Israelites
took an upper route, now that of the Mekkeh
caravan, along the desert to the north of the elevated
tract between Cairo and Suez, must be mentioned,
although it is leas probable than that just noticed,
and offers the same difficulties It is, however,
possible to suppose that the Israelites cro ss ed the
sea near Sues without holding to the traditional
idea that they attained it by toe Wddi-t- Tetk. If
they went through toe Wddi-t- TumeyUU they might
hare turned southward from its eastern end, and
so reached the neighborhood of Sues; but this
would make the third day's journey more than
thirty mike at the least, which, if we bear in mind
the composition of the Israelite caravan, seems anise
incredible. We therefore think that the only opin-
ion warranted by the narrative is that already stated,
which supposes the passage of the sea to have taken
place near the northernmost part of its ancient
extension. The conjecture that the Israelites ad-
vanced to the north, then crossed a shallow part
of the Mediterranean, where Pharaoh and his army
were lost in the quicksands, and afterwards turned
southwards towards Sinai, is so repugnant .to the
Scripture narrative as to amount to a denial of the
occurrence of the event, and indeed is scarcely
worth mentioning.
The test camping-place was before Pi hahiroth.
It appears that Migdol was behind Pt-hahiroth, and,
on the other hand, Baal-cephon and the sea. These
neighboring places hare not been identified, and
the name of Pi-hahiroth (if, as we believe, rightly
supposed to designate a reedy tract, and to be sens
preserved in the Arabic name O'h me eybe t rf-ooos,
"the bed of reeds'*), Is now found in the neighbor-
hood of the two supposed sites of the passage, and
therefore cannot be said to be identified, besides
that we most not expect a natural locality still to
to have this signification, it si ould rather be Osfca l a l
'Aiikah, the other Ibrm aerial rig from general vassal
E-TtLfaU and Urate* to the mouth cf sa Arab est
widely I
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BED SEA. PASSAGE OF
Mtain its name. It must be remembered the. the
mine Pi-hahiroth, einee it describes a natorau lo-
sality, probably doe* not indicate * town or other
Inhabited place named after such a locality, and
this teems almost eertaiu from the circumstance
that it is unlikely that there would have been more
than two inhabited places, even if they were only
forts, in this region. Tbe other uamea do not de-
scribe natural loc a lities. The nearness of Pi-hahi-
roth to the tea is therefore the only sure indication
of its position, and, if we are right in our supposi-
tion as to the place of tbe passage, our uncertainty
u to the exact extent of the sea at the time is
in additional difficulty. [Exodus, the; Pi-ha-
amora.]
From Pi-hahiroth tbe Israelites crossed tbe sea.
rhe only points bearing on geography in the ae-
aoont of this event are that the sea was divided by
an east wind, whence we may reasonably infer
that it was crusted from west to oast, and that the
whole Egyptian army perished, which shows that
it must hare been tome miles broad. Pharaoh took
at least six hundred chariots, which, three abreast,
would have occupied about half a mile, and the rest
of the army cannot be supposed to have taken up
lees than several times that space. Even if in a
' broad formation, some miles would have been re-
quired.* It is more difficult to calculate the space
taken up by the Israelite multitude, but probably it
was even greater. On the whole we may reasonably
suppose about twelve miles as the smallest breadth
of the sea.
it A careful examination of tbe narrative of the
passage of the Ked Sea is necessary to a right under-
standing of tbe event. When the Israelites bad de-
parted, Pharaoh repented that be had let them go.
It might be conjectured, from one part of tbe narra-
tive (Ex. xiv. 1-4), that he determined to pursue
them when he knew that they had encamped before
Pi-hahiroth, did not what follows this imply that
be set out toon after they had gone, and also indi-
cate that the place in question refers to the pursuit
through the tea, not to that from the city whence
ha started (5-10). This oity was most probably
Zoan, and could scarcely have been much nearer to
Pi-hahiroth, and tbe distance is therefore too great
to have been twice traversed, first by those who told
Pharaoh, then by Pharaoh's army, within a few
hours. The strength of Pharaoh's army is not fur-
ther specified than by the statement that " he took
six hundred chosen chariots, and [or ' even '] all
the chariots of Egypt, and captains over ever/ one
of them " (7). The war-chariots of the Egjptians
held each hut two men, an archer and a charioteer.
The former must be intended by the word QW/W,
rendered in the A. V. "captains." Throughout
the narrative tbe chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh
ire mentioned, and " the horse and bis rider," xv.
21, are spoken of in Miriam's song, but we can
scarcely hence infer that there was in Pharaoh's
army a body of horsemen as well as of men in char-
iot*, as in ancient Egyptian the chariot-force is al-
ways called HTAR or HETRA, " the horse," and
<bese expressions may therefore be respectively ple-
at.' 1 The
• The LXX has "south,' Instead of «
Rtb. W"TQ. lit "to front," may, however. Indicate
fee whole distance between the two extreme points V
RES SEA, PASSAGE IF 2ABJ
onastic and poetical There is no evidence in the
records of tbe ancient Egyptians that they used
cavalry, and, therefore, had the Biblical narrative
expressly mentioned a force of this kind, it might
have been thought to support the theory that the
Pharaoh of the Exodus wss a Shepherd-king.
With this army, which, even if a small one, was
mighty in comparison to the Israelite- multitude,
encumbered with women, children, and cattle, Pha-
raoh overtook the people " encamping by the tea ''
(9). When the Israelites saw the oppressor's army
they were terrified, and murmured against Moses.
" Because [there were] no graves in Egypt, hast
thou taken us away to die in the wilderness 'I " (11).
Along the bare mountains that skirt tbe valley of
Upper Egypt are abundant sepulchral grottoes, of
which the entrances are conspicuously seen from the
river and the fields it waters : in tbe sandy slopes
at the foot of the mountains are pits without num-
ber and many built tombs, all of ancient times. No
doubt tbe plain of Lower Egypt, to which Mem-
phis, with port of it* far-extending necropolis, be-
longed politically though not geographically, was
throughout as well provided with places of sepul-
ture. The Israelites recalled these cities of the dead,
and looked with Egyptian horror at the prospect
that their carcasses should be left on the face of the
wilderness. Better, they said, to have continued to
serve tbe Egyptians than thus to perish (IS). Then
Moses encouraged them, bidding them see bow God
would save them, and telling them that they should
behold their enemies no more. There are few case*
in the Bible in which those for whom a miracle is
wrought are commanded merely to stand by and sea
it. Generally the Divine support is promised to
those who use their utmost exertions. It seems
from tbe narrative that Moses did not know at thai
time how tbe people would be saved, and spoke only
from a heart full of faith, for we read, " And the
Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore client thou nnto
me? speak unto the children of Israel that they go
forward: but lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out
thuM hand over the sea, and divide it: and the
children of Israel shall go on dry [ground] through
the midst of the sea" (16, 16). That night the
two armies, the fugitive* and the pursuers, were
encamped near together. Between them was tbe
pillar of the cloud, darkness to the Egyptians and
a light to the Israelites. The monuments of Egypt
portray an encampment of an army of Kaiueses II.,
during a campaign in Syria; it is well planned and
carefully guarded : tbe rude modern Arab encamp-
ments bring before us that of Israel on this manor
able night. Perhaps in the camp of Israel the
sounds of the hostile camp might be heard on tbe
one hand, and on the other the roaring of tbe sea.
But the pillar was a barrier and a sign of deliver-
ance. The time was now come for the great deci-
sive miracle of the Exodus. "And Moses stretched
out hi* hand over tbe sea: and tbe Lord caused
the sea to go [back] by a strong east wind all that
night, and made the tea dry [land], and the waters
were divided. And the children of Israel went
through the midst of the sea upon the dry [ground] :
and the waters [were] a wail unto them on their
Arabs in every cats like tbe narrative under eonatd-
araoon.
» It has been oalet_tted, that if Napoleon I. had
advanced by one road into Belgium, In the Waterloo
those of tbe two soilness, and bene* It Is not I campaign, his column would have been sixty muss ks
to absolute east, axneaUy with the us* of the I length.
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2692 BED SEA, PASSAGE OF
light hand and on their left " (21, 22, comp. 89).
The narrative distinctly states that a path waa
wade through the tea, and that the waters were a
wall on either hand. The term "wall "does not
appear to oblige ui to suppose, a* many hare done,
that the sea stood up like a cliff on either aide, but
should rather be considered to mean a barrier, as
the former idea implies a seemingly needleas addi-
tion to the miracle, while the Utter teems to be not
discordant with the language of the narrative. It
was during the night that the Israelites crossed,
and the Egyptian! followed. In the morning watch,
the hut third or fourth of the night, or the period
before sunrise, Pharaoh's army was in full pursuit
in the divided sea, and was there miraculously
troubled, so that the Kgyptians sought to flee (23-
28). Then was Moses commanded again to stretch
oat his hand, and the sea returned to its strength,
and overwhelmed the Egyptians, of whom not one
remained alive (26-28). The statement is so ex-
plicit that there could be no reasonable doubt that
Pharaoh himself, the great offender, was at last
made au example, and perished with his army,
did it not seem to be distinctly stated in Psalm
cm vi. that he was included in the same de-
ttrnction (15). The sea cast up the dead Egyp-
tians, whose bodies the Israelites saw upon the
■bore.
In a later pasaage some particulars are mentioned
which are not distinctly stated in the narrative in
Exodus. The place ia indeed a poetical one, but iU
meaning is clear, and we learn from it that at the
time of the pannage of the sea there was a storm of
rain with thunder and lightning, perhaps accom-
panied by an earthquake (Ps. lxxvii. 15-20). To
this St Paul may allude where he lays that the
fathers " were all baptized unto Mosu in the cloud
and in the sea" (1 Cor. x. 2); for the idea of bap-
tism seems to involve either immersion or sprink-
ling, and the latter could have here occurred: the
reference is evidently to the pillar of the cloud : it
ttuuld, however, be impious to attempt an explana-
tion of what ia manifestly miraculous. These addi-
tional particulars may illustrate the troubling of
the Egyptians, for their chariot* may have lieen
thus overthrown.
Here, at the end of their long oppression, deliv-
ered finally from the Egyptians, the Israelites glori-
fied God. In what words they sang his praise we
know from the Song of Moses, which, in its vigor-
ous brevity, represents the events of that memorable
night, scarcely of less moment than the night of
the Passover (Ex. xv. 1-18: ver. 19 is probably a
kind of comment, not part of the song). Moses
teems to have sung this song with the men, Miriam
with the women alro singing and dancing, or per-
haps there were two choruses (20, 21). Such a
picture does not recur in the history of the nation.
Neither the triumphal Song of Deborah, nor the
rejoicing when the Temple was recovered from the
Syrians, celebrated to great a deliverance, or was
alined in by the whole people. In leaving Goshen,
Israel became a nation ; after crossing the tea, it
waa free. There is evidently great significance, as
«e lure suggested, in St Paul's use of this mira-
HED SEA, PASSAGE OF
ele as a type of baptism ; for, to make the i _
complete, it must hare been the beginning of a saw
period of the life of the Israelite*.
3. The importance of this event in Biblical his-
tory is shown by the manner in which it is spoken
of in the books of the 0. T. written in later timet.
In them it la the chief fact of Jewish history. Not
the call of Abraham, not the rule of Joseph, not tht
first Passover, not the conquest of Canaan, are re-
ferred to in such a manner as this great deliverance.
In the Book of Job it is mentioned with the acta
of creation (xxvi. 10-13). In the Psalms it ia re-
lated as foremost among the deeds that God bad
wrought for hit people. The prophet Isaiah recalls
it at the great manifestation of God't interference
for Israel, and an encouragement for the deteecoV
antt of those who witnessed that great tight
There are events to striking that they are remem-
bered in the life of a nation, and that, like great
height*, increasing distance only gives them mom
majesty. So no doubt waa this remembered lone;
after those were dead who taw the tea return to it*
strength and the warriors of Pharaoh dead upon that
shore.
It may be inquired how it ia that there teems to
have been no record or tradition of this miracle
among the Egyptian*. Thia question involves that
of the time in Egyptian history to which thia event
should be assigned. The date of the Exodu* ac-
cording to different chronologera varies more than
three hundred yeart; the dates of the Egyptian
dynasties ruling during this period of three hun-
dred years vary full one hundred. The period to
which the Exodus may be assigned therefore virtu-
ally corresponds to four hundred years of Egyptian
history. If the lowest date of the beginning of the
X Vlllth dynasty be taken and the highest date of
the Exodus, both which we consider the moat prob-
able of those which have been conjectured in the
two cases, the Israelites must have left Egypt in a
period of which monuments or other records are
almost wanting. Of the XVII Ith and subsequent
dynasties we have a* yet no continuout hiatory, and
rarely records of events which occurred in a lucces-
eion of yean. We know much of many reigns,
and of tome we can be almost sure that they could
not correspond to that of the Pharaoh of the Exo-
dus. We can in no case expect a distinct Egyp-
tian monumental record of to great a calamity,
for tbe monument* only record success; bat it
might lie related in a papyrus. There would
doubtless have long remained a popular tradition
of the Exodus, but if the king who perished waa
one of the Shepherd strangers, this tradition
would probably have been local, and perhaps in-
distinct*
Endeavors have been made to explain away the
miraculous character of the passage of the Hed
Sea. It haa been argued that Moses might have
carried tbe Israelites over by a ford, and that an
unusual tide might have overwhelmed the Egyptians.
But no real diminution of the wonder ia thoa
effected. How was it that the sea admitted tbe
passing of the Israelite*, and drowned Pharaoh
and hit army? How waa it that it waa shallow at
-While this article I. going through th. pre., M. „ „ Q ,_, 3y „^, ^ ,
Jhsbaa hat published a curious paper, in which he ■ . ■ '
mnjaoturea (hut i uruin laborers employed by the Pba- Egypt under Barneses IT., about a. c. 1200,
*utu of the XlXth and XXth dynasties In the quar- alter th* latest data of the Ktodos. ia a Mai
rite and elMwhera an the Hebrews. Their name to an IdantlBoatlon with the Israelii**.
wad* *FMaiu oi Apxaui, which might correspond to
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RED SEA, PASSAGE OF
bt light time, mod deep at the right time? Thit
ittempted explanation would never have been put
forward were it not that the fact of the passage ii
w well attested that it would be uncritical to doubt
it were it recorded on mere human authority. Since
the fact it undeniable, an attempt ia made to explain
it away. Thus the school that pretends to the
severest criticism is compelled to deviate from its
usual course; and when we see that in this case it
mutt do so, we may well doubt its r jidness in
other cases, which, being difler-n-./ stated, are
more easily attacked. R. S. P.
* The opening of the Sues Canal may contribute
to the solution of the problem of the route of the
Israelites from Raanuea to the Red Sea. The
tweet-water canal, which flows from the Nile east-
ward through Wadirl- Tumrylat, hat already re-
stored to a region of the ancient Uoshen, a degree
si iertility which suggests that this may truly have
Been " the beat of the land " in the time of the
Israelites, when, under the ancient system of irri-
gation, it was watered with * streams, rivers, ponds,
and pools," Ex. vii. 19. This canal runs from the
Nile to Iimaita, a new town on Lake* Tlmsah, and
thence southward to Suet. It is twenty-six feet
wide with an average depth of four feet, and by
menus of lateral sluices is made to irrigate a large
area. So valuable ia it for this purpose, that the
Kgyptian government purchased it of the Canal
Company at a cost of four hundred thousand
pounds, expecting to reimburse itself by the en-
hanced value of lands.
Uuruh (Dtr Zug den /trneliten nut Agypten
naeh Canaan) places the Land of Goshen in the
northeastern portion of the Delta, with a sea-coast
on the Mediterranean from Tanis to Avaris, and
Kaamses in the vicinity of the latter oity. He first
carries the Israelites around the bead of the gulf,
which then extended at a reedy marsh far above
the modern Suez; then leads them down upon the
tnii side of the gulf to a point opposite Suez,
wnere he finds a small bay or arm of toe gulf pro-
jecting into the Arabian peninsula, — a little above
Ayun Mum, — and thru lie makes the scene of the
crossing narrated in Exodus. At the opposite ex-
treme, Schleiden (IHe Lnndenge ton Sua) plates
Reunites in the line of the ancient canal, and near
the Bitter Lakes, but first turns tbe course of the
Israelites northward toward the Mediterranean, as
the direct route to Palestine. They are overtaken
on the coast of the Mediterranean, in a marshy
region, lying east of Avaris upon tbe borders of
the wilderness : having here escaped from Pharaoh,
they turn southward and enter the desert of Sinai,
keeping always to the east of the Gulf of Suez.
But these theories equally violate the requirements
of the narrative of the Exodus in respect of the
successive days' marches of the Israelites. The
distance from Raamses to tbe head of the gulf wat
about thirty miles, and so great a caravan at tbe
Israelites with their cattle and attendants made,
would require three days for such a march. Tbe
second day would bring them to about the line be-
tween tbe head of the gulf and tbe Bitter I<akei
OB the edge of the great eastern desert. From
this " Etham " they turned backward, and went
Jown tbe western side of the gulf to tnc vicinity of
Roes, -t and at this point, probably, the crossing
jook place. » The miracle was wrought by natural
means supematurally applied. A strong N. E.
wuid acting here upon tbe ebb tide, would neo-
wsu-ily have the eflfcct to drive out the vaten from
REED
2698
the small arm of the tea which tuns up by Sots,
and also from the end of the gulf itte.t, leaving the
shallower portions dry; while tbe more northern
part of the arm, which was anciently broader and
deeper than at present, would still remain covered
with water. Thus the waters would be divided,
and be a wall to the Israelites on tbe right hand
and on the left" No better theory of the place of
the crossing and the manner of tbe miracle. has
been presented than this of Dr. E. Robinson {He-
tearchtt, i. 64-69). It harmonizes well all too
details of the narrative. The arm of the gull
stretching north of Suez thus becomes a couditiou
of the fulfillment of the miracle. J. P. T.
REED. Under this name we propose noticing
the following Hebrew words: agmin, gfont, 'arilk,
and kAnth.
I. Agmlm 0""U2jlM- cpfatoi, ftVepof, jtunst,
W\«t: cU-cuUu, fervent, re/renoM) occurs Job
xl. 36 (A. V. xli. 9), "Canst toon put agmlm ~
(A. V. •' hook ") into the nose of the croeodiltV
Again, in xl. 19 (A V. xli. 20), " out of his nos-
trils goeth smoke, as out of a seething-pot or ag-
ain " (A. V. " caldron "). In Ia ix. 14, It is said
Jehovah •' will cut off from Israel head and tail,
branch and agmtn" (A. V. "rush"). The
agmin is mentioned also as an Egyptian plant, in
a sentence similar to the last, in It. xix. 16; while
from lviii. 6 we learn that the agmtm had a peu-
dulout panicle. There can be no doubt that the
ttgmdn denotes some aquatic reed-like plant, whether
of the Nat. order Cvperacete or that of Graminv*.
The term ia allied closely to tbe Hebrew AgAm
(D^S), which, like the corresponding Arable nines
, denotes a marshy pool or reed- bed.' (Sot
(r*')>
Jer. Ii. 32, for this latter signification. ) There it
some doubt as to the specific identity of the ag-
mtn, some believing that the word denotes "a
rush" as well at \ "reed." See RosenmiiUer
( bib. Bet. p. 184) and Winer (RenluOrterb. 11. 484).
Celsius has argued in favor of the Arundo phrng-
mitU (Hitrvb. I. 465); we are inclined to adopt his
opinion. That the agmdn denotes some specific
plant Is probable both from the passages where it
occurs as well as from the fact that kAnth (H3P)
ia the generic term for reeds in general. The Arun-
do phrngmitit (now the Phragmilit communis),
if it does not occur in Palestine and Egypt, Is rep-
resented by a very closely allied species, namely, the
A. itiaca of Delisle. The drooping panicle of this
plant will answer well to the " bowing down thr
head " of which Isaiah speaks; but, as there an
other kinds of reed-like plants to which this charac-
ter also belongs, it is impossible to do more thai
give a probable conjecture. Tbe expression " Cain*
thou put an agmtm " Into the crocodile's note)
has been variously explained. The most probable
interpretation it that which supposes allusion ia
made to the mode of passing a reed or a rush
through the gills of fish in order to carry them
home; but see the Commentaries and Notes of
<frsj»j«.)
Sena) frntlest, arandmttaa, falsa'
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2694 reed
Rosenmiiuer, Schultens, Lee, Cary, Mason Good,
(to. Tlie agm&n of Job zli. 20 seenis to he de-
rived from an Arabic root signifying to " be burn-
fas: " hence the feretnt of the Vulg. The
Pkragmitu belongs to the Nat. order Grammacta.
9. Gome, (MQ^: wiwtipos, 0lfi\tyos, iAoi:
tcirpeut, tdrpux, pnpyrul, tancw), translated
" rush" and " bulrush " by the A V., without
doubt denotes the celebrated paper-reed of the an-
cients (Papyrus Antiquarian), a plant of the Sedge
family, Cyperacta, which formerly was common in
some parts of Egypt. The Hebrew word is found
four times in the Bible. Hoses was hid in a vessel
w
fapyna — rta s wra w t .
made of the papyrus (Ex. ii. 8). Transit boats
wen made oot of the same material by the Ethio-
pians (Is. xviii. 2): the paper-reed is mentioned
together with Knnth, the usual generic term for a
" reed," in I«. xxxv. 7, and in Job viii. 11, where
It is asked, " Can the papyrus plant grow without
■aire? " The modern Arabic name of this plant
bAm*
((5«^)-
According to Bmee the
aaodern Abywinians use boats made of the papyrus
reed ; Lndolf (Hut. jSlhinp. i. 8) sneaks of the
Tsamic lake being navigated •' monoxylis lintribus
ax typha pnecrusa confertis," a kind of sailing, be
a "The papyrus b vary abundant In a swamp at the
rorth tnd of the Plain of OemMsaret, and also covers
saaj acres on the marshy shores of Huttk, the
aneiant aterom. These tws plaoss and Ja6> (sss
REKD
says, which Is attended with ooeiderahai saaafsl
to the navigators. Wilkinson (Anc JSgjft. ft
96, ed. 1854) says that the right of growing and
selling the papyrus plants belonged to the govern-
ment, who made a profit by its monopoly, and thinks
other species of the Cyperacta must be understood as
affording all the various articles, such as baskets,
canoes, sails, sandals, etc., which have been said to
have been made from the real papyrus. Considering
that Egypt abounds in Cyptrncta, many kinds of
which might have served for forming canoes, etc.,
it is improbable that the papyrus alone should haw
been need for such a purpose: but that the Ins
ptipyrm was used for boats there can be no doubt,
if the testimony of Theophrastus (Bid. PL iv. 8.
5 4), Pliny (H. If. xiii. 11), Plutarch, and *hs*
ancient writers, is to be believed.
From the soft ceDuiar portion of the stem thai
ancient material called papyrus was made. " Pa-
pyri," says Sir G. Wilkinson, " are of the most
remote Pharaonic periods. The mode of making
them was as follows: the interior of the stalks of
the plant, after the rind hud been removed, was cut
into thin sKces>in the direction of their length, and
these being laid on a flat lioard in succession, simi-
lar slices were placed over them at right angles,
and their surfaces being cemented together by a
sort of glue, and subjected to a proper degree of
pressure and well dried, the papyrus wsa eompljted ;
the length of the slices depend, of course on the
breadth of the intended sheet, as that of the sheet
on the number of slices placed in succession beside
each other, so that though the breadth was limited
the papyrus might be extended to an indefinite
length." [Wkitiko.] The papyrus reed is not
now found in Egypt; it grows, however, in Syria.
Dr. Hooker saw it on the banks of Ijdte Tiberias,
a few miles north of the town : it appears to hart
existed there since the days of Theophrastus and
Pliny, wbo give a very accurate description of this
interesting plant. Theophrastus (Hist Plant, iv.
8, § 4) says. " The papyrus grows also In Syria
around the lake in which the sweet-scented reed is
fonnd, from which Antigonns used to makeeordage
for his ships." « (See also Pliny, B. If. xiii. 11.)
This plant has been found also in a small stream
two miles K. of Jaffa. Dr. Hooker believes it is
common in some parts of Syria: it does not oecur
anywhere else in Asia: it was seen by LadyCaAcotl
on the banks of the Anapua, near Syracuse, and
Sir Joseph Banks possessed paper made of papyrus
from the Lake of Thrasymene (Script Htrb. p.
379). The Hebrew name of this plant is derived
from a root which means "to absorb," compare
Luean (Pkars. iv. 186).» The lower part of thai
papyrus reed was used at food by the ancient
Egyptians; "those who wish to eat the byblua
dressed in the most delicate way, stew it in a hot
pan and then eat it" (Herod ii. 99; aee aba
Theophr. But. Plant, iv. 9). The statement of
Theophrastus with regard to the sweetness and
flavor of the sap has been confirmed by some writ-
ers; the Chevalier Landolina made papyrus from
the pith of the plant, which, says Heeren (Hutor.
Res. Afrit. Nat, ii. 360, note), '< is rather clearer
than the Egyptian;" but other writers say the
above) are said to be she only asms in Asia warn
this plant is known to exist at the presen t day (Ms
tram, Nat. &u. of Urn BMt. p. 411). H.
» " Conaaritur btbula Mempblua oymba paayt*.*
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REED
MB h neKha juicy nor agreeable. The papy-
rus plant (Papyrus antiqnorum) has aii anguhtr
rteni from 8 to 8 feet high, though occasionally it
grows to the height of 14 feet; It has no learn;
the flowers are in rery (mall splkelets, which grow
an the threadlike flowering branchlets which form
a bushy crown to each stem : it ia found in stag-
nant pooli as well aa in running streams, in which
latter case, according to Bruce, one of its angles is
always opposed to the current of the stream.
8. 'Art* (nV-iy : ,* * x , T fc x \mpbr wuV)
is translated " paper-reed " in Is. zix. 7, the only
paasage where the pi. noun occurs; there ia not the
slightest authority for this rendering of the A. V..
nor is it at all probable, as Celsius (HUrob. ii. 230)
haa remarked, that the prophet who speaks of the
paper-reed under the name gome in the preceding
chapter (xviii. 2), should in this one mention the
same plant under a totally different name. "A roth,"
mys Kinichi, " is the name to designate pot-herns
and green plants." Tbe LXX. translate it by «' all
the green herbage " (comp. "IITM, Gen. xli. 8,
and see Flaq). The word is derived from 'Ar&li,
" to be bare," or " destitute of trees; " it probably
denotes the open grassy land on the banks of the
Nile; and seems to be allied to the Arabio 'ari
f\yC),locutapertut,ipatioiut. Hichaelis (Snppl
y
(
No. 1978), RosenmQUer (SchoL in Jet. zix. 7), Ges-
enius (The*, s- ».), Haurer (Comment, s. r.j, and
SlmonU (Lex. Heb. s. v.), are all in favor of this
ar a similar explanation. Vitringa ( Comment. . in
/tmam) was of opinion that the Hebrew term
denoted the papyrus, and he has been followed by
J. G. Unger, who haa published a dissertation on
this subject (De nVW, hoc est dt Papyro fru-
tice, vonder Papier-8taudt,ad Is. xir. 7; Lips.
1731, 4to).
4. Kineh (>"TJj? : tciXufUti, xaAtuJo-KOt, xaAd-
luwos, »3x°'» *7*efr, (oyis, rvO/i^w- culmut,
eattmut, amndo, jittulit, ttiUera), tbe generic name
of a reed of any kind ; it occurs in numerous pas-
sages of the 0. T., and sometimes denotes the
" stalk " of wheat (Gen. xli. 5, 22), or the
>' branches " of the candlestick (Ex. xxr. and
xxxvii.); in Job xxxi. 22, kineh denotes the bone
cf the arm between the elbow and the shoulder (m
hvmeri); it was also the name of a measure of
length equal to six cubits (Ex, xli. 8, xl. 5). The
word is variously rendered in tbe A. V. by '• stalk,"
" branch," " bone," " calamus," " reed." In the
N. T. leilAa/iai may signify the " stalk " of plants
(Mjrk xt. 88; Matt, xxvii. 48, that of the hyssop.
lut this U doubtful), or " a reed " (Matt. xi. 7, xii.
20; Lake rii. 24; Mark xt. 19,; or " a measuring
rod" (Rev. xi. 1, xxi. 15, 16); or a "pen" (3
John 13). Strand (F lor. Patent, pp. 28-80) gives
the following names of the reed plants o' Palestine :
Baccharum officinale, Ct/perut papyrut (Pnpt/rui
unalguurum), C. rntundut, and C. etculentut, and
Amnio tcrtptoria ; but no doubt the species are
lumerous. See Bove° ( Voyage en PaletL, AnnnL
iet Scienc. Nat. 1834, p. 105), " Dans let deserts
■ni enrironnent ces montagnes j'ai trouve' plusieurs
REED 2696
Saoeharum, Milium arnndinicrum et plusiear*
CyperaeeV* The Amndo dona*, the A. JSgypt-
inca (?) of Bore - (Ibid. p. 72), is common on tbe
.tanks of the Nile, and may perhaps be " the staf
of the bruised reed " to which Sennacherib com-
pared the power of Egypt (2 K. xriii. 21 ; Ex. xxix.
8, 7). See also h. xlii. 3. The thick stem of this
reed may have been used aa walking-staves by tbe
ancient Orientals ; perhaps the measuring- reed was
this plant; at present the dry culms of this huge
grass are in much demand for fishing-rods, etc.
Some kind of fragrant reed is denoted by the
word tenth (Is. xliii. 24; Ex. xxrii. 19; Cant. It.
14), or more fully by Unih bteem (Dtph 7T?T>\
see Ex. xxx. 23, or by kineh hattdb (aStSH iTS!?),
Jer. rl. 20; which the A. V. renders " sweet cane,"
and " calamus." Whatever may be the substance
denoted, it is certain that it was one of foreign
importation, " from a far country " (Jer. ri. 90).
Some writers (see Sprengel, Com. in Diatcor. i,
xrii.) have sought to identify the kineh bttem with
the Acorn* calamus, the " sweet sedge," to which
« It Is difficult to see bow the Vulg. understood the
they refer tbe itdAtutor kemutrrutit of Diosoorldta
(i. 17), the ttiXauot tbMnt of Theophrastus (r7i«f.
Plant, iv. 8 § 4), which, according to this last-
named writer and Pliny (//. AT. xii. 22), formerly
grew about a lake " between Libanns aad another
mountain of no note; " Strabo identifies this with
the Lake of Gennesaret (Geog. xvi. p. 755, ed.
Kramer). Burckhardt was unable to discover any
sweet-scented reed or rush near the lake, though
he saw many tall reeds there. " High reeds grow
along tbe shore, but I found none of the aromatic
reeds and rushes mentioned by Strabo " (Syria, p.
819); but whatever may be the " fragrant reed "
intended, it ia certain that it did not grow In Syria,
otherwise we cannot suppose it should be spoken of
as a valuable product from a far country. 1 >r. Royk)
referi the itdJKuios b mfiarutis of Dioscoridea to a
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2696
REELAIAH
(pedes of Andropogon, which he calls A. ealamtu
aromnticut, a plant of remarkable fragrance, and a
native of Central India, where it in used to mix
with ointments on account of the delicacy of it*
odor (see Kitto's Cycl. Art. " Knnth bourn; " and
a fig. of this plant in Royle'e Itttatmtiotu of IRm-
alnynn Botany, p. 425. t. 97). It is possible this
may be the '• reed of fragranee; " but it is hardly
likely that Dioscorides, who, under the term axo7-
roi gives a description of the Andropogon Scha.
nan/hut, should speak of a closely allied species
under a totally different name. Still there is no
necessity to refer the KMh bitem or ItaUOb to the
K<Ua/u> kpaiuerucit of Dioscorides; it may be
Andropogon Schommtluu.
represented by Dr. Royle's plant or by the Andro-
pogon Schamantliiu, the lemon grass of India and
Arabia, YV. H.
REfiLAlAH [4 syl ] (iT^yi [whotrtm-
bit! before Jehovah, Ges.] : *Pm\/oj: [Vat. P««-
Ku*:] RuheUiin). One of the children of the
province who went up with Zerubbabel (Kir. ii. 2).
In Neh. vii. 7 he is called Kaamiah, and in 1
Ksdr. v. 8 RsjESAIAS.
REE'LITJS CP«\(a»; [Vat. BopoAeiaf]).
BEGEM
This name occupies the place of Rigtai in Ess
«. 3 (1 Esdr. T. 8). The list in the Vnlgatt is as
corrupt that It la difficult to trace either.
REERA1A8 [4 syl.] (Tno-ofar; [Aid. Tew
o-a(at:] Etimrut). The same as Ref.i-au.h at
Kaamiah (1 Esdr. t. 8).
REFINER (*£$*; *D?9). The refiners
art was essential to the working of the precious
metala. It consisted in the separation of the dross
from the pure ore, which was effected by reducing
the metal to a fluid state by the application of hert,
and by the aid of solvents, such as alkali <• (la. I
25) or lead (Jer. ri. 99), which, amalgamating with
the dross, permitted the extraction of the unadul-
terated metal. The term » oaually applied to re-
fining had reference to the process of melting:
occasionally, however, the effect of the process is
described by a term ' borrowed from the filtering
of wine. The instruments required by the refiner
were a crucible or furnace,'' and a bellows or blow-
pipe.* The workman sat at his work (MaL iii. 3,
" He shall sit as a refiner "), as represented in thai
cut of an Egyptian refiner already given (see voL
ii. p. 992): he was thus better enabled to watch
the process, and let the metal run off at the proper
moment. [Mikes, p. 1939.] The notices of re-
fining are chiefly of a figurative character, and
describe moral purification as the result of chas-
tisement (Is. i. 25; Zeeh. xiii. 9; Mai. iii. 2, 3).
The failure of the means to effect the result is
graphically depicted in Jer. ri. 29: "The bellows
glow with the fire (become quite hot from exposure
to the heat): the lead (used as a solvent) is ex-
pended :/ the refiner melts in vain, for the refuse
will not be separated." The refiner appears, from
the passage whence this is quoted, to have com-
bined with his proper business that of assaying
metals: "I have set thee for an assayer " » (Jo.
ver. 27). W. L. R
• REFRAIN formerly signified to bridle, or
hold in check (as in latin refromnn). So in
Prov. x. 19: '• He that refraineth bis lips is wise."
H.
REFUGE, CITIES OF. [Cities of Ekp-
ros.]
RE'GEM (Dip LA"**. •'• «• of God. Ges-] :
Payi/i; Alex. Ptytp: Rtgom). A eon of Jan
dai. whose name unaccountably appears in a us!
of the descendants of Caleb by his concubine Ephah
(1 Cbr. ii. 47). Rashi considers Jahdai as the son
of Ephah, but there appear no grounds for this as-
sumption.
o 123 ; A. V. "purely," but mors properly "aa
with alkali."
• »n?. • PJ3J-
<* ""ffl3. The term ^*^li occurs twice only
(Pror. xvti. 8, xxvtl. 21; A.Sr. " nnlng-pot "). The
ixanaekm In Pa. all. 6, rendered In the A. V. «for-
■sea of earth " Is of doubtful dfolnoation, but oer-
talnly cannot signify that The passage may be i
deled, " aa silver, melted In a workshop, flowing *
to the earth."
« U^IC. / Kerl, CJ? tr'so.
I yWSl. The A. V. adopts an Ineorrset
•Son, TT13, and renders Is "a Issasr -
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